Body Piercing, A Painful Pleasure?

The history of Body piercing is around 5000 years old. Almost all the cultures in the ancient times pierced their body. The objective of this post is to display some amazing customs in body piercing. In the ancient times, people not only pierced their nose and ear lopes, they also pierced their septum, nipple, clitoris, navel, foreskin and scrotum piercing. Let us view some of the peculiar piercing practices of the early history.

Nipple piercing:  

Nipple piercing was practiced by the ancient Romans. The ancient Roman centurions pierced their nipples to display their power and virility. That was a symbol of honor that displayed their dedication to the Roman Empire. Nipple piercing helped the centurion to unite and control the large Roman army. To display his singularity and strength even Julius Caesar pierced his nipples too.

In the middle of 14^th century the women practiced to wore low necklines that could display almost more than half of their breasts. The queen Isabella of Bavaria wore the garments of the grand neckline (this kind of dress displays their upper body from breast to naval. This tradition eventually led the royal ladies to freely display their breasts and place diamond studded rings and caps on their ‘little apples of paradise’ and in some cases they  passed the gold chains through them and decorated with diamonds.

According to modern days research the nipple piercing makes the nipples to grow bigger in size and makes more sensitive and sexually attractive. It gives immense pleasure and continuous stimulation in the nipples.

Male genital piercing:

                 The piercing of Glans of penis was pierced to insert jewelery in the ancient times. Even Kama Sutra tells us the Apadravya piercing. In the ancient times the athletes participated nude in the Olympian Games to avoid their penis moving about and get injured the tied the foreskin of the penis with a leather thong with base of the penis. That leather thong was called” Kynodeme.” This practice may lead to the permanent piercing of foreskin, to prevent the slaves and athletes from having sex.  The genital piercing through the head of the penis was performed to the slaves and gladiators not only to avoid injury they are at the mercy of the owners to do have sex.

                 The husband of Queen Victoria of England, Prince Albert had pierced his penis to allow it to hold it by a hook inside the trousers not to create an unsightly bulge. Remember wearing a pant so tight is the custom of that period.

The Hindu Temples of Angkor Wat part.v

              The most of the vivid account of Khmer society comes not from the bas reliefs but from the writings of the Chinese diplomat. In 1296, Zhou Daguan was sent to Angkor by Kublai Khan’s grandson and successor, Timur Khan. His impressions survive in his notes on The Custom of Cambodia.

                As a diplomat, Zhou Daguan observed the Khmer king at close quarters during royal audiences, and described the pomp and circumstances of the court: ‘The king either wears a gold diadem on his head or simply warps his hair in a garland of flowers that reminds me of jasmine… large pearls hang from his neck, and on his wrists, ankles, and arms he wears gold bracelets and rings set with tiger’s eyes. He goes about barefoot, and the soles of his feet and the palms of his hands are stained red with sandalwood.

                ‘When the king goes out, his escort is led by soldiers. Then come the standards, the flags, and music, followed by his wives, and concubines in palanquins, carts, and on horseback. Finally, the king arrives, standing on an elephant with a precious gold sword in his hand. Everyone who sees him has to prostrate himself and touch the ground with his forehead.

                In contrast to his splendor, Zhou Daguan paints a sorry picture of the prisoners of war or captured savages who were forced into slavery they were a separate class with no privileges, ’bending the head while they are beaten, without daring to make a small movement…

Despite the blaze of royal splendor described by Zhou Daguan, Angkor’s days were numbered. The reign of Jayavarman VII had turned out to be the city’s final burst of temple and empire building. During the 300 years of construction, many changes in architectural style had occurred. Towards the end, the buildings displaced a gradual move away from the Hindu cult of the god Siva

The Khmers had come increasingly under the influence of the Buddhist sect which stressed austerity and self denial. The old state religion headed by the supreme god king may have faded out, the kings authority fading with it, bringing the close cooperation between sovereign and subjects to an end.

