The Atlantean Symbolism

Turning now to the Far East and to the origins of Egyptian civilization. We already mentioned above that the Egyptian pyramids derived — in both form and symbolism — from the pyramidal complexes of Indonesia. Indeed, as we argued above, everything indicates that Imhotep — with whom the art of pyramid building arose in Egypt ready and perfect from the start — was probably just the leader of a work gang of skilled stone masons and artificers imported from Indonesia. This was done in the same way that Solomon would later import from the same region a similar staff led by Hiram Abiff, the semi-legendary founder of Free-Masonry.

The stepped pyramids of Angkor and Indonesia are not only as perfect and as magnificent as those of Egypt. They derive from local traditions like those of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which are far older and far more local than those of Egypt. The sole exception may be the three great pyramids of Giza. But then, many clues point to the fact that they are of Atlantean origin and far predate the presence of the ancient Egyptians in the region. Indeed, these three sister pyramids apparently represent the three peaks of Mt. Trikuta, the triple Mountain of Paradise which we have been discussing.

We disagree with the theory which holds that these pyramids represent the stars of Orion’s Belt. We calculated the discrepancies in that representation, and they are grossly in error insofar as the angles, the intensities and the relative distances are involved. All three magnitudes deviate by more than 20% or so, an error far above the capabilities of the meticulous Egyptians, whose precision was typically within 0.01% or better under similar circumstances.

Unfortunately, the older monuments of India and Indonesia have mostly disappeared. And this was due not really due to the passage of time but mostly from the action of man himself, who consistently pillaged the ancient monuments either to construct new ones or, worse still, for sheer fanaticism and wantonness.

Besides, the cataclysm that sunk Atlantis under the South China Sea probably carried under all or most of the magnificent structures that we are allowed to expect from such a superior civilization of semi-divine ancestors. Who knows what wonders and treasures await the undaunted explorer who dares to search where no man has yet looked so far? People have systematically been searching in the wrong places for Atlantis, which is indeed the true site of Eden and of the Eldorado, and other such Golden Paradises. Small wonder then that their results so far have been essentially nil.

The Pyramids of Borobudur

Even the meager remains of Indian and Indonesian pyramids that have survived from a relatively recent past are splendid enough to dazzle even the hardiest of skeptics. The fact that the pyramidal symbolism is very much alive and meaningful in the Indies, in contrast to, say, Egypt, where it never was explained at all, is proof enough of its origin there, in these countries full of the mountains portrayed by the pyramids themselves. The pyramid complex of Borobudur (Java) has been hailed as the most significant monument in the Southern Hemisphere and, perhaps, even of the whole world. Its pyramid stands on a hill and rises 35 meters from its base, which measures 123×123 square meters.

The pyramidal monument itself consists (like Zozer’s pyramid) of six square steps. Upon them are three further round steps topped by a bell-shaped stupa. In all, we have ten steps (the number of Atlantis and of Jahveh). The beautiful structure of the Borobudur pyramidal complex is shown in Fig.7. As can be seen, this magnificent pyramid is the stony embodiment of a mandala, a stylized representation of Paradise and its several stages.

The topping stupa (chapel) contained the Adi Buddha, that, is “the Primordial Buddha”. In the Buddhist conception, Adi Buddha was the Primordial Man, the same one who the Judeo-Christians equate to Adam, the Hindus with Purusha and the Egyptians with Osiris. One can also see, in Fig.7 above, the trimekhala (or “triple surrounding wall”) that is a feature of all such representations of Paradise. This triple wall corresponds to the one of Atlantis, and is encountered in all such Hindu representations of Paradise. It also figures in the description of sunken Paradises turned Hell such as the one of Tartarus in Hesiod (Theog. 726) and in the one of the Celestial Jerusalem of the Book of Revelation.

As we said, Borobudur is one of the most impressive monuments ever erected by man. It is both a temple and a memorial where the cryptic doctrines concerning Adi Buddha and his mysterious Paradise are exposed to the initiates. And these doctrines center on its destruction by fire and water, just as happened to Atlantis. If that connection is allowed, there can be no doubt that the myth of Atlantis originated in the Far East, as it indeed did.¹⁸

The pyramid of Borobudur represents the Holy Mountain (Mt. Atlas or Meru), just as the whole complex represents the Holy City. This six stepped pyramid is capped by a shrine (or stupa) itself composed of three round stages topped by a bell-shaped shrine where the relics of Adi Buddha were contained. In this, Borobudur closely corresponds to Zozer’s pyramid which is, likewise, six-stepped and was (originally) topped by a shrine now gone. This seven stepped structure is also characteristic of Egypt. Its pyramids almost invariably have seven steps, even though these may been hidden under the smooth outer cladding. As we see, both in Indonesia and in India, pyramids fit the local traditions and the local geography, in contrast to Egypt and Mesopotamia, or even the Americas, where they make no sense at all, and where archaeologists still argue whether their purpose was to serve as tombs, cenotaphs, temples or whatever.

Borobudur and the Several Levels of Reality

The symbolism of Borobudur centers on the gradual revelation of the several levels of reality to the initiants, more or less in the way the Egyptian temples did, as explained above. The lowest levels of Borobudur corresponds to the basest manifestations of reality and progress in the upper levels, until the ultimate reality — the one corresponding to the highest condition of spiritual enlightenment — is reached in the uppermost level. It was meant to enlighten the visitor and to cause his spiritual progress, as he ascended gradually and finally reached the summit.

The monument proclaimed the unity of the Cosmos permeated by the light of Truth. It explained the apparent paradox of the union of incongruals such as Good and Evil, Fire and Water, Truth and Illusion, Creation and Destruction, Male and Female, and so on, in the one person of God as the Supreme Reality. Adi Buddha, “the Primordial Wisdom” is precisely the knowledge of our paradisial origins in the Far East, in the region of Indonesia.

Adi Buddha is the same spiritual reality that the Hindus call Mahavidya (“Supreme Wisdom”); that the Gnostics call Gnosis or Sophia (“Wisdom”); that the Jews named Hokhmah (“Wisdom”) or Binah(“Understanding”), and so on. It is no coincidence that we have ten sefirots (or “aspects of divine manifestation”), just as we also have ten steps in Borobudur’s pyramid or ten “lights” in the Temple of Solomon. For, after all, ten is the number of (Indian) Atlantis, just as seven is the one of Paradise (Lemurian Atlantis).

