Underground Mysteries
and Rosicrucian Mysticism in Ancient Egypt

Various Relatively Holy Excerpts from:

The Symbolic Prophecy of the Great Pyramid
1936 by H. Spencer Lewis, F.R.C., Ph.D.,
First Imperator of the Rosicrucian Order
of North and South America
Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, San Jose, CA, USA

The two diagrammatic drawings shown in Chapter VII depict the relationship of the Great Pyramid to the two other nearby pyramids and the Sphinx, and indicate how these structures are connected with subterranean passageways leading not only to the pyramids and Sphinx, but to long-forgotten reception halls, small temples, and other enclosures.

These unusual drawings were made from secret manuscripts possessed by archivists of the mystery schools of Egypt and the Orient and are part of secret manuscripts telling of the ancient forms of initiations held in the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. The existence of these subterranean halls, such as the one beneath the Sphinx and indicated in the second diagram, and the passageways and other features, has been denied repeatedly by Egyptian and other authorities and even by eminent archaeologists and investigators from various parts of Europe. So persistent have been these denials that the claims of the representatives of the mystery schools have been looked upon by the public as pieces of fiction, deliberately invented and periodically whispered in order to mystify visitors to Egypt. In fact, the attitude of scientists is typified by the expression of one of them who said: "No one should pay any attention to the preposterous claims in regard to the interior of the Pyramid or the presumed passageways and unexcavated temples and halls beneath the sand in the Pyramid district made by those who are associated with the so-called secret cults or mystery societies of Egypt and the Orient. These things exist only in the minds of those who seek to attract the seekers for mystery and the more we deny the existence of these things, the more the public is led to suspect that we are deliberately trying to hide that which constitutes one of the great secrets of Egypt. It is better for us to ignore all of these claims than merely deny them. All of our excavations in the territory of the Pyramid have failed to reveal any underground passageways or halls, temples, grottos, or anything of the kind except the one temple adjoining the Sphinx."

It is well enough for these scientists and others to make such statements as the foregoing, but we must remember that many years ago they also claimed that there was no temple adjoining the Sphinx. The claim was made that every inch of the territory around the Sphinx and Pyramid had been explored deeply and thoroughly, yet some years later the underground temple adjoining the Sphinx was found and today it is open to the public. The scientists may have forgotten this incident but the public has not forgotten, and especially that portion of the public whose interest in the Pyramid and the Sphinx and the territory around them is just as keenly alive today as it ever was.

The claim was once made also by scientists that there was no courtyard or reception court between the paws of the Sphinx with an altar in its center and a great stone slab against the breast of the Sphinx on which was contained secret and cipher instructions. Yet within the past ten years that courtyard has been cleared once more of the sands and today the pavement of that courtyard and the altar in its center and the huge stone slab at the rear are open to the sunlight and the vision of all who stand around the Sphinx.

It is either untrue that in the past centuries every square foot of the territory around the Sphinx and Pyramid had been thoroughly explored with constant excavations, or such explorations have revealed certain things to the investigators who have quickly and deliberately covered up their excavations and concealed what they have found.

Since the main portion of this book dealing with the Pyramid was dictated, there has come into my hands a magazine edited in Egypt, and more or less privately published in London, dealing with Egypt and its explorations; and we find in this January, 1935, copy of the publication an article by Hamilton M. Wright dealing with the recent discoveries of the pyramid, accompanied with original photographs by the author, made with the permission of Dr. Selim Hassan. Dr. Hassan, a native of Egypt and one of those scientific investigators who does not take the word of others as law, has been conducting extensive excavations for the University of Cairo. In this recent publication he is quoted as saying:

"We have discovered a subway used by the ancient Egyptians of 5,000 years ago. It passes beneath the causeway leading between the second Pyramid and the Sphinx. It provides a means of passing, under the causeway, from the cemetery of Cheops, who built the first or Great Pyramid of Gizeh, to the cemetery of Chephren, who built the second Pyramid. From this subway we have unearthed a series of shafts leading down more than 125 feet, with roomy courts and side chambers."

Then the article goes on to describe the unearthing of the causeway between the temple of the second pyramid, on the plateau, and the temple of the Sphinx, immediately adjoining the Sphinx, which was unearthed a few years ago. But it states that the discovery of the new subway or passageway underneath the public causeway on top of the sands has occurred within the past three months.


