144 The Atlantis Encyclopedia
Ik
Literally “breath,” in Mayan, for a glyph comprising a “T” in the center of a
square, at the top of which a pair of snakes extend left and right. James Churchward
identified “T” as the chief emblem of Mu, symbolizing the Tree of Life venerated
at the Pacific civilization. The opposing serpents of the Ik-glyph appear to signify
Lemurian spiritual energies and/or cultural influences spreading east and west
from the central kingdom, which is itself represented by a square embodying the
four cardinal directions. The Mayan “breath” and Mu’s Tree of Life refer to the
same concept.
(See Churchward, Mu)Inanna
The Sumerian mother-goddess, who lamented that the souls of the drowned
had become fish in the sea during a cataclysmic flood. After the catastrophe, Inanna
carried the Tablets of Civilization to the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers, where society was reborn. The Hittites worshiped her as Inaras,
who annually renewed her virginity in a ritual festival, the Purulli, from which the
Jewish “Purim” derived. Inanna was known as Ishtar to the Babylonians.Infoniwa
In Chinese myth, a young king invented civilization on a distant island through
the guidance of twin gods, Infoniwa (sometimes Infoniwoo) and Awun. They
promised to protect his people by warning them in advance of any impending
danger. At the precise center of the kingdom, in a holy shrine, were statues of the
divine brothers; if the faces of these statues turned red, they warned, the island
would be destroyed.
For many years, the king and his subjects were virtuous and prosperous. With
opulence, however, came greed. The people grew cynical of any spiritual values
and laughed at their king’s belief in the gods’ warning as ridiculous superstition.
One night, a blasphemous prankster stole into the shrine and, as a joke, daubed
the faces of Infoniwa and Awun with red paint. The king, an old man now and the
progenitor of many fine offspring, still honored the gods. When he saw their painted
statues, he summoned his royal household and ordered an immediate evacuation.
Loaded down with all their possessions as they hurriedly made for the royal yacht,
the king and his family members were derided in the streets by mobs of insolent
people. But as the ship disappeared over the horizon, the island was convulsed by
earthquakes and sank with all its inhabitants into the depths of the sea. Meanwhile,
the king with his wife and children landed safely on the shore near Shanghai,
where they established China’s first imperial dynasty.
Although Atlantis was on the other side of the world from China, the resem-
blance of this legend in so many particulars with Plato’s fourth-century B.C. account