espite this, Rudolph explains that their civilization, and their style of living, was highly advanced-even more so than ours. He explained that Atlanteans had the ability to extract “life energy” from living things, and use it as a source for power that was used in similar means as the power we extract from fossil fuels. Rudolf mentions that the methods the Atlanteans used to employ natural resources, such as air and water, are impossible today because the conditions on earth are much different from then. He tells that the Atlanteans, and their ancestors, the Lemurians, as they are so called, lived in a region of the world that has disappeared; the main part of which lay south of contemporary Asia. Rudolph explains the Lemurians, Atlanteans, and Aryans-the Aryans of which dominate the world today-as separate races in history; there are also two more that existed before the ancient Lemurians, and two that will come after the present day Aryans; a total of seven. In his book, Rudolph primarily focuses on the transition of these races into present day mankind. Another supporter of the existence of Atlantis is an American named Edgar Cayce (born in 1877, death in 1945) who also claimed to be a psychic, or the “sleeping prophet”, as many called him; due to his uncanny ability to put himself into a self-induced sleep state by lying down on the couch, closing his eyes, and folding his hands over his stomach. From this state he would respond to such questions as diverse as “What are the secrets of the universe?” to “How do I remove a wart?”
His responses came to be called readings, which many claim to have valuable insights that individuals find to be practical help for anything from how to set a well-balanced diet to maintaining and improving human relationships. Through such a reading Cayce was known to have predicted the U.S. stock market crash of 1929. Although Cayce primarily dealt with health issues and the treatment of illness, he has given readings on a large number of subjects, approximately 10,000 of them. Cayce, like Rudolph Steiner, also spoke of Atlantis; he made predictions, one of them said that some remnants of Atlantis would rise from 1968 to 1969 in the Caribbean Sea. The group of islands close of the Bahamas coastline that Cayce called “Poseidia” would contain ancient elements of Atlantis, which would have been a large island when the ocean levels were lower, circa 10,000 BC-during the last Ice Age. His reading also revealed that there would be three locations where ancient records pertaining to the arts and sciences of Atlantean civilization would be hidden before the destruction of the island continent.
In August of 2002 a British researcher named Andrew Collins renewed interest in the search for Atlantis, which had slowed a little since the seventies. Collins gave a stirring lecture at the Annual Egypt and Ancient Civilization's Conference at Virginia Beach, Virginia. There Collins spoke of his book, Gateway to Atlantis, which proposes that the remaining parts of Atlantis are in and around Cuba. He talked of possible underwater ruins that were discovered off the coast of Cuba, and displayed photos of underwater structures near Andros, an island located between Cuba and the Bimini Islands. Many of the photo's were shot aboveground by pilot J. Manson Valentine in the 1960's, and with the lack of GPS and other technologies during that time, the exact location of the supposed ruins is unknown. There are many other supporters that suggest Atlantis existed, including another modern day psychic Sylvia Brown, who appears on many talk shows including the Montel Williams Show-which she appears on every Wednesday; and the Oprah Winfry show. She is the author of many books as well, such as the popular title: Unexplained Mysteries. She is known-like Cayce, for general help with various issues, and spiritual help. Her readings and her books state that Atlantis exists and hints that many psychics, including herself, are descendants of the Atlanteans. She also claims that “Atlantis is to rise in 2023”, and that it is spread all over the Atlantic Ocean.
The issue of the legend of Atlantis has rarely extended into any influence beyond prophets' readings, general argument of historians and archeologists, published works, and archeological research; but there is one case…
Hitler, the Third Reich, and Nazi Germany
A well known man, Adolf Hitler, was interested in the Aryan race, and thus Atlantis, long before he came into power. It is disputed that he was a member of the Thule Society, a society formed in 1919 by several men, one of them being Dietrich Eckhart-one of the founders of the Nazi Party. The name Thule originates from ancient Greece, meaning “Farthest Land”, which was originally given to the northernmost part of the world-Greenland and Iceland. The society shared the same ideas about the world as Hitler did, and is even said to be partly responsible for Hitler's attitude about the world, thus one of the indirect causes of the Holocaust and World war II. Members of the Thule society believed in Atlantis and, most importantly-the Aryan race.
