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"Eugene Savoy" redirects here. For the Austrian Habsburg military leader, see Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Douglas Eugene "Gene" Savoy (born May 11 1927 Bellingham, Washington – died September 11 2009 Reno Nevada) was an American explorer, author, religious leader, and theologian. He served as Head Bishop of the International Community of Christ, Church of the Second Advent from 1971 until his passing. Rising to prominence as one of the premier explorers of Peru in the 1960s,[1] he is best know for his claims to have discovered more than 40 lost cities in Peru and is credited with bringing to light a number of Peru’s most important archeological sites[citation needed] , including Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Incas during the Spanish conquest,and Gran Pajaten, which he named. [2] [3]

Early Life

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At age 17 Savoy enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served two years during World War II, after which he enrolled at the University of Portland to begin studies for the priesthood. Following an incident when one of his professors told him that the ideas he expressed in one of his papers were “very close to heresy,” Savoy went to see the dean of men and legendary counselor, Monsignor John B. Delaunay, who told Savoy that he reminded him of Teilhard de Chardin and, recognizing that Savoy had some mission to perform, encouraged Savoy to take off a year to “follow his heart” and pursue his studies privately rather than remain in school. [4]

Initially shocked by this advice, Savoy went on to work as a journalist for the next ten years while he continued his studies of regional Indian petroglyphs and of religion. [5] During those years, he spent much of his time studying the literature, legends, and folklore of the North American Indians in the Pacific Northwest, intrigued by the possibility that there may have been early contacts between North and South America. [6] He also studied mystic Judaism and Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, the Chinese classics, and the Gnostic writings during that time under direct disciples of Khalil Gibran and Paul Brunton. [7]

In 1956 Savoy’s life changed utterly. His business collapsed and took with it his home, his belongings, and his marriage. As luck would have it, however, his documentary film of Columbia Gorge petroglyphs and carvings was picked up by a national news service, and his theories about similarities between North and South American picture drawings attracted the attention of an American archeologist who offered to take Savoy on an expedition to Peru as a photographer. Eager to fulfill his dream of becoming an explorer, Savoy accepted. In 1957 Savoy moved to Peru and a few years later began to organize his own archaeological expeditions under the auspices of the Andean Explorers Club, which he founded and which later grew into the Andean Explorers Foundation & Ocean Sailing Club. [8]

Explorer

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Throughout the 1960s, Savoy carried out a series of well publicized expeditions in Peru, exploring and documenting various pre-Columbian archaeological sites. [9] In 1964 he discovered and identified Vilcabamba, the 16th century capital of the Inca’s neo-empire and the last refuge of the Incas during the Spanish conquest. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] This discovery disproved Hiram Bingham’s belief that Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba were one and the same. [16] [17] In 1965 Savoy explored and brought worldwide attention to a site he named Gran Pajatén, an ornately ornamented stone city located in northeastern Peru. [18] [19] From 1965 to 1970 he continued his pioneering explorations into Peru’s eastern montaña with great success, exposing over 40 lost sites and bringing to the attention of science the forgotten Chachapoyas civilization mentioned in the Spanish chronicles but believed to be myth. [20] [21]

In 1969 Savoy built and captained the Kuviqu (also known as the “Feathered Serpent I”), a totora-reed raft of ancient design, along 2,000 miles of ocean coastline from Peru to Mesoamerica in an effort to prove that Peruvians and Mexicans could have maintained contact in ancient times and that the legendary heroes Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl were one and the same. [22] [23] [24] Soon afterwards he captained the “Feathered Serpent II”, which he sailed from the United States to the Caribbean, to Central and South America, and finally to Hawaii, to study ocean and wind currents. [25] In 1997 he sailed a 73-foot wooden catamaran from Peru to Hawaii in a dramatic effort to demonstrate that ancient Peruvians could have sailed the open seas. [26] [27]

Savoy returned to the United States in the early 1970s, but continued his explorations throughout the latter half of the 20th century.

