ATLANTIS IN THE
CARIBBEAN
Is There A Carib or GARIFUNA LINK TO THE
LOST CONTINENT OF ATLANTIS?
In
350 B.C., Greek philosopher and scholar Plato wrote about a country he called
Atlantis. Plato's Atlantis, before it sank in about 10,000 B.C., was an
extensive inhabited island in the Atlantic Ocean "outside the Pillars of
Heracles" (the Straits of Gibraltar). It was located on the Atlantic
Ridge, a mountainous section of the ocean floor that runs north-south in the
center of the Atlantic Ocean between the European and American continents. Since
lava now covers much of the ocean floor at the Atlantic Ridge, it is unlikely
that we will ever find conclusive evidence of Plato's Atlantis. However,
Atlanteans moved from their island home to locations around the Atlantic Ocean
where ruins of their buildings are more accessible.
During
the most recent Ice Age, from 50,000 B.C. until 10,000 B.C., so much water from
the oceans was incorporated into the snow and ice of the glaciers, that they
grew to be a mile-high in some places. As a
result, the Atlantic Ocean was approximately 350 feet lower than today
and most of the continental shelves were above the surface. The continental
shelves extend out as far as two hundred miles from the present shore lines of
America and Europe. Land areas in the North Sea, the
English Channel, as well as much of the Caribbean area were also above the
surface of the ocean during the last half of the Ice Age. Atlanteans moved to
all of these areas, for the land was more stable than the Atlantic Ridge.
Since the ocean was lower, additional shorelines were exposed, so islands were
larger and therefore closer together. It didn't require a large, complicated
boat to sail from one place to another.
The
Bahama Islands consist of about seven hundred small islands and cays. They extend
from fifty miles east of Palm Beach, Florida for approximately 760 miles
southeast in the direction of Haiti. When a large amount of ocean water was
incorporated in the glaciers during the Ice Age, the entire region, which is
known as the Bahama Bank, was above sea level. It is clearly visible on a map
which depicts the ocean floor. Jacques Cousteau offers some additional proof
that the area was above the surface 12,000 years ago. In an expedition on his
submarine CALYPSO, he explored around Andros Island which is in the center of
the Bahama Bank and the largest Bahama island above the surface. Near the
island, at a depth of 165 feet, he found a huge grotto or cave with stalactites
and stalagmites. These formations can only develop in air. Scientists who
tested sediments on the walls of the cave confirmed that the cave was above
water in 10,000 B.C.
During
the Ice Age, the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico stretched out nearly to Cuba,
which was a larger island than today, and the Key West chain of islands was a
land bridge that stretched almost to the northern coast of Cuba. A long mass of
land, with only two or three breaks for rivers, ran from Jamaica, across what
are now the Lesser Antilles Islands and continued all the way to Venezuela.
Atlanteans thrived in all these areas.
Edgar
Cayce predicted that in 1968 or 1969 Poseidia, a portion of Atlantis would
rise. He describes Poseidia as one of the five islands that resulted from the
breakup of the main island of Atlantis around 50,000 B.C. This large land area
in the Caribbean, that included Bimini, became an important center for
Atlanteans after 28,000 B.C. when natural catastrophes or unpleasant social
conditions pressured many Atlanteans to flee their sinking country. (Readings
587-4, 877-26, 2157-1.)
In
1968 airplane pilots sighted what appeared to be cut stone blocks and columns
in the ocean north of Andros Island, about 50 miles to the west of Nassau in
the Bahamas and 150 miles east of Bimini. The numerous explorations which
followed have resulted in the discovery of what many believe are the remains of
a megalithic city beneath the water not far from Bimini.
Edgar Cayce frequently refers to Atlanteans moving to the
Caribbean, and scientists have recently confirmed that, as Edgar Cayce
described, people settled in Belize on the southern coast of the Yucatan
peninsula before 9,000 B.C. Cayce depicts one small band whose leader Iltar led them to the
Yucatan, and states that a temple Iltar built will rise again. (Reading
5750-1.) One can imagine the destitute people who sailed in fragile craft
toward the setting sun for many weeks on end with little food and water, before
finally reaching the lovely lands of Central America.
