CAVE AND TUNNEL ENTRANCES OF THE EASTERN
HEMISPHERE
compiled by B. Alan Walton
(1980)
*******
#1
--- Pages 16-19 of Eric Norman's book, "THE UNDER-PEOPLE", carries
the following strange story from a Monastery in Germany:
Pepin
the Short, the pint-sized father of Emperor Charlemagne, was the founder of the
Brunia Monastery in the fabled Trier region of ancient Prussia. In A.D. 1138, a strange series of events
culminated in an unusual visitation by a bizarre little man.
There had been several nocturnal visitations
to the monastery's wine cellar, and its steward voiced his suspicions to the
abbot: "The monks are slipping into the wine cellar and sampling the
casks."
The abbot frowned at the thought of a
possible scandal and asked, "When did this begin?"
"It's been going on for several
months. I didn't mind it when they only
took a cup or two," explained the embarrassed monk. "Last night, the culprit tapped a huge
cask and forgot to stop the bunghole. A
whole keg of wine drained out onto the cellar floor."
The abbot hurried to the cellar, inspected
the damage, then carefully tapped the bunghole in each of the huge casks. He anointed the cellar with holy water,
securely locked the door and placed a saint's relic above the entrance...
"None of our monks would dare to transgress against the power of the
cross."
The following morning, a sleepy-eyed abbot
unlocked the cellar door and squinted into the dim room. Followed by a group of curious monks, the
abbot discovered that another keg of wine had been tapped; the floor was
covered with the rich, red liquid.
Suddenly, the abbot spotted a movement in the dark shadows in the far
corner of the cellar. "There's the
thief," he shouted. "Grab the
transgressor and prepare him for punishment!"
Two burly monks rushed forward and grabbed
the shadowy figure. They carried the
struggling thief into the light and the abbot stared in wonder at a
dark-skinned dwarf, who glared back in impassive silence.
"Are you a Nubian? How did you get into our wine cellar?"
inquired the abbot.
The strange little man would not speak.
"Do you have parents?" the abbot
asked.
"Here! Here! This fellow got in through
the wall," called a monk, pointing to a displaced stone that covered a
small tunnel leading down into the earth.
The bewildered monks crowded around the secret tunnel as one quaking
novice suggested the tunnel must lead to the Devil's lair. An older monk spoke knowingly of subterranean
demons who delighted in tormenting those who had taken the vows.
Despite his crime, the captured dwarf was
accepted into the society of holy men.
"He looks human and the least we can do is provide the poor child
with a Christian education," the abbot said. But in spite of the kindness showed him by
the monks, the dwarf refused to utter a single word. He sat quietly on a bed in a cross-legged
position, staring directly ahead and refusing all food and drink. After several weeks of fasting, the monastery
dwellers were concerned for the life of their visitor, and a visiting bishop
was asked for his advice as the dwarf was brought into the great hall and
introduced to him.
"Good Lord! You must expel this Devil's child at
once!" the alarmed bishop
shouted. "He is a demon and the
tool of the devil!"
Gervase, a monk at Christ Church,
Canterbury, England, later inscribed this strange ending to the dwarf's appearance
in his manuscripts: "...The demon
ran in alarm from the holy words. He
went to the cellar and returned to his underworld tribe!"
The monastic scribes produced hundreds of
manuscripts with stories of visits from demons, evil apparitions and other
"devils" from the vast subterranean world. They were adamant in their belief that a
nether world, an underworld, existed beneath the surface. Many of these manuscripts told of long
tunnels and deep caves that led down into this inner world.
A thirteenth-century historian,
Saxo-Gammatidus, wrote down the folklore and myths of Scandinavia. He recorded the ancient Viking belief in
"Hadding Land," a subterranean world where giants, super-humans,
tribes of black dwarfs and "snake people" lived. These strange beings, and even stranger
animals, were said to occasionally surface in our outer world and create chaos.
The (Roman Catholic) church was violently opposed to these beliefs and
condemned such theories as "ignorant superstitions." Gradually, such tales lost their element of
fact and truth and became a part of the folklore of norther Europe.
#2
--- Pages 19-20 of the same book tells the following:
"In Vol.1, No.6 of the 'NEWSLETTER FOR
THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF PSI', there is a fascinating
account of a laborer in Staffordshire, England, who may have glimpsed, for a
moment, the mechanical development of the 'aliens' within the inner earth. Researcher Ronald Calais told of a tunnel
laborer, digging underground in 1770, who heard a roaring sound behind a large,
flat stone. Curious, he pried away the stone
with pick and crowbar and was amazed to see a smooth stone stairway leading
down into the earth. This laborer's
first thought was that he had discovered some type of ancient tomb. Envisioning vast chests of ancient treasure,
he cautiously walked down the stairs. Suddenly, the stairway ended and the man
was standing in a large stone cavern, filled with gigantic machines. The astonished laborer glanced about the
well-lit room, then saw hastening toward him a strangely-clad, hooded
figure. The being had a baton-like
object in his upraised hand and the terrified laborer scrambled back up the
stairway to safety..."
*******
3
--- Brinsley Le Poer Trench's book, "SECRETS OF THE AGES", gives the
following interesting information on pages 49-51:
"...Wilkins has more to tell us about
the ancient tunnel systems.
"Among the Mongolian tribes of inner
Mongolia, even today, there are traditions about tunnels and subterranea worlds
which sound as fantastic as anything in modern (sci-fi & fantasy)
novels. One 'legend' -- IF is be that!
-- says that the tunnels lead to a subterranean 'world' of Antediluvian descent
somewhere in the recess of Afghanistan, or in the region of the Hindu Kush....
"It is even given a name,
'Agharti'. The legend adds that a
labyrinth of tunnels and underground passages is extended in a series of links
connecting Agharti with all other such subterranean worlds! ...The subterranean
world, it is said, is lit by a strange green (electromagnetic-auroral)
luminescence (that is diffused throughout the subterranean atmosphere itself)
which favors the growth of crops and conduces to length of days and
health."
This last account is of special interest as
Kolosimo refers to this green fluorescence in another part of the world. He writes in TIMELESS EARTH about a strange
"bottomless well" in Azerbaijan in the Soviet Union. Apparently, a bluish light comes from its
WALLS and odd noises are heard.
Eventually, after investigating and exploring, scientists found a whole
system of tunnels connecting with other ones in Georgia and 'all over the
Caucasus'.
After describing these tunnels, which are
regular in form, and, he stated, almost identical with similar ones in Central
America, Kolosimo went on to tell us that they are part of a huge system even
connecting with Iran, and moreover, with the tunnels of China, Tibet and
Mongolia.
Now, referring back to Wilkins' account of a
subterranean world called Agharti, where it was said to be lit by a strange
green luminescence, Kolosimo has this to say:
"The Tibetans believe that the tunnels
are citadels, the last of which still afford refuge to the survivors of an
immense cataclysm. This unknown people
are said to make use of an underground source of energy which replaced that of
the sun, causing plants to breed and prolong human life. It is supposed to give out a green
fluorescence, and it is curious that we also meet with this idea in (native)
American legend...'"
*******
#4
--- The following Irish account appeared on pages 92-93 of the 28th edition of FOLKLORE:
A QUARTERLY REVIEW - published by the 'Folk-lore Society':
"There is a feeder to the river Aille
which runs into lake Mask., Co. Mayo, which gathers on the foothills of the
Partry Mountains, and as it reaches the lower slopes is blocked by a transverse
out-crop of limestone cliff, beneath which it burrows, and after about half a
mile or more of subterranean course rises from the ground in a large pool, and
then joins the main stream. In heavy rains the entrance to the caves in the
cliff become a raging whirlpool, which rises 15 or 20 feet up the face of the
cliff, the subterranean passage being unable to give vent to the flood. But in ordinary weather one can penetrate
some distance into the caverns which receives the stream.
