One of the things that people need to keep straight when dealing with the occult is the difference between the Mythical History and Actual History.
Both types of history have their uses in an esoteric setting. But one should be careful not to confuse the two.
Mythical history is the myths that we tell about the orgins of our techniques. For instance, Freemasonry at one time claimed that its origins were during the building of the First Temple in Israel.
Actual history is what really happened. Freemasonry, as a society with secrets, started in the 1600's.
There is a vast difference between the two.
Mythical history is useful for prop and setting in ritual. Actual history is useful for tracing the evolution of ideas though time.
One should never consider the one equal to the other. One should never consider one better than the other. They are both tools, nothing more. Keep that in mind whenever you hear people talking about history, lineage, and how their system is better than yours because it is historically accurate.
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I kind of feel the same way about "histories" of Atlantis. On the one hand, I feel there is obviously something important and powerful in this myth, but on the other, the fact that there are such wildly varying versions of it means you have to be awfully careful about taking any version too literally.
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