Facts and Fancies of Atlantis

Separating fact from fiction and dispelling the fancies that surround the subject of Atlantis


Introduction

In this, the first of a series of articles about Atlantis, we aim to provide our readers with a broad overview of the subject, by separating fact from fiction, dispelling misinformation, and clearing up the many misunderstandings in connection with the lost continent. It is not our intention to write a book about Atlantis; there are plenty of these to be had, the best of which we review and recommend in the sidebar. Nor do we wish to add to the many speculations about the supposed location of Atlantis, or feed the appetite of those who wish to be 'thrilled' by the weird and wonderful fantasies derived from channeled sources. Least of all are we interested in proving the existence of Atlantis to the satisfaction of sceptics. We aim to give you FACTS, not fancies, which you can verify for and by yourself through your own research.

In the second of our subsequent articles published in 2018, we discuss Plato's story of Atlantis and what the 20th century writer, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, had to say about some of the highly advanced arts and sciences which the Atlanteans developed and exported to almost every corner of the world, before and after the destruction of the Motherland. In January 2019, we published a three-part investigation into the migrations of the Atlanteans and the colonies they founded around the world, drawing on a variety of sources, including the Oera Linda Book which we shall examine later on in this article. Readers who are interested in exploring the rich legacy of Atlantis and the Ancient Wisdom contained in this remarkable book will find a brief review in the sidebar. In our three-part investigation — The legacy of Atlantis — we consider the Oera Linda Book in much greater depth and quote copiously from it.

Fact versus fancy

Readers interested in Atlantology—as the scientific study of Atlantis is termed—are referred to the list of books given in the sidebar. All these books treat the subject in a thoroughly scientific and factual manner. We make no comment on the very many books, both past and present, which treat the subject in an UNscientific manner, other than to say that having read the very 'best' books by these 'visionaries' we remain profoundly sceptical about the majority of their claims. Moreover, with very few exceptions, the information imparted by them is so trivial and ordinary that it tells us nothing worthwhile about Atlantis.

Colonel Braghine, in his introduction to The Shadow of Atlantis says: "...it is to be regretted that various visionaries and novelists have exploited the subject of Atlantis, and their activity has alienated it from the attention of many serious truth-seekers and created around it an atmosphere of fancy and fiction." This is even truer today than when Braghine wrote these words in 1938! We know where we are with a novel, and do not expect it to do more than entertain us for an idle hour or two, whereas fancy masquerading as fact is another matter entirely, and therefore all the more misleading and dangerous for the genuine seeker after Truth.

That is not to say that a trained clairvoyant cannot discover accurate information about the distant past, for many have, as you can read in our brief review of the clairvoyant researches of the trained seer and occultist, Geoffrey Hodson. The problem is that so many psychics and mediumistic persons will embroider what they have seen, heard or experienced clairvoyantly with the fanciful speculations of their own, untrained minds, completely obscuring and distorting any useful information they may have discovered through their visions. And whereas an Initiate, by virtue of their thorough training in Occult Science, can sift the gold from the dross in such visions, the average reader cannot, and either swallows the tall tales wholesale, or dismisses them as fantasy, which, we are sorry to say, is just what they are in most cases.

We, and we hope YOU who are reading this, want facts, not fancies, founded upon evidence anyone may verify for themselves. This then, is our aim in this article: to review the facts about Atlantis as recorded by such great minds as Plato, Solon, Herodotus and others, together with the scientific researches of more modern times by open-minded investigators such as Ignatius Donnelly, Braghine, Whishaw and N. F. Zhirov. At the same time we hope to dispel some of the fancies which cling to the subject in the minds of many mystics and occultists.

Atlantis — myth or reality?

We ourselves have no doubts about the existence of Atlantis, or its location. We say this after a lifetime spent investigating the subject in a thoroughly scientific manner from every conceivable angle; geographically, ethnographically, linguistically, astronomically, and anthropologically, to name but a few of the different scientific tools which are needed if we wish to arrive at the truth, not fantasy. We would add that anyone who does take the time and trouble to do this will arrive at the same conclusion, unless of course, they are the type of dogmatic sceptic we heard sounding forth on the television recently, who smugly asserted that there was no point in investigating the subject, as land does not rise or sink overnight, or even at all! This despite the evidence of the eruption of new islands in modern times, such as Surtsey, which appeared off the coast of Iceland in 1963. By 1967 it had reached a size of 1 square mile and a height of 500 feet above sea level. During the island's first 20 years, 20 species of plants were observed at one time or another, and in 1998, the first tree was found on the island—a tea-leaved willow, which can grow to a height of 13 feet. By 2008, 69 species of plant had been found.

