CHAPTER 1

TWO YOUTHS IN ATLANTIS

The Rai occupied the dias in the centre of the rostrum; every ear was attuned to the slightest intonation of his voice. At last we were here! in the great city of learning and culture, the centre of the known world, Atlantis!

"Man is a composite being of five fold strength in a Universe of from
one to seven fold beings, so that in homo sapiens there is a greater
variety of forces at work than would be found in the lower orders of
life upon earth.

Of these five forces the first is Ego, that which Nature first imposes
upon life that it may preserve and propagate itself. A factor designed
to force living things up the scale of progress.

Second, again of Nature, is the physical mind, that the body may be
aware of its actions.

Third, the coarse body of spirit, the spirit-aura, that justice may
come to Nature's product, homo sapiens, by the absorption into the
spirit-aura of carnal error.

Fourth, the spiritual mind, to give balance and guidance to the actions
of the body.

Fifth, the astral reflection of the two last principles, magnetic
force, the source of animation.

Our task is to separate these five components, examine and analyze the
function of each, then blend them together, each in its rightful place,
until achieving the perfect whole being..."

The soft tones faded away and the Rai gestured in dismissal. Zadius,
sitting on my left in the circle of young students, glanced across. Our
formal initiation was over, it was time for us to consult the small map
which had been handed to us earlier, showing the way to our living
quarters.

Having just arrived from Khe, a flat, low lying land, we were most
impressed by the magnificent panorama of mountains, hills and valleys
which met our view on leaving the Academy.

The island of Atlantis, which was about two thousand miles long, looked
green indeed to eyes used only to seeing the sparse vegetation of Khe,
where sheep and goat raising was the main farming activity. The
practical Atlanteans utilized their fertile valleys for their
considerable agricultural enterprises, preferring to build their homes
and activity centres on the lower slopes of the hills. This gave a
sweeping view of the countryside to all who gathered there from
neighbouring lands.

To Zadius and I, it seemed that we had talked and dreamed of this day
for years ... the day when we would arrive in the recognized centre of
all culture. Now on arriving, it was strange to find that our first
impressions were topographical.

Turning to Zadius I commented on the value of foreknowledge. Having
been born and educated in a flat country, neither of us had ever
conceived of any other type of terrain. Had we been asked to describe
our ideas of Atlantis previously, we would have conjectured upon a
topography similar to that of Khe, but with larger towns, more people
and an advanced technology.

Perhaps we would have stressed the greater knowledge of Atlanteans, for
here, in the remnants of the original "Garden of Eden", the direct
descendants of Adam were living. Although a few of these people had
spread eastwards and westwards in the course of many centuries, their
movement was negligible.

On reaching the two roomed house that had been assigned to us for
personal use throughout our stay in Atlantis, we were fascinated by the
heatless, shadowless lighting, apparently without source, and seeming
like daylight, which we later found to be common in all Atlantean
buildings. One permanently lighted room accommodated all social
activity. The other was dim and windowless, unless the long narrow
opening under the eaves of two walls could be termed a window. This
crack was so narrow that even at the brightest part of the day there was
barely sufficient light to see the furnishings, which were no more than
two straw pallets on the floor, each with a single blanket to cover the
occupant. In Swn, the capital of Khe, our native city, we had always
slept uncovered on soft downy cushions of silken-like material, and the
prospect of sleeping on a hard, bumpy mattress that barely raised the
body from the floor was not inviting. We later became so accustomed to
Atlantean bedding that we could never again appreciate the luxury of
Swnian bedding.

Zadius, always the more appreciative of physical adventure, soon set
off to investigate the mysteries of night life in this exciting new
city. While I, already a confirmed analyst, sat down to evaluate a
sudden upset in my academic emotions.

Knowing that in any battle between the will and the imagination,
imagination always wins, I was distraught at finding how far astray my
envisioned picture of Atlantis had been -- yet loathe to admit an
imaginative error. Pinpointing my emotional upset as being pride left me
fatigued and suddenly homesick for the familiar security of my native
land. This disruption of logic required adjustment, and slowly, by firm
repetition of facts, sentimental self-pity was overcome and mind control
triumphed.

Hours passed before Zadius returned from his nocturnal revelling. His
first words indicated that he too had suffered from nostalgia, and that
his prolonged absence had been motivated similarly to that of a man who
laughs in excess in an endeavour to mask his true feelings. After an
instant flash of mutual thought transmission, Zadius said.

"At least, Loliad, I forgot for awhile..."

"Perhaps," I replied. "But I have already conquered, while you have yet
to fight the battle my friend..."

Zadius never forgot this early lesson in Atlantis, and from it he
gained a more advanced recognition than I, who knew the theory well
enough but failed to absorb its true meaning.

Many times afterwards I found this to be abundantly true. People,
quick with advice, fail to recognise a lesson as applicable to self;
seeing weakness in another and not in my self, I, Loliad, on my first
day in Atlantis had fallen prey to one of mankind's greatest failings,
and in so doing became that much less than Zadius, who respected my
intellectual superiority.