In the 15^th century, when the armies of the neighboring Thai kingdoms sacked the city, the Khmers moved to a new site near Phnom Penh. Angkor could not survive for long. The irrigation network on which the remaining peasants depended fell into disrepair, and gradually the jungle reclaimed its land. All that was left were creeper infested ruins, and the memory of  a unique culture living under the protection of a living god.

The Hindu Temples of Angkor Wat part.IV

In the bas-reliefs which decorate the Bayon temple built by Jayavarman VII, the Khmers recorded their day to day activities. The carvings show people bartering and hunting. Other prepare feasts, watch cockfights, or marvel at amazing acrobatic feats. 

                 The bas- reliefs in the Bayon also depict vivid battle scenes commemorating the victory of the Khmers over the Chams, which tell something of the army that extended the power of the empire throughout southern Indo China.

                 The king and his generals rode into battle on elephants trained for war. The animals were armed- sharp metal points were fitted to their tusks. On a platform on each elephant’s back stood a fierce warrior brandishing a bow and arrow. The Carnac, or the driver, perched in the animal’s neck. In battle, clashes between elephants-bore warriors often took the form of the duel. The winning warrior would leap on to his opponent’s animal to press home his victory.

                 Lighted torches were waved to enrage other elephants, which were then used as battering rams to break through enemy defenses. They went into battle alongside sabre-rattling horsemen, riding without stirrups, and well ordered ranks of infantry. After an initial exchange of arrows, the troops fell into hand to hand combat. When the battle ended, the wounded on both sides were usually killed to put them out of their misery.

                 The Khmers soldiers seem to have worn only loincloths and leather jerkins. For protection they carried wooden shields. They attacked their enemies with lances, pikes, sabres, bows, knives, javelins, and sometimes ballistas- large catapults operated by teams of soldiers, which hurled rocks a deep into the ranks of the opposing arm.

The Hindu Temples of Angkor Wat part.III

               

                 The walls could have contained the whole of ancient Rome, but most people lived in the suburbs outside. The walled area was almost exclusively a royal, religious, and administrative centre. Beyond the suburbs, villages were scattered along the canals- the arteries which carried water, the nation’s lifeblood, to the paddy fields.

                IN 1992, THE RUINS OF Angkor became a world heritage site. Under the guidance of UNESCO, archaeologists began to investigate, preserve, and restore its unique monuments; the carvings on its stones have left many clues to the pattern of everyday life in ancient Kampuchea. Each peasant built his own house, following a design that remains unchanged to this day- a hut on stilts with a pitched roof, woven bamboo walls, and a planked floor. Inside, a single large room was divided by partitions. At night, the peasant tied his animals to the stilts and claimed inside the house using a crude wooden ladder, which he drew up behind him. Outside, piles of smouldering straw sent smoke wafting between the stilts to ward of insects.

                The Khmer peasant usually produced enough from his well irrigated plot to pay his takes and feed his family. He fished, and reared cattle, water buffaloes, pigs and fowl to barter for other goods in the local market. The women gathered cotton and kapok, kept silk warms, and wove the family’s clothes. Thought the peasants controlled their own land, the king remained the legal landowner. During the dry season, as part of their duty to their landlord, the peasants left their small holdings to erect public monuments and build dams, working together for the good of all and for the glory of their leader.

The Hindu Temples of Angkor Wat part.II

                Jayavarman declared himself; a god king- a link between mankind and the spirits. He began a grand tradition of temple building that was to be kept alive by future Khmer rulers. The god kings, most of who were Hindus, marked their link with the divine by adorning their temples with statues of the principal gods made in their own likenesses. The duty of the god king was to win the favor of the other gods for the benefit of his subjects. While the temples paid tribute to the generosity of these gods, who helped to swell the city’s rice harvests, the scared states remained worshippers of the power of their supreme ruler.