Then we have the sinking of the island of Thera (modern Santorini) into the Aegean Sea in about 1500 B.C. If small islands can rise and sink why shouldn't very much larger ones do so too? It is only a matter of scale, not of principle. Quite why dogmatic science refuses to accept this simple fact in the face of such clear evidence is a question we leave you to ponder . . . Such entrenched attitudes are sadly all too common among many scientists, who remind us of the verse from Matthew in which the Apostle berates the blind guides "which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." Material science swallows many 'camels', such as electricity which, despite the uses to which the effects of this force have been put, remains "a mysterious incomprehensible entity" whose origin cannot be explained, any more than magnetism or gravity. Yet science continues to strain at the gnat of Atlantis!

Pseudo-historian, pseudo-archaeologist, pseudo-ethnographer and pseudo-anthropologist are just a few of the epithets hurled like the thunderbolts of Zeus from the eminence of established scientific orthodoxy at any soul brave or foolish enough to challenge the accepted dogma that Atlantis is a myth invented by Plato. We are tempted to retaliate by calling these pious priests of historical correctness 'pseudo-sapiens', because they appear to have no ability to think for and by themselves. Perhaps that is a little unkind, for we who write these words, and you who are listening to us approvingly (at least we hope so!), have nothing to lose by speaking our mind. The professional historian or archaeologist who dares to challenge the accepted dogma about Atlantis is not so fortunate. At best he or she will be ignored, marginalised or derided. At worst they may face professional ruin, loss of income, health, and all that this entails. Need we wonder that the wiser dissenters from the prevailing orthodoxy keep their heads down?

Ancient accounts of Atlantis

The earliest known specific accounts of Atlantis are the narratives given by Plato in his Timaeus and Critias, written in 360 B.C. Plato said he obtained his information from the writings of Solon (ca. 600 B.C.), who in his turn obtained his knowledge from the Egyptian Priests who presided over the last of the Mystery Schools, in the Temple of the goddess Net (or 'Neith') at Sais, in Egypt. This is very significant, for as Plato had also been initiated into these same Mysteries, he was not permitted to divulge and declare all he knew—merely hint. We suggest that he carefully merged and mixed up the history of Atlantis, which covered several million years, into one event, which he located on one comparatively small island of 'Poseidonis', whereas the Egyptian priests spoke of Atlantis as a continent as large as "all Asia and Libya combined." But, however altered in its general aspect, Plato's narrative bears the stamp of Truth. Nor did he invent it, as many modern 'authorities' assert, since Homer, who preceded him by many centuries, also speaks of the Atlantes (who are the Atlanteans) and of their island in his Odyssey.

In Plato's Timaeus we may read: "Oh, Solon, Solon, you Greeks are all children, and there is no such thing as an old man among you . . . You are all young in mind; you have no belief rooted in old tradition and no knowledge hoary with age . . . In our temples we have preserved from earliest times a written record of any great or splendid achievement or notable event which has come to our ears, whether it occurred in your part of the world or here in Egypt or anywhere else; whereas with you and others, writing and the other necessities of civilisation have only just been developed when the periodic scourge of the deluge descends, and spares none but the unlettered and uncultured, so that you have to begin again like children, in complete ignorance of what happened in our part of the world or in yours in early times."

We have no reason to dispute this account, especially as it agrees with the histories preserved by many other nations, such as the Chaldeans and Jews, regarding the various 'floods' that have inundated the earth at different times. It also partially explains why there are no complete records of the history of Atlantis to be found in any books. Imagine if a similar disaster befell our Western civilisation! What would remain of our boasted arts and sciences, our great engineering works, or our technology in even a thousand years after such a catastrophe? We would have to begin again at the beginning, just as the survivors from the drowned Atlantis had to. Plumbers and builders, not to mention carpenters and farmers, would be hailed as the greatest of men, if not regarded as veritable 'gods' by the rest, whilst historians, poets and writers would be well down the pecking order of social utility!

