One of my favorite poems from childhood was "The Raggedy Man" by James Whitcomb Riley. I loved the whole thing, but the best part was the stanza that told how the Raggedy Man Knows 'bout Giunts an' Griffins an' Elves,
An' the Squidgicum-Squees 'at swallers the'rselves,
An' wight by the pump in our pasture-lot,
He showed me the hole 'at the Wunks is got,
'At lives 'way deep in the ground, an' can
Turn into me, er 'Lizabuth Ann!
Er Ma, er Pa, er The Raggedy Man!
Giunts, Griffuns and Elves were interesting enough, and the Squidgicum-Squees were even better. But the Wunks! If anything totally captivated me, it was these creepy, shivery, mysterious things that lived underground and could turn into me! Did that mean I would become a Wunk and have to live in a hole?
Now that I'm grown, I have to wonder what was in James' mind when he created the Wunks. Was it just a fanciful whim that made a good story? Or did he ponder the deeper meanings people might attribute to these delightfully scary creatures? Whichever the case, the Wunks evoke ideas instilled in us as small children. Bad things come from down below. When we die, we go down if we've been bad, up if we're good. The devil lives underground and can sneak into us, making us behave badly.
Where did this belief of evil living deep in the earth originate? Hell, supposedly in the center of the earth, is mentioned in the Bible. But similar ideas were around long before the Bible was written. Greek Mythology has its realm of Hades, early Mesopotamian religion from the third century B.C.E. mentions a version of hell. Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism also speak of it.
So what's really down there? I've been on a long quest to explore this topic more thoroughly. Modern science has very few facts to offer. Here are some gleanings:
In 1997, geophysicists reported that, at the center of the earth, there is a spinning crystalline structure the size of the moon, more than 1,491 miles across.
In 2007, scientists discovered a giant mass of water as big as the Arctic Ocean, hundreds of miles beneath Eastern Asia.
Life forms (bacteria, archaea and fungi) have been found up to 2 miles below the earth's surface. No one knows if they exist at lower levels.
The Russians tried to drill a deep "Mohole", a hole through the Mohorovic Discontinuity, which is the layer that separates the crust from the upper mantle. The project was discontinued 19 years later, after drilling only 7.5 miles (they wanted to get to 10 miles). But the data they collected disproved many long held assumptions by geologists, so more questions were raised than answered. Even if the Russians had completed their hole, it would have examined only one four-hundredth of the distance to the center of the earth!
This is all very interesting, but neither modern science, nor the Bible, nor ancient myths and legends satisfied my quest for deeper answers about the connection between evil and inner earth. So I turned to spiritual science, as I usually do, because it so beautifully combines philosophy, art, science and religion, giving a much more comprehensive view.
Some years ago, I bought a book entitled "The Inner Life of the Earth, Exploring the Mysteries of Nature, Subnature and Supranature". The book is a compilation of seven modern writers with expertise in science, art, gardening, alchemy, geomancy, Christian astrology, eurythmy, anthroposophy and probably many other fields. It's a whale of a book. I've read it through two or three times, and refer to it often when researching various topics. Parts of it read like an epic fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, who, by the way, though a devout catholic who attended mass daily, was influenced by anthroposophy.
The seven authors approach this vast and complex topic from different viewpoints, but they all have the same starting point: that humans, of divine origin, were placed on earth to develop free will and love. And this is the reason for our dualistic world. In order to be truly free, individuals must have choices. Evil and good are intertwined in us and in our planet so that we can choose the path we want to take. If our world were perfect, without evil and error, we would all think and act one way because there would be no choice. The goal, of course, is perfection, but it must be won through long eons of development, trial and error and hard work.
The writers also agree that planet Earth is alive with countless spiritual beings, some of whom work against the Divine plan and try to lure humans away from truth and love. And it's plain to see that humanity's struggle with good and evil is perfectly mirrored in the earth. The subterranean spheres surge with powerful energies that can erupt and cause great destruction, just as our own subconscious can. Evil grows in the dark. The Wunks are down there, and they are in us.
Two powerful weapons against evil are knowledge and consciousness. The more knowledge we gain, the less vulnerable we are to untruths, fear and superstitions. Read, study, discuss, observe, ponder, ask questions. Listen to differing opinions and seek out sources of knowledge other than the main stream. Most of all keep an open mind. We are all students; we are all teachers. Practice being more and more conscious of your thoughts, feelings and actions. Consciousness illumines the dark corners where Wunks hide.
If you are a person who doesn't believe in higher powers; if you believe that when you die, you die, end of story, then maybe you don't feel the need to save ourselves and our planet. After all, what would be the point? But try as I may, I can't fathom how a force as powerful as love could possibly just happen from some random cells clumping together, forming a bit of grey matter and a beating heart. Spirit transforms matter, not the other way around.
Maybe you feel that God will wave His hand one day and wipe out all evil for us, so we don't need to concern ourselves.
I believe our future is entirely in our own hands. No one can save us but us. Will we pass the test? I can't help but feel a sense of urgency when I look at the world around me in these troubled times. Courage is needed, and faith. Here is a quote from the book I mentioned:
"A wise person once said that if you looked from space onto the dark Earth, you would see spots of light shining where individuals inwardly strive to overcome and transform evil forces emanating from the Earth, and that as long as this striving continues in a few places, humanity would be allowed to go on. When white magic triumphs, no more evil will remain on Earth." (David S. Mitchell)