When
the Atlanteans arrived in the Yucatan they found people from Mu (Lemuria) and
Oz (Peru) happily living in the most desirable locations. Few conflicts
developed, since fertile soil and ample living space encouraged a peaceful
coexistence. Cayce describes the energized stone circles the Atlanteans built
in the Yucatan for worship. One of the ceremonies that took place at these
powerful sites was focused on cleansing undesirable selfish traits from the bodies
and minds of individuals. (Reading 5750-1.) Members of the diverse group from
such distant parts of the world gradually intermarried, and Cayce tells us that
an advanced civilization eventually developed.
Attorney
and archaeologist Lucille Taylor Hansen gathered similar information from the Caribs of Central America which she discloses in The
Ancient Atlantic. The Caribs remember a large group that sailed to the west
from their island home of Atlantis about 28,000 B.C. The entourage
consisted of seven extensive families, enough to fill ships for seven fleets.
When the refugees finally found an island for their settlement they called it Caraiba. The Carib legends refer to Atlantis
as "the old, red land" in the sunrise sea, now covered by water.
In
a similar way, the Toltecs, predecessors of the Aztecs in Mexico, characterize
the homeland of their ancestors as the old, old, red land. During glacial times
red clay was more abundant in the area above the surface in the Atlantic Ocean
than it is now, which accounts for this widespread nomenclature in old stories
of Atlantis. The Caribs told Hansen that descendants
of Atlanteans dwelt happily in Caraiba for a very long time. Priests who
visited from Atlantis taught the people the religion of Tupan and called them
the Tupi, meaning the sons of Pan, which was another name for the old, red
land.
The Caribs' account relates that many generations later, after a
particularly devastating natural catastrophe on Caraiba, the Tupi were
compelled to leave their sinking island home. They sailed a little further to
the west in seven even larger fleets and came to a sea they called
"Caribbean," after Caraiba, their initial island refuge. Here they separated. Some
settled on nearby mountainous ground which they farmed by terracing, a
technique their distant forebears employed on the steep mountainsides of
Atlantis. Other Tupi moved to the south and sailed up the Amazon River. The
Guarahis of Paraguay continue to worship the god Tupan. At least one of the
seven groups of these Atlantean descendants from Caraiba
went north to the Mississippi River Valley. For a long time
representatives of the seven extended families met every 104 years to
coordinate calendars and compare adventures, but communication became an
increasing problem, and they gradually lost touch with one another.
While
observing and studying a group of linguistically interrelated Indian tribes
along the Amazon River, archaeologist Marcel Homet learned that their common
language, Tupi-Guarani, contains idioms that are strikingly similar to the
Basque language. Edgar Cayce says the ancestors of the Basques were Atlanteans
who moved to the Pyrenees Mountains of southwestern Europe. (Reading 990-1.)
Egerton
Sykes was a 20th century British scholar whose diligent research produced a
massive collection of classical references, ancient literature and legends
pertaining to Atlantis. Sykes' research reveals that until ocean waters rose in
about 10,000 B.C., Atlanteans inhabited the city of Murias that lay in a valley
near Bimini. Murias was the seat of government for the area, with extensive
facilities which included a hospital, a home for travelers in distress and a
shipyard with repair facilities. Sykes tells us that on a hill above Murias the
Atlanteans built an exquisite healing temple. From the information he
uncovered, Sykes hypothesized that the architecture of the building
incorporated sacred geometry, and displayed sophisticated knowledge of the
structure of the universe, the solar system and this planet, in a manner similar
to the Great Pyramid in Egypt. The most unusual feature of the enormous temple
at Murias was its translucent rock crystal windows, which local people
remembered until contemporary times.
Egerton
Sykes ascertained that the temple at Murias was dedicated to the Bennu bird and
the god Min, both Egyptian gods of rejuvenation, hence the name Bimini. He
describes the work of priestesses in the Atlantean temple in Bimini, including
their brewing of magical potions used for the restoration of youth, as well as
the cure for many diseases. Sykes believes these potions were the predecessors
of those concocted by people similar to Calypso, Circe, Medea and others. The
priestesses at Bimini maintained contact with their counterparts in the temples
of Falias, Gorias and Finias in the eastern Atlantic, all cleverly constructed
on mountain tops that survived the sinking of Atlantis.