There are other reasons for the paucity of ancient accounts of Atlantis, not least the wholesale destruction of so many books and manuscripts by the various invaders of Egypt over many millennia. Had Diocletian not burned the esoteric works of the Egyptian Temples in 296 A.D., Caesar incinerated 700,000 rolls at Alexandria, and the Muslims put to the torch all the ancient books they could lay their sacrilegious hands on, the modern world might know very much more about Atlantis than it does. As it is, Plato's account is the best we have. Those of you who are not familiar with his narratives can find them easily online; they are well worth reading in their entirety. Unless we wish to dismiss his story of Atlantis as a political allegory intended to promote his views on morality and statehood, as most modern scholars do, we are compelled to accept his testimony for what it is: the history of real events. When we also consider that his story is corroborated by earlier writers, such as Herodotus and Homer, it is hard to believe that the Athenian sage made the whole thing up just to score a few political points over his opponents!

Where was Atlantis?

To save you looking it up, Plato's description of the location of Atlantis is as follows: "In front of the mouth which you Greeks call the pillars of Heracles, there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia combined; and it was possible for the travellers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses the real ocean."

Not only does Plato mention 'other islands' beside the main island of Atlantis, but also the continent which we now know as North and South America, which 'encompasses the real ocean', or Atlantic as we know it. Plato goes on to say: "Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvellous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent." This is interesting, for it tells us that aside from their main centres on the motherland, the Atlanteans had colonies on other islands in the Atlantic ocean and in the Americas, as they had in Europe too, as we shall see later on.

The 5th Century Neoplatonist philosopher, Proclus, wrote in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus: "That an island of such nature and size once existed is evident from what is said by certain authors who investigated the things around the outer sea. For according to them, there were seven islands in that sea in their time, sacred to Persephone, and also three others of enormous size, one of which was sacred to Hades, another to Ammon, and another one between them to Poseidon, the extent of which was a thousand stadia (200 km); and the inhabitants of it—they add—preserved the remembrance from their ancestors of the immeasurably large island of Atlantis which had really existed there and which for many ages had reigned over all islands in the Atlantic sea."

This tells us several things. Firstly, that at some period in its long history Atlantis broke up into several islands. Secondly that three of them were much larger than the others. Finally, that only one of these—'sacred to Poseidon'—was known to the earliest Greeks. But as Plato also tells us that Atlantis was "larger than Libya and Asia combined", it must be clear that in this instance he is referring to the great continent, as it was before the first disaster struck, and not the smaller island of Poseidonis. This confirms what we said earlier when we suggested that Plato deliberately mixed and merged several different accounts, the better to conceal the truth. From this it must be clear that such a large landmass as Atlantis was in the beginning could not have been situated in the Mediterranean as some modern writers claim. Moreover, we have the testimony of Herodotus and other ancient historians, who say quite clearly that Atlantis lay beyond the pillars of Heracles, or Hercules (the same thing) in the west, and we may be tolerably sure that the ancient Greeks knew their east from their west quite as well as we do! So let us dismiss as fanciful fiction the various claims that Atlantis was located in the Aegean Sea, on the Dogger Bank, or was Antarctica! This is not to say that some remnant of Atlantis did not exist in the North Sea at some time in the past. Indeed we think it likely that it did, but this cannot have been anything other than the northernmost promontory of the great continent described by Plato. We shall return to this later on when we come to discuss The Oera Linda Book.