"The place in question is about 12
miles east of Westport on the way to lake Carra. I visited it, desiring to explore the cavern
as far as it seemed safe, and took a guide from the nearest part of the main
road.
"When we approached the hollow, my
guide refused to come further, and tried to dissuade me. He sat down of a height afar off, and would
not even go near the entrance. I had to
go to the low cliffs (alone), but found two of the side entrances chocked with
debris, and did not venture into the main opening, which did not offer a secure
foothold, especially to anyone unaccompanied by a guide.
"I offered him half a crown, then five
shillings, but he said that not for a pound note would he go near the foot of
the cliff, and showed such terror that I induced him to give me his reason. He then explained that though persons had
penetrated more than once by one of the side openings, he said a man who having
got in suddenly saw the vault lit up by the lights of some large buildings
illuminated with numerous windows, and what he saw and heard was too dreadful
to be described... and then he (the guide) crossed himself and made for his
home, leaving me alone on the slope of the hill."
*******
#5
--- The following appears on page 227 of the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE -
VOL.II - under the title, "Arab Legend of a Buried Monastery",
told by H.C. Bolton:
"Sounds produced by obscure natural
causes have given birth to many legends.
In Scotland the noises of sea-caves are attributed to pipers blowing
their bagpipes, and reasons are assigned for the detainment underground of
these musicians.
"Akin to this is the legend of the
Bedouins concerning the "Mountain of the Bell" (Febel Nagous), in the
desert of Mt. Sinai. My guide gave me
the following version, which is less elaborate then that reported by other
travelers: --
"A Bedouin fisherman, going to work one
day, met an old man, who saluted him and conducted him into the bowels of the
mountain. There, to his surprise, he
found a monastery, gardens and date palms bearing fruit, and good water. The monks received him kindly, gave him food,
and when they dismissed him, made him swear not to disclose the secret of the
monastery. The Bedouin went to his
village, Tor, on the Gulf of Suez, near by, and related his discovery. The village people went with him to the spot,
but found only a sand-bank; and they wanted to kill the man who had deceived
them. But the sound of the nagous, or
wooden gong used by the priests to call the monks to prayer, is still heard
issuing from beneath the bank of sand.
"Another Arab declared that the nagous
is heard three times a day, morning, noon, and evening, at the hours of prayer;
he crossed himself when the sound was unusually loud..."
*******
#6
--- Pages 131-132, of "MYTHS OF CREATION", by Phillip Freund, tells
the following:
"In Malinowski's Trobriand Islands, on
the other side of the world, the ancestors of the four clans -- the Iguana, the
Dog, the Pig, and the Opossum, as has already been mentioned -- emerged from
their previous subterranean existence by one special hole, called 'Obukula',
near the village of Laba'i."
*******
Pages
9-12, of "SUBTERRANEAN WORLDS OF PLANET EARTH", edited by Gene
Duplantier, contains an interesting chapter by Paul Doerr. In it we find the
following Information:
#7
--- "...An article in FATE covers the search for the cavern systems
mentioned in Perelandra and describes the area found and some of the caves,
including one which can be followed for miles by boat along its half-flooded passages. Of course,
no one has explored deep enough yet to find the city, if it exists.
#8
--- "...A Polynesian legend describes the ancient race living deep beneath
the ruins of the stone city on the South Pacific island and says they will
someday emerge to again rule the earth. A peculiarity of the construction of
these buildings is the odd stone shapes which make the structures look somewhat
like collexial forts..."
#9
--- "...A cave was found in Cornwall which had artifacts useable only by
very tiny people. Another cave in the American west was dry when the finders
entered it, only to fill up with boiling water. Some think the lights of Brown
Mountain issue from a cave as yet undiscovered on the side of the mountain,
hidden in the very dense underbrush. Various caves are said, by reliable
witnesses, to have strange sounds and even lights deep inside them. One cave
"disappears". The entrance can be found at some times, and not at
others. Some caves fill with poison gases." (Brown Mt. is in North
Carolina)
#10
--- "...The Tuareg supposedly have great, very ancient, underground
cities. Some North Africans still build their homes underground to escape the
great heat. Labyrinths and catacombs underlie many great cities, both ancient
and modern, from the Gobi to Mayaland. The UFOs have been said to have underground house in isolated places, or
in the Amazon. Certainly, thousands of documented cases exist of this exciting subject."
