Τhe Atlantic advanced technology

The advanced technology of the Atlanteans

The legend of an extraordinary civilization in Atlantis is intrinsically a part of the esoteric legend of that lost continent. In their narrations, the occultists speak of various new, allegently unkown forms of power which Atlanteans had discovered and used for technical purposes. A close analysis of all these "new" forms of power shows that they are a grotesque hybrid between the notions of a "living force", rejecting by science long ago, and notions of atomic energy and so on.
In this field Rudolf Steiner (died in 1925), founder of anthroposophy, exerted himself more than anybody else. He declared that Atlantean physics differed from modern physics because as he stated "in those days the laws of nature were different from what they are today!"

To build up his occultist teaching he introduced elements borrowed from the scientific achievements of the 1920s, refurbished them to suit his purposes and presenting them as occultist "revelations". That explains why such obscure terms as "living force", "embryonic force of things", "growth force", "living force of seeds" etc. contained in the works of occultists of various tendencies. In some cases the authors of these "powers" had only a vague idea of exactly what they were talking about. Scott-Eliot was obviously influenced by some of the fantastic novels written at the end of the 19th century, in which the authors had discovered new forces of nature.

Scott Elliot wrote that towards the end of the Atlantean Golden Age the emphasis was on jet aircraft which replaced marine navigation for military purposes. At first glance this seems to be a daring prevision. The first project for a jet engine was developed by the celebrated Russian revolutionary Kibalchich who was executed in 1881.

The use of jet propulsion was suggested by a number of inventors at the end of the 19th century, and from 1881 the first designs of such a machine had already been developed, which were still kept closed in the archives of the ministries. For thart reason, at the time Scott-Elliott wrote his book (1896), there was already knowledge of such machines which he somehow acquired, probably through Blavatsky. So, at that time, this "revelation" could not be characterized as an absolute novelty.

The rescued Atlanteans

Mention must also be made of the occultist legend that when Atlantis sank some of the Atlanteans saved themselves by fleeing to America and Africa in flying machines, and that others went to a number of planets in space rockets. This, and other esoteric myths were used by Alexei Tolstoi for some of the chapters in his fantastic novel "Aelia"

Some atlantologists who subscribe to the belief that the Atlantean civilization was highly developed, link that civilization up with the myth of tha ancient Egyptian divinity Thoth  [or otherwise "Hermes Τrismegistus"]. They assume that Thoth came to Egypt from submerged Atlantis, where he had been a high-ranking scholar-priest. Before he died he was said to have desired to pass on his vast knowledge to mankid, which was still in a state of savagery, and set forth his knowledge in so-called Emerald Tables, a legendary text of unestablished origin reported by Medieval alchemists.

These Tables were written in symbolic and highly figurative language. Supportes of this theory of Thoth believe that Thoth and the higher caste of Atlanteans knew of many concepts which have been evolved by modern civilization, namely, the unity and indestructibility of matter and energy, the identity of structure between the macrocosmos and the microcosmos, and so forth. This interpretation, given in the French magazine "Atlantis" in 1959, is so interesting that it would be worth while citing it.

Because the Emerald Table is a very interesting text, it is worthwhile to give an English translation of it, of the many that exist, which was published in a French magazine, Atlantis, in 1959, and to interpret it.

To return to the subject of the highly developed Atlantean civilization. If it was indeed highly developed, then it is strange why no material evidence has been found. The usual answer given by the advocates of the wise Atlantean culture is that the ruling castes lived in seclusion in order to appear as emissaries of the "gods" in the eyes of the masses whom they kept at a low level of culture. Moreover all scientific and technical knowledge and all practical experience and skill were in the hands of a numerically small caste. No one else was allowed to practice work related to the production of machines. Giving the world only the necessary knowledge for a rudimentary way of life, the ruling caste took all the higher knowledge with them when they passed away. The attempts of the surviving atlanteans to impart the general principles of higher knowledge failed because in those times the level of intelligence of the masses was too poor to allow them to understand what they were being told.

Some of the above is reasonable and there is a high probability of finding these material evidences that show the existence of a great civilization.