I bet this, or something very similar is indeed what secret societies like the Masons have in their occult ideology the symbolism they use is consistent with that, but the initiates would have little idea. The kind of stuff I'm mentioning would become more prevalent the further up the 33 degrees of Masonry that people go. Except now they have the problem that the beans have been spilled, albeit with a lot of red herring distractions to make it less coherent.
These ideas are certainly ancient. Many people have written about the civilisation under the Earth, called "Agartha". The Buddhist version is "that Agartha was first colonized thousands of years ago when a holy man lead a tribe to the underground. The people have scientific knowledge and expertice far beyond that of the people who live on the surface of the planet. "
India:"The Ramayana one of the most famous texts of India, tells the story of the great avatar, Rama. It describes Rama as "an emissary from Agartha" who arrived on an air vehicle. "
"In India there is an ancient belief, still held by some, in a subterranean race of serpent people who dwell in the cities Patala and Bhogavati. According to the legend, they wage war on the kingdom of Agharta. "The Nagas," according to "The Deep Dwellers," "are described as a very advanced race or species, with a highly-developed technology. They also harbor a disdain for human beings, whom they are said to abduct, torture, interbreed with and even to eat."
http://www.crystalinks.com/agartha.html
"Quetzalcoatl was the god connected to the Aztecs and Toltecs.
Legend has it that he vanished on a flying saucer
for eight days when he visited the inner worlds."
Some facts that support these fantastic ideas are that the Germans, during the 3rd Reich, called the area of the South Pole where some of them thought the entrance to the underground civilisation "Agartha", is "Neuschwabenland".
Worth knowing about is "the surrender, in 1945, at Mar del Plata, Argentina, of a German submarine, U-530. This surrender is also covered in Reich of the Black Sun by Joseph P. Farrell. Grand Admiral Karl Donitz is reported to have stated, in 1943, that "the German submarine fleet is proud of having built for the Fuhrer, in another part of the world, a Shangri-La on land, an impregnable fortress." Later, at the Nuremberg trials, Admiral Donitz boasted of "an invulnerable fortress, a paradise-like oasis in the middle of eternal ice."
Also, it is undisputed that US Admiral Richard E Byrd did a few expeditions in the South Pole regarding checking out the German claims.
"In 1946, the U.S. government proceeded with urgency to launch a military expedition to Antarctica: "Operation Highjump." The operation was commanded by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd. The expedition "encircled the German claimed territory of Neuschwabenland (New Schwabialand)." Following aerial reconnaisance by Byrd and others, in which four escort craft vanished, the project was abruptly halted. "Byrd was returned to Washington DC, debriefed, and his personal and operational logs remain classified to this day..." (Farrell, op. cit.)
"But before the apparent clampdown, odd reports appeared briefly, for example in the Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio. Farrell, in his book, reproduces a photostat of the article, dated March 5, 1947, by Lee van Atta, who had accompanied Byrd. A portion of the article is translated as follows: "Byrd announced to me today that it is necessary for the United States to put into effect defensive measures against enemy airmen which come from the polar regions. The Admiral further explained that he did not have the intention to scare anyone but the bitter reality is that in case of a new war the United States would be in a position to be attacked by flyers which could fly with fantastic speed from one pole to another."
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/MountMad.html