In some books about Atlantis written by Theosophists we find detailed maps purporting to show how the continent looked 850,000, 250,000 and 12,000 years ago. We regard these with the greatest scepticism. They may be correct, but as their accuracy cannot be verified we prefer to disregard them, and suggest you do too. It is noteworthy in this respect that H. P. Blavatsky does not provide any maps of Atlantis in either Isis Unveiled or The Secret Doctrine, though she writes at length about the subject in both books. The reason being that no one knows and we do not pretend to know either! All we can say, based on the available evidence, is that a large continent once existed in what is now the Atlantic Ocean and that it was gradually destroyed over an immense period of time. We incline to the view that the main continent was submerged about 850,000 years ago, followed by the destruction of the larger remaining islands of Ruta and Daitya, which are mentioned in the Indian Puranas, some 80,000 years ago. Later still, the mid-Atlantic island of Poseidonis described by Plato was submerged around 11,500 years ago, whilst 'Atland'—the northern remnant of the great continent, sank as recently as 2193 B.C., according to The Oera Linda Book. But we would emphasise that these dates are all conjectural, for no complete records of these momentous events exist anywhere. We also think it possible that Ireland and even parts of the British Isles may have been connected to the northernmost parts of Atlantis, and if this is true, then 'bits' of Atlantis yet remain. This is certainly true of the Azores and Canary Islands, and possibly of Bermuda too, all of which are remnants of the once mighty continent.

For this reason it is quite impossible to make any maps which provide an accurate picture of what Atlantis looked like at specific times in the past. We only have to think of the many changes that have altered the size and appearance of London during the last 2,000 years to see the futility of this kind of approach. Having said this, we think there is no harm, as James Churchward has done in his books, to provide a very approximate map of the probable size and location of Atlantis at the height of its civilisation, and we reproduce such a map below.

atlantis map

If you look at the above map you will see that the north-eastern part of Atlantis (1) seems to have been broken off. This fits in with what we said earlier about Ireland and parts of the British Isles being possible remnants of the northern parts of Atlantis. This map also shows the proximity of Atlantis to those parts of Europe and the Americas which the Atlanteans colonised and later, to which the survivors fled (2, 3, 4 and 5). It is interesting in this connection that when Europeans first visited the Canary Islands, marked (4) on the map, they encountered a strange people who called themselves 'Guanches', which means 'men'. In The Shadow of Atlantis, Colonel Braghine describes this encounter as follows: "These Guanches were still more astonished to see white men, because they thought themselves to be the unique representatives of mankind, which millenniums ago had survived a terrible catastrophe, which had destroyed everybody on the earth. This catastrophe consisted of a terrific flood, which had inundated their fatherland, and they had managed to escape only because the mountain tops, which are now the Canary Islands, remained above the waters." Braghine goes on to tell us that the Guanches were a "strange mixture of civilisation combined with semi-savagery." This is precisely what we would expect of these descendents of the survivors of Atlantis, isolated from the rest of the world for untold thousands of years.

We have learned from the incompatibility of the various statements by Greek writers as to the size and conditions of Atlantis, that some must refer to the great continent and others to the smaller islands it broke up into, such as Poseidonis. It is important to keep this in mind if we wish to see the full picture.

The Wisdom of Atlantis

In Ignatius Donnelly's Atlantis, we may read: "In religion the Atlanteans had reached all the great thoughts which underlie our modern creeds. They had attained to the conception of one universal, omnipotent, great First Cause." Nowhere are these elevated thoughts better illustrated than in The Oera Linda Book, which we mentioned earlier in connection with the northern parts of Atlantis. First published in Dutch in 1872, this controversial book went largely unnoticed until it was translated into English by William Sandbach in 1876. Let us listen to the Wisdom of Atlantis we find in this book, which was inscribed upon the citadels, or round towers, which were raised in every major city of ancient Friesland, just as they must have been in the northern parts of Atlantis—'Aldland', or 'old land'—from whence the Frisians fled when it was destroyed.

"Wr-alda is all in all, for he is eternal and everlasting. Wr-alda is omnipresent but invisible, and therefore is called a spirit. All that we can see of him are the created beings who come to life through him and go again, because from Wr-alda all things proceed and return to him. Wr-alda is the beginning and the end. But although everything is derived from Wr-alda, the wickedness of men does not come from him. Wickedness comes from heaviness, carelessness, and stupidity; therefore they may well be injurious to men, but never to Wr-alda. Wr-alda is wisdom, and the laws that he has made are the books from which we learn, nor is any wisdom to be found or gathered but in them. Men may see a great deal, but Wr-alda sees everything."

Could one find a better description of the Creator of All? Let us see what other good things we can find in this book, condemned on its publication as an 'impudent imposture' by all the 'best' critics.

