Learn.

Subject: The Inner Earth. Part 3. Feb. 18, 2008.

Here they talk about underground tunnels.

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According to tradition, it was the 'land of

bliss' of the earliest Vedic times. O-cult

teachings 'place it in the very center of the North

Pole, pointing it out as the site of the first

continent on our earth, after the solidification

of the globe' [4].

In the ancient astronomical text Surya-Siddhanta

(12:34), Meru is described as 'passing through the

middle of the earth-globe, and protruding on either

side' [5].

H.P. B-avatsky says that 'Meru is not "the

fabulous mountain in the navel or center of the

earth," but its roots and foundations are in that

navel, though it is in the far north itself. This

connects it with the "central" land "that never

perishes". [6].

Just as the human body contains a series of

chakras, or subtle energy centres, linked by the

sushumna, a central channel in the spinal cord,

so there may be corresponding energy centers on

and in the body of the earth. Shambhala is

sometimes described as the main power center,

with auxiliary centers scattered about the globe

[7].

In theosophy, the heart of mother earth is said

to beat 'under the foot of sacred Shambhala',

and we are told:

O-cult teaching corroborates the popular

tradition which asserts the existence of a

fountain of life in the bowels of the earth

and in the North Pole. It is the b-ood of the

earth, the electro-magnetic current, which

circulates through all the arteries; and which

is said to be found stored in the 'navel' of

the earth. [8]

This inner reservoir of physical and

psychospiritual life-forces may correspond in

one sense to the root-chakra (muladhara chakra)

in the human body, situated at the base of the

spine. From this viewpoint, Meru represents the

central duct or path of terrestrial kundalini

or shakti running through the earth [9].

Some Hebrew legends speak of a place called

Luz -- an underground city near a sacred mountain

called the 'abode of immortality'. An almond

tree, named luz in Hebrew, grew near it, a

hollow in its roots leading down to the

underground center.

Reno Guonon saw this as another version of the

archetypal mountain/tree/cave complex symbolizing

Shambhala. He stated that the real significance

of Luz is that it corresponds in planetary

terms to the muladhara chakra, whose kabalistic

name in Hebrew is luz. The name derives from a

root word denoting that which is concealed,

s-cret, and silent; it also connotes a kernel

-- the innermost part of the almond. The most

common iconographic depiction of Shambhala is

similar to the four-spoked muladhara chakra,

the subtle 'earth-center' in the human body [10].

In his book "Paradise Found", William Warren

writes: The earliest inhabitants of the

Tigro-Euphrates basin located 'the Center of

the Earth,' "not in their own midst", but in

a far-off land, of sacred associations, where

'the holy house of g-d' is situated, -- a land

'into the heart whereof man hath not penetrated;'

a place underneath the 'overshadowing

world-tree,' and beside the 'full waters.' No

description could more perfectly identify the

spot with the Arctic Pole of ancient Asiatic

mythology. [11]

In The Chaldean Account of G-nesis, we read:

'Human beings . The great go-s created, and

in the earth the -ods created for them a

dwelling. . In the midst of the earth they

grew up and became great, and increased in number,

Seven kings, brothers of the same family .

Iranian, Indian, Chinese, Scandinavian, and

Aztec literature also refer to this ambiguous

location at 'the center of the earth' [12].

The Japanese paradise was situated 'on the

top of the globe' and at the same time 'at

the center of the earth'. It was called the

'island of the congealed drop'.

Its first roof-pillar was the earth's axis,

and over it was the pivot of the vault of

h-aven. Similarly, the Chinese terrestrial

paradise, round in form, is described not

only as at the center of the earth, but

also as directly under Shang-te's heavenly

palace, which is declared to be in the

polestar, and is sometimes called the

'palace of the center'.

The Egyptians located their Ta Neter, or

land of the g-ds, in the extreme north [13].

Today there is an echo of these ancient

traditions in the fact that children send

notes to Santa Claus, or Father Christmas,

in his 'wonderland' at the north pole, asking

for gifts.

The Eskimos have legends that they came

from a fertile land of perpetual sunshine

in the north. They believe that after

d-ath the s-ul descends beneath the earth,

first to an abode rather like purgatory,

but good so-ls then descend further to a

place of perfect bliss where the sun never

sets [14].

In P-alm 48:2 of the B-ble, Mount Zion is

said to be 'in the far north', and in E-ekiel

(28:13-14) Eden, 'the garden of Go-', is

placed on the 'holy mountain of Go-'. In

Hebrew tradition, the primeval Eden is

sometimes said to be at the 'center of the

earth' [15].

