Lemuria (continent)

Lemuria (IPAEng|lɨˈmjʊəriə [OED] ) is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The concept's 19th century origins lie in attempts to account for discontinuities in biogeography. The concept of Lemuria has been rendered obsolete by modern understanding of plate tectonics. Although sunken continents do exist — see Zealandia in the Pacific and the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean — there is no known geological formation under the Indian or Pacific Oceans that corresponds to the hypothetical Lemuria.

Though Lemuria has passed out of the realm of conventional science, it has been adopted by writers involved in the occult, as well as some Tamil writers of India. Accounts of Lemuria differ, but all share a common belief that a continent existed in ancient times and sank beneath the ocean as a result of a geological, often cataclysmic, change.

cientific origins

Though living lemur species are only found in Madagascar and several surrounding islands, the biogeography of extinct lemurs extends from Pakistan to Malaysia. The wide range of the animals inspired the name "Lemuria", which was coined in 1864 by the zoologist Philip Sclater in an article "The Mammals of Madagascar" in "The Quarterly Journal of Science". Puzzled by the presence of fossil lemurs in both Madagascar and India, but not in Africa nor the Middle East, Sclater proposed that Madagascar and India had once been part of a larger continent.

Sclater's theory was hardly unusual for his time. The acceptance of Darwinism led scientists to seek to trace the diffusion of species from their points of evolutionary origin. Prior to the acceptance of continental drift, biologists frequently postulated submerged land masses in order to account for populations of land-based species now separated by barriers of water. Similarly, geologists tried to account for striking resemblances of rock formations on different continents. The first systematic attempt was made by Melchior Neumayr in his book "Erdgeschichte" in 1887. Many hypothetical submerged land bridges and continents were proposed during the 19th century, in order to account for the present distribution of species.

After gaining some acceptance within the scientific community, the concept of Lemuria began to appear in the works of other scholars. Ernst Haeckel, a German Darwinian taxonomist, proposed Lemuria as an explanation for the absence of "missing link" fossil records. According to another source, Haeckel put forward this thesis prior to Sclater (but without using the name 'Lemuria'). [L. Sprague de Camp, Lost Continents, 1954 (First Edition), p. 52 ] Locating the origins of the human species on this lost continent, he claimed the fossil record could not be found because it had sunk beneath the sea.

Other scientists hypothesized that Lemuria had extended across parts of the Pacific oceans, seeking to explain distributions of species across Asia and the Americas.

uperseded

The Lemuria theory disappeared completely from conventional scientific consideration after the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift were accepted by the larger scientific community. According to the theory of plate tectonics (now the only accepted paradigm in geology), Madagascar and India were indeed once part of the same landmass (thus accounting for geological resemblances), but plate movement caused India to break away millions of years ago, and move to its present location. The original landmass broke apart - it did not sink beneath sea level.

In 1999, drilling by the JOIDES Resolution research vessel in the Indian Ocean discovered evidence [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/353277.stm] that a large island, the Kerguelen Plateau, was submerged about 20 million years ago by rising sea levels. Samples showed pollen and fragments of wood in a 90 million-year-old sediment. Although this discovery might encourage scholars to expect similarities in dinosaur fossil evidence, and may contribute to understanding the breakup of the Indian and Australian land masses, it does not support the concept of Lemuria as a land bridge for mammals.

Madame Blavatsky's Lemuria

Lemuria entered the lexicon of the Occult through the works of Madame Helena Blavatsky, who claimed in the 1880s to have been shown an ancient, pre-Atlantean "Book of Dzyan" by the Mahatmas. According to L. Sprague de Camp, Blavatsky was influenced by other writers on the theme of Lost Continents, notably Ignatius L. Donnelly, American cult leader Thomas Lake Harris and the French writer Louis Jacolliot.

Within Blavatsky's complex cosmology, which includes seven "Root Races", Lemuria was occupied by the "Third Root Race", described as about seven foot tall, sexually hermaphroditic, egg-laying, mentally undeveloped and spiritually more pure than the following "Root Races". Before the coming of the Lemurians, the second "Root Race" is said to have dwelled in Hyperborea. After the subsequent creation of mammals, Mme Blavatsky revealed to her readers, some Lemurians turned to bestiality. The gods, aghast at the behavior of these "mindless" men, sank Lemuria into the ocean and created a "Fourth Root Race"—endowed with intellect—on Atlantis.

