This presentation is the start of a series to provide a glimpse of James Churchward's theories of the Lost Continent of Mu Ð as he wrote about it. Some authors have taken passages from his books and the unintentional consequence is that sometimes James' theory looks a little more like the theory of the author quoting him; so the intent of this series will be to provide short summaries of what James actually wrote. This podcast will focus on James' description of the Lost Continent of Mu. In the future, James' other theories will also be discussed.

First, let me start with a little background. In James' written works he describes himself as 'assisting in relief work at a college temple' and studying an ancient, dead language for more than two years while a young man. The Rishi of the temple taught James the ancient language and showed him tablets that James called the "Naacal Tablets." Although not a complete set, James and the Rishi translated the tablets that had been stored at the temple college. According to James, the tablets that he translated with the Rishi described the creation of the earth and man and the place he first appeared Ð Mu. James continued the study of the tablets and compared the writing of old civilizations with what he had encountered with the Naacal tablets about Mu. He also searched for a complete set of the tablets to translate. For more than fifty years he continued this work and in 1926 he put pen to paper and wrote the book, "The Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man". This is a condensed description of his background that my great-grandfather presented in his books. Listeners may decide for themselves whether or not anything excluded from the aforementioned description is significant.

James Churchward described Mu as the birthplace of the human race or to use his biblical allegory, the Garden of Eden. Mu was located in the Pacific Ocean, but sunk some thousands of years ago. At the time of its destruction, Mu had 64,000,000 inhabitants and a superior civilization to that of the first quarter of the 20th century. James also states that the story of creation in the Bible is from Mu, the difference between the version today and the original was because Ezra did not know the hidden meanings when he wrote it down. Here is a narrative that describes Mu contained in both the 1926 & 1931 versions of the Lost Continent of Mu:

"Back, far back, into very remote times Ñ many, many thousands of years ago, and yet, on the very edge of what we call historical timesÑthere was a great continent in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where now we find only water and the sky, and groups of small islands, which are today called the South Sea Islands.

It was a beautiful tropical country with vast plains. The valleys and plains were covered with rich grazing grasses and tilled fields, while the low rolling hill-lands were shaded by luxuriant growths of tropical vegetation. No mountains or mountain ranges stretched themselves through this earthly paradise to give an irregular, jagged, yet soft and graceful sky line.

Mountains had not yet been forced up from the bowels of the earth. This great rich land was intersected and watered by many broad, slow-running streams and rivers, which wound their sinuous ways in fantastic curves and bends around the wooded hills and through the fertile plains. Luxuriant vegetation covered the whole land with a soft, pleasing, restful mantle of green. Bright and fragrant flowers on tree and shrub added coloring and finish to the landscape. Tall fronded palms fringed the ocean's shores and lined the banks of the rivers for many a mile inland. Great feathery ferns spread their long arms out from the river banks. In valley places where the land was low, the rivers broadened out into shallow lakes, around whose shores myriads of sacred lotus flowers dotted the glistening surface of the water, like varicolored jewels in settings of emerald green.

Over the cool rivers, gaudy-winged butterflies hovered in the shade of the trees, rising and falling in fairy-like movements, as if better to view their painted beauty in nature's mirror. Darting hither and thither from flower to flower, tiny hummingbirds made their short flights, glistening like living jewels in the rays of the sun.

Little feathered songsters in bush and tree vied with each other in their sweet lays. The chirpings of lively crickets filled the air, while above all other sounds came those of the locust as he industriously ground his scissors, telling the whole world all was well with him. Roaming through the primeval forests were herds of mighty mastodons and elephants napping their big ears to drive off annoying insects.

All this great continent was teeming with gay and happy life over which 64,000,000 human beings reigned supreme. All this life was rejoicing in its luxuriant home. Broad smooth roads ran in all directions like a spider's web. These roads were laid with smooth stones, so perfectly matched that grasses could not grow between them. At the time of our narrative, the 64,000,000 people were made up of ten tribes or peoples, each one distinct from the other, but all under one government."

From Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man; Edwin Rudge Publisher; 1926; pages 23-24

James explains the destruction of Mu as the consequence of the emptying of a series of isolated upper gas chambers that were upholding the land. When the pressure of the gases in the chambers increased, it built up heat that caused the volcanoes to form and eventually erupt. After the eruptions, the chambers were empty and the roofs collapsed and the Pacific Ocean rushed in.

We will cover more on James Churchward's theories in the future.

Thanks for listening and have a great day.