In 1984, after a 13 year absence, Savoy began journeying back into Peru. The next year he discovered Gran Vilaya [28] [29] and in 1999 Gran Saposoa [30] in Chachapoyas territory. Both were grand city complexes of thousands of stone structures that solidified his theory that the eastern Peruvian jungles — in addition to the Andes and the coast — had been the location of high civilization. [31] These discoveries gained him recognition as the “real Indiana Jones” by People magazine when his parallel career as religious leader and researcher became known.[32]

First Apostle of the Second Advent Church

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Spiritual Researcher and Religious Educator

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Over several decades, Savoy uncovered and institutionalized a modern system for spiritual self-regeneration rooted in the hidden teachings of the Essenes who, he was convinced, were the forbears of Jesus. [33] [34] He called the spiritual discipline Cosolargy, [35] believing that similar esoteric systems were practiced by ancient high holy orders around the world, including those of ancient America, and were eventually lost, in whole or in part, to modern society. [36]

In 1959 he established the Cosolargy Institute (also known as the American Philosophical Institute of Cosolargy) to follow new conditions in the sun and to undertake further research into the spiritual teachings of ancient solar cultures. [37] He later formalized this research under the auspices of the American Cosmic Solar Research Center, established in 1962, [38] and the research program Project “X”: The Search for the Secrets of Immortality, established in 1970, [39] all of which continue to function through the Jamilian University.

In 1959 Savoy also established the International Community of Christ, Church of the Second Advent to impart Cosolargy as the basis for a new understanding of the authentic Christian teaching and of the Essenes and Jesus as precursors to a modern messianic age. [40] [41] He taught that Christ had come again as prophesied, not as a human messiah, but as a celestial mediating force available to all humankind through the manifesting Spiritual Sun spoken of in Malachi 4:1-3 and in the Essene Book of Hymns, to usher in a new epoch. [42] The church teaches that Jesus prophesied the future coming of Christ as the “Sun of Righteousness” [43] and that the cosmic phenomenon of the Messianic Sun began in 1962 as revealed by Savoy’s son, Jamil (1959–1962), a wondrous child seer [44] who lived in the Andes of Peru. [45] The notion that Savoy believed his son Jamil to be the Second Coming of Christ arose when he gave his first interview on church doctrine to a local newspaper as head bishop of the church [46] and has been repeated in newspapers ever since as a boiler plate item, appearing even in one of his obituaries. [47] Bishop Savoy addressed this misconception directly in a 1985 theological lecture:

People may say that the sun is an ordinary sun. Is it? It is to the person that sees it as an ordinary sun. People may say: “Jamil had no purpose. He was just an ordinary child. Why did God have to use The Child? Who needs him?” I have been accused of building a monument to my dead son, and people laugh at me because I speak about Jamil in the way that I do. The Child was an Image, and that Image was a vehicle for the manifestation of God’s Word. Therefore, The Child was necessary. But The Child is not a Jesus Christ. He certainly is not a “savior” in the strictest sense of the word. He is merely a conveyor of information from one world to the other for our use, much the same as was Jesus. We are not saved by any human, neither Jamil nor Jesus. We are saved by God. Therefore, God teaches us by the creation and the manifestation of the Image as a vehicle and intermediary by which the Word manifests and speaks to us. Therefore, Jamil was not ordinary nor is the sun ordinary. There is a New Sun and there is a new humankind coming into existence. Jamil was the first of that New Race. [48]


Through the years, Savoy produced a steady stream of scholarly and transcendent literature, which included more than 60 volumes on Cosolargy, the Essenes, the origins of Christianity, and comparative religion; [49] and he delivered over 400 lectures on metaphysics, philosophy and theology, [50] which form the core lectures of the Sacred College program of the Jamilian University of the Ordained. Collectively, these texts and lectures present what Savoy saw as the real teachings of Christ and communicate how the recovery of this information can assist in bringing religious enlightenment to today’s world. [51]


Theories

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History and Exploration

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Archaeologists have criticised his claims, e.g. his claim that King Solomon acquired gold and precious stones from Peru (Ophir), and have pointed out that finding ruins in Peru “is about as hard as finding elephants in a zoo. [52]