We were now ready to retire, and settling down on our uncomfortable
pallets in the darkened room, we cheered ourselves with the pleasant
prospect of three days vacation, a concession granted to all foreign
students in Atlantis.

At dawn the following day we set forth eagerly to explore the city.

Twentieth Century man, who has always been accustomed to a monetary
system, will find it hard to understand the perplexity such a system has
for those born in a country where the word "money" is not even part of
the vocabulary. The urgent necessity to satisfy our hunger finally
stimulated the realisation that we were required to pay for the food we
wanted; although, as we later discovered, we had been lavishly supplied
by those who had sent us.

As the day wore on we were thrilled by the sight of beautifully
designed buildings, many of them large and spacious, and far beyond the
actual requirements of the occupants. We rode the monorail car systems,
admired the straight wide roads, the canals, and the underground
gardens. Yet all these sights began to pall as we remembered that in
Swn, the inhabitants would now be starting their long hours of prayer
and meditation, and that we had spent a full day with only a very brief
devotional period in the early dawn to sustain our spiritual entities.

We discussed this fact with all the fresh ardour of two young scholars
while walking back to our billet. How easy it had been to become
distracted by the spectacular; how strange that Atlanteans, who by all
standards had a civilization far advanced to that of the Swnians,
appeared to find less time for devotion than our own people, and how
phenomenal to find that here in the centre of theochristic activity,
the people seemed to spend less time in practising, and such lengthy
periods in study -- a situation quite the reverse of Swnian habits.

Analyzing the illogic of this procedure occupied most of the night, and
for the next two days we were content to spend the greater part of our
time re-affirming our intention to guard against this habit. We would
make sure that we spent equal time in theory and practise; for what use
is all knowledge unless applied?

On the morning of the fourth day we were eager to begin the first
course in the two year training schedule designed to equip us to become
teachers among our own people when we returned to our homeland.

Whereas today Science is the study of Nature, philosophy is the search
for wisdom based on the sum total of the knowledge of the ages, and
religion is an attitude towards Deity: In my lifetime this combined
learning was taught at the Metaphysical Academy, the members being
students of Spirit and Nature. The technological and mechanical sciences
were taught at a completely separate institute.

From earliest childhood my interest had lay in those things of nature
that were about me. This avenue of exploration led me to seek an
understanding of cause and effect ... though without realising its full
import.

Nature study can do naught else but cause the mind to wander into the
realms of occult mystery, and in my time the formal answers were to be
found in Atlantis.

To impart the metaphysical wisdom necessary for quickening evolutionary
processes in humanity, requires the use of the physical forebrain ... as
will be readily seen in forthcoming chapters.

There is need to speak of the past in order to clarify why I am what I
am, and how it is possible for mankind to live more happily in the
knowledge of both worlds -- yours and mine.

For name "Loliad" will suffice. I was born over seven thousand years
ago to parents who lived in modest circumstances, and who were of a
class known as "Teachers".

Swn, or Suerne if you prefer the phonetic version, now forms part of
the bed of the Mediterranean sea, though the catastrophic events which
caused its final downfall did not occur until several generations after
my demise.

Many thousands of years before my lifetime, a vagrant planet had passed
close enough to our own that Earth's axial motion was affected. This
caused such tremendous upheaval that areas that once had been of
tropical climate became covered with ice. The melting of this ice,
combined with the heaving and shifting of the land masses, left Earth
looking much like the illustration below with Atlantis as an integral
part of the Earth's land mass. The Americas were joined across the
Pacific to Russia, Japan, China and Africa etc. Civilization was centred
in the areas now called the Mediterranean.

There were two oceans -- The Great North and the Great South Sea. The
British Isles, Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Russia and North America were
joined to form the shores of the Great North Sea, though North America
extended much farther west, so that the Grand Banks were the eastern
limits. Large lakes formed much of the hinterland of the North Americas
and only the southern regions were fertile.

Suerne was the large central city in the land of Khe, a vast prairie
country bordered almost completely by mountain ranges. These kept the
population from dispersing and formed an effective barrier against
would-be invaders. The western border of Khe was approximately five
hundred miles east and slightly to the north of Atlantis City.

Suernians lived on a tribal basis, drawing all required supplies from
central storehouses. There was plenty for all. Distribution was on a
per capita basis regardless of occupation. There was no such thing as
wealth or poverty.

A white cotton robe was the common dress of all people, both male and
female, with a loose over-robe of varying colours which denoted the
occupation of the wearer (green in my father's case). Elders of the
tribe and those to whom special honour was due, wore a distinctive sash
and certain items of head-dress to indicate their status and degree of
authority.

While social law permitted certain men to remain single, there was no
such thing as an unattached woman, and most men had from two to five
wives.

My mother loved her children dearly, and all children for themselves.
She rejoiced anew with each pregnancy, and being extremely wise,
realised that her deportment at this time would have considerable
bearing on the future life of each child she carried. Though well versed
in the household arts, Mother, as was the custom with women, had little
formal education. Each evening she spent many happy hours learning
from my father as he discussed his knowledge with the family. I was the
culmination of two previous birth experiments in which Mother forced
her thoughts into certain preconceived channels, and the ultimate results
amply proved the wisdom of one who recognised the tremendous responsibility
of bringing new life into the world.

