Lost in Moon Pool

    Moon Pool is a pulp lost world novel published in 1919 written by A. Merritt. A scientist tells the story of his adventures in an underground civilization. While traveling on a boat in what is now Papua New Guina, several people are kidnapped. The scientist, Goodwin, and his group of men from around the world seek to find their missing wives and friends in this magical world. One of them is the half Irish/ half American O'Keefe who was a pilot in The World War and another is a Communist Russian. So, there are some interesting historical references. As I was reading, I noticed some occult references and decided to look into it more. 

    The use of the light from the moon is in itself an occult connection. The light of the full moon bouncing on the sea opens a portal allowing a spiritual entity to pass through. This Shining One kidnaps women and even a child sleeping in boats. There is another portal on island ruins that opens using moon light allowing other men to be lost. This is also how our heroes sneak in with the help of the "Handmaiden of the Silent Ones". 

The real Nan Madol

     Our heroes enter the portal at Nan Madol, a real archaeological site in Micronesia. Nan Madol is an ancient city of artificial islands linked by canals. It was once thought to be the remnants of the lost continent of either Lemuria or Mu. (They are actually only about 800 years old.) Merritt mentions this in Moon Pool through his main character, the scientist Goodwin, who tries to understand what happened to this civilization and what forced them to go underground. Another theory was that this is where part of the Earth broke off to create the Moon and that is why Moon beams open the portal to the inside. Ideas of Lost Civilizations with secret knowledge to be discovered were also part of the old occult groups. They believed that through forbidden magic a person could access the secret histories of these civilizations. 

    I first searched Hollow Earth Theory and had no idea what kind of rabbit hole I had started to dig. Apparently, there was a society in the 19th century that believed there was a lost civilization in the center of the Earth of superbeings who would one day take over the world. It started as a fictional novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1871 but was taken seriously in esoteric and occult circles like the Theosophists. You can see how those believing in a lost master race might twist it for political reasons. 

    After reading about the Vril Society, I decided to stop and get back to finishing the book I started. I have problems with my attention span and get easily sidetracked when reading books. I usually will end up with a stack of books before I finish the one. To snap myself out of it, I read what I call a "palate cleanser", the second book of the Bobiverse. I finished it in two days. My mind is focused again.