O U R S T O RY

OF

A T L A N T S .

Wr i t te n d o w n f o r th e

H E RMET I C B ROT HE RHOO "

By w . P . P H EL O N , M . " .

t
Au h o r of
“
T H RE E S EV EN S ; ” “
H E A L I N G. C A US ES AN "
E F F E CT L OV E S E X
, , I MM O RT A L I T Y .
"
E tc
.

S AN F RA N C I S C
H E RM ET I C BOO K
1 90 3.
 E nte re d a cco rd i n g to A ct o f C i n th e ye a r 1 903 , by

I n th e o ffi ce o f th e L ib ra ria n of C o n g re ss at Was h in gto n " C , . .

All r ig h ts re se rved .

su es on "t o o , w e w a n n a an , a. r .
 F OR E W OR " .

I t is not n e c e s s a ry fo r a n a u t h o r i n th e s e
la t e r d ays, alw a y s to be a b le to s ay, he

w r it e s of h is o wn k n o wl e d g e . T h is h a s be

c o m e a r e c o g n i z e d fa c t . H e m a y w r i t e fr o m

a n o th e r ’
s e x p e ri e n c e i n w h o s e h o n e s t y
, an d

r e li a b ili t y ,
h e h as as much ,
an d so me t i m e s
m o r e c o n fi d e n c e th a n i n ,
h is o wn p e rso n a l

se n se . T his i s th e cag e w i t h th i s li tt l e b o o k ,

treati ng o f a s u bj e ct of i n te rest to th e w ho le
w o rl d ,
to - d a y . F or six y ea r s I h av e h a d th e

MS S . a l m o s t r e a dy fo r th e p r i n t e r . N ow ,

with th e e n c o u ra g e m e n t an d h e l p in g h a n d
o f my D e a r Co m r a d e s o f th e H e r me t i c
B ro t h er h o o d I ,
a m bid to l et it go fo r t h .

M ay i t b e a h e l p to th e O N CE A T L A N
TIAN B OR N w h e r e v e r t h e y m ay b e
,
.

W P. . P H E L ON ,
M D . .
 CON TEN TS

CHA PT E R I .

P oem ,
A t la n tis W h y i s t h is b o o k w ritten ?
L ost .
”

Auth orities p ointing to t h e e x isten ce o f a form er

C ontinent a n d C ity "efinite assertions o f d e str uc
.

tion by d e l u g e o f an is l an d C ontinent positive l y

, ,

d ecl are d T esti m o n y o f th e w h ir l i n g stra w s t h e

.
,

flotsa m an d j etsam o f t h e d a y C on current evi d en ce .

o f t h e e x isten ce a n d i n flu e n ce o f t h ese p eo p l e on o u r
civi l i zation P A GE I
.

CHA PT E R I I .

P oem , A tl a n ti a n M e m o r ies C ontinue d cross .

e x am ination o f w itnesse s h um an an d d i v ine , co n ,

cerning t h e fa cts i n ev i d ence o f t h e e x istence o f

A t l antis I s l an d a n d C ity es cri p tion o f m ountains ,
. "
cities ,
caves a n d ot h er e v i d e n ce s o f o ccup ation b y
,

civi l i z e d an d en l i g h tene d p e o p l e S p e cu l ation s an d .

d e ductions o f t h e Past P re s ent an d F uture PA GE , .

25 .

CH A PT E R I I I .

B e g innin g a vo ya g e T h e attra ctive stran g er

o f . .

A cquai n tan ce ri p e n s rap i dl y S u ch a fa ce as ch i l d .

r e n l ove an d s cou n d re l s h a te A n e l o q u en t an d i n
stru ctive ta lk er A tl a n ti a n m em ories seem to t h e
.

n ew frien d p erson a l e x p erie n ces T h e w on d er fu l

, .

cities o f t h e P ast t h at h ave d isa p p eare d T h e l ittl e .

bl a ck l ettere d ma n u s cri pt i n a stran g e l angua g e

-
.

H istory of A t l antis Y our d e s ire f o r inform ation

“
.

”
on t h ese l ines w i ll b e g rati fie d P A GE 4 1 . .

CHA PT E R IV .

The stu d ent an d master o f t h e Cab a l a T h e .

so l ving of th e probl e m T h e o dd v o l um e fr o m t h e.

B oston se con d h an d b oo k store -

T h e F ourt h C on .
vi i i CON T E N T S

of I nstru ction T h e w on d erfu l p l ay o f visib l e form

.

an d co l or never e qua l e d e l se w h ere i n t h e w h o l e

,

w or l d b efore or s i nce
, S up re m e l y d om inant n o w
.
,

i n t h e a ffairs o f t h e w or l d PA GE 1 74 . .

CHA PT E R XV I .

The C e ll ars o f t h e Great E l em enta l M int an d

T reasury un d er t h e T e mp l e T h eir o ccup ant s uses
, .
,

an d t h e influen ces upon t h e S tate an d w or ld t h en an d

"ate o f t h e Op ening o f th ese T reasuries to t h e
,

n ew .

inspe ction o f t h e T emp l e I nsp ector PA GE 186 . .

CHA PT E R X V I I .

T h e T reasury of th e T em p l e ; i ts contents an d
uses . PA GE 1 94.

CHA PT E R XV I I I .

Conce r ning Convocations T h e k in d s an d m eth .

o d s o f ca l l ing a n d t h eir uses an d in fluence even

up on t h e w or ld o f to day PA GE 1 97 -
. .

CHA PT E R X I X .

T h e Messia h th at must co m e i s a nati o n an d n o t

an in d ivi d ua l I t w a s t h e stone cut out o f t h e
.

m ountain w it h out h an d s F or th is w ork an d w ait . .

PA GE 203 .

CHA PT E R XX .

W e as A tl an ti a n s d i d n o t b rea k t h e l a w ; b ut w e
, ,

ma d e a m ista k e F or our i g norance w e su ff ere d

.
,
.

T h e i u s tr um en t ca nnot b e su p erior to t h e Ma k er
an d U ser PA GE 2 10
. .

CH A P T E R xxi .

C orrob orating evi d en ce fro m t h e new s o f t h e

present day as i t co m es to t h e ears o f t h e Watch ers
,
“

on t h e Wa ll s ”
A t lantis E gyp t I n d i a PA GE 2 14
,
—
, ,
. .
 R S T O RY
AT L AN T I S .

o r T H E

N I V E RS l T Y
CH A P T E R I .
OF

T H E L O ST A T L A N T I S .

At l antis p eer l ess cou n try "

F
AIR ,

L u ll e d w it h in t h e Ocean s arm s
’

L y i n g b ea uti fu l a n d s h ini n g

Far b eneath t h e storm s a l arms ;

’

N ever h as a p lag ue co m e near t h ee ;

I n th y h a l l s w ere l ove an d ease ;
N ow ,
ab ove t h ee l ost A t l antis "
Ro ll t h e ever rest l ess seas .

I n t h ose h istories h a l f tra d ition

, ,
 0 UR S T OR Y

O f th y c ities , fair an d o l d ;
"ream ing b ar d h as to ld in fancy
Wan d ering m instre l sung of t h ee ,

N ow, ab ove t h ee l ost At l antis

, ,

Ro ll s t h e ever rest l ess sea .

E very h eart has su ch a country ;

S o m e A t l antis l ove d an d l ost ,

W h ere upon t h e g l eam ing san d b ars

On ce l i fe
'
’
s fitfu l ocean tost ;
M i g h ty c ities rose in sp l en d or ,

L ove w as m onarc h of t h at cl i m e
N ow, ab ove t hat l ost A t l antis
R o ll s t h e rest l ess sea o f T im e .

H appy h e , who l ook ing b a ckw ar d

From a l ife o f larg er s cope
"eem s a youth fu l i d l e fan cy

H is l ost c ontinent o f H ope ;

O r by l i g h t of l ove an d gl a dness ,

F in d t h e present h om e sub l i me
Gl a d th at over h is At l antis
Ro l l s t h e rest l ess sea o f T im e .

Why i s this book written ? i s the most per ti nent

 OF A T L A N T I S .
3

qu estion asked an author at the outset o f com

position . It is echoed and re -
ech o ed by critic
and reader upon its publi c ation . I t certainly ap

pears to be a fair question whenever the subj ec ts ,

seem so much out o f the route of o rdinary i a

f ormat i on as the presen t volume
, .

T he scattered records o f the Past within the ,

h i sto r i cal p e r i o d, would apparently yiel d scarcely

enough material to make a short magazine article
o f any interest to say n o thing of swelling in
,

size , to the di gn ity o f a b o ok .

I t is now conceded however by ou r wisest , ,

scientis ts , that every configu ration and corres

ponding ci rcumstance points to the possibil i ty o f
the exist ence o f an island continent in the neigh
bo r h oo d , if not directly over the great West I n
dian A rchipelago j ust as the whole con fi guration
,

of the N orth A m eric an Co ntinent tells the story

o f the inland sea that broke through its barr i ers
at the T housand I slan ds in the S t . L awrence

river and hurling itse l f over N iagara Falls le ft

, ,
4 0 UR S T OR Y

the habitable valley o f the M ississippi , as a

legacy to man for future settlemen t .

T he s acred writin gs of all nations concur in the

same declar ation and statement o f dis aster to some
portion o f the earth most generally including ,

all . I n a late issue o f M ind appears an article ,

“ ”
headed : A M onumen t to A tlantis ,
which
says : A notable discove ry o f more than ordinary
interest for historians especially those , w ho have
a leaning toward antiquities h as lately been made ,

by th e well kno w n archaeologist A u gustus L e

-
,

Plongeo n . T his discovery should particularly at

tra c t th e attent i on of A merica ns , since i t enables

them to lay cla i m to one o f the most i mportant
m o n uments o f anc i ent times . T h e edifice in ques

t i on i s th e Pyram id o f X o ch i cal o standing ,

feet above the l evel of th e se a, and situated to th e

sou th southwes t o f Cuernavac a 60 miles f rom the

-
,

City of M exic o . For more than a cen tury the

pyr am i d has been o ccas i onal ly visited by distin
gui sh e d tr av el er s in clud i n g the lea r ned H um
,
 OF A T L A N T I S .
5

boldt ; but none su cceeded in discovering the pur

pose for which the monumen t had been ere c ted ,

nor in dec i phering the myste rious inscriptions on

its sides .

As far back as 1 886, Dr . Le Plongeon pub

l i sh e d his alphabetic key to the Maya hieroglyp hs ,

comparing this with the ancient E gyptian hieratic

alphabet . H e has now found that the signs on
the Pyram id of X o ch i cal o are b oth M aya and
E gyptian ; and a care ful s tudy o f these d ecorative
inscript i ons has made it plain to him that the
pyram id w as a monumental structure er ec ted to

commemorate th e submer gence an d destruction o f

the great L an d o f M n Plato s A tlantis to " ’
",

gether with its population of o f hu

man be i ngs about , 1 years a go .

D r L e Plongeon
.
, m
in his re arkable work ,

"ueen M OO and the Egyptian S phinx ,

gives
four M aya accounts of the same cat aclys m T his
.
,

then is the fifth and in his own opinion the

, , , ,

most important of all the known records in May a

6 0 UR S T OR Y

lan guage o f the appall ing event that gave r i se

to th e story o f a universal Deluge that is found
i n th e sacred books o f the J ews the
,
Christians
an d the Mohammedans .

T h ese records on stone on sun dried b ricks on

, ,
-
,

papyrus all tell the same story

, . T he l ittle we
know o f the A ztecs is also confi rm atory o f the
same fact . Wh ence came the people o f S outh

A merica , with thei r advanced c ivil ization and

tradi tions o f th e Past ? Wh at migh ty peopl e buil t
the great cities and temples o f the now forest
covered cities o f Y u catai n an d Central A mer i ca ,

with their carved gl yphs an d corr espondencies to

,

th e h i eroglyphs o f th e Vall ey o f the N ile and the

East I nd i an entabla tu r es ; an d moreover , on l
a

m o s t precisely simil ar styl es o f architecture to

those o f E gypt and I nd ia . Is i t reasonable to sup

pose there w as no common bond o f fell owship
be tw een all these ? T h e A n ci ent E gyptian i deas
have d ominated the worl d down to the present
day .
“

I nstead o f a mummy case -

, w e. use a coffin
 OF A T L AN T I S .
7

for our dead . T h e idea is the s ame— the de

parted ghost w as to be saved the trouble o f mak
ing a new body perhaps at short notice at the
, ,

great day o f the resurrection .

T he trinity in unity o f God , n ow un i versally

received was an E gyptian idea and th e same i s
, ,

wrought into the stone tablets wh ich La Plon

geon and his am i abl e wife have unearthed i n the
f orests o f the M aias and "uiches .

I f the nation , o f which these are but the

feeble remnants had not d isappear ed by some
,

cataclysmal climax w e must ce rtainly h av e had

some later historical data
, . As th e m i nd of th e

present generation is more lar g ely than ev e r de ,

siro n s of T ruth the id ea o f A str al pr esentat i on

,

an d perception may not be wi thout its we i ght ,

especially as the bo o ks o f W isdom o f the Past

declare that automatic books o f record are k ept
,

o f all deeds and manifestation upon the earth , .

I t may be asked why those , , w ho have enter ed

into th e r es t o f the U ns een sh ould be at all co n
8 O UR S T OR Y

cerned in the un foldment and development o f the

race , w ho are ever toiling over the rocky paths o f
the planet ? I f the doctrine of r e- incarnat i on IS

true then would i t not be to the interest o f the

,

coming E gos for all the race , of men to be ad

v an ce d j ust as far as possible so that the , r e—i n

car n a te d from time to time might receive the

,

h ighest advantage attainable , from their touch

wi th the earth at any particular ti me
, . T hose
w ho are coming back into the presen t civilization ,

i f they were o f the advanced and cul tured classes

o f A tl antis and th e most ancien t E gypt woul d ,

find more advantages o f ac q uirement ,

through
o ur leisu re and experience than when hurled into
,

li f e amid the horrors and darkness of the S tone

A ge .

From time to time the material and data

,
ob

tai n e d as h e reinafter desc ribed from which this

,

book is made has been pres sed upon my attention

, ,

as someth ing that woul d be of use an d interest ,

'

to al l w ho ar e see ki ng to K N OW . I do not
 OF A TL A N TI S .
9

doubt the authentici ty of my in formation , no r

the statemen ts given as facts by thos e , w ho wer e

so kind and courteous as to make the writer their
“

‘
mouthpiece in this re -
collection o f th e ancient
memories .

I do not doubt that to many readers will , ,

come fleeting glimpses o f thes e scenes as i f they ,

had been part of them . I t is a conced ed fact ,

there have never b een since the fa ll o f A tlantis , ,

so many r e- incarnated A tl an ti an s upon the earth

at the same time as now , . T his acc ounts f or th e
a l most universal demand out o f the A stral r eco rds
for th e forgotten knowledge of the o cc ult which ,

they there recorded . T his also ex plains th e r e ad i

ness o f the p ublic m in d to receiv e knowl ed ge o f

the doctrin es of M ental Healing S p i r i tual i sm , ,

T heosophy and occultism in all i ts br anches

,
.

I gt
i a ti‘
us’ w
fi gflp
‘
i el l y finds a su p porter of hi s

A tlantis theory in S i r Daniel Wil son presiden t ,

o f the U n i ve rsi ty of T oron to Wh o decl a r es a f ter

,

a great d eal o f s ear ch, th at the lost A tlan tis was

10 O UR S T OR Y

not a myth bu t that it was really a part o f the

,

con tinen t of A merica . H e accounts for its dis

appearance from view in a di fferent way but that ,

is merely inc i dental .

’
Donnelly s theo ry was that the land was sub
merged by some great volcanic upheaval , and
that f rom th ose who escaped to the continents o f
Europe and A sia came the tradition o f the deluge .

S i r Daniel re j ects this ex planation as b eing d is

proved by the fact that there are no traces of such

volcanic action either on the continent or in the
ocean bed . He believes that th e ancien t E gyp

tians th e most progressiv e and adven turous people

,

o f an ci en t times discovere d th e cont i nen t but

, ,

that i n the decline both o f th e i r l earnin g and

power it became lost
, to V iew an d existed at the
time ou r knowl ed ge o f E gypt begi ns merely as
a shadowy tradit i on .

I t is his O pinion that trac es o f th e E gyptians

o f those days are to be sought in the ruined cities
o f Central A mer i ca whose ori g in has never been
,
 OF A T L A N T I S . 11

determined nor even been made the basis of any

reasonable theory . S uch a discovery would
furnish a substantial basis for the le gen d o f th e
lost A tlantis and the theory invests those w on

de r fu l ruins with a new inter es t f o r the an

ti q u a r i an s .

T h e S t L ouis Republic
. said : A tlantis w as

a continent supposed to have existed at a very

early period in the A tlantic O cean , over agai nst
”
the Pillars of H ercules , but which was su bse

quently sunk in a cataclysm of which history

gives no record . Plato is the first w ho gives an
account of it and he is said to have ob tained h i s
,

’
whom he had come in contact . Plato s account
“
says : A tlantis w as a continent larger than
A sia and A frica pu t together and that at its west
,

ern extremity were islands which a ff orded easy

passage to a large continent lyin g still beyond
this last mentioned continen t being now supposed
”
to be S outh A m erica . N ine thousand years he
12 O UR S T OR Y

fore the time of Plato according to the tradition

, ,

A tlantis was a powerful thickly settled country

,
-

which ex tended its way over A frica and the maj or

“
portion o f what is now E urope ,
even to as far
”
as the T yrrhenian S ea . Further progress of the
invasion o f the A tlantides was checked by the
comb ined e fforts o f the A thenians and other
Gr e eks . S hortly after the invaders were d riven
from the continents of E u rope and A frica a great
earthquak e shook A tlantis from cen ter to cir
cu m fe r en ce . First ,
the outlying islands sank ;
then great are as of th e mainland . Waves ran
mountai n high across hundreds o f s q uare mil e s
of W hat had the day before been fertile fields .

‘
Great temples were racked and riven and the ,

a ff righted populace cl imbed upon the ruins to

escape the encroaching water s ’

. On the second
day afte r a n ight of terrors which no pen c o uld
,

possibly d escribe the earth quake shocks were of

,

greatly increased violence ending only after the ,

e ntire continent had been engul fe d . T here is no

 OF A TL AN T I S . 13

page in history or tradition that records a more

frightful catastrophe and nothing woul d be o f
,

more absorbing interest than a work entirely de

voted to giving an account of what is known con
cerning it .

T o th e obj ector who urges that the explorers

o f the w o rld have never discovered any traces of
th e gr eat city and continent whose story I have ,

endeavored to give in the following pages ; per

mi t me to give a few straws float i ng on ou r sea
of current literature which show that the his
,

to ry of past ages may yet be read in the Central

part of our continent
“
T he recent report that a citizen o f the U nited
S tates has d iscovered among the mountains o f t
he

M exican S tate of S inaloa a long f o rgotten ci ty -

talli es with a curious local tradition of the region .

A dj oinin g the S tate of S inaloa on the south is

th e S tate of J al l i sco and of this S tate G u adal a
, ,

j ara is the capital . L iving in the mountains o f

J al l i sco ,
part o f the great S ierra M adre or
14 O UR S T ORY

M other Range that extends throu gh S inaloa

an d thence northward , are th e unconquered
Y aquis , a brown haired people with light eyes
-

an d almost f air complexions . Guadalaj ara i s the

only civilized town that these Y aquis visit and ,

i t has long been believed there that the Y aquis

f astnesses of the S ierra M adre range conceal not
only rich mines of silver but as well the lost ci ty
,

o f the A ztec race . N o one has hitherto pierc ed

the mountain wilderness , because the naked
Y aqu i s have an e ffective system o f passive resist

an c e that has hitherto successfully closed the sol e

line o f approach . T he only human beings other
than the Y aquis themselves admitted to the m oun
tains o f J al l i sco are a few renegad e A paches , mur
d ero n s wretches vastly more dangerous to would
,

be explorers than the peace ful bu t persisten t

”
Y aquis .

T here is no q u estion in the minds of those w ho

have given attention to the subj ect ,

that the
A zt ecs are the lineal descendants of the migh ty
 OF A T L A N T IS . 1 5

nat i on w ho sought to know b eyond the law

governing th e c reated . O f the unknown city

above mentioned we add , an other d esc r i pt i on f rom

a di fler en t source :
'
“
During the f requ ent visits I have made to

”
M ex i co , said a m ining engin eer o f Philadelphia
“
to an I nquirer reporter , I have come in con
tact with many of the I ndians residen t there and
have heard some very sin gular stories . On e

which all the Indians unite in telling i s that f ar ,

in the interior exists an enormous c i ty never yet ,

visited by white men . I t is described as peopled

by a race similar to the ancien t A ztecs , w ho are
sun worshipers and o ffer human sacri fi ces to their
dei ty .

“
T he race is said to be in a high state of

civilization and th e I nd ians say that the city is

,

full o f huge structures wh ich are miracles o f

quaint but beauti ful architecture and are situated ,

on broad paved stree ts far surpassing thos e,

o f

the C i ty of M exico .
16 O UR S T ORY

O n e I nd ian , I recollect assured me that he

,

had seen the city and its inhabitants with his

own eyes but had been afraid o f being captured
,

and had fled . Of course I did not b elieve him

, ,

but all the same i t is not a little strange that

, ,

th e accounts of the Mexican Indians relative to ,

the mysterious and magnificen t interior city agree ,

”
perf ectly .

T h ese are but o f many of the allusions and tra

di ti o n s pointing to the fact that somewhere in ,

the S outhwest there is a people who undoubtedly

,

hold a compl ete historical record of the chain o f

events from A tlantis in its prime d own to the
,

pr esent day . While there is perhaps but a single

city inhabited and secluded from the outside
world o f to day as keepers of the
-
A ncient Wis
do m , we yet find ruins of such magnitude as to
impress us more stron gly with the idea that the
people who builded the original structu res could ,

not have wholly d isappeared from this Conti

nent . T he following from S an Diego Cal ,
.
,
.
We
 OF A T L AN TI S . 17

o ff er i n proof calling attention to the fact that

,

the dragon is a favorite design in the E ast I ndian

sculptures :
“
T he ruins of a prehistoric city have j ust been
discovered by a party of prospectors from Y uma
when on the Colorado desert in search o f the
Pegleg mine . T he wind had laid bare the walls
and the remains o f the stone buildings a distance
of feet in length by 2 60 feet in width
'

4 20 .

Gi gantic pillars , q uaintly carved to represent

dragons heads and rattlesnakes
’

,
still st o od in
the sands of the desert supporting on their tops ,

huge slabs of granite weighing many tons . T he

frieze ornamentation resembl ed E gyptian sculp

tures an d exhibited a greate r degree o f skill than
is possessed by the I ndian artisans of the presen t
day Fragments of pottery were found unde rneath
.

the debris and together with the crumbled piece

,

o f frieze were b rought by one of the party to ,

this city . O n e of his associates came to S an

18 O UR S T OR Y

two weeks ago . But the story o f their discovery

was carefully gu arded in the hope that in some ,

way they might profit by it .

“
T he discoverers in company with fou r others
, ,

afte r wards went to the desert to explor ethe ruins .

T hey were driven back by a sand storm reach i n g ,

this ci ty to day but will make a careful

—
, e x am
i n a ti o n o f the ruins in the season wh en the con
d i ti o n s are favorable for extensive explorations .

From the relics exhibited it is evident that an

importan t h l
a r c eaeo o gi ca l discovery has been
”
mad e .

I n conn ection with the above there is a , p ecu

l i ar i ty to be noticed in the occu rrence o f the

sand storm . I t has always been so . A storm or

some sudden natural even t h as ward ed o ff all e f

forts to reach these w o nderful remains of th e

prehistoric or even th e existin g cities

, . When
men shall b e ready to seek them des iring knowl ,

edge and not treasure there is no doubt the keys,

for the unl ocking of the mysteries of the P ast ,

 OF A TL AN TI S . 19

will be gi ven in to worthy hands and what we

have herein written will receive ample co r r o bo r

ation . We add still another account o f won der

ful discovery in proo f o f the immense p o pu l a

tion of the old A tl an ti an kin gdom in its prime .

T h i s t i me it is fr o m the City o f M exico

, , h
t e

cen ter o f the modern A tl an ti an or A ztec civiliza

tion
“
What appears to be the verification of an old
A z tec fable o f a buried race o f cave dwellers an d -

a hidden city in southwestern M exico is a matter

in which the local scientists are interested at
present . L . P . L e r o yal , a French engineer , w ho

has lived long in this republic has j ust arrived ,

form th e wilds o f the S outhwes t and reported

that he has discovered in the S tate of Guerrero
a huge natu ral cave which he believes to be the
,

greatest in M exico i f not in the world

,
. H e says
it is much larger than the famous cavern o f Caca
h u am i l p a , situated some distance south of Guer
mavaca , which has hitherto been supposed to be
zo O UR S T OR Y

th e largest natural cave in existence in M exico .

Mr . L e r o ya l , after penetrating a considerable dis

tance into the cave determined to make a thor,

ough investigation of it and accordingly a few ,

days ago furnished himse l f with food su fl

i ci e n t

for a day provided himsel f with lanterns etc

, , .
,

an d set out upon his task all alone . As he went

along he made a thorough plan of the cave but ,

did not anticipate that his task would be so

arduous as it proved . At the first the bottom

,

o f the cave was a gradual slope downward then ,

changed upward and afterward alternated for the

most part between descen ts and ascents . H ere
an d there however a level bottom o f great width
, ,

w as met . T he height of the cave varied , as

might naturally be expected ; in some places i t
w as several hundred feet high . For some distance
from the entrance no trace of human beings was
found . O ccasionally magnificen t stalactites and

stalagm ites the finest M r , . L e r o yal had ever seen ,

were m et wi th .
 OF A TL AN TI S . 21

A fter p roceeding for some hours he came upon

what had evidently been an ancien t cemetery as ,

there were at least 400 petrified bodies together ,

wi th ancien t idols etc , . T here was also a foun

tain o f beautiful clear sp r ing water which was
foun d to be excellent . S ome of the tools as well ,

as two or three skulls M r , . L e r o ya l b rought away

with him and ,
th ev are now in this city . T he

appearance o f this charnel house thus l ighted up

for the first time for hund reds of years was grew
some in the extreme and well calculated to shake
the nerves of the explorer . Mr . L e r o yal con
tin n ed his explorations while hour after hou r
passed . I t was not until after he had traveled a
distance o f at least twenty one and one h al f - -

leagues that he though t it time to call a halt and

proceed on his return j ou rney . So far as he could
see the distance still to be traversed might be
very considerable with the chances for the cave
,

opening out as the floor seemed to be well trodden

,

by human feet . H e re traced his steps as speedily

22 0 UR S T OR Y

as possible and after be i ng underground f or

, up

ward of twen ty four hours found himsel f onc e

-
,

more at the entrance o f the cave . M r L er o yal

.

promised to m ake f urther explorations before

long . I t is expected that a par ty f ully equipped
for the exploration o f this wonderful cavern of
the dead will soon be fi tted out under the guid
,

ance of the discoverer and th e outcome o f the

,

investigations will be awaited w i th interest . T he

natives o f the loc ality as i n fact the I ndian

, , ,

population i n gener al in M ex ic o believe that

, ,
at

some place near the southwestern coas t of M exico

there exists a great white city with countless
treasure which has never been seen by white men ,

and th e app roach to which is so intricate and

cleverly con c ealed that a stran ger has never en

”
te r e d its solitary pr ecincts .

