2 for 1! An introduction and a mysterious old book.

Hello everyone, my name is anon29.

The first part of this post is going to be a short introduction, followed by some pictures of an old book I have come across that I would like some help identifying. If introduction posts bore you, skip to the second half.

Part I

I have decided to create an account here at ATS after lurking these forums for some years. It has taken me quite some time to justify this move, as ATS is a very unique place with an intimidating depth. I finally feel that I may have some ideas and opinions that are worth adding to the various discussions that take place here. You may or may not feel the same after my thoughts start manifesting into posts here, but I’ve decided I need an outlet for these abstractions that roll around in my head, as I’ve abandoned social networking sites, and my more intellectual friends are not always readily available to converse with.

As this is an introduction post, I thought it would be appropriate to cover some of the most frequented topics, and give a short, personal-opinion response to each of them. Obviously I will not be able to cover all of them here (nor would I want to), but there are a few that I feel especially passionate about.

Before I cover the few topics I have thought about I would like to offer a small disclaimer. I don’t believe that any of my thoughts on these matters are original or exclusive to myself, so please do not respond pretentiously. I am simply trying to convey insight into my worldview; and hope that I can do so without arrogance.

-----

-- I will begin with the most inconsequential, but always sensationalized topic of politics. I believe that there are certain entities which control American, and transitively, world politics. I believe these entities are not concerned with voting or the average American’s sentiment towards politics, and thus make decisions according to their own agendas. This may be nefarious, it may not be. A new world order could be a good thing, and it could very well be a bad thing. But I have not seen enough evidence from either side of the argument tosolidified my opinion. All in all, I think there are much more important things going on in the multiverse, so I will be glad when the imminent presidential elections are over.

-- Aliens. They’re out there. I think we’ve (and by we I mostly mean the government, or the entities that control the government) had brief contact. And I think that this contact is the origin of much of our modern technology. However, I do not understand why they would refuse to make themselves known to the general populace. I believe that the secret relationship between certain humans and alien beings is one of the main stagnations holding the human race from advancement and inevitable evolution. Hopefully disclosure will come soon. I am infinitely curious about the possibility of other life forms.

-- ATS threads seem to constantly pop up in the recent section about existence, life, and what happens when we die. I often think about these things, and very much enjoying reading the opinions of posters here, and of more prominent minds like Terrence McKenna. Whether the discussion is about reincarnation, simulation theory, fundamental religious views, or new aged abstractions I take all things in and try to discover the intent behind them. I have had a few (naturally induced) psychedelic experiences that I believe have revealed slivers of the truth of the nature of reality, and am thirsty to uncover our purpose on this planet in this dimension, and ultimately cure our collective amnesia. Lofty goals, I know. But there is something to be said for noble and altruistic curiosity.

Well, that was a brief overview of my thoughts on the physical, inter-galactic, and metaphysical topics that are most frequently discussed here. I hope this introduction is well received and that I am able to actively participate in this community after only lurking for far too long.

Part II

This is going to be short and heavily dependant upon pictures, because I have no idea what exactly I have here. If you have any idea as to what you think it might be please leave a reply. And better yet, if you know somewhere you think I could take it (or ship it) to learn more about it from a knowledgeable expert, please speak up.

Hopefully it’s a necrocomicon ...but I sort of doubt it with the pictures of jesus(?) and all.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

Image 9

Image 10

Image 11

Those are the pictures I took. Found it in my grandmother's basement. Let me know if you think it's something cool. or just an old book.

Peace

Interesting. I just wish the pictures were bigger, lol...

reply to post by anon29


glad to meet you anon29! Nice intro. You seem very interesting and can't wait to see you around on some threads.

The book looks cool from what I can see,I don't know if it's my iPad or you didn't size the pics right though,because i cant see whole pictures, I'm only seeing maybe a fourth of the picture.

From what I see looks like a cool old book.

Increase the peace!

Read the rules here in the T&C. Introduction Forum is only for that. Come back when youve read the T&C's please, and after youve made the 20 required posts. Then we can talk!

to view op's pics ... right click /save them ...

