the opposite. It appears that its real intention, from the very first, was not to prevent publication, but to promote it. Its actions convinced Temple himself of the importance of his research, and the 1998 edition has now convinced his readers too. Introducing this air of intrigue, by implication the significance of the ‘message’ today is reinforced. It must be remembered that intelligence agencies are the masters of such psychological games.
In this category we include the behind-the-scenes activities of high-level politicians such as Henry Wallace, and the often undeniable Masonic agenda that underpins so much of this, including the ‘prophecies’ of Edgar Cayce.
If, as we have come to believe, there is a stargate conspiracy, then who are the conspirators and what are their aims? Can we identify any one group that might be the overall puppetmasters? As will have become obvious, this is a very complex scenario and there are no simple answers.
For example, the very mention of the CIA will, to many people, immediately identify the overall culprit as either that agency or the United States government itself. However, recent history has shown that the CIA has often pursued policies and objectives about which it has happily kept its political masters in the dark. The CIA is not synonymous with the United States government. Moreover, there have been many examples of cabals within the CIA, often reaching to the very highest level, which have used the privileges and resources of that extremely powerful organisation to further their own agendas. 15 So we can conclude that the presence of individual CIA agents does not necessarily imply that they are acting in accordance with agency or governmental policy.
Similarly, individual politicians and business people may be involved in this story for their personal satisfaction. There is no way of knowing who is the player and who is the played. And in the same way, Freemasonry figures largely throughout this book, but whether or not this is the fabled Masonic conspiracy is more open to question.
Most conspiracy theorists (we are not denying that we fit the description ourselves) tend to think in terms of one identifiable group behind every plot and hidden agenda. Unfortunately for such theorists and romanticists alike, real life is not so simple. Where conspiracies exist they are likely to involve various individuals and groups who have a vested interest in a particular outcome. It may be that the stargate conspirators include CIA Operatives, Freemasons, politicians and their wealthy backers, who believe they have something to gain by creating this belief system, or fear they have something to lose if it does not happen. This conspiracy is bigger than one group or set of individuals.
What is clear is the nature of the conspiracy’s objective. It is to push a particular system of belief on as many levels as possible, from the general public to genuine dyed-in-the-wool New Agers. ‘They’ are after all of us - hearts, minds and souls.
In their own image
In 1973 the United States government commissioned a report from SRI International 16 entitled Changing Images of Man, edited by Willis W. Harman and O.W. Markley, which concluded that the spread of what it termed ‘the new values’ - spiritual and ecological awareness and self-realisation movements — is becoming virtually unstoppable. This would bring about a transformation of society (particularly in the United States) that would radically undermine ‘modem industrial-state culture and institutions’ and result in ‘serious social disruptions, economic decline, runaway inflation, and even institutional collapse’. 17 This report anticipates a lessening of trust in authority and a reaction against a regimented, tightly controlled society. It also suggested ways of preventing this worst-case scenario by identifying existing institutions or traditions that could be used to control and contain the impetus of the new