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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/39414-8.txt b/39414-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55e819f --- /dev/null +++ b/39414-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4492 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Masculine Cross, by Anonymous + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Masculine Cross + A History of Ancient and Modern Crosses and Their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship; Also an Account of the Kindred Phases of Phallic Faiths and Practices + + +Author: Anonymous + + + +Release Date: April 10, 2012 [eBook #39414] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASCULINE CROSS*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 39414-h.htm or 39414-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39414/39414-h/39414-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39414/39414-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/masculinecrossor00lond + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + The original text includes Greek characters. For this + text version these letters have been replaced with + transliterations. + + The original text contains two symbols that are + represented in this version as [symbol]. + + + + + +THE MASCULINE CROSS. + + +[Illustration: _God Indra Nailed to a Cross._] + +[Illustration: _Buddhist Cross._] + +[Illustration: _Cross Common on Ancient Assyrian Monuments._] + +[Illustration: _Ancient Heathen,--Mexican Cross._] + + +THE MASCULINE CROSS + +Or +A History of Ancient and Modern Crosses and +Their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship +Also an Account of the Kindred Phases of +Phallic Faiths and Practices. + + + + + + + +Privately Printed +1904. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + THE CROSS 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + THE CROSS (Continued) 23 + + + CHAPTER III. + THE DOCTRINE OF A SACRED TRIAD 42 + + + CHAPTER IV. + THE DOCTRINE OF A SACRED TRIAD (Continued) 63 + + + CHAPTER V. + THE GOLDEN CALF OF AARON 79 + + + CHAPTER VI. + CIRCUMCISION 91 + + + CHAPTER VII. + ANDROGYNOUS DEITIES, SEX WORSHIP, &C. 100 + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +_In the following pages certain things supposed to be of comparatively +modern origin have been traced back to the remotest historic ages of the +world; as a consequence, it follows that the modern symbolical meaning +given to such things is sometimes only one acquired in subsequent times, +and not that exactly which was originally intended,--it must not be +supposed, therefore, that the interpretation belonging to the epoch in +which we are first enabled to trace a definite meaning is to be +conclusively regarded as that which gave birth to the form of the symbol. +The original may have been--probably was--very different to what came +after; the starting point may have been simplicity and purity, whilst the +developments of after years were degrading and vicious. Particularly so +was this the case in the Lingam worship of the vast empire of India; +originally the adoration of an Almighty Creator of all things, it became, +in time, the worship of the regenerative powers of material nature, and +then the mere indulgence in the debased passions of an abandoned and +voluptuous nature._ + +_With regard to the symbol of the Cross, it may be repugnant to the +feelings of some to be told that their recognition of its purely Christian +origin is a mistake, and that it was as common in Pagan as in more +advanced times; they may find consolation, however, in the fact that its +real beginning was further back still in the world's history, and that +with Paganism it was, as it had been with Christianity, simply an adopted +favourite._ + +_Our story is taken up in the middle epoch of the history, and shews the +relationship of the things we deal with to prevailing phallic faiths and +practices._ + + + + +THE MASCULINE CROSS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + _Universal prevalence of the Cross--Mistakes--The Cross not of + Christian Origin--Christian Veneration of the Cross--The Roman + Ritual--The Cross equally honoured by the Gentile and Christian + Worlds--Druidical Crosses--The Copt Oak of Charnwood Forest--Assyrian + Crosses in British Museum--Pectoral Crosses--Egyptian Crosses--Greek + Cross--St. Andrew's Cross--Planetary Signs and Crosses--Monogram of + Christ at Serapis--Cross in India--Pagodas in form of + Crosses--Mariette Bey's Discovery--Buddhist and Roman Crosses--Chinese + Crosses--Kampschatkan Crosses--American Crosses--Cross among the Red + Indians--The Royal Commentaries of Peru--Mexican Ideas relative to the + Cross--The Spaniards in America--Sign of the Cross--Cross as an + Amulet--Hot-cross Buns--Tertullian on the Use of the Cross._ + + +The universal prevalence of the cross as an ornament and symbol during the +last eighteen centuries in the Christian church has led to some great, if +not grave, mistakes. It has been supposed, and for various obvious reasons +very naturally so, to be of exclusively Christian origin, and to represent +materially no more than the instrument by which the founder of that +religion was put to death; and, spiritually or symbolically, faith in the +sacrificial atoning work he then completed. There are not a few people +about who, having become imbued with this idea, rush to the hasty +conclusion that wherever the cross is found, and upon whatever monuments, +it indicates a connection with Christianity, and is therefore of +comparatively modern origin. History, in consequence, becomes a strange +and unfathomable mystery, especially when it belongs to kingdoms of +well-known great antiquity, amongst whose symbols or ornaments the cross +is plentiful, and the mind finds itself involved in a confusion from which +it cannot readily extricate itself. Never was there a greater blunder +perpetrated, or a more ignorant one, than the notion of the figure of the +cross owing its origin to the instrument of Christ's death, and the +Christian who finds comfort in pressing it to his lips in the hour of +devotion or of trouble must be reminded that the ancient Egyptian did a +similar thing. + +The fact is, there is great similarity between the cross worship, or +veneration if you please, of ancient and modern times. Christians, we +know, are apt to repudiate the charge of rendering worship to this symbol, +but it is clear from what is printed in some of their books of devotion +that some sort of worship is actually rendered, though disguised under +other names. As to the veneration thus offered being right or wrong, we +here say nothing; the fact only concerns us so far as it relates to the +subject we have in hand. + +If we open the _Tablet_ (Roman Catholic newspaper) for the 26th of +November, 1853, we read:--"Those of our readers who have visited Rome +will, doubtless, have remarked, at the foot of the stairs which descend +from the square of the Capitol to the square of the Campo Vaccino, under +the flight of steps in front of the Church of St. Joseph, and over the +door of the Mamertine prison, a very ancient wooden crucifix, before which +lamps and wax tapers are constantly burning, and surrounded on all sides +with exvotos and testimonies of public thanksgiving. No image of the +crucified Saviour is invested with greater veneration.... The worship +yielded to the holy crucifix of Campo Vaccino is universal at Rome, and is +transmitted from generation to generation. The fathers teach it to the +children, and in all the misfortunes and all the trials of life the first +idea is almost always to have recourse to the holy crucifix, the object of +such general veneration, and the source of so many favours. It is, above +all, in sickness that the succour of the holy image is invoked with more +confidence and more eagerness.... There are few families in Rome who have +not to thank the holy crucifix for some favour and some benefit.... In the +interval of the sermons and other public exercises of devotion the holy +crucifix, exposed on the high altar in the midst of floods of light, saw +incessantly prostrated before it a crowd of adorers and suppliants.... As +soon as the holy image of the Saviour had appeared on the Forum, the Holy +Father advanced on the exterior flight of steps of the church to receive +it, and when the shrine had arrived at the base of the stairs of the +Church of San Luca, at some paces from the flight of steps on which the +Holy Father stood, in rochet, stole, and pallium of red velvet, he bowed +before the holy crucifix and venerated it devoutly." + +In harmony with this, the Missal supplies us with prayers and hymns in the +service for Good Friday, addressed directly to the cross. + +"We adore Thy cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify Thy holy +resurrection; for by the wood of the cross the whole world is filled with +joy." + + "O faithful cross, O noblest tree, + In all our woods there is none like thee. + No earthly groves, no shady bowers + Produce such leaves, such fruit, such flowers. + Sweet are the nails and sweet the wood, + Which bore a weight so sweet and good." + + "O lovely tree, whose branches bore + The royal purple of His gore, + How glorious does thy body shine, + Supporting members so divine. + Hail, cross! our hope, on thee we call + Who keep this paschal festival; + Grant to the just increase of grace, + And every sinner's guilt efface." + +There is something unusually remarkable about the popularity of the cross; +we can hardly point to a time when, or to a part of the world where, it +has not been in favour. It has entered into the constitution of religions +of the most opposite character, has been transmitted from one to another, +and though originally belonging to the rudest form of pagan idolatry, is +now esteemed highly by those who profess to have adopted the loftiest +ideal of civilised worship. After mentioning the fact of its popularity in +the pagan world, Mr. Maurice remarks: "Let not the piety of the Catholic +Christian be offended at the preceding assertion, that the cross was one +of the most usual symbols among the hieroglyphics of Egypt and India. +Equally honoured in the Gentile and the Christian world, this emblem of +universal nature--of that world to whose four quarters its diverging radii +pointed--decorated the hands of most of the sculptured images in the +former country, and in the latter stamped its form upon the most majestic +shrines of their deities." + +Here we may profitably glance at a few different parts of the world and at +some of the past ages, in tracing out the possible origin and meaning of +this symbol. In Britain there have been found monuments so ancient and +with such surroundings that but for certain peculiar marks they would +unhesitatingly have been put down as Druidical. They are marked with the +cross, and in the estimation of some, as we have already pointed out, that +is regarded as conclusive proof of Christian origin. The inference, +however, is a false one, the monuments are too old for Christianity, and +the cruciform etchings upon them belong to another religious system +altogether. It is known that the Druids consecrated the sacred oak by +cutting it into the shape of a cross, and so necessary was it regarded to +have it in this form, that if the lateral branches were not large enough +to construct the figure properly, two others were fixed as arms on either +side of the trunk. The cross having been thus constructed, the Arch-Druid +ascended and wrote the name of the Deity upon the trunk at the place of +intersection, and on the extremities of the arms. + +The peculiar interest attached to this idol lies in the fact that it is +described by the best authorities as the Gallic or Celtic Tau. "The Tau," +says Davies in his _Celtic Researches_, "was the symbol of the Druidical +Jupiter. It consisted of a huge grand oak deprived of all its branches, +except only two large ones which, though cut off and separated, were +suspended from the top of its trunk-like suspended arms." The idol, say +others, was in reality a cross, the same in form as the linga. + +A few years ago, near the hill of Bardon, in the middle of Charnwood +forest, in the county of Leicester, there grew and perhaps still grows, a +very old tree called the Copt Oak. This tree, there is reason to believe, +was more than two thousand years old, and once formed a Celtic Tau. Forty +years ago, a writer who knew the tree well, said that its condition then +suggested very distinctly the possibility of the truthfulness of the +story. It was described as a vast tree, then reduced to a mere shell +between two and three inches only in thickness, perforated by several +openings, and alive only in about one-fourth of the shell; bearing small +branches, but such as could not have grown when the tree was entire; then +it must have had branches of a size not less than an oak of ordinary +dimensions. This was evident from one of the openings in the upper part of +the shell of the trunk, exactly such as a decayed branch would produce. +The tree was evidently of gigantic size in its earlier days, as shown by +its measurement at the date we are speaking of. The remains of the trunk +were twenty feet high, the height proper for the Tau, and the +circumference at the ground was twenty-four feet; at the height of ten +feet the girth was twenty, giving a diameter of nearly seven feet. This +tree, we have said, was called the Copt Oak; the epithet copt, or copped, +may be derived from the Celtic _cop_--a head, and evidently indicates that +the tree had been headed and reduced to the state of a bare trunk. The +idol, as already described, was formed by cutting away the branches of the +tree, which was always a large one, and affixing a beam, forming a cross +with the bare trunk.[1] + +From time immemorial the Copt Oak has borne a celebrity that bears out the +tradition of its ancient sacredness. Potter, the historian of the forest +of Charnwood, writes that it was one of the three places at which +Swanimotes were held, always in the open air, for the regulation of rights +and claims on the forest; and persons have been known even in late times +to have attended such motes. "At this spot," he says, "it may be under +this tree, Edric the Forester is said to have harangued his forces against +the Norman invasion; and here too, in the Parliamentary troubles of 1642, +the Earl of Stamford assembled the trained bands of the district." "These +facts," says Dudley, "mark the Copt Oak extraordinary, and show, that +notwithstanding the lapse of two thousand years, the trunk was at that +distant period a sacred structure, a Celtic idol; and that it is +illustrative of antiquarian records." + +Still further back in history than the foregoing are we able to trace this +singular figure. If we visit the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum +we shall observe life-size effigies in stone of the kings Samsi-Rammanu, +B.C. 825, and Assur-Nazir-Pal, B.C. 880; suspended from the necks of these +monarchs and resting upon their breasts are prominently sculptured Maltese +crosses about three inches in length and width; they are in a good state +of preservation, and will amply repay anyone for the trouble of an +inspection, should they be desirous of pursuing this enquiry. In the Roman +Catholic dictionaries we find these ornaments described as pectoral +crosses--crosses of precious metal worn at the breast by bishops and +abbots as a mark of their office, and sometimes also by canons, etc., who +have obtained the privilege from Rome. It is stated these pectorals were +not generally used by the Roman ecclesiastics till the middle of the +sixteenth century; however that may be, it is a fact, as proved by the +Assyrian sculptures, that they are nearly, if not more than, three +thousand years old, and not the least interesting feature distinguishing +them is their perfect similarity of design. It is strange that we +moderns--the disciples of Christ--should have had supplied to us at that +remote period the pattern of an ornament or symbol which we are accustomed +to regard as emblematic of essential features of our religion, but it is +true. + +Look across now to Egypt and we find monuments and tombs literally +bedizened with the cross, and that too in a variety of shapes. Long, long +before Christ, the Ibis was represented with human hands and feet, holding +the staff of Isis in one hand, and a globe and cross in the other. Here we +are in one of the most ancient kingdoms of the world--a kingdom so ancient +that its years are lost in obscurity--yet still the cross is found. +Whatever it may have represented in other countries, and whatever may be +its meaning here, from the positions in which it is found and from its +constant association with ecclesiastical personages and offices, it was +evidently one of the most sacred of their symbols. Two forms, among +others, are common, one a simple cross of four limbs of equal length, the +other that shaped like the letter =X=; the first is generally known as the +Greek cross, the second as that of St. Andrew, both however being of the +same form and owing their different appearance only to the position in +which they are placed. + +It is well known, probably, to most of our readers that the astronomical +signs of certain of the planets consist of crosses, crescents, circles, +and in ancient Egypt these were precisely the same as those now used. +Saturn was represented by a cross surmounting a ram's horn, Jupiter by a +cross beneath a horn, Venus by a cross beneath a circle, the Earth by a +cross within a circle, Mercury by a cross surmounted by a circle and +crescent, and Mars by a cross above a circle. These may still be seen in +almanacs, and on the large coloured bottles in the windows of the +druggist. In the hands of Isis, Osiris, and Hermes, corresponding with the +Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury of the Greeks, are also found the above signs. + +When the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria, was destroyed by one of the +Christian emperors, it is related by several historians, Socrates and +Sozomen, for instance, that beneath the foundation was discovered the +monogram of Christ; and that considerable disputing arose in consequence +thereof, the Gentiles endeavouring to use it for their own purposes, and +the Christians insisting that the cross, being uneasy beneath the weight +or dominion of the temple, overthrew it. + +If we turn to India we find the cross almost as common as in Egypt and +Europe, and not the least interesting feature of the matter is the curious +fact that a number of the pagodas are actually cruciform in structure. +Jagannath is the name of one of the mouths of the Ganges, upon which was +built the great pagoda where the Great Brahmin or High Priest resided. We +were told years ago, by travellers, that the form of the choir or interior +was similar in proportion to all the others, which were built upon the +same model, in the form of a cross. The pagoda at Benares, also, was in +the figure of a cross, having its arms equal. After the above, in +importance, was the pagoda at Muttra; this likewise was cruciform. One of +these temples, that at Chillambrum on the Coromandel coast, is said to be +four miles in circumference. Here there are seven lofty walls one within +the other round the central quadrangle, and as many pyramidal gateways in +the middle of each side which form the limbs of a vast cross, consisting +altogether of twenty-eight pyramids. There are, therefore, fourteen in a +row, which extend more than a mile in one continuous line. + +What has been called, and perhaps justly so, the oldest religious monument +in the world was discovered a few years ago by Mariette Bey, near the +Great Pyramid. For ages it had lain there, buried in the sand--how many we +cannot tell, but very many we know; enough to carry us back to a very +remote past. And this, too, like the Indian temples, was in the shape of a +cross. Renan visited it in 1865, and though he found it in many +particulars different from those known elsewhere, he described the +interior, which much recalled the chamber of the Great Pyramid, as in the +form of =T=, the principle aisle being divided in three rows, the +transverse aisle in two. + +Mr. Fergusson, the architect, also saw it, and, while admiring its simple +and chaste grandeur of style, with some astonishment described the form of +the principal chamber as that of a CROSS. And this was the plan of both +tomb and temple in the earliest ages, testifying to the great veneration +paid to this symbol. + +There is a remarkable resemblance between the Buddhist crosses of India +and those used by the Christian Roman Church. The cross of the Buddhist is +represented with leaves and flowers springing from it, and placed upon a +Calvary as by the Roman Catholics. It is represented in various ways, but +the shaft with the cross-bar and the Calvary remain the same. The tree of +life and knowledge, or the jamba tree, in their maps of the world, is +always represented in the shape of a cross, eighty-four yoganas, or 423 or +432 miles high, including the three steps of the Calvary. + +From India we naturally turn to China, and, though its use there is +involved in a deal of mystery, the cross is found among their +hieroglyphics, on the walls of their pagodas and on the lamps which they +used to illuminate their temples. + +In Kamschatka, Baron Humboldt found the cross and remains of hieroglyphics +similar to those of Egypt. + +Passing into America, we find that what could only be described as perfect +idolatry prevailed with respect to the veneration paid to the cross. +Throughout Mexico and some parts of South America the emblem is constantly +found, and in many instances is evidently of great antiquity. Some +travellers have explained their presence by attributing them to the +Spaniards, but those people found them there when they arrived, and were +greatly astonished at the spectacle, not knowing how to account for it. A +lieutenant of Cortez passed over from the island of Cosumel to the +continent, and coasted the peninsula of Yucatan as far as Campeachy. +Everywhere he was struck with the evidences of a higher civilisation, and +was astonished at the sight of numerous large stone crosses, evidently +objects of worship, which he met with in various places. + +At Cozuma an ancient cross is still standing. Here there is a temple of +considerable size, with pyramidal towers rising several stories above the +rest of the building, facing the cardinal points. In the centre of the +quadrangular area within stands a high cross, constructed of stone and +lime like the rest of the temple, and ten palms in height. The natives +regard is as the emblem of the god of rain. + +The discovery of the cross amongst the Red Indians as an object of +worship, by the Spanish missionaries, in the fifteenth century, completely +mystified them, and they hardly knew whether to attribute it to a good or +an evil origin--whether it was the work of St. Thomas or of the Devil. The +symbol was not an occasional spectacle in odd places, as though there by +accident, it met them on all sides; it was literally everywhere, and in +every variety of form. It mattered not whether the building was old or +new, inhabited or ruined and deserted, whether it was a temple or a +palace, there was the cross in all shapes and of all materials--of marble, +gypsum, wood, emerald, and jasper. What was, perhaps, still more +remarkable was the fact that it was associated with certain other things +common on the Babylonian monuments, such as the bleeding deity, the +serpent and the sacred eagle, and that it bore the very same names by +which it was known in Roman Catholic countries, "the tree of subsistence," +"the wood of health," "the emblem of life." In this latter appellation +there was a parallel to the name by which it was known in Egypt, and by +which the holy Tau of the Buddhists has always been known; thus placing, +as has been said, any supposition of accidental coincidence beyond all +reasonable debate. + +In the Royal Commentaries of Peru, we have some interesting allusions to +the cross and to the general sanctity with which it was surrounded. In the +city of Cozco, the Incas had one of white marble, which they called a +crystalline jasper, but how long they had had it was unknown. The Inca, +Garcillasso de la Vega, said he left in the year 1560, in the cathedral +church of that city; it was then hanging upon a nail by a list of black +velvet; formerly, when in the hands of the Indians, it had been suspended +by a chain of gold and silver. The form is Greek, that is, square; being +as broad as it was long, and about three fingers wide. It was previously +kept in one of the royal apartments, called Huaca, which signified a +consecrated place. The record says that though the Indians did not adore +it, yet they held it in great veneration, either for the beauty of it, or +for some other reason which they knew not to assign; and so was observed +amongst them, until the Marquess Don Francisco Pizarro entered the valley +of Tumpiz, when by reason of some accidents which befel Pedro de Candia +they conceived a greater esteem and veneration for it. The historian +complains that the Spaniards, after they had taken the imperial city, hung +up this cross in the vestry of a church they built, whereas, he says, they +ought to have placed a relic of that kind upon the high altar, adorning it +with gold and precious stones; by which respect to a thing the Indians +esteemed sacred, and by assimilating the ordinances of the Christian +religion as near as was possible with those which the law of nature had +taught this people, the lessons of Christianity would thereby have become +more easy and familiar, and not seemed so far estranged from the +principles of their own Gentilism. + +This cross is again mentioned in another part of the Royal Commentaries, +and two travellers are described as being filled with admiration at seeing +crosses erected on the top of the high pinnacles of the temples and +palaces; the which, it is said, were introduced from the time that Pedro +de Candia, being in Tumpiz, charmed or tamed the wild beasts which were +let loose to devour him, and which, simply by virtue of the cross which he +held in his hand, became gentle and domestic. This was recounted with such +admiration by the Indians, who carried the news of the miracle to Cozco, +that when the inhabitants of the city understood it they went immediately +to the sanctuary where the jasper cross already mentioned stood, and, +having brought it forth, they with loud acclamations adored and worshipped +it, conceiving that though the sign of the cross had for many ages been +conserved by them in high esteem and veneration yet it was not entertained +with such devotion as it deserved, because they were not as yet acquainted +with its virtues. Believing that the sign of the cross had tamed and shut +the mouths of the wild beasts, they imagined that it had a like power to +deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. + +On both the northern and southern continents of America the cross was +believed to possess the power of restraining evil spirits, and was the +common symbol of the god of rain and of health. The people prayed to it +when their country needed water, and the Aztec goddess of rains held one +in her hand. At the feast celebrated to her honour in the spring, when the +genial shower was needed to promote fertilisation, they were wont to +conciliate the favour of Centeotl, the daughter of heaven and goddess of +corn, by nailing a boy or girl to a cross, and after they had been so +suspended for awhile piercing them with arrows shot from a bow. The +Muyscas, less sanguinary than the Mexicans in sacrificing to the god of +the waters, extended a couple of ropes transversely over some lake or +stream, thus forming a gigantic cross, and at the point of intersection +threw in their offerings of food, gems, and precious oils. + +Quetyalcoatl, god of the winds, bore as his sign of office a mace like the +cross of a bishop; his robe was covered with the symbol, and its adoration +was connected throughout with his worship. + +There is, of course, no doubt whatever that the Spaniards took the cross +with them to America, and scattered it about so much in such varied +directions that their own became so intermingled with the native ones as +to make it difficult to distinguish one from the other; but the fact +remains that what there was of cordiality in the reception they met with +from the aborigines, was due in no small degree to their use of the same +emblem on their standards; when this became apparent the astonishment was +mutual. Many travellers have told us of these ancient crosses, and some of +them while expressing doubts as to their antiquity, have yet supplied us +with evidence of the same. Mr. Stephens is one of these. In his _Incidents +of Travel in Central America_, he supplies us with some wonderful Altar +Tablets found at Palenque, the principal subject in one of which is the +cross. It is surmounted by a strange bird, and loaded with indescribable +ornaments. There are two human figures, one on either side of the cross, +evidently of important personages; both are looking towards the cross, and +one seems in the act of making an offering. The traveller says:--"All +speculations on the subject are of course entitled to little regard, but +perhaps it would not be wrong to ascribe to those personages a sacerdotal +character. The hieroglyphics doubtless explain all. Near them are other +hieroglyphics which remind us of the Egyptian mode of recording the name, +history, office, or character of the persons represented. This tablet of +the cross has given rise to more learned speculations than perhaps any +others found at Palenque. Dupaix and his commentators, assuming for the +building a very remote antiquity, or at least, a period long antecedent to +the Christian era, account for the appearance of the cross by the argument +that it was known and had a symbolical meaning among ancient nations long +before it was established as the emblem of the Christian faith." + +Near Miztla, "the city of the moon," is a cavern temple excavated from the +solid rock in the form of a cross, 123 feet in length and breadth, the +limbs being about 25 feet in width. + +Other relics have been found in abundance in the same part of the world, +proving how well known this emblem was before the advent of Christianity. +In the Mexican Tribute Tables, we were told a few years ago by a writer in +the _Historical Magazine_, small pouches or bags frequently occur. +Appendages to dress, they are tastefully formed and ornamented with fringe +and tassels. A cross of the Maltese or more ordinary form (Greek or Latin) +is conspicuously woven or painted on each. They appear to have been in +great demand, a thousand bundles being the usual Pueblo tax. + +The practice of marking the cross on their persons and wearing it in their +garments was once common with some if not with all the occupants of the +Southern Continent. The Abipones of Paraguay tatooed themselves by +pricking the skin with a thorn. They all wore the form of a cross +impressed on their foreheads, and two small lines at the corner of each +eye, extending towards the ears, besides four transverse lines at the root +of the nose, between the eyebrows, as national marks. What these figures +signified no one was able to tell. The people only knew this, that the +custom had been handed down to them by their ancestors. Not only were +crosses marked on their foreheads, but woven in the red woollen garments +of many of them. This was long before they knew anything of the Christian +religion. + +The "hot cross bun," eaten in this country on Good Friday, is supposed by +many to be exclusively Christian in its origin; whereas it is no more than +a reproduction of a cake marked with a cross which was duly offered in the +heathen temples to such living idols as the serpent and the bull. It was +made of flour, honey and milk, or oil, and at certain times was eaten with +much ceremony by both priests and people. + +There was also used in the Pagan times the monogram of a cross upon a +heart, the meaning of which was according to Egyptologists, "goodness." +"This figure," says Sir G. Wilkinson, "enclosed in a parallelogram, in +which form it would signify 'the abode of good,' was depicted or +sculptured upon the front of several houses in Memphis and Thebes." + +A very ancient Phoenician medal was found many years ago in the ruins of +Citium, on which were inscribed the cross, the rosary, and the lamb. An +engraving of this may be seen in Higgins' _Celtic Druids_ and in Dr. +Clark's _Travels_. + +The connection of the cross with Paganism originally, and its ultimate +assumption by the Christian church, is curiously and strikingly brought +out by Tertullian in his _Apologeticus_ and _Ad Nationes_. These +treatises, we may observe, are so much alike that the former has sometimes +been regarded as a first draft of the latter, which is nearly double the +length. Probably, however, they are entirely different productions, one +being addressed to the general public and the other to the rulers and +magistrates. + +Charged with worshipping a cross, he says:--"As for him who affirms that +we are the priesthood of a cross, we shall claim him as our +co-religionist. A cross is in its material a sign of wood; amongst +yourselves also the object of worship is a wooden figure. Only, whilst +with you the figure is a human one, with us the wood is its own figure. +Never mind for the present what is the shape, provided the material is the +same; the form, too, is of no importance, if so be it be the actual body +of a god. If, however, there arises a question of difference on this +point, what, let me ask, is the difference between the Athenian Pallas or +the Pharia Ceres, and wood formed into a cross, when each is represented +by a rough stock without form, and by the merest rudiment of a statue of +unformed wood? Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an +erect position is a part of a cross, and indeed the greater portion of its +mass. But an entire cross is attributed to us, with its transverse beam, +of course, and its projecting seat. Now you have the less to excuse you, +for you dedicate to religion only a mutilated imperfect piece of wood, +while others consecrate to the sacred purpose a complete structure. The +truth however, after all, is that your religion is all cross, as I shall +show. You are indeed unaware that your gods in their origin have proceeded +from this hated cross. Now every image, whether carved out of wood or +stone, or molten in metal, or produced out of any other richer material, +must needs have had plastic hands engaged in its formation. Well then, +this modeller, before he did anything else, hit upon the form of a wooden +cross, because even our own body assumes as its natural position the +latent and concealed outline of a cross. Since the head rises upwards and +the back takes a straight direction and the shoulders project laterally, +if you simply place a man with his arms and hands out-stretched, you will +make the general outline of a cross. Starting then from this rudimental +form and prop, as it were, he applies a covering of clay, and so gradually +completes the limbs and forms the body, and covers the cross within with +the shape which he meant to impress upon the clay; then from this design, +with the help of compasses and leaden moulds, he has got all ready for his +image which is to be brought out into marble, or clay, or metal, or +whatever the material be of which he has determined to make his god. This +then is the process: after the cross-shaped frame the clay; after the clay +the god. In a well-understood routine the cross passes into a god through +the clayey medium. The cross then you consecrate, and from it the +consecrated deity begins to derive its origin. By way of example let us +take the case of a tree which grows up into a system of branches and +foliage, and is a reproduction of its own kind, whether it springs from +the kernel of an olive, or the stone of a peach, or a grain of pepper +which has been duly tempered under ground. Now if you transplant it or +take a cutting off its branches for another plant, to what will you +attribute what is produced by the propagation? Will it not be to the +grain, or the stone, or the kernel? Because as the third stage is +attributable to the second, and the second in like manner to the first, so +the third will have to be referred to the first, through the second as the +mean. We need not stay any longer in the discussion of this point, since +by a natural law every kind of produce throughout nature refers back its +growth to its original source; and just as the product is comprised in its +primal cause, so does that cause agree in character with the thing +produced. Since then, in the production of your gods, you worship the +cross which originates them, here will be the original kernel and grain +from which are propagated the wooden materials of your idolatrous images. +Examples are not far to seek. Your victories you celebrate with religious +ceremony as deities, and they are more august in proportion to the joy +they bring you. The frames on which you hang up your crosses--these are as +it were the very core of your pageants. Thus in your victories the +religion of your camp makes even crosses objects of worship; your +standards it adores, your standards are the sanction of its oaths, your +standards it prefers before Jupiter himself. But all that parade of images +and that display of pure gold, are as so many necklaces of the crosses. In +like manner also in the banners and ensigns, which your soldiers guard +with no less sacred care, you have the streamers and vestments of your +crosses. You are ashamed, I suppose, to worship unadorned and simple +crosses." + +We give this passage at length because it emphasises what we are urging in +connection with this subject, viz., that the cross is common to both +Christianity and Paganism, that the latter possessed it ages before the +former, and is therefore more likely to have originated it. We speak with +some reserve on this latter point for want of proper and full evidence. It +may of course be possible that in a purer and more enlightened age the +cross was known and used; we shall probably, however, find our researches +stop short in Pagan times, in which we shall have to look for the +generally recognised meaning of the symbol. + +It is remarkable in the quotation just made, that Tertullian never +attempts to refute the charge brought by the Pagans against the Christians +of his time of worshipping the cross; he merely retaliates by asserting +that they did the very same thing in a somewhat different manner. "As for +him," he says, "who affirms that we are the priesthood of a cross, we +shall claim him as our co-religionist.... What, let me ask, is the +difference between the Athenian Pallas or the Pharian Ceres, and wood +formed into a cross?" + +He further identifies himself and his religion with the Pagans in this +particular by saying:--"In all our movements, our travels, our going out +and coming in, putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in +lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down: whatever employment +occupies us, we mark our forehead with the sign of the cross." How much +all this reminds us of the universality of the symbol in pre-Christian +times. We can scarcely point to an age or to a century in which it did not +in some way enter into its history, its theology, its social and domestic +life. Again and again have monuments been discovered which put the date of +its use further back than had been imagined, and some have been brought to +light which carry the story back into very remote antiquity indeed. In the +wilds of Central India, for instance, a little over twenty years back, the +late Mr. Mulheran, C.E., discovered two of the oldest crosses ever met +with. They were granite monoliths, perfect in structure, and very much +like those to be found here and there in the western parts of Cornwall. +One was ten feet nine inches in height, and the other eight feet six +inches; each being in the midst of a group of cairns and cromlechs or +dolmens, which Colonel Taylor describes as similar in character to some +which he formerly surveyed near the village of Rajunkolloor, within the +Principality of Shorapoor, in the Deccan. Their extreme antiquity is +inferred from the fact, as stated by the European officer who first +discovered them, that the vicinity of the groups of cromlechs and crosses +had, at some remote period, been cultivated; that parts of the hills had +been cut into terraces, and supported by large stone banks or walls; but +that the country for miles in every direction was, and had been for +centuries and centuries, entirely uninhabited, and was grown over with +dense forests. It has been estimated that, as this elevated and +long-neglected region has been the possession of the low castes, or +non-Aryan helots, from time immemorial, we may confidently assume that the +monoliths in question were erected by the aboriginal population of the +soil--a population which was driven, not improbably three thousand years, +at the least, before the advent of Christ, from the richer plains below by +the first Aryan invader who had crossed the five streams, and found a +temporary refuge in the nearest range of hills to the west of Chandar, +until another foe--the Mogul--appeared upon the scene, and finally subdued +both the conqueror and his victims. "Here then," says a reviewer, "amongst +these now fragmentary people from the débris of a widely-spread primeval +race (to borrow a phrase from a recent writer on the non-Aryan languages +of the Continent), we find the symbol of the cross, not only expressing +the same mystery as in all other parts of the world, but its erection, +doubtless, dating from one of the very earliest migrations of our +species." It is impossible to adduce any clearer or stronger proof of its +primitive antiquity than this. + +It has been suggested by some writers, who, for some reason or other, +objected to the recognition of the cross as an emblem of great antiquity, +that the stone structures which were erected in the British Islands by the +Druids, Saxons, and Danes, owed their cruciform character to the +necessities of the situation rather than to any other cause; that the +stones were placed across each other as a matter of mere convenience, and +not with the view of forming a cross, and that these monuments, which +served as instruments of Druidical superstition before the implanting of +the Gospel in Britain, were afterwards appropriated to the use of +Christian memorials by being formed in the figure of a cross or marked +with this emblem. It is admitted, of course, that those cruciform +structures were thus appropriated, but of what use will it be to repudiate +the antiquity of examples whose age has been far surpassed in other parts +of the world. The crosses of India, just alluded to, remain to be +accounted for, and even when they have been as summarily disposed of as +the British ones, there are the crosses suspended from the necks of the +Assyrian kings, whose existence cannot possibly be accounted for by the +above hypothesis. It was not necessity or convenience that designed a +Maltese cross, a thousand years before the Christian era, of precisely the +same form as that which is worn by men and women in this nineteenth +century, nor probably was it a merely ornamental taste; we are rather +disposed to believe that the secret lies in the symbolical meaning, which +has ever been attached to the form. + +The universality of the cross as a religious symbol is certainly a most +astounding fact, and the more so because it has evidently always +represented the same fundamental idea in connection with the theological +systems, in all ages, of the Old and New Worlds. If but one of these +mythologies possessed it, there might be little difficulty in tracing out +the significance of the coincidence between its existence there and in +Christian theology, but prevailing as it does universally, and destined as +it is to retain its connection with the religion of man, it excites +feelings of the most profound wonderment and surprise. Lipsius and other +early writers, in reference to this matter, declared their sincere belief +that the numerous cruciform figures to be found on the monuments of +antiquity were of a typical character, and expressed a sentiment which +looked forward to the cross of Christ; a few others doubted this, and +suggested difficulties, while Gibbon ridiculed the whole matter, as it +thus stood, from beginning to end. The belief, however, that the cross in +Pagan lands was in some incomprehensible manner connected with the same +object or idea as in the Christian church was not easily got rid of, and +was considerably deepened by the testimony of missionaries to the New +World that amongst people of apparently different origin and of altogether +different attributes, the cross was common as an object of worship and +veneration. So universal has the presence of this symbol and its attendant +worship been found that it has been said to form a complete zone about the +habitable globe, extending as it does from Assyria into Egypt, and India, +and Anahuac, in their ruined temples; to the pyramidal structures of East +and West, and to those in Polynesia, especially the islands of Tonga, +Viti, and Easter; "as it appears upon numberless vases, medals, and coins +of the earliest known types, centuries anterior to the introduction of +Christianity; and as its teaching is expressed in the concordant customs, +rites, and traditions of former nations and communities, who were widely +separated from, and for the most part ignorant of, the existence of each +other, and who possessed, so far as we are aware, no other emblematical +figure in common." Egypt, Assyria, Britain, India, China, Scandinavia, the +two Americas--all were alike its home, and in all of them was there +analogy in the teaching respecting its meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + _Forms of the Cross--Ancient Maltese Cross--Phallic Character of some + Crosses--Offensive Forms of the Cross in Etruscan and Pompeian + Monuments--Thor's Battle-axe--The Buddhist Cross--Indian Crosses--The + Fylfot or Four-footed Cross--Danish Poem of the Thors of + Asgard--Legend of Thor's Loss of his Golden Hammer--Original Meaning + of these Crosses--Reception of Christianity amongst the Britons--Plato + and the Cross--The Mexican Tree of Life--Rain Makers--The + Winds--Various Meanings attributed to the Cross--The Crux + Ansata--Phallic Attributes--Coins, Gaulish and Jewish--Roman + Coins--The Lake Dwellings--The Cross in the Patriarchal Age._ + + +In studying the origin and signification of the pre-Christian cross, we, +naturally of course, turn our attention to the forms in which it is +delineated; these are both numerous and varied--so varied indeed that a +writer, some years ago, in the _Edinburgh Review_ stated that his +commonplace-book contained nearly two hundred representations, which he +had found combined as often as not with other emblems of a sacred +character, and which had been collected from all parts of the world. We +may notice a few of the principal which are really, generally speaking, +types of all. + +Most people are familiar with the Maltese cross--that consisting of four +triangles meeting in a central circle, or as it is generally described, +the cross with the four delta-like arms conjoined to or issuing from the +nave of a wheel or a diminutive circle. It derives its name from its +discovery on the island of Malta, and from its adoption by the Knights of +St. John for their coat-of-arms. There is no doubt it is one of the most +ancient forms of the cross we are acquainted with, as it is found, as we +have already stated, on the sculptures of the Assyrian monarchs long +before the Christian era, and may be seen on the sculptures in the +British Museum. In some of the Nineveh monuments representing +subject-people bringing tribute to the king, it occurs in the form of +ear-rings. + +In Assyria, it is believed to have been the emblem of royalty, as it is +found on the breasts of the most powerful of the rulers. As it was known +originally in Malta, it was of a very different character to the ornament +worn either by the Assyrian monarch or by the modern inhabitants of +civilised nations. It was indeed of so gross a character, that the Knights +of St. John soon set to work to make something more decent of +it--something which while not altogether discarding the old form, should +yet be inoffensive to the eye of the more modest onlooker. It was made up, +in fact, of four gigantic phalli carved out of the solid granite, similar +to the form in which it is found in the island of Gozyo, and on some of +the Etruscan and Pompeian monuments. + +The reason why it assumed a phallic character in the locality which gives +it its name, is not perhaps clear, but the study of Assyrian antiquities +has revealed the meaning attached to it in the palmy days of Nineveh and +Babylon; it referred to the four great gods of the Assyrian pantheon--Ra, +and the first triad--Ana, Belus, and Hea; and when inserted in a roundlet, +as may be seen in the British Museum, it signified Sansi, or the sun +ruling the earth as well as the heavens. It was therefore the symbol of +royalty and dominion, which accounts for its presence on the breasts of +kings. + +On the Etruscan and Pompeian monuments generally, this cross is as gross +and offensive in form as in ancient Malta, but it is found in a character +as unobjectionable as in Assyria, on the official garments of the Etruscan +priesthood. It has been found in Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Sicily; and Dr. +Schliemann discovered many examples of it (with other crosses) on the +vases which he dug from the seat of ancient Troy. It was also found in +what was described as a "magnificent cruciform mosaic pavement, discovered +about thirty years ago in the ruins of a Gallo-Roman villa at Pont d'Oli +(Pons Aulæ), near Pau, in the Basses-Pyrenees, accompanied by several +other varieties of the cross, including the St. George and the St. Andrew, +all glowing in colours richly dight, and surrounding a colossal bust of +Proteus, settled in the midst of his sea monsters." + +The cross generally regarded as the most notable type of that emblem, +because it is said to have figured in the religious systems of more +peoples than any other, is that known as "Thor's hammer," or "Thor's +battle-axe." It may, perhaps, also be set down as the most ancient of the +crosses--how many years back it dates we cannot say, several thousands +evidently. It consisted of the last letter of the Samaritan alphabet, the +tau or tav in its decussated or most primitive form, and may be described, +as it has been sometimes, as a _cruciform hammer_. + +It derived its name from being borne in the hand of Thor, as the +all-powerful instrument by means of which his deeds recorded in the Eddas +were accomplished. "It was venerated by the heroes of the north as the +magical sign which thwarted the power of death over those who bore it; and +the Scandinavian devotee placed it upon his horn of mead before raising it +to his lips, no doubt for the purpose of imparting to it the life-giving +virtues." To this hour it is employed by the women of India and of the +north-eastern parts of Africa as a mark of possession or taboo, which they +generally impress upon the vessels containing their stores of grain, &c. + +A writer in the _Edinburgh Review_ of January, 1870, hazards the opinion +that this was the mark which the prophet was commanded to impress upon the +foreheads of the faithful in Judah, as recorded in Ezekiel ix. 4. He gives +no reason or authority for this statement, but probably derived it from +St. Jerome and others of his time, who said that the letter _tau_ was +that which was ordered to be placed on the foreheads of those mourners. +Jerome says that the Hebrew letter _tau_ was formerly written like a +cross. + +As to the name of this cross, the popular designation is clearly a +mistake, since its origin dates back centuries before the mythology of the +north was developed. In India it was known as the swastika of the +Buddhists, and served as the monograms of Vishnu and Siva. Such are its +associations and uses at the present day, and, no doubt, they have been +the same from the very advent of the religions of these respective +deities. The enquirer has, however, not even here measured the limit of +its antiquity, for in China it was known as the Leo-tsen long before the +Sakya-Buddha era, and was portrayed upon the walls of their pagodas and +upon the lanterns used to illumine their most sacred precints. It has ever +been the symbol of their heaven. In the great temple of Rameses II., at +Thebes, it is represented frequently with such associations as +conclusively prove that its significance was the same in the land of the +Nile as in China. All over the East it is the magic symbol of the Buddhist +heaven; the chief ornament on the sceptres and crowns of the Bompa deities +of Thibet, who dispute the palm of antiquity with all other divinities; +and is beautifully pressed in the Artee, or musical bell, borne by the +figure of Balgovina, the herald or messenger of heaven. The universality +of the use of this symbol is proved by its prevalence as well in Europe as +in Asia and Africa. Among the Etruscans it was used as a religious sign, +as is shown by its appearance on urns exhumed from ancient lake-beds +situated between Parma and Pacenza. Those taken from the Lacustrine +cemeteries are thought to date back to 1000 B.C. On the terra-cotta vases +of Alba Longa the same sign is impressed, and served as the symbol of +Persephone, the awful queen of the shades, the arbiter of mortal fate; +while on the roll of the Roman soldier it was the sign of life. On the +old Runic monuments it is ever present. Even in Scotland it is found on +sculptured stones of unknown age. The most numerous examples of this form, +however, are found in the sculptures of Khorsabad, and in the ivories from +Nimroud; here occur almost all the known varieties. It has been observed, +too, in Persia; and is used to this day in Northern India to mark the jars +of sacred water taken from the Indus and Ganges. It is especially esteemed +by the inhabitants of Southern India as the emblem of disembodied Jaina +saints. Very remarkable illustrations of it, carved in the most durable +rock, and inserted in the exterior walls of temples and other edifices of +Mexico and Central America, also occur, which may be seen in Lord +Kingsborough's _Mexican Antiquities_. It is found on innumerable coins and +medals of all times and of all peoples; from the rude mintages of Ægina +and Sicily, as well as from the more skilful hands of the Bactrian and +Continental Greeks. It is noteworthy, too, in reference to its extreme +popularity, or superstitious veneration in which it has been almost +universally held, that the cross-patée, or cruciform hammer, was one of +the very last of purely pagan symbols which were religiously preserved in +Europe long after the establishment of Christianity. To the close of the +Middle Ages the stole, or Isian mantle, of the Cistercian monk was usually +adorned with it; and men wore it suspended from their necklaces in +precisely the same manner as did the vestal-virgins of pagan Rome. It may +be seen upon the bells of many of our parish churches in the northern, +midland, and eastern counties, as at Appleby, Mexborough, Hathersage, +Waddington, Bishop's Norton, West Barkwith, and other places, where it was +placed as a magical sign to subdue the vicious spirit of the tempest. It +is said to be still used for the like purpose, during storms of wind and +rain, by the peasantry in Iceland and in the southern parts of +Germany.[2] + +This cross is also known as the "Fylfot," or "Fytfot" (four-footed cross), +or "Gammadion"--"the dissembled cross under the discipline of the secret." +Jewitt, who has written in an interesting manner upon the subject, +supports what we have already stated in the foregoing pages with the +observation that this is one of the most singular, most ancient, and most +interesting of the whole series of crosses. Some say it is composed of +four gammas, conjoined in the centre, which as numerals expressed the Holy +Trinity, and by its rectangular form symbolised the chief corner-stone of +the Church. We mentioned that it was known in India as the swastika of the +Buddhists; we note further that it is said to be formed of the two words +"su" (well) and "asti" (it is), meaning "it is," or "it is well;" equal to +"so be it," and implying complete resignation. "From this the Swastikas, +the opponents of the Brahmins, who denied the immortality of the soul, and +affirmed that its existence was finite and connected only with the body +upon earth, received their name; their monogrammatic enblem, or symbol, +being the mystic cross formed by the combination of two syllables, _su_ + +_ti_ = _suti_, or swasti."[3] + +The connection of this cross with Thor, the Thunderer, is not without its +signification and importance, in considering the forms and origin of these +emblems and their transmission from the Pagan to the Christian world. Thor +was said to be the bravest of the sons of Odin, or Woden, and Fria, or +Friga, the goddess of earth. (From Thor, of course, we get our Thursday; +from Woden, Wednesday; and from Friga, Friday). "He was believed to be of +the most marvellous power and might; yea, and that there were no people +throughout the whole world that were not subjected unto him, and did not +owe him divine honour and service; and that there was no puissance +comparable to his. His dominion of all others most farthest extending +itself, both in heaven and earth. That, in the aire he governed the winds +and the clouds; and being displeased did cause lightning, thunder, and +tempest, with excessive raine, haile, and all ill weather. But being well +pleased by the adoration, sacrifice, and service of his suppliants, he +then bestowed upon them most faire and seasonable weather; and caused +corne abundantly to grow, as all sorts of fruits, &c., and kept away the +plague and all other evil and infectious diseases." + +Thor's emblem was a hammer of gold, represented as a fylfot, and with it +he destroyed his enemies the Jotuns, crushed the head of the great Mitgard +serpent, killed numbers of giants, restored the dead goats to life that +drew his car, and consecrated the pyre of Baldur. This hammer, boomerang +like, had the property, when thrown, of striking the object aimed at and +then returning to the thrower's hand. Mr. Jewitt thinks we have, in this, +a curious insight into the origin of the form of the emblem itself. He +says:--"I have remarked that the fylfot is sometimes described as being +formed of four gammas conjoined in the centre. When the form of the +boomerang--a missile instrument of barbaric nations, much the shape of the +letter =V= with a rounded instead of acute bottom, which, on being thrown, +slowly ascends in the air, whirling round and round, till it reaches a +considerable height, and then returns until it finally sweeps over the +head of the thrower and strikes the ground behind him--is taken into +consideration, and the traditional returning power of the hammer is +remembered in connection with it, the fylfot may surely be not +inappropriately described as a figure composed of four boomerangs, +conjoined in the centre. This form of fylfot is not uncommon in early +examples, and even on a very ancient specimen of Chinese porcelain it +occurs at the angles of the pattern--it is the ordinary fylfot, with the +angles curved or rounded. + +Ancient literature abounds in curious and sensational stories about the +wonders accomplished by Thor with the assistance of this hammer. Once he +lost his weapon, or tool, and with it his power, by stratagem however he +regained both. + +The Danish poem, called the "Thorr of Asgard," as translated by De Prior, +says:-- + + "There rode the mighty of Asgard, Thor, + His journey across the plain; + And there his hammer of gold he lost, + And sought so long in vain. + + 'Twas then the mighty of Asgard, Thor, + His brother his bidding told-- + Up thou and off to the Northland Fell, + And seek my hammer of gold. + + He spake, and Loki, the serving-man, + His feathers upon him drew; + And launching over the salty sea, + Away to the Northland flew." + +Greeting the Thusser king, he informed him of the cause of his visit, +viz., that Thor had lost his golden hammer. Then the king replied that +Thor would never again see his hammer until he had given him the maiden +Fredenborg to wife. Loki took back this message to Thor, who disguised +himself as the maiden in woman's clothes, and was introduced to the king +as his future bride. After expressing his astonishment at the wonderful +appetite of the maiden, he ordered eight strong men to bring in the hammer +and lay it across the lap of the bride. Thor immediately threw off his +disguise and seized the hammer, with which, after he had slain the king, +he returned home. + +The fylfot cross is frequently found on Roman pottery in various parts of +England, as for instance on the famous Colchester vase, on which is +depicted a gladiatorial combat, the cross being distinctly marked on the +shields of the combatants. Another fine example is found on a Roman altar +of Minerva at High Rochester. "The constant use of the symbol," says +Jewitt, "through so many ages, and by so many and such varied peoples, +gives it an importance which is peculiarly striking." + +To sum up this part of the subject then, we have amongst numerous others +the following chief forms of the cross common in all parts of the world. +The Latin, a long upright with shorter cross beam; the Greek, an upright +and bar of equal lengths; the St. Andrews, in the form of a letter =X=; +the Maltese, four triangles conjoined to a circular centre; the Hammer of +Thor; and the Crux Ansata, or handled cross. + +The question now arises, what was the origin or original meaning of these +crosses? Uninformed Christians are generally under the impression that all +refer to one and the same thing, viz., the instrument of the death of +Jesus Christ: historical evidence just produced, however, clearly +disproves that, and what we may say further will add additional weight to +the argument. + +It has been noticed that the Britons received Christianity with remarkable +readiness, and this has been attributed to the following among other +circumstances, viz., the impression which they held in common with the +Platonists and Pythagoreans, that the Second Person of the Deity was +imprinted on the universe in the form of a cross. We have already +explained that the Druids in their groves were accustomed to select the +most stately and beautiful tree as an emblem of the Deity they adored, and +having cut off the side branches, affixed two of them to the highest part +of the trunk in such a manner as that those branches, extending on each +side like the arms of a man, together with the body, should present to the +spectator the appearance of a huge cross, and that on the bark of the +tree, in various places, was actually inscribed the letter =T=,--Tau. + +"Some have gone so far as to suppose a Celtic origin for the word cross, +and have derived it from _Crugh_ and _Cruach_, which signify a cross in +that language, though others suppose these have a much more probable +origin in the Hebrew and Chaldee. _Chrussh_, signifies boards or pieces of +timber fastened together, as we should say, cross-wise; the word is so +used in Exodus xxvii. 6. This seems a very natural and probable etymology +for the term, but it may also allude more to the agony suffered on such an +erection, and then its origin perhaps may be traced to Chrutz, +'agitation.' This word also means to be 'kneaded,' and broken to pieces +like clay in the hands of a potter. Chrotshi, in Chaldee, we are told by +Parkhurst, means accusations, charges, revilings, reproach, all of them +terms applied to Jesus Christ in his sufferings. Pliny shows that the +punishment of the cross among the Romans was as old as Tarquinus Priscus; +how much older it is perhaps difficult to say. + +"Plato, born 430 years before Christ, had advocated the idea of a Trinity, +and had expressed an opinion that the form of the Second Person of it was +stamped upon the universe in the form of a cross. St. Augustine goes so +far as to say that it was by means of the Platonic system that he was +enabled to understand properly the doctrine of the Trinity." + +Perhaps, originally, the cross had but one meaning, whatever its form; it +is probable that it was so. However that may be, it is certain that as +time went on and its form varied, different significations were attached +to it. It represented creative power and eternity in Egypt, Assyria, and +Britain; it was emblematical of heaven and immortality in India, China, +and Scandinavia; it was the sign of freedom from physical suffering in the +Americas; all over the world it symbolised the Divine Unity--resurrection +and life to come. + +"In the Mexican tongue it bore the significant and worthy name, 'Tree of +our Life,' or 'Tree of our Flesh.' It represented the god of rains and of +health, and this was everywhere its simple meaning. 'Those of Yucatan,' +say the chroniclers, 'prayed to the cross as the god of rains when they +needed water.' The Aztec goddess of rains bore one in her hand, and at the +feast celebrated to her honour in the early spring (as we have previously +noted) victims were nailed to a cross and shot with arrows. Quetzalcoatl, +god of the winds, bore as his sign of office a mace like the cross of a +bishop; his robe was covered with them strewn like flowers, and its +adoration was throughout connected with his worship." + +We have mentioned that "when the Muyscas would sacrifice to the goddess of +waters, they extended cords across the tranquil depths of some lake, thus +forming a gigantic cross, and that at the point of intersection threw in +their offerings of gold, emeralds and precious oils. The arms of the cross +were designed to point to the cardinal points, and represent the four +winds, the rain bringers. To confirm this explanation, let us have +recourse to the simpler ceremonies of the less cultivated tribes, and see +the transparent meaning of the symbol as they employed it. + +"When the rain maker of the Lenni Lenape would exert his power, he retired +to some secluded spot and drew upon the earth the figure of a cross, +placed upon it a piece of tobacco, a gourd, a bit of some red stuff, and +commenced to cry aloud to the spirits of the rains. The Creeks at the +festival of the Busk, celebrated to the four winds, and according to the +legends instituted by them, commenced with making the new fire. The manner +of this was to place four logs in the centre of the square, end to end, +forming a cross, the outer ends pointing to the cardinal points; in the +centre of the cross the new fire is made."[4] + +"As the emblem of the winds which disperse the fertilising showers," says +Brinton, "it is emphatically the tree of our life, our subsistence, and +our health. It never had any other meaning in America, and if, as has been +said, the tombs of the Mexicans were cruciform, it was perhaps with +reference to a resurrection and a future life as portrayed under this +symbol, indicating that the buried body would rise by the action of the +four spirits of the world, as the buried seed takes on a new existence +when watered by the vernal showers. It frequently recurs in the ancient +Egyptian writings, where it is interpreted _life_; doubtless, could we +trace the hieroglyph to its source, it would likewise prove to be derived +from the four winds."[5] + +The Buddhist cross to which allusion has been made was exactly the cross +of the Manicheans, with leaves and flowers springing from it, and placed +upon a Mount Calvary as among the Roman Catholics. The tree of life and +knowledge, or the Jambu tree, in their maps of the world, is always +represented in the shape of a Manichean cross 84 yojanas, or 423 miles +high, including the three steps of the Calvary. This cross, putting forth +leaves and flowers (and fruit also, Captain Wilford was informed), is +called the divine tree, the tree of the gods, the tree of life and +knowledge, and productive of whatever is good and desirable, and is placed +in the terrestrial Paradise. Agapius, according to Photius, maintained +that this divine tree, in Paradise, was Christ himself. In their +delineation of the heavens, the globe of the earth is filled with this +cross and its Calvary. The divines of Thibet, says Captain Wilford, place +it to the S.W. of Meru, towards the source of the Ganges. The Manicheans +always represented Christ crucified upon a tree, among the foliage. The +Christians of India, though they did not admit of images, still +entertained the greatest veneration for the cross. They placed it on a +Calvary in public places and at the meeting of cross roads, and even the +heathen Hindus in these parts paid also great regard to it. + +Captain Wilford was presented by a learned Buddhist with a book, called +the Cshetra-samasa, which contained several drawings of the cross. Some of +these his friend was unable to explain to him, but whatever the variations +of the cross were in other particulars, they were declared to be +invariable as regards the shaft and two arms; the Calvary was sometimes +omitted. One of these crosses seemed to puzzle the Buddhist completely, or +he would not say either what he thought or knew about it. It consisted of +the ordinary cross with shaft and cross-bar, pointed at the ends, but with +two other bars intersecting the right angles formed by the shaft and +cross-bar, thus giving six points. No one can look at this cross, and not +at once discern its phallic character. Some writers affect to laugh at +this, but we have ample evidence that at times such a meaning has been +attributed to the cross. In connection with this, Dr. Inman makes some +remarks which we shall do well to consider, whether we receive them or +not; there may be nothing in them, and there may be much. He says:--"There +can be no doubt, I think, in the mind of any student of antiquity, that +the cross is not originally a Christian emblem; nay, the very fact that +the cross was used as a means of executing criminals shows that its form +was familiar to Jews and Romans. It was used partly as an ornament, and +partly in certain forms of religious worship. The simple cross, with +perpendicular and transverse arms of equal length, represented the nave +and spokes of the solar wheel, or the sun darting his rays on all sides. +As the wheel became fantastically developed so did the cross, and each +limb became so developed at the outer end as to symbolise the triad. +Sometimes the idea was very coarsely represented; and I have seen, amongst +some ancient Etruscan remains, a cross formed of four phalli of equal +length, their narrow end pointing inwards; and in the same work another +was portrayed, in which the phallus was made of inordinate length so as +to support the others high up from the ground; each was in itself a triad. +The same form of cross was probably used by the Phoenicians, who appear to +have colonised Malta at a very early period of their career; for they have +left a form of it behind them in the shape of a cross similar to that +described above, but which has been toned down by the moderns, who could +not endure the idea of an union between grossness and the crucifix, and +the phalli became as innocent as we see them in the Maltese cross of +to-day." + +So many traces of the cross, as used in ancient times in all parts of the +world, meet us on every hand that we find it difficult within the limited +space at our command even to enumerate them; we have already traversed in +our account a greater part of the known world, and still vast numbers of +instances remain unnoticed. Almost as varied as its principal forms are +the explanations offered respecting its origin and significance. We are +told by some that for its origin we must go to the Buddhists and to the +Lama of Thibet, who is said to take his name from the cross, called in his +language Lamh. Higgins quotes Vallence as saying that the Tartars call the +cross Lama, from the Scythian Lamh, a hand, synonymous to the Yod of the +Chaldeans; and that it thus became the name of a cross, and of the high +priest with the Tartars; and with the Irish, Luarn, signifying the head of +the church, an abbot, &c. + +The last form of cross to which we shall here allude is that known as the +Crux Ansata, or Handled Cross. Whatever may be the signification of that +instrument, or ornament, it is certain that no other has ever been so +variously explained, or has been so successful in puzzling those who have +sought to give it a meaning. Some have said it was a Nilometer, or measure +of the rise of the Nile; one--a bishop--thought it was a setting stick for +planting roots; another said it represented the Law of Gravitation. Don +Martin said it was a winnowing fan; Herwart said it was a compass; Pococke +said it represented the four elements. Others, again, suggest that it may +be only a key. "It opened," says Borwick, "the door of the sacred chest. +It revealed hidden things. It was the hope of life to come." And he +continues, "However well the cross fit the mathematical lock, the phallic +lock, the gnostic lock, the philosophical lock, the religious lock, it is +quite likely that this very ancient and almost universal symbol was at +first a secret in esoteric holding, to the meaning of which, with all our +guessing, we have no certain clue." + +This cross has certainly a most remarkable connection with the ancient +history of Egypt, being found universally represented on the monuments, +the tombs, the walls, and the wrapping cloths of the dead; hence, +evidently, the idea that it is peculiarly Egyptian and its ascription of +"Key of the Nile." From Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Ruffinus, we +learn that it was known to the Egyptian Christians at the close of the +fourth century as the symbol of eternal life. Later on, Dr. Max Uhlman +wrote, "that the handle cross means _life_, is manifest from the Rosetta +inscription and other texts." Zöckler, another German author, notices the +opinion of Macrobius that it was the hieroglyphic sign of Osiris, or the +sun, it being a fact that when the ancient Egyptians wished to symbolise +Osiris, they set up a staff with an eye upon it, because in antiquity the +sun was known as the eye of God, and then claims that the round portion +represented the orb of the sun, the perpendicular bar signifying the rays +of the high mid-day sun, and the shorter horizontal bar symbolising the +rays of the rising or setting sun. The discovery of this emblem by M. +Mariette in a niche of the holy of holies in the ancient temple of +Denderah, points significantly to its importance and peculiar sacredness, +and it has been thought probable that it was the central object of +interest in the inner precincts of the temple. + +It seems that the Egyptian priests, when asked for an explanation of this +cross, evaded the question by replying that the Tau was a "_divine +mystery_." + +However varied the explanations offered may be, and whatever the mystery +said to surround this object, the feature always remains,--its +symbolisation of life and regeneration. From this, its phallic character +was very easily inferred--its derivation from the _lingam-yoni_ symbol, +said Barlow, seemed a very natural process. The junction of the yoni with +the cross, in Dr. Inman's judgment, sufficiently proved that it had a +phallic or male signification; a conclusion which certain unequivocal +Etruscan remains fully confirmed. "We conclude, therefore," says this +writer, "that the ancient cross was an emblem of the belief in a male +creator, and the method by which creation was initiated." + +Not the least remarkable exemplification of the universal prevalence of +the cross both as to time and country, is found amongst coins and medals: +here as in other things it is ever prominent. Take the ancient Gaulish +coins, for instance, and the fylfot and ordinary Greek cross abound; take +the ancient British coins of the age long prior to Christianity, and the +same thing occurs. "On Scandinavian coins, as well as those of Gaul, the +fylfot cross appears, as it also does on those of Syracuse, Corinth, and +Chalcedon. On the coins of Byblos, Astarte is represented holding a long +staff, surmounted by a cross, and resting her foot on the prow of a +galley. On the coins of Asia Minor, the cross is also to be found. It +occurs as the reverse of a silver coin, supposed to be of Cyprus, on +several Cilician coins; it is placed beneath the throne of Baal of Tarsus, +on a Phoenician coin of that time, bearing the legend 'Baal Tharz.' A +medal possibly of the same place, with partially obliterated Phoenician +characters, has the cross occupying the entire field of the reverse side. +Several, with inscriptions in unknown characters, have a ram on one side +and the cross and ring on the other. Another has the sacred bull, +accompanied by this symbol; others have a lion's head on obverse, and a +cross and circle on the reverse."[6] + +Strangely enough, even Jewish money is marked with this emblem, the shekel +bearing on one side what is usually called a triple lily or hyacinth; the +same forming a pretty floral cross. + +On Roman coins the cross was of very frequent occurrence, and +illustrations of good examples may be seen in the pages of the _Art +Journal_ for the year 1874. An engraving of the _quincunx_, or piece of +five _unciæ_, is given, bearing on one side a cross, a =V=, and five +pellets; and on the other a cross only. This is an example of the earlier +periods; of course when we come to the later periods the emblem is still +more frequent. These coins are often found in ancient graves and +sarcophagi, and these latter again supply examples of various familiar +forms of crosses of very remote antiquity,--not simply the adornment of +coffin and gravecloths, but the actual construction of the tomb or +grave-mound in that form. Fine specimens of these have been discovered at +Stoney-Littleton, at New Grange, at Banwell, Somerset, at Adisham, at +Hereford, at Helperthorpe, and in the Isle of Lewis. + +"Before the Romans, long before the Etruscans, there lived in the plains +of northern Italy a people to whom the cross was a religious symbol, the +sign beneath which they laid their dead to rest; a people of whom history +tells nothing, knowing not their name, but of whom antiquarian research +has learned this, that they lived in ignorance of the laws of +civilisation, that they dwelt in villages built on platforms over lakes, +and that they trusted in the cross to guard, and may be to revive their +loved ones whom they committed to the dust. Throughout Emilia are found +remains of these people; these remains form quarries whence manure is dug +by the peasants of the present day. These quarries go by the name of +_terramares_. They are vast accumulations of cinders, charcoal, bones, +fragments of pottery, and other remains of human industry. As this earth +is very rich in phosphates it is much appreciated by agriculturists as a +dressing for their land. In these _terramares_ there are no human bones. +The fragments of earthenware belong to articles of domestic use; with them +are found querns, moulds for metal, portions of cabin floors, and great +quantities of kitchen refuse. They are deposits analogous to those which +have been discovered in Denmark and Switzerland. The metal discovered in +the majority of these _terramares_ is bronze; the remains belong to three +distinct ages. In the first none of the fictile ware was turned on the +wheel or fire-baked. Sometimes these deposits exhibit an advance of +civilisation. Iron came into use, and with it the potter's wheel was +discovered, and the earthenware was put in the furnace. When in the same +quarry these two epochs are found, the remains of the second age are +always superposed over those of the bronze age. A third period is +occasionally met with, but only occasionally; a period when a rude art +introduced itself, and representatives of animals or human beings adorned +the pottery. Among the remains of this period is found the first trace of +money, rude little bronze fragments without shape. + +"Among other remains in these lake-dwellings, pottery has been in many +cases found, and these vessels bear, on the bottom, crosses of various +forms, as well also curious solid double cones. That which characterises +the cemeteries of Golasecca, says M. de Mortillet, and gives them their +highest interest, is this:--first, the entire absence of all organic +representations; we only found three and they were exceptional, in tombs +not belonging to the plateau; secondly, the almost invariable presence of +the cross under the vases in the tombs. When we reversed the ossuaries, +the saucer-lids, or the accessory vases, we saw almost always, if in good +preservation, a cross traced thereon ... the examination of the tombs of +Golasecca proves, in a most convincing, positive, and precise manner, that +which the _terramares_ of Emilia had only indicated, but which had been +confirmed by the cemetery of Villanova; that above a thousand years before +Christ, the cross was already a religious emblem of frequent +employment."[7] + +"There is every reason to suppose that the cross was a symbol of more +import in the early patriarchal ages than is generally imagined. It was +not only the _first letter_, but it was also the emblem, of Taut, the +Mercury, the word, the messenger of the gods, the angel, as we may say, of +his presence, himself a god among the Egyptians and the Britons, whose god +Teutates was analagous both in name and nature; a winged messenger. M. Le +Clerc, one of the ablest mythologists who ever wrote, has shown that the +Teutates of the Gauls, the Hermes of the Greeks, the Mercury of the +Romans, were all one and the same. + +The Ethiopic letter _Taui_, or _Taw_, says Lowth, still retains the form +of a cross, =X=; and the Samaritan =T=, which the Ethiopians are said to +have borrowed from the Samaritans, was in the form of a =X= cross. In +several Samaritan coins, says Montfaucon, to be found in the collections +of medallists, the letter Tau is engraved in the form of a cross, or Greek +Chi, and he gives as his authority Origen and Jerome. + +The Jewish High-priest, we are informed by the Rabbis, was anointed on his +investiture, while he who anointed him drew on his forehead with his +finger the figure of the Greek letter Chi, =X=."