Agartha Read online

  Matt and his family lived in a fairly large house with a lovely garden. The abundant Seattle rain streamed peacefully from the sky, forming pools on the leaves. I finally felt at home.

  “Well, where have you been for the last three years?” asked Matt as we sat on the porch with a drink. “The newspaper article was a load of bunkum, wasn’t it? The Earth can’t be hollow, although our geography teacher used to joke that it was.”

  “Can we talk about this after dinner?” I asked in reply. “I’m not sure you’re going to believe me.”

  Just then I had the same strange, inexplicable sensation I had experienced a few times since coming home. It was like an intense heat searing through me, and lights flickering before my eyes. I knew it was Mannul sending this energy. As we had said our farewells at the portal on Mount Shasta, I had been overwhelmed by this feeling.

  “Your head is lit up!” little Elinor’s voice exclaimed. Matt’s daughter was standing by my side, looking with interest at my head. She was four years old. Matt had married before our boat sank.

  “Come and eat! It’s ready!” It was Nancy, Matt’s wife, calling.

  I took Elinor’s hand and followed Matt into the dining room. “I think it must’ve been a lamp on the porch shining behind my head, Little Red Riding Hood,” I whispered to the child, who pressed her lips together and shook her head.

  “There’s a tall man behind you,” the peerless child continued. “He says he’s your friend, but he won’t tell me his name. You’re Swedish, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I’m half Swedish, and half from here.” I grinned, glad to be changing the subject. Matt’s daughter was obviously clairvoyant. I planned to mention it to him after dinner. He shouldn’t let her be afraid of it; it was a gift. It was a rare and wonderful gift, which could easily become a burden.

  Nancy was a good cook, and we ate a delicious fish dish, and afterwards lemon pudding which melted in your mouth like clouds. When we were sitting in the living room and Nancy had taken her small daughter upstairs to put her to bed, Matt asked, “Have you let your grandmother know that you’re alive?”

  I turned hot and cold. My beloved grandmother! How could I have forgotten her? I’d been home nearly a week! Grandmother lived in Sweden, in Dalarna, in a village called Floda. She was an amazing old lady, in her 70s, always interested in the supernatural, who told fortunes with cards, and the like.

  “Do it first thing tomorrow!” Matt urged, seeing my confusion. “I realize that you’ve seen some strange things, but you seem well enough, not ill or emaciated. Unusual experiences can be confusing and make you forgetful. Tell me about it!”

  “I’ll go and see her,” I said earnestly. “My grandmother, I mean. She’ll believe me. I’m going to tell you my story and leave you to make up your own mind what you believe. But I am absolutely in my right mind and in good shape.”

  I told Matt my story. Matt topped up our coffee and brandy, but didn’t say a word. His gray eyes widened and reminded me of when we were boys off on some forbidden prank. I didn’t leave out any details about Telos. I’d nearly finished when Nancy came and sat down with us. Then I was silent, looking imploringly at my old friend.

  “Well, what do you think?” I asked. Matt scratched his red mop and smiled.

  “I believe you, Tim,” he said after a pause, while Nancy looked questioningly at each of us in turn. “I believe you, with reservations. Tomorrow is Sunday. I’ll come by about 10 o’clock and we can go for a walk and talk this over.”

  5. The Trip to Sweden

  “Is it really you, Timothy?” My grandmother’s voice was full of laughter and tears. “My only grandson, are you alive? Why didn’t you ring before? Is it really you, or just someone’s idea of an unkind joke? If it’s really you, Tim, you should come and visit as soon as possible.”

  “I’m on my way, Grandmother. We were together four years ago, so you’ll recognize me when you see me. I’m looking forward to seeing you. Toodle pip, Grandmother!” Toodle pip was something we had always said when I was small. I said it so she would know it was me for sure. Her happy laugh at the other end confirmed that she understood.

  When Matthew came, he told me that Nancy had been very inquisitive after I’d left. She wanted to know the whole story. She heard a condensed version, and accepted it readily.

