Flaming Sword Archive · Vol. 11, No. 2 · Feb. 1897

Koreshan Astronomy (No. 2): Seeing Across the Hollow Globe

This installment addresses the objection that inhabitants of a hollow globe should be able to see across its full diameter, connecting the question to light, vision, and the inner-world model.

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Source-led transcription, lightly normalized from the page scans. Line-wrap hyphenation, mechanical spacing, and obvious scan whitespace have been repaired; historical claims remain attributed to The Flaming Sword.

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KORESHAN ASTRONOMY (No. 2).

Scanned PDF p. 20 from The Flaming Sword, Feb. 1897.
Scanned PDF p. 21 from The Flaming Sword, Feb. 1897.

Consideration of Common Objections Urged by Investigators Against the Cellular Cosmogony.

Seeing Across the Hollow Globe. Among the objections urged against the Koreshan System of Cosmogony by those who do not understand its fundamental principles is this: if the earth is concave, as we claim, then the sun would never set; that being on the inside of a hollow globe, we should be able to see across the diameter of 8,000 miles to the opposite side, and thus be able to view the whole earth without difficulty, as well as to see the moon and all the planets and stars contained in the same. Strange to say, such an objection is made by a few scientific men. It must be admitted that every phenomenon in the universe must be explained in harmony with every other phenomenon; so that if the earth is really concave and limited to the dimensions of 8,000 miles diameter, all of the phenomena we see, do really and actually occur within the earth's concave shell. If the earth is of some other shape than has hitherto been supposed, with the consequent difference in the conception of the operation of the laws of universal function as well as form, can those who criticise the conclusions founded upon the Koreshan demonstrated premise, so quickly conclude what would be the result, if the form of the earth is cellular, when they have never been aide to explain, on the basis of the Copernican theory, the various phenomena of universal motion and solar dynamics?

We know of no more obvious nor palpable evidence of ignorance of scientific matters in general, and of some laws of light and vision in particular, than is manifest in the objection outlined above. It results from the delusion of modern astronomy that we are able to perceive objects trillions of miles distant—. through the atmosphere immediately surrounding the earth, through other media of which they acknowledge themselves ignorant, and through the vast ocean of "ether." Consequently, when it is suggested to the usual mind that the earth is,concave, with all creation on the inside, the mind, without consideration of a single law of the emplacement of the substances of the universe, and of the principles of refraction through the various media of transmission of light from the center to the circumference, attempts to imagine a view across the center to the opposite side. Some things more profound than the mere basis of such an absurd objection, enter into the subject as factors of conclusion that the form of the universe is cellular—things so self evident and absolute as to be demonstrable by the very simplest processes, some of which are being applied by the Operating Staff of the new Geodesy, at Naples, Fia.

We can give all of our critics a problem for solution concerning refraction, if it is desirable on their part to consider whether or not their objections are valid. One of the most commonly observed phenomena of refraction is the apparent bending of rods placed obliquely in the water. This is due to refraction; the refractive power of water being greater than that of the atmosphere, causes the rod to appear to be bent upwards from its true position. Light passing from a rarer into a denser medium is refracted toward the perpendicular; light passing from a denser medium into a lighter one is bent from the perpendicular, or is made to incline more nearly to the horizontal. Some substances refract more than others—water more than air, and glass more than water, diamond most of all substances. The refractive powers of the various substances are indicated by numbers, which are called "indices of refraction." The more dense the medium the greater the refractive power, and consequently, the larger the index of refraction. The index of refraction of a given medium is therefore related to the specific gravity of that substance. Hence, the angle of refraction is greater in a denser medium for a given obliquity or angle of incidence. The problem is, to find the true place of an object, light from which passes through media of varying density, the character, density and indices of refraction of which are unknown to the scientific world. The emplacement of static balance of any substance in the universe can be definitely and exactly located if only its specific gravity is known, together with the relation of that substance to others above and below it in the scale of specific weights. It is a well-known fact that substances lighter than the atmosphere, ascend; while those possessing greater specific gravity than the atmosphere, descend. The lighter substances of the universe surround the central sun, the heaviest substances lie farthest from it. Resting above and superimposed upon our atmosphere is the next lighter substance utilized for a universal purpose, the sea of hydrogen, or water generator, the specific gravity of which is about one sixteenth that of the atmosphere we breathe. If above the sea of hydrogen there is a sea of boron, its specific gravity is proportionably less. From the basis of the specific gravity and the refractory powers of each medium from the central sun to the circumference, let the index of refraction of each be deduced, as well as the obliquity that the supposed line of vision through the highest atmosphere sustains to the direction at the place of observation of the critic. On the supposition of plane surfaces, the ratios and indices of refraction would be considerable; if the surface of the atmospheres is concave to the center, the indices of refraction would be so great as to not admit of direct vision into even the second atmosphere or sea of hydrogen; and consequently, direct vision across the earth from side to side is impossible.

