Subject: The Inner Earth. Part 4. Feb. 18, 2008.
This tells from where the American Indians came.
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Great is the belief in the Kingdom of the
subterranean people. Through all Asia, through the
space of all deserts, from the Pacific to the
Urals, you can hear the same wondrous tale of the
vanished h-ly people. And even far beyond the Ural
Mountains, the echo of the same tale will reach
you. [2]
There is rumored to be a vast underground
network of caves and tunnels under the whole of
Central Asia, with many passages radiating out
from the s-iritual hub of Shambhala [3].
According to popular belief, there are numerous
s-cret subterranean passages beneath India, whose
entrances are guarded by elementals which assume
the shape of rocks or other natural features. For
instance, Varanasi (Benares), whose ancient name
is Ka****, is said to be connected by a tunnel to
Gupta Ka**** ('gupta' = s-cret, hidden), an
underground city in the Himalayas, about 50 miles
from Badrinath [4].
Mesoamerica and South America have long been
rumoured to be honeycombed with long, mysterious
tunnels, some of them running for hundreds of
miles, from Columbia in the north through Peru
and Bolivia to Chile in the south, and to the
Amazon jungle in the east. Only a few sections
of these tunnels have so far been discovered [5].
H.P. B-avatsky mentions an immense tunnel
running from Cuzco to Lima in Peru, and then
extending south into Bolivia [6].
In Egypt, a vast subterranean world is
traditionally believed to extend from the
catacombs of Alexandria to Thebes' Valley of the
Kings. The subterranean crypts of Thebes were
known as the serpent's catacombs, the serpent
being a symbol of wisdom and immortality [7].
Many Native American peoples believe that
their ancestors originated in a joyous
subterranean realm, or took refuge in caverns
to escape past cataclysms. (JW I once was
talking to an America Indian who was fi****ng
for catfish at 12:00 pm at night on the banks
of a Lake Isabella in Calif. and he told me
the same thing.)
The Cherokee Indians speak of a subterranean
world much like our own, with mountains, rivers,
trees, and people [8]. (JW The Cherokee Indians
are said to have come originally from The Pleiades.
They have a lot of rituals that talk about the
7 stars of the Pleiades and also the seven
sisters in regard to The Devil's Tower.)
The Aztecs said their ancestors came from
a land called Aztlan, and that after escaping
its destruction they ended up in a cavern called
Chicomoztoc, or the Seven Cavern Cities of Gold,
where they lived before emerging to the surface
world [9].
The M-xican demi-g-d Votan describes a
subterranean passage, a 's****'s hole', which
runs underground and terminates at the root of
the h-avens; he himself was allowed to enter
it because he was a 'son of the s****s' [10].
The Hopi Indians hold their rituals in an
underground chamber known as the kiva.
In the center of the kiva, on the altar level
and directly below the roof opening, is the
sunken fire pit in which a fire is lighted in
the New Fire Ceremony for life began with fire.
Next to it is the small hole in the floor
called the "sipapuni". Etymologically derived
from the two words for 'navel' and 'path from,'
the "sipapuni" thus denotes the umbilical cord
leading from Mother Earth and symbolizes the
path of man's Emergence from the previous
underworld.
The ladder represents the reed up which man
climbed during his Emergence . [11]
The Hopis believe there has been a succession
of four worlds. The first world was destroyed
by fire, the second by a pole****ft, and the
third by flooding. Some chosen people were saved
from the disasters that destroyed the first
two worlds by taking refuge underground, and
some survived the destruction of the third
world by being sealed inside hollow reeds. The
Pima Indians speak of the emergence into our
world being effected through a spiral hole
that was bored up to the earth's surface [12].
Legends of ancestral origins in subterranean
lands are also found in Africa and Australia.
Australian aborigines believe their ancestors
came up out of the ground, travelled about the
country and created new tribes, then 'ultimately
journeyed away beyond the confines of their
territory, or went down into the ground again'.
According to the native traditions of the
Caroline Islands, Papua New Guinea, and
Malaysia, a subterranean r-ce of giants went
underground in ancient times. Once inhabitants
of the lost continent of Chamat, they will
one day 'emerge and remake the world'. Natives
of the Trobiand Islands believe that their
ancestors emerged from a subterranean
existence through a special hole. Tribes
in Bengal and Burma also believe their
ancestors emerged from a subterranean world
[13].