                Each Khmer king, as well as adding to the irrigation network, tried to outshine his predecessor with the splendor of his temple. The brilliant of all is Angkor Wat, built by Suryavarman II. Like most of the Khmers’ temples, Angkor Wat is a symbol of Mount Meru – in Hindu legend, the home of the gods.

                 Shortly after Angkor Wat’s construction, the Khmer capital was sacked by the Chams from lower Annam (present day Vietnam). Its people endured four years of submission, until the future Jayavarman VII led a rebellion which drove out the hated invaders. Then embarked on an ambitious program of construction and rebuilt the royal capital.

              Jayavarman VII‘s city is known as Angkor Thom. The square moat which surrounds it was once stocked with fierce crocodiles. Each side is more than 3 Km long and is reinforced by defensive walls of 7 meter high. The main through fares align with the points of the compass, entering the city across the moat and through gateways large enough to allow the access of royal elephants. They meet in the centre of the capital, at the massive temple of the Bayon.

The Hindu Temples of Angkor Wat part.I

               The fabulous city of the Khmers, whose empire covered most of modern Cambodia and Thailand, was only rediscovered in 1860. While its temples still pay tribute to the gods and god kings, they also tell of the daily life of the peasants whose labor created it.

                Today’s Kampucheans trace their origins back to a Hindu people, the Khmers. The Khmers ruled a large area of south East Asia for some 500 years, until the early 15^th century Ad when the neighboring Thais drove them from their home in what was then Cambodia. More than 400 years later, in January 1860, a French naturalist making his way along a vine entangled track in the Kampuchean jungle caught sight of five conical towers rising above a canopy of trees. Henri Mouhot had stumbled upon a vast monument of this vanished civilization – the ruined city of Angkor, ancient capital of the Khmers.

                THE Khmer empire flourished between the 9^th and 14^th centuries across the whole of modern Kampuchea and parts of South Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Its founder, king Jayavarman II, chose a site for his capital near the Angkor plain a vast tract of fertile land watered by tributaries of the Mekong River.

                The city’s people fed well all year round. Making the most of the brief monsoonal wet season, they used a complex system of reservoirs and canals to supply water to their rice paddies during periods of drought.

Nostradamus and His Prophecies Part.I

                                        I have already written about Michel Nostradamus, seer of France, an extraordinary man who born in 1503 who possessed some inner knowledge than an ordinary man.Let us view more about his Prophecies.

                                        Nostradamus was a general medical practitioner, a man of exceptional medical accomplishments. Less details of his life are available, from his manuscripts, his epistles to the King of France, and his letters to his own son; it is evident that he too belonged to the Order of the Pursuit.

                                        The first edition of the Prophecies of Nostradamus was published in 1660. At that time the Americas were still the happy hunting ground of Spanish adventures. There was no indication that it will be a super power in the western hemisphere, but Nostradamus wrote at length of the future of America which indicates his extraordinary knowledge.

                                         Throughout his prophecy he mentions America with several names like- Hisparides, America, the Blessed Isles of the West and The land which keeps the Thursday. This last one name is really an astonishing one, because it refers to t the unique American holiday, Thanks giving. It always falls upon a Thursday. This is the only American holiday which depends upon the Thursday alone for its celebration.

To review the opinions of Nostradamus concerning the future fate of Western civilization is not easy.

                                        He foresaw and a great evolution would rise in the western world. That revolution would liberate itself from the bonds of its parent country will assume a free place among the temporal powers. It will flourish and extend its domain across the entire continent. It will grow prosperous and powerful and will live harmony will with its sister (Canada). He wrote that America would have to wage several wars including with the Orient. This clash he describes as an eagle flying against the rising sun. But during his days neither the eagle nor the rising sun had the slightest importance in the symbolism of nations.  In short he foretold the story of the Blessed Isles it accurately according to the spiritual tradition. Really it is amazing mystery.

