The Heart of Atlantis(Charles E.J. Moulton) The Heart of Atlantis

A Short Story by Charles E.J. Moulton

***

Once upon a time there was an enthralling kingdom named Keanteak. It lay in the midst of the lost empire of Atlantis, an island off the Atlantic coast of Spain. It was fitting that the kingdom of Keanteak lay right at the heart of this late region, because it signified both what was once gorgeous about Atlantis and what became the fall of the entire prosperous sea land.

Keanteak was regarded as an independent state within the empire and still a part of the whole. A state within a state. It was the inspiration for what became the Vatican State.
People therefore spoke of Keanteak as the Heart of Atlantis and the people who lived there as the Hearts of the Empire. It was its most sacred place, like an untouched gem that needed to be respected. A place to visit and when you did you would revere it like we today revere Sancta Birgitta's Chapel in Rome or  Bernadette's cave in Lourdes or, indeed, Bodh Gaya, Buddha's place of enlightenment.

Keanteak had existed from the very beginning of Atlantis creation. It was said in old folklore that if the Heart of Atlantis vanished, so would Atlantis itself.
An energy source without a heart would be like a ship without sails. The elders warned anyone heading for success not to forget the Heart of Atlantis.

Circles. The architecture in Atlantis worked in circles upon circles, meaning to make the mind's eye focus on the heart of a matter, of anything, for that matter, its round structures a later inspiration for buildings throughout the later Mediterranean and Atlantic, buildings built by the Atlantean fugitives of the disaster in Sardinia and in the Azores.
And because Atlantis for millenia endeavored to keep things worthy, Keanteak remained its prize winning.
A round valley inhabited by men and women who knew they completed a puzzle and were whole only together. This knowledge made their love sacred, inviting spirits into Keanteak that believed in spiritual inspiration and enlightenment through the act of love. Any kind of love. The citizens of Keanteak would never dream of joking about lovemaking. It was like the act of prayer and, indeed, a kiss between couples a gift from the angels bringing light to eternity. Nothing as sacred as the beauty of nature could be ridiculed. A sacred act of tenderness was creation itself, because it created life itself.

Keanteak was more beautiful than in just mere material worth. Its sheer spiritual depth was renowned only in the deepest of dreams hidden deep in collective memory in a place where a hint of truth was present only to the most enlightened.
Those who lived there would remember it for eternity as a land spoken of upon the golden Atlantean urns of Oparhh and in the frescos of the temples next to the Pillars of Hercules. People retold the tales over a thousand crackling campfires way before the empire sunk, way before there were no more mere memories to share. The anecdotes served as a reminder of truth and unity. A hope to inspire souls to transcend beyond sociological inventions into universal knowledge.

The aristocracy that persisted in the kingdom was proud, but by no means limited to a few or one that put itself above anyone else. It was an aristocracy of the soul.
The royal family lived in a castle in the middle of the kingdom, but also invited citizens in to join them for dinner. They paraded around on occassion, wearing robes and crowns and carrying sceptres. But they ruled justly and fairly. They had no more money than the individual populace. So, royalty was a welcome representative for nobility, but no more noble than any other soul. The Queen was even known to shop at the market fair on weekends. The royals lived with the populace. Laughed with them. Ate with them. Befriended them. Some were even allowed to try on the king's robe.

There were no severe punishments in Keanteak, executions or the like. In fact, there was no need for any cruelty. For, you see, the land of Keanteak saw their existence itself as complete and everything about that existence a part of life itself.
I remember Keanteak as the fairest land of all of my dreams.
Trust and faith were at the centre of mutual existence.
Of course there was quabbling and quarreling. There were even couples that separated on occassion. But the battles never got so out of hand that everlasting hatred was the result, because they were strangers to the hamster wheel of guilt and shame, one of the corner stones of addiction and the inability of letting go.

The kingdom was imbedded in the lushest of greenery.
Keanteak lay far away beyond the furthest and most beautiful purple mountains of Farandor in a valley of green Yeagtyor Trees, the kind that grew on mountain sides in vast bamboolike wreaths. It gave the valley a magical look of fairylike splendor.
The core of this Atlantean society of peace were flowers. Pink flowers.
The immense hanging trees on the valley mountainsides had large lotus like flowers, pink and lush and immensely fragrant with a smell of lilacs and magnolia mingled with roses. In fact, it was said that this valley was the inspiration for the later hanging gardens of Babylon. The valley mountainsides only had these pink flower trees, but the sight of the blooming flowers made the kingdomfolk sing songs of sweet harmony during the fertile time of summer.
One could claim that they believed the flowers had been put there had been positioned there by the universal creator to help the populace experience and respect the abundance of love.