[8] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + _Heathen Ideas of a Trinity--The Magi--Ancient Theologies--The Indian + Trinity--The Sculptures of Elephanta--The Sacred Zennar--Temples + consecrated to Indian Trinities--The Greek Trident--Attributes of + Brahm--The Hindu Meru--Narayana--The Trimurti--Gods of Egypt._ + + +"Many of the heathens are said to have had a notion of a Trinity," wrote a +contributor to an encyclopædia, some eighty years ago. Now that altogether +fails to reach the truth, for heathen nations are known to scholars to +have had very definite ideas indeed about a sacred Triad; in fact, as +another writer has said, there is nothing in all theology more deeply +grounded, or more generally allowed by them, than the mystery of the +Trinity. The Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, both in their +writings and their oracles, acknowledged that the Supreme Being had +begotten another Being from all eternity, whom they sometimes called the +Son of God, sometimes the Word, sometimes the Mind, and sometimes the +Wisdom of God, and asserted to be the Creator of all things. + +Among the sayings of the Magi, the descendants of Zoroaster, was one as +follows:--"The Father finished all things, and delivered them to the +Second Mind." + +We learn from Dr. Cudworth that, besides the inferior gods generally +received by all the Pagans (viz.: animated stars, demons, and heroes), the +more refined of them, who accounted not the world the Supreme Deity, +acknowledged a Trinity of divine hypostases superior to them all. This +doctrine, according to Plotinus, is very ancient, and obscurely asserted +even by Parmenides. Some have referred its origin to Pythagoreans, and +others to Orpheus, who adopted three principles, called Phanes, Uranus, +and Cronus. Dr. Cudworth apprehends that Pythagoras and Orpheus derived +this doctrine from the theology of the Egyptian Hermes; and, as it is not +probable that it should have been first discovered by human reason, he +concurs with Proclus in affirming that it was at first a theology of +divine tradition, or revelation, imparted first to the Hebrews, and from +them communicated to the Egyptians and other nations; among whom it was +depraved and adulterated. + +Plato, also, and his followers, speak of the Trinity in such terms, that +the primitive fathers have actually been accused of borrowing the doctrine +from the Platonic school. + +In Indian theology there is no more prominent doctrine than that of a +Divine Triad governing all things, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. +By Brahma, they mean God, the Creator; by Vishnu (according to the +Sanscrit), a preserver, a comforter, a cherisher; and by Siva, a destroyer +and avenger. To these three personages, different functions are assigned, +in the Hindoo system of mythologic superstition, corresponding to the +different significations of their names. They are distinguished, likewise, +besides these general titles, in the various sastras and puranas, by an +infinite variety of appellations descriptive of their office. + +Whatever doubts may arise respecting the Indian Trinity, they will very +speedily be dispelled by a view of that wonderful and magnificent piece of +sculpture which is found in the celebrated cavern of Elephanta, which has +so often been described by travellers, and which has ever been such a +source of amusement to them. This, it is said, proves that from the +remotest era, the Indian nations have adored a Triune Deity. In this +cavern, the traveller beholds, with awe and astonishment, carved out of +the solid rock, in the most conspicuous part of the most ancient and +venerable temple in the world, a bust nearly twenty feet in breadth, and +eighteen feet in altitude, gorgeously decorated, the image of the great +presiding Deity of that sacred temple. The bust has three heads united to +one body, and adorned with the oldest symbols of the Indian theology, is +regarded as representing the Creator, the Preserver, and the Regenerator +of mankind. Owing to the gross surroundings of these characters, +respectively denominated Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, any comparison cannot +be instituted with the Christian Trinity; yet the worship paid to that +triple divinity incontestably evinces that, on this point of faith, the +sentiments of the Indians are congenial with those of the Chaldeans and +Persians. Nor is it only in this great Deity with three heads that these +sentiments are demonstrated, their veneration for that sacred number +strikingly displays itself in their sacred books--the three original +_Vedas_--as if each had been delivered by one personage of the august +Triad, being confined to that mystic number; by the regular and prescribed +offering up of their devotions three times a day; by the immersion of +their bodies, during ablution, three times in the purifying wave; and by +their constantly wearing next their skin the sacred Zennar, or cord of +three threads, the mystic symbol of their belief in a divine all ruling +Triad. + +The sacred Zennar, just mentioned, is of consequence enough to demand a +fuller notice. Its threads can be twisted by no other hand than that of a +Brahmin, and he does it with the utmost solemnity and many mystic rites. +Three threads, each measuring ninety-six hands, are first twisted +together; then they are folded into three, and twisted again, making it to +consist of nine,--that is three times three threads; this is folded again +into three, but without any more twisting, and each end is then fastened +with a knot. Such is the Zennar, which being put upon the left shoulder, +passes to the right side, and hangs down as low as the fingers can reach. + +"The Hindoos," says M. Sonnerat, "adore three principal deities, Brouma, +Chiven, and Vichenou, who are still but _One_; which kind of Trinity is +there called Trimourti, or Tritvamz, and signifies the reunion of three +powers. The generality of modern Indians adore only one of these three +divinities, but some learned men, besides this worship, also address their +prayers to the Three united. The representation of them is to be seen in +many pagodas, under that of human figures with three heads, which, on the +coast of Orissa, they call Sariharabrama; on the Coromandel coast, +Trimourti; and Tretratreyam, in the Sanscrit. It is affirmed by Maurice +that this latter term would not have been found in Sanscrit had not the +worship of a Trinity existed in those ancient times, fully two thousand +five hundred years ago, when Sanscrit was the current language of India." + +There have been found temples entirely consecrated to this kind of +Trinity; such as that of Parpenade, in the kingdom of Travancore, where +the three gods are worshipped in the form of a serpent with a thousand +heads. The feast of Anandavourdon, which the Indians celebrate to their +honour, on the eve of the full moon, in the month of Pretachi, or October, +always draws a great number of people, "which would not be the case," says +Sonnerat, "if those that came were not adorers of the Three Powers." + +Mr. Forster writing, in 1785, on the Mythology of the Hindoos, says:--"A +circumstance which forcibly struck my attention, was the Hindoo belief in +a Trinity. The persons are Sree Mun Narrain, the Mhah Letchimy (a +beautiful woman), and a Serpent, which are emblematical of strength, love, +and wisdom. These persons, by the Hindoos, are supposed to be wholly +indivisible. The one is three, and the three are one. In the beginning, +they say that the Deity created three men to whom he gave the names of +Brimha, Vystnou, and Sheevah. To the first was committed the power of +creating mankind, to the second of cherishing them, and to the third that +of restraining and correcting them." The sacred persons who compose this +Trinity are very remarkable; for Sree Mun Narrain, as Mr. Forster writes +the word, is Narayen, the supreme God; the beautiful woman is the Imma of +the Hebrews; and the union of the sexes in the Divinity, is perfectly +consonant with that ancient doctrine maintained in the Geeta, and +propagated by Orpheus, that the Deity is both male and female. + +Damascius, treating of the fecundity of the divine nature, cites Orpheus +as teaching that the Deity was at once both male and female, to show the +generative power by which all things were formed. Proclus upon the "Timæus +of Plato," among other Orphic verses, cites the following: "Jupiter is a +man, Jupiter is also an immortal maid." In the same commentary, and in the +same page we read that all things were contained in the womb of Jupiter. + +The serpent is the ancient and usual Egyptian symbol for the divine Logos. + +M. Tavernier, on his entering one of the great pagodas, observed an idol +in the centre of the building, sitting cross-legged in the Indian fashion, +upon whose head was placed _une triple couronne_; and from this triple +crown four horns extended themselves, the symbol of the rays of glory, +denoting the Deity to whom the four quarters of the world were under +subjection. According to the same author, in his account of the Benares +pagoda, the deity of India is saluted by prostrating the body three times, +and he is not only adorned with a triple crown, and worshipped by a triple +salutation, but he bears in his hand a three-forked sceptre, exhibiting +the exact model of the trident of the Greek Neptune. + +Now here we must allude to some very remarkable discoveries respecting the +Trident of Neptune and the use of a similar symbol of authority by the +Indian gods. + +Mr. Maurice points out that the unsatisfactory reasons given by +mythologists for the assignment of the trident to the Grecian deity, +exhibit very clear evidence of its being a symbol that was borrowed from +some more ancient mythology, and did not naturally, or originally belong +to Neptune. Its three points, or _tines_, some of them affirm to signify +the different qualities of the three sorts of waters that are upon the +earth, as the waters of the ocean, which are salt; the water of fountains, +which is sweet; and the water of lakes and ponds, which, in a degree, +partakes of the nature of both. Others, again, insist that this +three-pronged sceptre alludes to Neptune's threefold power over the sea, +viz., to _agitate_, to _assuage_, and to _preserve_. These reasons are, +all of them, in his estimation, mighty frivolous, and amount to a +confession of their total ignorance of its real meaning. + +The trident was, in the most ancient periods, the sceptre of the Indian +deity, and may be seen in the hands of that deity in one of the plates +(iv.) of M. d'Ancarville's third volume, and among the sacred symbols +sculptured in Elephanta cavern, as pictured by Niebuhr in his engravings +of the Elephanta antiquities. "It was, indeed," says Maurice, "highly +proper, and strictly characteristic, that a threefold deity should wield a +triple sceptre, and I have now a very curious circumstance to unfold to +the reader, which I am enabled to do from the information of Mr. Hodges, +relative to this mysterious emblem. The very ancient and venerable +edifices of Deogur, which are in the form of immense pyramids, do not +terminate at the summit in a pyramidal point, for the apex is cut off at +about one seventh of what would be the entire height of the pyramid were +it completed, and, from the centre of the top, there rises a circular +cone, that ancient emblem of the sun. What is exceedingly singular to +these cones is, that they are on their summits decorated with this very +symbol, or usurped sceptre, of the Greek [Greek: Poseidôn]. Thus was the +outside of the building decorated and crowned, as it were, with a +conspicuous emblem of the worship celebrated within, which from the +antiquity of the structure, raised in the infancy of the empire after +cavern-worship had ceased, was probably that of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva: +for we have seen that Elephanta is, in fact, a temple to the Indian Triad, +evidenced in the colossal sculpture that forms the principal figure of it, +and excavated probably ere Brahma had fallen into neglect among those who +still acknowledge him as the creative energy, or different sects had +sprung up under the respective names of Vishnu and Siva. Understood with +reference to the pure theology of India, such appears to me to be the +meaning of this mistaken symbol; but a system of physical theology quickly +succeeded to the pure; and the debased, but ingenious, progeny, who +invented it, knew too well how to adapt the symbols and images of the true +and false devotion. The three sublime hypostases of the true Trinity were +degraded into three attributes; in physical causes the sacred mysteries of +religion were attempted to be explained away; its doctrines were +corrupted, and its emblems perverted. They went the absurd length of +degrading a Creator (for such Brahma, in the Hindoo creed, confessedly is) +to the rank of a created Dewtah, which has been shewn to be a glaring +solecism in theology. + +"The evident result then is, that, nothwithstanding all the corruption of +the purer theology of the Brahmins, by the base alloy of human philosophy, +under the perverted notion of three attributes, the Indians have +immemorially worshipped a threefold Divinity, who, considered apart from +their physical notions, is the Creator, the Preserver, and the +Regenerator. We must again repeat that it would be in the highest degree +absurd to continue to affix the name of Destroyer to the third hypostasis +in their Triad, when it is notorious that the Brahmins deny that anything +can be destroyed, and insist that a change alone in the form of objects +and their mode of existence takes place. One feature, therefore, in that +character, hostile to our system, upon strict examination vanishes; and +the other feature, which creates so much disgust and gives such an air of +licentiousness to his character, is annihilated by the consideration of +their deep immersion in philosophical speculations, of their incessant +endeavours to account for the divine operations by natural causes, and to +explain them by palpable and visible symbols." + +No image of the supreme Brahma himself is ever made; but in place of it +his attributes are arranged, as in the temple of Gharipuri, thus: + + Brahma | Power | Creation | Matter | The Past | Earth + Vishnu | Wisdom | Preservation | Spirit | The Present | Water + Siva | Justice | Destruction | Time | The Future | Fire + +Captain Wilford in the 10th vol. of the _Asiatic Researches_ writes of +Meru or Moriah, the hill of God, and he says:--"Polyænus calls Mount Meru +or Merius, Tri-coryphus. It is true that he bestows improperly that +epithet on Mount Meru, near Cabul, which is inadmissible. Meru, with its +three peaks on the summit, and its seven steps, includes and encompasses +really the whole world, according to the notions of the Hindus and other +nations previously to their being acquainted with the globular shape of +the earth." Basnage, in his history of the Jews, says "there are seven +earths, whereof one is higher than the other; for the Holy Land is +situated upon the highest earth, and Mount Moriah (or Meru) is in the +middle of that Holy Land. This is the hill of God so often mentioned in +the Old Testament, the mount of the congregation where the mighty King +sits in the sides of the north, according to Isaiah, and there is the city +of our God. The Meru of the Hindoos has the name of Sabha, or the +congregation, and the gods are seated upon it in the sides of the north. +There is the holy city of Brahma-puri, where resides Brahma with his court +in the most pure and holy land of Ilavratta." + +Thus Meru is the worldly temple of the Supreme Being in an embodied state, +and of the Tri-Murtti or sacred Triad, which resides on its summit, either +in a single or threefold temple, or rather in both: for it is all one, as +they are one and three. They are three, only with regard to men who have +emerged out of it they are but one: and their threefold temple and +mountain, with its three peaks, become one equally. Mythologists in the +west called the world, or Meru with his appendages, the temple of God, +according to Macrobius. Hence this most sacred temple of the Supreme Being +is generally typified by a cone or pyramid, with either a single chapel on +its summit, or with three; either with or without steps. + +This worldly temple is also considered by the followers of Buddha as the +tomb of the son of the spirit of heaven. His bones, or limbs, were +scattered all over the face of the earth, like those of Osiris and Jupiter +Zagreus. To collect them was the first duty of his descendants and +followers, and then to entomb them. Out of filial piety, the remembrance +of this mournful search was yearly kept up by a fictitious one, with all +possible marks of grief and sorrow, till a priest came and announced that +the sacred relics were at last found. This is practised to this day by +several Tartarian tribes of the religion of Buddha; and the expression of +the bones of the son of the spirit of heaven is peculiar to the Chinese, +and some tribes in Tartary. + +Hindu writers represent Narayana moving, as his name implies, on the +waters, in the character of the first male, and the principle of all +nature, which was wholly surrounded in the beginning by tamas, or +darkness, the Chaos and primordial Night of the Greek mythologists, and, +perhaps, the Thaumaz or Thamas of the ancient Egyptians; the Chaos is +also called Pracriti, or crude Nature, and the male deity has the name of +Purusha, from whom proceeded Sacti, or, the power of containing or +conceiving; but that power in its first state was rather a tendency or +aptitude, and lay dormant and inert until it was excited by the bija, or +vivifying principle, of the plastic Iswara. This power, or aptitude, of +nature is represented under the symbol of the yoni, or bhaga, while the +animating principle is expressed by the linga: both are united by the +creative power, Brahma; and the yoni has been called the navel of +Vishnu--not identically, but nearly; for, though it is held in the Vedanta +that the divine spirit penetrates or pervades all nature, and though the +Sacti be considered as an emanation from that spirit, yet the emanation is +never wholly detached from its source, and the penetration is never so +perfect as to become a total union or identity. In another point of view +Brahma corresponds with the Chronos, or Time of the Greek mythologists: +for through him generations pass on successively, ages and periods are by +him put in motion, terminated and renewed, while he dies and springs to +birth alternately; his existence or energy continuing for a hundred of his +years, during which he produces and devours all beings of less longevity. +Vishnu represents water, or the humid principle; and Iswara fire, which +recreates or destroys, as it is differently applied; Prithivi, or earth, +and Ravi, or the sun, are severally trimurtis, or forms of the three great +powers acting jointly and separately, but with different natures and +energies, and by their mutual action excite and expand the rudiments of +material substances. The word murti, or form, is exactly synonymous with +[Greek: eidôla], of the supreme spirit, and Homer places the idol of +Hercules in Elysium with other deceased heroes, though the God himself was +at the same time enjoying bliss in the heavenly mansions. Such a murti, +say the Hindus, can by no means affect with any sensation, either +pleasing or painful, the being from which it emanated; though it may give +pleasure or pain to collateral emanations from the same source; hence they +offer no sacrifices to the supreme Essence, of which our own souls are +images, but adore Him with silent meditation; while they make frequent +homas or oblations to fire, and perform acts of worship to the sun, the +stars, the earth, and the powers of nature, which they consider as murtis, +or images, the same in kind with ourselves, but transcendently higher in +degree. The moon is also a great object of their adoration; for, though +they consider the sun and earth as the two grand agents in the system of +the universe, yet they know their reciprocal action to be greatly affected +by the influence of the lunar orb according to their several aspects, and +seem even to have an idea of attraction through the whole extent of +nature. This system was known to the ancient Egyptians; for according to +Diodorus, their Vulcan, or elemental fire, was the great and powerful +deity, whose influence contributed chiefly toward the generation and +perfection of natural bodies; while the ocean, by which they meant water +in a collective sense, afforded the nutriment that was necessary; and the +earth was the vase, or capacious receptacle, in which this grand operation +of nature was performed: hence Orpheus described the earth as the +universal mother, and this is the true meaning of the Sanscrit word Amba. + +Further information respecting the male and female forms of the Trimurti +has been gathered as follows:-- + +Atropos (or Raudri), who is placed about the sun, is the beginning of +generation; exactly like the destructive power, or Siva among the Hindus, +and who is called the cause and the author of generation: Clotho, about +the celestial moon, unites and mixes: the last, or Lachesis, is contiguous +to the earth: but is greatly under the influence of chance. For whatever +being is destitute of a sensitive soul, does not exist of its own right; +but must submit to the affections of another principle: for the rational +soul is of its own right impassable, and is not obnoxious to affections +from another quarter. The sensitive soul is a mediate and mixed being, +like the moon, which is a compound of what is above and of what is below; +and is to the sun in the same relation as the earth is to the moon. Major +Wilford says:--"Well Pliny might say, with great truth, the refinements of +the Druids were such, that one would be tempted to believe that those in +the east had largely borrowed from them. This certainly surpasses +everything of the kind I have ever read or heard in India." + +These three goddesses are obviously the Parcoe, or fates, of the western +mythologists, which were three and one. This female tri-unity is really +the Tri-murtti of the Hindus, who call it the Sacti, or energy of the male +Tri-murtti, which in reality is the same thing. Though the male tri-unity +be oftener mentioned, and better known among the unlearned than the other; +yet the female one is always understood with the other, because the +Trimurtti cannot act, but through its energy, or Sacti, which is of the +feminine gender. The male Trimurtti was hardly known in the west, for +Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune have no affinity with the Hindu Trimurtti, +except their being three in number. The real Trimurtti of the Greeks and +Latians consisted of Cronus, Jupiter and Mars, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. To +these three gods were dedicated three altars in the upper part of the +great circus at Rome. These are brothers in their Calpas; and Cronus or +Brahma, who has no Calpa of his own, produces them, and of course may be +considered as their father. Thus Brahma creates in general; but Vishnu in +his own Calpa, assumes the character of Cronus or Brahma to create, and he +is really Cronus or Brahma: he is then called Brahma-rupi Janardana, or +Vishnu, the devourer of souls, with the countenance of Brahma: he is the +preserver of his own character. + +These three were probably the Tripatres of the western mythologists, +called also Tritopatores, Tritogeneia, Tris-Endaimon, Trisolbioi, +Trismacaristoi, and Propatores. The ancients were not well agreed who they +were: some even said that they were Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, the sons +of Tellus and the sun. Others said that they were Amalcis, Protocles, and +Protocless, the door-keepers and guardians of the minds. Their mystical +origin probably belonged to the secret doctrine, which the Roman college, +like the Druids, never committed to writing, and were forbidden to reveal. +As the ancients swore by them, there can be little doubt but that they +were the three great deities of their religion. + +Disentangling the somewhat intricate and involved web of Indian mythology, +and putting the matter as simply as possible, we may say the deities are +only three, whose places are the earth, the intermediate region, and +heaven, namely Fire, Air, and the Sun. They are pronounced to be deities +of the mysterious names severally, and (Prajapati) the lord of creatures +is the deity of them collectively. The syllable O'ru intends every deity: +it belongs to (Paramasht'hi) him who dwells in the supreme abode; it +pertains to (Brahma) the vast one; to (Deva) God; to (Ad'hyatma) the +superintending soul. Other deities, belonging to those several regions, +are portions of the three gods; for they are variously named and described +on account of their different operations, but there is only one deity, the +Great Soul (Mahanatma). He is called the Sun, for he is the soul of all +beings. The Sun, the soul of (jagat) what moves, and of that which is +fixed; other deities are portions of him. + +The name given by the Indians to their Supreme Deity, or Monad, is Brahm; +and notwithstanding the appearance of materialism in all their sacred +books, the Brahmins never admit that they uphold such a doctrine, but +invest their deities with the highest attributes. He is represented as the +Vast One, self-existing, invisible, eternal, imperceptible, the only +deity, the great soul, the over-ruling soul, the soul of all beings, and +of whom all other deities are but portions. To him no sacrifices were ever +offered; but he was adored in silent meditation. He triplicates himself +into three persons or powers, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the Creator, the +Preserver, and the Destroyer, or Reproducer; and is designated by the word +Om or Aum by the respective letters of which sacred triliteral syllable +are expressed the powers into which he triplicates himself. + +The Metempsychosis and succession of similar worlds, alternately destroyed +by flood and fire and reproduced, were doctrines universally received +among the heathens: and by the Indians, the world, after the lapse of each +predestined period of its existence, was thought to be destroyed by Siva. +At each appointed time of its destruction, Vishnu ceases from his +preserving care, and sleeps beneath the waters: but after the allotted +period, from his navel springs forth a lotus to the surface, bearing +Brahma in its cup, who reorganises the world, and when he has performed +his work, retires, leaving to Vishnu its government and preservation; when +all the same heroes and persons reappear, and similar events are again +transacted, till the time arrives for another dissolution. + +After the construction of the world by Brahma, the office of its +preservation is assumed by Vishnu. His chief attribute is Wisdom: he is +the Air, Water, Humidity in general, Space, and sometimes, though rarely, +Earth: he is Time present, and the middle: and he is the Sun in the +evening and at night. His colour is blue or blackish; his Vahan, the Eagle +named Garuda; his allotted place, the Air or intermediate region, and he +symbolises Unity. It is he who most commonly appears in the Avatars or +Incarnations, of which nine in number are recorded as past: the most +celebrated of which are his incarnations as Mateya or the Fish Rama, +Krishna, and Buddha: the tenth of Kalki, or the Horse, is yet to come. It +is from him that Brahma springs when he proceeds to his office of +creation. + +The destroying and regenerating power, Siva, Maha-deva, Iswara, or Routrem +is regarded metaphysically as Justice, and physically as Fire or Heat, and +sometimes Water. He is the Sun at noon: his colour is white, with a blue +throat, but sometimes red; his Vahan is the bull, and his place of +residence the heaven. As destruction in the material world is but change +or production in another form, and was so held by almost all the heathen +philosophers, we find that the peculiar emblems of Siva are, as we have +already shown, the Trident, the symbol of destruction; and the Linga or +Phallus, of regeneration. + +The three deities were called Trimurtti, and in the caverns of Ellora they +are united in a Triune bust. They are collectively symbolized by the +triangle. Vishnu, as Humidity personified, is also represented by an +inverted triangle, and Siva by a triangle erect, as a personification of +Fire; while the Monad Brahm is represented by the circle as Eternity, and +by a point as having neither length, nor breadth, as self-existing, and +containing nothing. The Brahmans deny materialism; yet it is asserted by +Mr. Wilford, that, when closely interrogated on the title of Deva or God, +which their most sacred books give to the Sun, they avoid a direct answer, +and often contradict themselves and one another. The supreme divinity of +the Sun, however, is constantly asserted in their scriptures; and the +holiest verse in the Vedas, which is called the Gayatri, is:--"Let us +adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the Godhead, who illuminates all, +who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we +invoke to direct our understanding aright in our progress towards his holy +seat." + +It has been said that in India is to be found the most ancient form of +that Trinitarian worship which prevails in nearly every quarter of the +known world. Be that as it may, it is not in India where the most +remarkable phase of the worship is to be found; for that we turn to Egypt. +Here we meet with the strange fact that no two cities worshipped the same +triad. "The one remarkable feature in nearly all these triads is that they +are father, mother, and son; that is, male and female principles of +nature, with their product." + +Mariette Bey says:--"According to places, the attributes by which the +Divine Personage is surrounded are modified; but in each temple the triad +would appear as a symbol destined to affirm the eternity of being. In all +triads, the principal god gives birth to himself. Considered as a Father, +he remains the great god adored in temples. Considered as a Son, he +becomes, by a sort of doubling, the third person of the triad. But the +Father and the Son are not less the one god, while, being double, the +first is the eternal god; the second is but the living symbol destined to +affirm the strength of the other. The father engenders himself in the womb +of the mother, and thus becomes at once his own father and his own son. +Thereby are expressed the uncreatedness and the eternity of the being who +has had no beginning, and who shall have no end." + +Generally speaking, the gods of Egypt were grouped in sets of three, each +city having its own Trinity. Thus in Memphis we find Ptah, Pasht and +Month; in Thebes, Amun-Ra, Athor and Chonso; in Ethiopia, Noum, Sate and +Anucis; in Hermonthis, Monthra, Reto and Harphre; in Lower Egypt, Seb, +Netphe and Osiris; in Thinnis, Osiris, Isis and Anhur; in Abousimbel and +Derr, Ptah, Amun-Ra and Horus-Ra; in Esné, Neph, Neboo and Haké; in Dabad, +Seb, Netpe and Mandosti; in Ambos, Savak, Athor and Khonso; in Edfou, +Horket, Hathor and Horsenedto. The trinity common throughout the land is +that of Osiris, Isis and Horus. + +Dr. Cudworth translates Jamblichus as follows, quoting from the Egyptian +Hermetic Books in defining the Egyptian Trinity:--"Hermes places the god +Emeph as the prince and ruler over all the celestial gods, whom he +affirmeth to be a Mind understanding himself, and converting his +cogitations or intellections into himself. Before which Emeph he placeth +one indivisible, whom he calleth Eicton, in which is the first +intelligible, and which is worshipped only by silence. After which two, +Eicton and Emeph, the demiurgic mind and president of truth, as with +wisdom it proceedeth to generations, and bringeth forth the hidden powers +of the occult reasons with light, is called in the Egyptian language +Ammon: as it artificially affects all things with truth, Phtha; as it is +productive of good, Osiris; besides other names that it hath according to +its other powers and energies." Upon this, Dr. Cudworth remarks:--"How +well these three divine hypostases of the Egyptians agree with the +Pythagoric or Platonic Trinity of,--first, Unity and Goodness itself; +secondly, Mind; and, thirdly, Soul,--I need not here declare. Only we +shall call to mind what hath been already intimated, that Reason or +Wisdom, which was the Demiurgus of the world, and is properly the second +of the fore-mentioned hypostases, was called also, among the Egyptians by +another name, Cneph; from whom was said to have been produced or begotten +the God Phtha, the third hypostasis of the Egyptian Trinity; so that Cneph +and Emeph are all one. Wherefore, we have here plainly an Egyptian Trinity +of divine hypostases subordinate, Eicton, Emeph or Cneph, and Phtha." + +Mr. Sharpe, in his Egyptian Inscriptions, mentions the fact that there is +in the British Museum a hieroglyphical inscription as early as the reign +of Sevechus of the eighth century before the Christian Era, showing that +the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity already formed part of their +religion, and stating that in each of the two groups, Isis, Nephthis and +Osiris, and Osiris, Isis, and Horus, the three gods made only one person. +Also that the sculptured figures on the lid of the sarcophagus of Rameses +III., now at Cambridge, show us the King, not only as one of a group of +three gods, but also as a Trinity in Unity in his own person. "He stands +between the goddesses, Isis and Nepthys, who embrace him as if he were the +lost Osiris, whom they have now found again. We further know him to be in +the character of Osiris by the two sceptres which he holds; but at the +same time the horns upon his head are those of the goddess Athor, and the +ball and feathers above are the ornaments of the god Ra." + +Nearly all writers describe the Egyptian Trinity as consisting of the +_generative_, the _destructive_, and the _preserving_ powers. Isis answers +to Siva. Iswara, or Lord, is the epithet of Siva. Osiris, or Ysiris, as +Hellanicus wrote the Egyptian name, was the God at whose birth a voice was +heard to declare, "that the Lord of all nature sprang forth to light." + +A peculiar feature in the ancient trinities is the way in which the +worship of the first person is lost or absorbed in the second, few or no +temples being found dedicated to Brahma. Something very much like this +often occurs among Christians; we are surrounded by churches dedicated to +the second and third persons in the trinity, and to saints, and to the +Mother of Christ, but none to the Father. + +It has been noticed that while we find inscribed upon the monuments of +Egypt a vast multitude of gods, as in India, the number diminishes as we +ascend. Amun Ra alone is found dedicated upon the oldest monuments, in +three distinct forms, into one or other of whose characters all the other +divinities may be resolved. Amun was the chief god, the sacred name, +corresponding with the Aum of the Indians, also, probably, the Egyptian +On. According to Mr. Wilkinson, the Egyptians held Kneph, Neph, Nef, or +Chnoubus, "as the idea of the Spirit of God which moved upon the face of +the waters." He was the Spirit, animating and perpetuating the world, and +penetrating all its parts; the same with the Agathodæmon of the +Phoenicians, and like him, was symbolized by the snake, an emblem of the +Spirit which pervades the universe. He was commonly represented with a +Ram's head; and though the colour of the Egyptian divinities is perhaps +more commonly green than any other, he is as frequently depicted blue. He +was the god of the Nile, which is indirectly confirmed by Pindar; and by +Ptolemy, who says that the Egyptians gave the name of Agathodæmon to the +western, or Heracleotic branch. From his mouth proceeded the Mundane egg, +from which sprung Phtah, the creative power. Mr. Wilkinson +proceeds:--"Having separated the Spirit from the Creator, and purposing to +act apart and defy each attribute, which presented itself to their +imagination, they found it necessary to form another deity from the +creative power, whom they call Phtah, proceeding from the former, and +thence deemed the son of Kneph. Some difference was observed between the +power, which created the world, and that which caused and ruled over the +generation of man, and continued to promote the continuation of the human +species. This latter attribute of the divinity was deified under the +appellation Khem. Thus was the supreme deity known by the three distinct +names of, + + Kneph, Phthah, Khem: + +to these were joined the goddesses Sate, Neith, and Buto; and the number +of the eight deities was completed by the addition of Ra, or Amun-Ra," +this last, however, was not a distinct god, but a name common to each +person of the triad: and, indeed, to all the three names above the name of +Amun was constantly prefixed.[9] + +Phthah corresponds with the Indian Brahma, and the Orphic Phanes, and +appears in several other forms. In one form he is represented as an +infant--often as an infant Priapæan figure, and deformed. + +The deity called Khem by Mr. Wilkinson, and Mendes by Champollion, is +common on the monuments of Egypt, and is recognised as corresponding with +the Pan of the Greeks. His chief attribute is heat, which aids the +continuation of the various species, and he is generally coloured red, +though sometimes blue, with his right arm extended upwards. His principal +emblems are a triple-thonged Flagellum and a Phallus. He corresponds with +Siva of the Indians, his attributes being similar, _viz._, Destroying and +Regenerating. He is the god of generation, and, like Siva, has his Phallic +emblem of reproduction; the triple-thonged flagellum is regarded by some +as a variation of the trident, or of the axe of Siva. He has for a vahan +the Bull Mneuis, as Sivi has the Bull Nandi. The Goat Mendes was also +consecrated to him as an emblem of heat and generation; and it is well +known that this animal is constantly placed in the hands of Siva. "In +short," says Mr. Cory, "there is scarcely a shade of distinction between +Khem and Siva: the Egyptians venerated the same deity as the Indians, in +his generative character as Khem, when they suspended the flagellum, the +instrument of vengeance, over his right hand; but in his destroying +character, as the ruler of the dead, as Osiris, when they placed the +flagellum in his hands as the trident is in that character placed in the +hand of Siva." + +In the Chaldean oracles, so far as they have been preserved, the doctrine +of a triad is found everywhere. Allowing for the existence of much that is +forged amongst these oracles, as suggested by Mr. Cory and others, we may +reasonably conclude that there still remains a deal that is ancient and +authentic. They teach as a fundamental tenet that a triad shines +throughout the whole world, over which a Monad rules. This triad is +Father, Power, and Intellect, having probably once been Air, Fire, and +Sun. + +Amongst the Laplanders the Supreme God was worshipped as Jumala, and three +gods were recognised as subordinate to him. The first was Thor of the +Edda; the second Storjunkare, his vicegerent, the common household god; +and the third Beywe, the Sun. + +With regard to the Phoenicians and Syrians, Photius states that the Kronus +of both was known under the names of El, Bel, and Bolathen. + +The Sidonians, Eudemus said, placed before all things Chronus, Pothas, and +Omichles, rendered by Damascius as Time, Love, and Cloudy Darkness, +regarded by some as no other than the Khem, Phthah, and Amun Kneph of the +Egyptians. + +The Heracles or Hercules of the Greeks, known as Arcles of the Tyrians, +was a triple divinity, described by Hieronymus as a dragon, with the heads +of a bull, of a lion, and of a man with wings. + +Among the Philistines also we find their chief god Dragon, who is the +Ouranus of Sanchoniatho. It appears also that Baal was a triple Divinity: +while Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and Baal Peor, of the +Midians, seem to be the Priapæan Khem of Egypt, the god of heat and +generation. The Edessenes also held the triad, and placed Monimus and +Azizus as contemplars with the Sun.[10] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + _The Supreme God of the Peruvians--Assumed Origin of the Trinity Idea + in the Patriarchal Age--Welsh Ideas--Druidical Triads--The Ancient + Religion of America--The Classics and Heathen Triads--The + Tritopatoreia--The Virgin Mary--The Virgin amongst the + Heathen--Universality of the Belief in a Trinity--The Dahomans._ + + +The Supreme God of the Peruvians, was called Viracocha; known also as +Pachacarnac, Soul of the world, Usapu admirable, and other names. + +Garcilazo says, "he was considered as the giver of life, sustainer and +nourisher of all things, but because they did not see him, they erected no +temples to him nor offered sacrifices; however they worshipped him in +their hearts, and esteemed him for the unknown God." + +Generally, speaking, the sun was the great object of Peruvian idolatry +during the dominion of the Incas. Its worship was the most solemn, and its +temples the most splendid in their furniture and decorations, and the +common people, no doubt, reverenced that luminary as their chief god. + +Herrera mentions the circumstance that at one of the festivals, they +exhibited three statues of the sun, each of which had a particular name, +which as he translated them were Father and Lord Sun, the Son Sun, and the +Brother Sun. He also says, "that at Chucuisaea, they worshipped an idol +called Tangatanga, which they said was three and one." + +The Spanish writers consider this doctrine to have been stolen by the +devil from Christianity, and imparted by him to this people. By this +opinion they evidently declare its antiquity in Peru to have been greater +than the time of the Spanish conquest. + +Those writers and scholars who refuse to believe that the doctrine of the +Trinity as taught in the Christian religion, was known during the +patriarchal or judaical dispensations, and therefore will not allow that +the trinity of the Peruvians had any reference to the dogma of +Christianity, contend that their trinity was founded in those early +corruptions of patriarchal history, in which men began to represent Adam, +and his three sons; and Noah, and his three sons; as being triplicates of +the same essential person, who originally was the universal father of the +human race: and secondly, being triplicated in their three sons, who also +were considered the fathers of mankind. They say therefore, Adam and Noah +were each the father of three sons; and to the persons of the latter of +these triads, by whose descendants the world was repeopled, the whole +habitable earth was assigned in a threefold division. This matter, though +it sometimes appears in an undisguised form, was usually wrapped up in the +cloak of the most profound mystery. Hence instead of plainly saying, that +the mortal who had flourished in the golden age and who was venerated as +the universal demon father both of gods and men, was the parent of three +sons, they were wont to declare, that the great father had wonderfully +triplicated himself. + +Pursuing this vein of mysticism, they contrived to obscure the triple +division of the habitable globe among the sons of Noah, just as much as +the characters of the three sons themselves. A very ancient notion +universally prevailed that some such triple division had once taken place; +and the hierophants when they had elevated Noah and his three sons to the +rank of deity, proceeded to ring a variety of corresponding changes upon +that celebrated threefold distribution. Noah was esteemed the universal +sovereign of the world; but, when he branched out into three kings +(_i.e._, triplicating himself into his three sons), that world was to be +divided into three kingdoms, or, as they were sometimes styled, three +worlds. To one of these kings was assigned the empire of heaven; to +another, the empire of the earth, including the nether regions of +Tartarus; to a third, the empire of the ocean. + +So again, when Noah became a god, the attributes of deity were inevitably +ascribed to him, otherwise, he would plainly have become incapable of +supporting his new character: yet even in the ascription of such +attributes, the genuine outlines of his history were never suffered to be +wholly forgotten. He had witnessed the destruction of one world, the new +creation (or regeneration) of another, and the oath of God that he would +surely preserve mankind from the repetition of such a calamity as the +deluge. Hence when he was worshipped as a hero-god, he was revered in the +triple character of the destroyer, the creator, and the preserver. And +when he was triplicated into three cognate divinities, were produced three +gods, different, yet fundamentally the same, one mild though awful as the +creator; another gentle and beneficent as the preserver; a third, +sanguinary, ferocious, and implacable as the destroyer.[11] + +The idea of a trinity was rather curiously developed amongst the Druids, +especially amongst the Welsh. They used a number of triplicated sentences +as summaries of matters relating to their religion, history, and science, +in order that these things might be the more easily committed to memory +and handed down to future generations. The triads were these:-- + +1. There are three primeval Unities, and more than one of each cannot +exist: + + One God; + One Truth; + One Point of Liberty, where all opposites equiponderate. + +2. Three things proceed from the primeval unities: + + All of Life; + All that is Good; and + All Power. + +3. God consists necessarily of three things: + + The Greatest of Life; + The Greatest of Knowledge; and + The Greatest of Power.[12] + +The Druids venerated the Bull and Eagle as emblems of the god Hu, and like +the Jews and Indians, "made use of a term, only known to themselves, to +express the unutterable name of the Deity, and the letters =OIW= were used +for that purpose." + +From Herodotus, Aristotle, Plutarch, and others, we get information +concerning the triads amongst the Persians, and which were similar in many +respects to those recognised by other eastern nations. Oromasdes and +Arimanes were ruling principles always in opposition to each other, viz., +_good_ and _evil_, and springing from _light_ and _darkness_, which they +are said to have most resembled. Eudemus says, "they proceeded from Place +or Time." Oromasdes was looked upon as the whole expanse of heaven, and +was considered by the Greeks as identical with Zeus. He was the Preserver; +and Arimanes, the Destroyer. Between them, according to Plutarch was +Mithras, the Mediator, who was regarded as the Sun, as Light, as +Intellect, and as the creator of all things. He was a triple deity and was +said to have triplicated himself. The Leontine mysteries were instituted +in his honour, the lion being consecrated to him, and the Sun was +represented by the emblems of the Bull, the Lion, and the Hawk, united. + +In the ancient religions of America, a species of trinity was recognised +altogether different to that of Christianity or the Trimurti of India. In +some of the ancient poems a triple nature is actually ascribed to storms; +and in the Quiché legends we read: "The first of Hurakan is the lightning, +the second the track of the lightning, and the third the stroke of the +lightning; and these three are Hurakan the Heat of the Sky." + +In the Iroquois mythology the same thing is found. Heno was thunder, and +three assistants were assigned to him whose offices were similar to those +of the companions of Hurakan. + +Heno was said to gather the clouds and pour out the warm rain; he was the +patron of husbandry, and was invoked at seedtime and harvest. As the +purveyor of nourishment, he was addressed as grandfather, and his +worshippers styled themselves his grandchildren. + +Amongst the Aztecs, Tlaloc, the god of rain and water, manifested himself +under the three attributes of the flash, the thunderbolt, and the thunder. + +But this conception of three in one, says Brinton, "was above the +comprehension of the masses, and consequently these deities were also +spoken of as fourfold in nature, three _and_ one." Moreover, as has +already been pointed out, the thunder-god was usually ruler of the winds, +and thus another reason for his quadruplicate nature was suggested. +Hurakan, Haokah, Tlaloc, and probably Heno, are plural as well as singular +nouns, and are used as nominatives to verbs in both numbers. Tlaloc was +appealed to as inhabiting each of the cardinal points and every mountain +top. His statue rested on a square stone pedestal, facing the east, and +had in one hand a serpent in gold. Ribbons of silver, crossing to form +squares, covered the robe, and the shield was composed of feathers of four +colours, yellow, green, red and blue. Before it was a vase containing all +sorts of grain; and the clouds were called his companions, the winds his +messengers. As elsewhere, the thunderbolts were believed to be flints, +and thus, as the emblem of fire and the storm, this stone figures +conspicuously in their myths. Tohil, the god who gave the Quichés fire by +shaking his sandals, was represented by a flint-stone. He is distinctly +said to be the same as Quetzelcoatl, one of whose commonest symbols was a +flint. Such a stone, in the beginning of things, fell from heaven to +earth, and broke into 1600 pieces, each of which sprang up a god; an +ancient legend, which shadows forth the subjection of all things to him +who gathers the clouds from the four corners of the earth, who thunders +with his voice, who satisfies with his rain the desolate and waste ground, +and causes the tended herb to spring forth. This is the germ of the +adoration of stones as emblems of the fecundating rains. This is why, for +example, the Navajos use as their charm for rain certain long round +stones, which they think fall from the clouds when it thunders. + +It is said that all over Africa, belief in a trinity of gods is found, the +same to-day as has prevailed at least for forty centuries, and perhaps for +very much longer. Chaldæa, Assyria, and the temple of Erektheus, on the +Acropolis of Athens, honoured and sacrificed to Zeus (the Sun, Hercules, +or Phallic idea) the Serpent and Ocean; and Africa still does so to the +Tree-Stem or Pole, the Serpent, and the Sea or Water; and this Trinity is +one god, and yet serves to divide all gods into three classes, of which +these are types. + +Important and interesting notices relative to the nature of the deities +worshipped by the ancients are to be found in the treatise of Julius +Firmicus Maternus, "De Errore Profanarum Religionum ad Constantium, et +Constantem Angg." Firmicus attributes to the Persians a belief in the +androgynous nature of the deity [naturam ejus (jovis) ad utriusque sexus +transferentes]. No doubt this doctrine has always been recognised, by many +writers, as being held by the philosophers of India and Egypt, and that +it constituted a part of the creed of Orpheus, but its connection with +Persia has not been so generally acknowledged. + +Firmicus, after speaking of the two-fold powers of Jupiter (that is, the +deity being both male and female) adds, "when they choose to give a +visible representation of him, they sculpture him as a female." Again, +they represent him as a female with three heads. It was a figure adorned +with serpents of a monstrous size. It was venerated under the symbol of +fire. It was called Mithra. It was worshipped in secret caverns. The rites +of Mithra were familiar to the Romans, but they worshipped them in a +manner different from the Persian ceremonies. Firmicus had seen Mithra +sculptured in two different ways: in one piece of sculpture he was +represented as a female with three faces, and infolded with serpents; and +in another piece of sculpture he was represented as seizing a bull. + +Classic writers abound with references, not simply to a plurality of gods +among the heathen, but to a trinity in unity and unity in trinity, +sometimes approaching in the similarity of their broad outlines the +doctrine as held by orthodox religionists. Herodotus calls the deity of +the Pelasgians, _Gods_, and it is admitted that the passage evidently +implies that the expression was used by the priests of Dodona. The +Pelasgians worshipped the Cabiri, and the Cabiri were originally three in +number, hence it is inferred that these Cabiri were the Pelasgian Trinity, +and that having in ancient times no name which would have implied a +diversity of gods, they worshipped a trinity in unity. The worship of the +Cabiri by the Pelasgians is evident, for Herodotus says, in his second +book, "that the Samothracians learnt the Cabiric mysteries from the +Pelasgians, who once inhabited that island, and afterwards settled in +Greece, near Attica." Cicero testifies that the Cabiri were originally +three in number, and he carefully distinguishes them from the Dioscuri. A +passage in Pausanias states that at Tritia, a city of Achaia, there is a +temple erected to the Dii Magni (or Cabiri); their images are a +representation of a god made of clay. "We need not be surprised," said a +writer once, "that Pausanias should be puzzled how to express the fact +that, though it was the temple of the three Cabiri, yet there was only one +image in it. Is not this the doctrine of a trinity in unity?" + +Potter informs us that those who desired to have children were usually +very liberal to the gods, who were thought to preside over generation. The +same writer also says:--"Who these were, or what was the origination of +their name, is not easy to determine: Orpheus, as cited by Phanodemus in +Suidas, makes their proper names to be Amaclides, Protocles, and +Protocleon, and will have them to preside over the winds; Demo makes them +to be the winds themselves." Another author tells us their names were +"Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, and that they were the sons of heaven and of +earth: Philocrus likewise makes earth their mother, but instead of heaven, +substitutes the sun, or Apollo, for their father, where he seems to +account, as well for their being accounted the superintendents of +generation, as for the name of [Greek: tritopateres]; for being +immediately descended from two immortal gods, themselves," saith he, "were +thought the third fathers, and therefore might well be esteemed the common +parents of mankind, and from that opinion derive those honours, which the +Athenians paid them as the authors and presidents of human generation." + +Again, the Tritopatoreia was a solemnity in which it was usual to pray for +children to the gods of generation, who were sometimes called +_tritopateres_. The names of the Cabiri, as Cicero says, are Tritopatreus, +Eubuleus, and Dionysius: this fact is supposed to give us a little insight +into the origin of the word _tritopateres_, or _tritopatreis_. Philocrus, +as we have seen, makes them the sons of Apollo and of the earth: this +fact will help us to develop the truth: the two last hypostases emanated +from the Creator: thus in the Egyptian Trinity of Osiris, of Isis, and of +Horus, Isis is not only the consort, but the daughter of Osiris, and Horus +was the fruit of their embrace, thus in the Scandinavian Trinity of Adin, +of Trea, and of Thor, Trea is not only the wife, but the daughter of Odin, +and Thor was the fruit of their embrace, as Maillet observes in his +_Northern Antiquities_ (vol. ii.), there is the Roman Trinity of Jupiter, +of Juno, and of Minerva, Juno is the sister and the wife of Jupiter, and +Minerva is the daughter of Jupiter: now, it is a singular fact, that in +the Pelasgic Trinity of the Cabirim, two of them are said to have been the +sons of Vulcan, or the Sun, as we read in Potter (vol. i.) Hence we see, +it has been contended, the mistake of Philocrus: there were not three +emanations from the Sun, as he supposes, but only _two_: their name +tritopateres, which alludes to the doctrine of the trinity, puzzled +Philocrus, who knew nothing of the doctrine, and he is credited with +coining the story, to account for this appellation: the Cabiri were, as is +known from Cicero, called Tritopatreus, Dionysius, and Eubuleus. Dionysius +is Osiris, and Eubuleus and Tritopatreus are the two hypostases, which +emanated from him: the name of the third hypostasis is generally +compounded of some word which signifies the third: hence Minerva derived +her name of Tritonis, or Tritonia Virgo: hence Minerva is called by Hesiod +(referred to in Lempriere's Classical Dictionary), Tritogenia: hence came +the Tritia, of which Pausanias speaks: hence came the Tritopatreus of +Cicero: hence came the Thridi of the Scandinavians. We read in the Edda +these remarkable words: "He afterwards beheld three thrones raised one +above another, and on each throne sat a man; upon his asking which of +these was their king, his guide answered, 'he who sits upon the lowest +throne is the king, and his name is Hor, or the Lofty One: the second is +Jaenhar, that is Equal to the Lofty One; but he who sits upon the highest +throne is called Thridi, or the Third.'" + +Pausanias has a number of passages which bear upon this subject, and seem +to prove conclusively that the Greeks recognised the doctrine of a trinity +in unity and worshipped the same. In his second book he says: "Beyond the +tomb of Pelasgus is a small structure of brass, which supports the images +of Diana, of Jupiter, and of Minerva, a work of some antiquity: Lyceas has +in some verses recorded the fact that this is the representation of +Jupiter Machinator." Again, in Book I., when describing the Areopagite +district of Athens, he says:--"Here are the images of Pluto, of Mercury, +and of Tellus, to whom all such persons, whether citizens or strangers, as +have vindicated their innocence in the Court Areopagus, are required +sacrifice." "In a temple of Ceres, at the entrance of Athens, there are +images of the goddess herself, of her daughter, and of Bacchus, with a +torch in his hand." + +That the grouping of the three deities was not accidental is evident from +the frequency with which they are so mentioned, and other passages show +that they were the three deities who were worshipped in the Eleusinian +mysteries. Thus in Book VIII., Ch. 25:--"The river Lado then continues its +course to the temple of the Eleusinian Ceres, which is situated in +territories of the Thelpusians: the three statues in it are each seven +feet high, and all of marble: they represent Ceres, Proserpine, and +Bacchus." In another passage (Book II., Ch. 2) he says:--"By a temple +dedicated to all the gods, there were placed three statues of Jupiter in +the open air, of which one had no title, a second was styled the +_Terrestrial_, and the third was styled the highest." + +The learned say, of course, it is clear that the missing title should have +been the _God of the Sea_, as the others were the _God of Heaven_, and +the _God of the Earth_. Another passage in Pausanias confirms this:--"In a +temple of Minerva was placed a wooden image of Jupiter with three eyes; +two of them were placed in the natural position, and the other was placed +on the forehead.... One may naturally suppose that Jupiter is represented +with three eyes as the God of the Heaven, as the God of the Earth, and as +the God of the Sea." + +It has been remarked that Pausanias records the tradition that this story +of the three-eyed Jupiter comes from Troy, and it is known that the +Trojans acknowledged a trinity in the divine nature, and that the Dii +Penates, or the Cabiri of the Romans, came from Troy. Quotations from the +translation of the Atlas Chinesis of Montanus, by Ogilby, show that the +three-eyed Jupiter was an oriental emblem of the trinity:--"The modern +learned, or followers of this first sect, who are overwhelmed in idolatry, +divide generally their idols, or false gods, into three orders, _viz._, +celestial, terrestrial, and infernal: in the celestial they acknowledge a +trinity of one godhead, which they worship and serve by the name of a +goddess called Pussa; which, with the Greeks, we might call Cybele, and +with Egyptians, Isis and Mother of the Gods. This Pussa (according to the +Chinese saying) is the governess of nature, or, to speak properly, the +Chinese Isis, or Cybele, by whose power they believe that all things are +preserved and made fruitful, as the three inserted figures relate." + +In the doctrine relating to the Virgin Mary as held by the Church of Rome, +there is a remarkable resemblance to the teaching of the ancients +respecting the female constantly associated with the triune male deity. +Her names and titles are many, and though diversified, mostly pointing to +the same idea. Some of these are as follows:--"The Virgin," conceiving and +bringing forth from her own inherent power. The wife of Bel Nimrod; the +wife of Asshur; the wife of Nin. She is called Multa, Mulita, or Mylitta, +or Enuta, Bilta or Bilta Nipruta, Ishtar, Ri, Alitta, Elissa, Bettis, +Ashtoreth, Astarte, Saruha, Nana, Asurah. Amongst other names she is known +as Athor, Dea Syria, Artemis, Aphrodite, Tanith, Tanat, Rhea, Demeter, +Ceres, Diana, Minerva, Juno, Venus, Isis, Cybele, Seneb or Seben, Venus +Urania, Ge, Hera. "As Anaitis she is the 'mother of the child;' reproduced +again as Isis and Horus; Devaki with Christna; and Aurora with Memnon." +Even in ancient Mexico the mother and child were worshipped. Again she +appears as Davkina Gula Shala, Zirbanit, Warmita Laz. In modern times she +reappears as the Virgin Mary and her son. There were Ishtar of Nineveh and +Ishter of Arbela, just as there are now Marie de Loretto and Marie de la +Garde. + +She was the Queen of fecundity or fertility, Queen of the lands, the +beginning of heaven and earth, Queen of all the Gods, Goddess of war and +battle, the holder of the sceptre, the beginning of the beginning, the one +great Queen, the Queen of the spheres, the Virgo of the Zodiac, the +Celestial Virgin, Time, in whose womb all things are born. She is +represented in various ways, and specially as a nude woman carrying an +infant in her arms.[13] + +The name _Multa, Mulita, or Mylitta_, Inman contends is derived from some +words resembling the Hebrew _meal_, the "place of entrance," and _ta_, "a +chamber." The whole being a place of entrance and a chamber. The cognomen +Multa, or Malta, signifies, therefore, the spot through which life enters +into the chamber, _i.e._, the womb, and through which the fruit matured +within enters into the world as a new being. By the association of this +virgin goddess with the sacred triad of deities is made up the four great +gods, _Arba-il_. + +We are here reminded of the well-known symbol of the Trinity which seems +to have been as abundantly used in ancient times, at least in some +countries--Egypt for instance. This is the triangle--generally the +equilateral--which of course symbolised both the trinity in unity and the +equality of the three. Sometimes we get two of those triangles crossing +each other, one with the point upwards, the other with the point +downwards, thus forming a six-rayed star. The first represents the phallic +triad, the two together shew the union of the male and female principles +producing a new figure, each at the same time retaining its own identity. +The triangle with the point downwards, by itself typifies the Mons +Veneris, the Delta, or door through which all come into the world. + +The question has arisen:--"How comes it that a doctrine so singular, and +so utterly at variance with all the conceptions of uninstructed reason, as +that of a Trinity in Unity, should have been from the beginning, the +fundamental religious tenet of every nation upon earth?" + +Inman without hesitation declares "the trinity of the ancients is +unquestionably of phallic origin." Others have either preceded this writer +or have followed suit, contending that the male symbol of generation in +divine creation was three in one, as the cross, &c., and that the female +symbol was always regarded as the Triangle, the accepted symbol of the +Trinity. The number three, was employed with mystic solemnity, and in the +emblematical hands which seem to have been borne on the top of a staff or +sceptre in the Isiac processions, the thumb and two forefingers are held +up to signify the three primary and general personifications. This form of +priestly blessing, thumb and two fingers, is still acknowledged as a sign +of the Trinity. + +The ancients tell us plainly enough that they are derived from the +cosmogonic elements. They are primarily the material and elementary types +of the spiritual trinity of revelation--types established by revelation +itself, and the only resource of materialism to preserve the original +doctrine. The spirit, whether physical or spiritual, is equally the +_pneuma_; and the light, whether physical or spiritual, equally the _phos_ +of the Greek text: so that the materialist of antiquity had little +difficulty in preserving their analogies complete. + +The Dahomans are said by Skertchley to deny the corporeal existence of the +deity, but to ascribe human passions to him; a singular medley. "Their +religion," he says, "must not be confounded with Polytheism, for they only +worship one god, Mau, but propitiate him through the intervention of the +fetiches. Of these, there are four principal ones, after whom come the +secondary deities. The most important of these is Bo, the Dahoman Mars; +then comes Legba, the Dahoman Priapus, whose little huts are to be met +with in every street. This deity is of either sex, a male and female Legba +often residing in the same temple. A squat swish image, rudely moulded +into the grossest caricature on the human form, sitting with hands on +knees, with gaping mouth, and the special attributes developed to an +ungainly size. Teeth of cowries usually fill the clown-like mouth, and +ears standing out from the head, like a bat's, are only surpassed in their +monstrosity by the snowshoe-shaped feet. The nose is broad, even for a +negro's, and altogether the deity is anything but a fascinating object. +Round the deity is a fence of knobbed sticks, daubed with filthy slime, +and before the god is a flat saucer of red earthenware, which contains the +offerings. When a person wishes to increase his family, he calls in a +Legba priest and gives him a fowl, some cankie, water, and palm oil. A +fire is lighted, and the cankie, water, and palm oil mixed together and +put in the saucer. The fowl is then killed by placing the head between the +great and second toes of the priest, who severs it from the body by a +jerk. The head is then swung over the person of the worshipper, to allow +the blood to drop upon him, while the bleeding body is held over a little +dish, which catches the blood. The fowl is then semi-roasted on a fire +lighted near, and the priest, taking the dish of blood, smears the body of +the deity with it, finally taking some of the blood into his mouth and +sputtering it over the god. The fowl is then eaten by the priest, and the +wives of the devotees are supposed to have the children they crave for." + +The principal Dahoman gods, described by Skertchley, are thus mentioned by +Forlong:-- + +Legba, the Dahoman Priapus, and special patron of all who desire larger +families. + +Zoo, the god of fire, reminding us of Zoe, life. + +Demen, he who presides over chastity. + +Akwash, he who presides over childbirth. + +Gbwejeh, he or she who presides over hunting. + +Ajarama, the tutelary god of foreigners, symbolised by a whitewashed stump +under a shed, apparently a Sivaic or white Lingam, no doubt called foreign +because Ashar came from Assyria, and Esir from the still older Ethiopians. + +Hoho, he who presides over twins. + +Afa, the name of the dual god of wisdom. + +Aizan, the god who presides over roads, and travellers, and bad +characters, and can be seen on all roads as a heap of clay surmounted by a +round pot, containing kanki, palm oil, &c. + +"So that we have Legba, the pure and simple phallus; Ajarama, 'the +whitened stump,' so well known to us in India amidst rude aboriginal +tribes; and Ai-zan, the Hermes or Harmonia, marking the ways of life, and +symbolised by a mound and round pot and considering that this is the +universal form of tatooing shown on every female's stomach,--Mr. +Skertchley says, a series of arches, the meaning is also clearly the +omphi. Mr. S. says that Afa, our African Androgynous Minerva, is very much +respected by mothers, and has certain days sacred to mothers, when she or +he is specially consulted on their special subjects, as well as on all +matters relating to marrying, building a house, sowing corn, and such +like."[14] + +Some years ago a writer, speaking of the Sacred Triads of various nations, +said: "From all quarters of the heathen world came the trinity," what we +have already revealed shows that the doctrine has been held in some form +or other from the far east to the extreme verge of the western hemisphere. +Some of the forms of this Triad are as follows:--India--Brahma, Vishnu, +Siva: Egypt--Knef, Osiris as the first; Ptha, Isis as the second; Phree, +Horus as the third: the Zoroastrians--The Father, Mind, and Fire: the +Ancient Arabs--Al-Lat, Al Uzzah, Manah: Greeks and Latins--Zeus or +Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto: the Syrians--Monimus, Azoz, Aries or Mars: the +Kaldians--The One; the Second, who dwells with the First; the Third, he +who shines through the universe: China--the One, the Second from the +First, the Third from the Second: the Boodhists--Boodhash, the Developer; +Darmash, the Developed; Sanghash, the Hosts Developed: Peruvians--Apomti, +Charunti, Intiquaoqui: Scandinavia--Odin, Thor, Friga: Pythagoras--Monad, +Duad, Triad: Plato--the Infinite, the Finite, that which is compounded of +the Two: Phenicia--Belus, the Sun; Urama, the Earth; Adonis, Love: +Kalmuks--Tarm, Megozan, Bourchan: Ancient Greece--Om, or On; Dionysus, or +Bacchus; Herakles: Orpheus--God, the Spirit, Kaos: South American +Indians--Otkon. Messou, Atahanto. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + _The Golden Calf of Aaron--Was it a Cone or an Animal?--The Prayer to + Priapus--Hymn to Priapus--The Complaint of Priapus._ + + +In the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus we have the following +remarkable account of certain Israelitish proceedings in the time of Moses +and Aaron:--"When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of +the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said +unto him, up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for _as for_ this +Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not +what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, break off the golden +earrings, which _are_ in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your +daughters, and bring _them_ unto me. And all the people brake off the +golden earrings which _were_ in their ears, and brought _them_ unto Aaron; +and he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, +after he had made it a molten calf, and they said, 'These _be_ thy gods O +Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.' And when Aaron saw +_it_, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, +'To-morrow is a feast to the Lord.' And they rose up early on the morrow, +and offered burnt offerings, and brought offerings, and brought peace +offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to +play." + +There is no doubt this is a most remarkable, and, for the most part, +inexplicable transaction. That it was an act of the grossest idolatry is +clear, but the details of the affair are not so readily disposed of, and +some amount of discussion has in consequence arisen, which has cast +imputations upon the conduct of the ancient Jews not very favourably +regarded by the moderns. + +The conduct of Aaron is certainly startling, to say the least of it, for +when the people presented their outrageous demand, coupled with their +insolent and contemptuous language about the man Moses, he makes no +remonstrance, utters no rebuke, but apparently falls in at once with their +proposal and prepares to carry it out. The question is, however, what was +it that was really done? What was the character of the image or idol, he +fashioned out of the golden ornaments which he requested them to take from +the ears of their wives, their sons, and their daughters? + +The suggestion that anything of a phallic nature is to be attributed to +this transaction has been loudly ridiculed and indignantly spurned by some +who have had little acquaintance with that species of worship, but it is +by no means certain that the charge can be so easily disposed of. That +phallic practises prevailed, more or less, amongst the Jews is certain, +and however this matter of the golden image may be explained, it will be +difficult to believe they were not somehow concerned in it. + +It may be a new revelation to some to be told that in the opinion of some +scholars the idol form set up by those foolish idolators was not that of a +calf at all, but of a cone. The Hebrew word _egel_ or _ghegel_ has been +usually taken to mean calf, but, say these gentlemen, erroneously so, its +true signification being altogether different. It is pleaded that it was +not at all likely that the Israelites should, so soon after their +miraculous deliverance from the house of bondage, have so far forgotten +what was due from them in grateful remembrance of that, as to have plunged +into such gross and debased idolatry as the adoration of deity under the +form of an animal. Also that it would have been inconsistent with their +exclamation when they saw the image, "This is thy God, O Israel, which +brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," and with Aaron's proclamation, +after he had built an altar before the idol for the people to sacrifice +burnt offerings on, "To-morrow is a feast to the Lord." It is urged from +these expressions that the only reasonable and legitimate inference is, +that the golden idol was intended to be the similitude or symbol of the +Eternal Himself, and not of any other God. + +Certainly it is, as we have said, remarkable, and presents a problem not +at all easy of solution. Dr. Beke contends that in any case, it is +inconceivable that the figure of a calf should have been chosen to +represent the invisible God--he concludes, therefore, that the word _egel_ +has been wrongly translated. + +With regard to the etymology of the word, its root _àgal_ is declared to +be doubtful, Fürst taking it to mean _to run_, _to hasten_, _to leap_, and +Gesenius suggesting that its primary signification in the Ethiopic, +"_egel_ denoting, like golem, something _rolled_ or _wrapped together_, an +_unformed mass_; and hence _embryo_, _foetus_, and also _the young_, as +just born and still unshapen." + +It is inferred from this, supposing it to be correct, that the primary +idea of this and kindred roots, is that of roundness, so that _egel_ may +readily mean any rounded figure, such as a globe, cylinder, or cone. +"Adopting this," says Dr. Beke,--"a cone, as the true meaning of the +Hebrew word in the text, the sense of the transaction recorded will be, +that Moses having delayed to come down from the Mount, the Israelites, +fearing that he was lost, and looking on the Eternal as their true +deliverer and leader, required Aaron to make for them Elohim--that is to +say, a visible similitude or symbol of their God who had brought them up +out of the land of Mitzraim. Aaron accordingly made for them a golden +_cone_, as an image of the flame of fire seen by Moses in the burning +bush, and of the fire in which the Eternal had descended upon Sinai, this +being the only visible form in which the Almighty had been manifested. Of +such a representation or symbol, a sensuous people like the Israelites +might without inconsistency say, 'This is thy God, O Israel, which +brought thee up out of the land of Mitzraim;' at the same time that Aaron, +after having built an altar before it, could make proclamation and say, +'To-morrow is the feast to the Eternal,' that is to say, to the invisible +God, whose _eidolon_ or visible image this _egel_ was." + +It is admitted by the advocates of this theory that there are certain +things in the English version which appear adverse to it. For instance, it +is said that all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in +their ears, and brought them to Aaron; and he received them at their hand, +and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf, +from which it might be inferred, it is said, that the idol was first +roughly moulded and cast by the founder, and then finished by the +sculptor. + +It is urged however, that it is generally admitted by scholars that the +original does not warrant this rendering, the words "after he had," which +are not in the text, having been added for the purpose of making sense of +the passage, which, if translated literally, would read, "He formed it +with a graving tool, and made it a golden calf," a statement, says Dr. +Beke, which in spite of all the efforts made to explain it, is +inconsistent with the rest of the narrative, which repeatedly says, in +express terms, that the idol was a molten image. + +In order to get rid of this difficulty, several learned commentators have +interpreted the word _hhereth_ (graving-tool) as meaning like _hharith_, a +bag, pocket, or purse, causing the passage to read, "He received them at +their hands, and put it (the gold) into a bag, and made it a golden calf." +Dr. Beke thinks this untenable on the ground that as Aaron must +necessarily have collected the golden earrings together before casting +them into the fire, it is hardly likely that express mention would be made +of so trivial a circumstance as that of his putting them into a bag merely +for the purpose of immediately taking them out again. + +The root _hharath_, according to Gesenius, has the meaning of to cut in, +to engrave; and one of the significations of the kindred root _pharatz_ is +to cut to a point, to make pointed. "Hharithim, the plural of hhereth, is +said to mean purses, bags for money, so called from their long and round +shape, perhaps like an inverted cone; whence it is that Bochart and others +acquired their notion that Aaron put the golden earrings of the Israelites +into a bag."[15] + +Dr. Beke remarks:--"If the word _hhereth_ signifies a bag, on account of +its resemblance to an inverted cone, it may equally signify any other +similarly-shaped receptacle or vessel, such as a conical fire-pot or +crucible; and if the golden earrings were melted in such a vessel, the +molten metal, when cool, would of course have acquired therefrom its long +and round form, like an inverted cone, which is precisely the shape of the +_egel_ made by Aaron, on the assumption that this was intended to +represent the flame of fire. Consequently, we may now read the passage in +question literally, and without the slightest violence of construction, as +follows: 'And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in +their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their +hands, and placed it (the gold) in a crucible, and made it a molten cone;' +this cone having taken the long and rounded form of the crucible in which +it was melted and left to cool." + +An argument in favour of this reading is certainly supplied by Exodus +xxxii. 24, where Aaron is represented as saying to Moses, when trying to +excuse his action, "I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them +break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there +came out this calf" [or cone?]. It is contended that "the whole tenour of +the narrative goes to show that the operation of making the idol for the +children of Israel to worship must have been a most simple, and, at the +same time, a very expeditious one, such as the melting of the gold in a +crucible would be, but which the moulding and casting of the figure of a +calf, however roughly modelled and executed, could not possibly have +been." + +This cone or phallic theory met with a by no means ready reception by +Jewish scholars; it had not been broached many days before it was +energetically attacked and its destruction sought both by ridicule and +argument. It has been admitted, however, that philologically there is +something in it, more even, says Dr. Benisch, than its advocate Dr. Beke +has made out. The former goes so far as to state that its root, not only +in Hebrew, but also in Chaldee and Arabic, primarily designates roundness; +and secondarily, that which is the consequence of a round shape, facility +of being rolled, speed, and conveyance; consequently, that it may +therefore be safely concluded that it would be in Hebrew a very suitable +designation for a cone. "Moreover, the same root in the same signification +is also found in some of the Aryan languages. Compare the German 'kugel' +(ball) and 'kegel' (cone)." + +The chief objection lies in the fact that there are various passages in +the Scriptures where the word occurs, whose contexts clearly show that the +idea intended was that of a living creature, and that the unbroken usage +of language, from the author of Genesis to that of Chronicles, shows that +the term had never changed its signification, viz.: that of calf, bullock, +or heifer. In Levit. ix. 2, 3, 8; 1 Sam. xxviii. 26; Ps. xxix. 6; Isa. xi. +6; Isa. xxvii. 10; Mic. vi. 6, for instance, there can be no mistake that +the reference is to the living animal, and a reference to the Hebrew +concordance shows that the term, inclusive of the feminine (heifer), +occurs fifty-one times in the Bible, in twenty-nine cases of which the +word indisputably means a living creature. Dr. Benisch therefore asks, "Is +it admissible that one and the same writer (for instance, the +Deuteronomist) should have used four times this word in the sense of +heifer (xxii. 4 and 6; xxi. 3), and once in that of cone (ix. 16) without +implying by some adjective, or some turn of language, that the word is a +homonyme? Or that Hosea, in x. 11, should clearly employ it in the sense +of heifer, and, in viii. 5, in that of cone? A glance at the concordance +will show that, in every one of the more important books, the word in +question occurs most clearly in the sense of calf, and never in a passage +which should render a different translation inadmissible. On what ground, +therefore, can it be maintained that, in the days of the author of the +106th Psalm, the supposed original meaning of cone had been forgotten, and +that of calf substituted?" + +The reply to the objection that one and the same word is not likely to +have been used by the same or contemporaneous writers in two different +senses, and that the word has a uniform traditional interpretation, is +that in the Hebrew, as in the English, considerable ambiguity occurs, and +that the same word sometimes has two meanings of the most distinct and +irreconcilable character. As regards the second objection, says Dr. Beke, +which is based on the unbroken chain of tradition for about two thousand +years, it can only hold good on the assumption that the originators of the +tradition were infallible. If not, an error, whether committed +intentionally or unintentionally in the first instance, does not become a +truth by dint of repetition; any more than truth can become error by being +as persistently rejected. The Doctor contends that when the Jews became +intimately connected with Egypt, and witnessed there the adoration of the +sacred bull Apis, they fell into the error of regarding as a golden calf +the _egel_, or conical representation of the flame of fire, which their +forefathers, and after them the Ten Tribes, had worshipped as the +similitude of the Eternal, but of which they themselves, as Jews, had +lost the signification. If this was the case, it is only natural that the +error should have been maintained traditionally until pointed out. + +So stands the argument with regard to the theory of its being a golden +cone, and not the figure of a calf that Aaron made out of the people's +ornaments, and the worship of which so naturally provoked the wrath of +Moses. There is much to be said in its favour, though not enough, perhaps, +to make it conclusive. The propounder of it expressed his regret that he +was under the necessity of protesting against the allegation that he had +imputed to the Israelites what he calls the obscene phallic worship. "Most +expressly," he says, "did I say that the molten golden image made by Aaron +at Mount Sinai was a plain conical figure, intended to represent the God +who had delivered the people from their bondage in the land of Mitzraim, +in the form in which alone He had been manifested to them and to their +inspired leader and legislator, namely that of the flame of fire." This is +perfectly true, but those who are intimately acquainted with the phallic +faiths of the world will find it difficult to disassociate the conical +form of idol from those representations of the human physical organ which +have been found as objects of adoration in so many parts of both the +eastern and western hemispheres. + +Supposing the philological argument to possess any weight--and that it +does has been admitted even by those who regret the cone theory,--there +are other circumstances which certainly may be adduced in confirmation +thereof. For instance, the word _chéret_ translated graving-tool, may mean +also a mould. Again, it does not appear at all likely that the quantity of +gold supplied by the ear-rings of the people would be sufficient to make a +solid calf of the size. True, it may have been manufactured of some other +material and covered with gold; but the easier solution of the difficulty +certainly seems that which suggests that Aaron took these ornaments and +melted them in a crucible of the ordinary form, afterwards turning out +therefrom, when cold, the golden cone to which the people rendered +idolatrous worship. + +The whole subject is surrounded with difficulty, and men of equal learning +and ability have taken opposite sides in the discussion, supporting and +refuting in turn. Passing over the dispute as to whether Aaron simply +received the ear-rings in a bag or whether he graved them with an +engraving tool,--the first warmly argued by Bochart, and the latter by Le +Clerc--a dispute we can never settle owing to the remarkable ambiguity of +the language, we may briefly notice the question, supposing it was a calf +made by Aaron, what induced and determined the choice of such a figure? +Nor must it be supposed that _here_ we are upon undebatable ground; on the +contrary, the same divergence of opinion prevails as with respect to the +previous question. Fr. Moncæus said that Aaron got his idea on the +mountain, where he was once admitted with Moses; and on another occasion +with Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders. This writer and others tell +us that God appeared exalted on a cherub which had the form of an ox. + +Patrick says that Aaron seems to him to have chosen an ox to be the symbol +of the Divine presence, in hope that people would never be so sottish as +to worship it, but only be put in mind by it of the Divine power, which +was hereby represented,--an ox's head being anciently an emblem of +strength, and horns a common sign of kingly power. He contends that the +design was simply to furnish a hieroglyphic of the energy and power of +God. + +The usual explanation is that Aaron chose a calf because that animal was +worshipped in Egypt. That the Israelites were tainted with Egyptian +idolatry is plain from Joshua's exhortation:--"Now therefore, fear the +Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which +your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and +serve ye the Lord" (Josh, xxiv., 14). Also Ezekiel xx., 7 and 8:--"They +did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did +they forsake the idols of Egypt." + +There is no deficiency of evidence respecting the worship of the ox in +Egypt. Strabo says one was kept at Memphis, which was regarded as a +divinity. Pliny repeats the story and says that the Egyptians called this +ox Apis, and that it had two kinds of temples, the entrance to one being +most pleasant, to the other frightful. Herodotus says of this idol:--"Apis +or Epatus, is a calf from a cow which never produced but one, and this +could only have been by a clap of thunder. The calf denominated Apis, has +certain marks by which it may be known. It is all over black, excepting +one square mark; on its back is the figure of an eagle, and on its tongue +that of a beetle." + +It certainly seems tolerably clear that the worship of the calf came out +of Egypt, but so much difficulty surrounds the question of whether the +Egyptian worship preceded or followed that of Aaron's calf, that we are +inclined to endorse the opinion of a modern writer, and say we suspend our +judgment respecting the precise motive which determined Aaron to set up a +calf as the object of Israelitish worship, and conclude that had he +offered any other object of worship, whether some other animal, or any +plant, or a star, or any other production of nature, the learned would +have asked, "Why this rather than some other?" Many would have been the +divisions of opinion on the question; each one would have found in +antiquity, and in the nature of the case, probabilities to support his own +sentiment, and perhaps have exalted them into demonstrations.[16] + +The mention of a cone in connection with the matter now under +consideration, and as the form of Aaron's idol, suggests other examples of +the same figure which are said to have had a phallic form. The Paphian +Venus, for instance, was represented by a conical stone: of which Tacitus +thus speaks:--"The statue of the goddess bears no resemblance to the human +form. It is round throughout, broad at one end, and gradually tapering to +a narrow span at the other, like a goat; the reason of this is not +ascertained. The cause is stated by Philostratus to be symbolic." + +Lajard (_Recherches sur la Cult de Venus_) says:--"In all Cyrian coins, +from Augustus to Macrinus, may be seen in the place where we should +anticipate to find a statue of the goddess, the form of a conical stone. +The same is placed between two cypresses under the portico of the temple +of Astarte, in a medal of Ælia Capitolina; but in this instance the cone +is crowned. In another medal, struck by the elder Philip, Venus is +represented between two Genii, each of whom stands upon a cone or pillar +with a rounded top. There is reason to believe that at Paphos images of +the conical stone were made and sold as largely as were effigies of Diana +of the Ephesians. + +"Medals and engraved stones demonstrate that the hieratic prescriptions +required that all those hills which were consecrated to Jupiter should be +represented in a conical form. At Sicony, Jupiter was adored under the +form of a pyramid." + + + PRAYER TO PRIAPUS. + + Delight of Bacchus, Guardian of the groves, + The kind restorer of decaying loves: + Lesbos and verdant Thasos thee implore, + Whose maids thy pow'r in wanton rites adore: + Joy of the Dryads, with propitious care, + Attend my wishes, and indulge my pray'r. + My guiltless hands with blood I never stain'd, + Or sacrilegiously the god's prophan'd: + Thus low I bow, restoring blessings send, + I did not thee with my whole self offend. + Who sins through weakness, is less guilty thought; + Indulge my crime, and spare a venial fault. + On me when fate shall smiling gifts bestow, + I'll (not ungrateful) to your god-head bow; + A sucking pig I'll offer to thy shrine, + And sacred bowls brimful of generous wine; + A destin'd goat shall on thy altar lie, + And the horn'd parent of my flock shall die; + Then thrice thy frantic vot'ries shall around + Thy temple dance, with smiling garlands crown'd, + And most devoutly drunk, thy orgies sound.--PETRONIUS. + + + HYMN TO PRIAPUS. + + Bacchus and Nymphs delight O mighty God! + Whom Cynthia gave to rule the blooming wood. + Lesbos and verdant Thasos thee adore, + And Lydians in loose flowing dress implore, + And raise devoted temples to thy pow'r. + Thou Dryad's Joy, and Bacchus' Guardian, hear + My conscious prayer with attentive ear. + My hands with guiltless blood I never stain'd, + Nor yet the temples of the gods prophan'd. + Restore my strength, and lusty vigour send, + My trembling nerves like pliant oziers bend. + Who sins through weakness, is not guilty thought, + No equal power can punish such a fault. + A wanton goat shall on your altars die, + And spicy smoke in curls ascend the sky. + A pig thy floors with sacred blood shall stain, + And round the awful fire and holy flame, + Thrice shall thy priests, with youth and garlands crown'd, + In pious drunkenness thy orgies sound.--PETRONIUS. + + + A TRANSLATION OUT OF THE PRIAPEIA. + + THE COMPLAINT OF PRIAPUS FOR BEING VEILED. + + The Almighty's Image, of his shape afraid, + And hide the noblest part e'er nature made, + Which God alone succeeds in his creating trade. + The Fall this fig-leav'd modesty began, + To punish woman, by obscuring man; + Before, where'er his stately Cedar moved + She saw, ador'd and kiss'd the thing she loved. + Why do the gods their several signs disclose, + Almighty Jove his Thunder-bolt expose, + Neptune his Trident, Mars his Buckler shew, + Pallas her spear to each beholder's view, + And poor Priapus be alone confin'd + T'obscure the women's god, and parent of mankind? + Since free-born brutes their liberty obtain, + Long hast thou journey-worked for souls in vain, + Storm the Pantheon, and demand thy right, + For on this weapon 'tis depends the fight.--PETRONIUS. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + _Circumcision, male and female, in various countries and ages._ + + +Circumcision is one of the most ancient religious rites with which we are +acquainted, and, as practised in some countries, there seems reason to +suppose that it was of a phallic character. "It can scarcely be doubted," +says one writer, "that it was a sacrifice to the awful power upon whom the +fruit of the womb depended, and having once fixed itself in the minds of +the people, neither priest nor prophet could eradicate it. All that these +could do was to spiritualise it into a symbol of devotion to a high +religious ideal." Bonwick says: "Though associated with sun worship by +some, circumcision may be accepted as a rite of sex worship." Ptolemy's +_Tetrabiblos_, speaking of the neighbouring nations as far as India, says: +"Many of them practise divination, and devote their genitals to their +divinities." + +It is not possible, perhaps, to speak with any degree of certainty about +the origin of this rite; the enquiry carries the student so far back in +history, that the mind gets lost in the mists of the past. It is regarded +by some as a custom essentially Jewish, but this is altogether wrong; it +was extensively practised in Egypt, also by the tribes inhabiting the more +southern parts of Africa; in Asia, the Afghans and the Tamils had it, and +it has been found in various parts of America, and amongst the Fijians and +Australians. It has been argued, and with considerable plausibility, that +it existed long before writing was known, and from the fact of its having +been employed by the New Hollanders, its great antiquity may be inferred +with certainty. + +It has been noticed by historians that sometimes a nation will pledge +itself to a corporal offering of such a kind, that every member shall +constantly bear about its mark on himself, and so make his personal +appearance or condition a perpetual witness for the special religion whose +vows he has undertaken. Thus several Arabian tribes living not far from +the Holy Land, adopted the custom, as a sign of their special religion +(or, as Herodotus says, "after the example of their God"), of shaving the +hair of their heads in an extraordinary fashion, viz., either on the crown +of the head or towards the temples, or else of disfiguring a portion of +the beard. Others branded or tattooed the symbol of a particular god on +the skin, on the forehead, the arm, the hand. Israel, too, adopted from +early times a custom which attained the highest sanctity in its midst, +where no jest, however trifling, could be uttered on the subject, but +which was essentially of a similar nature to those we have just mentioned. +This was circumcision.[17] It was this special character which no doubt +gave rise to the idea so common amongst the uninformed that it was a +Jewish rite. + +Herodotus and Philo Judæus have related that it prevailed to a great +extent among the Egyptians and Ethiopians. The former historian says it +was so ancient among each people that there was no determining which of +them borrowed it from the other. Among the Egyptians he says it was +instituted from the beginning. Shuckford says that by this he could not +mean from the first rise or original of that nation, but that it was so +early among them that the heathen writers had no account of its origin. +When anything appeared to them to be thus ancient, they pronounced it to +be from the beginning. Herodotus clearly meant this, because we find him +questioning whether the Egyptians learnt circumcision from the Ethiopians, +or the Ethiopians from the Egyptians, and he leaves the question +undecided, merely concluding that it was a very ancient rite. If by the +expression "from the beginning," he had meant that it was originated by +the Egyptians, there would not have been this indecision: and it is known +that among heathen writers to say a thing was "from the beginning," was +equivalent to the other saying that it was very anciently practised. + +Herodotus, in another place, relates that the inhabitants of Colchis also +used circumcision, and concludes therefrom that they were originally +Egyptians. He adds that the Phoenicians and Syrians, who lived in +Palestine, were likewise circumcised, but that they borrowed the practice +from the Egyptians; and further, that little before the time when he +wrote, circumcision had passed from Colchis to the people inhabiting the +countries near Termodon and Parthenius. + +Diodorus Siculus thought the Colchians and the Jews to be derived from the +Egyptians, because they used circumcision. In another place, speaking of +other nations, he says that they were circumcised, after the manner of the +Egyptians. Sir J. Marsham is of opinion that the Hebrews borrowed +circumcision from the Egyptians, and that God was not the first author +thereof; citing Diodorus and Herodotus as evidences on his side. + +Circumcision, though it is not so much as once mentioned in the Koran, is +yet held by the Mahomedans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed +by the religion of Islam, and though not so absolutely necessary but that +it may be dispensed with in some cases, yet highly proper and expedient. +The Arabs used this rite for many ages before Mahomet, having probably +learned it from Ismael, though not only his descendants, but the +Hamyarites and other tribes practised the same. The Ismaelites we are +told, used to circumcise their children, not on the eighth day, according +to the custom of the Jews, but when about twelve or thirteen years old, at +which age their father underwent that operation; and the Mahomedans +imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they are able at +least distinctly to pronounce that profession of their faith, "there is no +God, but God, Mahomet is the apostle of God;" but they fix on what age +they please for the purpose between six and sixteen. The Moslem doctors +are generally of opinion that this precept was given originally to +Abraham, yet some have said that Adam was taught it by the angel Gabriel, +to satisfy an oath he had made to cut off that flesh, which, after his +fall, had rebelled against his spirit; whence an argument has been drawn +for the universal obligation of circumcision. + +The Mahomedans have a tradition that their prophet declared circumcision +to be a necessary rite for men, and for women honourable. This tradition +makes the prophet declare it to be "Sonna," which Pocock renders a +necessary rite, though Sonna, according to the explanation of Reland, does +not comprehend things absolutely necessary, but such as, though the +observance of them be meritorious, the neglect is not liable to +punishment. + +In Egypt circumcision has never been peculiar to the men, but the women +also have had to undergo a practice of a similar nature. This has been +called by Bruce and Strabo "excision." All the Egyptians, the Arabians, +and natives to the south of Africa, the Abyssinians, the Gallas, the +Agoues, the Gasats, and Gonzas, made their children undergo this +operation--at no fixed time, but always before they were marriageable. +Belon says the practice prevailed among the Copts; and P. Jovius and +Munster say the same of the subjects of Prester John. Sonnini says it was +well known that the Egyptian women were accustomed to the practice, but +people were not agreed as to the motives which induced them to submit to +the operation. Most of those who have written on the subject of female +circumcision have considered it as the retrenchment of a portion of the +nymphæ, which are said to grow, in the countries where the practice +obtains, to an extraordinary size. Others have imagined that it was +nothing less than the amputation of the clitoris, the elongation of which +is said to be a disgusting deformity, and to be attended with other +inconveniences which rendered the operation necessary. + +Before he had an opportunity of ascertaining the nature of the +circumcision of the Egyptian women, Sonnini also supposed it consisted of +the amputation of the excrescence of the nymphæ or clitoris, according to +circumstances, and according as the parts were more or less elongated. He +says it is very probable that these operations have been performed, not +only in Egypt, but in several other countries in the East, where the heat +of the climate and other causes may produce too luxuriant a growth of +those parts, and this, he adds, he had the more reason to think, since, on +consulting several Turks who had settled at Rosetta, respecting the +circumcision of their wives, he could obtain from them no other idea but +that of these painful mutilations. They likewise explained to him the +motives. Curious admirers as they were of smooth and polished surfaces, +every inequality, every protuberance, was in their eyes a disgusting +fault. They asserted too that one of these operations abated the ardour of +the constitutions of their wives, and diminished their facility of +procuring illicit enjoyments. + +Niebuhr relates that Forskal and another of his fellow-travellers, having +expressed to a great man at Cairo, at whose country seat they were, the +great desire they had to examine a girl who had been circumcised, their +obliging host immediately ordered a country girl eighteen years of age to +be sent for, and allowed them to examine her at their ease. Their painter +made a drawing of the parts after the life, in presence of several Turkish +domestics; but he drew with a trembling hand, as they were apprehensive of +the consequences it might bring upon them from the Mahometans. A plate +from this drawing was given by Professor Blumenbach, in his work _De +Generis humani Varietate nativa_, from which it is evident that the +traveller saw nothing but the amputation of the nymphæ and clitoris, the +enlargement of which is so much disliked by husbands in these countries. + +Sonnini suspected that there must be something more in it than an excess +of these parts, an inconvenience, which, being far from general among the +women, could not have given rise to an ancient and universal practice. +Determining to remove his doubts on the subject, he took the resolution, +which every one to whom the inhabitants of Egypt are known, he says, will +deem sufficiently bold, not to procure a drawing of a circumcised female, +but to have the operation performed under his own eyes. Mr. Fornetti, +whose complaisance and intelligence were so frequently of service to him, +readily undertook to assist him in the business; and a Turk, who acted as +broker to the French merchants, brought to him at Rosetta a woman, whose +trade it was to perform the operation, with two young girls, one of whom +was going to be circumcised, the other having been operated on two years +before. + +In the first place he examined the little girl that was to be circumcised. +She was about eight years old, and of the Egyptian race. He was much +surprised at observing a thick, flabby, fleshy excrescence, covered with +skin, taking its rise from the labia, and hanging down it half-an-inch. + +The woman who was to perform the operation sat down on the floor, made the +little girl seat herself before her, and without any preparation, cut off +the excrescence just described with an old razor. The girl did not give +any signs of feeling much pain. A few ashes taken up between the finger +and thumb were the only topical application employed, though a +considerable quantity of blood was discharged from the wound. + +The Egyptian girls are generally freed from this inconvenient superfluity +at the age of seven or eight. The women who are in the habit of performing +this operation, which is attended with little difficulty, come from Said. +They travel through the towns and villages, crying in the streets, "Who +wants a good circumciser?" A superstitious tradition has marked the +commencement of the rise of the Nile as the period at which it ought to be +performed; and accordingly, besides the other difficulties he had to +surmount, Sonnini had that of finding parents who would consent to the +circumcision of their daughter at a season so distant from that which is +considered as the most favourable, this being done in the winter; money, +however, overcame this obstacle as it did the rest. + +From Dalzel's _History_ we learn that in Dahome a similar custom +prevails with regard to the women as that in Egypt. A certain +operation is performed upon the woman, which is thus described in a +foot-note:--"Prolongatio, videlicit, artificialis labiorum pudendi, +capellæ mamillis simillima." The part in question, locally called "Tu," +must, from the earliest years, be manipulated by professional old women, +as is the bosom among the embryo prostitutes of China. If this be +neglected, her lady friends will deride and denigrate the mother, +declaring that she has neglected her child's education; and the juniors +will laugh at the daughter as a coward who would not prepare herself for +marriage.