One of the most elaborate accounts of lost continents was given by the later theosophical author William Scott Elliott. The English theosophist said he received his knowledge from the Theosophical Masters by "astral clairvoyance." In 1896, in "The Story of Atlantis & The Lost Lemuria", he described the continent of Lemuria as stretching from the east coast of Africa across the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.

James Bramwell described Lemuria in his book, "Lost Atlantis", as “a continent that occupied a large part of what is now the South Pacific Ocean.” Bramwell, James. Lost Atlantis. (Hollywood: Newcastle, 1974), 193. ] Quoting "Story of Atlantis", by William Scott-Elliott; “Atlantis, according to Scott-Elliott’s first map, which shows it 1,000,000 years ago, extended ‘from a point a few degrees east of Iceland to about the site now occupied by Rio de Janeiro in South America. Embracing Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, the Southern and Eastern states of America, up to and including Labrador, it stretched across the ocean to our own islands, - Scotland and Ireland… embraced Brazil and the whole stretch of ocean across to the African Gold Coast.” Bramwell, 194. ]

Bramwell described the people of Lemuria in detail and attributed them with being one of the “root-races of humanity.” According to Bramwell, Lemurians are the ascendants of the Altlanteans, who survived the period “of the general racial decadence which affected the Lemurians in the last stages of their evolution.” From “a select division of” the Atlanteans - after their promotion to decadence - Bramwell claims the Aryan race arose. “Lemurians, Atlanteans, and Aryans are root-races of humanity,” according to Bramwell. Bramwell, 195. ]

James Churchward, another prolific writer on the theme of lost lands, identified Lemuria with Mu.

Lemuria and Mount Shasta

In 1894, Frederick Spencer Oliver published "A Dweller on Two Planets", which claimed that survivors from a sunken continent called Lemuria were living in or on Mount Shasta in northern California. The Lemurians lived in a complex of tunnels beneath the mountain and occasionally were seen walking the surface dressed in white robes.

This belief has been repeated by such individuals as the cultist Guy Warren Ballard in the 1930s who formed the I AM Foundation. It is also repeated by followers of the Ascended Masters and the Great White Brotherhood. This list includes such organizations as Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, Church Universal and Triumphant, The Temple of The Presence, and The Hearts Center.

Popular novels have also repeated the belief that Lemurians inhabit Mount Shasta. Among such novels, Vin Smith's "The Outrageous Views of Professor Fogelman" links Lemurians to Ancient Egypt, UFOs and a method of travel called vortex portals--essentially a pathway to sacred places on Earth as well as points unknown in the universe.

In Robert A. Heinlein's short story "Lost Legacy", three ordinary people rediscover innate human psychic abilities. They immediately come under attack from evil (but human) hidden elites, and are forced take refuge among a hidden colony of ancient masters in Mt. Shasta. Here they find that benevolent rebels of ancient times stored the secret history of humanity in Mt. Shasta and other mountains, to aid in humanity's eventual path to redemption. This history includes the rise and fall of the lost empire Mu, due to arrogance and the pursuit of power rather than enlightenment. The fall of Mu is said to have doomed humanity to the current 'Dark Age', in which the evil hidden elites forcefully maintain the ignorance of the masses.

Kumari Kandam and Lemuria

Kumari Kandam is a legendary sunken kingdom sometimes compared with Lemuria (cf. works of G. Devaneyan, Tamil: ஞானமுத்தன் தேவநேயன்). According to these modernist interpretations of motifs in classical Tamil literature — the epics Cilappatikaram and Manimekalai that describe the submerged city of Puhar — the Dravidians originally came from land south of the present day coast of South India that became submerged by successive floods. There are various claims from Tamil authors that there was a large land mass connecting Australia and the present day Tamil Nadu coast.

Madame Blavatsky described the Lemurians (her "third root race") as being colored "black" and described the Negroid race, the Dravidians and the Australoids, Papuans and Melanesians as being descended from them.

In the light of current day science, especially in marine archeology and anthropology, such postulates are seen as nothing more than fanciful imagination. One of the prime proponents of the Kumari Kandam theory, D. Pavanar clamied that the Tamils were a separate biological species known as "Homo Dravida". Such proclamations have confined the kumari kandam theory amongst fringe Tamil extremists with absolutely no scientific basis.

Lemuria's reptilian beings

In "reptilian conspiracy" literature, a sunken Pacific continent (usually styled as "Lemuria" or "Mu") is sometimes posited as the homeland of a reptilian race of creatures, often identified with dragons or nagas. Various bits of mythology and folklore are assembled in support, such as the Cambodian naga traditions. Folkloric claims of Australian aborigines sighting "dinosaur-like" creatures are also often viewed as evidence.