                                        In ancient days, astrology was one the science of the Kingdoms. Many astrological books clearly show that terrestrial signs were sued to represent the elements of the political system, and the astrologers were the part of the Order of the Quest. Nostradamus was consulted by three kings and Queen; Catherine de Medici consulted him on many occasions. His prophesies of Nostradamus have been translated into most of the languages in the world.

Tamil Treatise on Architecture Part .I

Ancient Indian people followed certain thumb rule for constructing their houses. Let us see few of them. Measure the length and breadth of the house.  Multiply length and the breath and multiply that resulting number by eight and divide the result by 12 the remainder will be the Profit or Ayam.

 Again multiply the length and breadth of the house and multiply that resulting number by nine and divide the product by ten the remainder will be the Loss or Selavu.

Multiply the length and breadth of the house and then multiply the result by twenty seven and divide it by hundred the remainder will be the durability or the age of the house. 

Let us view this with example.

Let the length of the house be eleven feet and the width be 5 feet, let us calculate the age of the building. By the thumb rule 11×5=55 again 55×27=1485 divide it by 100 the remainder will be 85 therefore the age of the building will be 85 years.

Let us calculate the Ayam and Selavu of the building. By the Rule 11×5=55, 55×8=440, divide 440 by 12 the result 8 is Ayam.

Let us calculate the Selavu, by rule 11×5=55, 55×9=495, divide 495 by 10 the remainder 5 is the Selavu or loss.

If the Ayam be 0 to 2 it denotes Happiness and Pleasure

If the Ayam be 3to 4 it denotes the Fame

If the Ayam be 5 to 6 it denotes abundant Wealth

If the Ayam be 7 to 8 it denotes more benefits and true wisdom.

Did Jesus ever visit India?

           There are so many mysteries in Bible.  One of its mysteries is about Jesus where about in early twenties. In New Testament there is a huge gap from his puberty till three years before his crucifixion. The general inference is that he was assisting his father in his carpentry work and nothing had happened remarkable. There are so many rumors about him in that period and we could not validate them. Let us see one of them. 

         One rumor was that Jesus went to  India during that time. By that time there were well established trade routes, so it may be possible. Remember Alexander came here several centuries before, then why can’t Jesus? 

In 19^th century; Nicolas Notovitch a Russian traveler mentioned in his travel book about this. According to him this story was revealed by a senior Lama in Ladakh. Let us go through that.

      According to him a manuscript was read to him. In that mentioned, Jesus was respected as Bodhisattva in the name of Issa and he came to India to learn more about Buddhism and Vedas.  In Ladakh he had healed and made a dead child alive.  As Jesus stirred up the caste war against Brahmins he was forced to leave India and Jesus returned back to Persia.

     

            To verify the authenticity of Notovitch claim, Max Muller sent one letter to the monastery, but they disavowed such knowledge of things and manuscript. There are so many controversies in his book. According to him Jesus was called as Issa, but Issa an Islamic name was not in use by that time of Jesus.

            But the Ahmadiyya Muslims believe that Jesus survived after the crucifixion and then fled to India, and lived and died of his old age. Similar story was incorporated by Elizabeth Clare prophet. 

                It may not happened  as exactly as Notovitch claimed but there are so many similarities  between the religious movements of India and Near East in the early millennium  which is to be explored  to know more about the facts.

Bhavishya Purana 19:23.: ' am born to virgin'

Black Magic Symbols

       In black magic and astrological practices the triangle is of most significant importance in enlightening realm. Among the Satanists and witches the   double triangle (otherwise called seal of Solomon or Hexagram) is of great importance. It is of two triangles superimposed on one another. One triangle pointed upward and the other pointing downward. The pointing upward triangle denotes the material matter and the male generative act and the downward triangle mentions the spiritual and the female sexuality. Hence this seal indicates the integrated power of male and female together that is sexual union. Remember in llluminisam there is a sex cult and you can find sexual connotations in it. And they use signs and symbols to hide their sexual notes. Single triangle is widely used in occult (remember Jews uses this single triangle or the delta symbol to denote their goddess).