[18] + +"Circumcision was a federal rite, annexed by God as a seal to the covenant +which he made with Abraham and his posterity, and was accordingly renewed +and taken into the body of the Mosaical constitutions. It was not a mere +mark, only to distinguish the Hebrews as the seed of Abraham from other +nations; but by this they were made the children of the covenant, and +entitled to the blessings of it; though if there had been no more in it +than this, that they who were of the same faith should have a certain +character whereby they should be known, it would have been a wise +appointment. The mark seems to be fitly chosen for the purpose; because it +was a sign that no man would have made upon himself and upon his children, +unless it were for the sake of faith and religion. It was not a brand upon +the arm, or an incision in the thigh, but a difficult operation in a most +tender part, peculiarly called flesh in many places of scripture. That +member which is the instrument of generation was made choice of, that they +might be an holy seed, consecrated unto God from the beginning; and +circumcision was properly a token of the divine covenant made with Abraham +and his posterity that God would multiply their seed, and make them as the +stars of heaven."[19] + +Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopa, after comparing the circumcision of the +Jews with that of the Abyssinians, says: "This puts us in mind of the +circumcision of females, of which Gregory was somewhat ashamed to +discourse, and we should have more willingly omitted it had not +Tzagazabus, in his rude Confession of Faith, spoken of it as a most +remarkable custom introduced by the command of Queen Magneda; or had not +Paulus Jovius himself, Bishop of Como, insisted in the same manner upon +this unseemly custom. This same ceremony was not only used by the +Habisenes, but was also familiar among other people of Africa, the +Egyptians, and the Arabians themselves. For they cut away from the female +infants something which they think to be an indecency and superfluity of +nature. Jovius calls it Carunniculam, or a little piece of flesh; Golius, +an oblong excrescence. The Arabians, by a particular word, called it +Bedhron, or Bedhara, besides which they have many other words to the same +purpose. Among their women it is as great a piece of reproach to revile a +woman by saying to her, O Bandaron: that is, O Uncircumcised, as to call a +man Arel, or Uncircumcised, among the Jews. The Jewish women in Germany, +being acquainted by their reading with this custom, laugh at it, as +admiring what it should be that should require such an amputation." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + _Androgynous Deities--Theories respecting the Dual Sex of the + Deity--Sacredness of the Phallus--Sex Worship--The Eastern Desire for + Children--Sacred Prostitution--Hindu Law of Adoption and + Inheritance--Hindu Need of Offspring, and especially of a + Son--Obsequies of the Departed._ + + +The phallic idea alluded to again and again in the preceding pages as +entering into the heathen conception of a trinity, the practice of +circumcision, and the use of the cross as a symbol, branches out in a +great variety of directions; at some of these we must cast a brief glance +in order that we may form a correct estimate of the subject. + +Reference has been made to the androgynous nature ascribed to the Deity by +different nations, and here at once is opened up the whole subject of sex +worship. It is impossible to say how far back we should have to retrace +our footsteps in seeking for men's first ideas upon this matter; many +ages, it is certain. Forlong, speaking of a remote age and our +forefathers, says: "They began to see in life and all nature a God, a +Force, a Spirit; or, I should rather say, some nameless thing which no +language of those early days, if indeed of present, can describe. They +gave to the outward creative organs those devotional thoughts, time, and +praise which belonged to the Creator; they figured the living spirit in +the cold bodily forms of stone and tree, and so worshipped it. As we read +in early Jewish writings, their tribes, like all other early races, bowed +before Ashar and Ashe'ra, as others had long before that period worshipped +Belus and Uranus, Orus and Isis, Mahadeva, Siva, Sakti, and Parvati. +Jupiter and Yuno, or Juno, or rather the first ideas of these, must have +arisen in days long subsequent to this. All such steps in civilisation +are very slow indeed, and here they had to penetrate the hearts of +millions who could neither read nor write, nor yet follow the reader or +the preacher; so centuries would fleet past over such rude infantile +populations, acting no more on the inert pulpy mass than years, or even +months, now do; and if this were so after they began to realise the ideas +of a Bel and Ouranos, how much slower before that far-back stage was won. +Their first symbolisation seems clearly to have been the simple line, +pillar, or a stroke, as their male god; and a cup or circle as their +female; and lo! the dual and mystic =10= which early became a trinity, and +has stood before the world from that unknown time to this. In this mystic +male and female we have the first great androgynous god." + +Alluding to this subject, an anonymous writer, believed to be a Roman +Catholic priest, some sixteen years ago, said:--"The primitive doctrine +that God created man in his own image, male and female, and consequently +that the divine nature comprised the two sexes within itself, fulfils all +the conditions requisite to constitute a catholic theological dogma, +inasmuch as it may truly be affirmed of it, that it has been held 'semper, +ubique, et ab omnibus,' being universal as the phenomenon to which it owes +its existence. + +"How essential to the consistency of the Catholic system is this doctrine +of duality you may judge by the shortcomings of the theologies which +reject it. Unitarianism blunders alike in regard to the Trinity and the +Duality. Affecting to see in God a Father, it denies him the possibility +of having either spouse or offspring. More rational than such a creed as +this was the primitive worship of sex, as represented by the male and +female principles in nature. In no gross sense was the symbolism of such a +system conceived, gross as its practice may have become, and as it would +appear to the notions of modern conventionalism. For no religion is +founded upon intentional depravity. Searching back for the origin of life, +men stopped at the earliest point to which they could trace it, and +exalted the reproductive organs into symbols of the Creator. The practice +was at least calculated to procure respect for a side of nature liable +under an exclusively spiritual regime to be relegated to undue contempt. + +"It appears certain that the names of the Hebrew deity bear the sense I +have indicated; El, the root of Elhoim, the name under which God was known +to the Israelites prior to their entry into Canaan, signifying the +masculine sex only; while Jahveh, or Jehovah, denotes both sexes in +combination. The religious rites practised by Abraham and Jacob prove +incontestably their adherence to this, even then, ancient mode of +symbolising deity; and though after the entry into Canaan, the leaders and +reformers of the Israelites strove to keep the people from exchanging the +worship of their own divinity for that of the exclusively feminine +principle worshipped by the Canaanites with unbridled licence under the +name of Ashera, yet the indigenous religion became closely incorporated +with the Jewish; and even Moses himself fell back upon it when, yielding +to a pressing emergency, he gave his sanction to the prevailing Tree and +Serpent worship by his elevation of a brazen serpent upon a pole or cross. +For all portions of this structure constitute the most universally +accepted symbols of sex in the world. + +"It is to India that we must go for the earliest traces of these things. +The Jews originated nothing, though they were skilful appropriators and +adapters of other men's effects. Brahma, the first person in the Hindoo +Triad, was the original self-existent being, inappreciable by sense, who +commenced the work of creation by creating the waters with a thought, as +described in the Institutes of Manu. The waters, regarded as the source of +all subsequent life, became identified with the feminine principle in +nature--whence the origin of the mystic rite of baptism--and the +atmosphere was the divine breath or spirit. The description in Genesis of +the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, indicates the +influence upon the Jews of the Hindoo theogony to which they had access +through Persia. + +"The twofold name of Jehovah also finds a correspondence in the +Arddha-Nari, or incarnation of Brahma, who is represented in sculptures as +containing in himself the male and female organisms. And the worship of +the implements of fecundity continues popular in India to this day. The +same idea underlies much of the worship of the ancient Greeks, finding +expression in the symbols devoted to Apollo or the sun, and in their +androgynous sculptures. Aryan, Scandinavian, and Semitic religions were +alike pervaded by it, the male principle being represented by the sun, and +the female by the moon, which was variously personified by the virgins, +Ashtoreth or Astarte, Diana, and others, each of whom, except in the +Scandinavian mythology, where the sexes are reversed, had the moon for her +special symbol. Similarly, the allegory of Eden finds one of its keys in +the phenomena of sex, as is demonstrated by the ancient Syrian sculptures +of Ashera, or _the Grove_; and 'the tree of life in the midst of the +garden' forms the point of departure for beliefs which have lasted +thousands of years, and which have either spread from one source over, or +been independently originated in, every part of the habitable globe."[20] + +It is evident that this worship is of the most extremely ancient character +and that it was based originally upon ideas that had nothing gross and +debasing in them. It is true that it at various times assumed indelicate +forms and was associated with much that was of the most degrading +character, but the first idea was only to use for religious purposes that +which seemed the most apt emblem of creation and regeneration. "Is it +strange," asks a lady writer, "that they regarded with reverence the great +mystery of human birth? Were they impure thus to regard it? Or, are we +impure that we do _not_ so regard it? Let us not smile at their mode of +tracing the infinite and incomprehensible cause throughout all the +mysteries of nature, lest by so doing we cast the shadow of our own +grossness on their patriarchal simplicity." + +It became with this very much as it does with all symbolism, more or less, +that is to say from the worship of that which was symbolised, it +degenerated to the worship of the emblem itself. + +But the ancient Egyptians exerted themselves considerably to restrain +within certain bounds of propriety the natural tendency of this worship +and we find them allowing it to embrace only the masculine side of +humanity, afterwards, as was perhaps only to be expected, the feminine was +introduced. Then, as particularly exhibited in the case of India, it +gradually became nothing more or less than a vehicle for satisfying the +licentious desires of the most degrading of both sexes. + +It is wonderful, however, the extraordinary hold these ideas attained upon +the human mind, whether they entered into the religious conceptions of the +people, or pandered to vicious desires under the mere cloak of religion. +The Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy (four books relative to Starry Influences), +speaking of the countries India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Parthia, Media, Persia, +Babylon, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, says:--"Many of them practise +divination, and devote their genitals to their divinities because the +familiarity of these planets renders them very libidinous." + +Nor must we forget the peculiar sacredness with which in the early Jewish +Church these organs were always regarded,--that is, the male organs. +Injury of them disqualified the unfortunate victim from ministering in the +congregation of the Lord, and the severest punishment was meted out to the +criminal who should be guilty of causing such injury. Thus in the book of +Deuteronomy, chap. xxv., 11, 12, we read:--"When men strive together one +with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her +husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her +hand, and taketh him by the secrets: then thou shalt cut off her hand, +thine eye shall not pity her." And this was not to be an act of revenge on +the part of the injured man, but was to be the legal penalty duly enforced +by the civil magistrate. It is very extraordinary, for it appears that +such an injury inflicted upon an enemy--and evidently it meant the +disablement of the man from the act of sexual intercourse--was regarded as +even more serious than the actual taking of life in self-defence. The +degradation attached to the man thus mutilated was greater than could +otherwise be visited upon him--all respect for him vanished and he was +henceforward regarded as an abomination. + +Such mutilation has always been common in heathen nations--similarly +regarded as amongst the Hebrews, but used as the greatest mark of +indignity possible to inflict upon an enemy--some of the Egyptian +bas-reliefs represent the King (Rameses II.) returning in triumph with +captives, many of whom are undergoing the operation of castration, while +in the corners of the scene are heaped up piles of the genital organs +which have been cut off by the victors. Some of the North American +Indians, particularly the Apaches of California and Arizona, have been +noted for their frequent use of the same barbarous practice on the +prisoners taken in war and upon the bodies of the slain. + +We get a similar instance in Israelitish history as recorded in the first +book of Samuel, where Saul being afraid of David, sought a favourable +opportunity to get him slain by the Philistines. There is the story of the +love of Michal, Saul's daughter, for David, and the use Saul endeavoured +to make of that fact in carrying out his evil designs. The news that +Michal had thus fallen in love, pleased Saul, and he said, "I will give +him her, that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the +Philistines may be against him." So David was told that the King would +make him his son-in-law. But it was customary in those times for the +bridegroom to _give_ a dowry instead of as at other times and in other +places, to _receive_ one, and David immediately raised the objection that +this was out of his power as he was but a poor man. This was Saul's +opportunity and his message was, "the King desireth not any dowry, but an +hundred foreskins of the Philistines. But Saul thought to make David fall +by the hand of the Philistines." Of course this involved the slaughter of +a hundred of the enemy, and Saul made sure in attempting such a task, +David would fall before odds so terribly against him. In commanding the +foreskins to be brought to him Saul made sure that they would be +Philistines who were slain, they being almost the only uncircumcised +people about him. This proposal, however, it seems, did not alarm David in +the least, he went forth at once on his terrible mission and actually +brought back thrice the number of foreskins required of him by the King. +This is not the only case on record of such a mutilation; mention is made +by Gill the commentator of an Asiatic writer who speaks of a people that +cut off the genital parts of men, and gave them to their wives for a +dowry. + +So sacred was the organ in question deemed in ancient times, especially in +Israel, that it was used as the means of administering the most binding +form of oath then known. It is described as putting the hand upon the +thigh, and instances are found in Genesis xxiv., 2, and xlvii., 29. In the +former of these passages Abraham requires his elder servant to put his +hand under his thigh and take an oath respecting the wife he would seek +for his son Isaac. In the second passage, it is Jacob requiring his son +Joseph to perform a similar action; in each case what is meant is that the +genital organ, the symbol of the Creator and the object of worship among +all ancient nations was to be touched in the act of making the promise. + +But, as we have pointed out, there is another side to this matter, the +worship of the male organ was only one part; the female organs of +generation were revered as symbols of the generative power of God. They +are usually represented emblematically by the shell, or Concha Veneris, +which was therefore worn by devout persons of antiquity, as it still +continues to be by pilgrims and many of the common women of Italy. The +union of both was expressed by the hand, mentioned in Sir William +Hamilton's letter, which, being a less explicit symbol, has escaped the +attention of the reformers, and is still worn as well as the shell by +women of Italy, though without being understood. It represented the act of +generation, which was considered as a solemn sacrament in honour of the +Creator. + +Some of the forms used to represent the sacti or female principle, are +very peculiar yet familiar to many who may not understand them. Indeed, as +Inman says, "the moderns, who have not been initiated in the sacred +mysteries, and only know the emblems considered sacred, have need of both +anatomical knowledge and physiological lore ere they can see the meaning +of many a sign." + +As already stated, the triangle with its apex uppermost represents the +phallic triad; with its base uppermost, the Mons Veneris, the Delta, or +the door by which all come into the world. Dr. Inman says:--"As a scholar, +I had learned that the Greek letter Delta ([symbol]) is expressive of the +female organ both in shape and idea. The selection of name and symbol was +judicious, for the word Daleth and Delta signify the door of a house and +the outlet of a river, while the figure reversed ([symbol]) represents +the fringe with which the human Delta is overshadowed"--this Delta is +simply another word for the part known as Concha, a shell. This Concha or +Shank is one of the most important of the Eastern symbols, and is found +repeated again and again in almost everything connected with the Hindu +Pantheon. Plate vi. of Moor's elaborately illustrated work on the Indian +deities represents it as seen in the hands of Vishnu and his consort. The +god is represented like all the solar deities with four hands, and +standing in an arched doorway. The head-dress is of serpents; in one of +the right hands is the diamond form the symbol of the Creator; in one of +the left hands is the large Concha and in the other right hand, the great +orb of the day; the shell is winged and has a phallic top. + +This shell is said to have been the first priestly bell, and it is even +now the Hindoo church-bell, in addition to gongs and trumpets. It comes +specially into use when the priest performs his ceremonies before the +Lingam; it is blown when he is about to anoint the emblem, like a bell is +used in some Christian churches in the midst of ceremonies of particular +importance and solemnity. + +The female principle, or sacred Sacti, is also represented by a figure +like that called a sistrum, a Hebrew musical instrument, sometimes +translated cornet. Inman contends in spite of much opposition from his +friends that this represents the mother who is still _virgo intacta_. He +points out that in some things it embodies a somewhat different idea to +the Yoni, the bars across it being bent so that they cannot be taken out, +this showing that the door is closed. + +The secret of this peculiar worship seems to lie in the fact, ever so +prominent in all that has to do with the social and religious life of the +Eastern, of an intense desire for offspring. In harmony with this is the +frequent promise in the Scriptures of an abundance of children and the +declaration of happiness of the man so blessed. One instance may be noted +as recorded in Genesis xiii., 16, the promise to Abram: "I will make thy +seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the +earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." None the less +fervent--perhaps even more so--is the desire of the Indian to possess and +leave behind him a progeny who shall not only succeed to his worldly +acquisitions, but by religious exercises help forward his happiness in the +region of the departed. + +It is said that in this part of the world, a constant topic of +conversation amongst the men is their physical power to propagate their +race, and that upon this matter physicians are more frequently consulted +than upon any other. "Not only does the man think thus, but the female has +her thoughts directed to the same channel, and there has been a special +bell invented by Hindoo priests for childless females." Some kindred +belief seems to be held or suggested by the practices of the Mormon +community, in which large numbers of women are united in marriage to one +man. In Genesis xxx., Rachel seeing that she bore no children is described +as envying her sister, and saying to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I +die." Again 1 Samuel i., 10, 11: "And she (Hannah) was in bitterness of +soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and +said, 'O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of +thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will +give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord, +&c.'" And so on; instances could be multiplied largely, but it is +unnecessary. + +With many of the eastern women it was a matter of the highest consequence +that they have children, as failing to do so it was strictly within the +legal rights of the husband at once to put away his wife by a summary +divorce, or at any rate to take a concubine into his home in order that +he might not go childless; the woman who proved hopelessly barren became +an object of contempt or commiseration to all about her, and her life a +scene of prolonged shame and misery. And so, in certain parts of the +world, arose sex worship, the idea being that by the worship of the organs +of generation the misfortune of barrenness might be avoided. The priests +were not slow to avail themselves of a ready means of adding to their +reputation and influence and increasing their revenues, and women, who for +some cause or another had hitherto been without offspring, were encouraged +to visit the temples and make their proper offerings, and go through the +prescribed ceremonies for curing their sterility. As willing as the women +were for all this, were the men, and though sometimes the defect lay in +themselves physically, it is said that the arrangements at the temples +were such as almost invariably succeeded in making the wives mothers. + +"If abundance of offspring was promised as a blessing," says Dr. Inman, +"it is clear to the physiologist that the pledge implies abundance of +vigour in the man as well as in the woman. With a husband incompetent, no +wife could be fruitful. The condition, therefore, of the necessary organs +was intimately associated with the divine blessing or curse, and the +impotent man then would as naturally go to the priest to be cured of his +infirmity as we of to-day go to the physician. We have evidence that +masses have been said, saints invoked, and offerings presented, for curing +the debility we refer to, in a church in Christianised Italy during the +last hundred years, and in France so late as the sixteenth +century,--evident relics of more ancient times." + +"Whenever a votary applied to the oracle for help to enable him to perform +his duties as a prospective father, or to remove that frigidity which he +had been taught to believe was a proof of Divine displeasure, or an +evidence of his being bewitched by a malignant demon, it is natural to +believe that the priest would act partly as a man of sense, though chiefly +as a minister of God. He would go through, or enjoin attendance on certain +religious ceremonies--would sell a charmed image, or use some holy oil, +invented and blessed by a god or saint, as was done at Isernia--or he +would do something else." + +Intimately connected with the worship of the male and female powers of +generation is the sacred prostitution which was practised so generally by +some of the ancient nations, and of which we have details in the classics. +The information given by Herodotus respecting the women of Babylonia reads +strange indeed to those who are acquainted only with modern codes of +morals, and to whom the special and essential features of phallic faiths +are unknown. This author describes it as a shameful custom, but he informs +us of it as an indisputable fact, that every woman born in the country was +compelled at least once in her life to go and sit in the precinct of +Venus, and there consort with a stranger. Rich and poor alike had to +conform to this rule--the ugly and the beautiful, the attractive and the +repulsive. A peculiarity of the custom was that once having entered the +sacred enclosure, the woman was not allowed to return home until she had +paid the debt which the law prescribed as due from her to the state; the +result of this was that those who were the happy possessors of personal +charms seldom were detained very long, while the plain-featured and +unattractive ones were sometimes several years before they could obtain +their release. We are told that the wealthier women, too proud to +associate with the lower class, though obliged to undergo the same ordeal, +would drive to the appointed place in covered carriages with a +considerable retinue of servants, there making as much display as possible +of their rank and wealth in order to overawe the commoner class of men, +and drive them to females of humbler rank; they sat in their carriages +while crowds of poorer people sat within the holy enclosure with wreaths +of string about their heads. The scene was at once strange and animated; +numbers of both sexes were coming and going; and lines of cords marked out +paths in all directions in which the women sat, and along which the +strangers passed in order to make their choice. Patiently or impatiently, +as the case may be, the female waited till some visitor, taking a fancy to +her, fixed upon her as his chosen sacrifice by throwing a piece of silver +into her lap and saying, "The goddess Mylitta prosper thee." (Mylitta +being the Assyrian name for Venus). The coin need not be of any particular +size or value, but it is obligatory upon her to receive it, because when +once thrown it is sacred. Nor could the woman exercise any choice as to +whom she could go with, the first who threw the coin had a legal title to +her, and the law compelled her submission. But having once obeyed the law, +she was free for the rest of her life, and nothing in the shape of a +bribe, however extensive, would persuade her to grant further favours to +any one. + +There is an allusion to this custom in the book of Baruch (vi., 43), where +it is said:--"The women also with cords about them, sitting in the ways, +burn bran for perfume; but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, +lie with him, she reproaches her fellow that she was not thought worthy as +herself, nor her cords broken." Strabo in his sixteenth book testifies to +the same effect, and he says that the custom dated from the foundation of +the city of Babylon. The same writer states also that both Medes and +Armenians adopted all the sacred rites of the Persians, but that the +Armenians paid particular reverence to Anaitis, and built temples to her +honour in several places, especially in Acilisene. They dedicated there to +her service male and female slaves, and in this, Strabo says, there was +nothing remarkable, but that it was surprising that persons of the +highest rank in the nation consecrated their virgin daughters to the +goddess. It was customary for these women, after being prostituted a long +time at the temple of Anaitis, to be disposed of in marriage, no one +disdaining a connection with such a person. He mentions what Herodotus +says about the Lydian women, all of whom, he adds, prostituted themselves. +But they treated their paramours with much kindness, entertaining them +hospitably and frequently, making a return of more presents than they +received, being amply supplied with means derived from their wealthy +connexions. The Lydians indeed appear to have devoted themselves with the +most shameless effrontery, for they not only attended the sacred fêtes +occasionally for the purpose, but practised prostitution for their own +benefit. A splendid monument to Alyattes, the father of Croesus, built by +the merchants, the artizans, and the courtesans, was chiefly paid for by +the contributions of the latter, which far exceeded those of the others +put together. + +It has been asserted by some writers that sacred prostitution was not +practised in Egypt, but so much is known of the character of certain acts +of worship in that country that the statement is regarded as of little +worth. The worship of Osiris and Isis, which was very much like that of +Venus and Adonis, was attended with excesses that indicate a very +abandoned state of things. It is known that when the pilgrims were on +their way to the fêtes of Isis at Bubastis, the females indulged in the +most indecent dances as the vessels passed the riverside villages, and +historians declare that those obscenities were only such as were about to +happen at the temple, which was visited each year by seven hundred +thousand pilgrims, who gave themselves up to incredible excesses. + +It cannot be shewn that the motive leading to what is called sacred +prostitution was the same in all countries; in India, for example, it +appears to have had very much to do with the desire for children which we +have described as common with the easterns; so common was it that the one +object of woman's life was marriage and a family. This, and the more rapid +development of the female in that part of the world than in others, and +the impression that dying childless she would fail to fulfil her mission +lies at the basis of the early betrothals and marriages which appear so +repulsive and absurd to European ideas. There is a further desire, +however, than that of simply having children, especially in India; the +desire is for male children, and where these fail, it is common for a man +to adopt a son, and in this his motive is a religious one. According to +prevalent superstition, it is held that the future beatitude of the Hindu +depends upon the performance of his obsequies, and payment of his debts, +by a son, as a means of redeeming him from an instant state of suffering +after death. The dread is of a place called Put, a place of horror, to +which the manes of the childless are supposed to be doomed; there to be +tormented with hunger and thirst, for want of those oblations of food, and +libations of water, at prescribed periods, which it is the pious and +indispensable duty of a son to offer. + +The "Laws of Manu" (Ch. ix., 138), state:--"A son delivers his father from +the hell called Put, he was therefore called puttra (a deliverer from Put) +by the Self-existent (Svayambhû) himself." The sage Mandagola is +represented as desiring admission to a region of bliss, but repulsed by +the guards who watch the abode of progenitors, because he had no male +issue. The "Laws of Manu" illustrate this by the special mention of heaven +being attained without it as of something extraordinary. Ch. v., 159, +"Many thousands of Brahmanas, who were chaste from their youth, have gone +to heaven without continuing their race." + +Sir Thomas Strange, many years ago Chief Justice of Madras, wrote very +fully concerning the Hindu law of inheritance and adoption, and we learn +from this great authority that marriage failing in this, its most +important object (that is to say securing male issue), in order that +obsequies in particular might not go unperformed, and celestial bliss be +thereby forfeited, as well for ancestors as for the deceased, dying +without leaving legitimate issue begotten, the old law was provident to +excess, whence the different sorts of sons enumerated by different +authorities, all resolving themselves, with Manu, into twelve, that is the +legally begotten, and therefore not to be separately accounted:--all +formerly, in their turn and order, capable of succession, for the double +purpose of obsequies, and of inheritance. Failing a son, a Hindu's +obsequies may be performed by his widow; or in default of her, by a whole +brother or other heirs; but according to the conception belonging to the +subject, not with the same benefit as by a son. That a son, therefore, of +some description is, with him, in a spiritual sense, next to indispensable +is abundantly certain. As for obtaining one in a natural way, there is an +express ceremony that takes place at the expiration of the third month of +pregnancy, marking distinctly the importance of a son born, so is the +adopting of one as anxiously inculcated where prayers and ceremonies for +the desired issue have failed in their effect. + +The extreme importance to the Hindu of having male offspring, and the +desire to get such children as the result of marriage rather than by +adoption--a practice allowed and inculcated as a last resort, has led to +that extensive prevalence of Lingam worship which is such a conspicuous +feature in India. In nearly every part of that vast empire are to be seen +reproductions of the emblem in an infinite variety of form, and so totally +free from the most remotely indecent character are they, that strangers +are as a rule totally ignorant of their meaning. We have even known, +within the last few years, specimens of the smaller emblems being put up +for sale in this country, of whose meaning the auctioneer professes +himself for the most part ignorant, volunteering no other statement than +that they were charms in some way connected with Hindu customs and +worship. + +It is--being a representation of the male organ--represented, of course, +in a conical form, and is of every size, from half-an-inch to seventy +feet, and of all materials, such as stone, wood, clay, metal, &c. Lingas +are seen of enormous size; in the caves of Elephanta for instance, marking +unequivocally that the symbol in question is at any rate as ancient as the +temple, as they are of the same rock as the temple itself; both, as well +as the floor, roof, pillars, pilastres, and its numerous sculptured +figures, having been once one undistinguished mass of granite, which +excavated, chiselled, and polished, produced the cavern and forms that are +still contemplated with so much surprise and admiration. The magnitude of +the cones, too, further preclude the idea of subsequent introduction, and +together with gigantic statues of Siva and his consort, more frequent and +more colossal than those of any other deity, necessarily coeval with the +excavation, indicate his paramount adoration and the antiquity of his +sect. Lingas are seen also of diminutive size for domestic adoration, or +for personal use; some individuals always carrying one about with them, +and in some Brahman families, one is daily constructed in clay, placed +after due sanctification by appropriate ceremonies and prayers, in the +domestic shrine, or under a tree or shrub sacred to Siva, the Bilva more +especially, and honoured by the adoration of the females of the household. + +It is rather singular that while many Hindus worship the deity of male and +female in one, there are distinct sects which worship either the Lingam or +the Yoni; the first being apparently the same as the phallic emblem of +the Greeks, the _membrum virile_: and the latter _pudendum muliebre_. + +The interesting ceremony connected with the obsequies which we have just +said can be the most effectually performed by a male child, and which +gives rise to the intense longing both on the part of husband and wife for +such offspring, is called Sradha, and is of daily recurrence with +individuals who rigidly adhere to the ritual. It is offered in honour of +deceased ancestors, but not merely in honour of them, but for their +comfort; as the Manes, as well as the gods connected with them, enjoy, +like the gods of the Greeks, the incense of such offerings, which are also +of an expiatory nature, similar, it is said, to the masses of the Church +of Rome. Over these ceremonies of Sradhi presides Yama, in his character +of Sradhadeva, or lord of the obsequies. It is not within our province to +give a detailed account of these ceremonies, but owing to their connection +with the subject generally of our book, a brief outline will no doubt +prove interesting. + +A dying man, when no hopes of his surviving remain, should be laid upon a +bed of cusa grass, either in the house or out of it, if he be a Sudra, but +in the open air, if he belong to another tribe. When he is at the point of +death, donations of cattle, land, gold, silver, or other things, according +to his ability, should be made by him; or if he be too weak, by another +person in his name. His head should be sprinkled with water drawn from the +Ganges, and smeared with clay brought from the same river. A Salagrama +stone ought to be placed near the dying man; holy strains from the Veda or +from the sacred poems should be repeated aloud in his ears; and leaves of +holy basil must be scattered over his head. + +Passing over the ceremonial more especially connected with the burning of +the corpse as not particularly relative to our subject, we proceed. After +the body has been burnt, all who have touched or followed the corpse, +must walk round the pile keeping their left hands towards it, and taking +care not to look at the fire. They then walk in procession, according to +seniority, to a river or other running water, and after washing, and again +putting on their apparel, they advance into the stream. They then ask the +deceased's brother-in-law, or some other person able to give the proper +answer, "Shall we present water?" If the deceased were a hundred years +old, the answer must be simply, "do so:" but if he were not so aged, the +reply is "do so, but do not repeat the oblation." Upon this they all shift +the sacerdotal string to the right shoulder, and looking towards the +south, and being clad in a single garment without a mantle, they stir the +water with the ring finger of the left hand, saying, "waters, purify us." +With the same finger of the right hand, they throw up some water towards +the south, and after plunging once under the surface of the river, they +rub themselves with their hands. An oblation of water must be next +presented from the jointed palms of the hands, naming the deceased and the +family from which he sprung, and saving "may this oblation reach thee." + +After finishing the usual libations of water to satisfy the manes of the +deceased, they quit the river and shift their wet clothes for other +apparel; they then sip water without swallowing it, and sitting down on +soft turf, alleviate their sorrow by the recital of such moral sentences +as the following, refraining at the same time from tears and +lamentation:-- + +1. Foolish is he, who seeks permanence in the human state, unsolid like +the stem of a plantain tree, transient like the foam of the sea. + +2. When a body, formed of fine elements to receive the rewards of deeds +done in its own former person, reverts to its fine original principles; +what room is there for regret. + +3. The earth is perishable; the ocean, the Gods themselves pass away: how +should not that bubble, mortal man, meet destruction. + +4. All that is low, must finally perish; all that is elevated, must +ultimately fall; all compound bodies must end in dissolution; and life is +concluded with death. + +5. Unwillingly do the manes of the deceased taste the tears and rheum shed +by their kinsmen: then do not wait, but diligently perform the obsequies +of the dead. + +All the kinsmen of the deceased, within the sixth degree of consanguinity, +should fast for three days and nights; or one at the least. However if +that be impracticable, they may eat a single meal at night, purchasing the +food ready prepared, but on no account preparing the victuals at home. So +long as the mourning lasts, the nearest relations of the deceased must not +exceed the daily meal, nor eat flesh-meat, nor any food seasoned with +fictitious salt; they must use a plate made of leaves of any tree but the +plantain, or else take their food from the hands of some other persons; +they must not handle a knife or any other implement made of iron; nor +sleep upon a bedstead; nor adorn their persons; but remain squalid, and +refrain from perfumes and other gratifications: they must likewise omit +the daily ceremonies of ablution and divine worship. On the third and +fifth days, as also on the seventh and ninth, the kinsmen assemble, bathe +in the open air, offer tila and water to the deceased, and take a repast +together: they place lamps at cross roads, and in their own houses, and +likewise on the way to the cemetery; and they observe vigils in honour of +the deceased. + +On the last day of mourning, or earlier in those countries where the +obsequies are expedited on the second or third day, the nearest kinsman of +the deceased gathers his ashes after offering a sradha singly for him. + +In the first place, the kinsman smears with cow-dung the spots where the +oblation is to be presented; and after washing his hands and feet, sipping +water and taking up cusa grass in his hand, he sits down on a cushion +pointed towards the south, and placed upon a blade of cusa grass, the tip +of which must also point towards the south. He then places near him a +bundle of cusa grass, consecrated by pronouncing the word namah! or else +prepares a fire for oblations. Then lighting a lamp with clarified butter +or with oil of sesamum, and arranging the food and other things intended +to be offered, he must sprinkle himself with water, meditating on Vishnu, +surnamed the lotos-eyed, or revolving in his mind this verse, "Whether +pure or defiled, or wherever he may have gone, he, who re-enters the being +whose eyes are like the lotos, shall be pure externally and internally." +Shifting the sacerdotal cord on his right shoulder, he takes up a brush of +cusa grass and presents water together with tila and with blossoms, naming +the deceased and the family from which he sprung, and saying "may this +water for ablutions be acceptable to thee." Then saying "may this be +right," he pronounces a vow or solemn declaration. "This day I will offer +on a bundle of cusa grass (or, if such be the custom, 'on fire') a sradha +for a single person, with unboiled food, together with clarified butter +and with water, preparatory to the gathering of the bones of such a one +deceased." The priests answering "do so," he says "namó! namah!" while the +priests meditate the gayatri and thrice repeat, "Salutation to the Gods; +to the manes of ancestors, and to mighty saints; to Swáhá [goddess of +fire]: to Swádhá [the food of the manes]: salutation unto them for ever +and ever." + +He then presents a cushion made of cusa grass, naming the deceased and +saying "may this be acceptable to thee;" and afterwards distributes meal +of sesamum, while the priests recite "May the demons and fierce giants +that sit on this consecrated spot, be dispersed; and the bloodthirsty +savages that inhabit the earth; may they go to any other place, to which +their inclinations may lead them." + +Placing an oval vessel with its narrowest end towards the south, he takes +up two blades of grass; and breaking off a span's length, throws them into +the vessel; and after sprinkling them with water, makes a libation while +the priests say, "May divine waters be auspicious to us for accumulation, +for gain, and for refreshing draughts; may they listen to us, and grant +that we may be associated with good auspices." He then throws tila while +the priests say, "Thou art tila, sacred to Soma; framed by the divinity, +thou dost produce celestial bliss [for him, that makes oblations]; mixed +with water may thou long satisfy our ancestors with the food of the manes, +be this oblation efficacious." He afterwards silently casts into the +vessel, perfumes, flowers, and durva grass. Then taking up the vessel with +his left hand, putting two blades of grass on the cushion, with their tips +pointed to the north, he must pour the water from the argha thereon. The +priests meantime recite:--"The waters in heaven, in the atmosphere, and on +the earth, have been united [by their sweetness] with milk; may those +silver waters, worthy of oblation, be auspicious, salutary, and +exhilarating to us; and be happily offered: may this oblation be +efficacious." He adds namah, and pours out the water, naming the deceased +and saying, "may this argha be acceptable unto thee." Then oversetting the +vessel, and arranging in due order the unboiled rice condiments, clarified +butter, and the requisites, he scatters tila, while the priests recite +"Thrice did Vishnu step, &c." He next offers the rice, clarified butter, +water and condiments, while he touches the vessel with his left hand, and +names the deceased, saying, "may this raw food, with clarified butter and +condiments, together with water, be acceptable unto thee." After the +priests have repeated the gayatri preceded by the names of the worlds, he +pours honey or sugar upon the rice, while they recite this prayer, "may +the winds blow sweet, the rivers flow sweet, and salutary herbs be sweet, +unto us; may night be sweet, may the mornings pass sweetly; may the soil +of the earth, and heaven parent [of all productions], be sweet unto us; +may [Soma] king of herbs and trees be sweet: may the sun be sweet, may +kine be sweet unto us." He then says "namó! namah!" While the priests +recite "whatever may be deficient in this food; whatever may be imperfect +in this rite; whatever may be wanting in this form; may all that become +faultless." + +He should then feed the Brahmanas, whom he has assembled, either silently +distributing food amongst them, or adding a respectful invitation to them +to eat. When he has given them water to rinse their mouths, he may +consider the deceased as fed through their intervention. The priests again +recite the gayatri and the prayer "may the winds blow sweet," &c., and add +the prescribed prayers, which should be followed by the music of +flageolets, lutes, drums, &c. + +Taking in his left hand another vessel containing tila, blossoms and +water, and in his left hand a brush made of cusa grass, he sprinkles water +over the grass spread on the consecrated spot, naming the deceased and +saying "May this ablution be acceptable to thee:" he afterwards takes a +cake or ball or food mixed with clarified butter, and presents it saying, +"May this cake be acceptable to thee," and deals out the food with this +prayer; "Ancestors, rejoice; take your respective shares, and be strong as +bulls." Then walking round by the left to the northern side of the +consecrated spot, and meditating, "Ancestors, be glad; take your +respective shares, and be strong as bulls," he returns by the same road, +and again sprinkles water on the ground to wash the oblation, saying, "May +this ablution be acceptable to thee." + +Next, touching his hip with his elbow, or else his right side, and having +sipped water, he must make six libations of water with the hollow palms of +his hands, saying, "Salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the +saddening [hot] season; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the +month of tapas [or dewy season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto +that [season] which abounds with water; salvation unto thee, O deceased, +and to the nectar [of blossoms]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and to +the terrible and angry [season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and to +female fire [or the sultry season]." + +He next offers a thread on the funeral cake, holding the wet brush in his +hand, naming the deceased, and saying, "May this raiment be acceptable to +thee;" the priests add, "Fathers, this apparel is offered unto you." He +then silently strews perfumes, blossoms, resin, and betel leaves, as the +funeral cake, and places a lighted lamp on it. He sprinkles water on the +bundle of grass, saying, "May the waters be auspicious;" and offers rice, +adding, "May the blossoms be sweet: may the rice be harmless;" and then +pours water on it, naming the deceased and saying, "May this food and +drink be acceptable unto thee." In the next place he strews grass over the +funeral cake, and sprinkles water on it, reciting this prayer: "Waters! ye +are the food of our progenitors; satisfy my parents, ye who convey +nourishment, which is ambrosia, butter, milk, cattle, and distilled +liquor." Lastly, he smells some of the food, and poises in his hand the +funeral cakes, saying, "May this ball be wholesome food;" and concludes, +paying the officiating priest his fee with a formal declaration, "I do +give this fee (consisting of so much money) to such a one (a priest sprung +from such a family, and who uses such a veda and such a sacha of it), for +the purpose of fully completing the obsequies this day performed by me in +honour of one person singly, preparatory to the gathering of the bones of +such a one deceased." + +After the priest has thrice said: "Salutation to the gods, to progenitors, +to mighty saints, &c.," he dismisses him; lights a lamp in honour of the +deceased; meditates on Heri with undiverted attention; casts the food, and +other things used at the obsequies, into the fire; and then proceeds to +the cemetery for the purpose of gathering the ashes of the deceased. + +So long as mourning lasts after gathering the ashes, the near relations of +the deceased continue to offer water with the same formalities and prayers +as already mentioned, and to refrain from factitious salt, butter, &c. On +the last day of mourning, the nearest relation puts on neat apparel, and +causes his house and furniture to be cleaned; he then goes out of the +town, and after offering the tenth funeral cake, he makes ten libations of +water from the palms of his hands; causes the hair of his head and body to +be shaved, and his nails to be cut, and gives the barber the clothes which +were worn at the funeral of the deceased, and adds some other +remuneration. He then anoints his head and limbs, down to his feet, with +oil of sesamum; rubs all his limbs with meal of sesamum, and his head with +the ground pods of white mustard; he bathes, sips water, touches and +blesses various auspicious things, such as stones, clarified butter, +leaves of Nimba, white mustard, Durva grass, coral, a cow, gold, curds, +honey, a mirror, and a couch, and also touches a bamboo staff. He now +returns purified to his home, and thus completes the first obsequies of +the deceased. + +The second series of obsequies, commencing on the day after the period of +mourning has elapsed, is opened by a lustration termed the consolatory +ceremony. The lustration consists in the consecration of four vessels of +water, and sprinkling therewith the house, the furniture, and the persons +belonging to the family. After lighting a fire, and blessing the attendant +Brahmanas, the priest fills four vessels with water, and, putting his hand +into the first, meditates the gayatri, before and after reciting the +following prayers: 1.--May generous waters be auspicious to us, for gain +and for refreshing draughts; may they approach towards us, that we may be +associated with good auspices. 2.--Earth afford us ease; be free from +thorns; be habitable. Widely extended as thou art, procure us happiness. +3.--O waters! since ye afford delight, grant us food, and the rapturous +sight [of the Supreme Being]. 4.--Like tender mothers, make us here +partakers of your most auspicious essence. + +Putting his hand into the second vessel, the priest meditates the gayatri, +and the four prayers above quoted; adding some others, and concluding this +second consecration of water by once more meditating the gayatri. + +Then taking a lump of sugar and a copper vessel in his left hand, biting +the sugar and spitting it out again, the priest sips water. Afterwards +putting his hand into the third vessel, he meditates the gayatri and the +four prayers above cited, interposing this: May Indra and Varuna [the +regents of the sky and of the ocean] accept our oblations, and grant us +happiness; may Indra and the cherishing sun grant us happiness in the +distribution of food; may Indra and the moon grant us the happiness of +attaining the road to celestial bliss, and the association of good +auspices. + +It is customary immediately after this lustration to give away a vessel of +tila, and also a cow, for the sake of securing the passage of the deceased +over the Vaitarani, or river of hell: whence the cow, so given, is called +Vaitarani-dhenu. Afterwards a bed, with its furniture, is brought; and the +giver sits down near the Brahmana, who has been invited to receive the +present. After saying, "Salutation to this bed with its furniture; +salutation to this priest, to whim it is given," he pays due honour to the +Brahmana in the usual form of hospitality. He then pours water into his +hand, saying, "I give thee this bed with its furniture;" the priest +replies, "give it." Upon this he sprinkles it with water; and taking up +the cusa grass, tila, and water, delivers them to the priest, pouring the +water into his hand, with a formal declaration of the gift and its +purpose; and again delivers a bit of gold with cusa grass, &c., making a +similar formal declaration, 1.--This day, I, being desirous of obtaining +celestial bliss for such a one defunct, do give unto thee, such a one, a +Brahmana descended from such a family, to whom due honour has been shown, +this bed and furniture, which has been duly honoured, and which is sacred +to Vishnu. 2. This day I give unto thee (so and so) this gold, sacred to +fire, as a sacerdotal fee, for the sake of confirming the donation I have +made of this bed and furniture. The Brahmana both times replies "be it +well." Then lying upon the bed, and touching it with the upper part of his +middle finger, he meditates the gayatri with suitable prayers, adding +"This bed is sacred to Vishnu." + +With similar ceremonies and declarations he next gives away to a Brahmana, +a golden image of the deceased, or else a golden idol, or both. Afterwards +he distributes other presents among Brahmanas for the greater honour of +the deceased. Of course, all this can only be done by rich people. + +The principal remaining ceremonies consist chiefly of the obsequies called +sradhas. The first set of funeral ceremonies is adopted to effect, by +means of oblations, the reimbodying of the soul of the deceased, after +burning his corpse. The apparent scope of the second is to raise his shade +from this world (where it would else, according to the notions of the +Hindus, continue to roam among demons and evil spirits), up to heaven, and +there deify him, as it were, among the manes of departed ancestors. For +this end, a sradha should regularly be offered to the deceased on the day +after mourning expires; twelve other sradhas singly to the deceased in +twelve successive months: similar obsequies at the end of the third +fortnight, and also in the sixth month, and in the twelfth; and the +oblation called Sapindana, on the first anniversary of his decease. In +most provinces the periods for these sixteen ceremonies, and for the +concluding obsequies entitled Sapindana, are anticipated, and the whole is +completed on the second or third day. After which they are again performed +at the proper times, but in honour of the whole set of progenitors, +instead of the deceased singly. The obsequies intended to raise the shade +of the deceased to heaven are thus completed. Afterwards, a sradha is +annually offered to him on the anniversary of his decease. + +What we have just described, elaborate as it looks, is simply an +abridgment of the long and complicated ceremonies attendant upon the +funeral and after obsequies of a rich man among the Hindus, but it is +enough for our purpose. It shows the vast importance attached to those +obsequies, and enables us to understand the desire on the part of these +Hindus to have children who will in a proper and acceptable manner carry +out these proceedings. We have already quoted from the sacred books to +show that a son was regarded as better able to perform those duties than +any other relation, and that failing such offspring in the ordinary course +of nature, it was obligatory upon the would be father to adopt one. + +Dulaure and some other writers describe a variety of ceremonies which were +taken part in by the women in order to procure the children who would +satisfy the cravings of their husbands. It is probable that a good deal of +what took place at the shrines of heathen goddesses in other lands, arose +from this anxiety, and not altogether from a merely licentious habit of +character and disposition. It has been said, as we may have already +suggested perhaps, that the priests connected with some of the temples +resorted to by childless women for the cure of their misfortune, were +cunning enough to provide for what was wanted in a more practical way than +by the simple performance of certain ceremonies, and that where the +failure to produce children was due to some fault on the part of the +husband, means were at hand by which the woman soon found herself in the +desired condition. It is rather singular that something very similar was +found among the Jewish women in the time of Ezekiel, as we have found in +India; the Indian woman sacrificed her virginity at the shrine of the +Lingam, and in the 16th chapter of the prophet's book, verse 17, we +read:--"Thou didst take also thy fair jewels of my gold, and didst make to +thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them." The latter, +however, was evidently of a very different character to the former, being +nothing more or less than the impure worship of Priapus as carried on in +the orgies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis, the images of the Hebrew women +being such as the Priapi used in those ceremonies; on no account must +those foolish and filthy practices be confounded with that act of worship +which men in primitively simple condition rendered to the agents employed +in the act of generation, which was innocently regarded as only one of the +operations of nature. + +The moral of this part of the subject, and with which for the present we +take leave of it, is this, that the Eastern, from his views of the future +life, deems it absolutely necessary that he should leave offspring, either +real or adopted, behind him, to carry out the obligations imposed by his +religion, and that in order to attain in the possession of what is to him +such a blessing, he is called upon to propitiate in every possible manner +the physical agents and powers employed in the process,--hence the rise +and practice of phallic worship. + + +THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See Dudley's _Naology_. + +[2] _Edin. Rev._, 1870, p. 239. + +[3] Jewitt. + +[4] Hawkins' _Sketch of the Creek Country_. + +[5] _Myths of the New World._ + +[6] Jewitt in _Art Journal_, 1876. + +[7] Quoted by Jewitt, in _Art Journal_, 1874. + +[8] Lysons, _Our British Ancestors_. + +[9] Cory, _Mytho. Inquiry_. + +[10] Cory, _Mytho. Inquiry_. + +[11] Faber, _Orig. Pag. Idol._ + +[12] Meyrick's _Cardigan_. + +[13] Inman, _Anc. Faiths_. I. + +[14] _Rivers of Life._ + +[15] Dr. Beke. + +[16] Dr. F. A. Cox. + +[17] Ewald, _Antiq. Israel_. + +[18] _Mems. Anthrop. Soc. 1._ + +[19] Lewis. _Origines Heb._ + +[20] _Keys of the Creeds_, V. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASCULINE CROSS*** + + +******* This file should be named 39414-8.txt or 39414-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/9/4/1/39414 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Masculine Cross</p> +<p> A History of Ancient and Modern Crosses and Their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship; Also an Account of the Kindred Phases of Phallic Faiths and Practices</p> +<p>Author: Anonymous</p> +<p>Release Date: April 10, 2012 [eBook #39414]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASCULINE CROSS***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by<br /> + the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://archive.org">http://archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://archive.org/details/masculinecrossor00lond"> + http://archive.org/details/masculinecrossor00lond</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h1><span class="smcap">The Masculine Cross.</span></h1> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="table"> +<tr><td align="center"><img src="images/img01.jpg" alt="" /></td> + <td><span class="spacer"> </span></td> + <td align="center"><img src="images/img02.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><i>God Indra Nailed to a Cross.</i></td> + <td> </td> + <td align="center"><i>Buddhist Cross.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><img src="images/img03.jpg" alt="" /></td> + <td><span class="spacer"> </span></td> + <td align="center"><img src="images/img04.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><i>Cross Common on Ancient Assyrian Monuments.</i></td> + <td> </td> + <td align="center"><i>Ancient Heathen,—Mexican Cross.</i></td></tr></table> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">THE</span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant"><span class="smcap">Masculine Cross</span></span></p> +<p class="center"><small>OR</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="large"><strong>A HISTORY OF</strong></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Ancient and Modern Crosses</span></p> +<p class="center"><small>AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH THE</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><span class="smcap">Mysteries of Sex Worship</span></span></p> +<p class="center"><small>ALSO</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="large"><span class="smcap">An Account of the Kindred Phases</span></span></p> +<p class="center"><small>OF</small></p> +<p class="center"><span class="large"><strong>Phallic Faiths and Practices</strong>.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">PRIVATELY PRINTED</p> +<p class="center">1904.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p class="title">CONTENTS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Cross</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Cross</span> (Continued)</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Doctrine of a Sacred Triad</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Doctrine of a Sacred Triad</span> (Continued)</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Golden Calf of Aaron</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Circumcision</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Androgynous Deities, Sex Worship, &c.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>INTRODUCTORY.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps"><i>I</i></span><i>n the following pages certain things supposed to be of comparatively +modern origin have been traced back to the remotest historic ages of the +world; as a consequence, it follows that the modern symbolical meaning +given to such things is sometimes only one acquired in subsequent times, +and not that exactly which was originally intended,—it must not be +supposed, therefore, that the interpretation belonging to the epoch in +which we are first enabled to trace a definite meaning is to be +conclusively regarded as that which gave birth to the form of the symbol. +The original may have been—probably was—very different to what came +after; the starting point may have been simplicity and purity, whilst the +developments of after years were degrading and vicious. Particularly so +was this the case in the Lingam worship of the vast empire of India; +originally the adoration of an Almighty Creator of all things, it became, +in time, the worship of the regenerative powers of material nature, and +then the mere indulgence in the debased passions of an abandoned and +voluptuous nature.</i></p> + +<p><i>With regard to the symbol of the Cross, it may be repugnant to the +feelings of some to be told that their recognition of its purely Christian +origin is a mistake, and that it was as common in Pagan as in more +advanced times; they may find consolation, however, in the fact that its +real beginning was further back still in the world’s history, and that +with Paganism it was, as it had been with Christianity, simply an adopted +favourite.</i></p> + +<p><i>Our story is taken up in the middle epoch of the history, and shews the +relationship of the things we deal with to prevailing phallic faiths and +practices.</i></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">THE MASCULINE CROSS.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>Universal prevalence of the Cross—Mistakes—The Cross not of +Christian Origin—Christian Veneration of the Cross—The Roman +Ritual—The Cross equally honoured by the Gentile and Christian +Worlds—Druidical Crosses—The Copt Oak of Charnwood Forest—Assyrian +Crosses in British Museum—Pectoral Crosses—Egyptian Crosses—Greek +Cross—St. Andrew’s Cross—Planetary Signs and Crosses—Monogram of +Christ at Serapis—Cross in India—Pagodas in form of +Crosses—Mariette Bey’s Discovery—Buddhist and Roman Crosses—Chinese +Crosses—Kampschatkan Crosses—American Crosses—Cross among the Red +Indians—The Royal Commentaries of Peru—Mexican Ideas relative to the +Cross—The Spaniards in America—Sign of the Cross—Cross as an +Amulet—Hot-cross Buns—Tertullian on the Use of the Cross.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> universal prevalence of the cross as an ornament and symbol during the +last eighteen centuries in the Christian church has led to some great, if +not grave, mistakes. It has been supposed, and for various obvious reasons +very naturally so, to be of exclusively Christian origin, and to represent +materially no more than the instrument by which the founder of that +religion was put to death; and, spiritually or symbolically, faith in the +sacrificial atoning work he then completed. There are not a few people +about who, having become imbued with this idea, rush to the hasty +conclusion that wherever the cross is found, and upon whatever monuments, +it indicates a connection with Christianity, and is therefore of +comparatively modern origin. History, in consequence, becomes a strange +and unfathomable mystery, especially when it belongs to kingdoms of +well-known great antiquity, amongst whose symbols or ornaments the cross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +is plentiful, and the mind finds itself involved in a confusion from which +it cannot readily extricate itself. Never was there a greater blunder +perpetrated, or a more ignorant one, than the notion of the figure of the +cross owing its origin to the instrument of Christ’s death, and the +Christian who finds comfort in pressing it to his lips in the hour of +devotion or of trouble must be reminded that the ancient Egyptian did a +similar thing.</p> + +<p>The fact is, there is great similarity between the cross worship, or +veneration if you please, of ancient and modern times. Christians, we +know, are apt to repudiate the charge of rendering worship to this symbol, +but it is clear from what is printed in some of their books of devotion +that some sort of worship is actually rendered, though disguised under +other names. As to the veneration thus offered being right or wrong, we +here say nothing; the fact only concerns us so far as it relates to the +subject we have in hand.</p> + +<p>If we open the <i>Tablet</i> (Roman Catholic newspaper) for the 26th of +November, 1853, we read:—“Those of our readers who have visited Rome +will, doubtless, have remarked, at the foot of the stairs which descend +from the square of the Capitol to the square of the Campo Vaccino, under +the flight of steps in front of the Church of St. Joseph, and over the +door of the Mamertine prison, a very ancient wooden crucifix, before which +lamps and wax tapers are constantly burning, and surrounded on all sides +with exvotos and testimonies of public thanksgiving. No image of the +crucified Saviour is invested with greater veneration.... The worship +yielded to the holy crucifix of Campo Vaccino is universal at Rome, and is +transmitted from generation to generation. The fathers teach it to the +children, and in all the misfortunes and all the trials of life the first +idea is almost always to have recourse to the holy crucifix, the object of +such general veneration, and the source of so many favours. It is, above +all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> in sickness that the succour of the holy image is invoked with more +confidence and more eagerness.... There are few families in Rome who have +not to thank the holy crucifix for some favour and some benefit.... In the +interval of the sermons and other public exercises of devotion the holy +crucifix, exposed on the high altar in the midst of floods of light, saw +incessantly prostrated before it a crowd of adorers and suppliants.... As +soon as the holy image of the Saviour had appeared on the Forum, the Holy +Father advanced on the exterior flight of steps of the church to receive +it, and when the shrine had arrived at the base of the stairs of the +Church of San Luca, at some paces from the flight of steps on which the +Holy Father stood, in rochet, stole, and pallium of red velvet, he bowed +before the holy crucifix and venerated it devoutly.”</p> + +<p>In harmony with this, the Missal supplies us with prayers and hymns in the +service for Good Friday, addressed directly to the cross.</p> + +<p>“We adore Thy cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify Thy holy +resurrection; for by the wood of the cross the whole world is filled with +joy.”</p> + +<p class="poem">“O faithful cross, O noblest tree,<br /> +In all our woods there is none like thee.<br /> +No earthly groves, no shady bowers<br /> +Produce such leaves, such fruit, such flowers.<br /> +Sweet are the nails and sweet the wood,<br /> +Which bore a weight so sweet and good.”<br /> +<br /> +“O lovely tree, whose branches bore<br /> +The royal purple of His gore,<br /> +How glorious does thy body shine,<br /> +Supporting members so divine.<br /> +Hail, cross! our hope, on thee we call<br /> +Who keep this paschal festival;<br /> +Grant to the just increase of grace,<br /> +And every sinner’s guilt efface.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>There is something unusually remarkable about the popularity of the cross; +we can hardly point to a time when, or to a part of the world where, it +has not been in favour. It has entered into the constitution of religions +of the most opposite character, has been transmitted from one to another, +and though originally belonging to the rudest form of pagan idolatry, is +now esteemed highly by those who profess to have adopted the loftiest +ideal of civilised worship. After mentioning the fact of its popularity in +the pagan world, Mr. Maurice remarks: “Let not the piety of the Catholic +Christian be offended at the preceding assertion, that the cross was one +of the most usual symbols among the hieroglyphics of Egypt and India. +Equally honoured in the Gentile and the Christian world, this emblem of +universal nature—of that world to whose four quarters its diverging radii +pointed—decorated the hands of most of the sculptured images in the +former country, and in the latter stamped its form upon the most majestic +shrines of their deities.”</p> + +<p>Here we may profitably glance at a few different parts of the world and at +some of the past ages, in tracing out the possible origin and meaning of +this symbol. In Britain there have been found monuments so ancient and +with such surroundings that but for certain peculiar marks they would +unhesitatingly have been put down as Druidical. They are marked with the +cross, and in the estimation of some, as we have already pointed out, that +is regarded as conclusive proof of Christian origin. The inference, +however, is a false one, the monuments are too old for Christianity, and +the cruciform etchings upon them belong to another religious system +altogether. It is known that the Druids consecrated the sacred oak by +cutting it into the shape of a cross, and so necessary was it regarded to +have it in this form, that if the lateral branches were not large enough +to construct the figure properly, two others were fixed as arms on either +side of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> trunk. The cross having been thus constructed, the Arch-Druid +ascended and wrote the name of the Deity upon the trunk at the place of +intersection, and on the extremities of the arms.</p> + +<p>The peculiar interest attached to this idol lies in the fact that it is +described by the best authorities as the Gallic or Celtic Tau. “The Tau,” +says Davies in his <i>Celtic Researches</i>, “was the symbol of the Druidical +Jupiter. It consisted of a huge grand oak deprived of all its branches, +except only two large ones which, though cut off and separated, were +suspended from the top of its trunk-like suspended arms.” The idol, say +others, was in reality a cross, the same in form as the linga.</p> + +<p>A few years ago, near the hill of Bardon, in the middle of Charnwood +forest, in the county of Leicester, there grew and perhaps still grows, a +very old tree called the Copt Oak. This tree, there is reason to believe, +was more than two thousand years old, and once formed a Celtic Tau. Forty +years ago, a writer who knew the tree well, said that its condition then +suggested very distinctly the possibility of the truthfulness of the +story. It was described as a vast tree, then reduced to a mere shell +between two and three inches only in thickness, perforated by several +openings, and alive only in about one-fourth of the shell; bearing small +branches, but such as could not have grown when the tree was entire; then +it must have had branches of a size not less than an oak of ordinary +dimensions. This was evident from one of the openings in the upper part of +the shell of the trunk, exactly such as a decayed branch would produce. +The tree was evidently of gigantic size in its earlier days, as shown by +its measurement at the date we are speaking of. The remains of the trunk +were twenty feet high, the height proper for the Tau, and the +circumference at the ground was twenty-four feet; at the height of ten +feet the girth was twenty, giving a diameter of nearly seven feet. This +tree, we have said, was called the Copt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> Oak; the epithet copt, or copped, +may be derived from the Celtic <i>cop</i>—a head, and evidently indicates that +the tree had been headed and reduced to the state of a bare trunk. The +idol, as already described, was formed by cutting away the branches of the +tree, which was always a large one, and affixing a beam, forming a cross +with the bare trunk.<a name='fna_1' id='fna_1' href='#f_1'><small>[1]</small></a></p> + +<p>From time immemorial the Copt Oak has borne a celebrity that bears out the +tradition of its ancient sacredness. Potter, the historian of the forest +of Charnwood, writes that it was one of the three places at which +Swanimotes were held, always in the open air, for the regulation of rights +and claims on the forest; and persons have been known even in late times +to have attended such motes. “At this spot,” he says, “it may be under +this tree, Edric the Forester is said to have harangued his forces against +the Norman invasion; and here too, in the Parliamentary troubles of 1642, +the Earl of Stamford assembled the trained bands of the district.” “These +facts,” says Dudley, “mark the Copt Oak extraordinary, and show, that +notwithstanding the lapse of two thousand years, the trunk was at that +distant period a sacred structure, a Celtic idol; and that it is +illustrative of antiquarian records.”</p> + +<p>Still further back in history than the foregoing are we able to trace this +singular figure. If we visit the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum +we shall observe life-size effigies in stone of the kings Samsi-Rammanu, +B.C. 825, and Assur-Nazir-Pal, B.C. 880; suspended from the necks of these +monarchs and resting upon their breasts are prominently sculptured Maltese +crosses about three inches in length and width; they are in a good state +of preservation, and will amply repay anyone for the trouble of an +inspection, should they be desirous of pursuing this enquiry. In the Roman +Catholic dictionaries we find these ornaments <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>described as pectoral +crosses—crosses of precious metal worn at the breast by bishops and +abbots as a mark of their office, and sometimes also by canons, etc., who +have obtained the privilege from Rome. It is stated these pectorals were +not generally used by the Roman ecclesiastics till the middle of the +sixteenth century; however that may be, it is a fact, as proved by the +Assyrian sculptures, that they are nearly, if not more than, three +thousand years old, and not the least interesting feature distinguishing +them is their perfect similarity of design. It is strange that we +moderns—the disciples of Christ—should have had supplied to us at that +remote period the pattern of an ornament or symbol which we are accustomed +to regard as emblematic of essential features of our religion, but it is +true.</p> + +<p>Look across now to Egypt and we find monuments and tombs literally +bedizened with the cross, and that too in a variety of shapes. Long, long +before Christ, the Ibis was represented with human hands and feet, holding +the staff of Isis in one hand, and a globe and cross in the other. Here we +are in one of the most ancient kingdoms of the world—a kingdom so ancient +that its years are lost in obscurity—yet still the cross is found. +Whatever it may have represented in other countries, and whatever may be +its meaning here, from the positions in which it is found and from its +constant association with ecclesiastical personages and offices, it was +evidently one of the most sacred of their symbols. Two forms, among +others, are common, one a simple cross of four limbs of equal length, the +other that shaped like the letter <b>X</b>; the first is generally known as the +Greek cross, the second as that of St. Andrew, both however being of the +same form and owing their different appearance only to the position in +which they are placed.</p> + +<p>It is well known, probably, to most of our readers that the astronomical +signs of certain of the planets consist of crosses,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> crescents, circles, +and in ancient Egypt these were precisely the same as those now used. +Saturn was represented by a cross surmounting a ram’s horn, Jupiter by a +cross beneath a horn, Venus by a cross beneath a circle, the Earth by a +cross within a circle, Mercury by a cross surmounted by a circle and +crescent, and Mars by a cross above a circle. These may still be seen in +almanacs, and on the large coloured bottles in the windows of the +druggist. In the hands of Isis, Osiris, and Hermes, corresponding with the +Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury of the Greeks, are also found the above signs.</p> + +<p>When the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria, was destroyed by one of the +Christian emperors, it is related by several historians, Socrates and +Sozomen, for instance, that beneath the foundation was discovered the +monogram of Christ; and that considerable disputing arose in consequence +thereof, the Gentiles endeavouring to use it for their own purposes, and +the Christians insisting that the cross, being uneasy beneath the weight +or dominion of the temple, overthrew it.</p> + +<p>If we turn to India we find the cross almost as common as in Egypt and +Europe, and not the least interesting feature of the matter is the curious +fact that a number of the pagodas are actually cruciform in structure. +Jagannath is the name of one of the mouths of the Ganges, upon which was +built the great pagoda where the Great Brahmin or High Priest resided. We +were told years ago, by travellers, that the form of the choir or interior +was similar in proportion to all the others, which were built upon the +same model, in the form of a cross. The pagoda at Benares, also, was in +the figure of a cross, having its arms equal. After the above, in +importance, was the pagoda at Muttra; this likewise was cruciform. One of +these temples, that at Chillambrum on the Coromandel coast, is said to be +four miles in circumference. Here there are seven lofty walls one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> within +the other round the central quadrangle, and as many pyramidal gateways in +the middle of each side which form the limbs of a vast cross, consisting +altogether of twenty-eight pyramids. There are, therefore, fourteen in a +row, which extend more than a mile in one continuous line.</p> + +<p>What has been called, and perhaps justly so, the oldest religious monument +in the world was discovered a few years ago by Mariette Bey, near the +Great Pyramid. For ages it had lain there, buried in the sand—how many we +cannot tell, but very many we know; enough to carry us back to a very +remote past. And this, too, like the Indian temples, was in the shape of a +cross. Renan visited it in 1865, and though he found it in many +particulars different from those known elsewhere, he described the +interior, which much recalled the chamber of the Great Pyramid, as in the +form of <b>T</b>, the principle aisle being divided in three rows, the transverse +aisle in two.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fergusson, the architect, also saw it, and, while admiring its simple +and chaste grandeur of style, with some astonishment described the form of +the principal chamber as that of a CROSS. And this was the plan of both +tomb and temple in the earliest ages, testifying to the great veneration +paid to this symbol.</p> + +<p>There is a remarkable resemblance between the Buddhist crosses of India +and those used by the Christian Roman Church. The cross of the Buddhist is +represented with leaves and flowers springing from it, and placed upon a +Calvary as by the Roman Catholics. It is represented in various ways, but +the shaft with the cross-bar and the Calvary remain the same. The tree of +life and knowledge, or the jamba tree, in their maps of the world, is +always represented in the shape of a cross, eighty-four yoganas, or 423 or +432 miles high, including the three steps of the Calvary.</p> + +<p>From India we naturally turn to China, and, though its use there is +involved in a deal of mystery, the cross is found among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> their +hieroglyphics, on the walls of their pagodas and on the lamps which they +used to illuminate their temples.</p> + +<p>In Kamschatka, Baron Humboldt found the cross and remains of hieroglyphics +similar to those of Egypt.</p> + +<p>Passing into America, we find that what could only be described as perfect +idolatry prevailed with respect to the veneration paid to the cross. +Throughout Mexico and some parts of South America the emblem is constantly +found, and in many instances is evidently of great antiquity. Some +travellers have explained their presence by attributing them to the +Spaniards, but those people found them there when they arrived, and were +greatly astonished at the spectacle, not knowing how to account for it. A +lieutenant of Cortez passed over from the island of Cosumel to the +continent, and coasted the peninsula of Yucatan as far as Campeachy. +Everywhere he was struck with the evidences of a higher civilisation, and +was astonished at the sight of numerous large stone crosses, evidently +objects of worship, which he met with in various places.</p> + +<p>At Cozuma an ancient cross is still standing. Here there is a temple of +considerable size, with pyramidal towers rising several stories above the +rest of the building, facing the cardinal points. In the centre of the +quadrangular area within stands a high cross, constructed of stone and +lime like the rest of the temple, and ten palms in height. The natives +regard is as the emblem of the god of rain.</p> + +<p>The discovery of the cross amongst the Red Indians as an object of +worship, by the Spanish missionaries, in the fifteenth century, completely +mystified them, and they hardly knew whether to attribute it to a good or +an evil origin—whether it was the work of St. Thomas or of the Devil. The +symbol was not an occasional spectacle in odd places, as though there by +accident, it met them on all sides; it was literally everywhere, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +every variety of form. It mattered not whether the building was old or +new, inhabited or ruined and deserted, whether it was a temple or a +palace, there was the cross in all shapes and of all materials—of marble, +gypsum, wood, emerald, and jasper. What was, perhaps, still more +remarkable was the fact that it was associated with certain other things +common on the Babylonian monuments, such as the bleeding deity, the +serpent and the sacred eagle, and that it bore the very same names by +which it was known in Roman Catholic countries, “the tree of subsistence,” +“the wood of health,” “the emblem of life.” In this latter appellation +there was a parallel to the name by which it was known in Egypt, and by +which the holy Tau of the Buddhists has always been known; thus placing, +as has been said, any supposition of accidental coincidence beyond all +reasonable debate.</p> + +<p>In the Royal Commentaries of Peru, we have some interesting allusions to +the cross and to the general sanctity with which it was surrounded. In the +city of Cozco, the Incas had one of white marble, which they called a +crystalline jasper, but how long they had had it was unknown. The Inca, +Garcillasso de la Vega, said he left in the year 1560, in the cathedral +church of that city; it was then hanging upon a nail by a list of black +velvet; formerly, when in the hands of the Indians, it had been suspended +by a chain of gold and silver. The form is Greek, that is, square; being +as broad as it was long, and about three fingers wide. It was previously +kept in one of the royal apartments, called Huaca, which signified a +consecrated place. The record says that though the Indians did not adore +it, yet they held it in great veneration, either for the beauty of it, or +for some other reason which they knew not to assign; and so was observed +amongst them, until the Marquess Don Francisco Pizarro entered the valley +of Tumpiz, when by reason of some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> accidents which befel Pedro de Candia +they conceived a greater esteem and veneration for it. The historian +complains that the Spaniards, after they had taken the imperial city, hung +up this cross in the vestry of a church they built, whereas, he says, they +ought to have placed a relic of that kind upon the high altar, adorning it +with gold and precious stones; by which respect to a thing the Indians +esteemed sacred, and by assimilating the ordinances of the Christian +religion as near as was possible with those which the law of nature had +taught this people, the lessons of Christianity would thereby have become +more easy and familiar, and not seemed so far estranged from the +principles of their own Gentilism.</p> + +<p>This cross is again mentioned in another part of the Royal Commentaries, +and two travellers are described as being filled with admiration at seeing +crosses erected on the top of the high pinnacles of the temples and +palaces; the which, it is said, were introduced from the time that Pedro +de Candia, being in Tumpiz, charmed or tamed the wild beasts which were +let loose to devour him, and which, simply by virtue of the cross which he +held in his hand, became gentle and domestic. This was recounted with such +admiration by the Indians, who carried the news of the miracle to Cozco, +that when the inhabitants of the city understood it they went immediately +to the sanctuary where the jasper cross already mentioned stood, and, +having brought it forth, they with loud acclamations adored and worshipped +it, conceiving that though the sign of the cross had for many ages been +conserved by them in high esteem and veneration yet it was not entertained +with such devotion as it deserved, because they were not as yet acquainted +with its virtues. Believing that the sign of the cross had tamed and shut +the mouths of the wild beasts, they imagined that it had a like power to +deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>On both the northern and southern continents of America the cross was +believed to possess the power of restraining evil spirits, and was the +common symbol of the god of rain and of health. The people prayed to it +when their country needed water, and the Aztec goddess of rains held one +in her hand. At the feast celebrated to her honour in the spring, when the +genial shower was needed to promote fertilisation, they were wont to +conciliate the favour of Centeotl, the daughter of heaven and goddess of +corn, by nailing a boy or girl to a cross, and after they had been so +suspended for awhile piercing them with arrows shot from a bow. The +Muyscas, less sanguinary than the Mexicans in sacrificing to the god of +the waters, extended a couple of ropes transversely over some lake or +stream, thus forming a gigantic cross, and at the point of intersection +threw in their offerings of food, gems, and precious oils.