The War of Flame

Archive CXIII (Foundation Center for Antediluvian Research)

The War of Flame

This archive summarizes our key findings on the War of Flame (9400BC?-9000BC?)—humanity’s first world war and the great conflict that destroyed the civilization of Atlantis.

The Retreat and the founding of Tarasha Lehe

After the disruption caused by the clumsy and arrogant experiments on the Atlantean stones (see detailed background in Archive CXII—‘The Fall of Atlantis’), degeneration and decline rapidly overwhelmed the seven nations of Atlantis. Once the madness of the stones began to rage, the so-called ‘mad mages’—the true bearers of the Atlantean Flame and the descendants of the Melchis—eventually realized that their cause was lost. Thus they gradually abandoned their vast cave complexes to ship away the remaining 90 odd stones from the Atlantean mainland.

Their first destination was the ‘Egyptian’ colony (this was located somewhere in and beyond modern day Egypt) of Atlantis where they had a long established presence and network. However the perverting influence of the corrupted stones and the collapsing Atlantean fields around Egypt soon made their stay untenable. The usual symptoms of delusion, greed and general depravity manifested on an unprecedented scale as the subtle invasion of the forces of darkness overwhelmed the greatest Atlantean colony.

As the Light failed even in Egypt, the mad mages gathered all their resources and departed with a small group of faithful Atlanteans to build a new homeland in present day Israel. Their main settlements were concentrated in the valley now inundated by the Dead Sea, while their main military fortress was built on the present site of Jerusalem. Their new homeland was called Tarasha Lehe (roughly 'the triumph of the Light').

This was also the point when ‘the Melchi’ (even his name is still uncertain) made his first definitive appearance. The best sources indicate that this shadowy but pivotal figure was a relatively young Atlantean mage who joined the mad mages in their exodus from the motherland. Little is known of him before his appearance as the leader of the mad mages and the greatest protector of Tarasha Lehe. There are some reliable sources that indicate that he was probably an orphan raised by two renowned and respected twin mages (who were from the ‘normal’ mage orders—not that of mad mages). Together with them, he was part of the minority faction who tried unsuccessfully to oppose the experiments on the three lost stones. Unfortunately, we know little more about his early life beyond these skeletal facts,

From the earliest days of Tarasha Lehe, this young mage was viewed unanimously by his contemporaries as a Melchi from the founding days of Atlantis—the age when the stones were forged. Of course, we could hardly be certain how this could be possible. Was he a 10,000 year old being disguised in a young body? Did one of the Melchis come back in spirit? Was the young mage simply linked in consciousness to a Melchi? Certainly the fragmented sources could provide little help.

What is quite certain is that this young Melchi (oxymoronic as it sounds) was possibly in the dark about his own identify and capabilities till the founding of Tarasha Lehe. Certainly this Melchi did not display any spectacular powers in the early days when the Atlantean motherland could perhaps be saved. All reliable accounts indicate that despite his enthusiasm, the Melchi in his younger days was singularly unsuccessful, and probably unwise, in his endeavors to stop the tide of darkness that eventually destroyed the seven nations (Archive CXII: ‘The Fall of Atlantis’).

In addition, the prophecy about the return of the Melchis was quite well known even among the lay-people of Atlantis—though by that decadent age, few cared about it. And the mad mages were in fact desperately searching for their true leader. If the Melchi had known about his true identity, it was quite unlikely he would have remained quietly as a rather undistinguished character. It is therefore quite certain that in that dark hour, there was some kind of transfiguration that caused the young mage to become (or recover his identity as) a mighty Melchi.

The Second Dawn

Under the guidance and leadership of the Melchi, the different mage orders and the Atlantean priests reunited again after nearly 10,000 years of separation (see Archive CXI: ‘The Atlantean Origins’). The head of this new reunified Order was nominally the high priest of the order of Melchizedek--though after the death of the high priest in the sacking of Abra Lodesh (Archive CXII: ‘The Fall of Atlantis’), the Melchi served as the actual leader. Strangely, he never claimed the ceremonial title and supposedly prophesized that a new high priest of Melchizedek will rise from the dead (?) in some distant age.

