Nexus - 0802 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

All of these are motifs which in one form or another have been to nearly human in appearance. The Naga race is related to anoth- found to permeate nearly every ancient underworld tradition and —_ er underworld race: the Hindu demons, or Raksh: also have found their way into folklore and literature. The Nagas are also said to possess, as individuals, a "magical The Asian region, particularly the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, stone” or "third eye" in the middle of their brow. This is known Nepal, China and Japan, has very similar traditions about subter- to students of eastern mysticism as the focal point of one of the ranean inhabitants. higher chakras (energy channel points) of the human(oid) nervous In India, there is still a strong belief in the reality of the system, and is the chakra associated with inner visions, intuition Nagas—a race of "serpent people" or "lizard men" who have and other esoteric concepts. made their homes in two major underground In China, the Lung Wang (Dragon Kings) cities (or civilisations), Bhogavati and Patala. closely resemble the Nagas in many Bhogavati is believed to be underneath the respects. The Lung were said to dwell either Himalayas, and it is said that from there the The Nagas in the "celestial realm", i.e., the stars and Nagas waz war once human suber. | ae believed to have | on or nth he suis of th ah Agharta and Shambala. an affinity with water, pearl" in their forehead—a "mystical" or Patala is believed by millions of Hindus to and the entrances to divine eye or source of power. Like the this day to have an entrance in the Well of Sheshna in Benares. According to herpetologist and author Sherman A. Minton in his book, Venomous Reptiles, this entrance is very real, having 40 steps which descend into a circular depression and then terminate at a closed stone door covered in bas-relief cobras. In Tibet, there is a major mysti- cal shrine, also called Patala, which is said by the people there to sit atop an ancient cavern and tunnel system which reaches throughout the Asian continent and possibly beyond. The Nagas are believed to have an affinity with water, and the entrances to their Nagas, some of the entrances to their palaces or kingdoms could be found beneath lakes and rivers or behind waterfalls. Almost always, such entrances were well hidden from the intrusive eyes or feet of mortal men and women. One such entrance to the Chinese underworld was said to be in the "Eastern Mountain" of Taishan, near Qufu province. This entrance to the Chinese Hell was guarded by sav- age demons called Men Shen, often depicted as warriors wearing fierce, animalistic masks or faces. There was also interaction between the Lords of Hell, as they were known, and their underground palaces are said to be hidden often at the bottom of wells, deep lakes and rivers. They are described as a very advanced race or species with a highly developed underground palaces are said to be hidden technology. the Dragon Kings. The four Hell Kings, often at the bottom of wells, deep lakes and called Yan Luo or Yen Wang (possibly rivers. They are described as a very derived from the Hindu death god, Yama), advanced race or species with a highly devel- ruled over a vast region consisting of 18 oped technology. Among their many devices are "death rays" and levels or locales. In one tale, a Dragon King is robbed by an vimana—flying, disc-shaped aerial craft which are described at extremely clever and human-like Monkey, who is similar in many length in many ancient Vedic texts including the Bhagavad-gita respects to the Hindu Hanuman (who in turn came into conflict and the Ramayana. The Nagas are also believed to harbour a dis- with the Rakshasas of the underworld in the Ramayana). Enkidu dain for human beings, whom they are said to abduct, torture, also comes to mind in this tale. The Dragon King calls on the interbreed with and even eat. The interbreeding has supposedly help of the Yan Luo, who are in turn bested by Monkey as well. led to a wide variety of forms, ranging from completely reptilian | The 18 regions of the Chinese netherworld are bureaucratic, tedious systems or civilisations and an apparent mixture of Taoist and Buddhist ideas, with a strong influence from the latter. The Japanese Hell is even more of an amalgam of different traditions, as it incor- porates Chinese, Hindu and Buddhist char- acteristics into an earlier, animistic Shinto system. Emma-Hoo (perhaps from Yama- Raja) is the king of Jigoku, an eight-levelled region of fire and ice. Jigoku is filled with Oni, or demons, which have the heads of oxen or horses but humanoid bodies. Japan also has other cavern-dwellers who come out upon occasion. The bird-headed reptilian goblins, the Tengu, dwell in moun- tainous regions and mostly come out by night. They are experts in the use of the A reptilian humanoid in the underworld weapons which are in modern times associ- ated with ninjitsu. According to legend, the The Nagas are believed to have an affinity with water, and the entrances to their underground palaces are said to be _ hidden often at the bottom of wells, deep lakes and rivers. or species witha highly developed technology. 60 = NEXUS They are described as a very advanced race A reptilian humanoid in the underworld FEBRUARY — MARCH 2001