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Hyarama sheds unique light on the significance
of Atlantis, its true history and why it became the stuff of
legends. Hyarama can change our judgements in places
- without denying any of the evidence.
This Broadsheet was written in 1995 by Nigel Blair, MA Oxon
(1946-2005), founder of the Wessex Research Group. "I was
writing... to centre on the inner nature of history..."
This, Nigel hoped, would lead to a book - never completed -
so here we are posthumously honouring the stupendous work Nigel
did, collecting evidence. Nigel never radically altered
his theories, but his position shifted in minor ways.
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LIST OF CONTENTS
25. "KON-TIKI" AND "RA":
THOR HEYERDAHL & ANCIENT NAVIGATORS OF THE OCEANS
The Peruvian link with Easter Island was remarkably confirmed when excavations
at the ancient pyramids at Tecume uncovered, as Thor Heyerdahl reported
on 5th March 1992, "sensational news, ..two large reed balsa-rafts
in high relief on a temple wall...", both of which had "small
deck cabins dwarfed by bird-men, almost identical to those found on
Easter Island". Heyerdahl, of course, believes Peruvians had sailed
the Pacific to this and other islands, and proved it by doing it himself
in the famous "Kon-Tiki", whose name was taken from the ancient
hero who had arrived from the east in the islanders' legends, Beyond
reasonable doubt, he established ancient links between legends of "bird-men",
kneeling statues and "Long-Ears" on Easter Island, and similar
legends in Peru and Bolivia, including Tiahuanaco. These were not just
oral tales, but were confirmed by carvings and statues of astonishing
similarity separated by thousands of miles of ocean. Other ancient sailors,
it is now known, came from South-East Asia, and there were contacts
with Australia and probably China.
I am sure Heyerdahl, a very great explorer and scholar, is right. With
or without a literal Lemurian lost continent, one thing is certain:
after Heyerdahl, fewer and fewer researchers will take the once-orthodox
view that the continents of the world lay isolated in ancient times,
shorn of contact or commerce with one another, evolving their extraordinarily
similar cultures, religions and architecture by purely coincidental
parallel development. Meanwhile, Heyerdahl's exploits have themselves
entered our modern mythology. Archetypal in nature, they show that modern
Westerners, given a strong resolve and purpose, can plumb the mysteries
of the Earth, whatever the opposition and the difficulties. His book-titles
shine through our hectic modern world like beacons: "The Kon-Tiki
Expedition", 1950; "Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island",
1958; "The Ra Expeditions", 1971; and "Fatu-Hiva: Back
to Nature", 1974; all published by Alien and Unwin, who also produced
Heyerdahl's biography, "Senor Kon-Tiki" by Arnold Jacoby,
in 1968. A first-rate BBC-1 series, "Kon-Tiki Man: Thor Heyerdahl,
the Story of a^jWt Adventurer", was shown between April and June
1990. Old legends were rediscovered: a new legend was born.
The "Ra" expeditions of 1969-70 included a wide selection
of nationalities on the small Atlantic reed-boat, under the flag of
the United Nations, and including an American and a Russian at the height
of the Cold War. Those expeditions proved that an ancient pre-Egyptian
seafaring race, possibly the Phoenicians, could have crossed the Atlantic
from the Mediterranean to America. They also proved that the search
for truth and adventure could potentially unite this divided planet.
"Ra" in Ancient Egyptian meant "the Sun". "Ra
1" sank because the modern builders had not secured the stern according
to the ancient design. "Ra 2" was built with the help of Aymara
Indians from South America, who had preserved all the ancient skills:
this one survived, and reached the West Indies. This gives the modern
world a message, symbolic but clear: respect and explore our ancient
heritage, and we will yet win through. The flexibility of the reeds,
through which the water could wash, proved "Ra 2's" saving
in high seas. Here again we learn a lesson: go with the flow, go the
way of the "Tao", and the mightiest forces will prove harmless,
as with the ancient eastern martial arts. back
to top
26. LEMURIANS IN WESTERN AMERICA?
Other researchers, too, believe that Lemurians were amongst the first
occupants of the west coast of America; if they were escaping from the
gradual break-up and sinking of their Pacific land they may be responsible
for the many flood-legends of the west coast American Indians in both
the north, e. g. the Hopi and Aschochimi, and the south, e.g. the Yurukare,
and the Chibchas of Colombia. The Chibchas1 founding hero, Bochica,
amazingly, was said to carry the world on his shoulders, and when he
got tired he changed his position, thus originating earthquakes: a fascinating
variation on the Greek Atlas legend? The Lemurians may have been the
distant precursors of the "mound builders" in the north, which
have left such impressive earthworks, including the famous "Indiana
serpent" — a universal symbol of wisdom very prevalent in
the Pacific. They may also have been the ancestors, and legendary inspirers,
of the creators of the extraordinary ancient markings and monuments
in the south. These include the Lines of Nazca in Peru, which although
A. D. in date may reflect far more ancient practices of astronomical
alignment based largely, research suggests, on the Orion Constellation.