                    The triple triangle mentions the number 666 symbolically because 666 is the holy number of Goddess. In Hebrew the sixth letter is V (Vau) that is Nail; Nail is also the secret title for Satan. Remember the book of revelation coded the beast as 666

               The occult magicians and witches use the triangle formed by the word ABRACADABRA. This is an ancient word in Rome and Pagan doctors used this word for occult medicine.

               Satan (Saturn) or Lucifer was worshiped by the early civilization people and they used the triangle within the circle symbol.  This denotes symbol of creation and the circle of life. The triangle surrounded by the serpentine circle indicates the unholy trinity.

Cleopatra and The religious sex customs of ancient Egypt.

Cleopatra was the first Greek who knows the Egyptian language and only Queen who became the head priestess of the goddess. Here I wish to remained my readers that Cleopatra dressed as the high priestess of the Aset before Marc Anthony (and not dressed as Aphrohite wrongly  recorded by  most historian)

Cleopatra was loved by the Egyptian not only for her beauty but also for her sexuality. On one occasion Cleopatra is recorded as having performed fellatio on (sucked the cocks) one hundred Roman nobles in one night. The Egyptians not only accepted this but also highly praised that. To become a high priestess of Aset the women first have to sex with at least one thousand different men (here I wish to emphasize

In ancient Egypt sex is the core of the religion. It was the priestess to do its sacred sexual rituals that distinguished their Goddess religion from other forms of feminine worship. In the temples of The Goddess priestesses would conduct sexual rituals for the cleansing of men and the fertility of the property

           In Egyptian language negation meant semen or the male essence (in modern language means negative) in their religion “ritual of negation means the vaginal intercourse with the priestess. During that ritual he ejaculates his semen inside the vagina of the priestess in order to wipe out or negate his sins.

It is the priestess who intercedes on man’s behalf of with Goddess. According to their belief she is the mother of his spiritual life she is the guide in his death and she leads the soul to the Underworld, and she prepares the soul for the rebirth again. Their religion gives spiritual knowledge, love, sex and pleasure isn’t it?

The Pagan Goddess and Gods

         

    

     Egypt was a land of many people; those came from different parts of the world for better life was the melting pot of the ancient world civilization. As the people were of different region they brought with them their own traditions, religions cultures and sentiments. 

          Here I wish to point out few things to my readers; here I am talking about the Egypt of more than two thousand years ago, Present Egypt was conquered by Arabs just three decades ago and was inhabited by them but still a few native Egyptians are left in the world today (they were the descendants of the Tamari – the people of Mari who were the original Egyptians).

           For more than three millenniums, the religion of Isis and Hathor otherwise known as The PaganGoddess and Gods was prospered in Egypt, until the Christians entered there. Isis was
Triple Goddess connotation in one being. She is the goddess of Manifestation, nature, law, ethics, love and magic. Isis governs the forces of Creation. Her name means 'throne'. She is the source of all creative power.  She gives form to the formless.

  The Christians destroyed the last temples of the Goddess Isis in the 5^th century. Even few priests escaped and kept in secret of their religion for the sixty generation of priests. Even now also some Egyptians are practicing their religion in hidden, to escape from the strict laws of Islamic justice.

The teachings of their religion are sex positive. That was very new in the time of sex domination and guilt. Their Goddess taught the path way to divine is sex.  

Most of the present day religions cannot answer these following questions:

Where did I come from to this world?

Why I am here on the earth?

Where do I go after death?

             

  But this religion of Goddess has the answer with it. The purification rituals of them were the rituals of psycho pomp and of divine sexual. They strongly believe that sex was given by the goddess for both women and men to enjoy the life and sex are the creative power of the universe. They believe Sex as principle by which soul are conducted to and from the world of spirits.

Erotic Sculptures And Indian Temples

                         In India one can view erotic carvings in almost all the temples in India, most particularly those of Khajuraho and Konark; clearly indicates that every human being is amorous and deeply fascinated by sexual desire.  Most of the other religious people raise questions in this matter, and doubted the need for these erotic sculptures in the temples?

