Since my childhood I have always been interested in anthropology and archaeology. I was enchanted by both myth and fact. It was about the time when I was in high school that I first heard and read the legends of Atlantis, Lemuria and Mu.
Atlantis, Mu, and Lemuria shown on world map at prospective
locations.
Each of these
legendary civilizations was an extraordinary place of abundance and
accomplishment. Each was said to have disappeared, perhaps at a time of great
Earth change. Atlantis was destroyed when it sank into what is now the area of
the Atlantic Ocean; Lemuria and Mu each disappeared into what is now the
Pacific. These are legends and apparently no scientific evidence supports that
these civilizations existed or that they vanished as the stories say. But, as
myths, they satisfy a yearning in the human heart.
However, it intrigues me that every culture of indigenous peoples and every major society, including those in the world today, has legends of prior civilizations. There are many versions - from the legends of the Hopi and Navajo to the stories in the Bible about Noah and the Ark.
In all the versions of our beginnings, powerful indicators of Earth change are referenced.
Anasazi cliff dwellings
Consider also
the number of puzzling remnants of prior civilizations that we do find on Earth
today. Archaeologists throughout the world are trying to create an
understanding of cultures that no longer exist in fact, if at all. Scientists
in the desert southwest gather pot shards into whole urns. As if by handling
these pieces of life from another time, the researchers hope that the clay and
colors will speak to them in the voices of the people who lived in ancient
times. What happened to the Anasazi? What happened to the Mayans and Aztecs?
What happened
in Sumeria? What happened to those people who mastered form and function with
such extraordinary skill that the Sphinx and Great Pyramids rose from the Earth
to the sky? What happened to cause the total destruction of civilizations?
Of course, we
don’t know, despite continuous efforts to weave together a more complete
understanding. Evidence accumulates. Theories take form. Scientists are even
starting to agree about some aspects that disrupt and destroy civilizations.
Conditions associated with the environment are identified as major factors.
Drought, soil degradation, deforestation, disease, population changes,
depletion of food sources - all these are examples of environmental change that
have been identified as factors affecting the disappearance of cultural groups
and civilizations. Must we follow these paths?
From all my
years in the out-of-doors, I marvel at changes in the natural world.
Fishing in Alaska -1993
And sometimes I
despair. Just as I am inspired by the beauty of a spring morning with
dew on the early crocus, I see us choke the skies with the outpourings of more
machines upon the land. Nature is our best teacher about change. Historic
legends, whether from myth or fact, tell us to pay attention. We have all the
wisdom we need around us. We need to watch, listen and act.
Consider Noah.
God told him to build an ark and bring two of every creature aboard because a
great flood was to occur. Noah did so. After the rains, Noah sent forth a dove
three times, and on its final return, the bird held an olive branch of new life
in its beak.
The time of
massive Earth change was over. It was time to begin again.
All around us we see signs of the mythic equivalent of a great flood forming. Ozone depletion, loss of bio-diversity, habitat destruction, climate change- these are all signs that the entire Earth is in change. Some refuse to see these signs and choose to disbelieve. Many of these changes are clearly the result of the accumulation of human actions without thought of the consequences and the interlinking of Earth’s life systems. We now clearly have the capacity to destroy life on Earth as we know it. We have the capacity to disappear as a civilization.
But we can choose to live differently and change the ways we have been living on Earth. It occurs to me that, like Noah, we need to be preparing for change.
We need to take responsibility for our actions.
We need to clear the skies for the white dove’s journey to find signs of support for continuing life.
We need to honor myth and fact to guide us into the future.
-John Denver
Windstar Vision, May-June 1993
