Ok, I've looked over Hazel's Hollow Earth material.
While interesting, she quotes from a number of books (not all of
them) which are purely fictional, such as the "Zanthodon" series
of hollow earth books, a poorly-written series by the late Lin
Carter. Carter willingly admitted that he based the world of
Zanthodon on Edgar Rice Burrough's "Pellucidar" or hollow earth
as an homage of sorts to Burroughs. Another of her primary
sources of "factual" information seems to be "The
Unprecedented Discovery of The Dragon Islands" by Lord
Nathaniel Parker, which is an admitted work of pure fantasy
fiction.
Serious researchers, please do NOT consider the "Zanthodon"
series to be genuine or non-fictional accounts, as Lin Carter was
a tireless imitator of many other, previous writers (admittedly so),
and was not very good at it, most of the time! All of his books,
with the exception of those he wrote ABOUT other writers and
their work, are purely fiction, and of a hastily-composed quality.
David Godwin, for one, can probably back me up on this
assessment of Carter's work, and it certainly isn't "true" or based
on fact. Remember the mistake of assuming that Rudy Rucker's
book was a "true account."
She also briefly mentions Doreal's "Rainbow City," as found in
"The Hefferlin Manuscript," but does not mention the source, nor
the greatest find of the supposed discoverers of the city: THE
REPTILIAN HUMANOIDS ENCASED IN GLASS OR CRYSTAL IN
SUSPENDED ANIMATION. I know that she doesn't want to
consider any "negative" aspects of hollow earth and related lore,
so I have to wonder if leaving this information out is not
intentional. Richard Shaver, the first modern man to actually
describe a "flying disk," as he'd seen them in cavern hangars
(years before Kenneth Arnold's "official" first sighting) is scarcely
mentioned, warranting one brief paragraph which only vaguely
hints at the negative aspects of his cosmology. The late (brutally
murdered) Phil Schneider, primary whistle-blower on the
underground human-reptoid base at Dulce, NM, is also briefly
mentioned in the form of one paragraph--without a mention of
Dulce, or of the brutal, human-torturing and human-eating,
genetic-engineering reptilian humanoids he described as being
there, the focus of his entire expose, lectures, and writings.
I also noted that a personal theory I've espoused in print for at
least three years, and which Jan Lamprecht apparently arrived at
more or less simultaneously before we knew one another in
cyberspace, was also represented in a paragraph or so in the
work. This theory concerns the probable subterranean origin of
"lake monsters" and possibly other "cryptids." I know that Hazel
borrowed my book from a friend and read it while she was
writing hers (this is how she found out how to contact me), but I
can't say what influence, if any, this might have had. CCCC does
not, however, appear in her bibliography/acknowledgements.
On the positive side, the book does contain much information
about spiritual (specifically, shamanic) aspects, i.e., "perception
of," and travel to, the inner earth as she envisions it. She also
gives a number of brief overviews of various mythological
systems and their "afterlife" aspects of an underworld, which she
thinks to be the same as the hollow earth. Of course, based on
accounts of the Sumero-Babylonian KI-GAL, the Hebrew SHEOL
(which was the prison of the very Dulce-Draco-like Nephilim), the
Norse underworlds of Niflheim (Land of the Nefilim, in my
theoretical view), and Svaralfheim, and many other "mythical" or
religious realms from around the world, my personal belief is
that the underworld of death was associated with the real cavern
world which is probably extant in the deep Mohorovocic layer. I
don't find correlation between the possibility of an inner hollow
sphere and the land of the dead, or of "underworld" deities,
demons, etc.
The latter statement requires clarification, as I am referring to
mythical regions into which the soul supposedly travels upon
leaving a dead or dying body. There IS evidence, from Norse,
Hebrew, and many other traditions (as outlined in detail in
Echoes of the World Cauldron, CCCC) that the inner sphere
contains an "imprisoned" power, which is Satanic or of Loki and
his brood of Jotuns, demons, and serpents, and Surt. This
"army of darkness" is destined to burst forth upon the world at
the onset of Ragnarok and Armaggedon, with hosts or legions of
human-killing and tormenting humanoids of various
descriptions. This theme is very distinct and definite, and by no
means presents a positive or benevolent picture of whoever or
whatever actually exists within the "bottomless pit." Note that a
hollow sphere, with a hole at top and bottom, could indeed and
accurately be called "bottomless."
Not exactly the land of milk and honey. As for Olaf Jannsen, I
personally believe that if his account is based on fact, that he
and his son were very fortunate to have not encountered the
more malevolent inhabitants of this "alternate Earth."
Hazel's outlook on the whole matter is overwhelmingly positive,
which is a view that I'm afraid I just haven't found genuine
evidence to support, whereas the negative, predatory aspects,
like our new friends "Mr. Badthing" and "The Demon-Bishop," as
well as old ones like "vampires," "reptoids and grays," MIBs, El
Chupacabras, and a host of other unpleasant and malevolent
beings, are all too evident, ever-present, intrusive, and obvious in
terms of intent. These types of witnessed or experienced
entities provide a great amount of circumstantial, and
sometimes PHYSICAL evidence (like mutilated animals and
people) which tie in perfectly with documented, sinister aspects
of ancient underworld traditions. This in turn has led several
researchers, and even experiencers, to utilize deduction and
scientific reasoning in amassing and analyzing the voluminous
amount of widely-scattered data at hand. But to each his/her
own, and all research on this topic (and related topics) is
valuable! Anything which draws attention to these mysteries is
important.
I close by saying that, while Hazel and I certainly don't agree on
all of the meanings to be gleaned from studying underworld
mysteries, it is always heartening to see research and writing
done on the subject with true dedication. I wish her the best with
her endeavor!
--Mike