W i th all the increasing mass o f in fo rmation on

the sub j ect it seems there should b e some e ff ort
,

at colle c tion under guidance o f what is known ,

about A tlantis the M i ghty . T o make a beginnin g

 OF A T L A N T I S . 23

attent i on in this di r ection is ‘

*
my
*

“
answer to q uestion : Why this IS

written .

A T L A N T I A N M E M O RI E S '
.

Out of t h e d i m P ast, o ld m em ories c o me to me ;

F rom w h ere th e l i g h t i n a ll i ts gl ory s eeme d to be,

As th e p e opl e w ors h ip e d near th e

’
S un
’
s res p le n d ent
ray s
A nd l otus cr o wne d h ai l e d w ith j o y th e festa l days
-
.

‘ ‘
Go ld en l y res sen d in g f ort h ri ch harmonious strai n s
, ,

‘
S oun d i n g th e k ey n ote w h i ch 0 e r t h e w o r l d sti ll
’
-
,

'
H igh ab ove al l th e esta l s s ong en ch anting S oars
’
, V ,
24 O UR S T OR Y

T h rough out t h e A g es l ing er t h ese o ld m e m ories sti ll

,

A n d h over roun d m e w it h no e ff ort of my w i ll .

S ti ll i n my h eart i s t h robb in g w it h t h e ry t h m of t h e
w aves ,

T h os e s l umb ering w aves w h ch ,

i a l as b eca m e our
,

g raves .

A gain I h ear th e g l a d h o zan n as to th e S un arise

, .

I sis i n t h e san ctuary i s vei l e d fro m h u man ey es

, ,

Wh i ch rea d no w arning i n t h e s k ies ce l estia l hue ; ’

N o r h ear d i t murm ure d i n t h e Ocean ca l m a n d b lue

N eit h er l istene d to th e wh isperin g w ndi so free ,

T e l l in g of t h e d oom fair A t l antis

, w as to see .

I a m t h ank fu l th at t h e gates of m e m ory Op e ,

T h at g reat A ng e l s w eave th e s cattere d th rea d s o f

A n d cl ot h e us fres h l y w ith i ts rob es of snow y w h ite ;

Wh i l e on our a l ta r s h ines ag ain th e my sti c l i g h t ,

T h e ra d iant star w h i ch on ce o er E gyp t s h one

’
, ,

Gl i m m ers on ce a g ain w it h a m essa g e a ll i ts o w n

,
.

H u mbl e th o t h e T e mp l e t h e me l o dy i s t h ere
’
, ,

T h e b e ll s s w eet ch i m in g b rea k s upon t h e si l ent a i r

’
,

A m i d t h e incense rising from o ur sacre d S h rine ,

Ol d A tl a n ti a n g l ories roun d our spirits tw ine .

 C HA PT E R I I .

H E RE is yet a l ittle m ore o f th e flots am

and j etsam upon the stormy wave s o f
human un foldment which is suppl e
mental to ou r Opening chapter an d must be de ,

tailed now or put entirely to one sid e . From

tw o distin c t sourc es , w e give an account of an
ol d M exican ci ty that h as never been t r d by
en e e

th e foot of a white man and which Was know n to

be in existence long before the S pan i sh Conqu est :

“
M r J uan A lvarez
.
, w ho h as j ust re tu rned
from an exploring expedition i n th e southwest e rn
part o f the republic reports that he has f ound a
,

ci ty which h as never been entered by a whit e

man and which has evidently b e en in exi st en ce
,

for hundreds of years going back be fore th e tim e

,

o f the con q uest o f the country by the S p aniards .

I t is an o l d A z tec ci ty , and th e approaches to it

26 O UR S T OR Y

a r e so guarded by nature that it is an impossibili ty

to reach it i f the inhabitants do not want a trav
eler to get in .

T he ci ty lies in the a lmost inaccessible moun

tains in ‘
the e x t r eme southwestern part Of th e

co n u try an d is So far away fro m civilization that

f ew white men h ave ever be en in the n eighbor
h ood . It w as by th e purest accid en t that A lvarez
b ec ame avV a r e th at a ci ty w as a y n whe re in the
v ici nity , an d a f ter h e found i t , al l of his endeavors
to teac h i t w er e on account Of th e

persi sten t Op p osition o f th e natives .

H e ha d be en travel in g over the moun tains in

‘
Se ar ch o f an Outl et to the Pacific O c e an when he
ca me to th e top o f an elevated plateau and crossed
‘
to th e futth er e d ge . H e had a magnificen t vi ew ,

‘
an d whil e lookin g over th e cou ntry
' what he
, saw

‘
to o k to be h ouse s in '
a f ar distan t vall ey . A clo se
i n spec ti on with a glass convinced him that what
he saw w as really a coll ection o f houses and ,

he at once se t ab out reachin g th e place to see w ho

 OF A T L A N T I S . 237

l ived in t h at part
. o f th e country .

A fter days of hard work climbing over cli ffs

and mou ntains he reached a point from wh i ch
,

he obta ined a goo d view o f the city an d saw . that

it was re gularly laid out in streets and was p eo

pled w ith a race w ho knew something about

civilization . T he hous es were o f stone an d w e re
surrounded by yar ds , in which wer e growing
fl owers and shrubs . O n all sides were evidenc es

of taste shown by the inhab itants and it was evi ,

de nt that he had found a city which was not

known to the outsid e world .

“
A careful examination of th e country showed
him that the city was located within a n atural
am p hitheater an d was acc essible from one s i de
only . H e saw that the on l y means o f access w as

through a long and narrow defile which l ed into

the mountains from the Pacific coas t si de and ,
he

started to reach the place where he could ,

fin d

this en trance . He made an outline d rawing of

th e ci ty as it appeared to him fr o m the distant
28 0 UR S T OR Y

mounta i n top and this is all he h as to show that

,

there is a city within the h eart o f the mountains ,

for he was never allowed to reach the spot .

“
From this drawin g it is plain that the c ity has
not less than fou r thousand i n h i bi tan ts T he

houses are all o f s tone and are supplied with doors

an d windows . I n th e center w as a large bu ilding ,

which was undoubtedly the temple of worship ,

fo r on its walls could be seen sculptured desi gns

representin g the Deity . I t was in the shape o f
th e a n ci en t teo c alli which are
, to be found i n
many parts o f this country and the people could
,

be s een pass i n g in an d o u t of it during all hours o f

th e day .

“
A f ter ten days arduous wo rk A lvarez found
’

h imsel f at th e foo t o f the mountains on the

western slope and set abou t searching for the
,

canyon l eadin g to the city . H e had so well

marked the lay O f the land that he had no d iffi

cul ty in finding the entrance but he was met by ,

a band of I ndians who re fused to let him pro c eed .

 OF A T L A N T I S . 29

T hey off ered him no violence but i nsisted that he

,

should return . H e tol d them that he had come

over the mountains and d id not know h o w to

find his w ay back .

“
A fter a consultation he was tol d he would
,

‘
have to remain awhile as a prisoner and two ,

runners were sent into the mountains , w ho re

turned in a day with ord ers f rom some one in

authority , and A lvarez was blind folded an d
placed on the back of a mule . H e traveled in
this condition fo r three days only having the
,

bandage removed from his eyes at night .

O n the fourth day , h e was tol d to remove his

bandage and when he did so he found himsel f on
, ,

the borders of the Pacific Ocean . T he I ndians

had gone leaving him with nothing to guide him
,

”
back to the place where he had seen the ci ty .

“
T his ci ty is d e scribed in full in Future Rulers
”
of A merica , and has been visited by persons in
the body who have been permitted
, so to do .

We conclude our extracts with the description

30 OU R S T ORY

of an ot er h mi ghty c i ty , th e work of th e po werful

nat i o n who se capital lo c ated on the great islan d
,

of A tlantis , ex ercised i ts power both E as t and

West of which , we are trying to tell
“
T h e A m eric an archae ologists w ho went to
th e recen tl y dis c overed c i ty in the S ierra M adre
M ountai ns hav e retu rned , an d tell o f another
hi dden ci ty five S pan i sh leagu es n o r th ' o f the first
city . T he leader o f the party C W , . . P an ti o n ,

o f Ph i la delphia says that these cities were evi

,

den tl y tw in capital s of a we al thy district l On g

be f or e the A z t ecs appeared . . T he two cities are

co nne c ted by u nderground passages h ewn ou t of
so l i d ro c k an d i t , w as while exploring one o f
th ese p as sa ges that th e second w as discovered .

I t li es in a d eep bas in of the mountains wi th no ,

exit e xc ept the un derground tunnel . At least

non e h as be en found .

T o .
th at whi ch we have thus drawn from all
accessible sou rces in th e vis i ble I ,
now d esire to

ad d s uppl em en tary testimony from the A stral

 OF A T L A N T I S .
31

Records ,
wh ich I believe to be reliable and
worthy o f cr ed ence .

Does not this collated eviden c e o f the similarity

in natur e and c i vil ization west o f the great city ,

which co u ld n o t possibly have had commerce with

th e mother coun try for centuries prove conclu
—
,

s i v e l y, even to the realistic and scientific mind ,

a common origin fo r religious teachings customs , ,

langua ge s both oral and wri tten

,
? A ll the d is
co v e r i es relative to this subj ect confirm this
, co n

clu s i o n . We are indebted to t h ose w ho are im

p el l e d by an irresistible desire to learn and know .

‘
NV h o , in this cause are willing to ex patriate them
se lves ; endure danger and overc o me obstructing
di fl
i cul ti es , i f th ey may but by some chance guid
'

a n ce , br i n g again to the light of day some , of the

various records which were le ft when the sun of
,

the mani fested spiritual worl d went down into

the sh ud dering earth ?
T o the A ryan people , w ho listen with a willing
heart th e r e
,
is much that can be given concernin g
32 OUR S T ORY

this ancient ci ty . I t matters little h o w S cience

an d Rel igion shall accept that which is o ff er e d ,

wh ether in a scientifi c w ay, or from the uns een as

true and of value . S cience and R eli gion have
never received anything new upon untried lines
o f thought until they have been forced to th e
,

exception .

T hat is w hy the pri es ts of all ages are

, , so con
ser v a ti v e and have withheld so much more than
they should even on their conservative line
, o f

thought . I t has ever been their rule , to hold fas t

upon that o f which they had b ecome p o ssessed ;
conten t and satisfied without the trouble and
exertion o f seeking new fields fo r themselves or ,

admitting th e possibility of broadening tru th ,

for others .

A ll that h as ever been learned to distin guish ,

the savage from civilization was known to the

wise men o f A tlan tis . Whenever there has be e n
upon the earth a , su fl
i ci e n t number o f A tl an ti an s ,

at one time to control a nation or to f orm ,

o ne by
 OF A TL A 33

themselves that nation or epoch has always ex

,

p e r i en ce d a most wonderful growth . I n the days

o f the last E gyptian splendor when it was the ,

school to which the Greeks and Romans resorted

for instruction was the las t time noted in history
,

o f such a r e— appearance in sufficient numbers to

admit o f a national control . What they d id we ,

have the pyramids ; the T emple of Ka r n ac ; and

all the migh ty ruins of the N ile and the E uphrates
in evidence .

As soon as the A nglo S axon speaking races

-

were su fl
i ci e n tl y developed out o f savagery the ,

A tl an ti an s, commenced r e- appearing , startling

the whol e world ever and anon with their great ,

strides toward wisdom and knowled ge as they ,

slowly paved the w ay by con q uest and discovery ,

for the settlement and r e- occupation of that which

belonged to them ; and for the u tilization o f all
their old resources under new conditions of added
,

strength and experience . I n no other way can

we account fo r the wiltin g and extermination of
34 0 UR S T ORY '

the r ed -
skinned us urpers , w ho h ad neither cl ai m
nor streng th to mainta i n ti tle to that into which
they had strayed by acciden t during the temp orary
a bsence of the real owners .

Much sympathy has been waste d on the red

son of the fo rest . He h as but obeye d the law :
W h o c annot domin ate the resources o f th e en

v i r o n m en t must yield title to him who can . How

much would our vast storehouses o f mineral and
agricultural wealth have helped man s un fold ’

"
ment i f they had n ever been used ?
, T he di ff er
ence b e tw een the A merican Indian and the A n
gl o S axon A tl an ti an ,
- -
is pl ain to the dullest intel
lect .

As the ci ty of A tlantis grew her population

,

was drawn o ff into colonies which had deep and

abiding influence on the whole o f the Wester n
continent but especially centering along the belt
,

in which A tlantis i tsel f was located .

B e tw e en the fading away of th e last E gyptian

’
c ivilization , an d the concealment of th e world s
 OF A T LA N T I S .
35
p

records at that time there is a mysterious gap , ,

which can be accounted for only in one way .

Wh en A tl antis was in i ts prime there were other

,

un its in th e world s category of nations which

’

were n o t so far advanced . I f A tlan tis had held

on in the even tenor of her way all other nations ,

o f the world would have received the l igh t and ,

been upli fted to something near its ow n stand

point bu t when this chance of development was
,

cut o ff, they groped in comparative darkness .

When this class o f people incarnated again in

force o f numbers such scenes as the con q uest of
,

Rome by the Goths and Vandal s ; the overrunning

o f E u rope by the H uns and , th e eruption o f the
T artars times without number occurred
, , . As
'

they d isap peared from the mortal vision , we can

but recognize their sameness o f purpose , an d th e

most perti nent fac t that un done d uty mad e all

”

‘
this trouble for the A tl an ti ans
"

o f ‘
th e Far Past ,

the lesson th at no h uman b ein g i s t

s ep a rate f rom
36 0 UR S T OR Y

ourselv es ? A wrong once done must be righted .

I t is the eternal law of exact j ustice .

As these misbegotten i mpe d i m e n ta to pro g ress

pass out into the unseen having overborne , or

put of f all heads that towered above their ow n ,

in tellectually A tl an ti an influence revives

, . L ittle
“
by l ittle have these fellows of ignorance ,
fel t
“ ”
the upli fting o f influence o f the sons of li ght
and ever y generation increases the widen in g wave
o f educated an d spiritualized people which must ,

finally include within it every nation ton gue or , ,

i n h abi
’
people o f the earth s full complement of
tan ts . T h e A merican nation has done a vast
.

deal fo r the enlightenment of the whole world .

T hus i t is easy to understand why the extin guish

ing power of all that holds the soul in chains is
proj ected toward us .

I n the ancient times when the lam p

,
of civil iza
tion bu rned at Rome , an d A thens , or later as at ,

A ntioch an d other cities ; single centers o f learn

ing blazed out and l essened the darkn ess as do
 OF A T LA N T I S .
37
T

beacon lights set on a hill . But with these com

pare the events o f to day
-
. A compact unified ,

nationality which resembles the old A tlantis had

, ,

its beg i nn i ng on an island cut , off f rom easy ap

proach . Y et i t has been abl e to make its power

felt throughout the whole world . A lthough the

E n glish n ame be detested , i ts power is always re

sp e cte d . N ot only has th is nation made i tsel f

felt everywhere but i t is the founder o f the
,

A merican nation and un ites its f orce with that ,

to push th e common civilization and thought cur

rents into every part of the globe .

T he f reedom o f the thought body and the -

,

aptitude of th e minds engendered thereby has ,

once more drawn to the A merican continen t more

A tl an ti a n s than were ever incarnated at one time ,

since the fall o f that city . I t thus happens that

their inven tions and knowledge and wisdom and
the results o f thought force m odified and per
-
,

fecte d by the assimilation of hundreds of years in

de v ach an i c rest is coming upon the nation in a
,
38 O UR S T OR Y

flood as wi th outstretched hands they deman d

,

from the S ilence that which they t h emsel ves de

posited in the A s tral rec o rds long ages since .

‘
We o ften wonder at even ts transpiri n g in the ‘

way of discoveries , or at th e applications o f prin

ci p l e s which are per fectly l o gical an d linked , o ne

upon another . We have s urely reached a point

’

and begun to guess abou t the uses an d methods o f

application “

Of that vehicle o f f orce about which

the A tl an ti an s knew much and desi ring , to know
more found there
, w as a limit which barred their
further progress . We al ready have hold upon
another and we d es ire only that they
, w ho may
‘
essay to advance in this d irection may do so with
,

b o dy soul and mind

,
so purified th ey will not need ,

th e r ep rimand of obstruction that came to the ,

ori g inal investi gators o f our nation on that l ine .

T he reas on why this age is so celebrated a bove

others o f the near past is due , to the facts thus
stated . We perceive in the near future as has ,

been repeatedly foretold the end , of a cycle is at

 OF A T L A N T I S .
39

hand . Cataclysmic results ; th e sinkin g of land

in some places ; an d the risin g in others is im ,

m inent . Wh en cities p eculiarly situated are

crowded with inhabitan ts , w ho have lost all con
ce p ti o n of everything bu t their ow n desires cen

tering in selfish pu rpose their thou ght vib rations

,

become inharmonious with the universal thought

vibrations . I f this inharmony con ti nues strong
enough to communicate itsel f to th e groun d upon
which the city stands this foundati o n bein g
, sub

j ect also , to a set of vibrations upon the natural

plane of L i q uidity , serious consequence s may
occur .

J ust what the outcome o f the present peri o d

will be none bu t the Council o f the S even Gre at
Builders know . But this we have gathered
T hat within a hundred years ,
and possibly a
much shorter time A tlantis wi ll be above the
,

waves . Whatever her monuments contain or ,

whatever may be in her ru ined temple can then

40 O UR S T OR Y

Wi thin 5 00 years the bulk o f pop ulati on will

be s outh of the equator ; that which is now sea ,

w i ll beco me d ry land an d the ol d co ntinent of

,

L am uria w i ll o nce more sustain its millions o f

i nhab i tants . S ci enti sts tell us that the time is

fixed w hen al l the gold silv e r and coal will be

,

min ed . H ow short sighted "U nder the sea is a

-

t ho usan d fold more than h as ever been brought

-
to

’
l i ght b y m an s busy hands .
 CH A P T E R I I I .

N th e early seventi es h avin g by constan t an d

,

sever e attention to busin ess rea c hed a

point wh en rest an d chan ge wer e imper
at i ve I
, w as advi sed by my physic i an to t ake a

sea voyage . I mentioned this f ac t to a f ri end

of mine in N ew Y ork Ci ty , w ho was a v essel
owner . H e o ffered me th e pos iti o n Of p r
su e

cargo in one of his vessels abou t to s ai l for S an

“ ”
Francisco , around th e Horn . I gl adly ac

cep ted the chance , for it gave me both moti v e

and oc cupation fo r th e trip .

My preparations were made rapidly . We

sailed o ut of N ew Y ork H ar bor on th e 1 sth o f

J un e , l 872 .

As .
the last lighthouse sank slowly ben ea th the
waves and the fu ll moo n rose in the heavens ; I
,

stood watching the receding land marks l ittle ,

42 O UR S T OR Y

d reaming o f the mom entous ev ents to happen as

a part o f the voyage , no r of the marvelous te

v e al i n gs to come to my knowled ge ,
before I
should again touch my foot upon land . O f all

these the following pages are bu t a fe eble por

tr ayal . But it is always so in li fe we meet and ,

part , come and go . T he conse q uence of the

meeting and the pain of the parting may be i h
expressible in spoken language ; but how shall we
know ? Who will tell or warn us of the swi ft , ,

ly oncom ing future with its bur den o f weal or

,

w oe ?

As ou r vessel was devoted to freight we as I, ,

knew carri ed bu t a single passenger

, , w ho by es

p eci al favor of the owner had been permitted to

occupy the one spare ca bin T h e rest o f the .

s pace w as occupied by the o fl

i ce r s o f the ship i n ,

cl uding mysel f . I had been introduced to this

man when he had first come on board but
, ,
be

in g much p r eco n ce r n e d about the business I had

in hand at that m oment I ,
h ad simply re sponded
 OF A TL AN TI S .
43

wi th the usual meaningless phrase o f : H appy

”
to make your ac quaintance . But I remembere d
a fter wards an impression o f di gn ity o f bear
in g ; o f sweetness of real courtesy on his part ;
and that peculiar indescribable thrill , as we

shook hands which once or twice in a li f etime

, ,

i t may be our good fortune to experience as th e ,

lines of our lives cross with those w ho are es

s en ti a l to our highest and best un folding .

S tanding thus leanin g meditatively over the

,

taff rail I came back

, to mysel f by h earing my
name pronounced distinctly i n a low mu si c al , ,

voice with j ust the slightest

, foreign acce n t .

L ooking around I acknowledged th e add ress; as

,

he went on to say

“
I see you are leaving part o f yourse l f b e h i n d

O h not a large part

, , I re plied , bu t I w as

thinking about the certainty of parting and th e

”
uncertainty of meeting .

“
Don t you think that we part fo rever fr o m
’
44 O UR S TORY

our ffi é n ds, o nl y w h en w e h av e accomplish ed

Or fi ni sh e d l l th at do fo r each other
"

a w e ca n .

S o l bn g as o ur wo rk re mains und one we shall

c ert ai nly meet a ga n i
”
“
Y es, I Sai d ,
“
that may be so bu t i t is the
,

”
human lun er
c tain ty that saddens .

L ook i ng full at t h i s man to Whom with his

, ,

e very word I , was most ind esc rib ably attrac ted ,

I saw fro mt hat t i me i nd elibly stamped

ti em my mastery . T all , and al most per fectly
prop erfiuné d Eyes black , whil e in the i r ordi
.

‘
naf fly k i nd e xp ressio n, On e m i gh t e asily i mag

i né th é i r possi bil it i es , wh en hones t i nd i gnati o n or

’

' ’

rig h tttftl s a nger Sti ff e d

f
the i r depth s . H a i r and
h ear d wh i t e an d worn a l i ttle l o n g e r than cus
,

tum p r escri b ed . H is b eari ng Was maj es ti c in

strength ; ser en e i n harmon y ; attrac t i ve beyond
ébri rp hr e i n its
'
’
' ‘
Yi d S l fishe d es i re fo r th e go o d o f
bfh e fs . Wi th all this , there
”

w as a n impres
sion in all h e said he c ould tell very mu ch more
, ,

i f h e o nly Wo ul d , ab o ut an y sub j ect concern in g

 OF A TL A N TI S .
45

which he might be conversi ng »

I t was such a f ace as childr en l o ve an d sco un

d tel s hate con ta i n ing within i tsel f

, th e p i ty i n g
ten dern ess o f a mother s love and ’
a f ather s sus
’

t ai ning watch f uln ess . In ou r int e rv i ew ,

I

pa ss ed fr o m the outermost bord er of c asual ac

qua i n tance to th e c onfi de n t c h am pi o nsh i p of

sworn f rie ndsh i p . At t h is , to o , I ma rvel ed , for

I m Sl ow
a to re e c ive or o ff er f r i end sh i p but ,

come slowly to th e per ce ption of w h at mi ght

be in th o se
, w ho honor me w i th the i r g oo d wi l l .

A lth ough We stood so m e littl e t i me l o n ge r

ga z in g u po n th e oc ean as th e n i ght , an d wa ters
me t in Cl oser an d still c loser embr ace , we lapse d
int o sil enc e , w ith that stran ge feel i n g of b e in g

compan y fo r e ach o ther , al thou gh no w ord w as

sa id , an d fin al l y we d escended to Our r es pe ti ve c
cabins for the ni gh t .

A s is Us a u l with the posi ti o n wh ic h I h eld ,

my duties du r in g th e voyage We re al tn os t norn

’
46 O UR S T ORY

th e receiv i ng or d i schargi ng o f the cargo or any

part . Consequently I had suffi cient tim e to i m
prove the ac quaintance so curiously be gun . It

did not t ak e long to find o ut that my friend w as

a zealous unremitting student an d that wh ile

, ,

we were f amiliar with many l i nes o f common i n

ter est, there were others in which h e was well
,

ve r sed , of which I knew comparatively noth

ing . H e was a ve ry eloquent and i nstructiv e
talker an d readily and gladly answered my ques
tions .

Esp ec ially was this true o f thin gs in the past ,

whi c h the present generation h as moved on and

f orgotten and a peculiarity o f his desc r i ptions
,

w as th at they were given as i f personal ex p e r i

e n ce s o f his ow n . L ater I knew w h y, but at the

fi rst i t se emed that it was done to gi v e more l i fe
and movemen t to the story .

As a child I had always b e en f ascinat ed with

whatever I had ch anced upon either in rea d ing ,

or conv e rsation whi c h related to A tlanti s. B ut

 OF A TL AN TI 8 .
47

as I grew older enveloped in the mate r ialistic

,

ideas of the modern schools I had come , to te

gard the little that was k nown of that a ncient

mistress of the seas as largely fabulous i f not ,

wholly unworthy of credence .

A f ter we had been out from port four or five

days as
, we sat chatting on the q uarter deck ,

something was said which induced me to ask

him the q uestion squarely
“
Do you believe there ever was such a coun
try as A tlantis
M ost certainly , w as his q uiet decis i ve
, an

swer .

“
But you do not think it possible that a whole
con tinent could disappear so ut t
erly ben ea th the
waves as that is said to have done leav ing no ,

more trace of its former existence than has been

? ”
the case with that
“
A nd w hy does this seem impossible to you ?

Does history know anything o f the city that

stood under ancien t T roy . Who knows who
48 O UR STOR Y

w e re the builders or what the design of the

Pyramids o f E gyp t ? Who can tell o f the cities
lyin g s trata upon strata in the valley of th e N ile ?
I n you r ow n country , who can tell anything
o f the M ound Builder s ? What does th e world
know o f Palmyra o f Babylon or , , of the great
cities in th e Valley o f the E uphrates ? But for
the accessibility o f their ruins they would by th i s ,

time have been as thor o ughly f o rgotten

'

as At
”
lan tis now is .

“
A nd here his face so ftened with an i n fin

ite pity , perhaps within forty years from h ow

we may have another lesson in the opportun i ty

”
fo r denying the existence o f the p ast .

“ ” “
But mayb e , he con tinu e d , you w o uld like
to hear som e o f the actual records brou ght do wn
even to you r day o f an event that concerns so
,

intimately every living pers o n no w upon o ur

”
planet .

U pon my eager assent he wen t into his cabin

and soon retu rned with a smal l black letter v ol
-
 OF d T L A N T I S .
49

ume wri t ten after the s tyle o f the Far E ast up o n

, ,

p ar chmen t from righ t to l eft

,
. O p ening it he

re ad in h i s sweetly modulated tones translating ,

he re ad , the foll owing extr act :

” '

as

“
Fac in gthe Pillars o f H ercules was an island
la rger than A frica an d E urope pu t together B e .

s id e this i n ai n i sl and there We re many other

smaller ones so that it , w as easy to cr oss from
far
‘
On e to another as as the furth e r continent .