In any event, with this reunification, there was a ‘Second Dawn’—a renaissance of the arts and sciences of the ancient Melchis. In the political realm too, the surviving and faithful leaders of the Seven Atlantean Nations decided to formalize their old informal links into a solid union (see Archive CXI). Thus despite the immense influence of the Melchi, Tarasha Lehe was actually constituted as a republic unifying the peoples of Atlantis through the Council of the Tarasha—continuing the ancient Atlantean traditions that stretched back even before the great Settlement 10,000 years before (Archive CXI). New movements also broke the ossified molds of Atlantean art and literature, leading to splendid new architecture, music, paintings, writing and other creative wonders. Indeed, were it not for the destruction of Atlantis and the disappearance of Tarasha Lehe, this great advancement of knowledge and light would probably have transfigured the whole of human civilization.

Drawing on some mysterious fount of knowledge, the Melchi instructed his contemporaries and disciples on the construction and use of the Atlantean stones. As their first priority was the defense against the gathering hordes of darkness, their first great project was the re-construction of the Atlantean field using the remaining 90 stones. Though 10 stones or so were lost or corrupted, there were still enough to build a powerful barrier that generally kept out the swarming forces of hell that had begun an unprecedented invasion of the human realm.

In addition to this spiritual defense, the Melchi and some of his gifted associates also began to creatively modify and channel some of the stones’ energies to build an army of incredible destructiveness. This was the Order that later evolved into ‘the Guardians of the Flame’—the warriors of Light and the preservers of Atlantean spirituality after the fall of Atlantis.

Enough sources remain to tell us about the awesome capabilities of these ancient warriors. These Guardians of the Flame (to use their later name) were very different from ordinary soldiers before or since. They were generally unarmed, except sometimes with a staff or rod, and usually wore no protection except for a simple seamless robe. Yet just a small group of them would probably be enough to annihilate a whole army equipped with our best modern weaponry. Their most deadly weapon was a small stone (usually worn around their necks) marked by the holy chalice of 11 feathers in front and the Tarasha—the sunburst of seven rays—at the back. These were the famous ‘channel stones’, an invention of the Melchi that allowed the Guardians to draw on the mighty energies of the Atlantean stones to unleash death and destruction.

No channel stone has ever been found (they were rumored to be destroyed when the Guardians disappeared around 2000 years ago) so we do not know how they actually work. Judging by the accounts of the battles fought by these Guardians, we can surmise that the channel stones were portals (so to speak) for the energy of the stones. How much each individual Guardian can channel and hold depended very much on the strength of his own mind and spirit. It was probably for this reason that only the Melchi himself could deploy the apocalyptic power of the 3 Stones of Fire (see below).

Different Guardians specialize in different energies and capabilities and they usually work together as a deadly team. Thus vast waves of invasion by Akroti barbarians, the degenerated Egyptians (civil war had brought about the rise of a regime allied with the Akrotis) or the dark Atlanteans were crushed by the raging fire, lightning, plague, storm and earthquake unleashed by the Guardians. The six dark lords (see Archive CXII) sent army after army, equipped with ever better weapons and war machines--but these were speedily annihilated by small groups of Guardians armed with little more than their bare hands. Thus by necessity, the Melchi had to set aside the age-old ideals of Atlantean pacifism (Archive CXI) to use his knowledge to facilitate bloodshed. Such was the tragedy of Atlantis that even her wisest and best must advance the reign of sin.

Indeed, this was probably the reason that the armies of Tarasha Lehe never attempted to invade the Atlantean motherland and wipe out the Six and their evil empire. After all, for centuries, the Guardians of the Flame could handily sweep aside almost any army that the Six cared to field. The Six might be armed with capabilities given by their Dark Covenant (Archive CXII) but their power over nature remained limited because their inability to build new Atlantean stones. Hence the conquest of the Atlantean motherland was definitely militarily possible.

