©1999 Jay Weidner and Vincent Bridges
Republished with permission of Jay Weidner.
When Pizarro learned of the Inca in 1526, by intercepting a strange craft far out on the western ocean loaded with golden and silver trade objects, the throne of Tawantinsuyu was occupied by the eleventh Inca since the unification of the four quarters, Wayna Qhapaq. He was crowned in 1493, the year a corrupt Pope divided the New World between the Spanish and the Portuguese, and lived out his long and illustrious reign in blissful ignorance of history’s ticking clock. When word reached him of the strangers probing the borders of his empire, The Inca was in Quito consolidating his conquest of what is now Equador and thinking of pushing on into Colombia. And then, the Spaniards’ secret weapon struck.
The pandemic that devastated Mexico and central America arrived, either with Pizarro or overland through Columbia, and burst upon the 20 million inhabitants of the Inca empire with lethal effect. Half the population died, including The Inca. Pachakuti Yamki, an Inca noble writing a century later, described The Inca’s vision. “And when he turned to the sea with his entourage, there were seen at midnight, as if surrounding him, a million people living souls (of those) about to die in the pestilence ” Soon after this word of the Spaniards’ arrival reached Quito and the court began to die. Wayna Qhapaq and his son and heir died within a few days.
Had it not been for this plague, Pizarro would have faced a united and powerful foe with a wily and battle tested King at the helm. It is unlikely that he would have made much of a showing with only 200 men, even armed with muskets, against such might as the Inca empire had just fielded in Equador. But The Inca was far from the center, and disaster occurred. After the plague, to compound the problem, fighting broke out between the Inca’s two surviving sons. Waskhar, in control of Cusco and Atawallpa in the north, fought it out for the succession while the Spaniards moved into the valley of Peru and built settlements.
Atawallpa, after he had established himself on the throne, investigated the Spaniards settlement and concluded that they posed little problem. In the old days of the Inca, this might have been true.
But Atawallpa chose to negotiate with the barbarians and so was captured and held for ransom. When the Spaniards saw the amount of gold available to The Inca, they killed him, launched a palace revolt and marched on Cusco in the name of Atawallpa’s son Manku. The Spaniards played on the divisions caused by the civil war, which along with disease had decimated the army. By 1533, they were in control of Cusco. Their puppet ruler Manku revolted in 1536, but by then it was too late. Too many Spaniards and too many guns, faced by a declining population and a disorganized army, led to final disaster. Manku retreated to Machu Pichu, far into the Andes and formed his own Neo-Inca state which survived for another two centuries.
The Inca mined the gold Pizarro coveted in the Andes and used it in ceremonial ornaments and to line the walls of their palaces. They also coated their great religious centers with large plates of pure gold. The most famous of these was of course located in Cusco. The original building has disappeared and a cathedral has been rebuilt over the old Inca foundation. In fact most of the city of Cusco is built on Inca foundations that are hundreds of years old. With no mortar or concrete, these people were able to build stone edifices that have stood the test of time.
The cathedral, called Santa Domingo, is a decrepit and dark place. The old temple/palace, which once occupied the same spot was called the “Temple of the Sun” or Coricancha in the Inca language. The magnificent building that this cathedral replaced can only be imagined now. It’s walls were coated with thick plates of gold. The stories say that a huge circular object of pure gold called “The Disk of the Sun” sat in its center. This disk was said to represent the central sun of the cosmos, and was many inches thick, covered with many precious jewels. It is said that when it reflected the light of the sun, it transformed it. The Inca believed that the light became so pure that the people in the Temple were physically transformed.
The original Inca temple was much bigger than the cathedral that occupies the present spot. Once, the Temple of the Sun, as it was known, was connected to the Temple of the Moon and the nearby complex of Sacsayhuaman by a series of underground tunnels.
After the conquest Pizarro heard rumors from the remaining Inca that there was a vast subterranean tunnel system under the Andes. He had heard from the Indians that these tunnels were filled with gold and jewels hidden by Atawallpa’s Queen. And, the Inca Queen had successfully hidden all of the tunnel openings from the Spanish.
