132 The Atlantis Encyclopedia
to a designated location, where he was stripped naked and his body smeared with
a glutinous resin, then entirely sprinkled with gold dust. Thus transformed, the
aspirant to the throne assumed the title of Noa, “the Gilded One.” After suffi-
ciently displaying himself, he dove into the lake, leaving a glittering trail of gold
flakes through the crystal-clear water. When most of them were washed away, he
swam back to the barge, and was helped aboard, his shoulders draped for the first
time with the blue robe of kingship. The initiation ritual dramatized his direct
descent from the Musscas’ founding father, Noa, a rich king from across the sea
who had been thrown adrift by a terrific flood that destroyed his island home. The
gold dust streaming from the swimming prince signified the ancient loss of ances-
tral wealth.
A similar deluge story repeated by the neighboring Orinoco Indians told of
theCatena-ma-noa, the “Water of Noa.” Resemblance to the biblical Noah in
ether version is striking, but suggestions of lost Atlantis are not missing. The
Muyscas’ newly installed king clearly identified with the survivor of a sunken realm,
while the royal initiate’s blue robe recalls the azure raiment worn by the kings of
Atlantis, as described by Plato.
These overtly Atlantean details associated with Guatavita are remarkably
underscored by the origins of the site itself. The lake is an astrobleme, a crater
caused by a meteor and later filled with water. And while the geologic date of its
formation is uncertain, its impact as concurrent with cometary events involved in
the Atlantis destruction is at least suggested by the oral and ceremonial evidence.
In other words, Lake Guatavita was recognized as a result of the same celestial
catastrophe, perhaps a large fragment of meteoritic debris accompanying the killer-
comet; hence, the ritual activity, fraught with Atlantean overtones, surrounding
its location since prehistoric times.Gucumatz
The Quiche Maya flood-hero who traveled over the Sunrise Sea following
the loss of his island home beneath the waves, arriving on the shores of Yucatan
with a troupe of followers who instituted Mesoamerican Civilization. Gucumatz,
described in the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiches, would seem to be the
same founding-father figure as Kukulcan, the “Feathered Serpent.”Gwyddno
In Welsh tradition, the Prince of Cantref y Gwaelod, a splendid city sunk beneath
the sea—some say in Cardigan Bay, although this may be a later, localized version
of the Atlantis story. Also known in Celtic myth as “Longshanks,” Gwyddno pos-
sessed a magic cauldron which was among the original, ancient treasures of Britain.
This sacred object comprises a theme belonging to the Atlantean mystery cult, a
motif often found in other parts of the world in conjunction with Atlantis imagery.
(See Navel of the World)