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Date Posted: Wed, Apr 21 2004, 3:02:46
Author: Ariana Aislinn
Subject: Lemuria - Another review of a terrible book!

<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.rosicrucian.org/store/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16361&cat=282&page=1">http://www.rosicrucian.org/store/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16361&cat=282&page=1</a>

Lemuria: The Lost Continent of the Pacific by Wishar S. Cervé was printed in 1997 but was originally written in 1931. I thought this book looked interesting and I bought it on a visit to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum(<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.egyptianmuseum.org/)">http://www.egyptianmuseum.org/)</a> in San Jose, California when I was sixteen. This museum is very interesting and was quite fun to visit, but beware of the gift shop. Among all the neat Egyptian-inspired jewelry, postcards, and posters, you'll find a number of rather nutty books. I don't know a whole lot about the Rosicrucian Society, I must admit, but the organization (also known as the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, or AMORC) claims not to be a religious or sectarian society. They do, however, focus on a lot of mysticism, some of which is truly outrageous. Unfortunately, after seeing the museum, I had expected this book to have some scientific value. It does not.

For anyone who's daunted by the length of my post, feel free to skim. I know my book reviews tend to be incredibly wordy. :P Some of the best stuff is at the very end, though, in case you'd like to skip ahead. Look for the section on California and Mt. Shasta.

I think it's essential to see the introduction to understand the aversion I have to this book:
[QUOTE]I wish to anticipate many comments that will be made regarding this book by those who may have expected to find within its covers a scientific treatise on the subject. I have not attempted to make this book a treatise on the subjects of anthropology or anthropometry, nor in the fields of archaeological or geological research. Nor will meteorologists, astronomers, cosmologists, or others find herein a ponderous encyclopedia of technical information.[/QUOTE]

Uh...okay. So what DOES it contain, since it's supposed to be nonfiction?

[QUOTE]With the same enormous mass of material which I have had at my disposal, and with the same artists and other assistants ready and qualified to prepare matter in a technical form for me, such a book as some may anticipate could have been prepared and offered to the public, or to that limited portion of the public desiring its knowledge in a technical form. But my purpose was to comply with the desires of the publishers in preparing and presenting an easily readable, enjoyable, and fascinating account of the lost continent of Lemuria, with all of its past history, effects upon the races of man, and ancient, human incidents of life.[/QUOTE]

Oooookay, I think I understand your purpose now...but whether or not I agree with it is another matter. Such a work would only be useful if there actually WERE some evidence easily found elsewhere. But as there isn't, it's your job as an author to present at least a basic outline of evidence, as long as you insist on presenting your book as true and accurate.

I am disturbed by this paragraph:
[QUOTE]The story in this volume is a play of life that started over 200,000 years ago with a vague and indefinite prologue, and has continued through many astonishing, surprising, interesting acts up to the present time. The play is still going on, for the descendants of Lemuria are still in our midst, and we are daily contacting the effects produced by these people who attained a high degree of civilization and established many principles of life which are still fixed in their purpose and practice.[/QUOTE]
Riiiight.

[QUOTE]I hope, therefore, that this book will make the subject more popular and arouse further interest in the investigation of the hundreds of available sources of information still untouched by those who have spent their lifetimes seeking for positive facts.[/QUOTE]

But of course, we won't give you any of these positive facts HERE! Please note the phrases "hundreds of available sources" and "enormous mass of material." Now take a look at the bibliography in the back of the book:

