ATLANTIS

Within the recorded history of many cultures, there are references to the great island continent of Atlantis, and its highly sophisticated civilization. Plato, a highly respected Greek philosopher and teacher, gives a detailed, nonfiction account of Atlantis, allegedly imparted by his father-in-law. Many of these cultures had no known contact or knowledge of each other`s civilizations, so why would such diverse ancient peoples, such as the Maya, the Egyptians, the Hopis, or the Greeks, have the same legends? Some scientists once dismissed it as myth. But not any longer.

Most scientists no longer argue about the existence of Atlantis—just the whereabouts of its ruins. Even marine scientist and explorer, Jacques Cousteau, searched for underwater archeological evidence of Atlantis. It ended with his son believing Atlantis was probably in the Caribbean or Atlantic, and Jacques believing it was in the Mediterranean. Even though they both found what they believed to be evidence of an ancient sunken civilization, neither had definitive proof acceptable to all scientists that they`d discovered the remains of Atlantis. However, little absolute archeological proof is likely to even remain from any civilization destroyed by a cataclysmic disaster, let alone tens of thousands of years ago, let alone one sunken beneath the sea in a totally unknown area. Even the great Titanic was only recently found, and only after extensive searches, even though scientists knew approximately where it sank. Furthermore, it went down only decades ago, and it sunk from merely hitting an iceberg, whereas Atlantis allegedly sunk long, long ago, in an unknown location, and was totally devastated by unimaginable natural catastrophe. A disaster so great, that it may have had a "ripple" effect around the world, which brings us to the dying off of the dinosaurs, and stories of The Great Flood.

Cultures the world over, still have stories of a great flood that destroyed most life, which happen to be very similar to the story of the sinking, and flooding of Atlantis. Descriptions of the destruction of Atlantis, say it involved great earthquakes and volcanic upheavals, and the actual sinking of the entire land mass. So perhaps some legends of a great flood could have come from secondary flooding, that resulted from unimaginably gigantic tsunamis generated by an event that was the greatest geological disaster in history (such as the one most scientists say caused the extinction of the dinosaurs). Such waves could have swept the globe, flooding many, if not most, parts of the world, and eruptions could have darkened the sky, and created other disastrous ecological consequences.

To the open mind who researches this subject, the evidence that Atlantis did indeed exist, is overwhelming. But if Atlantis, as Plato described it, was a highly advanced, sophisticated civilization, with technology that even surpasses that which we have now, shouldn`t there be some other remnant of their society? Not necessarily. But just perhaps.

According to the legends, Atlantis was so thoroughly destroyed by natural catastrophe, that there was nothing left. Yet, couldn`t there have been some Atlanteans with enough foresight to leave beforehand, and escape the disaster? Or some that were traveling in other parts of the world at the time? It seems quite possible that, given the stories of how advanced and sophisticated a civilization it was, that at least some traders or travelers were elsewhere in the world at the time. Some theories say the Hopi Indians and the mythological inhabitants of Mt. Olympus, the gods of Greek and Roman mythology, were actually Atlanteans that survived.

Now just consider this amazing possibility—what if groups of Atlanteans, not only survived, but also established communities in various places. What if they continued to pass on their heritage, their history, philosophy, and religion, even to this day? Such people could teach us so much, and fill us in on this great missing piece of human history.