Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a
continent
A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
proposed in 1864 by zoologist
Philip Sclater
Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...
, theorized to have sunk beneath the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, later appropriated by
occult
The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
ists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the discovery of
plate tectonics
Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
and
continental drift
Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...
in the 20th century.
The hypothesis was proposed as an explanation for the presence of
lemur
Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...
fossils on
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
and the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
but not in continental
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
or the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. Biologist
Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...
's suggestion in 1870 that Lemuria could be the ancestral home of humans caused the hypothesis to move beyond the scope of
geology
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
and
zoogeography
Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with geographic distribution (present and past) of animal species.
As a multifaceted field of study, zoogeography incorporates methods of molecular biology, genetics, mo ...
, ensuring its popularity outside of the framework of the scientific community.
Occultist and founder of
theosophy
Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...
Helena Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian-born Mysticism, mystic and writer who emigrated to the United States where she co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an internat ...
, during the latter part of the 19th century, placed Lemuria in the system of her mystical-religious doctrine, claiming that this continent was the homeland of the human ancestors, whom she called Lemurians. The writings of Blavatsky had a significant impact on Western
esotericism
Esotericism may refer to:
* Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements
* Western esotericism, a wide range of loosely related id ...
, popularizing the myth of Lemuria and its mystical inhabitants.
Theories about Lemuria became untenable when, in the 1960s, the scientific community accepted
Alfred Wegener's theory of
continental drift
Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...
, presented in 1912, but the idea lived on in the popular imagination, especially in relation to the Theosophist tradition.
Scientific origins
Lemuria was hypothesized as a
land bridge
In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...
, now sunken, which would account for certain discontinuities in
biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities o ...
. This idea has been rendered obsolete by modern theories of
plate tectonics
Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
. Sunken continents such as
Zealandia
Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori language, Māori) or Tasmantis (from Tasman Sea), is an almost entirely submerged continent, submerged mass of continental crust in Oceania that subsided after breaking away from Gondwana 83� ...
in the Pacific, and
Mauritia
''Mauritia'' is a genus of fan palms which is native to northern South America and to the Island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. Only two species are currently accepted.
References
Mauritia,
Trees of South America
Trees of Trinidad ...
and the
Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean do exist, but no geological formation under the Indian or Pacific oceans is known that could have served as a land bridge between these continents.
Postulation
In 1864, "The Mammals of Madagascar" by
zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
and biogeographer
Philip Sclater
Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...
appeared in ''
The Quarterly Journal of Science''. Using a classification he referred to as
lemur
Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...
s, but which included related primate groups,
[Neild, Ted ''Supercontinent: Ten Billion Years in the Life of Our Planet'' Harvard University Press (2 Nov 2007) pp. 38–39] and puzzled by the presence of their
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
s in Madagascar and India, but not in Africa or the Middle East, Sclater proposed that Madagascar and India had once been part of a larger continent (he was correct in this; though in reality this was
Mauritia
''Mauritia'' is a genus of fan palms which is native to northern South America and to the Island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. Only two species are currently accepted.
References
Mauritia,
Trees of South America
Trees of Trinidad ...
and the
supercontinent
In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continent, continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", ...
Gondwana
Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
).
The anomalies of the mammal fauna of Madagascar can best be explained by supposing that... a large continent occupied parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans... that this continent was broken up into islands, of which some have become amalgamated with... Africa, some... with what is now Asia; and that in Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands
The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...
we have existing relics of this great continent, for which... I should propose the name Lemuria!
Parallels
Sclater's theory was hardly unusual for his time; "
land bridge
In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...
s", real and imagined, fascinated several of Sclater's contemporaries.
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (; 15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theorie ...
, also looking at the relationship between animals in India and Madagascar, had suggested a southern continent about two decades before Sclater, but did not give it a name. The acceptance of
Darwinism
''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...
led scientists to seek to trace the diffusion of species from their points of
evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
ary origin. Before the acceptance of
continental drift
Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...
