Welcome to Bones, Stones, and Books
Welcome to Bones, Stones, and Books! My name is Stephanie Halmhofer and I’m an archaeologist on the southwest coast of British Columbia, Canada. I am also currently completing my PhD through the University of Alberta.
My website is undergoing some updating. Please bear with me as I make these updates, as pages may seem incomplete or in transition as I make some changes!
Although I worked as a bioarchaeologist for many years, my current area of archaeological expertise is in historical landscape archaeology. This means I look at how people used and shaped their landscapes (both the natural landscape and their built landscape), as well as how their landscapes shaped them, in historical periods. How did they built their landscapes to reflect their ideologies and worldviews? How did their landscapes reinforce those ideologies and worldviews?
My research is focused on the landscapes of conspiritual communities, meaning communities whose ideologies combine conspiracy theories and elements of New Age spiritualities. My primary focus is on the Aquarian Foundation, a 1920s conspiritual organization led by a man who went by the name of Brother XII. The Aquarian Foundation grew out of Brother XII’s claimed relationship with spiritual beings known as the Ascended Masters of the Wisdom, who in 1925 told Brother XII that he was destined to lead the transition of humanity into the Age of Aquarius. At the same time, he was also to expose a shadowy cabal, referred to as the Empire of Evil, who were secretly working towards total world domination. The Ascended Masters told Brother XII that he and his organization of helpers, the Aquarian Foundation, were to conduct their work in British Columbia, Canada, and they moved to Vancouver Island in 1927. By 1929 they owned several additional properties. My research examines what the Aquarian Foundation constructed at each of their properties, and how this correlates with their ideological writing as found in the numerous books, pamphlets, and magazine articles that they published. In what ways do their built landscapes (the buildings they constructed, their spatial organization, etc.) reflect the views they shared in their writing? How did these landscapes further reinforce their conspiritual beliefs? Each of the Aquarian Foundation’s properties were said to be used for a different ideological purpose – how are these differences reflected in the built landscapes of each property?
Additionally, another area of my knowledge expertise is in archaeological disinformation and conspiracism, which is also referred to as pseudoarchaeology. More specifically, I examine the use of pseudoarchaeology by far-right individuals and groups. Why do they find pseudoarchaeological explanations for human history so appealing? What purpose does it serve for them. I examine the use of pseudoarchaeology by historical far-right individuals and groups, such as Brother XII, who wrapped ideas related to Atlantis and pyramidism into his antisemitic conspiracism. I also examine the use of pseudoarchaeology by contemporary far-right individuals and groups.
I am available for media interviews, film consultations, and research assistance on subjects that include archaeology, historical archaeology, conspirituality, pseudoarchaeology, and conspiracism. Please feel free to contact me if you are looking for expert insight for your projects!
Bones, Stones, and Books 