#11
--- Pages 20-21 of the same book contains the following:
"In
July, 1961, Professor of Archaeology, Chi Pen Loo, stumbled across an
underground system of caverns in the Valley of Stones in China. The labyrinth,
a part of the Honan mountains on the south shore of lake Tung Ting, had tunnels
that were smooth and glazed, and covered with paintings of animals seemingly
running away in one direction. Up above them stand men on a "flying
shield."
Duplantier
continues...
#12
--- "In Herbert Rittlinger's book 'The Measureless Ocean', a tunnel was
found on the South Pacific island of Temuen, but it is not known where it ends
or really begins. Other inner earth hiding planes exist in Cholula, Mexico) San
Augustin, Columbia, Darinkuyu, Anatolia, Turkey..."
*******
#13
--- Pages 268-269 of Peter Tompkins book, "SECRETS OF THE GREAT
PYRAMID", carries the following passages:
"...According to the Baron de Cologne,
as quoted by Robert Charroux in LE LIVRE DES SECRETS TRAHI'S (Paris, Laffont,
1965), there is an underground kingdom under the Egyptian desert similar to
'Agartha' of Tibet.
"...Many Egyptologists and explorers
were convinced -- and many still are -- that the Pyramid (at Gizeh) conceals
one or more secret and yet undiscovered chambers. It is also believed that the
Pyramid is connected by subterranean passageways to other pyramids, to the
Sphinx, and to long-demolished reception halls, small temples and other
enclosures.
"The engineer of the Australian
railways, Robert Ballard, believed the Giza pyramids may also have been built
above a vast series of catacombs, with chambers and galleries, like the
pyramids of lake Moeris, which are said to have vast subterranean residences
for its priests and keepers.
"Ballard suggests that much of the
limestone for the structure of the pyramids of Giza may have been quarried from
such catacombs. He suggests that a good diamond drill with two or three hundred
feet of rods be used to make tests on the Giza (or Gizeh) plateau. Ballard
believes that when the subterranean city is discovered it will be found that it
has access passages for priests and the surveyors linking it to every
pyramid..."
"...When Perring and Howard-Vyse were
exploring the bent pyramid at Dashur in 1839, they noticed an extraordinary
phenomenon. The workmen clearing the passages were suffering from intense heat
and lack of oxygen when suddenly a strong cold wind began to whistle through
the passages. It blew so fiercely for two days that men had trouble keeping
their lamps lit. Mysteriously it stopped and no one has yet figured out the
mystery.
"Ahmed Fakhry, working in the same
pyramid in the 1950’s, heard weird noises which led him to conclude that there
must be undiscovered passages within or under the bent pyramid.
“...Edgerton Sykes, an archeologist and
author, who is perhaps the best living authority on ancient Atlantis, also
believes there is a whole maze of corridors and passages dug into the Giza
hill. Sykes quotes an ancient Arab source to the effect that the designers of
the Pyramid made ‘several doors, built over underground vaults of stone, each
with a secret stone door revolving upon a hinge.'
"Peter Kolosimo believes that there are
more tombs and caves beneath Saqqara, A’bydos, and Heluan, of very ancient
dynasties, and reports the legends of hidden doors 'that could be opened by a
mysterious force' such as a supersonic wavelength, or specially resonant voice.
"Herodotus speaks of a palace complex
of 3500 chambers half above ground and half below ground at (Lake) Moeris. The
Egyptians called, It 'the temple at the entrance to the lake.' Herodotus called
it a labyrinth, and considered that it out ranked the pyramids as a wonder.
"Piazzi Smyth was equally convinced
that there was an undiscovered chamber in the Great Pyramid 'which will prove
to be the very muniment room of the whole monument...'"