T his la nd Was i nd eed a c on ti nen t; and the sea

was th e real oc ea n i n compari so n to which “

T he
”
S ea o f the Greeks was but a bay wi th a n arrow
mouth .

po w erful fede ratio n

“
I n th e A tlan ti c is l and a

o f Kin gs w as fo rmed , who s ub dued

’ "
th e larger
isl and i tself and m any of the sm all er islands
‘
and also parts o f th e further con tin ent . T h ey

lso red uce d A f ri ca Wi th i n th e S tr ai ts fa r as

“

a as

E gypt an d E urope far as T yr f h éfi i a Far

“ '

, as .

ther a ggre ssio n however , , w as stopped by the

heroic ‘
actio n o f th e th eh
'

i nhabit ants
h

‘
f A tti C
o
l
a,
50 O UR S T OR Y

w ho , takin g the lead of the oppressed S tat es ,

finally secured liberty to all w ho dwel t within

the Pillars of H ercules . S ubsequently , bo th
r aces were destroyed by migh ty c ataclysms ,

which brought destruction in a s i ngle day and

night . T he natural f eatures o f the A ttic lan d
were en tirely changed and th e A tl an tic island
sank bod ily benea th the waves .

“
I n the center of the A tlant i c Island w as a
fai r and beau ti ful plain . I n the center of this
plain and nearly si x miles from i ts con fi n es was
a low range o f hills . H ere dwelt for many gen
i
e r at o n s the renowned r ace o f A tlan f rom whom ,

the whol e i sland and se a w e r e nam e d A tl ant i c

or A tlan ti s . T he rul i ng Kings eve r hande d
down the succession of p ower to their eldest
sons , th e younger sons go mg m to the priest
hood . T h ey were poss essed of s uch wealth as

no dyn asty ever yet obtained or will easily pro

cure herea fter . T his w ealth w as drawn both

f rom al l f or ei g n nations w i th whom th e A tl an
 OF A TLANTIS .
5 1

tians traded and from A tlantis itsel f which , w as

especially rich in minerals and , possessed th e

only known mines of orichalcum in the world ,

a mineral wi th most wonderful and inexhaustibl e

propertie s —
a metal which was then second only
to gold in its value .

“
T he country was rich also in timber and
pasturage . M oreover there were vast numbers ,

o f elephants spices gums and odorous plants of

, ,

every description ; flowers fru it trees and , ve ge

tables o f all kinds and many other luxurious

,

products which this wonderful Continent ,

ow

ing to its ben efice n t climate , brought forth .

T hese were sacred beauti ful curious and , ,

in fi

nite in number . N or were the inhabitants con

tent with simply the natural advantages o f thei r
glorious country but also displayed a marvelous
,

industry and skill in engin e ering and the con

structive arts . F o r, in the center of the island
they buil t a royal palace every succeeding King ,

trying to surpass his predecessor in adornin g an d

52 O UR STO RY

adding to th e building so that it struck al l be

,

hold e rs with the greates t admiration .

“
T hey cut about the Royal Palace a seri es o f
waterways or canals . T hese were brid g ed over
at inte rvals while an immense cana l admitt ed
,

th e largest vessels from th e sea giving at once ,

prot ec tion as a harbor and making it more , co n

v en i e n t f or the transportation o f freight to and

from the inter i or . I n f ashionin g the ir interior
streams they left d o cks cut out o f the solid rock
where their tri remes could lan d their cargoe s .

“
T he ston e used in thei r building w as o f three
colors wh i te black and red so that many o f
, , ,

the buildin gs presented a gay appearance . T he i r

walls were covered wit h brass "
which they used
like pl aster "tin, and orichalcum which had a ,

gl ittering appearance .

‘
“
N o rthe ast o f the c en ter o f the Con tinent ,

s too d the great T emple . T he interior was co v

ered with silver except the pediments and pin

,

n acl es, whi c h were l i ned with gold . Wi th i n ,

 OF A TLANTIS .
53

th e r o o f was a magnifi cent mosaic o f gold ivory ,

an d orichalcum and all walls pillars and pav e

, ,

men ts were cover e d wi th orichalcum .

“
By a syst em o f aqueduc ts leading from n a
t u ral springs o f h o t an d cold water they had ,

supplies fo r baths and f or the irri gation

,
o f their
be auti ful pl an tations and gardens .

“
T he docks were fi lled with sh i pping and
n aval stor es of every des cription k n own to men
at that t im e . T he whol e city teemed with a
dense pop ulation . T he main canal and largest
h a r bor w e re crowded with mercha n t shipping re

t u r ne d from o r making ready

, to sail for , all
parts o f the world . T he din an d tumult of
t h eir commerce con tinued all day long and the ,

night through as well . S uch is a gen eral sketch

of thei r won der ful ci ty .

“
N ow , as regards the rest of the country ; it
w as very m o untainous with exc e edingly p r eci p i

tous c o asts , an d the plain surroun ding th e city

w as itsel f environ ed by a mountain chain broke n
54 O UR STORY

only at the sea entrance . T he plain was smooth

and level and of an oblong shape lyin g N o rth ,

and S outh . T he moun tains were said to be th e

grand est in the worl d for thei r number size and ,

beauty . T he whol e country w as a constant suc

cession o f prosperous and weal thy villages ,
f or
there was an abundance o f rivers and lakes ,

meadows and pasturage for all kinds of cattle

and qu an titi es o f timber . T hey surrounded this
plain with an enormous canal or dike , 10 1 f ee t
deep 606 feet broad and
,
miles in len g th .

By it the water from the mountains was con

ducted aroun d the whole plain and while a part ,

flowed out to the sea , the rest was husbanded

for irrigation . T hey w ere able by raising
, tw o

crops a year to double thei r productive capa c ity

,
.

“
I n the polity of the A tl an ti an s the Ki ngs
m a i nta i ned an autocracy and the pri esthood were
their council o f consultation in all matters of

S tate , until at last the power passed in to th e

h ands o f the p riesthoo d .

 OF A TLANTIS .
55

For many generations the rulers King and

, ,

pries t remained obed i ent to t heir ancestral tra

d i ti o n s . For they possessed true and al to gether
lofty ideas and exerc i sed mildness and pract ical
wisdom both in the ordinary vici ssitudes
, o f l i fe
an d in thei r mutual relations . T hey looked
above everythin g except vi rtue . T hey co n si d

ered things present o f small i mpo rtance , and

contentedly bore their weight of riches as a bu r
den . N or were they intoxicated w ith luxury ,

but clearly perceived that wealth and pos sessions

are increased by mutual friendship and the pra e
tice o f true virtue ; whereas by a too anxious ,

pu r suit of riches the pos s essions themselves are

corrupted and friendship also perishes therewith .

T hus it was they reached the great height o f

prosperity we have d escribed .

“
But when at the last their mortal natu res
, ,

began seeking to d ominate and override the Di ~

vine within and about them , they commenced

to display unb ecoming conduct and to degener ,
56 O UR S TOR Y

ate ; thus blighting and fi nally destroying the

”
fairest of their most valuable p o sses sions .

“ “
T his , said my friend , is as authentic an
account as that o f any nation of whom we hav e
an y history for it
, w as handed down from father
to son in the ancient A tl an ti a n writing which
,

w as perfected about years before the

’
Christian era commenced .

J ust then some du ty claimed my immediate

a tten tion and as he rose up to return to his cabin
“
he look ed me fully in the face and remarked : I f
I mistak e n o t, the time is close at hand when
you r desire for in formati o n on these lines will
be more fully gratified .
 C HA PT E R I V

T was a day o r tw o befor e w e had a chan ce for

any more conversation f or he seemed , to be
very busy in his own cabi n w i th w h at looked

like an ancient map and a number of diagram s

of cabalistic calculations which I f ully re c o g
,

n i ze d , for I had some experience wi th researc he s

along that line and could, , to a c ertain x t en t
e ,

veri fy some of the simpler rules o f deductions

from the Caballa . But as I could see the oper
, ,

a ti o n s upon which he w as engaged were very

complex an d far reaching and concerned some o f
the mightiest secrets o f planetary creation .

I also noticed while the problems seemed very

abstruse and complicated he di d not seem at ,
a

loss in any sense or puzzled , . H is absorption

being the result rather of the len gth of the
58 O UR S TORY

At l ast he appeared to have reached a favor

able c on clusion an d his data an d memo ra nda
were put away . O nce more he came upon d eck .

A lthough for a few days he apparently put aside

a continuation o f his former talk about A tlantis ,

yet there was an upli fted expression of content ,

lend ing an add ed charm to the ever res tful dig -

n i ty o f the perfect face .

Wh i le he had been thus busy it had occurred

to me I had an odd volume in my locker I had
p icked up in a second hand stall in Boston
-
,
in

t e ndin g to ex am i ne it at my leisure . N ow , hav

in g my interest aroused I brought it out and
f ound among much tha t was q uite discu rsive the ,

following pertinent paragraphs :

“
T h e fourth Continent , which it has been
agreed to c all A tlantis was formed by the coal
,

escen ce o f many islands and peninsulas that were

upheaved in the ord inary course o f evolution and
bec am e ul timately the true home of the great
ra e c known as the A tl an ti an s, a race devel o ped
 OF A TLANTIS .
so

from a nucleus o f N orthern L emurians , cen

te r e d , generally speaking , to w ards a po i nt of

land in what is now the mid A tlantic O cean -

.

“
I n connec tion with the Con tinen t o f A t l an
tis we should bear in mind that the account wh i ch
has come down to us through the old Gr eek
“

writers contains a con fusion o f state me n ts some

‘
,

of them re f erring to the gr eat Conti nent as a

whole and others to

, th e last sm all i sland o f
,

P o si do n i s . Plato fo r instance cond ensed

, , the
whole history o f the C ontinen t o f A tlant i s , co v

ering several millions of years into an ey en t,

he located upon the island o f P o sei do n i s "

about
as large as I reland "whereas , th e p r i ests spok e
always o f A tlantis as a continent as lar ge as

E urope and A f rica put together . H omer speaks

of the A tlantes and their island . T h e A tlantes

an d the A tlantides of mythology are based upon

the A tlantes and A tl antid es of h i story . T he

story of A tlas gives clearly to us the clue . A tl as

is the personification in a single symb ol o f th e

60 O UR STOR Y

c omb i ned cont i nents of L e mur i a and A tlantis .

T h e poets attribut e to A tlas , as to P roteus a , su

p e rior w i sdom an d a univer sal knowledge and ,

es pecially a th o r o ug h a cq ua i n ta n ce w i th th e

d epth s o f th e o ce a n ; because both continents hav

i n g borne races instructed by d i v i n e m ast e rs ,

w e r e e ach trans ferred to the bottom o f the s eas ,

wh e re th ey now slumb e r un ti l th e appoin ted

t i m e shall c om e to r eappear above th e wate rs .

A nd as both L emu ri a destroyed by submar i ne

,

fi r es and A tlan tis submer ger by the waves per

, ,

i sh ed in th e ocean depths A tl as is said to hav e

,

b een c ompelled to leave the sur f a c e of th e earth

an d j oin h i s f ather I ap e tus i n the d epths o f T ar
’

A tl as h n personi fi es a
t e c on tinent in th e

West sa i d, to support heaven and earth at once ;

that is the feet of the giants tread the earth
,

while his shoulders support the sky an allusion ,

to the gi gan ti c p eaks of the anc i en t continents ,

M ount A tlas an d the T en er i fi e P eak . T hese

 OF A TL AN TI S . 61

tw o dwar fed rel i cs o f the tw o lost c ont i n en ts

were thrice as lo fty during the day o f L em u r i a

an d twice as high in that o f A tlantis . A tl as

w as an inaccessible islan d peak in th e days o f
L emu ria , when the A frican Cont i nen t h ad no t
yet been raised .

L emuria should no more be con found e d w i th

th e A tlantis Continent than Europe w i th A m e r

ica . B o th sank and were d r own e d w i th th ei r
high civi li z ations and ‘
gods ,
’
yet betw een th e tw o

tw o cat astrophes a p e riod o f about years

elaps e d .

“
Why shoul d not your geolo gi sts b ear i n mi n d
that under th e continents e x plor e d an d fath o m e d
by them in the bowels o f wh ich th ey h av e fo un d
,

the E ocen e age there may be hidd en d eep i n th e

’
"

un fathomable ocean b e ds oth e r and f ar ,

o ld e r
continents whose strata hav e n ever b ee n geo l o gi
cally explo red and that they may some day
, up

”
set their present theori es .

A mazed ar this singular corr oboration o f wh at

62 O UR STOR Y

my f riend had prev i ously read me I concluded ,

I woul d ask h im something more about it at ,

the first opportunity not d reaming that the

,
op

p o r tu n i ty of l ives w as close at hand .

Durin g all this time we had been making good

tim e toward the S outh . Both officers and men
h ad been attracted toward our passenger and all ,

w e re ready to give h im the littl e a ttentions which

make a stranger f eel at home anywh ere . I men
tion th i s as explanatory of some events wh i ch
happened a little later .

T he winds had been b risk and f avorable but ,

as we approached the S panish Main they grew

fitfu l , and when we had traversed a part o f that

Wes t I ndian A rchipelago , they f ell away into

a d ead cal m O u r ship d ri fted a little
. to the
S outh , but made no particular headway . On

th e third day , the moon fulled at noon and

we were lying in about 30 degrees N orth lati
tude an d 42 degrees West longi tude when my ,

friend as k ed me i f I would like to go with h i m

 OF A TLANTIS . 63

to visit a peculiar loo king island abou t a couple ,

of miles to the westward . U pon my rather

eager assent the captain gran ted us the use o f
,

his yawl and though he pro ff ered us the help

,

o f some of the crew our friend declined saying

, ,

he had been much accustomed to the water .

W e pushed o ff, I taking a pai r of oars and he

steering . I had hardly taken a couple o f strokes
with the oars when I felt that the rapid i m
,

pulsion of the boat was not du e to my strength . I

glanced at my companion . H is face w as set
with a peculiar expression o f which I had be ,

fore had experience in other directions .

A very short time su fl

i ce d to bring us to this

isla nd which on closer inspection seemed to be the

,

summit o f some huge obel isk or pillar a little

,

raised above the waves . T he sides although not

,

high were sheer and precipitous

, . I n the still
waters they extended below the surface as far ,

as vision could penetrate . How much farther I ,

had no means of ascertaining . W e rowed slowly

64 0 UR STORY

aroun d i t . I t was about 1 50 feet in c ircum fe r

ence . O n the side farthest f rom the vessel th e

face o f the rock was broken j aggedly by th e

weath er . T he p roj ections gave oppor tun i ty for

fas t en in g the yawl and for climbing , to the sum
m it . I f there had been any swell o f the oc ean
even this woul d hav e been imposs i ble but w i th ,

a sea o f glass all about us it w as not a ve ry d if

’
ficu l t task . H avin g s ecurely kn otted th e boat s
pain ter to a stou t protuberan ce , we scrambl e d as

best we mi ght to th e tap .

T o my utter su rpr i se inst ead o f th e flat so lid

, ,

mass rou ghened by th e weath e r which I ex pected

, ,

to find i t , w as cup shaped in the cen ter

-
, e viden tly
filling wi th water durin g storms , and dryi n g
ou t und e r the hot sun . It w as n o w d ry at the
bottom . L ooki ng closely at th e s i d es I saw that
instead o f be i ng a mass o f natu ral rock i t , w as

a stru c tur e buil t of mason ry by cunning hands ,

so p e r fec tly an d solidly as to de fy thus f ar

, , th e

fierce a c tion o f the most e ros i v e f orces o f na

 OF A TLANTIS . 65

ture . T h e floor w as la i d in re gular fl agging .

A lmost stu nned by th e discovery I turned to ,

my companion bu t my exclamation of surprise

,

w as checked by his a c tions . S tanding erect in

,

th e ve ry center with his f ace to , th e N orth ,

guiding himsel f by a sm all compass and a little

square of parchment , upon which characters
were in scribed he tu rned ,
15 degrees to th e East,

and stepped forward one pace . T hen turnin g

15 de grees more he stepped f orward another

pac e . H e repeated this operation un til he faced
due E ast . T here standin g e r ct, his form seemed
to dilate and his f ace gr ew fixed and set in its
,

whole outline . A ll at once I perceived a large

d isc o f stone had revolved at his feet expo sing ,

a fli ght o f stone steps leading into a room below .

Comin g back to himsel f he motioned me to fol

low him an d slowly , we d escended the sta i rs i nto
an ante room below opening into a larger room
-
, .

As
.

we stepped upon this floor a ligh t which came

from n owhere in particular lighted up the whole ,
66 0 UR STORY

interior . L i mi tless age had laid his d esecrating

han d upon everything . But as this had been h er
‘
me tical l y sealed by the waves , the dust that
would other w i se have accumul ated in the upp er
ai r was not present . I n the center of the room
were fi ve stone seats on eac h , w as a little pile
o f dust . My companion still sil en t stepped to , ,

the Eas t and facing the seats m ade

, , o ne o f the
signs o f Power . As he d i d so I thought I heard
a su ppressed so b of j oy but it was, no t distinct
enough to be -
unm i stakable . T h en go in g to the
ex act opposite sid e o f the wall which , w as par
ti tio n e d into a ser i es o f c urious entablatures he ,

to uc h e d som e mec hanism , which , preserved

th rou gh the a g es obeyed the will o f this
,
w on

de r fu l man . A door slid back through Which ,

we p as sed i nto a ch amber below . Her e we

f ound seven seats . On e ach r est ed th o se curious
little piles o f dust . My f riend repeat ed the sign
mad e i n th e room above , an d th en a sound like
th e tr emor o f an E ol i an h arp ros e in volume un
 OF A TLANTIS . 67

tl
i the vibration filling the ro om s hook the walls ,

o f
.
the tower in wh ich we were standing . T urn
in g to the Eastern face o f the wall f rom a niche ,

ther e in h e d rew o ut a little ston e box . H o ldin g

this care f ully he retraced his steps towards th e
,

upper ai r closely followed by myself

, . With
the g reatest care h e closed behind h im every av

enue thus seal ing once more for futu re un fold

,

in g whateve r there might be of knowledge or

,

myste ry here concealed . When the disc at the

top had rolled into its place a roll o f pigment , ,

w as placed in his hand by unsee n helpers . With

this he traced upon the tightly j oined edges a
character which burst into a silvery flam e as it
appeared upon the stone an d le ft a blood red
.
,
-

mar k behind it . T hen proceeding to th e side

where the boat lay wa i t i n g fo r us we managed ,

withou t any di ffi culty to seat ourselve s in i t and .

push o ff he stee r i ng as be fore

, , .

Si ngul ar as it may s eem wi thout , an y p r eco n

68 O UR STOR Y

w o rd had b een in t erchan g ed b e twe en us fro m

th e mom e nt o f ou r l anding until we wer e a g ain
in motion upon the water . O n my part the
silen ce w as i nvoluntary . I s eem e d to stan d in a
vorte x o f recu rrin g m emo r y c omin g down over ,

w h el m i n gl y upon me . I was to o busy Wi th i n

m ysel f i n a ttemptin g to read j ust the past the ,

' ‘
pres e nt an d th e prom i ses of th e f u ture to l e ave
,

an y t ime for th e f rivolity o f speech . I could

no t resist th e feelin g that these rock ribbed cham -

be rs wer e i n som e p eculiar

, w ay, a part of my

sel f . I knew I had been per f ectly familiar w i th

the pu rposes of their erection their use and , , of

som e fi nal issu e appalling an d benumb i ng i n i ts

,

e ffe ct . Mor e than that . T he five seats o f th e

upper chamber and th e s even seats of the low e r ,

to my inne r vi sion were filled with an , occu

pant ,
hadow y bu t
s , so distinct I could recogn i ze
the featu res as , one recalls th e lineam en ts o f a
lon g ab sen t f ri en d . T h en came the nam es as if
I h ad par te d w i th th em only ye sterd ay . Oh ,
 OF A TLA N T IS . 69

M emo ry th e Eternal "

w as it yesterday or thou ,

san ds of y ears ago since I looked u po n these

faces an d forms o f comrades lovin g and tru e ?

T he feel i ng o f present reali ty of some tie strong

,

er th an f riendship ove rwhelmed me . When my

fri en d mad e the sign I mentioned a burden o f ,

untold weight w as li fte d from my shoulders as ,

if an e xpiation wer e finished a terrible mistake

,

re c ti fi ed whose conse q uence all my li fe up to ,

that hour had cramped and restrained all mv

,

un folding an d its energi es . A ll this and much

more that words will utterly fail to portray ,

‘
held me silent as my fr i en d did what he eviden t ,

ly c am e to do takin g m e as an involuntary
, ac

com pli c e .

S itti ng in the stern o f the boat ,

facing m e ,

with the stone cas ket restin g on his knees ,

he
looked at me with a grave smile and said : ,

“
My brother : I see my c onfidence in thee was
not founded in simple as sumption but in knowl ,

e d ge . T h ou h as t learned well the l esson whos e

70 O UR STORY

cl o sing clause is to keep silent . T hereby thou

h ast proved also thy position in the Great Broth
e r h o o d, wh o se first charter was issu ed by the
A tl an ti an Kin gs . I greet thee A ncient Wise,

”
On e .

Wh i l e sayin g this his whole face lighted up as

i f from an inner fire . T he action of the sympa
thetic exal tation on mysel f w as beyond the power
of words to de scribe . I t was as if on e had sud
d en l y come to a perception o f almost infinite
power and without a parti cle of arrogance i n the
,

possession . I coul d only reply :

“
I f eel that we must have b e en brothe r s but ,

”
you do me great honor in naming me thus .

“
Be fore we reach the ship I must tell yo u ,
“
continued my com rade , that it has been per
m i tted you for purpose , to revisit the tower of
the Great T emple of A tlantis , in which were
gather e d for concentration during the last aw f ul
cataclysm which sent the continent b eneath the
waters al l the living m embers o f the most p o
t en t B roth e rhood that has ev e r exi s te d .

“
Y ou e n tered the chambers of the thre e , th e

fi ve and the seven . T he whole continent i s slow

ly risin g once more . T he top o f th e tow e r ,

which w a s 1 00 feet in d i ameter at the b ase and ,

2 10 fe e t high has again reached th e upper a i r

,
.

T he transparen t dome which covered the cham

,

ber o f the three has been destroyed by the ac

tion o f the w av es . We do not know wh ether

the m ason r y o f th e up per storie s w ill be able to
'

resist the erosion o f fierce trop i cal storms o r n o t,

as littl e by little it reach es th e sur fac e .

I t was thou ght best by the B rothe rhood to

rescue this ; here h e touched th e l it tl e c ask e t ,

“
before it might be overwhelmed and foreve r h i d
de n by the insatiable maw o f the waters . It
con tains the fullest continuous r ecord Of the last
years of pin once glorious country a
t pres ent ,

accessible .

“
T he chambers which we entered we re bu il t
7 2 O UR STORY

so n have preserved their contents to the p res

ent time . B elow the last ch amber we ent e re d
was that of the fi fteen and still below that the , ,

chamb er o f the forty fiv e -

. I did not enter them ,

fo r I w as warned that I m ight thereby a fford

opportunity for the waters pressing up f rom be
low , to wipe out all vesti g es o f this ancient h o m e
o f the B rotherhood which , to later generation s
may b e ocular demonstration o f our ex istenc e .

“
Obl igation reste d heav i ly on th e thre e the
,

five and th e seven . T hey c o uld not be set f re e

en t i r ely f rom i ts responsibili ty until such time
as e ith er the bounds were d es troyed as in the ,

upper c hamber o r one clothed w i th auth o rity

,

e nteri ng their res ting place sh o uld gi ve them

their signal o f release which I did , . Below the
sev e n , th e f ailu re o f conditions above absolved
the m emb er s of the remaining ch ambers , an d

they wer e se t f ree in a very short tim e after the

Y ou ar e w ell kn own to me as to th e r est of

 OF A TLANTIS .
73

the A ncien t Brotherhood an d have been chosen ,

again as in the long a go past , to be the spokes

man of our beloved O rder in its newest appeal ,

to mankind and we are sure that mistakes

, of

the in tellect in the past will no t be repeated in

th e presen t . But we are approaching the sh ip .

T he most important obj ect o f our voyage the ,

possession of th ese records which ,

no person liv
in g or dead could obtain withou t you r actual
presence in the flesh is accomplished . T h e voy

age w as planned and undertaken for this pur

pos e and will result as planned
,
. Ou r v essel

has been lying over the entrance to th e g reat

port at the mouth draining th e A tl an ti an Con
,

ti n en t, from which befo re the ove rth row a mag

, ,

ni ficen t panorama o f the fairest land the sun

ever shone on was visible , .

“
We could no t accomplish our obj ect un til
near the full moon so th e calm h as lasted until
,

this time . But to night as the sun goes down

-
a

breeze will spring up and by to m o rrow our ,

-
vo y
74 0 UR STOR Y

age will be moving rapidly forward to its com

p l eti o n .

I t did not occur to me during all this recital

, ,

to obj ect either to the facts stated or to th e cer

tain q uiet assumption o f mysel f as one o f the
,

will ing accessories of the plan he had thus hastily

sketched . I t seemed q uite a matter o f course
that the sol e obj ect o f my making this voyage
was the accomplishment of what I now with ,

mortal ears for the first time heard

, . N ay, more ,

I fel t a certain enthusiasm a qu iet j oy in being,

thus permitted to do the task whatever it might

,

be that was set for me , as an in tegral factor of

th e W hole , to complete . I know that this is not

at all the thing likely to happen according to

,

d e duction from what we know o f human nature .

But as this story is one o f f acts on new lines ,

we c annot be g uided by preceden ts or th e work ,

i n g o f known laws ; as we seek rather in the fields

Of the un ex plained laws of nature for a solution ,

o f th e p henomena p r esented .
 OF A TLANTIS .
75

But we were now close to the ship and the

men were making ready to hoist the yawl aboard .

As we reached the deck my friend showed his

casket as a curious souvenir of the stone pile
,

we had visi ted . A fter looking at it casually they

“
assented to the fact : It w as a nice bit of rock ,

”
looks a trifle water worn -
though . A nd so ,

knowledge of incalculable value pass ed beyond

th ei r reach forever ; or at the least until the
, ,
re

fin e r
’
s f urnace of the ages shall have prepared
th em more fully for the perception of that whi c h
may at any time be off ered them .
 CH A P T E R V

S the sun sank on the West e rn hori z on a

northeastern wind began to strain out

“ ”
our idly flapping sails , and the good
sh ip once more moved merrily over t h e waters .

T he full moon o f the tropics climbed out of

the great wastes o f waters and my friend an d ,

I sat on the quarter deck chatting o f variou s

-
,

matt e rs . S uddenly , as i f some one had spok en

“
to him in r em i nder o f some even t he said ; Y es , ,

”
certainly ; at once .

A mom en t after the stone casket which I had

,

seen in his cabin j ust before sunset was put into ,

his han ds coming about as fast as a man would

,

walk , o ut of the companion way . At that tim e

no one else was near us on the deck therefore no ,

remarks were made .

I n my peculiar state of mind this too , ,

s eemed
 OF A T L A N T I S .
77

per fec tly natural as well as W hat followed

, .

T aking the casket in his h ands he pointed

o ut to me several characters an d symbols en

graved deeply in the stone . Calling my atten

tion to a form of the winged globe ,
he s aid
“
T hat is the signet se al of him w ho was our
most l ea rned A ncient Broth e r
, . I t holds the
contents o f the casket in trust f or him wh o hath
th e password . L et us see i f we may open it .

“
L ay the op en palm of your le ft han d on mine ,

the fi n gers straight and say as thou mayest

, re

ce i v e o ut o f the silence . I f thou art he whom

I h ave ex pected to meet it is well , . I f not then »

”
it i s still only pati ence for further waiting .