</p> + +<p>Quetyalcoatl, god of the winds, bore as his sign of office a mace like the +cross of a bishop; his robe was covered with the symbol, and its adoration +was connected throughout with his worship.</p> + +<p>There is, of course, no doubt whatever that the Spaniards took the cross +with them to America, and scattered it about so much in such varied +directions that their own became so intermingled with the native ones as +to make it difficult to distinguish one from the other; but the fact +remains that what there was of cordiality in the reception they met with +from the aborigines, was due in no small degree to their use of the same +emblem on their standards; when this became apparent the astonishment was +mutual. Many travellers have told us of these ancient crosses, and some of +them while expressing doubts as to their antiquity, have yet supplied us +with evidence of the same. Mr. Stephens is one of these. In his <i>Incidents +of Travel in Central America</i>, he supplies us with some wonderful Altar +Tablets found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> at Palenque, the principal subject in one of which is the +cross. It is surmounted by a strange bird, and loaded with indescribable +ornaments. There are two human figures, one on either side of the cross, +evidently of important personages; both are looking towards the cross, and +one seems in the act of making an offering. The traveller says:—“All +speculations on the subject are of course entitled to little regard, but +perhaps it would not be wrong to ascribe to those personages a sacerdotal +character. The hieroglyphics doubtless explain all. Near them are other +hieroglyphics which remind us of the Egyptian mode of recording the name, +history, office, or character of the persons represented. This tablet of +the cross has given rise to more learned speculations than perhaps any +others found at Palenque. Dupaix and his commentators, assuming for the +building a very remote antiquity, or at least, a period long antecedent to +the Christian era, account for the appearance of the cross by the argument +that it was known and had a symbolical meaning among ancient nations long +before it was established as the emblem of the Christian faith.”</p> + +<p>Near Miztla, “the city of the moon,” is a cavern temple excavated from the +solid rock in the form of a cross, 123 feet in length and breadth, the +limbs being about 25 feet in width.</p> + +<p>Other relics have been found in abundance in the same part of the world, +proving how well known this emblem was before the advent of Christianity. +In the Mexican Tribute Tables, we were told a few years ago by a writer in +the <i>Historical Magazine</i>, small pouches or bags frequently occur. +Appendages to dress, they are tastefully formed and ornamented with fringe +and tassels. A cross of the Maltese or more ordinary form (Greek or Latin) +is conspicuously woven or painted on each. They appear to have been in +great demand, a thousand bundles being the usual Pueblo tax.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>The practice of marking the cross on their persons and wearing it in their +garments was once common with some if not with all the occupants of the +Southern Continent. The Abipones of Paraguay tatooed themselves by +pricking the skin with a thorn. They all wore the form of a cross +impressed on their foreheads, and two small lines at the corner of each +eye, extending towards the ears, besides four transverse lines at the root +of the nose, between the eyebrows, as national marks. What these figures +signified no one was able to tell. The people only knew this, that the +custom had been handed down to them by their ancestors. Not only were +crosses marked on their foreheads, but woven in the red woollen garments +of many of them. This was long before they knew anything of the Christian +religion.</p> + +<p>The “hot cross bun,” eaten in this country on Good Friday, is supposed by +many to be exclusively Christian in its origin; whereas it is no more than +a reproduction of a cake marked with a cross which was duly offered in the +heathen temples to such living idols as the serpent and the bull. It was +made of flour, honey and milk, or oil, and at certain times was eaten with +much ceremony by both priests and people.</p> + +<p>There was also used in the Pagan times the monogram of a cross upon a +heart, the meaning of which was according to Egyptologists, “goodness.” +“This figure,” says Sir G. Wilkinson, “enclosed in a parallelogram, in +which form it would signify ‘the abode of good,’ was depicted or +sculptured upon the front of several houses in Memphis and Thebes.”</p> + +<p>A very ancient Phœnician medal was found many years ago in the ruins of +Citium, on which were inscribed the cross, the rosary, and the lamb. An +engraving of this may be seen in Higgins’ <i>Celtic Druids</i> and in Dr. +Clark’s <i>Travels</i>.</p> + +<p>The connection of the cross with Paganism originally, and its ultimate +assumption by the Christian church, is curiously and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> strikingly brought +out by Tertullian in his <i>Apologeticus</i> and <i>Ad Nationes</i>. These +treatises, we may observe, are so much alike that the former has sometimes +been regarded as a first draft of the latter, which is nearly double the +length. Probably, however, they are entirely different productions, one +being addressed to the general public and the other to the rulers and +magistrates.</p> + +<p>Charged with worshipping a cross, he says:—“As for him who affirms that +we are the priesthood of a cross, we shall claim him as our +co-religionist. A cross is in its material a sign of wood; amongst +yourselves also the object of worship is a wooden figure. Only, whilst +with you the figure is a human one, with us the wood is its own figure. +Never mind for the present what is the shape, provided the material is the +same; the form, too, is of no importance, if so be it be the actual body +of a god. If, however, there arises a question of difference on this +point, what, let me ask, is the difference between the Athenian Pallas or +the Pharia Ceres, and wood formed into a cross, when each is represented +by a rough stock without form, and by the merest rudiment of a statue of +unformed wood? Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an +erect position is a part of a cross, and indeed the greater portion of its +mass. But an entire cross is attributed to us, with its transverse beam, +of course, and its projecting seat. Now you have the less to excuse you, +for you dedicate to religion only a mutilated imperfect piece of wood, +while others consecrate to the sacred purpose a complete structure. The +truth however, after all, is that your religion is all cross, as I shall +show. You are indeed unaware that your gods in their origin have proceeded +from this hated cross. Now every image, whether carved out of wood or +stone, or molten in metal, or produced out of any other richer material, +must needs have had plastic hands engaged in its formation. Well then, +this modeller, before he did anything else, hit upon the form of a wooden +cross, because even our own body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> assumes as its natural position the +latent and concealed outline of a cross. Since the head rises upwards and +the back takes a straight direction and the shoulders project laterally, +if you simply place a man with his arms and hands out-stretched, you will +make the general outline of a cross. Starting then from this rudimental +form and prop, as it were, he applies a covering of clay, and so gradually +completes the limbs and forms the body, and covers the cross within with +the shape which he meant to impress upon the clay; then from this design, +with the help of compasses and leaden moulds, he has got all ready for his +image which is to be brought out into marble, or clay, or metal, or +whatever the material be of which he has determined to make his god. This +then is the process: after the cross-shaped frame the clay; after the clay +the god. In a well-understood routine the cross passes into a god through +the clayey medium. The cross then you consecrate, and from it the +consecrated deity begins to derive its origin. By way of example let us +take the case of a tree which grows up into a system of branches and +foliage, and is a reproduction of its own kind, whether it springs from +the kernel of an olive, or the stone of a peach, or a grain of pepper +which has been duly tempered under ground. Now if you transplant it or +take a cutting off its branches for another plant, to what will you +attribute what is produced by the propagation? Will it not be to the +grain, or the stone, or the kernel? Because as the third stage is +attributable to the second, and the second in like manner to the first, so +the third will have to be referred to the first, through the second as the +mean. We need not stay any longer in the discussion of this point, since +by a natural law every kind of produce throughout nature refers back its +growth to its original source; and just as the product is comprised in its +primal cause, so does that cause agree in character with the thing +produced. Since then, in the production of your gods, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> worship the +cross which originates them, here will be the original kernel and grain +from which are propagated the wooden materials of your idolatrous images. +Examples are not far to seek. Your victories you celebrate with religious +ceremony as deities, and they are more august in proportion to the joy +they bring you. The frames on which you hang up your crosses—these are as +it were the very core of your pageants. Thus in your victories the +religion of your camp makes even crosses objects of worship; your +standards it adores, your standards are the sanction of its oaths, your +standards it prefers before Jupiter himself. But all that parade of images +and that display of pure gold, are as so many necklaces of the crosses. In +like manner also in the banners and ensigns, which your soldiers guard +with no less sacred care, you have the streamers and vestments of your +crosses. You are ashamed, I suppose, to worship unadorned and simple +crosses.”</p> + +<p>We give this passage at length because it emphasises what we are urging in +connection with this subject, viz., that the cross is common to both +Christianity and Paganism, that the latter possessed it ages before the +former, and is therefore more likely to have originated it. We speak with +some reserve on this latter point for want of proper and full evidence. It +may of course be possible that in a purer and more enlightened age the +cross was known and used; we shall probably, however, find our researches +stop short in Pagan times, in which we shall have to look for the +generally recognised meaning of the symbol.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable in the quotation just made, that Tertullian never +attempts to refute the charge brought by the Pagans against the Christians +of his time of worshipping the cross; he merely retaliates by asserting +that they did the very same thing in a somewhat different manner. “As for +him,” he says, “who affirms that we are the priesthood of a cross, we +shall claim him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> as our co-religionist.... What, let me ask, is the +difference between the Athenian Pallas or the Pharian Ceres, and wood +formed into a cross?”</p> + +<p>He further identifies himself and his religion with the Pagans in this +particular by saying:—“In all our movements, our travels, our going out +and coming in, putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in +lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down: whatever employment +occupies us, we mark our forehead with the sign of the cross.” How much +all this reminds us of the universality of the symbol in pre-Christian +times. We can scarcely point to an age or to a century in which it did not +in some way enter into its history, its theology, its social and domestic +life. Again and again have monuments been discovered which put the date of +its use further back than had been imagined, and some have been brought to +light which carry the story back into very remote antiquity indeed. In the +wilds of Central India, for instance, a little over twenty years back, the +late Mr. Mulheran, C.E., discovered two of the oldest crosses ever met +with. They were granite monoliths, perfect in structure, and very much +like those to be found here and there in the western parts of Cornwall. +One was ten feet nine inches in height, and the other eight feet six +inches; each being in the midst of a group of cairns and cromlechs or +dolmens, which Colonel Taylor describes as similar in character to some +which he formerly surveyed near the village of Rajunkolloor, within the +Principality of Shorapoor, in the Deccan. Their extreme antiquity is +inferred from the fact, as stated by the European officer who first +discovered them, that the vicinity of the groups of cromlechs and crosses +had, at some remote period, been cultivated; that parts of the hills had +been cut into terraces, and supported by large stone banks or walls; but +that the country for miles in every direction was, and had been for +centuries and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> centuries, entirely uninhabited, and was grown over with +dense forests. It has been estimated that, as this elevated and +long-neglected region has been the possession of the low castes, or +non-Aryan helots, from time immemorial, we may confidently assume that the +monoliths in question were erected by the aboriginal population of the +soil—a population which was driven, not improbably three thousand years, +at the least, before the advent of Christ, from the richer plains below by +the first Aryan invader who had crossed the five streams, and found a +temporary refuge in the nearest range of hills to the west of Chandar, +until another foe—the Mogul—appeared upon the scene, and finally subdued +both the conqueror and his victims. “Here then,” says a reviewer, “amongst +these now fragmentary people from the débris of a widely-spread primeval +race (to borrow a phrase from a recent writer on the non-Aryan languages +of the Continent), we find the symbol of the cross, not only expressing +the same mystery as in all other parts of the world, but its erection, +doubtless, dating from one of the very earliest migrations of our +species.” It is impossible to adduce any clearer or stronger proof of its +primitive antiquity than this.</p> + +<p>It has been suggested by some writers, who, for some reason or other, +objected to the recognition of the cross as an emblem of great antiquity, +that the stone structures which were erected in the British Islands by the +Druids, Saxons, and Danes, owed their cruciform character to the +necessities of the situation rather than to any other cause; that the +stones were placed across each other as a matter of mere convenience, and +not with the view of forming a cross, and that these monuments, which +served as instruments of Druidical superstition before the implanting of +the Gospel in Britain, were afterwards appropriated to the use of +Christian memorials by being formed in the figure of a cross or marked +with this emblem. It is admitted, of course, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> those cruciform +structures were thus appropriated, but of what use will it be to repudiate +the antiquity of examples whose age has been far surpassed in other parts +of the world. The crosses of India, just alluded to, remain to be +accounted for, and even when they have been as summarily disposed of as +the British ones, there are the crosses suspended from the necks of the +Assyrian kings, whose existence cannot possibly be accounted for by the +above hypothesis. It was not necessity or convenience that designed a +Maltese cross, a thousand years before the Christian era, of precisely the +same form as that which is worn by men and women in this nineteenth +century, nor probably was it a merely ornamental taste; we are rather +disposed to believe that the secret lies in the symbolical meaning, which +has ever been attached to the form.</p> + +<p>The universality of the cross as a religious symbol is certainly a most +astounding fact, and the more so because it has evidently always +represented the same fundamental idea in connection with the theological +systems, in all ages, of the Old and New Worlds. If but one of these +mythologies possessed it, there might be little difficulty in tracing out +the significance of the coincidence between its existence there and in +Christian theology, but prevailing as it does universally, and destined as +it is to retain its connection with the religion of man, it excites +feelings of the most profound wonderment and surprise. Lipsius and other +early writers, in reference to this matter, declared their sincere belief +that the numerous cruciform figures to be found on the monuments of +antiquity were of a typical character, and expressed a sentiment which +looked forward to the cross of Christ; a few others doubted this, and +suggested difficulties, while Gibbon ridiculed the whole matter, as it +thus stood, from beginning to end. The belief, however, that the cross in +Pagan lands was in some incomprehensible manner connected with the same +object<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> or idea as in the Christian church was not easily got rid of, and +was considerably deepened by the testimony of missionaries to the New +World that amongst people of apparently different origin and of altogether +different attributes, the cross was common as an object of worship and +veneration. So universal has the presence of this symbol and its attendant +worship been found that it has been said to form a complete zone about the +habitable globe, extending as it does from Assyria into Egypt, and India, +and Anahuac, in their ruined temples; to the pyramidal structures of East +and West, and to those in Polynesia, especially the islands of Tonga, +Viti, and Easter; “as it appears upon numberless vases, medals, and coins +of the earliest known types, centuries anterior to the introduction of +Christianity; and as its teaching is expressed in the concordant customs, +rites, and traditions of former nations and communities, who were widely +separated from, and for the most part ignorant of, the existence of each +other, and who possessed, so far as we are aware, no other emblematical +figure in common.” Egypt, Assyria, Britain, India, China, Scandinavia, the +two Americas—all were alike its home, and in all of them was there +analogy in the teaching respecting its meaning.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>Forms of the Cross—Ancient Maltese Cross—Phallic Character of some +Crosses—Offensive Forms of the Cross in Etruscan and Pompeian +Monuments—Thor’s Battle-axe—The Buddhist Cross—Indian Crosses—The +Fylfot or Four-footed Cross—Danish Poem of the Thors of +Asgard—Legend of Thor’s Loss of his Golden Hammer—Original Meaning +of these Crosses—Reception of Christianity amongst the Britons—Plato +and the Cross—The Mexican Tree of Life—Rain Makers—The +Winds—Various Meanings attributed to the Cross—The Crux +Ansata—Phallic Attributes—Coins, Gaulish and Jewish—Roman +Coins—The Lake Dwellings—The Cross in the Patriarchal Age.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> studying the origin and signification of the pre-Christian cross, we, +naturally of course, turn our attention to the forms in which it is +delineated; these are both numerous and varied—so varied indeed that a +writer, some years ago, in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> stated that his +commonplace-book contained nearly two hundred representations, which he +had found combined as often as not with other emblems of a sacred +character, and which had been collected from all parts of the world. We +may notice a few of the principal which are really, generally speaking, +types of all.</p> + +<p>Most people are familiar with the Maltese cross—that consisting of four +triangles meeting in a central circle, or as it is generally described, +the cross with the four delta-like arms conjoined to or issuing from the +nave of a wheel or a diminutive circle. It derives its name from its +discovery on the island of Malta, and from its adoption by the Knights of +St. John for their coat-of-arms. There is no doubt it is one of the most +ancient forms of the cross we are acquainted with, as it is found, as we +have already stated, on the sculptures of the Assyrian monarchs long +before the Christian era, and may be seen on the sculptures in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> the +British Museum. In some of the Nineveh monuments representing +subject-people bringing tribute to the king, it occurs in the form of +ear-rings.</p> + +<p>In Assyria, it is believed to have been the emblem of royalty, as it is +found on the breasts of the most powerful of the rulers. As it was known +originally in Malta, it was of a very different character to the ornament +worn either by the Assyrian monarch or by the modern inhabitants of +civilised nations. It was indeed of so gross a character, that the Knights +of St. John soon set to work to make something more decent of +it—something which while not altogether discarding the old form, should +yet be inoffensive to the eye of the more modest onlooker. It was made up, +in fact, of four gigantic phalli carved out of the solid granite, similar +to the form in which it is found in the island of Gozyo, and on some of +the Etruscan and Pompeian monuments.</p> + +<p>The reason why it assumed a phallic character in the locality which gives +it its name, is not perhaps clear, but the study of Assyrian antiquities +has revealed the meaning attached to it in the palmy days of Nineveh and +Babylon; it referred to the four great gods of the Assyrian pantheon—Ra, +and the first triad—Ana, Belus, and Hea; and when inserted in a roundlet, +as may be seen in the British Museum, it signified Sansi, or the sun +ruling the earth as well as the heavens. It was therefore the symbol of +royalty and dominion, which accounts for its presence on the breasts of +kings.</p> + +<p>On the Etruscan and Pompeian monuments generally, this cross is as gross +and offensive in form as in ancient Malta, but it is found in a character +as unobjectionable as in Assyria, on the official garments of the Etruscan +priesthood. It has been found in Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Sicily; and Dr. +Schliemann discovered many examples of it (with other crosses) on the +vases which he dug from the seat of ancient Troy. It was also found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> in +what was described as a “magnificent cruciform mosaic pavement, discovered +about thirty years ago in the ruins of a Gallo-Roman villa at Pont d’Oli +(Pons Aulæ), near Pau, in the Basses-Pyrenees, accompanied by several +other varieties of the cross, including the St. George and the St. Andrew, +all glowing in colours richly dight, and surrounding a colossal bust of +Proteus, settled in the midst of his sea monsters.”</p> + +<p>The cross generally regarded as the most notable type of that emblem, +because it is said to have figured in the religious systems of more +peoples than any other, is that known as “Thor’s hammer,” or “Thor’s +battle-axe.” It may, perhaps, also be set down as the most ancient of the +crosses—how many years back it dates we cannot say, several thousands +evidently. It consisted of the last letter of the Samaritan alphabet, the +tau or tav in its decussated or most primitive form, and may be described, +as it has been sometimes, as a <i>cruciform hammer</i>.</p> + +<p>It derived its name from being borne in the hand of Thor, as the +all-powerful instrument by means of which his deeds recorded in the Eddas +were accomplished. “It was venerated by the heroes of the north as the +magical sign which thwarted the power of death over those who bore it; and +the Scandinavian devotee placed it upon his horn of mead before raising it +to his lips, no doubt for the purpose of imparting to it the life-giving +virtues.” To this hour it is employed by the women of India and of the +north-eastern parts of Africa as a mark of possession or taboo, which they +generally impress upon the vessels containing their stores of grain, &c.</p> + +<p>A writer in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> of January, 1870, hazards the opinion +that this was the mark which the prophet was commanded to impress upon the +foreheads of the faithful in Judah, as recorded in Ezekiel ix. 4. He gives +no reason or authority for this statement, but probably derived it from +St. Jerome and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> others of his time, who said that the letter <i>tau</i> was +that which was ordered to be placed on the foreheads of those mourners. +Jerome says that the Hebrew letter <i>tau</i> was formerly written like a +cross.</p> + +<p>As to the name of this cross, the popular designation is clearly a +mistake, since its origin dates back centuries before the mythology of the +north was developed. In India it was known as the swastika of the +Buddhists, and served as the monograms of Vishnu and Siva. Such are its +associations and uses at the present day, and, no doubt, they have been +the same from the very advent of the religions of these respective +deities. The enquirer has, however, not even here measured the limit of +its antiquity, for in China it was known as the Leo-tsen long before the +Sakya-Buddha era, and was portrayed upon the walls of their pagodas and +upon the lanterns used to illumine their most sacred precints. It has ever +been the symbol of their heaven. In the great temple of Rameses II., at +Thebes, it is represented frequently with such associations as +conclusively prove that its significance was the same in the land of the +Nile as in China. All over the East it is the magic symbol of the Buddhist +heaven; the chief ornament on the sceptres and crowns of the Bompa deities +of Thibet, who dispute the palm of antiquity with all other divinities; +and is beautifully pressed in the Artee, or musical bell, borne by the +figure of Balgovina, the herald or messenger of heaven. The universality +of the use of this symbol is proved by its prevalence as well in Europe as +in Asia and Africa. Among the Etruscans it was used as a religious sign, +as is shown by its appearance on urns exhumed from ancient lake-beds +situated between Parma and Pacenza. Those taken from the Lacustrine +cemeteries are thought to date back to 1000 <span class="smcaplc">B.C.</span> On the terra-cotta vases +of Alba Longa the same sign is impressed, and served as the symbol of +Persephone, the awful queen of the shades, the arbiter of mortal fate; +while on the roll of the Roman soldier it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> was the sign of life. On the +old Runic monuments it is ever present. Even in Scotland it is found on +sculptured stones of unknown age. The most numerous examples of this form, +however, are found in the sculptures of Khorsabad, and in the ivories from +Nimroud; here occur almost all the known varieties. It has been observed, +too, in Persia; and is used to this day in Northern India to mark the jars +of sacred water taken from the Indus and Ganges. It is especially esteemed +by the inhabitants of Southern India as the emblem of disembodied Jaina +saints. Very remarkable illustrations of it, carved in the most durable +rock, and inserted in the exterior walls of temples and other edifices of +Mexico and Central America, also occur, which may be seen in Lord +Kingsborough’s <i>Mexican Antiquities</i>. It is found on innumerable coins and +medals of all times and of all peoples; from the rude mintages of Ægina +and Sicily, as well as from the more skilful hands of the Bactrian and +Continental Greeks. It is noteworthy, too, in reference to its extreme +popularity, or superstitious veneration in which it has been almost +universally held, that the cross-patée, or cruciform hammer, was one of +the very last of purely pagan symbols which were religiously preserved in +Europe long after the establishment of Christianity. To the close of the +Middle Ages the stole, or Isian mantle, of the Cistercian monk was usually +adorned with it; and men wore it suspended from their necklaces in +precisely the same manner as did the vestal-virgins of pagan Rome. It may +be seen upon the bells of many of our parish churches in the northern, +midland, and eastern counties, as at Appleby, Mexborough, Hathersage, +Waddington, Bishop’s Norton, West Barkwith, and other places, where it was +placed as a magical sign to subdue the vicious spirit of the tempest. It +is said to be still used for the like purpose, during storms of wind and +rain, by the peasantry in Iceland and in the southern parts of +Germany.<a name='fna_2' id='fna_2' href='#f_2'><small>[2]</small></a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>This cross is also known as the “Fylfot,” or “Fytfot” (four-footed cross), +or “Gammadion”—“the dissembled cross under the discipline of the secret.” +Jewitt, who has written in an interesting manner upon the subject, +supports what we have already stated in the foregoing pages with the +observation that this is one of the most singular, most ancient, and most +interesting of the whole series of crosses. Some say it is composed of +four gammas, conjoined in the centre, which as numerals expressed the Holy +Trinity, and by its rectangular form symbolised the chief corner-stone of +the Church. We mentioned that it was known in India as the swastika of the +Buddhists; we note further that it is said to be formed of the two words +“su” (well) and “asti” (it is), meaning “it is,” or “it is well;” equal to +“so be it,” and implying complete resignation. “From this the Swastikas, +the opponents of the Brahmins, who denied the immortality of the soul, and +affirmed that its existence was finite and connected only with the body +upon earth, received their name; their monogrammatic enblem, or symbol, +being the mystic cross formed by the combination of two syllables, <i>su</i> + +<i>ti</i> = <i>suti</i>, or swasti.”<a name='fna_3' id='fna_3' href='#f_3'><small>[3]</small></a></p> + +<p>The connection of this cross with Thor, the Thunderer, is not without its +signification and importance, in considering the forms and origin of these +emblems and their transmission from the Pagan to the Christian world. Thor +was said to be the bravest of the sons of Odin, or Woden, and Fria, or +Friga, the goddess of earth. (From Thor, of course, we get our Thursday; +from Woden, Wednesday; and from Friga, Friday). “He was believed to be of +the most marvellous power and might; yea, and that there were no people +throughout the whole world that were not subjected unto him, and did not +owe him divine honour and service; and that there was no puissance +comparable to his.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> His dominion of all others most farthest extending +itself, both in heaven and earth. That, in the aire he governed the winds +and the clouds; and being displeased did cause lightning, thunder, and +tempest, with excessive raine, haile, and all ill weather. But being well +pleased by the adoration, sacrifice, and service of his suppliants, he +then bestowed upon them most faire and seasonable weather; and caused +corne abundantly to grow, as all sorts of fruits, &c., and kept away the +plague and all other evil and infectious diseases.”</p> + +<p>Thor’s emblem was a hammer of gold, represented as a fylfot, and with it +he destroyed his enemies the Jotuns, crushed the head of the great Mitgard +serpent, killed numbers of giants, restored the dead goats to life that +drew his car, and consecrated the pyre of Baldur. This hammer, boomerang +like, had the property, when thrown, of striking the object aimed at and +then returning to the thrower’s hand. Mr. Jewitt thinks we have, in this, +a curious insight into the origin of the form of the emblem itself. He +says:—“I have remarked that the fylfot is sometimes described as being +formed of four gammas conjoined in the centre. When the form of the +boomerang—a missile instrument of barbaric nations, much the shape of the +letter <b>V</b> with a rounded instead of acute bottom, which, on being thrown, +slowly ascends in the air, whirling round and round, till it reaches a +considerable height, and then returns until it finally sweeps over the +head of the thrower and strikes the ground behind him—is taken into +consideration, and the traditional returning power of the hammer is +remembered in connection with it, the fylfot may surely be not +inappropriately described as a figure composed of four boomerangs, +conjoined in the centre. This form of fylfot is not uncommon in early +examples, and even on a very ancient specimen of Chinese porcelain it +occurs at the angles of the pattern—it is the ordinary fylfot, with the +angles curved or rounded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Ancient literature abounds in curious and sensational stories about the +wonders accomplished by Thor with the assistance of this hammer. Once he +lost his weapon, or tool, and with it his power, by stratagem however he +regained both.</p> + +<p>The Danish poem, called the “Thorr of Asgard,” as translated by De Prior, +says:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“There rode the mighty of Asgard, Thor,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His journey across the plain;</span><br /> +And there his hammer of gold he lost,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And sought so long in vain.</span><br /> +<br /> +’Twas then the mighty of Asgard, Thor,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His brother his bidding told—</span><br /> +Up thou and off to the Northland Fell,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And seek my hammer of gold.</span><br /> +<br /> +He spake, and Loki, the serving-man,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His feathers upon him drew;</span><br /> +And launching over the salty sea,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Away to the Northland flew.”</span></p> + +<p>Greeting the Thusser king, he informed him of the cause of his visit, +viz., that Thor had lost his golden hammer. Then the king replied that +Thor would never again see his hammer until he had given him the maiden +Fredenborg to wife. Loki took back this message to Thor, who disguised +himself as the maiden in woman’s clothes, and was introduced to the king +as his future bride. After expressing his astonishment at the wonderful +appetite of the maiden, he ordered eight strong men to bring in the hammer +and lay it across the lap of the bride. Thor immediately threw off his +disguise and seized the hammer, with which, after he had slain the king, +he returned home.</p> + +<p>The fylfot cross is frequently found on Roman pottery in various parts of +England, as for instance on the famous Colchester vase, on which is +depicted a gladiatorial combat, the cross being distinctly marked on the +shields of the combatants. Another fine example is found on a Roman altar +of Minerva at High<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Rochester. “The constant use of the symbol,” says +Jewitt, “through so many ages, and by so many and such varied peoples, +gives it an importance which is peculiarly striking.”</p> + +<p>To sum up this part of the subject then, we have amongst numerous others +the following chief forms of the cross common in all parts of the world. +The Latin, a long upright with shorter cross beam; the Greek, an upright +and bar of equal lengths; the St. Andrews, in the form of a letter <b>X</b>; the +Maltese, four triangles conjoined to a circular centre; the Hammer of +Thor; and the Crux Ansata, or handled cross.</p> + +<p>The question now arises, what was the origin or original meaning of these +crosses? Uninformed Christians are generally under the impression that all +refer to one and the same thing, viz., the instrument of the death of +Jesus Christ: historical evidence just produced, however, clearly +disproves that, and what we may say further will add additional weight to +the argument.</p> + +<p>It has been noticed that the Britons received Christianity with remarkable +readiness, and this has been attributed to the following among other +circumstances, viz., the impression which they held in common with the +Platonists and Pythagoreans, that the Second Person of the Deity was +imprinted on the universe in the form of a cross. We have already +explained that the Druids in their groves were accustomed to select the +most stately and beautiful tree as an emblem of the Deity they adored, and +having cut off the side branches, affixed two of them to the highest part +of the trunk in such a manner as that those branches, extending on each +side like the arms of a man, together with the body, should present to the +spectator the appearance of a huge cross, and that on the bark of the +tree, in various places, was actually inscribed the letter <b>T</b>,—Tau.</p> + +<p>“Some have gone so far as to suppose a Celtic origin for the word cross, +and have derived it from <i>Crugh</i> and <i>Cruach</i>, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> signify a cross in +that language, though others suppose these have a much more probable +origin in the Hebrew and Chaldee. <i>Chrussh</i>, signifies boards or pieces of +timber fastened together, as we should say, cross-wise; the word is so +used in Exodus xxvii. 6. This seems a very natural and probable etymology +for the term, but it may also allude more to the agony suffered on such an +erection, and then its origin perhaps may be traced to Chrutz, +‘agitation.’ This word also means to be ‘kneaded,’ and broken to pieces +like clay in the hands of a potter. Chrotshi, in Chaldee, we are told by +Parkhurst, means accusations, charges, revilings, reproach, all of them +terms applied to Jesus Christ in his sufferings. Pliny shows that the +punishment of the cross among the Romans was as old as Tarquinus Priscus; +how much older it is perhaps difficult to say.</p> + +<p>“Plato, born 430 years before Christ, had advocated the idea of a Trinity, +and had expressed an opinion that the form of the Second Person of it was +stamped upon the universe in the form of a cross. St. Augustine goes so +far as to say that it was by means of the Platonic system that he was +enabled to understand properly the doctrine of the Trinity.”</p> + +<p>Perhaps, originally, the cross had but one meaning, whatever its form; it +is probable that it was so. However that may be, it is certain that as +time went on and its form varied, different significations were attached +to it. It represented creative power and eternity in Egypt, Assyria, and +Britain; it was emblematical of heaven and immortality in India, China, +and Scandinavia; it was the sign of freedom from physical suffering in the +Americas; all over the world it symbolised the Divine Unity—resurrection +and life to come.</p> + +<p>“In the Mexican tongue it bore the significant and worthy name, ‘Tree of +our Life,’ or ‘Tree of our Flesh.’ It represented the god of rains and of +health, and this was everywhere its simple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> meaning. ‘Those of Yucatan,’ +say the chroniclers, ‘prayed to the cross as the god of rains when they +needed water.’ The Aztec goddess of rains bore one in her hand, and at the +feast celebrated to her honour in the early spring (as we have previously +noted) victims were nailed to a cross and shot with arrows. Quetzalcoatl, +god of the winds, bore as his sign of office a mace like the cross of a +bishop; his robe was covered with them strewn like flowers, and its +adoration was throughout connected with his worship.”</p> + +<p>We have mentioned that “when the Muyscas would sacrifice to the goddess of +waters, they extended cords across the tranquil depths of some lake, thus +forming a gigantic cross, and that at the point of intersection threw in +their offerings of gold, emeralds and precious oils. The arms of the cross +were designed to point to the cardinal points, and represent the four +winds, the rain bringers. To confirm this explanation, let us have +recourse to the simpler ceremonies of the less cultivated tribes, and see +the transparent meaning of the symbol as they employed it.</p> + +<p>“When the rain maker of the Lenni Lenape would exert his power, he retired +to some secluded spot and drew upon the earth the figure of a cross, +placed upon it a piece of tobacco, a gourd, a bit of some red stuff, and +commenced to cry aloud to the spirits of the rains. The Creeks at the +festival of the Busk, celebrated to the four winds, and according to the +legends instituted by them, commenced with making the new fire. The manner +of this was to place four logs in the centre of the square, end to end, +forming a cross, the outer ends pointing to the cardinal points; in the +centre of the cross the new fire is made.”<a name='fna_4' id='fna_4' href='#f_4'><small>[4]</small></a></p> + +<p>“As the emblem of the winds which disperse the fertilising showers,” says +Brinton, “it is emphatically the tree of our life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> our subsistence, and +our health. It never had any other meaning in America, and if, as has been +said, the tombs of the Mexicans were cruciform, it was perhaps with +reference to a resurrection and a future life as portrayed under this +symbol, indicating that the buried body would rise by the action of the +four spirits of the world, as the buried seed takes on a new existence +when watered by the vernal showers. It frequently recurs in the ancient +Egyptian writings, where it is interpreted <i>life</i>; doubtless, could we +trace the hieroglyph to its source, it would likewise prove to be derived +from the four winds.”<a name='fna_5' id='fna_5' href='#f_5'><small>[5]</small></a></p> + +<p>The Buddhist cross to which allusion has been made was exactly the cross +of the Manicheans, with leaves and flowers springing from it, and placed +upon a Mount Calvary as among the Roman Catholics. The tree of life and +knowledge, or the Jambu tree, in their maps of the world, is always +represented in the shape of a Manichean cross 84 yojanas, or 423 miles +high, including the three steps of the Calvary. This cross, putting forth +leaves and flowers (and fruit also, Captain Wilford was informed), is +called the divine tree, the tree of the gods, the tree of life and +knowledge, and productive of whatever is good and desirable, and is placed +in the terrestrial Paradise. Agapius, according to Photius, maintained +that this divine tree, in Paradise, was Christ himself. In their +delineation of the heavens, the globe of the earth is filled with this +cross and its Calvary. The divines of Thibet, says Captain Wilford, place +it to the S.W. of Meru, towards the source of the Ganges. The Manicheans +always represented Christ crucified upon a tree, among the foliage. The +Christians of India, though they did not admit of images, still +entertained the greatest veneration for the cross. They placed it on a +Calvary in public places and at the meeting of cross roads, and even the +heathen Hindus in these parts paid also great regard to it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>Captain Wilford was presented by a learned Buddhist with a book, called +the Cshetra-samasa, which contained several drawings of the cross. Some of +these his friend was unable to explain to him, but whatever the variations +of the cross were in other particulars, they were declared to be +invariable as regards the shaft and two arms; the Calvary was sometimes +omitted. One of these crosses seemed to puzzle the Buddhist completely, or +he would not say either what he thought or knew about it. It consisted of +the ordinary cross with shaft and cross-bar, pointed at the ends, but with +two other bars intersecting the right angles formed by the shaft and +cross-bar, thus giving six points. No one can look at this cross, and not +at once discern its phallic character. Some writers affect to laugh at +this, but we have ample evidence that at times such a meaning has been +attributed to the cross. In connection with this, Dr. Inman makes some +remarks which we shall do well to consider, whether we receive them or +not; there may be nothing in them, and there may be much. He says:—“There +can be no doubt, I think, in the mind of any student of antiquity, that +the cross is not originally a Christian emblem; nay, the very fact that +the cross was used as a means of executing criminals shows that its form +was familiar to Jews and Romans. It was used partly as an ornament, and +partly in certain forms of religious worship. The simple cross, with +perpendicular and transverse arms of equal length, represented the nave +and spokes of the solar wheel, or the sun darting his rays on all sides. +As the wheel became fantastically developed so did the cross, and each +limb became so developed at the outer end as to symbolise the triad. +Sometimes the idea was very coarsely represented; and I have seen, amongst +some ancient Etruscan remains, a cross formed of four phalli of equal +length, their narrow end pointing inwards; and in the same work another +was portrayed, in which the phallus was made of inordinate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> length so as +to support the others high up from the ground; each was in itself a triad. +The same form of cross was probably used by the Phœnicians, who appear +to have colonised Malta at a very early period of their career; for they +have left a form of it behind them in the shape of a cross similar to that +described above, but which has been toned down by the moderns, who could +not endure the idea of an union between grossness and the crucifix, and +the phalli became as innocent as we see them in the Maltese cross of +to-day.”</p> + +<p>So many traces of the cross, as used in ancient times in all parts of the +world, meet us on every hand that we find it difficult within the limited +space at our command even to enumerate them; we have already traversed in +our account a greater part of the known world, and still vast numbers of +instances remain unnoticed. Almost as varied as its principal forms are +the explanations offered respecting its origin and significance. We are +told by some that for its origin we must go to the Buddhists and to the +Lama of Thibet, who is said to take his name from the cross, called in his +language Lamh. Higgins quotes Vallence as saying that the Tartars call the +cross Lama, from the Scythian Lamh, a hand, synonymous to the Yod of the +Chaldeans; and that it thus became the name of a cross, and of the high +priest with the Tartars; and with the Irish, Luarn, signifying the head of +the church, an abbot, &c.</p> + +<p>The last form of cross to which we shall here allude is that known as the +Crux Ansata, or Handled Cross. Whatever may be the signification of that +instrument, or ornament, it is certain that no other has ever been so +variously explained, or has been so successful in puzzling those who have +sought to give it a meaning. Some have said it was a Nilometer, or measure +of the rise of the Nile; one—a bishop—thought it was a setting stick for +planting roots; another said it represented the Law of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> Gravitation. Don +Martin said it was a winnowing fan; Herwart said it was a compass; Pococke +said it represented the four elements. Others, again, suggest that it may +be only a key. “It opened,” says Borwick, “the door of the sacred chest. +It revealed hidden things. It was the hope of life to come.” And he +continues, “However well the cross fit the mathematical lock, the phallic +lock, the gnostic lock, the philosophical lock, the religious lock, it is +quite likely that this very ancient and almost universal symbol was at +first a secret in esoteric holding, to the meaning of which, with all our +guessing, we have no certain clue.”</p> + +<p>This cross has certainly a most remarkable connection with the ancient +history of Egypt, being found universally represented on the monuments, +the tombs, the walls, and the wrapping cloths of the dead; hence, +evidently, the idea that it is peculiarly Egyptian and its ascription of +“Key of the Nile.” From Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Ruffinus, we +learn that it was known to the Egyptian Christians at the close of the +fourth century as the symbol of eternal life. Later on, Dr. Max Uhlman +wrote, “that the handle cross means <i>life</i>, is manifest from the Rosetta +inscription and other texts.” Zöckler, another German author, notices the +opinion of Macrobius that it was the hieroglyphic sign of Osiris, or the +sun, it being a fact that when the ancient Egyptians wished to symbolise +Osiris, they set up a staff with an eye upon it, because in antiquity the +sun was known as the eye of God, and then claims that the round portion +represented the orb of the sun, the perpendicular bar signifying the rays +of the high mid-day sun, and the shorter horizontal bar symbolising the +rays of the rising or setting sun. The discovery of this emblem by M. +Mariette in a niche of the holy of holies in the ancient temple of +Denderah, points significantly to its importance and peculiar sacredness, +and it has been thought probable that it was the central object of +interest in the inner precincts of the temple.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>It seems that the Egyptian priests, when asked for an explanation of this +cross, evaded the question by replying that the Tau was a “<i>divine +mystery</i>.”</p> + +<p>However varied the explanations offered may be, and whatever the mystery +said to surround this object, the feature always remains,—its +symbolisation of life and regeneration. From this, its phallic character +was very easily inferred—its derivation from the <i>lingam-yoni</i> symbol, +said Barlow, seemed a very natural process. The junction of the yoni with +the cross, in Dr. Inman’s judgment, sufficiently proved that it had a +phallic or male signification; a conclusion which certain unequivocal +Etruscan remains fully confirmed. “We conclude, therefore,” says this +writer, “that the ancient cross was an emblem of the belief in a male +creator, and the method by which creation was initiated.”</p> + +<p>Not the least remarkable exemplification of the universal prevalence of +the cross both as to time and country, is found amongst coins and medals: +here as in other things it is ever prominent. Take the ancient Gaulish +coins, for instance, and the fylfot and ordinary Greek cross abound; take +the ancient British coins of the age long prior to Christianity, and the +same thing occurs. “On Scandinavian coins, as well as those of Gaul, the +fylfot cross appears, as it also does on those of Syracuse, Corinth, and +Chalcedon. On the coins of Byblos, Astarte is represented holding a long +staff, surmounted by a cross, and resting her foot on the prow of a +galley. On the coins of Asia Minor, the cross is also to be found. It +occurs as the reverse of a silver coin, supposed to be of Cyprus, on +several Cilician coins; it is placed beneath the throne of Baal of Tarsus, +on a Phœnician coin of that time, bearing the legend ‘Baal Tharz.’ A +medal possibly of the same place, with partially obliterated Phœnician +characters, has the cross occupying the entire field of the reverse side. +Several, with inscriptions in unknown characters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> have a ram on one side +and the cross and ring on the other. Another has the sacred bull, +accompanied by this symbol; others have a lion’s head on obverse, and a +cross and circle on the reverse.”<a name='fna_6' id='fna_6' href='#f_6'><small>[6]</small></a></p> + +<p>Strangely enough, even Jewish money is marked with this emblem, the shekel +bearing on one side what is usually called a triple lily or hyacinth; the +same forming a pretty floral cross.</p> + +<p>On Roman coins the cross was of very frequent occurrence, and +illustrations of good examples may be seen in the pages of the <i>Art +Journal</i> for the year 1874. An engraving of the <i>quincunx</i>, or piece of +five <i>unciæ</i>, is given, bearing on one side a cross, a <b>V</b>, and five +pellets; and on the other a cross only. This is an example of the earlier +periods; of course when we come to the later periods the emblem is still +more frequent. These coins are often found in ancient graves and +sarcophagi, and these latter again supply examples of various familiar +forms of crosses of very remote antiquity,—not simply the adornment of +coffin and gravecloths, but the actual construction of the tomb or +grave-mound in that form. Fine specimens of these have been discovered at +Stoney-Littleton, at New Grange, at Banwell, Somerset, at Adisham, at +Hereford, at Helperthorpe, and in the Isle of Lewis.</p> + +<p>“Before the Romans, long before the Etruscans, there lived in the plains +of northern Italy a people to whom the cross was a religious symbol, the +sign beneath which they laid their dead to rest; a people of whom history +tells nothing, knowing not their name, but of whom antiquarian research +has learned this, that they lived in ignorance of the laws of +civilisation, that they dwelt in villages built on platforms over lakes, +and that they trusted in the cross to guard, and may be to revive their +loved ones whom they committed to the dust. Throughout Emilia are found +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>remains of these people; these remains form quarries whence manure is dug +by the peasants of the present day. These quarries go by the name of +<i>terramares</i>. They are vast accumulations of cinders, charcoal, bones, +fragments of pottery, and other remains of human industry. As this earth +is very rich in phosphates it is much appreciated by agriculturists as a +dressing for their land. In these <i>terramares</i> there are no human bones. +The fragments of earthenware belong to articles of domestic use; with them +are found querns, moulds for metal, portions of cabin floors, and great +quantities of kitchen refuse. They are deposits analogous to those which +have been discovered in Denmark and Switzerland. The metal discovered in +the majority of these <i>terramares</i> is bronze; the remains belong to three +distinct ages. In the first none of the fictile ware was turned on the +wheel or fire-baked. Sometimes these deposits exhibit an advance of +civilisation. Iron came into use, and with it the potter’s wheel was +discovered, and the earthenware was put in the furnace. When in the same +quarry these two epochs are found, the remains of the second age are +always superposed over those of the bronze age. A third period is +occasionally met with, but only occasionally; a period when a rude art +introduced itself, and representatives of animals or human beings adorned +the pottery. Among the remains of this period is found the first trace of +money, rude little bronze fragments without shape.</p> + +<p>“Among other remains in these lake-dwellings, pottery has been in many +cases found, and these vessels bear, on the bottom, crosses of various +forms, as well also curious solid double cones. That which characterises +the cemeteries of Golasecca, says M. de Mortillet, and gives them their +highest interest, is this:—first, the entire absence of all organic +representations; we only found three and they were exceptional, in tombs +not belonging to the plateau; secondly, the almost invariable presence of +the cross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> under the vases in the tombs. When we reversed the ossuaries, +the saucer-lids, or the accessory vases, we saw almost always, if in good +preservation, a cross traced thereon ... the examination of the tombs of +Golasecca proves, in a most convincing, positive, and precise manner, that +which the <i>terramares</i> of Emilia had only indicated, but which had been +confirmed by the cemetery of Villanova; that above a thousand years before +Christ, the cross was already a religious emblem of frequent +employment.”<a name='fna_7' id='fna_7' href='#f_7'><small>[7]</small></a></p> + +<p>“There is every reason to suppose that the cross was a symbol of more +import in the early patriarchal ages than is generally imagined. It was +not only the <i>first letter</i>, but it was also the emblem, of Taut, the +Mercury, the word, the messenger of the gods, the angel, as we may say, of +his presence, himself a god among the Egyptians and the Britons, whose god +Teutates was analagous both in name and nature; a winged messenger. M. Le +Clerc, one of the ablest mythologists who ever wrote, has shown that the +Teutates of the Gauls, the Hermes of the Greeks, the Mercury of the +Romans, were all one and the same.</p> + +<p>The Ethiopic letter <i>Taui</i>, or <i>Taw</i>, says Lowth, still retains the form +of a cross, <b>X</b>; and the Samaritan <b>T</b>, which the Ethiopians are said to have +borrowed from the Samaritans, was in the form of a <b>X</b> cross. In several +Samaritan coins, says Montfaucon, to be found in the collections of +medallists, the letter Tau is engraved in the form of a cross, or Greek +Chi, and he gives as his authority Origen and Jerome.</p> + +<p>The Jewish High-priest, we are informed by the Rabbis, was anointed on his +investiture, while he who anointed him drew on his forehead with his +finger the figure of the Greek letter Chi, <b>X</b>.”<a name='fna_8' id='fna_8' href='#f_8'><small>[8]</small></a></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>Heathen Ideas of a Trinity—The Magi—Ancient Theologies—The Indian +Trinity—The Sculptures of Elephanta—The Sacred Zennar—Temples +consecrated to Indian Trinities—The Greek Trident—Attributes of +Brahm—The Hindu Meru—Narayana—The Trimurti—Gods of Egypt.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">“Many</span> of the heathens are said to have had a notion of a Trinity,” wrote a +contributor to an encyclopædia, some eighty years ago. Now that altogether +fails to reach the truth, for heathen nations are known to scholars to +have had very definite ideas indeed about a sacred Triad; in fact, as +another writer has said, there is nothing in all theology more deeply +grounded, or more generally allowed by them, than the mystery of the +Trinity. The Chaldeans, Phœnicians, Greeks, and Romans, both in their +writings and their oracles, acknowledged that the Supreme Being had +begotten another Being from all eternity, whom they sometimes called the +Son of God, sometimes the Word, sometimes the Mind, and sometimes the +Wisdom of God, and asserted to be the Creator of all things.</p> + +<p>Among the sayings of the Magi, the descendants of Zoroaster, was one as +follows:—“The Father finished all things, and delivered them to the +Second Mind.”</p> + +<p>We learn from Dr. Cudworth that, besides the inferior gods generally +received by all the Pagans (viz.: animated stars, demons, and heroes), the +more refined of them, who accounted not the world the Supreme Deity, +acknowledged a Trinity of divine hypostases superior to them all. This +doctrine, according to Plotinus, is very ancient, and obscurely asserted +even by Parmenides. Some have referred its origin to Pythagoreans, and +others to Orpheus, who adopted three principles, called Phanes, Uranus, +and Cronus. Dr. Cudworth apprehends that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Pythagoras and Orpheus derived +this doctrine from the theology of the Egyptian Hermes; and, as it is not +probable that it should have been first discovered by human reason, he +concurs with Proclus in affirming that it was at first a theology of +divine tradition, or revelation, imparted first to the Hebrews, and from +them communicated to the Egyptians and other nations; among whom it was +depraved and adulterated.</p> + +<p>Plato, also, and his followers, speak of the Trinity in such terms, that +the primitive fathers have actually been accused of borrowing the doctrine +from the Platonic school.</p> + +<p>In Indian theology there is no more prominent doctrine than that of a +Divine Triad governing all things, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. +By Brahma, they mean God, the Creator; by Vishnu (according to the +Sanscrit), a preserver, a comforter, a cherisher; and by Siva, a destroyer +and avenger. To these three personages, different functions are assigned, +in the Hindoo system of mythologic superstition, corresponding to the +different significations of their names. They are distinguished, likewise, +besides these general titles, in the various sastras and puranas, by an +infinite variety of appellations descriptive of their office.</p> + +<p>Whatever doubts may arise respecting the Indian Trinity, they will very +speedily be dispelled by a view of that wonderful and magnificent piece of +sculpture which is found in the celebrated cavern of Elephanta, which has +so often been described by travellers, and which has ever been such a +source of amusement to them. This, it is said, proves that from the +remotest era, the Indian nations have adored a Triune Deity. In this +cavern, the traveller beholds, with awe and astonishment, carved out of +the solid rock, in the most conspicuous part of the most ancient and +venerable temple in the world, a bust nearly twenty feet in breadth, and +eighteen feet in altitude, gorgeously decorated, the image of the great +presiding Deity of that sacred temple.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> The bust has three heads united to +one body, and adorned with the oldest symbols of the Indian theology, is +regarded as representing the Creator, the Preserver, and the Regenerator +of mankind. Owing to the gross surroundings of these characters, +respectively denominated Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, any comparison cannot +be instituted with the Christian Trinity; yet the worship paid to that +triple divinity incontestably evinces that, on this point of faith, the +sentiments of the Indians are congenial with those of the Chaldeans and +Persians. Nor is it only in this great Deity with three heads that these +sentiments are demonstrated, their veneration for that sacred number +strikingly displays itself in their sacred books—the three original +<i>Vedas</i>—as if each had been delivered by one personage of the august +Triad, being confined to that mystic number; by the regular and prescribed +offering up of their devotions three times a day; by the immersion of +their bodies, during ablution, three times in the purifying wave; and by +their constantly wearing next their skin the sacred Zennar, or cord of +three threads, the mystic symbol of their belief in a divine all ruling +Triad.</p> + +<p>The sacred Zennar, just mentioned, is of consequence enough to demand a +fuller notice. Its threads can be twisted by no other hand than that of a +Brahmin, and he does it with the utmost solemnity and many mystic rites. +Three threads, each measuring ninety-six hands, are first twisted +together; then they are folded into three, and twisted again, making it to +consist of nine,—that is three times three threads; this is folded again +into three, but without any more twisting, and each end is then fastened +with a knot. Such is the Zennar, which being put upon the left shoulder, +passes to the right side, and hangs down as low as the fingers can reach.</p> + +<p>“The Hindoos,” says M. Sonnerat, “adore three principal deities, Brouma, +Chiven, and Vichenou, who are still but <i>One</i>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> which kind of Trinity is +there called Trimourti, or Tritvamz, and signifies the reunion of three +powers. The generality of modern Indians adore only one of these three +divinities, but some learned men, besides this worship, also address their +prayers to the Three united. The representation of them is to be seen in +many pagodas, under that of human figures with three heads, which, on the +coast of Orissa, they call Sariharabrama; on the Coromandel coast, +Trimourti; and Tretratreyam, in the Sanscrit. It is affirmed by Maurice +that this latter term would not have been found in Sanscrit had not the +worship of a Trinity existed in those ancient times, fully two thousand +five hundred years ago, when Sanscrit was the current language of India.”</p> + +<p>There have been found temples entirely consecrated to this kind of +Trinity; such as that of Parpenade, in the kingdom of Travancore, where +the three gods are worshipped in the form of a serpent with a thousand +heads. The feast of Anandavourdon, which the Indians celebrate to their +honour, on the eve of the full moon, in the month of Pretachi, or October, +always draws a great number of people, “which would not be the case,” says +Sonnerat, “if those that came were not adorers of the Three Powers.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Forster writing, in 1785, on the Mythology of the Hindoos, says:—“A +circumstance which forcibly struck my attention, was the Hindoo belief in +a Trinity. The persons are Sree Mun Narrain, the Mhah Letchimy (a +beautiful woman), and a Serpent, which are emblematical of strength, love, +and wisdom. These persons, by the Hindoos, are supposed to be wholly +indivisible. The one is three, and the three are one. In the beginning, +they say that the Deity created three men to whom he gave the names of +Brimha, Vystnou, and Sheevah. To the first was committed the power of +creating mankind, to the second of cherishing them, and to the third that +of restraining and correcting them.” The sacred persons who compose this +Trinity are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> very remarkable; for Sree Mun Narrain, as Mr. Forster writes +the word, is Narayen, the supreme God; the beautiful woman is the Imma of +the Hebrews; and the union of the sexes in the Divinity, is perfectly +consonant with that ancient doctrine maintained in the Geeta, and +propagated by Orpheus, that the Deity is both male and female.</p> + +<p>Damascius, treating of the fecundity of the divine nature, cites Orpheus +as teaching that the Deity was at once both male and female, to show the +generative power by which all things were formed. Proclus upon the “Timæus +of Plato,” among other Orphic verses, cites the following: “Jupiter is a +man, Jupiter is also an immortal maid.” In the same commentary, and in the +same page we read that all things were contained in the womb of Jupiter.</p> + +<p>The serpent is the ancient and usual Egyptian symbol for the divine Logos.</p> + +<p>M. Tavernier, on his entering one of the great pagodas, observed an idol +in the centre of the building, sitting cross-legged in the Indian fashion, +upon whose head was placed <i>une triple couronne</i>; and from this triple +crown four horns extended themselves, the symbol of the rays of glory, +denoting the Deity to whom the four quarters of the world were under +subjection. According to the same author, in his account of the Benares +pagoda, the deity of India is saluted by prostrating the body three times, +and he is not only adorned with a triple crown, and worshipped by a triple +salutation, but he bears in his hand a three-forked sceptre, exhibiting +the exact model of the trident of the Greek Neptune.</p> + +<p>Now here we must allude to some very remarkable discoveries respecting the +Trident of Neptune and the use of a similar symbol of authority by the +Indian gods.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>Mr. Maurice points out that the unsatisfactory reasons given by +mythologists for the assignment of the trident to the Grecian deity, +exhibit very clear evidence of its being a symbol that was borrowed from +some more ancient mythology, and did not naturally, or originally belong +to Neptune. Its three points, or <i>tines</i>, some of them affirm to signify +the different qualities of the three sorts of waters that are upon the +earth, as the waters of the ocean, which are salt; the water of fountains, +which is sweet; and the water of lakes and ponds, which, in a degree, +partakes of the nature of both. Others, again, insist that this +three-pronged sceptre alludes to Neptune’s threefold power over the sea, +viz., to <i>agitate</i>, to <i>assuage</i>, and to <i>preserve</i>. These reasons are, +all of them, in his estimation, mighty frivolous, and amount to a +confession of their total ignorance of its real meaning.</p> + +<p>The trident was, in the most ancient periods, the sceptre of the Indian +deity, and may be seen in the hands of that deity in one of the plates +(iv.) of M. d’Ancarville’s third volume, and among the sacred symbols +sculptured in Elephanta cavern, as pictured by Niebuhr in his engravings +of the Elephanta antiquities. “It was, indeed,” says Maurice, “highly +proper, and strictly characteristic, that a threefold deity should wield a +triple sceptre, and I have now a very curious circumstance to unfold to +the reader, which I am enabled to do from the information of Mr. Hodges, +relative to this mysterious emblem. The very ancient and venerable +edifices of Deogur, which are in the form of immense pyramids, do not +terminate at the summit in a pyramidal point, for the apex is cut off at +about one seventh of what would be the entire height of the pyramid were +it completed, and, from the centre of the top, there rises a circular +cone, that ancient emblem of the sun. What is exceedingly singular to +these cones is, that they are on their summits decorated with this very +symbol, or usurped sceptre, of the Greek Ποσειδων. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> Thus was the +outside of the building decorated and crowned, as it were, with a +conspicuous emblem of the worship celebrated within, which from the +antiquity of the structure, raised in the infancy of the empire after +cavern-worship had ceased, was probably that of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva: +for we have seen that Elephanta is, in fact, a temple to the Indian Triad, +evidenced in the colossal sculpture that forms the principal figure of it, +and excavated probably ere Brahma had fallen into neglect among those who +still acknowledge him as the creative energy, or different sects had +sprung up under the respective names of Vishnu and Siva. Understood with +reference to the pure theology of India, such appears to me to be the +meaning of this mistaken symbol; but a system of physical theology quickly +succeeded to the pure; and the debased, but ingenious, progeny, who +invented it, knew too well how to adapt the symbols and images of the true +and false devotion. The three sublime hypostases of the true Trinity were +degraded into three attributes; in physical causes the sacred mysteries of +religion were attempted to be explained away; its doctrines were +corrupted, and its emblems perverted. They went the absurd length of +degrading a Creator (for such Brahma, in the Hindoo creed, confessedly is) +to the rank of a created Dewtah, which has been shewn to be a glaring +solecism in theology.</p> + +<p>“The evident result then is, that, nothwithstanding all the corruption of +the purer theology of the Brahmins, by the base alloy of human philosophy, +under the perverted notion of three attributes, the Indians have +immemorially worshipped a threefold Divinity, who, considered apart from +their physical notions, is the Creator, the Preserver, and the +Regenerator. We must again repeat that it would be in the highest degree +absurd to continue to affix the name of Destroyer to the third hypostasis +in their Triad, when it is notorious that the Brahmins deny that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> anything +can be destroyed, and insist that a change alone in the form of objects +and their mode of existence takes place. One feature, therefore, in that +character, hostile to our system, upon strict examination vanishes; and +the other feature, which creates so much disgust and gives such an air of +licentiousness to his character, is annihilated by the consideration of +their deep immersion in philosophical speculations, of their incessant +endeavours to account for the divine operations by natural causes, and to +explain them by palpable and visible symbols.”</p> + +<p>No image of the supreme Brahma himself is ever made; but in place of it +his attributes are arranged, as in the temple of Gharipuri, thus:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="table"> +<tr><td class="br">Brahma</td> + <td class="br">Power</td> + <td class="br">Creation</td> + <td class="br">Matter</td> + <td class="br">The Past</td> + <td class="dent">Earth</td></tr> +<tr><td class="br">Vishnu</td> + <td class="br">Wisdom</td> + <td class="br">Preservation</td> + <td class="br">Spirit</td> + <td class="br">The Present</td> + <td class="dent">Water</td></tr> +<tr><td class="br">Siva</td> + <td class="br">Justice</td> + <td class="br">Destruction</td> + <td class="br">Time</td> + <td class="br">The Future</td> + <td class="dent">Fire</td></tr></table> + +<p>Captain Wilford in the 10th vol. of the <i>Asiatic Researches</i> writes of +Meru or Moriah, the hill of God, and he says:—“Polyænus calls Mount Meru +or Merius, Tri-coryphus. It is true that he bestows improperly that +epithet on Mount Meru, near Cabul, which is inadmissible. Meru, with its +three peaks on the summit, and its seven steps, includes and encompasses +really the whole world, according to the notions of the Hindus and other +nations previously to their being acquainted with the globular shape of +the earth.” Basnage, in his history of the Jews, says “there are seven +earths, whereof one is higher than the other; for the Holy Land is +situated upon the highest earth, and Mount Moriah (or Meru) is in the +middle of that Holy Land. This is the hill of God so often mentioned in +the Old Testament, the mount of the congregation where the mighty King +sits in the sides of the north, according to Isaiah, and there is the city +of our God. The Meru of the Hindoos has the name of Sabha, or the +congregation, and the gods are seated upon it in the sides of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> the north. +There is the holy city of Brahma-puri, where resides Brahma with his court +in the most pure and holy land of Ilavratta.”</p> + +<p>Thus Meru is the worldly temple of the Supreme Being in an embodied state, +and of the Tri-Murtti or sacred Triad, which resides on its summit, either +in a single or threefold temple, or rather in both: for it is all one, as +they are one and three. They are three, only with regard to men who have +emerged out of it they are but one: and their threefold temple and +mountain, with its three peaks, become one equally. Mythologists in the +west called the world, or Meru with his appendages, the temple of God, +according to Macrobius. Hence this most sacred temple of the Supreme Being +is generally typified by a cone or pyramid, with either a single chapel on +its summit, or with three; either with or without steps.</p> + +<p>This worldly temple is also considered by the followers of Buddha as the +tomb of the son of the spirit of heaven. His bones, or limbs, were +scattered all over the face of the earth, like those of Osiris and Jupiter +Zagreus. To collect them was the first duty of his descendants and +followers, and then to entomb them. Out of filial piety, the remembrance +of this mournful search was yearly kept up by a fictitious one, with all +possible marks of grief and sorrow, till a priest came and announced that +the sacred relics were at last found. This is practised to this day by +several Tartarian tribes of the religion of Buddha; and the expression of +the bones of the son of the spirit of heaven is peculiar to the Chinese, +and some tribes in Tartary.</p> + +<p>Hindu writers represent Narayana moving, as his name implies, on the +waters, in the character of the first male, and the principle of all +nature, which was wholly surrounded in the beginning by tamas, or +darkness, the Chaos and primordial Night of the Greek mythologists, and, +perhaps, the Thaumaz or Thamas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> of the ancient Egyptians; the Chaos is +also called Pracriti, or crude Nature, and the male deity has the name of +Purusha, from whom proceeded Sacti, or, the power of containing or +conceiving; but that power in its first state was rather a tendency or +aptitude, and lay dormant and inert until it was excited by the bija, or +vivifying principle, of the plastic Iswara. This power, or aptitude, of +nature is represented under the symbol of the yoni, or bhaga, while the +animating principle is expressed by the linga: both are united by the +creative power, Brahma; and the yoni has been called the navel of +Vishnu—not identically, but nearly; for, though it is held in the Vedanta +that the divine spirit penetrates or pervades all nature, and though the +Sacti be considered as an emanation from that spirit, yet the emanation is +never wholly detached from its source, and the penetration is never so +perfect as to become a total union or identity. In another point of view +Brahma corresponds with the Chronos, or Time of the Greek mythologists: +for through him generations pass on successively, ages and periods are by +him put in motion, terminated and renewed, while he dies and springs to +birth alternately; his existence or energy continuing for a hundred of his +years, during which he produces and devours all beings of less longevity. +Vishnu represents water, or the humid principle; and Iswara fire, which +recreates or destroys, as it is differently applied; Prithivi, or earth, +and Ravi, or the sun, are severally trimurtis, or forms of the three great +powers acting jointly and separately, but with different natures and +energies, and by their mutual action excite and expand the rudiments of +material substances. The word murti, or form, is exactly synonymous with +είδωλα, of the supreme spirit, and Homer places the idol of +Hercules in Elysium with other deceased heroes, though the God himself was +at the same time enjoying bliss in the heavenly mansions. Such a murti, +say the Hindus, can by no means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> affect with any sensation, either +pleasing or painful, the being from which it emanated; though it may give +pleasure or pain to collateral emanations from the same source; hence they +offer no sacrifices to the supreme Essence, of which our own souls are +images, but adore Him with silent meditation; while they make frequent +homas or oblations to fire, and perform acts of worship to the sun, the +stars, the earth, and the powers of nature, which they consider as murtis, +or images, the same in kind with ourselves, but transcendently higher in +degree. The moon is also a great object of their adoration; for, though +they consider the sun and earth as the two grand agents in the system of +the universe, yet they know their reciprocal action to be greatly affected +by the influence of the lunar orb according to their several aspects, and +seem even to have an idea of attraction through the whole extent of +nature. This system was known to the ancient Egyptians; for according to +Diodorus, their Vulcan, or elemental fire, was the great and powerful +deity, whose influence contributed chiefly toward the generation and +perfection of natural bodies; while the ocean, by which they meant water +in a collective sense, afforded the nutriment that was necessary; and the +earth was the vase, or capacious receptacle, in which this grand operation +of nature was performed: hence Orpheus described the earth as the +universal mother, and this is the true meaning of the Sanscrit word Amba.</p> + +<p>Further information respecting the male and female forms of the Trimurti +has been gathered as follows:—</p> + +<p>Atropos (or Raudri), who is placed about the sun, is the beginning of +generation; exactly like the destructive power, or Siva among the Hindus, +and who is called the cause and the author of generation: Clotho, about +the celestial moon, unites and mixes: the last, or Lachesis, is contiguous +to the earth: but is greatly under the influence of chance. For whatever +being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> is destitute of a sensitive soul, does not exist of its own right; +but must submit to the affections of another principle: for the rational +soul is of its own right impassable, and is not obnoxious to affections +from another quarter. The sensitive soul is a mediate and mixed being, +like the moon, which is a compound of what is above and of what is below; +and is to the sun in the same relation as the earth is to the moon. Major +Wilford says:—“Well Pliny might say, with great truth, the refinements of +the Druids were such, that one would be tempted to believe that those in +the east had largely borrowed from them. This certainly surpasses +everything of the kind I have ever read or heard in India.”</p> + +<p>These three goddesses are obviously the Parcœ, or fates, of the western +mythologists, which were three and one. This female tri-unity is really +the Tri-murtti of the Hindus, who call it the Sacti, or energy of the male +Tri-murtti, which in reality is the same thing. Though the male tri-unity +be oftener mentioned, and better known among the unlearned than the other; +yet the female one is always understood with the other, because the +Trimurtti cannot act, but through its energy, or Sacti, which is of the +feminine gender. The male Trimurtti was hardly known in the west, for +Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune have no affinity with the Hindu Trimurtti, +except their being three in number. The real Trimurtti of the Greeks and +Latians consisted of Cronus, Jupiter and Mars, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. To +these three gods were dedicated three altars in the upper part of the +great circus at Rome. These are brothers in their Calpas; and Cronus or +Brahma, who has no Calpa of his own, produces them, and of course may be +considered as their father. Thus Brahma creates in general; but Vishnu in +his own Calpa, assumes the character of Cronus or Brahma to create, and he +is really Cronus or Brahma: he is then called Brahma-rupi Janardana,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> or +Vishnu, the devourer of souls, with the countenance of Brahma: he is the +preserver of his own character.</p> + +<p>These three were probably the Tripatres of the western mythologists, +called also Tritopatores, Tritogeneia, Tris-Endaimon, Trisolbioi, +Trismacaristoi, and Propatores. The ancients were not well agreed who they +were: some even said that they were Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, the sons +of Tellus and the sun. Others said that they were Amalcis, Protocles, and +Protocless, the door-keepers and guardians of the minds. Their mystical +origin probably belonged to the secret doctrine, which the Roman college, +like the Druids, never committed to writing, and were forbidden to reveal. +As the ancients swore by them, there can be little doubt but that they +were the three great deities of their religion.</p> + +<p>Disentangling the somewhat intricate and involved web of Indian mythology, +and putting the matter as simply as possible, we may say the deities are +only three, whose places are the earth, the intermediate region, and +heaven, namely Fire, Air, and the Sun. They are pronounced to be deities +of the mysterious names severally, and (Prajapati) the lord of creatures +is the deity of them collectively. The syllable O’ru intends every deity: +it belongs to (Paramasht’hi) him who dwells in the supreme abode; it +pertains to (Brahma) the vast one; to (Deva) God; to (Ad’hyatma) the +superintending soul. Other deities, belonging to those several regions, +are portions of the three gods; for they are variously named and described +on account of their different operations, but there is only one deity, the +Great Soul (Mahanatma). He is called the Sun, for he is the soul of all +beings. The Sun, the soul of (jagat) what moves, and of that which is +fixed; other deities are portions of him.</p> + +<p>The name given by the Indians to their Supreme Deity, or Monad, is Brahm; +and notwithstanding the appearance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> materialism in all their sacred +books, the Brahmins never admit that they uphold such a doctrine, but +invest their deities with the highest attributes. He is represented as the +Vast One, self-existing, invisible, eternal, imperceptible, the only +deity, the great soul, the over-ruling soul, the soul of all beings, and +of whom all other deities are but portions. To him no sacrifices were ever +offered; but he was adored in silent meditation. He triplicates himself +into three persons or powers, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the Creator, the +Preserver, and the Destroyer, or Reproducer; and is designated by the word +Om or Aum by the respective letters of which sacred triliteral syllable +are expressed the powers into which he triplicates himself.</p> + +<p>The Metempsychosis and succession of similar worlds, alternately destroyed +by flood and fire and reproduced, were doctrines universally received +among the heathens: and by the Indians, the world, after the lapse of each +predestined period of its existence, was thought to be destroyed by Siva. +At each appointed time of its destruction, Vishnu ceases from his +preserving care, and sleeps beneath the waters: but after the allotted +period, from his navel springs forth a lotus to the surface, bearing +Brahma in its cup, who reorganises the world, and when he has performed +his work, retires, leaving to Vishnu its government and preservation; when +all the same heroes and persons reappear, and similar events are again +transacted, till the time arrives for another dissolution.</p> + +<p>After the construction of the world by Brahma, the office of its +preservation is assumed by Vishnu. His chief attribute is Wisdom: he is +the Air, Water, Humidity in general, Space, and sometimes, though rarely, +Earth: he is Time present, and the middle: and he is the Sun in the +evening and at night. His colour is blue or blackish; his Vahan, the Eagle +named Garuda;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> his allotted place, the Air or intermediate region, and he +symbolises Unity. It is he who most commonly appears in the Avatars or +Incarnations, of which nine in number are recorded as past: the most +celebrated of which are his incarnations as Mateya or the Fish Rama, +Krishna, and Buddha: the tenth of Kalki, or the Horse, is yet to come. It +is from him that Brahma springs when he proceeds to his office of +creation.</p> + +<p>The destroying and regenerating power, Siva, Maha-deva, Iswara, or Routrem +is regarded metaphysically as Justice, and physically as Fire or Heat, and +sometimes Water. He is the Sun at noon: his colour is white, with a blue +throat, but sometimes red; his Vahan is the bull, and his place of +residence the heaven. As destruction in the material world is but change +or production in another form, and was so held by almost all the heathen +philosophers, we find that the peculiar emblems of Siva are, as we have +already shown, the Trident, the symbol of destruction; and the Linga or +Phallus, of regeneration.</p> + +<p>The three deities were called Trimurtti, and in the caverns of Ellora they +are united in a Triune bust. They are collectively symbolized by the +triangle. Vishnu, as Humidity personified, is also represented by an +inverted triangle, and Siva by a triangle erect, as a personification of +Fire; while the Monad Brahm is represented by the circle as Eternity, and +by a point as having neither length, nor breadth, as self-existing, and +containing nothing. The Brahmans deny materialism; yet it is asserted by +Mr. Wilford, that, when closely interrogated on the title of Deva or God, +which their most sacred books give to the Sun, they avoid a direct answer, +and often contradict themselves and one another. The supreme divinity of +the Sun, however, is constantly asserted in their scriptures; and the +holiest verse in the Vedas, which is called the Gayatri, is:—“Let us +adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the Godhead, who illuminates all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we +invoke to direct our understanding aright in our progress towards his holy +seat.”</p> + +<p>It has been said that in India is to be found the most ancient form of +that Trinitarian worship which prevails in nearly every quarter of the +known world. Be that as it may, it is not in India where the most +remarkable phase of the worship is to be found; for that we turn to Egypt. +Here we meet with the strange fact that no two cities worshipped the same +triad. “The one remarkable feature in nearly all these triads is that they +are father, mother, and son; that is, male and female principles of +nature, with their product.”</p> + +<p>Mariette Bey says:—“According to places, the attributes by which the +Divine Personage is surrounded are modified; but in each temple the triad +would appear as a symbol destined to affirm the eternity of being. In all +triads, the principal god gives birth to himself. Considered as a Father, +he remains the great god adored in temples. Considered as a Son, he +becomes, by a sort of doubling, the third person of the triad. But the +Father and the Son are not less the one god, while, being double, the +first is the eternal god; the second is but the living symbol destined to +affirm the strength of the other. The father engenders himself in the womb +of the mother, and thus becomes at once his own father and his own son. +Thereby are expressed the uncreatedness and the eternity of the being who +has had no beginning, and who shall have no end.”</p> + +<p>Generally speaking, the gods of Egypt were grouped in sets of three, each +city having its own Trinity. Thus in Memphis we find Ptah, Pasht and +Month; in Thebes, Amun-Ra, Athor and Chonso; in Ethiopia, Noum, Sate and +Anucis; in Hermonthis, Monthra, Reto and Harphre; in Lower Egypt, Seb, +Netphe and Osiris; in Thinnis, Osiris, Isis and Anhur; in Abousimbel and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +Derr, Ptah, Amun-Ra and Horus-Ra; in Esné, Neph, Neboo and Haké; in Dabad, +Seb, Netpe and Mandosti; in Ambos, Savak, Athor and Khonso; in Edfou, +Horket, Hathor and Horsenedto. The trinity common throughout the land is +that of Osiris, Isis and Horus.</p> + +<p>Dr. Cudworth translates Jamblichus as follows, quoting from the Egyptian +Hermetic Books in defining the Egyptian Trinity:—“Hermes places the god +Emeph as the prince and ruler over all the celestial gods, whom he +affirmeth to be a Mind understanding himself, and converting his +cogitations or intellections into himself. Before which Emeph he placeth +one indivisible, whom he calleth Eicton, in which is the first +intelligible, and which is worshipped only by silence. After which two, +Eicton and Emeph, the demiurgic mind and president of truth, as with +wisdom it proceedeth to generations, and bringeth forth the hidden powers +of the occult reasons with light, is called in the Egyptian language +Ammon: as it artificially affects all things with truth, Phtha; as it is +productive of good, Osiris; besides other names that it hath according to +its other powers and energies.” Upon this, Dr. Cudworth remarks:—“How +well these three divine hypostases of the Egyptians agree with the +Pythagoric or Platonic Trinity of,—first, Unity and Goodness itself; +secondly, Mind; and, thirdly, Soul,—I need not here declare. Only we +shall call to mind what hath been already intimated, that Reason or +Wisdom, which was the Demiurgus of the world, and is properly the second +of the fore-mentioned hypostases, was called also, among the Egyptians by +another name, Cneph; from whom was said to have been produced or begotten +the God Phtha, the third hypostasis of the Egyptian Trinity; so that Cneph +and Emeph are all one. Wherefore, we have here plainly an Egyptian Trinity +of divine hypostases subordinate, Eicton, Emeph or Cneph, and Phtha.