The Wondrous Pyramids of Southeast Asia

Another wonder of Southeast Asia are the temples of Angkor and, particularly, Angkor Vat and Angkor Thom. The Wat is an enormous pyramidal complex of some 1500 x 1400 m² . The complex is surrounded by a vast cloister and is approached from the west. This is done via a monumental paved road built upon a causeway delimited by balustrades formed from standing serpents (nagas). These Nagas symbolize the Cosmic Pillars that support the world, and which are the Eastern counterparts of the Titan Atlas. The reference to Atlas suggests an undeniable connection with Atlantis.

The Wat rises in three concentric enclosures that define three courtyards, as in the Jewish and the Egyptian temples discussed above. The symbolic meaning of the Wat pyramidal complex is clear to specialists. It corresponds to the Polar Mountain (Meru), the hub of the universe. The central shrine corresponds, as in Borobudur, to the supreme reality, while the lower levels, the gate complex, the cloister, the city of Angkor and the outer world represent, in descending order, the outer shells of reality. The orientation of Angkor Wat towards the West represents the fact that it was a mortuary temple.

The Angkor Thom is even more grandiose than Angkor Vat. Like its predecessor, it replicates the sacred city of Paradise (Lanka), built upon the slopes of Mt. Meru. The city was in turn, also a symbolic replica of the Cosmos, on whose shape it was designed. This symbolic universe follows Hindu Cosmological doctrines. When possible, the kings of Angkor utilized natural hills for the construction of their holy cities. When this was impossible, they built artificial mountains in the shape of stepped pyramids like the beauttiful ones of Angkor Thom and Angkor Vat.

The central pyramidal complex of Angkor Thom, the Bayon, is the biggest though not by all means finest of them all. Within the moats of Angkor Thom, fully 16 km around, lie the huge complexes of buildings and ofbarays (dams), lakes and irrigation channels that formed the sacred city, its temples, houses and palaces.

The plan and conception of angkor Thom are both grandiose. But the execution — pressed by the huge size and the enormity of the work to be done — is somewhat poorer than the refined art of its predecessors such as Angkor Vat and others. The plan of Angkor Thom illustrates the creation of the Cosmos darting from the Center (Mt. Meru), and spreading in successive waves from it. This plan is based in the Cosmogonic myth known as The Churning of the Ocean of Milk and, even more exactly, in the lotus-like mandalas such as the beautiful Shri Yantra.¹⁹

The two monumental roads leading to the central tower of Angkor Thom are lined with a mile-long road of divine personages pulling on the body of the Serpent Shesha (Vasuki) in a giant tug-of-war, exactly as in the myth just mentioned. The serpent is coiled around the Polar Mountain (Meru) that served as the giant churning stick activated by the devas and the asuras. The two parties pull on opposite sides of the churning rope which consists of the immensely long body of the Serpent Shesha. Below, at the bottom, lies the Turtle (Kurma), that represents the Paradise sunken to the bottom of the Ocean of Milk in consequence of the war.

THe Paradisial Fountains of Life

The complex of Angkor Thom is also decked with lakes and ponds and fountains representing the healing waters of Paradise (called Barays). These symbolize the Fountains of Life that are the central feature of Paradise everywhere. Another important myth illustrated in Angkor is the Legend of the Leper King and his magic healing by means of these wondrous waters which are no other than the Elixir.

This ancient Hindu myth somehow passed into Christianity, where the Leper King is identified with King Abgarus and his magic healing is attributed to the Holy Sudary, the actual image of Christ obtained by equally magical means. There can be no doubt that the legend of the Leper King originated in the Indies. There it dates from times well before the advent of Christianism as a religion on its own. This serves to prove the force of diffusion of myths, legends and religions traditions from earliest times and from the most remote regions of the world.

Hence, it should not come as a surprise to find out that a similar diffusion also took place for the far more important traditions concerning Atlantis and its destruction at the dawn of times. It was precisely the destruction of Paradise that forced the survivors to come out from Eden and move into distant regions of the world to which they brought the light of their civilization and their beautiful religion.

The Origins of Religion and Civilization in Paradise

There can be no reasonable doubt then that Religion and Civilization developed in Paradise, just as our myths and traditions affirm. From there, after its destruction it was handed down to us by the survivors of theAtlantean cataclysm. They appeared to us primitives as the gods the angels, the saints, the heroes and the demons that are invariably mentioned in all ancient traditions. Hence, just as the Hindus philosophically affirm, there are evils that come to good. And we also see that Catastrophism is indeed a fundamental aspect of Evolution, despite the skepticism of the academicians imbued with the arrogance of the science they mistake for Wisdom and, often, for Compassion.

Creation spreads from its Cosmic Centers due to the impact of bangs and catastrophes such as the one that destroyed Atlantis and caused the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age. Such is the idea embodied in the Shri Yantra and in the Kalachakra mandalas that are precisely the graphic expressions of the doctrines of Tantrism and of Kalachakra Buddhism. Hence, we see, much to the surprise of most of us, that Religion is indeed Wisdom, and that it is invariably far more right and truthful than Science.

The Egyptian Pylons Are Indeed Truncated Pyramids

The giant pillars (or “pylons”) characteristic of the gateways of the Egyptian temples are indeed truncated, rectangular pyramids.²⁰

Truncated pyramids and obelisks are a constant in Egyptian symbolism. This symbolism has passed into Masonic ones, and a topless pyramid figures in the Great Presidential of the U. S., as shown in Fig.8. The shiny “Eye of God” which substitutes the top of the Great Pyramid in Fig.6 symbolizes the fact that the Holy Mountain was indeed a volcano that had its top blown off. Such is also the symbolism of the stunted pylons of the Egyptian temples as well as the one of their archetypes, the gopuras of Hindu ones.

The Reality of the Triple Mountain (Trikuta)

In reality, the pylons of Egyptian temples represent the Triple Mountain (Trikuta), the true archetype of Mt. Atlas. More exactly, as we already said, the Central Pillar was blown off by the explosion and became a “naval passage” or “gateway” (a strait) flanked by the two remaining pillars, the Pillars of Hercules.

Such is indeed, we repeat, the symbolism of the imposing pylons that invariably garnished the entrance of Egyptian temples of Ramesside and later times. The same symbolism was also expressed by the two obelisks that very often also figured before the pylon itself. These corresponded to the pillars of Solomon’s Temple (Jachin and Boaz).²¹

As we discussed further above, the two flagpoles that also decorated the pylons of Egyptian temples likewise corresponded to the two Pillars of Hercules. More exactly, the twin poles represented the Twins of Gemini, a word that means “Twins” in Latin. The Celestial Twins are represented in the Zodiac by a pair of parallel poles, another symbol of the Pillars of Hercules. The Twins, often identified with Castor and Pollux, are also called the Dioscuri (from Dios-kouroi, “the Divine Boys (or Twins)”). The Dioscuri are copied, almost verbatim, from their Vedic archetypes, the Ashvin Twins. But these two founders of the world are no other than the archetypes of Krishna and Balarama and, hence, of Atlas and Hercules. As we commented further above, these gods are also the Twins figured on the two jambs of the pylons of Egyptian temples and indifferently butchering the Atlantean residents of Paradise, at its destruction.

All Roads Lead to Paradise

As we see, no matter where we look, we always end up with the myth of Atlantis. Hence, recapitulating what we just adduced above. The two pylons (or stunted pyramids) of the Egyptian temples correspond to the two pillars (Jachin and Boaz) that decorated the Temple of Solomon. They also correspond to their two obelisks and their two divine flagpoles (neters), and even to their twin guardians.

They also evoke the Phoenician twin pillars dedicated to Baal Melkart (Hercules) and his twin and dual, Yam or Mot (“Death”). These two objects also stood for the Dioscuri Twins (Castor and Pollux) and for their Hindu archetypes, Krishna and Balarama. In Vedic terms, they refer to Gada and Agada, the Ashvin Twins who stand for the two destroyed Paradises, Atlantis and Lemuria.²²

To sum it all up: the two pillars (or “pylons”) correspond to the two Pillars of Hercules that demarked the entrance to Atlantis or, yet, the Gateway of Eden. But these Pillars of Hercules were not indeed the ones at Gibraltar (phony ones) but the ones that flank the Strait of Sunda in Indonesia and which are the real Pillars of Hercules that allowed the ingress to Paradise in antiquity, before Atlantis was destroyed by the Flood.²³

Christian Cathedrals Equivalent to Egyptian Temples

It is interesting to note that the symbolism of the Christian cathedrals and churches closely correspond to the one of Egyptian temples. In them, the spires or towers substitute the twin pylons or pillars of Egyptian temples. The towers of many cathedrals such as Notre Dame (see Fig. 9) are stunted in just the way that the two pyramids of the pylons of Egyptian temples also were. The idea is to represent the fact that their tops were destroyed in a giant volcanic explosion, the one that destroyed Paradise.²⁴

The flimsy third tower of Notre Dame represents the regrowth of the destroyed Paradise. More exactly, since volcanoes are eternal and start to grow back as soon as they explode, the flimsy third tower of Notre Dame’s cathedral represents the volcanic peak growing back and starting a new era of mankind in the eternal succession of Cyclic Time.

Many authorities such as Hani — whom we already quoted at the opening of the present chapter — recognize the fact that Christian churches and cathedrals are a replica of Paradise. They also recognize that their spires represent, just as do those of Hindu and Egyptian temples, the lofty mountains of Eden. Thence flowed the River of Life, branching out into four rivers, in perfect correspondence with the Hindu myths on Mt. Meru, the Mountain of Paradise. In other words, the three traditions — Hindu and Christian, as well as the Egyptian one — agree not only in what concerns geometrical patterns, but also in the symbolism intended.

As it is not conceivable that the far older and extremely conservative Hindus cribbed their temple symbolism from that of the Christians, or even from the Egyptians, we are compelled into accepting that the diffusion took the opposite direction. In fact, both the Egyptians and the Christians acknowledge that their doctrines, symbols and traditions originated in Paradise. The Terrestrial Paradise was indeed an actual place, called Punt by the Egyptians and Eden by the Jews. Now, these two sites are one and the same thing. They were located Indonesia or, rather, in the Australasian continent beyond it. This vast piece of land was sunken down at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age, some 11,600 years ago, the very date given by Plato for the demise of Atlantis. Coincidences? No chance!

Are Indian Temples Older than Egyptian Ones?

Egyptian temples appear to be consistently older than their Hindu and Indonesian counterparts. This is due to the fact that the Egyptian temples were buried under the desert sands, and were thus spared in great extent from the fanatic destruction by the early Christians and their successors, the Muslims. The Indian temples were methodically razed by the Muslims, and hence only date, with minor exceptions, from later epochs, when religious fanaticism finally yielded to the voice of reason.

But we find the Hindu traditions and temple symbolism throughout the Far East, and who knows the surprises that await us in the forests of Indonesia or under its shallows seas, the burial place of Atlantis. The symbolism of Hindu temples and pyramidal complexes extends farther out into the Pacific region, all the way to the Americas (Mayan and Aztec pyramidal complexes and temples). It is, hence, reasonable to ask: where did this universal tradition first started?

No one will reasonably argue that diffusion took place under the aegis of historical or even prehistorical Egypt and, even less, of Mesopotamia or of Phoenicia or Israel. Their traditions and records — which would never fail to mention the important fact — thoroughly exclude this possibility. We are left with India and Indonesia and a very, very ancient tradition that can only date from Atlantean times and her worldwide empire. As we commented further above, the tradition that eventually resulted in the sacred geometry of the Egyptian temples was probably brought to Egypt by the Gerzeans, who conquered pre-Dynastic Egypt, some five or six millennia ago. The Atlantean tradition is intimately connected with the Phoenicians, and the Gerzeans seem to have been proto-Phoenicians. And they apparently came from Punt, to judge from their symbolism, which we study in detail elsewhere.

