Short description
The Ark of the Covenant is the source of one of the deepest mysteries of the Western world. Laurence Gardner has accessed Rosicrucian archives to reveal where the Ark is, what it is and how this lost secret of the distant past has led to the phenomenal new science of space-time manipulation.
Long description
The sacred Ark of the Covenant, created from a legendary substance, is the source of one of the deepest mysteries of the Western world. No reason is given in the Bible as to why the Ark of the Covenant was so richly contrived and no explanation exists of its alleged awesome and deadly powers.;Laurence Gardner has accessed Rosicrucian archives in liaison with eminent nuclear physicists to reveal where the Ark is, what it is and how this lost secret of the distant past has led to the phenomenal new science of space-time manipulation. Gardner's controversial research reveals that the secret of the pharaohs' rite of passage to the Afterlife was due to an amazing magical substance, which was directly associated with the pyramids and the biblical Ark of the Covenant. This substance, now known to be superconductive monatomic gold, became know as the Philosophers' Stone, while in today's corridors of quantum mechanics its attributes are classified as "the most remarkable physical property in the universe".
Review
It's human nature to ascribe great secrets and astonishing discoveries to past civilizations, and this desire is alive and kicking in the latest book by Laurence Gardner, author of Bloodline of the Holy Grail amongst others. He is a historian with a strong dose of curiosity and imagination, always looking to find definitive answers to age-old mysteries. The lurid cover suggests a bit of light speculation mixed in with known historical fact, but in fact the book is an extremely dense read, and you have to enter the mindset of the author to appreciate it. This is quantum mechanics meets alchemy meets lateral interpretation of the Bible. It's about gold, ancient Egypt, secrets, myths, superconductors and space-time, the Knights Templar and parallel dimensions. Gardner's really a mystic looking for facts to corroborate belief and as such there is so much interpretation and conjecture mixed with fact that it's difficult to be objective; one gets caught up with his enthusiasm of the minutiae and swept along by it. The credulous among us may believe that a marriage between nuclear physics and ancient freemasonry can establish once and for all the reputed terrifying powers of the biblical Ark of the Covenant, and make the leap from that into the manipulation of space and time. But take a deep breath. Somehow this feels like eminent scientists at play in worlds unfamiliar to them, excited schoolboys allowed to explore fanciful realms. It's an interesting book, though, and those who enjoy supposed 'amazing revelations' about the past will probably be hooked once more. Suspension of disbelief will be a useful ally on your journey through the reference-peppered pages. But will you come out with certainty? Will you know for sure what happened to the Ark and where it now lies? Did it really levitate? Or will the journey be all? (Kirkus UK)