#27
--- Page 125-126 of John Arnott Macculloch's book, "CELTIC" mythology
-- VOL.III in 'THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES' -- tells the followings:
"...Another hunting of magic swine
concerns animals from the
*******
#28--Page
143 of William Sherwood Fox's book "GREEK AND ROMAN" mythology --
VOL.I in 'THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES' -- contains the following:
"ENTRANCES
TO, AND RIVERS OF, THE UNDERWORLD -- Although some were skeptical enough to say
that 'no roads led underground,' yet the average Greek entertained no other
opinion than that such paths did exist. In a number of places the inhabitants
pointed to local caves whence the ways ran downward; for instance, at Tainaron
in Lakonia, at Troizen in Argolis, at Ephyra in Thesprotia, and at Herekleia in
Pontos, while Hermione In Argolis offered so short a routs that those who
traveled along it were exempted from the payment of the usual obol. Often white
rocks by the banks of streams were held to mark the proximity of the lower
world, or, again, the channels through which springs or streams disappeared
beneath the ground passed as entrances..."
*******
#29
--- The following origin account for the Island of Mangaia, in the Pacific, can
be found on page 224 of Martha Beckwith's book, "HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY":
"MANGAIA:
Wakea breaks out of the darkness of the underworld into the light of the upper
world. He brings Papa upward, in one version luring her by sprinkling coconut
meat in the cave leading out from the underworld. From these two spring the people
of Mangaia."
*******
#3O
--- Page 168 of Roland B. Dixon's book "OCEANIC" mythology -- VOL.IX
in 'THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES' -- contains the following statement:
"...Perhaps
related to this belief in that held in Watubela and the Kai
*******
#31
--- Page 271 of the same volume carries the following information concerning
certain native Australian tribes:
"...The first of these types seem to be
mainly restricted to a series of tribes stretching from Lake Eyre northward
through the central section of the (Australian) country to the
*******
#32
--- The following Norwegian account is from page 398 of 'FOLK-LORE - A
QUARTERLY REVIEW - VOL.XX' (1909). The area in question is located about a
hundred miles southwest of
"...Over
Yulevolden the high Fjeld Kalken rises. There is an underground passage going
through this mountain, straight from Hovedalen to Lilledalen. There is supposed
to be an iron gate in the passage, with a dog tied to it. Many folk have tried
to penetrate (the passage), but few have dared to go so far (as the gate). It
is told how a red-haired dog once went in at Lilledalen, and, after a long
time, came out by Maele in Sundalen, but it was hairless on one side."
The
following incident takes place in the same region of Yulevolds, on the farm
Snova, not far from
"On
the same farm there lay, close to the house, a big stone slide, probably formed
by a landslip. Inside this mound there was said to be a secret cavern called
'Julgjelthaale,' which opened down by the river. Formerly it had belonged to
the underground folk, and no one had been able to bring themselves to enter it.
A foolhardy man, who believed that he could do anything; wagered that he would
enter the cave, but, when he tried to do so, he came upon an iron gate, which
was placed across the hole. He was obliged to turn round; and after such toil
he came forth again."
#33
--- This same volume also contains legends of man's emergence from the Subterranean
World, according to the traditions of the tribes of Bengal and
"These
tales have been collected from the people inhabiting the great mass of hills
which separates the plains of Bengal from those of
"...Here is another tale recorded by
Colonel Lewin, the pioneer of exploration and administration in what is now the
Southern Lushai Hills, who, though he penetrated but a short way into the
hills, made such an impression on the people that to this day, 40 years after
he left them, a Lushai who wishes to pay you a great compliment will tell you
that you are just like Thangliana, which is their way of saying 'Tom Lewin'.
Colonel Lewin took the tale down from a Bunjogi (a clan allied to the Lushais),
but the tale is practically the same as is told to this day wherever Lushai is
spoken. It must have been recorded in the neighborhood of Demagri:
"Formerly our ancestors came out of a
cave in the earth, and we had one great Chief, named Tlandrok-pah. He it was
who first domesticated the guyal (tame bison).