To this pristine tradition that forms the base and essence of the ancient religion guessed by many specialists, belong not only Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism, but also Egyptian religion, that of Mesopotamia, the one of the Mayas and Aztecs and, why not, that of the Christians and the Jews. We are all brainwashed into believing, from earliest childhood, that our own religion is unique, historical and original, whereas those of the Pagans are all impious, diabolic inventions, which are, furthermore, grossly polytheistic and idolatrous.

But this is only an illusion, for essentially all regions derive from the Urreligion which we just mentioned. “The fear of the Lord that is the beginning of Wisdom“. And this fear of the mysterium tremendum et fascinans is indeed nothing else but the salutary panic fear inspired by the subconscious recollection of the cataclysm that wiped paradisial Atlantis off the map, killing our godlike ancestors by the millions and, indeed, making Man “rarer than gold of Ophir”. It is this killing en masse that is depicted in the pylons of Egyptian temples, as we mentioned above.

The Triple Towers of Christian Cathedrals

As is the case of Notre Dame, most Christian churches and cathedrals have three towers (spires). Except that the third, central tower, is usually smallish and stunted, and is often almost invisible. The three towers are often pyramidal in shape, just as is the case of the pylons of Egyptian temples or the gopuras of their Dravidian counterparts. The stunted central tower commemorates Mt. Atlas, the central Pillar of Heaven that exploded and collapsed, causing the skies to fall down over Atlantis sinking it under the sea. The central, stunted tower of Christian churches and cathedrals is often placed upon the front door of the edifice as a sort of pediment. This is done as shown in Fig. 9 above.

The structure of St. Paul’s cathedral, shown in Fig. 10 is also typical. The two lateral spires are pyramidal in shape and are far taller than the central, more massive structure. Here this structure is domed to represent the Celestial hemisphere that collapsed over Paradise. At the front we have the huge door or gateway, with its triangular pediment above. The lowly pediment represents the fact that Mt. Atlas was crushed down by the weight of the overloaded skies it was unable to support.

The Many Pillars of St. Paul’s Cathedral

The many pillars in front of St. Paul’s vestibule evoke the ones of Atlantis, the land of the pillars (a-tala). Indeed, they commemorate Dvaravati, the many pillared capital of Krishna, that sunk away in the Flood, and whose name means precisely “many-doored” or, more exactly, “many-pillared”.

Likewise, the clocks that often decorate churches and cathedrals are intended to remind us that time flows inexorably, leading the world to the end of the present era, just as happened in the former one. And that end is now impending on us, according to the Gospels and innumerous other traditions that affirm that the end is near.

At the forefront of St. Paul’s cathedral we have the monument that stands for the sacred fountain spring or pool that was the invariable feature of the ancient temples. This fountain commemorates the well-wateredbarays of Far Eastern Paradises, as we discussed further above. Hence, the architecture of Christian churches and cathedrals — particularly those of the Middle Ages — almost invariably follow the sacred geometry of Paradise.

In other words, they replicate, just as did the ancient Egyptian temples, the Triple Mountain of Paradise with its central peak collapsed and turned into a gateway. This gate is often decorated by pillars precisely as was the case of the Temple of Solomon or that of Egyptian temples. These pillars — originally represented as palm-tree trunks — commemorated Atlantis or, rather, Atala, the sunken Hindu Paradise that was turned into a hell by the cataclysm. They embody a play on the word Tala (or Atala) that means both “pillar” and “palm-tree” in Dravida and Sanskrit. Such puns do not obtain in any other language we know of, except insofar as they are derived from the tongues just mentioned.

Dendera, Dvaraka, and Other Archetypes of Atlantis

Hence, we see why Egyptian temples such as the one of Dendera and, indeed, most if not all others, were full of palm-tree stems figuring the pillars of Atlantis. As we just said, the many pillars of Christian churches and cathedrals also commemorated the same fact, perhaps unwittingly. The temple of Dendera (and others in Egypt) was built underground, with the city of Dendera constructed above it. Again, the idea was to represent the realm of Atlantis sunken underground by the cataclysm that turned this former paradise into a veritable hell, with a new world built over it, the former one.

The name of Krishna’s sunken capital, Dvaraka, mentioned above, means “many doored” or, rather “many pyloned” or “many-pillared”. So do its many epithets such as Dhara (“Pillar” or “Trunk”), Hastina-pura (“City of the Elephants”), Dvaravati (“Many Pillared”), Bhoga (“Standing Serpent”), and so on. The word “pillar”, in Sanskrit (tala or atala) also implies the idea of “standing serpent”, “elephant’s trunk”, “erect phallus”.

Ultimately, these ideas refer to the Shiva-linga (“Phallus of Shiva”), the great god and the emblem of primordial Atala. It also represents Shesha, the Standing Serpent who was the alias and archetype of Atlas. Indeed, Atlas was a Titan (or Naga, rather), one of the anguipedal giants, whose “serpent feet” were a memento of their serpentine origin.

Conclusion

All in all, the symbols and the sacred geometry of temples and cathedrals everywhere only find their full explanation in the languages and archetypes of India and Indonesia. And this can only mean one thing, when we pause to think the problem over: these replicas of Atlantis all originated there, in the dawn of times. If this undeniable reality is accepted, we can only conclude that therein lies the true site of Paradise-Atlantis. Where else?

We would also like to point out the fact that, though the ancients had to follow the rigid canons pertaining to the sacred geometry of temples and cathedrals, this in no way hampered their creative freedom. Though always following these stringent canons, the ancient architects and stonemasons exercised their creativity and came out with the magnificent temples and cathedrals that we can see, even today, just about everywhere in the world.

Temples, more than anything, attest the unicity of the Primordial Religion, for they all obey the same Sacred Geometry everywhere and everywhen. The fact that they all imitate Paradise and, more exactly, Atlantis, is, in our view, the most compelling evidence that the Lost Continent indeed existed, just as Plato stated.

It was Atlantis that civilized the whole of the ancient world, in prehistoric times far earlier than the rise of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and the other civilizations we know of. Atlantis is indeed so old that its existence was utterly forgotten by all but the pious traditions that come to us from antiquity. The existence of Atlantis-Paradise is indefinitely stated in our holy rituals and in the sacred symbols of all religions. But we utterly forgot their meaning and purpose long ago. And we only perform our rites apishly, and copy our symbols blindly, never connecting them to the originals at all, and never realizing that they indeed commemorateAtlantis and its demise, in the dawn of times.