Cieza de Leon states in his Chronicle of Peru written in 1555:
“If, when the Spaniards entered Cusco they had not committed other tricks, and had not so soon executed their cruelty in putting Atahualpha to death, I do not know how many great ships would have been required to bring such treasures to old Spain, as is now lost in the bowels of the earth and will remain so because those who buried it are now dead”.
Perhaps the most aggravating part about any examination of the history of Peru is that it is all written by the Spanish. The Inca people never really got much of a chance to preserve their culture. Pizarro and his band of men were brilliant at the goals of genocide, murder and treachery. The voices of the Inca have been stilled and their secrets forgotten in the sudden strike of Spanish sword, gun and horse.
But the rumors of vast tunnels persists, inflamed by the legends of lost Inca gold, and perhaps even the Disk of the Sun itself, that lies waiting to be found in some cave in the Andes
Although her trip is much in dispute, Madame Blavatsky claimed that she went to Peru in the mid 1800’s. On her trip, she met a mysterious Italian who knew many of Peru’s secrets. Through a complex series of petroglyphs and other signs this Italian had found one of the entrances to the infamous Peru/Inca tunnel system. He had also made a detailed map of the tunnels, as he claimed to have walked the entire system. According to the Madame, she and the Italian visited the tunnels. This is what she has to say:
“When Cusco was the capital of Peru, it contained a Temple of the Sun, famed far and near for it’s magnificence. It was roofed with thick plates of gold, and the walls were covered with the same precious metal; the eave-troughs were also of solid gold. In the west wall the architects had contrived an aperture in such a way that when the sunbeams reached it, it focused them inside the building. Stretching like a golden chain from one sparkling point to another, they encircled the walls, illuminating the grim idols, and disclosing certain mystic signs at other times invisible. It was only by understanding these hieroglyphics – identical with those which may be seen to this day on the tomb of the Incans – that one could learn the secret of the tunnel and it’s approaches. Among the latter was one in the neighborhood of Cusco, now masked beyond discovery. This leads directly into an immense tunnel which runs from Cusco to Lima, and then, turning southward, extends into Bolivia. At a certain point it is intersected by a Royal Tomb. Inside this sepulchral chamber are cunningly arranged two doors; or, rather, two enormous slabs which turn upon pivots, and close so tightly as to be only distinguishable from the other portions of the sculptured walls by secret signs, whose key is in the possession of the faithful custodians. One of the turning slabs covers the southern mouth of the Liman tunnel – the other, the northern one of the Bolivian corridor.”
The tunnel system supposedly travels underground for hundreds of miles. Who built it remains a mystery. Madame Blavatsky says that the tunnels are shaped like a trapezoid in that they have a peak on the top of the ceiling that then slope downwards as the walls widen. She drew a map from memory of the one that her Italian friend possessed. It is supposedly still in the Theosophical Library in India – although a recent inquiry disclosed that the map is now missing.
It is interesting that shape of the tunnels is very close to the shape of those peculiar ‘A’s’ in panel four of the pedestal on the cross at Hendaye. This is also the same panel that Paul Mevryl associates with caves. Panel four of de Ayala’s Inca symbols also features caves in the mountains near Cusco. We knew we were closing in the place of refuge. It only remained to find it on the ground.
The city of ancient Cusco is laid out in the shape of a Puma, which is a South American mountain lion. The main part of the old city lies within the animal’s torso but the face of the Puma and the nose are both part of the Sacsayhuaman complex which towers high above the city. The eternal giant stonework of Sacsayhuaman echoes down through the centuries. What is left today tells only a tiny part of the story of these magnificent monuments and the unknown people who built them. The complex at Sacsayhuaman must have been huge at one time. Here ancient plumbing and foundations for buildings can be seen. But it is only in the mind’s eye that one can reconstruct the magnificence of this center. There are several tunnel openings in the complex. But they appear to have been sealed up about 20 to 30 feet in. In his book Jungle Paths and Inca Ruins, Dr. William Montgomery McGovern writes about Sacsayhuaman:
“Near this fortress (Sacsayhuaman) are several strange caverns reaching far into the earth. Here altars to the Gods of the Deep were carved out of the living rock, and the many bones scattered about tell of the sacrifices which were offered up here.”
