"Man is a composite being of five fold strength in a Universe of from one to seven fold beings, so that in homo sapiens there is a greater variety of forces at work than would be found in the lower orders of life upon earth.

Of these five forces the first is Ego, that which Nature first imposes upon life that it may preserve and propagate itself. A factor designed to force living things up the scale of progress.

Second, again of Nature, is the physical mind, that the body may be aware of its actions.

Third, the coarse body of spirit, the spirit-aura, that justice may come to Nature's product, homo sapiens, by the absorption into the spirit-aura of carnal error.

Fourth, the spiritual mind, to give balance and guidance to the actions of the body.

Fifth, the astral reflection of the two last principles, magnetic force, the source of animation.

Our task is to separate these five components, examine and analyze the function of each, then blend them together, each in its rightful place, until achieving the perfect whole being..."

The soft tones faded away and the Rai gestured in dismissal. Zadius, sitting on my left in the circle of young students, glanced across. Our formal initiation was over, it was time for us to consult the small map which had been handed to us earlier, showing the way to our living quarters.

Having just arrived from Khe, a flat, low lying land, we were most impressed by the magnificent panorama of mountains, hills and valleys which met our view on leaving the Academy.

The island of Atlantis, which was about two thousand miles long, looked green indeed to eyes used only to seeing the sparse vegetation of Khe, where sheep and goat raising was the main farming activity. The practical Atlanteans utilized their fertile valleys for their considerable agricultural enterprises, preferring to build their homes and activity centres on the lower slopes of the hills. This gave a sweeping view of the countryside to all who gathered there from neighbouring lands.

To Zadius and I, it seemed that we had talked and dreamed of this day for years ... the day when we would arrive in the recognized centre of all culture. Now on arriving, it was strange to find that our first impressions were topographical.

Turning to Zadius I commented on the value of foreknowledge. Having been born and educated in a flat country, neither of us had ever conceived of any other type of terrain. Had we been asked to describe our ideas of Atlantis previously, we would have conjectured upon a topography similar to that of Khe, but with larger towns, more people and an advanced technology.

Perhaps we would have stressed the greater knowledge of Atlanteans, for here, in the remnants of the original "Garden of Eden", the direct descendants of Adam were living. Although a few of these people had spread eastwards and westwards in the course of many centuries, their movement was negligible.

On reaching the two roomed house that had been assigned to us for personal use throughout our stay in Atlantis, we were fascinated by the heatless, shadowless lighting, apparently without source, and seeming like daylight, which we later found to be common in all Atlantean buildings. One permanently lighted room accommodated all social activity. The other was dim and windowless, unless the long narrow opening under the eaves of two walls could be termed a window. This crack was so narrow that even at the brightest part of the day there was barely sufficient light to see the furnishings, which were no more than two straw pallets on the floor, each with a single blanket to cover the occupant. In Swn, the capital of Khe, our native city, we had always slept uncovered on soft downy cushions of silken-like material, and the prospect of sleeping on a hard, bumpy mattress that barely raised the body from the floor was not inviting. We later became so accustomed to Atlantean bedding that we could never again appreciate the luxury of Swnian bedding.

Zadius, always the more appreciative of physical adventure, soon set off to investigate the mysteries of night life in this exciting new city. While I, already a confirmed analyst, sat down to evaluate a sudden upset in my academic emotions.

Knowing that in any battle between the will and the imagination, imagination always wins, I was distraught at finding how far astray my envisioned picture of Atlantis had been -- yet loathe to admit an imaginative error. Pinpointing my emotional upset as being pride left me fatigued and suddenly homesick for the familiar security of my native land. This disruption of logic required adjustment, and slowly, by firm repetition of facts, sentimental self-pity was overcome and mind control triumphed.

Hours passed before Zadius returned from his nocturnal revelling. His first words indicated that he too had suffered from nostalgia, and that his prolonged absence had been motivated similarly to that of a man who laughs in excess in an endeavour to mask his true feelings. After an instant flash of mutual thought transmission, Zadius said.

"At least, Loliad, I forgot for awhile..."

"Perhaps," I replied. "But I have already conquered, while you have yet to fight the battle my friend..."

Zadius never forgot this early lesson in Atlantis, and from it he gained a more advanced recognition than I, who knew the theory well enough but failed to absorb its true meaning.

Many times afterwards I found this to be abundantly true. People, quick with advice, fail to recognise a lesson as applicable to self; seeing weakness in another and not in my self, I, Loliad, on my first day in Atlantis had fallen prey to one of mankind's greatest failings, and in so doing became that much less than Zadius, who respected my intellectual superiority.

We were now ready to retire, and settling down on our uncomfortable pallets in the darkened room, we cheered ourselves with the pleasant prospect of three days vacation, a concession granted to all foreign students in Atlantis.

