Explore the History Behind J.M. Pence's Ancient Secrets

Alchemy is the art of transformation.

At its base level, alchemists wanted to transform common, valueless ores into gold. But there are much higher levels of alchemy that move into the realm of the spiritual and the religious. There are a tremendous number of books on alchemy; unfortunately, many of them are as dense and esoteric as the subject itself.

Alchemists were often persecuted as charlatans (especially those involved in the creation of gold) or as being sacriligeous. Therefore, many alchemical texts are written in codes and symbolism, even using religious symbols to get a point across.

The circular image above is a simple example of alchemical symbolism. The capital letters of the seven words in the outer circle, when read clockwise, form the word SVLPHVR. From the five words in the second circle, when read in a similar manner, is derived FIXVM. The capitals of the six words in the inner circle, when properly arranged, also read EST SOL. The following cipher is thus extracted: “Sulphur Fixum Est Sol,” which when translated is: “Fixed sulphur is gold.”

Ancient Echoes - Book 1

Venture from Mongolia to the land and people beyond Idaho’s River of No Return… and of time itself…

“The real meaning of wilderness will open our eyes like an Idaho sunrise on a summer morning.”
–Senator Frank Church

The brown line shows the route Lewis and Clark took to cross Idaho. From where the city of Salmon is now, when they reached the “River of No Return” they continued straight north until they reached what is now called Lolo Pass, and from there continued West to the Pacific. The “secret expedition” of the book attempted to travel west just north of the Salmon River.

The Mormon Settlement at Fort Lemhi

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Fort Lemhi was founded in peace, not war. It was settled by 27 Mormon missionaries as a mission to the Bannock and Shoshone Indians. As more settlers joined them, tensions increased, until the missionaries were driven back to Utah in 1858.

If the book ever did exist, it has been lost. Even after Nicolas Flamel’s death, the people of Paris tore through his home and business trying to find it, believing it would tell them how to create gold. There are stories of him having given it to a favorite relative, but there is no evidence to support it, and even the relative is not found in histories of the time. Flamel wrote that the book began in this way:

Abraham Eleazar the Jew, a Prince, Priest, and Levite, Astrologer and Philosopher, sprung from the root of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, wish my brethren, who through the anger of the Great God, lie scatted her and there throughout the world and are caught in servitude, much success and happiness…

Marantha, however, over all and sundry, not of the tribe of Judah, who receive this book into their hands, that such must be destroyed and perish…

The Book of Abraham the Jew

Nicolas Flamel (1330-1417) is a real person who passed into legend.The Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris contains works copied in his own hand and original works written by him. All the official documents relating to his life have been found: his marriage contract, his deeds of gift, his will.

It is known that he owned a small bookstall backing on to the columns of Saint-Jacques la Boucherie in Paris. Copyists and illuminators worked there.

It is a fact that somehow this man who should have had little money, late in life began to found almshouses with low rents for the poor, free hospitals, and endowed churches and convents. It is said that he did not use his riches to increase his personal comfort, and altered nothing in his modest life.

What isn’t known is how he could afford to do that.

Amazingly, we have Nicolas Flamel’s own description of what happened. The full text of his exposition (the text that Charlotte reads in Ancient Echoes) can be found here.The Testament of Nicolas Flamel on the Book of Abraham the Jew.

This website at Crystalinks.com has an excellent biography of Flamel: Flamel Biography. The house is at 51 rue de Montmorency, and said to be the oldest stone house in the city (photo below). An inscription on the wall reads: ‘We, ploughmen and women living at the porch of this house, built in 1407, are requested to say every day an “Our Father” and an “Ave Maria” praying God that His grace forgive poor and dead sinners.’

Here is an early copy of the frontspiece of Flamel's essay and a photo of his home as it appeared in the early twenty-first century:

The Strange Case of Nicolas Flamel

The Tukudeka

This is the only Tukudeka (Sheepeater) group portrait known. It was taken by William Henry Jackson near the Idaho-Montana border in 1871.

The Sheepeater War was the last Indian war fought in the Pacific Northwest. It took place in 1871 along the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Here is an account of the war.

If you’d like a book on the subject, take a look at The Middle Fork & The Sheepeater War by Carrey & Conley.

The River of No Return

The first photo above is of the Salmon River (River of No Return) calmly wending through Idaho's mountains. Next is a photo of its rapids, which at times reach Category 5 intensity.

