Discovering Atlantis

Atlantis is a legendary island in the Atlantic, west of Gibraltar, that sunk beneath the sea during a violent eruption of earthquakes and floods some 9,000 years before Plato wrote about it in his Timaeus and Critias. In a discussion of utopian societies, Plato claims that Egyptian priests told Solon about Atlantis. Plato was not describing a real place any more than his allegory of the cave describes a real cave. The purpose of Atlantis is to express a moral message in a discussion of ideal societies, a favorite theme of his. The fact that nobody in Greece for 9,000 years had mentioned a battle between Athens and Atlantis should serve as a clue that Plato was not talking about a real place or battle. Nevertheless, Plato is often cited as the primary source for the reality of a place on earth called Atlantis. Here is what the Egyptian priest allegedly told Solon:


Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent.

Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was pre-eminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell within the pillars. (Timaeus)

The story is reminiscent of what Athens did against the Persians in the early 5th century BCE, but the battle with Atlantis allegedly took place in the 8th or 9th millennium BCE. It would not take much of a historical scholar to know that Athens in 9,000 BCE was either uninhabited or was occupied by very primitive people. This fact would not have concerned Plato's readers because they would have understood that he was not giving them an historical account of a real city. To assume, as many believers in Atlantis do, that there is a parallel between Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Plato's Critias and Timaeus is simply absurd. And those who think that just as Schliemann found Troy so too will we someday crack Plato's code and find Atlantis are drawing an analogy where they should be drawing the curtains. Plato's purpose was not to pass on stories, but to create stories to teach moral lessons. What can we expect next from these lost scholars? A search for the grave of Cecrops, the serpent-tailed first king of Athens? The discovery of the true trident of Poseidon?

Different seekers have located the mythical place in the mid-Atlantic, Cuba, the Andes, and dozens of other places. Some have equated ancient Thera with Atlantis. Thera is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea that was devastated by a volcanic eruption in 1625 BCE. Until then it had been associated with the Minoan civilization on Crete.

To many, however, Atlantis is not just a lost continent. It is a lost world. The Atlanteans were extraterrestrials who destroyed themselves with nuclear bombs or some other extraordinarily powerful device. Atlantis was a place of advanced civilization and technology. Lewis Spence, a Scottish mythologist who used "inspiration" instead of scientific methods, attributes Cro-Magnon cave paintings in Europe to displaced Atlanteans (Feder, 130). Helena Blavatsky and the theosophists of the late 19th century invented the notion that the Atlanteans had invented airplanes and explosives and grew extraterrestrial wheat. The theosophists also invented Mu, a lost continent in the Pacific Ocean. Psychic healer Edgar Cayce claimed to have had psychic knowledge of Atlantean texts which assisted him in his prophecies and cures. J.Z. Knight claims that Ramtha, the spirit she channels, is from Atlantis.

The serious investigator of the myth of Atlantis must read Ignatius Donnelly's Atlantis: the Antediluvian World (1882). In the spirit of von Däniken, Velikovsky and Sitchin, Donnelly assumes that Plato's myth is true history. Much of the popularity of the myth of Atlantis, however, must go to popular writers such J.V. Luce (The End of Atlantis, 1970) and Charles Berlitz, the man who popularized the Bermuda Triangle and the discovery of Noah's Ark. His Doomsday, 1999 A.D. (1981) comes complete with maps of Atlantis and drawings by J. Manson Valentine. Graham Hancock is doing much to keep alive this tradition of "alternative" and "speculative" history and archaeology which seeks a single source for ancient civilizations. Scientists and the BBC don't think too highly of Mr. Hancock's efforts.