[QUOTE]For the benefit of those who are analytical and interested in research, and who would like to delve more deeply into many of the subjects touched upon in this book, the following list of authorities and sources of information is given:
- The research and writings of Dr. Augustus Le Plongeon
- The records of the Maya people in the Yucatan
- The records of William Niven, archaeologist
- The records of Dr. Morley of Carnegie Institute
- The Code Cortesianus, a Mayan book written 5000 years ago from temple records
- Manava Dharma Sastra, an ancient Hindu book
- The writings of Lao Tse
- The writings of H. T. Colebook concerning his researches in Asia
- The records of researches of Professor Ellis in Polynesia
- The Egyptian Book of the Dead
- A study of the history of the Incan people and the Quinches
- The researches of Leonard V. Dalton in Venezuela
- Researches at Easter Island
- Plutarch's Life of Solon
- The writings of Plato
- The researches of Dr. Henry Schliemann
- The papyrus rolls from Egypt to be found in the museum of St. Petersburg, Russia
- Osborn's book, Men of the Old Stone Age
- The excavations at Yucatan and various parts of Central America
- Richard Curle's book, Wonders of the Past
- The writings of Valmiki, the ancient Hindu historian
- The book of Manu, containing ancient Hindu writings
- E. K. Parker's book on China
- Captian Cook's records of his trip around the world in 1770
- The Atlantis Myth, by H. S. Bellamy
- The Rosicruican records and historical writings
- The records of the Essenes, and hundreds of others
- The National Geographic Magazine: "Our Global Ocean," F. Barrows Colton, Jan. 1945; "Exploring the Mid-Atlantic Ridge," Maurice Ewing, Sept. 1948; "New Discoveries on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge," Maurice Ewing and Robert Sisson, Nov. 1949
- Atlantean Research - Offical Organ of the Research Center Group
The publishers cannot attempt ot give information by correspondence as to where the foregoing books and others can be found by readers desiring them. Most of these books can be found in the larger of the principal libraries throughout the world, but any librarian or large publishing house will attempt to get these books for any reader, or will state where and how they may be secured.[/QUOTE]

You'll notice that there are very few entries which give specific titles and editions or any bibliographical information at all beyond author or even just a general nationality. Many of these records would be next to impossible for an amateur researcher to get a hold of, and many are probably not available in English. To tackle any significant portion of this list would require a professional researcher. There is almost no way for a layperson to corroborate or disprove any of the "facts" in this ridiculous book.

In chapter two Atlantis is briefly mentioned, although the author says, "I must avoid the subject of the continent of Atlantis as much as possible because that lost continent has been well dealt with in the books by Ignatius Donnelly and by others and because as a story, not as fascinating as that of Lemuria, it would occupy a complete volume in itself." Gee, biased much? And yes, the story of Atlantis DOES occupy more than one volume - Timaeus and Critias, to be exact, two dialogues of Plato's which tell the story of Atlantis in an easy-to-read, interesting manner...with, I might add, references to people and places and the origins of the tale in an effort to establish its credibility. Even that little is more than this author has done with Lemuria.

This chapter cites some outdated beliefs of the time that "continents can float and move on the surface of the ocean." No exact quotes or references to specific theories are made, however, even in passing. Oh no, that would not be in the spirit of this book. It's just something that we now know is true (now being 1931). *Rolls eyes* The author paints a picture of the continents of the world long ago (an inaccurate one, I might add) and claims that the Coast Range, the Sierras, the Cascades, and the valleys of Oregon, Washington, and California were part of Lemuria, a continent in the Pacific Ocean, and were apparently detached from the rest of North America. Supposedly Lemuria was big enough to cover most of the Pacific Ocean and part of the Indian Ocean. Again, no references of any kind to show where he got these ideas or what information inspired him to sketch his maps.

According to chapter three, 200,000 years ago "this continent was the only habitable land sufficiently above water to have any considerable degree of vegetation." Apparently everywhere else was submerged under the ocean or consisted of swampland. Okay, weird...

[QUOTE]It may be said, in passing, that the earliest records indicate that man was created coincident with the creation of other living creatures, and that he was NOT a descendant from any lower species of the animal kingdom, but always of human form and expression and with dominant control over the other creatures around him.[/QUOTE]
Okay, so the author disagrees with evolution theory. But WHAT earliest records? *Grumbles* If you're going to refer to them, say what they are...it will not interrupt the flow of your precious story, I assure you!

Apparently all land masses were so low 100,000 years ago that there were no mountains and only a few hills. The land gradually rose and dried due to "magnetic waves" that periodically swept the earth. Uh-huh. Supposedly the people of Lemuria started colonizing other lands 80,000 years ago. Atlantis rose out of the Atlantic Ocean while Lemuria began to very slowly sink back into the sea. Atlantis was populated by Lemurian colonists and reached the height of its civilization 18,000 years ago. 12,000 years ago Altantis was submerged entirely over a period of 12 years, and by this time Lemuria was completely sunken as well except for Pacific islands, and the seas separating western North America from the rest of the continent competely dried up, except for the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

Lemuria was supposedly low altitude, hot, and tropical, with lots of volcanos and earthquakes. Its people were six feet tall and 160-200 pounds and primarily vegetarian. Their technology and travel used wind power and strange volcanic stones that pushed water away from them, and stones that used magnetic repulsion. Some stones gave off light "like the radioactive ones discovered today, but gave a very brilliant light continuously." O_o Is it just me, or is that kind of disturbing?