back to top
27.BUILT BEFORE THE FLOOD? THE MYSTERY OF
TIAHUANACO
They also include the enigmatic, mountaintop city of Tiahuanaco, with
its extraordinary Sun-Temple Gate and Calendar, by Lake Titicaca 13,000
feet up in Bolivia. Manco Capac, the legendary god-founder of Cuzco
and the great Peruvian civilization, arrived mysteriously on an island
in the lake after a great flood, according to a myth accepted by the
conquering Incas from the more ancient local races. Lewis Spence describes
this in "the Problem of Lemuria" on pages 195-8; he also points
out the similarity between Tiahuanaco's architecture and that of Easter
Island, and between Manco Capac and Easter Island's founding hero, Hotu
Matua. Although the famous Easter Island statues are A. D. in date,
they may again reflect distant racial memories of prehistoric practices.
The Tiahuanaco ruins are certainly very ancient: H.S.Bellamy, in the
now rare work "Built Before the Flood: the Problem of the Tiahuanaco
Ruins", published by Faber and Faber in 1943, argues like others,
that the evidence of calcified remains of marine plants 11,500 feet
up on the plateau shows that it was originally at sea level, and therefore
predates the great catastrophe and flood.
Bellamy ascribes this to a great planetary girdle-tide. This raised
the sea-level by over two miles on either side of the Equator, caused
in turn by a predecessor of our Moon orbiting into Earth; an even greater
catastrophe was caused by its impact, which also destroyed Atlantis
and the remains of Lemuria. Though this, based in Hans Hoerbiger's cosmological
theory popular before the war, is not now fashionable, it is one explanation
of the sea-fossils and the extraordinary height of Tiahuanaco, in rarified
air not easy for westerners to breathe. (Others, like Otto MUck, argue
that the effects of the asteroid impact created the Andes by raising
its whole landmass from sea-level!) Bellamy's book is based largely
on the work of Professor Arturo Posnansky, who lived among, or near,
the ruins for several decades and made detailed surveys at a time when
far more of the buildings still existed; they have been systematically
vandalized. (Most writers on sites, if they visit at all, do so briefly
only. ) It also records (pages 41-2) the legends of the (then) local
Indians, a proud and quiet people calling themselves "Urus",
"Men of the Light", who hinted that they had lived in these
Bolivian highlands before the Age of Darkness (Chamak-Pacha), a terrible
cataclysm, and that they remember the time when the Sun re-appeared
after it. The great ruined city, for which "Tiahuanaco" was
the traditional local name, was built before this cataclysm, and was
by a great sea rich in big fish; eventually there was a flood which
destroyed the city's builders.
The Spanish conquistadores were told a slightly different Inca legend:
Thousands of years after the original Creation of humanity by their
god-creator, Viracocha Pachacayachi, there was a catastrophe from which
only a shepherd and his family escaped: he, as a thank-offering, built
Tiahuanaco in a single night. Its date is much disputed, and estimates
vary profusely, ranging from a thousand to many thousands of years old,
The ruins are now pitifully depleted, but clearly show advanced knowledge,
including the Akapana, or Hill of Sacrifices, a huge truncated pyramid
167' x 496' x 650', perfectly squared with the cardinal points of the
compass. There is a reservoir system with stone pipes, and of course
the great Temple of the Sun, with its sophisticated calendar. It is
built of 60-ton blocks and rests on 100-200-ton blocks, transported
30-90 miles from quarry sites on an island in Lake Titicaca!