However, the conflict between Tarasha Lehe and the Six was ultimately more spiritual than physical. The foundation of the Dark Covenant was bloodshed and human sacrifice. The Melchi and his Guardians might be able to crush the armies of the Six, but a cleansing invasion of the motherland would probably require the systematic slaughter of millions. For despite their vast military and technological superiority, the Six never attempted direct worldwide conquest. This was probably because of their fear of the Guardians. Thus most of their armies and war machines were concentrated in vast fortresses on the Atlantean motherland, while another huge force was posted in the Egyptian colony (which had surrendered to them).

In their cunning and cowardice, the Six had tried their best to make their defeat as bloody and as difficult as possible. Massive conscription of the Atlantean population also swelled the armies of the Six, and made the slaughter of millions necessary before the Guardians could destroy them. All these efforts successfully deterred any attempt at re-conquest, as the purposeful genocide of millions of people (for any cause—however noble) using the divine power of the Flame could only darken the world even further and compound the Atlantean sin. The re-conquest of Atlantis could therefore probably only recover her body, but not her soul

Thus an uneasy stalemate ensued for centuries as both sides dug in, each unable or unwilling to destroy the other. In a rather vain attempt to emulate the Guardians of the Flame, the Six also trained up a corps of elite mages able to wield certain demonic powers. These were the ancestors of the orders of darkness that would disturb the world for millennia to come. Though these were no match for the Guardians, they did serve as useful shock troops to terrorize and further corrupt the population of Atlantis, and help build up a kingdom that was a worthy image of Hell.

These dark mages also spread out to enslave and corrupt the other peoples of the earth. Their main targets were the nations in present day India and China that worshipped the One God of Atlantis. Given that direct conquest was not possible till the defeat of Tarasha Lehe, these dark agents spread their corrupting creed and knowledge to susceptible nations and peoples, manipulating them to turn against the failing Atlantean children of India and China.

The World War

In Tarasha Lehe itself, the first priority was given to the defense of the homeland. Thus although the Guardians generally eschew the use of machinery, they did use their powers to construct the spectacular fortresses that were known as the Towers of Flame. These Towers typically were as high as modern skyscrapers and were extremely beautiful—firstly because of their mysterious and seamless construction that made them seem as if they were hewn from single pieces of mountainous rocks, and secondly because all of them flamed with the mystical seven-hued Light of the Tarasha.

Indeed, so bright were these blazing Towers that the cities and towns of Tarasha Lehe were essentially bathed in perpetual day. And the Light of the Tarasha was more than a mere physical radiance—it was indeed a spiritual power and glory that caused deadly pain to the forces of darkness, while blessing men of goodwill. These resplendent Towers were therefore indispensable supports of the Atlantean field. How the Guardians managed to get the spiritual Light of the Tarasha to blaze continuously from the tops of these Towers is a mystery—presumably this was another innovation of the Melchi and probably drew on the power of the stones.

In addition to being used for spiritual defense (and the more mundane function of lighting the streets at night), it appears that these Towers could also channel deadly physical energies—especially that of heat and fire. There are some accounts of battles in which these Towers literally burned up entire armies with massive torrents of white flame that poured forth from their apex. Adding to their potency, these laser-like torrents apparently could be projected for many miles and with great precision. Arrays of these intimidating Towers around the coasts and borders of Tarasha Lehe effectively protected it till the very end.

(There are some speculations whether the 3 Stones of Fire were initially constructed to power the physical capabilities of these Towers. This is possible, though the one definitive use of the Stones of Fire by the Melchi at the Battle of Moloch involved energies that dwarfed that of all previous battles.)

Outside Tarasha Lehe, the defenses of her allies in India and China were much weaker. While the Six never fielded their armies directly against these nations, their agents and disciples did manage to stir up barbarians or degenerate civilizations around them. Nor could Tarasha Lehe spare many Guardians to help the allied nations as the Six would invariably put a relentless pressure on the homeland whenever they order their agents to stir up invasion or mischief elsewhere. Also these nations were outside of the Atlantean field, and had to face the full brunt of the encroaching darkness. Often their worst enemies were simply psychological, spiritual and internal—rather than the satellites of the dark Atlanteans.