In Hindu mythology there are many tales of
the Nagas, a ra-e of semi-d-vine serpent-people,
who ruled a subterranean kingdom, Patala,
filled with incredible wealth. Patala was said
to be the lowest of the seven regions of the
Indian underworld. These regions are
collectively called Bila-svarga, the
'subterranean he-ven', which is described
as a place of great beauty. The sun and moon
cannot be seen there, but the jewels
decorating the hoods of the Nagas are
said to emit an effulgence that illuminates
the entire region of Bila-svarga. Few mortals
were ever allowed to enter the lower world, but
there were said to be many hidden entrances in
the mountains of India and Kashmir [14].
In Tibet there is a major mystical shrine
called Patala, which is said to lie above an
ancient cavern and tunnel system, extending
throughout the Asian continent and possibly
beyond. The Nagas are related to the
Rakshasas, an underworld rac- of 'de-ons',
who possess a 'magical stone' or 'third eye'
in the middle of the forehead.
In China, the Lung Wang (dragon beings)
closely resemble the Nagas in many respects.
They are said to dwell either in the
'celestial realm', i.e. the stars and planets,
or beneath the surface of the earth. They,
too, possess a 'magical pearl' in their
foreheads, a mystical or di-ine eye or source
of power. Like the Nagas, some of the
entrances to their palaces or kingdoms can be
found beneath lakes and rivers or behind
waterfalls [15].
According to an ancient Chinese record, the
Twelve Branches, all things began to germinate
in the hidden recesses of the underworld. In
the Ten Stems, it is said that at the ninth
stem, light begins to nourish all things in
the recesses below [16].
The Egyptian underworld or kingdom of the
dead was called the Duat (or Tuat), ruled by
Osiris [17].
Within the Duat were the Fields of Peace,
which the Greeks equated with the Elysian
Fields. In Old Kingdom times the Duat was
commonly supposed to be situated somewhere
under the earth. In this airless, waterless,
and lightless place dwelt both the blessed
and the d-mned. The kingdom of Osiris was
also placed in the west, where the dead
sun-go- of the day passed at night. In
addition, the Duat denoted the sky region
dominated by the constellations of Orion,
Taurus, and Leo, and divided by the
'winding waterway' or Milky Way.
The Duat is sometimes described as the
'reversed world' or 'inverted precinct'
[18], and in the Pyramid Texts we read:
'O Osiris the King, I am Isis; I have
come into the middle of this earth, into
the place where you are' [19].
Osiris was the Egyptian phoenix, which
was 'the bringer of the life-giving
essence, the hik, a concept akin to our
idea of magic, which the great cosmic
bird carried to Egypt from a distant and
magical land beyond the earthly world.'
This was the 'Isle of Fire', 'the place
of everlasting light beyond the limits
of the world, where the -ods were born
or revived and whence they were sent
into the world'. This is a reference to
the Duat [20].
The Duat, or Hidden Place, was sometimes
conceived as a completely enclosed Circle
of the G-ds, formed by the body of Osiris.
At the head-point there was an opening to
the skies symbolized by the go-dess Nut,
through which the imperishable star
(symbolized by the celestial disk) could
be reached (see below) [21].
Figure.
The Duat.
The Egyptian go- Aker was the 'chief of
the gate of the Abyss', of Aker, which
was the netherworld but also the 'realm
of the sun' [22].
The Celtic Otherworld was variously known
as the Land of the D-ad, the Land of the
Living, the Land of Many Colors, the
Promised Land, the Delightful Plain, the
Land of Youth, the Land of Summer, and
the Land under the Wave. In most of the
stories, it was viewed as a pleasant land
located somewhere beneath the sea, but
in others it was to be found beneath the
hills or entered via ancient burial
mounds [23].
As in other traditions, the Celtic
underworld is associated with cauldrons.
In the Mabinogion, the land of Annwn
('unplumbed' or 'bottomless'), the Welsh
underworld, contains a mystical cauldron
which can restore the de-d to life once
more if they are submerged in it and
brought out again [24].
In the "Critias" (120), Plato says that
the 'ho-y habitation of Zeus' is situated
'in the center of the world' [25].
In "The Republic" (part 4), he says
that Apollo, the traditional interpreter
of re-igious matters, delivers his
interpretation 'from his seat at the earth's
center' [26].
Part 4.
John Winston. johnfw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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