Atlantis Part 3 - Atlantean Technology and the Great Crystal

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One of the most fascinating themes in the Atlantis accounts is the extraordinary level of technology the civilization is said to have developed. The Atlanteans did not appear to think of science, nature and spiritual forces as completely separate subjects. Instead, they studied the underlying forces of nature and learned ways of concentrating, directing and applying those forces to everyday life. Their knowledge included electricity, vibration, light, sound, communication, transportation and forces within the earth itself. Yet the same knowledge that helped Atlantis reach such an advanced state eventually became part of its destruction.

Central to this technology was the mysterious use of crystals. One account describes preparations involving electrical forces, transportation, distant observation and even the overcoming of gravity, all connected with “the crystal, the mighty, the terrible crystal.” (519-1) The description is important because the crystal was not presented simply as a decorative or mystical object. It appears to have functioned as an instrument through which powerful natural energies could be concentrated and directed.

The Atlanteans apparently discovered ways of using light and other forms of energy through these crystals. One account describes “the crystallizing of the influences of the sun through the crystal” and says that this power controlled “the motivative forces” being used at the time. (877-1) This suggests that solar energy or some related natural force was gathered, concentrated and converted into usable power.

Another description gives an even broader picture. Great crystals are said to have stored or concentrated “the MOTIVATIVE forces in nature” and to have “condensed the lights” in ways that allowed these forces to perform many different functions. They were used to guide “the ship upon the bosom of the sea” as well as craft travelling through the air. (813-1) The implication is that a common source of energy could be adapted to transportation, communication and other technologies.

Transportation in Atlantis is described in remarkable terms. One account speaks of “various crafts” that carried individuals from place to place and describes the overcoming of what would now be called “the forces of nature or gravity itself.” (519-1) Whether these descriptions should be understood literally or spiritually, the picture presented is of a civilization that believed it had discovered principles of nature far beyond ordinary mechanical power.

The same passage describes abilities that sound surprisingly similar to later technologies. It refers to something comparable to “photographing from a distance” and even the ability to read inscriptions through walls and across distances (519-1). Atlantis is therefore portrayed as possessing sophisticated methods for obtaining and transmitting information.

Communication was particularly important. Some individuals were responsible for communications between Atlantis and other lands. One account describes communication “under the sea, the wires, the air currents, or what not.” (587-3) This suggests a civilization experimenting with several different ways of transmitting information rather than relying upon a single method.

Even more striking is the description of technology involving the “transmission of the voice” and the recording of activities through vibrations in a manner compared with what would later become “television.” (813-1) The terminology is naturally expressed through concepts familiar at the time the readings were given, but the central idea is clear: Atlantis was portrayed as possessing methods for transmitting sound and images across distance.

The study of consciousness also seems to have been connected with Atlantean science. One individual is described as a teacher in psychological thought and especially in “the transmission of thought through ether.” (187-1) The Atlanteans therefore appear to have explored not only physical communication but also the possibility that thought itself could be transmitted or received.

This relationship between mind and technology is important because the Atlantean understanding of nature seems to have included consciousness as part of the universe rather than something completely separate from it. Mind, vibration, matter and energy were viewed as interconnected. This opened possibilities for healing and communication, but it also created the danger that knowledge of mental forces could be used to influence or control other people.

Healing was another area in which vibration and energy were applied. Some of those serving in the temples were described as both priestesses and physicians. One account speaks of a priestess of the Law of One serving where “the universal forces gave expression” through influences affecting body and mind. She is described, in modern terms, as “the physician, the doctor” of the people. (823-1)

Another fascinating account describes knowledge later carried from Atlantis into Egypt involving what was called “electron music.” Colour, vibration and sound were said to influence the emotions and temperament of individuals and could also be used beneficially with certain physical conditions (824-1). Healing in Atlantis was therefore portrayed as involving not merely physical substances but the manipulation of vibration, sound, colour and energy.

The Atlanteans also studied forces beneath the surface of the earth. One account connects Atlantean experience with continuing interests in “electrical forces,” communications and “the innermost portions of the earth.” (615-1) This knowledge would eventually become particularly dangerous because Atlantis apparently learned ways of directing tremendous amounts of energy into the earth itself.

The great technological achievement of Atlantis therefore carried a serious responsibility. The same civilization that could concentrate sunlight, manipulate electrical forces, communicate across great distances, work with vibration and overcome ordinary limitations of transportation was also discovering forces capable of tremendous destruction.

This is where the story of the Great Crystal becomes darker.