His claims to discoveries of Vilcabamba and Gran Pajaten and other sites are disputed[53]


His claims for King Solomon's visits to Peru and white Chachapoyans are rejected by archaeologists.[citation needed]


Many archaeologists considered him a charlatan who damaged sites, attracted looters, and appropriated the work of others.[54]


Archaeologist Keith Muscott said "Savoy's involvement in the Chachapoya saga clouds the scientific issues, attracts a lot of crackpots and scares off serious researchers who don't want to constantly have to deal with Savoy's tedious legacy of lost cities/El Dorado fantasies and delusions.[55]


Spirituality and Religion

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He taught that Christ had come again as prophesied, not as a human messiah, but as a celestial mediating force available to all humankind. [56] The spiritual Christ energy, he taught, generates out of a non-physical world and manifests in the physical universe by means of solar energy, which serves as the “carrier” of the intelligence potential originating with the Thought and Will of God. [57] He taught that the “living theology” of Cosolargy advances the practitioner’s participation in the spiritual universe through proper use of this energy and intelligence. [58] Transformed sunlight, he believed, was the means to generate spiritual consciousness and the immortal Light body, which, once developed, could commune with God. [59]

According to Savoy the celestial phenomenon of Christ’s coming began in 1962 as announced by Jamil, a child prodigy who lived and died in the Andes.[60] Savoy taught that the cosmic event of Christ’s appearance through the spiritual Sun, referred to in Malachi 4:1-3 and the Essene Book of Hymns, ushered in a new epoch [61] in which God’s Presence is manifest in the world for the ultimate restoration of all things physical into the original state of creation before matter came into existence. [62] He believed that the Second Advent teaching would renew, restore, and regenerate the true universal Church. [63]

Books by Gene Savoy

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Exploration
  • Antisuyo: The Search for the Lost Cities of the Amazon (Simon and Schuster, 1970)
  • On the Trail of the Feathered Serpent (Bobbs-Merrill, 1974)
  • Project X: The Search for the Secrets of Immortality (Bobbs-Merrill, 1977)
  • The Gran Vilaya Report (Andean Explorers Foundation & Ocean Sailing Club, 1996)


Religion

Publications of the International Community of Christ:

  • Cosolargy Papers, 12 volumes (1970-1975)
  • Jamil: Child of Light (1973, 2009)
  • Prophecies of Jamil, 7 volumes (1973-1982)
  • The Decoded New Testament (1974, 1983)
  • Academy Symposia, 12 volumes (1975-1980)
  • The Image and The Word, 6 volumes (1976-1981)
  • Project “X” Symposia, 8 volumes (1978-1981)
  • The Essaei Document: Secrets of an Eternal Race (1978, 1983)
  • Lost Gospel of Jesus: The Hidden Teachings of Christ (1978, 1984)
  • The Book of God’s Revelation (1983)
  • Miracle of the Second Advent: The Emerging New Christianity (1984)


