Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

LEMURIA

A legendary lost continent of the Indian Ocean, said by some occult schools to be the original Garden of Eden and the cradle of the human race.

The theory of the existence of Lemuria arose in the 19th century, when natural scientists sought to explain Darwin's theory of evolution of similar species from a common ancestor. It was suggested that a land bridge once existed during the Eocene Age from the Malay Archipelago to the south coast of Asia and Madagascar, thus connecting India to southern Mrica.

The theory explained why such animals as the lemur are found primarily on Madagascar and in parts of Mrica but also in India and the Malay Archipelago - hence 'Lemuria'.

Occultists applied the term to an ancient continent which was the main centre of activity in the early history of humanity. Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, co-founder of Theosophy, believed that Lemuria had been inhabited by the Third Root Race of humankind, whom she described as fifteen-feet-tall (4.57 metres), brown-skinned hermaphrodites with four arms; some had a third eye in the back of the skull. Their bizarre feet, with protruding heels, enabled them to walk either forwards or backwards. Their eyes were set far apart in their flat faces so that they could see sideways. They had highly developed Psychic powers and communicated by teIepathy.

Their continent, which allegedly covered most of the southern hemisphere; broke up and was destroyed - only frag-ments were left, such as modern Madagascar, the Seychelles, Easter Island and Australia. The Lemurians are said to have migrated to Atlantis, where they evolved into the Fourth Root Race - the Aryans (see NAZI MYSTICISM).

Like the Lemurians, the Atlanteans fled the destruction of their own continent, spreading to other lands and starting the present Fifth Root Race. Philosopher and occultist Rudolf Steiner, using information he said came from the Akashic Records (see AKASHA), said Lemuria extended from Ceylon to Madagascar and had included parts of southern Asia and Mrica. He also described the Lemurians as the telepathic Third Root Race, who ini-tially had no memory. The goal of Lemurians was to develop will and Clairvoyant power of imagination in order to control the forces of nature.

Lemuria is said to have been destroyed by volcanic activity.

see also: ATLANTIS

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc