A Dweller on Two Planets: Or, The Dividing of the Way

by Phylos the Thibetan (Pseudonym)

A Dweller on Two Planets or The Dividing of the Way is a book written by Frederick S. Oliver, who was born in 1866. It was not published until 1905, by his mother Mary Elizabeth Manley-Oliver, six years after Oliver's death in 1899. In the amanuensis preface, Oliver presents the book as a true account of the actual past of the true author, called "Phylos The Thibetan", otherwise identified as: "Yol Gorro". In its introduction, Oliver claims that the book had been channeled through him via automatic writing, visions and mental "dictations", by a spirit calling himself Phylos the Thibetan who revealed the story to him over a period of three years, beginning in 1883. Concerning itself with Atlantis, it portrays a first person account of Atlantean culture which had reached a high level of technological and scientific advancement. His personal history and that of a group of souls with whom Phylos closely interacted is portrayed in the context of the social, economic, political and religious structures which shaped Poseid society. Daily life for Poseidi citizens included such things as antigravity air and submarine craft, television, wireless telephony, arial water generators, air conditioners and high-speed rail. The book deals with deep esoteric subjects including karma and re-incarnation and describes Phylos' final incarnation in 19th century America where his Atlantean karma played itself out. In that incarnation (as Walter Pierson, gold miner and occult student of the Theo-Christic Adepts) he travelled to Venus/Hysperia in a subtle body while his physical form remained at the temple inside Mt Shasta. Describing his experience with the Hesperian adepts, Phylos relates many wonders including artworks depicting 3D scenes that appeared alive. He saw a voice-operated typewriter and other occult and technical power. Some devices mentioned have become reality (such as the TV and the atomic telescope). In a detailed personal history of Atlantis and 19th century North America, Phylos draws the threads of both lifetimes together in familiar and initiatic terms revealing equally their triumphs and failures and exposing the cause and effects of karma from one lifetime to another. His life story is written in personal testimony of the law: "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" and as a warning to this technological age to not repeat the mistakes of the past which lead to the cataclysmic destruction of "Poseid, queen of the waves". This book published in 1920 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

Genres: Fiction, Spirituality, Religion, Science Fiction

406 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

Pseudonym of Frederick S(pencer) Oliver

Reviews

[Leonardo B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I first learned about this book's existence on a dictation many years ago, I've read this book many times, and I've enjoyed it immensely every time.

On its own, even if regarded as a purely sci-fi story, I find this book a very entertaining and inspiring read. But the real beauty behind it is that its message transcends the purely "entertainment" aspect and truly contains useful, profound information that can help anyone walking "The Path".

If you are maybe a little curious but not really sure if you should pick up this book, I'd ask you to consider a couple of questions: does your logical mind find reasonable the idea that there are "older brothers" of humanity who are interested in giving us a hand? and if so, would you like to know what they have to say? If you do, I'd say this is an excellent book for you at this point, and encourage you to check it out.

[Warren Gossett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the book that inspired me to become a vegetarian and much else at age 13. I am now a vegan and 67. This is my favourite book ever.

[Erren Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The spirit known as Phylos the Thibetan dictated his story to his "secretary," Frederick Spencer Oliver. The story is about the past lives of Phylos, especially his life in Atlantis. He describes life in Atlantis and how the volcano there erupted and how people flew in ships shaped like a cigar. As a spirit, he also lived on Venus and describes the people there. Of course, you cannot live on Venus in your physical form, but it is the home of many spirits. Quite fantastic. This is a very interesting read.

[Marna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will be my 3rd or 4th time on this book. It's quite long, and quite an interesting read ... but slow going. Love it, though. It's descriptions of Atlants, it's government, it's transportation systems, it's land use, it's social structure--amazing stuff!

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is engaging and thought provoking, the one thing i got from this book was an awareness of how narrow my conception of infinity was.

[Bookachero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. Oliver insisted that a spirit being named Phylos gave him a true history of Atlantis via mental talks, visions and automatic writing, not a sci-fi novel. This book would be better placed in the esoteric section.

[Sosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a sort of Rosetta Stone for me. The ancient mysteries that are currently turning the tide against historians, the mysteries that "Chariots of the Gods" and "Ancient Aliens" describe adequately, but in their hubris fail to explain, are explained in this book; but only as an afterthought in a love story.

And so maybe the first chapters of Genesis are legends of Atlantis, whose incredible technology left its mark on civilizations all around the world, and whose sinking was the direct cause of the Great Flood; for me, these pieces of the puzzle, so casually placed, cast certain immensely popular conspiracy theories into unintelligibility...