Atlantis and the aliens

These "alternative" archaeologists have credited the Atlanteans with teaching the Egyptians and the Mesoamericans how to build pyramids and how to write, etc., arguing similarly to von Däniken that ancient civilizations burst on the scene in a variety of different places on earth and have a common source. Atlanteans or aliens, either way the case can be made for a common source for ancient civilizations only if one selectively ignores the gradual and lengthy development of those societies. One must also ignore that the writing of the Egyptians is no clue to the writing of the Mayans, or vice-versa, and that the purpose of their pyramids was quite different. The Mesoamericans rarely buried anyone in their pyramids; they were primarily for religious rituals and sacrifices. The Egyptians used pyramids exclusively for tombs or monuments over tombs. Why would the aliens or Atlanteans not teach the same writing techniques to the two cultures? And why teach step building in Mesoamerica, a technique not favored by the Egyptians? If you ignore the failures of the early pyramid builders and ignore their obvious development over time, including the development of underground tombs with several chambers, then you might be able to persuade uncritical minds that Giza couldn't have occurred without alien intervention.

Finally, one should wonder, I suppose, if the Atlanteans were such technological geniuses who shared their wisdom with the world, why did Plato depict them as arrogant warmongers?

Unfortunately for the New Age Atlanteans, there is no credible and convincing archaeological or geological evidence for either Atlantis or Mu. That has not stopped hundreds of people from concocting theories to the contrary. To paraphrase Whitehead, the belief in Atlantis, the ancient and great civilization, is another footnote to Plato.

See also alternative science, confirmation bias, pseudoscience, selective thinking, self-deception, any entry listed in New Age Nirvana, or Mass Media Funk 22.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis

http://www.discoveryofatlantis.com

Witchcraft

Are they good? Are they evil? Do they cast spells to cause bad things to happen?

The true definition of a witch, as well as the history of witches in general, is widely debated. Many texts describe witchcraft as pacts with the Devil in exchange for powers to do evil and harm others. While this may have some truth in certain sects, for most modern-day witches it is quite far from their actual beliefs and practices.

Belief in magic and witchcraft has been around since the beginning of time. Early man paid tribute to the gods and goddesses that ruled his world and brought healthy crops and mild winters. The idea of magic came about when things weren't so good: It grew from the chaos that accompanied bad weather, sickness and shortages of food. When times were bad, shamans, medicine people, witches and other types of sorcerers would cast spells and perform rituals to harness the power of the gods. Harnessing this power had mixed results: Witches, who were primarily women, were originally seen as wise healers who could both nurture and destroy; this belief in their power, however, eventually led to fear, and this often forced witches to live as outcasts

Practices and beliefs that have been termed "witchcraft" do not constitute a single identifiable religion, since they are found in a wide variety of cultures, both present and historical; however these beliefs do generally involve religious elements dealing with spirits or deities, the afterlife, magic and ritual. Witchcraft is generally characterised by its use of magic.

Sometimes witchcraft is used to refer, broadly, to the practice of indigenous magic, and has a connotation similar to shamanism. Depending on the values of the community, witchcraft in this sense may be regarded with varying degrees of respect or suspicion, or with ambivalence, being neither intrinsically good nor evil. Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines - although this has become less common, at least in the Western world. According to some religious doctrines, all forms of magic are labelled witchcraft, and are either proscribed or treated as superstitious. Such religions consider their own ritual practices to be not at all magical, but rather simply variations of prayer.

"Witchcraft" is also used to refer, narrowly, to the practice of magic in an exclusively inimical sense. If the community accepts magical practice in general, then there is typically a clear separation between witches (in this sense) and the terms used to describe legitimate practitioners. This use of the term is most often found in accusations against individuals who are suspected of causing harm in the community by way of supernatural means. Belief in witches of this sort has been common among most of the indigenous populations of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. On occasion such accusations have led to witch hunts.

Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (primarily Christianity, and Islam), witchcraft came to be associated with heresy, rising to a fever pitch among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period. Throughout this time, the concept of witchcraft came increasingly to be interpreted as a form of Devil worship. Accusations of witchcraft were frequently combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.

The Malleus Maleficarum, a w

itch-hunting manual used by both Roman Catholics and Protestants, outlines how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely to be a witch, how to put a witch to trial (involving extensive torture and confession) and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female.