Information
from Edgar Cayce correlates with Sykes' discoveries about the temple near
Bimini. He tells us one of the cites in Poseidia was built upon a hill
overlooking the sea in a location where many ships came and went from other
lands. (Reading 364-12.) He often referred to the city's temples and said that
people from there established a Temple Beautiful in Egypt, modeled after the one
in Poseidia.
Egerton
Sykes also suggests that the fame of the Bimini site as a place to restore
youth led to the story of the Fountain of Youth. Rumors about its powers
inspired early Irish sailors to attempt to cross the Atlantic. De Soto told of
the tradition of an island in the Caribbean
that was supposed to have a Fountain of Youth and of course, Ponce de Leon
fruitlessly searched many years to find it.
When
Sykes became unable to continue his research and publishing activity due to
declining health, he sought an appropriate home for his collection of books,
periodicals, and correspondence regarding Atlantology, archaeology and history,
and settled on the library of the Association for Research and Enlightenment
(A.R.E.) in Virginia Beach. The library and Mr. Sykes negotiated the purchase
of his collection in February 1979; it was shipped to Virginia Beach starting
in May, 1979, and opened to the public in September, 1979; Sykes was there to cut the ribbon. Sykes
passed away four years later, on April 27, 1983. Mrs. Sykes followed her
husband within a year.
Sykes
believed that Atlanteans stored treasures in their temples, and that Murias,
the city near Bimini, was once the home of the delicately carved, life-size
crystal skull which Anna Mitchell-Hedges found in 1927
beneath a Mayan altar under the ruins of a temple in Belize. Quartz
crystal was a common stone in volcanic Atlantis, so it is quite possible that
Atlanteans carved the skull. Since carbon-14 dating does not test quartz, the
age of the skulls is undetermined, but after thoroughly studying it, scientists
at the California laboratories of Hewlett-Packard concluded that the people who
made the skull were from a civilization that possessed a crystallographic
ability equivalent to ours. Scientists who examined the crystal skull under
powerful microscopes found no scratches to indicate it was carved with metal
instruments. Diamond-tipped tools are a possibility, or a rock-dissolving
paste. Frank Dorland, one of the foremost art restorers in the United States,
studied and worked with crystals and the skull for over six years. He concluded
that, even with the advanced technology we enjoy today, it would be nearly
impossible to re-create the unique head. Dorland estimates it required at least
300 years of constant man-labor, or six men working for 50 years, to grind the
skull from a solid block of pure quartz.
The
crystal skull is strikingly beautiful, with its movable lower jaw and a network
of prisms, lenses, and light-pipes which give life to the face and eyes. The
realistic object exhibits strange faculties. Sensitive people sometimes see an
aura around it; others sense a sweet-sour odor. At times it seems to produce
sounds like tinkling bells or a faint choir of human voices, and its power assists
sensitive persons in healing and prophecy. Crystal provides additional insight
in meditation for, just as it acts as an amplifier as well as a receiver for
radio waves, so it affects the energy generated by thought waves. Sykes thought
the crystal skull was not the only Atlantean treasure in the Bimini area and
that other precious objects are hidden in nearby caves now under the Sea.
Intensive
study of the Sykes material and the Cayce readings inspired Dr. David Zink to
lead an expedition to Bimini in 1974 to search for remains of Atlantean
structures. The discoveries of Dr. Zink, a professor of classical literature,
underwater photographer and skilled scuba diver, inspired him to return to the
area ten times.
Two
psychics, who assisted Dr. Zink in his research in Bimini, related that highly
evolved, loving extraterrestrial beings from the Pleiades, perceiving the
spiritually advanced residents of Murias, joined the thriving commercial and
religious community and assisted with the construction of temples and
buildings. The psychics relayed that the highly evolved priestesses who
presided over the unique temple, developed an extensive variety of invaluable
medicinal potions derived from flowers, herbs and other vegetation for use as
healing remedies for those who came for help and advice.
