Tales of the lost city of Atlantis and the lost continent of Lemuria have captivated our minds for centuries, and the idea of Atlantis in particular has become deeply lodged in popular culture. But where did the idea of these lost realms come from, and what hidden truths can we learn from these captivating mythologies? In this blog, we take a look at some of the earliest ideas concerning Atlantis and Lemuria to show you that the popular notion of sunken nations really is just the tip of the iceberg!
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Is Atlantis Real?
Atlantis was first described by the Greek philosopher Plato (circa 428-348 BCE) around 360 BCE. In his two-part dialogue Timaeus and Critias, Plato described Atlantis as a great island empire that was larger than Libya and Asia Minor combined. He claimed that it was located beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar) in the Atlantic Ocean. According to Plato, the naval might of the Atlanteans conquered much of Western Europe and Africa around 9600 BCE, before then being defeated by the Ancient Athenians (9000 years before Plato wrote his account of the lost empire). Following this disaster, Atlantis was said to have been ravaged by a night of earthquakes and floods that ultimately plunged it beneath the surface of the sea.
Plato said that the story of Atlantis came from ancient Egyptian records, but no such records have ever been found. As a result, many modern researchers believe that Atlantis could have been Plato's invention, intended to be interpreted not as an account of a physical empire, but instead as a metaphor for hubris and divine retribution, condemning imperialist expansion. However, Plato did still claim that Atlantis was a real place, so the notion of a literal Atlantis has persisted, and several mystical and esoteric traditions have since expanded upon his account. Within these myths and legends, Atlantis’s location has been variously described, but never uncovered.
Was Lemuria Real?
Lemuria was not thought to be a lost empire, but rather a theorised lost continent (or land bridge) that was located in the Indian or Pacific Oceans. The concept was first proposed by zoologists in the 19th century, who used it to explain how similar species and fossils of lemur could be found in both Madagascar and India. Some thinkers later expanded on this idea, speculating that Lemuria was located in the Pacific, and had sunk beneath the waves long before Atlantis. On the other hand, esoteric mythology describes Lemuria as an advanced civilisation of large reptilian humanoids known as “Lemurians”. Various traditions describe Lemurians as possessing telepathic abilities and a knowledge of advanced technology, and portray them as the ancestors of modern humans. However, because geologists have yet to find any evidence of the Lemurian continent, it is often viewed as a mythological and spiritual concept.
Helena Blavatsky on the Story of Atlantis and Lost Lemuria
After Plato, one of the most prolific thought leaders to comment on Atlantis (and also Lemuria) was Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891): a Russian mystic and the founder of the esoteric tradition known as Theosophy. Within her books, she frequently wrote about Atlantis and Lemuria, and considered them to both be real places that once existed. The Lemurians were the third of her so-called “Root Races” (with the other two races being formed of pure spirit), and the Atlanteans appeared as her fourth Root Race.
Blavatsky subscribed to the now very recognisable idea that Atlantis was an advanced civilisation in the Atlantic Ocean that sank beneath the sea around 11,500 years ago, when its divine rulers became corrupt and misused their psychic powers. She saw Atlantis as being technologically advanced, but spiritually degenerate (in Plato’s original writings, the Atlantean defeat was attributed to them falling out of favour with their deities). She wrote that isolated pockets of Atlanteans survived their realm’s destruction, forming brand new societies in Egypt and the Americas.
According to Blavatsky, Lemuria was even older than Atlantis, and was located in the Pacific. She theorised that it was the cradle of humanity, where a mystical race of egg-laying hermaphrodites lived in psychic harmony. Physical human bodies and the separation of sexes only occurred when higher beings began to descend to the planet, resulting in the appearance of the Atlanteans.
Atlantis and Lemuria as Higher Dimensional Realms
Throughout the initial stories of Atlantis and lost Lemuria, and within the writings of influential visionaries like Helena Blavatsky, the idea that they are significant not only in a physical sense, but from a mystical and spiritual sense, is clear. Some therefore believe that these two realms did not purely exist in the physical 3D world, but that they are instead accessible in subtler realms of higher vibration and consciousness that go beyond our 5 human senses.
Those who believe this claim that Atlantis and Lemuria resonate with the 4th and 5th dimensions in mystical models. These are associated with higher states of spirituality, psychic power, unity, and advanced abilities that eclipse those that we experience in the separated physical 3D world. Ancient peoples and mystics are thought to have been able to perceive these higher vibrational realms, and gain many learnings from the advanced 4D/5D Atlantean and Lemurian civilisations.
As time passed, humanity is said to have fallen from an advanced state of consciousness into lower 3D consciousness. As human consciousness became limited to the physical, Atlantis and Lemuria therefore “sank” into higher dimensions, and we have therefore become disconnected from these higher frequency planes, largely losing the ability to access them. The goal is therefore to rediscover those states of being! Some believe that the few remnants of Atlantis and Lemuria on Earth are echoes of the higher vibrational states that they existed in, and that modern day people can rediscover these states through spiritual practice. Various advanced abilities like telepathy, mystical power, and unified consciousness are seen as native to higher reality dimensions, and are therefore attributed to Atlantis and Lemuria.
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