In the

modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the Satanic Ritual Abuse hysteria. Such accusations are a counterpart to blood libel of various kinds, which may be found throughout history across the globe.

The Salem Witch Trials

In 1692, in Salem

, Mass., there was an outbreak of witch hunts and witch trials that all started with some strange behavior from two young girls. The girls were having convulsions and scre

aming that they were being pinched or bitten. The doctor who examined them eventually decided they were under some sort of spell or bewitchment. One by one, women in the town of Salem and even in surrounding areas began being accused of witchcraft.

The servant of one of the girls' families was West Indian and admitted in court to dealings with the devil, flying on "sticks," and being upset because "they" made her hurt those girls. This testimony clinched the hysteria that was already building. Salem residents were then certain that the devil was alive

and very active in their land -- and who knew what would happen next.

Over a period of nine months, more than 100 people were imprisoned for being witches, and 20 were executed. Finally, a new court was constituted to replace the General Court, which had been holding the trials. This court, the Superior Court of Judicature, reversed the policy of the previous court. From this point on, only three more people were found guilty of witchcraft, and those three were later pardoned.

Theories today are varied regarding what was actually wrong with the two young girls who started it all. Some say they were good actresses, and once they had started it and saw all of the attention they were getting, they had to keep it up. Another theory is that they actually had clinical hysteria, which would explain the convulsions.

Types of Witchcraft

There are many types of witchcraft, many of which overlap and all of which can be defined in different ways by different people, but here are some rough guidelines for their designations:

• African witchcraft: There are many types of witchcraft in Africa. The Azande of central Africa believe that witchcraft causes all types of misfortune. The "gift" of witchcraft, known as mangu, is passed from parent to child. Those possessing mangu aren't even aware of it and perform magick unconsciously while they sleep.

• Appalachian folk magic: Those who practice witchcraft in the Appalachian mountains see good and evil as two distinct forces that are led by the Christian God and Devil, respectively. They believe there are certain conditions that their magick cannot cure. They also believe that witches are blessed with paranormal powers and can perform powerful magick that can be used for either good or evil purposes. They look to nature for omens and portents of the future.

• Green witchcraft: A Green witch is very similar to a Kitchen/Cottage witch (see below) with the exception that the Green witch practices in the fields and forest in order to be closer to the Divine spirit. The Green witch makes his or her own tools from accessible materials from outdoors.

• Hedge witchcraft: A Hedge witch is not part of a group or coven. This witch practices magick alone and works more with the green arts, herbal cures and spells. In the early days, Hedge witches were local wise men or women who cured illnesses and gave advice. They can be of any religion and are considered traditional witches (see below).

• Hereditary witchcraft: Hereditary witches believe in "gifts" of the craft that are with a witch from birth, having been passed from generations before.

• Kitchen/Cottage witchcraft: A Kitchen witch, or Cottage witch, practices magick around the hearth and home. The home is a sacred place, and the use of herbs is used often to bring protection, prosperity and healing. Kitchen witches often follow more than one path of witchcraft.

• Pennsylvania Dutch hexcraft or "Pow-wow": When the Germans first arrived in Pennsylvania, Native Americans were there, so the term "pow-wow" to describe this practice may come from observations of Indian gatherings. Pow-wowing includes charms and incantations dating back to the Middle Ages, as well as elements borrowed from the Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Bible. Pow-wowing focuses on healing illnesses, protecting livestock, finding love or casting or removing hexes. Pow-wowers consider themselves to be Christians endowed with supernatural powers.

• Traditional witchcraft: Traditional witchcraft often follows science, history and the arts as its foundation. While sharing the same respect for nature as the Wiccan witch (see below), traditional witches do not worship nature nor the god or goddess of Wicca. They contact spirits that are part of an unseen spirit world during rituals. Magick is more practical than ceremonial and focuses greatly on herbs and potions. This sect of witchcraft also has no law of harming none, but does believe in responsibility and honor. Hexes and curses, therefore, can be used in self-defense or for other types of protection.