In China, where the Atlantean Flame and culture never penetrated too deeply, the allies of Tarasha Lehe were either quickly defeated, gave up or disintegrated. However a group of faithful refugees led by a woman empowered by the Flame fled to present day Japan. In India, the 3 nations that had long and deep links to Atlantis managed to avoid the demoralization and social disintegration that destroyed the Chinese nations. They were also fortunate to be somewhat closer to Tarasha Lehe, and were able to receive help more effectively.

However, the dark mages managed to stir up and strengthen a great and savage empire in the south of India (the Ravani tribe) who marched north with a huge army. At this point, a great general, called Ram by later generations, united the 3 Indian republics under a military dictatorship (this was probably due to the political chaos) and with the help of a few Guardians, managed to halt the invasion. Indeed, he eventually marched south, and with the aid of some allied states in central India, completely destroyed the heartland of the Ravani empire in present day Sri Lanka. This ancient war was one of the sources for the Ramayana epic.

The Statue of Moloch

With this setback, the Six again decided to focus their energies on destroying Tarasha Lehe once and for all. By this time, their dark agents had succeeded in corrupting or enslaving much of North and South America—continents with peoples that had traditionally been highly resistant to Atlantean culture. The Akroti barbarians and what remained of Egypt had also become their servants and allies. They thus had enormous manpower at their disposal.

Of course this was still sufficient, given the great power of the Guardians and their Towers. To defend against the flaming energies of the Towers, their latest war machines were coated with a newly invented substance able to resist extremely high temperatures. Thus did they propose a blitzkrieg of sorts, where the flying and ground machines will take out the Towers, before their massive armies will move in to swamp the Guardians.

To make doubly sure of their success, the Six constructed the infernal Statue of Moloch—perhaps the crowning achievement of mankind’s sordid explorations into the demonic arts. This abomination was essentially a mountain of corpses compacted tightly together to form a vast Statue as tall as a Tower of Flame. To build the Statue, their industrialized system of human sacrifice was pushed to extremes, and tens of thousands of volunteers, fanatics and conscripts were slaughtered as an offering to Moloch—the dark fallen angel that was one of the Six’s chief sources of power.

After its consecration with further dark arts, the Statue burned as a herald of hell and the physical incarnation of Moloch—a looming nightmare that poured forth darkness visible. At close quarters, the corruption that flooded out could penetrate the Atlantean field, and was mighty enough to rot and subvert even the flaming minds of the Guardians. This was a force that even the great Melchi could not defeat. By necessity, the Guardians must retreat before it.

The invasion of Tarasha Lehe

The forces of the dark Atlanteans took almost 2 years to gather—so vast were the numbers of men and machinery involved. The Statue also took many months to be shipped over to Egypt. Meanwhile in Tarasha Lehe, things were getting desperate. A pre-emptive attack by the Guardians in Egypt was beaten back with significant losses due to the fire-resistant war machines and fortresses. This was perhaps the first major defeat ever suffered by Tarasha Lehe. In addition, the Melchi and his associates had by this time detected the Statue of Moloch, and they knew it was coming their way.

The morale at Tarasha Lehe was at an all time low. Despite a heroic and generous detachment of soldiers from victorious India, there were few in the Council of the Tarasha who had faith in ultimate victory. It seemed at that point that the reign of hell would soon overwhelm the earth.

It was at this point that the Melchi revealed that he and some associates had forged, or transformed, some Atlantean stones into the most potent weapons that humanity had ever conceived—the Stones of Fire. It is of course unclear how these apocalyptic wonders actually work, though one with the necessary strength of mind and spirit could apparently use these Stones to command hitherto unimaginable amounts of heat and light. The Stones could thus release a physical ‘Tarasha’, a sunburst of flame and death that seemingly incarnated the fury of God against humanity’s sordid ways (indeed the Stones of Fire were also sometimes called the Tarasha Stones).