This massive-stone phenomenon is of course found all over the world,
e. g. Stonehenge, Baalbek, Egypt and also in some of the recent underwater
Atlantean discoveries. It shows a worldwide massive megalithic culture
reflecting amazing powers of organization, precision, perseverance,
mathematics, astronomy and, perhaps, even what would now be regarded
as paranormal powers over gravity to lighten heavy objects. This great
prehistoric advanced megalithic culture, which according to Plato included
metal-working, ocean-going ships, astronomy, complex government, cities,
mathematics, exquisite arts and highly productive agriculture, seems
to have penetrated most of the world, including Africa, Scandinavia
and even Siberia and Mongolia. back to
top
28. SHAMBHALA: OASIS OF THE ANCIENT WISDOM?
The "Shambhala" legends depict an incredibly distant ancient
haven, often placed in or near the Gobi Sea (now a desert), where many
fossil finds indicate ancient cultures. Geoffrey Ashe has developed
this theme in a scholarly and original way in "The Ancient Wisdom",
(Macmillan, 1970s) and "Dawn Behind the Dawn" (Henry Holt,
1992), and Andrew Tomas gives a fascinating and spiritual, if somewhat
speculative, account in "Shambhala: Oasis of Light" (Sphere,
1977). They argue that this was the seat of an original and universal
knowledge that later, through invasion and other influence, inspired
much of the ancient Indian, Tibetan and Chinese spiritual myths and
traditions. Explorers, especially the remarkable Russian and later world
citizen Nicholas Roerich, have found oral, archaeological and anthropological
evidence suggesting this, dramatically depicted in Roerich's vivid symbolic
paintings. The teachings of "Djwal Khul", "The Tibetan",
through Alice Bailey call it "the place where the will of God is
known" and where planetary civilization started. It could be the
actual start point as in Tibetan Buddhist legend, or it could have been
a "secure refuge", a colony of escaping, or forewarned, Atlanteans
(or Lemurians). Here, in a high area very safe from floods, they could
have revived and eventually sent out groups to re-found advanced cultures
elsewhere.
The Theosophists, as outlined in H. P.Blavatsky1 s "Secret Doctrine"
(1888) and "The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria" (1896/1904)
by W. Scott-Elliot (both published by the Theosophical Publishing House,
and still in print), say this is what happened. Enlightened Atlanteans
were forewarned of disaster many thousands of years before, and leaving
Atlantis, they were gradually guided to the Gobi, then a sea. They evolved
the modern "seven root-races" which, they say, were deliberately
sent out from the Shambhala haven, one by one, as part of a great plan
for humanity's evolution directed by high spiritual masters of which
the most directly involved was given the title Manu. Like all legends,
this need not be taken literally, but clearly embodies much truth. The
idea of an archetypal "safe land" or haven from which civilization
is re-established after a catastrophe, and then in some sense master-minded
and (sometimes invisibly) guided, occurs frequently in world mythology,
as for example with Manco Capac's island in Lake Titicaca, and Egypt
itself in Plato's account: far too often to be dismissed as fancy. back
to top
29. THE BRITISH ISLES: "SHAMBHALA"
OF THE WEST?
In some esoteric teachings, the area now covered by the British Isles
(in Atlantean times, part of a large north-western spur of Europe) was
to Atlantis rather as Shambhala was to, say, India: an almost mythical,
northern, cold, sparsely inhabited, but very pure and sacred land, where
the invisible hierarchy of "guiding masters" lived. At the
time of the catastrophe, it is said, they resisted the great wave of
psychic negativity which surged out from Atlantis, stabilized the situation,
and then re-sited themselves in the Gobi as the new "safe area"
in accordance with the plan for humanity. Some say they are now back
here in invisible realms, with the "heart chakra" (centre
of energy, literally Sanscrit "wheel") of the world now situated
again in north-western Europe (including the Low Countries, and parts
of France and Scandinavia).
An interesting variation on this was given to us by a fascinating speaker
we had for several of our Wessex and schools groups in 1984, Lt. Col.
Stephen Jenkins. He had already written "The Undiscovered Country"
(Spearman, 1977) on his paranormal and spiritual experiences, and after
he spoke in 1984 he wrote a paper for us, "Wessex Research Group
Broadsheet no. (7) — The Undiscovered Country: Adventures Into
Other Dimensions". He had done a lecturing exchange with the University
of Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Showing an interest in their variation of the
Shambhala legend, he was told an extraordinary story by lamas (learned
monks) of the "Kalachakra" or "Wheel of Time" Buddhism.
For the last hundred or so years they had concluded that Shambhala was
not in the East at all, but the West; in the land from which "Sucandra"
came, the "wise man of the West", to visit the dying Buddha
in 542 BC (they say our date for his death is wrong), After much research,
they had decided he had possibly come from Britain, and asked him to
confirm this. On returning, with Geoffrey Ashe's help, Jenkins managed
to identify the details of Sucandra, including his name (which meant
"beautiful all-white moon") with those of Gwyn-ap-Nudd (which
means the same), a legendary figure associated with Glastonbury Tor.
