Gene Savoy

Savoy was born in Bellingham, Washington. At age 17 he 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.Covert, "The Explorer," p.26

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.Project X: The Explorations, 1987, pp. 6-8 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.Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 15-17 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.Project X: The Explorations, 1987, pp. 13-19

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.Covert, "The Explorer," p.27

Throughout the 1960s, Savoy carried out a series of well publicized expeditions in Peru, exploring and documenting various pre-Columbian archaeological sites.Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009 In 1964 he identified a ruin called Espiritu Pampa as the legendary Vilcabamba, the 16th century capital of the Neo-Inca Empire and the last refuge of the Incas during the Spanish conquest.Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 73-128Lee, Forgotten Vilcabamba, 2000Hemming, Conquest, pp. 492-499Covert, "The Explorer," pp. 27-28Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009Maugh, "Science winces at adventurer's ways", 2004 This discovery disproved Hiram Bingham’s belief that Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba were one and the same.Hemming, Conquest, p. 499Obituary, The Independent, 2007 In 1965 Savoy explored and brought worldwide attention to a site he named Gran Pajatén, an ornately ornamented stone city located in northeastern Peru.Savoy, Antisuyo, pp. 131-143Gilbert, "Lost Cities," pp. 48-53, 83 His discovery of this site, as well as Vilcabamba and other sites, is disputed.Obituary, The Independent, 2007 From 1965 to 1970 he continued his explorations into Peru’s eastern montañas.

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.Savoy,On the Trail of the Feathered Serpent, 1974Heyerdahl, Early Man, pp. 42-43, 68, 381Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009 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.Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009 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.Profile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009Covert, "The Explorer," pp. 30-31

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 VilayaCovert, "The Explorer," pp. 30Gilbert, "Lost Cities," p. 52 and in 1999 Gran SaposoaProfile of Gene Savoy, "We All Search For Something", 2009 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.Martin, "Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80", 2007 He died in Reno, Nevada, aged 80.

Savoy’s uneasy relationship with the academic archaeologist community, who deplored his swashbuckling ways while they built on his discoveries for their own research,Obituary, The Independent, 2007 is exemplified by the comment of archeologist Keith Muscutt, who pointed out that finding ruins "is about as hard as finding elephants in a zoo" Martin, "Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80", 2007 on the mountain ridges of northern Peru where Savoy made most of his discoveries, a region University of Florida archeologist Michael Moseley compared to "the Amazon jungle stretched over the Rocky Mountains."Maugh, "Science winces at adventurer's ways", 2004 Scientists have also questioned Savoy’s tendency to use his explorations to pursue uncommon theories, e.g. his claim that King Solomon acquired gold and precious stones from Peru (Ophir).Martin, "Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80", 2007 "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 other delusions," said archaeologist Keith Muscutt.Maugh, "Science winces at adventurer's ways", 2004

The central driving idea behind all Savoy’s exploring was to show that the jungle was not on the fringes of Peruvian culture but at its center. It was this concept that led him on his obsessive search for the legendary cities of the Chachapoyas.Obituary, The Independent, 2007 Savoy emphasized that he continually returned to historical sources in order to find clues for his searches:

::No sensible man goes down into the jungle unless he's got something to follow. I see explorers as people with open minds who can scan many different sources for information, unconfined by an academic discipline, just like computers scan the internet. We've all learnt that the great thing is to follow the roads. Roads lead to ruins.Obituary, The Independent, 2007

The advice to 'follow the roads', meaning the Inca roads, was taken to heart by the Andean explorer Vince Lee who had some fruitful discussions with Savoy before embarking on his own Andean explorations.

Savoy's major discoveries gained him recognition as the "real Indiana Jones" by People magazine after his parallel career as religious leader and researcher became known.People Weekly, May 1985, pp. 30-31.

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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 forebears of Jesus.Savoy, Essaei Document, 1983Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128 He called the spiritual discipline Cosolargy,Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128 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.Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009

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.Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128 He later formalized this research under the auspices of the American Cosmic Solar Research Center, established in 1962,Project X: The Explorations, 1987, p. 21 and the research program Project "X": The Search for the Secrets of Immortality, established in 1970,Project X: The Explorations, 1987, p. 21 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.Martin, "Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80", 2007Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009 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.Melton, "International Community of Christ," pp. 1127-1128 The church teaches that Jesus prophesied the future coming of Christ as the "Sun of Righteousness" Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009 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 Melton, "International Community of Christ," pp. 11-27-1128 who lived in the Andes of Peru.Savoy, "International Community of Christ", 2009 The notion that Savoy believed his son Jamil to be the Second Coming of Christ is a misunderstanding that arose during his first interview with a local newspaper as head bishop of the church Haq, Reno-Gazette Journal, 1982 and has been repeated in newspapers ever since as a boiler plate item, appearing even in one of his obituaries.Obituary, The Independent, 2007 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.Savoy, Core Theology Series, Lecture 129, p. 12

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;Obituary, The Independent, 2007 and he delivered over 400 lectures on metaphysics, philosophy and theology,Gene Savoy website 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.Melton, "International Community of Christ," p. 1128

; 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)

{{Reflist|2}}

• Covert, Marc. "The Explorer: Gene Savoy '51," Portland, the University of Portland Magazine, Spring 1999, pp. 26–31.
• Gene Savoy Website. [http://www.genesavoy.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928065938/http://www.genesavoy.org/ |date=2007-09-28 }}
• 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).
• Martin, Douglas. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/us/19savoy.html “Gene Savoy, Flamboyant Explorer of Ruins, Dies at 80” ], New York Times, September 19, 2007.
• Maugh II, Thomas H. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002116984_savoy12.html “Science winces at adventurer's ways”], Seattle Times, December 12, 2004.
• Maugh II, Thomas H. "[https://www.latimes.com/la-me-savoyobit18-2007sept18-story.html Gene Savoy, 80; swashbuckling explorer found lost cities in Peru], Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2007.
• Melton, J. Gordon. Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions, 8th edition (Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009), pp. 1127–1128.
• Obituary. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gene-savoy-403012.html “Gene Savoy”], The Independent, September 21, 2007.
• Project X: The Explorations (International Community of Christ, 1987).
• Savoy, Sean. [http://www.onlinenevada.org/international_community_of_christ "International Community of Christ"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109042632/http://www.onlinenevada.org/international_community_of_christ |date=2010-01-09 }}, Online Nevada Encyclopedia, July 7, 2009.
• People Weekly, May 1985, pp. 30–31.
• Profile of Gene Savoy.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110711004722/http://mala.fitdv.com/new/articles/article.php?artid=496 "We All Search For Something"], Your Spirit, November 2009 issue, Malaspina U website.
• 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. The Essaei Document: Secrets of an Eternal Race (International Community of Christ, 1978, 1983)
• Savoy, Gene. On the Trail of the Feathered Serpent (Bobbs-Merrill, 1974).

• [http://www.genesavoy.org Gene Savoy Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928065938/http://www.genesavoy.org/ |date=2007-09-28 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110711004722/http://mala.fitdv.com/new/articles/article.php?artid=496 We All Search For Something] Profile of Gene Savoy, Malaspina U website.
• [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1364189/Gene-Savoy.html Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Gene Savoy]
• {{YouTube|GxZ7WndOKVA|Gene Savoy Eulogy, Part 1 of 5}}
• {{YouTube|_J6_Nyvnn9g|Gene Savoy Remembered, Part 1 of 6}}

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