"...The cave whence man first came out
is in the Lhoosai country close to Yanhuilen's village, of the Burdaiya tribe;
it can be seen to this day, but no one can enter. If one listen outside, the
deep notes of the gong and the sounds of men's voices can still be heard.
"...According to a version common
through the northern hills, the population of the world died off, and the world
was peopled from the hole I have described.
"This idea that mankind emerged from
the earth is very widely spread. In Manipur we find many clans which are
closely allied to the Lushais and have evidently migrated from a more southern
abode, and these all bring their ancestors from holes in the ground. The Alal
tell the following tale:
"Once the whale earth was flooded, and
the entire human race, except one man and one woman, were drowned... Pathian,
the creator, seeing the sorrowful state of the world, sent a man and a woman
from a cave to repopulate the earth.
"..The Thados (a very numerous clan
subdivided into many families, and now scattered over a very wide area) have
the following legend, which I extract from Colonel M'Culloch's book on Manipur,
written in 1859:
"One day their king's brother was
hunting hedgehogs (in the subterranean world in which they then lived), when
his dog, in pursuit of one of them, entered a cavern, and he, waiting its
return, remained at the mouth. After the lapse of some time, the dog not having
returned, it master determined to go in and see what had come of it. The
dog he did not find, but, observing its tracks and following them, he found
himself suddenly on the surface of the earth.
"The scene presented to his view both
pleased and astonished him. Returning to his brother, he related his adventure,
and counseled him to ascend with his village to the new country. To this the
king agreed, and, having made their arrangements, they started on their
journey. They had arrived near the surface when they perceived a large serpent
in the way, which stopped their further progress, and they also saw that the
orifice by which they were to emerge had over it a great stone, kept up merely
by the support a (giant) bird gave to it with its legs.
"On seeing this the people of the
village began to abuse the king's brother, accusing his of having deceived
them, and having brought them from their burrow to deliver them to the serpent.
Stung by the reproaches of the people, the king's brother attacked and killed
the snake, and he and the greater portion of the village emerged into the
light. Meanwhile the king, having discovered that a wooden dish or bowl which
had the magical property of always being full of meat, and some other articles
of a similar magical description, were not among his effects, returned to fetch
them. Before he got back the bird, having got tired of supporting the stone,
had let it fall, and, unable to raise it, he and his wife remained below.
"Attributing the closing of the orifice
to the ambition of her brother-in-law to become king, Namnik, the king's wife,
cursed him and those who had gone up with him, to suffer diseases hitherto
unknown to them. This curse, they say, is on them still, and when disease
presses them sorely they offer a mithan (gyal) to Namnik, in mitigation of her
wrath. Continuing the tale of the proceedings of their progenitors, they relate
that the party which had reached the surface began to feel the cravings of
mortals.
"...The tale of the origin of the
Lushais from a hole or cave in the ground is also found among the Naga tribes
(to the) north. At Maikel, to bear witness to the truth of the tale, is the
stone which stood over the mouth of the cave. Dr, brown in his 'Account of
Munnipore', written in 1868 (p. 113), says that the Angamis had among them a legend
of much the same purport, and I have collected a
similar tale among the Kabuis, a tribe in contact with the Kukis..."
*******
The
following passage is from an article by Karl A. Sinnhuber, titled "On The
Relations Of Folklore And Geography" (FOLK-LORE; A QUARTERLY REVIEW -- Sept. 1957), page 397:
"Mountains
in their fearsome majesty also became the realm of the dead, particularly
limestone mountains, since their many caves appear as gates to the underworld.
Legends warn people not to enter them and tell of those who disregarded this
warning and were never seen again. Caving is not, and never has been, a
harmless sport, even with modern equipment. Sometimes it may be the particular
dead who are thought of as being inside such a mountain; legends tell of a
great emperor -- in most cases Charles the Great or Frederick Barbarosaa (who
did not return from a crusade) -- who sleeps inside the mountain surrounded by
his knights and men and who is destined to awake before the day of judgement to
lead the forces of the good in the final battle against the forces of
evil."