Edgar
Cayce describes healing sulfur water near Bimini, and he suggests the
development of a center for regeneration there, which would take advantage of
the beneficial qualities of the waters in surrounding waters. (Reading 587-4.)
In the salt water mangrove swamps on North Bimini a hole of fresh water, which
resembles a large well that may be spring-fed, has acquired the name
"healing hole". Recent A.R.E. investigators report that when they
swam in the water it had the happy effect of raising the spirits of each of
them, making them feel cheerful and lighthearted. Psychic and dowser Verne
Cameron believes an ancient temple once stood not far from the "healing
hole". Perhaps the water in the Bimini area produces a rejuvenating effect
on one's adrenal and pituitary glands, stimulating beneficial hormones? This
would account for the story of the Fountain of Youth.
As
the population in the Caribbean area increased after 28,000 B.C., spiritually
oriented residents erected sturdy pyramids. Rising waters eventually covered
them, but some are visible today on sonar scans and in aerial surveys. Airplane
pilots tell of seeing these tall, pointed buildings from the air when the
surface of the sea is very calm, and scuba divers often mention them as well.
Edgar
Cayce advised those who were searching for remains of Atlantis in the Caribbean
area to look in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream. (Reading 364-3.) Abundant
underwater evidence is materializing which supports the proposition that
intelligent persons once lived there. Recent satellite mapping of the shallow
waters to the east of Bimini reveals large (over 200 feet wide) geometric
patterns of turtle grass in the shapes of pentagons and rectangles with
perfectly square corners extending for many miles under the water. Further
investigation of the configurations is difficult since they are not visible
from the surface. Finding them requires painstaking mapping techniques with
compasses in small boats in often choppy water. In addition, whatever is
causing them is not only covered with water and grass, but lies beneath a deep
layer of sand. In spite of the difficulties, members of the Gaia project who
are working in the area consider it to be one of the most promising
archaeological undertakings today.
An
unusual group of rocks and stones, one half mile off the coast of Bimini, has
received a great deal of attention since it is quite accessible to scuba
divers. Large boulders, some of them four or five feet thick, are arranged in
the shape of an immense reversed "J" in about 15 feet of water. Some,
with square corners, appear to be manmade. Two parallel lines of these stones
extend about 1,900 feet before reaching a flat section of smaller rocks where
the configuration turns at a 90 degree angle. Dr. Zink and others believe this
is the remains of a prehistoric road. It is possible the blocks of stone are
sections of natural beach rock, although beach rock usually is not as thick as
these boulders. Large stones are piled on others, not a characteristic of beach
rock, unless the stacking occurred during a hurricane. It is also suggested
that parts of the "road" might be a Mediterranean type pier because
it doesn't go anywhere. A few of the stones are granite, but they could have been
dropped during dredging operations in 1926. Current scientific examinations of
this mysterious geometric pattern will hopefully verify the presence of those
who inhabited the Bimini area so long ago.
Edgar
Cayce stated that records of how the Atlanteans constructed their solar power
sources are accessible in three places in the world. One is in the sunken
portion of Atlantis near Bimini, another is in the Yucatan, and the third is in
Egypt in the as yet undiscovered Tomb of Records, which is believed to have an
entrance from the Sphinx.
Ship
and airplane personnel who travel through or across the Bermuda Triangle, a
large area in the Atlantic Ocean just east of Florida and the Bahama Bank,
sometimes describe their engines losing power and their compasses and other
navigational equipment behaving erratically or even ceasing to function. Ships
and planes disappear in the Bermuda Triangle and are never found. Edgar Cayce
says the civilization in Poseidia was the most highly developed and
knowledgeable of any that has been known on the Earth, and that forces from the
great crystals were stored in Poseidia. (Reading 288-1 and 813-1.) Is it
possible that a powerful crystal in a temple of Atlantis, hiding beneath the
water, occasionally catches the sun's rays and transmits energy at the moment
that a motorized vehicle is passing above it? Reports of missing ships and
planes are not as common today, perhaps because they have more sophisticated
equipment, as well as supplementary instruments.