But even if we could prove it was all true, would that have any comparison to true love?

(Here's an elegance, worthy of Hawthorne, that will bore many readers. If there's a corresponding bestseller, it's absolutely Cloud Atlas.)

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this book, it didn't flow well and I had very high expectations of it, which it didn't meet. I saw the Shirley Maclain movie, where it fell out of the book shelf and into her hand. I researched it to discover it was quite a big deal last century in esoteric circles. But... It didn't convince me. I have been a fan a Seth (Jane Roberts) for years, and I expected quite a lot more from "A Dweller of Two Planets". Really if I was going to communicate from the great beyond about a past life, screw the detail! I'd go through the highlights and the low times, but not an account of every day. Imagine dying and still holding on to a life long finished in such detail! How exhausting. The Christian elements also didn't bode well for me unfortunately, and the idea that karma is retribution always annoys me.
But I was impressed by the time it what written, and the description of Atlantean technology, that was very impressive.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book represents one of the absolute greatest texts this world has been privileged to receive. Oh that there were more who would discover its treasures. Equally marvelous, beyond and additional light is found in the sequel Earths Dwellers Return.

[Mrs. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like another reviewer said, an early 20th century metaphysical sci-fi classic. Except that ever since it was written, a lot of New Age devotees believe this to be a work of non-fiction disguised as fiction, sort of like a metaphysical "Primary Colors."

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found at Sacred Texts under the subject of Atlantis.

Author also known as: Phylos the Thibetan aka Frederick S. Oliver

[Michael Dobbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

an early 20th century metaphysical sci-fi classic

[Patty Wahlquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

really awesome.

[Don]

sucks!!

[Adam Henson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book (Atlantis) was rough and a bit awkward, but from there it's a trippy and interesting look at the origin of some Mount Shasta mythos. Maybe more, for the right reader.

[Taro · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I believed in reincarnation, I'd maybe see this book as a nice, if overly dramatic, allegory. The epilogue certainly makes sense.
But the sheer amount of people believing this is a true story is hilarious. I first found it at a pagan bookstore, and not wanting to spend $20 on a used book, I read it in ebook format. That copy was published by the same people who published my copy of Vril, a publishing house that seems to actually believe in the veracity of the stories.
At least with Vril, the author knew and made clear he was writing a fanciful fictional story. I don't think Oliver (or, sorry, "Phylos") thought he was writing fiction.
The story is just so fanciful, it reads like first Earth year college fan-fiction. The author was 18 when he wrote it, and it really shows. The alleged predictions are just obvious. Like if we called Gene Roddenberry a psychic because Star Trek tech is here today.
Lots of really dry sections, but if it were cleaned up, and the dialogue 100% rewritten (it is horrendous even from a POV of purple prose), it might make a passable, enjoyable movie.
[[[***movie idea ©2017 Taro Shijuukara]]]
Gave it extra stars for simple cheese value.

[Chelsea Charping · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a weird but interesting read. Some people read it as nonfiction and some read it as fiction; I mostly just read it for entertainment. However, there were some really interesting and thought-provoking parts that read as nonfiction, even if you don't believe it was actually written by Phylos the Thibetan. So I don't think you have to believe the whole story to still learn from this book.

There was one thing that really bothered me, and that was the use of King James English in dialogue throughout the book. I feel pretty confident that no one in ancient Atlantis was speaking King James English, so what's the point in using it here? The book was written in the late 1800s. I've read plenty of books from that time period. Language was more formal but certainly not King James. It felt to me like the writer was trying to appear smarter than he actually was. It was frustrating because there's a lot of dialogue in this book, so it wasn't an easy-to-ignore issue. But if you can get past that annoyance, the story is interesting.

[Dennis King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just an "occult classic." It is a classic of early science fiction and a classic generally. The book was supposedly dictated to the author by a Tibetan master from a higher reality. But the 17-year-old author said that after the first few chapters the dictation became just images in his mind, which I would regard as conventional writing. The influence of Helena Blavatsky, of Jules Verne, of Edward Bellamy, of Ignatius Donnelly and other 19th century writers is found throughout the book, but all put together in a creative way (no plagiarism that I could see). It is unfortunate that he didn't affirm it was his own work and thus free himself to write more novels. He certainly had the talent.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too long. This book needs some serious editing. Loved the part about Atlantis (book 1 and part of book 3). The story is good but unfortunately it’s spread out by endless hard to read passages of descriptions and sermons on karma, sin, and reincarnation (themes I have trouble relating to - these were more accessible when seeing the main character’s story as one that transcends space and time). Can see how this book might create new age cults.