Notes

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," p. 28
  2. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," p. 28
  3. ^ Obituary, The Independent, 2007
  4. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," p.26
  5. ^ Project X: The Explorations, 1987, pp. 6-8
  6. ^ Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 15-17
  7. ^ Project X: The Explorations, 1987, pp. 13-19
  8. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," p.27
  9. ^ Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009
  10. ^ Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 73-128
  11. ^ Lee, Forgotten Vilcabamba, 2000
  12. ^ Hemming, Conquest, pp. 492-499
  13. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," pp. 27-28
  14. ^ Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009
  15. ^ Maugh, “Science winces at adventurer's ways”, 2004
  16. ^ Hemming, Conquest, p. 499
  17. ^ Obituary, The Independent, 2007
  18. ^ Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 131-143
  19. ^ Gilbert, "Lost Cities," pp. 48-53, 83
  20. ^ Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 144-198
  21. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," pp. 28-29
  22. ^ Savoy,On the Trail of the Feathered Serpent, 1974
  23. ^ Heyerdahl, Early Man, pp. 42-43, 68, 381
  24. ^ Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009
  25. ^ Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009
  26. ^ Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009
  27. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," pp. 30-31
  28. ^ Covert, "The Explorer," pp. 30
  29. ^ Gilbert, "Lost Cities," p. 52
  30. ^ Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009
  31. ^ Martin, “Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80”, 2007
  32. ^ People Weekly, May 1985, pp. 30-31.
  33. ^ Savoy, Essaei Document, 1983
  34. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128
  35. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128
  36. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  37. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128
  38. ^ Project X: The Explorations, 1987, p. 21
  39. ^ Project X: The Explorations, 1987, p. 21
  40. ^ Martin, “Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80”, 2007
  41. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  42. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," pp. 1127-1128
  43. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  44. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," pp. 11-27-1128
  45. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  46. ^ Haq, Reno-Gazette Journal, 1982
  47. ^ Obituary, The Independent, 2007
  48. ^ Savoy, Core Theology Series, Lecture 129, p. 12
  49. ^ Obituary, The Independent, 2007
  50. ^ Gene Savoy website
  51. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128
  52. ^ Martin, “Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80”, 2007
  53. ^ Obituary, The Independent, 2007
  54. ^ Maugh, “Science winces at adventurer's ways”, 2004
  55. ^ Maugh, “Science winces at adventurer's ways”, 2004
  56. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128
  57. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  58. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128
  59. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  60. ^ Savoy, Jamil, 1973
  61. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," pp. 1127-1128
  62. ^ Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009
  63. ^ Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128


References

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  • Covert, Marc. "The Explorer: Gene Savoy '51," Portland, the University of Portland Magazine, Spring 1999, pp. 26-31.
  • Gene Savoy Website. [1]
  • Gilbert, Susan. "Lost Cities of the Andes," Science Digest, June 1985, pp. 46-53, 83.
  • Haq, Kathy. ""Reno-Gazette Journal"", May 2, 1982, "Small Reno church has no small plans."
  • Hemming, John. The Conquest of the Incas (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973).
  • Heyerdahl, Thor. Early Man and the Ocean; A Search for the Beginnings of Navigation and Seaborne Civilizations (Doubleday & Company, 1979).
  • Lee, Vincent R. Forgotten Vilcabamba: Final Stronghold of the Incas (Sixpac Manco Publications, 2000).
  • Project X: The Explorations (International Community of Christ, 1987).
  • People Weekly, May 1985, pp. 30-31.
  • Savoy, Gene. Core Theology Series of the Second Advent Theology Program, Lecture 129, “The Sayings of The Child - Part XXIX, p. 12.
  • Savoy, Gene. Antisuyo: The Search for the Lost Cities of the Amazon (Simon and Schuster, 1970).
  • Savoy, Gene. On the Trail of the Feathered Serpent (Bobbs-Merrill, 1974).


Further Information

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Print Media
  • Discovery of Lost Worlds (American Heritage Publishing, 1979)
  • Editors of Time-Life Books. Incas: Lords of Gold and Glory (Time-Life Books, 1992), pp. 19-23.
  • The Lost City of Pajaten (American Heritage Publishing, 1967)
  • Warszewski, Roman. Marcahuasi – Kuźnia Bogów (Dom Wydawniczy Bellona, Warszawa, 2000)
  • Terres vierges mondes interdits, le grand livre des explorateurs; selection du Reader’s Digest (1973)
  • The White Rock—An Exploration of the Inca Heartland (Overlook Press, 2003)


Video and Film Documentaries
  • The Gran Vilaya Expeditions (Andean Explorers Foundation & Ocean Sailing Club, 1996)
  • Lost City in the Clouds (Discovery Channel, 2001)
  • Lost City of the Andes (KGO-TV ABC, 1987)
  • Royal Roads to Discovery (Andean Explorers Foundation & Ocean Sailing Club, 1993)
  • Secrets of the Cloud People (BBC-QED, 1998)
  • Trail of the Feathered Serpent (CBS Charles Kuralt Adventure, 1970)


External links


Category:1927 births Category:2007 deaths Category:American explorers Category:American theologians Category:People from Bellingham, Washington Category:People from Reno, Nevada

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