  “I think she has second sight,” Matt confessed as we walked into the forest.

  “Like Elinor,” I added, smiling.

  “I’m inclined to believe in Telos and everything that happened there,” said Matt, his eyes glinting playfully, “until there’s proof to the contrary. As far as my wife and daughter are concerned, I’ve known for a long time that they’re both intriguingly different. I believe in the supernatural, and yet I don’t believe. Worlds beyond this one must exist. It would be arrogant of us to imagine otherwise.”

  I reached my hand out toward a branch of the lime tree we were passing. To my surprise — not to mention Matt’s — the branch came away from the tree and flew into my hand.

  Matt stopped in his tracks. “Are you a wizard as well?” He frowned. “What happened? What did you do?”

  “I’m as flabbergasted as you are,” I exclaimed. At the same time, I wondered if Mannul’s embrace on Mount Shasta hadn’t been more than just a hug. This might be a message from him or the man Elinor had seen behind me. I smiled and thumped Matt on the back.

  “Do you believe me now?” I asked. “I’m flying to Sweden first thing tomorrow.”

  “I’ll take time off and drive you to the airport,” replied Matt, “unless you’re going to teleport! Yes, I reckon you’ve seen some strange things. Take good care of yourself, and come home soon. When you get back, I think you should buy a car. You have to get on the road and tell people your story.”

  Next morning, sitting on the plane to Sweden, I thought about the reaction of my childhood friend. His last words at the airport had been, “I’ll be there for you, no matter what! Let me know everything’s okay!” I knew that he was one of the few who would believe me. A hollow Earth was too much for people to get their heads around, and if I was unlucky, there could be an uproar. Yet I was convinced that Emilie, my grandmother, would believe me.

  When the taxi drew up at my grandmother’s house in Floda, which I hadn’t visited since I was ten, Grandmother rushed out with open arms. After a keen glance and a cheerful chuckle, my only living relative on the Earth’s surface hugged me. Tears ran down her worn cheeks, and she whispered repeatedly, “You’re alive, you’re alive! If only your mother had known. She died of unnecessary grief.”

  “But Grandmother, you know as well as I do that our journey through life is preordained,” I remonstrated as we entered the house arm in arm. I stole a glance at her. Her white hair was elegantly trimmed. Her face was carefully made up. You had to look for wrinkles. She was plumper than I remembered, but not fat like Tillie at home. I felt no surprise entering her beautiful living room and sinking into an antique armchair.

  “Tell me everything, Tim, even if you’ve spent three years in a foreign brothel. You know I’m not easy to shock.” She laughed delightedly at her audacity and served me coffee from a Thermos jar. I assured her that was not the case, but that I had spent three years in another country inside our own Earth. At first, she seemed flabbergasted, but then she jumped out of her chair and hugged me.

  “Oh, Tim, how wonderful!” she gasped. “I’ve always believed the Earth was hollow, ever since I was at school, but everyone assured me it was impossible, as the planet was full of molten lava and fire, just like a volcano. I’ve never believed the scientists were right on that score. Tell me every single detail you can remember, my dear!”

  I talked and talked. In the end, I was so homesick for Telos that I had tears in my eyes. I reached out and took Grandmother’s hands.

  How can I fulfill my mission?” I groaned. “Nobody is going to believ
e me, apart from you. And you’re not like … other people!”

  “We’ll have to make sure they believe you,” Grandmother promised me. “I know plenty who will. Tomorrow we’ll make a start. But now we’re going to have a lovely dinner, and in the morning you can sleep in. You’ve had a long, tiring journey. I’m going to tell you about your mother and sister.

  “Your brother-in-law would never believe you. He’s an unpleasant man and I can’t understand why your sister chose him.”

  Now it was Grandmother’s turn to talk, and I was glad I came as fast as I could. It was nice to know about Mum and Littl’un. I needed some kind of closure on the part of my life which was over now. New horizons were opening up and it was time to make plans to carry out my mission.