"Prosperity awaits the free. Though him only can I recognise as free who is neither a slave to another nor to himself. This is my counsel: when in dire distress, and when mental and physical energy avail nothing, then have recourse to the spirit of Wr-alda; but do not appeal to him before you have tried all other means, for I tell you beforehand, and time will prove its truth, that those who give way to discouragement sink under their burdens."

How true these words are! Do we not all know people who 'sink under their burdens' in just this way, and for the reasons given? And how many can truthfully say that they are not slaves to themselves? Slaves to greed, to selfishness, to jealousy and envy, to anger, ambition, and all the other desires of the lower self and lowly-evolved which keep mankind in ignorance of the great Spiritual Truths of life. Let us see how the practical wisdom of the northern parts of Atlantis was applied in daily life by looking at just a few of the principal laws of the Frisians.

All free-born, men are equal, wherefore they must all have equal rights on sea and land, and on all that Wr-alda has given.

Every man may seek the wife of his choice, and every woman may bestow her hand on him whom she loves. When a man takes a wife, a house and yard must be given to him, if there is none; one must be built for him.

To every man must be given a piece of land behind his house. No man shall have land in front of his house, still less an enclosure, unless he has performed some public service. In such a case it may be given, and the youngest son may inherit it, but after him it returns to the community.

Every village shall have a market-place. All the rest of the land shall be for tillage and forest. No one shall fell trees without the consent of the community, or without the knowledge of the forester; for the forests are general property, and no man can appropriate them.

There shall be no usurers in the market. If any should come, it will be the duty of the maidens to make it known through the whole land, in order that such people may not be chosen for any office, because they are hard-hearted. For the sake of money they would betray everybody—the people, the mother, their nearest relations, and even their own selves."

What practical wisdom of the RIGHT sort there is in these just rules for living, which put even the best of our modern attempts to redress the inequalities of earthly life to shame. If only the last of these rules were applied today, we would not have had to suffer the financial 'depressions' and 'banking crises' of the last 100 years, which many regard as crimes against humanity just as bad as murder. Let us see if the Frisians dealt with crime any better than we do.

"There were three men who each stole a sack of corn from different owners, but they were all caught. The first owner brought his thief to the judge, and the maidens said everywhere that he had done right. The second owner took the corn away from his thief and let him go in peace. The maidens said he had done well. The third owner went to the thief's house, and when he saw what misery was there, he went and brought a waggon-load of necessaries to relieve their distress. Frya's maidens came around him and wrote his deed in the eternal book, and wiped out all his sins."

NOTE
The 'mother' referred to above was the supreme religious and moral authority in Frisian society, and her 'maidens' taught and upheld the laws of the Frisians, and saw they were justly applied.

Finally, given the many conflicts now raging across our sorely-troubled earth, we think it may be instructive to read how the Frisians dealt with the consequences of war.

"Whenever in time of war either ships or houses are destroyed, either by the enemy or as a matter of precaution, a general levy shall be assessed on the people to make it good again, so that no one may neglect the general welfare to preserve his own interest. At the conclusion of a war, if any men are so severely wounded as to be unable to work, they shall be maintained at the public expense, and shall have the best seats at festivals, in order that the young may learn to honour them.

If there are widows and orphans, they shall likewise be maintained at the public expense; and the sons may inscribe the names of their fathers on their shields for the honour of their families. If any who have been taken prisoners should return, they must be kept separate from the camp, because they may have obtained their liberty by making treacherous promises, and thus they may avoid keeping their promises without forfeiting their honour.

If any enemies be taken prisoners, they must be sent to the interior of the country, that they may learn our free customs. If they are afterwards set free, it must be done with kindness by the maidens, in order that we may make them comrades and friends, instead of haters and enemies."

How do you like these laws, dear Reader? Laws which must have been derived from similar statutes which prevailed in Atlantis hundreds of thousands of years ago. We find many of the same laws in use among the Inca and the Maya, who were also descended from Atlantean colonists. The Frisians also worshipped a Mother-Goddess—Frya—as well as Wr-alda, the Father, forming a balanced religious conception in which BOTH male and female principles are represented and revered. We find the same conception among the ancient Egyptians and in the Vedas, so we may be sure that the Atlanteans, before their degeneration, worshipped a Father-Mother God too. The Oera Linda Book describes Frya as follows:

"Frya was white like the snow at sunrise, and the blue of her eyes vied with the rainbow.