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>Mr. Sharpe, in his Egyptian Inscriptions, mentions the fact that there is +in the British Museum a hieroglyphical inscription as early as the reign +of Sevechus of the eighth century before the Christian Era, showing that +the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity already formed part of their +religion, and stating that in each of the two groups, Isis, Nephthis and +Osiris, and Osiris, Isis, and Horus, the three gods made only one person. +Also that the sculptured figures on the lid of the sarcophagus of Rameses +III., now at Cambridge, show us the King, not only as one of a group of +three gods, but also as a Trinity in Unity in his own person. “He stands +between the goddesses, Isis and Nepthys, who embrace him as if he were the +lost Osiris, whom they have now found again. We further know him to be in +the character of Osiris by the two sceptres which he holds; but at the +same time the horns upon his head are those of the goddess Athor, and the +ball and feathers above are the ornaments of the god Ra.”</p> + +<p>Nearly all writers describe the Egyptian Trinity as consisting of the +<i>generative</i>, the <i>destructive</i>, and the <i>preserving</i> powers. Isis answers +to Siva. Iswara, or Lord, is the epithet of Siva. Osiris, or Ysiris, as +Hellanicus wrote the Egyptian name, was the God at whose birth a voice was +heard to declare, “that the Lord of all nature sprang forth to light.”</p> + +<p>A peculiar feature in the ancient trinities is the way in which the +worship of the first person is lost or absorbed in the second, few or no +temples being found dedicated to Brahma. Something very much like this +often occurs among Christians; we are surrounded by churches dedicated to +the second and third persons in the trinity, and to saints, and to the +Mother of Christ, but none to the Father.</p> + +<p>It has been noticed that while we find inscribed upon the monuments of +Egypt a vast multitude of gods, as in India,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> the number diminishes as we +ascend. Amun Ra alone is found dedicated upon the oldest monuments, in +three distinct forms, into one or other of whose characters all the other +divinities may be resolved. Amun was the chief god, the sacred name, +corresponding with the Aum of the Indians, also, probably, the Egyptian +On. According to Mr. Wilkinson, the Egyptians held Kneph, Neph, Nef, or +Chnoubus, “as the idea of the Spirit of God which moved upon the face of +the waters.” He was the Spirit, animating and perpetuating the world, and +penetrating all its parts; the same with the Agathodæmon of the +Phœnicians, and like him, was symbolized by the snake, an emblem of the +Spirit which pervades the universe. He was commonly represented with a +Ram’s head; and though the colour of the Egyptian divinities is perhaps +more commonly green than any other, he is as frequently depicted blue. He +was the god of the Nile, which is indirectly confirmed by Pindar; and by +Ptolemy, who says that the Egyptians gave the name of Agathodæmon to the +western, or Heracleotic branch. From his mouth proceeded the Mundane egg, +from which sprung Phtah, the creative power. Mr. Wilkinson +proceeds:—“Having separated the Spirit from the Creator, and purposing to +act apart and defy each attribute, which presented itself to their +imagination, they found it necessary to form another deity from the +creative power, whom they call Phtah, proceeding from the former, and +thence deemed the son of Kneph. Some difference was observed between the +power, which created the world, and that which caused and ruled over the +generation of man, and continued to promote the continuation of the human +species. This latter attribute of the divinity was deified under the +appellation Khem. Thus was the supreme deity known by the three distinct +names of,</p> + +<p class="center">Kneph,<span class="spacer"> </span>Phthah,<span class="spacer"> </span>Khem:</p> + +<p>to these were joined the goddesses Sate, Neith, and Buto; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> the number +of the eight deities was completed by the addition of Ra, or Amun-Ra,” +this last, however, was not a distinct god, but a name common to each +person of the triad: and, indeed, to all the three names above the name of +Amun was constantly prefixed.<a name='fna_9' id='fna_9' href='#f_9'><small>[9]</small></a></p> + +<p>Phthah corresponds with the Indian Brahma, and the Orphic Phanes, and +appears in several other forms. In one form he is represented as an +infant—often as an infant Priapæan figure, and deformed.</p> + +<p>The deity called Khem by Mr. Wilkinson, and Mendes by Champollion, is +common on the monuments of Egypt, and is recognised as corresponding with +the Pan of the Greeks. His chief attribute is heat, which aids the +continuation of the various species, and he is generally coloured red, +though sometimes blue, with his right arm extended upwards. His principal +emblems are a triple-thonged Flagellum and a Phallus. He corresponds with +Siva of the Indians, his attributes being similar, <i>viz.</i>, Destroying and +Regenerating. He is the god of generation, and, like Siva, has his Phallic +emblem of reproduction; the triple-thonged flagellum is regarded by some +as a variation of the trident, or of the axe of Siva. He has for a vahan +the Bull Mneuis, as Sivi has the Bull Nandi. The Goat Mendes was also +consecrated to him as an emblem of heat and generation; and it is well +known that this animal is constantly placed in the hands of Siva. “In +short,” says Mr. Cory, “there is scarcely a shade of distinction between +Khem and Siva: the Egyptians venerated the same deity as the Indians, in +his generative character as Khem, when they suspended the flagellum, the +instrument of vengeance, over his right hand; but in his destroying +character, as the ruler of the dead, as Osiris, when they placed the +flagellum in his hands as the trident is in that character placed in the +hand of Siva.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>In the Chaldean oracles, so far as they have been preserved, the doctrine +of a triad is found everywhere. Allowing for the existence of much that is +forged amongst these oracles, as suggested by Mr. Cory and others, we may +reasonably conclude that there still remains a deal that is ancient and +authentic. They teach as a fundamental tenet that a triad shines +throughout the whole world, over which a Monad rules. This triad is +Father, Power, and Intellect, having probably once been Air, Fire, and +Sun.</p> + +<p>Amongst the Laplanders the Supreme God was worshipped as Jumala, and three +gods were recognised as subordinate to him. The first was Thor of the +Edda; the second Storjunkare, his vicegerent, the common household god; +and the third Beywe, the Sun.</p> + +<p>With regard to the Phœnicians and Syrians, Photius states that the +Kronus of both was known under the names of El, Bel, and Bolathen.</p> + +<p>The Sidonians, Eudemus said, placed before all things Chronus, Pothas, and +Omichles, rendered by Damascius as Time, Love, and Cloudy Darkness, +regarded by some as no other than the Khem, Phthah, and Amun Kneph of the +Egyptians.</p> + +<p>The Heracles or Hercules of the Greeks, known as Arcles of the Tyrians, +was a triple divinity, described by Hieronymus as a dragon, with the heads +of a bull, of a lion, and of a man with wings.</p> + +<p>Among the Philistines also we find their chief god Dragon, who is the +Ouranus of Sanchoniatho. It appears also that Baal was a triple Divinity: +while Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and Baal Peor, of the +Midians, seem to be the Priapæan Khem of Egypt, the god of heat and +generation. The Edessenes also held the triad, and placed Monimus and +Azizus as contemplars with the Sun.<a name='fna_10' id='fna_10' href='#f_10'><small>[10]</small></a></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>The Supreme God of the Peruvians—Assumed Origin of the Trinity Idea +in the Patriarchal Age—Welsh Ideas—Druidical Triads—The Ancient +Religion of America—The Classics and Heathen Triads—The +Tritopatoreia—The Virgin Mary—The Virgin amongst the +Heathen—Universality of the Belief in a Trinity—The Dahomans.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> Supreme God of the Peruvians, was called Viracocha; known also as +Pachacarnac, Soul of the world, Usapu admirable, and other names.</p> + +<p>Garcilazo says, “he was considered as the giver of life, sustainer and +nourisher of all things, but because they did not see him, they erected no +temples to him nor offered sacrifices; however they worshipped him in +their hearts, and esteemed him for the unknown God.”</p> + +<p>Generally, speaking, the sun was the great object of Peruvian idolatry +during the dominion of the Incas. Its worship was the most solemn, and its +temples the most splendid in their furniture and decorations, and the +common people, no doubt, reverenced that luminary as their chief god.</p> + +<p>Herrera mentions the circumstance that at one of the festivals, they +exhibited three statues of the sun, each of which had a particular name, +which as he translated them were Father and Lord Sun, the Son Sun, and the +Brother Sun. He also says, “that at Chucuisaea, they worshipped an idol +called Tangatanga, which they said was three and one.”</p> + +<p>The Spanish writers consider this doctrine to have been stolen by the +devil from Christianity, and imparted by him to this people. By this +opinion they evidently declare its antiquity in Peru to have been greater +than the time of the Spanish conquest.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>Those writers and scholars who refuse to believe that the doctrine of the +Trinity as taught in the Christian religion, was known during the +patriarchal or judaical dispensations, and therefore will not allow that +the trinity of the Peruvians had any reference to the dogma of +Christianity, contend that their trinity was founded in those early +corruptions of patriarchal history, in which men began to represent Adam, +and his three sons; and Noah, and his three sons; as being triplicates of +the same essential person, who originally was the universal father of the +human race: and secondly, being triplicated in their three sons, who also +were considered the fathers of mankind. They say therefore, Adam and Noah +were each the father of three sons; and to the persons of the latter of +these triads, by whose descendants the world was repeopled, the whole +habitable earth was assigned in a threefold division. This matter, though +it sometimes appears in an undisguised form, was usually wrapped up in the +cloak of the most profound mystery. Hence instead of plainly saying, that +the mortal who had flourished in the golden age and who was venerated as +the universal demon father both of gods and men, was the parent of three +sons, they were wont to declare, that the great father had wonderfully +triplicated himself.</p> + +<p>Pursuing this vein of mysticism, they contrived to obscure the triple +division of the habitable globe among the sons of Noah, just as much as +the characters of the three sons themselves. A very ancient notion +universally prevailed that some such triple division had once taken place; +and the hierophants when they had elevated Noah and his three sons to the +rank of deity, proceeded to ring a variety of corresponding changes upon +that celebrated threefold distribution. Noah was esteemed the universal +sovereign of the world; but, when he branched out into three kings +(<i>i.e.</i>, triplicating himself into his three sons),<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> that world was to be +divided into three kingdoms, or, as they were sometimes styled, three +worlds. To one of these kings was assigned the empire of heaven; to +another, the empire of the earth, including the nether regions of +Tartarus; to a third, the empire of the ocean.</p> + +<p>So again, when Noah became a god, the attributes of deity were inevitably +ascribed to him, otherwise, he would plainly have become incapable of +supporting his new character: yet even in the ascription of such +attributes, the genuine outlines of his history were never suffered to be +wholly forgotten. He had witnessed the destruction of one world, the new +creation (or regeneration) of another, and the oath of God that he would +surely preserve mankind from the repetition of such a calamity as the +deluge. Hence when he was worshipped as a hero-god, he was revered in the +triple character of the destroyer, the creator, and the preserver. And +when he was triplicated into three cognate divinities, were produced three +gods, different, yet fundamentally the same, one mild though awful as the +creator; another gentle and beneficent as the preserver; a third, +sanguinary, ferocious, and implacable as the destroyer.<a name='fna_11' id='fna_11' href='#f_11'><small>[11]</small></a></p> + +<p>The idea of a trinity was rather curiously developed amongst the Druids, +especially amongst the Welsh. They used a number of triplicated sentences +as summaries of matters relating to their religion, history, and science, +in order that these things might be the more easily committed to memory +and handed down to future generations. The triads were these:—</p> + +<p>1. There are three primeval Unities, and more than one of each cannot +exist:</p> + +<p class="blockquot">One God;<br /> +One Truth;<br /> +One Point of Liberty, where all opposites equiponderate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>2. Three things proceed from the primeval unities:</p> + +<p class="blockquot">All of Life;<br /> +All that is Good; and<br /> +All Power.</p> + +<p>3. God consists necessarily of three things:</p> + +<p class="blockquot">The Greatest of Life;<br /> +The Greatest of Knowledge; and<br /> +The Greatest of Power.<a name='fna_12' id='fna_12' href='#f_12'><small>[12]</small></a></p> + +<p>The Druids venerated the Bull and Eagle as emblems of the god Hu, and like +the Jews and Indians, “made use of a term, only known to themselves, to +express the unutterable name of the Deity, and the letters <b>OIW</b> were used +for that purpose.”</p> + +<p>From Herodotus, Aristotle, Plutarch, and others, we get information +concerning the triads amongst the Persians, and which were similar in many +respects to those recognised by other eastern nations. Oromasdes and +Arimanes were ruling principles always in opposition to each other, viz., +<i>good</i> and <i>evil</i>, and springing from <i>light</i> and <i>darkness</i>, which they +are said to have most resembled. Eudemus says, “they proceeded from Place +or Time.” Oromasdes was looked upon as the whole expanse of heaven, and +was considered by the Greeks as identical with Zeus. He was the Preserver; +and Arimanes, the Destroyer. Between them, according to Plutarch was +Mithras, the Mediator, who was regarded as the Sun, as Light, as +Intellect, and as the creator of all things. He was a triple deity and was +said to have triplicated himself. The Leontine mysteries were instituted +in his honour, the lion being consecrated to him, and the Sun was +represented by the emblems of the Bull, the Lion, and the Hawk, united.</p> + +<p>In the ancient religions of America, a species of trinity was recognised +altogether different to that of Christianity or the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> Trimurti of India. In +some of the ancient poems a triple nature is actually ascribed to storms; +and in the Quiché legends we read: “The first of Hurakan is the lightning, +the second the track of the lightning, and the third the stroke of the +lightning; and these three are Hurakan the Heat of the Sky.”</p> + +<p>In the Iroquois mythology the same thing is found. Heno was thunder, and +three assistants were assigned to him whose offices were similar to those +of the companions of Hurakan.</p> + +<p>Heno was said to gather the clouds and pour out the warm rain; he was the +patron of husbandry, and was invoked at seedtime and harvest. As the +purveyor of nourishment, he was addressed as grandfather, and his +worshippers styled themselves his grandchildren.</p> + +<p>Amongst the Aztecs, Tlaloc, the god of rain and water, manifested himself +under the three attributes of the flash, the thunderbolt, and the thunder.</p> + +<p>But this conception of three in one, says Brinton, “was above the +comprehension of the masses, and consequently these deities were also +spoken of as fourfold in nature, three <i>and</i> one.” Moreover, as has +already been pointed out, the thunder-god was usually ruler of the winds, +and thus another reason for his quadruplicate nature was suggested. +Hurakan, Haokah, Tlaloc, and probably Heno, are plural as well as singular +nouns, and are used as nominatives to verbs in both numbers. Tlaloc was +appealed to as inhabiting each of the cardinal points and every mountain +top. His statue rested on a square stone pedestal, facing the east, and +had in one hand a serpent in gold. Ribbons of silver, crossing to form +squares, covered the robe, and the shield was composed of feathers of four +colours, yellow, green, red and blue. Before it was a vase containing all +sorts of grain; and the clouds were called his companions, the winds his +messengers. As elsewhere, the thunderbolts were believed to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> flints, +and thus, as the emblem of fire and the storm, this stone figures +conspicuously in their myths. Tohil, the god who gave the Quichés fire by +shaking his sandals, was represented by a flint-stone. He is distinctly +said to be the same as Quetzelcoatl, one of whose commonest symbols was a +flint. Such a stone, in the beginning of things, fell from heaven to +earth, and broke into 1600 pieces, each of which sprang up a god; an +ancient legend, which shadows forth the subjection of all things to him +who gathers the clouds from the four corners of the earth, who thunders +with his voice, who satisfies with his rain the desolate and waste ground, +and causes the tended herb to spring forth. This is the germ of the +adoration of stones as emblems of the fecundating rains. This is why, for +example, the Navajos use as their charm for rain certain long round +stones, which they think fall from the clouds when it thunders.</p> + +<p>It is said that all over Africa, belief in a trinity of gods is found, the +same to-day as has prevailed at least for forty centuries, and perhaps for +very much longer. Chaldæa, Assyria, and the temple of Erektheus, on the +Acropolis of Athens, honoured and sacrificed to Zeus (the Sun, Hercules, +or Phallic idea) the Serpent and Ocean; and Africa still does so to the +Tree-Stem or Pole, the Serpent, and the Sea or Water; and this Trinity is +one god, and yet serves to divide all gods into three classes, of which +these are types.</p> + +<p>Important and interesting notices relative to the nature of the deities +worshipped by the ancients are to be found in the treatise of Julius +Firmicus Maternus, “De Errore Profanarum Religionum ad Constantium, et +Constantem Angg.” Firmicus attributes to the Persians a belief in the +androgynous nature of the deity [naturam ejus (jovis) ad utriusque sexus +transferentes]. No doubt this doctrine has always been recognised, by many +writers, as being held by the philosophers of India and Egypt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> and that +it constituted a part of the creed of Orpheus, but its connection with +Persia has not been so generally acknowledged.</p> + +<p>Firmicus, after speaking of the two-fold powers of Jupiter (that is, the +deity being both male and female) adds, “when they choose to give a +visible representation of him, they sculpture him as a female.” Again, +they represent him as a female with three heads. It was a figure adorned +with serpents of a monstrous size. It was venerated under the symbol of +fire. It was called Mithra. It was worshipped in secret caverns. The rites +of Mithra were familiar to the Romans, but they worshipped them in a +manner different from the Persian ceremonies. Firmicus had seen Mithra +sculptured in two different ways: in one piece of sculpture he was +represented as a female with three faces, and infolded with serpents; and +in another piece of sculpture he was represented as seizing a bull.</p> + +<p>Classic writers abound with references, not simply to a plurality of gods +among the heathen, but to a trinity in unity and unity in trinity, +sometimes approaching in the similarity of their broad outlines the +doctrine as held by orthodox religionists. Herodotus calls the deity of +the Pelasgians, <i>Gods</i>, and it is admitted that the passage evidently +implies that the expression was used by the priests of Dodona. The +Pelasgians worshipped the Cabiri, and the Cabiri were originally three in +number, hence it is inferred that these Cabiri were the Pelasgian Trinity, +and that having in ancient times no name which would have implied a +diversity of gods, they worshipped a trinity in unity. The worship of the +Cabiri by the Pelasgians is evident, for Herodotus says, in his second +book, “that the Samothracians learnt the Cabiric mysteries from the +Pelasgians, who once inhabited that island, and afterwards settled in +Greece, near Attica.” Cicero testifies that the Cabiri were originally +three in number, and he carefully distinguishes them from the Dioscuri. A +passage in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> Pausanias states that at Tritia, a city of Achaia, there is a +temple erected to the Dii Magni (or Cabiri); their images are a +representation of a god made of clay. “We need not be surprised,” said a +writer once, “that Pausanias should be puzzled how to express the fact +that, though it was the temple of the three Cabiri, yet there was only one +image in it. Is not this the doctrine of a trinity in unity?”</p> + +<p>Potter informs us that those who desired to have children were usually +very liberal to the gods, who were thought to preside over generation. The +same writer also says:—“Who these were, or what was the origination of +their name, is not easy to determine: Orpheus, as cited by Phanodemus in +Suidas, makes their proper names to be Amaclides, Protocles, and +Protocleon, and will have them to preside over the winds; Demo makes them +to be the winds themselves.” Another author tells us their names were +“Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, and that they were the sons of heaven and of +earth: Philocrus likewise makes earth their mother, but instead of heaven, +substitutes the sun, or Apollo, for their father, where he seems to +account, as well for their being accounted the superintendents of +generation, as for the name of τριτοπατερες; for being +immediately descended from two immortal gods, themselves,” saith he, “were +thought the third fathers, and therefore might well be esteemed the common +parents of mankind, and from that opinion derive those honours, which the +Athenians paid them as the authors and presidents of human generation.”</p> + +<p>Again, the Tritopatoreia was a solemnity in which it was usual to pray for +children to the gods of generation, who were sometimes called +<i>tritopateres</i>. The names of the Cabiri, as Cicero says, are Tritopatreus, +Eubuleus, and Dionysius: this fact is supposed to give us a little insight +into the origin of the word <i>tritopateres</i>, or <i>tritopatreis</i>. Philocrus, +as we have seen, makes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> them the sons of Apollo and of the earth: this +fact will help us to develop the truth: the two last hypostases emanated +from the Creator: thus in the Egyptian Trinity of Osiris, of Isis, and of +Horus, Isis is not only the consort, but the daughter of Osiris, and Horus +was the fruit of their embrace, thus in the Scandinavian Trinity of Adin, +of Trea, and of Thor, Trea is not only the wife, but the daughter of Odin, +and Thor was the fruit of their embrace, as Maillet observes in his +<i>Northern Antiquities</i> (vol. ii.), there is the Roman Trinity of Jupiter, +of Juno, and of Minerva, Juno is the sister and the wife of Jupiter, and +Minerva is the daughter of Jupiter: now, it is a singular fact, that in +the Pelasgic Trinity of the Cabirim, two of them are said to have been the +sons of Vulcan, or the Sun, as we read in Potter (vol. i.) Hence we see, +it has been contended, the mistake of Philocrus: there were not three +emanations from the Sun, as he supposes, but only <i>two</i>: their name +tritopateres, which alludes to the doctrine of the trinity, puzzled +Philocrus, who knew nothing of the doctrine, and he is credited with +coining the story, to account for this appellation: the Cabiri were, as is +known from Cicero, called Tritopatreus, Dionysius, and Eubuleus. Dionysius +is Osiris, and Eubuleus and Tritopatreus are the two hypostases, which +emanated from him: the name of the third hypostasis is generally +compounded of some word which signifies the third: hence Minerva derived +her name of Tritonis, or Tritonia Virgo: hence Minerva is called by Hesiod +(referred to in Lempriere’s Classical Dictionary), Tritogenia: hence came +the Tritia, of which Pausanias speaks: hence came the Tritopatreus of +Cicero: hence came the Thridi of the Scandinavians. We read in the Edda +these remarkable words: “He afterwards beheld three thrones raised one +above another, and on each throne sat a man; upon his asking which of +these was their king, his guide answered, ‘he who sits upon the lowest +throne is the king, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> his name is Hor, or the Lofty One: the second is +Jaenhar, that is Equal to the Lofty One; but he who sits upon the highest +throne is called Thridi, or the Third.’”</p> + +<p>Pausanias has a number of passages which bear upon this subject, and seem +to prove conclusively that the Greeks recognised the doctrine of a trinity +in unity and worshipped the same. In his second book he says: “Beyond the +tomb of Pelasgus is a small structure of brass, which supports the images +of Diana, of Jupiter, and of Minerva, a work of some antiquity: Lyceas has +in some verses recorded the fact that this is the representation of +Jupiter Machinator.” Again, in Book I., when describing the Areopagite +district of Athens, he says:—“Here are the images of Pluto, of Mercury, +and of Tellus, to whom all such persons, whether citizens or strangers, as +have vindicated their innocence in the Court Areopagus, are required +sacrifice.” “In a temple of Ceres, at the entrance of Athens, there are +images of the goddess herself, of her daughter, and of Bacchus, with a +torch in his hand.”</p> + +<p>That the grouping of the three deities was not accidental is evident from +the frequency with which they are so mentioned, and other passages show +that they were the three deities who were worshipped in the Eleusinian +mysteries. Thus in Book VIII., Ch. 25:—“The river Lado then continues its +course to the temple of the Eleusinian Ceres, which is situated in +territories of the Thelpusians: the three statues in it are each seven +feet high, and all of marble: they represent Ceres, Proserpine, and +Bacchus.” In another passage (Book II., Ch. 2) he says:—“By a temple +dedicated to all the gods, there were placed three statues of Jupiter in +the open air, of which one had no title, a second was styled the +<i>Terrestrial</i>, and the third was styled the highest.”</p> + +<p>The learned say, of course, it is clear that the missing title should have +been the <i>God of the Sea</i>, as the others were the <i>God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> of Heaven</i>, and +the <i>God of the Earth</i>. Another passage in Pausanias confirms this:—“In a +temple of Minerva was placed a wooden image of Jupiter with three eyes; +two of them were placed in the natural position, and the other was placed +on the forehead.... One may naturally suppose that Jupiter is represented +with three eyes as the God of the Heaven, as the God of the Earth, and as +the God of the Sea.”</p> + +<p>It has been remarked that Pausanias records the tradition that this story +of the three-eyed Jupiter comes from Troy, and it is known that the +Trojans acknowledged a trinity in the divine nature, and that the Dii +Penates, or the Cabiri of the Romans, came from Troy. Quotations from the +translation of the Atlas Chinesis of Montanus, by Ogilby, show that the +three-eyed Jupiter was an oriental emblem of the trinity:—“The modern +learned, or followers of this first sect, who are overwhelmed in idolatry, +divide generally their idols, or false gods, into three orders, <i>viz.</i>, +celestial, terrestrial, and infernal: in the celestial they acknowledge a +trinity of one godhead, which they worship and serve by the name of a +goddess called Pussa; which, with the Greeks, we might call Cybele, and +with Egyptians, Isis and Mother of the Gods. This Pussa (according to the +Chinese saying) is the governess of nature, or, to speak properly, the +Chinese Isis, or Cybele, by whose power they believe that all things are +preserved and made fruitful, as the three inserted figures relate.”</p> + +<p>In the doctrine relating to the Virgin Mary as held by the Church of Rome, +there is a remarkable resemblance to the teaching of the ancients +respecting the female constantly associated with the triune male deity. +Her names and titles are many, and though diversified, mostly pointing to +the same idea. Some of these are as follows:—“The Virgin,” conceiving and +bringing forth from her own inherent power. The wife of Bel Nimrod; the +wife of Asshur; the wife of Nin. She is called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> Multa, Mulita, or Mylitta, +or Enuta, Bilta or Bilta Nipruta, Ishtar, Ri, Alitta, Elissa, Bettis, +Ashtoreth, Astarte, Saruha, Nana, Asurah. Amongst other names she is known +as Athor, Dea Syria, Artemis, Aphrodite, Tanith, Tanat, Rhea, Demeter, +Ceres, Diana, Minerva, Juno, Venus, Isis, Cybele, Seneb or Seben, Venus +Urania, Ge, Hera. “As Anaitis she is the ‘mother of the child;’ reproduced +again as Isis and Horus; Devaki with Christna; and Aurora with Memnon.” +Even in ancient Mexico the mother and child were worshipped. Again she +appears as Davkina Gula Shala, Zirbanit, Warmita Laz. In modern times she +reappears as the Virgin Mary and her son. There were Ishtar of Nineveh and +Ishter of Arbela, just as there are now Marie de Loretto and Marie de la +Garde.</p> + +<p>She was the Queen of fecundity or fertility, Queen of the lands, the +beginning of heaven and earth, Queen of all the Gods, Goddess of war and +battle, the holder of the sceptre, the beginning of the beginning, the one +great Queen, the Queen of the spheres, the Virgo of the Zodiac, the +Celestial Virgin, Time, in whose womb all things are born. She is +represented in various ways, and specially as a nude woman carrying an +infant in her arms.<a name='fna_13' id='fna_13' href='#f_13'><small>[13]</small></a></p> + +<p>The name <i>Multa, Mulita, or Mylitta</i>, Inman contends is derived from some +words resembling the Hebrew <i>meal</i>, the “place of entrance,” and <i>ta</i>, “a +chamber.” The whole being a place of entrance and a chamber. The cognomen +Multa, or Malta, signifies, therefore, the spot through which life enters +into the chamber, <i>i.e.</i>, the womb, and through which the fruit matured +within enters into the world as a new being. By the association of this +virgin goddess with the sacred triad of deities is made up the four great +gods, <i>Arba-il</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>We are here reminded of the well-known symbol of the Trinity which seems +to have been as abundantly used in ancient times, at least in some +countries—Egypt for instance. This is the triangle—generally the +equilateral—which of course symbolised both the trinity in unity and the +equality of the three. Sometimes we get two of those triangles crossing +each other, one with the point upwards, the other with the point +downwards, thus forming a six-rayed star. The first represents the phallic +triad, the two together shew the union of the male and female principles +producing a new figure, each at the same time retaining its own identity. +The triangle with the point downwards, by itself typifies the Mons +Veneris, the Delta, or door through which all come into the world.</p> + +<p>The question has arisen:—“How comes it that a doctrine so singular, and +so utterly at variance with all the conceptions of uninstructed reason, as +that of a Trinity in Unity, should have been from the beginning, the +fundamental religious tenet of every nation upon earth?”</p> + +<p>Inman without hesitation declares “the trinity of the ancients is +unquestionably of phallic origin.” Others have either preceded this writer +or have followed suit, contending that the male symbol of generation in +divine creation was three in one, as the cross, &c., and that the female +symbol was always regarded as the Triangle, the accepted symbol of the +Trinity. The number three, was employed with mystic solemnity, and in the +emblematical hands which seem to have been borne on the top of a staff or +sceptre in the Isiac processions, the thumb and two forefingers are held +up to signify the three primary and general personifications. This form of +priestly blessing, thumb and two fingers, is still acknowledged as a sign +of the Trinity.</p> + +<p>The ancients tell us plainly enough that they are derived from the +cosmogonic elements. They are primarily the material and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> elementary types +of the spiritual trinity of revelation—types established by revelation +itself, and the only resource of materialism to preserve the original +doctrine. The spirit, whether physical or spiritual, is equally the +<i>pneuma</i>; and the light, whether physical or spiritual, equally the <i>phos</i> +of the Greek text: so that the materialist of antiquity had little +difficulty in preserving their analogies complete.</p> + +<p>The Dahomans are said by Skertchley to deny the corporeal existence of the +deity, but to ascribe human passions to him; a singular medley. “Their +religion,” he says, “must not be confounded with Polytheism, for they only +worship one god, Mau, but propitiate him through the intervention of the +fetiches. Of these, there are four principal ones, after whom come the +secondary deities. The most important of these is Bo, the Dahoman Mars; +then comes Legba, the Dahoman Priapus, whose little huts are to be met +with in every street. This deity is of either sex, a male and female Legba +often residing in the same temple. A squat swish image, rudely moulded +into the grossest caricature on the human form, sitting with hands on +knees, with gaping mouth, and the special attributes developed to an +ungainly size. Teeth of cowries usually fill the clown-like mouth, and +ears standing out from the head, like a bat’s, are only surpassed in their +monstrosity by the snowshoe-shaped feet. The nose is broad, even for a +negro’s, and altogether the deity is anything but a fascinating object. +Round the deity is a fence of knobbed sticks, daubed with filthy slime, +and before the god is a flat saucer of red earthenware, which contains the +offerings. When a person wishes to increase his family, he calls in a +Legba priest and gives him a fowl, some cankie, water, and palm oil. A +fire is lighted, and the cankie, water, and palm oil mixed together and +put in the saucer. The fowl is then killed by placing the head between the +great and second toes of the priest, who severs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> it from the body by a +jerk. The head is then swung over the person of the worshipper, to allow +the blood to drop upon him, while the bleeding body is held over a little +dish, which catches the blood. The fowl is then semi-roasted on a fire +lighted near, and the priest, taking the dish of blood, smears the body of +the deity with it, finally taking some of the blood into his mouth and +sputtering it over the god. The fowl is then eaten by the priest, and the +wives of the devotees are supposed to have the children they crave for.”</p> + +<p>The principal Dahoman gods, described by Skertchley, are thus mentioned by +Forlong:—</p> + +<p>Legba, the Dahoman Priapus, and special patron of all who desire larger +families.</p> + +<p>Zoo, the god of fire, reminding us of Zoe, life.</p> + +<p>Demen, he who presides over chastity.</p> + +<p>Akwash, he who presides over childbirth.</p> + +<p>Gbwejeh, he or she who presides over hunting.</p> + +<p>Ajarama, the tutelary god of foreigners, symbolised by a whitewashed stump +under a shed, apparently a Sivaic or white Lingam, no doubt called foreign +because Ashar came from Assyria, and Esir from the still older Ethiopians.</p> + +<p>Hoho, he who presides over twins.</p> + +<p>Afa, the name of the dual god of wisdom.</p> + +<p>Aizan, the god who presides over roads, and travellers, and bad +characters, and can be seen on all roads as a heap of clay surmounted by a +round pot, containing kanki, palm oil, &c.</p> + +<p>“So that we have Legba, the pure and simple phallus; Ajarama, ‘the +whitened stump,’ so well known to us in India amidst rude aboriginal +tribes; and Ai-zan, the Hermes or Harmonia, marking the ways of life, and +symbolised by a mound and round pot and considering that this is the +universal form of tatooing shown on every female’s stomach,—Mr. +Skertchley says, a series<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> of arches, the meaning is also clearly the +omphi. Mr. S. says that Afa, our African Androgynous Minerva, is very much +respected by mothers, and has certain days sacred to mothers, when she or +he is specially consulted on their special subjects, as well as on all +matters relating to marrying, building a house, sowing corn, and such +like.”<a name='fna_14' id='fna_14' href='#f_14'><small>[14]</small></a></p> + +<p>Some years ago a writer, speaking of the Sacred Triads of various nations, +said: “From all quarters of the heathen world came the trinity,” what we +have already revealed shows that the doctrine has been held in some form +or other from the far east to the extreme verge of the western hemisphere. +Some of the forms of this Triad are as follows:—India—Brahma, Vishnu, +Siva: Egypt—Knef, Osiris as the first; Ptha, Isis as the second; Phree, +Horus as the third: the Zoroastrians—The Father, Mind, and Fire: the +Ancient Arabs—Al-Lat, Al Uzzah, Manah: Greeks and Latins—Zeus or +Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto: the Syrians—Monimus, Azoz, Aries or Mars: the +Kaldians—The One; the Second, who dwells with the First; the Third, he +who shines through the universe: China—the One, the Second from the +First, the Third from the Second: the Boodhists—Boodhash, the Developer; +Darmash, the Developed; Sanghash, the Hosts Developed: Peruvians—Apomti, +Charunti, Intiquaoqui: Scandinavia—Odin, Thor, Friga: Pythagoras—Monad, +Duad, Triad: Plato—the Infinite, the Finite, that which is compounded of +the Two: Phenicia—Belus, the Sun; Urama, the Earth; Adonis, Love: +Kalmuks—Tarm, Megozan, Bourchan: Ancient Greece—Om, or On; Dionysus, or +Bacchus; Herakles: Orpheus—God, the Spirit, Kaos: South American +Indians—Otkon. Messou, Atahanto.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>The Golden Calf of Aaron—Was it a Cone or an Animal?—The Prayer to +Priapus—Hymn to Priapus—The Complaint of Priapus.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus we have the following +remarkable account of certain Israelitish proceedings in the time of Moses +and Aaron:—“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of +the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said +unto him, up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for <i>as for</i> this +Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not +what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, break off the golden +earrings, which <i>are</i> in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your +daughters, and bring <i>them</i> unto me. And all the people brake off the +golden earrings which <i>were</i> in their ears, and brought <i>them</i> unto Aaron; +and he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, +after he had made it a molten calf, and they said, ‘These <i>be</i> thy gods O +Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’ And when Aaron saw +<i>it</i>, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, +‘To-morrow is a feast to the Lord.’ And they rose up early on the morrow, +and offered burnt offerings, and brought offerings, and brought peace +offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to +play.”</p> + +<p>There is no doubt this is a most remarkable, and, for the most part, +inexplicable transaction. That it was an act of the grossest idolatry is +clear, but the details of the affair are not so readily disposed of, and +some amount of discussion has in consequence arisen, which has cast +imputations upon the conduct of the ancient Jews not very favourably +regarded by the moderns.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>The conduct of Aaron is certainly startling, to say the least of it, for +when the people presented their outrageous demand, coupled with their +insolent and contemptuous language about the man Moses, he makes no +remonstrance, utters no rebuke, but apparently falls in at once with their +proposal and prepares to carry it out. The question is, however, what was +it that was really done? What was the character of the image or idol, he +fashioned out of the golden ornaments which he requested them to take from +the ears of their wives, their sons, and their daughters?</p> + +<p>The suggestion that anything of a phallic nature is to be attributed to +this transaction has been loudly ridiculed and indignantly spurned by some +who have had little acquaintance with that species of worship, but it is +by no means certain that the charge can be so easily disposed of. That +phallic practises prevailed, more or less, amongst the Jews is certain, +and however this matter of the golden image may be explained, it will be +difficult to believe they were not somehow concerned in it.</p> + +<p>It may be a new revelation to some to be told that in the opinion of some +scholars the idol form set up by those foolish idolators was not that of a +calf at all, but of a cone. The Hebrew word <i>egel</i> or <i>ghegel</i> has been +usually taken to mean calf, but, say these gentlemen, erroneously so, its +true signification being altogether different. It is pleaded that it was +not at all likely that the Israelites should, so soon after their +miraculous deliverance from the house of bondage, have so far forgotten +what was due from them in grateful remembrance of that, as to have plunged +into such gross and debased idolatry as the adoration of deity under the +form of an animal. Also that it would have been inconsistent with their +exclamation when they saw the image, “This is thy God, O Israel, which +brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,” and with Aaron’s proclamation, +after he had built an altar before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> the idol for the people to sacrifice +burnt offerings on, “To-morrow is a feast to the Lord.” It is urged from +these expressions that the only reasonable and legitimate inference is, +that the golden idol was intended to be the similitude or symbol of the +Eternal Himself, and not of any other God.</p> + +<p>Certainly it is, as we have said, remarkable, and presents a problem not +at all easy of solution. Dr. Beke contends that in any case, it is +inconceivable that the figure of a calf should have been chosen to +represent the invisible God—he concludes, therefore, that the word <i>egel</i> +has been wrongly translated.</p> + +<p>With regard to the etymology of the word, its root <i>àgal</i> is declared to +be doubtful, Fürst taking it to mean <i>to run</i>, <i>to hasten</i>, <i>to leap</i>, and +Gesenius suggesting that its primary signification in the Ethiopic, +“<i>egel</i> denoting, like golem, something <i>rolled</i> or <i>wrapped together</i>, an +<i>unformed mass</i>; and hence <i>embryo</i>, <i>fœtus</i>, and also <i>the young</i>, as +just born and still unshapen.”</p> + +<p>It is inferred from this, supposing it to be correct, that the primary +idea of this and kindred roots, is that of roundness, so that <i>egel</i> may +readily mean any rounded figure, such as a globe, cylinder, or cone. +“Adopting this,” says Dr. Beke,—“a cone, as the true meaning of the +Hebrew word in the text, the sense of the transaction recorded will be, +that Moses having delayed to come down from the Mount, the Israelites, +fearing that he was lost, and looking on the Eternal as their true +deliverer and leader, required Aaron to make for them Elohim—that is to +say, a visible similitude or symbol of their God who had brought them up +out of the land of Mitzraim. Aaron accordingly made for them a golden +<i>cone</i>, as an image of the flame of fire seen by Moses in the burning +bush, and of the fire in which the Eternal had descended upon Sinai, this +being the only visible form in which the Almighty had been manifested. Of +such a representation or symbol, a sensuous people like the Israelites +might without inconsistency<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> say, ‘This is thy God, O Israel, which +brought thee up out of the land of Mitzraim;’ at the same time that Aaron, +after having built an altar before it, could make proclamation and say, +‘To-morrow is the feast to the Eternal,’ that is to say, to the invisible +God, whose <i>eidolon</i> or visible image this <i>egel</i> was.”</p> + +<p>It is admitted by the advocates of this theory that there are certain +things in the English version which appear adverse to it. For instance, it +is said that all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in +their ears, and brought them to Aaron; and he received them at their hand, +and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf, +from which it might be inferred, it is said, that the idol was first +roughly moulded and cast by the founder, and then finished by the +sculptor.</p> + +<p>It is urged however, that it is generally admitted by scholars that the +original does not warrant this rendering, the words “after he had,” which +are not in the text, having been added for the purpose of making sense of +the passage, which, if translated literally, would read, “He formed it +with a graving tool, and made it a golden calf,” a statement, says Dr. +Beke, which in spite of all the efforts made to explain it, is +inconsistent with the rest of the narrative, which repeatedly says, in +express terms, that the idol was a molten image.</p> + +<p>In order to get rid of this difficulty, several learned commentators have +interpreted the word <i>hhereth</i> (graving-tool) as meaning like <i>hharith</i>, a +bag, pocket, or purse, causing the passage to read, “He received them at +their hands, and put it (the gold) into a bag, and made it a golden calf.” +Dr. Beke thinks this untenable on the ground that as Aaron must +necessarily have collected the golden earrings together before casting +them into the fire, it is hardly likely that express mention would be made +of so trivial a circumstance as that of his putting them into a bag merely +for the purpose of immediately taking them out again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>The root <i>hharath</i>, according to Gesenius, has the meaning of to cut in, +to engrave; and one of the significations of the kindred root <i>pharatz</i> is +to cut to a point, to make pointed. “Hharithim, the plural of hhereth, is +said to mean purses, bags for money, so called from their long and round +shape, perhaps like an inverted cone; whence it is that Bochart and others +acquired their notion that Aaron put the golden earrings of the Israelites +into a bag.”<a name='fna_15' id='fna_15' href='#f_15'><small>[15]</small></a></p> + +<p>Dr. Beke remarks:—“If the word <i>hhereth</i> signifies a bag, on account of +its resemblance to an inverted cone, it may equally signify any other +similarly-shaped receptacle or vessel, such as a conical fire-pot or +crucible; and if the golden earrings were melted in such a vessel, the +molten metal, when cool, would of course have acquired therefrom its long +and round form, like an inverted cone, which is precisely the shape of the +<i>egel</i> made by Aaron, on the assumption that this was intended to +represent the flame of fire. Consequently, we may now read the passage in +question literally, and without the slightest violence of construction, as +follows: ‘And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in +their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their +hands, and placed it (the gold) in a crucible, and made it a molten cone;’ +this cone having taken the long and rounded form of the crucible in which +it was melted and left to cool.”</p> + +<p>An argument in favour of this reading is certainly supplied by Exodus +xxxii. 24, where Aaron is represented as saying to Moses, when trying to +excuse his action, “I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them +break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there +came out this calf” [or cone?]. It is contended that “the whole tenour of +the narrative goes to show that the operation of making the idol for the +children of Israel to worship must have been a most simple, and, at the +same time, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> very expeditious one, such as the melting of the gold in a +crucible would be, but which the moulding and casting of the figure of a +calf, however roughly modelled and executed, could not possibly have +been.”</p> + +<p>This cone or phallic theory met with a by no means ready reception by +Jewish scholars; it had not been broached many days before it was +energetically attacked and its destruction sought both by ridicule and +argument. It has been admitted, however, that philologically there is +something in it, more even, says Dr. Benisch, than its advocate Dr. Beke +has made out. The former goes so far as to state that its root, not only +in Hebrew, but also in Chaldee and Arabic, primarily designates roundness; +and secondarily, that which is the consequence of a round shape, facility +of being rolled, speed, and conveyance; consequently, that it may +therefore be safely concluded that it would be in Hebrew a very suitable +designation for a cone. “Moreover, the same root in the same signification +is also found in some of the Aryan languages. Compare the German ‘kugel’ +(ball) and ‘kegel’ (cone).”</p> + +<p>The chief objection lies in the fact that there are various passages in +the Scriptures where the word occurs, whose contexts clearly show that the +idea intended was that of a living creature, and that the unbroken usage +of language, from the author of Genesis to that of Chronicles, shows that +the term had never changed its signification, viz.: that of calf, bullock, +or heifer. In Levit. ix. 2, 3, 8; 1 Sam. xxviii. 26; Ps. xxix. 6; Isa. xi. +6; Isa. xxvii. 10; Mic. vi. 6, for instance, there can be no mistake that +the reference is to the living animal, and a reference to the Hebrew +concordance shows that the term, inclusive of the feminine (heifer), +occurs fifty-one times in the Bible, in twenty-nine cases of which the +word indisputably means a living creature. Dr. Benisch therefore asks, “Is +it admissible that one and the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> writer (for instance, the +Deuteronomist) should have used four times this word in the sense of +heifer (xxii. 4 and 6; xxi. 3), and once in that of cone (ix. 16) without +implying by some adjective, or some turn of language, that the word is a +homonyme? Or that Hosea, in x. 11, should clearly employ it in the sense +of heifer, and, in viii. 5, in that of cone? A glance at the concordance +will show that, in every one of the more important books, the word in +question occurs most clearly in the sense of calf, and never in a passage +which should render a different translation inadmissible. On what ground, +therefore, can it be maintained that, in the days of the author of the +106th Psalm, the supposed original meaning of cone had been forgotten, and +that of calf substituted?”</p> + +<p>The reply to the objection that one and the same word is not likely to +have been used by the same or contemporaneous writers in two different +senses, and that the word has a uniform traditional interpretation, is +that in the Hebrew, as in the English, considerable ambiguity occurs, and +that the same word sometimes has two meanings of the most distinct and +irreconcilable character. As regards the second objection, says Dr. Beke, +which is based on the unbroken chain of tradition for about two thousand +years, it can only hold good on the assumption that the originators of the +tradition were infallible. If not, an error, whether committed +intentionally or unintentionally in the first instance, does not become a +truth by dint of repetition; any more than truth can become error by being +as persistently rejected. The Doctor contends that when the Jews became +intimately connected with Egypt, and witnessed there the adoration of the +sacred bull Apis, they fell into the error of regarding as a golden calf +the <i>egel</i>, or conical representation of the flame of fire, which their +forefathers, and after them the Ten Tribes, had worshipped as the +similitude of the Eternal, but of which they themselves, as Jews, had +lost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> the signification. If this was the case, it is only natural that the +error should have been maintained traditionally until pointed out.</p> + +<p>So stands the argument with regard to the theory of its being a golden +cone, and not the figure of a calf that Aaron made out of the people’s +ornaments, and the worship of which so naturally provoked the wrath of +Moses. There is much to be said in its favour, though not enough, perhaps, +to make it conclusive. The propounder of it expressed his regret that he +was under the necessity of protesting against the allegation that he had +imputed to the Israelites what he calls the obscene phallic worship. “Most +expressly,” he says, “did I say that the molten golden image made by Aaron +at Mount Sinai was a plain conical figure, intended to represent the God +who had delivered the people from their bondage in the land of Mitzraim, +in the form in which alone He had been manifested to them and to their +inspired leader and legislator, namely that of the flame of fire.” This is +perfectly true, but those who are intimately acquainted with the phallic +faiths of the world will find it difficult to disassociate the conical +form of idol from those representations of the human physical organ which +have been found as objects of adoration in so many parts of both the +eastern and western hemispheres.</p> + +<p>Supposing the philological argument to possess any weight—and that it +does has been admitted even by those who regret the cone theory,—there +are other circumstances which certainly may be adduced in confirmation +thereof. For instance, the word <i>chéret</i> translated graving-tool, may mean +also a mould. Again, it does not appear at all likely that the quantity of +gold supplied by the ear-rings of the people would be sufficient to make a +solid calf of the size. True, it may have been manufactured of some other +material and covered with gold; but the easier solution of the difficulty +certainly seems that which suggests that Aaron took these ornaments and +melted them in a crucible of the ordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> form, afterwards turning out +therefrom, when cold, the golden cone to which the people rendered +idolatrous worship.</p> + +<p>The whole subject is surrounded with difficulty, and men of equal learning +and ability have taken opposite sides in the discussion, supporting and +refuting in turn. Passing over the dispute as to whether Aaron simply +received the ear-rings in a bag or whether he graved them with an +engraving tool,—the first warmly argued by Bochart, and the latter by Le +Clerc—a dispute we can never settle owing to the remarkable ambiguity of +the language, we may briefly notice the question, supposing it was a calf +made by Aaron, what induced and determined the choice of such a figure? +Nor must it be supposed that <i>here</i> we are upon undebatable ground; on the +contrary, the same divergence of opinion prevails as with respect to the +previous question. Fr. Moncæus said that Aaron got his idea on the +mountain, where he was once admitted with Moses; and on another occasion +with Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders. This writer and others tell +us that God appeared exalted on a cherub which had the form of an ox.</p> + +<p>Patrick says that Aaron seems to him to have chosen an ox to be the symbol +of the Divine presence, in hope that people would never be so sottish as +to worship it, but only be put in mind by it of the Divine power, which +was hereby represented,—an ox’s head being anciently an emblem of +strength, and horns a common sign of kingly power. He contends that the +design was simply to furnish a hieroglyphic of the energy and power of +God.</p> + +<p>The usual explanation is that Aaron chose a calf because that animal was +worshipped in Egypt. That the Israelites were tainted with Egyptian +idolatry is plain from Joshua’s exhortation:—“Now therefore, fear the +Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which +your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and +serve ye the Lord”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> (Josh, xxiv., 14). Also Ezekiel xx., 7 and 8:—“They +did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did +they forsake the idols of Egypt.”</p> + +<p>There is no deficiency of evidence respecting the worship of the ox in +Egypt. Strabo says one was kept at Memphis, which was regarded as a +divinity. Pliny repeats the story and says that the Egyptians called this +ox Apis, and that it had two kinds of temples, the entrance to one being +most pleasant, to the other frightful. Herodotus says of this idol:—“Apis +or Epatus, is a calf from a cow which never produced but one, and this +could only have been by a clap of thunder. The calf denominated Apis, has +certain marks by which it may be known. It is all over black, excepting +one square mark; on its back is the figure of an eagle, and on its tongue +that of a beetle.”</p> + +<p>It certainly seems tolerably clear that the worship of the calf came out +of Egypt, but so much difficulty surrounds the question of whether the +Egyptian worship preceded or followed that of Aaron’s calf, that we are +inclined to endorse the opinion of a modern writer, and say we suspend our +judgment respecting the precise motive which determined Aaron to set up a +calf as the object of Israelitish worship, and conclude that had he +offered any other object of worship, whether some other animal, or any +plant, or a star, or any other production of nature, the learned would +have asked, “Why this rather than some other?” Many would have been the +divisions of opinion on the question; each one would have found in +antiquity, and in the nature of the case, probabilities to support his own +sentiment, and perhaps have exalted them into demonstrations.<a name='fna_16' id='fna_16' href='#f_16'><small>[16]</small></a></p> + +<p>The mention of a cone in connection with the matter now under +consideration, and as the form of Aaron’s idol, suggests other examples of +the same figure which are said to have had a phallic form. The Paphian +Venus, for instance, was represented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> by a conical stone: of which Tacitus +thus speaks:—“The statue of the goddess bears no resemblance to the human +form. It is round throughout, broad at one end, and gradually tapering to +a narrow span at the other, like a goat; the reason of this is not +ascertained. The cause is stated by Philostratus to be symbolic.”</p> + +<p>Lajard (<i>Recherches sur la Cult de Venus</i>) says:—“In all Cyrian coins, +from Augustus to Macrinus, may be seen in the place where we should +anticipate to find a statue of the goddess, the form of a conical stone. +The same is placed between two cypresses under the portico of the temple +of Astarte, in a medal of Ælia Capitolina; but in this instance the cone +is crowned. In another medal, struck by the elder Philip, Venus is +represented between two Genii, each of whom stands upon a cone or pillar +with a rounded top. There is reason to believe that at Paphos images of +the conical stone were made and sold as largely as were effigies of Diana +of the Ephesians.</p> + +<p>“Medals and engraved stones demonstrate that the hieratic prescriptions +required that all those hills which were consecrated to Jupiter should be +represented in a conical form. At Sicony, Jupiter was adored under the +form of a pyramid.”</p> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td align="center"><span style="margin-left: -3em;">PRAYER TO PRIAPUS.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td>Delight of Bacchus, Guardian of the groves,<br /> +The kind restorer of decaying loves:<br /> +Lesbos and verdant Thasos thee implore,<br /> +Whose maids thy pow’r in wanton rites adore:<br /> +Joy of the Dryads, with propitious care,<br /> +Attend my wishes, and indulge my pray’r.<br /> +My guiltless hands with blood I never stain’d,<br /> +Or sacrilegiously the god’s prophan’d:<br /> +Thus low I bow, restoring blessings send,<br /> +I did not thee with my whole self offend.<br /> +Who sins through weakness, is less guilty thought;<br /> +Indulge my crime, and spare a venial fault.<br /> +On me when fate shall smiling gifts bestow,<br /> +I’ll (not ungrateful) to your god-head bow;<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>A sucking pig I’ll offer to thy shrine,<br /> +And sacred bowls brimful of generous wine;<br /> +A destin’d goat shall on thy altar lie,<br /> +And the horn’d parent of my flock shall die;<br /> +Then thrice thy frantic vot’ries shall around<br /> +Thy temple dance, with smiling garlands crown’d,<br /> +And most devoutly drunk, thy orgies sound.—<span class="smcap">Petronius.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><span style="margin-left: -4em;">HYMN TO PRIAPUS.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td>Bacchus and Nymphs delight O mighty God!<br /> +Whom Cynthia gave to rule the blooming wood.<br /> +Lesbos and verdant Thasos thee adore,<br /> +And Lydians in loose flowing dress implore,<br /> +And raise devoted temples to thy pow’r.<br /> +Thou Dryad’s Joy, and Bacchus’ Guardian, hear<br /> +My conscious prayer with attentive ear.<br /> +My hands with guiltless blood I never stain’d,<br /> +Nor yet the temples of the gods prophan’d.<br /> +Restore my strength, and lusty vigour send,<br /> +My trembling nerves like pliant oziers bend.<br /> +Who sins through weakness, is not guilty thought,<br /> +No equal power can punish such a fault.<br /> +A wanton goat shall on your altars die,<br /> +And spicy smoke in curls ascend the sky.<br /> +A pig thy floors with sacred blood shall stain,<br /> +And round the awful fire and holy flame,<br /> +Thrice shall thy priests, with youth and garlands crown’d,<br /> +In pious drunkenness thy orgies sound.—<span class="smcap">Petronius.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><span style="margin-left: -3em;">A TRANSLATION OUT OF THE PRIAPEIA.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: -3em;"><span class="smcap">The Complaint of Priapus for being Veiled.</span></span></td></tr> +<tr><td>The Almighty’s Image, of his shape afraid,<br /> +And hide the noblest part e’er nature made,<br /> +Which God alone succeeds in his creating trade.<br /> +The Fall this fig-leav’d modesty began,<br /> +To punish woman, by obscuring man;<br /> +Before, where’er his stately Cedar moved<br /> +She saw, ador’d and kiss’d the thing she loved.<br /> +Why do the gods their several signs disclose,<br /> +Almighty Jove his Thunder-bolt expose,<br /> +Neptune his Trident, Mars his Buckler shew,<br /> +Pallas her spear to each beholder’s view,<br /> +And poor Priapus be alone confin’d<br /> +T’obscure the women’s god, and parent of mankind?<br /> +Since free-born brutes their liberty obtain,<br /> +Long hast thou journey-worked for souls in vain,<br /> +Storm the Pantheon, and demand thy right,<br /> +For on this weapon ’tis depends the fight.—<span class="smcap">Petronius.</span></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>Circumcision, male and female, in various countries and ages.</i></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Circumcision</span> is one of the most ancient religious rites with which we are +acquainted, and, as practised in some countries, there seems reason to +suppose that it was of a phallic character. “It can scarcely be doubted,” +says one writer, “that it was a sacrifice to the awful power upon whom the +fruit of the womb depended, and having once fixed itself in the minds of +the people, neither priest nor prophet could eradicate it. All that these +could do was to spiritualise it into a symbol of devotion to a high +religious ideal.” Bonwick says: “Though associated with sun worship by +some, circumcision may be accepted as a rite of sex worship.” Ptolemy’s +<i>Tetrabiblos</i>, speaking of the neighbouring nations as far as India, says: +“Many of them practise divination, and devote their genitals to their +divinities.”</p> + +<p>It is not possible, perhaps, to speak with any degree of certainty about +the origin of this rite; the enquiry carries the student so far back in +history, that the mind gets lost in the mists of the past. It is regarded +by some as a custom essentially Jewish, but this is altogether wrong; it +was extensively practised in Egypt, also by the tribes inhabiting the more +southern parts of Africa; in Asia, the Afghans and the Tamils had it, and +it has been found in various parts of America, and amongst the Fijians and +Australians. It has been argued, and with considerable plausibility, that +it existed long before writing was known, and from the fact of its having +been employed by the New Hollanders, its great antiquity may be inferred +with certainty.</p> + +<p>It has been noticed by historians that sometimes a nation will pledge +itself to a corporal offering of such a kind, that every member shall +constantly bear about its mark on himself, and so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> make his personal +appearance or condition a perpetual witness for the special religion whose +vows he has undertaken. Thus several Arabian tribes living not far from +the Holy Land, adopted the custom, as a sign of their special religion +(or, as Herodotus says, “after the example of their God”), of shaving the +hair of their heads in an extraordinary fashion, viz., either on the crown +of the head or towards the temples, or else of disfiguring a portion of +the beard. Others branded or tattooed the symbol of a particular god on +the skin, on the forehead, the arm, the hand. Israel, too, adopted from +early times a custom which attained the highest sanctity in its midst, +where no jest, however trifling, could be uttered on the subject, but +which was essentially of a similar nature to those we have just mentioned. +This was circumcision.<a name='fna_17' id='fna_17' href='#f_17'><small>[17]</small></a> It was this special character which no doubt +gave rise to the idea so common amongst the uninformed that it was a +Jewish rite.</p> + +<p>Herodotus and Philo Judæus have related that it prevailed to a great +extent among the Egyptians and Ethiopians. The former historian says it +was so ancient among each people that there was no determining which of +them borrowed it from the other. Among the Egyptians he says it was +instituted from the beginning. Shuckford says that by this he could not +mean from the first rise or original of that nation, but that it was so +early among them that the heathen writers had no account of its origin. +When anything appeared to them to be thus ancient, they pronounced it to +be from the beginning. Herodotus clearly meant this, because we find him +questioning whether the Egyptians learnt circumcision from the Ethiopians, +or the Ethiopians from the Egyptians, and he leaves the question +undecided, merely concluding that it was a very ancient rite. If by the +expression “from the beginning,” he had meant that it was originated by +the Egyptians, there would not have been this indecision: and it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> known +that among heathen writers to say a thing was “from the beginning,” was +equivalent to the other saying that it was very anciently practised.</p> + +<p>Herodotus, in another place, relates that the inhabitants of Colchis also +used circumcision, and concludes therefrom that they were originally +Egyptians. He adds that the Phœnicians and Syrians, who lived in +Palestine, were likewise circumcised, but that they borrowed the practice +from the Egyptians; and further, that little before the time when he +wrote, circumcision had passed from Colchis to the people inhabiting the +countries near Termodon and Parthenius.</p> + +<p>Diodorus Siculus thought the Colchians and the Jews to be derived from the +Egyptians, because they used circumcision. In another place, speaking of +other nations, he says that they were circumcised, after the manner of the +Egyptians. Sir J. Marsham is of opinion that the Hebrews borrowed +circumcision from the Egyptians, and that God was not the first author +thereof; citing Diodorus and Herodotus as evidences on his side.</p> + +<p>Circumcision, though it is not so much as once mentioned in the Koran, is +yet held by the Mahomedans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed +by the religion of Islam, and though not so absolutely necessary but that +it may be dispensed with in some cases, yet highly proper and expedient. +The Arabs used this rite for many ages before Mahomet, having probably +learned it from Ismael, though not only his descendants, but the +Hamyarites and other tribes practised the same. The Ismaelites we are +told, used to circumcise their children, not on the eighth day, according +to the custom of the Jews, but when about twelve or thirteen years old, at +which age their father underwent that operation; and the Mahomedans +imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they are able at +least distinctly to pronounce that profession of their faith, “there is no +God, but God, Mahomet is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> the apostle of God;” but they fix on what age +they please for the purpose between six and sixteen. The Moslem doctors +are generally of opinion that this precept was given originally to +Abraham, yet some have said that Adam was taught it by the angel Gabriel, +to satisfy an oath he had made to cut off that flesh, which, after his +fall, had rebelled against his spirit; whence an argument has been drawn +for the universal obligation of circumcision.</p> + +<p>The Mahomedans have a tradition that their prophet declared circumcision +to be a necessary rite for men, and for women honourable. This tradition +makes the prophet declare it to be “Sonna,” which Pocock renders a +necessary rite, though Sonna, according to the explanation of Reland, does +not comprehend things absolutely necessary, but such as, though the +observance of them be meritorious, the neglect is not liable to +punishment.</p> + +<p>In Egypt circumcision has never been peculiar to the men, but the women +also have had to undergo a practice of a similar nature. This has been +called by Bruce and Strabo “excision.” All the Egyptians, the Arabians, +and natives to the south of Africa, the Abyssinians, the Gallas, the +Agoues, the Gasats, and Gonzas, made their children undergo this +operation—at no fixed time, but always before they were marriageable. +Belon says the practice prevailed among the Copts; and P. Jovius and +Munster say the same of the subjects of Prester John. Sonnini says it was +well known that the Egyptian women were accustomed to the practice, but +people were not agreed as to the motives which induced them to submit to +the operation. Most of those who have written on the subject of female +circumcision have considered it as the retrenchment of a portion of the +nymphæ, which are said to grow, in the countries where the practice +obtains, to an extraordinary size. Others have imagined that it was +nothing less than the amputation of the clitoris, the elongation of which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +is said to be a disgusting deformity, and to be attended with other +inconveniences which rendered the operation necessary.</p> + +<p>Before he had an opportunity of ascertaining the nature of the +circumcision of the Egyptian women, Sonnini also supposed it consisted of +the amputation of the excrescence of the nymphæ or clitoris, according to +circumstances, and according as the parts were more or less elongated. He +says it is very probable that these operations have been performed, not +only in Egypt, but in several other countries in the East, where the heat +of the climate and other causes may produce too luxuriant a growth of +those parts, and this, he adds, he had the more reason to think, since, on +consulting several Turks who had settled at Rosetta, respecting the +circumcision of their wives, he could obtain from them no other idea but +that of these painful mutilations. They likewise explained to him the +motives. Curious admirers as they were of smooth and polished surfaces, +every inequality, every protuberance, was in their eyes a disgusting +fault. They asserted too that one of these operations abated the ardour of +the constitutions of their wives, and diminished their facility of +procuring illicit enjoyments.</p> + +<p>Niebuhr relates that Forskal and another of his fellow-travellers, having +expressed to a great man at Cairo, at whose country seat they were, the +great desire they had to examine a girl who had been circumcised, their +obliging host immediately ordered a country girl eighteen years of age to +be sent for, and allowed them to examine her at their ease. Their painter +made a drawing of the parts after the life, in presence of several Turkish +domestics; but he drew with a trembling hand, as they were apprehensive of +the consequences it might bring upon them from the Mahometans. A plate +from this drawing was given by Professor Blumenbach, in his work <i>De +Generis humani Varietate nativa</i>, from which it is evident that the +traveller saw nothing but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> the amputation of the nymphæ and clitoris, the +enlargement of which is so much disliked by husbands in these countries.</p> + +<p>Sonnini suspected that there must be something more in it than an excess +of these parts, an inconvenience, which, being far from general among the +women, could not have given rise to an ancient and universal practice. +Determining to remove his doubts on the subject, he took the resolution, +which every one to whom the inhabitants of Egypt are known, he says, will +deem sufficiently bold, not to procure a drawing of a circumcised female, +but to have the operation performed under his own eyes. Mr. Fornetti, +whose complaisance and intelligence were so frequently of service to him, +readily undertook to assist him in the business; and a Turk, who acted as +broker to the French merchants, brought to him at Rosetta a woman, whose +trade it was to perform the operation, with two young girls, one of whom +was going to be circumcised, the other having been operated on two years +before.</p> + +<p>In the first place he examined the little girl that was to be circumcised. +She was about eight years old, and of the Egyptian race. He was much +surprised at observing a thick, flabby, fleshy excrescence, covered with +skin, taking its rise from the labia, and hanging down it half-an-inch.</p> + +<p>The woman who was to perform the operation sat down on the floor, made the +little girl seat herself before her, and without any preparation, cut off +the excrescence just described with an old razor. The girl did not give +any signs of feeling much pain. A few ashes taken up between the finger +and thumb were the only topical application employed, though a +considerable quantity of blood was discharged from the wound.</p> + +<p>The Egyptian girls are generally freed from this inconvenient superfluity +at the age of seven or eight. The women who are in the habit of performing +this operation, which is attended with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> little difficulty, come from Said. +They travel through the towns and villages, crying in the streets, “Who +wants a good circumciser?” A superstitious tradition has marked the +commencement of the rise of the Nile as the period at which it ought to be +performed; and accordingly, besides the other difficulties he had to +surmount, Sonnini had that of finding parents who would consent to the +circumcision of their daughter at a season so distant from that which is +considered as the most favourable, this being done in the winter; money, +however, overcame this obstacle as it did the rest.</p> + +<p>From Dalzel’s <i>History</i> we learn that in Dahome a similar custom prevails +with regard to the women as that in Egypt. A certain operation is +performed upon the woman, which is thus described in a +foot-note:—“Prolongatio, videlicit, artificialis labiorum pudendi, +capellæ mamillis simillima.” The part in question, locally called “Tu,” +must, from the earliest years, be manipulated by professional old women, +as is the bosom among the embryo prostitutes of China. If this be +neglected, her lady friends will deride and denigrate the mother, +declaring that she has neglected her child’s education; and the juniors +will laugh at the daughter as a coward who would not prepare herself for +marriage.<a name='fna_18' id='fna_18' href='#f_18'><small>[18]</small></a></p> + +<p>“Circumcision was a federal rite, annexed by God as a seal to the covenant +which he made with Abraham and his posterity, and was accordingly renewed +and taken into the body of the Mosaical constitutions. It was not a mere +mark, only to distinguish the Hebrews as the seed of Abraham from other +nations; but by this they were made the children of the covenant, and +entitled to the blessings of it; though if there had been no more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> in it +than this, that they who were of the same faith should have a certain +character whereby they should be known, it would have been a wise +appointment. The mark seems to be fitly chosen for the purpose; because it +was a sign that no man would have made upon himself and upon his children, +unless it were for the sake of faith and religion. It was not a brand upon +the arm, or an incision in the thigh, but a difficult operation in a most +tender part, peculiarly called flesh in many places of scripture. That +member which is the instrument of generation was made choice of, that they +might be an holy seed, consecrated unto God from the beginning; and +circumcision was properly a token of the divine covenant made with Abraham +and his posterity that God would multiply their seed, and make them as the +stars of heaven.”<a name='fna_19' id='fna_19' href='#f_19'><small>[19]</small></a></p> + +<p>Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopa, after comparing the circumcision of the +Jews with that of the Abyssinians, says: “This puts us in mind of the +circumcision of females, of which Gregory was somewhat ashamed to +discourse, and we should have more willingly omitted it had not +Tzagazabus, in his rude Confession of Faith, spoken of it as a most +remarkable custom introduced by the command of Queen Magneda; or had not +Paulus Jovius himself, Bishop of Como, insisted in the same manner upon +this unseemly custom. This same ceremony was not only used by the +Habisenes, but was also familiar among other people of Africa, the +Egyptians, and the Arabians themselves. For they cut away from the female +infants something which they think to be an indecency and superfluity of +nature. Jovius calls it Carunniculam, or a little piece of flesh; Golius, +an oblong excrescence. The Arabians, by a particular word, called it +Bedhron, or Bedhara, besides which they have many other words to the same +purpose. Among their women it is as great a piece<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> of reproach to revile a +woman by saying to her, O Bandaron: that is, O Uncircumcised, as to call a +man Arel, or Uncircumcised, among the Jews. The Jewish women in Germany, +being acquainted by their reading with this custom, laugh at it, as +admiring what it should be that should require such an amputation.”</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>Androgynous Deities—Theories respecting the Dual Sex of the +Deity—Sacredness of the Phallus—Sex Worship—The Eastern Desire for +Children—Sacred Prostitution—Hindu Law of Adoption and +Inheritance—Hindu Need of Offspring, and especially of a +Son—Obsequies of the Departed.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> phallic idea alluded to again and again in the preceding pages as +entering into the heathen conception of a trinity, the practice of +circumcision, and the use of the cross as a symbol, branches out in a +great variety of directions; at some of these we must cast a brief glance +in order that we may form a correct estimate of the subject.</p> + +<p>Reference has been made to the androgynous nature ascribed to the Deity by +different nations, and here at once is opened up the whole subject of sex +worship. It is impossible to say how far back we should have to retrace +our footsteps in seeking for men’s first ideas upon this matter; many +ages, it is certain. Forlong, speaking of a remote age and our +forefathers, says: “They began to see in life and all nature a God, a +Force, a Spirit; or, I should rather say, some nameless thing which no +language of those early days, if indeed of present, can describe. They +gave to the outward creative organs those devotional thoughts, time, and +praise which belonged to the Creator; they figured the living spirit in +the cold bodily forms of stone and tree, and so worshipped it. As we read +in early Jewish writings, their tribes, like all other early races, bowed +before Ashar and Ashe’ra, as others had long before that period worshipped +Belus and Uranus, Orus and Isis, Mahadeva, Siva, Sakti, and Parvati. +Jupiter and Yuno, or Juno, or rather the first ideas of these, must have +arisen in days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> long subsequent to this. All such steps in civilisation +are very slow indeed, and here they had to penetrate the hearts of +millions who could neither read nor write, nor yet follow the reader or +the preacher; so centuries would fleet past over such rude infantile +populations, acting no more on the inert pulpy mass than years, or even +months, now do; and if this were so after they began to realise the ideas +of a Bel and Ouranos, how much slower before that far-back stage was won. +Their first symbolisation seems clearly to have been the simple line, +pillar, or a stroke, as their male god; and a cup or circle as their +female; and lo! the dual and mystic <b>10</b> which early became a trinity, and +has stood before the world from that unknown time to this. In this mystic +male and female we have the first great androgynous god.”</p> + +<p>Alluding to this subject, an anonymous writer, believed to be a Roman +Catholic priest, some sixteen years ago, said:—“The primitive doctrine +that God created man in his own image, male and female, and consequently +that the divine nature comprised the two sexes within itself, fulfils all +the conditions requisite to constitute a catholic theological dogma, +inasmuch as it may truly be affirmed of it, that it has been held ‘semper, +ubique, et ab omnibus,’ being universal as the phenomenon to which it owes +its existence.</p> + +<p>“How essential to the consistency of the Catholic system is this doctrine +of duality you may judge by the shortcomings of the theologies which +reject it. Unitarianism blunders alike in regard to the Trinity and the +Duality. Affecting to see in God a Father, it denies him the possibility +of having either spouse or offspring. More rational than such a creed as +this was the primitive worship of sex, as represented by the male and +female principles in nature. In no gross sense was the symbolism of such a +system conceived, gross as its practice may have become, and as it would +appear to the notions of modern conventionalism. For no religion is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +founded upon intentional depravity. Searching back for the origin of life, +men stopped at the earliest point to which they could trace it, and +exalted the reproductive organs into symbols of the Creator. The practice +was at least calculated to procure respect for a side of nature liable +under an exclusively spiritual regime to be relegated to undue contempt.</p> + +<p>“It appears certain that the names of the Hebrew deity bear the sense I +have indicated; El, the root of Elhoim, the name under which God was known +to the Israelites prior to their entry into Canaan, signifying the +masculine sex only; while Jahveh, or Jehovah, denotes both sexes in +combination. The religious rites practised by Abraham and Jacob prove +incontestably their adherence to this, even then, ancient mode of +symbolising deity; and though after the entry into Canaan, the leaders and +reformers of the Israelites strove to keep the people from exchanging the +worship of their own divinity for that of the exclusively feminine +principle worshipped by the Canaanites with unbridled licence under the +name of Ashera, yet the indigenous religion became closely incorporated +with the Jewish; and even Moses himself fell back upon it when, yielding +to a pressing emergency, he gave his sanction to the prevailing Tree and +Serpent worship by his elevation of a brazen serpent upon a pole or cross. +For all portions of this structure constitute the most universally +accepted symbols of sex in the world.</p> + +<p>“It is to India that we must go for the earliest traces of these things. +The Jews originated nothing, though they were skilful appropriators and +adapters of other men’s effects. Brahma, the first person in the Hindoo +Triad, was the original self-existent being, inappreciable by sense, who +commenced the work of creation by creating the waters with a thought, as +described in the Institutes of Manu. The waters, regarded as the source of +all subsequent life, became identified with the feminine principle in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +nature—whence the origin of the mystic rite of baptism—and the +atmosphere was the divine breath or spirit. The description in Genesis of +the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, indicates the +influence upon the Jews of the Hindoo theogony to which they had access +through Persia.</p> + +<p>“The twofold name of Jehovah also finds a correspondence in the +Arddha-Nari, or incarnation of Brahma, who is represented in sculptures as +containing in himself the male and female organisms. And the worship of +the implements of fecundity continues popular in India to this day. The +same idea underlies much of the worship of the ancient Greeks, finding +expression in the symbols devoted to Apollo or the sun, and in their +androgynous sculptures. Aryan, Scandinavian, and Semitic religions were +alike pervaded by it, the male principle being represented by the sun, and +the female by the moon, which was variously personified by the virgins, +Ashtoreth or Astarte, Diana, and others, each of whom, except in the +Scandinavian mythology, where the sexes are reversed, had the moon for her +special symbol. Similarly, the allegory of Eden finds one of its keys in +the phenomena of sex, as is demonstrated by the ancient Syrian sculptures +of Ashera, or <i>the Grove</i>; and ‘the tree of life in the midst of the +garden’ forms the point of departure for beliefs which have lasted +thousands of years, and which have either spread from one source over, or +been independently originated in, every part of the habitable globe.”<a name='fna_20' id='fna_20' href='#f_20'><small>[20]</small></a></p> + +<p>It is evident that this worship is of the most extremely ancient character +and that it was based originally upon ideas that had nothing gross and +debasing in them. It is true that it at various times assumed indelicate +forms and was associated with much that was of the most degrading +character, but the first idea was only to use for religious purposes that +which seemed the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> apt emblem of creation and regeneration. “Is it +strange,” asks a lady writer, “that they regarded with reverence the great +mystery of human birth? Were they impure thus to regard it? Or, are we +impure that we do <i>not</i> so regard it? Let us not smile at their mode of +tracing the infinite and incomprehensible cause throughout all the +mysteries of nature, lest by so doing we cast the shadow of our own +grossness on their patriarchal simplicity.”</p> + +<p>It became with this very much as it does with all symbolism, more or less, +that is to say from the worship of that which was symbolised, it +degenerated to the worship of the emblem itself.</p> + +<p>But the ancient Egyptians exerted themselves considerably to restrain +within certain bounds of propriety the natural tendency of this worship +and we find them allowing it to embrace only the masculine side of +humanity, afterwards, as was perhaps only to be expected, the feminine was +introduced. Then, as particularly exhibited in the case of India, it +gradually became nothing more or less than a vehicle for satisfying the +licentious desires of the most degrading of both sexes.</p> + +<p>It is wonderful, however, the extraordinary hold these ideas attained upon +the human mind, whether they entered into the religious conceptions of the +people, or pandered to vicious desires under the mere cloak of religion. +The Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy (four books relative to Starry Influences), +speaking of the countries India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Parthia, Media, Persia, +Babylon, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, says:—“Many of them practise +divination, and devote their genitals to their divinities because the +familiarity of these planets renders them very libidinous.”</p> + +<p>Nor must we forget the peculiar sacredness with which in the early Jewish +Church these organs were always regarded,—that is, the male organs. +Injury of them disqualified the unfortunate victim from ministering in the +congregation of the Lord, and the severest punishment was meted out to the +criminal who should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> be guilty of causing such injury. Thus in the book of +Deuteronomy, chap. xxv., 11, 12, we read:—“When men strive together one +with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her +husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her +hand, and taketh him by the secrets: then thou shalt cut off her hand, +thine eye shall not pity her.” And this was not to be an act of revenge on +the part of the injured man, but was to be the legal penalty duly enforced +by the civil magistrate. It is very extraordinary, for it appears that +such an injury inflicted upon an enemy—and evidently it meant the +disablement of the man from the act of sexual intercourse—was regarded as +even more serious than the actual taking of life in self-defence. The +degradation attached to the man thus mutilated was greater than could +otherwise be visited upon him—all respect for him vanished and he was +henceforward regarded as an abomination.</p> + +<p>Such mutilation has always been common in heathen nations—similarly +regarded as amongst the Hebrews, but used as the greatest mark of +indignity possible to inflict upon an enemy—some of the Egyptian +bas-reliefs represent the King (Rameses II.) returning in triumph with +captives, many of whom are undergoing the operation of castration, while +in the corners of the scene are heaped up piles of the genital organs +which have been cut off by the victors. Some of the North American +Indians, particularly the Apaches of California and Arizona, have been +noted for their frequent use of the same barbarous practice on the +prisoners taken in war and upon the bodies of the slain.