At dawn the following day we set forth eagerly to explore the city.

Twentieth Century man, who has always been accustomed to a monetary system, will find it hard to understand the perplexity such a system has for those born in a country where the word "money" is not even part of the vocabulary. The urgent necessity to satisfy our hunger finally stimulated the realisation that we were required to pay for the food we wanted; although, as we later discovered, we had been lavishly supplied by those who had sent us.

As the day wore on we were thrilled by the sight of beautifully designed buildings, many of them large and spacious, and far beyond the actual requirements of the occupants. We rode the monorail car systems, admired the straight wide roads, the canals, and the underground gardens. Yet all these sights began to pall as we remembered that in Swn, the inhabitants would now be starting their long hours of prayer and meditation, and that we had spent a full day with only a very brief devotional period in the early dawn to sustain our spiritual entities.

We discussed this fact with all the fresh ardour of two young scholars while walking back to our billet. How easy it had been to become distracted by the spectacular; how strange that Atlanteans, who by all standards had a civilization far advanced to that of the Swnians, appeared to find less time for devotion than our own people, and how phenomenal to find that here in the centre of theochristic activity, the people seemed to spend less time in practising, and such lengthy periods in study -- a situation quite the reverse of Swnian habits.

Analyzing the illogic of this procedure occupied most of the night, and for the next two days we were content to spend the greater part of our time re-affirming our intention to guard against this habit. We would make sure that we spent equal time in theory and practise; for what use is all knowledge unless applied?

On the morning of the fourth day we were eager to begin the first course in the two year training schedule designed to equip us to become teachers among our own people when we returned to our homeland.

Whereas today Science is the study of Nature, philosophy is the search for wisdom based on the sum total of the knowledge of the ages, and religion is an attitude towards Deity: In my lifetime this combined learning was taught at the Metaphysical Academy, the members being students of Spirit and Nature. The technological and mechanical sciences were taught at a completely separate institute.

From earliest childhood my interest had lay in those things of nature that were about me. This avenue of exploration led me to seek an understanding of cause and effect ... though without realising its full import.

Nature study can do naught else but cause the mind to wander into the realms of occult mystery, and in my time the formal answers were to be found in Atlantis.

To impart the metaphysical wisdom necessary for quickening evolutionary processes in humanity, requires the use of the physical forebrain ... as will be readily seen in forthcoming chapters.

There is need to speak of the past in order to clarify why I am what I am, and how it is possible for mankind to live more happily in the knowledge of both worlds -- yours and mine.

For name "Loliad" will suffice. I was born over seven thousand years ago to parents who lived in modest circumstances, and who were of a class known as "Teachers".

Swn, or Suerne if you prefer the phonetic version, now forms part of the bed of the Mediterranean sea, though the catastrophic events which caused its final downfall did not occur until several generations after my demise.

Many thousands of years before my lifetime, a vagrant planet had passed close enough to our own that Earth's axial motion was affected. This caused such tremendous upheaval that areas that once had been of tropical climate became covered with ice. The melting of this ice, combined with the heaving and shifting of the land masses, left Earth looking much like the illustration below with Atlantis as an integral part of the Earth's land mass. The Americas were joined across the Pacific to Russia, Japan, China and Africa etc. Civilization was centred in the areas now called the Mediterranean.

There were two oceans -- The Great North and the Great South Sea. The British Isles, Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Russia and North America were joined to form the shores of the Great North Sea, though North America extended much farther west, so that the Grand Banks were the eastern limits. Large lakes formed much of the hinterland of the North Americas and only the southern regions were fertile.

Suerne was the large central city in the land of Khe, a vast prairie country bordered almost completely by mountain ranges. These kept the population from dispersing and formed an effective barrier against would-be invaders. The western border of Khe was approximately five hundred miles east and slightly to the north of Atlantis City.

Suernians lived on a tribal basis, drawing all required supplies from central storehouses. There was plenty for all. Distribution was on a per capita basis regardless of occupation. There was no such thing as wealth or poverty.

A white cotton robe was the common dress of all people, both male and female, with a loose over-robe of varying colours which denoted the occupation of the wearer (green in my father's case). Elders of the tribe and those to whom special honour was due, wore a distinctive sash and certain items of head-dress to indicate their status and degree of authority.

While social law permitted certain men to remain single, there was no such thing as an unattached woman, and most men had from two to five wives.

My mother loved her children dearly, and all children for themselves. She rejoiced anew with each pregnancy, and being extremely wise, realised that her deportment at this time would have considerable bearing on the future life of each child she carried. Though well versed in the household arts, Mother, as was the custom with women, had little formal education. Each evening she spent many happy hours learning from my father as he discussed his knowledge with the family. I was the culmination of two previous birth experiments in which Mother forced her thoughts into certain preconceived channels, and the ultimate results amply proved the wisdom of one who recognised the tremendous responsibility of bringing new life into the world.