                          Our religion has a high value on ascetic ideal and intrinsic worth of celibacy. There is a whole mythology around semen, male and female genital organs. In the Hindu presumption of sublimation, if the semen is retained within the male body himself, it can be transformed into a source of creativity and religious supremacy.

                           There are different opinions on why temples were decorated with sexually explicit sculptures. Some people says that the old kings lived in obscene luxury and the used these for thrill and some people argues it was part of sexual instruction in ancient India and few more argue Just like the Romans, ancient Indians could be or were ever as stanch in their pursuit of pleasure. Before concluding we have to see the historical background also. 

                               In the mediaeval period monastic Buddhism was prevalent and the people were  losing interest in the married house hold life, and hence the temple were built with erotic sculptures and attract the people towards sex and family life to renovate Hinduism.

                          What was the necessity to decorate a temple with erotic sculpture?  If one observes the worldly thoughts of Hinduism; there is nothing unnatural about them. Isn’t it?

The History Mystery: The religious sex customs of ancient world

                   Throughout the history the religion of the goddess was practiced and is always of positive sex. Let us start with the most famous sacred marriage ritual or else called Hieros Gamos.  Around five thousand years before this rituals were most famous one in Sumerian. The chief priest is considered as the substitute of the God and treated as Goddess. The ruler had to sex with the Goddess to show the people the acceptance of the god as ruler and guardian of her people. This act indirectly shows that the high priest is the supreme authority of the people.  Inanna is the goddess of love sex and warfare. Here is part of the ceremony Scared Marriage (or Scared prostitution) described below:

                           The high priest act in the place of Inanna and she order for everything to be readied. And the bed was set up in front of entire public. The people watch the entire rituals including the sexual activity. At the end of the ceremony the entire public would shout cheerfully to show their approval and happiness. As they that this scared marriage brought prosperity to the people and to their land so they witness its successful climax.

                        In Egypt, the things are quite different as that of Sumerian; the Egyptian enjoyed the sex to the fullest satisfaction not only in their life time but also in the eternal life. Yes they believed in enjoying sex after the death. The false pennies and nipples found with the mummies give the proof for that. They also believed in getting children after the death (the fertility dolls with broad hip and paddle dolls with wide pubic area found with the mummies gives the proof for that).

       If any knight wants to be a Pharaoh, he had to marry his half sister who must be a royal princess that was the custom of that time in Egypt.

 

                                    Interestingly in Rome, marriage was unbinding license for sexual catharsis. But that meant for only the elite, Royal citizens and the common public don’t have the right to marry.

History Mystery :The Vulva Rock Cuts

 

      You may think I am writing about an obscene topic or obscene word but not so, the word cunt or valva is a mythical word in the ancient times. In A dictionary of Slang, Eric Patridge notes that cunt was once part of the Standard English but after 15^th century this term has been avoided owing to its strong sexuality to polite the English. Cunt is the implication of Oriental goddess in Sanskrit Kunti, Kundra or Cunti means the Yoni of the universe (Indian readers please do remember the name Kunti Devi in the great epic Maha baratham). There are various entomology and disputes in it but it simply means the Power of Female or Female Potency. Though we can talk about this more; this much is enough.  So simply saying the cunt symbolizes the female power. Let us keep it in mind and precede our journey to pre historic period.

         In Europe,Africa ,America and Australia we can find the Inscriptions of  Cunt- Valva signs in the rock shelters, boulders and stone blocks. In Spain the Vulva signs are painted at Tito Bustillo and finely carved reliefs are available at Roc-Aux-Sorciers in France. The vulva petro glyphs are found in La Ferrrassie in the Dordogne in France. Most of them are carved on stone blocks. One of the carving has sculptured animal head on one side and a high relief vulva on the other side. And one more boulder has a vulva prominently placed under the animal’s belly.