, biologists frequently postulated the existence of submerged land masses to account for populations of land-based species now separated by barriers of water. Similarly, geologists tried to account for striking resemblances of rock formations on different continents. The first systematic attempt was made by
Melchior Neumayr in his book ''Erdgeschichte'' in 1887. Many hypothetical submerged land bridges and continents were proposed during the 19th century to account for the present distribution of species.
Promulgation

After gaining some acceptance within the scientific community, the concept of Lemuria began to appear in the works of other scholars.
Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...
, a Darwinian
taxonomist
In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...
, proposed Lemuria as an explanation for the absence of proto-human "
missing links" in the fossil record. According to another source, Haeckel put forward this thesis before Sclater, without using the name "Lemuria".
Supersession
The Lemuria theory disappeared completely from conventional scientific consideration after the theories of
plate tectonics
Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
and
continental drift
Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...
were accepted by the larger scientific community. According to the theory of plate tectonics, Madagascar and India were indeed once part of the same landmass (thus accounting for geological resemblances), but plate movement caused India to break away millions of years ago, and move to its present location. The original landmass, Mauritia and the supercontinent
Gondwana
Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
prior to that, broke apart; it predominantly did not sink beneath sea level.
Theosophy and occultism
The idea of Lemuria was later incorporated into the philosophy of
Theosophy
Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...
and has persisted as a theme in
pseudoarchaeology
Pseudoarchaeology (sometimes called fringe or alternative archaeology) consists of attempts to study, interpret, or teach about the subject-matter of archaeology while rejecting, ignoring, or misunderstanding the accepted Scientific method, data ...
and discussions of
lost lands. There is a vast fringe literature pertaining to Lemuria and to related concepts such as the
Lemurian Fellowship and other things "Lemurian". All share a common belief that a
continent
A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
existed in what is now either the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
or the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
in ancient times and claim that it became submerged as a result of a geological cataclysm. An important element of the mythology of Lemuria is that it was the location of the emergence of complex knowledge systems that formed the basis for later beliefs.
The concept of Lemuria was developed in detail by
James Churchward, who referred to it as
Mu and identified it as a lost continent in the Pacific Ocean. Churchward appropriated this name from
Augustus Le Plongeon, who had used the concept of the "Land of Mu" to refer to the legendary lost continent of
Atlantis. Churchward's books included ''The Lost Continent of Mu, the Motherland of Men'' (1926), ''The Children of Mu'' (1931), ''The Sacred Symbols of Mu'' (1933), ''Cosmic Forces of Mu'' (1934), and ''Second Book of Cosmic Forces of Mu'' (1935). The relationships between Lemuria/Mu and Atlantis are discussed in detail in the book ''
Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature'' (1954) by
L. Sprague de Camp.
Australia
Blavatsky claimed that Australia was a remnant inland region of Lemuria and that
Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
and
Aboriginal Tasmanians
The Aboriginal Tasmanians (palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact, Aboriginal Tasmanians were divided into a numb ...
(which she identified as separate groups) were of Lemurian and Lemuro-Atlantean origin, after cross-breeding with animals. Her idea was subsequently developed in pseudo-histories and fiction of the white Australian popular culture of the 1890s and early 1900s, including the writings of nationalist Australian poet
Bernard O'Dowd
Bernard Patrick O'Dowd (11 April 1866 – 1 September 1953) was an Australian poet, activist, lawyer, and journalist. He worked for the Victorian colonial and state governments for almost 50 years, first as an assistant librarian at the Supreme ...
, author
Rosa Campbell Praed in ''My Australian Girlhood,'' author
John David Hennessey in ''An Australian Bush Track'' and
George Firth Scott's novel ''The Last Lemurian: A Westralian Romance.''
Robert Dixon suggests that the popularity of the idea of "lost races" like Lemurians and Atlanteans reflected the anxieties of colonial Australians, that "when Englishness is lost there is nothing to replace it".