The fertility blossom of these flowers lasted for the three months of summer, where the entire valley indeed smelled of pure love. The smell, in fact, inspired love. Physical, emotional and spiritual love all at once.
That was the reason why a whole range of children were born during the first months of the next year, nine months later.
Those children were called the newcomers.
In fact, during the fertile time, as it was called, lovemaking turned into a holy ritual.
You see, the citizens believed that love was made to honor God, giving two lovers the possibility to become one like they were in heaven. Lovers would lengthily discuss what magical sights they had seen during such amazing mating rituals. For the citizens, it was a highly spiritual act of holy devotion. The newcomers were an actual results of the spiritual awakening felt by the parents during this act. Especially awakened parents would even sense angels sending incarnating souls from the next realm through the man into the woman, kind of like planting a sacred seed in holy earth. In fact, it was not uncommon to see couples climbing the slopes in the nude just to dwell among the animals before newcomer mating. Animals among animals. These couples would shower themselves in the juice dripping from the Yeagtyor flowers before the act. It was said that true Atlanteans knew that, no matter how civilized a society became, it still had to remember to live with and as a part of nature. The clothes, they said, did not make the man. Every person, it was said, should wander at least once in a lifetime in the nude amongst the animals just to remain humble, a creature among creatures. No uniforms. Just form. That was the motto. Parents that lived according to these humble rules would have a wonderful child, it was said.

One such newcomer was Erwyn, the son of two newcomers of their own, Anna and Elyas.
It was said that a firstborn newcomer child of two newcomers would have extraordinary creative abilities. Such were the tales of Erwyn, who very early on showed amazing talents in all of the arts. Singing. Dancing. Painting. Sculpting. Acting. Even knitting and interior design and house building were his areas of expertise. It did not take long for this boy to prove his worth. His life was quickly filled with so much love and caring that he seemed to soar in his joy.
At the royal palace, he became chief spiritual consultant, chief angelic engineer, court painter, court singer, court writer and even advisor to couples in need of assistance.
One could say that Erwyn's life set an example for many generations after him. People spoke of how beautifully he welcomed angels into the kingdom. He channeled them, holding lengthy conversations with them in his free time. Through him, many more became aware of their existence. From all over, people arrived to see this man that had become the talk of the empire.

In front of the royal palace, next to a statue of a giant heart, a bust depicting Erwyn was raised and it stood there for exactly 432 years. Long after his physical death, Erwyn kept visiting Keanteak as a spirit, still protecting the kingdom.

One might not believe it, but the developments that sent Atlantis to its doom began in Keanteak. Atlantis had become a superior civilization at that point, ships crisscrossing the Atlantic in order to meet the nature peoples of what later was called the New World, also building temples in what we now call the Azores.

The problem began in the legal infrastructure. Because Atlantis had turned into such a strong empire, laws were passed that demanded to safeguard everything from relationships to eating customs. As of yet, Erwyn's and Keanteak's philosophy of mutual trust had been prevelent. Now, though, so called official clerks were positioned throughout Atlantis.
Not only did they control the laws, they saw themselves as higher in stature. Aristocracy became not a thing of the soul, but a thing of position. The clerks began thinking they were destined for greatness, identifying themselves with their red robes, making their clothing more a part of their persona than the bodies they had been given or the souls they were.
A person could not be without a uniform, it was said. Being as you are, bare, beautiful, open, like all creatures in creation, was unthinkable. Society became a means to an end or an end to the means, if you will. Maintaining power was the goal. Accordingly, a clerk was positioned in Keanteak to maintain order. Atlantis was a uniform state that needed uniform thinking. Laws were passed that no couple was to dwell amongst the animals in the nude or even try mating in nature. The philosophy of the Yeagtyor trees was abolished, claiming it supported idleness.

The King and Queen of Keanteak protested loudly and proudly when these laws were passed, marching out of their valley kingdom to claim the right to keep their way of life. The clerks grew afraid when the citizens spoke of spirits who were linked to the heart of Atlantis. Kill Keanteak's way of life and kill Atlantis, the citizens of Keanteak claimed.

The Atlantean government decided on retalliation, capturing and imprisoning the royal family, taking down the bust of Erwyn and putting a high positioned clerk in a uniform in his place and even chopping off the Yeagtyor trees in order to breed them in plant farms.

The late King of Keanteak had a dream, while still in prison outside of his land one night, about an impending doom to Atlantis, managing to smuggle out a message to spies in order to warn his people.

The doom would come as a massive volcanic eruption as a warning from the spirits not to mess with creation. Circa 1600 B.C. the Thera volcano in Santorini exploded, sending shock waves across the Mediterranean and east Atlantic. It triggered a tsunami that destroyed and sunk the empire. There are still massive stone anchors at the bottom of the east Atlantic that were found by Simcha Jacobovici's maritime archeological team in 2017. They function as a reminder of the great harbor that stood close to the Pillars of Hercules that is now Gibraltar.

The King of Keanteak warned his citizens of the impending catastrophy. Many of them later escaped to various places to later send their offspring to current Spain, Greece and Sardinia, where these children of the survivors built temples and villages according to Atlantean custom, to remind them of what once had been their home.

It is even rumored that a group of the Atlanteans escaped with a seed selection of the famed pink Yeagtyor flower trees and started a new Keanteak society that still resides somewhere in secret in an unknown location in the world.

A team of archeological researchers are currently examining the case in the jungles of South America.

Last night, Erwyn appeared in my dream and told me the fifth dimension is on the rise and it will help resurrect the Heart of Atlantis.

---