(The writer of the following was a person of high occult advancement. He was a high Mason and had held office in one of America's best known Rosicrucian organizations. He was a mining engineer and at the time of my contact with him was a Major in the U.S. Army Engineers. In 1936 he retired from the army, and died in 1938 as a result cf a fall down a mountain side in California. I have no comment to make concerning the following account of his experiences upon Mt. Shasta.) — H.B. Williams.

(Note: Mr. William's address is 2889 Sutherland Ave., Indianapolis 5, Indiana. The RR Editor has long been in correspondence with Mr. Williams, but has no knowledge concerning Major H.A.G. - Interest in the 'Shasta problem' seems to justify this additional article, but we have had to omit a large part of it dealing with occult reflections . . . Readers may be interested to note comments of FGH on this same subject, in his article in this issue.)

For many years students of occultism and mysticism have heard of a colony of advanced thinkers that dwelt somewhere on the slopes of Mt. Shasta  . . . There were rumours to the effect that they were descendants of the Lemurians, and greatly advanced in mystical lore. The writer of this article had been a student of mystical thought for over thirty years, and his home being in California, he had made several trips to Mt. Shasta to try to locate this colony.

(In 1929, the writer continues, he became associated with a group of students in one of the central states, and in the fall of 1932 he received, by psychic or occult means, several messages directing him to go to Mt. Shasta for occult instruction. On Dec. 10 he received instructions to proceed to San Francisco. While waiting for a delayed bus in St. Louis, he was approached by a man who gave a sign of identification. After a lengthy interview he was instructed to meet a Mr. Brunnell at the Brown Hotel in Denver. From this gentleman he received an address in San Francisco, where he arrived on the 19th, and went to his own home, instead of to the address given. In a few hours he received a telephone call from an unknown person, who reproved him for "putting the carnal pleasures of seeing wife and family above the quest for information". Another interview followed, with further instructions, according to which he was to proceed to Sisson, in Shasta County.)

Early on the morning of Jan. 4th I boarded the train for Sisson. Upon arrival I was met by a large man about 6 ft. 5 in. tall, who said that he had been sent for me. He escorted me to an old 1914 Ford car, we drove about 52 miles up into the mountains, where we stopped at a log cabin and were met by an elderly man almost as large as my escort, but with full beard and long hair. He bade us enter and to partake of a meal of warm corn bread, boiled potatoes, spinach, maple syrup, and oranges. I was then informed that from here on we would go by horseback, as there were no roads. The guide brought forth three horses, packed one with supplies from the rear of the Ford, saddled the other two, and we were ready. Before allowing us to mount our host asked us to kneel, placed himself in front of us, out his hand on each of our heads and gave us his blessing. This was delivered in a language I had never heard before.

While our host was speaking a peculiar sensation passed through my entire body, as though I had been subjected to a mild electric shock, at the same time I [21] felt a pleasant warm glow in the region of the solar plexus, and a slight dizziness. After the blessing we arose and rode away toward the northwest. We continued over a treacherous mountain trail for nearly six hours, when we entered a narrow canyon between two wells of rock, that rose perpendicularly for nearly 500 feet. This narrow passage was about 60 feet wide and half a mile long; it then opened suddenly on a beautiful valley nearly too miles wide by ten miles long. In the center of this valley was a group or village of log cabins. I afterward found that there were 52 of these houses.

I saw very few persons around, and what few there were, were all men of great stature and magnificent physique. No women were in evidence anywhere. We dismounted at one of the cabins and found four men seated around a table conversing in low tones, in the same language as that used by the man who gave us the benediction. All four arose as we entered and one stepped forward and extended his right hand, palm turned down, and in excellent English bade me welcome, and stated that for nearly a month they had looked forward to my visit. After this all four shook hands with me, and all but the one who had welcomed me withdrew thru a door into another room.

My host then asked me to be seated and said, "My friend, your journey has been long and you must rest before you enter upon our work. I commend you to the forces that will rebuild within your physical system the tired and abused cells. Sleep until I return to you." Scarce had he ceased speaking when my head fell back on the high back of the chair and I fell asleep. From this sleep I was awakened by feeling some one standing behind me and gently stroking my temples . . . It was the same person who had made me welcome to the village.

He immediately began talking to me in a low pleasant tone, telling me of the course of instruction which he said they had received orders to give me. Of this I cannot speak at present  . . . all I can say is, that I would receive two hours of instruction, then have half an hour for concentration and 1.5 hours for rest. This routine was to be gone over four times each day for 16 hours, leaving me 8 hours for sleep. This schedule was strictly adhered to for the three days I remained among them.

I was told during my rest period that the village was called the outer villages, and that the main village was up and around a bend in the canyon. No one was allowed to enter it except members of their colony, but that if my development allowed me to return for further instruction I would be allowed to visit their temple in the upper village. I would have to be blindfolded while being escorted to and from the temple . . . This much I can divulge concerning the lessons; that one of their underlying principles is that "Man cannot know life until he understands fully the phenomena of so-called death." To more fully understand this principle I was instructed in the Art of "so-called transition", which is, to put it simply, the knowledge of how to put yourself temporarily in a state of suspended animation. In this state the soul is really manifesting on another plane, and on its return is able to bring back its experiences.

Now as to the physical part of the life in this village. I asked my mentor if they were really descendants of the Lemurians. His reply was, that they were direct descendants of a highly developed race that lived on a continent that sank beneath the waves many centuries ago. I had noticed that my teacher looked at times like a man of middle age and at other times he seemed a very old man. I asked him how old he was, and he replied, "We do not reckon life by years but by the development it has attained. I do not know my age in years, but this I know, I was an old teacher in this village when slavery was yet existing in this country."

As slavery has not been practised for over 68 years my teacher must have been nearly a hundred years old, if not more. Still, his voice and action were those of a man of 35 or 40 years. All the persons I met had either full beards or vandykes. Their hair was brown or dark brown. I did not see any gray hair while there. Nor did I see a woman, but I was informed that the real colony lived in the main village so no doubt there were women there. Their food was simple and wholesome and they [22] raised most of their vegetables and fruit. I did not see any animals except the three horses which brought us in, and a few sheep. I was also informed that they did some gold mining, enough to purchase what supplies were needed from the outside world. In looks they did not differ from the ordinary person except in their great stature. The only real peculiarity I noticed about them was that nearly everyone had a deep scar about an inch long in the center of the forehead.

I left their village Saturday afternoon and arrived in San Francisco Sunday morning . . . I am anxiously locking forward to the time when I will again be allowed to visit these wonderful people and receive from them lessons that will entitle me to initiation into their temple . . . Peace be with you . . .

- end -

Further notes on identity of Major H.A.G., author of the preceding, were included in the next issue of the Round Robin (Vol. 4, No. 1, Jan. 1948). For ease of reference, they are appended to the end of this page.

"Some fifty miles down the coast from Nome there lived a man whom I knew very well. He was married to an Eskimo woman and had 5 children, a little girl of five, and two boys of 7 and 10 years. I have known them all from babyhood. Along about the 10th of June comes the spring break-up; great blocks of ice float as if in still water before the current starts taking them into the Arctic Ocean. The children lived on a bluff overlooking the sea, and while they were playing on the edge of the cliff they noticed several little people playing on the broken ice field, and who called them to 'come play.' The little people were diving from an ice-cake and having a lot of fun. The older boy ran to his father to get him to come and see, but when he did come the entities vanished, not even the children could see them while the father was there. But the two younger ones continued to see them until the father arrived. The children thought the little people were about three feet tall. Each of the children told the same story and I feel sure they were telling the truth.

I could tell of many similar instances, for the Eskimoes are very psychic, and also very honest. I have spent some twenty years among them, in the 'wilds of Alaska' and should know something of their ways and character. I would be glad to hear from other people who have had experience with similar happenings."

(Letter to RR Editor; Warren H. Merritt - "Rockhaven", Sheridan, Montana.)

Perhaps the most compelling plea for vegetarianism, at least to spiritualists, is that made by Mrs. G. Osborne Leonard, the great British medium. In her autobiography she has stated that once, in her astral body and accompanied by a Guide she visited slaughter yards. "In the very air around me was a most definite feeling of terrible fear, suffering, and blind resentment, even more tangible than the building and walls. My Guide told me it was this awful feeling that was to be deplored, not only because it was an indication of the sufferings of these wretched animals, but also because it affected the mental and spiritual atmosphere of the earth, and had a bad effect on human life and progress." As a result of this, Mrs Leonard became a vegetarian.

G. Bernard Shaw declared that "death is better than cannibalism" (the eating of one's fellow creatures): he visualized the appearance of herds of oxen and sheep and flocks of poultry at his funeral, "all wearing white scarves" in his honor  . . . the Greeks of classic antiquity, as John Buchan reminds us, used almost no meat. Pythagoras objected to it, as did Gautama Buddha, Asoka, Francis of Assisi -- and a great number of other minds of the first order. (From article in LIGHT) -- The objections, in short, are not so much dietary and physiological, as they are of the kind described by Mrs. Leonard - abominations for which we who buy and eat the flesh of animals are definitely responsible.

(From page 24 of the next issue.)

  Mr. H.B. Williams, who sent us the ms. of this Mt. Shasta article (RR III-8), gives us an additional note on the authorship. "So far as I know, this material was never in print. It was given to a class under his instruction . . . he belonged to no particular School and charged nothing for his work.

"According to the Major there is a center in the Smoky Mountains in the south. It is a sort of preliminary testing place. The Shasta account is something one can either take or leave alone. I have given enough notes at the beginning and end of the article so that informed readers should be able to recognize the Major. He was a high officer in a California organization of a still-existing occult society. His account was given to us in written form, as typed copies . . . It is my personal belief that there is something at Shasta, but that the individual sees what 'they' want him to see . . . part of the Major's experience may have been psychical and part on the physical plane . . ." *

(* With regard to this last point, the Initiate FGH has told the RR Editor, that the "entrances" to the Shasta Lodge or Center are on the astral and that those formerly existing on the physical level have been sealed; it is my impression that Fr. FGH would agree with the last sentence in the paragraph by Mr. Williams, above. It is also stated, on the authority of one of the 14 witnesses present, that Major H.A.G. possessed a degree of occult power, and was able to materialize a half-opened white rose "covered with dew and with a hollow stem." So far as our information goes, the character and record of H.A.G. seem to be above reproach, and this of course has important bearing on the genuineness of the experience related in the Trip to Mt. Shasta article.

(Inquiries addressed to Mr. H.B. Williams, or to any authors of RR articles, will be forwarded to them promptly if sent in care of this publication.)