This and other factors haveconvinced Stephen that he has confirmed the
Lamas' theory of the origin of Sucandra, which their legend said was
Shambhala, literally in Sanscrit meaning the place of bliss.
Again, like all legends they point to a profound truth without having
to be fossilised by being taken too doctrinally or literally. Possibly
the main message of the lamas was that the truth does not reside only
in far or exotic places, but can be found where one comes from. In other
words, firstly, every culture has its own expression of truth, however
mundane (or submerged under motorways and high-tech) its outer trappings
may appear. Secondly, people within each culture normally understand
the truth best as expressed through that culture. Thirdly, all understanding
and acceptance ultimately has to come from within, and the means to
all truth is ultimately within each of us: Plato, the champion of Atlantis,
was also at pains to demonstrate this through his accounts of Socrates,
and it is this that makes him, with Socrates, one of the greatest of
all philosophers. back to top
30. BRITAIN: "THE FORTUNATE ISLES?"
But, fourthly, Britain is a very special place. Too small and developed
for her people, any longer, to be preoccupied with physical exploration
and improvement, they are forced to go within, and there they find the
rich inner treasure that results from their long spiritual heritage.
We have gone from an Atlantean "mystic land" to being the
recognised spiritual centre visited from afar, which Hecataeus, a Greek
historian of the 4th Century BC, eulogised, with its great "circular
temple to Apollo" (Stonehenge? or "spiral"— Glastonbury
Tor with its sacred maze) and its beautiful music. It was in regular
contact with the (even then) ancient Greeks, Hecataeus said, and of
its wise teachers one, Abaris, was tutor to no less a spiritual teacher
than Pythagoras. Later we became the Druidic teaching centre to which,
Julius Caesar says, pupils came from all over Europe to our "universities"
of learning. Through Joseph of Arimathea, whom strong evidence suggests
came to Cornwall and Glastonbury with, or just after the death of, Jesus,
Britain then became one of the earliest and most enlightened Christian
centres. Later, there was far less persecution and religious war than
elsewhere, and the national genius for constructive synthesis and tolerant
comprehensiveness were embodied in Elizabeth I's Church of England and
the great spiritual, literary and scientific flowering of that time,
led by Shakespeare and Bacon. In the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries Britain
gave the world the scientific, agricultural, financial and industrial
revolutions, with towering figures like Newton, Watt, Dalton and Faraday,
to say nothing of literary figures like Johnson, Jane Austen and Dickens,
Since then the momentum has been, on the whole, maintained, despite
Britain's relatively small size: British Nobel Prizes, in total, are
second only to the USA, a country with 4& times her population.
Michael Hart, an American, in his well-known book "The 100; a Ranking
of the Most Influential Persons in History", published by Simon
and Schuster in 1978 and 1992, says (page 524) that "From [the]
table, it appears that the British have made a greater contribution
to human civilization than have the people of any other region or nation"
(he didn't know about Atlantis, of course! ) Now, having transformed
Empire freely into Commonwealth, Britain is again a synthesis in a different
sense: a sort of "microcosm" and "catalyst" of the
many streams of spiritual wisdom coming from all over the quarter of
the globe that she once ruled, and is now an equal partner with. She
is also, let us not forget, the birthplace of psychical research, and
a prime centre of holistic values, natural medicine and spiritual literature.
As in Druidic times, and as clearly was Atlantis, she is visited from
afar by many in search of truth and wisdom.
What is this to do with Atlantis? It is this: the British Isles could
be, by legend, what Atlantis may also have been called, "the Fortunate
Isles", those other Atlantic islands which not only survived the
sinking of Atlantis, but were created by that very sinking. Before it,
the area was probably the haven for many Atlantean colonists, pilgrims
and, finally, refugees. The rising sea level happened, Otto Mück
argues, because the disappearance of Atlantis released the Gulf Stream
to reach North-Western Europe and further north, where it melted enough
of the land-locked Arctic ice to raise the level by probably 300-650
feet, This created the North Sea and the Channel, the Irish Sea and
therefore the British Isles. Britain is, therefore, in a very physical
sense, the inheritor of the Atlantean legacy.