  “You know, Tim,” Grandmother remarked after dinner, as we were lounging in front of the fire which I had helped light. “I have never told you everything about myself. I’m a medium and I help people, and actually I have quite a good reputation, which I’m grateful for. I lecture about other worlds, other planets, and cosmic consciousness. I help people find their inner selves, listen to their own hearts, and straighten out their minds.”

  “Do you see it in the cards?” I interrupted her.

  “No, I see it in their eyes,” she answered calmly, smiling. “Their eyes tell me what their lips cannot convey. I can see their auras, which is always helpful. Otherwise, I have nocturnal friends — guides, as they’re called — who help me. They appear in the daytime too, but I have to be in a trance. I have a spirit guide, you see, who has been with me through various lives. I listen to him and talk to him sometimes.”

  “Jesus?” I asked.

  Grandmother smiled wanly. “No,” she replied. “Too many claim to be in contact with Jesus. It’s very contemporary to be in contact with Jesus and God. My guide is called Melchizedek.”

  “Melchizedek!” I interrupted again. “You have a great guide in him, an Ascended Master arisen from the dead.”

  “I know,” my grandmother resumed calmly, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. “He’s wonderful, and incredibly wise. He was an alchemist, and Abraham’s teacher. Now he’s my teacher.” She chuckled in that special way. “Well, my grandson, do you believe me?”

  “Yes,” I sighed, impressed. “Of course I do. Can you also see him?”

  “I see him with my inner eye. He’s taught me a lot, I have to say. He was a comfort when my family died, and I’m convinced he helped to save you. He didn’t dare tell me, though. I would have done all I could to bring you home. In my heart of hearts, I cherished a hope that you were still alive somewhere, washed up on a far-flung shore.”

  I have never understood the trend for Ascended Masters that many people indulge in, but when my own grandmother professed to having one, I was forced to acknowledge that these high Masters may have contact with humanity. I’m not really interested in this kind of thing, and I would rather cultivate the sort of knowledge I came across in Telos. But we’ll get to that later, when I tell you about returning there. I had learned to live in the present during my stay in Telos, as the concept of time there is as free as the sweet-smelling air, but now I had to conform to Earth time.

  Grandmother gave me a diary. It is a necessary piece of equipment on Earth.

  6. An Impossible Mission

  Grandmother had a number of spiritual contacts and she was definitely a good connection for this odyssey, as I considered my task. She rang all her acquaintances who had occult interests and invited them to a meeting at her house on Saturday.

  Many were interested when they heard it was about Hollow Earth. I would tell them about the Inner Earth city of Telos. Twenty-four people agreed to come, and on Saturday they crowded into the spacious living room. Grandmother served coffee and cakes, and everyone jostled around me, asking about Telos.

  I gave a short lecture and answered questions. One man caught my attention. At first he kept in the background, but later he asked if I was planning to stay in Dalarna or if I would be willing to talk about Telos in Stockholm. I jumped at the chance.

  I realized quite soon that Telos only interested those familiar with parapsychology. The first lecture I gave in Falun attracted an audience of seven. My new acquaintance, Carl-Olov Strand, generally known as Chaos, became a firm friend who dedicated himself to guiding me through the ordeal that is parapsychology. He was divorced, recently retired, and lived in a house just outside Floda. This meant we had ample opportunity to meet.

  It was difficult to convince some people that there really is a whole world inside the Earth. Why had nobody else discovered it before? How could they be sure I was telling the truth and wasn’t a “spiritual conman?”

  Chaos comforted me when I had doubts about my mission. He had a doctorate and was very intelligent. His presence at my lectures should have brought me credibility. Believing in an inhabited world, Agartha, inside the Earth was too extreme. To some, it seemed like a swindle, and if I didn’t cease my ridiculous nonsense, I should be put away, either in a mental institution or a police cell. I was under constant threat, and when the newspapers got wind of it, things got worse. Chaos was my self-appointed body-guard. He was quite well known, an academic, responsible for many interesting articles, but he was taking a scandalously serious interest in pure science fiction.