According to the Hindu Kurma Purana, an

island called Shveta-Dvipa, or W-ite

Island, lay in the northern sea, the

paradisiacal homeland of great yogis

possessing supreme wisdom and learning [16].

B-avatsky writes: 'According to Tibetan

tradition the Wh-te Island is the only

locality which escapes the general fate

of other dwipas and can be destroyed by

neither fire nor water, for -- it is the

"eternal land" ' [17].

North of the Himalayas, possibly in the

Tarim Basin, lay Uttarakuru or northern

Kuru, a version of Shambhala which the

Mahabharata describes as the blissful

land of the sages towards which Arjuna,

the warrior prince of the Bhagavad-Gita,

travelled in search of enlightenment.

It is described as a place of marvels

where magic fruit trees yield the

nectar of immortality. It is said to

be one of four regions surrounding Mount

Meru like the four petals of a lotus

and to be the homeland of the siddhas,

enlightened yogis famed for their

miraculous powers [18].

Greek mythology speaks of a mysterious

northern yet ever-springlike land called

Hyperborea ('beyond the north wind'),

situated beyond the mountains -- in

some accounts situated under the north

pole -- to which Apollo journeyed in

his chariot of swans [19].

There the true 'omphalos' or navel of

the earth was located. For the Orphics,

the island of Electris, the seat of the

go-s, lies under the polestar in the

furthest waters of Tethys [20].

The Mandean Gnostics believed that an ideal

earth, an earth of light peopled by a d-vine

r-ce of superhumans, was situated in the

north, separated from our world by a high

mountain of ice. It is said to exist

'between heaven and earth', and Henry

Corbin concludes that it does not refer

to the north of our globe but to the

'cosmic north', i.e. superphysical realms

[21].

But, like Shambhala, it might also have

an earthly counterpart.

The Avestan term 'Airyanem Vaejah'

(Pahlavi: Eran-Vej) designates the

cradleland of the Aryan-Iranians, located

not in any of the earth's seven

climates, but at the center of the central

zone, the eighth climate [22].

It was there that Yima, the 'first man',

received the command to construct a vara,

or enclosure, where the most highly

developed humans, animals, and plants

would be gathered in order to save them

from the deadly winter unleashed by

the demonic powers so that they might

one day refurbish a transfigured world.

This "vara" or paradise had a gate and

luminescent windows which se-reted an

inner light within, for it was illuminated

by both uncreated and created lights. Its

various meanings include a subterranean

sanctuary, an ark, and the human body [23].

Airyanem Vaejah, the 'primeval land of

bliss', appears to be identical to

Shveta-Dvipa, Mount Meru, the Sac-ed

Imperishable Land, and Shambhala (in

its several meanings) [24].

Bla-atsky quotes Fargard 1:2 of the

Vendidad, where 'we find Ahura-Mazda saying

to Spitama "the most benevolent" -- that he

made every land dear to its dwellers, since

otherwise the "whole living world would

have invaded the Airyana-Vaego" ' [25].

According to Fargard 2:40, 'The one thing

missed there is the sight of the stars, the

moon, and the sun, and a year seems only as a

day' [26].

4. Inner kingdoms

As with the idea of a paradisiacal

cradleland of humanity at the north pole,

references to networks of caverns and

tunnels and/or an inner world within the

earth are commonplace in the world's

r-ligions, myths, legends, and folklore.

The attributes assigned to the underworld

range from h-avenly to h-llish, and its

inhabitants likewise range from superhuman

to subhuman. Myths and legends generally

embody multiple levels of meaning, and

the underworld can also refer to

nonphysical planes of reality.

During his travels in Asia, Nicholas

Roerich spent a lot of time studyingm local

folklore, which included tales of lost

tribes or subterranean dwellers.

In many places of Central Asia, they

speak of the Agharti ['concealed', 'se-ret'],

the subterranean people. In numerous

beautiful legends they outline the same

story of how the best people abandoned the

treacherous earth and sought salvation in

hidden countries where they acquired new

forces and conquered powerful energies. [1]

While crossing the Karakorum pass, his

Ladakhi guide said to him: 'Do you know

that in the subterranean caves here many

treasures are hidden and that in them

lives a wonderful tribe which abhors the

s-ns of the earth?'

And again when we approached Khotan the

hoofs of our horses sounded hollow as

though we rode above caves or hollows.

Our caravan people called our attention

to this, saying, 'Do you hear what hollow

subterranean passages we are crossing?

Through these passages, people who are

familiar with them can reach far-off

countries.' When we saw entrances of

caves, our caravaneers told us, 'Long ago

people lived there; now they have gone

inside; they have found a subterranean

passage to the subterranean kingdom. Only

rarely do some of them appear again on

earth.

Part 3.