Since then, like Atlantis, she became the centre of great seaborne trade
and a great empire. Plato makes it clear that Atlantis was destroyed
because it tried to add to its empire by conquering even more, and Greece
had to fight it to restore the invaded countries' freedom. Britain has
fought two World Wars, where the forces of light were concentrated in
these islands, to rescue the world from militarist and Nazi enslavement;
and has then peacefully given away its empire in the interests of freedom
and democracy — a concept pioneered by Greece in ancient times,
and Britain in modern times. Atlantis was initially promising, but went
disastrously wrong, and others had to pick up the torch. Greece and
Egypt were clearly the first to do so; Britain, with others, has done
so in recent centuries. Freedom is so important that almost any sacrifice
is justified to preserve or win it. When Britain has ignored this in
the past, it has been at her peril. Atlantis ignored it and paid with
her very existence. back to top
31. PSYCHIC POWERS, CRYSTALS, SLAVES: EDGAR
CAYCE’S ATLANTIS
For those who find this sort of evidence acceptable, the over 14,000
"psychic readings" given in a trance state by Edgar Cayce,
the famous American clairvoyant, not only diagnosed their ailments with
proven extraordinary accuracy, but in some cases took people back into
supposed "past lives". A few of the accounts it was found
possible to check historically by research into obscure documents (which
Cayce could not possibly have seen) and they were found to be remarkably
accurate . (In this respect they resemble the famous "Bloxham Tapes"
of Arnall Bloxham, the Cardiff hypnotherapist, and many more recent
cases).
No less than 700 of Cayce1 s readings refer to lives in Atlantis, which
is placed squarely in the Atlantic . When they are pieced together (which
has now been done with much painstaking scholarship), they trace the
history of Atlantis from its beginnings to its Golden Age, with (according
to Cayce) great stone cities which had much advanced modern technology.
This included mass communication, air and underwater transport, and
some inventions that even we today have not achieved, such as the neutralization
of gravity and the use of solar energy though electric crystals, A great,
central crystal concentrated the sun's rays and beamed them to cities,
ships and aircraft as an almost unlimited, non-pollutive form of power.
Misuse of these crystals, Cayce stated, caused two of the cataclysms
that ultimately were to destroy Atlantis, They were first used against
giant mammoths which threatened the people, later, it seems, as a weapon.
Combined with Earth stresses happening anyway because the molten core
was cooling, their energies destabilised the delicate tectonic plate
system, causing earthquakes, volcanoes and sinkings of parts of the
then enormous Atlantean continent. The first big sinking, according
to Cayce, was in 48,000 BC, In Lemuria, the Pacific continent, the wise
men foretold it: many emigrated to Asia, Africa or America, where they
were regarded as superior by the natives, and spread the knowledge of
the One God. Many Atlanteans migrated to Central America, Egypt, North
Africa or Spain, establishing civilizations there, and especially pyramids.
When the catastrophe came, the Earth (or its crust) shifted on it axis,
causing great upheavals. Lemuria mostly sank into the Pacific, though
leaving some large islands, New mountain ranges may have been created,
with some cities possibly left thousands of feet up. Some Atlantean
land sank, but most remained. Torrid zones became frigid, and vice-versa.
Great mammoth-like beasts that had overrun the Earth were largely killed
off. Millions of souls returned to the spirit state, and some had to
return to learn karmic lessons in later lives.
Atlantis became the undisputed leader of the world. Science and invention
became its new god, scientists its effective rulers. Life on Atlantis
was luxurious; it was in the torrid zone, and people grew lazy. (Do
we see a danger of this in the present-day West?) The giant crystal,
known as the "Firestone", was used for destructive purposes,
including torture and punishment. It was also, Cayce says, tuned unintentionally
too high; its rays combined with other electrical forces to start many
fires deep inside the planet, leading to great volcanoes and then the
second sinking, of further parts of Atlantis, in c. 28,000 BC, leaving
the "Sargasso Sea" — of weeds in the Western Atlantic
— as a remnant. Some speculate that the great crystal is still
submerged there. Could its magnetic effects, even from the sea-bed,
be causing strange effects on compasses and electrical equipment causing
in turn some of the unexplained disappearances in what is known as the
"Bermuda Triangle" in this area?
After 28,000 BC, much of Atlantis was still left, and still powerful.
Many of its people emigrated and founded colonies in Europe, America
and elsewhere. Many Atlanteans had psychic powers, some of which were
misused. There was mating of humans with animals, at a time when this
was possible, producing a hybrid race of "things" which were
then enslaved: a war, of either a psychic or physical nature, ensued
between the slave-owning "Sons of Belial" and the freedom-loving
"Sons of the Law of One". This was won by the slave-owners
(creating a "karma" which, Cayce said, had to be resolved
by their coming back in much later lives during the American Civil War
in the 1860s, when they lost). The civilization deteriorated; civil
discontent, civil war, enslavement of workers, human sacrifice and,
in general, misuse of the forces of nature, made the final destruction
of the continent certain. Cayce added that one of the "last straws"
was the beginning of the use of genetic engineering to take over and
misuse the very blueprint for humanity: a challenge we are facing again
today.