There are caves – just as the inscription on the Cross at Hendaye suggests – in the cliffs above Sacsayhuaman, at one of the highest places above Cusco. Although they are natural, it is obvious that major parts of the interior of the caves have been carved out by humans. Not much is known about these caves except that the Quechua have used them for ancient ceremonies for centuries. No one knows who carved these caves, and as far as we can tell, no one has done any archeological study of them. They could very likely be safety zones from an ancient catastrophe.
The area around the caves is as interesting as the caves themselves. Nearby are the ancient remains of a small city. This extremely old site is sculpted and carved in such a way as to reveal that it was once an incredibly beautiful ceremonial or spiritual center. Avenues and the foundations of buildings are laid out on the ground. Water pipes made of clay, for plumbing, are still visible.
Less obvious are the number of sculpted animal effigies that have been carved into the rocks. The figures of Snakes, Pumas and Monkeys are still discernible despite the erosion. These carvings and statues are so old that many of the features have disappeared under the forces of wind and rain. Only faint traces of this once magnificent site remains.
The Cross at Hendaye, which is over three thousand miles and a vast ocean away, points to a cave in Cusco, Peru. Once the trek is made and enough questions are asked among the local Quechua population, this fabulous and forgotten site becomes more interesting. One has to wonder if the caves aren’t a homage, or tribute, to the people who used them to survive the great catastrophe. Are they the ones who built the gigantic tunnel system that allegedly runs under the Andes?
One thing is for sure. The inscription on the Cross points to a cave in Cusco, Peru. And these caves of Cusco do exist. And it is also true that these same caves are held sacred by the local remnants of the Inca Indians by virtue of the large piles of melted ceremonial candle wax that is found everywhere inside the caves. Our guide, a local Quechua, told us that there are many ceremonies in these caves at night. He also said that the caves, although unknown to foreign tourists, are quite well known to the Quechua people. Many of the local Indians make pilgrimages to these caves at least once a year.
When he was asked why these caves were so important, he shrugged his shoulders and said: “White people do not care for the Earth in the same way that we do. When we grow our food, we always ask mother earth for help. These caves are inside our mother. They are closer to her soul. So we go there to talk to her and to ask for her help.”
Several of our questions are answered by the discovery of these caves. They are very old, they still hold a deep significance to the local people and they are in old Cusco, that is the Cusco that is shaped like a Puma. In fact, the caves and the ceremonial complex are near the tip of the nose of the Puma, as if the animal was pointing his entire body at them. This suggest Mevryl’s Cat-Man’s breath image which he attributes to Katmandhu in Nepal. It actually fits the pattern on the ground in Cusco much more closely.
It is also possible that if the caves referred to in the Latin inscription are not these caves above Cusco, then they are a sign post pointing towards the infamous secret tunnel system that supposedly runs under the Andes. If this is so, then we will have to wait until someone finds an opening to the legendary tunnel system. As far as could be discerned, the openings, if there are any, are forever covered up. They will likely never be opened again, no matter what Madame Blavatsky found.
But we still had one clue from the Hendaye Cross to check. The inscription, and Dr. del Prado, had told us of a strange cross at Urcos, about 20 miles south of Cusco. The last piece of the mystery was the secret of this second Cross.
Urcos is a small and poverty-stricken town in the Andes, remembered by history only for its role in Manku Inca’s rebellion. Every Sunday the local farmers make their way down the steep mountain paths with sacks of freshly picked fruits, vegetables and coca leaves to sell at the outdoor market. There is a beautiful mountain lake next to the town. The cross at Urcos sits at the mouth of this body of water, appropriately called Lake Urcos.
No one knows who built the cross at Urcos. It is prominently displayed, sitting on top of a 15 foot high stone hill-like construct. One must walk up the sides of the steep construct to reach the cross which sits on top. However, the cross that can be seen now in Urcos is not the original one that sat on the promontory.