• Wicca: Wicca is one of the modern Pagan religions that worships the Earth and nature, and it is only about 60 years old. It was created in the 1940s and '50s by Gerald Gardner. Gardner defined witchcraft as a positive and life-affirming religion that includes divination, herblore, magic and psychic abilities. Wiccans take an oath to do no harm with their magick.

MERMAIDS: Are they REAL?

Many people were known of the myths story about Mermaids, these are the creatures that were said to be living in the dark deepest part of the sea where nobody can reach and disturb them. The Mermaids were characterized as a half human and a half fish in form. As part of my fascination of knowing amazing and yet hard to discover things I would like to show you some of the evidences that the “Mermaids” could be existing.

The pictures you were about to see were took in Cebu, Philippines and the said Mermaids (displayed below) were said to be found by the people working near the shore.

History of the Vampires

The history of the vampire begins In ancient Persia, where a vase was discovered depicting a man struggling with a huge creature which is trying to suck his blood. Then, in Babylonian myth a deity known for drinking the blood of babies, Lilitu or "Lilith", was discovered. She was reputedly the first wife of Adam according to old Hebrew texts removed from the Old Testament, and left her husband due to his sexual ineptitude, becoming the Queen of Demons and Evil spirits. In China during the 6th century BC, traces of the "Living Dead", or revenants as they are known, were also found. More legends continued throughout all the world, including India, Malaysia, Polynesia and the lands of the Aztecs and Eskimos. According to the Aztecs, the offering of a young victims blood to the Gods ensured the fertilization of the earth. But truly, the vampire proper originates from European civillization...ancient Greece to begin with. There were numerous bloodthirsty Goddesses in both Roman ang Greek mythology, known as Lamiae, Empusae and Striges. These names eventually evolved into the general terms for Witches,Demons and Vampires. But these Vampires, though they do drink blood, were only Goddesses...not "living Dead", but disembodied divinities capable of taking on human appearances so that they might seduce their victims. As time passed on, and Christianity grew in popularity, the redemptive value of blood became apparant. Holy Communion, which includes drinking wine symbolizing Christ's blood and Bread symbolizing his flesh was at times taken quite literally. Some people, confusing pagan beliefs with transubstantiation (the actualy presence of Christ's flesh and blood during Communion) took part in feasting on human flesh and drinking human blood. During the 11th Century, witches and doctors alike prescribed virgin blood to cure all illnesses. Also during this time, some corpses found intact all over Europe began a huge vampire scare. The belief came about that people who died without a chance to receive last rites,or those who had commited suicide or had been excommunicated were destined to return to the earth as revenants. Various accounts of the discovery of Vampires can be read in books such as The Diabolical Dictionary (Dictionnaire Infernal) by the Bishop of Cahors; the Courtiers Triflings(De Nugis Curialium) by Walter Map, and the History of England(Historia Rerum Anglicarum) written by William of Newburgh. The phenomenon of Vampirism continued through the Renaissance era only sporadically, but again grew to epidemic proportions in the 14th Century, mainly in central European Regions of Prussia, Silesia and Bohemia. The bubonic plague was thought to be the work of Vampires and panic of infection led people to bury their dead without completely verifying that they were truly deceased. It was then no wonder that so many encounters of Vampires rising from their graves during this time were noted. A person, buried alive, would try to claw his way out of the grave and would be discovered covered in blood from the wounds he had inflicted upon himself by doing so. This, of course, would label him as a vampire.