  Grandmother was a constant source of encouragement, and her loving defense of her only grandchild was commendable. She didn’t care that I was unpopular with some of her friends and most of the inhabitants of Floda.

  It was so bad that I bought a dog, a Great Dane, two years old, trained to protect. I called him Titch, as he was so huge. We became the best friends in the world, eating and sleeping together. His constant companionship engendered respect and admiration. I bought him from an old lady who could no longer walk him. My grandmother organized it, of course. Soon it was a common sight to see me walking Titch, who reached above my waist. He was gleaming black and inspired respect. Titch still lives in Telos, but I dare not bring him to the Earth today, as the time may not be right for him.

  With their tiny, short skirts, their heavily made-up eyes, and weird hair, none of the girls on Earth impressed me. Many of them were beautiful, and, actually, there were some “normal” ones, but I sensed that they only pretended interest in my subject to go to bed with me. I don’t think the Earth has bothered to take care of its inhabitants properly — or vice versa, which is preferable. In other words: I didn’t fall in love with a girl on the surface, despite being surrounded by them.

  Grandmother, Chaos, and Titch were the only ones I talked to and who helped me express myself. One evening, as we were sitting in front of the fire as usual, Grandmother inquired, “Timothy, are you planning to stay here and carry on like this? Is this what you envisioned? You’ve been here three months, and you know you can stay here as long as you want, but Swedes basically still don’t believe in the existence of Telos. I have approached some contacts in television, and they aren’t remotely interested. You don’t have any proof to back up your claims. You can prove you were shipwrecked and saved by persons unknown. Your denigrators claim it may have been an unknown tribe in the Canadian mountains. I hear all sorts of things when you are traveling, and it worries me. Swedes always need proof, you know.”

  “Proof,” I muttered. “Aren’t I proof enough? I can make things move by mere thought, and influence people mentally, if necessary …”

  “People don’t want conjuring tricks,” said Grandmother impatiently. “The only proof you have of your identity is your passport. We need much more than that, Tim. We need the knowledge and insight to understand. It would be easier to prove that there is life in outer space than inside the planet! I can contact beings in outer space through my guide, Melchizedek, if I want. But I want to sort you out first. You have a mission, and I have promised to help — and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  I walked furth
er and further with Titch. I could let him off the lead in the woods and he would stay close. This gave me time to reflect. I thought about the Beauty I’d met dancing in Telos with Mannul. It cheered me up, thinking of her, of Mannul, and the amazing “Wonderland.” At the same time, I felt oppressed by my Mission. I decided to call Mannul. I needed help. I blew the little whistle, and Mannul came.

  “What’s the problem, Tim?” he asked. He appeared to me in the forest, wrapped in a green cloak, merging with the moss and trees.

  “Weeeell!” I drew it out. “I don’t know if I should stay here or return to Agartha.”

  At this juncture, Titch returned from a run. He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Mannul. I thought he would start barking, but Mannul bent down and patted him on his gleaming doggy neck. Titch pushed his great head against Mannul, and lay down on the moss at his side.

  “You are welcome to bring him to Telos when you come,” Mannul commented, and that made me want to leave immediately. But Mannul raised his hand.

  “Really,” he remarked, “you had no need to call me. This is your problem alone. It’s up to you to choose. I can’t give you any advice other than to listen to your heart. You will know. I can’t tell you what is right or wrong; you have to choose. Use your common sense and don’t get caught up in your emotions.”

  This was a sore point. I always have problems making decisions, as I’m scared of flapping off in the wrong direction. I’m quite impulsive and have to restrain myself sometimes … well, always!

  “Thanks,” I said slowly. “Sorry for calling you unnecessarily, but you’ve helped me decide.” I looked up, but Mannul had gone. Maybe he had been a hologram, limited by time and range.

  Titch didn’t react to Mannul’s disappearance. He yelped, and dug his nose so hard into my armpit that I almost toppled over. It was his special sign of love, and I laughed and started running homeward.