These terrible weapons were clearly intended by the Melchi as a last resort—to be used only when all else had failed. Indeed, it was clear both to the Council and the Melchi that the bloodshed caused by the use of the Stones would fatally and irrevocably compound the sins of humanity, and probably doom any chance of an Atlantean rebirth.

Yet events would soon force the hand of the Melchi. Once the mighty hordes of the Six had fully gathered, they started sweeping into Tarasha Lehe in a massive pincer movement: one landward thrust from the south and an amphibious one from the sea and air. The woefully outnumbered defenders of Tarasha Lehe had to further divide their forces and face two fronts.

The Towers of Flame on the frontiers of Tarasha Lehe were successively decimated by seemingly endless waves of war machines. These resistant war machines took much longer to destroy and there were simply too many of them—it was a matter of time before their countless missiles and projectiles decimated the Towers and their brave Guardians. Very soon, the main hordes of the Six had successfully converged in the southeast corner of Tarasha Lehe, having destroyed all the Towers in their way. After centuries of warfare, the Six had finally defiled the soil of Tarasha Lehe.

Now united, the army of the Six stretched for countless miles and was like a black cloud that filled the horizon. Before this point, the Statue of Moloch had been kept safely out of range of the Towers of Flame, but now with these down, it took center stage and could freely exert its demonic corruption and protection—making it impossible for the Guardians to directly challenge the dark army with a powerful counter-offensive. Tarasha Lehe seemed doomed.

There was only one last obstacle to total conquest: that mightiest citadel of the Light, Salem the Rock—the greatest fortress of Tarasha Lehe and its military headquarters. Salem was also the last remaining Tower of Flame that protected the cities and towns of Tarasha Lehe. Moreover, it was the chief storage place for the Atlantean stones. The fall of Salem would probably entail the end of humanity.

The Six therefore drove their whole army towards Salem. Meanwhile all the surviving Guardians, the Melchi, the Council of Tarasha and the Indian army also converged there. This was indeed the final battle of the war, in which only one side would survive.

Huge raging storms of fire, earthquake, lightning and wind unleashed by the Guardians hit and destroyed many of the war machines. Incessant and vast torrents of flame also poured out from the Rock. But the sheer numbers and improved endurance of the machines caused them to swarm closer and closer. Countless projectiles and missiles also penetrated more and more through the fire and storm, progressively obliterating the Tower of Salem.

Meanwhile, vast hordes of bloodthirsty barbarians and dark Atlantean legions followed behind, surrounding the Statue of Moloch. The Guardians knew that once the Statue drew close enough, they had to abandon Salem and flee—or be possessed, driven mad or simply rendered mindless. As the darkness swept in, it seemed that all was lost.

It was at that fateful moment that the Melchi, supported by the Council of the Tarasha, decided to save mankind and doom Atlantis. Thus as the armies of the Six approached the outskirts of Salem, there was a sudden manifestation of an eerie and implacable stillness as unthinkable torrents of energies coalesced from planes beyond the physical. Apparently even Moloch himself was unaware of the Melchi’s apocalyptic weapons till this moment—and by then any warning to the Six was far too late.

There are some surviving accounts of what happened next: a blinding white flash right above the middle of the dark hordes, and a star-like circular flame that roared forth to fill the skies, wiping out all the flying machines. Columns of fire, each brighter than the sun, then plunged into the ranks of the dark Atlanteans, sweeping across the plain like lightning. As the firestorm tore up the army, multiple mushroom clouds rose above the horizon, and so great was the heat that the plain turned to glass and the deafening roar could be heard even in Mesopotamia. The infernal Statue was struck directly by one of the columns, while the 6 justly perished in flame. Beast, men and machine were totally consumed by a storm of light.