He hel d o ut his left hand palm up , . I placed

my own left hand upon it palm to palm , . As I
di d so a little sh o c k passed over my whole body
,

like an electric thrill only a li ttle more inten se

, .

H is eye shining with a piercing brilliancy caught ,

mine . T hen I fel t another hand lying on the

back of mine and a form shadowed out of the
,
78 OUR STOR -Y

thin ai r by my side and simultaneously I could

,

see the full regal proportions of a most maj estic

,

figu re standing beside us . P romin en tly out of

’
the s hadow as when one feels the sun s rays I
, ,

could distinctly feel the brightness o f another

pair of eyes simil ar to those of my friend i n the
body .

At the same moment o f time there cam e ring

ing through the air to my ca r s a low musical
,

chant . Instantly I appeared to be up- borne

wh ere ben ea th me a vast city l ay spread o u t, in

all its beau ty and glory for many leagues . We

three still remained together in the same relative
position . I had lost all consciousness of any di f

ference o f condition in th e three present who ,

seemed e q ual in every respect . At this instant ,

a single syllable from my friend s lips ’

,
i n descr i b

able i n i ts intonation , arrested my atten tion .

Without volition of my lower consciousness , in

exactly the same cadence I uttered a syllable an d ,

then li ke the so ft clear ringing of a s ilver bell

, , ,
 OF A T LAN T I S . 79

thr i ll ed f rom th e lips of our bodyless brother ,

th e th i rd syllable o f a wo rd whose aw ful powers

al l myst i cs c on c ede .

As the l ast note r ang out into space the casket

came once more f ully into my consciousness . I
sa w i t o p en slowly until the cover turn ed fully
,

back and revealed a large roll

,
o f i th e fin est papy
rus clearly written in plain but minute char
,

acter s o f what we have supposed was a transi

tion period of E gyptian c ivilization .

M y friend reverently raised the scroll from its

resting place . As he did so a fragrance inimitable
an d o f bewildering eff ect upon the senses poured
from it . Holding this precious record of the
past in his hands he sa id
“
F or over years my brother this papy
, ,

rus has no t seen the light . When it was last

inclosed in this casket and sealed we three still , ,

in the body looked forward to the accomplish

,

ment o f much that was beyond the power o f lim

i te d mortal potency . I a m glad to greet thee ,
80 O UR STOR Y
V
"
“

my c ompan i on and brother . I w as not mi stak en

i n thee f or to
, no power but the presence o f th e
three woul d the casket hav e yi elded i ts co nte n ts .

When I shal l hav e read i t to you i t will be le f t

in your hands f or sa f e keepin g . T morrow
o- we

will begi n o ur work giving six o f the early hours

,

”
o f th e day to it .
 CH A P T E R VI .

on the next morning we commenced our

tale o f transfer and rescription . He
translated while I wrote down in short
hand that which he thus gav e m e .
‘ At the fi rst
i t was slowly given owing to the fact
,
of my be
ing a little rusty in my stenography but as I ,

recalled my skill our speed increased

, .

T he M S S . w as a full an d complete r ecord of

all that concerned that won derful country ,

whose daring leaders like many another seeking

,

to manifest unusual powe r have come in con

,

tact with impassible l imitations and pulled down

their country and involved all in irretrievable
di sas ter because they lacked omnipot ence
, to carry
Ou t their designs . Bu t I will not anticipate but ,

s ubmit to my readers the history o f A tlantis an d

82 O UR STORY

the story of the secret causes that l ed to the fi nal

overthrow as I have copied it f rom the notes
,

o f that never to be f orgotten voya ge

- — -
. I t b e gins
with an invocation by the S cr i be , as follows :
“
I T l an a S cribe
, , of th e M i gh ty T hr ee , to

whom i t h as been given stri c tly in charge so to

do here i n write the history o f my beloved c oun

,

try . T his is to be for the instruction and en

l i gh ten men t o f my peopl e when th ey in th e far

, ,

o ff ages to come shall need more than bread help ,

to r ecurr i ng memory . I demand f or this und e r

takin g the nec essary
, a ssistance and guidan ce
from the B ro therhood o f both the I nvisible and
the V i sible so soon to become o f the I nvisible ;
,

from th e gods o f Wisdom and Power and f rom ,

the S uprem e Ruler of A l l that I may say th at ,

which is b est and most instructive concerning the

actions an d condi tions o f our nation from its
be g innin g to now .
"
A bout B C . .
"
“
Our Co ntinent follows the g eneral ou tlin e
o f al l th e o thers now in mani f es tati on upo n th e
 OF A T L AN T I S . 8?

‘
Earth I t is about miles broad at i ts w id
"

est po i nt an d , miles lon g at its longes t d i

men si o n . T he surface is mos tly level consist ,

in g o f vast f ertile plains . But to th e Wes t ,

N orth an d East the country be c omes mountain

ous . From these mountains as a water shed a , ,

river with its branch es d rains nearly the whole

len gth of the Continent . I ts waters diverted ,

through an artificial canal and locks forms the ,

gr eat port of the City of A tlantis which extends ,

from this canal northeast o f the central portion

,

of the continent qu ite up to the foothills o f th e

,

elevated portion of the country . A mong these

mountains has been built the Great T emple ded
i ca ted to OM .
, who is the O N E the A l l , .

“
Our r ecords fail to give us any in fo rmation
o f the be ginning of man s occu pancy here ’

, and it
is only th rough the power of pe r ception of our
wise men that We gain any id e a ‘o f that b e gin
n i ng . I t is su fl ‘
i ci en t to say when the
'
Fi fth
,
84 O UR STORY

they found i t here . T heir un folding has been

along the lin es o f the strongest development W e .

may there fore simply describe the conditions now

existing as the ou tcome of the thought forces o f -

the most powerful nation of the known world .

“
T he fertility o f our soil is unparalleled any
where upon the earth . O u r d i fference of ele

vation above the sea level gives va rie ty to ou r

climate , an d whatever grows o th erw h i th er s on
the g lobe will
, grow here also in the greatest ,

luxuriance and perfection . We have no need

to import anything grown out of the g round
f rom other nations .

“
O ur suppl i es o f minerals from the bosom o f
the earth are incomparable in their amount an d
abundance . We have all metals found an y

wher e upon the surface of the earth . We also

have one of which none has ever b een
, di sco v

ered in an y other country . I t possesses the duc

ti l i ty an d color o f copper an d the strength of
i ron . W e have named it O rich alcum .
 OF A TLANTIS . 85

T he fauna holds every sp eci es of animal ,

whi ch f rom here has been carried to all parts

o f the earth there , to fin d a new habitat and
become of use to the children of men either for
labor or pleasure . T his w as the center o f dis
tr ibu ti o n . What ever knowledge or wisdom on
this line experience has given them they hav e ,

freely passed it on to those w ho stood in need

of it . I n short whatever mankind possesses in
,

any d egree anywhere , we also possess in vast

abu i f dan ce f ar beyond our needs
, . N ever has any
S tate , N ation or Potentate ever before co n cen

tr ated so much o f wealth ; that is su rplus o f , su p

plies of all kinds as , we hold to - day .

“
N0 word but immense will truly describe our
,

publi c w orks . No nation has even dreamed o f a

T emple like ou rs much less built one T h e private
, .

resid ences o f our citizens ,

even of the poo rer
sort outshine in beau ty of d esign and suitable
,

ness of material the kings o f many other nations .

" o no t consider that I am seeking to belittle

86 0 UR S T ORY

others or to extol ourselves but I , m

a st ati ng
as fully an d as candidly as I can th at which is ,

really the fact as I now write , .

T he mountains have sprin gs of h o t and cold

water which act as n atural reservo i rs . From
them the water is conveyed by stone pipes to the
public baths an d to the private r esidenc es of such
citizens as ch o ose to avail themselves o f the p riv
ilege un der cert ain condit i ons .

“
In the center o f the c i ty are the royal p al
'
aces an d these are protected by three imm ense
,

them
’

canals which are built entirely around

, ,

with two interven ing zones of land . T hese ca

na s l are conn ected with the Great S ea by an

othe r c anal 3 00 feet wide and 1 00 feet deep an d

‘
six miles long to connect with the port .

“
T he Great T emple is in the nor theast part
of the ci ty . I ts lof ty tower b ea r in g upon its top ,

the finest observatory ever yet built occupi es the ,

northea s t quarter o f the T emple grounds . T his

and the T emple itsel f is prot ected f rom attack
 OF A TLANTIS . 87

on the N orth E ast an d West by the mountains

, ,

which serve both as a de fen se and a foundation

to hold up the massive structures buil t upon

From the mountains the ci ty o f cities ex tends

in a C i rcular form southward . Beyon d the i m
mense area occupied by the ci ty proper is still
another comprising upwards o f
,
sq uare
miles which has been cultivated from time i m
,

memorial and is in fact one vast garden

,
. T his
is liberally irrigated from the river an d f rom a
canal 600 f eet in width and 1 00 fee t de ep , ex

tending through the count ry miles . N ot

only are these waters used f or i rri gat i on but ,

through a system o f locks at the port , gal leys are

raised and lowered into the grand canal where ,

they both receive and distribute cargoes o f all

kin ds o f products in the inter es ts o f commerce .

“
I t is hardly necessary to mention that th e

population of this plain an d the moun ta in s i s

many millions . N ever will ther e be so man y
88 O UR STOR Y

peopl e g ath ered i n th e sam e place at the sam e

time , so say ou r proph e ts and M agi .

“
N or must I f or ge t to say that the volum e
o f ou r population is i ncre ased by the fact that
ow i n g to the dominan c e o f the li fe giving power -

o f th e spir i t which has not been weakened yet

,

to any great ext ent there are three or fou r gen

er ati o n s o f men upon the earth at the sam e time ,

all stron g an d v igorous . As the necessary sup

pl i es f or the maintenance of the body at its best ,

are i n th e great est pro fusion natu re in no sense ,

retards th e i ncrease of population , but would

suppor t to th e utmost limit the most prolific in

cr e ase po ssible .

“
Dur i n g the day the myriad sounds o f voice
an d a c tion that arise over the docks and the quar
t ers of th e city devoted to labor is like the roar
o f a tornado on the sea hurl ing itself against the
,

embattl ed ro cks .

“
Th e A tl an ti an galleys have r e ached every
port an d n a t i on u n der the whole broad heaven .
 OF A TLA N T IS . 39

T hey have laid the entire su r face o f earth und er

’

tribute to our commerce . W e h aV e no nee d to

ask an o th er nation for an ything we h ave not .

Bur th ey seek from us the fruits of our soil an d

o ur in comparable bronze manu factu res in whose ,

produc tion our i

a r t z an s ii av e become very ex p e rt ,

e sp ecially in clubs ax es kni ves, , an d swords .

“
T he barbarians o f the E aste rn world have
never be en ’

a ble to make these thi ngs fo r th em

Selves , an d as th e material an d temperin g o f o ur

ar tizan s are very fine ; we find market fo r al l We

ca n po ssibly Off er . T he onl y ar ticle of wh ic h
‘
we f ail in maki ii g the s upply equal
’

to the de

mand is a bright yellow metal which o ff e rs a ,

‘
p o w er f ul r esist an ce to the action o f th e el em en ts .

I t is e agerl y strugh t for purpos es of deEo r atio n ,

both o f buildin g and persons . T he total pro du c t

of o ur o wn mi nes is th i s appropri ated, and '
o ur

t raders h ave discovered that it exists i n oth e r

parts o f the World . So they
k i t ever ywh ere
see ,

and when ‘
foun d o ff er our o w n products in ex ;
90 O UR STOR Y

chan ge for it . When they bring it home they

are o ff ered certain immunities an d privileges in
add ition to the market value for it . T hus i n a
,

way i t has become a measure o f valu e

, , not only
with us bu t with all the nations o f the earth
, .

I t is predicted by our M agi that th i s peculiar con

d ition through the foul greed o f man will grow
, ,

into a cal amity for the whole race . T he desire

upon which its gath er i ng by us is founded will
become irrepressible an d destructive i n the more
physical nat i ons in th e yea rs to come . A s, how
v r
e e , o ur nati on has done no intentional wrong
and have tried to deal j ustly th ey can hardly be ,

cons i dered responsible for any such e vi l . I t is

also tru e that i f evil does come upon the race
we shal l be f orced to meet it in the long ages yet
to com e , as we are again called to face in new
bodies th e l i v es allotted to us . T hus f ar strained ,

i ntensi ty fo r a cquisition has not ac q uired force

en o u gh to in j u re us i n our d ev elopment on any
li n e.
 OF A T L A N T I S .
91

W e are no t a nation o f flesh easter s fo r the ,

warmth o f our climate does not compel the con

centration o f food sough t in the u se of flesh . I t

is because we are not boun d to th e soil in our

e ff orts to overcome the circle o f necessi ty that
we can give so much time to the study of the
real forces and facts of the universe and the ,

methods by which they could be made use ful to

themselv es .

“
At the N orth are three hi gh mounta i n pe aks ,

wh ich have become landmarks for all sea faring

men . In the way of review o f what I have
wri tten permit me
, to ta ke
~

my future reade rs to

the highest summit of the great peak A l yh l o , an d

from thence point out the paradise o f moun ta i n

and valley hill and plain interspersed with broad
, ,

platea ux . T hese are covered with tropical v e ge

ta ti o n bearing all kinds of edible fruits known to

man throughout the whole circle of the year .

L imped streams from the mountain sides water

a large portion o f this vast district .
92 O UR S T OR Y

N o r i s th i s all , f or th e whol e p ic tu r e i s do tt ed

thick with substantial dwellin gs , hamlets and

towns . But above all is the capital as a center
,

o f i n ter est and an exchan ge o f thought

, , so wi de ,

so far reaching that all the other centers in the

-
,

whole count r y seem but suburbs .

“
N o tice also the varied greens o f the vegeta
tion and the blue o f the sky so clear an d so per
,

fect, as yet un di sturbed in its v i brations b y th e

sh o ck o f either o ff ense or defense . B eyond th ese
can be s e en the c anal leading to the land lock ed
-

sea and the gr eat port with i ts fleets of arriv i n g

and departing galleys f rom every quarte r of th e

globe . T hese g alleys move neither by sa i l no r

l

oar nor any impulsion o f elemental force

, . S ur

mounting all these our M agi have imparted the

s ecret o f etheric i mpulse born of thought and ,

against this win d nor tide have no p o wer It is

'
.
,

the f airest lan d that man in all his gener at i o n s

thus f ar h as ever seen .
 CH A PT E R V I I .

E F O RE goin g f orward w i th the descr i p

tions o f the M SS . let us do a l i ttle
c omparing with the presen t situat i on ,

as we now know i t . T he location o f th e

A ncient Continent must have covered in

part the Carribean A rchipelago . If th e l an d
were so raised as to make th e highest peak si x
m i les high , there must have resulted two i m
me n se inland seas where now is the Gul f o f
M exico . A cross these and the old continent
would blow in constan t succession the trade
winds brin ging moisture an d fertili ty upon their
,

b road wings , for the teeming populat i on . In

configu ration there must have been a striking
,

resemblance to our upper lake count r y .

94 O UR STORY

N orth must have constituted the backbon e o f

the Continent whose peaks an d table lands now
,

f orm a chain of islan ds . O n the line of drainage

f rom th e inland sea the A mazon must n ow be
located T he fertility must have been the re

sult not so much of a torrid t emperature as of ,

the absence o f cold winds which gave a peculiar , ,

equable li fe
,
-
d ev e l o p i n g fl
cl im ate , both for v e ge

tables and animals . E verything possible grew ,

becau se th ere were no drawbacks to its growth .

It w as always seedtime ; it w as always harvest .

Bud bl os som
, an d fruit in al l their di ff erent stages
o f matu rity could be seen growing at once on
“

the same tree . What is partially true to day -

o f th e orange and lemon w as then true of all

fruit bearing trees
-
. So fertile was the origi na l
condition o f the soil and so great the wisdom
,

of those w ho directed th at the matter of planting

,

seed and gathering harvest became a matter of

sequence and not of season . With this expl ana
tion let us retu rn to our manuscript
 OF A TLANTIS .
95

T he change of cond ition f rom li f e to death

is one accepted and welcomed by our people ; not
in any sense f eared because durin g their long
,

continued existence the monotony of physical life

i s fully satisfied and the only in ducement for ac

cep ti n g prolongat i on i s the increasing o f the spir

i t s force an d potency with which we are well
’

acquainted and fully educated as to its l imitless

possibilities .

“
Ou r place as carriers for th e world has f or ,

many years been acknowledged . O n all seas

and in every port are the galleys that supply the

’
world s marts , flying the A tl an ti an flag —
a

winged globe in blue on a yellow ground . It

th erefore happens in our ample harbor ,
the
'

myriad swarms o f shipping although loaded with

,

the products of the whole earth are ours .

“
T he sailors o f other nations dare not move
out into the vast wastes of waters separating ,

the di fferent countries one from another .

“ ’
Great warehouses lie along the water s edge ,
96 O UR STORY

wh ich i s bo rdered f rom th e sea f or many m i l es ,

in to the interior by immense solidly built walls

, ,
-
.

T hese are raised high enough to be above an y

hi g h water mark o f either flood f rom the inter i or

-

o r tide f rom the oc ean . But floods were rath e r

th e result of changes in the amount o f drainage
f or the mel ting o f snow on the mountains or in

c rease o f amount from suddenly precipitated

vapor , w as a thing of but slight importance .

“
T h e capi t al is c onnec ted with all parts o f the
k i n g dom by i ron tr amways , upon which enormous

loads ar e moved by a motive force whose secret ,

only o ur M a gi kn ow . But the obedient force

moves back an d f orth drawing and pushin g as , ,

i t is h i dden by i ts c on troller the heavily ladden

,

wagons , to which it is harnessed .

“
T h e whol e c i ty is built of a pure white
marble taken f rom , q u ar r r i es in the N orthern
H i lls who se supplies are used not only for build
,

in g at home but also for export ,

. So fine is the
g ra in an d so ele gant the polish that the blocks
 OF A T L A N T I S .
97

a re u sed over and over in rebuildin g i n the ci t i e s

o f the M e di te rr anean . T his stone can not en

d u re the extremes o f temperature o f the N orth

ern cl i mate bu t is amply stron g f or all that may
,

be de manded under an A tl an ti an sky .

“From what I have already said p e rhaps it ,

will be pl ain the city is lai d out like a disc with

, ,

a segment wan ting where it is fitted against the

,

foothills of the N orthern mounta i n ranges .

“
Broad avenues in s emi circle be gi n at -
th e

mountains and end in the mountains . T hese are

c rossed at r e gular intervals by other avenues ,

forming the radii of the circle , the center o f

T here is no owner
’
whi ch is th e King s palace .

’
ship o f l and save in the King s name as th e
, r ep

i
r esen ta t v e o f the n ation . I t is held by o ur: Magi ,

th at no man can o w n anythin g in wh ich his own

l abor , or some repr esen tative th ereof , does

. . no t

constitu te a compo n en t par t . A ll arti cles . o f

h an diwork t here fore can be clai me d a by th o . i co n :

tri bu to r s i th ere to , bu t m an h as n o t, an d i oan i n euer

98 O UR STOR Y

attain ownership i n the four gr eat el ements

, of

mani festation —
fir e , air water earth
, , . I f he ev e r
shall attempt it disaster and degradation will
, at

tend the attempt . If a man builds a house or

plants a tree or cultives a crop th en the hou se
, ,

or tree or ha r vest belon g to him an d he sho uld ,

be protected in h is right to en j oy fully all that ,

can come f rom his labor .

“
All lands are parceled out by lot and the ,

improvements only hav e a price , . He w ho would

l i ke his neighbor s location must with his nei gh
’
,

’
bor s c onsent buy the improvements but the l and
, ,

has no more value than the ai r about i t .

“
T h e house s are built fo r convenienc e an d

com f ort . Ev e ry f amily owns its ow n home and ,

wh e n a youn g m an takes to himsel f a w i fe he h as ,

a portion of land assigned him under conditions ,

which make e quable all in equalit i es o f pl ace ,

quality or surround i n gs . No c rowdin g is al

low e d , not even in the thickest part o f the c i ty .

T he build in gs are o f pe rm an ent material f ash ,

 OF A TL AN TI S .
99

i o n ed to let in the a i r an d light . T he underly i ng

prin c iple is a central open cou rt with the living ,

rooms all about i t . T h is plan is modified in

many ways to suit the individual ities and needs
o f th e owners .

“
T h e court is entered by a broad gate , sw i ng

ing e asily on its ample fittin gs . I n the cen ter

a pool wi th an o ver flo w m g f ountain to preven t
sta gnation cools the air an d helps modi fy the vi
,

br ati o n s . T he water was supplied by an ac q ue

du ct from the mountains . T his was so old that
no A tl an ti an of the presen t people can give its
age . But there are records in the archives o f
the T emple concerning th e planning o f the huge
undertakin g an d the manner o f its accomplish
ment . A bou t this pool the building stands gen ,

e r al l y two stories so supported on pillars as to

, ,

form no obstruction to free movemen t o f the air .

“
When the young coupl e decide to locate it is
the custom to receive from the chief astrologer o f
the T empl e a horoscope definitely n aming the
roo OUR S TORY

number o f th e n ew family to co me . For each

one a room was built in the home . T his s pec i al
allotment preven ts crowding and i s produ c t ive ,

to the u tmos t , o f pro gress and growth on al l

l i n es .

“
A nim als herd man i ndivi dualiz es in his t end
,

e n cy . At either en d o f the s c ale accep tat i on , o f,

o r reb ellion against the herdin g i ndicates where ,

he stands at an y gi ven time as re gards either his

,

spi ri tual or his physical nature . I f he is inclined

to be b rutish it matters not i f fif ty han ds ea tin g
w i th his d i p i nto th e
, sa m e bowl o f porr i d ge . If
.

he i s sp i ri tually un f ol ded h e would pre fe r to ap

p r o pri ate an d use i n his own way that which

, ,

co m es b elon gi ng to an d prepared especi ally fo r

hims el f . T h i s is n o t, as i t might at the out se t
a pp ea r , se l fi shn ess but is th e out c rop pin g o f th e
,

work wh ich th e E go tak es up o n itsel f durin g

e arth l iv es th e soul buildin g o f the in
’

th e ,
-
o ut

carn ati o n s .

“
T he roo ms o n th e fi rst sto ry are larger and
 o stl y use d f or th e offi c es o f livin g i n which th e ,

f amily relations are concerned and p er f ec ted .

M ost o f their leisure time is spe nt about th e

fountain in th e c ourt where there are alw ays

,

a g reeable shadows w i th the blue sky above

,
. T he

courts ar e paved in colored patterns w ith a kind

o f glass an d carpeted with ru gs an d mats wov en
,

from ve getable textil es an d f a nci fully dyed .

T h es e go ods are made principally for export B e .

side s thes e furnishin gs ther e are sid e by side

, ,

produ c ts o f man s thou ght from e v ery part o f th e

’

earth , th e rich est and the best . N one ar e blood

sta i ned as th e spoils of w ar , f or our traffic , in

du str i o us and honorable has made us beyo n d pe r

adv enture the richest nation that ever exi st ed

upo n th e earth .

From the fi rst we have traded , e yw h ere

ev r .

No galley of ou rs has ever been Seized by th e

go d o f th e seas and left lying upo n the oc e a n

bottom whether b e aring our goods" for th} Or
1 02 0 UR STORY

l ands . T his natural increase by labor an d by

trade without loss should of itsel f have b een
, ,

sufficien t to have enriched us without other

mean s
“
T hus i t is perceived the fam i lies ar e by them
selves , each is an independent co mmunity .

T heir hous es and gardens are as much the king

dom o f th a t c ommuni ty as can possibly be con
ce i v e d . T his is th e rule o f the spiritual and not
o f the physi cal .

“
B ut I must not f orget to sp eak o f the streets
and roads o f the ci ty proper and the outlying
coun try . T hese are lai d ou t on a certain gen

er al pl an wh i ch once established has never been

,

chan ge d . Al though they have been many years

i n constru ct i on and extension , every foot h as

be e n added under the dire c tion o f a master mind
in con form i ty to a uni form pl an adopted thou
sands o f years ago . S o far as they are extend ed

they ar e fi nished an d last i ng . T he substance

us e d f or th e roa d beds i s our s ec ret o f the whole ,
 OF A TLA NTIS . 103

world . Ou r ways are dustl ess and nois eless .

T he peculiar composition readily yields trac tion

to bodies moving over them . N ever has ther e
b een so per f ec t a system o f easy tran sportat i o n
upon the earth .

“
T he public buildings are always l arge roomy ,

and of varied styles , surmounted with domes ,

pinnacles and m i n n a r e ts and orn amen ted with

statutes of artistic desi gn and workm anship T h e .

material o f which these are built is wh i t e m arbl e .

A tlantis can well claim no t only th e h o nor o f

being so created but
, of remaining a wh i t e ci ty .

T here is no darkening e fli uvi um i n th e ai r n o r

the climate to obscu re the wh i t e wall s set i n the

great billows o f surroundin g gr een . Ou r M a gi
say that in days to come a nat i on on th e M e d i
, ,

terranean S e a called the Greeks w i ll perso n i fy ,

in the i r works of art our bel o v ed city

, as a b eau
ti ful woman rising from the se a.

T he more important of th ese buildin gs ar e

profusely decorated with gold and i t is fo r th i s ,

1 04 O UR STOR Y

purpose that me tal i s so eagerly bought by the

A tl an ti an traders a poetical name—
,
‘
the tears o f
’
the sun h as been adopted by
,
o ur people and by ,

this it is most widely call ed here . O f the palac e

o f the Kin g ; o f th e Great T emple I will speak ,

mor e at len g th by and by .

“
I n thes e public buildin gs are rooms fo r so

ci al me et ings , to discuss publ i c topics and for the

conven ience o f cl asses studyin g thin gs that do not
b elong to the physical pl ane . A d escription of
o ne w i l l be a d es cr i pt i on of the general pla n
o f, al l . T h ey a re ellipt i cal i n form with a foun ,

tain i n the c en ter . T h e A tl an ti an s a re ex tr av a

gan tl y fond o f the presence o f wat er . A t one

o f th e fo ci ar e a number o f seats , r
a ran ged like
an amph i theater buil t o f ston e , an d ris i ng one

above an o t e h r . A t th e other o f th e foc i stands

a T r i b un e, u pon wh i ch the speaker sta nds wh en
publ ic ad dresses ar e made . A bou t th e foun tain
al so are seats, wh e re the au ditors s i t e asily an d
co n verse on e w i th h r
an o t e .
 OF A TL AN TI S . 10 5

In l ike manner are built the training schools

o f the youn g ; the central part o f the struc tu re
being open to the su nl ight and the air . H er e
the young A tl an ti an s are educated i n the th i n gs
that belon g to the nation the f am ily and , to

themselves O u r fathers had a sayin g we s ee k

‘
.

to m ake a rule o f livin g : Eight y ars e to in f ancy

and play , e i ght y ea r s to Boyhood and training i n
physical thin gs eight years , to youn g manhood
and learni ng o f the World o utside o f A tl an ti s ,

and o ne thousa nd years to l ea rn i n g of th e in

visible and pro port i ons ar e

ly c or rect .
 C H A P T E R VI I I .

H E A tl an ti an s o f either sex are almost

perfect in thei r physical organizations .

