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Atlantis: The New Evidence
Paradise Lost, The Home of our Ancestors, or a Myth of Man's Deepest Desires?
- GenresNonfiction
154 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
9 people want to read
About the author
Martin Ebon
128 books3 followersMartin Ebon was a German American author of non-fiction books from the paranormal to politics.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Ebon immigrated to the United States in 1938.
Ebon worked for twelve years as Administrative Secretary for the Parapsychology Foundation and worked closely with its founder, Eileen J. Garrett.
Ebon died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
-Wikipedia
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Ebon immigrated to the United States in 1938.
Ebon worked for twelve years as Administrative Secretary for the Parapsychology Foundation and worked closely with its founder, Eileen J. Garrett.
Ebon died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
-Wikipedia
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May 26, 2024
A FAMED PARANORMAL AUTHOR CITES “NEW FINDINGS” AS EVIDENCE
Martin Ebon (1917-2006) was a German American author of non-fiction books, ranging from the paranormal to politics. He also worked for twelve years as Administrative Secretary for the Parapsychology Foundation.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1977 book, “Beneath the sea the secret of the legendary sunken island-continent of Atlantis… Since Plato spoke of Atlantis, much speculation on the island’s or continent’s life and location has come our way. Were the Atlanteans capable of technological feats that rivaled or exceeded our own? Are we---or some of us---reincarnated former residents of Atlantis? Was there sufficient warning before Atlantis was engulfed, to enable its inhabitants to escape and take their arts and sciences to other parts of the world, ranging from Egypt to the Americas?... We will try to answer these questions…” (Pg. 2)
He notes, “Atlantis began with Plato, and we who seek proof of its existence and ponder its fate and meaning are his heirs.” (Pg. 7) He continues, “Upon [Plato’s] death, ‘Critias,’ and therewith our most complete record of Atlantis, was left unfinished. There appears to be only one reference to Atlantis prior to Plato… as Plato repeatedly emphasized, the memory of Atlantis disappeared among the Greeks because those who knew of it had died, so that Atlantis remained a family tradition… Presumably, Critias bequeathed these oral or written notes to his nephew Plato, who seems to have ‘edited’ these supposed memories and written them down in the dialogues of ‘Timaeus’ and ‘Critias.’ … an early follower of Plato and a member of the Academy, Cranton, accepted the story of Atlantis was genuinely factual… However, Aristotle looked upon Plato’s Atlantean writings as mere myth.” (Pg. 12)
He goes on, “Plato’s narrative is consistent up to the point of the collapse of the empire in a single day, according to Egyptian priests, in 9600 B.C. … On the other hand, Aristotle’s theory that Atlantis was intended as an allegory to illustrate Plato’s political theories does not stand up. The narrative… espouses no particular theory and reads more like historical fact, than a myth.” (Pg. 16) He adds, “However, the merely historical evidence of Atlantis leaves unexplained a major question: Why did Plato bother to write about it? Plato was not a historian, and there is nothing in his other writings to indicate that he would have taken any interest in a purely historical Atlantis. We must then seek an additional and more occult explanation of the Atlantis myth.” (Pg. 17)
He notes, “Modern Atlantology undoubtedly would not exist---or at least would lac, much of it impetus---had it not been for the efforts of a nineteenth-century Minnesota politician, Ignatius L. Donnelly. His book, ‘Atlantis: The Antediluvian World,’ written in 1881…was the first thorough synthesis of pro-Atlantean evidence… Donnelly cited innumerable religious, mythological, folk, legendary, and scientific references to prove that Plato’s lost continent was not a fable, but a forgotten fact of world history. His theses, briefly stated, were: that there was an island in the Atlantic Ocean… known to the ancients as Atlantis; that this island was the true Garden of Eden, the source of all civilization; and that in a natural disaster it sank beneath the ocean, with only a few of its survivors escaping by raft or boat. The tales of those survivors, he believed, endured in the form of flood and deluge legends common to almost all races and religions.” (Pg. 41)
He asks, “What hit Atlantis? A giant meteor, asteroid or other cosmic object hit Atlantis. That’s the answer given by some of the researchers in early cataclysms. More cautious analysts of the fate of Atlantis and its disappearance as having taken place in various stages.” (Pg. 50)
He states, “The underwater explorations for remnants of Atlantis in the Bimini area and of the Atlantic coast of Spain had drawn on psychic, intuitive, and other extrasensory impressions or memories of Atlantis… The Bimini searches, in particular, relied not only on Edgar Cayce’s references to the area as containing remnants of Atlantis, but on the help of participants who sought to utilize clairvoyant powers to narrow down the explorations’ target.” (Pg. 59)
He suggests, “If a meteorite of the size and intensity of the one that struck Arizona’s semidesert region, impacting with the power of a megaton bomb, hit the ocean waters near Atlantis, the force of impact and explosion would hypothetically turn the waters to vapor or pure gaseous energy… the ocean waters would instantly disintegrate, just as desert rock was pulverized to powderlike dust.” (Pg. 74)