Beautiful Frya! Like the rays of the sun shone the locks of her hair, which were as fine as spiders' webs.

Clever Frya! When she opened her lips the birds ceased to sing and the leaves to quiver.

Powerful Frya! At the glance of her eye the lion lay down at her feet and the adder withheld his poison.

Pure Frya! Her food was honey, and her beverage was dew gathered from the cups of the flowers.

Sensible Frya! The first lesson that she taught her children was self-control, and the second was the love of virtue; and when they were grown she taught them the value of liberty; for she said, "Without liberty all other virtues serve to make you slaves, and to disgrace your origin."

Generous Frya! She never allowed metal to be dug from the earth for her own benefit, but when she did it, it was for the general use.

Most happy Frya! Like the starry host in the firmament, her children clustered around her."

What a very great pity this Atlantean wisdom, preserved by the Frisian people after they were forced to flee their sinking homeland, has died out in the world. How much better conditions might be for us all if we practised just a little of the wisdom we have quoted you from this 'impudent imposture' which the very wise 'experts' dismiss and deride as a 'hoax'. But read the book for yourself and see just how much Sublime Truth there is concealed within it. You can read a further extract from The Oera Linda Book in John Temple's investigation of the question of good and evil.

The Arts and Sciences in Atlantis

The Russian Atlantologist Zhirov, says in Atlantis that "If it [Atlantis] was so highly developed, it is strange that it perished without leaving any material relics." On the face of it this seems a reasonable objection, but is it really? Given the immense amount of time that has elapsed since the main island of Atlantis was destroyed, is it really surprising that no material relics have been found? What relics would remain of our civilisation after a similar catastrophe in 20,000 or 100,000 years? Added to which we must bear in mind that the arts and sciences in Atlantis were the products of a tiny elite. The specialist knowledge and skills needed to design and build an electric motor (to give just one example) were then no more widely diffused among the mass of the population than they are now. Short of the re-emergence of those parts of Atlantis which now lie buried some 12,000 feet under the waves of the Atlantic (which is not impossible), we think it unlikely that any material relics will be found.

Consequently, aside from the speculations of psychics, which, as we discussed in our introduction, may or may not be true, cannot be verified, and therefore do not help us very much, we must turn to the records left by the direct descendants of Atlantis for information about the arts and sciences that flourished there. First and foremost among them were the ancient inhabitants of India, who fled there when the main portion of Atlantis was destroyed. In The Quest of Ruru we may read about some of the marvellous automata to be seen in India 2,000 years ago.

"There were machines that flew in the air like birds or butterflies; there was the figure of a great bronze warrior who would engage in single combat with any one who dared to test his powers; there was a magic car, drawn by metal dragons and steered by the ravishing figure of a goddess; there was a wooden bird, bedecked with shining feathers; and if you sat astride it and tapped its head it flew up in the air, and if you tapped its sides with your heels it descended again."

We see an echo of these mechanical wonders in the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, and in the Arabian Nights, proving once again, how historical facts are converted into myths and folk-tales, fit only for children and silly old men (like the writer of this article perhaps!). Nonetheless, as we discuss in our article on the Science of Symbolism, myth is the cloak which oftimes conceals facts and truths which are recognised by the simple in heart and mind, but escape the worldly wise.

It is from the Sages of Atlantis that both India and Egypt obtained their knowledge of the arts and sciences that still amaze and baffle us today. It is from Atlantis, that the Indians and Egyptians inherited their knowledge of the hidden virtues of precious and other stones, of chemistry, or rather alchemy, of mineralogy, geology, physics and astronomy. Who today can give us the unfading colours of Luxor—the Tyrian purple; the bright vermilion and dazzling blue which decorate the walls of the temples and tombs of Egypt, as bright today as when they were first painted? What is our frangible 'concrete' compared to the indestructible cement used in the ancient walls of Tartessos, in Spain, said to be more than 20,000 years old? Where is the modern chemist who can replicate the colours of the stained glass found in the windows of Gothic cathedrals; or the secret of true malleable glass, which could be bent into any shape without breaking? And if modern science is ignorant of these arts, practised by the descendents of the Atlanteans in comparatively recent times, how much greater must its ignorance be of the arts and sciences that flourished in the motherland?

