Atlantis
Atlantis was an ancient civilization that lasted four to five million years and existed about a million years before Egypt entered the official history books. It is commonly believed to be a myth but Theosophy tells us differently. The continent and islands which composed Atlantis were centered mainly in what we now know as the Atlantic Ocean. The common belief according to Plato was that the island continent disappeared beneath the ocean in one day. Actually the empire sank in portions in a series of earthquakes that began 800,000 years ago before the last island of Atlantis, Poseidonis, sank in 9564 BC.
Mainstream historians balk at the idea that Atlantis ever existed, categorizing it as a legend or a fairy tale. Academic historians seeking tenure or simply trying to keep the respect of colleagues would never publicly suggest that Atlantis could actually have been a real civilization. But Theosophy has given us details, and proof coming to light that Atlantis really did exist and thrived as a civilization in some ways more advance than our own for millions of years.
Plato's account
In 355 BC Plato wrote the book Timaeus, in which his character, Kritias, recounts the story of Atlantis, a story which has been in his family for generations. The tale of this great civilization had been originally told to his ancestor by an Egyptian priest named Solon.
According to Plato’s account the powerful empire of Atlantis was founded by Poseidon, the God of the Sea. It was located to the west of the "Pillars of Hercules" (the Straights of Gibraltar). On the island nation, Poseidon fathered five sets of twins. The firstborn was Atlas, for whom the empire and the surrounding ocean was named. Poseidon divided the land into ten sections, each to be ruled by a son, or his heirs.
The capital city of Atlantis was laid out as a series of concentric walls and canals. Atlantis was a marvel of engineering and advanced technology but according to Plato the people became corrupt and greedy. The gods decided to destroy them. There was a violent earthquake that supposedly sunk the huge island nation in one day. Many historians think Plato made up the story of Atlantis as an illustration of his teachings, but many other ancient historians and philosophers other than Plato have written about Atlantis.
Theosophical viewpoint
Atlantis is often spoken of in the same breathe as Lemuria as if they existed simultaneously which they did not. Lemuria existed before Atlantis in the Pacific Ocean and was home to the Third Root-Race of humanity. Atlantis was the home of the Fourth Root-Race. The Fifth or Aryan Race exists today. There is to be a Sixth and a Seventh Race. According to Theosophy many thousands of years from now the Aryan Race will have had its run. At this time the land masses we know of, beginning with the British Isles, will sink beneath the sea and the land that was Atlantis will rise again from the ocean and after a time (having been under water of millions of years) will become habitable again and will be the home of the Sixth Race.
Due to Plato's account, Atlantis is often thought of as an island. However, according to H. P. Blavatsky it was "a whole continent of whose isles and islets many have to this day survived."[1] Plato's reference is to Poseidonis, the last island that survived by the end of Atlantis.
The Atlantean continent was gradually formed from parts of the old Lemuria, so we can see some overlapping between the two, especially in early Atlantis:
The Atlantic portion of Lemuria was the geological basis of what is generally known as Atlantis. The latter, indeed, must be regarded rather as a development of the Atlantic prolongation of Lemuria, than as an entirely new mass of land upheaved to meet the special requirements of the Fourth Root-Race. Just as in the case of Race-evolution, so in that of the shifting and re-shifting of continental masses, no hard and fast line can be drawn where a new order ends and another begins. Continuity in natural processes is never broken. . . . Their continent was formed by the coalescence of many islands and peninsulas which were upheaved in the ordinary course of time and became ultimately the true home of the great Race known as the Atlanteans. After this consummation was once attained . . . “Lemuria should no more be confounded with the Atlantis Continent, than Europe with America.”[2]
Atlantis united parts of Europe and Asia (Africa was mainly submerged)<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing Hou