The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness surrounds the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and the area north of the main Salmon River. In May, 1961, Senator Church said the following to an Idaho graduating class: “I never knew a man who felt self-important in the morning after spending the night in the open on an Idaho mountainside under a star-studded summer sky. Save some time in your lives for the out-of-doors, where you can be witness to the wonders of God.” (from Trails of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness by Margaret Fuller).

For a pictorial history of the Salmon River, look for a book that may be hard-to-find but well worth the trouble: River of No Return by Johnny Carrey & Cort Conley.

Edward Kelley

Edward Kelley (or Kelly), 1527-1608, plays an important role in the book (which I cannot give away for those who haven’t read it yet). He is known as an alchemist, clairvoyant, self-declared medium, and a convicted criminal. He is probably best known for his work with John Dee who was a mathematician and astrologer and then moved heavily into alchemy. After Kelley was invited to the court of Rudolf II of Bohemia, Dee left him to return to England.

Here are Kelley’s own words on his life in Bohemia and The Stone of the Philosophers.

Here is a description of his years in Prague with Rudolf II: The Last Years of Edward Kelley, Alchemist to the Emperor

Secrets of Alchemy

Travel with archeologist Michael Rempart to a world of antiquity, alchemy, and demons. The novels stand alone as complete stories that can be read in any order, although there is an overarching theme that builds with each book.

Legend has it that, after his death, as Genghis Khan’s army carried his body back to Mongolia for burial, they killed anyone in their path in order to hide the route, and that after he was buried, 1000 horses trampled over the grave to make sure there was no sign of the burial. The reason was they feared his enemies would desecrate his body.

Now, 800 years later, no one has yet found the tomb. For several years, armchair, amateur archeologists could sit in the comfort of home and study Google Earth and other sites on their computers as part of a team trying to find the tomb (I took part in this for a while, and it was a fun exercise): Crowdsourcing Genghis Khan’s Tomb. But they, too, have been unsuccessful.

The Search for Genghis Khan’s Tomb

Although this story was written during the Ming dynasty, around 1600 A.D., it continues to be an amazingly popular story throughout China and all countries surrounding it. Movies, TV, and anime programs re-telling the story or using its characters continue to be made to this day. It tells of the overthrow of the Shang dynasty--the worthless King Zhou and his demon wife, Queen Daji by human heroes, immortals, and spirits.

Queen Daji is one of the most evil people (or a demon?) in literature. The book provides much of the background for Ancient Shadows.

The easiest to read translation of the book (only the beginning segment), is Tales of the Teahouse Retold: Investiture of the Gods.

The Investiture of the Gods

This is all that’s left of Kublai Khan’s Shang-du, aka “Xanadu” once famed for its beauty. It is located in what is now the Inner Mongolia region of China:

After traveling across Asia to the court of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo spent nearly 20 years in China. Upon returning home, his stories were not believed. It's claimed he was called “il miglione” --basically meaning he told a million lies.

In China, however, there are historical documents of Polo meeting Kublai Khan.

All that remains of Marco Polo in Venice is a plaque on the building where his home once stood:

Marco Polo

The first photo is of Mongolia. Note the yurt in the background. The second is the Takmalakan Desert, one of the largest sandy deserts in the world, often referred to as the "sea of death." It is located in China's Xinjiang province.

Travels along the Old Silk Road

Follow Marco Polo’s footsteps along the Old Silk Road to Kublai Khan’s Xanadu… and Shang Dyasty demons

Ancient Shadows - Book 2

The Aokigahara Forest is at the foot of Mount Fuji, about 100 miles west of Tokyo. The first photo is the entry sign. The bottom line says, “Don’t kill yourself, please!" The second photo is from a spot deep in the forest. A chain blocks a path, and the sign warns: “Don’t go this way or you may be lost forever”:

The Aokigahara Forest

Here is Lafcadio's home in Matsue, Japan. It is open to the public. With it is one of the oldest covers for Lafcadio’s most popular book, and the poster for the unusual yet quite popular art-house movie it was made into in the 1960s:

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1910), a British-born writer, translator, and teacher, was instrumental in introducing the culture and literature of Japan to the West. He married a Japanese woman and became a Japanese citizen, taking the name Yakumo Koizumi, (Koisumi being his wife's family name). Here's a photo of Lafcadio as a young man (note he’s hiding his damaged eye), followed by a photo of him with his wife. Koizumi Setsuko:

Lafcadio Hearn

Ancient Illusions – Book 3

Discover Japan’s eerie “suicide forest” and the mysterious world of Shogun-era ghosts

Ancient Deceptions - Book 4

Experience the terror of Rasputin’s Russia and present day vampires in Dracula’s Carpathian mountains.