In a rare book published in 1928, an English archaeologist made the startling claim that the ancient city-state of Tartessos, on the south-west coast of Spain, was founded by Atlantean colonists between 12,000 to 40,000 years ago. That book is Atlantis in Andalucia, by E. M. Whishaw. In her introduction the author writes: "I do not ask anybody to accept my conclusions: all I say is that we have such and such evidence of an advanced civilisation prevailing here at least ten thousand years B.C." The evidence that Whishaw presents is considerable and compelling, not least her descriptions of the marvellous cement or 'hormazo' as the locals call it, with which the Atlantean colonists constructed many of the ancient buildings she examined in the small town of Niebla, in Andalucia, where she conducted her researches.

"The hormazo," she writes, "consists of rubble, water-worn pebbles (some of great size), and fragments of limestone...the whole welded together into an exceedingly hard mass with soil to which was added a large proportion of lime. This compost...was beaten into the required hardness between boards, like the hormigon which Caesar complained of in his Commentaries as indestructible by fire, the elements, or the hand of man." In reviewing the many Roman additions to the monumental stonework of the Atlantean colonists who built Niebla, Whishaw pointedly adds "the Roman concrete lies in utter ruin. The hormazo is as perfect as the day it was built." We wonder what will remain of our concrete structures in 20,000 years time! Here we must reluctantly end our all too brief look at the arts and sciences of Atlantis. But try to obtain Atlantis in Andalucia—it really is a most fascinating account of one Atlantean colony in Europe.

There were of course, many such colonies, both in the Old World and the New, one of which we have already mentioned in our discussion of The Oera Linda Book. In fact there is almost no corner of the globe in which we do not find traces of the Atlantean colonists and survivors of the catastrophe that destroyed their homeland. Barry Fell, in America B.C.—which we recommend in our further reading list (see right)—presents compelling evidence in support of the presence of Celts, Libyans, Druids and Egyptians in America thousands of years before Christopher Columbus is said to have 'discovered' the continent. Whilst many of these early visitors may well have been merchants and explorers from these peoples as Fell believes, we incline to the view that some of the relics and inscriptions he describes are the work of Atlantean colonists.

The Destruction of Atlantis

In The Secret Doctrine, we may read that the destruction of Atlantis and its islands was gradual and took place over an immense period of time. As we mentioned earlier, we think that the main continent broke up 850,000 years ago, followed by the sinking of the large islands of Ruta and Daitya some 80,000 years ago, and later still, Plato's island of Poseidonis, sank in about 9,500 B.C. We believe that parts of Atlantis still existed much later than this, and Ignatius Donnelly provides considerable evidence in his books that parts of the British Isles and Ireland are remnants of the northern parts of Atlantis. We see no reason to doubt this honest researcher, particularly as The Oera Linda Book, discussed earlier, describes the destruction of the northern part of Atlantis as occurring in 2193 B.C., which cannot therefore have been Plato's island. In it we may read:

"During the whole summer the sun had been hid behind the clouds, as if unwilling to look upon the earth. There was perpetual calm, and the damp mist hung like a wet sail over the houses and the marshes. The air was heavy and oppressive, and in men's hearts was neither joy nor cheerfulness. In the midst of this stillness the earth began to tremble as if she was dying. The mountains opened to vomit forth fire and flames. Some sank into the bosom of the earth, and in other places mountains rose out of the plain. Aldland, called by the seafaring people, Atland, disappeared, and the wild waves rose so high over hill and dale that everything was buried in the sea. Many people were swallowed up by the earth, and others who had escaped the fire perished in the water."

