I have previously written a piece about the 1851 Great Exhibition in London in an astrological context. It is probably coincidental but at this exact time there was one other less well publicised and rather odd occurrence in Prussia, in what is now northern Germany.

This involved the appearance of a stranger calling himself Jophar Vorin, in the small town of Lebus. He was subsequently taken for further questioning to nearby Frankfurt an der Oder.

Strange Caucasian

This strange Caucasian spoke what sounded like an unusual German dialect, but he also stated that he spoke Abramian and Laxarian, the official written and spoken languages of his country. Jophar was also nominally Christian, which he described as Ispatian.

He called the country of his origin Laxaria, in a region of the world called Sakria. However, when asked to locate his home on a map he could not do so. He stated that his country was hundreds of miles away, that the reason for his voyage was to locate his long lost brother, and that he had been shipwrecked en route. He described his world as having several regions, namely Sakria, Aflar, Astar, Auslar, and Euplar.

It appears that the authorities in Frankfurt believed his story and he was taken to the Prussian capital of Berlin for further examination. As far as I can tell, it is not known officially what happened to him.

Parallel Universe?

So what are we to make of this strange case? Many have speculated that it was either a hoax or even an example of the existence of parallel universes.

The fact that Jophar could speak a kind of broken German is interesting. Whilst Laxaria does not suggest too much to me, the name of his country or region, Sakria, may be suggestive.

In our known histories the Scythians, a people who appeared in a broad region north of the Black and Caspian Seas around 2,500 years ago, were also known as Saka, or Sacae. The word Saxon may originate from this. These people were fierce warriors and metalsmiths of great skill. It was these same people who were to later move en masse to central and northern Europe, speaking a form of the Indo European language related to modern day German and other Germanic languages.

Not of this World

So whilst Jophar Vorin does not appear to have been a time traveller, it is odd that he could converse in a form of broken German.

The other regions of his world which he named as Aflar, Astar, Auslar, and Euplar, have prefixes at least tenuously related to some continents of our world, namely Africa, Asia, Australasia and Europe.

One of the languages of his people he described as Abramian, which is clearly related to Abram, or Abraham, perhaps hinting of a link to Hebrew origins. Abram means ‘high father’ in Hebrew, whilst Abraham means ‘father of many’ nations.

Multiple Timelines

This unusual individual’s Christian name, Jophar, is also similar to Joseph, which some people called him at the time. But it is even closer to Japheth, one of Noah’s sons, whose name means something like ‘wide expansion’ – highly appropriate considering much of today’s humanity is still believed by many to be descended from Japheth and his two brothers, Ham and Shem.

What is more, Noah’s ark is said to have come aground in the Mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4), exactly between the Black and Caspian Seas, where the Scythian (Saka, Sacae) people were to develop centuries later.

Jophar’s second name, Vorin, sounds almost Slavic, though this may be a genuine coincidence, unless you are a particular fan of Star Wars mythology.

Speculation

So whilst some speculate that here may be proof of parallel universes, the existence of multiple timelines is also interesting and of course related. Is it possible that these timelines occasionally cross over or meet, allowing some to intentionally or accidentally pass through?

We might speculate that Jophar’s own timeline diverged from the one we are currently on around 2,500 years ago. Maybe his country of Laxaria developed from the Saka, or Sacae and followed a divergent course to our own.

If the Sacae (Scythians) were speaking a form of proto German, that may explain how he could, at least to some degree, converse with the Prussians of the mid 19th century, who were in part descended from the Scythians.

Allegorical

The world he knew had clearly developed along very different lines to our own, even though his religion, Ispatian as he called it, was apparently Christian.

Finally, it strikes me as highly allegorical that the reason for his voyage was to find a long lost brother. Maybe Jophar was as surprised as those who questioned him to discover he could make himself understood. What if he had actually found his long lost brother, not a single individual, but a ‘brother’ people?

Hoax or true story? We will probably never know for sure, yet it is endlessly fascinating.

Copyright Francis Barker 2020