¹ Imhotep was a semi-legendary hero and god who was later identified with Asclepios (or Aesculapius). Imhotep was not only the inventor of the arts of architecture and metallurgy, but also of the art of writing (cursive?), city-planning, astrology, magic, divination and so on. Imhotep was, allegedly, the son of Ptah, the god of Punt, the Land of the Gods. And Punt was no other than Indonesia, as we already said. So, Imhotep was indeed a Hindu from Indonesia, the name we now give to Punt.

Imhotep-Asclepios was often identified or associated with serpents, an emblem of his Naga nature, the Nagas being the white Serpent People (or Dragons) of India and Indonesia. The mysterious figure of Imhotep evokes the no less enigmatic than the one of Hiram Abiff, the builder of Solomon’s Temple. Solomon imported Hiram and his gangs of workers and artificers from the equally legendary Tyre (the Primordial Phoenicia that is the same as Ophir or Punt).

Perhaps both Imhotep and Hiram Abiff, the legendary founder of the Free-Masons, were indeed the personifications of the crews of specialists imported from the Indies in the primordials of civilization. They are also related to the Oannés (i.e., Nagas) that civilized Mesopotamia (Sumer) and taught them all arts. Perhaps even the Goths who build the Gothic cathedrals belong to the same confrary of Indian experts in guilded crafts such as stone masonry, smithing metals, and so on.
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² In reality, this sacred ritual is of Hindu origin, as discussed by M. Eliade and by A. Coomaraswamy, and is routinely used in the construction of Hindu temples. The stake is driven into the head of the subterranean Naga (Shesha) that supports the earth from below, and who is the alias of Atlas, the anguipedal Titan. The circle with the crossed diameters is, in reality, an image of the earth, usually thus represented in antiquity.

More esoterically, the Crossed Circle is a symbol of Atlantis, which had precisely this shape, as described by Plato. Atlantis imaged Lanka, indeed placed at the Center of the World, at the intersection of the line of the Equator and that of Meridian Zero. This was the origin of geographical coordinates, which, in Hindu antiquity, lay in Indonesia. The Crossed Circle was also adopted as the symbol of Atlantis, as several Atlantologists of note such as Otto Muck have remarked.

These two lines form the figure of the Cross that is everywhere the symbol of Paradise and its Holy Mountain (Meru, Calvary, Alborj, Kailasa, Qaf, etc.). As we argue elsewhere, the Crossed Circle represents the Holy Mountain seen from above. And this Holy Mountain is itself a “squared circle” representing a conical base (circular) that tapers into a pyramid (square). We find the Holy Mountain thus represented both in the Americas (Navajos, etc.) and in the Far East (Burma). The Holy Mountain is also represented as a Cross, as seen from above, in the famous Hindu Kalachakra Mandalas, a standard representation of Paradise.
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³ The Jewish temple was called hekal in Hebrew. The word is said to derive from the Sumerian e-gal through the Akkadian ekallu, meaning “big house”. More likely, the Hebrew word and its Sumerian archetype derive from the Dravida e-kal meaning “lofty pillar”. The radix e (or he or che) means “lofty”, “strait” and implies an idea of “scepter” and “command”. The radix kal (or chal) means “stone” and, by extension, a standing stone (menhir, pillar, obelisk, betyl, etc.).

Hence, the Dravidian word can be interpreted as meaning “big house”, as in the Sumerian e-galu, a name applied rather to the palace than to the temple. The Dravidian term evokes the Hebrew ones applied to pillars (mazzeba, bethel). These also embody the idea of “erect”. More usually, the temples — particularly the Egyptian and the Hindu ones — were characterized by the presence of a lofty pillar (a pyramid, etc.) or even of a pair of such (obelisks, pylons, etc.). Very often, the building itself (adytum) was comparatively small.
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⁴ The cubic structure evokes the one of the Celestial Jerusalem, likewise cubic or pyramidal (Rev. 21:16). The square shape corresponds to the earth, whereas the circle symbolizes the sky (the horizon). Temples usually represent the “squaring of circle”, the impossible union of incongruals represented by Earth and Sky, Fire and Water, King and Slut, and so on. In essence all such structures represent Mt. Meru is pyramidal in shape, but is also often represented as a cone. Many temples and pagodas often ingeniously combine the square shape and the round one.
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⁵ Solomon sent Hiram and his men overseas to Ophir in order to fetch him the cedarwood, the sandalwood and the fir (teak?) for the construction of the Temple and of his palace (cf. I Ki. 5-10; II Chr.2, etc.). They departed from the port of Ezion-Geber, in the Red Sea and, hence, could only go southwards, to the Indies, and not north, towards the country now called thus, in commemoration of the primordial Lebanon. The radixleb- (or lev-, etc.) relates to “lion” . Above all, it alludes to Lanka, the legendary Island of the Lions so often equated with Atlantis, Avalon and other such Paradises.

The word “Lebanon” ultimately derives from the Dravida Lev-annon meaning “Ancestral Lanka” or “Ancestral Island of the Lions” in Dravida. Besides, the modern Lebanon never produced fir and, far less, sandalwood (algum or almug = valguka = “sandalwood”, in Dravida). The palace of Solomon was also built of cedarwood, and was indeed called “House of the Forest of Lebanon” (I Ki. 7:2). The Song of Songs — so profane in its essence and so clearly copied from Hindu and from Egyptian counterparts — also speaks of this legendary “Lebanon” as of Paradise (S. of S. 3:9; 4:8-16; 5:15; 7:4), etc..
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⁶ Indeed, Ezekiel tells of two Eagles and two Trees of Life (one a cedar, and the other a grapevine, as usual). This mysterious parable is the famous Hindu one concerning the two birds and which dates from Vedic times in India. It figures in the Rig Veda (1:164), in the hymn entitled The Riddle of the Sacrifice. This is the most mysterious of all in the already enigmatic Vedas. We discuss the mysterious parable of the two birds in our book on Alchemy, and will not repeat this subject here.