In the mid-15th Century, Vampirism again reared its head, most notably in the trial of Frenchman Gilles de Rais. A former member of Joan of Arc's guard and erstwhile Marshal of France, he retired to his lands in Southwest France, devoted to his quest of finding the secret of the "Philosophers' Stone" in blood. He killed about 200 to 300 children by way of horrifying torture, in order to use their blood in his experiments. Later, in the 19th century, Joris-Karl Huysmans portrayed him as an authentic vampire in his novel La-Bas. Also during this time, another historical figure became associated with vampirism. His name was Vlad Tepes Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, an ancient kingdom which is now part of Romania. His double name of Tepes (meaning "Impaler") and Dracula (after his father, Dracul, meaning Devil or Dragon...the 'a' added on to mean 'son of...') suited him quite appropriately. Both a national hero for liberating his lands form the Ottoman invaders and a bloodthirsty tyrant who ordered thousands of people impaled for his pleasure, it is no wonder that his name became synonimous with the vampire legend. Four centuries later, Bram Stoker would write the infamous novel Dracula, which would forever give us the sterotype of the classic vampire.

Vampirism, though never completely vanished, dwindled slightly from the 15th through 17th centuries. In 1611, however, in the superstitious land of Hungary, Countess Erzsebet Bathory (Elizabeth Bathory or the "Blood Countess")began the legend afresh. She was accused of kidnapping and torturing young girls to death and then bathing in and drinking their blood. She believed that this would preserve her youth and looks. But how did she come to this conclusion? Well, apparantlym she was the wife of a Count who was always away at war. Becoming bored with her lifestyle, she began to study black magic which led to her horrible endeavors. When a large number of young women became missing, Bathory's cousin led a detachment of soldiers and policemen to capture her. She was spared execution because of her royal ties, but was locked up in a tower room for the rest of her life with door and windows shut. Her accomplices though were all executed. This event in history gave rise to numerous rumours of vampirism and inspired many writers unto today. Also, this coupled with poverty and illiterate populations of the time, led to an explosion of vampire and werewolf superstitions in Southern and Eastern Europe. The belief that "Vrykolakas" ( slavic for werewolves) would die and become vampires in the hereafter tied the two myths together quite conveniently. The word 'Vampire', until now unknown, became used as a term for the very first time in 1726, following thousands of reports of vampirism due to the plague. It was first coined in German as "Vanpir" in a report of one case of vampirism. This evolved into "vampyre" in 1732 (used in French) and finally into the English word "Vampire" later that same year. This was the beginning of the end for the vampire as we know it...

The 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment as it was also known, set out to destroy superstition. Scholars, doctors, philosophers and members of the church all cast doubt on the acomplishments of the Devil and his minions. A French Benedictine Monk known as Don Calmet published a huge tract which, he claimed, put the controversy of vampires to rest. But the legend of the vampire, true to its nature, refused to die. Categorizing and sterotyping the vampire only provoked superstition. People, especially those of the 'back countries' became weary of those who had bushy eyebrows drawn together, or hair on the back of their palms. To detect vampires, they employed virgins who would ride virgin horses (either completely white or completely black) through the length of a cemetary, and the horse would rear at the tomb of a vampire. The rumour began to spread that some people, born of a union between vampire and mortal could spot vampires. Interrment of supected vampires was done with special precautions, such as driving a nail into the forehead of the corpse, smearing the body with pig's fat, or placing a clove of garlic in its mouth. These were only some of the methods used to prevent the suspected vampire from rising. But such events diminished as the Industrial revolution began to change European life, and in this age of rationalism, the legend of vampires and other creatures of the ethereal world began to all but die...Well, that was the theory, in any case.