The Mysterious Shaft Hidden in Plain Sight
The deep "elevator shaft" now covered
with a thick iron grate (left) is
located close to the rear of the Sphinx
between it and the middle Pyramid.
Surrounded by neck-high block walls, it
is approximately 20' x 20' by 100' deep,
all 4 perfectly straight walls of which
are lined with massive tunnel entrances.

Views of Two Sides of the Mysterious Shaft
Though all four walls of the shaft were punctuated by various tunnel openings at multiple levels, it
was quite difficult to obtain good photos as the location is frequented by bribe-hungry guards, the
shaft itself was covered by a think iron grate to prevent would-be spelunkers from any exploration
and the neck-high block walls themselves are a deliberate obstacle intended to discourage the
curious. Though the photos do not clearly show it, some of the tunnel entrances were filled with
haphazardly placed stones [previous childish attempts at obfuscation] and the shaft itself, though
still a good 100 feet deep, was much deeper at one time according to our friend who has lived in
the neighboring village of Nazlet-el-Samman all his life.

Dr. Hassan explains that the causeway was constructed at the same time that the second Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Chephren was built. He says that evidence he has unearthed leads him to believe it was constructed before the building of the Sphinx. Chephren or Khepren, or Kha-f-ra, was the third king of the 4th dynasty.

The new excavations now lead Dr. Hassan and others to believe that while the age of the Sphinx has always been an enigma in the past, it may have been a part of the great architectural plan that was deliberately arranged and carried out in the early erection of the Great Pyramid.

In 1909 the first subterranean temple near the Pyramids was found and a passageway between it and the Sphinx hitherto unknown was also discovered at the same time.

It should be noted by all students of mysticism and especially of Rosicrucian philosophy and teachings that the year 1909 was the year when more revelations of a mystical nature, and more incidents of the reawakening of the mystical spirit throughout the world as fostered and protected by the secret mystery schools, occurred than in any other year in recent centuries. It was in the year 1909 that many persons journeyed from various parts of the world to Europe and the Orient to secure permission for the reestablishment or reawakening of the Rosicrucian activities in various countries, and it was in the same year that many tombs of "Christian Rosenkreuz" were opened and many scientific discoveries leading to revelations pertaining to the mystery schools. The present cycle of the Rosicrucian Order in North America dates its authority from the year 1909, due to special high council meetings of international Rosicrucian mystics that were held in various cities in that year.

Rosicrucian Legends

Thus it was that although the Pyramid as a magnificent temple of initiation and ceremony rose to a sublime height in the land where all other structures were less impressive, still what went on within the Pyramid was carefully concealed and the idea that it might be a tomb was tolerated in the minds of the public while the secret entranceways were cleverly concealed and never revealed except to one who had proven worthy after sufficient test and trial. It is for this reason that the Pyramid, the Sphinx, and the adjoining structures were united by various underground passageways with entrances at various places unsuspected and not revealed to the public for many, many centuries.

[...]

"In addition to the secret passages, chambers, halls and other features of the main or central part of the Pyramid which were for centuries unknown and still constitute a mysterious study, there have been traditions for many years regarding the other passageways in the Pyramid or beneath it which have not yet been fully revealed, and the passageways that lead to the Pyramid from nearby points.


Another of the traditions was to the effect that a great movable stone or slab in front of the breast of the Sphinx, between it's paws, blocked the entranceway to a secret passage that ran beneath the Sphinx and beneath the sands to the center of the Great Pyramid, and that this long passageway was the secret ceremonial passageway from the outer court in front of the Sphinx to the rising passageways and chambers in the Pyramid itself.

Old stories told how this great stone with its symbolical writings, warnings, and laws for the initiate, would move mysteriously upon invisible hinges and open to the commands of candidates standing standing in the court, or in front of it, upon pronunciation of the proper word. Then the candidates with the official torch- bearer and guardian would enter the passageway chanting, and as the last note of the chant was sounded the great stone door would silently move to a closed position and the world was shut out again while the pilgrimage of initiates moved onward, toward the Pyramid, beneath the sands of the desert, hidden from all the world, and in a soundless passage that was significant of the early period of the universe when the world was without sound. Such stories, of course, have been rejected and scoffed at but they still persist.

[An interesting note here is that while in the neighboring village of Nazlet-el-Samman, we had the pleasure of drinking tea with a gentleman who was for forty some years the night watchman of the Sphinx. He recounted a tale in which an unidentified Rosicrucian gentleman some years back stood in front of the stele between the paws of the Sphinx and recited a chant of sorts, causing it to open up and reveal a large chamber beneath the Sphinx. Oddly, we did not encounter the above mention in this old Rosicrucian publication until after hearing the story personally. -B:.B:.]

