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DARKNESS OVER TIBET MYSTIC TRAVELLER SERIES DARKNESS OVER TIBET T. ILLION Author of "In Secret Tibet" DARKNESS OVER TIBET Copyright 1937 Theodore Illion First published by Rider & Co. London. Printed in the United States of America This Printing: 199 1 ISBN 0-9328 13- 14-3 Published by Adventures Unlimited Press Box 22, Stelle, Illinois 609 19-9989 USA The Mystic Traveller Series: .IN SECRET TIBET by Theodore Illion (19 37) .DARKNESS OVER TIBET by Theodore Illion ( 1938) .TENTS IN MONGOLIA by Sven Haslund (1 934) .MEN AND GODS IN MONGOLIA by Sven Haslund (1935) .MYSTERY CITIES by Thomas Gann ( 19 25) .IN QUEST OF LOST WORLDS by Byron de Prorok (1937) INTRODUCTION: The German traveller Theodore Illion was one of the first travellers to penetrate Tibet while it was still sealed off from the outside. Illion, who spoke fluent Tibetan, had to disguise himself as a wandering Tibetan monk in order to escape detection, as it was illegal for any foreigner to be in Tibet. He began planning his trip in 1932 and left Germany in 1934. After several years of adventures and hairaising narrow escapes with death, he returned to Germany to write Ratfelhaftes Tibet, published in Hamburg in 1936. His books were quickly translated into English and published by Rider & Company in London: IN SECRET TIBET (1 937) & DARKNESS OVER TIBET (1938). DARKNESS OVER TIBET, is an extremely rare book. Illion made some chance acquaintances which led to contacts with wise men and black magicians. He then was invited to live and study in an underground city in central Tibet. His subsequent escape and hair-raising journies are classic travel writing of the 1930's. It is believed that Illion's accounts of Tibet were instrumental in persuading the Nazi government of Germany to send yearly expeditions into Tibet. The first volume, IN SECRET TIBET, recounts the first episodes of Illion's fascinating adventures in Central Asia. PREFACE IN my book in Secret Tibet I have given an outline of my recent journey to Tibet, showing how, passing through successive contacts with the Tibetan multitude and gangs of brigands, I finally succeeded in visiting Tibetan monasteries in the disguise of a native. After witnessing various marvels, such as the flying lamas and the Tibetan re*,* I reached the h a 1 stage of the journey in the most inaccessible part of the country where live the genuine Tibetan hermits, who can read people's thoughts and possess the strange power to maintain themselves young almost indefinitely. My talks with these wise men, whlch are recorded in my earlier book, reflect a certain degree of understanding of the vital problems of Life and Death, spiritual crimes, Salvation and Eternity, and many of my readers will have wondered h& the author arrived at a degree of understanding which made these spiritual contacts possible. Let me say, then, in this connection, that real understanding in s~iritualm atters is the result of much bitter Zghti&, of suffering, spiritual agony and soul passion. Life itself would have no meaning if there bas no fighting on all planes, if all wG smooth and monotonous. Everything fights in nature. Every plant fights to get more sunshine, * Peof le who can sit naked and motionless for several how during icily col nights without freezing to death. v P R E F A C E every animal fights for food ; the angel' themselves fight. Constant struggle on all planes to which it has access is the birthright of the creature. Woe to him who wants to put himself on a level with the Creator and escape fighting I I had bitter experiences too. On my travels I have met some of the highest spiritual entities incarnated in the flesh, and not only those working for the Creator but also those working against him. Even the fires of hell have their mission. They destroy man if he is weak, but if he is strong they purify by burning the dross away. This book supplements in Secret Tibet by showing a different side of the picture, a few Demons of Light and many Demons of the Shadow. It will help the reader to realize that spirituality actually is a very stormy ocean. The currents of life are inter- woven, and Good and Evil, Light and Shadow, are within a hairbreadth from each other. The existence of an Underground City in Tibet is occasionally hinted at by well-informed people in the forbidden country, although the stories are often extravagant and turn the Underground City, which I succeeded in entering, into a "Mighty Underground Empire inhabited by millions of people". Tibet becomes somewhat more accessible as the years roll by, and I am confident that eventually other explorers will confirm my description of the Underground City of Tibet. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE . 9 I. HUNTED BY TIBETAN BRIGANDS • . . 4 I 11. DEMONS DESCENDING 111. CHARMING MEMBERS OF AN OCCULT . . . 72 FRATERNITY IV. THE UNDERGROUND CITY OF THE . . . 9j INITIATES . . . . V. THE FLIGHT I j j Gods and Demons guard the main temple of Lhasa