But what of the first catastrophe that overwhelmed the main continent of Atlantis? H. P. Blavatsky, quoting the commentaries preserved by the Sages of ancient India, describes the destruction in The Secret Doctrine as follows (the explanations in brackets are our own):

"The Lords of the storm are approaching (the great beings who direct the forces of the four occult elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth). Their chariots are nearing the land (the asteroids which rained down on Atlantis). One night and two days only shall the Lords of the Dark Face (the black magicians) live on this patient land. She is doomed, and they have to descend with her. The hour has struck, the black night is ready . . . Let the destiny of the wicked be accomplished. When the Kings of Light had assembled (the great Sages and Adepts of Atlantis) the waters had already moved (the inundation had begun to overwhelm Atlantis). But the nations had now crossed the dry lands. They were beyond the water mark. Their Kings reached them in their Viwans (some type of aerial vehicle), and led them on to the lands of Fire and Metal (East and North)."

Note the direction the survivors took, east and north, some to Spain, North Africa, Egypt and India, and others to northern Europe, thus confirming what we said earlier when we discussed the Atlanteans who settled in Spain and Friesland. In another passage from the same commentaries, we may read:

"Stars (meteors) showered on the lands of the black Faces; but they slept. The nether lords (elementals) waited for orders, but they came not, for their masters slept. The waters arose, and covered the valleys from one end of the Earth to the other. High lands remained; the bottom of the Earth (the lands of the antipodes) remained dry. There dwelt those who escaped; the men of the yellow-faces and of the straight eye (the good and sincere people). When the Lords of the Dark Face awoke and bethought themselves of their Viwans in order to escape from the rising waters, they found them gone."

Donnelly, Braghine and Zhirov all agree that an enormous comet was the primary catalyst for the first destruction of Atlantis. This may well have broken up into several smaller bodies (the 'meteors' mentioned by Blavatsky) before raining down on the doomed continent. As these neared the earth, disturbing its inner equilibrium, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions started to tear Atlantis apart, giving rise to the tidal waves which completed the destruction. What a dreadful spectacle it must have been! Read Donnelly and Braghine for more detailed accounts of the cataclysm.

What happened to the survivors? The ancient records affirm that the Atlanteans had been gradually spreading over the continent and islands of Europe and Asia long before the destruction of their homeland. The emigrants rapidly increased and multiplied and divided into many families, which in their turn divided into countless nations, many of which have left no trace of their existence. The nations of which we do have records, such as Egypt, Greece, and Phoenicia, all had their beginnings in Atlantis. Thousands of years later, other races—the survivors of the many disasters that destroyed Atlantis—began to invade Europe and the Americas. There were wars in which the newcomers were defeated; and they fled, some to Africa, others to remote countries.

But we must not fall into the error of thinking that the Atlanteans were one race only, or even a single nation. It is as though we were to lump all the nations of the 'West' together and call them all by the same name. The races that inhabited Atlantis during its long history were many and spawned countless nations, more varied indeed than would be the 'Europeans' were this name to be given indiscriminately to the different peoples of European descent existing all over the world. As we have seen in our discussions of The Oera Linda Book, the last of the Atlanteans were still mixed up with our races as recently as 4,000 years ago. This shows the enormous overlap of one race over another, as the older loses its characteristics and assumes the features of the younger.

Atlantean artefacts

When we updated this article in January 2017, several newspapers had reported on the discovery of 39 ingots of the mysterious metal alloy known as 'orichalcum' mentioned by Plato and other writers in connection with the metallurgical arts of Atlantis. The discovery was made by Italian marine biologists on the seabed among the wreck of a trading vessel that sank 1,000 feet off the coast of the town of Gela, in southern Sicily 2,600 years ago. Analysis of the metal ingots revealed they were composed from an alloy of copper and zinc with traces of nickel, lead and iron. Zhirov notes that both Homer and Hesiod refer to this metal, as does Ibycus, the 6th century BC poet, who compares its appearance to gold. Even today, the Greek population of Cyprus still call the locally produced copper oreichalkos, demonstrating if nothing else, that the legacy of Atlantis is still very much with us today.

Conclusion

Here we must call a halt to our brief survey of the facts and fancies of Atlantis which it is our intention to expand and develop in future articles. Meanwhile, we hope that what we have told you in this article has given you much food for thought and encouragement to delve more deeply into the subject, both through your own studies and by reading our follow-up articles to this investigation, published in 2018 and 2019. You can find links to these articles in the Further reading list at the end of the sidebar.


© Copyright occult-mysteries.org. Article added 26 September 2014. Updated 2 September 2022.


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