[Julio M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A knowledge of the past in present tense

A book which reveals the cyclic toils of the soul in its ever progression towards true alignment with spirit
The greatest history ever told. Prepared for those who have the eyes to see....the mind to understand...the heart to feel...and the spirit to behold. Jsyem

[Manon Grondines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book 42 years ago. I was 12 years old. It influenced the rest of my life. It helped me understand the cycles of Earth, reincarnation, and that after a planetary cataclism (the pole shift, which I now know), the human being returned to the Stone Age. This book is more current than ever ...

[Nama'Dejigas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains a wealth of revelations for the student of metaphysics. Secrets unknown to science, religion and historians are now mine. Topics covered are Atlantis, divine physics, karma, reincarnation, afterlife and The Path to Enlightenment. Oh, and human life on Venus.

[Ian Evancho · Rating 5 out of 5]

easily the best book i’ve ever read. even if you don’t accept it as fact, it makes one heck of a story. it certainly has changed the way i look at the world and how i plan to live my life.

now to figure out how on earth I, a lover of all meats, am going to become vegetarian.

[Cristina Méndez · Rating 3 out of 5]

No fue mi libro favorito, pero me parece bastante bueno. Muchísima información científica de valor que hoy en día aún no es redescubierta. Información espiritual no simple de digerir.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a work of mystery and faith and a blueprint for the future of survival for humankind. It is difficult, at times, to read because of the language, terms and sentence structure.

[Courtney]

I had extremely high expectations for this book, but I couldn't get into it. I skim read it hoping that something (anything!) would hit my soul... or mind. It never happened.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was OK.

[Steven H · Rating 2 out of 5]

A BOOK CLAIMING TO ORIGINATE FROM A SPIRITUAL BEING

The back cover of this book explains, “In 1886, Frederick S. Oliver published [this book], which he claimed he transcribed under the direction of a spiritual being he called ‘Phylos the Thibetan.’ .. [This book is] perhaps the most interesting treatise available on Atlantis, reincarnation, and Karma. The vivid first-person descriptions of historical events suggest that the actual memories of a being who exists outside of time, or the talent of an exceptional clairvoyant…[Phylos] seeks to enrich human life with timeless truths. At the heart of this work is a recounting of the history, politics, religion, customs, and technological achievements of Poseid (Atlantis). But the wide-ranging discussion touches a variety of topics, including the nature of magic, the reality of non-embodied elementals, the dynamics of past-lives recall, the relation of heredity to reincarnation, the language of the soul, existence on the astral plane, the reasons why Atlantis perished, and karmic atonement.”

Oliver wrote in the “Amanuensis’ Preface”, I feel that I am mentally and spiritually but a figure beside the Author of the great, deep-searching, far-reaching and transcendent questions presented in the following pages; and I read and study them with as much interest and profit, I imagine, as will any reader. At the same time I feel with no sense of the natural pride of an Author of such a book, that it is a work of unselfish love, and will help to the betterment of an upward-struggling world, searching ever for more light and feed the hungry for knowledge of the great mystery of life and of the ever evolving soul, through Him who said---‘I AM THE WAY; FOLLOW ME.’

He continues, “it requires all the courage I possess to assert… that the following book… is absolute revelation; that I do not believe myself its Author, but that one of those mysterious persons, if my readers so choose to so consider him, an adept of the arcane and occult in the universe, better understood from reading this book, is the Author.”

This book will mostly appeal to those interested in Anthroposophy, Theosophy, and similar topics.

[Liliana Usvat]

Outstanding Book. Frederick S Oliver wrote this book as dictated by Phylos the Tibetan. He talks about Atlantis the advanced Technology that surpasses the knowledge we have today regarding forces of nature accepted by the scientific community. The books talks about transportation devices named valix that can fly in the air and be used as submersibles about wireless technology about naim telephone videophone. The book talks about reincarnation about mind abilities of the human specie that we did not accepted as existent in the official narrative. The ability of humans to communicate telepathically. The book talks about the knowledge of electricity during the Atlantis and live internet, also radio communication. The countries of the world during Atlantis era and social and ethical order at that time. The flight around the world using valix that was apparently more comfortable that the airplanes of today having library musical instruments air conditioning light inside it.

[Benjamin Schupp · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book isn’t so much about Atlantis, as it is about preaching and/or forcing one to follow Jesus. It’s also riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. When reading, you have to ‘read over’ a bunch of misplaced periods and misspelled words to understand the sentences. The “author” claims at the beginning that all the errors are his and not from the dictation. Even so, you’d think someone would have proof read the manuscript before it was published.