The story of the lost continent of Atlantis, was first told by the Greek philosopher, Plato. He wrote about Atlantis in two of his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, around 370 BC. One of the details that interested me concerns the stone that was said to have been quarried from Atlantis. Plato tells us that one kind of stone was white, another red and a third black, and that the hillsides displayed veins of red, white, and black marble alongside deposits of every kind of precious metal. We are told that Atlantean architects used this red, white and black marble to design their buildings with these same three colours tastefully combined and contrasted.
Have we discovered the original source of the universal esoteric theme of the colours, Red, White and Black, which we encounter on our journey through these myths and legends? Not necessarily.
Remember that these descriptions were given
by Plato who lived between 427and 347 BC, and could be part of the code I have been unravelling, in
that I believe these colours are associated primarily with ‘processes’ that are
physiological, psychological and psychical, as related to the shamanic trance state and
the related enlightenment experience.
As shown in the book, The Serpent Grail, the theme of the RED, WHITE and BLACK are related to different states of consciousness based on the Triad.
The Red and White are interchangeable but relate to the male-female, positive-negative opposites of the Triad. The Black is the neutral, as found in the midpoint between the opposites and also at the apex – the neutral point.
These three colours also relate to the Physio-Kundalini Chakra system and the two nerve channels symbolised by the serpents of the Caduceus – i.e., the male Pingala (red), the female Ida (white) and the central Sushumna (black).
One therefore cannot rule out the
possibility that these colors were actually associated with this ‘sunken land’,
which may have once existed, and may have even been a centre for the ‘Serpent
People’ or ‘Shining Ones’ who ruled through their knowledge – a knowledge which
they largely kept a secret to themselves.
And if so, then these colors were made to
correspond with these processes or vice versa, so that the code could encompass
several themes at once, which when unraveled by noting and cross-referencing
all the correspondences, would provide people in the future with the same
‘system of knowledge’ that had been understood concerning the nature of
existence and reality, along with the place from which it all may have
originated. All this was encoded together along with clever inferences made to
the very nature of the catastrophe that had possibly lost them their foundation
or centre.
Again, the existence of Atlantis remains inconclusive. However, the fact that in the Hindu cosmology, the god Shiva is red, Vishnu-Krishna is blue-black and Brahma is white reveals that we are again dealing with a code, which has been spread worldwide and obviously from the same source.
Furthermore, the Hindu myth of Manidvipa is said to
be an allegory pointing to the destruction of Atlantis by the Flood and of the
survival of its three races – red, white and black races – and in a special
kind of Ark. The Hindu trio, Shiva, Shava and Shakti, are often depicted
fleeing their destroyed world the ‘Island of the Jewels’ – Manidvipa.
But could this also be interpreted to mean that this knowledge was rescued,
preserved and carried over?
We are told that these three aspects of the
Hindu god also correspond to the three “sons” of Noah, who each symbolize the
three different colored races of mankind. Again, we can see the symbolic device
of the Triad being used both on an individual level, as regards the three
aspects of Self – one’s consciousness – and also on a collective level as the
three aspects or ‘races’ of man. Can we take these stories literally? –
Loaded as they are with the same symbolism?
One would note too, that in ancient Egypt
where the surviving Shining Ones had migrated after landing in Sumeria as we
will see later, the land was divided between 1,) Upper Egypt in the south,
which was signified by White, and 2,) Lower Egypt in the north, which was
signified by Red. The Nile itself and the soil around the Nile, was Black – as
the ancient name of Egypt, Khem, which means ‘black’, verifies it. It’s
where the name al-Chem-y is said to have derived, and as we know the
art of alchemy is all about the union or fusion of opposites.
In
Plato’s dialogue, Critias, we are told that Poseidon, Greek god of the
sea and also of earthquakes, was given Atlantis, and there he fell in love with
a mortal maiden called Cleito. Cleito lived on a hill in Atlantis, and to
prevent anyone reaching her home, Poseidon encircled the hill with alternate
rings of land and water, “two of land and three of water, which he turned as
with a lathe”. He also laid on abundant supplies of food and water to the hill,
“bringing up two springs of water from beneath the earth, one of warm water
and the other of cold, and making every variety of food to spring up
abundantly from the soil”.
For instance, in Hindu and Buddhist cosmography there exists a central mountain called Mt Meru. Around this central mountain, which acts like the hub of a wheel, there are again seven concentric circles of water, each separated by seven circles of land including a range of golden mountains.