The Phenomena of the Tides.

Some people are sure that the tides constitute a strong proof of the correctness of the Copernican theory, and consequently, evidence that the Koreshan System cannot be true. According to the usual theory of the earth's convexity, the land and water surface of the earth is on the outside, the water resting on the outside of the large globe of the earth. The moon, at a distance of about 240,000 miles, is supposed to influence the water upon the earth through the operation of the force of gravity. Though the moon is considered to possess less specific gravity than the earth, and that the mass of the moon is about one eighty-ninth that of the earth, scientists are foolish enough to suppose that the force of the moon's gravity can so overcome that of the earth, as to lift millions of tons of -water a few feet to cause the tides. The relation of the time of the tides and the position of the moon on the meridian has led to the supposition that the moon has to do with the tides. The basis of conclusion in the Koreshan System, that there is a relation of the moon and the recurrence of the flow and ebb of the tides, is not that of supposition, but the comprehension of the laws of universal function; consequently in the Cellular Cosmogony there is not such apparent absurdity as is obviously manifest in the usual theory of the tides.

Let the usual critic of the Koreshan System of cosmogony carefully consider the subject of the tides for a moment, and see if the evidences supposedly in favor of the Copernican system do not prove too much. The moon returns to a given meridian in about 25 hours. If it exerts a power upon the earth sufficient to lift the waters from its surface, it would seem that after it had so far overcome the earth's gravity, the water would be free to be drawn the entire distance of 240,000 miles and landed upon the surface of the moon! But granting that it would not, it would seem that, as high tide occurs when the moon is on the meridian, and if the tide is caused by the moon's attraction, there should

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be but one flood and one ebb per day. It is well known to every one near the sea shore, and to all scientific men the world over, and denied by no one familiar with the phenomena and tables of the tides, that there are two distinct floods and ebbs in 23 hours. In other words, while there is a tide in New York, the moon being in the zenith of the vicinity of New York, there is also a tide at Calcutta and Bombay, India, 180 degrees east of New York, and on the opposite side of the earth. If the moon pulls the water at New York, and the moon's attraction is the cause of the tides, let the critic answer the question, What causes the tide on the opposite side of the earth at the same time? In order to convince the most skeptical regarding the statement that there are two distinct floods and ebbs in 23 hours, we will quote the following popular astronomical authority:

The highest and lowest points to which they go are called respectively, high and low tides. The tides ebb and flow twice every 24 hours; i. e., we have two flood and two ebb tides in that time. The simple rising of a flood tide on the side of the earth toward the moon would give us but one flow and one ebb in 24 hours; whereas, it is known that we have two of each.— Mattison's High School Astronomy.

The tides ebb and flow twice a day. The reason why there are two tides a day will appear by studying the case of the moon's revolution around the earth.—Newcomb's Popular Astronomy.

The Koreshan explanation of the tides embraces consideration of all the hydrographic records of the various governments, as well as every fact of phenomena of the same. Neither the Founder of the Koreshan System nor its advocates are in ignorance of the facts so commonly observed, nor of the solution of the mysteries the phenomena suggest. We insist that our critics cannot know more of the subject than we. As we are in the business of forcing our critics and objectors to surrender, we are able, through the demonstrations of the earth's concavity, to prove our every premise of argument and basis of conclusion.

The principle of respiration is universal; the two great central laws of motion upon which depend the principles of recreation and perpetuation of the universe, are respiration and pulsation. Everything in the universe breathes, even the atmosphere and oceans. The great metallic shell contracts and expands under the influence of solar and lunar energies. The floods and ebbs of the great oceanic bodies, usually explained upon the absurd hypothesis of physics, is an expansion of the water through the action of energies. It is the literal breathing or respiration of the universe, and not the displacement of the bulk nor the shifting of the mass of water between the continents. The tides are caused by the pulsations of the moon; the environ of the universe is the real moon—the moon we see in the physical heavens is but the X-ray picture or gravosphere of the earth's crust.

T H E G E O D E T I C O P E R A T I O N S.

Vol. 11, No. 2 · Feb. 1897 · PDF pp. 20–21

The Flaming Sword · Vol. 11, No. 2 · Feb. 1897 · PDF pp. 20–21

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