Around 10,000 BC, according to Cayce, these factors, plus further experimentation
with crystals, led to the sinking of the remaining part of Atlantis,
leaving only smaller Atlantic islands and the colonies. As we have seen
earlier, these were reduced even more in the next few millennia by the
rising ocean level.
Cayce gives a very spiritual view of the Atlanteans, like Plato portraying
their misdeeds as the direct cause of their destruction, and seeing
them as eternal souls who came back at various times in later history
to learn further lessons. They are coming back today in a critical time,
to ensure that Earth, having again reached a high level of science,
uses it this time in a constructive way and puts the "Law of One"
(love, dedication and truth-seeking) before the pursuit of power and
purely selfish pleasures, Whatever one thinks of Cayce's details of
the Atlantean story, which cannot be confirmed, this is a fine moral
viewpoint. back to top
32. "IMAGES OF ANOTHER WORLD": MORE
PSYCHIC THAN TECHNOLOGICAL?
In ray view, however, Cayce seriously exaggerates Atlantis's overall
technological sophistication. He is probably more accurate when he talks
of their psychic powers: these may have enabled them, for example, to
communicate to some degree by telepathy, practice spiritual healing
and lighten heavy objects by paranormal means. A strange confirmation
of ancient shamanistic powers was given on 19th April 1989 in a BBC-1
"Chronicle" programme, "Images of Another World".
Cave paintings of 20,000 years old and over, e.g. at El Castillo in
northern Spain, depict "entoptic forms", abstract geometric
shapes, with animals and humans in spiritual configurations. These were
shown to be illustrations of trance states and probably out-of-body
experiences, similar to those practised up to modern times by South
African bushmen and widespread tribal societies.
But — modern technology? Had they had really possessed things
like submarines, lasers and aircraft on a large scale, we would surely
have seen signs of it, for some types of metal do not rust. Advanced
implements would have been found, for example, in the many Cro-Magnon
graves excavated in coastal areas which were clearly once colonies of
Atlantis, Instead, we have found an advanced Stone Age culture, known
as "Aurignacian", with wonderful cave paintings, implements
and bone carvings, sophisticated dwellings, the use of animals and boats,
and interesting hints of shamanistic spiritual beliefs. Even allowing
for the worldwide floods and the long dark age after the asteroid strike,
one would have expected to have found more evidence if the culture as
a whole had been technologically advanced. Plato and the other classical
accounts give them a technology which, although fully equal to that
of Ancient Greece, was hardly advanced in the modern sense. Ignatius
Donnelly, Lewis Spence, Otto Muck and Charles Berlitz all concur with
this general view. back to top
33. "IN OPEN CONTACT..."? —
ATLANTIS, "OOPARTS" AND ANCIENT SPACE BEINGS
What is not generally known, however, is that we have found isolated
cases of extremely advanced technology buried in geologic strata that
make them probably far older than Atlantis -- as if some distant and
long-forgotten epoch had harboured a race that has left only the slenderest
remnants. These are known to specialists as "OOPARTS" —
"out of place artifacts". Perhaps some aspects of the sophistication
they embody were preserved by the Atlanteans, but only in more primitive
forms and without the widespread technological back-up to make them
generally effective.
What seemed to be a standard geode was found recently near Olancha,
California. Fossil shells encrusting its surface are thought by a trained
geologist who examined them to be at least half a million years old.
When cut in half and X--rayed, an obviously artificial and precisely-machined
metal object was found, resembling a modern spark-plug. This is only
one of a whole series of precisely-made artifacts found in fossilized
material or in seams of coal and limestone, dating them back hundreds
of thousands of years at least.
Did great world cataclysms in incredibly ancient times bury them there?
Why do ancient Sanscrit documents speak of times when humanity had aircraft
and fearful weapons which could destroy whole areas at a time? Why do
ancient cave paintings depict machine-like or aerial objects and apparently
helmeted men? Could these have been Atlantean pilots and aircraft? Or
those of an even more ancient civilization? Or the result of some sort
of co-operation or co-existence between advanced Earthmen and extraterrestrials,
with a mission to conquer the planet, explore it or "civilize"
it? Or were the advanced Earthmen themselves the result of previous
extraterrestrial colonising, "civilizing" or even genetic
engineering?