*******
34
--- Ths following MAY be a mixture of reality and fiction, and is an account
allegedly received through 'intuitive' means, or perhaps through a phenomena
that Richard Shaver termed 'Racial Memory'... or basically, that on some
low-frequency levels of the collective minds of humanity, all people -- and
thus their memories and thoughts -- are connected. If this subtle psionic
connection exists, then it is a very 'deep' level of the mind where the ancient
mental and ancestral 'roots' connect. If
however there is little evidence for 'racial memory', or for deep-level
encephalographic waves which connect all people at the deepest levels, then just
consider this story as an adventurous creation of someone's fertile
imagination.
This is from some writings by admitted
'occultists' Annie Besant and C.V. Leadbeater. These writings, published in
1924 in
"...Alcyone was earnest, eager, and
easily impressible. He responded at once to true affection, but shrank into stolidity
if treated unkindly. He had an intense admiration for his father, his mother
and his elder sisters...
On one occasion this (intuition) gave him
the startling information that there were people living in the interior of the
earth, and when he developed a keen in this it offered to give him ocular
demonstration of the fact by leading him to a certain cave by which he would
gain admission into their dwelling-place -- or rather, as was represented, one
of their dwelling places. He eagerly accepted this offer, but it was
unfortunately coupled with a condition that he should tell no one of the
expedition, if he wished to undertake it. He doubted much as to the wisdom of
this course, but eventually his curiosity was too strong for his prudence, and
he resolved to make the journey and attempt to verify (his 'intuition'), but
stipulated that a certain bosom friend, Demeter, should be allowed to accompany
him.
Demeter was another young priest, a son of
one of the chief priests of the same temple, and the original reason of the
bond between then was that Demeter also could see nature-spirits (both good and
evil, and unknown), and could sometimes hear the same inner voice.
This stipulation seemed for some time to be
an insuperable difficulty, but eventually the mysterious inner voice yielded on
that point -- only, however, on condition that both the young men took a
specially solemn vow that they would tell no one of their journey nor indicate
to anyone else the way which was to be shown to them. In compliance with the
terms of this agreement they had to pretend to set forth... upon a pilgrimage
to certain northern shrines, that is to say, the pilgrimage was genuine enough,
for they really visited the shrines, but the true object of the expedition was
known to none but those who undertook it. The journey which they had to take
was a long one for those days, and occupied some months, but in due course and
after many adventures they found themselves in the neighborhood of the spot
that had been indicated to them.
The inner voice would not permit them to
take with them any servant or attendant for the final effort, but directed them
to provide themselves with food for many days, and also with a supply of
torches to light them during their exploration. With considerable trouble they
found the entrance to a cavern which was apparently quite unknown to the tribes
living in the neighborhood. They entered it with considerable misgivings, not
caring, when it came to the point, to trust themselves in its intricacies, for
indeed it seemed to be a perfect labyrinth. For a long time it led them merely
into the heart of the mountain, without making any appreciable descent, but
eventually the course of the naturally-arched passage which they had been
directed to follow turned steeply
downwards,
and they had to do an amount of downward climbing which was exceedingly awkward
and perilous for them, hampered as they were with bundles of torches and
packages of food.
How far down they actually penetrated they
had no means of knowing, nor could they estimate with any sort of accuracy the
time which the descent occupied, but their underground journey must have been
altogether a matter of many days. They suffered a good deal from the pressure
of the atmosphere, which was great at that depth, and alarming to them, as of
course they did not in the least understand it. The temperature also increased
slightly, but not seriously enough to interfere in any way with their advance,
though the conditions made the violent exertion of progress over so rough a
road exceedingly trying. They had many narrow escapes, more than once only just
avoiding serious accidents. Though they knew nothing of such matters it seems
probable that they were traveling down a kind of fault or fissure, which may
perhaps have been caused by an earthquake, or possibly by some volcanic
outburst of long ago. Fortunately, plenty of water was usually available,
although once or twice in that confined and heated atmosphere they suffered
considerably from the want of it.