[QUOTE]It is generally agreed that the continent was approximately 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 years old at the time of its disappearance...[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah? Agreed upon by whom?

The Lemurians overcame the extreme heat of their environment and became more advanced than we area today, in some unspecified ways. Apparently they were extremely enlightened because they had no preconceived notions to blind them to the self-evident truths of the universe, or some such nonsense like that. The author attacks modern scientific research and praises the Lemurians for acquiring their learning by meditating and tuning to the Cosmic Mind. <_<

Lemurians supposedly had very large heads with extremely high foreheads, with a fleshy protrusion in the center of those foreheads that was used for psychic purposes. They had short legs and long muscular arms, small ears, large nostrils, broad noses, large brown eyes, tanned skin, and dark hair. Women were shorter and fatter than men. Sounds attractive, huh? Oh yeah, they could also use their psychic powers to communicate with animals in animal language, as well as for a sixth sense and communication by mental telepathy, and to perceive things in four dimensions. Using these psychic powers they proved reincarnation was an incontrovertible fact. No one feared death and people would just suddenly decide to die and move on to their next life, and none of their family or friends were at all concerned about the decision. Er...yeah. Right.

The author also claims to have personally viewed records and maps created by Lemurians and wishes he'd made photographs. (Yeah, I wish you had too, so I could prove what a liar you were.)

[QUOTE]Innately refined, the women were angels on Earth; their grace and beauty excelled the most beautiful queen who has ever graced God's kingdom on Earth. For 100,000 years they were as pure and as virtuous as the angels that are now on the Cosmic Plane.[/QUOTE]
AUGH! It's an entire race of SUES! :o

The Lemurians were a perfect and communal society with no selfishness and no concept of money. For them, religion and science were the same thing, both facts. They were very pure and moral apparently, with no phallic worship but also no problem with public nakedness. For marriage ceremonies, the author claims that the man and woman would be stripped of all clothing and material possessions and sent off into the wilderness for two months, and they had to return uninjured, clothed, and well-fed to prove that they could take care of each other. The author claims this custom is still found on Pacific islands today. (Does anyone know if that's true? I highly doubt it.)

Now we come to the best part of the book. I really do need to quote this at length; it'll give you a big laugh. Keep in mind that this was written in 1931, of course, and it'll make more sense...but it's still hilarious. This is not to say there isn't a grain of truth in there somewhere, perhaps, so natives of California, don't be angry with me. I just find the way it's presented to be very amusing. I honestly have a strong fondness for the state, I really do.

[QUOTE]We can find mystery and romance in the lives of nations and countries as well as in the lives of individuals. Perhaps of all the strange and mysterious parts of the world, there is none so filled with the elements of fascinating and alluring mystery as that of the country of California.[/QUOTE]
Well, I suppose in association with Hollywood I could understand that wording...

[QUOTE]There is no other state in the Union, perhaps, in which the school children are taught so many songs to praise their state and pay tribute to its ancient and present-day virtues as in California. Such songs are sung not only by the children but by the adults in their theaters, by the members of the various service clubs, and by large conclaves wherever they may be assembled.

The ancient spirit of gaiety and gala festivities is still alive in the hearts of the Californians. The least excuse—the visit of some government official, foreign diplomat, or commander of a foreign vessel, the flight of some prominent aviator, the discovery of new gold field, the anniversary of some old Spanish or California event—is the occasion for wonderful parades, gay holiday celebrations with the schools closed, the business institutions semiactive, and the governers, mayors, city councilors, and leading citizens taking part with elaborate, flowered floats, the wearing of Spanish costumes by most of the citizens, the selection of local queens to rule over mythical courts, community dancing on the streets in the evening, and every other form of festivity for which the ancient periods of its history were famous.

There is a sweet loveliness about the spirit of the people, accompanied by a broad toleration for all viewpoints, religions, customs and habits, as well as a united determination to make life worth living and to make the enjoyment of life a primary motive rather than a secondary one. This has had no detrimental effect on business but has, in fact, stimulated it.[/QUOTE]

Some of this is actually funny because it is rather ironically true. This previous paragraph makes me think of the entertainment business and the open-mindedness of San Francisco and Berkeley...all of which happened after this author wrote this book. Interesting.