Reality had other plans. The Romanticism at the end ot the 18th century tried to recapture emotion and nostalgia, lost in the Enlightment and Industrial Revolution. With this, the gothic novel had its rebirth. Johann von Goethe wrote his novel The Bride of Corinth(Die Braut von Corinth), preceded by Gottfried August Buerger's Lenore. These stories, as well as several poems of vampires of the 19th century by Keats, Coleridge and Baudelaire, included an element previously unkown to the vampire lore in traditional sense. This was the element of seduction, the bringing of pleasure in death. Then came the infamous The Vampyre by John William Polidori (well,he actually took over the story from Lord Byron) and Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu. Varney the Vampyre, written in 1847 by Prest and Rymer, became the longest novel ever written on the subject of vampires. Fantasy and horror were in great demand, but during the mid-19th century the popularity dwindled once again, due to its repetetive nature. But this did no last long, reappearing again in the victorian era. It is truly ironic that in a century where all things decadent and unsavory were supposed to be repressed, the legend of the vampire reached a peak. Perhaps viewed as an escape by many, the vampire appeared onstage, in novel, in poetry and in prose. The hypocrisy of society was in such a state that writing horrific stories was quite permissable so long as morality triumphed in the end. It was in this time that Bram Stoker wrote his legendary novel Dracula. Though he had never himself been to Transylvania, the setting of the story, nor truly studied as a professional writer, the success of his novel was phenomenal, and it would forever define our views of the vampire...

With the 20th century came a wonderful invention called the motion picture. It was with this that vampires and other movie monsters showed their faces on the big screen. The first vampire movie ever made was 1922's Nosfertau: Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu: A symphony of horrors). This German movie, directed by F.W. Murnau, starred Max Schreck in the title role. The vampire in this case took on the semblance of the creature in folklore...hairy palms, large bat-like ears, and so on. Then came a series of vampire movies from the US with Bela Lugosi as the notorious Dracula. The vampire was given fangs to bite with and an air of seduction. Afterwards, Christopher Lee joined England's Hammer productions in comprising the next image of Dracula...he was given dark hair, a long black opera cloak and glowing red eyes. From here on, numerous other vampire movies were made, some based on original screenplays, some on historical novels, some even comedies. As technology evolved in the film industry and special effects developed more and more, so did the horrific looks of the vampire. In 1987's The lost Boys, the vampires have realistic fangs, greenish red eyes and wear leather jackets to complete the look. That same year, Near Dark followed suit in the 'tough' image of modern vampires. In 1992, Francis Ford Copolla made a beautiful remake of Dracula, starring Gary Oldman in the title role. And then we cannot forget 1994's Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rices' novel, which created an explosion of popularity in the vampire genre. This author, named Anne Rice, revolutionized the image of the vampire. In her Vampire Chronicles she portrayed her title character of Lestat as having a human, almost tragic side to him as well as a savage nature. In her series of 5 novels, Anne Rice gave us a dark world, peopled with vampires everywhere, not entirely unlike our own, with the anti-hero Lestat in its center. She is creating a series of new vampire novels currently, based in the same world, evolving around the same characters, who in the Vampire Chronicles played minor roles. In addition to her, the 80's and 90's included several notable names of authors who shaped the vampire genre. These include Poppy Z. Brite, P.N. Elrod, and Tanith Lee. Music also gave the vampire publicity, especially in the late 1980's...bands like Concrete Blonde, the Cure, Type O negative and so on all wrote several songs about vampires and most had a genral gothic or dark sound to their style in general. From the big screen the vampire made its way to television...first in the popular soap-opera series of Dark Shadows, then to Kolchak:The night Stalker and onwards to modern day shows such as Forever Knight, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Kindred: The Embraced. The latter series was based on a roleplaying game called "Vampire: the Masquerade" which came out in 1992 and has been quite popular ever since. At the dawn of the 21st century, the occult genre has grown to immense proportions. Everywhere you turn, a vampire seems to hide in the shadows. There are gothic nightclubs, vampire organiztions such as the ARVLFC and the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, roleplaying groups in practically every town on the face of the earth, and even on the internet, vampires live. There is no escaping the seduction and charm of the vampire, both in folkore and reality. It is everywhere we look...there are more vampires out there than one might imagine. The vampire truly is immortal. Perhaps not in the traditional sense of the word, but it has never been completely banished from the moment it reared its not-so-ugly head. From Ancient Greece to modern day, the vampire continues to bleed our imaginations dry...