</p> + +<p>We get a similar instance in Israelitish history as recorded in the first +book of Samuel, where Saul being afraid of David, sought a favourable +opportunity to get him slain by the Philistines. There is the story of the +love of Michal, Saul’s daughter, for David, and the use Saul endeavoured +to make of that fact in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> carrying out his evil designs. The news that +Michal had thus fallen in love, pleased Saul, and he said, “I will give +him her, that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the +Philistines may be against him.” So David was told that the King would +make him his son-in-law. But it was customary in those times for the +bridegroom to <i>give</i> a dowry instead of as at other times and in other +places, to <i>receive</i> one, and David immediately raised the objection that +this was out of his power as he was but a poor man. This was Saul’s +opportunity and his message was, “the King desireth not any dowry, but an +hundred foreskins of the Philistines. But Saul thought to make David fall +by the hand of the Philistines.” Of course this involved the slaughter of +a hundred of the enemy, and Saul made sure in attempting such a task, +David would fall before odds so terribly against him. In commanding the +foreskins to be brought to him Saul made sure that they would be +Philistines who were slain, they being almost the only uncircumcised +people about him. This proposal, however, it seems, did not alarm David in +the least, he went forth at once on his terrible mission and actually +brought back thrice the number of foreskins required of him by the King. +This is not the only case on record of such a mutilation; mention is made +by Gill the commentator of an Asiatic writer who speaks of a people that +cut off the genital parts of men, and gave them to their wives for a +dowry.</p> + +<p>So sacred was the organ in question deemed in ancient times, especially in +Israel, that it was used as the means of administering the most binding +form of oath then known. It is described as putting the hand upon the +thigh, and instances are found in Genesis xxiv., 2, and xlvii., 29. In the +former of these passages Abraham requires his elder servant to put his +hand under his thigh and take an oath respecting the wife he would seek +for his son Isaac. In the second passage, it is Jacob requiring his son<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +Joseph to perform a similar action; in each case what is meant is that the +genital organ, the symbol of the Creator and the object of worship among +all ancient nations was to be touched in the act of making the promise.</p> + +<p>But, as we have pointed out, there is another side to this matter, the +worship of the male organ was only one part; the female organs of +generation were revered as symbols of the generative power of God. They +are usually represented emblematically by the shell, or Concha Veneris, +which was therefore worn by devout persons of antiquity, as it still +continues to be by pilgrims and many of the common women of Italy. The +union of both was expressed by the hand, mentioned in Sir William +Hamilton’s letter, which, being a less explicit symbol, has escaped the +attention of the reformers, and is still worn as well as the shell by +women of Italy, though without being understood. It represented the act of +generation, which was considered as a solemn sacrament in honour of the +Creator.</p> + +<p>Some of the forms used to represent the sacti or female principle, are +very peculiar yet familiar to many who may not understand them. Indeed, as +Inman says, “the moderns, who have not been initiated in the sacred +mysteries, and only know the emblems considered sacred, have need of both +anatomical knowledge and physiological lore ere they can see the meaning +of many a sign.”</p> + +<p>As already stated, the triangle with its apex uppermost represents the +phallic triad; with its base uppermost, the Mons Veneris, the Delta, or +the door by which all come into the world. Dr. Inman says:—“As a scholar, +I had learned that the Greek letter Delta (<img src="images/symbol1.jpg" alt="[symbol]" />) is expressive of the +female organ both in shape and idea. The selection of name and symbol was +judicious, for the word Daleth and Delta signify the door of a house and +the outlet of a river, while the figure reversed (<img src="images/symbol2.jpg" alt="[symbol]" />) represents +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> fringe with which the human Delta is overshadowed”—this Delta is +simply another word for the part known as Concha, a shell. This Concha or +Shank is one of the most important of the Eastern symbols, and is found +repeated again and again in almost everything connected with the Hindu +Pantheon. Plate vi. of Moor’s elaborately illustrated work on the Indian +deities represents it as seen in the hands of Vishnu and his consort. The +god is represented like all the solar deities with four hands, and +standing in an arched doorway. The head-dress is of serpents; in one of +the right hands is the diamond form the symbol of the Creator; in one of +the left hands is the large Concha and in the other right hand, the great +orb of the day; the shell is winged and has a phallic top.</p> + +<p>This shell is said to have been the first priestly bell, and it is even +now the Hindoo church-bell, in addition to gongs and trumpets. It comes +specially into use when the priest performs his ceremonies before the +Lingam; it is blown when he is about to anoint the emblem, like a bell is +used in some Christian churches in the midst of ceremonies of particular +importance and solemnity.</p> + +<p>The female principle, or sacred Sacti, is also represented by a figure +like that called a sistrum, a Hebrew musical instrument, sometimes +translated cornet. Inman contends in spite of much opposition from his +friends that this represents the mother who is still <i>virgo intacta</i>. He +points out that in some things it embodies a somewhat different idea to +the Yoni, the bars across it being bent so that they cannot be taken out, +this showing that the door is closed.</p> + +<p>The secret of this peculiar worship seems to lie in the fact, ever so +prominent in all that has to do with the social and religious life of the +Eastern, of an intense desire for offspring. In harmony with this is the +frequent promise in the Scriptures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> of an abundance of children and the +declaration of happiness of the man so blessed. One instance may be noted +as recorded in Genesis xiii., 16, the promise to Abram: “I will make thy +seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the +earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” None the less +fervent—perhaps even more so—is the desire of the Indian to possess and +leave behind him a progeny who shall not only succeed to his worldly +acquisitions, but by religious exercises help forward his happiness in the +region of the departed.</p> + +<p>It is said that in this part of the world, a constant topic of +conversation amongst the men is their physical power to propagate their +race, and that upon this matter physicians are more frequently consulted +than upon any other. “Not only does the man think thus, but the female has +her thoughts directed to the same channel, and there has been a special +bell invented by Hindoo priests for childless females.” Some kindred +belief seems to be held or suggested by the practices of the Mormon +community, in which large numbers of women are united in marriage to one +man. In Genesis xxx., Rachel seeing that she bore no children is described +as envying her sister, and saying to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I +die.” Again 1 Samuel i., 10, 11: “And she (Hannah) was in bitterness of +soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and +said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of +thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will +give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord, +&c.’” And so on; instances could be multiplied largely, but it is +unnecessary.</p> + +<p>With many of the eastern women it was a matter of the highest consequence +that they have children, as failing to do so it was strictly within the +legal rights of the husband at once to put away his wife by a summary +divorce, or at any rate to take a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> concubine into his home in order that +he might not go childless; the woman who proved hopelessly barren became +an object of contempt or commiseration to all about her, and her life a +scene of prolonged shame and misery. And so, in certain parts of the +world, arose sex worship, the idea being that by the worship of the organs +of generation the misfortune of barrenness might be avoided. The priests +were not slow to avail themselves of a ready means of adding to their +reputation and influence and increasing their revenues, and women, who for +some cause or another had hitherto been without offspring, were encouraged +to visit the temples and make their proper offerings, and go through the +prescribed ceremonies for curing their sterility. As willing as the women +were for all this, were the men, and though sometimes the defect lay in +themselves physically, it is said that the arrangements at the temples +were such as almost invariably succeeded in making the wives mothers.</p> + +<p>“If abundance of offspring was promised as a blessing,” says Dr. Inman, +“it is clear to the physiologist that the pledge implies abundance of +vigour in the man as well as in the woman. With a husband incompetent, no +wife could be fruitful. The condition, therefore, of the necessary organs +was intimately associated with the divine blessing or curse, and the +impotent man then would as naturally go to the priest to be cured of his +infirmity as we of to-day go to the physician. We have evidence that +masses have been said, saints invoked, and offerings presented, for curing +the debility we refer to, in a church in Christianised Italy during the +last hundred years, and in France so late as the sixteenth +century,—evident relics of more ancient times.”</p> + +<p>“Whenever a votary applied to the oracle for help to enable him to perform +his duties as a prospective father, or to remove that frigidity which he +had been taught to believe was a proof of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> Divine displeasure, or an +evidence of his being bewitched by a malignant demon, it is natural to +believe that the priest would act partly as a man of sense, though chiefly +as a minister of God. He would go through, or enjoin attendance on certain +religious ceremonies—would sell a charmed image, or use some holy oil, +invented and blessed by a god or saint, as was done at Isernia—or he +would do something else.”</p> + +<p>Intimately connected with the worship of the male and female powers of +generation is the sacred prostitution which was practised so generally by +some of the ancient nations, and of which we have details in the classics. +The information given by Herodotus respecting the women of Babylonia reads +strange indeed to those who are acquainted only with modern codes of +morals, and to whom the special and essential features of phallic faiths +are unknown. This author describes it as a shameful custom, but he informs +us of it as an indisputable fact, that every woman born in the country was +compelled at least once in her life to go and sit in the precinct of +Venus, and there consort with a stranger. Rich and poor alike had to +conform to this rule—the ugly and the beautiful, the attractive and the +repulsive. A peculiarity of the custom was that once having entered the +sacred enclosure, the woman was not allowed to return home until she had +paid the debt which the law prescribed as due from her to the state; the +result of this was that those who were the happy possessors of personal +charms seldom were detained very long, while the plain-featured and +unattractive ones were sometimes several years before they could obtain +their release. We are told that the wealthier women, too proud to +associate with the lower class, though obliged to undergo the same ordeal, +would drive to the appointed place in covered carriages with a +considerable retinue of servants, there making as much display as possible +of their rank and wealth in order to overawe the commoner class<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> of men, +and drive them to females of humbler rank; they sat in their carriages +while crowds of poorer people sat within the holy enclosure with wreaths +of string about their heads. The scene was at once strange and animated; +numbers of both sexes were coming and going; and lines of cords marked out +paths in all directions in which the women sat, and along which the +strangers passed in order to make their choice. Patiently or impatiently, +as the case may be, the female waited till some visitor, taking a fancy to +her, fixed upon her as his chosen sacrifice by throwing a piece of silver +into her lap and saying, “The goddess Mylitta prosper thee.” (Mylitta +being the Assyrian name for Venus). The coin need not be of any particular +size or value, but it is obligatory upon her to receive it, because when +once thrown it is sacred. Nor could the woman exercise any choice as to +whom she could go with, the first who threw the coin had a legal title to +her, and the law compelled her submission. But having once obeyed the law, +she was free for the rest of her life, and nothing in the shape of a +bribe, however extensive, would persuade her to grant further favours to +any one.</p> + +<p>There is an allusion to this custom in the book of Baruch (vi., 43), where +it is said:—“The women also with cords about them, sitting in the ways, +burn bran for perfume; but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, +lie with him, she reproaches her fellow that she was not thought worthy as +herself, nor her cords broken.” Strabo in his sixteenth book testifies to +the same effect, and he says that the custom dated from the foundation of +the city of Babylon. The same writer states also that both Medes and +Armenians adopted all the sacred rites of the Persians, but that the +Armenians paid particular reverence to Anaitis, and built temples to her +honour in several places, especially in Acilisene. They dedicated there to +her service male and female slaves, and in this, Strabo says, there was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>nothing remarkable, but that it was surprising that persons of the +highest rank in the nation consecrated their virgin daughters to the +goddess. It was customary for these women, after being prostituted a long +time at the temple of Anaitis, to be disposed of in marriage, no one +disdaining a connection with such a person. He mentions what Herodotus +says about the Lydian women, all of whom, he adds, prostituted themselves. +But they treated their paramours with much kindness, entertaining them +hospitably and frequently, making a return of more presents than they +received, being amply supplied with means derived from their wealthy +connexions. The Lydians indeed appear to have devoted themselves with the +most shameless effrontery, for they not only attended the sacred fêtes +occasionally for the purpose, but practised prostitution for their own +benefit. A splendid monument to Alyattes, the father of Crœsus, built +by the merchants, the artizans, and the courtesans, was chiefly paid for +by the contributions of the latter, which far exceeded those of the others +put together.</p> + +<p>It has been asserted by some writers that sacred prostitution was not +practised in Egypt, but so much is known of the character of certain acts +of worship in that country that the statement is regarded as of little +worth. The worship of Osiris and Isis, which was very much like that of +Venus and Adonis, was attended with excesses that indicate a very +abandoned state of things. It is known that when the pilgrims were on +their way to the fêtes of Isis at Bubastis, the females indulged in the +most indecent dances as the vessels passed the riverside villages, and +historians declare that those obscenities were only such as were about to +happen at the temple, which was visited each year by seven hundred +thousand pilgrims, who gave themselves up to incredible excesses.</p> + +<p>It cannot be shewn that the motive leading to what is called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> sacred +prostitution was the same in all countries; in India, for example, it +appears to have had very much to do with the desire for children which we +have described as common with the easterns; so common was it that the one +object of woman’s life was marriage and a family. This, and the more rapid +development of the female in that part of the world than in others, and +the impression that dying childless she would fail to fulfil her mission +lies at the basis of the early betrothals and marriages which appear so +repulsive and absurd to European ideas. There is a further desire, +however, than that of simply having children, especially in India; the +desire is for male children, and where these fail, it is common for a man +to adopt a son, and in this his motive is a religious one. According to +prevalent superstition, it is held that the future beatitude of the Hindu +depends upon the performance of his obsequies, and payment of his debts, +by a son, as a means of redeeming him from an instant state of suffering +after death. The dread is of a place called Put, a place of horror, to +which the manes of the childless are supposed to be doomed; there to be +tormented with hunger and thirst, for want of those oblations of food, and +libations of water, at prescribed periods, which it is the pious and +indispensable duty of a son to offer.</p> + +<p>The “Laws of Manu” (Ch. ix., 138), state:—“A son delivers his father from +the hell called Put, he was therefore called puttra (a deliverer from Put) +by the Self-existent (Svayambhû) himself.” The sage Mandagola is +represented as desiring admission to a region of bliss, but repulsed by +the guards who watch the abode of progenitors, because he had no male +issue. The “Laws of Manu” illustrate this by the special mention of heaven +being attained without it as of something extraordinary. Ch. v., 159, +“Many thousands of Brahmanas, who were chaste from their youth, have gone +to heaven without continuing their race.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>Sir Thomas Strange, many years ago Chief Justice of Madras, wrote very +fully concerning the Hindu law of inheritance and adoption, and we learn +from this great authority that marriage failing in this, its most +important object (that is to say securing male issue), in order that +obsequies in particular might not go unperformed, and celestial bliss be +thereby forfeited, as well for ancestors as for the deceased, dying +without leaving legitimate issue begotten, the old law was provident to +excess, whence the different sorts of sons enumerated by different +authorities, all resolving themselves, with Manu, into twelve, that is the +legally begotten, and therefore not to be separately accounted:—all +formerly, in their turn and order, capable of succession, for the double +purpose of obsequies, and of inheritance. Failing a son, a Hindu’s +obsequies may be performed by his widow; or in default of her, by a whole +brother or other heirs; but according to the conception belonging to the +subject, not with the same benefit as by a son. That a son, therefore, of +some description is, with him, in a spiritual sense, next to indispensable +is abundantly certain. As for obtaining one in a natural way, there is an +express ceremony that takes place at the expiration of the third month of +pregnancy, marking distinctly the importance of a son born, so is the +adopting of one as anxiously inculcated where prayers and ceremonies for +the desired issue have failed in their effect.</p> + +<p>The extreme importance to the Hindu of having male offspring, and the +desire to get such children as the result of marriage rather than by +adoption—a practice allowed and inculcated as a last resort, has led to +that extensive prevalence of Lingam worship which is such a conspicuous +feature in India. In nearly every part of that vast empire are to be seen +reproductions of the emblem in an infinite variety of form, and so totally +free from the most remotely indecent character are they, that strangers +are as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> rule totally ignorant of their meaning. We have even known, +within the last few years, specimens of the smaller emblems being put up +for sale in this country, of whose meaning the auctioneer professes +himself for the most part ignorant, volunteering no other statement than +that they were charms in some way connected with Hindu customs and +worship.</p> + +<p>It is—being a representation of the male organ—represented, of course, +in a conical form, and is of every size, from half-an-inch to seventy +feet, and of all materials, such as stone, wood, clay, metal, &c. Lingas +are seen of enormous size; in the caves of Elephanta for instance, marking +unequivocally that the symbol in question is at any rate as ancient as the +temple, as they are of the same rock as the temple itself; both, as well +as the floor, roof, pillars, pilastres, and its numerous sculptured +figures, having been once one undistinguished mass of granite, which +excavated, chiselled, and polished, produced the cavern and forms that are +still contemplated with so much surprise and admiration. The magnitude of +the cones, too, further preclude the idea of subsequent introduction, and +together with gigantic statues of Siva and his consort, more frequent and +more colossal than those of any other deity, necessarily coeval with the +excavation, indicate his paramount adoration and the antiquity of his +sect. Lingas are seen also of diminutive size for domestic adoration, or +for personal use; some individuals always carrying one about with them, +and in some Brahman families, one is daily constructed in clay, placed +after due sanctification by appropriate ceremonies and prayers, in the +domestic shrine, or under a tree or shrub sacred to Siva, the Bilva more +especially, and honoured by the adoration of the females of the household.</p> + +<p>It is rather singular that while many Hindus worship the deity of male and +female in one, there are distinct sects which worship either the Lingam or +the Yoni; the first being apparently the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> same as the phallic emblem of +the Greeks, the <i>membrum virile</i>: and the latter <i>pudendum muliebre</i>.</p> + +<p>The interesting ceremony connected with the obsequies which we have just +said can be the most effectually performed by a male child, and which +gives rise to the intense longing both on the part of husband and wife for +such offspring, is called Sradha, and is of daily recurrence with +individuals who rigidly adhere to the ritual. It is offered in honour of +deceased ancestors, but not merely in honour of them, but for their +comfort; as the Manes, as well as the gods connected with them, enjoy, +like the gods of the Greeks, the incense of such offerings, which are also +of an expiatory nature, similar, it is said, to the masses of the Church +of Rome. Over these ceremonies of Sradhi presides Yama, in his character +of Sradhadeva, or lord of the obsequies. It is not within our province to +give a detailed account of these ceremonies, but owing to their connection +with the subject generally of our book, a brief outline will no doubt +prove interesting.</p> + +<p>A dying man, when no hopes of his surviving remain, should be laid upon a +bed of cusa grass, either in the house or out of it, if he be a Sudra, but +in the open air, if he belong to another tribe. When he is at the point of +death, donations of cattle, land, gold, silver, or other things, according +to his ability, should be made by him; or if he be too weak, by another +person in his name. His head should be sprinkled with water drawn from the +Ganges, and smeared with clay brought from the same river. A Salagrama +stone ought to be placed near the dying man; holy strains from the Veda or +from the sacred poems should be repeated aloud in his ears; and leaves of +holy basil must be scattered over his head.</p> + +<p>Passing over the ceremonial more especially connected with the burning of +the corpse as not particularly relative to our subject, we proceed. After +the body has been burnt, all who have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> touched or followed the corpse, +must walk round the pile keeping their left hands towards it, and taking +care not to look at the fire. They then walk in procession, according to +seniority, to a river or other running water, and after washing, and again +putting on their apparel, they advance into the stream. They then ask the +deceased’s brother-in-law, or some other person able to give the proper +answer, “Shall we present water?” If the deceased were a hundred years +old, the answer must be simply, “do so:” but if he were not so aged, the +reply is “do so, but do not repeat the oblation.” Upon this they all shift +the sacerdotal string to the right shoulder, and looking towards the +south, and being clad in a single garment without a mantle, they stir the +water with the ring finger of the left hand, saying, “waters, purify us.” +With the same finger of the right hand, they throw up some water towards +the south, and after plunging once under the surface of the river, they +rub themselves with their hands. An oblation of water must be next +presented from the jointed palms of the hands, naming the deceased and the +family from which he sprung, and saving “may this oblation reach thee.”</p> + +<p>After finishing the usual libations of water to satisfy the manes of the +deceased, they quit the river and shift their wet clothes for other +apparel; they then sip water without swallowing it, and sitting down on +soft turf, alleviate their sorrow by the recital of such moral sentences +as the following, refraining at the same time from tears and +lamentation:—</p> + +<p>1. Foolish is he, who seeks permanence in the human state, unsolid like +the stem of a plantain tree, transient like the foam of the sea.</p> + +<p>2. When a body, formed of fine elements to receive the rewards of deeds +done in its own former person, reverts to its fine original principles; +what room is there for regret.</p> + +<p>3. The earth is perishable; the ocean, the Gods themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> pass away: how +should not that bubble, mortal man, meet destruction.</p> + +<p>4. All that is low, must finally perish; all that is elevated, must +ultimately fall; all compound bodies must end in dissolution; and life is +concluded with death.</p> + +<p>5. Unwillingly do the manes of the deceased taste the tears and rheum shed +by their kinsmen: then do not wait, but diligently perform the obsequies +of the dead.</p> + +<p>All the kinsmen of the deceased, within the sixth degree of consanguinity, +should fast for three days and nights; or one at the least. However if +that be impracticable, they may eat a single meal at night, purchasing the +food ready prepared, but on no account preparing the victuals at home. So +long as the mourning lasts, the nearest relations of the deceased must not +exceed the daily meal, nor eat flesh-meat, nor any food seasoned with +fictitious salt; they must use a plate made of leaves of any tree but the +plantain, or else take their food from the hands of some other persons; +they must not handle a knife or any other implement made of iron; nor +sleep upon a bedstead; nor adorn their persons; but remain squalid, and +refrain from perfumes and other gratifications: they must likewise omit +the daily ceremonies of ablution and divine worship. On the third and +fifth days, as also on the seventh and ninth, the kinsmen assemble, bathe +in the open air, offer tila and water to the deceased, and take a repast +together: they place lamps at cross roads, and in their own houses, and +likewise on the way to the cemetery; and they observe vigils in honour of +the deceased.</p> + +<p>On the last day of mourning, or earlier in those countries where the +obsequies are expedited on the second or third day, the nearest kinsman of +the deceased gathers his ashes after offering a sradha singly for him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>In the first place, the kinsman smears with cow-dung the spots where the +oblation is to be presented; and after washing his hands and feet, sipping +water and taking up cusa grass in his hand, he sits down on a cushion +pointed towards the south, and placed upon a blade of cusa grass, the tip +of which must also point towards the south. He then places near him a +bundle of cusa grass, consecrated by pronouncing the word namah! or else +prepares a fire for oblations. Then lighting a lamp with clarified butter +or with oil of sesamum, and arranging the food and other things intended +to be offered, he must sprinkle himself with water, meditating on Vishnu, +surnamed the lotos-eyed, or revolving in his mind this verse, “Whether +pure or defiled, or wherever he may have gone, he, who re-enters the being +whose eyes are like the lotos, shall be pure externally and internally.” +Shifting the sacerdotal cord on his right shoulder, he takes up a brush of +cusa grass and presents water together with tila and with blossoms, naming +the deceased and the family from which he sprung, and saying “may this +water for ablutions be acceptable to thee.” Then saying “may this be +right,” he pronounces a vow or solemn declaration. “This day I will offer +on a bundle of cusa grass (or, if such be the custom, ‘on fire’) a sradha +for a single person, with unboiled food, together with clarified butter +and with water, preparatory to the gathering of the bones of such a one +deceased.” The priests answering “do so,” he says “namó! namah!” while the +priests meditate the gayatri and thrice repeat, “Salutation to the Gods; +to the manes of ancestors, and to mighty saints; to Swáhá [goddess of +fire]: to Swádhá [the food of the manes]: salutation unto them for ever +and ever.”</p> + +<p>He then presents a cushion made of cusa grass, naming the deceased and +saying “may this be acceptable to thee;” and afterwards distributes meal +of sesamum, while the priests recite “May the demons and fierce giants +that sit on this consecrated spot, be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> dispersed; and the bloodthirsty +savages that inhabit the earth; may they go to any other place, to which +their inclinations may lead them.”</p> + +<p>Placing an oval vessel with its narrowest end towards the south, he takes +up two blades of grass; and breaking off a span’s length, throws them into +the vessel; and after sprinkling them with water, makes a libation while +the priests say, “May divine waters be auspicious to us for accumulation, +for gain, and for refreshing draughts; may they listen to us, and grant +that we may be associated with good auspices.” He then throws tila while +the priests say, “Thou art tila, sacred to Soma; framed by the divinity, +thou dost produce celestial bliss [for him, that makes oblations]; mixed +with water may thou long satisfy our ancestors with the food of the manes, +be this oblation efficacious.” He afterwards silently casts into the +vessel, perfumes, flowers, and durva grass. Then taking up the vessel with +his left hand, putting two blades of grass on the cushion, with their tips +pointed to the north, he must pour the water from the argha thereon. The +priests meantime recite:—“The waters in heaven, in the atmosphere, and on +the earth, have been united [by their sweetness] with milk; may those +silver waters, worthy of oblation, be auspicious, salutary, and +exhilarating to us; and be happily offered: may this oblation be +efficacious.” He adds namah, and pours out the water, naming the deceased +and saying, “may this argha be acceptable unto thee.” Then oversetting the +vessel, and arranging in due order the unboiled rice condiments, clarified +butter, and the requisites, he scatters tila, while the priests recite +“Thrice did Vishnu step, &c.” He next offers the rice, clarified butter, +water and condiments, while he touches the vessel with his left hand, and +names the deceased, saying, “may this raw food, with clarified butter and +condiments, together with water, be acceptable unto thee.” After the +priests have repeated the gayatri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> preceded by the names of the worlds, he +pours honey or sugar upon the rice, while they recite this prayer, “may +the winds blow sweet, the rivers flow sweet, and salutary herbs be sweet, +unto us; may night be sweet, may the mornings pass sweetly; may the soil +of the earth, and heaven parent [of all productions], be sweet unto us; +may [Soma] king of herbs and trees be sweet: may the sun be sweet, may +kine be sweet unto us.” He then says “namó! namah!” While the priests +recite “whatever may be deficient in this food; whatever may be imperfect +in this rite; whatever may be wanting in this form; may all that become +faultless.”</p> + +<p>He should then feed the Brahmanas, whom he has assembled, either silently +distributing food amongst them, or adding a respectful invitation to them +to eat. When he has given them water to rinse their mouths, he may +consider the deceased as fed through their intervention. The priests again +recite the gayatri and the prayer “may the winds blow sweet,” &c., and add +the prescribed prayers, which should be followed by the music of +flageolets, lutes, drums, &c.</p> + +<p>Taking in his left hand another vessel containing tila, blossoms and +water, and in his left hand a brush made of cusa grass, he sprinkles water +over the grass spread on the consecrated spot, naming the deceased and +saying “May this ablution be acceptable to thee:” he afterwards takes a +cake or ball or food mixed with clarified butter, and presents it saying, +“May this cake be acceptable to thee,” and deals out the food with this +prayer; “Ancestors, rejoice; take your respective shares, and be strong as +bulls.” Then walking round by the left to the northern side of the +consecrated spot, and meditating, “Ancestors, be glad; take your +respective shares, and be strong as bulls,” he returns by the same road, +and again sprinkles water on the ground to wash the oblation, saying, “May +this ablution be acceptable to thee.”</p> + +<p>Next, touching his hip with his elbow, or else his right side,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> and having +sipped water, he must make six libations of water with the hollow palms of +his hands, saying, “Salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the +saddening [hot] season; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the +month of tapas [or dewy season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto +that [season] which abounds with water; salvation unto thee, O deceased, +and to the nectar [of blossoms]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and to +the terrible and angry [season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and to +female fire [or the sultry season].”</p> + +<p>He next offers a thread on the funeral cake, holding the wet brush in his +hand, naming the deceased, and saying, “May this raiment be acceptable to +thee;” the priests add, “Fathers, this apparel is offered unto you.” He +then silently strews perfumes, blossoms, resin, and betel leaves, as the +funeral cake, and places a lighted lamp on it. He sprinkles water on the +bundle of grass, saying, “May the waters be auspicious;” and offers rice, +adding, “May the blossoms be sweet: may the rice be harmless;” and then +pours water on it, naming the deceased and saying, “May this food and +drink be acceptable unto thee.” In the next place he strews grass over the +funeral cake, and sprinkles water on it, reciting this prayer: “Waters! ye +are the food of our progenitors; satisfy my parents, ye who convey +nourishment, which is ambrosia, butter, milk, cattle, and distilled +liquor.” Lastly, he smells some of the food, and poises in his hand the +funeral cakes, saying, “May this ball be wholesome food;” and concludes, +paying the officiating priest his fee with a formal declaration, “I do +give this fee (consisting of so much money) to such a one (a priest sprung +from such a family, and who uses such a veda and such a sacha of it), for +the purpose of fully completing the obsequies this day performed by me in +honour of one person singly, preparatory to the gathering of the bones of +such a one deceased.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>After the priest has thrice said: “Salutation to the gods, to progenitors, +to mighty saints, &c.,” he dismisses him; lights a lamp in honour of the +deceased; meditates on Heri with undiverted attention; casts the food, and +other things used at the obsequies, into the fire; and then proceeds to +the cemetery for the purpose of gathering the ashes of the deceased.</p> + +<p>So long as mourning lasts after gathering the ashes, the near relations of +the deceased continue to offer water with the same formalities and prayers +as already mentioned, and to refrain from factitious salt, butter, &c. On +the last day of mourning, the nearest relation puts on neat apparel, and +causes his house and furniture to be cleaned; he then goes out of the +town, and after offering the tenth funeral cake, he makes ten libations of +water from the palms of his hands; causes the hair of his head and body to +be shaved, and his nails to be cut, and gives the barber the clothes which +were worn at the funeral of the deceased, and adds some other +remuneration. He then anoints his head and limbs, down to his feet, with +oil of sesamum; rubs all his limbs with meal of sesamum, and his head with +the ground pods of white mustard; he bathes, sips water, touches and +blesses various auspicious things, such as stones, clarified butter, +leaves of Nimba, white mustard, Durva grass, coral, a cow, gold, curds, +honey, a mirror, and a couch, and also touches a bamboo staff. He now +returns purified to his home, and thus completes the first obsequies of +the deceased.</p> + +<p>The second series of obsequies, commencing on the day after the period of +mourning has elapsed, is opened by a lustration termed the consolatory +ceremony. The lustration consists in the consecration of four vessels of +water, and sprinkling therewith the house, the furniture, and the persons +belonging to the family. After lighting a fire, and blessing the attendant +Brahmanas, the priest fills four vessels with water, and, putting his hand +into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> first, meditates the gayatri, before and after reciting the +following prayers: 1.—May generous waters be auspicious to us, for gain +and for refreshing draughts; may they approach towards us, that we may be +associated with good auspices. 2.—Earth afford us ease; be free from +thorns; be habitable. Widely extended as thou art, procure us happiness. +3.—O waters! since ye afford delight, grant us food, and the rapturous +sight [of the Supreme Being]. 4.—Like tender mothers, make us here +partakers of your most auspicious essence.</p> + +<p>Putting his hand into the second vessel, the priest meditates the gayatri, +and the four prayers above quoted; adding some others, and concluding this +second consecration of water by once more meditating the gayatri.</p> + +<p>Then taking a lump of sugar and a copper vessel in his left hand, biting +the sugar and spitting it out again, the priest sips water. Afterwards +putting his hand into the third vessel, he meditates the gayatri and the +four prayers above cited, interposing this: May Indra and Varuna [the +regents of the sky and of the ocean] accept our oblations, and grant us +happiness; may Indra and the cherishing sun grant us happiness in the +distribution of food; may Indra and the moon grant us the happiness of +attaining the road to celestial bliss, and the association of good +auspices.</p> + +<p>It is customary immediately after this lustration to give away a vessel of +tila, and also a cow, for the sake of securing the passage of the deceased +over the Vaitarani, or river of hell: whence the cow, so given, is called +Vaitarani-dhenu. Afterwards a bed, with its furniture, is brought; and the +giver sits down near the Brahmana, who has been invited to receive the +present. After saying, “Salutation to this bed with its furniture; +salutation to this priest, to whim it is given,” he pays due honour to the +Brahmana in the usual form of hospitality. He then pours water into his +hand, saying, “I give thee this bed with its furniture;”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> the priest +replies, “give it.” Upon this he sprinkles it with water; and taking up +the cusa grass, tila, and water, delivers them to the priest, pouring the +water into his hand, with a formal declaration of the gift and its +purpose; and again delivers a bit of gold with cusa grass, &c., making a +similar formal declaration, 1.—This day, I, being desirous of obtaining +celestial bliss for such a one defunct, do give unto thee, such a one, a +Brahmana descended from such a family, to whom due honour has been shown, +this bed and furniture, which has been duly honoured, and which is sacred +to Vishnu. 2. This day I give unto thee (so and so) this gold, sacred to +fire, as a sacerdotal fee, for the sake of confirming the donation I have +made of this bed and furniture. The Brahmana both times replies “be it +well.” Then lying upon the bed, and touching it with the upper part of his +middle finger, he meditates the gayatri with suitable prayers, adding +“This bed is sacred to Vishnu.”</p> + +<p>With similar ceremonies and declarations he next gives away to a Brahmana, +a golden image of the deceased, or else a golden idol, or both. Afterwards +he distributes other presents among Brahmanas for the greater honour of +the deceased. Of course, all this can only be done by rich people.</p> + +<p>The principal remaining ceremonies consist chiefly of the obsequies called +sradhas. The first set of funeral ceremonies is adopted to effect, by +means of oblations, the reimbodying of the soul of the deceased, after +burning his corpse. The apparent scope of the second is to raise his shade +from this world (where it would else, according to the notions of the +Hindus, continue to roam among demons and evil spirits), up to heaven, and +there deify him, as it were, among the manes of departed ancestors. For +this end, a sradha should regularly be offered to the deceased on the day +after mourning expires; twelve other sradhas singly to the deceased in +twelve successive months: similar <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>obsequies at the end of the third +fortnight, and also in the sixth month, and in the twelfth; and the +oblation called Sapindana, on the first anniversary of his decease. In +most provinces the periods for these sixteen ceremonies, and for the +concluding obsequies entitled Sapindana, are anticipated, and the whole is +completed on the second or third day. After which they are again performed +at the proper times, but in honour of the whole set of progenitors, +instead of the deceased singly. The obsequies intended to raise the shade +of the deceased to heaven are thus completed. Afterwards, a sradha is +annually offered to him on the anniversary of his decease.</p> + +<p>What we have just described, elaborate as it looks, is simply an +abridgment of the long and complicated ceremonies attendant upon the +funeral and after obsequies of a rich man among the Hindus, but it is +enough for our purpose. It shows the vast importance attached to those +obsequies, and enables us to understand the desire on the part of these +Hindus to have children who will in a proper and acceptable manner carry +out these proceedings. We have already quoted from the sacred books to +show that a son was regarded as better able to perform those duties than +any other relation, and that failing such offspring in the ordinary course +of nature, it was obligatory upon the would be father to adopt one.</p> + +<p>Dulaure and some other writers describe a variety of ceremonies which were +taken part in by the women in order to procure the children who would +satisfy the cravings of their husbands. It is probable that a good deal of +what took place at the shrines of heathen goddesses in other lands, arose +from this anxiety, and not altogether from a merely licentious habit of +character and disposition. It has been said, as we may have already +suggested perhaps, that the priests connected with some of the temples +resorted to by childless women for the cure of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> their misfortune, were +cunning enough to provide for what was wanted in a more practical way than +by the simple performance of certain ceremonies, and that where the +failure to produce children was due to some fault on the part of the +husband, means were at hand by which the woman soon found herself in the +desired condition. It is rather singular that something very similar was +found among the Jewish women in the time of Ezekiel, as we have found in +India; the Indian woman sacrificed her virginity at the shrine of the +Lingam, and in the 16th chapter of the prophet’s book, verse 17, we +read:—“Thou didst take also thy fair jewels of my gold, and didst make to +thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them.” The latter, +however, was evidently of a very different character to the former, being +nothing more or less than the impure worship of Priapus as carried on in +the orgies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis, the images of the Hebrew women +being such as the Priapi used in those ceremonies; on no account must +those foolish and filthy practices be confounded with that act of worship +which men in primitively simple condition rendered to the agents employed +in the act of generation, which was innocently regarded as only one of the +operations of nature.</p> + +<p>The moral of this part of the subject, and with which for the present we +take leave of it, is this, that the Eastern, from his views of the future +life, deems it absolutely necessary that he should leave offspring, either +real or adopted, behind him, to carry out the obligations imposed by his +religion, and that in order to attain in the possession of what is to him +such a blessing, he is called upon to propitiate in every possible manner +the physical agents and powers employed in the process,—hence the rise +and practice of phallic worship.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Footnotes:</strong></p> + +<p><a name='f_1' id='f_1' href='#fna_1'>[1]</a> See Dudley’s <i>Naology</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_2' id='f_2' href='#fna_2'>[2]</a> <i>Edin. Rev.</i>, 1870, p. 239.</p> + +<p><a name='f_3' id='f_3' href='#fna_3'>[3]</a> Jewitt.</p> + +<p><a name='f_4' id='f_4' href='#fna_4'>[4]</a> Hawkins’ <i>Sketch of the Creek Country</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_5' id='f_5' href='#fna_5'>[5]</a> <i>Myths of the New World.</i></p> + +<p><a name='f_6' id='f_6' href='#fna_6'>[6]</a> Jewitt in <i>Art Journal</i>, 1876.</p> + +<p><a name='f_7' id='f_7' href='#fna_7'>[7]</a> Quoted by Jewitt, in <i>Art Journal</i>, 1874.</p> + +<p><a name='f_8' id='f_8' href='#fna_8'>[8]</a> Lysons, <i>Our British Ancestors</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_9' id='f_9' href='#fna_9'>[9]</a> Cory, <i>Mytho. Inquiry</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_10' id='f_10' href='#fna_10'>[10]</a> Cory, <i>Mytho. Inquiry</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_11' id='f_11' href='#fna_11'>[11]</a> Faber, <i>Orig. Pag. Idol.</i></p> + +<p><a name='f_12' id='f_12' href='#fna_12'>[12]</a> Meyrick’s <i>Cardigan</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_13' id='f_13' href='#fna_13'>[13]</a> Inman, <i>Anc. Faiths</i>. I.</p> + +<p><a name='f_14' id='f_14' href='#fna_14'>[14]</a> <i>Rivers of Life.</i></p> + +<p><a name='f_15' id='f_15' href='#fna_15'>[15]</a> Dr. Beke.</p> + +<p><a name='f_16' id='f_16' href='#fna_16'>[16]</a> Dr. F. A. Cox.</p> + +<p><a name='f_17' id='f_17' href='#fna_17'>[17]</a> Ewald, <i>Antiq. Israel</i>.</p> + +<p><a name='f_18' id='f_18' href='#fna_18'>[18]</a> <i>Mems. Anthrop. Soc. 1.</i></p> + +<p><a name='f_19' id='f_19' href='#fna_19'>[19]</a> Lewis. <i>Origines Heb.</i></p> + +<p><a name='f_20' id='f_20' href='#fna_20'>[20]</a> <i>Keys of the Creeds</i>, V.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASCULINE CROSS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 39414-h.txt or 39414-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/9/4/1/39414">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/4/1/39414</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Masculine Cross + A History of Ancient and Modern Crosses and Their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship; Also an Account of the Kindred Phases of Phallic Faiths and Practices + + +Author: Anonymous + + + +Release Date: April 10, 2012 [eBook #39414] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASCULINE CROSS*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 39414-h.htm or 39414-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39414/39414-h/39414-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39414/39414-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/masculinecrossor00lond + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + The original text includes Greek characters. For this + text version these letters have been replaced with + transliterations. + + The original text contains two symbols that are + represented in this version as [symbol]. + + + + + +THE MASCULINE CROSS. + + +[Illustration: _God Indra Nailed to a Cross._] + +[Illustration: _Buddhist Cross._] + +[Illustration: _Cross Common on Ancient Assyrian Monuments._] + +[Illustration: _Ancient Heathen,--Mexican Cross._] + + +THE MASCULINE CROSS + +Or +A History of Ancient and Modern Crosses and +Their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship +Also an Account of the Kindred Phases of +Phallic Faiths and Practices. + + + + + + + +Privately Printed +1904. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + THE CROSS 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + THE CROSS (Continued) 23 + + + CHAPTER III. + THE DOCTRINE OF A SACRED TRIAD 42 + + + CHAPTER IV. + THE DOCTRINE OF A SACRED TRIAD (Continued) 63 + + + CHAPTER V. + THE GOLDEN CALF OF AARON 79 + + + CHAPTER VI. + CIRCUMCISION 91 + + + CHAPTER VII. + ANDROGYNOUS DEITIES, SEX WORSHIP, &C. 100 + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +_In the following pages certain things supposed to be of comparatively +modern origin have been traced back to the remotest historic ages of the +world; as a consequence, it follows that the modern symbolical meaning +given to such things is sometimes only one acquired in subsequent times, +and not that exactly which was originally intended,--it must not be +supposed, therefore, that the interpretation belonging to the epoch in +which we are first enabled to trace a definite meaning is to be +conclusively regarded as that which gave birth to the form of the symbol. +The original may have been--probably was--very different to what came +after; the starting point may have been simplicity and purity, whilst the +developments of after years were degrading and vicious. Particularly so +was this the case in the Lingam worship of the vast empire of India; +originally the adoration of an Almighty Creator of all things, it became, +in time, the worship of the regenerative powers of material nature, and +then the mere indulgence in the debased passions of an abandoned and +voluptuous nature._ + +_With regard to the symbol of the Cross, it may be repugnant to the +feelings of some to be told that their recognition of its purely Christian +origin is a mistake, and that it was as common in Pagan as in more +advanced times; they may find consolation, however, in the fact that its +real beginning was further back still in the world's history, and that +with Paganism it was, as it had been with Christianity, simply an adopted +favourite._ + +_Our story is taken up in the middle epoch of the history, and shews the +relationship of the things we deal with to prevailing phallic faiths and +practices._ + + + + +THE MASCULINE CROSS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + _Universal prevalence of the Cross--Mistakes--The Cross not of + Christian Origin--Christian Veneration of the Cross--The Roman + Ritual--The Cross equally honoured by the Gentile and Christian + Worlds--Druidical Crosses--The Copt Oak of Charnwood Forest--Assyrian + Crosses in British Museum--Pectoral Crosses--Egyptian Crosses--Greek + Cross--St. Andrew's Cross--Planetary Signs and Crosses--Monogram of + Christ at Serapis--Cross in India--Pagodas in form of + Crosses--Mariette Bey's Discovery--Buddhist and Roman Crosses--Chinese + Crosses--Kampschatkan Crosses--American Crosses--Cross among the Red + Indians--The Royal Commentaries of Peru--Mexican Ideas relative to the + Cross--The Spaniards in America--Sign of the Cross--Cross as an + Amulet--Hot-cross Buns--Tertullian on the Use of the Cross._ + + +The universal prevalence of the cross as an ornament and symbol during the +last eighteen centuries in the Christian church has led to some great, if +not grave, mistakes. It has been supposed, and for various obvious reasons +very naturally so, to be of exclusively Christian origin, and to represent +materially no more than the instrument by which the founder of that +religion was put to death; and, spiritually or symbolically, faith in the +sacrificial atoning work he then completed. There are not a few people +about who, having become imbued with this idea, rush to the hasty +conclusion that wherever the cross is found, and upon whatever monuments, +it indicates a connection with Christianity, and is therefore of +comparatively modern origin. History, in consequence, becomes a strange +and unfathomable mystery, especially when it belongs to kingdoms of +well-known great antiquity, amongst whose symbols or ornaments the cross +is plentiful, and the mind finds itself involved in a confusion from which +it cannot readily extricate itself. Never was there a greater blunder +perpetrated, or a more ignorant one, than the notion of the figure of the +cross owing its origin to the instrument of Christ's death, and the +Christian who finds comfort in pressing it to his lips in the hour of +devotion or of trouble must be reminded that the ancient Egyptian did a +similar thing. + +The fact is, there is great similarity between the cross worship, or +veneration if you please, of ancient and modern times. Christians, we +know, are apt to repudiate the charge of rendering worship to this symbol, +but it is clear from what is printed in some of their books of devotion +that some sort of worship is actually rendered, though disguised under +other names. As to the veneration thus offered being right or wrong, we +here say nothing; the fact only concerns us so far as it relates to the +subject we have in hand. + +If we open the _Tablet_ (Roman Catholic newspaper) for the 26th of +November, 1853, we read:--"Those of our readers who have visited Rome +will, doubtless, have remarked, at the foot of the stairs which descend +from the square of the Capitol to the square of the Campo Vaccino, under +the flight of steps in front of the Church of St. Joseph, and over the +door of the Mamertine prison, a very ancient wooden crucifix, before which +lamps and wax tapers are constantly burning, and surrounded on all sides +with exvotos and testimonies of public thanksgiving. No image of the +crucified Saviour is invested with greater veneration.... The worship +yielded to the holy crucifix of Campo Vaccino is universal at Rome, and is +transmitted from generation to generation. The fathers teach it to the +children, and in all the misfortunes and all the trials of life the first +idea is almost always to have recourse to the holy crucifix, the object of +such general veneration, and the source of so many favours. It is, above +all, in sickness that the succour of the holy image is invoked with more +confidence and more eagerness.... There are few families in Rome who have +not to thank the holy crucifix for some favour and some benefit.... In the +interval of the sermons and other public exercises of devotion the holy +crucifix, exposed on the high altar in the midst of floods of light, saw +incessantly prostrated before it a crowd of adorers and suppliants.... As +soon as the holy image of the Saviour had appeared on the Forum, the Holy +Father advanced on the exterior flight of steps of the church to receive +it, and when the shrine had arrived at the base of the stairs of the +Church of San Luca, at some paces from the flight of steps on which the +Holy Father stood, in rochet, stole, and pallium of red velvet, he bowed +before the holy crucifix and venerated it devoutly." + +In harmony with this, the Missal supplies us with prayers and hymns in the +service for Good Friday, addressed directly to the cross. + +"We adore Thy cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify Thy holy +resurrection; for by the wood of the cross the whole world is filled with +joy." + + "O faithful cross, O noblest tree, + In all our woods there is none like thee. + No earthly groves, no shady bowers + Produce such leaves, such fruit, such flowers. + Sweet are the nails and sweet the wood, + Which bore a weight so sweet and good." + + "O lovely tree, whose branches bore + The royal purple of His gore, + How glorious does thy body shine, + Supporting members so divine. + Hail, cross! our hope, on thee we call + Who keep this paschal festival; + Grant to the just increase of grace, + And every sinner's guilt efface." + +There is something unusually remarkable about the popularity of the cross; +we can hardly point to a time when, or to a part of the world where, it +has not been in favour. It has entered into the constitution of religions +of the most opposite character, has been transmitted from one to another, +and though originally belonging to the rudest form of pagan idolatry, is +now esteemed highly by those who profess to have adopted the loftiest +ideal of civilised worship. After mentioning the fact of its popularity in +the pagan world, Mr. Maurice remarks: "Let not the piety of the Catholic +Christian be offended at the preceding assertion, that the cross was one +of the most usual symbols among the hieroglyphics of Egypt and India. +Equally honoured in the Gentile and the Christian world, this emblem of +universal nature--of that world to whose four quarters its diverging radii +pointed--decorated the hands of most of the sculptured images in the +former country, and in the latter stamped its form upon the most majestic +shrines of their deities." + +Here we may profitably glance at a few different parts of the world and at +some of the past ages, in tracing out the possible origin and meaning of +this symbol. In Britain there have been found monuments so ancient and +with such surroundings that but for certain peculiar marks they would +unhesitatingly have been put down as Druidical. They are marked with the +cross, and in the estimation of some, as we have already pointed out, that +is regarded as conclusive proof of Christian origin. The inference, +however, is a false one, the monuments are too old for Christianity, and +the cruciform etchings upon them belong to another religious system +altogether. It is known that the Druids consecrated the sacred oak by +cutting it into the shape of a cross, and so necessary was it regarded to +have it in this form, that if the lateral branches were not large enough +to construct the figure properly, two others were fixed as arms on either +side of the trunk. The cross having been thus constructed, the Arch-Druid +ascended and wrote the name of the Deity upon the trunk at the place of +intersection, and on the extremities of the arms. + +The peculiar interest attached to this idol lies in the fact that it is +described by the best authorities as the Gallic or Celtic Tau. "The Tau," +says Davies in his _Celtic Researches_, "was the symbol of the Druidical +Jupiter. It consisted of a huge grand oak deprived of all its branches, +except only two large ones which, though cut off and separated, were +suspended from the top of its trunk-like suspended arms." The idol, say +others, was in reality a cross, the same in form as the linga. + +A few years ago, near the hill of Bardon, in the middle of Charnwood +forest, in the county of Leicester, there grew and perhaps still grows, a +very old tree called the Copt Oak. This tree, there is reason to believe, +was more than two thousand years old, and once formed a Celtic Tau. Forty +years ago, a writer who knew the tree well, said that its condition then +suggested very distinctly the possibility of the truthfulness of the +story. It was described as a vast tree, then reduced to a mere shell +between two and three inches only in thickness, perforated by several +openings, and alive only in about one-fourth of the shell; bearing small +branches, but such as could not have grown when the tree was entire; then +it must have had branches of a size not less than an oak of ordinary +dimensions. This was evident from one of the openings in the upper part of +the shell of the trunk, exactly such as a decayed branch would produce. +The tree was evidently of gigantic size in its earlier days, as shown by +its measurement at the date we are speaking of. The remains of the trunk +were twenty feet high, the height proper for the Tau, and the +circumference at the ground was twenty-four feet; at the height of ten +feet the girth was twenty, giving a diameter of nearly seven feet. This +tree, we have said, was called the Copt Oak; the epithet copt, or copped, +may be derived from the Celtic _cop_--a head, and evidently indicates that +the tree had been headed and reduced to the state of a bare trunk. The +idol, as already described, was formed by cutting away the branches of the +tree, which was always a large one, and affixing a beam, forming a cross +with the bare trunk.[1] + +From time immemorial the Copt Oak has borne a celebrity that bears out the +tradition of its ancient sacredness. Potter, the historian of the forest +of Charnwood, writes that it was one of the three places at which +Swanimotes were held, always in the open air, for the regulation of rights +and claims on the forest; and persons have been known even in late times +to have attended such motes. "At this spot," he says, "it may be under +this tree, Edric the Forester is said to have harangued his forces against +the Norman invasion; and here too, in the Parliamentary troubles of 1642, +the Earl of Stamford assembled the trained bands of the district." "These +facts," says Dudley, "mark the Copt Oak extraordinary, and show, that +notwithstanding the lapse of two thousand years, the trunk was at that +distant period a sacred structure, a Celtic idol; and that it is +illustrative of antiquarian records." + +Still further back in history than the foregoing are we able to trace this +singular figure. If we visit the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum +we shall observe life-size effigies in stone of the kings Samsi-Rammanu, +B.C. 825, and Assur-Nazir-Pal, B.C. 880; suspended from the necks of these +monarchs and resting upon their breasts are prominently sculptured Maltese +crosses about three inches in length and width; they are in a good state +of preservation, and will amply repay anyone for the trouble of an +inspection, should they be desirous of pursuing this enquiry. In the Roman +Catholic dictionaries we find these ornaments described as pectoral +crosses--crosses of precious metal worn at the breast by bishops and +abbots as a mark of their office, and sometimes also by canons, etc., who +have obtained the privilege from Rome. It is stated these pectorals were +not generally used by the Roman ecclesiastics till the middle of the +sixteenth century; however that may be, it is a fact, as proved by the +Assyrian sculptures, that they are nearly, if not more than, three +thousand years old, and not the least interesting feature distinguishing +them is their perfect similarity of design. It is strange that we +moderns--the disciples of Christ--should have had supplied to us at that +remote period the pattern of an ornament or symbol which we are accustomed +to regard as emblematic of essential features of our religion, but it is +true. + +Look across now to Egypt and we find monuments and tombs literally +bedizened with the cross, and that too in a variety of shapes. Long, long +before Christ, the Ibis was represented with human hands and feet, holding +the staff of Isis in one hand, and a globe and cross in the other. Here we +are in one of the most ancient kingdoms of the world--a kingdom so ancient +that its years are lost in obscurity--yet still the cross is found. +Whatever it may have represented in other countries, and whatever may be +its meaning here, from the positions in which it is found and from its +constant association with ecclesiastical personages and offices, it was +evidently one of the most sacred of their symbols. Two forms, among +others, are common, one a simple cross of four limbs of equal length, the +other that shaped like the letter =X=; the first is generally known as the +Greek cross, the second as that of St. Andrew, both however being of the +same form and owing their different appearance only to the position in +which they are placed. + +It is well known, probably, to most of our readers that the astronomical +signs of certain of the planets consist of crosses, crescents, circles, +and in ancient Egypt these were precisely the same as those now used. +Saturn was represented by a cross surmounting a ram's horn, Jupiter by a +cross beneath a horn, Venus by a cross beneath a circle, the Earth by a +cross within a circle, Mercury by a cross surmounted by a circle and +crescent, and Mars by a cross above a circle. These may still be seen in +almanacs, and on the large coloured bottles in the windows of the +druggist. In the hands of Isis, Osiris, and Hermes, corresponding with the +Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury of the Greeks, are also found the above signs. + +When the temple of Serapis, at Alexandria, was destroyed by one of the +Christian emperors, it is related by several historians, Socrates and +Sozomen, for instance, that beneath the foundation was discovered the +monogram of Christ; and that considerable disputing arose in consequence +thereof, the Gentiles endeavouring to use it for their own purposes, and +the Christians insisting that the cross, being uneasy beneath the weight +or dominion of the temple, overthrew it. + +If we turn to India we find the cross almost as common as in Egypt and +Europe, and not the least interesting feature of the matter is the curious +fact that a number of the pagodas are actually cruciform in structure. +Jagannath is the name of one of the mouths of the Ganges, upon which was +built the great pagoda where the Great Brahmin or High Priest resided. We +were told years ago, by travellers, that the form of the choir or interior +was similar in proportion to all the others, which were built upon the +same model, in the form of a cross. The pagoda at Benares, also, was in +the figure of a cross, having its arms equal. After the above, in +importance, was the pagoda at Muttra; this likewise was cruciform. One of +these temples, that at Chillambrum on the Coromandel coast, is said to be +four miles in circumference. Here there are seven lofty walls one within +the other round the central quadrangle, and as many pyramidal gateways in +the middle of each side which form the limbs of a vast cross, consisting +altogether of twenty-eight pyramids. There are, therefore, fourteen in a +row, which extend more than a mile in one continuous line. + +What has been called, and perhaps justly so, the oldest religious monument +in the world was discovered a few years ago by Mariette Bey, near the +Great Pyramid. For ages it had lain there, buried in the sand--how many we +cannot tell, but very many we know; enough to carry us back to a very +remote past. And this, too, like the Indian temples, was in the shape of a +cross. Renan visited it in 1865, and though he found it in many +particulars different from those known elsewhere, he described the +interior, which much recalled the chamber of the Great Pyramid, as in the +form of =T=, the principle aisle being divided in three rows, the +transverse aisle in two. + +Mr. Fergusson, the architect, also saw it, and, while admiring its simple +and chaste grandeur of style, with some astonishment described the form of +the principal chamber as that of a CROSS. And this was the plan of both +tomb and temple in the earliest ages, testifying to the great veneration +paid to this symbol. + +There is a remarkable resemblance between the Buddhist crosses of India +and those used by the Christian Roman Church. The cross of the Buddhist is +represented with leaves and flowers springing from it, and placed upon a +Calvary as by the Roman Catholics. It is represented in various ways, but +the shaft with the cross-bar and the Calvary remain the same. The tree of +life and knowledge, or the jamba tree, in their maps of the world, is +always represented in the shape of a cross, eighty-four yoganas, or 423 or +432 miles high, including the three steps of the Calvary. + +From India we naturally turn to China, and, though its use there is +involved in a deal of mystery, the cross is found among their +hieroglyphics, on the walls of their pagodas and on the lamps which they +used to illuminate their temples. + +In Kamschatka, Baron Humboldt found the cross and remains of hieroglyphics +similar to those of Egypt. + +Passing into America, we find that what could only be described as perfect +idolatry prevailed with respect to the veneration paid to the cross. +Throughout Mexico and some parts of South America the emblem is constantly +found, and in many instances is evidently of great antiquity. Some +travellers have explained their presence by attributing them to the +Spaniards, but those people found them there when they arrived, and were +greatly astonished at the spectacle, not knowing how to account for it. A +lieutenant of Cortez passed over from the island of Cosumel to the +continent, and coasted the peninsula of Yucatan as far as Campeachy. +Everywhere he was struck with the evidences of a higher civilisation, and +was astonished at the sight of numerous large stone crosses, evidently +objects of worship, which he met with in various places. + +At Cozuma an ancient cross is still standing. Here there is a temple of +considerable size, with pyramidal towers rising several stories above the +rest of the building, facing the cardinal points. In the centre of the +quadrangular area within stands a high cross, constructed of stone and +lime like the rest of the temple, and ten palms in height. The natives +regard is as the emblem of the god of rain. + +The discovery of the cross amongst the Red Indians as an object of +worship, by the Spanish missionaries, in the fifteenth century, completely +mystified them, and they hardly knew whether to attribute it to a good or +an evil origin--whether it was the work of St. Thomas or of the Devil. The +symbol was not an occasional spectacle in odd places, as though there by +accident, it met them on all sides; it was literally everywhere, and in +every variety of form. It mattered not whether the building was old or +new, inhabited or ruined and deserted, whether it was a temple or a +palace, there was the cross in all shapes and of all materials--of marble, +gypsum, wood, emerald, and jasper. What was, perhaps, still more +remarkable was the fact that it was associated with certain other things +common on the Babylonian monuments, such as the bleeding deity, the +serpent and the sacred eagle, and that it bore the very same names by +which it was known in Roman Catholic countries, "the tree of subsistence," +"the wood of health," "the emblem of life." In this latter appellation +there was a parallel to the name by which it was known in Egypt, and by +which the holy Tau of the Buddhists has always been known; thus placing, +as has been said, any supposition of accidental coincidence beyond all +reasonable debate. + +In the Royal Commentaries of Peru, we have some interesting allusions to +the cross and to the general sanctity with which it was surrounded. In the +city of Cozco, the Incas had one of white marble, which they called a +crystalline jasper, but how long they had had it was unknown. The Inca, +Garcillasso de la Vega, said he left in the year 1560, in the cathedral +church of that city; it was then hanging upon a nail by a list of black +velvet; formerly, when in the hands of the Indians, it had been suspended +by a chain of gold and silver. The form is Greek, that is, square; being +as broad as it was long, and about three fingers wide. It was previously +kept in one of the royal apartments, called Huaca, which signified a +consecrated place. The record says that though the Indians did not adore +it, yet they held it in great veneration, either for the beauty of it, or +for some other reason which they knew not to assign; and so was observed +amongst them, until the Marquess Don Francisco Pizarro entered the valley +of Tumpiz, when by reason of some accidents which befel Pedro de Candia +they conceived a greater esteem and veneration for it. The historian +complains that the Spaniards, after they had taken the imperial city, hung +up this cross in the vestry of a church they built, whereas, he says, they +ought to have placed a relic of that kind upon the high altar, adorning it +with gold and precious stones; by which respect to a thing the Indians +esteemed sacred, and by assimilating the ordinances of the Christian +religion as near as was possible with those which the law of nature had +taught this people, the lessons of Christianity would thereby have become +more easy and familiar, and not seemed so far estranged from the +principles of their own Gentilism. + +This cross is again mentioned in another part of the Royal Commentaries, +and two travellers are described as being filled with admiration at seeing +crosses erected on the top of the high pinnacles of the temples and +palaces; the which, it is said, were introduced from the time that Pedro +de Candia, being in Tumpiz, charmed or tamed the wild beasts which were +let loose to devour him, and which, simply by virtue of the cross which he +held in his hand, became gentle and domestic. This was recounted with such +admiration by the Indians, who carried the news of the miracle to Cozco, +that when the inhabitants of the city understood it they went immediately +to the sanctuary where the jasper cross already mentioned stood, and, +having brought it forth, they with loud acclamations adored and worshipped +it, conceiving that though the sign of the cross had for many ages been +conserved by them in high esteem and veneration yet it was not entertained +with such devotion as it deserved, because they were not as yet acquainted +with its virtues. Believing that the sign of the cross had tamed and shut +the mouths of the wild beasts, they imagined that it had a like power to +deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. + +On both the northern and southern continents of America the cross was +believed to possess the power of restraining evil spirits, and was the +common symbol of the god of rain and of health. The people prayed to it +when their country needed water, and the Aztec goddess of rains held one +in her hand. At the feast celebrated to her honour in the spring, when the +genial shower was needed to promote fertilisation, they were wont to +conciliate the favour of Centeotl, the daughter of heaven and goddess of +corn, by nailing a boy or girl to a cross, and after they had been so +suspended for awhile piercing them with arrows shot from a bow. The +Muyscas, less sanguinary than the Mexicans in sacrificing to the god of +the waters, extended a couple of ropes transversely over some lake or +stream, thus forming a gigantic cross, and at the point of intersection +threw in their offerings of food, gems, and precious oils. + +Quetyalcoatl, god of the winds, bore as his sign of office a mace like the +cross of a bishop; his robe was covered with the symbol, and its adoration +was connected throughout with his worship. + +There is, of course, no doubt whatever that the Spaniards took the cross +with them to America, and scattered it about so much in such varied +directions that their own became so intermingled with the native ones as +to make it difficult to distinguish one from the other; but the fact +remains that what there was of cordiality in the reception they met with +from the aborigines, was due in no small degree to their use of the same +emblem on their standards; when this became apparent the astonishment was +mutual. Many travellers have told us of these ancient crosses, and some of +them while expressing doubts as to their antiquity, have yet supplied us +with evidence of the same. Mr. Stephens is one of these. In his _Incidents +of Travel in Central America_, he supplies us with some wonderful Altar +Tablets found at Palenque, the principal subject in one of which is the +cross. It is surmounted by a strange bird, and loaded with indescribable +ornaments. There are two human figures, one on either side of the cross, +evidently of important personages; both are looking towards the cross, and +one seems in the act of making an offering. The traveller says:--"All +speculations on the subject are of course entitled to little regard, but +perhaps it would not be wrong to ascribe to those personages a sacerdotal +character. The hieroglyphics doubtless explain all. Near them are other +hieroglyphics which remind us of the Egyptian mode of recording the name, +history, office, or character of the persons represented. This tablet of +the cross has given rise to more learned speculations than perhaps any +others found at Palenque. Dupaix and his commentators, assuming for the +building a very remote antiquity, or at least, a period long antecedent to +the Christian era, account for the appearance of the cross by the argument +that it was known and had a symbolical meaning among ancient nations long +before it was established as the emblem of the Christian faith." + +Near Miztla, "the city of the moon," is a cavern temple excavated from the +solid rock in the form of a cross, 123 feet in length and breadth, the +limbs being about 25 feet in width. + +Other relics have been found in abundance in the same part of the world, +proving how well known this emblem was before the advent of Christianity. +In the Mexican Tribute Tables, we were told a few years ago by a writer in +the _Historical Magazine_, small pouches or bags frequently occur. +Appendages to dress, they are tastefully formed and ornamented with fringe +and tassels. A cross of the Maltese or more ordinary form (Greek or Latin) +is conspicuously woven or painted on each. They appear to have been in +great demand, a thousand bundles being the usual Pueblo tax. + +The practice of marking the cross on their persons and wearing it in their +garments was once common with some if not with all the occupants of the +Southern Continent. The Abipones of Paraguay tatooed themselves by +pricking the skin with a thorn. They all wore the form of a cross +impressed on their foreheads, and two small lines at the corner of each +eye, extending towards the ears, besides four transverse lines at the root +of the nose, between the eyebrows, as national marks. What these figures +signified no one was able to tell. The people only knew this, that the +custom had been handed down to them by their ancestors. Not only were +crosses marked on their foreheads, but woven in the red woollen garments +of many of them. This was long before they knew anything of the Christian +religion. + +The "hot cross bun," eaten in this country on Good Friday, is supposed by +many to be exclusively Christian in its origin; whereas it is no more than +a reproduction of a cake marked with a cross which was duly offered in the +heathen temples to such living idols as the serpent and the bull. It was +made of flour, honey and milk, or oil, and at certain times was eaten with +much ceremony by both priests and people. + +There was also used in the Pagan times the monogram of a cross upon a +heart, the meaning of which was according to Egyptologists, "goodness." +"This figure," says Sir G. Wilkinson, "enclosed in a parallelogram, in +which form it would signify 'the abode of good,' was depicted or +sculptured upon the front of several houses in Memphis and Thebes." + +A very ancient Phoenician medal was found many years ago in the ruins of +Citium, on which were inscribed the cross, the rosary, and the lamb. An +engraving of this may be seen in Higgins' _Celtic Druids_ and in Dr. +Clark's _Travels_. + +The connection of the cross with Paganism originally, and its ultimate +assumption by the Christian church, is curiously and strikingly brought +out by Tertullian in his _Apologeticus_ and _Ad Nationes_. These +treatises, we may observe, are so much alike that the former has sometimes +been regarded as a first draft of the latter, which is nearly double the +length. Probably, however, they are entirely different productions, one +being addressed to the general public and the other to the rulers and +magistrates. + +Charged with worshipping a cross, he says:--"As for him who affirms that +we are the priesthood of a cross, we shall claim him as our +co-religionist. A cross is in its material a sign of wood; amongst +yourselves also the object of worship is a wooden figure. Only, whilst +with you the figure is a human one, with us the wood is its own figure. +Never mind for the present what is the shape, provided the material is the +same; the form, too, is of no importance, if so be it be the actual body +of a god. If, however, there arises a question of difference on this +point, what, let me ask, is the difference between the Athenian Pallas or +the Pharia Ceres, and wood formed into a cross, when each is represented +by a rough stock without form, and by the merest rudiment of a statue of +unformed wood? Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an +erect position is a part of a cross, and indeed the greater portion of its +mass. But an entire cross is attributed to us, with its transverse beam, +of course, and its projecting seat. Now you have the less to excuse you, +for you dedicate to religion only a mutilated imperfect piece of wood, +while others consecrate to the sacred purpose a complete structure. The +truth however, after all, is that your religion is all cross, as I shall +show. You are indeed unaware that your gods in their origin have proceeded +from this hated cross. Now every image, whether carved out of wood or +stone, or molten in metal, or produced out of any other richer material, +must needs have had plastic hands engaged in its formation. Well then, +this modeller, before he did anything else, hit upon the form of a wooden +cross, because even our own body assumes as its natural position the +latent and concealed outline of a cross. Since the head rises upwards and +the back takes a straight direction and the shoulders project laterally, +if you simply place a man with his arms and hands out-stretched, you will +make the general outline of a cross. Starting then from this rudimental +form and prop, as it were, he applies a covering of clay, and so gradually +completes the limbs and forms the body, and covers the cross within with +the shape which he meant to impress upon the clay; then from this design, +with the help of compasses and leaden moulds, he has got all ready for his +image which is to be brought out into marble, or clay, or metal, or +whatever the material be of which he has determined to make his god. This +then is the process: after the cross-shaped frame the clay; after the clay +the god. In a well-understood routine the cross passes into a god through +the clayey medium. The cross then you consecrate, and from it the +consecrated deity begins to derive its origin. By way of example let us +take the case of a tree which grows up into a system of branches and +foliage, and is a reproduction of its own kind, whether it springs from +the kernel of an olive, or the stone of a peach, or a grain of pepper +which has been duly tempered under ground. Now if you transplant it or +take a cutting off its branches for another plant, to what will you +attribute what is produced by the propagation? Will it not be to the +grain, or the stone, or the kernel? Because as the third stage is +attributable to the second, and the second in like manner to the first, so +the third will have to be referred to the first, through the second as the +mean. We need not stay any longer in the discussion of this point, since +by a natural law every kind of produce throughout nature refers back its +growth to its original source; and just as the product is comprised in its +primal cause, so does that cause agree in character with the thing +produced. Since then, in the production of your gods, you worship the +cross which originates them, here will be the original kernel and grain +from which are propagated the wooden materials of your idolatrous images. +Examples are not far to seek. Your victories you celebrate with religious +ceremony as deities, and they are more august in proportion to the joy +they bring you. The frames on which you hang up your crosses--these are as +it were the very core of your pageants. Thus in your victories the +religion of your camp makes even crosses objects of worship; your +standards it adores, your standards are the sanction of its oaths, your +standards it prefers before Jupiter himself. But all that parade of images +and that display of pure gold, are as so many necklaces of the crosses. In +like manner also in the banners and ensigns, which your soldiers guard +with no less sacred care, you have the streamers and vestments of your +crosses. You are ashamed, I suppose, to worship unadorned and simple +crosses." + +We give this passage at length because it emphasises what we are urging in +connection with this subject, viz., that the cross is common to both +Christianity and Paganism, that the latter possessed it ages before the +former, and is therefore more likely to have originated it. We speak with +some reserve on this latter point for want of proper and full evidence. It +may of course be possible that in a purer and more enlightened age the +cross was known and used; we shall probably, however, find our researches +stop short in Pagan times, in which we shall have to look for the +generally recognised meaning of the symbol. + +It is remarkable in the quotation just made, that Tertullian never +attempts to refute the charge brought by the Pagans against the Christians +of his time of worshipping the cross; he merely retaliates by asserting +that they did the very same thing in a somewhat different manner. "As for +him," he says, "who affirms that we are the priesthood of a cross, we +shall claim him as our co-religionist.... What, let me ask, is the +difference between the Athenian Pallas or the Pharian Ceres, and wood +formed into a cross?" + +He further identifies himself and his religion with the Pagans in this +particular by saying:--"In all our movements, our travels, our going out +and coming in, putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in +lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down: whatever employment +occupies us, we mark our forehead with the sign of the cross." How much +all this reminds us of the universality of the symbol in pre-Christian +times. We can scarcely point to an age or to a century in which it did not +in some way enter into its history, its theology, its social and domestic +life. Again and again have monuments been discovered which put the date of +its use further back than had been imagined, and some have been brought to +light which carry the story back into very remote antiquity indeed. In the +wilds of Central India, for instance, a little over twenty years back, the +late Mr. Mulheran, C.E., discovered two of the oldest crosses ever met +with. They were granite monoliths, perfect in structure, and very much +like those to be found here and there in the western parts of Cornwall. +One was ten feet nine inches in height, and the other eight feet six +inches; each being in the midst of a group of cairns and cromlechs or +dolmens, which Colonel Taylor describes as similar in character to some +which he formerly surveyed near the village of Rajunkolloor, within the +Principality of Shorapoor, in the Deccan. Their extreme antiquity is +inferred from the fact, as stated by the European officer who first +discovered them, that the vicinity of the groups of cromlechs and crosses +had, at some remote period, been cultivated; that parts of the hills had +been cut into terraces, and supported by large stone banks or walls; but +that the country for miles in every direction was, and had been for +centuries and centuries, entirely uninhabited, and was grown over with +dense forests. It has been estimated that, as this elevated and +long-neglected region has been the possession of the low castes, or +non-Aryan helots, from time immemorial, we may confidently assume that the +monoliths in question were erected by the aboriginal population of the +soil--a population which was driven, not improbably three thousand years, +at the least, before the advent of Christ, from the richer plains below by +the first Aryan invader who had crossed the five streams, and found a +temporary refuge in the nearest range of hills to the west of Chandar, +until another foe--the Mogul--appeared upon the scene, and finally subdued +both the conqueror and his victims. "Here then," says a reviewer, "amongst +these now fragmentary people from the debris of a widely-spread primeval +race (to borrow a phrase from a recent writer on the non-Aryan languages +of the Continent), we find the symbol of the cross, not only expressing +the same mystery as in all other parts of the world, but its erection, +doubtless, dating from one of the very earliest migrations of our +species." It is impossible to adduce any clearer or stronger proof of its +primitive antiquity than this. + +It has been suggested by some writers, who, for some reason or other, +objected to the recognition of the cross as an emblem of great antiquity, +that the stone structures which were erected in the British Islands by the +Druids, Saxons, and Danes, owed their cruciform character to the +necessities of the situation rather than to any other cause; that the +stones were placed across each other as a matter of mere convenience, and +not with the view of forming a cross, and that these monuments, which +served as instruments of Druidical superstition before the implanting of +the Gospel in Britain, were afterwards appropriated to the use of +Christian memorials by being formed in the figure of a cross or marked +with this emblem. It is admitted, of course, that those cruciform +structures were thus appropriated, but of what use will it be to repudiate +the antiquity of examples whose age has been far surpassed in other parts +of the world. The crosses of India, just alluded to, remain to be +accounted for, and even when they have been as summarily disposed of as +the British ones, there are the crosses suspended from the necks of the +Assyrian kings, whose existence cannot possibly be accounted for by the +above hypothesis. It was not necessity or convenience that designed a +Maltese cross, a thousand years before the Christian era, of precisely the +same form as that which is worn by men and women in this nineteenth +century, nor probably was it a merely ornamental taste; we are rather +disposed to believe that the secret lies in the symbolical meaning, which +has ever been attached to the form. + +The universality of the cross as a religious symbol is certainly a most +astounding fact, and the more so because it has evidently always +represented the same fundamental idea in connection with the theological +systems, in all ages, of the Old and New Worlds. If but one of these +mythologies possessed it, there might be little difficulty in tracing out +the significance of the coincidence between its existence there and in +Christian theology, but prevailing as it does universally, and destined as +it is to retain its connection with the religion of man, it excites +feelings of the most profound wonderment and surprise. Lipsius and other +early writers, in reference to this matter, declared their sincere belief +that the numerous cruciform figures to be found on the monuments of +antiquity were of a typical character, and expressed a sentiment which +looked forward to the cross of Christ; a few others doubted this, and +suggested difficulties, while Gibbon ridiculed the whole matter, as it +thus stood, from beginning to end. The belief, however, that the cross in +Pagan lands was in some incomprehensible manner connected with the same +object or idea as in the Christian church was not easily got rid of, and +was considerably deepened by the testimony of missionaries to the New +World that amongst people of apparently different origin and of altogether +different attributes, the cross was common as an object of worship and +veneration. So universal has the presence of this symbol and its attendant +worship been found that it has been said to form a complete zone about the +habitable globe, extending as it does from Assyria into Egypt, and India, +and Anahuac, in their ruined temples; to the pyramidal structures of East +and West, and to those in Polynesia, especially the islands of Tonga, +Viti, and Easter; "as it appears upon numberless vases, medals, and coins +of the earliest known types, centuries anterior to the introduction of +Christianity; and as its teaching is expressed in the concordant customs, +rites, and traditions of former nations and communities, who were widely +separated from, and for the most part ignorant of, the existence of each +other, and who possessed, so far as we are aware, no other emblematical +figure in common." Egypt, Assyria, Britain, India, China, Scandinavia, the +two Americas--all were alike its home, and in all of them was there +analogy in the teaching respecting its meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + _Forms of the Cross--Ancient Maltese Cross--Phallic Character of some + Crosses--Offensive Forms of the Cross in Etruscan and Pompeian + Monuments--Thor's Battle-axe--The Buddhist Cross--Indian Crosses--The + Fylfot or Four-footed Cross--Danish Poem of the Thors of + Asgard--Legend of Thor's Loss of his Golden Hammer--Original Meaning + of these Crosses--Reception of Christianity amongst the Britons--Plato + and the Cross--The Mexican Tree of Life--Rain Makers--The + Winds--Various Meanings attributed to the Cross--The Crux + Ansata--Phallic Attributes--Coins, Gaulish and Jewish--Roman + Coins--The Lake Dwellings--The Cross in the Patriarchal Age._ + + +In studying the origin and signification of the pre-Christian cross, we, +naturally of course, turn our attention to the forms in which it is +delineated; these are both numerous and varied--so varied indeed that a +writer, some years ago, in the _Edinburgh Review_ stated that his +commonplace-book contained nearly two hundred representations, which he +had found combined as often as not with other emblems of a sacred +character, and which had been collected from all parts of the world. We +may notice a few of the principal which are really, generally speaking, +types of all. + +Most people are familiar with the Maltese cross--that consisting of four +triangles meeting in a central circle, or as it is generally described, +the cross with the four delta-like arms conjoined to or issuing from the +nave of a wheel or a diminutive circle. It derives its name from its +discovery on the island of Malta, and from its adoption by the Knights of +St. John for their coat-of-arms. There is no doubt it is one of the most +ancient forms of the cross we are acquainted with, as it is found, as we +have already stated, on the sculptures of the Assyrian monarchs long +before the Christian era, and may be seen on the sculptures in the +British Museum. In some of the Nineveh monuments representing +subject-people bringing tribute to the king, it occurs in the form of +ear-rings. + +In Assyria, it is believed to have been the emblem of royalty, as it is +found on the breasts of the most powerful of the rulers. As it was known +originally in Malta, it was of a very different character to the ornament +worn either by the Assyrian monarch or by the modern inhabitants of +civilised nations. It was indeed of so gross a character, that the Knights +of St. John soon set to work to make something more decent of +it--something which while not altogether discarding the old form, should +yet be inoffensive to the eye of the more modest onlooker. It was made up, +in fact, of four gigantic phalli carved out of the solid granite, similar +to the form in which it is found in the island of Gozyo, and on some of +the Etruscan and Pompeian monuments. + +The reason why it assumed a phallic character in the locality which gives +it its name, is not perhaps clear, but the study of Assyrian antiquities +has revealed the meaning attached to it in the palmy days of Nineveh and +Babylon; it referred to the four great gods of the Assyrian pantheon--Ra, +and the first triad--Ana, Belus, and Hea; and when inserted in a roundlet, +as may be seen in the British Museum, it signified Sansi, or the sun +ruling the earth as well as the heavens. It was therefore the symbol of +royalty and dominion, which accounts for its presence on the breasts of +kings. + +On the Etruscan and Pompeian monuments generally, this cross is as gross +and offensive in form as in ancient Malta, but it is found in a character +as unobjectionable as in Assyria, on the official garments of the Etruscan +priesthood. It has been found in Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Sicily; and Dr. +Schliemann discovered many examples of it (with other crosses) on the +vases which he dug from the seat of ancient Troy. It was also found in +what was described as a "magnificent cruciform mosaic pavement, discovered +about thirty years ago in the ruins of a Gallo-Roman villa at Pont d'Oli +(Pons Aulae), near Pau, in the Basses-Pyrenees, accompanied by several +other varieties of the cross, including the St. George and the St. Andrew, +all glowing in colours richly dight, and surrounding a colossal bust of +Proteus, settled in the midst of his sea monsters." + +The cross generally regarded as the most notable type of that emblem, +because it is said to have figured in the religious systems of more +peoples than any other, is that known as "Thor's hammer," or "Thor's +battle-axe." It may, perhaps, also be set down as the most ancient of the +crosses--how many years back it dates we cannot say, several thousands +evidently. It consisted of the last letter of the Samaritan alphabet, the +tau or tav in its decussated or most primitive form, and may be described, +as it has been sometimes, as a _cruciform hammer_. + +It derived its name from being borne in the hand of Thor, as the +all-powerful instrument by means of which his deeds recorded in the Eddas +were accomplished. "It was venerated by the heroes of the north as the +magical sign which thwarted the power of death over those who bore it; and +the Scandinavian devotee placed it upon his horn of mead before raising it +to his lips, no doubt for the purpose of imparting to it the life-giving +virtues." To this hour it is employed by the women of India and of the +north-eastern parts of Africa as a mark of possession or taboo, which they +generally impress upon the vessels containing their stores of grain, &c. + +A writer in the _Edinburgh Review_ of January, 1870, hazards the opinion +that this was the mark which the prophet was commanded to impress upon the +foreheads of the faithful in Judah, as recorded in Ezekiel ix. 4. He gives +no reason or authority for this statement, but probably derived it from +St. Jerome and others of his time, who said that the letter _tau_ was +that which was ordered to be placed on the foreheads of those mourners. +Jerome says that the Hebrew letter _tau_ was formerly written like a +cross. + +As to the name of this cross, the popular designation is clearly a +mistake, since its origin dates back centuries before the mythology of the +north was developed. In India it was known as the swastika of the +Buddhists, and served as the monograms of Vishnu and Siva. Such are its +associations and uses at the present day, and, no doubt, they have been +the same from the very advent of the religions of these respective +deities. The enquirer has, however, not even here measured the limit of +its antiquity, for in China it was known as the Leo-tsen long before the +Sakya-Buddha era, and was portrayed upon the walls of their pagodas and +upon the lanterns used to illumine their most sacred precints. It has ever +been the symbol of their heaven. In the great temple of Rameses II., at +Thebes, it is represented frequently with such associations as +conclusively prove that its significance was the same in the land of the +Nile as in China. All over the East it is the magic symbol of the Buddhist +heaven; the chief ornament on the sceptres and crowns of the Bompa deities +of Thibet, who dispute the palm of antiquity with all other divinities; +and is beautifully pressed in the Artee, or musical bell, borne by the +figure of Balgovina, the herald or messenger of heaven. The universality +of the use of this symbol is proved by its prevalence as well in Europe as +in Asia and Africa. Among the Etruscans it was used as a religious sign, +as is shown by its appearance on urns exhumed from ancient lake-beds +situated between Parma and Pacenza. Those taken from the Lacustrine +cemeteries are thought to date back to 1000 B.C. On the terra-cotta vases +of Alba Longa the same sign is impressed, and served as the symbol of +Persephone, the awful queen of the shades, the arbiter of mortal fate; +while on the roll of the Roman soldier it was the sign of life. On the +old Runic monuments it is ever present. Even in Scotland it is found on +sculptured stones of unknown age. The most numerous examples of this form, +however, are found in the sculptures of Khorsabad, and in the ivories from +Nimroud; here occur almost all the known varieties. It has been observed, +too, in Persia; and is used to this day in Northern India to mark the jars +of sacred water taken from the Indus and Ganges. It is especially esteemed +by the inhabitants of Southern India as the emblem of disembodied Jaina +saints. Very remarkable illustrations of it, carved in the most durable +rock, and inserted in the exterior walls of temples and other edifices of +Mexico and Central America, also occur, which may be seen in Lord +Kingsborough's _Mexican Antiquities_. It is found on innumerable coins and +medals of all times and of all peoples; from the rude mintages of Aegina +and Sicily, as well as from the more skilful hands of the Bactrian and +Continental Greeks. It is noteworthy, too, in reference to its extreme +popularity, or superstitious veneration in which it has been almost +universally held, that the cross-patee, or cruciform hammer, was one of +the very last of purely pagan symbols which were religiously preserved in +Europe long after the establishment of Christianity. To the close of the +Middle Ages the stole, or Isian mantle, of the Cistercian monk was usually +adorned with it; and men wore it suspended from their necklaces in +precisely the same manner as did the vestal-virgins of pagan Rome. It may +be seen upon the bells of many of our parish churches in the northern, +midland, and eastern counties, as at Appleby, Mexborough, Hathersage, +Waddington, Bishop's Norton, West Barkwith, and other places, where it was +placed as a magical sign to subdue the vicious spirit of the tempest. It +is said to be still used for the like purpose, during storms of wind and +rain, by the peasantry in Iceland and in the southern parts of +Germany.[2] + +This cross is also known as the "Fylfot," or "Fytfot" (four-footed cross), +or "Gammadion"--"the dissembled cross under the discipline of the secret." +Jewitt, who has written in an interesting manner upon the subject, +supports what we have already stated in the foregoing pages with the +observation that this is one of the most singular, most ancient, and most +interesting of the whole series of crosses. Some say it is composed of +four gammas, conjoined in the centre, which as numerals expressed the Holy +Trinity, and by its rectangular form symbolised the chief corner-stone of +the Church. We mentioned that it was known in India as the swastika of the +Buddhists; we note further that it is said to be formed of the two words +"su" (well) and "asti" (it is), meaning "it is," or "it is well;" equal to +"so be it," and implying complete resignation. "From this the Swastikas, +the opponents of the Brahmins, who denied the immortality of the soul, and +affirmed that its existence was finite and connected only with the body +upon earth, received their name; their monogrammatic enblem, or symbol, +being the mystic cross formed by the combination of two syllables, _su_ + +_ti_ = _suti_, or swasti."[3] + +The connection of this cross with Thor, the Thunderer, is not without its +signification and importance, in considering the forms and origin of these +emblems and their transmission from the Pagan to the Christian world. Thor +was said to be the bravest of the sons of Odin, or Woden, and Fria, or +Friga, the goddess of earth. (From Thor, of course, we get our Thursday; +from Woden, Wednesday; and from Friga, Friday). "He was believed to be of +the most marvellous power and might; yea, and that there were no people +throughout the whole world that were not subjected unto him, and did not +owe him divine honour and service; and that there was no puissance +comparable to his. His dominion of all others most farthest extending +itself, both in heaven and earth. That, in the aire he governed the winds +and the clouds; and being displeased did cause lightning, thunder, and +tempest, with excessive raine, haile, and all ill weather. But being well +pleased by the adoration, sacrifice, and service of his suppliants, he +then bestowed upon them most faire and seasonable weather; and caused +corne abundantly to grow, as all sorts of fruits, &c., and kept away the +plague and all other evil and infectious diseases." + +Thor's emblem was a hammer of gold, represented as a fylfot, and with it +he destroyed his enemies the Jotuns, crushed the head of the great Mitgard +serpent, killed numbers of giants, restored the dead goats to life that +drew his car, and consecrated the pyre of Baldur. This hammer, boomerang +like, had the property, when thrown, of striking the object aimed at and +then returning to the thrower's hand. Mr. Jewitt thinks we have, in this, +a curious insight into the origin of the form of the emblem itself. He +says:--"I have remarked that the fylfot is sometimes described as being +formed of four gammas conjoined in the centre. When the form of the +boomerang--a missile instrument of barbaric nations, much the shape of the +letter =V= with a rounded instead of acute bottom, which, on being thrown, +slowly ascends in the air, whirling round and round, till it reaches a +considerable height, and then returns until it finally sweeps over the +head of the thrower and strikes the ground behind him--is taken into +consideration, and the traditional returning power of the hammer is +remembered in connection with it, the fylfot may surely be not +inappropriately described as a figure composed of four boomerangs, +conjoined in the centre. This form of fylfot is not uncommon in early +examples, and even on a very ancient specimen of Chinese porcelain it +occurs at the angles of the pattern--it is the ordinary fylfot, with the +angles curved or rounded. + +Ancient literature abounds in curious and sensational stories about the +wonders accomplished by Thor with the assistance of this hammer. Once he +lost his weapon, or tool, and with it his power, by stratagem however he +regained both. + +The Danish poem, called the "Thorr of Asgard," as translated by De Prior, +says:-- + + "There rode the mighty of Asgard, Thor, + His journey across the plain; + And there his hammer of gold he lost, + And sought so long in vain. + + 'Twas then the mighty of Asgard, Thor, + His brother his bidding told-- + Up thou and off to the Northland Fell, + And seek my hammer of gold. + + He spake, and Loki, the serving-man, + His feathers upon him drew; + And launching over the salty sea, + Away to the Northland flew." + +Greeting the Thusser king, he informed him of the cause of his visit, +viz., that Thor had lost his golden hammer. Then the king replied that +Thor would never again see his hammer until he had given him the maiden +Fredenborg to wife. Loki took back this message to Thor, who disguised +himself as the maiden in woman's clothes, and was introduced to the king +as his future bride. After expressing his astonishment at the wonderful +appetite of the maiden, he ordered eight strong men to bring in the hammer +and lay it across the lap of the bride. Thor immediately threw off his +disguise and seized the hammer, with which, after he had slain the king, +he returned home. + +The fylfot cross is frequently found on Roman pottery in various parts of +England, as for instance on the famous Colchester vase, on which is +depicted a gladiatorial combat, the cross being distinctly marked on the +shields of the combatants. Another fine example is found on a Roman altar +of Minerva at High Rochester. "The constant use of the symbol," says +Jewitt, "through so many ages, and by so many and such varied peoples, +gives it an importance which is peculiarly striking." + +To sum up this part of the subject then, we have amongst numerous others +the following chief forms of the cross common in all parts of the world. +The Latin, a long upright with shorter cross beam; the Greek, an upright +and bar of equal lengths; the St. Andrews, in the form of a letter =X=; +the Maltese, four triangles conjoined to a circular centre; the Hammer of +Thor; and the Crux Ansata, or handled cross. + +The question now arises, what was the origin or original meaning of these +crosses? Uninformed Christians are generally under the impression that all +refer to one and the same thing, viz., the instrument of the death of +Jesus Christ: historical evidence just produced, however, clearly +disproves that, and what we may say further will add additional weight to +the argument. + +It has been noticed that the Britons received Christianity with remarkable +readiness, and this has been attributed to the following among other +circumstances, viz., the impression which they held in common with the +Platonists and Pythagoreans, that the Second Person of the Deity was +imprinted on the universe in the form of a cross. We have already +explained that the Druids in their groves were accustomed to select the +most stately and beautiful tree as an emblem of the Deity they adored, and +having cut off the side branches, affixed two of them to the highest part +of the trunk in such a manner as that those branches, extending on each +side like the arms of a man, together with the body, should present to the +spectator the appearance of a huge cross, and that on the bark of the +tree, in various places, was actually inscribed the letter =T=,--Tau. + +"Some have gone so far as to suppose a Celtic origin for the word cross, +and have derived it from _Crugh_ and _Cruach_, which signify a cross in +that language, though others suppose these have a much more probable +origin in the Hebrew and Chaldee. _Chrussh_, signifies boards or pieces of +timber fastened together, as we should say, cross-wise; the word is so +used in Exodus xxvii. 6. This seems a very natural and probable etymology +for the term, but it may also allude more to the agony suffered on such an +erection, and then its origin perhaps may be traced to Chrutz, +'agitation.' This word also means to be 'kneaded,' and broken to pieces +like clay in the hands of a potter. Chrotshi, in Chaldee, we are told by +Parkhurst, means accusations, charges, revilings, reproach, all of them +terms applied to Jesus Christ in his sufferings. Pliny shows that the +punishment of the cross among the Romans was as old as Tarquinus Priscus; +how much older it is perhaps difficult to say. + +"Plato, born 430 years before Christ, had advocated the idea of a Trinity, +and had expressed an opinion that the form of the Second Person of it was +stamped upon the universe in the form of a cross. St. Augustine goes so +far as to say that it was by means of the Platonic system that he was +enabled to understand properly the doctrine of the Trinity." + +Perhaps, originally, the cross had but one meaning, whatever its form; it +is probable that it was so. However that may be, it is certain that as +time went on and its form varied, different significations were attached +to it. It represented creative power and eternity in Egypt, Assyria, and +Britain; it was emblematical of heaven and immortality in India, China, +and Scandinavia; it was the sign of freedom from physical suffering in the +Americas; all over the world it symbolised the Divine Unity--resurrection +and life to come. + +"In the Mexican tongue it bore the significant and worthy name, 'Tree of +our Life,' or 'Tree of our Flesh.' It represented the god of rains and of +health, and this was everywhere its simple meaning. 'Those of Yucatan,' +say the chroniclers, 'prayed to the cross as the god of rains when they +needed water.' The Aztec goddess of rains bore one in her hand, and at the +feast celebrated to her honour in the early spring (as we have previously +noted) victims were nailed to a cross and shot with arrows. Quetzalcoatl, +god of the winds, bore as his sign of office a mace like the cross of a +bishop; his robe was covered with them strewn like flowers, and its +adoration was throughout connected with his worship." + +We have mentioned that "when the Muyscas would sacrifice to the goddess of +waters, they extended cords across the tranquil depths of some lake, thus +forming a gigantic cross, and that at the point of intersection threw in +their offerings of gold, emeralds and precious oils. The arms of the cross +were designed to point to the cardinal points, and represent the four +winds, the rain bringers. To confirm this explanation, let us have +recourse to the simpler ceremonies of the less cultivated tribes, and see +the transparent meaning of the symbol as they employed it. + +"When the rain maker of the Lenni Lenape would exert his power, he retired +to some secluded spot and drew upon the earth the figure of a cross, +placed upon it a piece of tobacco, a gourd, a bit of some red stuff, and +commenced to cry aloud to the spirits of the rains. The Creeks at the +festival of the Busk, celebrated to the four winds, and according to the +legends instituted by them, commenced with making the new fire. The manner +of this was to place four logs in the centre of the square, end to end, +forming a cross, the outer ends pointing to the cardinal points; in the +centre of the cross the new fire is made."[4] + +"As the emblem of the winds which disperse the fertilising showers," says +Brinton, "it is emphatically the tree of our life, our subsistence, and +our health. It never had any other meaning in America, and if, as has been +said, the tombs of the Mexicans were cruciform, it was perhaps with +reference to a resurrection and a future life as portrayed under this +symbol, indicating that the buried body would rise by the action of the +four spirits of the world, as the buried seed takes on a new existence +when watered by the vernal showers. It frequently recurs in the ancient +Egyptian writings, where it is interpreted _life_; doubtless, could we +trace the hieroglyph to its source, it would likewise prove to be derived +from the four winds."[5] + +The Buddhist cross to which allusion has been made was exactly the cross +of the Manicheans, with leaves and flowers springing from it, and placed +upon a Mount Calvary as among the Roman Catholics. The tree of life and +knowledge, or the Jambu tree, in their maps of the world, is always +represented in the shape of a Manichean cross 84 yojanas, or 423 miles +high, including the three steps of the Calvary. This cross, putting forth +leaves and flowers (and fruit also, Captain Wilford was informed), is +called the divine tree, the tree of the gods, the tree of life and +knowledge, and productive of whatever is good and desirable, and is placed +in the terrestrial Paradise. Agapius, according to Photius, maintained +that this divine tree, in Paradise, was Christ himself. In their +delineation of the heavens, the globe of the earth is filled with this +cross and its Calvary. The divines of Thibet, says Captain Wilford, place +it to the S.W. of Meru, towards the source of the Ganges. The Manicheans +always represented Christ crucified upon a tree, among the foliage. The +Christians of India, though they did not admit of images, still +entertained the greatest veneration for the cross. They placed it on a +Calvary in public places and at the meeting of cross roads, and even the +heathen Hindus in these parts paid also great regard to it. + +Captain Wilford was presented by a learned Buddhist with a book, called +the Cshetra-samasa, which contained several drawings of the cross. Some of +these his friend was unable to explain to him, but whatever the variations +of the cross were in other particulars, they were declared to be +invariable as regards the shaft and two arms; the Calvary was sometimes +omitted. One of these crosses seemed to puzzle the Buddhist completely, or +he would not say either what he thought or knew about it. It consisted of +the ordinary cross with shaft and cross-bar, pointed at the ends, but with +two other bars intersecting the right angles formed by the shaft and +cross-bar, thus giving six points. No one can look at this cross, and not +at once discern its phallic character. Some writers affect to laugh at +this, but we have ample evidence that at times such a meaning has been +attributed to the cross. In connection with this, Dr. Inman makes some +remarks which we shall do well to consider, whether we receive them or +not; there may be nothing in them, and there may be much. He says:--"There +can be no doubt, I think, in the mind of any student of antiquity, that +the cross is not originally a Christian emblem; nay, the very fact that +the cross was used as a means of executing criminals shows that its form +was familiar to Jews and Romans. It was used partly as an ornament, and +partly in certain forms of religious worship. The simple cross, with +perpendicular and transverse arms of equal length, represented the nave +and spokes of the solar wheel, or the sun darting his rays on all sides. +As the wheel became fantastically developed so did the cross, and each +limb became so developed at the outer end as to symbolise the triad. +Sometimes the idea was very coarsely represented; and I have seen, amongst +some ancient Etruscan remains, a cross formed of four phalli of equal +length, their narrow end pointing inwards; and in the same work another +was portrayed, in which the phallus was made of inordinate length so as +to support the others high up from the ground; each was in itself a triad. +The same form of cross was probably used by the Phoenicians, who appear to +have colonised Malta at a very early period of their career; for they have +left a form of it behind them in the shape of a cross similar to that +described above, but which has been toned down by the moderns, who could +not endure the idea of an union between grossness and the crucifix, and +the phalli became as innocent as we see them in the Maltese cross of +to-day." + +So many traces of the cross, as used in ancient times in all parts of the +world, meet us on every hand that we find it difficult within the limited +space at our command even to enumerate them; we have already traversed in +our account a greater part of the known world, and still vast numbers of +instances remain unnoticed. Almost as varied as its principal forms are +the explanations offered respecting its origin and significance. We are +told by some that for its origin we must go to the Buddhists and to the +Lama of Thibet, who is said to take his name from the cross, called in his +language Lamh. Higgins quotes Vallence as saying that the Tartars call the +cross Lama, from the Scythian Lamh, a hand, synonymous to the Yod of the +Chaldeans; and that it thus became the name of a cross, and of the high +priest with the Tartars; and with the Irish, Luarn, signifying the head of +the church, an abbot, &c. + +The last form of cross to which we shall here allude is that known as the +Crux Ansata, or Handled Cross. Whatever may be the signification of that +instrument, or ornament, it is certain that no other has ever been so +variously explained, or has been so successful in puzzling those who have +sought to give it a meaning. Some have said it was a Nilometer, or measure +of the rise of the Nile; one--a bishop--thought it was a setting stick for +planting roots; another said it represented the Law of Gravitation. Don +Martin said it was a winnowing fan; Herwart said it was a compass; Pococke +said it represented the four elements. Others, again, suggest that it may +be only a key. "It opened," says Borwick, "the door of the sacred chest. +It revealed hidden things. It was the hope of life to come." And he +continues, "However well the cross fit the mathematical lock, the phallic +lock, the gnostic lock, the philosophical lock, the religious lock, it is +quite likely that this very ancient and almost universal symbol was at +first a secret in esoteric holding, to the meaning of which, with all our +guessing, we have no certain clue." + +This cross has certainly a most remarkable connection with the ancient +history of Egypt, being found universally represented on the monuments, +the tombs, the walls, and the wrapping cloths of the dead; hence, +evidently, the idea that it is peculiarly Egyptian and its ascription of +"Key of the Nile." From Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Ruffinus, we +learn that it was known to the Egyptian Christians at the close of the +fourth century as the symbol of eternal life. Later on, Dr. Max Uhlman +wrote, "that the handle cross means _life_, is manifest from the Rosetta +inscription and other texts." Zoeckler, another German author, notices the +opinion of Macrobius that it was the hieroglyphic sign of Osiris, or the +sun, it being a fact that when the ancient Egyptians wished to symbolise +Osiris, they set up a staff with an eye upon it, because in antiquity the +sun was known as the eye of God, and then claims that the round portion +represented the orb of the sun, the perpendicular bar signifying the rays +of the high mid-day sun, and the shorter horizontal bar symbolising the +rays of the rising or setting sun. The discovery of this emblem by M. +Mariette in a niche of the holy of holies in the ancient temple of +Denderah, points significantly to its importance and peculiar sacredness, +and it has been thought probable that it was the central object of +interest in the inner precincts of the temple. + +It seems that the Egyptian priests, when asked for an explanation of this +cross, evaded the question by replying that the Tau was a "_divine +mystery_." + +However varied the explanations offered may be, and whatever the mystery +said to surround this object, the feature always remains,--its +symbolisation of life and regeneration. From this, its phallic character +was very easily inferred--its derivation from the _lingam-yoni_ symbol, +said Barlow, seemed a very natural process. The junction of the yoni with +the cross, in Dr. Inman's judgment, sufficiently proved that it had a +phallic or male signification; a conclusion which certain unequivocal +Etruscan remains fully confirmed. "We conclude, therefore," says this +writer, "that the ancient cross was an emblem of the belief in a male +creator, and the method by which creation was initiated." + +Not the least remarkable exemplification of the universal prevalence of +the cross both as to time and country, is found amongst coins and medals: +here as in other things it is ever prominent. Take the ancient Gaulish +coins, for instance, and the fylfot and ordinary Greek cross abound; take +the ancient British coins of the age long prior to Christianity, and the +same thing occurs. "On Scandinavian coins, as well as those of Gaul, the +fylfot cross appears, as it also does on those of Syracuse, Corinth, and +Chalcedon. On the coins of Byblos, Astarte is represented holding a long +staff, surmounted by a cross, and resting her foot on the prow of a +galley. On the coins of Asia Minor, the cross is also to be found. It +occurs as the reverse of a silver coin, supposed to be of Cyprus, on +several Cilician coins; it is placed beneath the throne of Baal of Tarsus, +on a Phoenician coin of that time, bearing the legend 'Baal Tharz.' A +medal possibly of the same place, with partially obliterated Phoenician +characters, has the cross occupying the entire field of the reverse side. +Several, with inscriptions in unknown characters, have a ram on one side +and the cross and ring on the other. Another has the sacred bull, +accompanied by this symbol; others have a lion's head on obverse, and a +cross and circle on the reverse."[6] + +Strangely enough, even Jewish money is marked with this emblem, the shekel +bearing on one side what is usually called a triple lily or hyacinth; the +same forming a pretty floral cross. + +On Roman coins the cross was of very frequent occurrence, and +illustrations of good examples may be seen in the pages of the _Art +Journal_ for the year 1874. An engraving of the _quincunx_, or piece of +five _unciae_, is given, bearing on one side a cross, a =V=, and five +pellets; and on the other a cross only. This is an example of the earlier +periods; of course when we come to the later periods the emblem is still +more frequent. These coins are often found in ancient graves and +sarcophagi, and these latter again supply examples of various familiar +forms of crosses of very remote antiquity,--not simply the adornment of +coffin and gravecloths, but the actual construction of the tomb or +grave-mound in that form. Fine specimens of these have been discovered at +Stoney-Littleton, at New Grange, at Banwell, Somerset, at Adisham, at +Hereford, at Helperthorpe, and in the Isle of Lewis. + +"Before the Romans, long before the Etruscans, there lived in the plains +of northern Italy a people to whom the cross was a religious symbol, the +sign beneath which they laid their dead to rest; a people of whom history +tells nothing, knowing not their name, but of whom antiquarian research +has learned this, that they lived in ignorance of the laws of +civilisation, that they dwelt in villages built on platforms over lakes, +and that they trusted in the cross to guard, and may be to revive their +loved ones whom they committed to the dust. Throughout Emilia are found +remains of these people; these remains form quarries whence manure is dug +by the peasants of the present day. These quarries go by the name of +_terramares_. They are vast accumulations of cinders, charcoal, bones, +fragments of pottery, and other remains of human industry. As this earth +is very rich in phosphates it is much appreciated by agriculturists as a +dressing for their land. In these _terramares_ there are no human bones. +The fragments of earthenware belong to articles of domestic use; with them +are found querns, moulds for metal, portions of cabin floors, and great +quantities of kitchen refuse. They are deposits analogous to those which +have been discovered in Denmark and Switzerland. The metal discovered in +the majority of these _terramares_ is bronze; the remains belong to three +distinct ages. In the first none of the fictile ware was turned on the +wheel or fire-baked. Sometimes these deposits exhibit an advance of +civilisation. Iron came into use, and with it the potter's wheel was +discovered, and the earthenware was put in the furnace. When in the same +quarry these two epochs are found, the remains of the second age are +always superposed over those of the bronze age. A third period is +occasionally met with, but only occasionally; a period when a rude art +introduced itself, and representatives of animals or human beings adorned +the pottery. Among the remains of this period is found the first trace of +money, rude little bronze fragments without shape. + +"Among other remains in these lake-dwellings, pottery has been in many +cases found, and these vessels bear, on the bottom, crosses of various +forms, as well also curious solid double cones. That which characterises +the cemeteries of Golasecca, says M. de Mortillet, and gives them their +highest interest, is this:--first, the entire absence of all organic +representations; we only found three and they were exceptional, in tombs +not belonging to the plateau; secondly, the almost invariable presence of +the cross under the vases in the tombs. When we reversed the ossuaries, +the saucer-lids, or the accessory vases, we saw almost always, if in good +preservation, a cross traced thereon ... the examination of the tombs of +Golasecca proves, in a most convincing, positive, and precise manner, that +which the _terramares_ of Emilia had only indicated, but which had been +confirmed by the cemetery of Villanova; that above a thousand years before +Christ, the cross was already a religious emblem of frequent +employment."[7] + +"There is every reason to suppose that the cross was a symbol of more +import in the early patriarchal ages than is generally imagined. It was +not only the _first letter_, but it was also the emblem, of Taut, the +Mercury, the word, the messenger of the gods, the angel, as we may say, of +his presence, himself a god among the Egyptians and the Britons, whose god +Teutates was analagous both in name and nature; a winged messenger. M. Le +Clerc, one of the ablest mythologists who ever wrote, has shown that the +Teutates of the Gauls, the Hermes of the Greeks, the Mercury of the +Romans, were all one and the same. + +The Ethiopic letter _Taui_, or _Taw_, says Lowth, still retains the form +of a cross, =X=; and the Samaritan =T=, which the Ethiopians are said to +have borrowed from the Samaritans, was in the form of a =X= cross. In +several Samaritan coins, says Montfaucon, to be found in the collections +of medallists, the letter Tau is engraved in the form of a cross, or Greek +Chi, and he gives as his authority Origen and Jerome. + +The Jewish High-priest, we are informed by the Rabbis, was anointed on his +investiture, while he who anointed him drew on his forehead with his +finger the figure of the Greek letter Chi, =X=."[8] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + _Heathen Ideas of a Trinity--The Magi--Ancient Theologies--The Indian + Trinity--The Sculptures of Elephanta--The Sacred Zennar--Temples + consecrated to Indian Trinities--The Greek Trident--Attributes of + Brahm--The Hindu Meru--Narayana--The Trimurti--Gods of Egypt._ + + +"Many of the heathens are said to have had a notion of a Trinity," wrote a +contributor to an encyclopaedia, some eighty years ago. Now that altogether +fails to reach the truth, for heathen nations are known to scholars to +have had very definite ideas indeed about a sacred Triad; in fact, as +another writer has said, there is nothing in all theology more deeply +grounded, or more generally allowed by them, than the mystery of the +Trinity. The Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, both in their +writings and their oracles, acknowledged that the Supreme Being had +begotten another Being from all eternity, whom they sometimes called the +Son of God, sometimes the Word, sometimes the Mind, and sometimes the +Wisdom of God, and asserted to be the Creator of all things. + +Among the sayings of the Magi, the descendants of Zoroaster, was one as +follows:--"The Father finished all things, and delivered them to the +Second Mind." + +We learn from Dr. Cudworth that, besides the inferior gods generally +received by all the Pagans (viz.: animated stars, demons, and heroes), the +more refined of them, who accounted not the world the Supreme Deity, +acknowledged a Trinity of divine hypostases superior to them all. This +doctrine, according to Plotinus, is very ancient, and obscurely asserted +even by Parmenides. Some have referred its origin to Pythagoreans, and +others to Orpheus, who adopted three principles, called Phanes, Uranus, +and Cronus. Dr. Cudworth apprehends that Pythagoras and Orpheus derived +this doctrine from the theology of the Egyptian Hermes; and, as it is not +probable that it should have been first discovered by human reason, he +concurs with Proclus in affirming that it was at first a theology of +divine tradition, or revelation, imparted first to the Hebrews, and from +them communicated to the Egyptians and other nations; among whom it was +depraved and adulterated. + +Plato, also, and his followers, speak of the Trinity in such terms, that +the primitive fathers have actually been accused of borrowing the doctrine +from the Platonic school. + +In Indian theology there is no more prominent doctrine than that of a +Divine Triad governing all things, consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. +By Brahma, they mean God, the Creator; by Vishnu (according to the +Sanscrit), a preserver, a comforter, a cherisher; and by Siva, a destroyer +and avenger. To these three personages, different functions are assigned, +in the Hindoo system of mythologic superstition, corresponding to the +different significations of their names. They are distinguished, likewise, +besides these general titles, in the various sastras and puranas, by an +infinite variety of appellations descriptive of their office. + +Whatever doubts may arise respecting the Indian Trinity, they will very +speedily be dispelled by a view of that wonderful and magnificent piece of +sculpture which is found in the celebrated cavern of Elephanta, which has +so often been described by travellers, and which has ever been such a +source of amusement to them. This, it is said, proves that from the +remotest era, the Indian nations have adored a Triune Deity. In this +cavern, the traveller beholds, with awe and astonishment, carved out of +the solid rock, in the most conspicuous part of the most ancient and +venerable temple in the world, a bust nearly twenty feet in breadth, and +eighteen feet in altitude, gorgeously decorated, the image of the great +presiding Deity of that sacred temple. The bust has three heads united to +one body, and adorned with the oldest symbols of the Indian theology, is +regarded as representing the Creator, the Preserver, and the Regenerator +of mankind. Owing to the gross surroundings of these characters, +respectively denominated Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, any comparison cannot +be instituted with the Christian Trinity; yet the worship paid to that +triple divinity incontestably evinces that, on this point of faith, the +sentiments of the Indians are congenial with those of the Chaldeans and +Persians. Nor is it only in this great Deity with three heads that these +sentiments are demonstrated, their veneration for that sacred number +strikingly displays itself in their sacred books--the three original +_Vedas_--as if each had been delivered by one personage of the august +Triad, being confined to that mystic number; by the regular and prescribed +offering up of their devotions three times a day; by the immersion of +their bodies, during ablution, three times in the purifying wave; and by +their constantly wearing next their skin the sacred Zennar, or cord of +three threads, the mystic symbol of their belief in a divine all ruling +Triad. + +The sacred Zennar, just mentioned, is of consequence enough to demand a +fuller notice. Its threads can be twisted by no other hand than that of a +Brahmin, and he does it with the utmost solemnity and many mystic rites. +Three threads, each measuring ninety-six hands, are first twisted +together; then they are folded into three, and twisted again, making it to +consist of nine,--that is three times three threads; this is folded again +into three, but without any more twisting, and each end is then fastened +with a knot. Such is the Zennar, which being put upon the left shoulder, +passes to the right side, and hangs down as low as the fingers can reach. + +"The Hindoos," says M. Sonnerat, "adore three principal deities, Brouma, +Chiven, and Vichenou, who are still but _One_; which kind of Trinity is +there called Trimourti, or Tritvamz, and signifies the reunion of three +powers. The generality of modern Indians adore only one of these three +divinities, but some learned men, besides this worship, also address their +prayers to the Three united. The representation of them is to be seen in +many pagodas, under that of human figures with three heads, which, on the +coast of Orissa, they call Sariharabrama; on the Coromandel coast, +Trimourti; and Tretratreyam, in the Sanscrit. It is affirmed by Maurice +that this latter term would not have been found in Sanscrit had not the +worship of a Trinity existed in those ancient times, fully two thousand +five hundred years ago, when Sanscrit was the current language of India." + +There have been found temples entirely consecrated to this kind of +Trinity; such as that of Parpenade, in the kingdom of Travancore, where +the three gods are worshipped in the form of a serpent with a thousand +heads. The feast of Anandavourdon, which the Indians celebrate to their +honour, on the eve of the full moon, in the month of Pretachi, or October, +always draws a great number of people, "which would not be the case," says +Sonnerat, "if those that came were not adorers of the Three Powers." + +Mr. Forster writing, in 1785, on the Mythology of the Hindoos, says:--"A +circumstance which forcibly struck my attention, was the Hindoo belief in +a Trinity. The persons are Sree Mun Narrain, the Mhah Letchimy (a +beautiful woman), and a Serpent, which are emblematical of strength, love, +and wisdom. These persons, by the Hindoos, are supposed to be wholly +indivisible. The one is three, and the three are one. In the beginning, +they say that the Deity created three men to whom he gave the names of +Brimha, Vystnou, and Sheevah. To the first was committed the power of +creating mankind, to the second of cherishing them, and to the third that +of restraining and correcting them." The sacred persons who compose this +Trinity are very remarkable; for Sree Mun Narrain, as Mr. Forster writes +the word, is Narayen, the supreme God; the beautiful woman is the Imma of +the Hebrews; and the union of the sexes in the Divinity, is perfectly +consonant with that ancient doctrine maintained in the Geeta, and +propagated by Orpheus, that the Deity is both male and female. + +Damascius, treating of the fecundity of the divine nature, cites Orpheus +as teaching that the Deity was at once both male and female, to show the +generative power by which all things were formed. Proclus upon the "Timaeus +of Plato," among other Orphic verses, cites the following: "Jupiter is a +man, Jupiter is also an immortal maid." In the same commentary, and in the +same page we read that all things were contained in the womb of Jupiter. + +The serpent is the ancient and usual Egyptian symbol for the divine Logos. + +M. Tavernier, on his entering one of the great pagodas, observed an idol +in the centre of the building, sitting cross-legged in the Indian fashion, +upon whose head was placed _une triple couronne_; and from this triple +crown four horns extended themselves, the symbol of the rays of glory, +denoting the Deity to whom the four quarters of the world were under +subjection. According to the same author, in his account of the Benares +pagoda, the deity of India is saluted by prostrating the body three times, +and he is not only adorned with a triple crown, and worshipped by a triple +salutation, but he bears in his hand a three-forked sceptre, exhibiting +the exact model of the trident of the Greek Neptune. + +Now here we must allude to some very remarkable discoveries respecting the +Trident of Neptune and the use of a similar symbol of authority by the +Indian gods. + +Mr. Maurice points out that the unsatisfactory reasons given by +mythologists for the assignment of the trident to the Grecian deity, +exhibit very clear evidence of its being a symbol that was borrowed from +some more ancient mythology, and did not naturally, or originally belong +to Neptune. Its three points, or _tines_, some of them affirm to signify +the different qualities of the three sorts of waters that are upon the +earth, as the waters of the ocean, which are salt; the water of fountains, +which is sweet; and the water of lakes and ponds, which, in a degree, +partakes of the nature of both. Others, again, insist that this +three-pronged sceptre alludes to Neptune's threefold power over the sea, +viz., to _agitate_, to _assuage_, and to _preserve_. These reasons are, +all of them, in his estimation, mighty frivolous, and amount to a +confession of their total ignorance of its real meaning. + +The trident was, in the most ancient periods, the sceptre of the Indian +deity, and may be seen in the hands of that deity in one of the plates +(iv.) of M. d'Ancarville's third volume, and among the sacred symbols +sculptured in Elephanta cavern, as pictured by Niebuhr in his engravings +of the Elephanta antiquities. "It was, indeed," says Maurice, "highly +proper, and strictly characteristic, that a threefold deity should wield a +triple sceptre, and I have now a very curious circumstance to unfold to +the reader, which I am enabled to do from the information of Mr. Hodges, +relative to this mysterious emblem. The very ancient and venerable +edifices of Deogur, which are in the form of immense pyramids, do not +terminate at the summit in a pyramidal point, for the apex is cut off at +about one seventh of what would be the entire height of the pyramid were +it completed, and, from the centre of the top, there rises a circular +cone, that ancient emblem of the sun. What is exceedingly singular to +these cones is, that they are on their summits decorated with this very +symbol, or usurped sceptre, of the Greek [Greek: Poseidon]. Thus was the +outside of the building decorated and crowned, as it were, with a +conspicuous emblem of the worship celebrated within, which from the +antiquity of the structure, raised in the infancy of the empire after +cavern-worship had ceased, was probably that of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva: +for we have seen that Elephanta is, in fact, a temple to the Indian Triad, +evidenced in the colossal sculpture that forms the principal figure of it, +and excavated probably ere Brahma had fallen into neglect among those who +still acknowledge him as the creative energy, or different sects had +sprung up under the respective names of Vishnu and Siva. Understood with +reference to the pure theology of India, such appears to me to be the +meaning of this mistaken symbol; but a system of physical theology quickly +succeeded to the pure; and the debased, but ingenious, progeny, who +invented it, knew too well how to adapt the symbols and images of the true +and false devotion. The three sublime hypostases of the true Trinity were +degraded into three attributes; in physical causes the sacred mysteries of +religion were attempted to be explained away; its doctrines were +corrupted, and its emblems perverted. They went the absurd length of +degrading a Creator (for such Brahma, in the Hindoo creed, confessedly is) +to the rank of a created Dewtah, which has been shewn to be a glaring +solecism in theology. + +"The evident result then is, that, nothwithstanding all the corruption of +the purer theology of the Brahmins, by the base alloy of human philosophy, +under the perverted notion of three attributes, the Indians have +immemorially worshipped a threefold Divinity, who, considered apart from +their physical notions, is the Creator, the Preserver, and the +Regenerator. We must again repeat that it would be in the highest degree +absurd to continue to affix the name of Destroyer to the third hypostasis +in their Triad, when it is notorious that the Brahmins deny that anything +can be destroyed, and insist that a change alone in the form of objects +and their mode of existence takes place. One feature, therefore, in that +character, hostile to our system, upon strict examination vanishes; and +the other feature, which creates so much disgust and gives such an air of +licentiousness to his character, is annihilated by the consideration of +their deep immersion in philosophical speculations, of their incessant +endeavours to account for the divine operations by natural causes, and to +explain them by palpable and visible symbols." + +No image of the supreme Brahma himself is ever made; but in place of it +his attributes are arranged, as in the temple of Gharipuri, thus: + + Brahma | Power | Creation | Matter | The Past | Earth + Vishnu | Wisdom | Preservation | Spirit | The Present | Water + Siva | Justice | Destruction | Time | The Future | Fire + +Captain Wilford in the 10th vol. of the _Asiatic Researches_ writes of +Meru or Moriah, the hill of God, and he says:--"Polyaenus calls Mount Meru +or Merius, Tri-coryphus. It is true that he bestows improperly that +epithet on Mount Meru, near Cabul, which is inadmissible. Meru, with its +three peaks on the summit, and its seven steps, includes and encompasses +really the whole world, according to the notions of the Hindus and other +nations previously to their being acquainted with the globular shape of +the earth." Basnage, in his history of the Jews, says "there are seven +earths, whereof one is higher than the other; for the Holy Land is +situated upon the highest earth, and Mount Moriah (or Meru) is in the +middle of that Holy Land. This is the hill of God so often mentioned in +the Old Testament, the mount of the congregation where the mighty King +sits in the sides of the north, according to Isaiah, and there is the city +of our God. The Meru of the Hindoos has the name of Sabha, or the +congregation, and the gods are seated upon it in the sides of the north. +There is the holy city of Brahma-puri, where resides Brahma with his court +in the most pure and holy land of Ilavratta." + +Thus Meru is the worldly temple of the Supreme Being in an embodied state, +and of the Tri-Murtti or sacred Triad, which resides on its summit, either +in a single or threefold temple, or rather in both: for it is all one, as +they are one and three. They are three, only with regard to men who have +emerged out of it they are but one: and their threefold temple and +mountain, with its three peaks, become one equally. Mythologists in the +west called the world, or Meru with his appendages, the temple of God, +according to Macrobius. Hence this most sacred temple of the Supreme Being +is generally typified by a cone or pyramid, with either a single chapel on +its summit, or with three; either with or without steps. + +This worldly temple is also considered by the followers of Buddha as the +tomb of the son of the spirit of heaven. His bones, or limbs, were +scattered all over the face of the earth, like those of Osiris and Jupiter +Zagreus. To collect them was the first duty of his descendants and +followers, and then to entomb them. Out of filial piety, the remembrance +of this mournful search was yearly kept up by a fictitious one, with all +possible marks of grief and sorrow, till a priest came and announced that +the sacred relics were at last found. This is practised to this day by +several Tartarian tribes of the religion of Buddha; and the expression of +the bones of the son of the spirit of heaven is peculiar to the Chinese, +and some tribes in Tartary. + +Hindu writers represent Narayana moving, as his name implies, on the +waters, in the character of the first male, and the principle of all +nature, which was wholly surrounded in the beginning by tamas, or +darkness, the Chaos and primordial Night of the Greek mythologists, and, +perhaps, the Thaumaz or Thamas of the ancient Egyptians; the Chaos is +also called Pracriti, or crude Nature, and the male deity has the name of +Purusha, from whom proceeded Sacti, or, the power of containing or +conceiving; but that power in its first state was rather a tendency or +aptitude, and lay dormant and inert until it was excited by the bija, or +vivifying principle, of the plastic Iswara. This power, or aptitude, of +nature is represented under the symbol of the yoni, or bhaga, while the +animating principle is expressed by the linga: both are united by the +creative power, Brahma; and the yoni has been called the navel of +Vishnu--not identically, but nearly; for, though it is held in the Vedanta +that the divine spirit penetrates or pervades all nature, and though the +Sacti be considered as an emanation from that spirit, yet the emanation is +never wholly detached from its source, and the penetration is never so +perfect as to become a total union or identity. In another point of view +Brahma corresponds with the Chronos, or Time of the Greek mythologists: +for through him generations pass on successively, ages and periods are by +him put in motion, terminated and renewed, while he dies and springs to +birth alternately; his existence or energy continuing for a hundred of his +years, during which he produces and devours all beings of less longevity. +Vishnu represents water, or the humid principle; and Iswara fire, which +recreates or destroys, as it is differently applied; Prithivi, or earth, +and Ravi, or the sun, are severally trimurtis, or forms of the three great +powers acting jointly and separately, but with different natures and +energies, and by their mutual action excite and expand the rudiments of +material substances. The word murti, or form, is exactly synonymous with +[Greek: eidola], of the supreme spirit, and Homer places the idol of +Hercules in Elysium with other deceased heroes, though the God himself was +at the same time enjoying bliss in the heavenly mansions. Such a murti, +say the Hindus, can by no means affect with any sensation, either +pleasing or painful, the being from which it emanated; though it may give +pleasure or pain to collateral emanations from the same source; hence they +offer no sacrifices to the supreme Essence, of which our own souls are +images, but adore Him with silent meditation; while they make frequent +homas or oblations to fire, and perform acts of worship to the sun, the +stars, the earth, and the powers of nature, which they consider as murtis, +or images, the same in kind with ourselves, but transcendently higher in +degree. The moon is also a great object of their adoration; for, though +they consider the sun and earth as the two grand agents in the system of +the universe, yet they know their reciprocal action to be greatly affected +by the influence of the lunar orb according to their several aspects, and +seem even to have an idea of attraction through the whole extent of +nature. This system was known to the ancient Egyptians; for according to +Diodorus, their Vulcan, or elemental fire, was the great and powerful +deity, whose influence contributed chiefly toward the generation and +perfection of natural bodies; while the ocean, by which they meant water +in a collective sense, afforded the nutriment that was necessary; and the +earth was the vase, or capacious receptacle, in which this grand operation +of nature was performed: hence Orpheus described the earth as the +universal mother, and this is the true meaning of the Sanscrit word Amba. + +Further information respecting the male and female forms of the Trimurti +has been gathered as follows:-- + +Atropos (or Raudri), who is placed about the sun, is the beginning of +generation; exactly like the destructive power, or Siva among the Hindus, +and who is called the cause and the author of generation: Clotho, about +the celestial moon, unites and mixes: the last, or Lachesis, is contiguous +to the earth: but is greatly under the influence of chance. For whatever +being is destitute of a sensitive soul, does not exist of its own right; +but must submit to the affections of another principle: for the rational +soul is of its own right impassable, and is not obnoxious to affections +from another quarter. The sensitive soul is a mediate and mixed being, +like the moon, which is a compound of what is above and of what is below; +and is to the sun in the same relation as the earth is to the moon. Major +Wilford says:--"Well Pliny might say, with great truth, the refinements of +the Druids were such, that one would be tempted to believe that those in +the east had largely borrowed from them. This certainly surpasses +everything of the kind I have ever read or heard in India." + +These three goddesses are obviously the Parcoe, or fates, of the western +mythologists, which were three and one. This female tri-unity is really +the Tri-murtti of the Hindus, who call it the Sacti, or energy of the male +Tri-murtti, which in reality is the same thing. Though the male tri-unity +be oftener mentioned, and better known among the unlearned than the other; +yet the female one is always understood with the other, because the +Trimurtti cannot act, but through its energy, or Sacti, which is of the +feminine gender. The male Trimurtti was hardly known in the west, for +Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune have no affinity with the Hindu Trimurtti, +except their being three in number. The real Trimurtti of the Greeks and +Latians consisted of Cronus, Jupiter and Mars, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. To +these three gods were dedicated three altars in the upper part of the +great circus at Rome. These are brothers in their Calpas; and Cronus or +Brahma, who has no Calpa of his own, produces them, and of course may be +considered as their father. Thus Brahma creates in general; but Vishnu in +his own Calpa, assumes the character of Cronus or Brahma to create, and he +is really Cronus or Brahma: he is then called Brahma-rupi Janardana, or +Vishnu, the devourer of souls, with the countenance of Brahma: he is the +preserver of his own character. + +These three were probably the Tripatres of the western mythologists, +called also Tritopatores, Tritogeneia, Tris-Endaimon, Trisolbioi, +Trismacaristoi, and Propatores. The ancients were not well agreed who they +were: some even said that they were Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, the sons +of Tellus and the sun. Others said that they were Amalcis, Protocles, and +Protocless, the door-keepers and guardians of the minds. Their mystical +origin probably belonged to the secret doctrine, which the Roman college, +like the Druids, never committed to writing, and were forbidden to reveal. +As the ancients swore by them, there can be little doubt but that they +were the three great deities of their religion. + +Disentangling the somewhat intricate and involved web of Indian mythology, +and putting the matter as simply as possible, we may say the deities are +only three, whose places are the earth, the intermediate region, and +heaven, namely Fire, Air, and the Sun. They are pronounced to be deities +of the mysterious names severally, and (Prajapati) the lord of creatures +is the deity of them collectively. The syllable O'ru intends every deity: +it belongs to (Paramasht'hi) him who dwells in the supreme abode; it +pertains to (Brahma) the vast one; to (Deva) God; to (Ad'hyatma) the +superintending soul. Other deities, belonging to those several regions, +are portions of the three gods; for they are variously named and described +on account of their different operations, but there is only one deity, the +Great Soul (Mahanatma). He is called the Sun, for he is the soul of all +beings. The Sun, the soul of (jagat) what moves, and of that which is +fixed; other deities are portions of him. + +The name given by the Indians to their Supreme Deity, or Monad, is Brahm; +and notwithstanding the appearance of materialism in all their sacred +books, the Brahmins never admit that they uphold such a doctrine, but +invest their deities with the highest attributes. He is represented as the +Vast One, self-existing, invisible, eternal, imperceptible, the only +deity, the great soul, the over-ruling soul, the soul of all beings, and +of whom all other deities are but portions. To him no sacrifices were ever +offered; but he was adored in silent meditation. He triplicates himself +into three persons or powers, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the Creator, the +Preserver, and the Destroyer, or Reproducer; and is designated by the word +Om or Aum by the respective letters of which sacred triliteral syllable +are expressed the powers into which he triplicates himself. + +The Metempsychosis and succession of similar worlds, alternately destroyed +by flood and fire and reproduced, were doctrines universally received +among the heathens: and by the Indians, the world, after the lapse of each +predestined period of its existence, was thought to be destroyed by Siva. +At each appointed time of its destruction, Vishnu ceases from his +preserving care, and sleeps beneath the waters: but after the allotted +period, from his navel springs forth a lotus to the surface, bearing +Brahma in its cup, who reorganises the world, and when he has performed +his work, retires, leaving to Vishnu its government and preservation; when +all the same heroes and persons reappear, and similar events are again +transacted, till the time arrives for another dissolution. + +After the construction of the world by Brahma, the office of its +preservation is assumed by Vishnu. His chief attribute is Wisdom: he is +the Air, Water, Humidity in general, Space, and sometimes, though rarely, +Earth: he is Time present, and the middle: and he is the Sun in the +evening and at night. His colour is blue or blackish; his Vahan, the Eagle +named Garuda; his allotted place, the Air or intermediate region, and he +symbolises Unity. It is he who most commonly appears in the Avatars or +Incarnations, of which nine in number are recorded as past: the most +celebrated of which are his incarnations as Mateya or the Fish Rama, +Krishna, and Buddha: the tenth of Kalki, or the Horse, is yet to come. It +is from him that Brahma springs when he proceeds to his office of +creation. + +The destroying and regenerating power, Siva, Maha-deva, Iswara, or Routrem +is regarded metaphysically as Justice, and physically as Fire or Heat, and +sometimes Water. He is the Sun at noon: his colour is white, with a blue +throat, but sometimes red; his Vahan is the bull, and his place of +residence the heaven. As destruction in the material world is but change +or production in another form, and was so held by almost all the heathen +philosophers, we find that the peculiar emblems of Siva are, as we have +already shown, the Trident, the symbol of destruction; and the Linga or +Phallus, of regeneration. + +The three deities were called Trimurtti, and in the caverns of Ellora they +are united in a Triune bust. They are collectively symbolized by the +triangle. Vishnu, as Humidity personified, is also represented by an +inverted triangle, and Siva by a triangle erect, as a personification of +Fire; while the Monad Brahm is represented by the circle as Eternity, and +by a point as having neither length, nor breadth, as self-existing, and +containing nothing. The Brahmans deny materialism; yet it is asserted by +Mr. Wilford, that, when closely interrogated on the title of Deva or God, +which their most sacred books give to the Sun, they avoid a direct answer, +and often contradict themselves and one another. The supreme divinity of +the Sun, however, is constantly asserted in their scriptures; and the +holiest verse in the Vedas, which is called the Gayatri, is:--"Let us +adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the Godhead, who illuminates all, +who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we +invoke to direct our understanding aright in our progress towards his holy +seat." + +It has been said that in India is to be found the most ancient form of +that Trinitarian worship which prevails in nearly every quarter of the +known world. Be that as it may, it is not in India where the most +remarkable phase of the worship is to be found; for that we turn to Egypt. +Here we meet with the strange fact that no two cities worshipped the same +triad. "The one remarkable feature in nearly all these triads is that they +are father, mother, and son; that is, male and female principles of +nature, with their product." + +Mariette Bey says:--"According to places, the attributes by which the +Divine Personage is surrounded are modified; but in each temple the triad +would appear as a symbol destined to affirm the eternity of being. In all +triads, the principal god gives birth to himself. Considered as a Father, +he remains the great god adored in temples. Considered as a Son, he +becomes, by a sort of doubling, the third person of the triad. But the +Father and the Son are not less the one god, while, being double, the +first is the eternal god; the second is but the living symbol destined to +affirm the strength of the other. The father engenders himself in the womb +of the mother, and thus becomes at once his own father and his own son. +Thereby are expressed the uncreatedness and the eternity of the being who +has had no beginning, and who shall have no end." + +Generally speaking, the gods of Egypt were grouped in sets of three, each +city having its own Trinity. Thus in Memphis we find Ptah, Pasht and +Month; in Thebes, Amun-Ra, Athor and Chonso; in Ethiopia, Noum, Sate and +Anucis; in Hermonthis, Monthra, Reto and Harphre; in Lower Egypt, Seb, +Netphe and Osiris; in Thinnis, Osiris, Isis and Anhur; in Abousimbel and +Derr, Ptah, Amun-Ra and Horus-Ra; in Esne, Neph, Neboo and Hake; in Dabad, +Seb, Netpe and Mandosti; in Ambos, Savak, Athor and Khonso; in Edfou, +Horket, Hathor and Horsenedto. The trinity common throughout the land is +that of Osiris, Isis and Horus. + +Dr. Cudworth translates Jamblichus as follows, quoting from the Egyptian +Hermetic Books in defining the Egyptian Trinity:--"Hermes places the god +Emeph as the prince and ruler over all the celestial gods, whom he +affirmeth to be a Mind understanding himself, and converting his +cogitations or intellections into himself. Before which Emeph he placeth +one indivisible, whom he calleth Eicton, in which is the first +intelligible, and which is worshipped only by silence. After which two, +Eicton and Emeph, the demiurgic mind and president of truth, as with +wisdom it proceedeth to generations, and bringeth forth the hidden powers +of the occult reasons with light, is called in the Egyptian language +Ammon: as it artificially affects all things with truth, Phtha; as it is +productive of good, Osiris; besides other names that it hath according to +its other powers and energies." Upon this, Dr. Cudworth remarks:--"How +well these three divine hypostases of the Egyptians agree with the +Pythagoric or Platonic Trinity of,--first, Unity and Goodness itself; +secondly, Mind; and, thirdly, Soul,--I need not here declare. Only we +shall call to mind what hath been already intimated, that Reason or +Wisdom, which was the Demiurgus of the world, and is properly the second +of the fore-mentioned hypostases, was called also, among the Egyptians by +another name, Cneph; from whom was said to have been produced or begotten +the God Phtha, the third hypostasis of the Egyptian Trinity; so that Cneph +and Emeph are all one. Wherefore, we have here plainly an Egyptian Trinity +of divine hypostases subordinate, Eicton, Emeph or Cneph, and Phtha." + +Mr. Sharpe, in his Egyptian Inscriptions, mentions the fact that there is +in the British Museum a hieroglyphical inscription as early as the reign +of Sevechus of the eighth century before the Christian Era, showing that +the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity already formed part of their +religion, and stating that in each of the two groups, Isis, Nephthis and +Osiris, and Osiris, Isis, and Horus, the three gods made only one person. +Also that the sculptured figures on the lid of the sarcophagus of Rameses +III., now at Cambridge, show us the King, not only as one of a group of +three gods, but also as a Trinity in Unity in his own person. "He stands +between the goddesses, Isis and Nepthys, who embrace him as if he were the +lost Osiris, whom they have now found again. We further know him to be in +the character of Osiris by the two sceptres which he holds; but at the +same time the horns upon his head are those of the goddess Athor, and the +ball and feathers above are the ornaments of the god Ra." + +Nearly all writers describe the Egyptian Trinity as consisting of the +_generative_, the _destructive_, and the _preserving_ powers. Isis answers +to Siva. Iswara, or Lord, is the epithet of Siva. Osiris, or Ysiris, as +Hellanicus wrote the Egyptian name, was the God at whose birth a voice was +heard to declare, "that the Lord of all nature sprang forth to light." + +A peculiar feature in the ancient trinities is the way in which the +worship of the first person is lost or absorbed in the second, few or no +temples being found dedicated to Brahma. Something very much like this +often occurs among Christians; we are surrounded by churches dedicated to +the second and third persons in the trinity, and to saints, and to the +Mother of Christ, but none to the Father. + +It has been noticed that while we find inscribed upon the monuments of +Egypt a vast multitude of gods, as in India, the number diminishes as we +ascend. Amun Ra alone is found dedicated upon the oldest monuments, in +three distinct forms, into one or other of whose characters all the other +divinities may be resolved. Amun was the chief god, the sacred name, +corresponding with the Aum of the Indians, also, probably, the Egyptian +On. According to Mr. Wilkinson, the Egyptians held Kneph, Neph, Nef, or +Chnoubus, "as the idea of the Spirit of God which moved upon the face of +the waters." He was the Spirit, animating and perpetuating the world, and +penetrating all its parts; the same with the Agathodaemon of the +Phoenicians, and like him, was symbolized by the snake, an emblem of the +Spirit which pervades the universe. He was commonly represented with a +Ram's head; and though the colour of the Egyptian divinities is perhaps +more commonly green than any other, he is as frequently depicted blue. He +was the god of the Nile, which is indirectly confirmed by Pindar; and by +Ptolemy, who says that the Egyptians gave the name of Agathodaemon to the +western, or Heracleotic branch. From his mouth proceeded the Mundane egg, +from which sprung Phtah, the creative power. Mr. Wilkinson +proceeds:--"Having separated the Spirit from the Creator, and purposing to +act apart and defy each attribute, which presented itself to their +imagination, they found it necessary to form another deity from the +creative power, whom they call Phtah, proceeding from the former, and +thence deemed the son of Kneph. Some difference was observed between the +power, which created the world, and that which caused and ruled over the +generation of man, and continued to promote the continuation of the human +species. This latter attribute of the divinity was deified under the +appellation Khem. Thus was the supreme deity known by the three distinct +names of, + + Kneph, Phthah, Khem: + +to these were joined the goddesses Sate, Neith, and Buto; and the number +of the eight deities was completed by the addition of Ra, or Amun-Ra," +this last, however, was not a distinct god, but a name common to each +person of the triad: and, indeed, to all the three names above the name of +Amun was constantly prefixed.[9] + +Phthah corresponds with the Indian Brahma, and the Orphic Phanes, and +appears in several other forms. In one form he is represented as an +infant--often as an infant Priapaean figure, and deformed. + +The deity called Khem by Mr. Wilkinson, and Mendes by Champollion, is +common on the monuments of Egypt, and is recognised as corresponding with +the Pan of the Greeks. His chief attribute is heat, which aids the +continuation of the various species, and he is generally coloured red, +though sometimes blue, with his right arm extended upwards. His principal +emblems are a triple-thonged Flagellum and a Phallus. He corresponds with +Siva of the Indians, his attributes being similar, _viz._, Destroying and +Regenerating. He is the god of generation, and, like Siva, has his Phallic +emblem of reproduction; the triple-thonged flagellum is regarded by some +as a variation of the trident, or of the axe of Siva. He has for a vahan +the Bull Mneuis, as Sivi has the Bull Nandi. The Goat Mendes was also +consecrated to him as an emblem of heat and generation; and it is well +known that this animal is constantly placed in the hands of Siva. "In +short," says Mr. Cory, "there is scarcely a shade of distinction between +Khem and Siva: the Egyptians venerated the same deity as the Indians, in +his generative character as Khem, when they suspended the flagellum, the +instrument of vengeance, over his right hand; but in his destroying +character, as the ruler of the dead, as Osiris, when they placed the +flagellum in his hands as the trident is in that character placed in the +hand of Siva." + +In the Chaldean oracles, so far as they have been preserved, the doctrine +of a triad is found everywhere. Allowing for the existence of much that is +forged amongst these oracles, as suggested by Mr. Cory and others, we may +reasonably conclude that there still remains a deal that is ancient and +authentic. They teach as a fundamental tenet that a triad shines +throughout the whole world, over which a Monad rules. This triad is +Father, Power, and Intellect, having probably once been Air, Fire, and +Sun. + +Amongst the Laplanders the Supreme God was worshipped as Jumala, and three +gods were recognised as subordinate to him. The first was Thor of the +Edda; the second Storjunkare, his vicegerent, the common household god; +and the third Beywe, the Sun. + +With regard to the Phoenicians and Syrians, Photius states that the Kronus +of both was known under the names of El, Bel, and Bolathen. + +The Sidonians, Eudemus said, placed before all things Chronus, Pothas, and +Omichles, rendered by Damascius as Time, Love, and Cloudy Darkness, +regarded by some as no other than the Khem, Phthah, and Amun Kneph of the +Egyptians. + +The Heracles or Hercules of the Greeks, known as Arcles of the Tyrians, +was a triple divinity, described by Hieronymus as a dragon, with the heads +of a bull, of a lion, and of a man with wings. + +Among the Philistines also we find their chief god Dragon, who is the +Ouranus of Sanchoniatho. It appears also that Baal was a triple Divinity: +while Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and Baal Peor, of the +Midians, seem to be the Priapaean Khem of Egypt, the god of heat and +generation. The Edessenes also held the triad, and placed Monimus and +Azizus as contemplars with the Sun.[10] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + _The Supreme God of the Peruvians--Assumed Origin of the Trinity Idea + in the Patriarchal Age--Welsh Ideas--Druidical Triads--The Ancient + Religion of America--The Classics and Heathen Triads--The + Tritopatoreia--The Virgin Mary--The Virgin amongst the + Heathen--Universality of the Belief in a Trinity--The Dahomans._ + + +The Supreme God of the Peruvians, was called Viracocha; known also as +Pachacarnac, Soul of the world, Usapu admirable, and other names. + +Garcilazo says, "he was considered as the giver of life, sustainer and +nourisher of all things, but because they did not see him, they erected no +temples to him nor offered sacrifices; however they worshipped him in +their hearts, and esteemed him for the unknown God." + +Generally, speaking, the sun was the great object of Peruvian idolatry +during the dominion of the Incas. Its worship was the most solemn, and its +temples the most splendid in their furniture and decorations, and the +common people, no doubt, reverenced that luminary as their chief god. + +Herrera mentions the circumstance that at one of the festivals, they +exhibited three statues of the sun, each of which had a particular name, +which as he translated them were Father and Lord Sun, the Son Sun, and the +Brother Sun. He also says, "that at Chucuisaea, they worshipped an idol +called Tangatanga, which they said was three and one." + +The Spanish writers consider this doctrine to have been stolen by the +devil from Christianity, and imparted by him to this people. By this +opinion they evidently declare its antiquity in Peru to have been greater +than the time of the Spanish conquest. + +Those writers and scholars who refuse to believe that the doctrine of the +Trinity as taught in the Christian religion, was known during the +patriarchal or judaical dispensations, and therefore will not allow that +the trinity of the Peruvians had any reference to the dogma of +Christianity, contend that their trinity was founded in those early +corruptions of patriarchal history, in which men began to represent Adam, +and his three sons; and Noah, and his three sons; as being triplicates of +the same essential person, who originally was the universal father of the +human race: and secondly, being triplicated in their three sons, who also +were considered the fathers of mankind. They say therefore, Adam and Noah +were each the father of three sons; and to the persons of the latter of +these triads, by whose descendants the world was repeopled, the whole +habitable earth was assigned in a threefold division. This matter, though +it sometimes appears in an undisguised form, was usually wrapped up in the +cloak of the most profound mystery. Hence instead of plainly saying, that +the mortal who had flourished in the golden age and who was venerated as +the universal demon father both of gods and men, was the parent of three +sons, they were wont to declare, that the great father had wonderfully +triplicated himself. + +Pursuing this vein of mysticism, they contrived to obscure the triple +division of the habitable globe among the sons of Noah, just as much as +the characters of the three sons themselves. A very ancient notion +universally prevailed that some such triple division had once taken place; +and the hierophants when they had elevated Noah and his three sons to the +rank of deity, proceeded to ring a variety of corresponding changes upon +that celebrated threefold distribution. Noah was esteemed the universal +sovereign of the world; but, when he branched out into three kings +(_i.e._, triplicating himself into his three sons), that world was to be +divided into three kingdoms, or, as they were sometimes styled, three +worlds. To one of these kings was assigned the empire of heaven; to +another, the empire of the earth, including the nether regions of +Tartarus; to a third, the empire of the ocean. + +So again, when Noah became a god, the attributes of deity were inevitably +ascribed to him, otherwise, he would plainly have become incapable of +supporting his new character: yet even in the ascription of such +attributes, the genuine outlines of his history were never suffered to be +wholly forgotten. He had witnessed the destruction of one world, the new +creation (or regeneration) of another, and the oath of God that he would +surely preserve mankind from the repetition of such a calamity as the +deluge. Hence when he was worshipped as a hero-god, he was revered in the +triple character of the destroyer, the creator, and the preserver. And +when he was triplicated into three cognate divinities, were produced three +gods, different, yet fundamentally the same, one mild though awful as the +creator; another gentle and beneficent as the preserver; a third, +sanguinary, ferocious, and implacable as the destroyer.[11] + +The idea of a trinity was rather curiously developed amongst the Druids, +especially amongst the Welsh. They used a number of triplicated sentences +as summaries of matters relating to their religion, history, and science, +in order that these things might be the more easily committed to memory +and handed down to future generations. The triads were these:-- + +1. There are three primeval Unities, and more than one of each cannot +exist: + + One God; + One Truth; + One Point of Liberty, where all opposites equiponderate. + +2. Three things proceed from the primeval unities: + + All of Life; + All that is Good; and + All Power. + +3. God consists necessarily of three things: + + The Greatest of Life; + The Greatest of Knowledge; and + The Greatest of Power.[12] + +The Druids venerated the Bull and Eagle as emblems of the god Hu, and like +the Jews and Indians, "made use of a term, only known to themselves, to +express the unutterable name of the Deity, and the letters =OIW= were used +for that purpose." + +From Herodotus, Aristotle, Plutarch, and others, we get information +concerning the triads amongst the Persians, and which were similar in many +respects to those recognised by other eastern nations. Oromasdes and +Arimanes were ruling principles always in opposition to each other, viz., +_good_ and _evil_, and springing from _light_ and _darkness_, which they +are said to have most resembled. Eudemus says, "they proceeded from Place +or Time." Oromasdes was looked upon as the whole expanse of heaven, and +was considered by the Greeks as identical with Zeus. He was the Preserver; +and Arimanes, the Destroyer. Between them, according to Plutarch was +Mithras, the Mediator, who was regarded as the Sun, as Light, as +Intellect, and as the creator of all things. He was a triple deity and was +said to have triplicated himself. The Leontine mysteries were instituted +in his honour, the lion being consecrated to him, and the Sun was +represented by the emblems of the Bull, the Lion, and the Hawk, united. + +In the ancient religions of America, a species of trinity was recognised +altogether different to that of Christianity or the Trimurti of India. In +some of the ancient poems a triple nature is actually ascribed to storms; +and in the Quiche legends we read: "The first of Hurakan is the lightning, +the second the track of the lightning, and the third the stroke of the +lightning; and these three are Hurakan the Heat of the Sky." + +In the Iroquois mythology the same thing is found. Heno was thunder, and +three assistants were assigned to him whose offices were similar to those +of the companions of Hurakan. + +Heno was said to gather the clouds and pour out the warm rain; he was the +patron of husbandry, and was invoked at seedtime and harvest. As the +purveyor of nourishment, he was addressed as grandfather, and his +worshippers styled themselves his grandchildren. + +Amongst the Aztecs, Tlaloc, the god of rain and water, manifested himself +under the three attributes of the flash, the thunderbolt, and the thunder. + +But this conception of three in one, says Brinton, "was above the +comprehension of the masses, and consequently these deities were also +spoken of as fourfold in nature, three _and_ one." Moreover, as has +already been pointed out, the thunder-god was usually ruler of the winds, +and thus another reason for his quadruplicate nature was suggested. +Hurakan, Haokah, Tlaloc, and probably Heno, are plural as well as singular +nouns, and are used as nominatives to verbs in both numbers. Tlaloc was +appealed to as inhabiting each of the cardinal points and every mountain +top. His statue rested on a square stone pedestal, facing the east, and +had in one hand a serpent in gold. Ribbons of silver, crossing to form +squares, covered the robe, and the shield was composed of feathers of four +colours, yellow, green, red and blue. Before it was a vase containing all +sorts of grain; and the clouds were called his companions, the winds his +messengers. As elsewhere, the thunderbolts were believed to be flints, +and thus, as the emblem of fire and the storm, this stone figures +conspicuously in their myths. Tohil, the god who gave the Quiches fire by +shaking his sandals, was represented by a flint-stone. He is distinctly +said to be the same as Quetzelcoatl, one of whose commonest symbols was a +flint. Such a stone, in the beginning of things, fell from heaven to +earth, and broke into 1600 pieces, each of which sprang up a god; an +ancient legend, which shadows forth the subjection of all things to him +who gathers the clouds from the four corners of the earth, who thunders +with his voice, who satisfies with his rain the desolate and waste ground, +and causes the tended herb to spring forth. This is the germ of the +adoration of stones as emblems of the fecundating rains. This is why, for +example, the Navajos use as their charm for rain certain long round +stones, which they think fall from the clouds when it thunders. + +It is said that all over Africa, belief in a trinity of gods is found, the +same to-day as has prevailed at least for forty centuries, and perhaps for +very much longer. Chaldaea, Assyria, and the temple of Erektheus, on the +Acropolis of Athens, honoured and sacrificed to Zeus (the Sun, Hercules, +or Phallic idea) the Serpent and Ocean; and Africa still does so to the +Tree-Stem or Pole, the Serpent, and the Sea or Water; and this Trinity is +one god, and yet serves to divide all gods into three classes, of which +these are types. + +Important and interesting notices relative to the nature of the deities +worshipped by the ancients are to be found in the treatise of Julius +Firmicus Maternus, "De Errore Profanarum Religionum ad Constantium, et +Constantem Angg." Firmicus attributes to the Persians a belief in the +androgynous nature of the deity [naturam ejus (jovis) ad utriusque sexus +transferentes]. No doubt this doctrine has always been recognised, by many +writers, as being held by the philosophers of India and Egypt, and that +it constituted a part of the creed of Orpheus, but its connection with +Persia has not been so generally acknowledged. + +Firmicus, after speaking of the two-fold powers of Jupiter (that is, the +deity being both male and female) adds, "when they choose to give a +visible representation of him, they sculpture him as a female." Again, +they represent him as a female with three heads. It was a figure adorned +with serpents of a monstrous size. It was venerated under the symbol of +fire. It was called Mithra. It was worshipped in secret caverns. The rites +of Mithra were familiar to the Romans, but they worshipped them in a +manner different from the Persian ceremonies. Firmicus had seen Mithra +sculptured in two different ways: in one piece of sculpture he was +represented as a female with three faces, and infolded with serpents; and +in another piece of sculpture he was represented as seizing a bull. + +Classic writers abound with references, not simply to a plurality of gods +among the heathen, but to a trinity in unity and unity in trinity, +sometimes approaching in the similarity of their broad outlines the +doctrine as held by orthodox religionists. Herodotus calls the deity of +the Pelasgians, _Gods_, and it is admitted that the passage evidently +implies that the expression was used by the priests of Dodona. The +Pelasgians worshipped the Cabiri, and the Cabiri were originally three in +number, hence it is inferred that these Cabiri were the Pelasgian Trinity, +and that having in ancient times no name which would have implied a +diversity of gods, they worshipped a trinity in unity. The worship of the +Cabiri by the Pelasgians is evident, for Herodotus says, in his second +book, "that the Samothracians learnt the Cabiric mysteries from the +Pelasgians, who once inhabited that island, and afterwards settled in +Greece, near Attica." Cicero testifies that the Cabiri were originally +three in number, and he carefully distinguishes them from the Dioscuri. A +passage in Pausanias states that at Tritia, a city of Achaia, there is a +temple erected to the Dii Magni (or Cabiri); their images are a +representation of a god made of clay. "We need not be surprised," said a +writer once, "that Pausanias should be puzzled how to express the fact +that, though it was the temple of the three Cabiri, yet there was only one +image in it. Is not this the doctrine of a trinity in unity?" + +Potter informs us that those who desired to have children were usually +very liberal to the gods, who were thought to preside over generation. The +same writer also says:--"Who these were, or what was the origination of +their name, is not easy to determine: Orpheus, as cited by Phanodemus in +Suidas, makes their proper names to be Amaclides, Protocles, and +Protocleon, and will have them to preside over the winds; Demo makes them +to be the winds themselves." Another author tells us their names were +"Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges, and that they were the sons of heaven and of +earth: Philocrus likewise makes earth their mother, but instead of heaven, +substitutes the sun, or Apollo, for their father, where he seems to +account, as well for their being accounted the superintendents of +generation, as for the name of [Greek: tritopateres]; for being +immediately descended from two immortal gods, themselves," saith he, "were +thought the third fathers, and therefore might well be esteemed the common +parents of mankind, and from that opinion derive those honours, which the +Athenians paid them as the authors and presidents of human generation." + +Again, the Tritopatoreia was a solemnity in which it was usual to pray for +children to the gods of generation, who were sometimes called +_tritopateres_. The names of the Cabiri, as Cicero says, are Tritopatreus, +Eubuleus, and Dionysius: this fact is supposed to give us a little insight +into the origin of the word _tritopateres_, or _tritopatreis_. Philocrus, +as we have seen, makes them the sons of Apollo and of the earth: this +fact will help us to develop the truth: the two last hypostases emanated +from the Creator: thus in the Egyptian Trinity of Osiris, of Isis, and of +Horus, Isis is not only the consort, but the daughter of Osiris, and Horus +was the fruit of their embrace, thus in the Scandinavian Trinity of Adin, +of Trea, and of Thor, Trea is not only the wife, but the daughter of Odin, +and Thor was the fruit of their embrace, as Maillet observes in his +_Northern Antiquities_ (vol. ii.), there is the Roman Trinity of Jupiter, +of Juno, and of Minerva, Juno is the sister and the wife of Jupiter, and +Minerva is the daughter of Jupiter: now, it is a singular fact, that in +the Pelasgic Trinity of the Cabirim, two of them are said to have been the +sons of Vulcan, or the Sun, as we read in Potter (vol. i.) Hence we see, +it has been contended, the mistake of Philocrus: there were not three +emanations from the Sun, as he supposes, but only _two_: their name +tritopateres, which alludes to the doctrine of the trinity, puzzled +Philocrus, who knew nothing of the doctrine, and he is credited with +coining the story, to account for this appellation: the Cabiri were, as is +known from Cicero, called Tritopatreus, Dionysius, and Eubuleus. Dionysius +is Osiris, and Eubuleus and Tritopatreus are the two hypostases, which +emanated from him: the name of the third hypostasis is generally +compounded of some word which signifies the third: hence Minerva derived +her name of Tritonis, or Tritonia Virgo: hence Minerva is called by Hesiod +(referred to in Lempriere's Classical Dictionary), Tritogenia: hence came +the Tritia, of which Pausanias speaks: hence came the Tritopatreus of +Cicero: hence came the Thridi of the Scandinavians. We read in the Edda +these remarkable words: "He afterwards beheld three thrones raised one +above another, and on each throne sat a man; upon his asking which of +these was their king, his guide answered, 'he who sits upon the lowest +throne is the king, and his name is Hor, or the Lofty One: the second is +Jaenhar, that is Equal to the Lofty One; but he who sits upon the highest +throne is called Thridi, or the Third.'" + +Pausanias has a number of passages which bear upon this subject, and seem +to prove conclusively that the Greeks recognised the doctrine of a trinity +in unity and worshipped the same. In his second book he says: "Beyond the +tomb of Pelasgus is a small structure of brass, which supports the images +of Diana, of Jupiter, and of Minerva, a work of some antiquity: Lyceas has +in some verses recorded the fact that this is the representation of +Jupiter Machinator." Again, in Book I., when describing the Areopagite +district of Athens, he says:--"Here are the images of Pluto, of Mercury, +and of Tellus, to whom all such persons, whether citizens or strangers, as +have vindicated their innocence in the Court Areopagus, are required +sacrifice." "In a temple of Ceres, at the entrance of Athens, there are +images of the goddess herself, of her daughter, and of Bacchus, with a +torch in his hand." + +That the grouping of the three deities was not accidental is evident from +the frequency with which they are so mentioned, and other passages show +that they were the three deities who were worshipped in the Eleusinian +mysteries. Thus in Book VIII., Ch. 25:--"The river Lado then continues its +course to the temple of the Eleusinian Ceres, which is situated in +territories of the Thelpusians: the three statues in it are each seven +feet high, and all of marble: they represent Ceres, Proserpine, and +Bacchus." In another passage (Book II., Ch. 2) he says:--"By a temple +dedicated to all the gods, there were placed three statues of Jupiter in +the open air, of which one had no title, a second was styled the +_Terrestrial_, and the third was styled the highest." + +The learned say, of course, it is clear that the missing title should have +been the _God of the Sea_, as the others were the _God of Heaven_, and +the _God of the Earth_. Another passage in Pausanias confirms this:--"In a +temple of Minerva was placed a wooden image of Jupiter with three eyes; +two of them were placed in the natural position, and the other was placed +on the forehead.... One may naturally suppose that Jupiter is represented +with three eyes as the God of the Heaven, as the God of the Earth, and as +the God of the Sea." + +It has been remarked that Pausanias records the tradition that this story +of the three-eyed Jupiter comes from Troy, and it is known that the +Trojans acknowledged a trinity in the divine nature, and that the Dii +Penates, or the Cabiri of the Romans, came from Troy. Quotations from the +translation of the Atlas Chinesis of Montanus, by Ogilby, show that the +three-eyed Jupiter was an oriental emblem of the trinity:--"The modern +learned, or followers of this first sect, who are overwhelmed in idolatry, +divide generally their idols, or false gods, into three orders, _viz._, +celestial, terrestrial, and infernal: in the celestial they acknowledge a +trinity of one godhead, which they worship and serve by the name of a +goddess called Pussa; which, with the Greeks, we might call Cybele, and +with Egyptians, Isis and Mother of the Gods. This Pussa (according to the +Chinese saying) is the governess of nature, or, to speak properly, the +Chinese Isis, or Cybele, by whose power they believe that all things are +preserved and made fruitful, as the three inserted figures relate." + +In the doctrine relating to the Virgin Mary as held by the Church of Rome, +there is a remarkable resemblance to the teaching of the ancients +respecting the female constantly associated with the triune male deity. +Her names and titles are many, and though diversified, mostly pointing to +the same idea. Some of these are as follows:--"The Virgin," conceiving and +bringing forth from her own inherent power. The wife of Bel Nimrod; the +wife of Asshur; the wife of Nin. She is called Multa, Mulita, or Mylitta, +or Enuta, Bilta or Bilta Nipruta, Ishtar, Ri, Alitta, Elissa, Bettis, +Ashtoreth, Astarte, Saruha, Nana, Asurah. Amongst other names she is known +as Athor, Dea Syria, Artemis, Aphrodite, Tanith, Tanat, Rhea, Demeter, +Ceres, Diana, Minerva, Juno, Venus, Isis, Cybele, Seneb or Seben, Venus +Urania, Ge, Hera. "As Anaitis she is the 'mother of the child;' reproduced +again as Isis and Horus; Devaki with Christna; and Aurora with Memnon." +Even in ancient Mexico the mother and child were worshipped. Again she +appears as Davkina Gula Shala, Zirbanit, Warmita Laz. In modern times she +reappears as the Virgin Mary and her son. There were Ishtar of Nineveh and +Ishter of Arbela, just as there are now Marie de Loretto and Marie de la +Garde. + +She was the Queen of fecundity or fertility, Queen of the lands, the +beginning of heaven and earth, Queen of all the Gods, Goddess of war and +battle, the holder of the sceptre, the beginning of the beginning, the one +great Queen, the Queen of the spheres, the Virgo of the Zodiac, the +Celestial Virgin, Time, in whose womb all things are born. She is +represented in various ways, and specially as a nude woman carrying an +infant in her arms.