The readings describe destructive forces created when “the high influences of the radial activity from the rays of the sun” were turned through crystals into areas connected with “the internal influences of the earth.” (263-4) Something that had originally represented an extraordinary understanding of natural energy was being applied in a way that disturbed forces deep within the planet.

Another account describes the preparation of explosives or powerful forces that “set in motion the fires of the inner portions of the earth.” (621-1) The consequences were apparently not fully understood by everyone involved. The technology had reached a point where human actions could trigger forces far greater than the people themselves could control.

This is an important distinction. The readings do not suggest that crystals themselves destroyed Atlantis. Nor do they present technology as something inherently dangerous. The danger came from the misapplication of knowledge.

One account speaks directly of both “destructive forces and constructive forces” existing within the same Atlantean technological experience (519-1). The same understanding of nature could therefore produce very different results depending upon the purpose behind its use.

This connects Part 3 directly with the struggle between the Law of One and the Sons of Belial. Those following the Law of One sought to place knowledge within a spiritual purpose. Technology could improve life, heal the sick, connect distant peoples and help humanity understand the Creative Forces expressed through nature. But when the same powers became instruments of self-interest, domination and destruction, the technology magnified those motives enormously.

One Atlantean who believed in the One nevertheless used inventive abilities toward things that “brought bodily destruction.” The lesson given from that experience was that such abilities should be judged according to a “spiritually ideal” rather than according to material ideals (608-7). Possessing the ability to do something was therefore not sufficient reason to do it.

That may be one of the most important lessons contained in the Atlantean technology accounts.

The question was not simply:

Can we do this?

The greater question was:

Should we do this, and whom will it serve?

Atlantis had developed tremendous knowledge of the forces of nature. Yet technological ability was advancing beyond the spiritual wisdom required to govern it. The more powerful the technology became, the greater the consequences of selfish or careless decisions became.

The Great Crystal therefore becomes almost a symbol of Atlantis itself. It represented the extraordinary potential of human knowledge. Through understanding natural forces, humanity could communicate, travel, heal and accomplish things that once seemed impossible. Yet that same concentrated power could become terrible when separated from wisdom and spiritual responsibility.

Atlantis did not fall because knowledge was evil. Its tragedy was that knowledge became more powerful than the wisdom of those controlling it.

The civilization had learned how to reach into the forces of nature, concentrate them and direct them. Eventually those forces were turned toward destructive purposes and even toward the internal forces of the earth.

Once that happened, the consequences could no longer be contained.

The technology that had helped make Atlantis one of the most advanced civilizations described in the readings would now become involved in the upheavals that began tearing the land apart.

This leads directly into Part 4 — The Destruction of Atlantis and the Great Exodus.

Atlantis Part 2 - The Law of One and the Sons of Belial

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The great conflict within Atlantis was not simply about technology, wealth or political power. At its heart was a spiritual struggle over how humanity should use the extraordinary knowledge and powers it had developed. The readings repeatedly describe two opposing influences within Atlantean society: those who followed the Law of One and those associated with the Sons of Belial. These represented two very different ways of understanding life and the purpose of human power.

The Law of One taught that behind all life there is one Creative Source. Humanity was therefore not truly separate from God, from nature or from one another. This was not intended merely as a religious belief but as something that had to be expressed in everyday relationships. “Ever has been, ever will be, the law of One the same.” The practical meaning was then given: “Love ye in your daily experience. Apply ye in your daily activities the love that ye would have the Father show thee, in thy relationships to thy fellows.” (497-1)

Because all people came from the same Source, the Law of One also opposed the idea that some groups were spiritually more valuable than others. Atlantis had divisions between different classes and levels of society, yet the deeper spiritual teaching was that “all are of one source - One!” (333-2). If this principle were truly understood, then the way one person treated another became part of that person's relationship with the Creative Forces. Service to another person was therefore not separate from spiritual development.

Against this understanding arose the influence associated with the Sons of Belial. The readings describe a gradual movement away from the Law of One and toward a philosophy increasingly centred upon material satisfaction, physical desire, personal advantage and power. There were “withdrawings from the Law of One” and the establishment of the influence associated with Belial (263-4). Atlantis therefore did not suddenly become corrupt. The change developed gradually as people began changing the purpose for which their knowledge and abilities were being used.

The difference between the two paths is described particularly clearly in one reading. The followers of the Law of One were opposed by those who worshipped “the satisfying of physical desire” and those who worshipped “ease and pleasure in the material world.” (640-1) The problem was not that physical life or material comfort was inherently wrong. The problem arose when material desire became the ruling purpose of life and spiritual principles became secondary.

