Atlantis, The Original Mysterious Island - by Anita Burns
Countless books, articles and lectures have given theories of the
mysterious lost continent of Atlantis. It seems that in "new age”
literature everything originated in Atlantis. However the source of
the Atlantis story goes back centuries to a handful of pages in
"Plato’s Dialogues.” Plato, an inveterate poet and philosopher, wrote
a poem called "Critias.” In the story, the main character, Critias,
relates a story he heard form his 90 year old grandfather, Solon was
said to have learned it from an Egyptian priest.
According to Solon, when he was in Egypt, he met priests who said
they had records showing that 9,000 years earlier, Athens, the
strongest nation on earth was near an island called Atlantis. Atlantis
was located outside the Pillars of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar).
This was a large island, bigger than North Africa and western Asia
combined. Solon said that the king of Atlantis attacked and tried to
enslave all of Greece and Egypt. But Athens continued to fight against
the king of Atlantis. Before the battle was over, earthquakes and
floods swallowed Atlantis and the whole Athenian army fighting on
Atlantis.
Not much was thought about Atlantis until around 2,000
years later when people started looking for it. So many people claim
to have found Atlantis or have a connection with it that whole
libraries could be filled with nothing but books about the place. A
Swedish author wrote three volumes claiming that Atlantis was in
Scandinavia. Some theorists write that Atlantis was the Aegean island
of Santorini, formerly called Thera, which sank from a volcanic
explosion around 1600 BC. There are other theories that Atlantis is
off the coast of Florida, or in the Pacific Ocean where a part of it
still exists on the California coast. Some people claim that a
phenomenon on the ocean floor near Bimini islands is a remnant of
Atlantis.
Edgar Cayce, a famous 20th century prophet, would go
into a trance state and dictate information about people, their past
lives, health, and future. There are massive amounts of readings from
him relating to Atlantis. Cayce described Atlantis as a civilization
based on virtue and spiritual values that declined into a society of
strife, greed, and chaos, then was destroyed by natural cataclysm. He
predicted that in 1968-9, a remnant of an Atlantian temple would be
discovered under the sea near Bimini island. Dr. David Zink, in "Stones
of Atlantis,” writes of his theory that the vast stone formations in
the water of the Bimini are the remains of Atlantis. The now famous
"Bimini Road” seems to show jointed, rectangular blocks that joint in
contradiction to natural stress lines. After research and study, Zink
is convinced that this is a remnant of Atlantis. Oddly enough, he made
his discovery in 1968.
There are stories about Atlantis that
have the populace using airplanes, electronic technology, and crystal
power. These stories are as varied as their sources. There is no
mention of any of this in Plato’s original story. However, he does
mention a lighted column that was used for energy.
James Mavor
and others claim the Aegean island of Santorini is Atlantis. Mavor
said the Plato was really describing the fall of the Minoan culture and
its degeneration into the Mycenean. John Learn’ Saturday Review
article The Volcano that Shaped the Western World, talked about the
destruction of the Minoan culture through the volcanic explosion on
Santorini. He claimed this allowed the more warlike civilization of
the Mycenaeans to rise in its place. Mavor believes that this allowed
the more warlike civilization of the Mycenaeans to rise in the place of
the peaceful Minoans. The Minoan spread art and the alphabet to Greece
and started the "Golden Age” spoken of by Plato in his Atlantis story.
This is also the theory of J. V. Luce’s The End of Atlantis: New Light
on an Old Legend.
About 75 kilometers north of Crete, the
island of Santorini erupted and most of it sank into the sea somewhere
around 1450 BC. Palaces and towns all over the island were destroyed
or abandoned. Then, in 1400 BC, the island was struck again. There is
now a blanket of ash almost 100 feet thick covering what is left of
Santorini. Most of the people must have had fair warning about the
eruption, for archaeological digs have found little in the way of
personal effects, and no bodies in the ruins of the pre-eruption towns.
What
of the people of Santorini? Are they descendants of the Minoan
Atlantians? These were intelligent, prosperous people. They lived in
relative peace, even in an age of violent warfare throughout the rest
of the world. Even though they were a wealthy civilization, no one
tried to attack them until the Mycenaeans. Theirs is a writing that
cannot, or has not been deciphered. Their hobbies are depicted in
beautiful frescos. They enjoyed bull jumping, boxing, and racing,
among other recreations.
Professor Angelos Galanopoulos,
director of the Seismic laboratory, at the University of Athens also
believes that Santorini is Atlantis. He says that Plato used a popular
literary license and exaggerated the explosion date by a factor of
ten. This puts it at 1490 BC, the same as the explosion date on
Santorini. He also claims that Plato exaggerated the size of the
island. Galanopoulos kept the metropolis the same size and superimposed
a drawing from Plato’s description of a map of Santorini. It fit. Even
though now underwater, the concentric circles described by Plato can
still be seen.
Many archaeological findings about Santorini
match what Edgar Cayce said about Atlantis. In 1967, Mavor’s
expedition to Santorini led to an article in the New York Times Minoan
City Found After 3,400 Years, is Linked to Atlantis. Edgar Cayce also
predicted that in the 1960’s an attempt would be made to find Atlantis
by changing its location and date.
Atlantis was supposed to be
ruled by ten priest-kings. This matches the history of the
civilizations on Santorini. Atlantis, like the Minoan civilization, was
said to be a golden society, without war, poverty, crime, or hunger.
Until, that is, visitors form outside came and corrupted society. Then
the Atlantians set out to conquer the greatest military nation on
earth. This was probably Greece. Unfortunately for them, they failed.
But before they had given up the fight entirely, the island was
destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Then, another came and sank it
almost entirely, except for a crescent shaped fragment. What is now
left of Santorini is a crescent shaped fragment.
Before the
disaster came, all those who were forewarned, fled to other parts of
the world to teach their mysteries and technology. Some believe
Atlantian rites were the forerunners of the Dionysian mysteries. The
remains of this mystery school can be seen in the secret caves of
Malta, used for underground initiations.
There is no geological
evidence of a large sunken continent or island off the coast of
California, or in the northern Atlantic. If there were, however, plate
tectonics would probably have recycled much of it by now. However, an
island blown up by a volcano around the end of the last ice age would
still show. Reputations grow, and it is perhaps safe to say that what
is said, channeled, and written about Atlantis today far exceeds what
was really there.
However, much is still to be discovered
about the mysterious island of Atlantis, and new books are being
written everyday. In his book Phoenix Solution, Alan Alford makes a
good case for Atlantis being another planet referred to in the Egyptian
Pyramid Texts. In an interesting web site, www.atlan.org, Arysio Nunes
dos Santos is sure that Atlantis is under the China Sea. Whatever
you’re leanings on Atlantis might be, it makes for very good reading to
learn of the vast variety of theories that are attached to this elusive
land.