A. L. McCann attributes Praed's use of the Lemuria trope to an "attempt to create a lineage for white settlers without having to confront the annihilation of Indigenous people".
Telos Mount Shasta
In 1894, Frederick Spencer Oliver published ''
A Dweller on Two Planets'', an occult book which claimed that survivors from Lemuria were living in a complex of tunnels beneath the mountain of
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta ( ; Shasta people, Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk language, Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a Volcano#Volcanic activity, potentially active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. A ...
in northern
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. This city, known as ''Telos: City of Light'' boasted fur-lined carpeted floors and jeweled walls, all signs of opulence. Spencer also claimed that Lemurians could be seen walking the surface in white robes. In 1931,
Harvey Spencer Lewis
Harvey Spencer Lewis (November 25, 1883 – August 2, 1939) was an American Rosicrucianism, Rosicrucian writer, mysticism, mystic and the founder of AMORC. He led AMORC as its first leader (imperator) from its creation in 1915 until his death.
...
, who went by the pseudonym
Wishar Spenle Cerve wrote ''Lemuria: the Lost Continent of the Pacific'', which popularized the idea that Shasta was a repository for Lemurians.
In the 1930s,
Guy Warren Ballard claimed to have been approached by
Saint Germain who told him he could endow him with knowledge and wisdom. Ballard wrote and published the book ''Unveiled Mysteries'' under the alias Godfré Ray King, where Ballard claimed to be the person that Saint Germain was speaking through to get to the world. The belief in Telos has been proliferated by Ballard and his
followers, as well as other religious groups like the
Ascended Masters, the
Great White Brotherhood,
The Bridge to Freedom,
The Summit Lighthouse,
Church Universal and Triumphant, and
Kryon. Every year, members of these religious groups make pilgrimage to Mount Shasta, a journey that is marked by various yearly festivals and events. The Saint Germain Foundation hosts the annual "I AM COME!" Pageant, on the Life of Jesus the Christ in Mt. Shasta. The
Rainbow Family hosts a ''Rainbow Gathering'' every August to commemorate the pilgrimage.
These religions are often a mix of spiritual practices, based largely on native, Christian, Buddhist and Taoist traditions, synthesizing their beliefs, and excluding "negative" aspects of such religions. For example, the
Saint Germain Foundation does not include
Jesus' crucifixion in their teachings.
Kumari Kandam

Some Tamil writers such as
Devaneya Pavanar have associated Lemuria with
Kumari Kandam, a legendary sunken landmass mentioned in the Tamil literature, claiming that it was the
cradle of civilization
A cradle of civilization is a location and a culture where civilization was developed independent of other civilizations in other locations. A civilization is any complex society characterized by the development of the state, social strati ...
. A Tamil commentator,
Adiyarkunallar, described the dimensions that extended between the
Pahrali River and the
Kumari River in the
Pandyan country that was taken over by the ocean later on.
See also
*
Mu (mythical lost continent)
*
List of lost lands
*
Atlantis
*
Thule
References
Further reading
* ''
Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature'' (1954) by L. Sprague de Camp. New York: Gnome Press & Dover Press.
*
* Ramaswamy, Sumathi. (1999). "Catastrophic Cartographies: Mapping the Lost Continent of Lemuria". ''
Representations''. 67: 92-129.
* Ramaswamy, Sumathi. (2000). "History at Land's End: Lemuria in Tamil Spatial Fables". ''
Journal of Asian Studies''. 59(3): 575-602.
* Frederick Spencer Oliver
''A Dweller on Two Planets'' 1
*Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (Ccru). (2015). "Lemurian Time War".
Writings 1997-2003'' Time Spiral Press.
External links
Lemuriaat the
Encyclopedia of Fantasy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemuria (Continent)
1864 introductions
Mythological places
Pseudoarchaeology
Esoteric anthropogenesis
Theoretical continents
Lemurs