Shadows of Atlantis is as much a philosophical text as it is a fantasy hero's journey. Many of the esoterics discussed that the downfall of Atlantis was much more than just shifting geology. It was the gradual implosion of the human condition that caused it to crumble. But how would that be possible, one might ask?
The answer is cognitive dissonance. In order for the human race to co-exist, we have to take into account that each and every one of us has our own filter through which we see the world. Our filter is shaped by our unique perception, and reactions to our unique life experiences. As much as governments try and educate us with an agreed upon curriculum that attempts to orchestrate a consensus designed to keep us in alignment, we still all see the world through the filter of our personal experience.
One could argue that we are going through the same implosion today. As the internet has given us access to all knowledge, the ability to orchestrate a consensus reality has been utterly destroyed. When humans fail to agree upon a single reality, then reality shatters into fragments. It's the reason why religions and institutions seem to need others to think the way they do. It makes a certain kind of sense. But then how is it possible to have free-will if there's always someone trying to control the way you think or believe? This is merely an attempt to bring order to what would otherwise be chaos. Uniting under an ideal seems to be the only way for humans to co-exist. But then isn't the fight for a unified ideal always the cause of conflict and war? It's like a feedback loop we have been stuck in throughout history.
Will humans ever be able to co-exist in cognitive dissonance with access to all knowledge? Will we be able to be responsible with what we choose to believe while allowing others to live in their chosen reality? The myth of Atlantis has already proven that to be impossible. So then it falls to us to perhaps prove the myth wrong. Or can we?
In my books, Atlantis is a free-will zone, just as America touts the value of liberty. It is an experiment in humans living together in total freedom. And yet, again, they have faced the problem of that fragmented reality. Some believe this and some believe that. They have basic maxims or rules of conduct, much like the Four Agreements (featured on this post) , and the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have done unto you. And yet the problem is much deeper and more frightening than one can imagine. The problem is denial. Once we start building filters around our pain, then we start thinking ourselves entitled to be sick. And when we think ourselves sick, then we think everyone owes us something.
It is in stepping away from unity consciousness when the seeds of evil are planted in our psyche. If we think of ourselves as separate, then we think we need to be better than, or have more than others. We think our filter is more valid than others. We even go so far as to separate from our inner unity, and thus perceive our own faults in others, and punish them for it. This is what I call "the madness epidemic" in my depiction of Atlantis.
The shadows are parasites that live in the Crystal Grid that powers Atlantis. The Grid is powered by the psychic emanations of the people, and thus links them through empathy and telepathy. When someone has an emotional wound that they have ignored and denied, a shadow comes to live in it. Once infected, the host begins to show signs of the madness. But where do the shadows come from? Therein lies the riddle:
"What once was one with human kind now separates the whole. Its chilling touch deceives the mind a splinter in the soul. Its longing to be one once more remains its only crime. Its home is rotten at its core, it stands the test of time ."
Mara Powers is author of the Shadows of Atlantis saga. An Atlantis researcher for almost 3 decades, she incorporates all her knowledge into an epic fantasy saga set in the final age of Atlantis. www.shadowsofatlantis.com