Agartha
Agartha (sometimes Agartta, Agharti, Agarath,[1] Agarta or Agarttha) is a legendary kingdom that is said to be located in the Earth's core.[2] It is related to the belief in a hollow Earth and is a popular subject in esotericism.[3]
History
The legend remained mostly obscure in Europe until a detailed account by the nineteenth-century French occultist Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre was published posthumously, in 1910.[4]
In his 1922 book Beasts, Men and Gods, explorer Ferdynand Ossendowski relates a story which was imparted to him concerning a subterranean kingdom which exists inside the Earth. This kingdom was known to a fictional Buddhists society as Agharti.[5]
Connections to mythology
Agartha is frequently associated or confused with Shambhala[6] which figures prominently in Vajrayana Buddhism and Tibetan Kalachakra teachings and revived in the West by Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society. Theosophists in particular regard Agarthi as a vast complex of caves underneath Tibet inhabited by demi-gods, called asuras. Helena and Nicholas Roerich, whose teachings closely parallel theosophy, see Shambhala's existence as both spiritual and physical.[7]
See also
References
- Ossendowski, Ferdinand; Palen, Lewis Stanton (2003), Beasts, Men and Gods, Kessinger Publishing, p. 118, ISBN 978-0-7661-5765-1
- Eco, Umberto (5 August 2006). "Commentary: Spheres of influence". The Observer.
- Tamas, Mircea Alexandru (2003), Agarttha, the invisible center, Rose-Cross Books, ISBN 978-0-9731191-1-4
- Guenon, Rene (1958), Le Roi du Monde, Gallimard, ISBN 9780900588587
- Ferdynand Ossendowski (1922). Beasts, Men and Gods. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company.
- Greer, John Michael (2003), The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, Llewellyn Publications, ISBN 1-56718-336-0
- File:"About Shambala" N.Roerich.ogg
External links
- Saint-Yves d’Alveydre and the Agartthian Connection, by Joscelyn Godwin.
- Map/diagram of Agharta and the Hollow Earth, based on writings of Raymond W. Bernard.
- On Edward Bulwer-Lytton: Agharta, Shambhala, Vril and the Occult Roots of Nazi Power, by Joseph George Caldwell.
- "An Algorithmic Agartha"—Essay-Contribution to Culture Machine 16, 2015 (the journal's Special-Issue on Drone Culture).Welcome to the Electrocene, An Algorithmic Agartha.