Unlike a nuclear explosion—the closest equivalent we have in the modern world—the Melchi somehow managed to direct and control the titanic heat and fire quite precisely. Thus even though Salem was so close to the consuming fire, it was more or less undamaged. Thus the Stones of Fire, when wielded by someone who was experienced and powerful enough (though such people are fortunately very rare), were clearly far more efficient and accurate—and to that extent, more deadly—than our nuclear arsenals. In addition, there is speculation, though this could not be verified, that the Stones could in fact channel far more energy that those displayed at the Battle of Moloch. Indeed, it was possible that the Melchi actually built the Stones to prepare for a scenario where he was forced to annihilate the entire continent of Atlantis.

The end of Atlantis

Whatever the case, the defeat of the Six was total and complete. They themselves had perished and almost their entire military force (with the unfortunate exception of some of their dark disciples) was annihilated. Their empire in Atlantis and Egypt collapsed rapidly as the few surviving dark mages fought for the scraps that remained. Indeed, there are confused accounts of civil war in Atlantis as the populace rose against the divided and warring mages.

At this point, why did the Melchi not lead the Guardians to reclaim their rightful homeland? Indeed, not only did the Guardians make no attempt to capitalize on their triumph, they did the rather astonishing thing of demolishing all the remaining Towers of Flame and then making a determined retreat from Tarasha Lehe—taking away all the Atlantean stones and pulling down the Atlantean field in the process. Instead of reclaiming Atlantis and rebuilding it, they started winding up the last outpost of Atlantean civilization instead.

We who live in comparatively short-lived and shallow cultures will perhaps find it difficult to comprehend the actions and motives of these last Atlanteans—who were not only the heirs to almost 20,000 years of culture and wisdom, but also a people who were much more attuned to those inner rhythms and forces perilously ignored by the modern world. To them, perhaps both Atlantis and Tarasha Lehe had already perished on the plains of Salem. The physical form subsisted, but the soul had already fled. To sustain the advanced technologies and powers made possible by the Atlantean stones (especially with the existence of the terrifying Stones of Fire) will simply further darken an inevitable dark age.

This retreat was also a great act of faith and sacrifice by the leaders and people of Tarasha Lehe—akin to that of their ancestors who trusted their Melchis enough to avoid bloodshed, build a fleet of ships and voyaged westwards to settle in Atlantis (Archive CXI). Even though they knew that the departure of the Melchi, his Guardians and the Atlantean stones would probably mean the end of their advanced civilization, these faithful last Atlanteans courageously accepted it. Thus did the Light begin to go out in Tarasha Lehe.

And the end of the Atlantean motherland soon followed. Events are necessarily confused since there are no surviving records from Atlantis itself. The best hypothesis is that the surviving dark mages, in attempts either to destroy each other or to crush some rebellion, further experimented with the corrupted stones. Perhaps they were trying to build replicas of the Stones of Fire that had so spectacularly destroyed their former masters.

These foolish attempts ended in utter disaster. Atlantis had always been a volcanic and rather unstable region (hence its renowned fertility). Whatever happened, the fiery energies of the earth were stirred up violently in perhaps the greatest natural (or unnatural) disaster of humanity’s history: massive earthquakes and volcanic explosions tore up the entire continent of Atlantis. And as the land sank beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, mountainous tidal waves devastated the coastlands of the world and the climate changed: the ice caps melted and huge floods inundated much of the earth.

It is uncertain what happened to the glorious cities and towns of Tarasha Lehe. Many of them were no doubt obliterated by the cataclysmic floods and tsunamis following the sinking of the Atlantean mainland—though some survived for much longer. Tarasha Lehe was probably forewarned, as the surviving records indicate a mass evacuation of her people. Yet life must have been extremely hard for these last Atlanteans, who were both bereft of their advanced technology and mired in a devastated homeland. The widespread collapse of agriculture due to the darkened skies (an effect of the massive volcanic eruptions) also led to grievous sufferings. Even more importantly, without the Atlantean field generated by the stones, the degeneration of the bodies, minds and spirits of the Atlanteans inevitably set in—and this worsened with every generation.