T hey are nearly all equally trained by

th e master o f w i sdom . I t may be asked why they
ar e not all on the same pl an e o f development .

T he reply is th e concl usive answer of all ages

and t i m es . M an never has an d never will ex
e r ci se h is i ndividual potency in exactly the sam e
w ay . T h e little variation hardly perceptibl e at
,

first is increased by eve ry increment

, , no matter
how small , of each of the succeeding lives . T his
d i fferenc e i s i ncreased also by the force o f intel
lectual pow e r which comes to a nati on and of
necessi ty to th e i nd ividuals of the nation , w ho

will se ek to o ccupy the best bodies and positions ,

as th e r etu rn i n g e gos claim place in th e lives .

 OF A TLANTIS . 1 07

Because o f the absolute e qu al i ty of the sexes

the bodies of the women are j ust as stron g an d
vigorous as those of the men . But we know
that in other nations with which we have come
,

in contact ,
i n other parts of the world , the
w o men are in ferior in size and strength . T his
happens because the people of those nations have
allowed themselves from generation to genera
tion an d from age to age to believe in an d as
, ,

sert the inferiority o f women . T his continued

thought has belittled and dwarf ed her ,
not only
in body but has also bound her
, a spirations and
her mental capacity with bonds stronger than
steel . While the barbarian races to their sor ,

row and loss have made this sad mistake the

, ,

A tl an ti an nation on th e other hand have con

, ,

stan tl y held to the e q uali ty of the sexes . T he

result now is physically bo th sexes are models

, ,

which painter or scul ptor are proud and eager

to copy . E ach one i s a spec i men of b eauty for ,
1 08 OUR S T OR Y

and transmitted principles have brought intel

lectual vigor and darin g with a marvelous grasp
of per c eption upon the laws of nature and o f
themselves . T heir bodi es instead o f being i m
,

pediments to spi ri tual growth and advancement ,

are helps indeed to the spirits who seek through

them experience knowledge an d, understanding .

T hose w ho might be called the common class ,

doin g the necessary labor of the nation are far ,

adv anced beyond the literary class of the bar

bari an nat i ons in their perception o f the truth
’
and the i r knowledge of nature s laws . T he day
will come in the future when men will mourn
this knowledge forgotten when the fatigue and
,

monotony o f burden bearing will be almost over

whelming in i ts crushing awfulness .

“
We have sch o ols for the development of the
physical and fo r the dire c ting o f the mental habits
o f thought . I n th ese schools very little mem
o r i z ed kn owledge is imparted . T he design is
to so train the faculties that i f desired or neede d
 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 09

the c ipher o f the A stral books co uld e asily be

read .

“
S ickn ess is unknown . We have no l ame ,

halt , blind , deaf no r dumb , no r be ggars as

models for mat ernal p r o -

natal mind , to m i sfo rm
embryos , and thus build monstrosities f or the
,

public charge . T his o f which I speak i s true

o f the nations w ho are busy in the a ffairs o f com
merce , o f a g ricu l ture , or w ho ar e bu i ld ers
an d decorators o f houses and public buildin gs .

But there are some who f rom natural i mpuls i on

have sou g ht more and more of th e i nv i s i ble , of the
truths which belong to the O N E , an d thos e w ho

rest i n I T . T hese are willing and anxious to

devote themselves an d their powers constan tly to

obtaining and attaining an d , the teachin g of
yo uth . T he only class distinct i on
.
we have is
founded upon knowledge .

“
I t has come to p as s in a natural fashion that
thes e thinkers have gravitated toward on e an

other ; that they have kept records o f o bservati on ,

1 10 O UR STORY

experiment and exp erience ; that they are wiser

in speech ; in mathematics as applied to the um

seen ; i n alchemy , in astrology , an d they ar e

specially wise in the physics which embrace the

laws of th e unseen . At first buildin gs were set
apart f or these students an d their teachers A s the .

city grew each body of students had its build

ing now known as templ es
, . L ater , all were
gathered in to th e one great T emple in order ,

that the symbolism o f the O N E who is ALL

mi ght be perfe c t .

I n the te ac hings of our M agi all mani festa

,

t i on , on all planes is referred back to the O N E

, ,

as th e single central source of strength an d power

for everything ob tained and obtainable . T hus
the mind dwelling on this thought has striven
in design in material in finishing and furnish
, ,

in g to make the Great T emple a perfected sym

bol o f the O N E . I ts worship in all its imagery
and suggestion combines every element for the
impressiveness of mod e and subj ect under dis ,
 OF A TLANTIS . 111

cussi o n upon the m inds o f the stu dent . I s it

any wonder that there has come to us as a na
tion a deep seated veneration for the O mnipotent
-

name and laws .

“
I t is al so a f act that our M agi are in posses
sion of most wonderful powers in the con trol o f ,

elemental f orces who obey their will coming to ,

their tasks not under confinemen t but because

, ,

obedient to the will and behest of those w ho call

singly or unitedly for thei r services . I t is al so
known that this power never will be held except
by A tl an ti an born people regardless of the chang
,

ing conditions of the globe .

I t is al so true that a far greater proportion

o f our people have attained to the superior light
and knowledge than any other nation upon the
'

earth e i th e r in the p ast or present . T his is doubt

less due to th e fact that our incarnating egos ,

having the right of choice have again and again

,

sought their own people as the most privileged

spot in which to make advancement durin g the
1 12 O UR S T OR Y

l i v es“
“
Whe n th ese adv anced e go es have found th ei r
bodies we hav e the sp ectacle o f child ren bo rn o l d ,

f or the br ightness o f the last li fe i s h eavy on

them and the n ewness o f th e body does not al

,

ways act as a defense or shield f rom i ts imp e r i

o us bl az e . I t is not i n e ach bu t is a matter o f
,

ord i nary detailed developmen t

,
.
 "

CH A P T E R IX .

have but one basic law throughout

called ‘
the golden ’
rule or preference
,

the whole co u ntry and city .

‘ It is
,

o f another be fore sel f . We have no evils aris

ing out of the action of selfishness f or this con ,

d ition is the primary resul t of the f ea r o f dest i

tu rion either f or ourselves or others sometime
, ,

du r i n g th e
h
position or period of earth li fe -
. E ven
they who are th e least advanced un derstand f rom
ou r teaching the true idea o f Brotherhood ; that
me
’ ’

f man , no ,
man s w ife no man s ch ildren
, , ca n ,

under the law su ff er from deprivati on

, , of . the
ne c ess iti es of physical li fe
,
. He w ho . has m ore
1 14 O UR STOR Y

ce ssi ty for labor of eve r y in dividual in the dire c t

,

ratio o f their abili ty at whatever employment ,

they are best fi tte d .

“
I n the building o f ou r houses the quarry i n g ,

o f the stones the transportation and the fi ttin g

,

is all done by elemental force under th e di r ec ,

tion o f a mas ter who is in charge o f a section

, .

I t is his duty to educate them and to see that they

are duly provided for out o f th e A st r al , s tor e
h o use by the power given into his han ds
, . T he

form o f governmen t has already been cop i e d

from us by a power f ul n ation in the N or thern
part o f A si a but because of their situation
, on

the physic al plane i t is most likely they w i ll be

,

able to retain only the form , an d will l o se th e

spiritual power which is the f oundation an d po

tent prin c iple .

T he whole nation is linked together by th e

m aster o f th e famili es these are in groups an d ,

classes under instruction

,
and direction f rom
tho se w ho are most c ompetent to teach . T hese
 OF A TLA NTIS . 115

teachers are grouped under the masters or Ma gi

o f the T empl e . T hese M agi o f the T emple
are under the instruction o f the M ost A ncient ,

the S even the Five and the T hree

, . So , in the
hands o f the T h ree mightiest o f all hum an i n
,

tel l ects , rests the destinies th e prosperity an d the

,

happiness o f the whol e nation . M oreover upon ,

them as directors and arbiters the responsibility

,

of Karmic conditions rested as they were ,

en

gendered by the cu rrents o f potency issuing f rom

th emselves and returning upon their cycle bore
with them whatever had been impressed upon
, ,

or mingled with them during their r ev o vl men t

among those to whom the currents were sent .

“
I t must be apparen t to whom this M S S may
, .

come that the power of the U nseen and their

, ,

’
a pplication to man s earth li fe are matters o f the
-

greatest interest and importance to the A tlan

tians . T here is no temporal power save as a ,

symbol of the M anifested . E verything pertain

ing to organized e ffort originates with and is ,
1 16 OUR STORY

carried f orward by the Priesthood o f the Great

T emple which repres en ts
, th e dom i nan t power
over matter o f the spirit at its high est and b est .

T hey have specially in charge the st udy an d de

l
v e o p m en t o f all occult knowledge .

“
Every house is i ndependen t o f itsel f . T he

A tl an ti an s are Monogam i st s — the one husban d

o f one wi f e . T h is exper i ence has demonstrated
,

to be the b est condition for th e development o f

a stron g spi ritu al r ac e
, . W e hav e s ee n that
polygamist races always decrease in power ,

strength an d ener gy o f purpose .

“
I n A tl an tis , to be d iseased or c r i ppled in
body , or to be at the head o f a f amily i n which ,

i s such a memb er is deemed a crime agai nst the

,

people . T here f ore all thought , al l desir e an d

in ter est are brou gh t to bear upo n physical con

di ti o n s, through o c cul t and sp i r i tu al forces not ,

only to m ake the nation whole but whole in ,

th e hi gh est and b est sens e .

“
T h o se w ho ar e p ar ti cul arly gift e d w i th
 OF A TLANTIS . 1 17

psychic qualities or whose spirits have atta i ned

familiarity with the instrumen t intru sted to thei r
hands are trained for the o ffices of M asters or
Guides . T h ese may or may not have f amilies ,

but in either case they are persons , to whom a

certain number o f persons or f amilies look f or
council advice and guidance
, .

“
For thousands o f years have the Ma gi o f th e
T emple , w ho give their whole time to the study
of the U nseen and lay as ide their bodies at the i r
,

own volition really placed the wel f ar e and best

,

good of the p eople beyon d any other c ons i der

ation whatever . T he nation is happy . T hey

have no poor . T hey have no in fe rior c lass . Al l

necessary labor is honorable . Ge nera tion a f t er
generation , we have b een growin g stron ger and
more like the gods come down to earth . We
have perfect commun i cation with the ou tside
world and each other . We kn ow A tlantis is
the faires t ci ty on this planet an d we are
,
,
~
co n
 CH A P T E R X .

A VI N O thus f ar advanced in the descr i p

tion o f th e most won d erful city ever
known to man permit me , to quote f rom
the words o f one w ho saw what he so fluen tl y
an d graphically de scribes fo r yo u:

T o the N ortheast o f this island Cont i nen t is

located th e Great T empl e built both for use an d
,

symbolism . On a plat ea u o f many acres i n ex

tent where the gradually rising groun d b egan
,

to br eak i nto th e foothills the whole sur face had

,

been leveled an d paved with some so ft material ,

o f which the A tl an ti an s alone knew th e secret .

T h i s hardened under the acti on of the sun and

atmosphere until it was like ad amant
, . T o th e
East a bel t
, of coun t r y rea ch i ng to th e seaco ast ,

bu t no t on a l evel w i th it , had also b een

 OF A TLA NTIS . 1 19

smoothed and paved so that there was no , o b

struction to the eye until it rested on th e f ar o ff

,
-

horizo n .

“
U pon this broad expanse of level space close ,

enough to the mountains to be buttressed by their

migh ty arms stood the great white wal l ed T em
, ,
-

ple facing the S outh and the ample areas fo r

, ,

assemblage . T he closed courts and o fl

i ces and,

the cloisters of the T emple faced the mountains

o f the N orth and thus secured f or the T emple
,

Dwellers the privacy needed for the M asters

a nd student B rotherhoods of the T emple , w ho

were seeking to know out o f the S ilenc e .

“
T he T emple proper consists o f tw o stories ,

the first one consisting o f pill ars sprin gin g from

the rocky f oundations of the mountain and sup
porting arches which , in turn hel d up immense
,

slabs of stone th e floors of the second story

, . On

the first floor there is little or no inclosure but

.
,

within the walls of the second story it is all ar

ranged for privacy and q uiet thought . He w ho
 "
s
i so OUR S TO RY
over th e battlements o f the upper S tory ,
‘
l oo k s dow n abo ut n inety feet , i i i to the beauti f ully
?

paved court below . O n the E ast and W est Of -

th e T emple itsel f are gard ens groves

, , of tree s ,

“
fountains , ru n n i n g streams o f water dom esticated ,

"
animal s a nd flowers of every hue and f ragran c e
’

-
.

‘
fi r e sacre d to the T emple , h u t op en to the
i
th e "
surveillance of t “
he c aretakers ,

except c ertain ’
spots cl bs e th e T e mpl e ,
’

l
’

to

i
wh iEh use o f th e St u
d ents an d

a
té ici i er s
'
'

.
"I n‘ "

th e
“
‘
northe ast sect i on o f eth e T em ’ '
-

T
pl e bi lil di ng was th e great tower and o bserv a
’
—

‘
t o ry fifty feet i n diam eter
‘
Tf
,
i
,
risin g 2 10 f ee t , f
a

é d li ght exte nd i ng h un dr eds o f m i l es

'
if
as an ark r
a »

‘
r
“
ari d eye r j y i pi f ‘
the sea to ss e d mar i n
’

f
a f
o ns i
r e r o r -

" ;
er s Of th é S ta te
’

L bhki n g
“ ' ' "

from the plaza i n f ron t to w ard the ,

i nterior o i the T empl e its vast r ecesses i ts fo r

'

, ,

3 ‘
é s ts 0f whi te p i l l ar s and its high li f ted over arch
'
’ '
- -

O
f fill s th e Sp ectator wi th awe
'

i hg f
N or
”
ro . w as

th i s fe
"
d i n g l essen ed by
'
U i
the cl eanlin ess , the co n
 0& 4 l

i
t nu o u s shifting o f huge m asses of sunlight and "

e ver i nto new and ind esc ribable .

g r o

tesq u er i e . During the services the awful s ol

wmpi ty ked w as o f a character th a t mo di fied -

e vo fi ,
.

thought and national pur

T h e gr ea t
-
i to w e r was commenced fifteen f ee t
r be l o w th e sur f ace . " T he o ri ginal trap roc k w as

su pp l e m en te d . by a square block o f co n c ret e r oc k

~
,

" and up on thi s zw as carried up the superstru ctu re

c
y to a zto ta l -
height o f t2 2 5 feet the squ ar e
, o fq fif

teen . U pon the floor of the T em pl q g estj n g fi n

a rr a i se d fif ; th ej H o l y
d ai se w as th ess ecr e t ch ambe r o .
~
,

f cH o li e s A cr os s a nd throu gh thi s , H igh

’

o —
3 at
“

. a
,

F e sti va l smbl aze d c an d flash ed th e '

Veil of I sis .

A bove ,
:
- on , a . l evels with the upper floor , w as th e

ch am be r l o f 3th e r F o r ty fi ve ,
' -
and s till abo ve . th at

th e . chamb ers o f the Fi fteen , th e , S even , ‘

the Fi v e
and the T hree . I n the outer the T ower , w as

as m o o th xan dmn p en e tr a te d bo t

tom to to p .
r '
l t resemb le d ; a SO d‘
H b lo ck ,
. chi sel ed
1 22 O UR S T ORY

out o f quarries and set on end , so deft w as the

workmanship and so perfect the j ointin gs and
finish .

“
I n the cloisters an sl roo ms of the s ec ond
story o f the T emple were the apartmen ts fo r
private study and class instruction . T here were
also suppl emental apartments hollowed ou t o f ,

the n eighb o ring mountains an d reached by s ecret

pa ssages so arranged that what ever shoul d be de
pos ited in them as treasuries would be secu rel y
h eld even i f buried beneath the su r f ace o f th e
,

sea fo r a ges .

“
Beyond the great pla za , toward th e c i ty ,

tre es and fountains shaded and beau ti fie d clear

”
up to the naked edge o f the vast pavemen t .

T his is a f aint portrayal o f that which was

really the culm ination and concentration o f the
N ati o n s thousands of years o f e x i st enc e and
’
um

f oldin g .

“
In all our T emples an d more espe c ially in the
,

Gr eat T emple th e outer courts were but the sim

,
 OF A T L A N T IS . 123

ple separation from those w ho have no inspira

tion for the inner and higher . I n the outermos t
court or court of the people were always gath
, ,

ered those w ho had thoughts of their own and ,

w ho were undecided as to what direction they

should take in pursuit o f the light slowly dawn
ing upon them .

T he inner court of the people contained

those w ho have so far perceived that they are
,

willing to obligate themselves to carry out cer

tain purposes o f whose full intent they can know
,

bu t little except that the farther en d is lost in

,

the light of life and the halo o f obligation

, . In
this court they w ho seek must be fitted by train
ing and preparation f or that which lies before
them so it is natural that they
, w ho linger there ,

striving to advance must do whatever they can

,

through their own power o f assimilation , by

themselves .

“
At the first if the lesson is concentration it
, ,

is their individual concentration . I f the lesson

 ‘
O UR S TORY
* '

1 4
'
J
is p as sivi ty , it is thei r own i n div i dual passi vi ty
I t is exactly as when one is learning to sing , as a

beginning the voice is trained to use its own

, pe
'
functio n al one A fter
'

cu l i a r . this solitary p r a e
'

tice whe n some aptitud e has b een attained and

,

a facility of use then th ey are read y fo r ,

th e

m assing o f singles for a united e ff o rt: I t must

i'
~

' ‘
f ollo w then that the outer court o f the B roth
,

'‘ '
er h bo d cannot but lap o ver into th e i n n er c o ur t
'

o f the T emple .

“
T h at which is done singly an d al one ; is abl ’

so l u t el y neces sary for the next step in ad vanc e ;

‘
which is to
'

be made in unison with another or

ot hers in the same way as musical s tud ent s
, ar e

trained by twos and fou rs for united e fforts of

acti on an d harmony .

“
T he question considered in all this is how ,

shall growth and attainment be best a cco m

p l i sh e d ? What is the basic principle ?

“
I n music we say the sounds are se t to a cer
tain key and however prolonged the action o f the
,
 015
} A T L A N T I S . rgs
,

v i bra tions the , key . and time will be the sam e d, , an

al l , th e,.
vibra tions are aligned ,
. I t is e x actly thus , ,

wh en the students come to act together on the

occult planes the vibrations wh ich they produ ce
,
"
,

w il l mo t of course be alike but they must chor d ;

, , ,

h parts o f one vibration fitting and fi lling in

t e .

with the V ibrations of another , so there shall be .

no j angle .

“
T o get the best results it is always best that
they who are in the outer court of the B rother
hood should be watch ful and care f u l lest thq vi
b r a tio n s sent forth from themsel ves s houl d be
h astened or intensified or even drag through , th e
th oughtlessness o f thei r own ca r elessness .

“
When once unity o f ac tion is attempte d in
. .

th is matter i t is ab so lutely necessary

,
to succ ess ,

that the key on which they start should remain

th e , sa , me .

I t is easy to see how intense passion s such ,

as anger or any o f , the disturbing condi tions

would in terfere with th e vibrations . I t would be
1 26 0 UR S T OR Y

like a chord out o f tune in a stringed i n str u

ment where though the strings do not gi ve
, , o ut

the same sounds still they must be in ali gnment

, .

T his alignment is the sou rce o f all music .

“
I t is not need ful that the most inten se f eel
ings of one s nature should be given rein and al
’

l owed to make disturbance both for himsel f and ,

those whom he is contracting . I t is also on a ,

small scale like the sharping and flatting at the

,

wrong points ,
whereby the vibrations are
chan ge d ,
the harmony broken and discord be
comes perceptible .

“
It is also absolutely necessary that all condi
tions in the outer which can cause a disturbance
should be held in abeyance wh en one desires , to

concentrate in order that during a united eff ort

,

fo r concentration the harmony and strength shall

not be marred . T his is true of all work on any
occul t line .

“
I t is not to be supposed when tw o or more
o f the B rothers are concentrating exactly ,
the
 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 27

same process is gone through within the min d

of each . T hat would be impossible . T he end
sought for can be attained by e ach w o rking in
his ow n way with the same thought
, . I t does
not follow because A does not perform his task
exactly as B d o es,
~ that B should set up a dis
tu r ba n ce in the vibration as refl ected from A ,

thus in a measure destroying the co — operation

and eff ect to be produced .

T he law of the T emple then is first alone ; , ,

second in company with those

, w ho are seeking
by united force to accomplish as the M as ters of ,

Destiny at all times have been able

, , to a ecom
p l i sh . U nity of action is most importan t ther e ,

fore we must guard against anythin g that can dis

turb this uni ty . I f vibrations in their normal
,

conditions lay alon g side by side and one is hast ,

ened then the harmony is d estroyed and the

, ac

tion o f the impulse is to increase the vibrations

in the length of their wave force . We must ,

when meet i ng for united e ff ort insist that each ,

 ‘
O UR S T OR Y

for n th emse l v es ; shall become their ow n gua rd i

ans s Kno w in g th at disa gree able thin gs w il l ; oc

‘
ou r , we must be ever prepared at once :
I

, , to put

them asi d e : H avin g don e this once , we sh all be

stronge r to continue .. T hus the musi c f rom o ur

’
so ul s s acti o n : .w il l no t only aff ec t l
o u r se ves , , bu t

those ab o ut .
'
u s:

“
U po n this statement o f principles h as been

buil t the great l aw of th e T emple : ‘

" o unto
’
oth er s : »
as z
yo u wo uld have them do un to ,

yo u .

A l l r th e teachi ng and tr aining all th e mer emo n i es ,

an d sy
'

m bo lism of the T emple are f ounded upo n .

thi sx l aw as the corner stone o f the religion o f ou r

-

p eo ple . H avi ng given this brie f summary o f the

tru ths , o ur priesthoo d have in charge let us pass ,

on t o a d escription of some of the ceremoni es

:

and as an illu strat i on we

, ,

w ill tak e th e
-
Gr eat Feast of the N ew Y ear , as

mo re ful l y i ncluding
t the whol e, than an y other .

“
T he fe as t o f the N ew Y ear on the , 2 15 t of
M arch, consu mmated and commemorated th e
 £ 29 5

’
S un s r ei bi r th ,l wh en, o ut of e qual days an d

ni ghts a ne w S pring and S ummer began fo r th e

'
“
"

no rt hern h emisph ere and,

, th e "
promise o f seed
ti m e'and ‘
h a rv es t was r en ew e d .

“
At thi s celebration i t is expe cte d th at '

ev er y

fami l y i
‘
n: th e ki n gdo m should be present ei ther
'
,

personally o r r ep r es en te d by some memb er of the

'

family A ll th e going comi ng of the y ear is

'

an d
“
~
.

‘
p l anne d 5 w i th thi s in view . I t is c o nsi d ered
-
a
~

‘
prf vi I Ege
‘
’

for all th e outlying population to be

mad e -
w el com e c i n the ca pital ? at this time . T he

L et me attempt to describe at length for

“

, no

'

pen ca n truly port ray all the wonders of that

marvel ous assemblage one o f the last feasts which ,

‘ ' ‘
took p l ace , ten ye a r s before the destruction of
i v
“

‘
th e i
ci ty. T he gover nmen t and p e opl e were at ,

‘ l '
th a t tit
ne in f
their most perfect uni ty ;

“
l/Xbo ti fi f
th r ee days before th e set date of the
feast th ere could be notice d a> little stir of prep
ar
‘ ‘
atio n al l over the country . I t w as '
>
a qui e t
1 30 O UR S T OR Y

movemen t toward participation . If o ne had

b een l ifted above so he could have l o oked upon
,

the continent as upon a map there would h ave

,

been perce i ved during thes e thr e e days long l i n es ,

o f travelers some on f oot and others by ev e ry

, ,

method of conveyance moving upon the c i ty i n

,

converging lines . As the time grew sho rter th e

extent o f these lines grew shorter and the ways
close to the ci ty and in the ci ty itsel f were fi ll ed
to overflowing . T here were bu t f ew p eo ple i n
the outlying country who had no t some f r i en d
or relative in the city proper . When the houses
were filled ,
te nts were spread in the gardens ,

and in all the parks and places of assembly T hus .

there was a new appearance given to the light

by its reflection f rom the tents which were som e ,

of linen and some of cotton but all bleached very ,

white by a proc ess known only to the A tl an ti an s

and never imparted to any other nationali ty .

O nly on the great plateau of the T emple an d

the ar e as of the outer courts no tents were ,

al
 OF A T L A N TI S . 1 3;

lowed for that space

, w as n ecessarily kept cl e ar ,

that there might be room for the greater ass em

bly .

As the ceremonies were in commemoration o f

the new born sun the hours o f assembly were
-
,

mo rning and even ing and at the momen t o f the ,

meridian height . O n the first day o f th e feas t ,

as the dawn brightened in the East , o ut o f the

early twilight there coul d be heard throughout
,

the whole city a low mu ffled sound like the po u r

,

ing of a swi ft torrent through a smooth bed and ,

as soon as it was ligh t enough to see all the outer

courts and the great plateau of the T emple could
be perceived crowded with those who had ar
,

rived to take part in the inau gu ration ce r e mo

nies . T heir faces were turned toward the East ,

between whose far horizon and th e eyes of th e

numberless watchers no obstruction intervened .

“
When the moment approach es f or the appear
ance of the Ruler o f the Day a low sweet har
, ,

mony sounding in
, r
yth m i c chan ge welled out
,
,1 3 2
-
0 UR s c
ra m"
upo n th e a i r i n slow res tful time and fa r re ac h
n
,
-

i n g tp n e s,
l
f rom the great T emple choir ,
.
. W ho w e re
gathered in one o f th e porches o f the T emp l e ,
: so

r a ised a s to be - s een , by all th e vast mu l ti tu de . As

e the sounds o f th e chant gradually swe l l e d by the

.

w o i ce s . of the w o r sh i p p e r s , . became . mo re inten se. -

‘
in '
and heavier in vast mul
pow er

n»
ti tude see me d , to sw ay under th e
,
n
p sych i c sp el l
w

o f this i nvocation to the S u n ; this symbol o f

.
.
w el

v
co me to one r
w ho returns to his w o rk ta n d pur
‘ h
I ho r ni n u tes i
’
f
b p o se. t e n vo .

i w is fin i sh e d, a blast o f trumpets accomp an y

'

r ca to s

i ng th e '
fi n al n ote ; the o rb o f d ay, -
w ith trop ical
s u dden n ess sprin gs from his bed beneath the . sea .

A s hi s fi rst be am s fall upo n th e countless m ul ti

‘

i tud e; th ey drop upon their kn ees . W ith bow ed

heads in silent adoration , th ey asc ribe all
, g l o r y ,

al l
~
p o w e r , all praise to that whi ch st ands to th em
as the ma n i fested source of l ife , of heal th , of

str en gth the ev e r sleepless , eye o f th e On e . T hen

they se parate . T h e hou rs are spent i n zso ci a l co n

 OF "
A T LA N T I S . s "3 3
‘
'

he band onme n t of rest an d u i e t u n ti l

'
-t a .

fli ti i s ’ h i h n oon
g .

