The author of the article is Mr. Edward Lenser. He tells us that one morning, while en route to Portland on the Shasta Limited, he went out on the observation platform to see the sunrise, and was looking at Mt. Shasta.

"Gazing upon its splendor, I suddenly perceived that the whole southern side of the mountain was ablaze with a strange reddish-green light – a flame that grew faint, then flared up with renewed brilliance. My first conjecture was a forest fire, but the absence of smoke discounted that theory. The light resembled the glow of Roman candles... The thing intrigued me, and when I met my travelling companion at breakfast, he asked me if I had seen the forest fire on Mt. Shasta."

"Did you see smoke?" was my question.

"No," he replied. "Just a red glow."

Convinced that I had not been the victim of a mirage, I later asked the conductor about the mysterious pyrotechnics. His answer was short but enticing:

"Lemurians," he said. "They hold ceremonials up there."

"Lemurians!" . . . . .

Just as soon as I had transacted my business in Portland I returned to the Mt. Shasta region, incredulous but consumed with curiosity. I planned to equip myself for an expedition . .

I motored toward the point of my investigation, pausing at Weed, a town near Mt. Shasta, for the night. There I discovered that the existence of a 'mystic village' on Mt. Shasta was an accepted fact. Business men, amateur explorers, officials and ranchers in the country surrounding Shasta spoke freely of the Lemurian community, and all attested to the weird rituals that are performed on the mountainside at sunset, midnight, and sunrise. Also, they freely ridiculed my avowed trek into the sacred precincts, assuring me that an entrance was as difficult and forbidden as is an entrance into Tibet.

It appears that tho the existence of this colony has been known for more than 50 years, only four or five explorers have penetrated the invisible protective boundaries; and no one has ever succeeded in entering the village, or at least returned to tell the tale. It is of course possible that such a person might have good reasons to hold secret whatever he had seen.

It is safe to say that 50 out of 100 people living within a reasonable distance of Shasta have at some time or other tried to approach the Lemurians – yet many who are known to have penetrated at least part of the mystery will deny having made such an investigation or having any knowledge concerning the Lemurians.

It began to look as if the whole affair was a matter of well-seasoned legendry, yet I myself had seen the strange illumination of Mt. Shasta . . . And yet it seemed incredible . . .

Then I learned that the existence of the Lemurians on Mt. Shasta was vouched for some years ago by the scientist Professor Edgar L. Larkin, formerly director of the Mt. Lowe observatory. He penetrated the Shasta wilderness as far as he could, or dared, and then continued his investigations from a promontory with a powerful telescope.

What he saw, he reported, was a great temple in the heart of the mystic [12] village, a marvellous work of carved marble and onyx, rivaling the magnificence of the temples of Yucatan. He saw a village of 600 to 1000 people; they appeared to be engaged in in the manufacture of various articles and in farming the sunny slopes and glens with miraculous results, evidently contented to live as did their Lemurian forebearers. Professor Larkin gathered enough evidence to enable him to say that in this village live the last descendants of the first inhabitants of this earth, the Lemurians.^*

That these Lemurians are cognizant of the disaster which befell their ancestors is revealed by the fact that each night at midnight they perform a ritual to Guatama, which is the Lemurian name for America. The chief object of this ceremony is to celebrate the escape of their forebears from the doomed Lemuria and their safe arrival in Guatama.

In this midnight ceremony, as in the sunrise and sunset rituals, the weird but wonderful light that first attracted my attention is used. I have seen the midnight ceremonials cause the entire southern side of Mt. Shasta to be illuminated in s most baffling way – a light that reaches up and covers the landscape for great distances. This display of light far exceeds our modern electrical achievements . . .

The Lemurians have been seen on various occasions; they have been encountered in the Shasta forest, but only for a brief glimpse, for they possess the uncanny secret knowledge of the Tibetan Masters^** and can blend themselves into their surroundings and vanish. At times they came into neighboring towns – tall, bare-foot, noble-looking men, with close-cropped hair, dressed in spotless white robes that resemble in style the enveloping garment worn by the high-caste East-Indian women of today – to patronize certain stores.

Indeed, the records reveal that at one time on official visit was made to the City of San Francisco by a white-robed patriarch from the mystic village. He came on foot, with an escort of younger men, to bring greetings and an assurance of good will upon the anniversary of the founding of their sacred retreat in California. The patriarch was met by an official committee at the Ferry Building and escorted to the City Hall. As soon as greetings had been exchanged the visitors returned to their retreat.

(The article concludes by saying that purchases made in Shasta villages by these 'white-robed men' include a great deal of sulphur, lard, and salt; their purchases are paid for in gold nuggets, "they cannot speak our language"; and they make extensive donations to charity. When forest fires occur, they "cause an invisible wall of protection to rise up").

(The alleged factual data in this article obviously falls into some four categories: (a) Observations by Mr. Lenser himself, apparently confined to the lights; (b) Reported observations of Professor Larkin, source not stated – but We believe contained in a small book by Professor Larkin himself; (c) The visit of the "Patriarch" to San Francisco – said to be a matter of record – somewhere; (d) A digest of stories, beliefs and alleged experiences from inhabitants of the Shasta area. It is impossible further to evaluate this material as it stands, but seems certain that there is a considerable substratum of remarkable facts.)

1. * No reason appears in the account for calling the colony "Lemurian", except the alleged use of the word Guatama, nor do we know how the meaning and use of this word was ascertained.
2. ** The "secret knowledge of the Tibetan Masters" is a bit of journalistic build-up; probably some slight skill in woodcraft would be sufficient explanation.

We are anxious to know whether there are any recent reports of similar phenomena (within the last 3-4 years), and would appreciate information from our readers.