         Abrigo do Sol (means Sun Shelter) a Brazilian site, a group of vulva incised rocks tells you a different story. Both sides of the stones have markings and deep gouges, some of which were used for tools sharpening and millings. And others for the animist custom of grinding out rock dust for ritual use. Some of the rock cut vulva have various symbols of solar signs, foot prints etc. According to the Wasusu people these signs are “tokens of the long vanished women’s” (remember the women were the warrior s by that time and they were in memory of that killed warrior women long ago.

          One of the ancient rock shelters in Australia has varieties of deeply engraved vulvas.  A thick cluster of vulvas has engraved on the rock faces in California. In Northeastern Thailand Vulvas are scooped out of the stone in a cave painted in vivid crimson, they appear among the myriads of shapes and lines. The Mesolithic period rounded vulvas encircled by concentric circles appear on a rock wall in the South west China as a Imprints of the maternal worship. In a rock wall in Algeria depict a woman lifting her arms in a ceremonial stand; a line is drawn from her vulva to a hunter raising a bow and arrow. In Easter Island vulvas are superimposed on bird man petro glyphs at the ceremonial centre, and the vulva motif is the single most prevalent design on the Easter Island.  More than 500 were recorded.

          In Bolivia a deeply carved around thirty vulvas are there and people s offer respect to the Salt mother before taking holy bath in the water. In the Cave of the Holy Spirit, the vulvas, lines and animals are painted and people maintain the sacredness even now.

            In Nilachal Hill in Assam there is one famous shrine of vulva in the cave of Kamakhya. It is famous all over North India as a Devi Pitham where the yoni of Shakthi devi fell to the earth. Inside the grotto, a natural stone vulva is watered by a spring. During the monsoon the rainwater flush through and the water turns to red   symbolizes the menstruation of the women. Inside the cave the men are forbidden and the women celebrate the mysteries; dance to the drums and blowing the conch until the power of the Shakthi Devi descends in the middle.

                 In the Neolithic period the free standing sculptures were made. The most adorned one is a curvilinear vulva and another fish faced woman placing a claw like hands beside her vulva with the traces of red ochre.

   

                                                                                                                                 (  to be continue...)

Who Conquered Mount Everest First? Part.II

          In the in 1960s, climbers were able to assemble a permanent ladder into the rock of the Second Step. But the notion that Mallory and Irvine couldn’t have mounted the Step has been disapproved; It has since been scaled by human power alone once when the ladder was broken, another time in 1999 by the climber investigating Mallory’s climb. So the door stays open to speculation that extraordinary will might have carried the men to the top. 

            In 1975, a Chinese climber kindled hopes that the mystery might be solved. He reported in broken English that at 27,000 feet he had found an “English Dead,” whose clothing disintegrated when touched. About 750 feet above the body, another climber had found Irvin’s ice ax, and several mountain climbers speculated that the corpse might be Irvine’s body. The climber who claimed to have found the body could not pinpoint its location – an expedition would be needed to relocate it.

         In late April of 1999, a crew called the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition began their climb up the north side of Everest with two objectives: to locate the body seem by the Chinese climber and to reach the mountain’s summit. On May 2, climber Conrad Acker set off from the approximate point of the 1975 Chinese camp site, at 25,700 feet.

          He found several bodies in his search that morning, but their clothing and equipment indicated they were from recent times.  But after climbing a section of rock near Everest’s Camp VI, Acker looked to the west and “saw a patch of White… and went there. And within a few minutes…. I realized that this was not a body from recent times; it was something that had been there quite a while.” At first the members of the expedition thought Acker had found Irvine, but then the monogrammed handkerchief of George Leigh Mallory was discovered in the man’s pocket.

        

       The legend had been found, and Irvine has yet to show up. Nothing in Mallory’s possession revealed whether had made it to the summit. Notes found in his pockets were illegible, and it could not be determined whether the fall he appears to have suffered came while going up to the summit or on his way down.