" ‘
A sn t h e * S un a pproa ches th e merid i an .
, al l th e

‘
s treets and byw ays
f '
,
aa ll '
h
>t e "
house to ps , in al l
.
"

'

places wher e th e r e m ay
'
be za w orshipper b ehol d ,

'
H h is
’

face t u rn ed towards the T em p l e e

.
w A t i th e
“
m oment ’

o f l me r i di an f al ti tu de n abo v e the h i gh es t
pi n na cle a crystal ball ‘al
,
mo s ti as da zz l i n
g i n its ‘
,
‘ ’

'
b r illiancy as th e su n i tself ,
"

‘
f ew moments
fi r e ce i v es ft e
’

h I
co n ce n tr a te d v: t o u gh t h

o f} all the fai th ful th r o u gh o u t1th e c ity

~
'
a s : th e rz
re

‘ ‘ ‘
the goo d messen ge r i o f tth e One flth e
‘
rfi i nde r of
’

h ei gh th of tw h o se gl o w : i s "norw "p erce iv e d 3 A gai n

'
f
.
,

in "
th e ven e i ngth ere is tf
i h f em
"

a co n v o ca t o rr a t t e
~ f -

‘ ‘
“
pl e T he ce r e m o n i es o f th e m orn in gs ar e i r e
'

p e ated } Wi th fth e e xception that th es so n gl is

’
to n e

‘ ‘
“
o f ar ewel l ; the m u l ti u de facin g the i Wes tj f i n
“
:

s tea d fo fl
f th e :
’
E ast and the hushin g3 sou nds
,
' ‘
flo f

i nstr ument s
‘
s t rin ged tte nd h i it f ro m “ th e
“

a st ex 1

T hese ce r e mo n ie3 3 far e continued

1 34 O UR S T OR Y

T here are various other ceremon ies which take up

the time of portions o f the Convocation b etween ,

th ese assemblies o f th e wh o le . T here are al so

lin es o f T emple servic es work and stu dy
, . E ach
of the sciences having its appropriate place and
each being developed by those w ho are allied in
the great B rotherhoo d o f the T emple . T h is ern

braced the whole people in its ram ifications . It

is not n ecessary to describe th ese in all their
minutiae . But du rin g these six days there w as

con ti nually s omethin g taking place in the city ,

always h avin g its moving force at the T emple .

T h e mov i ng o f a procession th rou gh the stree ts ,

'

a co n v en i n g o f the T emple guides or guards l ec ,

tu r es an d talks from those w ho were so well

quali fi ed to give forth from fu l l fo un tains to the
inner souls eager ,
to b e f ed . Bu t as the ev enin g
draws on after the wanin g o f the s ix th day once ,

more all the courts o f the T emple were thronge d

,
.

T h e hum o f conversation d i es away as the dark

n ess g rows more an d mo r e i ntense .

 OF A T LA N T IS . 1 35

'

N ow , when it shall h av e beco me quite dark ,

'

the T emple Choir O pens the exercises with th e

song o f invocation . I t di ff ers from all th e

m u sxc of the Convocation hitherto , ,

-
i n key, rythm
and time . I n this all the people j oin . A s th e

soun d vibrates in swelling cadence r i s i n g and ,

f alling amon gst the echoing mountains , th e ef

f e e t was per fectly indescribable , fo r th e A tlan

tians wer e especially celebrated fo r be i ng sweet

sin gers . Wh en the singing w as fin i sh e d th e chie f
instru ctor o f the people stood upon 9. T r i bun e

high ra i sed and there discoursed o f th e th in gs

,

‘
which con cerned them most intimately in th e

physical life ; o f whatever they stood most in

need ; o f h ow the S u n w as to th em l ife an d

health and plen ty and peace

, , th e s ign an d r ep re

s e n ta ti v e o f all good . T hen h e dire cte d th ei r at

ten tion to the darkness wh ich sat , so u n eas il y

upon them en forcing rest and inab i l i ty

, to w o r k.

T hen his peroration w as aft er thi s f ashio n :

“
T h e dar kness is d ea th and deso lati o n , an d
1 36 O UR S T ORY

thu s i n th e be gi n n i n g the Ex i stent saw wh en

‘
, , ,

’
he sa i d : L t th
e e re be an d ther e
, w as, l i ght . At

this word m i llions o f lights gl eame d o ut al l ove r

th e T emple , i nside , outs i de , ev en on th e h i gh est
poin ts . I t stood f orth one bla ze o f w hite marbl e
glory for there was only
, o ne th i ng about el ec
tr i ci ty th e A tl an ti an s do not k now , that i s the
po i n t wh er e kn owl e dge lays hol d w i th poten cy
upo n th e On e i n i ts i nmost , an d suprem e inte g
r i ty o f exi s ten ce .

T h ere ar e other c e remo n i es o f m i no r i m po r

tan ce , pe rta i n i ng to the n igh t but thi s
, is th e

most i mport an t . T here ar e no s ac ri fi c es , no

sh ed d in g of th e bloo d o f an i m al or h uman v ic
t ms
i . T h e A tl an ti an s do no t b el i eve i t i s n eces

sa ry to t each d es truc ti on or d es tru c ti v e ac t i on by

su ch s ac ri fi c e i n the burn ing
, or d es troyi n g o f any
l i v i n g th i n g fo r they say m an i s natu rally de
,

s rut ctiv e an d we ought to teach h i m th e oppo

s i te . So all o ur c eremoni es l acke d th e hid eou s
sh ado w of a gon y an d horro r , that wi ll be sur e to
 OF A T L A N T IS . 1 37

come i f man f orgets our teach i n gs . But the gr ea t

obj ect lessons serv ed well thei r purpose i n ele
v ati n g the whole people to the same lev el , an d

cementing them into a common Brotherhood . In

the next chapter I will d escribe as well as I may ,

the last g reat day o f the Feast .

 C H A P T E R XI .

H AT o f wh ic h I m
a now to sp eak
c on ce rns th e A tl an ti an i on wh en
n at

th e r e was for i t seem i n gl y n oth i n g

more beyond , i n glory , prosp er i ty or knowl
ed ge . I a m warned of th e U n see n not

to wr i t e u n guardedly but, w i th ci rcumspe c ti o n ,

l es t th e re c om e power f or m i sch i e f , to th e u n o b

li gate d .

“
I n th e olden days when step by, step we h ad

pa i n fu lly an d laboriously climb e d th e m o unt ai n

h ei gh ts i n to the broad blaze o f th e e e v rl ast i n g
t ru th , th e world lay at our feet . T ha t w as o ur

i nt ell ec tual an d physical status . Wh at ev er th ere

w as in th e ea rth i tsel f wor th hav i n g or k now i n g
 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 39

w as in o ur po ssession as the b i rthr ight of a ges

an d a ges o f pr ev ious existence .

Furthermore we coming i n to l i fe
, ar e no t

clouded as the generations to com e will be by

, ,

physical con ditions which will grow thicke r an d

heav i er all along the pathway of the unroll i n g

cen tu ries . I t will be because having dom i nated
,

whats o ev er there may be o f physical work i n gs ,

we shall have sou ght also to master that wh ic h

belongs only to the spiritual realm that , we sh al l
be cut o ff . T here is but one Go d . N o n e c r eat ed
can sit in the seat of the uncreated . N on e w ho

exist by the thought of the I nfinite On e can hope

to explain that which is o f itsel f the E x i sten t , th e

Cause o f all results mani fested or unmani fested .

“
I n the first part of the development o f the
A tl an ti an nation all communication was carried
on by outer sense vibration even as , now . Per ~

h aps the vibrations were not as intens e as at the

pres ent . Bu t in the latter days they w ho ar e

instructed are tau ght by thought transference .

“
T he education of the young is not al on g the
1 40 O UR S T ORY

lin e of simple memorizing . N or is i t only th e

un f old i n g o f partially phys ic al senses . I t do es
no t appeal to material sense fo r the bu i ld i n g of

the soul . We do not hope that ou t o f bo d ily co n

di ti o n s w e can bring any help to th e spir i tual .

For we know whatever belon gs to an d lies alon g

the line of the physical risin g
, to the highest
source wi thin itsel f can rise no higher than that
poin t . M ore than that the physical in its most
,

per f e c t fo rm begets weakness and d eath . H ow

can there be anything beyond this but weakn ess

an d death ?
T his is one o f o ur axi omati c doctrines . In
manifestation we simply see an mp l i ficati o n
ex e

o f that whi c h oc curred on the spiritu al plane .

“
I n the days to come the professor of mathe
m a ti cs will state an axiom or a proposition , an d

then going to the blackboard and upon it , , ap

peal ing to the sense o f sight will demonstrate in

,

mani f estation the impression he seeks to make ,

o f the secret workin gs o f the f orce beyond . If

 OF A T L A N T I S . 141

he i s a c hemist h e will brin g b e f or e hi s h ear ers

c erta i n el ements and out o f the un i on s o f th ese
,

elements out o f the separation o f the cond i t i o n s

, ,

th e re will g row up o r man i fest th emsel ves , cer

tain perhaps star tling condit i on s

, , . B ut tha t

wh ic h then tak es p lace i s not the truth be i s tr y

in g to prov e ; it is simply a demonstrat i o n o f th e

truth . N o r i s the pro f essor o f mathem at ics tr y

in g to show you th e tru th . H e w i ll s i mply be

try i n g to p ro ve tha t to be true which he has
l earn ed f rom th e phys i c al side .

“
" not o con found that whi c h i s un man ifest e d ,

w i th the m an i f ested . T h e unmani f est e d i s th e

cause of e v erything manifested . T h e man i fest e d

exists be cause the unm anif ested is i ts primal

cause reac hin g down through
, all the a ges . So

we do not in these days linger ov e r d emon s tr a

ti ons or in any
, w ay try to prove by simpl e mani
festati o n the e xistence of the invis i ble an d un

mani f es te d .

“
B u t th e fi rst course of tra i n i n g our s tu d en ts
142 OUR S T OR Y

receive is a line of stren gthenin g f or the i r men

tality . I f there are those w ho are so physi cally
constituted that the machinery of their thought ,

the power by which they could receive of the

f o rce outside o f th emselves is in any , w ay unfit or

i ncompetent they are first treated by the thou ght

,

o f tho se w ho are about them to bring them up ,

into a health ful condition as it is termed on the , ,

physi c al pl an e . Really the condition is simply

one o f harmony .

T he knowledge which has come in these latter

days to us who have the pleasure of pe rusing th i s
,

“
manuscript variously named
,
the science of spir
i tu al condition s —
men tal science —
science o f truth
”
— science o f knowing — call it what you will is ,

really a glimpse gotten hold o f by one who was ,

clear sighted an d
-
w ho, in the development o f the
idea has mani f ested th e brave ry of the old soul
, .

I t-is only to th ese old souls are intrusted the

’
works that will stir every man s heart that hears
of them . I t is however by standing before the
, ,
 OF A T L A N T IS . 14 3

world and demonstrating fo r years an d y ears ,

that which is the germ cell o f a most wonder f u l

-

kn o wledge the un folding along

, invisible and
spiritual lines can b e accomplished . But I must
not forget to state that the privilege o f giving
out these t ruths so that they can be understood
,

belongs to the A tl an ti an born -

.

I f these stand in th eir p laces to day an d-

de
clare their personal knowledge to be truth until ,

that truth is recognized they have done f or th em

,

selves a service —
it matters not wh ether the
clouds and thick darkness m ay inclose th em
after w ards T hat portion of the tru th which they
.

have put forth will stand forev er and forever .

So what we know as an occasional matter of

healing after a miraculous fashion w as a thing
of every day occurrence with the Ol d A tl an ti an s
-
.

T hose w ho united for the purpose of increasing

the race mated themselves first accord in g , to the
best knowledge belonging to the astrologers of

those days . T hus mated it rarely happened as

,
1 44 OUR S T OR Y

o ne of o ur poets hath su ng : “
"form
e e d , un fin

i sh ed, sent be fore my t i m e i nto th i s br eath i n g

”
world s c ar c e hal f made
,
-
up , w as th e f ate o f an y

one born of woman . W h en any u n ri pen ess o f

this kind appeared , it tr eat ed su cc ess f ul l y

on th e m e nt al plan e .
 CH A P T E R XI I .

H E students came to g ether i n class es , or

small as sembli es to hear an d l e ar n o f

the Wise O nes . T he W ise O n es d i d
not undertake to talk to the outer physi c al sens es
as I am talking to you to day
-
, bu t throu gh
thought trans ference that more vigorous and per
-
,

m ea ti n g condition which some day some o f you

, ,

will perceive and know , an d this whole nation ,

so largely A tl an ti an will come into th e full pos

,

session o f. N ot only could the sub j ec t int ended

to be taught be fully and completely received bu t ,

with more in tensity and a broader wave a ct i o n

on the plane o f intell ect than , yo u now receive .
1 46 O UR S T OR Y

while we listened deli ghtedly i t were poss ib l e ,

to give to a class of studen ts by asking th em

, to

sit still a few moments a d emonstration o f th e ,

vibrations o f color soun d or other sensed v i bra

,

tion that lies j ust beyond

, . I f I as a pro fessor
, ,

and you as a class si t l i stenin g

, ea gerly an d I , say

“
to you : S i t still fo r a momen t turn inward you r ,

”
consciousness and perceive , then I could by the
forc e o f thou ght directed by my ow n ment al i ty
make visible to you the quiet the p eac e the h ar , ,

mony that always does an d must attend th e ia , ,

ner vision —
how much ti m e it would sav e ; h o w
much better you would rem em ber i t than , now ,

when you have to formulate w i th i n your ow n

brains the words sy mbo l yz i n g the vibr a ti o n s

which I poorly convey to you an d which
, no tw o

of you can conceive or perceive e x actly a like .

T his w as o u r i ntellectually e xcept i onal and br i l

liant men tal t rainin g .

Whoever was pa r ticularly b right desirous ,

to

kn ow o f al l truth whose , ey es turn ing to th e

 OF A T LA N T I S . 1 47

great wh i te tower li fting itsel f alo f t above

, ,
o ur
.

T emple wished within themselves

,
that som e
day within i ts shadow they might learn more o f
these thin gs were always sure to have the
,
op

p o r tu n i ty . When this event fu l time came and

the gat eway w as opene d wide there came
, a lso
the obligation for fulfilling even as the obli ga
tions come to day -
.

T hat which a master o f the later day sa i d : A

new comm andment give I unto you that ye lov e ,

”
one another , w as the inspirat i on the ,
thought
and the most intense dictum o f those w ho taught
in the T emple . T here must be per f ect unity ,

perfect harmony perf ect love f or one

, an oth e r .

O h , that you o f this latter day had never f orgot

ten you who have remembered and put in prae

,

“ ”
tice all the commandments o f the dread ful ten ,

concerning the physical woul d only recall and ,

practice the E leventh . T hen all th at could be

needed in the visibl e li fe would come .

'

S eek ye first the knowledge and potency o f th e

1 48 O UR S T OR Y

U nseen i n the realm o f T ruth and ther e w i ll

”
come to you knowledge o f all else . T h e knowl

edge o f th e physical cannot be so very much . It

lies along the contemplation o f a f ew s imple ,

fo u n dam en tal principles . I t is n o t so di fl

i cu l t to
m ake gold as migh t be cons i dered . I t is not so

di fli cul t to do various other th in gs which hav e

c o me to our knowledge . Every step yo u have
climbed along the way wh i ch seemed , so difl
i

cult at its first contemplati on a fter i t has been ,

accompl i shed gr ew easier with the added knowl

,

edge .

Ou r re cords in stone , c ontai ned in th e great

tre asu r y o f th e waters hold embodied fu n damen
,

tal pr i nc i ples as establish e d tru ths wh i c h m an y ,

earnest souls gropin g i n s ear ch along the higher

l in es to dis c over would gi v e yea r s o f thei r
, ow n

liv es to know . Som e of the se s o oner

, or later ,

will come i nto knowledge . T ho se willin g to ad

van ce , to exp e n d the ti m e c sary

n e es , to make the
s ac ri fic es an d t ak e upo n th em se l v es th e obl i ga
 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 49

tion whi c h must rest upon the consciences of all

w ho are admitted to participation i n the tr uths
world w i de in th e sc ope of the i r act i on
-
, ar e c an
dida tes f or knowing and understanding . T hey

will certainly advance beyon d the three f ol d

-

gates i nto the g reat mysteries .

T hat which belon ged to the A tl an ti an s as a

nation intell ectually and mo rally w as the control

o f all knowledge except that which belonged to
,

the ori gi n and power o f l if e . T his c oncerns the

On e alo n e .

S ome o f yo u whom I knew as men in th e olden

days I , n ow perce i ve as women . Bu t th e sp i r i t
that l ies behind each one o f you is the sam e ; th e
perception that looks out o f the eyes is th e s ame ’

percepti on that looked out o f the body or dre ss

you wore then thousands o f years a go

, . O h , if
you of this day and generation could only un

de r s tan d an d perceive the treachery of the physi

cal embrace how the enwrapping into the physi
,

cal is only a man i festation fo r the processes o f ac

1 50 0 UR S T ORY

co m p l i shm en t
. I f the experiences can com e only
thr ough the body o f a man it takes that
, . I f the
ob j ect of the coming back into the lives can only
be accomplished through the body of a woman ,

it accepts that with its modicum o f j o y and ter

,

rible bu rdens of pain an d mad a gony on all

planes . T h e body is noth i ng "T h e soul o f the
E go is everythin g .
 CH A P T E R XI I I .

T was a doctri n e o f the A tl an ti an s th at th e

bo dy of the physical wh i ch enwrap s us is
'

adapted to the n eed o f the Ego hold i ng it ,

as a mani fes tation o f the processes o f acco mplish

ment . I f the ego coming back into the l i v es can
no t a cc o mplish its own un foldin g , v
sa e th ro ugh

some particular experi ence it compasses th at par ,

ti cul ar exp eri ence i f it , is within i ts po ssi b il i ti es .

F rom age to a ge from generation to gen era ti o n

, ,

that which stands behind all is ever th e , same .

T hat which overshadows all is a p ar t o f th e "i

vine E xistence i s one with the On e —
, a pa rt o f
th e Divine Existence indivisible an d ,
a lways th e
same . T his w as the primary kn owl ed ge t au ght ,

fi rst in the forests , a mid the rocks an d mo un tai ns ;

an d afte rwards in the G r eat T emple buil ded in to
“
1 52 O UR S T OR Y

v e ry much o f th e w ork don e i n th e T empl e w as

accompl i sh e d by th e con trol o f th e e l em en ts or

elemental forces wh i ch th e B r o th e rhoo d und e r

,

stoo d an d e xe
r c ised ev en in th ose far ofi d ays ,

fo r the lighten i n g o f th e to i l of th e phys ical .

T h is , yo u i n this day and ge n e rati o n h ave so me

what recovered . B ut i nst ea d o f say i n g to th e

f orc e u n i ve rsal do this you cha i n so m e port i on

, ,

o f it and br i n g i t u n d e r
, l i m i tat i o n of f orm .

T h es e l im i ta t i ons act f or yo u , t r el essl y

i to i l i ng
day an d n igh t A n d . so , th e r e d o es not com e o ut

of th e surround i ng cond i t i on s an d v i b ra ti ons th e

r ea cti n g powers and forc es wh ic h ge n erally t en d
to th e phys i cal retardin g o f an y great bu i lding
or o th e r work o f i mportan ce be cause th ey are ,

m ade up of th e groan s and m o an s o f thos e w ho

to i l i n the physical body to ac compl i sh .

Wh en el em ental force builds i t , b uilds be

cause o f i ts f orc e fulness and th e re , is no th i n g to

retar d . In n o sen e s i s there an t y h i n g fo r regr et

o r r ep a at r i on . T h e re ar e n o t ears , th e r e ar e n o
 OF A TL AN TI S . 1 53

blood marks anywhere throughout the whol e

work . I t is cl ean . I t is set in motion and d i
r ecte d by the force which originates in th e po

ten ey o f man the created who thus becomes a ,

connecting link with the potency o f the On e who

mani fested as the U niverse .

In the northeastern part of th e Contin en t w as

a group o f ro c ky mountains . T h ese rocks

reached far down beneath the ord i na ry level o f
the soil . T hey seem to have been bu ttr essed up ,

apparently f rom the very center o f th e e arth i t

sel f but that it was not so appear e d by
, ,
th e

f uture events . Bu t in any event they w ere stron g

enough to hold tons upon tons o f p i l ed up r o ck i n
whatever shape it mi ght appe ar .

S o , first the rocks were cut down to a l ev el ,

and a huge plaza was thus cl ear ed fr o m '

east to

west in such a fashion that both the r i sing

,
an d

th e setting sun coul d be seen from any part ther e

o f
. A lso , the N orth S tar an d the S ou th e rn
1 54 O UR S T OR Y

by anyone stand i n g upon the Plaza . T h e hum an

V iew w as un obstructed f rom hori zon to hor izo n .

so f ar as the power o f th e eye c oul d pe netra t e .

T his plaza was ample enou gh to hol d i n i ts co n

fi n es every sin gl e member o f th e A tl an ti an n at i o n

at o ne tim e . It w as man y a c r es in e xtent .

I t is wonder ful h o w many p eopl e c an s tand on

one ac re if they are only harmon i o us

, .

T his gr eat pl az a was nec es sary fo r th e Co n

voc ations and the , ye arly cer emon i es wh e n all th e

people went up to th e T empl e to r ec ei ve gu id
an ce an d i nstruction f or th e co min g ye ar . T hi s

Con v oc ati on w as always at th e ti m e o f th e V er

na l Equ i nox wh en ren ew ed i mpetus co m es both

to the vege table an d th e a n i mal .

T hus the moun tains partl y cut d ow n , le ft

spa ce also fo r the f ac ad e wh i ch w as tun n eled i nto
fo r th e i n t e rior of the bu i ld i n g f rom th e f ront ,

an d to th i s ex cavat i on add i t i on al st ruc tu res w e r e

add ed fro m t i m e to time , to mee t th e necess i t ies
o f th e T empl e Colony . T h at is, win gs w e re
 OF A T LA N T I S . 1 5;

b ui lt an d additi on al stories add ed all wi th

, , re

gard to the symmetry o f the whole . T h e rooms

an d colonnades all yielded to th e un ifica ti on of

th e whole which , w as the edu c at i on o f th e T em

ple S ta ff , an d through them o f the wh o le p eo ple .

At the northe as t corner as I have , l

a rea dy
m en ti oned on the foundations
, of solid ro ck ,

re ac hin g far down into the earth was bu ild e d ,

’
story af ter story a tower upon thi s tower s , to p

w as loca ted th e tallest ob se rvato ry that h as eve r

bee n kn own in th e world . T here , th ey w ho

wer e wise an d , w ho were considered best , a f te r

h aving p assed tr i umphantly through the intr ica
cies the education and un folding o f the lower de
,

grees kep t constant ward an d watch

, . Out of

this tower at its lower part

, , proceeded forth
over the gr eat ar ea the wal l of the T emple in
,

closing the Great H all of Convoc ation , an d th e

T emple proper and from the Holy o f Holi es

, at

th e bottom of the tower , L ight , S tren gth and

Force , at times of Convocation stre amed forth ,
1 56 O UR S T OR Y

as the result of th e united powe r o f the T hree ,

Five S even Fi f teen and Forty fiv e

, ,
-
. But let us
turn to a f uller de scription of the tower .

“
T he tower was
% feet in di ameter at
22 the
high est point of the coping I t was buil t o f .

hewn stone in the shape o f the trunk of a tree ,

large at its base growing a li ttle smaller in di

,

am e ter , hal f w ay up and then widening a gain

,
.

“
T his model from n ature , w as considered the
strong est form . T he stones as I have said were
, ,

nicely cut an d laid in a peculiar cement found ,

in the southern part of the Continen t , which

once hardened was as fi rm as the rock itsel f . So

the tower bore itsel f aloft as i f it were one sol i d

,

stone .

O ver the top at the distance o f ten feet f rom

,

the floor at the coping was a spherical dome . It

w as of glass and more th an that i t was made
, ,

of a single piece as transparen t as water itsel f

,
.

T hrough this all the motions of the heavenly bod

i es could be seen an d minu ted from convenien t
 OF A T LA N T IS . 1 57

po in ts of o bservati on in th e , ch amb er b elow .

T h e floor o f th e hal l was o f mos ai c, wro u ght i n

fi gures , an d when i t shall reappear h e , w ho is

wise may re ad i n thi s a history of th e fo un d in g

of th e templ e i ts date i ts obj ec t
, , an d th e p ur

poses to whi c h it was dedicated .

At one e d g e there was set in the wall a ci re n

lar dis c that w as movable at the time o f th e en

tran c e or dep artu re f or him , w ho knew th e secr e t

sprin g . T his w as known only to the T hre e , one

o f whom w as constantly on du ty in , a ttendan ce

“ ”
on th e holy o f holies , o f this T emple . T h er e
“ ”
was another holy of holies i n the g reat H all
of Co nvoca tion but that was the symbol , of the
“ ”
highest perso n of the S uperior Wisdom . On e
w as the S uperior Wisdom and the other the I n
fe r i o r Wisdom . O ver this floor so tassel ate d was
spread to prote c t it from inj ury a carpet o f heavy ,

linen woven
, so closely that it w as alm ost im

pervious to impressions from without upon it .

T h e usual wear and tear of thin gs earthly did ,

1 58 O UR S T OR Y

not a ff ec t it in the least . T h i s was stretched

tightly upon the whole floo r . U pon the upper

su rface of this was drawn a circle o f the whole

circum ference of the chamber . Wi thin this per
ip h e ry wer e drawn three other ci rcl es , which
j oined each other at thei r c i rcum f erenc es , and
whose centers were each e q ually distant fro m the
center o f the great circle . T hrough these were
d rawn the inters ecting equilateral triangl es an d
the six poin ted star
-
. I n the center of these i n
scribed circl es w as placed a seat one for each
,

o f the T hree . I n the center of the g reat circl e

was a tripod holdin g a censor in which burned ,

the Eternal Fire . I n their invocations when ,

they were reaching out to conquer new territory

in the invisibl e it was absolutely n ecessary that
,

the potency of the T hree should be embodied in

.

the outer circle . Co ordinate with this e ff ort ,

-

the potency o f each must gu ard his own par

ti cu l a r circle whil e from the cente r i t
, w as e s

sen ti al should be wafted in to space the potency ,

 OF A T LA N T I S . 1 59

which could c all and conquer . T hese were all

used upon especial oc casions . T hese vi g ils were
nigh tly and daily an d the record of their observa
tions were carefully kept . T h ese thre e were
wis e men for they h ad risen step by step from
,

the knowledge o f earthly things and t he i r en

v i r o n m en ts to a point where they could perceive

all that could or would happen not only , to At

lantis but to all the remainder o f this planet

, .

T hey had also attained the poin t where other

furnishin gs were not necessary for their assist
ance for in the perception of the D ivine Birth
,

right they declared themselves one with the Al l

,

Potency and so acted

, , so demanded an d so per
ce i v e d . T his perception finally engendered pride
o f station wh ich conj oined
, to their knowl edge ,

was the cause o f thei r overthrow .

 C H A P T E R XIV

N considering the remain i n g se c ret Chamb er s

let us remember that al l knowledge com es
f rom the home o f the Great God s — th e si
lence wh e re ev e rythin g i s that i s , .

