Just getting a little bit back on track.... although far be it for me to stomp on such creative and diverse multi-dimensional conversation....
Back to XIV ART and VITRIOL.....
In my reading and research on Alchemy and Alchemists, I have found that the phrase "visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultum lapidem" was a common formula known amongst medieval & renaissance practitioners of spiritual alchemy. Not only does it point to the magical substance known as Vitriol (which of course, itself was an allegory for this phrase), but it also describes the seven steps or phases of the alchemical operation, ie the seven steps that one must go through in order to turn lead into gold, for example.
A good introductory book on the history and meaning of Alchemy is Dennis William Hauck's "The Emerald Tablet".
Of course, a lot of alchemical stuff was based on the hermetic texts, and there are numerous translations of the Hermetica out there. And of course, the philosophical links with the neoplatonism of Plotinus' "The Enneads" and the various gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi Library are also present.
So the Golden Dawn didn't 'invent' this clever little code - they were students of Alchemy after all!
And this is all allegory, this has to be stressed. The Alchemists of medieval times and onwards were primarily interested in perfecting themselves, using the parallel operations that perfect base matter into perfection.
There is no need to take such things literally, and believe that there is hidden tunnels and chambers in the Earth. It is all metaphor, and meant to be understood on such levels so that we create meaning for ourselves in order to perfect our own individual selves!!! After all, what lies hidden in the 'inner earth' of my soul will be vastly different to what is found in YOUR 'inner earth'.
To make assumptions that it points to secrets within THE Earth (the objective world rather than the subjective world) amounts to nothing but homogenity and enforcement of a singular truth, rather than the plurality and diversity of poly-culture. There are many truths, many people, many ways, many roads - not just One. The parallels to what certain parts of society would like to enforce on the rest of us is obvious.
I too am an Archaeology Major - and specifically a Major on Egyptology - and have to say that the notion of secret chambers is ludicrous. Don't get me wrong, the idea is romantic and much more interesting than the dry, academic truth. I mean, Indiana Jones would be as boring as bat-guano if we stuck to the literal truth of archaeology, wouldn't it? But by taking a different approach, and placing a 'Well of Souls' in the City of Tanis, we get an exciting and sexy adventure of good vs. evil.
There's nothing wrong with a little speculation - but let's not start believing our own fantasies - coz then we start to encroach on the realm of the 9 SWORDS: "Consciousness has fallen into a realm unenlightened by Reason. This is the world of the unconscious primitive instincts, of the psychopath, of the fanatic." (Crowly, Book of Thoth, p. 208)
So perhaps we should remember that literalism has no place in magic and spirituality - allegory and metaphor are a part of Art. Like Temperance, it speaks of not going to extremes. Walk the middle path between literalism and speculativism, between objectivity and subjectivity. Bring the two together in the correct measure, and you create something that is more than merely the sum of its parts!!! Remember that 2 things create the line, and what is the line other than merely the connection, the relationship between the 2 parts, that which holds the two parts together.... remember the (VI).... solve et coagula.... yin and yang.... that which binds us and guides us is what creates us....