Mount Shasta : Portal to the Inner Earth

Inner Earth
The Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has dismissed the notion since at least the late 18th century.

The concept of a hollow Earth still recurs in folklore and as the premise for subterranean fiction, a subgenre of adventure fiction. It is also featured in some present-day
pseudoscientific and conspiracy theories.

Ancient history

In ancient times, the idea of subterranean realms seemed arguable, and became intertwined with the concept of "places" such as the Greek Hades, the Nordic svartalfheim, the Christian Hell, and the Jewish Sheol (with details describing inner Earth in Kabalistic literature, such as the Zohar and Hesed L'Avraham). The idea of a
subterranean realm is also mentioned in the Vedic texts such as the Puranas, according to one story in the Puranas there is an ancient city called Shamballa which is located inside the earth, the belief in Shamballa as a city inside the earth is also found in Tibetan Buddhism.

The concept of a subterranean land inside the earth is popular in mythology, folklore and legends in ancient times.

According to the Ancient Greeks there were caverns under the surface which were entrances leading to the underworld, some of which were the caverns at Tainaron in Lakonia, at Trozien in Argolis, at Ephya in Thesprotia, at Herakleia in Pontos, and in Ermioni. In Thracians and Dacians legend it is said that there are underground
chambers occupied by an ancient God called Zalmoxis In Mesopotamian religion there is a story of a man who, after traveling through the darkness of a tunnel in the mountain of "Mashu", entered a subterranean garden.

Chapel, bell tower and penitential beds on Station Island. The bell tower stands on a mound that is the site of the original cave which according to various myths is an entrance which leads inside the earth to a place of purgatory. The cave has been closed since October 25, 1632.

In Celtic mythology there is a legend of a cave called "Cruachan," also known as "Ireland's gate to Hell," a legendary and ancient cave from which according to legend strange creatures would emerge in ancient times and be seen on the surface of the earth. There are also stories of medieval knights and saints who went on pilgrimages to a cave located in Station Island, County Donegal in Ireland, where they made journeys inside the earth into a place of purgatory. There is an Irish myth which says tunnels in County Down, Northern Ireland lead to the land of the subterranean Tuatha de Danaan, a group of people who are believed to have introduced Druidism to Ireland, and then went back underground.

An ancient legend of the Angami Naga tribes of India claim that their ancestors emerged in ancient times from a subterranean land inside the earth. There are legends from the Taíno people that their ancestors emerged in ancient times from two caves in a mountain underground.

It is the belief of the natives of the Malinowski's Trobriand Islands that their ancestors had come from a subterranean land through a cavern hole called "Obukula". There is an ancient legend held in Mexican folklore that a cave in a mountain five miles south of Ojinaga, Mexico is possessed by devilish creatures who came from inside the earth.

There was an ancient myth held in the middle ages that some mountains located between Eisenach and Gotha in Germany hold a portal to the inner earth. There is an old Russian legend that says the Samoyeds, an ancient Siberian tribe, traveled to an underground cavern city to live inside the earth.

In Native American mythology, it is said that the ancestors of the Mandan people in ancient times emerged from a subterranean land through a cave at the north side of the Missouri River. There is also a tale about a tunnel in the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona near Cedar Creek which is said to lead inside the earth to a land inhabited by a mysterious tribe. It is also the belief of the tribes of Iroquois that their ancient ancestors emerged from a subterranean world inside the earth. The elders of the Hopi people believe that a Sipapu entrance in the Grand Canyon exists which leads to the underworld.

According to South American mythology the belief of the Brazilian Indians, who live alongside the Parima River in Brazil, claim that their forefathers emerged in ancient times from an underground land, and that many of their ancestors still remained inside the earth. There are also legends that say the ancestors of the Inca Empire came from underground caves which are located east of Cuzco, Peru.