Umm...hmmm....Needs more cow bell! Oh and bigger photos! LOL

See you when you learn the T&C's

Welcome aboard !
Well you old book a lot like Catechism of the Orthodox, in Russian language.
Catechism

Its holds the important parts of bible like confession of faith, 10 commandsments etc there are written important writings from bible. Catechism was used in schools and sunday schools pretty much everywhere in Scandinavia and European side of Russia. When Bible was heavy book to carry this version was lighter and it had what was needed to teach people. They were usually used in 1800-1950. This one looks old you have there you might find the year when its printed.

Not many families afforded Bible back then but they afforded Catechism.

I apologize for the gigantic pictures lol... but hey, that's some serious detail.

Thanks for the welcome, and if I wasn't supposed to include any actual content in this thread, just ignore it and I'll make another post someday.

Someone mentioned something about Russian... I'll have to dig around, but that's a good starting point.

Peace

Welcome to ATS! If you ever feel the need for an avatar, you can visit the avatar thread in my signiture. No charge or anything like that, we just like making them

It's been a few years since I studied the Russian language, but I can tell you it is not Russian. The Russian language is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Cyrillic is based off of the Greek alphabet, which is what the OP's book is written in. They are different enough, and it has been long enough, that I cannot translate any of it. But I did definitely make out the name "Mary" under the picture of the woman.

I believe it to be a Greek translation of a religious text. Not the whole bible, maybe a gospel, or the chatechism or "Lives of the Saints" or something along those lines. Definitely not a necronomicon or any other grimoire. My bet is on gospel/gospels.

It's not in great shape, but it is bound in genuine leather and hand-embossed. I'm thinking it probably belonged to an early 20th century immigrant boy who attended Catholic school. Or perhaps to a boy who attended an ivy-league school where it was expected every student master the Greek language, as was the custom in such institutions at that time.

Of course I say all this with the caveat I may be dead wrong. I'd love to see it up close and be able to look at every page. I don't think it is what you were hoping for, but nevertheless I think it is VERY cool.

I'm back. I'm still working on this. Learning to translate Greek at the moment, but about to step outside for a smoke.

I made out this word, Orologie (or Orologia). I'm looking for an exact translation for it, but from a glance at my search results, I'm getting pages in German, which I am still in the middle of learning. But this is one of the definitions I have tracked down.

Orologie

[137] Orologie (griech.), vergleichende Gebirgskunde oder

Out for a break, more to come soon.

reply to post by heyitsok


Don't forget about us! I'm very intrigued...at first I thought it looked Greek, but the more I read the more I kept noticing what appeared to be Russian characters......AAAANDD then I read you're second-to-last post debunking that.

I'm no translator, and only hardly speak a second language, but could this be some type of now-defunct Bohemian script? Perhaps proto-Slavic...?

my opinion

reply to post by anon29


Definitely not a necronomicon ...likely a addendum to the Bible used by an Eastern Orthodox church near Bulgaria, if you'd have to ask me. It definitely rings of a Catholic overtone, but I don't see any defining features of a Bible (eg. verse numbers and the like). I'd wager its an old "companion study-guide" to the Catholic Bible of that era.

I'll be sure to check out the avatar thread and give you guys something interesting to work on.

Interesting theories on the book. I'm excited to see if anything comes about through the guy working on some of the translations.

Thanks again for the welcomes. Glad I finally got around to creating my account...I've had the draft of this introduction sitting in my gdocs for like 4 months.

Peace

reply to post by anon29


Welcome aboard anon29.

I think the photos are too small. I can't make out anything.

Fascinating old bookyou have there. I do hope someone can come up with a translation so we can learn more about it. Hello and welcome!!

Note: This thread was moved from the introductions forum, as it is not an introduction in the strictest sense, but we are willing to give the OP a chance to share his story (even though he hasn't reached the required 20 post limit to start a new thread).

Let's see where this goes.

reply to post by thebryman


I was partially wrong. It isn't Greek. It isn't the modern Russian Cyrillic which I'm familiar with. But it is Cyrillic. It's Early Cyrillic, and I think this book (whatever it turns out to be) is probably written in the Church Slavonic liturgical language. How do I know? Ten hours of research, and counting.

Bryman, you nailed it I think. Good job.

Anyways, now that I have the exact alphabet figured out, and probably the exact dialect, it's time to see just what this book is all about...

You want to see this
Old Russian Orthodox writing

Im still sticking on my opinion its old Russian Orthodox catechism, how i know this? My sister in law is works in Orthodox museum, my hubbys grandmother is orthodox.