Later, he adds, “What did hit Atlantis? The list of hypothetical calamities cold go on endlessly, but the most commonly occurring natural disaster on this planet---with effects like those described by Plato---is volcanic eruption.” (Pg. 83)
He recounts, “Maxine Asher, a California educator and psychic researcher, who is founder and director of … the Ancient Mediterranean Research Association (AMRA). In 1973 Dr. Asher led an expedition to Spain and attempted to combine the skills of physical scientists and psychics to find the lost continent.” (Pg. 90) He continues, “Plans for the expedition were impressive… Though she was careful to select well-trained people for the expedition, Mrs. Asher insisted that credentials were not first priority. More important, she said, were ‘heart, soul, and caring, and wanting to do something for the world.’ Furthermore, ‘negative vibrations’ were strictly prohibited---they all were to think positively.” (Pg. 92) He adds, “It has never been exactly clear to the public what happened with the group reached Spain… There also were storms of protest from the Spanish government, which insisted upon immediate cessation of exploration and an inquiry into the expedition’s findings…. They never found any conclusive evidence of Atlantis, but got some ‘strong feelings’ that Ireland, Bimini, and other places in the Atlantic are all parts of a giant puzzle that once was Atlantis.” (Pg. 92-96)
He explains, “The most detailed body of fairly contemporary writings on Atlantis as the stage for previous incarnations comes from Edgar Cayce… If one pieces together the scattered bits of Atlantis information that emerged from Cayce’s individual readings, they form a mosaic of uneven design.” (Pg. 102-103) He adds, “Now, this Cayce ‘revelation’ will remain myth or hypothesis until marine archaeology has found proof for it on ocean floors. But much of what Cayce said as to the age of man, and the locations where indications might be found, has gained increased attention.” (Pg. 108)
He asks, “How old are the prehistoric constructions of Latin America? Some estimates … range as high as 15,000 years… It’s fascinating to speculate that the peoples who built the second might have seen, or even constructed, the first… Could the seeds of the Atlantic story have sprung from tales of trans-Atlantic voyages garbled and distorted in the telling? More diving, more scraping, more pulling, hauling and calculations will be necessary before these questions may even be partially answered.” (Pg. 117-118)
He concludes, “I see little wrong, and much to gain, by current efforts in the name of a search for Atlantis. [Jacques] Cousteau… is willing to utilize the Atlantis legend as a starting point for explorations into past civilizations… The same, I feel, goes for other efforts, such as the Cayce-inspired Bimini explorations, efforts to find undersea structure off Western Europe’s Atlantic coastline, and archaeological projects in other parts of the world. The more we learn of our own past, the more we realize that knowledge comes in fragments that must be put together with skill and imagination.” (Pg. 130)
Most of Ebon’s ‘new evidence’ is of dubious application to Atlantis; but the book is an engagingly-written overview of various approaches to the study of Atlantis.
Martin Ebon (1917-2006) was a German American author of non-fiction books, ranging from the paranormal to politics. He also worked for twelve years as Administrative Secretary for the Parapsychology Foundation.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1977 book, “Beneath the sea the secret of the legendary sunken island-continent of Atlantis… Since Plato spoke of Atlantis, much speculation on the island’s or continent’s life and location has come our way. Were the Atlanteans capable of technological feats that rivaled or exceeded our own? Are we---or some of us---reincarnated former residents of Atlantis? Was there sufficient warning before Atlantis was engulfed, to enable its inhabitants to escape and take their arts and sciences to other parts of the world, ranging from Egypt to the Americas?... We will try to answer these questions…” (Pg. 2)
He notes, “Atlantis began with Plato, and we who seek proof of its existence and ponder its fate and meaning are his heirs.” (Pg. 7) He continues, “Upon [Plato’s] death, ‘Critias,’ and therewith our most complete record of Atlantis, was left unfinished. There appears to be only one reference to Atlantis prior to Plato… as Plato repeatedly emphasized, the memory of Atlantis disappeared among the Greeks because those who knew of it had died, so that Atlantis remained a family tradition… Presumably, Critias bequeathed these oral or written notes to his nephew Plato, who seems to have ‘edited’ these supposed memories and written them down in the dialogues of ‘Timaeus’ and ‘Critias.’ … an early follower of Plato and a member of the Academy, Cranton, accepted the story of Atlantis was genuinely factual… However, Aristotle looked upon Plato’s Atlantean writings as mere myth.” (Pg. 12)
He goes on, “Plato’s narrative is consistent up to the point of the collapse of the empire in a single day, according to Egyptian priests, in 9600 B.C. … On the other hand, Aristotle’s theory that Atlantis was intended as an allegory to illustrate Plato’s political theories does not stand up. The narrative… espouses no particular theory and reads more like historical fact, than a myth.” (Pg. 16) He adds, “However, the merely historical evidence of Atlantis leaves unexplained a major question: Why did Plato bother to write about it? Plato was not a historian, and there is nothing in his other writings to indicate that he would have taken any interest in a purely historical Atlantis. We must then seek an additional and more occult explanation of the Atlantis myth.” (Pg. 17)
He notes, “Modern Atlantology undoubtedly would not exist---or at least would lac, much of it impetus---had it not been for the efforts of a nineteenth-century Minnesota politician, Ignatius L. Donnelly. His book, ‘Atlantis: The Antediluvian World,’ written in 1881…was the first thorough synthesis of pro-Atlantean evidence… Donnelly cited innumerable religious, mythological, folk, legendary, and scientific references to prove that Plato’s lost continent was not a fable, but a forgotten fact of world history. His theses, briefly stated, were: that there was an island in the Atlantic Ocean… known to the ancients as Atlantis; that this island was the true Garden of Eden, the source of all civilization; and that in a natural disaster it sank beneath the ocean, with only a few of its survivors escaping by raft or boat. The tales of those survivors, he believed, endured in the form of flood and deluge legends common to almost all races and religions.” (Pg. 41)
He asks, “What hit Atlantis? A giant meteor, asteroid or other cosmic object hit Atlantis. That’s the answer given by some of the researchers in early cataclysms. More cautious analysts of the fate of Atlantis and its disappearance as having taken place in various stages.” (Pg. 50)
He states, “The underwater explorations for remnants of Atlantis in the Bimini area and of the Atlantic coast of Spain had drawn on psychic, intuitive, and other extrasensory impressions or memories of Atlantis… The Bimini searches, in particular, relied not only on Edgar Cayce’s references to the area as containing remnants of Atlantis, but on the help of participants who sought to utilize clairvoyant powers to narrow down the explorations’ target.” (Pg. 59)
He suggests, “If a meteorite of the size and intensity of the one that struck Arizona’s semidesert region, impacting with the power of a megaton bomb, hit the ocean waters near Atlantis, the force of impact and explosion would hypothetically turn the waters to vapor or pure gaseous energy… the ocean waters would instantly disintegrate, just as desert rock was pulverized to powderlike dust.” (Pg. 74)
Later, he adds, “What did hit Atlantis? The list of hypothetical calamities cold go on endlessly, but the most commonly occurring natural disaster on this planet---with effects like those described by Plato---is volcanic eruption.” (Pg. 83)
He recounts, “Maxine Asher, a California educator and psychic researcher, who is founder and director of … the Ancient Mediterranean Research Association (AMRA). In 1973 Dr. Asher led an expedition to Spain and attempted to combine the skills of physical scientists and psychics to find the lost continent.” (Pg. 90) He continues, “Plans for the expedition were impressive… Though she was careful to select well-trained people for the expedition, Mrs. Asher insisted that credentials were not first priority. More important, she said, were ‘heart, soul, and caring, and wanting to do something for the world.’ Furthermore, ‘negative vibrations’ were strictly prohibited---they all were to think positively.” (Pg. 92) He adds, “It has never been exactly clear to the public what happened with the group reached Spain… There also were storms of protest from the Spanish government, which insisted upon immediate cessation of exploration and an inquiry into the expedition’s findings…. They never found any conclusive evidence of Atlantis, but got some ‘strong feelings’ that Ireland, Bimini, and other places in the Atlantic are all parts of a giant puzzle that once was Atlantis.” (Pg. 92-96)
He explains, “The most detailed body of fairly contemporary writings on Atlantis as the stage for previous incarnations comes from Edgar Cayce… If one pieces together the scattered bits of Atlantis information that emerged from Cayce’s individual readings, they form a mosaic of uneven design.” (Pg. 102-103) He adds, “Now, this Cayce ‘revelation’ will remain myth or hypothesis until marine archaeology has found proof for it on ocean floors. But much of what Cayce said as to the age of man, and the locations where indications might be found, has gained increased attention.” (Pg. 108)
He asks, “How old are the prehistoric constructions of Latin America? Some estimates … range as high as 15,000 years… It’s fascinating to speculate that the peoples who built the second might have seen, or even constructed, the first… Could the seeds of the Atlantic story have sprung from tales of trans-Atlantic voyages garbled and distorted in the telling? More diving, more scraping, more pulling, hauling and calculations will be necessary before these questions may even be partially answered.” (Pg. 117-118)
He concludes, “I see little wrong, and much to gain, by current efforts in the name of a search for Atlantis. [Jacques] Cousteau… is willing to utilize the Atlantis legend as a starting point for explorations into past civilizations… The same, I feel, goes for other efforts, such as the Cayce-inspired Bimini explorations, efforts to find undersea structure off Western Europe’s Atlantic coastline, and archaeological projects in other parts of the world. The more we learn of our own past, the more we realize that knowledge comes in fragments that must be put together with skill and imagination.” (Pg. 130)
Most of Ebon’s ‘new evidence’ is of dubious application to Atlantis; but the book is an engagingly-written overview of various approaches to the study of Atlantis.
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