The passage just mentioned of Isaiah is telling of the return of the children of Israel to their formerly destroyed but recovered Eden, where they will again rebuild the Celestial Jerusalem. Eden is there equated to Tarshish and the Isles (those of Atlantis) and the “ships of Tarshish” are identified to doves, an image often associated to Atlantis (the Pleiades or Atlantides = peleias or “doves”, in Greek). Isaiah even tells of the replanting there of the Cedar of Lebanon and of the reconstruction of Jerusalem, “the Zion of the Holy One of Israel” under a new sun and a new moon (that is, in the antipodals).
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⁷ It may well be the case that word “sphinx” — which has no certain etym in Egyptian — indeed derives from the proto-Dravida ech-pinx, meaning “the ghost (i.e., the double or ka) of the dead” or, yet, “the guardian of the dead”. The Great Sphinx is mentioned in the famous stele attributed to Honitsen, the daughter and lover of Kheops, as existing in the times of her famous father. Moreover this stele also mentions the Great Pyramid as the tomb of Osiris. There are also other instances in ancient Egyptian records of the existence of the Great Pyramid before the times of Khufu (Kheops). Indeed, both this pharaoh and his whorish daughter are purely legendary, semi-divine characters who often figure in Egyptian tales as well as in those of other nations.

The name of the Sphinx is usually derived from the Greek sphingein, meaning “to strangle”. But this may be indeed a corruption of the Greek shesep ankh (“the living image”). This is an epithet often applied to the sphinxes in Egypt. Hence, we see that sphinxes were believed to be the guardians of the dead, just as the Great Sphinx was the guardian of the Great Pyramid, the tomb of Osiris. As her Egyptian name suggests, the Sphinx was the ka (or “double”) of Osiris guarding his own tomb against intruders.
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⁸ Amenti literally means “Occident”, that is, “the Land of the Dead”. The word also alludes to the region where the sun mythically “dies” every day. But this is only a rather transparent image. The sun or, rather, Ra, the Sun-god, was a personification of the dead Atlantis. The Egyptians were so centered on death and its cult, because they — in contrast to us — still clearly remembered the Atlantean cataclysm. Likewise, Atlantis — the true name of Punt or Amenti or Hades, etc. — also lay towards the southeast of Egypt and of Greece, rather than towards the West and the Atlantic Ocean, as so many authorities formerly thought.

The fact that the Egyptians formally called the southeastern gate by the name of Eastern (or Oriental) Gate is also full of esoteric symbolisms. Lanka and its counterparts (Amenti, Punt, Ophir, Dilmun, Hades, Abzu, Yamakoti, etc.) were indeed located towards the Orient in relation to the Mediterranean Basin. There, the Old World civilizations arose and died. Lanka is old even in regards to India, and it was there that its great epic, the Ramayana, was composed. In fact, Lanka was the site of Paradise, the one we know under the name of Eden. Originally, Lanka and its Holy Mountain (Trikuta, Meru, Atlas, Zion, Alborj, etc.) were equated with the Mountain of the Orient, a term identical in meaning with “Mountain of Origin”, the birthplace of Mankind.

When it exploded, razing Atlantis-Eden, the name of the Holy Mountain was naturally changed into that of “Mountain of the Occident” (occidere = “to die”). Rather than to directions — which vary with the position of the observer — such names indeed refer to actual places. So, “Orient” designates the place where the sun is born, and the new day starts by convention. And this was Indonesia, the site of Lanka, the meridian of origin in antiquity. Likewise, “Occident”, the place where the sun died daily, referred to the western lands of Eurasia, the Old World. The Egyptians, like the Greeks and other peoples, attempted to transfer the myth to their new place of residence. But this never worked, and only led to riddles and paradoxes that even today torment all sorts of experts, unable to solve the puzzle created by this change of point of reference.
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⁹ As such, these pylons represented the Gate of the Sun, another name of the Mountain of the Orient (or of Sunrise), that is no other than Mt. Meru. Such name indeed derives from Hindu epithets of Mt. Trikuta (or Meru). For instance the name of Ophir — the mysterious region visited by Solomon’s men — indeed derives from the Dravida o-piru (or o-phiru) meaning “Gate (o) of the Sun (piru)”. Mt. Meru, the Mountain of the Orient, is also called by epithets such as Hemadri (“Golden Mountain”); Karnikachala (“Lotus Mountain”); Devaparvata (“Mountain of God”); Trikuta (“Three Peaked”); Sunyodaya-giri (“Mountain of Sunrise”); Ushas (“Dawn” = the Malaya Range), Aruna-chala (“Mountain of Sunrise”), etc..
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¹⁰ We treat this fundamental matter in detail elsewhere. Despite its importance, it cannot be treated here for reasons of space, and we recommend that the interested reader seek our works on this subject. The “blooming lotus” is, yet, an allegory of the explosion of Mt. Atlas. The symbolism of the lotus (in both Egypt and India) is treated in other works of ours, which should be consulted by the more sanguine reader. One of our works on the subject is entitled “The Secret of the Golden Lotus”, which also figures in our Homepage.
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¹¹ The giant wielding the mace and striking down the Primordial Serpent is an unequivocal reference to Atlantis and to the fact that it lay in Indonesia. When one looks at a map of the region, the reason for the allegory becomes evident. The figure represents quite accurately the local geography. The raised arm and the mace correspond to the Malay Peninsula, locally called Kra (or Kara = “Hand”, “Arm”, in Sanskrit).

The “head” of the giant is the Southeast Asian promontory and the sacrificial victim he strikes and cleaves in two formed by is the islands of Java and Sumatra, cleft apart by the giant explosion of the Krakatoa volcano that opened the Strait of Sunda (the “Door”). Far from being an illusion, this allegory is a sad reality which is obsessively mentioned in the Bible (the raised, irate “arm of Jahveh” smiting the impious) and in other mythologies.
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¹² This triple-peaked crown, just as the Triple Mountain, can often assume subtle variant shapes. One such is the three-stepped pyramid that is the characteristic crown of Isis (herself a personification of the Great Mother, Mu or Lemuria). Other variants of the triple crown are the two horns and central disk of Hathor, the two horns and central peak of Reshet, the triple lotus flowers (or papyrus stems) of Hapi, the trident crown of Iabet, the triple-peaked mountain of Ha, the two arrows and shield of Neith, the triple atef crown of Osiris, and so on. In the Christian churches and cathedrals, the Triple Mountain usually assumes the shape of the double lateral spires flanking the central, dwarfed tower. Its stunted size refers to the fact that it exploded and collapsed, as explained further above.
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¹³ The cubit was, theoretically, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger of an average sized adult. Its value varied, in the ancient world, from about 18 to 21 inches (46 to 53 cm). The cubit is worth about half a yard (36 inches) or half a meter, and it is not impossible that the original measures of the Temple were given in yard or meters with the inner sanctum measuring exactly 10 x 10 x 10 meters or yards. Such a double unit standard of about 1 meter in length seems to have prevailed in the ancient world, and it is likely that the meter unit was accurately known from Atlantean times, as we argue elsewhere.
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¹⁴ Such emblems of deity are also frequently used in India and Tibet. Indeed, the dollar sign $ — which we obtained from the Phoenicians — represents the twin Pillars of Hercules around which is coiled the Serpent of Eden or its equivalent, the banner or bandolier of the Hero. The ensign (or banner or streamer) expresses the idea of “a visible sign”, translated in Sanskrit by names such as linga, ketu, dhvaja, etc.. The linga ( that is, the phallus of Shiva) is the emblem of the Supreme God and, hence, of gods in general. It expresses, as does the word ketu, the idea of Mt. Meru as the phallic mountain at the center of the world. It also symbolizes the fall of the vajra, the thunderbolt that destroyed Paradise (Jambudvipa). The linga was the archetype of the concept of the netjer as a sort of omphalos (or raised stone) and, more exactly, as an avatara of the deity fallen from heaven as a sort of very special meteorite.

Jambu-dvipa (“Island of the Jambu Tree”) is the name of the innermost of the seven dvipas (“islands” or “continents”) that comprised the Cosmos in Hindu Cosmology. The dvipas were circular and concentric, separated by circular oceanic strips. This Hindu concept of the Cosmos is remarkably similar to Plato’s conception of Atlantis, and its sacred geometry was undoubtedly present at the back of the philosopher’s mind. The enormous jambu tree planted at the center of Jambu-dvipa was the archetype of the Tree of Life everywhere.

In reality it was the volcanic plume of Mt. Atlas (or Meru) which served both as a lighthouse and as an ensign and a warning to all nations that grow impious and arrogant as Atlantis did. We see, from the above comments, how the idea of representing the idea of “godhead” by a banner or ensign undoubtedly passed from India (where it makes sense) into Egypt (where it does not, at least to Egyptologists).
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¹⁵ The Strait of Sunda separates the island of Java from that of Sumatra. It was opened by a gigantic prehistoric explosion of the Krakatoa volcano that lies at the bottom of the strait. Such is the fact allegorized by the myths of Hercules cleaving open the isthmus and opening a maritime passage (“door”) to the outer ocean. Obviously, such a thing did not happen in Gibraltar, at least in the times of Man, in contrast with what indeed took place in Indonesia.

This event, which is central to the understanding of the true story of Atlantis is allegorized in a multitude of myths from everywhere, as we explain in more detail elsewhere. It is interesting to note that the portrait of pharaoh posted at the entrance of Egyptian temples — shown in Fig. 2, for instance — as if smiting open the door of the temple closely recalls the myth of Hercules opening up the Strait of Gibraltar with the blows of his mace, as told in certain Greek myths of the great hero, as we commented further above.
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¹⁶ Atlantis derives its name from that of Atala, the Primordial Phoenicia (or “Land of the Palm Trees”) of the Hindus. Atala literally means “the Land of the Pillars” or “the Land of the Palms”, the term tala, in Sanskrit, meaning both a pillar or a palm-tree. Small wonder then that the Egyptians, willing to represent Paradise, built their hypostyle temples with “palm-tree pillars”. Once again, the visual pun that does not make any sense in Egypt can be traced back to India. More exactly, it can be traced back to Atlantis and the Dravidas, for the wordplays with its name indeed derives from that primordial language, ancestral of that of the ancient Egyptians.

The “pillars” in question allude to both Atlas and Hercules, the two “Pillars of Heaven”. However, in the ancient myths the heroes and saints were said to become pillars in Paradise, that is, in Atlantis. It is thus that Cu Chullain and his braves turn into pillars in their final battle. Even in Judaism and Christianism, the worthy are promised to become pillars in Paradise Restored (the New Jerusalem). This fact can be seen, f. i., in Rev.3:12; Gal. 2:9; 5; 3:6; I Thim. 3:15, etc..
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¹⁷ This type of agriculture is characteristic of mountainous regions and, particularly of the Far East. The terraces are required not only to control the water flow, but also to prevent erosion and to preserve the fertility of the soil. The rain waters are collected at the summit of the mountains and stored in dams called barays in Southeast Asia and Indonesia. This word derives from the Dravida para-tt-is meaning a dam or cistern (para) built upon a mountain or volcanic peak in order to provide water (is) for agricultural purposes and, particularly, for the cultivation of rice in terraced mountains.

It is from this Dravidian base that the word “Paradise” (Sanskrit: Paradesha; Greek: Paradeisos; Latin: Paradisus; Hebrew: Pardes; Zend: Pairidaesa, etc.) ultimately derives. Even today it is possible to observe the terraced mountains used for cultivation in India, in Indonesia, in Southeast Asia and, indeed, in the whole of the Far East. The marvelous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, were indeed a local recreation of Paradise and its terraced orchards by Queen Semiramis.
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¹⁸ Adi Buddha is closely connected with the Tantric form of Buddhism called Kalachakra (or “Wheel of Time”) which arose in Bengal and spread to Tibet, Java, Nepal and Mongolia. This form of Buddhism is also called Vajrayana (“the Way of the Vajra (or Thunderbolt)”). It is said to have originated in Shambhalla, the mysterious underground realm of the King of the World (Subterranean Atlantis?). Moreover, its doctrines are apocalyptic and center on the return of the Saviour as Kalkin, the White Knight who is the 10th. avatar of Vishnu.