One view, argued by Erich von Daniken, Desmond Leslie, Brinsley le Poer
Trench, Andrew Tomas, Peter Kolosimo and others, is that they were spacemen
and their craft visiting from other planets. Some writers link them
with the modern UFO phenomenon, on which I have lectured and researched
extensively. This suggests, with overwhelming evidence, that the Earth
is being systematically surveyed and used by many different alien groups,
and has been for millennia. Though some are, to say the least, unfeeling
and, for example, practice enforced genetic engineering and selective
breeding through abduction, this may be part of some long-term constructive
programme to improve humanity's genetic strain, much as the O'Briens'
"sages" appear to have had.
On the whole, though stand-off-ish and unwilling to intervene (perhaps
through some cosmic law), the "ufonauts" appear to be spiritual
and concerned for our evolution. There is a strong tradition in the
esoteric ("inner") teachings on Atlantis that, in its golden
age, it was in open contact with extraterrestrials, but when it became
corrupt the space beings withdrew and kept only a distant surveillance,
which they have done ever since. If this is so, they are now closing
in a bit, as the technology "explosion" gives us global communications
and the ability to pollute or even destroy the Earth. Despite their
reluctance to intervene, they might do so rather than see us repeat
the Atlantean disaster: there is some evidence (as at Chernobyl, Ukraine,
where they may have prevented a second nuclear catastrophe in 1991)
that they are already helping to save us from the worst consequences
of our mistreatment of the planet. Some of them may even be descendants
of rescued survivors from Atlantis, or reincarnated souls from it who
can remember past lives there.
We cannot do other than speculate on this, but one thing seems reasonably
certain, At some time long before our recorded history, an advanced
technology either existed on Earth, or was in contact with the planet.
Either hypothesis is consistent with the existence of Atlantis. Why
is it that humanity is being permitted to re-discover all this today?
Could it be that present-day civilization has a lesson to learn from
the fate of Atlantis, and that we are being warned against making the
same mistakes, with the same consequences? It would be well for scholars
to break out of their straitjacket of "orthodoxy", and reflect
on these questions.
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34. ATLANTIS: THE WORLD ARCHETYPE?
In its decadence, Atlantis became a supreme archetype of the "pride
before the fall", An empire already the richest and most powerful
in the known world comes to care only for its wealth and power, and
eventually embarks on a war of conquest to gain yet more. This is a
recurring theme of history up to our own times. Societies, once fresh
and responsive to genius and free opinion, become encrusted with power-groups,
profit, vested interests, luxury, censorship and, eventually, often
dictatorships . Examples abound: Ancient Egypt, Athens, Alexander's
empire, Assyria, Babylon, ancient Israel, Rome, the Maya and Aztecs,
Byzantium, the Turks, many Medieval states; much of Tudor and Stuart
England, Cromwell, Philip II's Spain, Louis XIV's and XVI's France,
Napoleon. More recently we have Tsarist and Communist Russia, Austria-Hungary,
the Kaiser's Germany, some parts of the European colonial empires, Hitler,
Mussolini, Franco, Imperial Japan, Mao's China, Indonesia, South Africa,
Eastern Europe, South America, and many smaller dictatorships in Africa,
Asia and worldwide.
There is a widespread revival of spiritual consciousness and inner transformation
today at an individual and group level; yet much of the modern "democratic"
world, free of dictatorships, nevertheless displays a worrying tendency
to the vested-interest and power aspects of Atlantis. "Will Europe
Follow Atlantis?", asked Lewis Spence in his book title of 1942,
at the height of the Nazi occupation of Europe. Some would say this
title is still relevant in more subtle ways, applied to the present-
day world scene. Of the three cardinal sins ascribed by Plato to Atlantis
— denial of indwelling divinity, materialism and wars of conquest,
the free world today looks as i£ it is finally outgrowing the
last; has stopped just short of committing the first, with many drawing
back from it in the current spiritual revival; but looks in as great
a danger as ever from materialism. We have undreamed- of wealth and
technology, but this is a two- edged sword. We have made enormous strides
in the 1980s and 90s, with many dictatorships overthrown, fewer wars,
greater freedoms and far greater holistic and environmental awareness.
We no longer talk of imminent nuclear holocaust. But are we going to
use this safety, freedom and wealth only to pollute ourselves —
and the planet — by satiating the "mortal admixture"
which "got the upper hand" in Plato's Atlantis?