Tsar Nicholas II and his Family

Here you see Tsar Nicholas II of Russia with his wife, Alexandra, followed by photo of their four daughters, and son, the Tsarevich Alexei.

When the Russian Revolution began, Nicholas reached out to monarchs throughout Europe, begging them to give the family sanctuary. All refused.

When the Bolsheviks won, Nicholas abdicated the throne to save himself and his family. Lenin promised the family would be safe in Siberia, but in the middle of the night, they were all led down to a cellar and brutally murdered assassinated (below). When the bodies were discovered, much later, Alexi and one of the girls was missing, leading to many years of speculation that he and Anastasia had somehow survived.

Rasputin

Rasputin, one of the most enigmatic and controversial powerful figures in Russian history, began his life as a farmer in Siberia with a wife and children (above, with his three legitimate children; legend has him fathering many more). He decided to become a monk and left his family to travel and preach, ending up in St. Petersburg where he quickly developed a devoted following, especially among the upper-class women of St. Petersburg. See photo above of some of his admirers.

At the Tsar's court, two Montenegran Princesses, Milica and Anastasia (below), became friends with Tsarina Alexandra. When they learned Tsarevich Alexi suffered from hemophilia, they introduced Rasputin to Alexandra. She came to completely rely on Rasputin, believing he alone could keep Alexei alive. This gave him great influence in the court, and led to many in the Russian aristocracy and throughout St. Petersburg to whisper Rasputin and Alexandra were lovers. No proof exists, but Rasputin clearly had influence over Alexandra and, as a result over Nicholas. The newspaper "cartoon" from that time, below, is one of many (some very lurid) that mocked the royal family because of him.

Ruins of Templar Church, Ukraine

The Srednyansky Castle is said to have been the farthest east structure built by the Templar Knights. It would have originally stood at 20 metres high with walls about two and a half metres thick, and was both a church and a fortress.

Ancient Passages - Book 5

Visit the heart of Sicily, an island shrouded in the whispers of antiquity, where the ghosts of Greek gods and goddesses roam through the ruins of time-worn temples.

Sicily

The Cathedral of Syracuse has massive doric pillars from the original Greek temple built in 489 B.C. The temple later became a Roman Catholic Church, then an Islamic mosque, and now is a Catholic cathedral. Below you can see the exterior of the cathedral, and then the massive doric pillars inside the cathedral.

Tidbits of Sicily: First a street sign in Palermo showing cultural history: script in Roman letters, Hebrew, and Arabic. Next, Mt. Etna, Europe's most active volcano, that almost always has a plume of smoke rising from it. Finally, the strange Sicilian flag showing the island's Greek origins with the head of Medusa (from Athena’s shield), and the three legs (called the Trianacria or Triseklion). The legs are said to represent three nymphs who danced around the world gathering the best fruit, stones and soil to create Sicily. Also, the island is triangular, with three corners which are symbolized by the feet of the nymphs.

The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript is a 15th century mystical book filled with cryptic symbols, intricate diagrams, botanical illustrations and nude ladies in pools of liquid. It has puzzled historians, cryptographers, and linguists for centuries, and has never been deciphered. It was lost for centuries before found by Wilfred Voynich in Rome, and is now housed in Yale's Beinecke Library. For those interested in doing a deep dive into the mysterious Voynich manuscript, the Yale University Press has created a beautiful reproduction of the entire book, and also includes a number of scholarly articles about it.

Greek Myths and Influence over Sicily

The Greek period in Sicily spanned well over 500 years, from initial colonization in 700 BC, until the Romans began to exert their influence in the 200 BC ages. Greek cultural, architectural, and societal impacts remain deeply embedded in Sicilian history. For example, here is Athena, a protector of the island who is immortalized on the Sicilian flag; next is Hades whose well known abduction of Persephone is believed to have taken place near a lake in the center of Sicily; and when Daedalus and his son, Icarus, built wings of wax to escape Crete, they were flying to Sicily. Daedalus made it, but Icarus flew to close to the sun, his wings melted, and fell to earth, dead. The statue near Agrigento, Sicily, commemorates Icarus: