Moon Landings

Project Apollo sent 6 two-man teams of astronauts to the surface of the Luna betwixt July 1969 in addition to Dec 1972. Roughly 10–20 per centum of Americans at nowadays believe, however, that no human has ever gear upwardly human foot on the moon, in addition to that all prove for the landings is constituent of an elaborate hoax staged yesteryear the National Aeronautics in addition to Space Administration (NASA).

Skepticism nigh the landings began to surface almost equally presently equally they took house in addition to has remained steady for iii decades since. Supporters of the hoax theory debate that careful scrutiny of silent pictures, films, in addition to radio transmissions reveals telltale signs of the deception.

Critics of the hoax theory dismiss the idea of a thirty-year-long conspiracy involving hundreds or thousands of people equally plainly absurd. The “anomalies” inward lunar photographs are, they contend, products non of a shadowy conspiracy exactly of the volition to believe inward one.


Origins in addition to Context

Belief that the Luna missions were faked entails belief inward 2 dissever premises. The firstly is that it was possible, inward 1969, to imitate a lunar landing in addition to the “moonwalks” that accompanied it. The 2nd is that the U.S. regime deceived the populace nigh ane of the defining events of the century. Between 1968 in addition to 1973, events exterior the infinite computer program rendered both premises to a greater extent than plausible, to far to a greater extent than people, than they would remove hold been a decade earlier.

Stanley Kubrick’s celluloid 2001: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Space Odyssey (1968) signaled a revolution inward motion painting special effects and, specifically, inward the simulation of infinite move on screen. John Sturges’s Marooned (1969) in addition to Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running (1971) showed that 2001 was to a greater extent than than a brilliant fluke. All iii films stood equally far beyond Destination Moon (1950) equally that film, revolutionary inward its time, had stood beyond the unsmooth Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s. The novel films’ extraordinarily realistic “look” made it slow to believe that the simulated infinite flying could at nowadays live passed off equally real.

The 5 years betwixt 1968 in addition to 1973 also saw the rapid erosion of the U.S. public’s trust inward the federal government. The optimistic pronouncements of politicians in addition to generals nigh the state of war inward Vietnam were repeatedly undercut yesteryear the testimony of journalists in addition to returning veterans. The 1970 publication of the Pentagon Papers—the government’s ain “secret history” of the war—damaged regime credibility further, equally did the 1970 revelation of a hugger-mugger bombing receive against Cambodia.

The Watergate Scandal of 1973–1974 destroyed the Nixon management in addition to farther damaged the federal government’s credibility. The cognition that the president in addition to his advisors had systematically abused the mightiness of their offices for political gain, in addition to so systematically lied nigh their actions, permanently soured many Americans’ attitudes toward their elected officials.

The thought of a trip to the Luna had, equally belatedly equally the belatedly 1950s, seemed to many Americans a distant dream at best. Many continued, inward the early on 1970s, to uncovering the thought implausible. Disbelief inward the Luna landings coalesced unopen to those doubts.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 poll taken yesteryear Knight Newspapers inward July 1970, a twelvemonth afterward the firstly landing, revealed that 30 per centum of those polled doubted the landings had been real. Doubts ran especially high where trust inward the federal regime was especially low. In poor, dark neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., one-half of those polled believed that the landings had been a hoax.

Cynicism nigh the regime diminished trivial afterward the early on 1970s. The healing effects of fourth dimension in addition to fading memories were repeatedly offset yesteryear fresh scandals. Americans born since the mid-1960s hence remove hold solely vague, secondhand memories of the Apollo missions exactly vivid memories of regime duplicity. “I’d ever suspected something similar that” is a mutual reaction amid high schoolhouse in addition to college students encountering the hoax theory for the firstly time.

The Community of Believers

The hoax theory, fifty-fifty according to its critics, is accepted yesteryear tens of millions of Americans. It has been shaped in addition to promoted, however, yesteryear a much smaller grouping of nub believers. The members of this nub grouping are responsible for collecting, analyzing, in addition to publishing what they reckon equally compelling prove of regime deception amongst honour to Project Apollo.

They grip on what constitutes this torso of evidence, on how the private pieces of prove should live interpreted, in addition to on the thought that the populace tape of the Luna landings was falsified. They disagree nigh the extent of, in addition to the reasons for, that falsification.

Some hoax theorists, similar William Brian, debate that U.S. astronauts did dry soil on the Luna inward 1969–1972, exactly that they discovered prove of an alien culture that has been ruthlessly suppressed. Other theorists, similar David Percy, debate that the landings broadcast on tv set to worldwide audiences of millions were fakes. The existent Luna landings, they believe, were carried out inward full secrecy yesteryear a shadowy “black infinite program,” in addition to that in that place is no populace tape of it or them.

The most pop view—narrowly believed amid dedicated hoax theorists in addition to widely amid rank-and-file believers—is that humans never went to the Luna at all. NASA faked the landings, according to this view, because it was incapable of truly carrying them out yesteryear the halt of the 1960s, equally President Kennedy had challenged them to create inward 1961.

The leading advocate of this “mainstream” version of the hoax theory is Bill Kaysing, who has been promoting it since the early on 1970s. Ralph René’s majority NASA Mooned America (1994), James Collier’s video Was It Only a Paper Moon? (1997), in addition to Bart Sibrel’s video A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon (2001) stake out positions similar to Kaysing’s, patch offering similar arguments in addition to evidence.

Kaysing’s forthrightly titled majority We Never Landed on the Luna (1974) was the firstly extended give-and-take of the hoax theory to appear inward print. It remains inward impress at this writing, having been expanded in addition to republished several times, in addition to spawned a series of videos that introduce its declaration visually.

Kaysing’s ideas were also featured prominently inward the Hollywood suspense celluloid Capricorn One (1978)—the storey of NASA’s endeavour to mistaken the firstly manned landing on Mars. Except for the alter of destination, the film’s fictional scenario is virtually identical to Kaysing’s purportedly existent one. Even the spaceships are identical to those used inward Project Apollo.

Kaysing has actively promoted the hoax theory on radio talk-shows and, inward 1997, achieved fleeting fame yesteryear suing ex-Apollo astronaut James Lovell for referring to him equally “a wacko” (a gauge dismissed the accommodate equally baseless). The Fox tv set network’s hour-long documentary Conspiracy Theory: Did We Go to the Moon? (2001) gave Kaysing’s ideas a thorough, in addition to thoroughly uncritical, airing.

The Case for the Hoax Theory

The mainstream version of the hoax theory is built unopen to iii fundamental ideas. The firstly is that NASA, incapable of truly sending anyone to the moon, never allowed the Apollo astronauts to teach beyond the Earth’s orbit. The 2nd is that official NASA photographs in addition to films from the Apollo missions demo telltale signs of their creation on an earth-bound audio stage.

The 3rd is that NASA, in addition to its coconspirators elsewhere inward the government, remove hold kept those amongst cognition of the conspiracy tranquillity for xxx years. The residuum of the hoax theory consists of a spider web of suppositions in addition to “likely stories” connecting those iii ideas.

Proof of NASA’s inability to demeanour off a existent lunar landing lies, believers argue, inward the contrast betwixt the space agency’s functioning before in addition to during the Apollo missions. NASA’s early on attempts at infinite flying inward the belatedly 1950s in addition to early on 1960s were oft spectacular failures.

They achieved a stair out of success amongst Earth-orbiting flights during the Mercury in addition to Gemini programs, exactly Apollo was plagued yesteryear problems amongst character control, amongst coming together deadlines, in addition to amongst spacecraft performance.

As belatedly equally Jan 1967, iii astronauts died on the launch pad when burn downward broke out inward the cabin of a poorly designed Apollo spacecraft during a test. Yet, get-go amongst the flying of Apollo 8 unopen to the Luna inward Dec 1968, mission followed flawless mission amongst solely ane (nonlethal) failure—Apollo 13.

Hoax theorists debate that real, successful lunar missions are far less plausible than faked ones inward which (according to ane scenario) empty Apollo spacecraft were launched in addition to and so “parked” inward footing ambit for the required number of days before beingness returned to footing nether remote control.

Proof that the Luna landings were staged on footing rests, according to believers, on clearly visible “anomalies.” Why, they ask, is the “moon rock” shown inward ane NASA photograph marked amongst the missive of the alphabet “C”? Why is the soil beneath the engine nozzle of the lunar module solely slightly disturbed? An engine so powerful should remove hold blasted out a crater deep plenty to live noticeable.

Why create photographs supposedly taken on the lunar surface demo objects lit from to a greater extent than than ane direction? There should live solely ane source of calorie-free on the moon: the sun. Why are the stars non visible inward the lunar sky? With no atmosphere to obscure them, they should smooth clearly.

Why, inward celluloid footage that shows an astronaut planting the U.S. flag, does the flag appear to moving ridge equally if inward a breeze? It should, on the airless lunar surface, hang limply from the rod that supports its top edge.

Proof of a post-Apollo conspiracy of quiet lies, believers argue, inward the fact that no ane connected to NASA has spoken out on the subject. They reckon it equally peculiarly meaning that Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo eleven in addition to the firstly someone to gear upwardly human foot on the moon, declines to give interviews in addition to that other astronauts remove hold specifically refused interviews amongst hoax theorists.

Some (including Bill Kaysing) teach further, suggesting that the iii astronauts who died inward the mid-1960s bird crashes, the iii who died inward the 1967 Apollo cabin fire, in addition to the vii who died inward the 1986 Challenger disaster were murdered yesteryear NASA to maintain them quiet.

The Case against a Hoax

The hoax theory, according to its critics, is a tissue of faulty assumptions, specious “evidence,” in addition to bad science. The Apollo flights to the moon, though successful, were far from the flawless exercises that Kaysing in addition to others suggest.

Apollo 11, the firstly to land, came inside seconds of crashing on the lunar surface. The explosion that crippled Apollo 13, in addition to many of the problems that resulted, were products of flawed or inefficient design—the same kinds of problems that NASA had faced throughout the 1960s.

The purported “anomalies” on which believers rely so heavily are, inward fact, readily explained without a hoax. The “C” appears solely inward a unmarried re-create of the photograph inward question, non on the master film.

The lunar module’s rocket engine fires solely briefly when the ship is unopen to the lunar surface, in addition to non at all for the terminal seconds of the descent. The shallow craters it leaves inward the lunar soil reverberate this. The rays of the Sun illuminate objects on the lunar surface directly, exactly also yesteryear reflecting off the soil, the lunar module, in addition to other light-colored objects.

The stars are non visible inward the dark lunar heaven for the same ground they are non visible to observers standing close a vivid street light: the street calorie-free (or, inward lunar photography, the sun) overwhelms them. The flag moves afterward its pole is planted non because of breeze exactly because of inertia. The deed of driving the pole into the footing shakes the stuff and, for a minute or two, it continues to shake.

No introduce or quondam NASA employee has “blown the whistle” on the hoax, critics argue, because in that place was no hoax. It defies belief that the hundreds or thousands of NASA employees who would remove hold been aware of some constituent of the hoax would all remove hold kept quiet for iii decades.

It is, on the other hand, far from surprising that astronauts would turn down to verbalize to hoax theorists who bill them of beingness brainwashed dupes at best in addition to bald-faced liars at worst. Neil Armstrong’s reticence nigh the firstly lunar landing mirrors his similar reticence nigh his fighting missions inward the Korean War in addition to his exam flights of the X-15 rocket plane.

Buzz Aldrin in addition to Michael Collins, who flew amongst him aboard Apollo 11, remove hold both written extensively nigh their experiences on the moon. Unless the existence of a hoax is assumed, critics betoken out, cypher nigh the expiry of 6 astronauts inward the mid-1960s or vii aboard Challenger suggests foul play. Space move is, equally fifty-fifty hoax theorists readily admit, a unsafe business.

Edward VI - King of England

Edward VI - King of England

Edward VI was the only son of Henry VIII, king of England, born from his marriage to his third wife, Jane Seymour, on January 28, 1537. He succeeded to the English throne at age nine by his father’s last will and by the parliamentary statute of 1543, and died unmarried at the age of 16 on July 6, 1553.

The young king inherited from his father a constitution, under which he was not only the secular king but also the supreme head of the Church of England. However, the kingdom was deeply divided among factions of great nobles in the court, and, in the countryside, the people were unsettled by the direction of the religious policy under the new king.

In spite of his lovable personality, good education, and well-respected intellectual capacity, the young king could hardly design and dictate policies on his own. Edward Seymour, the duke of Somerset and the king’s maternal uncle, ran the kingdom as lord protector in loco parentis (in the place of a parent) for the first three years.

After his dismissal from the court in 1549, John Dudley, the earl of Warwick, who became duke of Northumberland in 1551, ruled the nation as the chief minister under the pretense that the king had assumed full royal authority.


The two chief ministers shared similar interest in moving the Church of England toward Protestantism. In 1547, Parliament repealed the Six Articles, enacted in 1534 by the Reformation Parliament, to keep Catholic doctrines and practices in the Church of England. In 1549, the publication of Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer and the adoption of his 42 Articles by Parliament pushed the Anglican Church closer to Calvinism.

In 1552, Parliament enacted the Act of Uniformity, requiring all Englishmen to attend Calvinist-styled Anglican Church services. Moreover, Parliament stopped enforcing laws against heresy, permitted priests to get married, and even confiscated the property of Catholic chantries, where for centuries, local priests had been praying for souls wandering in purgatory.

To the Protestants in the Continent, these policy changes made England a safe haven and an escape from persecution by the Catholic Church. In England, the Protestants welcomed the reforms, although they felt that the policies did not satisfy their Calvinist needs. The Catholics, however, were shocked by their loss of properties, privileges, and powers and were provoked into rebellions in 1549.

Edward VI coat of arms

Neither of the two chief ministers was a master of statesmanship. They failed to curb runaway inflation and continuous devaluations of English currency. They lacked competence in pacifying domestic unrests caused by enclosure of land and worsening living conditions of the rural poor.

They appeared shortsighted and clumsy in maneuvering diplomacy to meet increasingly complicated challenges from other European nations. Most of all, they mismanaged the young king’s marriage, the great affair of the state.

The duke of Somerset invaded Scotland in 1547, intending to conclude the negotiation, which had begun under Henry VIII, for the marriage of Edward VI to Mary of Stuart, the four-year-old daughter of King James V.

Although the duke defeated the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie, the Scots betrothed the princess to Francis, the dauphin of the French throne, in 1548. After the fall of Somerset, the duke of Northumberland appeared to be actively negotiating a marriage of Edward to Elizabeth, the daughter of French king Henry II, in 1551.

The marriage never materialized. In 1553, rumors spread around the diplomatic circle in Paris that the duke was going to manage a marriage between Edward VI and Joanna, a daughter of Ferdinand, the brother of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

Despite his apparent busy diplomacy, the duke was secretly carrying out a plan of his own, probably with the king’s knowledge, that would enable Lady Jane Grey, his daughter-in-law and the granddaughter of Henry VIII’s sister, Mary, to succeed Edward and thus disinherit Mary I, the Catholic sister of the king, who had been bastardized by her father but later placed to succeed her brother in his last will.

Following the death of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen with the military support of her father-in-law. However, much of the nation, though favoring a Protestant ruler, rallied against the conspiracy of the duke of Northumberland. The “reign” of Lady Jane Grey lasted only nine days, and Mary I eventually succeeded to the throne in 1553.

The dramatic turn toward Protestantism under Edward VI and the even more dramatic restoration of Catholicism under Queen Mary have been viewed as the major aspects of the so-called mid-Tudor crisis by many historians.

Girolamo Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola statue

Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian cleric and reformer whose sermons and writings predated the Reformation. Born in Ferrara in 1452, he was a scholar from boyhood and studied music, medicine, design, and theology.

Inspired by a sermon in 1474, he entered the monastery of St. Domenico in Bologna, where he spent six years in the novitiate. Even so young, his poems expressed disagreement and indignation against the venality of the Renaissance church.

Gradually Savonarola gained fame as a preacher of the Dominican order. By 1490, he was at the Priory of St. Mark and had become so influential with his listeners that in 1491, he was elected to head post. He had become so powerful by then that he felt able to denounce the customs and ethics of the rulers of the day including Lorenzo de’ Medici, the pope, and the king of Naples.

His powerful position in Florence was reinforced when Lorenzo de’ Medici called him to his deathbed and Savonarola refused to give absolution to the dying man because he refused to give up power in Florence.


Between 1492 and 1494, Savonarola’s power expanded through his sermons and writings wherein he proclaimed that he had apocalyptic visions that the wrath of the Lord would be visited upon the guilty and the world was threatened by famine, bloodshed, and pestilence. His fame as an orator spread throughout Italy.

In 1493, his order of Dominicans of St. Mark received a brief so that it was basically independent of most immediate church authority. His selesai ascent to power came when the Medicis were overthrown in 1494 at the approach of the French king Charles, who threatened Florence. Because of Savonarola’s remonstrance, the king withdrew from Florence without bloodshed.

Girolamo Savonarola preach

Because of the turn of events, Savonarola was the unofficial dictator of Florence for the next four years. He established a four-part formula for his rule: fear of God and purification of manners, promotion of the public welfare as opposed to private interests, general amnesty to all political offenders, and a council on the Venetian manner but without a doge.

Many of his prescriptions were followed during the next few years. All property was taxed. He organized boys of Florence into a secret militia. He established carnivals wherein the citizens gave away their most expensive possessions as alms to the poor as well as burning luxury items such as masks and other objects used for festivals. He did not oppose the arts, in general; in fact, he helped save the Medici Library through funds from his convent.

During this period, Florence became rather austere. Many people left their homes to join religious orders, and many sought Savonarola’s order, the Dominicans. People dressed ascetically. Hymns and psalms routinely were sung in the streets.

Savonarola’s downfall resulted both from enemies without and within. He made a bitter enemy of the Borgia pope Alexander VI, by denouncing him for his crimes. The Medici worked secretly from inside Florence to return to power. When the pope tried to bribe Savonarola to silence with a cardinal’s hat, he rejected it and continued his denunciations. When he declined invitations to visit Rome, Florence was threatened with an interdict.

In 1498, the repeated threats from the pope to the council of Florence coupled with Savonarola’s repeated denunciations of the “antipope” caused the council of Florence to become more hostile to him. At the same time, executions of Medici partisans, a desire for moderation, and resentment after the infamous Carnival of 1497 in which valuable books and artwork were burned all added to Savonarola’s decline.

May 23, 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.

The selesai cause of Savonarola’s downfall was an ordeal of fire called by his enemies, the Franciscans. When his accusers did not appear, the people felt cheated, and Savonarola became a scapegoat. He was arrested, tortured, and crucified with two followers on May 22, 1498. His death came to be seen as martyrdom in later years, and today, his life’s work is viewed as a forerunner of the Reformation.

Johann Gutenberg

Johann Gutenberg

The dissemination of knowledge occurred more quickly after Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440. Gutenberg, the son of a businessman named Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden, was born in Mainz, Germany, and was a goldsmith by profession. Movable type made of wooden blocks had been developed by the Chinese but was a time-consuming process.

In Holland and Prague, experiments on a sophisticated printing process were already taking place. Gutenberg’s goal was to reproduce medieval liturgical manuscripts by using movable pieces of metal blocks for each letter. Many copies of a book were printed without loss of color and design. An assembled page was placed into a frame, and afterward a heavy screw forced the printing block against the paper. He combined paper technology along with oil-based ink.

With the financial backing of a rich German lawyer, Johann Fust, Gutenberg established the first printing press, ushering in an kala of enlightenment. A large portion of society received an opportunity to read, and literacy was not confined to church, monastery, and nobility. The labor-intensive hand copying of books was no longer necessary, while the printing of books became fast and inexpensive.


Gutenberg published the 42 Line Bible, or the Gutenberg Bible, in Mainz in 1445 after two years of hard labor. Each column had 42 lines, and the whole Latin Bible had 1,282 pages. He printed 180 copies, out of which 47 are still extant. The words from the original Bible were not changed.

He sold copies of the Biblia Sacra at the Frankfurt Book Fair of 1455. Adolf of Nassau, the elector of Mainz, gave him a benefice in 1465. Gutenberg printed indulgences, slips of paper used by the church. He also produced parts of Aelius Donatus’s Latin grammar, Ars Minor, which had 24 editions. Persons trained by him established their own printing presses.

Within a span of 50 years about 100,000 publications emerged. In libraries, books were to be distinguished from archival materials. Very soon, literacy expanded with the printing of maps, posters, pamphlets, and newspapers. Novel ideas of Renaissance Europe were fostered and preserved. National languages replaced Latin, a change important for the creation of nation-states.

The invention of the printing press was received with opposition from the Catholic Church. The printers of Mainz fled after an attack from soldiers of the archbishop of Nassau in 1462. But European cities benefited from the printers’ skill.

Some of the elite did not want to keep printed books along with hand-copied manuscripts in libraries. This dissipated gradually, and the printing press spread all over Europe. In 1476 William Caxton established the first printing press in England at Westminster.

printing press

He published Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’ Arthur. In the 1480s, a printing press opened in Andalusia, Spain. By the end of the 15th century, the printing industry existed in 250 cities of Europe. The 1,000 printing presses published 35,000 titles and 20 million copies.

Afterward, Roman type styles replaced Gothic types and metal screws were used in place of wooden ones. The printing press in the 15th century was modest compared to a modern press. A standard press having five workers could publish only five books a year, but an important discovery had been made in the history of human civilization.

Statues of Gutenberg adorn many places in Germany and notable institutions are named after him. Gutenberg is credited with transforming medieval Europe into a modern society, bringing about a scientific revolution.

Florentine Neoplatonism

Marsilio Ficino

Florentine Neoplatonism is the Italian Renaissance revival of Neoplatonism, led by Marsilio Ficino (1433–99) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–94), that flourished in 15th century Florence. This renewed interest in Neoplatonism, or the philosophy formulated by Plotinus (205–270 c.e.) and founded upon the thought of Plato (427–347 b.c.e.), was due both to the waning religious values of the time and to the aristocratic shift of emphasis under members of the Medici family from worldly affairs to a life of contemplation.

Plato’s portrayal of Socrates in the Republic as a sage critical of Greek democracy and devoted to meditation on timeless and immaterial truths lent itself so well to the new social sentiment that it supplanted the Roman statesman as the ideal of human life. Fascinated by the humanist rediscovery of classical ideals Cosimo de’ Medici selected his doctor’s gifted young son, Marsilio Ficino, to become a Greek scholar and Platonic philosopher.

An intellectual giant whose mind comprehended and synthesized complete philosophical systems, Ficino opened his Platonic Academy, not a school in the formal sense, but a salon where he oversaw the scholarly discussions of friends and visitors, at Careggi in 1466.

Two years later he edited the entire corpus of Plato, published by the Aldine Press in Venice, and translated Plato’s Dialogues into Latin. In 1469 Ficino composed his commentary on Plato’s Symposium and translated various treatises of Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry, and Dionysius the Areopagite.


From 1469 to 1474, he developed his “pious philosophy” or “learned religion,” an elaborate Neoplatonic philosophical edifice, in his masterpiece, the Theologia Platonica. Emphasizing that divine poetry and allegory furnish the veil of true religion, which can only be expressed mystically and not in precise syllogisms, Ficino’s system proved quite congenial to several Renaissance poets, authors, and artists.

Central to Ficino’s system were the twin suppositions that the individual constitutes the center of the universe and that the goal of human life lies in the internal ascent of the soul toward the divine or God. Drawing heavily on Plotinus’s Enneads, Ficino pictured the cosmos and everything within it as a great hierarchy of being and described the “One,” or God, as the absolute universal essence.

God is the coincidentia oppositorum, or the reconciliation of all opposites, in whom all things find unity. Embracing infinity within himself, God brings the lesser orders into being through emanations from his substance, resulting in a ladder of bodies, natural attributes, souls, and angelic minds that delineates the way of ascent to the One.

At the center of this ladder, humanity is bound to the material realm by the body and to the intelligible, or spiritual, realm by the soul, which facilitates its rise to divine reunion through contemplation. For Ficino such philosophical contemplation comprises a spiritual experience in which the soul retreats from the body and from all external things into its own being, learning that it is a product of divine emanation and that God is therefore immanent.

Derivative from this conception is the immortality of the soul, as Ficino insists that no mortal entity can partake of the beatific vision. At this juncture Ficino imports Christian theology into his system: Where Plotinus had envisaged a mediator, or demiurge, between the untainted One and the subdivided intelligible and material realm, Ficino identified this mediator with the divine Logos, or Christ, “the Word who became flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1:14).

As the intermediary between God and humanity, Christ both serves as an archetype of sanctified humanity and leads fallen humanity to love God. Moreover Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross proves God’s unfailing love for humanity and frees all human souls for the ascent to God.

In order for the individual to reach the divine, however, Ficino contended that the soul must make a leap of spiritual love by loving God for his own sake, thereby attaining participation in the One, who is, by nature, love. This notion of “Platonic love” is the nucleus of Ficino’s philosophy, since the universe is formed and ruled by the ideal of love. Accordingly, four spheres of aesthetic values find their center in the good, the budbahasa nature of God, which is immovable and emanates divine majesty throughout the universe.

Ficino maintained that body and soul could only be inseparable, as they will be in the general resurrection, if they are merged into the activity of love. Therefore love originates in God and manifests as spiritual love in the angelic minds and becomes sensual, pleasurable, and erotic love in the corporeal realm.

Since humans possess free will, they can choose between the spiritual love of the intelligible realm and the erotic love of the physical domain. Ficino postulated a “light metaphysic” in which light is the laughter of heaven and expresses the joy of the communion of saints. This cosmology harmonized nicely with prevailing astrological theories already exerting a profound influence on many Renaissance thinkers.

Most brilliant of Ficino’s pupils was Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the youngest son of Francesco Pico, count of Mirandola and Concordia, a small principality just west of Ferrara. Although matriculating at the University of Bologna at 14, he longed for international travel and left on a “student wandering” that took him to universities throughout Germany and France.

At Paris he became fascinated by the study of Scholastic theology and linguistics, learning Latin and Greek, but also Hebrew, Arabic, and other Near Eastern languages. He then took up study of the Kabbalah, or Jewish mystical tradition, and the Talmud. Cultivating his interest in mysticism, the Kabbalah enabled Pico to view the world and all states of affairs therein as revelations of the immanent presence of God.

In 1486 Pico journeyed to Rome, where he published 900 Conclusiones, as a thesis for a public disputation he wished to hold. Pope Alexander VI deemed several of Pico’s theses as heretical and blocked distribution of his small book. In his defense Pico drew up an Apology, which convinced Alexander to exonerate Pico from the anathema and confirm his orthodoxy. As a rhetorical preface to the Conclusiones, Pico wrote his famous “Oration on the Dignity of Man,” perhaps the most influential essay of the Renaissance.

Exceeding the anthropological assessment of his teacher Ficino, Pico asserted that humanity is the king of creation and the product of unique divine design rather than merely the middle link in the great chain of being. Such greatness is based on the human ability to renounce the material and direct all attention and energy to the spiritual aspect.

Attempting to reconcile Neoplatonic philosophy with the Jewish scriptures, Pico followed a line of Jewish exegetical tradition ranging from Philo of Alexandria (30 b.c.e.–50 c.e.) to Moses Maimonides (1135–1204) by interpreting its narratives as symbolic of a deeper and hidden meaning. In 1491 Pico composed the Heptaplus, a mystical commentary on the Genesis creation account, and Of Being and Unity, a philosophical treatise on the relationship between God and the world. He was drawn to the preaching of the friar Savonarola.

Savonarola’s accent of human sinfulness and demands for reform in the church provoked Pico to reflect on the darker side of human life. Pico wrote lamentful commentaries on selected Psalms, including the seven penitential ones (Pss. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143), and on the Lord’s Prayer, where he underscored human dependence on God and the desperate human need for divine grace.

For the next two years Pico devised a new way of interpreting classical myths and themes by combining pagan motifs with Christian symbols. For Pico the only correct reading of ancient myths and stories was allegorical, as their true meaning was only to be understood by thorough analysis.

Such a meaning, when found, would always lie within the domain of Christian theology, thus illustrating the harmony of God’s natural revelation through the Gentiles and special revelation in the Bible. The myth of Mars and Venus, for example, foreshadowed the Christian budbahasa sentiments that love triumphs over violence and that reason should control passion.

This method would greatly influence Florentine humanism and art and is perhaps most clearly seen in the mythological paintings of Sandro Botticelli (1444–1510). In 1494 Pico died of a fever, when King Charles VIII of France went to Florence during his invasion of Italy and Savonarola took over governance of the city.

Based on their uniting of “profane wisdom,” or classical myths, with “sacred wisdom,” or Christian teachings, Ficino, Pico, and their followers devised a Neo platonic theory of symbolism, according to which each symbol not only displays the meaning and effect of what is represented, but also becomes interchangeable with it.

By sharing that which is portrayed, art and literature can move the soul to the transcending appreciation of beauty. The Florentine Neoplatonists substantiated this view through a circular relationship of beauty, love, and happiness, where beauty induces love and love generates voluptas, or pleasure. This circle was explained through both Christian theology and Greek mythology.

In Christian thought love is beauty and divine, the longing God has for the salvation of all souls. This love flows out of God and is carried off into the world, transforming the love of God for the world into the love of a person for God; thus beauty is converted into love.

The person becomes a vehicle for God’s love, loving other people for the sake of God, at which point love becomes felicity. The circle is complete when this felicity returns to its Creator in affective piety. For these reasons, the Florentine Neoplatonists regarded both humanistic learning and religion as paths to spiritual life, both culminating in the apprehension of God.

Moon Landings

Project Apollo sent 6 two-man teams of astronauts to the surface of the Luna betwixt July 1969 in addition to Dec 1972. Roughly 10–20 per centum of Americans at nowadays believe, however, that no human has ever gear upwardly human foot on the moon, in addition to that all prove for the landings is constituent of an elaborate hoax staged yesteryear the National Aeronautics in addition to Space Administration (NASA).

Skepticism nigh the landings began to surface almost equally presently equally they took house in addition to has remained steady for iii decades since. Supporters of the hoax theory debate that careful scrutiny of silent pictures, films, in addition to radio transmissions reveals telltale signs of the deception.

Critics of the hoax theory dismiss the idea of a thirty-year-long conspiracy involving hundreds or thousands of people equally plainly absurd. The “anomalies” inward lunar photographs are, they contend, products non of a shadowy conspiracy exactly of the volition to believe inward one.


Origins in addition to Context

Belief that the Luna missions were faked entails belief inward 2 dissever premises. The firstly is that it was possible, inward 1969, to imitate a lunar landing in addition to the “moonwalks” that accompanied it. The 2nd is that the U.S. regime deceived the populace nigh ane of the defining events of the century. Between 1968 in addition to 1973, events exterior the infinite computer program rendered both premises to a greater extent than plausible, to far to a greater extent than people, than they would remove hold been a decade earlier.

Stanley Kubrick’s celluloid 2001: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Space Odyssey (1968) signaled a revolution inward motion painting special effects and, specifically, inward the simulation of infinite move on screen. John Sturges’s Marooned (1969) in addition to Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running (1971) showed that 2001 was to a greater extent than than a brilliant fluke. All iii films stood equally far beyond Destination Moon (1950) equally that film, revolutionary inward its time, had stood beyond the unsmooth Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s. The novel films’ extraordinarily realistic “look” made it slow to believe that the simulated infinite flying could at nowadays live passed off equally real.

The 5 years betwixt 1968 in addition to 1973 also saw the rapid erosion of the U.S. public’s trust inward the federal government. The optimistic pronouncements of politicians in addition to generals nigh the state of war inward Vietnam were repeatedly undercut yesteryear the testimony of journalists in addition to returning veterans. The 1970 publication of the Pentagon Papers—the government’s ain “secret history” of the war—damaged regime credibility further, equally did the 1970 revelation of a hugger-mugger bombing receive against Cambodia.

The Watergate Scandal of 1973–1974 destroyed the Nixon management in addition to farther damaged the federal government’s credibility. The cognition that the president in addition to his advisors had systematically abused the mightiness of their offices for political gain, in addition to so systematically lied nigh their actions, permanently soured many Americans’ attitudes toward their elected officials.

The thought of a trip to the Luna had, equally belatedly equally the belatedly 1950s, seemed to many Americans a distant dream at best. Many continued, inward the early on 1970s, to uncovering the thought implausible. Disbelief inward the Luna landings coalesced unopen to those doubts.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 poll taken yesteryear Knight Newspapers inward July 1970, a twelvemonth afterward the firstly landing, revealed that 30 per centum of those polled doubted the landings had been real. Doubts ran especially high where trust inward the federal regime was especially low. In poor, dark neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., one-half of those polled believed that the landings had been a hoax.

Cynicism nigh the regime diminished trivial afterward the early on 1970s. The healing effects of fourth dimension in addition to fading memories were repeatedly offset yesteryear fresh scandals. Americans born since the mid-1960s hence remove hold solely vague, secondhand memories of the Apollo missions exactly vivid memories of regime duplicity. “I’d ever suspected something similar that” is a mutual reaction amid high schoolhouse in addition to college students encountering the hoax theory for the firstly time.

The Community of Believers

The hoax theory, fifty-fifty according to its critics, is accepted yesteryear tens of millions of Americans. It has been shaped in addition to promoted, however, yesteryear a much smaller grouping of nub believers. The members of this nub grouping are responsible for collecting, analyzing, in addition to publishing what they reckon equally compelling prove of regime deception amongst honour to Project Apollo.

They grip on what constitutes this torso of evidence, on how the private pieces of prove should live interpreted, in addition to on the thought that the populace tape of the Luna landings was falsified. They disagree nigh the extent of, in addition to the reasons for, that falsification.

Some hoax theorists, similar William Brian, debate that U.S. astronauts did dry soil on the Luna inward 1969–1972, exactly that they discovered prove of an alien culture that has been ruthlessly suppressed. Other theorists, similar David Percy, debate that the landings broadcast on tv set to worldwide audiences of millions were fakes. The existent Luna landings, they believe, were carried out inward full secrecy yesteryear a shadowy “black infinite program,” in addition to that in that place is no populace tape of it or them.

The most pop view—narrowly believed amid dedicated hoax theorists in addition to widely amid rank-and-file believers—is that humans never went to the Luna at all. NASA faked the landings, according to this view, because it was incapable of truly carrying them out yesteryear the halt of the 1960s, equally President Kennedy had challenged them to create inward 1961.

The leading advocate of this “mainstream” version of the hoax theory is Bill Kaysing, who has been promoting it since the early on 1970s. Ralph René’s majority NASA Mooned America (1994), James Collier’s video Was It Only a Paper Moon? (1997), in addition to Bart Sibrel’s video A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon (2001) stake out positions similar to Kaysing’s, patch offering similar arguments in addition to evidence.

Kaysing’s forthrightly titled majority We Never Landed on the Luna (1974) was the firstly extended give-and-take of the hoax theory to appear inward print. It remains inward impress at this writing, having been expanded in addition to republished several times, in addition to spawned a series of videos that introduce its declaration visually.

Kaysing’s ideas were also featured prominently inward the Hollywood suspense celluloid Capricorn One (1978)—the storey of NASA’s endeavour to mistaken the firstly manned landing on Mars. Except for the alter of destination, the film’s fictional scenario is virtually identical to Kaysing’s purportedly existent one. Even the spaceships are identical to those used inward Project Apollo.

Kaysing has actively promoted the hoax theory on radio talk-shows and, inward 1997, achieved fleeting fame yesteryear suing ex-Apollo astronaut James Lovell for referring to him equally “a wacko” (a gauge dismissed the accommodate equally baseless). The Fox tv set network’s hour-long documentary Conspiracy Theory: Did We Go to the Moon? (2001) gave Kaysing’s ideas a thorough, in addition to thoroughly uncritical, airing.

The Case for the Hoax Theory

The mainstream version of the hoax theory is built unopen to iii fundamental ideas. The firstly is that NASA, incapable of truly sending anyone to the moon, never allowed the Apollo astronauts to teach beyond the Earth’s orbit. The 2nd is that official NASA photographs in addition to films from the Apollo missions demo telltale signs of their creation on an earth-bound audio stage.

The 3rd is that NASA, in addition to its coconspirators elsewhere inward the government, remove hold kept those amongst cognition of the conspiracy tranquillity for xxx years. The residuum of the hoax theory consists of a spider web of suppositions in addition to “likely stories” connecting those iii ideas.

Proof of NASA’s inability to demeanour off a existent lunar landing lies, believers argue, inward the contrast betwixt the space agency’s functioning before in addition to during the Apollo missions. NASA’s early on attempts at infinite flying inward the belatedly 1950s in addition to early on 1960s were oft spectacular failures.

They achieved a stair out of success amongst Earth-orbiting flights during the Mercury in addition to Gemini programs, exactly Apollo was plagued yesteryear problems amongst character control, amongst coming together deadlines, in addition to amongst spacecraft performance.

As belatedly equally Jan 1967, iii astronauts died on the launch pad when burn downward broke out inward the cabin of a poorly designed Apollo spacecraft during a test. Yet, get-go amongst the flying of Apollo 8 unopen to the Luna inward Dec 1968, mission followed flawless mission amongst solely ane (nonlethal) failure—Apollo 13.

Hoax theorists debate that real, successful lunar missions are far less plausible than faked ones inward which (according to ane scenario) empty Apollo spacecraft were launched in addition to and so “parked” inward footing ambit for the required number of days before beingness returned to footing nether remote control.

Proof that the Luna landings were staged on footing rests, according to believers, on clearly visible “anomalies.” Why, they ask, is the “moon rock” shown inward ane NASA photograph marked amongst the missive of the alphabet “C”? Why is the soil beneath the engine nozzle of the lunar module solely slightly disturbed? An engine so powerful should remove hold blasted out a crater deep plenty to live noticeable.

Why create photographs supposedly taken on the lunar surface demo objects lit from to a greater extent than than ane direction? There should live solely ane source of calorie-free on the moon: the sun. Why are the stars non visible inward the lunar sky? With no atmosphere to obscure them, they should smooth clearly.

Why, inward celluloid footage that shows an astronaut planting the U.S. flag, does the flag appear to moving ridge equally if inward a breeze? It should, on the airless lunar surface, hang limply from the rod that supports its top edge.

Proof of a post-Apollo conspiracy of quiet lies, believers argue, inward the fact that no ane connected to NASA has spoken out on the subject. They reckon it equally peculiarly meaning that Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo eleven in addition to the firstly someone to gear upwardly human foot on the moon, declines to give interviews in addition to that other astronauts remove hold specifically refused interviews amongst hoax theorists.

Some (including Bill Kaysing) teach further, suggesting that the iii astronauts who died inward the mid-1960s bird crashes, the iii who died inward the 1967 Apollo cabin fire, in addition to the vii who died inward the 1986 Challenger disaster were murdered yesteryear NASA to maintain them quiet.

The Case against a Hoax

The hoax theory, according to its critics, is a tissue of faulty assumptions, specious “evidence,” in addition to bad science. The Apollo flights to the moon, though successful, were far from the flawless exercises that Kaysing in addition to others suggest.

Apollo 11, the firstly to land, came inside seconds of crashing on the lunar surface. The explosion that crippled Apollo 13, in addition to many of the problems that resulted, were products of flawed or inefficient design—the same kinds of problems that NASA had faced throughout the 1960s.

The purported “anomalies” on which believers rely so heavily are, inward fact, readily explained without a hoax. The “C” appears solely inward a unmarried re-create of the photograph inward question, non on the master film.

The lunar module’s rocket engine fires solely briefly when the ship is unopen to the lunar surface, in addition to non at all for the terminal seconds of the descent. The shallow craters it leaves inward the lunar soil reverberate this. The rays of the Sun illuminate objects on the lunar surface directly, exactly also yesteryear reflecting off the soil, the lunar module, in addition to other light-colored objects.

The stars are non visible inward the dark lunar heaven for the same ground they are non visible to observers standing close a vivid street light: the street calorie-free (or, inward lunar photography, the sun) overwhelms them. The flag moves afterward its pole is planted non because of breeze exactly because of inertia. The deed of driving the pole into the footing shakes the stuff and, for a minute or two, it continues to shake.

No introduce or quondam NASA employee has “blown the whistle” on the hoax, critics argue, because in that place was no hoax. It defies belief that the hundreds or thousands of NASA employees who would remove hold been aware of some constituent of the hoax would all remove hold kept quiet for iii decades.

It is, on the other hand, far from surprising that astronauts would turn down to verbalize to hoax theorists who bill them of beingness brainwashed dupes at best in addition to bald-faced liars at worst. Neil Armstrong’s reticence nigh the firstly lunar landing mirrors his similar reticence nigh his fighting missions inward the Korean War in addition to his exam flights of the X-15 rocket plane.

Buzz Aldrin in addition to Michael Collins, who flew amongst him aboard Apollo 11, remove hold both written extensively nigh their experiences on the moon. Unless the existence of a hoax is assumed, critics betoken out, cypher nigh the expiry of 6 astronauts inward the mid-1960s or vii aboard Challenger suggests foul play. Space move is, equally fifty-fifty hoax theorists readily admit, a unsafe business.

Heian

Heian building

The term Heian is derived from modern-day Kyoto’s previous name of Heian-kyo, a city founded in 794. The literal translation of Heian-kyo is “Capital of Peace and Tranquility” and was meant to reflect its peaceful and protected surroundings. The literal translation of Heian is “peace” in Japanese.

Located near the village of Uda, between the Katsura and Kamo Rivers, and with Mount Hiei providing spectacular natural geographical protection, the new capital was similar in design to the Chinese city Chang’an and was built according to Chinese feng shui principles. Heian-kyo was the center of political power and the capital of Japan until 1868, when the Meiji Restoration saw Emperor Kammu move to the city of Edo.

Edo was then renamed as Tokyo (Eastern Capital) to illustrate the shift in power. The Imperial Court remained at Heian-kyo. The Heian period witnessed the emergence of a Japanese identity that was distinct from Chinese influences and is often regarded as a golden age of Japanese culture.


The Heian period can be broken into three distinct eras. The first period, referred to as the Early Heian era, witnessed the foundation of Heian-Kyo in 794 b.c.e. and extended to around the late 960s b.c.e. The Middle Heian period extended to 1067 c.e. and was characterized by the rule of the Fujiwara clan and their courtly behavior. The Late Heian period extended to 1192 and is known for the insei (cloistered government) and for providing the framework for the establishment of the feudal system in Japan.

The move to Heian-kyo from the capital Nagaoka was necessary to curb the increasing struggles over the throne. The ongoing clan struggles resulted in Emperor Kammu taking drastic political and social reforms to try to stabilize the situation. As a result the Heian period experienced one of the longest periods of sustained peace in classical Japanese history.

Four noble families attempted to control the political scene during the Early Heian period. The Minamoto, Tachibana, Taira, and Fujiwara families all tried to influence the political atmosphere for the benefit of their own interests and pursuits. During the Middle period the Fujiwara family clearly dominated the government and because of familial ties influenced the imperial family.

The families required the services of the warrior classes to provide protection (much like security guards) thus creating the initial surge in the samurai and bushi numbers. Another important family that emerged during the Late Heian period, the Taira, eventually overthrew the Fujiwara family. The Minamoto clan then overthrew the Taira.

The Early period was also defined by the start of a clear religious doctrinal change. There was movement away from the Chinese influenced Neo-Confucianism toward a Buddhist religious perspective that echoed aspects of Japan’s indigenous religion Shinto. The imperial court adopted Mahayana Buddhism relatively quickly and it in turn merged with aspects of Shinto to create an essentially Japanese religion (called Shinbutso Shugo) that flourished.

It was during this period that Shinto architecture and art started to transform and mass temple building began. Buddhist artisans were abundant and produced sculptures as religious objects, but also as art objects for wealthy families. Stoneware and bronze were used by both the imperial households and the lay people, while the emperor preferred silver for monastic and royal events.

Metal craft reached its pinnacle during the Heian era, particularly during the Middle to Late periods, where samurai armor incorporated various motifs (according to the house that they served) and sword-smiths began to engrave their swords with their names. Armor was held in such high regard that the most powerful families and warlords offered them to Shinto shrines as holy relics.

The Early period also witnessed the introduction of new Buddhist sects called the Tendai (Heavenly Terrace) in 805 b.c.e. by Saicho and the Shingon (True Word), and in 806 b.c.e. by Kukai. The introduction of these sects contributed to stylistic changes in architecture—for example, Shingon temples adopted the use of the pagoda.

Pure Land Buddhism also began to take root within Heian society and around the same time Korean monks started introducing the now well-known Zen (or Ch’an) Buddhism. Gardens were used as contemplative areas and there was a movement toward meditative practice. Cultural festivals (Buddhist, Shinto, and Confucian) shaped the whole Heian period, and more festivals were introduced and conceived, including the Cherry-Blossom Feast and the Feast of Red Autumn Foliage.

The concept of art underwent a transformation during the Heian periods—it was used for aesthetic as well as religious purposes, and new art practices were created. Art for art’s sake was encouraged and artists, poets, and writers began to create and recognize a distinct Japanese identity.

Secular paintings and art have been referred to in literature of the day; however very little survived to the present. Japanese artists would paint sutras (Buddhist writings) or intricate landscapes onto folding fans, which became highly desirable and exported items during this period.

Heian painting

Literature also started to become fashionable, especially diaries of court providing details of life inside the palace. The most popular book of the early periode was Makura no soshi (The Pillow Book) written by Sei Shonagon. Sei came from a literary family, her father Kiyohara Motosuke (a poet) and her great-grandfather the well-known Fukayabu.

It in turn influenced many other writers to pen their experiences in the imperial household, thus creating a distinct phase of early Japanese literature. Monogatari-e (illustrations for novels) emerged during the late 10th century and was viewed as the perfect coupling of prose and painting. It became the preferred pastime of those in the imperial household and during the Late Heian period, art competitions and shows were commonplace.

The Heian Middle to Late period is generally viewed as the most productive sociocultural period in Japanese history, as it marked a move away from Chinese influence on culture, society, and religion toward the creation of an essentially Japanese identity. The Middle Heian period witnessed a flourishing of literary and artistic pursuits and is often described as the “early” history of Japan.

During the late stages of the Early Heian period and blossoming during the Middle period, a new writing system was developed. Based upon syllables (hiragana and katakana), the new kana writing system allowed for the creation of Japanese literature and texts without depending upon kanji. It initiated a new sociocultural identity, a unique Japanese perspective that would profoundly influence Japanese life.

Calligraphy and calligraphers were attached to imperial offices and were required to provide calligraphy for things as diverse as imperial temple walls and hanging scrolls. New calligraphy styles such as “Women’s Hand” became widely recognized because of their use in calligraphic poems. It was also popular to determine one’s character by the style of writing, and use of medium.

A favorite pastime of imperial ladies was to swap poetry in elaborate folded pieces of paper, using different fasteners to convey hidden meanings. Decorative paper was highly prized and paper collages became an art form that has continued to the present time. The majority of lay people (other than the warrior classes) were not exposed to such hobbies as most were illiterate.

Literary forms experienced change with the advent of court diaries and their tendency toward long sections of prose and observation. The Middle to Late Heian period witnessed a further flourishing of literature. The establishment of an office of poetry by the imperial court in 951 accounted for the initial explosion of interest in waka (tradtional Japanese poetry).

Diplomatic ties were increasingly cut with the Chinese Tang (T’ang) dynasty during the Middle Heian period and thus there was a movement away from the Chinese style of poetry (kanshi). There were frequent poetry contests between noble contestants—the imperial palace often acting as a backdrop to the proceedings. Although the Heian court demanded its subjects write in Chinese, they compromised by writing sections of their poems with Japanese script toward the end of the prose.

A popular literary writer of the Middle to Late Heian period was Murasaki Shikibu, who created a sensation with her novel Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji). Written around 1000 to 1008, it is often credited as the world’s first novel. The novel relates the customs and practices common to the Heian era. Men and women of high status powdered their faces white.

The imperial households wore stately robes, which were modeled on Chinese state robes. Several types of hats were worn, depending upon rank and the formality of the events. Women in the court would wear white silk with heavy brocade jackets and wore their hair long, often with the aid of wig attachments. It was fashionable to leave it unfastened so it flowed freely.

The Late Heian period witnessed what could be described as an elitist form of social hierarchy; it was highly formalized and exclusive. Although the Heian period underwent enormous social and cultural change it was economically stagnant; thus the majority of people were poor and uneducated.

Little social or cultural change occurred within this class with the exception of the rise of the warrior class, which was able to exist on the fringes of both classes with relative ease. Despite this, the Heian period left a great cultural heritage and contributed toward the social and cultural psyche of modern Japan.