Dr.
Nicolai Zhirov, a member of the Soviet Academy of Science, who is one of the
Fathers of Russian Atlantology, wrote extensively about the geographical and
geological possibilities of Atlantis. Zhirov describes another remnant in the
Caribbean from the distant past. Limestone discs, or "sea biscuits,"
were first taken from the ocean floor near the Azores and later found in the
Bimini area. In 1949 the Geological Society of America, while conducting a
submarine probe south of the Azores, brought up about a ton of these calcified
discs from a depth of 1,000 feet. They were called "sea biscuits."
The discs were all approximately six inches in diameter and one and one half
inches thick with a depression in the center of one side, giving them the shape
of plates. Their surface was relatively smooth, except rough in the depression.
Tests determined the plates were about 12,000 years old and that the material
from which they were made was formed above the surface. Bill Donato, who has
spent a great deal of time researching in the area of Bimini, reports that
"sea biscuits," similar to those from the ocean floor near the
Azores, were also found in the Bahamas. They resemble dishes some Caucasian
people fashioned to carry fresh fruits and flowers to mountain peaks or hollows
carved into the sides of volcanoes as offerings to the gods of nature.
When
the last Ice Age ended about 10,000 B.C., North American glaciers rapidly
melted. Water flowed in torrents down the Mississippi River, provoking seas in
the Gulf of Mexico to rise precipitously. In a futile effort to keep out the
floods that endangered their precious homes, descendants of Atlanteans employed
their engineering skills to build Cyclopean walls. Extensive fortifications,
some with huge blocks of stone, are visible off the coasts of Mexico, northern
Cuba and Florida. Adjacent to Venezuela another substantial wall, 30 feet high,
reaches for miles into the sea.
Rising
ocean waters in 10,000 B.C. completely covered the city of Murias near Bimini,
but the Atlantean healing temple was temporarily spared as it stood safely on a
hill above it. Egerton Sykes researched many records of the Irish, Egyptian,
Greek, Phoenician and Carthagenian sailors who continued to visit the ancient
spa for a considerable period of time after the disaster. In 6,000 B.C., when
ocean levels climbed again, earthquakes shook the land, broke the retaining
walls and toppled sections of the splendid building as if it were a glass toy.
The once-magnificent structure with its translucent windows slowly disappeared
from sight. Legends of the Island of the Ruin and the rejuvenating powers of
Murias continued to attract adventurers and explorers to the area for many
hundreds of years.
Cayce
implies in several of his readings that as geologists and archaeologists work
in the area of Bimini they will successfully find confirmation of Atlantis,
such as portions of temples under the ocean water. (Readings 587-4 and 440-5.)
On July 1, 1935 he predicted that more gold would be found under the sea near
Bimini than is in circulation in the world today. (Reading 587-4.) Gradually
investigators, as they overcome the difficulties of obtaining funds and
government permits, as well as swarms of hungry mosquitoes, are slowly
confirming that, as Edgar Cayce said, intelligent Atlanteans lived and thrived
on land in the Caribbean for thousands of years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Asher,
Maxine, ANCIENT ENERGY.
Berlitz,
Charles, MYSTERIES FROM FORGOTTEN WORLDS.
Bryant
and Glade, THE MESSAGE OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL.
Cayce,
Edgar Evans, MYSTERIES OF ATLANTIS REVISITED.
Donato,
William M., A RE-EXAMINATION Of THE ATLANTIS THEORY.
Garvin,
Richard, THE CRYSTAL SKULL.
Hansen,
Lucille Taylor, THE ANCIENT ATLANTIC.
Homet,
Marcel, SONS OF THE SUN.
Sykes,
Egerton, ATLANTIS, Volume 27, No.3 and 4.
Zhirov,
Nicolai, ATLANTIS.
Zink,
David N., THE STONES OF ATLANTIS.
Shirley Andrews is the author of
the recent Llewellyn publication: Atlantis: Insights From a Lost Civilization.
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