Family life in Suerne was quite unlike that of the Twentieth Century.
The small children of the community were considered the responsibility
of all adults. During games, should any adult notice one small
individual being overly aggressive, it was the observer's task to talk
to the child, explaining this misdemeanour. It would be considered
ludicrous today to see a stranger delivering a lengthy lecture to
youngsters playing on the street.

It might seem even more peculiar today to observe children, barely able
to master a few words, listening to lengthy discourses by their elders
on the facts of life. Yet in Suerne it was realised that education,
begun in the womb, should be carried into the very earliest days of
childhood experiences.

At a very tender age, Suernian children were separated from their
parents, and put into groups in keeping with their mental potential. And
while being permitted to visit their parents, the children then fell
within the full jurisdiction of the teachers. From this time forward
the children lived at school among others of their own age, sleeping in
the same compound, eating and studying together. They were separated in
later years, the boys according to their prospective professions, the
girls returning to their parents homes at the age of ten, to give their
full attention to the domestic arts, as at this time their formal
education was ended.

After one year of intensive study a Suernian child was considered to
be a teacher by the very simple reasoning that this child was possessed
of knowledge unknown to a younger child. Thus children were taught to
teach, and in so doing exercised their own knowledge, forcing the brain
to use and repeat that which it had learned.

Many hours were occupied with silent sitting as each new piece of
information was digested and correlated with earlier lessons. All
instruction was verbal and had to be remembered in detail. The class sat
cross-legged in semi-circles around the teacher, absorbing his every
word.

At the age of five, in keeping with the custom of my people, I was
brought before the Tribunal of Learning where oral examination brought
to light an intellect already stimulated with burning curiosity, and at
this time my future life's program was mapped out by the elders with my
faltering concurrence.

It is of interest to note that through the Tribunal habitually asked
leading questions in their examinations, the members did not lean upon
the verbal replies as a basis for forming an opinion of the candidate.
Although it was not until years later I learned that these questions
were designed to stimulate thought, and it was by reading the thought
waves activated by simple queries, which often reflected quite different
reactions to the stumbling words that ensued, that the final decisions
were made. At the time of this examination I had already spent two years
in the primary class designated by the first school board.

After three years of further instruction the selective groups were
again subdivided, my small class being moved to more secluded quarters,
which threw the children into very close companionship. It was here
that I first met Zadius.

The intensity of our studies precluded most forms of recreation or
sports, and even when a rare game was permitted it was designed to
further educate though encouraging a competitive spirit. It was a rare
occasion indeed when I met my family for more than a brief word in
passing, and which so much still to learn the thought of returning home
for a holiday seemed entirely impracticable.

As these childhood years sped by my insatiable thirst for knowledge
grew and would have developed into an uncontrolled passion but for two
saving features; firstly the wise counselling of my teachers; and
secondly -- Zadius...

The accent of teaching in Suerne was always placed upon the class, the
country, and the evolution of humanity as a whole. Close personal
friendships were discouraged. But despite all training to the contrary,
the life-long friendship between Zadius and myself blossomed from our
first acquaintance.

Our personalities were poles apart, but Zadius' gay and often frivolous
inclinations complimented my own sternly studious outlook. In
retrospect it seems almost certain that had this companionship not
developed, I would never have become aware of the lighter side of life
-- to the detriment of my work on Earth and in heaven; while Zadius was
undoubtedly prevented from getting into mischief at a time when study
was essential to his welfare.

During our Atlanteans sojourn Zadius displayed his natural capacity for
gravitating to just the right places where the maximum of enjoyment
could be found for two young men weary from long hours of intensive
study. Not that I wish to be misleading by insinuating that I was in any
way a reluctant participant -- far from it! It was simply that Zadius
and I each recognized the field in which the other was best equipped to
lead, an arrangement which proved to be of lasting mutual satisfaction.

To win the Atlantean Scholarships was the goal of every lad in Khe.
Daydreaming of even the remote possibility of such an event had sped
many of our leisure moments for years before.

Even so, when in our fifteenth year, Zadius and I actually heard that
we were the successful candidates it seemed hardly credible. Our joy
knew no bounds, for it had long been reiterated by our teachers that the
Atlantean Academy of Metaphysics and Institute of Technology, together
housed the intelligentsia of the known world. Before graduating from the
former, a student would have advanced into the realms of understanding
where the aura could be separated from the tissue during deepest
meditation, to roam the Universe, or wander to every corner of the
earth. Though this task took two years or a lifetime of concentration,
for a willing student, no less could be accomplished, and on completion
of the courses a graduate would return to his homeland to become an
instructor in the Metaphysical Arts and Sciences.

There was one other choice for a few selected graduates, that of
remaining in Atlantis for his lifetime (with brief trips home for
post-graduate lecturing) in order to attain the ultimate goal of
complete knowledge of life, death, and life thereafter; which, as it
happened, was the path of my choosing.