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35. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY, IN ORDER 1st MENTIONED
IN TEXT (h/b unless stated p/b)
Charles Berlitz, "Atlantis: the Lost Continent Revealed",
Macmillan 1984,Fontana p/b
Charles Berlitz, "The Mystery of Atlantis", Souvenir 1976,
Panther p/b 1977
Otto Muck, "The Secret of Atlantis": in German as "Alias
uber Atlantis", Econ Verlag GmbH, Dusseldorf-Wien, Germany 1976;
in English, Collins 1978, Fontana p/b 1979
Andrew Tomas, "Atlantis: from Legend to Discovery", Hale 1972,
Sphere p/b 1973
Murry Hope, "Atlantis: Myth or Reality?", Arkana p/b 1991
Ignatius Donnelly, "Atlantis: the Antediluvian World", 1st
pub. USA 1882; multiple editions; re-write by Egerton Sykes, Harper
1950, 2nd ed, Sidgwick & Jackson 1970
Ignatius Donnelly, "Ragnarok: the Age of Fire & Gravel",
USA 1883; Rudolf Steiner Pubns, USA, p/b, 1971, 2nd ed. 1974
Lewis Spence, all pub. Rider Books: "The Problem of Atlantis",
1924; "The History of Atlantis", 1926; "The Problem of
Lemuria", 1933; "Will Europe Follow Atlantis?", 1942;
"The Occult Sciences in Atlantis", just post-war; some later
in Aquarian &. AUP p/b ,
Plato, "The Timaeus"; "The Critias" (or "The
Atlantic"), 1st pub.Ancient Athens, 4th Century BC; innumerable
editions to present day, in all major languages
Proclus, Commentary on Plato, 1st pub. 5th C. AD, numerous editions
Dr. David Zink, "The Stones of Atlantis", W. H, Alien, 1978
Prof. Charles H. Hapgood, "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings",
Chilton Co, Philadelphia, USA, 1966; Turnstone, 1979; AUP (Adventures
Unlimited Press), late 1990s, p/b
Col, A. Braghine, "The Shadow of Atlantis", Rider 1938, Aquarian
p/b 1980, AUP p/b 1990s.
Prof. M. Hornet, "Sons of the Sun", 1963; "On the Trail
of the Sun Gods", 1965, Spearman
Col. Percy Fawcett, ed. Brian Fawcett, "Exploration Fawcett",
1953; Brian Fawcett, "Ruins in the Sky", 1958; both Hutchinson
Christian O'Brien, "The Megalithic Odyssey", 1983; "The
Genius of the Few: The Story of Those Who Founded the Garden in Eden",
1985; "The. Shining Ones", 1997: The Patrick Foundation, POBox
72, Cirenc’r GL7 6YG
Charles Berlitz, "The Lost Ship of Noah", W. H. Alien, 1987
'
Gerhard von Hassler, "Lost Survivors of the Deluge", Eng.
trans. Signet p/b 1978
Charles Berlitz, "Mysteries from Forgotten Worlds", Souvenir
1972, Corgi p/b 1974
Charles Berlitz, "Doomsday 1999 AD", Souvenir 1981, later
in p/b
Rene Noorbergen, "Secrets of the Lost Races", Bobbs-Merrill,
USA, 1977; NEL p/b 1978
Thor Heyerdahl, "The Kon-Tiki Expedition", 1950; "Aku-Aku:
the Secret of Easter Island", 1958; "The Ra Expeditions",
1971; "Fatu-Hiva: Back to Nature", 1974; all Allen & Unwin;
later p/b editions; A. Jacoby, "Senor Kon-Tiki", 1968, A &
U
H.S.Bellamy, "Built Before the Flood: the Problem of the Tiahuanaco
Ruins", Faber, 1943
Geoffrey Ashe, "The Ancient Wisdom", Macmillan, 1970s, later
in p/b; & "Dawn Behind the Dawn", Henry Holt, USA, 1992,
inc p/b edition, same pub.
Andrew Tomas, "Shambhala: Oasis of Light", Sphere p/b, 1977
Lt. Col. Stephen Jenkins, "The Undiscovered Country", Spearman
1977, Abacus p/b 1978
PUBLISHED BY THE WESSEX RESEARCH GROUP, Friday 7th April 1995. We are
a lecture and research group with a large resource centre of books,
magazines, papers, videos, audio tapes and contacts: many branches throughout
the ancient Kingdom of Wessex. © Nigel Blair, © Wessex Research
Group, April 1995. back
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