The last records of a distinct Atlantean nation date from about 8000 BC—or around 1000 years after the destruction of Atlantis. After this, the Atlantean people and their culture effectively vanished through inter-marriage with neighboring peoples (especially the ancestors of the modern Egyptians), or through terrible events like wars, famines and diseases. During this one thousand years, the fragmented records tell a sad tale of terminal decline, with the degenerating Atlantean people valiantly attempting—but completely failing—to recover their past glories. There are still some mages around, but not the mighty Guardians of the Flame, and their powers had greatly faded with the disappearance of the stones. Their wisdom was dimmed for the same reason. The departure of the Melchi, the Guardians, and the loss of texts and teachers through various disasters were strokes of doom. It seemed that the Hand of God himself had turned against his privileged children.

Soon darkness enshrouded the former territories of Tarasha Lehe and the records fell silent. The ancient and beautiful Atlantean tongue, one so eminently suited to spiritual and poetic evocation, vanished together with the monotheistic religion of Atlantis. The arts and sciences practiced by the Atlantean mages also disappeared—though fragments of this knowledge were passed on to neighboring cultures, and perhaps India and China as well.

The Guardians of the Flame

One of the biggest mysteries still remaining is the eventual fate of the Melchi and his Guardians. The best records indicate that by the end of the war with the dark Atlanteans, only a few hundred Guardians survived. Led by the Melchi, all of them left Tarasha Lehe with the Atlantean stones for some mysterious location(s). Their first priority was presumably to hide the stones away from an unworthy world, and perhaps they planned to retrieve them in some distant age.

There are enough evidence and records to show that the Guardians remained active for an astounding 9000 years after the fall of Atlantis. Despite their famed longevity, most of the Guardians who were recruited in the days of the Melchi probably died within 2000 years. The Melchi himself appeared to have some contact with the ancestors of what later became the Indo-European peoples. By re-constructing the timeline from vague myths and legends, we can surmise that the Melchi probably appeared (in disguise?) to the proto-Indo Europeans around 8000 B.C. or so, i.e. 1000 years after the fall of Atlantis. Certainly the religions and philosophies of later Indo-European cultures do show some affinities with Atlantean culture, though the exact nature and extent of the Melchi’s influence is unclear. The Melchi disappeared soon after this intervention and presumably he had died in some unknown location.

By 6000 B.C. or so, the torch had passed to a new generation of Guardians, variously recruited from cultures and nations that were receptive to the secret but potent influence of this last Atlantean order. The main priority of the Guardians appeared to be the dissemination of Atlantean spirituality (though normally not the potent secrets of their power—the ‘magical’ aspect). A second goal was the eradication of the offspring of those dark mages trained by the Six. Thus a covert war went on for thousands of years between the Guardians and the various cults of darkness that sprung up after the fall of Atlantis.

For the next few thousand years, the Guardians secretly influenced and helped the growth of wisdom and light in various fledging civilizations. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus valley, China and parts of Meso-America, they had signal success. In their endeavors, the Guardians usually eschew direct intervention, preferring a quiet, anonymous approach that left few footprints. Indeed, one of their favorite devices was to shroud their knowledge in strange, captivating myths—deeply symbolic and seeming fictions that are ‘neither naked nor clothed’ (to use a Sanskrit phrase from the Rig Veda), but which usually include enticing clues that hint at deeper meanings. Plato’s story of Atlantis is probably the best-known example.

Yet for all their power and wisdom, their efforts were only partially fruitful, as the evil and bloodshed unleashed in the final days of Atlantis hung like strangling shrouds over humanity. Thus whatever knowledge and power that took root were quickly trivialized, abused, turned to banal uses or perverted to dark ends. It seemed that mankind could never rise again to recover the Atlantean dawn.

The last known Guardians disappeared around 2000 years ago. Did the Flame of Atlantis died out finally? Or did it receive fulfillment in the birth of Christ? This is still a matter of controversy. Regardless, the wonders of Atlantis and the final resting place of the stones seemed to be lost forever with the death of the last Guardian—and the most ancient and long-lived civilization of humanity perished at last.