Below is an essay by Planet Waves’ Genevieve Salerno on the myth of Atlantis, as an informative addition to Eric’s piece on Atlantis and the Large Hadron Collider, published in today’s edition of Planet Waves Astrology News. -RA
HISTORY IS A RARE feature of intelligence that no other known creature on Earth can produce. It is the story of a person, or an idea, or a place over a long period of time and through a long procession of decisions, troubles and triumphs. But what it really offers us, aside from a chance to take a nap if you happen to be a middle school student, is perspective to make better decisions.
The mistakes that humanity have made in its past give us more power now to make intentional decisions, and to act wisely.
This being said, in order for us to take a clear look at the technology running today, and compare it to Atlantis, we will take a look at the story behind Atlantis. It’s a pretty short story, which puts it at odds with science, which needs to have as much of the story as possible. But for the rest of us, it captures the imagination.
Atlantis first appeared in two of Plato’s dialogs, Timaeus and Critias, as specifically being lost. Interestingly, back when civilization was still pretty new, people were already talking about civilizations that had come before, and had been destroyed. Many sources link the fictional city of Atlantis to the kingdom of the Minoans, which was destroyed by Mother Nature around 1,500 BC by a massive tidal wave.
This could be an explanation for why we believe Atlantis was swallowed by the sea. Minoa was. Up until that point, Minoan culture has been set down in the history books as a kingdom of perfect bureaucracy, refinement, riches, culture and art. It was also a city that rose off the island of Crete, where King Minos, father of the Minotaur, ruled.
If Atlantis can be equated with Minoa, then the technology we can associate with Atlantis can be equated with the myths of Crete. Trust me, they are pretty juicy, and they have to do with refusing to look inward and accept what lives there.
Not many of us have heard about King Minos, but almost all of us have heard of the Minotaur. That’s the half-human, half-bull monster that haunted the Labyrinths of Crete and devoured imported children as sacrifices. “Minotaur” translated means “Minos’s Bull”.
The Minotaur was the King’s step-son, thanks to a conjugal visit Minos’s wife paid to one of Neptune’s sacred bulls. Minos was ashamed of the child, and hated him. He ordered his most brilliant inventor Daedalus to construct a giant Labyrinth underneath the kingdom to shut the bull-child up so that it could never see the light of day. Just in this part alone, we can see elements of guilt, shame, unanswered desire and fear of honesty.
Within this myth, each instance of desire that would otherwise be impossible to answer is responded to by an invention of Daedalus. The contraption with which the Queen could mate with the Bull to begin with was his design. The Labyrinth was his design. Two other inventions can be credited to Daedalus during his life as well, the most famous being the pair of wings with which his son Icarus fell to his death in, to be drowned, much like Atlantis, in the sea.
Daedalus, I would argue, is the personification of technology, always doing what it is told, never saying no, and serving as the maker of the instruments that lead to the fragmentation and destruction of those who he meant to serve, because of the irresponsible commands placed upon him.
If we extend the reach of our history to this myth, we are provided with valuable information regarding the irresponsible uses of technology. Is it possible that this machine which is meant to pierce the veil of all that we know is just a diversion from looking into ourselves for the answers to our most burning questions? Do we have examples in cultural and personal history where technology has served as a way to keep us out of touch with our emotions? Is technology dehumanizing us? Are we each hiding a minotaur in our hearts?
These are big questions, and, plainly put, no machine is going to give us the answer.
As a teen, I always loved the Edgar Cayce files on Atlantis and on religion. A fascinating ‘reading’ file is here: http://www.crystalinks.com/cayceatlantis.html. In it, he mentions the ‘death ray’ that destroyed Atlantis.