Between th e station o f th e T hr ee an d th e

Five was a he avy floor o f masonry

, , e ach ston e
of wh i ch fi tted i n to all th e others even , as o n e

piec e of solid ro c k is fi tted into its surrou n d i n g

rock . H ad i t al l bee n one pi ec e i t could no t

hav e bee n more lasting nor mor e compact . T he

arch o f the lower chamber w as like the arch o f

the upper chamber . From the h igh es t co n

cavi ty oi the l o wer ceiling to the floor o f th e

upper c h amber w as three and eight ten ths feet o f

-

soli d mason ry . T he arch o f the lower chamb er

rested upon or S pran g from five pillars in th e

w alls o f th e cir cul ar chamb e r . B e twe en ea ch o f

 OF A T LA N T IS . 16 1

these a single piece of marble was set polish e d ,

to the highest possible point . On e w as white ,

one was black one was white on e was black

, , an d

one w as white . B e tween the tw o white ones

was a band o f burnished gold the art of pre ,

paring which a f ter being lost f or ages was

, ,
re

covered again in E truria whose wondrous mas ,

te r p i ece s are the marvel and glory of the present

time . I t glittered and shon e as only that metal ,

can respond to the han d T hese mar

’
a r ti z an s .

ble mirrors were turned towards the earth at a ,

slight angle and in them could be seen as in

, ,

the pages of an open book all things that were ,

happening had happened or were about

, to hap
pen . T hat is to say by the art of the Wise O nes
, ,

these had become refl ectors o f the A stral Books .

Whoever knew the cipher could read but , to

know the cipher they must be abl e to perceive ,

and no person could be eligible to membership

’

in the Five , w ho under training did not m an i

f est this power of perception . When the love o f
1 62 O UR S T OR Y

learn i ng an d the d esir e for understand i ng had

given him the fi rst ru d i men ts of the cipher he ,

was transferred hith er . T h en as if i n a v i s i on

, ,

he w as allow e d to give proo f whether he c oul d

see an d read . I f he f ailed he was return e d
whence he cam e for fu rther trai ning i f it , ap

pe ar e d the gi f t was his . I f not then only that

,

which h ad happened to him w as his as i f h e had

dre amed i t .

I t is not n ec essary f or me to say that the Fiv e

were rapid an d accurat e r eaders of what ev e r
thei r wills so ugh t to know . T hat which w as

good was perce iv ed in the white m irrors . T hat

which w as evil or obstructive w as see n in th e

black mirrors . S o long as A tlantis was in i ts

greatest power and glory so long was the num ,

ber m ain tained as I hav e d escribed i t . But dur

ing th e las t twen ty five y ears o f
-
th e e x isten ce
o f th e T empl e i n the c i ty , th e o d d mirror in th e
white h ad clouded over in a sin gular f ashi on ,

g rowin g dark e r an d darke r un til the fi n al , de

 OF A T L A N T I S . 16 3

struction and to day under the waters ther e are

,
-
,

three black and two white mirrors ; but when

the hour o f redemption shall have struck , th e

stain w ill be wiped away f rom the white . O nce

more there will be three white and two black mir
r o r s. I n the r ecords o f the past written on the ,

floor o f th e upper ch amber ther e was this , p r o ph

“
cey : When the three are all black swi ft de ,

struction cometh to th e T emple an d th e peo

ple .

T his had been well known by those whose am

bi ti o n should have led to higher and better
things an d al though they wondered at the con
,

ti n u o u s change f or the worse so clouded h ad ,

thei r m inds become by thei r selfish ambi tions th at

no notic e w as taken o f th e d read f ul warnin g .

Al though the chamber was sol id and there

were neither windows nor doors ,
ther e were
means o f ventilation by w hich fresh air w as con
v eye d into and o ut of this apparent tomb . T he
m eans of entrance were the same as those o f th e
1 64 0 UR S T OR Y

upper chamber . A l though no aperture communi

cate d with the sunligh t yet apparen tly th e light
,

from the great dome overhead passed throu gh ,

the solid mason ry as though it were glass Wh at

, .

ever coul d be seen by the l ight in the upp e r

chamber with its magn ificent dome o f crystal
, ,

coul d j ust as easily be seen in the chamb er o f the

Five . O n the floor o f this chamber also was an

extremely fine mosaic record o f the nation and o f

, ,

lh e occul t happen i n gs to the sam e . O ver this

was a ca rpet o f th e same mater i al as that above ,

and a c ircle twen ty -

tw o and eigh t tenths f eet i n
-

d iameter . W ithin this was draw n a pentagon ,

th irte n and eight tenths feet on a sid e

e -
. From
the cen ter of each side of th e p entagon to the
po i n t o f contact with the circle a semi circl e was ,
—

drawn . In the center o f the ci rcle was a smaller

circle touching all the semi c i rcl es -
, f our an d
eight tenths feet in diameter
—
. Where these semi
ci rcl es intersected e ach other were fou r figu r es
r esembling elip ses . A t th e point corresponding
 OF A T L A N T I S . 16 5

to the focus — the point farthest f rom the center ,

w as the station of him w ho officiated . Y ou will

see when you draw these lines how in timately

w as the sustaining power of each bounded by the
great circle of the environment . A l l were lim

i ted, supported and sustained . I n the inner the ,

smaller circle rep resenting with the center , the

power o f the On e was reached and held by the
semi circle o f each and each
-
, w as supported in
turn by that o f his brother next to him on the , ,

left and by his

, ow n power until the whole cir
,

cle was completed .

H ere the triangle has becom e th e penta gon

an d the symbol o f the intimate relations o f those
who are brothers was carried ou t fully and co m

p l e tel y . A ll th e civilization the world boasts to

day is the result of the vibrations set in motion
Wi thin this noted tower of the A tl an ti an s .

Between the divisions o f the T hree and th e

Five were three feet of solid masonry . T he roo f
was arched as the heavens seem to be arched ,
1 66 O UR S T OR Y

and this arch was l i ned with an alloy o f silver ,

gold and copper an alloy wh ich the citizens

, o f

the worl d to -
day would give much to be able to
imitate .

It w as polished to the highest degree of finish ,

bu t strange to say it did

, not reflect a sin gle thing
taking place in the chamber . It w as supported
in its place by seven pilasters : On e o f orichalcum ,

o ne o f go ld one o f silver
, , one o f l ead one of tin
, ,

one o f copper and one o f plat i num .

T his w as used inst ead of quic ksilver because ,

the qu i s il ve r could not b e retained in place nor

f orm and the platinum was its opposite
, . On the
plate of platinum at its bas e was engraved th e ,

p roportions of the a
lloy used in this gr eat co n

cav i ty .

T here were always sound s emanating f rom i t .

S ometimes th ey wer e sw ee t an d harmonious ,

somet i mes sonorous and turb ul ent ; f or i t did not

refl ec t anything withi n th e ch amb e r . I t was a
’
refl ec tor of th e nation s so un ds , an d o f all those
 OF A TL AN TI S . 1 67

with whom they had dealin gs . It w as in touch

wi th al l the planets and it was a cu rious fact
,

that in reflecting the sounds i t also reflected the

colors o f the sounds because the sam e vibrations
,

that make sound produce color also . So you see

that in one cham ber attention was called to the
workin g o f the O n e in the H eavens and in the ,

next chamber could be perceived the operations

’
of man s thou ght on the A stral plane an d in the ,

chamber o f the S even we are now about , to de

scribe th e study was o f the mani festin g o f though t
,

in its first potency . T hus in each grade , ap

p r o ac h in g nearer an d nearer to those to whom

they ministered and who should have been their
,

first care always and above everythi n g else the i r

,

supreme concern .

T his ch amber also like the others was , , p er

meated by the light which knows and recogn izes

no obstruction . T he light was o f equal volum e ,

q uality and q u an ti ty as that which lighted the up

p er m o st chamber, an d it had the same pec uli ar i ty

168 O UR S T OR Y

o f pen etrat i ng an d g iving di sti n cf V iew . I t per

vaded the whole ch am ber without hav i ng , an y

visibl e source . U pon this floor also was wri tten

in mosai c , as i n the other chambers , a c ontinuance
o f the history and progress o f the nation an d th e
ci ty .

Over this , to o , w as spread as in th e

, other
chamb e rs the carpet
, . U pon th i s c arp e t w as a
ci rcl e of twen ty on e f eet in di am eter Wi th i n th i s
-
.

cir cl e w as d escribed a heptagon to th e c enter ,

were drawn radii thus maki ng e ach sid e o f th e

,

h epta gon th e base of a trian gl e o f which the tw o

rad ii were the other two sid es . Wi th i n each of

th es e tr i an gles w as inscribed a ci rc l e , tou c hin g

ea c h of the sid es . T he cen ter o f th es e c ir cl es
was the sta ti on of one o f the S eve n . I n opera t

i ng they mi ght look to the center or th e ci r cum

f e r en c e , or to each alternately . But what ev e r
w as don e was always with th e u tmost harmo ny
an d un i ty o f poten cy .

T her e i s still o ne more ch amber of po ten t cf

 OF A T L AN TI S . 1 69

fort that is th e Cham ber o f the fi fteen

, . T he
Chamber of the forty -
fiv e was more that of a

school of training than a laboratory o f occult

force . T he thickness o f the separating mason ry
was seven feet I n the center i t presented a s q uare
.

rising above the roof o f the T emple . Within i t

was a s q uare room with the sides facing each o f
the points o f the comp ass . Circular w indows ,

one each pierced the walls of the four sides T h e

, .

one on the east w as red the on e on th e west was

,

blue the south was yellow and the north white

, , ,
.

T he floor was laid in tiles and the tiles were ,

of a material which generations of w ea r c ould

not destroy . And upon these w as a lesson which
contained absolutely from beginn i n g to end all
, ,

th e knowledge that man would ever need or coul d

e xpect to attain upon th e earth . T he wis est
m ight read it parti ally . T o those lacking u n der
s tanding ,
if they could de c ipher it , w as still a

m ystery and foolishness .

T hi s may seem imp o ss i ble but it is tru e n ev e r ,

1 70 O UR S T OR Y

th el ess, when man learns that all rays come f rom

the On e i t will not be such a difficult task to
,

find the way to the source and origin o f all that

mysti fies and perplexes him on the earth . I t is
because he beli eves there are many an d that the ,

shadows an d changing illusions are o f the es

sence and quality of the real that he di ff uses his ,

power and ba fll es his own inqu iries .

I n this Chamber in a semi elipse were fi fteen

,
-

seats seven on each side o f the keystone

,
of the
arch . T he roo f was also square . I n one o f the
foc i was a crystal globe from which light always
,

em anated . In the hou rs o f rest it was necessary .

I n the hours o f day light f rom th e ou ter per

,

meated the room . T he crystal glob e hung mid

way from floor to ceiling withou t vis i bl e sup
port sway i ng gently with the movements
, o f th e

thought c urrents about it . In th e oth er focus

o f th i s semi elipse three brazen
-
serpents , sup
ported on their tails and rearin g upwards held ,

aloft in their mouths a censer in which burned

 OF A T L A N T I S . 17 1

the perpetual fire .

During the time of sessions incense an d per ,

fumes fed by invisible hands brought p ec uliar e f ,

fects to those waiting for instruction an d guid

ance . I t was here those who were fitted after
, ,

training in the school of the forty five an d wait -

in g were selected for

,
a dm i sssi o n under obliga
tion for further training and practice . I f they
kept their obli g ation they then might sometim e
hope f or promo ti on .

I f they did not keep their obligation then they

fell back . T here was always more or less chan ge
going on in this cham ber of tri al . From these
Fi fteen culled from the whole
, n ation cam e the
,

S even , Five an d T hree . N or were they allowed

to know o f the powers beyond them except they ,

occupied the chair of th e E lder Brother , w ho

w as thei r appointed leader and guide .

T hey came and wen t amon gst the people an d ,

were consider e d as persons of authori ty amongst

the T emple Dwellers . T hey were but little re
1 72 OUR S T OR Y

moved f rom the forces lying below them which ,

they utterly and entirely controlled fo r the pur

pose o f m assin g and using them for concen trated
power .

T his chamber rested upon th e massive walls

o f the Forty fiv e by a ponderous arch
-
, whose
spherical edges m et the solid rock the buttre ssed ,

foundation o f th e world seemingly upli f ted for

,

the very purpose o f this support .

Beneath the floor of the chamber of the Forty

”
fiv e w as hewn ou t the Holy o f H oli es of the
Great H all of Convocation so that the mysteries
,

intended an d d esired to be communicated could ,

be made manifes t to the people at the stated

times and seasons . T his was the ultimate out
come of all this interlinking of organization .

T he ch amber of th e For ry -
fiv e was twen ty fiv e —

by twenty fiv e feet and the Walls were twelve

-
,

feet thick . Within this wall impe rvious to sound

,

or impression from Wi thout the students of this ,

degree met . T he chamber was so arranged with ,

 OF A T LA N T I S . 17 3

its lo f ty arched roo f and solid fl o or

,
of fi n est
woods brought f rom all quarters o f the earth ,

that the conditions of pure air were f ully me t .

T hey w ho were s i tting sometimes fo r a sho rte r

,

time sometimes fo r days that seemed but hours

, ,

listened enchantedly to that wh ich w as p ro

pounded to them . T here was no lac k o f u nd e r

standin g from crudeness or from any disarran ge
ment o f the physi c al conditions of harmony an d

peace which all men must hav e to be

, , at th e

highest point o f p erception .

 CH A P T E R X V

H US sitting the Forty fiv e wer e arr an g ed

,
-

in f our rows o f seats eleven in each , ro w ,

arranged el i p ti cal l y f acing a raised dais

, ,
'

on which sat the Elder B r o th er , du r i n g the hours

of instruction . T he rows o f seats were raised
on e b ehin d the other , an d thus gave per fect and
unobstructed liberty of sigh t and perception to

the B rothers w ho sat upon them in the order o f

their ages . T here was always close to the seat
of the Elder Brother another seat , , and this ,

empty al ways to person al sense ; to those w ho

could see on the psychic plane w as filled by an

E lde r B rother f rom the I nvisible as a mentor ,

and gu ide as an i n flu en ce r of the E lder B rother

,

of the visible to receive whatever might be given

,

either from his own knowledge or by his com ,

ing in touch more readily with the invisible ; thus

 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 75

receiving out o f th e real ms of the I nvisible that

which was needed for instruction on any an d all
of the mortal touched planes-
.

A narrow staircase was arranged in the thick

wall which led to
,
th e chamber of the Forty five -
,

and a sliding door opening to the light est touch

,

o f those who knew admitted into the chamber

,
.

T his chamber was ceiled and flo o r e d —

sid es top
,

and bottom with wood they obtained from the

,

count r y to be known in the later days as S outh

,

A merica , but then a large isl and . I t was of a

peculiar hardness dark red in color and
, , su sce p

tible of the most b rilliant an d las ting polish . It

was so well fitted together that it seemed like
one piece . T hey w ho were th e builders co n

trolled the elem ental force which , w as able to do

persistently and in the finest manner whatever it ,

was set to do . So when the door was closed it ,

appeared as i f they were in a shell from which

there w as no possible escape . T here was no dan
ger f r om any outer accident except possibly an ,
1 76 0 UR S T ORY

earth quake . But fo r many hun dred yea r s no

earth q uake had occurred . For many yea r s to

come non e was predicted by even th e wis est as
tr o l o ge r s o f the T emple . T he d o o rway by which
they entered w as in the op en end o f the oval upo n
which th e seats were placed . Wi thin the whole
chamber at distan ces far enou gh
, to protect th e
sight of those w ho were r ec eivin g inst r uction ,

from any bewilderment by the light poin ts o f ,

emanating brilliancy were placed . What th es e

o f, hundreds o f
’

points of light were composed

men in th e days to c o me will giv e several y ears
,

of thei r lives to know an d n ever b e able

, to find
ou t .

Be fore these facts sh al l have again come into

the possession of men there will h ave been those
,

w ho will have com e to the place wher e their

hands have laid almost upon the thing they crave
,

and so covet . T hese lights hel d as i t were by

,

invisible torch bearers could be perfectly

-
, sta
ti o n ary for any length of time or they could be
,
 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 77

moved as there was necessity for concentratin g or

di ffusing that which they gave forth .

At times in full view

, of the whole number ,

would come up something acting as a reflector of

thought action and picturing either the Pas t or
the Future . T his great transparent b l ackboar d ,

so to speak so you may understand j ust what I

,

am trying to say held itsel f in place or seemed

, ,

to dissolve under the will of those who were in

s tr u cti n g, and while one could see through it i t ,

was an impermeable barrier to any passage

through it ; no thick bar of brass could more
stoutly resist . While there w as nothing of it
that appealed to the sense of sigh t there was still
,

such force that it served as an obstruction , al

though invisible . U pon this clear sheet , of size

large enough to fill the whol e twenty fiv e feet -
,

rising up as might be necessary for the , acco m

m o da ti o n of whatever w as thrown upon i t out ,

of the mental conditions of those w ho taught un

der the law set up by those w ho in the highest

1 78 0UR S T OR Y

Chamber o f the T em p le watched and w ai ted

,

through the C enturies . S o in the times o f i n

struction the E ld er Brother detailed whatsoever

,

should come to him out of his ow n mental i ty or

,

should b e given him out of the records o f th e

Past or ou t of that which shoul d be the result
,

of sequence in the Future

, . At the s ame time he
demonstrated upon this invisible s c reen exac tly ,

as he d escribed both as, to what had al ready oc

curred , or might take place . D id he desire to

un fold a lin e o f sequ ence then as he talke d o f

,

the se quence in a particular way the whol e , co m

pany would see that all the sequences were alike ;

that everything moved forward on the l ine of th e
O n e Creative T hought , in perfect harmony for

accomplishmen t o f all events in man ifestation .

T he things that seemed to happen were due to

the perception o f the investigator and to the non,

m ani f estation at the sam e time of the p eculiari

ties appearing in th e individual through which
cognizance was made .
 1 79

But let us describe one session : M inute by

minute there have been persons coming through
,

the door into the chamber which is hel d in the ,

softness o f a d im pleasan t twilight not clear

, ,

enough for perception except ,

at close range .

T hey have quietly an d without speakin g come ,

fo rward each to the seats where they have evi ,

d en tl y been assigned then sittin g have r estfully

, , ,

waited in silence and peace . I n coming in they ,

have all advanced from the door of entrance

across the space where th e square of de fo n str a

tion was held thus showing as they came in there

, ,

was nothing b etween them and their seats .

T hey have passed on and all are now seated

,
.

T here was not a single absentee . S uch a thing

as absenteeism or tardiness in the workin gs of

the Great T empl e was unknown . T oo well they
knew the wonderful power of C ON T I N U OU S , U N

B ROK E N A C T I ON . T he hour strikes from a sonor

'

o us ly -
toned bell ,
se m i n gl y in the center o f the
room . T o the personal sense no bell is visible ,
.
1 80 O UR S T OR Y

I t might seem strange that we A tl an ti an s had

any idea o f measuring time but i t must be , re

membered there is nothing not known ; nothing

that will eve r b e known ; nothin g that the world
will ever receive that was not received by those
, ,

who , e ager for knowledge were not only eager,

to understand but to use , . We had perceived and

received all human knowledge .

As the hour strikes in the manner I have de

scribed , the for ty four and the Elder B rother
-

lookin g up perceived a f orm dim and mis ty in

,

outlin e has filled the chair o f the presiding i n

,

str u cto r . S itting in the position of meditation ,

which in the later tim es the E gypti ans copied in

their T empl e work and le f t us on record
, , on

their books o f stone they concen trate on , th e

thought of unity .

T here were three points upon which they con

'

cen tr a te d in succe ssion : U ni ty H armony , and

L ove , for thes e thre e c onsti tu te th e U n man i

fested, so they who were i n th e For ty five wer e -

 OF A TL AN TI S . 181

taught . When the q uickeni ng o f the I nvisible

within them selves had become exal ted at a sign ,

from the Elder B rother they stoo d and making , ,

a si gn that is recognized by both the visible an d

the invisible repeated words having

, of th em
selves potency force , an d intense harmonious vi
bration . T hes e words were rein forced by other
V ibrations resembling th e rolling soun d of a great
organ . I t was a reverberation pa r tly refle c ted
and partly responsive out o f the I nvisible by
,

which they rec eived answer an d thus , became

unified into the sense and condition o f desire ,

in its most perfect form for whatever might and

could be given them .
. O n this night o f which
I am speaking th e Elder B rother commenc e d
,

describing the possibili ties o f un folding in all who

’
were presen t ; of the un folding of the Earth s
condition ; o f the things that woul d b e ar down
in th e way of clouds and darkn ess ; o f limitation ,

obstruction and Opposition and as he des cribed , ,

ste p by step that which might come under c er

,
1 82 0 UR S T OR Y

tain circumstances the screen of almost inv i s i ble

,

material quivered an d sh i mmm e r e d with the

lights an d shades passing over it . T o those who
perceived with only the physical eye there , w as

only a dancing of lu ri d fires . T o each w ho had

com e into more perfect condition ,
it was po s

sibl e to perceive not only the play o f the light

, ,

bu t the va ryin g colors and forms which lay be

hin d the colors not only upon the pictures o f the

,

scenes but upon the scenes themselves

, . T he F u

ture p resented itsel f as th e Eternal N ow . On e

o f the Fo rty fiv e looking forward not dreaming

-
, ,

that all that seemed to occur , w as about to come

in the close Fu ture h ardly att emptin g , to e sti
mate time saw then how th e B rotherhood
, , of

Wisdom f or the A ges migh t find itsel f for a time

, ,

unrepresented upon the earth ; bu t under the , oh

ligations which mak e the members of the B roth

er ho o d actin g living members whether living
, ,
or

dead , so the membership i n the i nvisibl e sought ,

desi red and brough t about the r emanifestation

 OF A TL AN TI S . 83

and rehabilitation . A ll the signs and poin ts

made and desir ed to be emphasized were illus ,

tr a te d upo n our screen . A nd thus as th e time

,

‘
wen t on in that which was to be th e
, daw n of a
ne w recreation , so to speak we perceived certain
,

gatherings o f th e far Future were also being pic

‘
tu r e d U pon the I remember i t all well
’

scr en .
,

f or i t se emed as the memory comes

, to me out o f
the Past ther e , w as some responding condition
within mysel f , n ot only did I see i t an d f eel it ; as
reg arding mysel f but that o ther s woul d then
,

come 1nto i t at th at time whose presen ce , an d

‘ '

h elp would rec all th e ri o w bu t to be k nown then

,

as a nci en t days , a nd they would t esti fy to th e

truth o f the then pictured .

I cannot tell fully o f all the dr ap i n gs an d

'

yo u
‘
decorations and p recious metals that ado rne d
‘
th is cha mbe r
‘
, bh t yo u may ima gine for yo u rselv es
nothing was s par ed to make it a fi t pl ac e both ,

in the co n di tl o ii s of the visible

-
and i n th e po
1 84 0 UR S T ORY

worl d for th e i nculcating in its full est an d i ts

stronges t , th e truth o f that which will b e fully
verified . T hey who now in li f e , know not only
o f the lower bu t , a lso o f th e higher thus per ,

ce i v e the apparently futile in many r esp ec ts has

f or its governing impelling f o rce , , th e strength
and power o f the ages behind i t . All move on

to fulfill in the completed ou tline whatever was ,

set and designed to be accomplished .

T hus the l essons given to th e Forty five were -

either in voiced vibration through the sense , o f

sight or by thou ght trans f erence

, . Whiche ver
m ethod was used the vibrations made thems elv es
,

plai nly visible to the sense to wh i ch they were

addressed . T heir vividness depended upon the
intensi ty with which the thought w as proj ect e d .

But at all times during a , sessi so n o f the Fo r ty

five , there wer e shadows mor e or less d i s ti nct
in ou tline playing over this wonder ful spectrum
, .

When i nstructions were bein g received f rom

the T h ree th e pl ay of fo rms an d colors were
 OF A T L AN TI S . 18 5

something that has never been seen elsewhere in

th e whole world . T he reflections then obtained
have really so impinged upon the Great A str al

Record that the works accomplished have become

mighty influences upon the Globe . T he record
of what these denizens o f the secret chambers o f
the Great T emple thought an d did is on e day ,

to become suprem ely dominant in the a ff ai rs of

the world . As the cycle rises to completion it ,

will become more and more poten t . H e who is

wise and able has thus given some ou tl i ne
, .
 CH A P T E R X V I .

H A VE tried thus f ar to gi ve y u
o a descr ip
tion o f th e Great T empl e o f A tl an ti s an d

o f the T ower that was one o f th e wond e rs

o f th e world . T hat which w as i n si gh t was no t

by an y m eans all ; even as the tree b ear i n g fru i t ,

a f t e r i ts ki nd above th e earth i s by , no m ean s the

lar gest nor mos t i mport an t par t o f th e or gani c
dev elopment . T h e organs of grow th and tran s
mutation ar e h i dden f rom th e cu r i ou s eye s o f the
idl e . So w e have in the m i d h e aven s th e angels
-

an d spir i ts o f li gh t ; on e arth mor tals b o th vis i ble

’
an d invis i ble ; beneath the earth s su r face ar e th e

b e in gs belon gi ng to the l o wer races , w ho hav e

never b een sub j ugat ed by the sp i r i tu al pow ers o f
s u ch as h e ld sway in the up pe r c hamb ers .

T h ese el emental be i n gs w i l l be cl assed in the

l a t e r day as S alam an ders , W ater S pir i ts , Ko
 OF A T L A N T I S . 1 87

bolds Goblins
, an d Dwar f s . T hey ar e w o rk er s

in the Fire the Water an d the Ear th or Roc ks

, .

I t was in the in ternal fires o f u n r e gi ste r abl e h ea t ,

that du rin g the latter days o f A tlan tis , th e im

mense stores o f g old and j ewels which the T em ,

ple T reasu ry held were , manu fac tured un der

P RI M A L CON "I T I ON S . In this also was illustrated
the great law of T ransmu tation .

As the Great T ower flung i tsel f toward th e

mid heavens pointing everlastingly upward s i t
-
, ,

indi c ated the constant search man is maki n g to

the exten t of his ability , fo r truth li ght , an d po

ten cy . T he part o f the T ower that sank lower

and lower in to the bowels of the E ar th , pyp i ed

th e material an d physical uses o f that which was

capabl e of transmutation . I t also hel d w i thin
“ ”
itself the lesso n of the D escent into M atter
man s environmen ts
’
. So far as m an himsel f w as

concerned it held also the doctrine o f th e T hree

,

B rains . T o all the world both A tl an ti an and

,

“
f oreign th e lesson was : I n the h eav ens abo v e
1 88 0UR S T OR Y

and the earth beneath an d the waters under th e,

”
earth .

I t has already been said that the whole c i ty o f

A tlantis w as arrayed in a S plendor whose glory ,

was never e q ual ed . I ts buildin gs have never be en

surpassed either in th e symmet r y of their arch i
,
’

tecture in the material used or in th e tasteful

, ,

ness o f its preparation and artistic designs T here .

was also a marvelous exhibition o f gol d and j ew “

els in a
, p r o fu sn e ss carried up to the verge o f the
barbaric .

T hese means for personal adornment , wer e

also used by all the people even those in the ,

humble walks of life i f A tlantis could b e said to

,

have had any such the relations of poverty an d

,

riches lon g since had ceased to pr e ss on the at

ten tion of the nation . I t was evident in the lat

ter days that some source of almost limitles s sup
ply must be easily acc essible . T he T ower which
li fted proudly its head on hi gh went down into ,

the mountains the same distance and the cellars ,

 OF A T L A N T IS . 1 89

and sub cellars were occupied by be i n gs

-
w ho he

longed to the lower races who had been sub ,

j ugated by the spir i tu al powers o f those who h el d

sway in the upper chambers .