Returning to the Atlantis myth, the hill on which Cleito lives encircled by alternate rings of earth and water, is obviously based on the shamanic world mountain or ‘primordial mound’ of creation as we have seen in the stepped pyramid, the Mesopotamian Ziggurats and even Silbury Hill. The earth and water correspond with the male and female opposites, and the two springs – one warm and one cold, correspond with the two opposite nerve channels – the Pingala, which channels the hot, active “fiery” energy related to the male, and the Ida, which channels the cooling energy related to the female.
This is interesting as we see these same motifs associated with the trance state and the enlightenment experience, in the town of Glastonbury, England.
Legend says that after the crucifixion of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail to Glastonbury. However, we are also told that Joseph brought two cruets (vessels) with him. Apparently the blood and water (some say ‘sweat’ and therefore poison) that had issued from Christ’s wound, and which makes a reference to the blood and uterine water of rebirth, had been separated out and each contained in one of these two cruets. Again this indeed a reference to the two opposites (pineal and pituitary glands) that are brought together in the Grail (the thalamus at the centre of the head).
It is my belief that the processes associated with the 'Kundalini Awakening' or 'Enlightenment experience' are literally “drawn” on the landscape. We can see this in the account given about the city of mythical Atlantis, and unfortunately one cannot confirm this, but one can confirm it at Glastonbury . . .
The name ‘Glastonbury’ translates as ‘Glass-borough’. It was known as the ‘Isle of Glass’ due to the calm, still, glass-like appearance of the sea, or lake, which surrounded the Tor. The deeper significance of Glastonbury and its central mound, the Tor, also stems from the two unusual springs, which are said to have emerged from a cave entrance under the Tor. One of these springs is known as the White Spring, as it contains white mineral deposits, which give it a milky-white appearance, and the other is known as the Red Spring, due to its rust-red, iron content. Again, in their many interpretations, the colours as regards male and female opposites, are interchangeable, and so like the blood of the snake, the red spring is said to have regenerative healing properties. Here we have yet another reference to the familiar theme of the Red and White – but this time we see it in the real phenomena surrounding Glastonbury Tor which is said to have been a central place of initiation for the shaman-like pagans and Druids of the region.
Figure 2: Glastonbury Tor (Chalice Hill) with St Michael’s Tower as seen from the North. Note the surrounding seven concentric levels. These are really inward folding paths based on the Cretan Labyrinth design, and symbolise the folds of the female vulva as well as the folds of the human brain. The existence of the tower is appropriate, as it represents the male phallus, which takes it place at the centre of the vortex. The whole symbolic design is similar to the Hindu, Yoni-Lingam symbol and ancient Egyptian Sun Symbol.
Here again, we have a ‘primordial mound’ surrounded by seven concentric rings or levels, (a reference to the seven chakras in the body) and which was once surrounded by a sea; an upwelling vortex, along with two energy springs attached to it like the pingala and ida serpents or nerve channels – each representing the two divisions in consciousness becoming one at a central point.
The significance of this was not lost on the pagan-priests who obviously believed this place to be the perfect ‘portal’ or ‘gateway’ into the Underworld as it reflected the fusion that goes on in the mind and body of an individual during the enlightenment experience.
In the Grail romances this fusion is the ‘healing’ of this division as allegorically told in the plight of the wounded Fisher King whose wound will not heal, until someone reminds him of this division and loss, by asking the question “Whom does the Grail Serve?” – thereby bringing the feminine principle to his attention which then heals and illuminates him. Perhaps in a strange way this explains why Cleito lived on top the hill, as if she represented the wisdom of the risen and awakened Kundalini, as the archetypal Goddess does indeed, and also why Poseidon prevented anyone from reaching her therefore denying anyone this knowledge and wisdom – and perhaps for a reason. Could this knowledge have anything to do with the catastrophe that had befallen the earth, resulting in the destruction of Atlantis?
Like the circle associated with the female, the symbolism associated with the World Tree (male – phallic) is also loaded with clues in this regard and also as regards the migration and ‘rebirth’ of this shining culture whose homeland was lost.
I would emphasise that in all these stories, as with the Temple of Solomon, which
people tend to take too literally, we are really dealing with allegories that
are telling us something profound about the human mind and the human physical
system and they are all really leading us back to ourselves.
Gary Osborn, 2005.