Dr. Hassan's recent excavations have disclosed that this subterranean pathway is, as a matter of fact, a gigantic stone causeway, 22 meters wide and about 450 meters long. It connects the second pyramid to the Sphinx and to the temple of the Sphinx adjoining. Large numbers of men are still at work on the sandy slope between the second pyramid and the ancient Sphinx. Mr. Derwish, who is in charge of part of the excavations under the guidance of Dr. Hassan states:

"The causeway between the second pyramid is constructed of enormous blocks of localized stone and has three divisions of separate pathways. The middle pathway lies between two walls constructed of fine Turah limestone. These walls were roofed over as is proved by the remains of stones found here and there on the causeway. The reason that the subway was constructed was that the two walls above mentioned prevented passageway from the cemetery of Cheops to that of Chephren... The newly excavated subway was cut through hard sand rock and is about eight feet in height. Two or three people can easily walk abreast in it. In the center of the subway was the deep shaft of which Dr. Hassan has spoken...

"This newly excavated shaft is an enormous four-sided hole about eight feet each way leading straight down through the limestone like a mine shaft. This shaft ends in a spacious room, in the center of which is another shaft which descends to and ends in a roomy court flanked with seven side chambers, some of which contain huge sarcophagi of basalt and granite. In one of these seven rooms there was also cut down a third shaft ending in a side chamber, which is now flooded with water, but apparently contains a sarcophagus. We are hoping to find some monuments of importance after clearing out this water. The total depth of these series of shafts is more than 40 meters or more than 125 feet... In the course of clearing the southern part of the subway there was found a very fine head of a statue which is very expressive in every detail of the face."

We have seen a photograph of this statue and it appears to be in that same excellent form of sculpturing revealed in the famous bust of Nefertiti, and undoubtedly a sample of that rare type of art inaugurated in the Amenhotep regime.

A description of the chambers and rooms beneath the sands, connected by these secret passageways, reveals that there were inner courts and outer courts and a Chapel of Offering cut into one of the huge rocks with three pillars in its center. The three pillars representing a triangle are highly significant points in the study and analysis of the purpose of these underground chambers.

Another chamber, much like a burial chamber but undoubtedly a room of initiation and reception, was found at the end of a sloping passage, cut deep into the rock in the west side of the Chapel of Offering. In the center of this chamber was another large sarcophagus of white Turah limestone, and there were excellent examples of alabaster vessels found in the chamber.

The walls are beautifully painted and sculptured with scenes and inscriptions and the Lotus flower is an important emblem in the pictures. Other chambers were discovered with pillars in the center and in some of these were carved figures of a young woman in a beautiful gown, plainly indicating a ceremonial robe.

There are many magnificently carved figures in these various underground rooms and chapels, temples, and hallways, also many beautifully colored friezes. In examining the photographs of some of these we are deeply impressed with the improved form of the art, showing the distinctive characteristics of the period that followed Amenhotep's [i.e. the mysterious short-lived iconoclastic monotheistic pharaoh Akhenaton -B:.B:.] mystical reawakening of Egypt.

An Holy B:.B:. Adept
 .:. prepareth for further initiation .:.
The foregoing facts are but a few of the many contained in Dr. Hassan's latest report. They verify in part at least the things indicated on the two diagrams shown in this book and undoubtedly the passing of time will verify other parts of these diagrams. So once again the strange drawings, manuscripts, and writings of the mystery schools which claimed to preserve the ancient knowledge of Egypt and other lands, rise to another degree of acceptability. Despite all that has been said by former explorers and excavators, the truth appears to be that every foot of the territory around the Pyramid and the Sphinx has not been explored previously because Dr. Hassan and his associates have just recently taken out of these underground temples, halls, and passageways rare specimens of art, rare relics of various kinds, a few of which we hope to have in the Rosicrucian museum in the very near future. If these things, passageways, and underground halls and temples, had been discovered in the past and then secretly covered up again to prevent us from learning the truth, the explorers would not have hesitated to bring to light the rare relics that remained in them, for these things represent the most precious gifts that Egypt has to offer to the museums of the world and which every scientist and explorer is justified in bringing to light.

Those skeptics and doubters who look with distrust upon all books dealing with the Pyramid from the mystical point of view, and who believe that the Rosicrucians and others do not possess any knowledge not possessed by the eminent excavators and explorers of the past, may realize now that not half the truth has been told about the Great Pyramid and its environs and what has been revealed by the mystery schools is more than likely to be verified in the near future.