John Winston. johfw@mlode.com

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 Kashi, is said to be connected by a tunnel to

Gupta Kashi ('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 fishing

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 'snake'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 snakes' [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 poleshift, 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@mlode.com

Subject: The Inner Earth. Part 5. Feb. 19, 2008.

This talks about Eden.

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He also writes: Apollo's real home is among the

Hyperboreans, in a land of perpetual life, where

mythology tells us two doves flying from the two

opposite ends of the world met in this fair region,

the home of Apollo.

Indeed, according to Hecataeus, Leto, the mother

of Apollo, was born on an island in the Arctic

Ocean far beyond the North Wind. [27]

Plato speaks of many cavities and 'wonderful

regions' in the earth, and of subterranean flows of

water, mud, and fire.

One of the cavities in the earth is not only

larger than the rest, but pierces right through

from one side to the other. It is of this that

Homer speaks when he says 'Far, far away, where

lies earth's deepest chasm'; while elsewhere

both he and many other poets refer to it as

Tartarus. [28]

In the Greek view, the lands of the living

were divided from Tartarus, the land of the

d-ad, by fierce obstacles, rivers, and bodies

of water or fire. The greatest of these was

Oceanus, which not only comprised all the seas

of the world, but was also the largest of the

'rivers' which the Greeks believed swept into

and through Tartarus, to emerge from the

underworld on the opposite side of the earth.

Other subterranean torrents included Lethe,

the river of forgetfulness, and the Styx, the

river of de-th. Tartarus was said to 'sink

twice as far below the earth as the earth

was beneath the sky', and to be bounded by

many perils.

As well as being the home of the

dethroned g-ds called the Titans, it contained

a variety of regions or kingdoms, ranging

from the Elysian Fields to the many grottoes,

caverns, and pits of t-rment reserved for

the d-mned [29].

The 1st-century Roman philosopher Seneca

spoke of people who 'forced their way into the

caverns' and entered the bowels of the earth,

'penetrating to the deepest hiding places',

where they saw 'great rushing rivers, and vast

still lakes', a world where 'the whole of

nature was reversed. The land hung above

their heads, while winds whistled hollowly

in the shadows, while in the depths,

frightful rivers led nowhere into perpetual

and alien night' [30].

He also wrote: 'A time will come in later

years when the Ocean will unloosen the bands

of things, when the immeasurable earth will

lie open, and Thule will no longer be the

extreme point among the lands' [31].

Clearly nothing on the earth's surface

could lie further north than Ultima Thule

(the Land of the Ultimate North).

The Scandinavian and Germanic peoples

envisioned the world as an immense yew or

ash tree, the limbs and roots of which spread

into a variety of realms or planes of

existence. The World Tree, Yggdrasil, plunged

its deep roots into several subterranean

kingdoms, which all bordered a vast primordial

void called Ginnungagap. One root of Yggdrasil

led into Niflheim, the land of the de-d. As

in the Greek underworld, many waters flowed

out from the depths and into the human world;

in Niflheim it was the spring/river Hvergelmir

(meaning 'roaring cauldron'), which boiled

and churned relentlessly. The 11 tributaries

of the Hvergelmir emptied into the central

void of Ginnungagap. The second of Yggdrasil's

roots found its way into the lands of the

go-s, Asgard and Vanaheim. While often pictured

as a land high in Yggdrasil's branches, this

realm was a subterranean one as well. In

fact, the only world of Norse cosmology that

is not in some sense subterranean is that of

Midgard (middle earth), the surface world.

Bifrost, the 'rainbow bridge', stretched

from Midgard across Ginnungagap into Asgard

[32].

In the Elder Edda, Odin says: 'No one has

ever known or will ever know the vastness

of the roots of that ancient tree.' This is

a reference not only to the created world

and h-avens, but also to the root-like cavern

system beneath the surface world. Also

issuing from the depths of the World Tree

was the titanic world-serpent or ouroboros

which encircled the earth and held its

tail in its teeth. It was called 'the

girdle of the world', and its writhings

beneath the sea were one of the sources

of storms and earthquakes. The main

entrance to the subterranean realms lay

in the north. Similarly, the Greeks

believed that one of the entrances to

Tartarus lay beyond Hyperborea, and the

entrance to the Finnish underworld lay

north of Lapland, where the earth and

sky met.

In the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, the

underworld or 'Great Below' was a place of

immense size and great t-rror, filled

with a wide range of beings, including

s-irits, the unde-d, humanoids, and s-vage

guardians. In his search for everlasting life,

Gilgamesh first had to reach the mountain of

Mashu, connected with the he-vens above and

the netherworld below. Having been allowed

to enter the 'gate', he descended into the

bowels of the earth through 12 double-hours

of darkness before reaching 'an enclosure

as of the -ods', filled with brilliance, where

there was a garden made entirely of precious

stones [33].

