ATLANTIS

A writer cites diverse authorities, from Plato to psychics, to describe the daily life, culture, and ultimate cataclysm of mythic Atlantis.

Andrews (Lemuria and Atlantis, 2004) employs lucid language—even when approaching the most far-out and occult concepts—to present an extensive portrait of the so-called lost land of Atlantis. To mystics, New Age faithful, and travel tale spinners, Atlantis was an advanced island nation in the remote past (48,000 to 10,000 B.C.E.) that supposedly occupied the mid-Atlantic, interacted with space aliens and apparitions, and was submerged in a series of catastrophes, in part because of the citizens’ own disastrous choices and decline into decadence and malice. Not only is the author a believer, but she also claims in her introduction to have lived in past incarnations on Atlantis, maybe as one of the evildoers guilty of ruining this nuclear-powered, Cro-Magnon semi-utopia. But even with that extraordinary insight, Andrews keeps her own spirits reined in to present a vivid picture of Atlantis culture and history woven from others’ phantasms that have built up the place’s lore. These include the canonical accounts of Plato, the visions of 1930s seer Edgar Cayce, past-life fabulations by novelist Taylor Caldwell, and the “dictated” memoirs of a sort of ghost named Phylos to Victorian teen Frederick Oliver. (Several intriguing maps of Atlantis at various stages are also featured.) When possible, to shore up the psychic stuff, Andrews cites the explorations of mainstream science figures such as Jacques Cousteau and Hyatt Verrill, though she mostly falls back on Fort-ean types like Zecharia Sitchin and Charles Berlitz. Using “perhaps” quite a bit in the text, Andrews skillfully links persisting memories of Atlantis’ rise, fall, and gadgetry to worldwide myths, ranging from Celtic folklore to Ponce de León’s Fountain of Youth. Atlantis Armageddon’s ethnic survivors include some Arab and Native American tribes as well as the Appalachian “Melungeons” (this would make Elvis Presley an Atlantean). As with many speculative scientific books, this work displays an unfortunate tendency to cast a wide net over assorted paranormal flotsam and jetsam, whether these phenomena relate directly to the subject or not: sea serpents and Nessie (apparently Atlantis had chronic monster problems), pyramid power, Filipino psychic surgeons, European witchcraft, UFOs, and the Bermuda Triangle.

Strong annotations and sweep make this book a one-stop shop for Atlantis seekers, though it will likely fail to persuade skeptics to add the place to Google Earth.