Atlantis Rises

Atlantis: The new world

August 24, 2007 |  8 comments
Image Credit: Lloyd K. Townsend Rising from the annals of time: comes a story so powerful, so thought provoking, so ultimately reminiscent of the existence of abstract thought -- it still boggles the greatest minds 2,000 years after Plato, the Greek Philosopher, wrote it down. This is Atlantis. We live in a world bombarded with a constant flow of fresh thought and inspirational affluence – and the utopian ideal of Atlantis in all its philosophy still lives in the minds of all humanity through the simply process of rational and irrational thought. History is filled with incidents where Atlantis resounds around us. The birth of Democracy and the constant onslaught of wars that plague our planet are but two examples. Atlantis was a multi-cultural and civilized society, and therefore we must come to the conclusion that Atlantis was not destroyed but urbanized into present society.

We continue to live on an island – an island in space. Periodically we risk venturing out into unfamiliar territory to test the waters – we often experience the unknown and learn something new about ourselves we never considered -- but we always return home. We’re a bold species, but we are also a frightened one. We like familiarity; to be safe. And Earth is our harbor within a sea of discontinuity.

Atlantis is described as a utopia of great beauty and prosperity, and a spiritual entity within a corporal realm, so applicable with the planet that it borders on a symbiotic relationship, where as one being merges with its host to become one. This is our world -- Human’s coexisting with nature.

The idea of Atlantis is a far more powerful image than something tangible, and the story sings to us like a beautiful melody of harmonic notes soothing to the ear. But lest we forget, that song once sung loud and clear has slowly become distorted and scratchy like an old vinyl record. We hear of vague reminders of a lost world where the perfect society existed – and we cry havoc to return to that level of contentment. Happiness is a stone throw away, as they say, but unfortunately with disease, feminine, murder and war, plaguing our planet on a daily bases, we keep on sinking into the depths of an abyss and transcending into a darkness where light rarely penetrates. Are we really that far gone? Time heals all wounds. Yes, I’m aware of the blatant cliché.

The story of Atlantis is enchanting and at the same time frightening. It gives us tell tale signs of what happened to its people, that humanity’s greatest weakness is its desire for power. Looking at the world today, it’s not hard to see the truth in this statement.

Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, describes “the many destructions of the world” in his readings. Whether naturally occurring or due to humankind’s direct involvement – from the existence of plant and animal life to the dawn of civilization to the many rise and falls of cultural societies – there have been many “destructions” in the course of human history. Species die off or go through a radical change to adapt to a changing climate or merge into a society where the understanding of one’s world is altered with new ideas. This is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. We naturally think of this theory only happening to animals millions of years ago that later became our ancestors, and this is true – but it can also be true with civilization and cultural exchange; new cultures blend with established ones. This is called multi-culturalism.

I believe this is what happened to Atlantis, if Plato was telling a story of a true race of Antediluvian people. If Atlantis was destroyed, it was destroyed by too much multi-culturalism. And Plato was telling a metaphoric story of a sudden insight of its people: that Atlantis became too attenuated with too much culture exchange with the people it traded with -- and our world over the years has become the last remnants of this lost civilization.

We continue to look for Atlantis -- the problem is I think we’re looking in the wrong place. I believe we’re living in it!

(Note to readers: If you’ve read my other articles, you may see a radical change in how I perceive Atlantis then and now. I’ve come to a reasonable conclusion that this is what became of Atlantis and is the true meaning behind Plato’s story, but this is strictly my opinion.)[!gad]Rising from the annals of time: comes a story so powerful, so thought provoking, so ultimately reminiscent of the existence of abstract thought -- it still boggles the greatest minds 2,000 years after Plato, the Greek Philosopher, wrote it down. This is Atlantis. We live in a world bombarded with a constant flow of fresh thought and inspirational affluence – and the utopian ideal of Atlantis in all its philosophy still lives in the minds of all humanity through the simply process of rational and irrational thought. History is filled with incidents where Atlantis resounds around us. The birth of Democracy and the constant onslaught of wars that plague our planet are but two examples. Atlantis was a multi-cultural and civilized society, and therefore we must come to the conclusion that Atlantis was not destroyed but urbanized into present society.

We continue to live on an island – an island in space. Periodically we risk venturing out into unfamiliar territory to test the waters – we often experience the unknown and learn something new about ourselves we never considered -- but we always return home. We’re a bold species, but we are also a frightened one. We like familiarity; to be safe. And Earth is our harbor within a sea of discontinuity.

Atlantis is described as a utopia of great beauty and prosperity, and a spiritual entity within a corporal realm, so applicable with the planet that it borders on a symbiotic relationship, where as one being merges with its host to become one. This is our world -- Human’s coexisting with nature.

The idea of Atlantis is a far more powerful image than something tangible, and the story sings to us like a beautiful melody of harmonic notes soothing to the ear. But lest we forget, that song once sung loud and clear has slowly become distorted and scratchy like an old vinyl record. We hear of vague reminders of a lost world where the perfect society existed – and we cry havoc to return to that level of contentment. Happiness is a stone throw away, as they say, but unfortunately with disease, feminine, murder and war, plaguing our planet on a daily bases, we keep on sinking into the depths of an abyss and transcending into a darkness where light rarely penetrates. Are we really that far gone? Time heals all wounds. Yes, I’m aware of the blatant cliché.

The story of Atlantis is enchanting and at the same time frightening. It gives us tell tale signs of what happened to its people, that humanity’s greatest weakness is its desire for power. Looking at the world today, it’s not hard to see the truth in this statement.

Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, describes “the many destructions of the world” in his readings. Whether naturally occurring or due to humankind’s direct involvement – from the existence of plant and animal life to the dawn of civilization to the many rise and falls of cultural societies – there have been many “destructions” in the course of human history. Species die off or go through a radical change to adapt to a changing climate or merge into a society where the understanding of one’s world is altered with new ideas. This is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. We naturally think of this theory only happening to animals millions of years ago that later became our ancestors, and this is true – but it can also be true with civilization and cultural exchange; new cultures blend with established ones. This is called multi-culturalism.

I believe this is what happened to Atlantis, if Plato was telling a story of a true race of Antediluvian people. If Atlantis was destroyed, it was destroyed by too much multi-culturalism. And Plato was telling a metaphoric story of a sudden insight of its people: that Atlantis became too attenuated with too much culture exchange with the people it traded with -- and our world over the years has become the last remnants of this lost civilization.

We continue to look for Atlantis -- the problem is I think we’re looking in the wrong place. I believe we’re living in it!

(Note to readers: If you’ve read my other articles, you may see a radical change in how I perceive Atlantis then and now. I’ve come to a reasonable conclusion that this is what became of Atlantis and is the true meaning behind Plato’s story, but this is strictly my opinion.) Comments (8)

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