Family life in Suerne was quite unlike that of the Twentieth Century. The small children of the community were considered the responsibility of all adults. During games, should any adult notice one small individual being overly aggressive, it was the observer's task to talk to the child, explaining this misdemeanour. It would be considered ludicrous today to see a stranger delivering a lengthy lecture to youngsters playing on the street.

It might seem even more peculiar today to observe children, barely able to master a few words, listening to lengthy discourses by their elders on the facts of life. Yet in Suerne it was realised that education, begun in the womb, should be carried into the very earliest days of childhood experiences.

At a very tender age, Suernian children were separated from their parents, and put into groups in keeping with their mental potential. And while being permitted to visit their parents, the children then fell within the full jurisdiction of the teachers. From this time forward the children lived at school among others of their own age, sleeping in the same compound, eating and studying together. They were separated in later years, the boys according to their prospective professions, the girls returning to their parents homes at the age of ten, to give their full attention to the domestic arts, as at this time their formal education was ended.

After one year of intensive study a Suernian child was considered to be a teacher by the very simple reasoning that this child was possessed of knowledge unknown to a younger child. Thus children were taught to teach, and in so doing exercised their own knowledge, forcing the brain to use and repeat that which it had learned.

Many hours were occupied with silent sitting as each new piece of information was digested and correlated with earlier lessons. All instruction was verbal and had to be remembered in detail. The class sat cross-legged in semi-circles around the teacher, absorbing his every word.

At the age of five, in keeping with the custom of my people, I was brought before the Tribunal of Learning where oral examination brought to light an intellect already stimulated with burning curiosity, and at this time my future life's program was mapped out by the elders with my faltering concurrence.

It is of interest to note that through the Tribunal habitually asked leading questions in their examinations, the members did not lean upon the verbal replies as a basis for forming an opinion of the candidate. Although it was not until years later I learned that these questions were designed to stimulate thought, and it was by reading the thought waves activated by simple queries, which often reflected quite different reactions to the stumbling words that ensued, that the final decisions were made. At the time of this examination I had already spent two years in the primary class designated by the first school board.

After three years of further instruction the selective groups were again subdivided, my small class being moved to more secluded quarters, which threw the children into very close companionship. It was here that I first met Zadius.

The intensity of our studies precluded most forms of recreation or sports, and even when a rare game was permitted it was designed to further educate though encouraging a competitive spirit. It was a rare occasion indeed when I met my family for more than a brief word in passing, and which so much still to learn the thought of returning home for a holiday seemed entirely impracticable.

As these childhood years sped by my insatiable thirst for knowledge grew and would have developed into an uncontrolled passion but for two saving features; firstly the wise counselling of my teachers; and secondly -- Zadius...

The accent of teaching in Suerne was always placed upon the class, the country, and the evolution of humanity as a whole. Close personal friendships were discouraged. But despite all training to the contrary, the life-long friendship between Zadius and myself blossomed from our first acquaintance.

Our personalities were poles apart, but Zadius' gay and often frivolous inclinations complimented my own sternly studious outlook. In retrospect it seems almost certain that had this companionship not developed, I would never have become aware of the lighter side of life -- to the detriment of my work on Earth and in heaven; while Zadius was undoubtedly prevented from getting into mischief at a time when study was essential to his welfare.

During our Atlanteans sojourn Zadius displayed his natural capacity for gravitating to just the right places where the maximum of enjoyment could be found for two young men weary from long hours of intensive study. Not that I wish to be misleading by insinuating that I was in any way a reluctant participant -- far from it! It was simply that Zadius and I each recognized the field in which the other was best equipped to lead, an arrangement which proved to be of lasting mutual satisfaction.

To win the Atlantean Scholarships was the goal of every lad in Khe. Daydreaming of even the remote possibility of such an event had sped many of our leisure moments for years before.

Even so, when in our fifteenth year, Zadius and I actually heard that we were the successful candidates it seemed hardly credible. Our joy knew no bounds, for it had long been reiterated by our teachers that the Atlantean Academy of Metaphysics and Institute of Technology, together housed the intelligentsia of the known world. Before graduating from the former, a student would have advanced into the realms of understanding where the aura could be separated from the tissue during deepest meditation, to roam the Universe, or wander to every corner of the earth. Though this task took two years or a lifetime of concentration, for a willing student, no less could be accomplished, and on completion of the courses a graduate would return to his homeland to become an instructor in the Metaphysical Arts and Sciences.

There was one other choice for a few selected graduates, that of remaining in Atlantis for his lifetime (with brief trips home for post-graduate lecturing) in order to attain the ultimate goal of complete knowledge of life, death, and life thereafter; which, as it happened, was the path of my choosing.