Local Legend: Lemurians of Mt. Shasta

Northern California's Mt. Shasta is an imposing presence in the landscape. A still active volcano it has, for the last 4500 years, erupted on average every 600 years- most recently about 200 years ago. Sulfurous hot springs and fumaroles rise to the surface of the mountain at a few locations and the mountain is continuously monitored by the US Geological Service for increasing activity because of a potential for a Mt. St. Helens type of eruption.

It is also, according to local legend, home to an ancient race of people who make their home inside the mountain, emerging occasionally to interact with humans.

The first account of Lemurians was a book written in 1866 by seventeen-year-old Fredrick Spencer Oliver titled "A Dweller on Two Planets." The book told of an ancient race of giants, well over seven feet tall all with flowing snow white hair who dress in pure white robes. The book probes various esoteric subjects including reincarnation, karma and Atlantis, the latter a place Lemurians had intimate knowledge of.

Oliver claimed that a disembodied spirit by the name of Phylos the Thibetan had dictated the book to him, a claim his parents supported. Their chief evidence in favor of this explanation was that they didn't believe their son was smart enough to have written it on his own - exhibit A: his crappy school grades. Obviously, the self-esteem movement hadn't yet begun.

The next contact claimant was Guy Warren Ballard, who insisted that in 1930 he had met a man he called St. Germaine on the slopes of Mt. Shasta who had instructed him in all things spiritual. In 1934 he published "Unveiled Mysteries" under the pen name Godfré Ray King.
The book would eventually become the basis for a religious group called "The I Am Activity" dedicated to teachings he claimed were revealed to him through a series of encounters over many years.

Though most dismissed Ballard's stories as self-serving, there are many in the area of the mountain who claim to have had experiences with Lemurians over the years.

David Childress, author of: "Lost Cities of North and Central America," notes that years ago stories were common around Mt. Shasta of very tall, exceptionally strong, white or blonde haired persons who occasionally appeared in town to trade gold dust and gold nuggets for other items. They supposedly wouldn't accept change when they paid for their purchases to think the gold rather unimportant.

Another account that emerged in the nineteen-thirties was that of a prospector named J.C. Brown. In 1904 he was employed by British mining firm, Lord Cowdray Mining. While in their employ, he later told friends, he had accidentally discovered a chamber in the side of the mountain filled with solid gold furnishings, jewelry and many other items. Since the find would have belonged to his employer he blasted the opening, re-covering it.

In 1934 he assembled a group to return to the mountain and find the treasure. On the appointed morning, though, he failed to show. Police questioned the group to find out if he had been conning them out of money. All insisted, however, that he had never taken a dime.

According to Native American lore the Mountain was home to Skell, who had descended from heaven and who imbued the springs at the base of the mountain with sacred healing properties. Native American stories also tell of an ancient land, Elam-Mu, once connected to California and extended out into the Pacific. According to these legends that land vanished into the ocean.

The creation myth of the Shasta people state that The Great Spirit used that mountain as a step to descend to Earth to create life. Then he took up residence in the Mountain.

Today, "The I Am Activity" still operates at the base of the mountain, as does a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. One fact remains: many people still regard the majestic Mt. Shasta as sacred.