According to Diodorus Siculus, the Chaldees,

imagined the earth to have the form of a round

boat turned upside down and to be hollow

underneath [34].

The B-ble describes the underworld or h-ll

as a 'bottomless pit' (R-velation 9:1-2) and

'the abyss' (R-mans 10:7), a place of

punishment and misery, the abode of S-tan

and his d-mons. Other references to

subterranean realms and life include the

following: . at the name of Je--s every knee

should bow, in hea-en and on earth and under

the earth. (P-ilippians 2:10, Revised

Standard Version)

And no one in heav-n or on earth or under

the earth was able to open the scroll or look

into it. (Re-elation 5:3)

In saying, 'He [C-rist] ascended,' what

does it mean but that he had also descended

into the lower parts of the earth? (E-hesians

4:9)

For as Jonah was three days and three

nights in the belly of the whale, so will

the son of man be three days and three nights

in the heart of the earth. (Ma-thew 12:40)

J--us refers to this place as 'Eden' or

paradise. Some hollow-earthers have read

into the following quotation a reference to

the alleged polar hole in the Arctic:

He stretches out the north over the void,

and hangs the earth upon nothing. (J-b 26:7)

In the apocryphal Book of Enoch [35], Enoch

speaks of proceeding to 'the middle of the

earth', where he beheld a 'blessed land',

'happy and fertile' (25:1, 26:1). An angel

shows him 'the first and last s-crets in

heaven above, and in the depths of the

earth: In the extremities of heav-n, and in

the foundations of it, and in the receptacle

of the winds' (59:2-3). There are said to

be cavities in the earth and 'mighty waters'

under it (65:1, 87:5, 95:2). Enoch sees an

abyss 'opened in the midst of the earth,

which was full of fire' (89:34); the abyss

is said to be 'on the right side of the

earth', which, according to B-avatsky, can

mean in the north [36]. There is also a

reference to seven great rivers, four of

which 'take their course in the cavity of

the north' (76:6-7).

Finally, the following passage from "The

Se-ret Doctrine" contains several enigmatic

statements referring to the far north and

possibly to the inner earth. Speaking of the

Kaf mountains of Persian legend, Bl-vatsky

writes:

Whatever they may be in their geographical

status, whether they are the Caucasian or

Central Asian mountains, it is far beyond

these mountains to the North, that legend

places the Daevas [giants] and Peris; the

latter the remote ancestors of the Parsis or

Farsis. Oriental tradition is ever referring

to an unknown glacial, gloomy sea, and to a

dark region, within which, nevertheless,

are situated "the Fortunate Islands", wherein

bubbles, from the beginning of life on earth,

the "fountain of life". But the legend

asserts, moreover, that a portion of the

first "dry" island (continent), having

detached itself from the main body, has

remained, since then, beyond the mountains

of Koh-Kaf, 'the stony girdle that

surrounds the world.' A journey of seven

months' duration will bring him who is

possessed of 'Sulayman's ring' to that

'fountain,' if he keeps on journeying

North straight before him as the bird flies.

Journeying therefore from Persia "straight

north", will bring one along the sixtieth

degree of longitude, holding to the west,

to Novaya Zemlya; and from the Caucasus

to the eternal ice beyond the Arctic circle

would land one between 60 and 45 degrees of

longitude, or between Novaya Zemlya and

Spitzbergen. This, of course, if one has

the dodecapedian horse of [King] Hoshang

or the winged Simurgh [a marvellous bird,

the Persian phoenix] of Tahmurath (or

Taimuraz) [third king of Persia], upon

which to cross over the Arctic Ocean.

[The Caucasian bards] say that it

requires seven months for a swift horse

to reach the 'dry land' beyond Kaf,

holding north without ever deviating

from one's way.

Nevertheless, the wandering songsters

of Persia and the Caucasus will maintain,

to this day, that far beyond the

snow-capped summits of Kap, or Caucasus,

"there is a great continent now concealed

from all". That it is reached by those who

can secure the services of the twelve-legged

progeny of the crocodile and the female

hippopotamus, whose legs become at will

"twelve wings" or by those who have the

patience to wait for the good pleasure of

"Simurgh-anke", who promised that before

she d-es she will reveal the hidden continent

to all, and make it once more visible and

within easy reach, by means of a bridge,

which the Ocean Daevas will build between that

portion of the 'dry island' and its severed

parts. This relates, of course, to the

seventh r-ce, Simurgh being the Manvantaric

cycle.

Part 5.

John Winston. johnfw@mlode.com