N one o f the unini tiated kn ew fo r a certainty o f

that which was going on within the mountain .

O nly to the T hree w as this knowl edge fully co n

fide d by the Builders . T o them long, a go all

material things which are deem ed o f an y value
by mortals , or o f any use or importance what
ever had ceased
, to be of cons equence only so ,

far as they might adorn or make beauti ful ei ther ,

the T emple or the Ci ty .

U nderneath the S anctuary en tered by a d oo r

,

opening into th e solid rock at the rear , , w as a

flight o f stairs leading down into a chamber hewn
out of the rock . O u t o f this another st ai rc as e

led into a similar chamber an d still another and, ,

another and yet another staircase an d chamber

, .

Within these chambers were cu rious i mpl e

ments f ashi oned for
, u se in the operations of the
190 O UR S T OR Y

workers . T hes e operations r equ i red the use o f

certain materials , to make the mani f es ting and
finishing o f thei r work more easy . T heir p ro

j ecte d spiri t power brought back the resul ts pro

du ce d by the various combinations . M any o f

these implements and operations will come into
the hands of the r e- incarnated A tl an ti an s , f rom
time to time and more of th em will not be given
,

ou t except into the hands o f the most trusted few .

I n the F i rst Cellar S pirits o f the A i r lab o red

,

and toiled doing the will o f the M asters

, .

I n th e S econd Cellar , th e S pir its of th e Earth

moved to and fro in tent on carrying out that

, to

which they were set .

I n the T hird Cellar Elementals W hose forms ,

but thinly clothed the fierce bl az ing fires within , ,

solved th e varying problems o f metallurgy .

I n the Fourth Cellar the lowest o f all , , the

S piri ts of the gr ea t wate r y deep , fashioned what
,

ever m an needs and lays hold upo n from their

realm either for use or adornmen t
, .
 OF A T L A N T I S . 19 1

Vast tunnels led into the interior o f the moun

tains and the Continent from each o f these cel,

lars . T he spirits of the air by a spiral c ou rse ,

ascended to the high est points o f the moun tains ,

and h ere communicated with thei r fellows in the

outer world receiving supplies
,
.

T he tunnel f rom the Cellar of the E arth S pir

its opened into an i n acci ssi bl e part of the moun
tain on a li ttle plateau which
, , w as constantly
guarded by an imp enetrable veil o f fog .

T he tunnel o f the Fire S pirits led under the

Continent diagonally down to the volcanic fires
,

of th e E arth .

T he tunnel o f the W ater S pirits communi

ca te d directly with the seas by the shortest feasi
bl e route .

I n the center o f th e mountain was a cave l ike -

roo m which, w as the T reasury o f the T emple .

T his storehouse communicated with all four o f

th e tunnels and by a secret entrance with the
, ,
19 2 O UR S T OR Y

the T emple but of the n ation

, as well .

He w ho knew the s ecret of the T reasury

would stand in the rear o f the Moly Holy Place ,

at the hour of high noon on a certain day o f ,

the year and watch until by a peculiar arran ge

,

ment o f the polished marbles a single ray o f sun ,

light thrown from the chambers above would be

reflected upon the wall at the back . T his c oul d
only be seen when the observer was in a par
ti cu l ar position and then but for a period o f thre e
,

minutes . H aving perceived this he woul d tu rn ,

one quarter to the right an d m o ve seven steps ,

in a straight line then turning , to his original

position he took five steps more and then turning
, ,

one q uarter to the le f t three steps brought him

-
,

to an apparently blank wall highl y ornamented , .

But to him who had the key a slight pressure ,

on a j ewel o f immense val ue apparently plac e d ,

there f or orn am entation opened a huge door o f ,

r o ck wei ghing tons but so

, , balanced that it
moved ea sily an d withou t noise and was sc reened ,
 OF A T L A N T I S . 19 3

from view by the shrine which stood in f ro n t .

E ntering boldly as so on as he stepped upon

, th e

flagging inside the door the great stone settled

,

back in to its first position . I t could be opened

on the inside by pressin g upon a slight proj ection
at the back . T hirteen times thirteen steps
brought him again to a blank wall through a ,

high arched passage lighted by the never dying

, ,
-

lights produced by the action of positive and neg

ative earths combined with the rock which gave ,

out an electrical phos phorescent light the secret ,

of which perished with th e nation bu t which ,

may be recovered at a later day by the chemists ,

as th o se w ho are expert in safes recover the for

,

gotten combination o f the locks ther eo f . O nce

more he , w ho knew the secret S prin g might open ,

and pass within . T he T re asure Chamber opened

to the T emple I nspector on the day o f the Vern al
Eq uinox when the sun wen t down in the West
, .
 C H A P T E R XV I I .

T was a sight th at met his ga z e which , an

avarice tain ted soul would n ev e r

-
be al

lowed to contemplate . Great heaps o f

gold silver
, an d aluminum the meth o d u se d by
,

us for ob tainin g which was th e r esult , o f co n

de n se d electrical power acting , throu gh sur

charge d ma gnets o f th e fi nest steel . I n th e times
to come the f orces o f indu c tion will for a ti m e , ,

be very littl e un derstood . But the day will c om e

when they w i l l have the very b es t me thod o f ex

t ra cting aluminum f rom the ori gin al clay as th e ir

secret . T hese stacked up heaps of the nobl e
me tals were in quant i ty suffi ci ent to last f or cen

tu r i es , nor had their continuous produ c t i o n

ce ased but every day added
, to th e in c reas i n g
S tOl C.
’

Beside th ese were h eaps upon h eaps

,
of pri c e
 OF A T L A N T I S . 19 5

less j ewels som e o f , t hem sti ll warm f rom the

fires o f e arth and water in which they were crys,

tal l i z e d . Both th e polished an d the uncut glit

te r e d an d shone h ere in the light which w as as
full and stro ng as in the passage way -
.

H ere the workers in the various cellars de

posite d the results o f thei r labors . From here
the civil rulers received whatever they needed
“

upo n sudde n pr essure i n their traffic wit h all out

,

side nat i ons of the earth . Bu t there were also

in the city their own sto rehouses and treasuries
of wealth . T his was only that which belonged
to the T empl e and was the , r e sh l t o f the labors
o f the se rva nts of the T emple . I n case o f n eces

si ry th e civil r ule rs c ould draw upon the T emple

,

for reserves in any amount .

N o human eye hat h seen , no r any ton gue de

scribed the immensi ty o f the wealth lyi n g to this
day in that strong mountain treasu ry beneath
, ,

the waves . T here is enough gold lying in it to

destroy the value of the gold now in use upon

1 96 O UR S T OR Y

the earth . But when the day o f its d i scovery

shall come it will belong to a n ation , w ho shal l
have so purified itsel f from avarice that there
shall be no karmic weigh t trans ferred f rom this
tre asure to the shoulders of its finders .

U pon the inner door that opens into this treas

u ry r e sts a seal . U pon this seal is the f ollo w i ng
“
inscription : T he poten t Will o f the Most
M ighty holds this tre asure sa f ely until the time ,

o f the restoration shall come . T h e A ngel o f the

”
waters has charge o f it .

I t seems hardly n ec essary to say tha t th e j ew

els an d gold were all manufactured by the oc

cu p an ts o f the cellars an d that it was th e

, re flec
tion ou t o f the A stral ligh t on the vision o f the ,

clear sighted that m ade

-
, so m any earn est b el i e v

ers in the transmu tation o f b ase me tals into gold

an d j ew els .
 CH A PT E R XVI I I .

H E manner o f adj ustment an d Convoca

tion w as after the following f ashion : A s
has al ready been stated the priesthood ,

had charge o f the education of the people T here .

were some better fitted for one thing than an

other as even
, at the present day . But those w ho

were especially gifted with understanding , w ho

combined reverence with intense desire f or the

knowl edge o f that which was unseen an d hid
den wherever found were transferred
, , to th e

templ e service an d this was the first step in the

,

separation o f the wheat from the cha ff .

T hose , w ho in their training as part o f the

,

T emple fam ily exhibited a still higher degree o f

,

intelligence and perception were again set as i de

for the Forty fiv e and again in the same manner
-
,

for the Fi f teen . T he selection f or the hi gher

1 98 O UR S T OR Y

Ch ambers f ollowed in the sam e order ,

f rom
those best developed and ad apted to the work to

b e done . T he trainin g o f th e Forty fiv e was first -

,

submission to unseen gu idance in a more inten se ,

degree than as ordinary scholars o f the T emple .

When they had reached the point w here , be

cause th ey were asked they took pains , to think

out along any line that ough t or might be de
sir ed thei r power for broad i n tense contempla
, ,

tion had increased until their meditations had be

come second natur e .

T he next st ep w as concentration N otice the

steps , submission , meditation , concentration .

Whe n th e though t w as well massed and the vi

br atio n s we re uni f orm an d persisten t th en th ey ,

proj ec t th e c onc en tered thought

'

were taught to

which had been the e ssence o f their medi tations .

A s th e absolute U nity I T m e ditates as th e D i

, ,

'

vme I deation I t concentrates as

, , th e Creative
T h ought I t pro j ects
, . S o nearly as the E arth
dweller may follow this l i n e o f proc e dure , so
 OF A T L AN TI S . 1 99

nearly will he be able to lay hold o f the U n se en

force and make i t availabl e for all good pur
poses .

Y ears of discipline in the Forty five and still -

later in the Fi fteen made each member of the

,

S even ready and expert in these labors . T he per

fe cti o n was carried still farther in the Five ,

where they practiced the attracting o f th e vibra

tions o f unseen force of any kind whatever into
,

alignment with th ei r own proj ect i on thu s con ,

trolling the powe rs of the great names .

It w as as i f workmen taking a b all o f so ft

metal from the crucible or furnace shou l d wh i rl ,

it rapi dly in the air until it had a ssum ed

,
a cer

tain form an d then launch it f orth

, to ful fi ll the i r
will .

Bu t to the T hree belonged th e dir ec ting Of al l

,

the force thus gathered “ No r w as th e r e allowed

to be any ch an ce fo r mistake ~
, not e ven a cl ash
~ ~

ing thought i n th e i m i n ds o f th e T h r ee . It w as
200 0 UR S T ORY

should contr o l the outward mov i ng o f the v i bra

ti ons at any Convocation an d to the po we r ,
of

the one o f the T h ree the o ther , tw o ad ded the i r

pot ency . T h e re gul ar Convo c at i o n s w e r e under

th e Full M o on of each month . But th e spec i al

Convocat i ons were unde r the w i ll o f th e T h r ee .

Wh en sp ec ial Convocation was desired the , w o rd

g i v en at th e last Convocation WA S wh i spered to

e a ch , o ut o f th e Inv i sible i n such a m anner that

, ,

al l coul d r eco gn i z e an d unders tand th e c all .

A t th e cl ose o f the Convoc at i on , th e Elder

B roth e r o f ea ch S ection rec ei v e d f rom th e Eld e r
B rother o f the h ighest S ec t i on a word l i ke this ,

”
“
M yl d . T h i s th e E lder B ro ther c omm un i cated
to the inner sense o f the instructed it n ev e r being "
spo k e n aloud "as, th e clos i n g p assword o f th e

sess i on .

If th er e w as a s pec i al Convoc at i o n , the n , to

e a ch o n e, cam e out o f the S il en c e , th e Word to

th e i n n er ea r , an d thereby no t o nly was the day

na me d , but th e hou r w as fix ed be i n g always at a
,
 OF A T L AN TI S . 20 1

certain distance f rom the S un s setting ’

. I f there
w as no special Convocation then at the , n xt regu
lar meeting each one present at the opening in
, ,

succession in l o w breath pronounced th e given

, ,

word , so that which had be en gi ven o u t, was

again recalled .

T he work was formally opened in the upper

Chamber by the T hree . A t the fi rst word of in
“
vocation the , Center o f Fire glowed and
flashed and whatever had been planned o r ar
,

ranged f or needing potency , was apportioned

amongst the lower chambers . I n the ch amber
o f the Five the polished marbl e slabs re flected
,

th e orders . I n the chamber o f th e S ev en , th e

notes o f the bel l h l i ke the tones o f som e sweet har

mony told the story
, . But to the trained i nner
ear of the E lder B rother in the Fi f te en , , as by
‘
i nsp i rat i on came that which
, w as n ecess ary to be

d one .

T here was no hesitation in c ompliance , no

ti midity in obedi ence and , no d elay i n cti on

a .
20 2 0 UR S T OR Y

T he gathered f orc e o f the whol e nation i n charge ,

o f the Forty fiv e were s ent f orward

-
to the F i f
teen and there as intensified
, , w as p asse d on to

the S even where bound to geth er sol i d ifi ed

, , , an d

shaped , th e pro j ected potency was a ga i n hand e d

on to the Five , w ho harmoniz e d th e ac t i v i ty of

the potent vibrations with the vib rations o f the

U n i verse . T hus chan ged f rom the S pec ial to
,

the U niversal it was placed in the h an ds o f the

,

T hree , w h o un iting their f orce in th e On e stood ,

ready to hurl into space in all the aw fulness , of

power this p ro j ection o f

, th e c on cen trated po

ten cy o f a nation by wh ic h they c ould r eally

, ex

p ect to hold an d keep everyth i ng th ey h ad s eize d

upo n .

T he matter o f trainin g ca nnot be understood

f rom mere description . O nly wh e n stu den ts at

tempt o f them selv es to brin g the i r m en tal c ond i

t i ons und e r sub j u g ation , can be U n d e rstood h o w ,

lon g i t tak es . to accomplish th e wond e r ful thin gs

don e by o ur A n c i en t B roth ers .
 C H A P T E R XIX .

H EY w ho ruled in A tlantis , as the p ri es t

hood were successful
, in gu i d i n g the
ship of S tate wisely an d f or tunately , so

long as they considered the interests o f th e whole

nat i on as one . As long as they put asid e the sen s e
o f separateness while they only sought for w i s
,

dom that the ben fit growing out o f i t mi ght be

,

utilized in common by al l the nation , w ho looked

for light an d gu idance from them all was well , .

As long as the T hree Five and S even w i th the

, ,

Fi fteen and Forty fiv e were separate and yet one

-
,

the only distinction being to see who coul d b es t ,

work with the highest potency in the position

where he was placed satisfied that th e well
,
an d

p er f ect doing and the acquiring o f knowledge

f rom experience woul d b ring the reward that
,

c omes al ways to attainmen t .

204 O UR S T OR Y

T hey looked to the perfect doing and not , to

the result , an d out o f this desire grew the con

cen tration o f potency in their hands which made ,

them the one nation o f the earth exceeding all

othe r s in the un ravelling o f th e hidden myste r
ies . But i t was not a t ask of idle floating but ,

some times of fierce desperate warfare in the do

,

mains of the I nvisible . As one poin t a f ter an

other un folded to their perceptions those , w ho

held guard over the hidden truths or those , w ho

wrought ignorantly or malevolen tly to con fuse

mortal unders tanding used eve ry e ff ort to , up

set and i f it were possible

, , to cut of f the keys o f
the U ni versal p rinciples . And it was m any
years aye centuries b efore they had compassed
, ,

the fact that numbers harmoniously united an d

agreed upon a certain single point on spiritual , ,

lines were j ust as powerful as the combinations

,

on the physical plane with the diff erence that i f

,

spiritual conditions were once perfectly trained

an d harm on ized there could be
, no defection nor
 OF A T L A N T I S . 20 5

sudden w eakness f or weakn ess is i n

, no se n se a

spiritual attribute Wh ile an army .

, or other mass
o f physical c onditions migh t at any time be stam

p e de d .

T here fore , in all the work non e w ere , ad

m i tte d to the s ep arate and secret assemblies un til

the overcoming of the body and i ts desir es w as

far advanced thus leaving the S pir i t a cl ea r fi eld

,

in which to operate .

A nother point so soon as the occult ideas

, an d

thoughts were strongly dev eloped i t s e rv ed , as

a magnet fo r those who were in or on th e same

lines of thought both ,

from the i ncarnati n g
spheres and al so from other po i n ts u po n
, the
earth where lamps lighted from the A tl an ti an
,

torch by its I nsp i r i ng reflection had s timulate d

, ,

those w ho cam e wi th in its reach to a higher , an d

more vi gorous search . Knowing of A tl ant i s ,

they gravitated thither an d here th ey wo ul d ,

have remained and shared with A tlanti s the fa te

that overtook her blotti ng out f or ,
a tim e fro m
206 OUR S T OR Y

the earth all the knowledge that w en t be fore

, ,

had not those , w ho in the S ilence o f the U n se en ,

watched and foreseen the cataclysm " but no t i ts

cause "worked to scatter abroad upon

, th e earth ,

enough to b ecome the seed and sal t o f salvati on

f or the generations that have followed .

In al l the movements of the earlier day the ,

segregation and massing unavoidably led to the

pressing fo rward to the front upon the develop
,

men t alon g the new lines o f some one

, , w ho

could b ecom e under inspiration a leader

, , . T his
w as al l '
well , ex cp t as the world always resents
and resists the aggressiveness o f new ideas with ,

the kni fe the fagot the sca ff old and in later

, , ,

days wi th the subtiler force o f mind thus crush ,

ing torturing an d destroying the instrumen ts

, or

leaders .

T hey who were the depositaries of knowledge

‘
fo r the time being thus , suff ered ignominious
death . T he knowledge itsel f has been in great
danger from the machinations of secret en emies ,
 OF A T L A N T I S . 207

of total eradication from the earth an d th e p er

cep ti o n s o f its inhabitants . T his w as l ikely to

happen be fore its firm establishmen t could be ac

complished . T his fact was well know n an d un

d e r sto o d by the m al ign forces . U pon this knowl

edge they acted again and again seeking to have
, ,

the lead ers i n occult movemen ts either bring de

struction upon themselves or have others entirely
cut them o ff .

T herefore those having this matter i n c har g e

, ,

have resolved instead of teaching men through

.

the tongue and brain of a Brahma or a J esus , ,

H is place should be supplied by a sodali ty o f

many welded into on e . But even her they stan d
face to f ac e with another obstacle . I t has been
an essential that if the truth be preserved indi
, ,

v i d u al i ty must incr ase i n e I ts perception and

reali ty and i n the latter days they will be con
,

fronted with the intense individuality of th e

people , w ho are con fused and overcome by the

sense o f separateness . T hey w ho seek to study
208 0 UR S T OR Y

on these lines an d
, to ga i n wi sdom must , as it
were train the units m a de up of members i nto
, , ,

a oneness or individuali ty o f the whole and thus

shall be born a n ew M E S S I A H or a new T ruth , .

T he Christos of that Gr eat Cycle wi ll be , a

union o f many individuals or a nation who shall ,

stand as th e representatives of the new un fol d

men t o f T ruth .

I n the Record o f the A depts there i s a v i s i o n

,

d escribed as s een by one of th e Mighty O n es ;

of an image whose head body an d l imbs w e r e ,

made up of di ff erent metals and the f eet were ,

of iron and aluminum . Each o f these met al s

represented a M essianic age a new T ruth an d , ,

an E mpire di rec tly l

r e a ti n fg to some man if esta
tion of that tru th . T hese will represen t th e

leaders of the previous dispensations and then ,

follows the vision a stone cut out o f the moun

,

tain without hands which represents a nation

,

fashionin g itsel f ,
until it shall have obtained
M E SS I A H S H I P and thus more power ful i t
, ,
 209

shall overshadow in its mani festation and d is

p en sa ti o n all that has come before . ALL who
are looking toward the light A L L who are seek
,

ing u n se l fish l y for wisdom must as constituent

, ,

parts o f that nation attain such light such wis

, ,

dom ; and d rawing closer and closer together ,

like drops of mercury when they touch they shall ,

become as one . For this we work and wait .

 C H A PT E R XX .

M O N G the arch i ves o f that time an d

coun try has come to th e kn owledge o f
o ur pr esen t gen eration , the follow i n g
prophe cy
“
A nd i t sh all come to pass i n thos e days i n ,

which the highest knowledge that has ever been

given to th e worl d shall be , se ized upon by th e
few , an d i f right f ully an d tru thfully held f or the
many will bring
, to all those w ho shall com e
upon the earth wisdom blessing and g rowth
, , .

But there must also be an overcoming o f the

natural and physical which will bring disturb
,

ance and sore distress b ecause the physical yields

,

not to the r ul e o f th e S pirit without much r esist

,

’
ance . A ll progress in the soul s career is s tim
u l a te d by the instinct o f the S pirit to return to the
condition o f i ts fi rst powers an d estate b e f ore i t
,
 OF AT L A N TI S . 211

should have individual ized itsel f from th e O N E .

I t is no sin nor crime ,

to seek to know by all , -

the means within the power of the S pirit to grasp

or undertake . N or does th e O N E resen t as sin ,

such attempts : On the contrary I T intends that ,

they w ho have become individualized shall sooner ,

or later enter into all knowledge

, . T hat is the
perfect attainmen t . I t shall come to pass who ,

ever fits the sel f for knowledge shall receive it , ,

but whoever attempts to gr as p potency without

bein g fi tted to handle it serious consequences will ,

ensue and the thing already attained may be

, ,

taken away . T here can be no sin for tho se w ho

shall have knowledge in the grasping o f the ve ry ,

highest in thei r pursuit ; bu t if they shall seek ,

before they have made the mselves ready to grasp

that which is withheld simply by th eir own force ,

o f potency disregarding the consenting or the

, ,

law o f the O N E , then ther e will com e dire re

su l ts , or i f it so happen that the nation shall have

so far advanced that th ei r knowl edge would be
212 O UR S T OR Y

dangerous to the other n ations of the world in ,

its use then will i t be withdrawn

,
. Bu t this is
true that the physical man is o f
,
no valu e only
,

as an agent in the computation of the happenings

upon the earth . While i t might seem to man an
awful thin g that millions of bo dies shoul d c ease
to exist there , w as no th ing in that issue that could
be charged against th e leaders . T hat was some
thin g distinct by itsel f , , an d something that ful
filled the law . T he thin g for which the leaders
su ff ered was d isobedience of the l aw which denied ,

to the creat ed th e force f ul taking from the O N E ,

any knowled g e for which the taker is not pre

,

pared .

Wh en limited power meets U niversal poten cy ,

’
there can t be but one issue . S o now under

stand there
, w as n o s in bu t simply the outcome
,

o f the l aw of th e U niverse . Even the intense

d esire which migh t se em a s i n
, , w as in one sen se
law ful ,
an d the resul t o f caus es i mplan ted by
the Creative T hough t i tsel f . T hey were not
 OF A T L A N T I S . 21 3

responsible but they were the instruments

,
. It
w as neces sa ry that the law should be proved . It
has always been a saying o f the Wise O nes that ,

those things which seem to be gr e at disasters to

the earth dwellers must come to pass and
-
, , in

str u m en ts must be used fo r that purpose . But

thes e instruments standing in the front , must
su ff er for that which they have provoked .

As to the outlook for accomplishment . T he

instruments of the mighty f orces o f the U nseen

evidently have not developed the strength we
desire , no r that is necessary ,
f or the per f e c t
culmination . U n ti l fu r th e r training can develope
proper conc entration they seek to bridge over an d
,

to hold as much as possible o f that which has

already been gained .
 CH A P T E R XXI .

By way o f addenda and to show that this book

,

'

has authoritative su bstan ce fo r its assert i ons and

in formation , we give our readers a c ouple of

clippings f rom the mass o f n ewspaper flotsam

and j etsam o f the last years
, .

T h e followin g is the M aya account o f th e

destruction o f A tlantis from D r A u gustu s L e

, .

’
Plongeon s ren derin g o f the T r o an o manu
scrip t:
“
T h e year si x Ka n , on th e eleventh M ul u c ,

in the month "a c, ther e occurred terribl e earth

quakes , wh ich continued withou t intermissio n
until the thi rteenth Ch ue n . T he c ountry o f th e
hills o f mud the ,
‘
land of M u ,
’
was sac rificed .

B e i n g tw ic e upheaved i t sudd en ly d i sapp eared

,

dur i n g the ni ght , th e b asi n be i n g con ti nually

sha k en by v olcan ic f or c es . B e i n g con fi ned , th ese
 OF A T LA N T I S . 2 1;

caused the land to sink an d ris e s everal M es and

in various places . At last the surface g av e
, w ay,

an d the ten countries were torn as und er an d

scattered in to fra gments ; unable to withstand th e

f orc e o f the seismic convulsions they s ank w i th
,

s ix ty four millions o f inhabitants ei ght thous an d

-
,

”
year s be fore the writing o f this book .

T h e other extract i s of one o f th e bu il din gs

w hi c h reincarnated A tl an ti an s pu t up when th ey ,

hel d sway in th e land o f the N ile centuries a f ter ,

the d estruction o f their own beloved co u n try :

“
S ome months ago , while workmen w e re en

gaged i n an attempt to restore the partly f al le n

H yp n o s tyl e H all o f the great T emple o f Kar n ac ,

in E gypt , eleven columns gav e way an d f ell .

T his was some months ago . T hirteen columns

had f allen in ancien t times an d it was wh i l e prep

,

a r ati o n s f or their res toration were being made ,

that the others fell an d thre e o thers were

,
so

shaken as to compel removal .

“
Ou r ar c haeological readers will be deli g hted
21 6 OU R S T o RY

tO l earn th at h undreds of A r ab l abor ers, u n er

d
’

th e d i r ection o f abl e en gine e rs ar e n o w e n ga ge d

‘
,

in re tor i ng s thos e ancient r u i ns , th e l argest an d

‘
Best p r esi er ve d of an y i n E gypt wh ich h ave
re c a h e d th ese ti m es .

“
A ll of th ese tw enty seven co l umn s w il l be
-

rec onst r u c ted an d pla c ed i n th e i r o r igi nal po si

tib n . T h e uppermos t memb e r of e a ch colum n

w ei gh s 1 242 to ns . T he ar c h i traves w e igh 25

“
NI Ode rn en gi n ee r i n g p r o c esses ar e n o t equal to

th e task of rec onstru c t i n g th is w o r k , so a h uge

i riél i n ed pl a n e r equ i ri n g
'

, cub ic m ete rs
of ear th , a ft er th e mann e r o f th e an ci en t ar ch
i tects , wil l b e c onstruct e d an d r emo ve d w h e n th e

w o rk i s fi ni sh ed wh ich i t is expe cte d

, w il l be co m
‘ '

til e ted b yM ay o f
’

1 904.
”“ ”
"c mb
-

In e e e r l as t M L e gr an in ch ar ge , of

th e w o rk , cam e upon a wond e r ful l y b eaut i ful b u st

E gyp t s olden go d s O th er po r t i on s
’
o f one of .

df th e St atue h av e subs equen tl y co me tol i gh t,

‘
d
i

an
 OF A T L A N T I S . 217

i t is hoped the residue may be found and restored

to its entirety save possibly a small p i ece

, , , to

complete one o f the le gs . T his statue labeled

‘
,

Kh o n su of T hebes God o f the Day will be

, ,

p l e ce d in the reconstructed T emple and it is

,

expected other treasures o f ancient art Wl ll be

unearthed in the farther removal o f th e debris
of a ges wh ich h as accu mul ated i n the se ru i ns .

UN N E RS ‘
“