One such is a famous fretwork of Hindu origin consisting
of a four-pronged star encircled by an octogon. The four-pronged star is
indeed a pyramid (Mt. Meru) seen from above, in plant. The four faces of
it are indented, like in the Great Pyramid and in that of Mykerinos, so
that the pyramid becomes a four-pronged star. The encircling octogon represents
the circular Oceanus which surrounded Atlantis. The endless succession
of such encircled pyramids represents the infinite succession of the eras
along time.
A very similar motif is the
so-called dogtooth fretwork. It consists of a repeated series of four-sided
pyramids in relief, each having the faces indented like those of Mt. Meru
and the Great Pyramid. The idea is, again, identical to the above one.
Other similar decorational motifs are used by the Amazonian and others
Indians from South America in their sieves and other basketry. The colors
they use are usually the ones of the Hindu four
varnas (red, black,
white, yellow), obtained by using fibers of different colors.
Again, their preferred motifs
are those of pyramidal Mt. Meru seen in plant as a four-sided star or a
cruciform mountain. These clever Amazonian designs date from an immense
antiquity, as attested by the ceramics found in the island of Marajó
and elsewhere. Moreover, they closely correspond to similar vase decorations
found elsewhere in the Americas and, indeed, all over the world, as we
illustrate in detail elsewhere.
There can be little
doubt that this decorational motif represents one and the same thing and,
hence, derives from a single source. In fact, they are all variants of
the mandalic representation of Mt. Meru, the Holy Mountain of Paradise.
And, when we pause to reflect on their meaning, we see the reason why they
are called mandalas or yantras.
The word
yantra means
"device for thinking" in Sanskrit, whereas
mandala ("wheel ") is
indeed related to the radix
manas ("mind"), and implying the idea
of "device for reminding". In other words, the mandalas or yantras such
as those under discussion are devices for meditation on the Paradisial
events and, more exactly, on the destruction and sinking of Atlantis by
the memorable explosion of its Holy Mountain.