The next few pages read like a travelogue of California...I'm not kidding. We learn about the affability of its people, the beauty of its sunny beaches, and the many amusements and natural wonders available for visitation. Just when you're wondering what this all has to do with Lemuria, the author tells us that California is one of the oldest locations on earth and is mostly unchanged from the time of the Lemurians. A native people known as the Chumash had many homes and settlements on the islands off the Californian coast and in what is now Santa Barbara, and the author claims that they were directly descended from the Lemurians. (I'll have to look into the history of these natives myself.) Anyway, the rest of the chapter deals with attempts to prove that California was once separate from the rest of the continent...which makes some sense because of the San Andreas Fault, but the author doesn't offer much proof or evidence of his ideas, except for a single diagram of the Nancy Globe, an old map which he claims shows California as separate. I don't see it, myself. The diagram is not clear. Anyway, this travelogue chapter ends and the final chapter begins, which is even better than the last.

We're told that there are many stories in California of various kinds of strange occurrences such as disappearing ruins and hunters who "come face to face with peculiar conditions, unexpected scenes, and gruesome relics of ancient peoples." Gee, could we BE any more specific?
[QUOTE]The accumlation of these stories with a careful analysis and comparison of them shows such similarity of details and such consistency in principles as to convince one that they are founded upon truth.[/QUOTE]
...But we won't tell you any specific stories, nor tell anything about that careful analysis and comparions we're so proud of! Because that would spoil the flow of the book.
References are made to ancient characters found near Klamath Lake, some of which are reproduced in the book. They look a little bit like Hawaiian petroglyphs to me. According to the author: "I have found in these characters, however, a similarity to many of the other Lemurian characters to which reference has been made..." Bleah, so sick of the passive tense. Who made reference, and when? I don't remember any in this book. So unless he means that Lemurian is the same as Hawaiian, which I wouldn't put past him...

Anyone here from the Mt. Shasta area? You may have Lemurians living in your backyard!

[QUOTE]Many years ago it was quite common to hear stories whispered in Northern California about the occasional strange-looking persons seen to emerge from the dense growth of trees in that region. They would run back into hiding when discovered or seen by anyone.

Occasionally one of these oddly dressed individuals would come to one of the smaller towns and trade nuggets and gold dust for some modern commodities. These odd-looking persons were not only peculiar in their dress and different in attire from any costume ever seen on the American Indian, and especially Californian Indian, but distinctive in features and complexion. They were tall, graceful, and agile, having the appearance of being quite old and yet exceedingly virile. They gave every indication of being what one would term foreigners, but with larger heads, much larger foreheads, headdresses that had a special decoration which came down over the center of the forehead to the bridge of the nose, and thus hid or covered a part of the forehead that many have attempted to see and study.[/QUOTE]

Supposedly people who explore the region in search of the source of strange lights and music are turned away by concealed figures, and cars stop working within a certain distance. Gold domes are hidden in the trees on Mt. Shasta. People in sandals and white robes suddenly disappear or run away before they can be photographed.
[QUOTE]There are hundreds of others who have testified to having seen peculiarly shaped boats which have flown out of this region high in the air over the hills and valleys of California and have been seen by others to come on the waters of the Pacific Ocean at the shore and then continue out on the sea as vessels.[/QUOTE]
Hundreds, huh? Like who?

[QUOTE]Perhaps the most interesting explanation of what was to be found in this locality is twofold. First of all, it was the ancient seat of hundreds of Lemurians who lived there. They manufactured and grew all of the principle necessities and kept themselves isolated, as did the other group of Lemurians who lived near Santa Barbara many years ago. Secondly, their village itself was only partly on the outside of Mt. Shasta. There is a tunnel through its eastern base leading to a great enclosure in which there is a city of strange homes. The heat and smoke seen arising from the crater of Mt. Shasta was smoke and heat from the interior village. This is not an unusual tale, inasmuch as there are records showing that in Mexico another group of descendants from Lemuria were found living in the center of an extinct volcano, hidden from all possible wordly observation.[/QUOTE]

You really have to wonder where all these records supposedly are. *Shakes head*

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