Atlantis: Real or Imagined?

The story of Atlantis is not limited to one culture or people; in fact, it is found among ancient cultures on both sides of the Atlantic ocean.

Now, how can that be? Let's run down a list of comparative mythical figures, names and concepts so you can make your own mind up...

- Plato's Atlantis (widely considered legend/fiction, perhaps could be analogous, or who knows could actually be historical...) text here

- Atlas, a Greek mythological figure who is a son of the sea (read between the first line)

- Arcadia, the part-geographical, part-utopian place referred to in ancient Greek culture

- Greek mythology relates the idea of a Golden Age; this could be considered analogous to the Biblical concept of the Garden of Eden, and ideas of a Ante-Diluvean state of existence, from which mankind 'fell', symbolically, to its current state. I would suggest that these stories are anything but the literal Word of God, and that they represent mysteries, but that's just me of course.

- Greek stories of Hesperides, again very interesting consistent symbolism

- Irish legend describes Tír na nÓg in similar themes to the idea of Atlantis, Golden Age etc. An island far to the west, beyond the edges of the map, the Land of Youth, where sickness and death do not exist.

- Welsh mythology speaks of Avalon; since this is more recent (12thC), one may suggest it could have come from Plato's work. Interestingly this word (see link) seems to have derived from one meaning 'apple', which is the fruit (although not actually present in the Bible) said to have been eaten by Eve in the popular concept of the Eden story.

(Up to now, things all seem reasonable and can be explained away as nice stories shared by travellers across Europe. Here's where things get weird. Let's cross the Atlantic and see what others have to say...)

- Atzlan, the "legendary ancestral home of the Nahua peoples" (Aztecs). Wikipedia says that, "In the mid-19th century, fringe theorist Ignatius L. Donnelly, in his book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, sought to establish a connection between Aztlán and the fabled "lost continent" of Atlantis of Greek mythology; Donnelly's views, however, have never been recognised as credible by mainstream scholarship." (Of course they haven't, the similarities are too obvious, and the implications too great, for most of the letters-after-my-name club.)

- Atlaua is the Aztec water god.

- Atlantida is an ancient city in the Amazon river basin, said to have been built by Phonecian explorers. Now let's stop here - 4000 years ago, explorers from modern day Israel/Lebanon actually sailed to South America, according to conventional history! (and you believe Columbus 'discovered' the Americas)

CLEARLY THIS IS ALL BOLLOCKS.

I ask you not to notice the linguistical similarities and mythological similarities between these totally seperate cultures. I ask you not to question whether or not their similarity might indicate a common source. Clearly what we have been told about our history is 100% accurate. Nobody traversed the Atlantic before Columbus, for example, everyone knows that.

I am not interested to see what Ignatius L. Donnelly has to say about this; I will not be reading Atlantis: The Antediluvean World in due course...

If you want my opinion, I think Atlantis/Eden/"Paradise Lost" may well be partly physical, but also psychological...an imagination of a distant memory. Perhaps referring to a real time here on Earth, or perhaps not. Say, if reincarnation turns out to be real, and I by no means say one way or the other, this could be a faint memory of life between existences here, insane as that may sound. Perhaps it is a memory not of this world. What about if it is a trace leftover of alleged human genetic engineering? We also do genetic engineering...like father, like son, right? Who knows.

Incase you haven't noticed, I am on a quest to prove or disprove the saying that if you open your mind too much, your brain will fall out. ;)

For more info on this topic see here