In perhaps the most heart breaking part of this investigation, we found that the old cross at Urcos was missing. The only thing left was its base to which a newer cross had been affixed. The base of the old cross is extremely eroded and must be centuries old. The new cross is recent, perhaps less than 50 years old, and unadorned. No one knows how the old cross was broken or who took it away.
The locals say that there has always been a cross there. They say that the symbol of the cross was extremely important to their culture. Indeed crosses, as we saw in the imagery of the Four United Quarters, were a key concept in Inca tradition.
However, the information – if there was any – on the cross at Urcos has been destroyed. One has to wonder if the re-publication of Mystery of the Cathedrals with the additional chapter on the Cross at Hendaye could have hurried the destruction of the cross at Urcos. Judging from the erosion, this new cross is very recent. Could someone have discovered the secret at Hendaye and gone to Urcos? Then destroyed the path behind them by getting rid of the cross?
It is very likely that the caves found above Cusco are the caves referred to in the inscription on the Hendaye Cross. If the Andean tunnel system does exist it may be integral to understanding the importance of the inscription and the secret of the apocalypse.
There have been rumors in occult circles for at least a hundred years back that there is a secret school of philosophers and sacred scientists somewhere in the Andes mountains. George Hunt Williamson came out with a strange book written in the 1960’s called Secret of the Andes. In this curious volume, Williamson describes meeting an enlightened school of advanced masters living somewhere in the Andes. The group was known as the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays. They claimed to be an ancient society that was devoted to protecting the secrets of the ages.
Author and adventurer David Hatcher Childress has studied these rumors and believes them to be true. He claims that he has actually been inside the massive Andean tunnel system. There are even rumors that Fulcanelli joined the great inventor Marconi in the Andes mountains in the mid 1930’s. These rumors say that the two geniuses felt that the world was slipping into fascism and they wanted no part of it, especially when it came to creating weapons from their own research and work. This turn of events in the modern world did not set well, and so they joined forces and went to Peru. They founded a secret school devoted to Sacred Science and alchemy. Childress goes so far as to say that UFO technology may have come out of this school. Far from being created off-planet, these flying devices may have been invented by this group of renegade scientists. According to Jacques Valle, a noted UFO researcher, most of the UFO’s reported in the world originate in South America.
There are many stories around Cusco of mountain travelers and backpackers stumbling upon strange white men in weird robes. One has to wonder if the original cross at Urcos was not pointing towards this school. Is it possible that the great secret was that once you had successfully deciphered the Hendaye Cross it would send you to Peru? Once in Urcos, the student would then find this cross which very likely had symbols engraved on it that would give further information.
One obvious effect of the inscription on the Cross at Hendaye is that many people interested in symbols and the occult would translate it and then head off to Peru. This group of chilaists, or believers in the coming apocalypse, if they are still active in the Andes, would then sift through the many travelers and visitors and contact those that they thought worthy. In this way, they would be slowly gathering a group of enlightened souls from around the world into one spot. With the knowledge of the secret tunnel system, this group of seekers would be safe even during a disaster of celestial magnitude. This group of self-elected souls would be the cultural, spiritual and physical seeds for the world to come. The Latin inscription is attempting to tell the few who will understand to come to Peru and become part of the coming Golden Age.
Much more research is going to have to be done in order to fully understand what happened in the past in this strange country or whether it plays a part in the future. It could very well be that this is the only land where the catastrophe does not reach, as Fulcanelli says. The tunnel systems, the caves, secret schools for initiates, missing crosses and much more can only give tantalizing hints at what may lie at the root of what really happened in Peru. If it is the refuge for the next catastrophe, then that might help explain Hitler’s trip to Hendaye in 1940.
It might also explain the numerous towns dotting the Andes that are occupied by German nationals. They have been moving to Argentina, Peru and Bolivia since the end of World War II. Maybe Hitler’s visit to Hendaye in 1940 wasn’t really about an alliance with Franco. Maybe it was to confirm what the cross was saying. The politics of the Apocalypse were then shifting towards Germany. Maybe this little trip to the south of France actually paved the road for the Germans to begin moving to the Andes.
Maybe they know something that the rest of us do not. At least until now.