This Primordial Buddha was not accepted by the Southern Buddhists (of Shri Lanka) nor by those of China and Japan. But he became dominant in Tibet, Mongolia and Nepal, and is connected with Tantric doctrines such as those concerning Svayambhu (“Self-born”) and Anupapadaka (“He who had no parents”). Adi Buddha was born in the Terrestrial Paradise (Atlantis?) called Bhumi (“Terrestrial”) or Agnishtha Bhuvana (“the Burnt Land”). The idea of a land destroyed by fire pervades Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism. It closely evokes Atlantis, another Paradise allegedly destroyed by fire in a volcanic conflagration very much like the one connected with Adi Buddha.

Is it believable that such a sublime religion be founded on a fiction or on a lie rather than on real fact? Moreover, it is a fact that the world was subjected to a global cataclysm of cosmic proportions precisely at the date preconized by Plato and other authorities. That cataclysm was the drastic end of the Pleistocene Ice Age, when a myriad of species such as the mammoth, the mastodon, the saber-toothed tiger, the cave bear, the mountain lion and many such became utterly extinct the world over. So, we have both the tradition and the actual fact behind it. Why insist on rejecting their connection?
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¹⁹ We discuss this profound Cosmogonic myth of the Hindus in detail elsewhere. It is an allegory of the destruction of Paradise as a consequence of the war of the devas and the asuras. This Paradise and this war is no other than Atlantis and its war, narrated by Plato. The interested reader can follow the subtler meanders of this myth, which has baffled experts so far, in the work just mentioned. These two races correspond to the Gods and the Titans of Greek mythology. Their war is the one Plato equates with that of the Atlanteans and the “Greeks”. As with Atlantis, the war of the Hindus also ended in a cataclysm of Cosmic proportions.

So, as we see, once more, the myth of Atlantis did not originate in Greece or even in Egypt, but in the Hindu myths and religious imagery. These are told in detail in epic traditions such as those of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the greatest sagas ever written. More than charming initiatic novels, these sagas of the Hindus, and so their many traditions, are indeed Sacred History, concerning real persons and real events that took place in the dawn of times, when Mankind still lived in the Garden of Eden, the true site of Atlantis.
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²⁰ The word “pylon” has, in English, a somewhat confusing etymology. Webster gives: 1) a gateway; 2) a truncated pyramid or two of these serving as a gateway to an Egyptian temple; 3) any slender, towering structure flanking an entranceway. In Greek, pylos means “door”, “gateway”; whereas pylon means “threshold”, “vestibule”. It seems that the second etym evolved somewhat mistakenly, from an association with the idea of pillar (Latin pila), itself confused with pyloros (“gatekeeper” and, hence, “jamb” or “pylon”). We use the word in the Greek sense of “gateway”, and call the two huge pyramidal jambs characteristic of Egyptian temples by the name of “pillars”.
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²¹ Jachin and Boaz mean, respectively, “Erected by Jahveh” and “Strong”. The etym of “Strong” recalls the usual name of Herakles as Bias (“the Strong One”), as well as that of his Indian archetype, Bala (or Balarama = “the Strong One” or “the Strong Dark One”). Other authorities interpret the name of Jachin as meaning “Foundation”, a word that seems to be an esoteric reference to Sutala (or Atala), the destroyed Paradise of the Hindus. Atala is truly the archetype of Atlantis and its name means “Foundation” (Sutala) or “Foundered” (Atala) in Sanskrit.

It seems that the name of Jachin (“Erected by Jah”) is indeed an euphemism to disguise the fact that Jahveh destroyed the pillar that corresponded to Atlas, sparing the other one that withstood his punishment (the Flood). Sanchuniation — the famous Phoenician priest who disclosed the meaning of the inscriptions on the pillars of the temple of Baal (Hercules) — spoke of two mysterious personages, Misor and Sydyk (Mishorand Sedek), whose names also mean “Upright” (or “Strong”) and “Just” (or “Straight”). These two apparently correspond to Jachin and Boaz and, more exactly, to Atlas and Hercules-Gadeiros, the two pillars of Atlantis.
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²² The names Gada and Agada mean, respectively, “Cattle-rich” and “Cattle-poor”. Gada corresponds to Gadeiros (meaning the same), the twin brother of Atlas, according to Plato. Hence, Gada and Agada are indeed the Vedic archetypes of Atlas and Hercules, the twins who co-ruled Atlantis according to the Greek philosopher. In Egyptian terms, the eternally disputing twins are represented by Seth and Osiris or, yet, by Horus and Seth. The real Lemuria or, rather, Lemurian Atlantis, should not be confused with the vaunted one of Theosophists. It lies in the Indian Ocean, and corresponds to the Australasian continent sunken at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age.
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²³ The ancient authorities, like their modern counterparts, could never agree on the actual location of the Pillars of Hercules and, hence, of Atlantis itself. The ancient sitings ranged from Gibraltar to the Bosphorus (Black Sea), to the Schott-el-Djerid, the Bab-el-Mandeb and even the Palk Strait between India and Shri-Lanka. In reality the Strait of Hercules in question is the one of Sunda, opened up by the gigantic prehistoric explosion of the Krakatoa volcano now lying at the bottom of the strait. In this case, the Pillars of Hercules are the two majestic volcanic peaks that flank the Strait of Sunda, the Karang (1,778 meters) and the Kalianda (1,281 meters).
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²⁴ The Hindus speak of two Mts. Merus. One is the Sumeru (or Kailasa) in the north, and the other is the Kumeru (“Southern Meru”) in the infernal regions of the extreme south. These two are often placed at the two Poles, but this is sheer exoterism. Alternatively, the Kailasa is placed in the Himalayas (really, the Hindu Kush) and the Sumeru in Indonesia (Lanka). The two Merus are held to be pyramidal in shape, being the archetypes of the pyramids of Giza. These are three in number, representing the three peaks of Trikuta. But, of course, the central peak of Trikuta — the one which corresponded to Mt. Atlas, the (central) Pillar of Heaven — exploded, leaving only the two Merus and the “Door” (the Strait of Sunda) behind.
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