The earliest attestation of such notions in modern literature seems to have occurred in the works of H.P. Blavatsky, notably in "The Secret Doctrine" (1888), where she writes of "Dragon-men" who once had a mighty civilization on a Lemurian continent, until their rampant use of black magic brought about the end of their civilization, and their continent sank. Blavatsky in turn claims to have obtained this information from "The Book of Dzyan". However, many consider that Blavatsky invented the book herself. Blavatsky believed that the terms "Dragon-men" or "Serpent-men" used to describe the Lemurian Lizard Beings in the "Book of Dzyan" were symbolic, intended to symbolize their advanced knowledge and magical powers.

Other occurrences of the idea seem to be in the Alley Oop (1932) comic-strip, and the Brazilian Piteco (1964), where lands named "Moo" (or "Mu") and "Lem" (adapted from Mu and Lemuria respectively) are presented as dinosaur-infested lands. This matched H. P. Lovecraft's descriptions of the city of R'lyeh in His Cthulhu Mythos.

Use of Lemuria in modern fiction

*Richard Sharpe Shaver wrote at least one story on Lemuria featured in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. [The cover of "I remember Lemuria" is featured in an article [http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25063/1.html Warum Aliens nicht grün sein müssen] de icon ("Why Aliens don't have to be green") at Telepolis.]
* Lin Carter set a series of sword and sorcery novels in Lemuria.
* H. P. Lovecraft mentioned Lemuria as a previous resting place for the Shining Trapezohedron in the Cthulhu Mythos story "The Haunter of the Dark". In his world of fiction, Lemuria may also be Mu or R'lyeh.
* In the video game Golden Sun series for the Game Boy Advance, Lemuria is a major plot point. In the first title, the mythical land of Lemuria is the motivation behind the construction of Babi's Lighthouse and in the sequel, one of the main characters, Piers, is a Lemurian and travel to the hidden land of Lemuria is possible.
* In Marvel Comics, Lemuria is the underwater home of Princess Llyra, an antagonist to Namor the Sub-Mariner of Atlantis.
*In DC Comics, the Lemurians are a scaly race of humanoids living below the sea. (Super Team Family #13-14.)
* In the Dark Horse Comics series Hellboy by Mike Mignola, Lemuria is an ancient dead civilization with spiritual power over Lovecraftian Elder Gods. Hellboy's adoptive father taught him the language at a young age.
* In the Kull stories by Robert E. Howard, Lemuria is a group of islands that are the peaks of the sunken continent of Mu.
* Was featured prominently in the 1990s cartoon series Mighty Max, one of the main characters, Virgil (voiced by Tony Jay) was a Lemurian as was the villain Skullmaster (voiced by Tim Curry).
* In the TSR Inc. novel series of , Lemuria is an advanced civilisation in prehistoric times. Humans accept a Lemurian as their god, but when his flaws are revealed they chase him back to Lemuria, which they then destroy.
* The film The Golden Voyage of Sinbad has the bulk of its adventures taking place on the lost continent of Lemuria.
* , in its initial form of Transformers: Galaxy Force, featured Lemuria as the name of a starship.
*Epic Metal Bal-Sagoth has an album named "A Black Moon Broods over Lemuria" which features Lemuria themes.
* In KID's visual novel, LeMU, a underwater research facility is named after Lemuria, and there are numerous references to the lost continent.
* The Swedish symphonic metal band, Therion released together in 2004, two albums titled: Lemuria & Sirus B; in which there are multiple references of Lemuria as a place of a lost civilization.
* Lemuria, Mu, and Atlantis are referenced in the 1995 film "".

See also

* Augustus Le Plongeon
* James Churchward
* Lost city
* Phantom islands
* Atlantis
* Mu (lost continent)
* Lemuria and Easter island
* "A Black Moon Broods over Lemuria"
* Oahspe
* Ramtha
* Kumari Kandam
*

References

Further reading

*cite book | author=Ramaswamy, Sumathi | title=The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories | publisher=University of California Press | year=2004 | id=ISBN 0-520-24032-4
*Frederick Spencer Oliver, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/dtp/index.htm "A Dweller on Two Planets"] , 1905

External links

* [http://www.theosophical.ca/StanzasDzyan.htm The Stanzas of Dzyan, by H.P. Blavatsky]
* [http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/fol/lem/ Manufactured folklore: Shasta Lemuria.]