This imbalance became increasingly serious because Atlantis had already reached an extraordinary level of material development. Poseida was described as possessing a very advanced civilization, yet “the application towards material surmounted that toward the spiritual.” (38-1) Humanity was learning how to control powerful forces in the world around itself without developing the same ability to control selfishness, pride and desire within itself.

Even spiritual knowledge began to be used for material purposes. The readings describe people exploring “the laws that pertained to spiritual forces for the aggrandizing of selfish motives in material bodies.” (524-1) This was one of the most dangerous developments in Atlantis. Spiritual knowledge was no longer always being sought for wisdom, healing or service. Some sought spiritual and natural powers because of what those powers could provide materially.

The conflict was also much more complicated than simply dividing Atlantis into good people and bad people. Even those associated with the Law of One could become tempted by power. One individual connected with the Law of One became involved with the powers associated with the stone, and this eventually led toward “self-indulgences, self-aggrandizements” and destructive consequences (528-14). The reading therefore gives a very important instruction: “KNOW THYSELF.” (528-14)

This suggests that the real dividing line between the Law of One and Belial existed not only between groups of people but within each individual. A person could believe in spiritual principles while still being tempted by recognition, pleasure or power. A person could sincerely wish to help others while also wanting personal advantage. The possession of spiritual knowledge did not automatically remove selfishness from the human personality.

Another Atlantean experience describes an individual as being “torn between two opinions.” Material concerns drew the person toward Belial, while spiritual desires drew the person toward the Sons of One (524-1). This gives the story a much deeper meaning. The struggle of Atlantis was also the struggle within human consciousness between material desire and spiritual purpose.

As the Belial influence became stronger, the desire for power apparently extended beyond material possessions into attempts to control other people. Some Atlanteans possessed knowledge of mental forces, and the readings describe efforts in which one might “control another by the mental being” (428-4). Such use of knowledge opposed the deeper principle of the Law of One because spiritual development required respect for the individual soul and its freedom.

The same pattern appears repeatedly throughout the Atlantis readings. Knowledge could be used constructively or destructively depending upon the motive of the person using it. One individual who travelled from Atlantis to Yucatan possessed knowledge of “the inmost forces in nature itself,” but when these abilities became associated with “self-indulgences,” destructive consequences followed (568-1).

The alternative repeatedly given in the readings was service. Abilities were not intended merely for personal advancement. One reading explains that what a person possesses should be used as “aid or service to another rather than to self.” (220-1) This simple principle seems to contain much of the difference between the Law of One and the Belial influence.

Some Atlanteans continued to live according to this principle even while witnessing the misuse of the great powers around them. One individual associated with the powerful crystal technologies saw these abilities being turned toward self-indulgence but continued to regard their own responsibility as “a duty of love and of service for its fellow man.” (813-1)

The Law of One therefore did not teach that power itself was wrong. It taught that power carried responsibility. Knowledge of nature, technology, healing, consciousness and spiritual forces could become tremendously constructive when motivated by love and service. The same knowledge could become destructive when motivated by selfishness.

This is why one reading gives the warning, “Do not make self a part of any that bring curses. Rather those that bring blessings to many.” (240-2) The purpose behind an ability was ultimately more important than the ability itself.

The readings also repeatedly warn against using divine or spiritual abilities for personal glory. One Atlantean experience emphasized that human relationships should remain “in accord with the divine, rather than using the divine for SELFISH motives,” whether those motives involved “fame, fortune, power, or BODILY pleasure.” (115-1)

The struggle between the Law of One and the Sons of Belial can therefore be understood as two different directions for human development. One path sought unity, love, spiritual growth and service. The other increasingly sought material satisfaction, personal advantage, domination and self-gratification. Both existed within the same highly advanced civilization, and both had access to extraordinary knowledge and power.

The real difference was how that power was used and what motivated its use.

Atlantis therefore presents a powerful spiritual lesson. Greater knowledge does not automatically make humanity wiser. In fact, the greater the power humanity possesses, the more important spiritual development becomes. Knowledge magnifies the intention of the person using it. In the hands of those motivated by service, it can become a blessing. In the hands of those motivated by selfishness and domination, the same knowledge can become destructive.

The deepest battlefield in Atlantis was therefore not the land, the temples or the political institutions. It was the human heart. The civilization had learned to command extraordinary forces, but it had not completely learned to master the desires within human beings.

The Law of One offered a simple answer: power should be used in love and service to others. The Belial influence increasingly turned that power toward self.

As that division grew, the conflict would eventually move beyond ideas and philosophy. The tremendous technological forces possessed by Atlantis would begin to be used destructively, setting the stage for the upheavals that followed.