[13] + +The name _Multa, Mulita, or Mylitta_, Inman contends is derived from some +words resembling the Hebrew _meal_, the "place of entrance," and _ta_, "a +chamber." The whole being a place of entrance and a chamber. The cognomen +Multa, or Malta, signifies, therefore, the spot through which life enters +into the chamber, _i.e._, the womb, and through which the fruit matured +within enters into the world as a new being. By the association of this +virgin goddess with the sacred triad of deities is made up the four great +gods, _Arba-il_. + +We are here reminded of the well-known symbol of the Trinity which seems +to have been as abundantly used in ancient times, at least in some +countries--Egypt for instance. This is the triangle--generally the +equilateral--which of course symbolised both the trinity in unity and the +equality of the three. Sometimes we get two of those triangles crossing +each other, one with the point upwards, the other with the point +downwards, thus forming a six-rayed star. The first represents the phallic +triad, the two together shew the union of the male and female principles +producing a new figure, each at the same time retaining its own identity. +The triangle with the point downwards, by itself typifies the Mons +Veneris, the Delta, or door through which all come into the world. + +The question has arisen:--"How comes it that a doctrine so singular, and +so utterly at variance with all the conceptions of uninstructed reason, as +that of a Trinity in Unity, should have been from the beginning, the +fundamental religious tenet of every nation upon earth?" + +Inman without hesitation declares "the trinity of the ancients is +unquestionably of phallic origin." Others have either preceded this writer +or have followed suit, contending that the male symbol of generation in +divine creation was three in one, as the cross, &c., and that the female +symbol was always regarded as the Triangle, the accepted symbol of the +Trinity. The number three, was employed with mystic solemnity, and in the +emblematical hands which seem to have been borne on the top of a staff or +sceptre in the Isiac processions, the thumb and two forefingers are held +up to signify the three primary and general personifications. This form of +priestly blessing, thumb and two fingers, is still acknowledged as a sign +of the Trinity. + +The ancients tell us plainly enough that they are derived from the +cosmogonic elements. They are primarily the material and elementary types +of the spiritual trinity of revelation--types established by revelation +itself, and the only resource of materialism to preserve the original +doctrine. The spirit, whether physical or spiritual, is equally the +_pneuma_; and the light, whether physical or spiritual, equally the _phos_ +of the Greek text: so that the materialist of antiquity had little +difficulty in preserving their analogies complete. + +The Dahomans are said by Skertchley to deny the corporeal existence of the +deity, but to ascribe human passions to him; a singular medley. "Their +religion," he says, "must not be confounded with Polytheism, for they only +worship one god, Mau, but propitiate him through the intervention of the +fetiches. Of these, there are four principal ones, after whom come the +secondary deities. The most important of these is Bo, the Dahoman Mars; +then comes Legba, the Dahoman Priapus, whose little huts are to be met +with in every street. This deity is of either sex, a male and female Legba +often residing in the same temple. A squat swish image, rudely moulded +into the grossest caricature on the human form, sitting with hands on +knees, with gaping mouth, and the special attributes developed to an +ungainly size. Teeth of cowries usually fill the clown-like mouth, and +ears standing out from the head, like a bat's, are only surpassed in their +monstrosity by the snowshoe-shaped feet. The nose is broad, even for a +negro's, and altogether the deity is anything but a fascinating object. +Round the deity is a fence of knobbed sticks, daubed with filthy slime, +and before the god is a flat saucer of red earthenware, which contains the +offerings. When a person wishes to increase his family, he calls in a +Legba priest and gives him a fowl, some cankie, water, and palm oil. A +fire is lighted, and the cankie, water, and palm oil mixed together and +put in the saucer. The fowl is then killed by placing the head between the +great and second toes of the priest, who severs it from the body by a +jerk. The head is then swung over the person of the worshipper, to allow +the blood to drop upon him, while the bleeding body is held over a little +dish, which catches the blood. The fowl is then semi-roasted on a fire +lighted near, and the priest, taking the dish of blood, smears the body of +the deity with it, finally taking some of the blood into his mouth and +sputtering it over the god. The fowl is then eaten by the priest, and the +wives of the devotees are supposed to have the children they crave for." + +The principal Dahoman gods, described by Skertchley, are thus mentioned by +Forlong:-- + +Legba, the Dahoman Priapus, and special patron of all who desire larger +families. + +Zoo, the god of fire, reminding us of Zoe, life. + +Demen, he who presides over chastity. + +Akwash, he who presides over childbirth. + +Gbwejeh, he or she who presides over hunting. + +Ajarama, the tutelary god of foreigners, symbolised by a whitewashed stump +under a shed, apparently a Sivaic or white Lingam, no doubt called foreign +because Ashar came from Assyria, and Esir from the still older Ethiopians. + +Hoho, he who presides over twins. + +Afa, the name of the dual god of wisdom. + +Aizan, the god who presides over roads, and travellers, and bad +characters, and can be seen on all roads as a heap of clay surmounted by a +round pot, containing kanki, palm oil, &c. + +"So that we have Legba, the pure and simple phallus; Ajarama, 'the +whitened stump,' so well known to us in India amidst rude aboriginal +tribes; and Ai-zan, the Hermes or Harmonia, marking the ways of life, and +symbolised by a mound and round pot and considering that this is the +universal form of tatooing shown on every female's stomach,--Mr. +Skertchley says, a series of arches, the meaning is also clearly the +omphi. Mr. S. says that Afa, our African Androgynous Minerva, is very much +respected by mothers, and has certain days sacred to mothers, when she or +he is specially consulted on their special subjects, as well as on all +matters relating to marrying, building a house, sowing corn, and such +like."[14] + +Some years ago a writer, speaking of the Sacred Triads of various nations, +said: "From all quarters of the heathen world came the trinity," what we +have already revealed shows that the doctrine has been held in some form +or other from the far east to the extreme verge of the western hemisphere. +Some of the forms of this Triad are as follows:--India--Brahma, Vishnu, +Siva: Egypt--Knef, Osiris as the first; Ptha, Isis as the second; Phree, +Horus as the third: the Zoroastrians--The Father, Mind, and Fire: the +Ancient Arabs--Al-Lat, Al Uzzah, Manah: Greeks and Latins--Zeus or +Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto: the Syrians--Monimus, Azoz, Aries or Mars: the +Kaldians--The One; the Second, who dwells with the First; the Third, he +who shines through the universe: China--the One, the Second from the +First, the Third from the Second: the Boodhists--Boodhash, the Developer; +Darmash, the Developed; Sanghash, the Hosts Developed: Peruvians--Apomti, +Charunti, Intiquaoqui: Scandinavia--Odin, Thor, Friga: Pythagoras--Monad, +Duad, Triad: Plato--the Infinite, the Finite, that which is compounded of +the Two: Phenicia--Belus, the Sun; Urama, the Earth; Adonis, Love: +Kalmuks--Tarm, Megozan, Bourchan: Ancient Greece--Om, or On; Dionysus, or +Bacchus; Herakles: Orpheus--God, the Spirit, Kaos: South American +Indians--Otkon. Messou, Atahanto. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + _The Golden Calf of Aaron--Was it a Cone or an Animal?--The Prayer to + Priapus--Hymn to Priapus--The Complaint of Priapus._ + + +In the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus we have the following +remarkable account of certain Israelitish proceedings in the time of Moses +and Aaron:--"When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of +the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said +unto him, up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for _as for_ this +Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not +what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, break off the golden +earrings, which _are_ in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your +daughters, and bring _them_ unto me. And all the people brake off the +golden earrings which _were_ in their ears, and brought _them_ unto Aaron; +and he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, +after he had made it a molten calf, and they said, 'These _be_ thy gods O +Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.' And when Aaron saw +_it_, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, +'To-morrow is a feast to the Lord.' And they rose up early on the morrow, +and offered burnt offerings, and brought offerings, and brought peace +offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to +play." + +There is no doubt this is a most remarkable, and, for the most part, +inexplicable transaction. That it was an act of the grossest idolatry is +clear, but the details of the affair are not so readily disposed of, and +some amount of discussion has in consequence arisen, which has cast +imputations upon the conduct of the ancient Jews not very favourably +regarded by the moderns. + +The conduct of Aaron is certainly startling, to say the least of it, for +when the people presented their outrageous demand, coupled with their +insolent and contemptuous language about the man Moses, he makes no +remonstrance, utters no rebuke, but apparently falls in at once with their +proposal and prepares to carry it out. The question is, however, what was +it that was really done? What was the character of the image or idol, he +fashioned out of the golden ornaments which he requested them to take from +the ears of their wives, their sons, and their daughters? + +The suggestion that anything of a phallic nature is to be attributed to +this transaction has been loudly ridiculed and indignantly spurned by some +who have had little acquaintance with that species of worship, but it is +by no means certain that the charge can be so easily disposed of. That +phallic practises prevailed, more or less, amongst the Jews is certain, +and however this matter of the golden image may be explained, it will be +difficult to believe they were not somehow concerned in it. + +It may be a new revelation to some to be told that in the opinion of some +scholars the idol form set up by those foolish idolators was not that of a +calf at all, but of a cone. The Hebrew word _egel_ or _ghegel_ has been +usually taken to mean calf, but, say these gentlemen, erroneously so, its +true signification being altogether different. It is pleaded that it was +not at all likely that the Israelites should, so soon after their +miraculous deliverance from the house of bondage, have so far forgotten +what was due from them in grateful remembrance of that, as to have plunged +into such gross and debased idolatry as the adoration of deity under the +form of an animal. Also that it would have been inconsistent with their +exclamation when they saw the image, "This is thy God, O Israel, which +brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," and with Aaron's proclamation, +after he had built an altar before the idol for the people to sacrifice +burnt offerings on, "To-morrow is a feast to the Lord." It is urged from +these expressions that the only reasonable and legitimate inference is, +that the golden idol was intended to be the similitude or symbol of the +Eternal Himself, and not of any other God. + +Certainly it is, as we have said, remarkable, and presents a problem not +at all easy of solution. Dr. Beke contends that in any case, it is +inconceivable that the figure of a calf should have been chosen to +represent the invisible God--he concludes, therefore, that the word _egel_ +has been wrongly translated. + +With regard to the etymology of the word, its root _agal_ is declared to +be doubtful, Fuerst taking it to mean _to run_, _to hasten_, _to leap_, and +Gesenius suggesting that its primary signification in the Ethiopic, +"_egel_ denoting, like golem, something _rolled_ or _wrapped together_, an +_unformed mass_; and hence _embryo_, _foetus_, and also _the young_, as +just born and still unshapen." + +It is inferred from this, supposing it to be correct, that the primary +idea of this and kindred roots, is that of roundness, so that _egel_ may +readily mean any rounded figure, such as a globe, cylinder, or cone. +"Adopting this," says Dr. Beke,--"a cone, as the true meaning of the +Hebrew word in the text, the sense of the transaction recorded will be, +that Moses having delayed to come down from the Mount, the Israelites, +fearing that he was lost, and looking on the Eternal as their true +deliverer and leader, required Aaron to make for them Elohim--that is to +say, a visible similitude or symbol of their God who had brought them up +out of the land of Mitzraim. Aaron accordingly made for them a golden +_cone_, as an image of the flame of fire seen by Moses in the burning +bush, and of the fire in which the Eternal had descended upon Sinai, this +being the only visible form in which the Almighty had been manifested. Of +such a representation or symbol, a sensuous people like the Israelites +might without inconsistency say, 'This is thy God, O Israel, which +brought thee up out of the land of Mitzraim;' at the same time that Aaron, +after having built an altar before it, could make proclamation and say, +'To-morrow is the feast to the Eternal,' that is to say, to the invisible +God, whose _eidolon_ or visible image this _egel_ was." + +It is admitted by the advocates of this theory that there are certain +things in the English version which appear adverse to it. For instance, it +is said that all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in +their ears, and brought them to Aaron; and he received them at their hand, +and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf, +from which it might be inferred, it is said, that the idol was first +roughly moulded and cast by the founder, and then finished by the +sculptor. + +It is urged however, that it is generally admitted by scholars that the +original does not warrant this rendering, the words "after he had," which +are not in the text, having been added for the purpose of making sense of +the passage, which, if translated literally, would read, "He formed it +with a graving tool, and made it a golden calf," a statement, says Dr. +Beke, which in spite of all the efforts made to explain it, is +inconsistent with the rest of the narrative, which repeatedly says, in +express terms, that the idol was a molten image. + +In order to get rid of this difficulty, several learned commentators have +interpreted the word _hhereth_ (graving-tool) as meaning like _hharith_, a +bag, pocket, or purse, causing the passage to read, "He received them at +their hands, and put it (the gold) into a bag, and made it a golden calf." +Dr. Beke thinks this untenable on the ground that as Aaron must +necessarily have collected the golden earrings together before casting +them into the fire, it is hardly likely that express mention would be made +of so trivial a circumstance as that of his putting them into a bag merely +for the purpose of immediately taking them out again. + +The root _hharath_, according to Gesenius, has the meaning of to cut in, +to engrave; and one of the significations of the kindred root _pharatz_ is +to cut to a point, to make pointed. "Hharithim, the plural of hhereth, is +said to mean purses, bags for money, so called from their long and round +shape, perhaps like an inverted cone; whence it is that Bochart and others +acquired their notion that Aaron put the golden earrings of the Israelites +into a bag."[15] + +Dr. Beke remarks:--"If the word _hhereth_ signifies a bag, on account of +its resemblance to an inverted cone, it may equally signify any other +similarly-shaped receptacle or vessel, such as a conical fire-pot or +crucible; and if the golden earrings were melted in such a vessel, the +molten metal, when cool, would of course have acquired therefrom its long +and round form, like an inverted cone, which is precisely the shape of the +_egel_ made by Aaron, on the assumption that this was intended to +represent the flame of fire. Consequently, we may now read the passage in +question literally, and without the slightest violence of construction, as +follows: 'And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in +their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their +hands, and placed it (the gold) in a crucible, and made it a molten cone;' +this cone having taken the long and rounded form of the crucible in which +it was melted and left to cool." + +An argument in favour of this reading is certainly supplied by Exodus +xxxii. 24, where Aaron is represented as saying to Moses, when trying to +excuse his action, "I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them +break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there +came out this calf" [or cone?]. It is contended that "the whole tenour of +the narrative goes to show that the operation of making the idol for the +children of Israel to worship must have been a most simple, and, at the +same time, a very expeditious one, such as the melting of the gold in a +crucible would be, but which the moulding and casting of the figure of a +calf, however roughly modelled and executed, could not possibly have +been." + +This cone or phallic theory met with a by no means ready reception by +Jewish scholars; it had not been broached many days before it was +energetically attacked and its destruction sought both by ridicule and +argument. It has been admitted, however, that philologically there is +something in it, more even, says Dr. Benisch, than its advocate Dr. Beke +has made out. The former goes so far as to state that its root, not only +in Hebrew, but also in Chaldee and Arabic, primarily designates roundness; +and secondarily, that which is the consequence of a round shape, facility +of being rolled, speed, and conveyance; consequently, that it may +therefore be safely concluded that it would be in Hebrew a very suitable +designation for a cone. "Moreover, the same root in the same signification +is also found in some of the Aryan languages. Compare the German 'kugel' +(ball) and 'kegel' (cone)." + +The chief objection lies in the fact that there are various passages in +the Scriptures where the word occurs, whose contexts clearly show that the +idea intended was that of a living creature, and that the unbroken usage +of language, from the author of Genesis to that of Chronicles, shows that +the term had never changed its signification, viz.: that of calf, bullock, +or heifer. In Levit. ix. 2, 3, 8; 1 Sam. xxviii. 26; Ps. xxix. 6; Isa. xi. +6; Isa. xxvii. 10; Mic. vi. 6, for instance, there can be no mistake that +the reference is to the living animal, and a reference to the Hebrew +concordance shows that the term, inclusive of the feminine (heifer), +occurs fifty-one times in the Bible, in twenty-nine cases of which the +word indisputably means a living creature. Dr. Benisch therefore asks, "Is +it admissible that one and the same writer (for instance, the +Deuteronomist) should have used four times this word in the sense of +heifer (xxii. 4 and 6; xxi. 3), and once in that of cone (ix. 16) without +implying by some adjective, or some turn of language, that the word is a +homonyme? Or that Hosea, in x. 11, should clearly employ it in the sense +of heifer, and, in viii. 5, in that of cone? A glance at the concordance +will show that, in every one of the more important books, the word in +question occurs most clearly in the sense of calf, and never in a passage +which should render a different translation inadmissible. On what ground, +therefore, can it be maintained that, in the days of the author of the +106th Psalm, the supposed original meaning of cone had been forgotten, and +that of calf substituted?" + +The reply to the objection that one and the same word is not likely to +have been used by the same or contemporaneous writers in two different +senses, and that the word has a uniform traditional interpretation, is +that in the Hebrew, as in the English, considerable ambiguity occurs, and +that the same word sometimes has two meanings of the most distinct and +irreconcilable character. As regards the second objection, says Dr. Beke, +which is based on the unbroken chain of tradition for about two thousand +years, it can only hold good on the assumption that the originators of the +tradition were infallible. If not, an error, whether committed +intentionally or unintentionally in the first instance, does not become a +truth by dint of repetition; any more than truth can become error by being +as persistently rejected. The Doctor contends that when the Jews became +intimately connected with Egypt, and witnessed there the adoration of the +sacred bull Apis, they fell into the error of regarding as a golden calf +the _egel_, or conical representation of the flame of fire, which their +forefathers, and after them the Ten Tribes, had worshipped as the +similitude of the Eternal, but of which they themselves, as Jews, had +lost the signification. If this was the case, it is only natural that the +error should have been maintained traditionally until pointed out. + +So stands the argument with regard to the theory of its being a golden +cone, and not the figure of a calf that Aaron made out of the people's +ornaments, and the worship of which so naturally provoked the wrath of +Moses. There is much to be said in its favour, though not enough, perhaps, +to make it conclusive. The propounder of it expressed his regret that he +was under the necessity of protesting against the allegation that he had +imputed to the Israelites what he calls the obscene phallic worship. "Most +expressly," he says, "did I say that the molten golden image made by Aaron +at Mount Sinai was a plain conical figure, intended to represent the God +who had delivered the people from their bondage in the land of Mitzraim, +in the form in which alone He had been manifested to them and to their +inspired leader and legislator, namely that of the flame of fire." This is +perfectly true, but those who are intimately acquainted with the phallic +faiths of the world will find it difficult to disassociate the conical +form of idol from those representations of the human physical organ which +have been found as objects of adoration in so many parts of both the +eastern and western hemispheres. + +Supposing the philological argument to possess any weight--and that it +does has been admitted even by those who regret the cone theory,--there +are other circumstances which certainly may be adduced in confirmation +thereof. For instance, the word _cheret_ translated graving-tool, may mean +also a mould. Again, it does not appear at all likely that the quantity of +gold supplied by the ear-rings of the people would be sufficient to make a +solid calf of the size. True, it may have been manufactured of some other +material and covered with gold; but the easier solution of the difficulty +certainly seems that which suggests that Aaron took these ornaments and +melted them in a crucible of the ordinary form, afterwards turning out +therefrom, when cold, the golden cone to which the people rendered +idolatrous worship. + +The whole subject is surrounded with difficulty, and men of equal learning +and ability have taken opposite sides in the discussion, supporting and +refuting in turn. Passing over the dispute as to whether Aaron simply +received the ear-rings in a bag or whether he graved them with an +engraving tool,--the first warmly argued by Bochart, and the latter by Le +Clerc--a dispute we can never settle owing to the remarkable ambiguity of +the language, we may briefly notice the question, supposing it was a calf +made by Aaron, what induced and determined the choice of such a figure? +Nor must it be supposed that _here_ we are upon undebatable ground; on the +contrary, the same divergence of opinion prevails as with respect to the +previous question. Fr. Moncaeus said that Aaron got his idea on the +mountain, where he was once admitted with Moses; and on another occasion +with Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders. This writer and others tell +us that God appeared exalted on a cherub which had the form of an ox. + +Patrick says that Aaron seems to him to have chosen an ox to be the symbol +of the Divine presence, in hope that people would never be so sottish as +to worship it, but only be put in mind by it of the Divine power, which +was hereby represented,--an ox's head being anciently an emblem of +strength, and horns a common sign of kingly power. He contends that the +design was simply to furnish a hieroglyphic of the energy and power of +God. + +The usual explanation is that Aaron chose a calf because that animal was +worshipped in Egypt. That the Israelites were tainted with Egyptian +idolatry is plain from Joshua's exhortation:--"Now therefore, fear the +Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which +your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and +serve ye the Lord" (Josh, xxiv., 14). Also Ezekiel xx., 7 and 8:--"They +did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did +they forsake the idols of Egypt." + +There is no deficiency of evidence respecting the worship of the ox in +Egypt. Strabo says one was kept at Memphis, which was regarded as a +divinity. Pliny repeats the story and says that the Egyptians called this +ox Apis, and that it had two kinds of temples, the entrance to one being +most pleasant, to the other frightful. Herodotus says of this idol:--"Apis +or Epatus, is a calf from a cow which never produced but one, and this +could only have been by a clap of thunder. The calf denominated Apis, has +certain marks by which it may be known. It is all over black, excepting +one square mark; on its back is the figure of an eagle, and on its tongue +that of a beetle." + +It certainly seems tolerably clear that the worship of the calf came out +of Egypt, but so much difficulty surrounds the question of whether the +Egyptian worship preceded or followed that of Aaron's calf, that we are +inclined to endorse the opinion of a modern writer, and say we suspend our +judgment respecting the precise motive which determined Aaron to set up a +calf as the object of Israelitish worship, and conclude that had he +offered any other object of worship, whether some other animal, or any +plant, or a star, or any other production of nature, the learned would +have asked, "Why this rather than some other?" Many would have been the +divisions of opinion on the question; each one would have found in +antiquity, and in the nature of the case, probabilities to support his own +sentiment, and perhaps have exalted them into demonstrations.[16] + +The mention of a cone in connection with the matter now under +consideration, and as the form of Aaron's idol, suggests other examples of +the same figure which are said to have had a phallic form. The Paphian +Venus, for instance, was represented by a conical stone: of which Tacitus +thus speaks:--"The statue of the goddess bears no resemblance to the human +form. It is round throughout, broad at one end, and gradually tapering to +a narrow span at the other, like a goat; the reason of this is not +ascertained. The cause is stated by Philostratus to be symbolic." + +Lajard (_Recherches sur la Cult de Venus_) says:--"In all Cyrian coins, +from Augustus to Macrinus, may be seen in the place where we should +anticipate to find a statue of the goddess, the form of a conical stone. +The same is placed between two cypresses under the portico of the temple +of Astarte, in a medal of Aelia Capitolina; but in this instance the cone +is crowned. In another medal, struck by the elder Philip, Venus is +represented between two Genii, each of whom stands upon a cone or pillar +with a rounded top. There is reason to believe that at Paphos images of +the conical stone were made and sold as largely as were effigies of Diana +of the Ephesians. + +"Medals and engraved stones demonstrate that the hieratic prescriptions +required that all those hills which were consecrated to Jupiter should be +represented in a conical form. At Sicony, Jupiter was adored under the +form of a pyramid." + + + PRAYER TO PRIAPUS. + + Delight of Bacchus, Guardian of the groves, + The kind restorer of decaying loves: + Lesbos and verdant Thasos thee implore, + Whose maids thy pow'r in wanton rites adore: + Joy of the Dryads, with propitious care, + Attend my wishes, and indulge my pray'r. + My guiltless hands with blood I never stain'd, + Or sacrilegiously the god's prophan'd: + Thus low I bow, restoring blessings send, + I did not thee with my whole self offend. + Who sins through weakness, is less guilty thought; + Indulge my crime, and spare a venial fault. + On me when fate shall smiling gifts bestow, + I'll (not ungrateful) to your god-head bow; + A sucking pig I'll offer to thy shrine, + And sacred bowls brimful of generous wine; + A destin'd goat shall on thy altar lie, + And the horn'd parent of my flock shall die; + Then thrice thy frantic vot'ries shall around + Thy temple dance, with smiling garlands crown'd, + And most devoutly drunk, thy orgies sound.--PETRONIUS. + + + HYMN TO PRIAPUS. + + Bacchus and Nymphs delight O mighty God! + Whom Cynthia gave to rule the blooming wood. + Lesbos and verdant Thasos thee adore, + And Lydians in loose flowing dress implore, + And raise devoted temples to thy pow'r. + Thou Dryad's Joy, and Bacchus' Guardian, hear + My conscious prayer with attentive ear. + My hands with guiltless blood I never stain'd, + Nor yet the temples of the gods prophan'd. + Restore my strength, and lusty vigour send, + My trembling nerves like pliant oziers bend. + Who sins through weakness, is not guilty thought, + No equal power can punish such a fault. + A wanton goat shall on your altars die, + And spicy smoke in curls ascend the sky. + A pig thy floors with sacred blood shall stain, + And round the awful fire and holy flame, + Thrice shall thy priests, with youth and garlands crown'd, + In pious drunkenness thy orgies sound.--PETRONIUS. + + + A TRANSLATION OUT OF THE PRIAPEIA. + + THE COMPLAINT OF PRIAPUS FOR BEING VEILED. + + The Almighty's Image, of his shape afraid, + And hide the noblest part e'er nature made, + Which God alone succeeds in his creating trade. + The Fall this fig-leav'd modesty began, + To punish woman, by obscuring man; + Before, where'er his stately Cedar moved + She saw, ador'd and kiss'd the thing she loved. + Why do the gods their several signs disclose, + Almighty Jove his Thunder-bolt expose, + Neptune his Trident, Mars his Buckler shew, + Pallas her spear to each beholder's view, + And poor Priapus be alone confin'd + T'obscure the women's god, and parent of mankind? + Since free-born brutes their liberty obtain, + Long hast thou journey-worked for souls in vain, + Storm the Pantheon, and demand thy right, + For on this weapon 'tis depends the fight.--PETRONIUS. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + _Circumcision, male and female, in various countries and ages._ + + +Circumcision is one of the most ancient religious rites with which we are +acquainted, and, as practised in some countries, there seems reason to +suppose that it was of a phallic character. "It can scarcely be doubted," +says one writer, "that it was a sacrifice to the awful power upon whom the +fruit of the womb depended, and having once fixed itself in the minds of +the people, neither priest nor prophet could eradicate it. All that these +could do was to spiritualise it into a symbol of devotion to a high +religious ideal." Bonwick says: "Though associated with sun worship by +some, circumcision may be accepted as a rite of sex worship." Ptolemy's +_Tetrabiblos_, speaking of the neighbouring nations as far as India, says: +"Many of them practise divination, and devote their genitals to their +divinities." + +It is not possible, perhaps, to speak with any degree of certainty about +the origin of this rite; the enquiry carries the student so far back in +history, that the mind gets lost in the mists of the past. It is regarded +by some as a custom essentially Jewish, but this is altogether wrong; it +was extensively practised in Egypt, also by the tribes inhabiting the more +southern parts of Africa; in Asia, the Afghans and the Tamils had it, and +it has been found in various parts of America, and amongst the Fijians and +Australians. It has been argued, and with considerable plausibility, that +it existed long before writing was known, and from the fact of its having +been employed by the New Hollanders, its great antiquity may be inferred +with certainty. + +It has been noticed by historians that sometimes a nation will pledge +itself to a corporal offering of such a kind, that every member shall +constantly bear about its mark on himself, and so make his personal +appearance or condition a perpetual witness for the special religion whose +vows he has undertaken. Thus several Arabian tribes living not far from +the Holy Land, adopted the custom, as a sign of their special religion +(or, as Herodotus says, "after the example of their God"), of shaving the +hair of their heads in an extraordinary fashion, viz., either on the crown +of the head or towards the temples, or else of disfiguring a portion of +the beard. Others branded or tattooed the symbol of a particular god on +the skin, on the forehead, the arm, the hand. Israel, too, adopted from +early times a custom which attained the highest sanctity in its midst, +where no jest, however trifling, could be uttered on the subject, but +which was essentially of a similar nature to those we have just mentioned. +This was circumcision.[17] It was this special character which no doubt +gave rise to the idea so common amongst the uninformed that it was a +Jewish rite. + +Herodotus and Philo Judaeus have related that it prevailed to a great +extent among the Egyptians and Ethiopians. The former historian says it +was so ancient among each people that there was no determining which of +them borrowed it from the other. Among the Egyptians he says it was +instituted from the beginning. Shuckford says that by this he could not +mean from the first rise or original of that nation, but that it was so +early among them that the heathen writers had no account of its origin. +When anything appeared to them to be thus ancient, they pronounced it to +be from the beginning. Herodotus clearly meant this, because we find him +questioning whether the Egyptians learnt circumcision from the Ethiopians, +or the Ethiopians from the Egyptians, and he leaves the question +undecided, merely concluding that it was a very ancient rite. If by the +expression "from the beginning," he had meant that it was originated by +the Egyptians, there would not have been this indecision: and it is known +that among heathen writers to say a thing was "from the beginning," was +equivalent to the other saying that it was very anciently practised. + +Herodotus, in another place, relates that the inhabitants of Colchis also +used circumcision, and concludes therefrom that they were originally +Egyptians. He adds that the Phoenicians and Syrians, who lived in +Palestine, were likewise circumcised, but that they borrowed the practice +from the Egyptians; and further, that little before the time when he +wrote, circumcision had passed from Colchis to the people inhabiting the +countries near Termodon and Parthenius. + +Diodorus Siculus thought the Colchians and the Jews to be derived from the +Egyptians, because they used circumcision. In another place, speaking of +other nations, he says that they were circumcised, after the manner of the +Egyptians. Sir J. Marsham is of opinion that the Hebrews borrowed +circumcision from the Egyptians, and that God was not the first author +thereof; citing Diodorus and Herodotus as evidences on his side. + +Circumcision, though it is not so much as once mentioned in the Koran, is +yet held by the Mahomedans to be an ancient divine institution, confirmed +by the religion of Islam, and though not so absolutely necessary but that +it may be dispensed with in some cases, yet highly proper and expedient. +The Arabs used this rite for many ages before Mahomet, having probably +learned it from Ismael, though not only his descendants, but the +Hamyarites and other tribes practised the same. The Ismaelites we are +told, used to circumcise their children, not on the eighth day, according +to the custom of the Jews, but when about twelve or thirteen years old, at +which age their father underwent that operation; and the Mahomedans +imitate them so far as not to circumcise children before they are able at +least distinctly to pronounce that profession of their faith, "there is no +God, but God, Mahomet is the apostle of God;" but they fix on what age +they please for the purpose between six and sixteen. The Moslem doctors +are generally of opinion that this precept was given originally to +Abraham, yet some have said that Adam was taught it by the angel Gabriel, +to satisfy an oath he had made to cut off that flesh, which, after his +fall, had rebelled against his spirit; whence an argument has been drawn +for the universal obligation of circumcision. + +The Mahomedans have a tradition that their prophet declared circumcision +to be a necessary rite for men, and for women honourable. This tradition +makes the prophet declare it to be "Sonna," which Pocock renders a +necessary rite, though Sonna, according to the explanation of Reland, does +not comprehend things absolutely necessary, but such as, though the +observance of them be meritorious, the neglect is not liable to +punishment. + +In Egypt circumcision has never been peculiar to the men, but the women +also have had to undergo a practice of a similar nature. This has been +called by Bruce and Strabo "excision." All the Egyptians, the Arabians, +and natives to the south of Africa, the Abyssinians, the Gallas, the +Agoues, the Gasats, and Gonzas, made their children undergo this +operation--at no fixed time, but always before they were marriageable. +Belon says the practice prevailed among the Copts; and P. Jovius and +Munster say the same of the subjects of Prester John. Sonnini says it was +well known that the Egyptian women were accustomed to the practice, but +people were not agreed as to the motives which induced them to submit to +the operation. Most of those who have written on the subject of female +circumcision have considered it as the retrenchment of a portion of the +nymphae, which are said to grow, in the countries where the practice +obtains, to an extraordinary size. Others have imagined that it was +nothing less than the amputation of the clitoris, the elongation of which +is said to be a disgusting deformity, and to be attended with other +inconveniences which rendered the operation necessary. + +Before he had an opportunity of ascertaining the nature of the +circumcision of the Egyptian women, Sonnini also supposed it consisted of +the amputation of the excrescence of the nymphae or clitoris, according to +circumstances, and according as the parts were more or less elongated. He +says it is very probable that these operations have been performed, not +only in Egypt, but in several other countries in the East, where the heat +of the climate and other causes may produce too luxuriant a growth of +those parts, and this, he adds, he had the more reason to think, since, on +consulting several Turks who had settled at Rosetta, respecting the +circumcision of their wives, he could obtain from them no other idea but +that of these painful mutilations. They likewise explained to him the +motives. Curious admirers as they were of smooth and polished surfaces, +every inequality, every protuberance, was in their eyes a disgusting +fault. They asserted too that one of these operations abated the ardour of +the constitutions of their wives, and diminished their facility of +procuring illicit enjoyments. + +Niebuhr relates that Forskal and another of his fellow-travellers, having +expressed to a great man at Cairo, at whose country seat they were, the +great desire they had to examine a girl who had been circumcised, their +obliging host immediately ordered a country girl eighteen years of age to +be sent for, and allowed them to examine her at their ease. Their painter +made a drawing of the parts after the life, in presence of several Turkish +domestics; but he drew with a trembling hand, as they were apprehensive of +the consequences it might bring upon them from the Mahometans. A plate +from this drawing was given by Professor Blumenbach, in his work _De +Generis humani Varietate nativa_, from which it is evident that the +traveller saw nothing but the amputation of the nymphae and clitoris, the +enlargement of which is so much disliked by husbands in these countries. + +Sonnini suspected that there must be something more in it than an excess +of these parts, an inconvenience, which, being far from general among the +women, could not have given rise to an ancient and universal practice. +Determining to remove his doubts on the subject, he took the resolution, +which every one to whom the inhabitants of Egypt are known, he says, will +deem sufficiently bold, not to procure a drawing of a circumcised female, +but to have the operation performed under his own eyes. Mr. Fornetti, +whose complaisance and intelligence were so frequently of service to him, +readily undertook to assist him in the business; and a Turk, who acted as +broker to the French merchants, brought to him at Rosetta a woman, whose +trade it was to perform the operation, with two young girls, one of whom +was going to be circumcised, the other having been operated on two years +before. + +In the first place he examined the little girl that was to be circumcised. +She was about eight years old, and of the Egyptian race. He was much +surprised at observing a thick, flabby, fleshy excrescence, covered with +skin, taking its rise from the labia, and hanging down it half-an-inch. + +The woman who was to perform the operation sat down on the floor, made the +little girl seat herself before her, and without any preparation, cut off +the excrescence just described with an old razor. The girl did not give +any signs of feeling much pain. A few ashes taken up between the finger +and thumb were the only topical application employed, though a +considerable quantity of blood was discharged from the wound. + +The Egyptian girls are generally freed from this inconvenient superfluity +at the age of seven or eight. The women who are in the habit of performing +this operation, which is attended with little difficulty, come from Said. +They travel through the towns and villages, crying in the streets, "Who +wants a good circumciser?" A superstitious tradition has marked the +commencement of the rise of the Nile as the period at which it ought to be +performed; and accordingly, besides the other difficulties he had to +surmount, Sonnini had that of finding parents who would consent to the +circumcision of their daughter at a season so distant from that which is +considered as the most favourable, this being done in the winter; money, +however, overcame this obstacle as it did the rest. + +From Dalzel's _History_ we learn that in Dahome a similar custom +prevails with regard to the women as that in Egypt. A certain +operation is performed upon the woman, which is thus described in a +foot-note:--"Prolongatio, videlicit, artificialis labiorum pudendi, +capellae mamillis simillima." The part in question, locally called "Tu," +must, from the earliest years, be manipulated by professional old women, +as is the bosom among the embryo prostitutes of China. If this be +neglected, her lady friends will deride and denigrate the mother, +declaring that she has neglected her child's education; and the juniors +will laugh at the daughter as a coward who would not prepare herself for +marriage.[18] + +"Circumcision was a federal rite, annexed by God as a seal to the covenant +which he made with Abraham and his posterity, and was accordingly renewed +and taken into the body of the Mosaical constitutions. It was not a mere +mark, only to distinguish the Hebrews as the seed of Abraham from other +nations; but by this they were made the children of the covenant, and +entitled to the blessings of it; though if there had been no more in it +than this, that they who were of the same faith should have a certain +character whereby they should be known, it would have been a wise +appointment. The mark seems to be fitly chosen for the purpose; because it +was a sign that no man would have made upon himself and upon his children, +unless it were for the sake of faith and religion. It was not a brand upon +the arm, or an incision in the thigh, but a difficult operation in a most +tender part, peculiarly called flesh in many places of scripture. That +member which is the instrument of generation was made choice of, that they +might be an holy seed, consecrated unto God from the beginning; and +circumcision was properly a token of the divine covenant made with Abraham +and his posterity that God would multiply their seed, and make them as the +stars of heaven."[19] + +Ludolf, in his History of Ethiopa, after comparing the circumcision of the +Jews with that of the Abyssinians, says: "This puts us in mind of the +circumcision of females, of which Gregory was somewhat ashamed to +discourse, and we should have more willingly omitted it had not +Tzagazabus, in his rude Confession of Faith, spoken of it as a most +remarkable custom introduced by the command of Queen Magneda; or had not +Paulus Jovius himself, Bishop of Como, insisted in the same manner upon +this unseemly custom. This same ceremony was not only used by the +Habisenes, but was also familiar among other people of Africa, the +Egyptians, and the Arabians themselves. For they cut away from the female +infants something which they think to be an indecency and superfluity of +nature. Jovius calls it Carunniculam, or a little piece of flesh; Golius, +an oblong excrescence. The Arabians, by a particular word, called it +Bedhron, or Bedhara, besides which they have many other words to the same +purpose. Among their women it is as great a piece of reproach to revile a +woman by saying to her, O Bandaron: that is, O Uncircumcised, as to call a +man Arel, or Uncircumcised, among the Jews. The Jewish women in Germany, +being acquainted by their reading with this custom, laugh at it, as +admiring what it should be that should require such an amputation." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + _Androgynous Deities--Theories respecting the Dual Sex of the + Deity--Sacredness of the Phallus--Sex Worship--The Eastern Desire for + Children--Sacred Prostitution--Hindu Law of Adoption and + Inheritance--Hindu Need of Offspring, and especially of a + Son--Obsequies of the Departed._ + + +The phallic idea alluded to again and again in the preceding pages as +entering into the heathen conception of a trinity, the practice of +circumcision, and the use of the cross as a symbol, branches out in a +great variety of directions; at some of these we must cast a brief glance +in order that we may form a correct estimate of the subject. + +Reference has been made to the androgynous nature ascribed to the Deity by +different nations, and here at once is opened up the whole subject of sex +worship. It is impossible to say how far back we should have to retrace +our footsteps in seeking for men's first ideas upon this matter; many +ages, it is certain. Forlong, speaking of a remote age and our +forefathers, says: "They began to see in life and all nature a God, a +Force, a Spirit; or, I should rather say, some nameless thing which no +language of those early days, if indeed of present, can describe. They +gave to the outward creative organs those devotional thoughts, time, and +praise which belonged to the Creator; they figured the living spirit in +the cold bodily forms of stone and tree, and so worshipped it. As we read +in early Jewish writings, their tribes, like all other early races, bowed +before Ashar and Ashe'ra, as others had long before that period worshipped +Belus and Uranus, Orus and Isis, Mahadeva, Siva, Sakti, and Parvati. +Jupiter and Yuno, or Juno, or rather the first ideas of these, must have +arisen in days long subsequent to this. All such steps in civilisation +are very slow indeed, and here they had to penetrate the hearts of +millions who could neither read nor write, nor yet follow the reader or +the preacher; so centuries would fleet past over such rude infantile +populations, acting no more on the inert pulpy mass than years, or even +months, now do; and if this were so after they began to realise the ideas +of a Bel and Ouranos, how much slower before that far-back stage was won. +Their first symbolisation seems clearly to have been the simple line, +pillar, or a stroke, as their male god; and a cup or circle as their +female; and lo! the dual and mystic =10= which early became a trinity, and +has stood before the world from that unknown time to this. In this mystic +male and female we have the first great androgynous god." + +Alluding to this subject, an anonymous writer, believed to be a Roman +Catholic priest, some sixteen years ago, said:--"The primitive doctrine +that God created man in his own image, male and female, and consequently +that the divine nature comprised the two sexes within itself, fulfils all +the conditions requisite to constitute a catholic theological dogma, +inasmuch as it may truly be affirmed of it, that it has been held 'semper, +ubique, et ab omnibus,' being universal as the phenomenon to which it owes +its existence. + +"How essential to the consistency of the Catholic system is this doctrine +of duality you may judge by the shortcomings of the theologies which +reject it. Unitarianism blunders alike in regard to the Trinity and the +Duality. Affecting to see in God a Father, it denies him the possibility +of having either spouse or offspring. More rational than such a creed as +this was the primitive worship of sex, as represented by the male and +female principles in nature. In no gross sense was the symbolism of such a +system conceived, gross as its practice may have become, and as it would +appear to the notions of modern conventionalism. For no religion is +founded upon intentional depravity. Searching back for the origin of life, +men stopped at the earliest point to which they could trace it, and +exalted the reproductive organs into symbols of the Creator. The practice +was at least calculated to procure respect for a side of nature liable +under an exclusively spiritual regime to be relegated to undue contempt. + +"It appears certain that the names of the Hebrew deity bear the sense I +have indicated; El, the root of Elhoim, the name under which God was known +to the Israelites prior to their entry into Canaan, signifying the +masculine sex only; while Jahveh, or Jehovah, denotes both sexes in +combination. The religious rites practised by Abraham and Jacob prove +incontestably their adherence to this, even then, ancient mode of +symbolising deity; and though after the entry into Canaan, the leaders and +reformers of the Israelites strove to keep the people from exchanging the +worship of their own divinity for that of the exclusively feminine +principle worshipped by the Canaanites with unbridled licence under the +name of Ashera, yet the indigenous religion became closely incorporated +with the Jewish; and even Moses himself fell back upon it when, yielding +to a pressing emergency, he gave his sanction to the prevailing Tree and +Serpent worship by his elevation of a brazen serpent upon a pole or cross. +For all portions of this structure constitute the most universally +accepted symbols of sex in the world. + +"It is to India that we must go for the earliest traces of these things. +The Jews originated nothing, though they were skilful appropriators and +adapters of other men's effects. Brahma, the first person in the Hindoo +Triad, was the original self-existent being, inappreciable by sense, who +commenced the work of creation by creating the waters with a thought, as +described in the Institutes of Manu. The waters, regarded as the source of +all subsequent life, became identified with the feminine principle in +nature--whence the origin of the mystic rite of baptism--and the +atmosphere was the divine breath or spirit. The description in Genesis of +the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, indicates the +influence upon the Jews of the Hindoo theogony to which they had access +through Persia. + +"The twofold name of Jehovah also finds a correspondence in the +Arddha-Nari, or incarnation of Brahma, who is represented in sculptures as +containing in himself the male and female organisms. And the worship of +the implements of fecundity continues popular in India to this day. The +same idea underlies much of the worship of the ancient Greeks, finding +expression in the symbols devoted to Apollo or the sun, and in their +androgynous sculptures. Aryan, Scandinavian, and Semitic religions were +alike pervaded by it, the male principle being represented by the sun, and +the female by the moon, which was variously personified by the virgins, +Ashtoreth or Astarte, Diana, and others, each of whom, except in the +Scandinavian mythology, where the sexes are reversed, had the moon for her +special symbol. Similarly, the allegory of Eden finds one of its keys in +the phenomena of sex, as is demonstrated by the ancient Syrian sculptures +of Ashera, or _the Grove_; and 'the tree of life in the midst of the +garden' forms the point of departure for beliefs which have lasted +thousands of years, and which have either spread from one source over, or +been independently originated in, every part of the habitable globe."[20] + +It is evident that this worship is of the most extremely ancient character +and that it was based originally upon ideas that had nothing gross and +debasing in them. It is true that it at various times assumed indelicate +forms and was associated with much that was of the most degrading +character, but the first idea was only to use for religious purposes that +which seemed the most apt emblem of creation and regeneration. "Is it +strange," asks a lady writer, "that they regarded with reverence the great +mystery of human birth? Were they impure thus to regard it? Or, are we +impure that we do _not_ so regard it? Let us not smile at their mode of +tracing the infinite and incomprehensible cause throughout all the +mysteries of nature, lest by so doing we cast the shadow of our own +grossness on their patriarchal simplicity." + +It became with this very much as it does with all symbolism, more or less, +that is to say from the worship of that which was symbolised, it +degenerated to the worship of the emblem itself. + +But the ancient Egyptians exerted themselves considerably to restrain +within certain bounds of propriety the natural tendency of this worship +and we find them allowing it to embrace only the masculine side of +humanity, afterwards, as was perhaps only to be expected, the feminine was +introduced. Then, as particularly exhibited in the case of India, it +gradually became nothing more or less than a vehicle for satisfying the +licentious desires of the most degrading of both sexes. + +It is wonderful, however, the extraordinary hold these ideas attained upon +the human mind, whether they entered into the religious conceptions of the +people, or pandered to vicious desires under the mere cloak of religion. +The Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy (four books relative to Starry Influences), +speaking of the countries India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Parthia, Media, Persia, +Babylon, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, says:--"Many of them practise +divination, and devote their genitals to their divinities because the +familiarity of these planets renders them very libidinous." + +Nor must we forget the peculiar sacredness with which in the early Jewish +Church these organs were always regarded,--that is, the male organs. +Injury of them disqualified the unfortunate victim from ministering in the +congregation of the Lord, and the severest punishment was meted out to the +criminal who should be guilty of causing such injury. Thus in the book of +Deuteronomy, chap. xxv., 11, 12, we read:--"When men strive together one +with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her +husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her +hand, and taketh him by the secrets: then thou shalt cut off her hand, +thine eye shall not pity her." And this was not to be an act of revenge on +the part of the injured man, but was to be the legal penalty duly enforced +by the civil magistrate. It is very extraordinary, for it appears that +such an injury inflicted upon an enemy--and evidently it meant the +disablement of the man from the act of sexual intercourse--was regarded as +even more serious than the actual taking of life in self-defence. The +degradation attached to the man thus mutilated was greater than could +otherwise be visited upon him--all respect for him vanished and he was +henceforward regarded as an abomination. + +Such mutilation has always been common in heathen nations--similarly +regarded as amongst the Hebrews, but used as the greatest mark of +indignity possible to inflict upon an enemy--some of the Egyptian +bas-reliefs represent the King (Rameses II.) returning in triumph with +captives, many of whom are undergoing the operation of castration, while +in the corners of the scene are heaped up piles of the genital organs +which have been cut off by the victors. Some of the North American +Indians, particularly the Apaches of California and Arizona, have been +noted for their frequent use of the same barbarous practice on the +prisoners taken in war and upon the bodies of the slain. + +We get a similar instance in Israelitish history as recorded in the first +book of Samuel, where Saul being afraid of David, sought a favourable +opportunity to get him slain by the Philistines. There is the story of the +love of Michal, Saul's daughter, for David, and the use Saul endeavoured +to make of that fact in carrying out his evil designs. The news that +Michal had thus fallen in love, pleased Saul, and he said, "I will give +him her, that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the +Philistines may be against him." So David was told that the King would +make him his son-in-law. But it was customary in those times for the +bridegroom to _give_ a dowry instead of as at other times and in other +places, to _receive_ one, and David immediately raised the objection that +this was out of his power as he was but a poor man. This was Saul's +opportunity and his message was, "the King desireth not any dowry, but an +hundred foreskins of the Philistines. But Saul thought to make David fall +by the hand of the Philistines." Of course this involved the slaughter of +a hundred of the enemy, and Saul made sure in attempting such a task, +David would fall before odds so terribly against him. In commanding the +foreskins to be brought to him Saul made sure that they would be +Philistines who were slain, they being almost the only uncircumcised +people about him. This proposal, however, it seems, did not alarm David in +the least, he went forth at once on his terrible mission and actually +brought back thrice the number of foreskins required of him by the King. +This is not the only case on record of such a mutilation; mention is made +by Gill the commentator of an Asiatic writer who speaks of a people that +cut off the genital parts of men, and gave them to their wives for a +dowry. + +So sacred was the organ in question deemed in ancient times, especially in +Israel, that it was used as the means of administering the most binding +form of oath then known. It is described as putting the hand upon the +thigh, and instances are found in Genesis xxiv., 2, and xlvii., 29. In the +former of these passages Abraham requires his elder servant to put his +hand under his thigh and take an oath respecting the wife he would seek +for his son Isaac. In the second passage, it is Jacob requiring his son +Joseph to perform a similar action; in each case what is meant is that the +genital organ, the symbol of the Creator and the object of worship among +all ancient nations was to be touched in the act of making the promise. + +But, as we have pointed out, there is another side to this matter, the +worship of the male organ was only one part; the female organs of +generation were revered as symbols of the generative power of God. They +are usually represented emblematically by the shell, or Concha Veneris, +which was therefore worn by devout persons of antiquity, as it still +continues to be by pilgrims and many of the common women of Italy. The +union of both was expressed by the hand, mentioned in Sir William +Hamilton's letter, which, being a less explicit symbol, has escaped the +attention of the reformers, and is still worn as well as the shell by +women of Italy, though without being understood. It represented the act of +generation, which was considered as a solemn sacrament in honour of the +Creator. + +Some of the forms used to represent the sacti or female principle, are +very peculiar yet familiar to many who may not understand them. Indeed, as +Inman says, "the moderns, who have not been initiated in the sacred +mysteries, and only know the emblems considered sacred, have need of both +anatomical knowledge and physiological lore ere they can see the meaning +of many a sign." + +As already stated, the triangle with its apex uppermost represents the +phallic triad; with its base uppermost, the Mons Veneris, the Delta, or +the door by which all come into the world. Dr. Inman says:--"As a scholar, +I had learned that the Greek letter Delta ([symbol]) is expressive of the +female organ both in shape and idea. The selection of name and symbol was +judicious, for the word Daleth and Delta signify the door of a house and +the outlet of a river, while the figure reversed ([symbol]) represents +the fringe with which the human Delta is overshadowed"--this Delta is +simply another word for the part known as Concha, a shell. This Concha or +Shank is one of the most important of the Eastern symbols, and is found +repeated again and again in almost everything connected with the Hindu +Pantheon. Plate vi. of Moor's elaborately illustrated work on the Indian +deities represents it as seen in the hands of Vishnu and his consort. The +god is represented like all the solar deities with four hands, and +standing in an arched doorway. The head-dress is of serpents; in one of +the right hands is the diamond form the symbol of the Creator; in one of +the left hands is the large Concha and in the other right hand, the great +orb of the day; the shell is winged and has a phallic top. + +This shell is said to have been the first priestly bell, and it is even +now the Hindoo church-bell, in addition to gongs and trumpets. It comes +specially into use when the priest performs his ceremonies before the +Lingam; it is blown when he is about to anoint the emblem, like a bell is +used in some Christian churches in the midst of ceremonies of particular +importance and solemnity. + +The female principle, or sacred Sacti, is also represented by a figure +like that called a sistrum, a Hebrew musical instrument, sometimes +translated cornet. Inman contends in spite of much opposition from his +friends that this represents the mother who is still _virgo intacta_. He +points out that in some things it embodies a somewhat different idea to +the Yoni, the bars across it being bent so that they cannot be taken out, +this showing that the door is closed. + +The secret of this peculiar worship seems to lie in the fact, ever so +prominent in all that has to do with the social and religious life of the +Eastern, of an intense desire for offspring. In harmony with this is the +frequent promise in the Scriptures of an abundance of children and the +declaration of happiness of the man so blessed. One instance may be noted +as recorded in Genesis xiii., 16, the promise to Abram: "I will make thy +seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the +earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." None the less +fervent--perhaps even more so--is the desire of the Indian to possess and +leave behind him a progeny who shall not only succeed to his worldly +acquisitions, but by religious exercises help forward his happiness in the +region of the departed. + +It is said that in this part of the world, a constant topic of +conversation amongst the men is their physical power to propagate their +race, and that upon this matter physicians are more frequently consulted +than upon any other. "Not only does the man think thus, but the female has +her thoughts directed to the same channel, and there has been a special +bell invented by Hindoo priests for childless females." Some kindred +belief seems to be held or suggested by the practices of the Mormon +community, in which large numbers of women are united in marriage to one +man. In Genesis xxx., Rachel seeing that she bore no children is described +as envying her sister, and saying to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I +die." Again 1 Samuel i., 10, 11: "And she (Hannah) was in bitterness of +soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and +said, 'O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of +thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will +give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord, +&c.'" And so on; instances could be multiplied largely, but it is +unnecessary. + +With many of the eastern women it was a matter of the highest consequence +that they have children, as failing to do so it was strictly within the +legal rights of the husband at once to put away his wife by a summary +divorce, or at any rate to take a concubine into his home in order that +he might not go childless; the woman who proved hopelessly barren became +an object of contempt or commiseration to all about her, and her life a +scene of prolonged shame and misery. And so, in certain parts of the +world, arose sex worship, the idea being that by the worship of the organs +of generation the misfortune of barrenness might be avoided. The priests +were not slow to avail themselves of a ready means of adding to their +reputation and influence and increasing their revenues, and women, who for +some cause or another had hitherto been without offspring, were encouraged +to visit the temples and make their proper offerings, and go through the +prescribed ceremonies for curing their sterility. As willing as the women +were for all this, were the men, and though sometimes the defect lay in +themselves physically, it is said that the arrangements at the temples +were such as almost invariably succeeded in making the wives mothers. + +"If abundance of offspring was promised as a blessing," says Dr. Inman, +"it is clear to the physiologist that the pledge implies abundance of +vigour in the man as well as in the woman. With a husband incompetent, no +wife could be fruitful. The condition, therefore, of the necessary organs +was intimately associated with the divine blessing or curse, and the +impotent man then would as naturally go to the priest to be cured of his +infirmity as we of to-day go to the physician. We have evidence that +masses have been said, saints invoked, and offerings presented, for curing +the debility we refer to, in a church in Christianised Italy during the +last hundred years, and in France so late as the sixteenth +century,--evident relics of more ancient times." + +"Whenever a votary applied to the oracle for help to enable him to perform +his duties as a prospective father, or to remove that frigidity which he +had been taught to believe was a proof of Divine displeasure, or an +evidence of his being bewitched by a malignant demon, it is natural to +believe that the priest would act partly as a man of sense, though chiefly +as a minister of God. He would go through, or enjoin attendance on certain +religious ceremonies--would sell a charmed image, or use some holy oil, +invented and blessed by a god or saint, as was done at Isernia--or he +would do something else." + +Intimately connected with the worship of the male and female powers of +generation is the sacred prostitution which was practised so generally by +some of the ancient nations, and of which we have details in the classics. +The information given by Herodotus respecting the women of Babylonia reads +strange indeed to those who are acquainted only with modern codes of +morals, and to whom the special and essential features of phallic faiths +are unknown. This author describes it as a shameful custom, but he informs +us of it as an indisputable fact, that every woman born in the country was +compelled at least once in her life to go and sit in the precinct of +Venus, and there consort with a stranger. Rich and poor alike had to +conform to this rule--the ugly and the beautiful, the attractive and the +repulsive. A peculiarity of the custom was that once having entered the +sacred enclosure, the woman was not allowed to return home until she had +paid the debt which the law prescribed as due from her to the state; the +result of this was that those who were the happy possessors of personal +charms seldom were detained very long, while the plain-featured and +unattractive ones were sometimes several years before they could obtain +their release. We are told that the wealthier women, too proud to +associate with the lower class, though obliged to undergo the same ordeal, +would drive to the appointed place in covered carriages with a +considerable retinue of servants, there making as much display as possible +of their rank and wealth in order to overawe the commoner class of men, +and drive them to females of humbler rank; they sat in their carriages +while crowds of poorer people sat within the holy enclosure with wreaths +of string about their heads. The scene was at once strange and animated; +numbers of both sexes were coming and going; and lines of cords marked out +paths in all directions in which the women sat, and along which the +strangers passed in order to make their choice. Patiently or impatiently, +as the case may be, the female waited till some visitor, taking a fancy to +her, fixed upon her as his chosen sacrifice by throwing a piece of silver +into her lap and saying, "The goddess Mylitta prosper thee." (Mylitta +being the Assyrian name for Venus). The coin need not be of any particular +size or value, but it is obligatory upon her to receive it, because when +once thrown it is sacred. Nor could the woman exercise any choice as to +whom she could go with, the first who threw the coin had a legal title to +her, and the law compelled her submission. But having once obeyed the law, +she was free for the rest of her life, and nothing in the shape of a +bribe, however extensive, would persuade her to grant further favours to +any one. + +There is an allusion to this custom in the book of Baruch (vi., 43), where +it is said:--"The women also with cords about them, sitting in the ways, +burn bran for perfume; but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, +lie with him, she reproaches her fellow that she was not thought worthy as +herself, nor her cords broken." Strabo in his sixteenth book testifies to +the same effect, and he says that the custom dated from the foundation of +the city of Babylon. The same writer states also that both Medes and +Armenians adopted all the sacred rites of the Persians, but that the +Armenians paid particular reverence to Anaitis, and built temples to her +honour in several places, especially in Acilisene. They dedicated there to +her service male and female slaves, and in this, Strabo says, there was +nothing remarkable, but that it was surprising that persons of the +highest rank in the nation consecrated their virgin daughters to the +goddess. It was customary for these women, after being prostituted a long +time at the temple of Anaitis, to be disposed of in marriage, no one +disdaining a connection with such a person. He mentions what Herodotus +says about the Lydian women, all of whom, he adds, prostituted themselves. +But they treated their paramours with much kindness, entertaining them +hospitably and frequently, making a return of more presents than they +received, being amply supplied with means derived from their wealthy +connexions. The Lydians indeed appear to have devoted themselves with the +most shameless effrontery, for they not only attended the sacred fetes +occasionally for the purpose, but practised prostitution for their own +benefit. A splendid monument to Alyattes, the father of Croesus, built by +the merchants, the artizans, and the courtesans, was chiefly paid for by +the contributions of the latter, which far exceeded those of the others +put together. + +It has been asserted by some writers that sacred prostitution was not +practised in Egypt, but so much is known of the character of certain acts +of worship in that country that the statement is regarded as of little +worth. The worship of Osiris and Isis, which was very much like that of +Venus and Adonis, was attended with excesses that indicate a very +abandoned state of things. It is known that when the pilgrims were on +their way to the fetes of Isis at Bubastis, the females indulged in the +most indecent dances as the vessels passed the riverside villages, and +historians declare that those obscenities were only such as were about to +happen at the temple, which was visited each year by seven hundred +thousand pilgrims, who gave themselves up to incredible excesses. + +It cannot be shewn that the motive leading to what is called sacred +prostitution was the same in all countries; in India, for example, it +appears to have had very much to do with the desire for children which we +have described as common with the easterns; so common was it that the one +object of woman's life was marriage and a family. This, and the more rapid +development of the female in that part of the world than in others, and +the impression that dying childless she would fail to fulfil her mission +lies at the basis of the early betrothals and marriages which appear so +repulsive and absurd to European ideas. There is a further desire, +however, than that of simply having children, especially in India; the +desire is for male children, and where these fail, it is common for a man +to adopt a son, and in this his motive is a religious one. According to +prevalent superstition, it is held that the future beatitude of the Hindu +depends upon the performance of his obsequies, and payment of his debts, +by a son, as a means of redeeming him from an instant state of suffering +after death. The dread is of a place called Put, a place of horror, to +which the manes of the childless are supposed to be doomed; there to be +tormented with hunger and thirst, for want of those oblations of food, and +libations of water, at prescribed periods, which it is the pious and +indispensable duty of a son to offer. + +The "Laws of Manu" (Ch. ix., 138), state:--"A son delivers his father from +the hell called Put, he was therefore called puttra (a deliverer from Put) +by the Self-existent (Svayambhu) himself." The sage Mandagola is +represented as desiring admission to a region of bliss, but repulsed by +the guards who watch the abode of progenitors, because he had no male +issue. The "Laws of Manu" illustrate this by the special mention of heaven +being attained without it as of something extraordinary. Ch. v., 159, +"Many thousands of Brahmanas, who were chaste from their youth, have gone +to heaven without continuing their race." + +Sir Thomas Strange, many years ago Chief Justice of Madras, wrote very +fully concerning the Hindu law of inheritance and adoption, and we learn +from this great authority that marriage failing in this, its most +important object (that is to say securing male issue), in order that +obsequies in particular might not go unperformed, and celestial bliss be +thereby forfeited, as well for ancestors as for the deceased, dying +without leaving legitimate issue begotten, the old law was provident to +excess, whence the different sorts of sons enumerated by different +authorities, all resolving themselves, with Manu, into twelve, that is the +legally begotten, and therefore not to be separately accounted:--all +formerly, in their turn and order, capable of succession, for the double +purpose of obsequies, and of inheritance. Failing a son, a Hindu's +obsequies may be performed by his widow; or in default of her, by a whole +brother or other heirs; but according to the conception belonging to the +subject, not with the same benefit as by a son. That a son, therefore, of +some description is, with him, in a spiritual sense, next to indispensable +is abundantly certain. As for obtaining one in a natural way, there is an +express ceremony that takes place at the expiration of the third month of +pregnancy, marking distinctly the importance of a son born, so is the +adopting of one as anxiously inculcated where prayers and ceremonies for +the desired issue have failed in their effect. + +The extreme importance to the Hindu of having male offspring, and the +desire to get such children as the result of marriage rather than by +adoption--a practice allowed and inculcated as a last resort, has led to +that extensive prevalence of Lingam worship which is such a conspicuous +feature in India. In nearly every part of that vast empire are to be seen +reproductions of the emblem in an infinite variety of form, and so totally +free from the most remotely indecent character are they, that strangers +are as a rule totally ignorant of their meaning. We have even known, +within the last few years, specimens of the smaller emblems being put up +for sale in this country, of whose meaning the auctioneer professes +himself for the most part ignorant, volunteering no other statement than +that they were charms in some way connected with Hindu customs and +worship. + +It is--being a representation of the male organ--represented, of course, +in a conical form, and is of every size, from half-an-inch to seventy +feet, and of all materials, such as stone, wood, clay, metal, &c. Lingas +are seen of enormous size; in the caves of Elephanta for instance, marking +unequivocally that the symbol in question is at any rate as ancient as the +temple, as they are of the same rock as the temple itself; both, as well +as the floor, roof, pillars, pilastres, and its numerous sculptured +figures, having been once one undistinguished mass of granite, which +excavated, chiselled, and polished, produced the cavern and forms that are +still contemplated with so much surprise and admiration. The magnitude of +the cones, too, further preclude the idea of subsequent introduction, and +together with gigantic statues of Siva and his consort, more frequent and +more colossal than those of any other deity, necessarily coeval with the +excavation, indicate his paramount adoration and the antiquity of his +sect. Lingas are seen also of diminutive size for domestic adoration, or +for personal use; some individuals always carrying one about with them, +and in some Brahman families, one is daily constructed in clay, placed +after due sanctification by appropriate ceremonies and prayers, in the +domestic shrine, or under a tree or shrub sacred to Siva, the Bilva more +especially, and honoured by the adoration of the females of the household. + +It is rather singular that while many Hindus worship the deity of male and +female in one, there are distinct sects which worship either the Lingam or +the Yoni; the first being apparently the same as the phallic emblem of +the Greeks, the _membrum virile_: and the latter _pudendum muliebre_. + +The interesting ceremony connected with the obsequies which we have just +said can be the most effectually performed by a male child, and which +gives rise to the intense longing both on the part of husband and wife for +such offspring, is called Sradha, and is of daily recurrence with +individuals who rigidly adhere to the ritual. It is offered in honour of +deceased ancestors, but not merely in honour of them, but for their +comfort; as the Manes, as well as the gods connected with them, enjoy, +like the gods of the Greeks, the incense of such offerings, which are also +of an expiatory nature, similar, it is said, to the masses of the Church +of Rome. Over these ceremonies of Sradhi presides Yama, in his character +of Sradhadeva, or lord of the obsequies. It is not within our province to +give a detailed account of these ceremonies, but owing to their connection +with the subject generally of our book, a brief outline will no doubt +prove interesting. + +A dying man, when no hopes of his surviving remain, should be laid upon a +bed of cusa grass, either in the house or out of it, if he be a Sudra, but +in the open air, if he belong to another tribe. When he is at the point of +death, donations of cattle, land, gold, silver, or other things, according +to his ability, should be made by him; or if he be too weak, by another +person in his name. His head should be sprinkled with water drawn from the +Ganges, and smeared with clay brought from the same river. A Salagrama +stone ought to be placed near the dying man; holy strains from the Veda or +from the sacred poems should be repeated aloud in his ears; and leaves of +holy basil must be scattered over his head. + +Passing over the ceremonial more especially connected with the burning of +the corpse as not particularly relative to our subject, we proceed. After +the body has been burnt, all who have touched or followed the corpse, +must walk round the pile keeping their left hands towards it, and taking +care not to look at the fire. They then walk in procession, according to +seniority, to a river or other running water, and after washing, and again +putting on their apparel, they advance into the stream. They then ask the +deceased's brother-in-law, or some other person able to give the proper +answer, "Shall we present water?" If the deceased were a hundred years +old, the answer must be simply, "do so:" but if he were not so aged, the +reply is "do so, but do not repeat the oblation." Upon this they all shift +the sacerdotal string to the right shoulder, and looking towards the +south, and being clad in a single garment without a mantle, they stir the +water with the ring finger of the left hand, saying, "waters, purify us." +With the same finger of the right hand, they throw up some water towards +the south, and after plunging once under the surface of the river, they +rub themselves with their hands. An oblation of water must be next +presented from the jointed palms of the hands, naming the deceased and the +family from which he sprung, and saving "may this oblation reach thee." + +After finishing the usual libations of water to satisfy the manes of the +deceased, they quit the river and shift their wet clothes for other +apparel; they then sip water without swallowing it, and sitting down on +soft turf, alleviate their sorrow by the recital of such moral sentences +as the following, refraining at the same time from tears and +lamentation:-- + +1. Foolish is he, who seeks permanence in the human state, unsolid like +the stem of a plantain tree, transient like the foam of the sea. + +2. When a body, formed of fine elements to receive the rewards of deeds +done in its own former person, reverts to its fine original principles; +what room is there for regret. + +3. The earth is perishable; the ocean, the Gods themselves pass away: how +should not that bubble, mortal man, meet destruction. + +4. All that is low, must finally perish; all that is elevated, must +ultimately fall; all compound bodies must end in dissolution; and life is +concluded with death. + +5. Unwillingly do the manes of the deceased taste the tears and rheum shed +by their kinsmen: then do not wait, but diligently perform the obsequies +of the dead. + +All the kinsmen of the deceased, within the sixth degree of consanguinity, +should fast for three days and nights; or one at the least. However if +that be impracticable, they may eat a single meal at night, purchasing the +food ready prepared, but on no account preparing the victuals at home. So +long as the mourning lasts, the nearest relations of the deceased must not +exceed the daily meal, nor eat flesh-meat, nor any food seasoned with +fictitious salt; they must use a plate made of leaves of any tree but the +plantain, or else take their food from the hands of some other persons; +they must not handle a knife or any other implement made of iron; nor +sleep upon a bedstead; nor adorn their persons; but remain squalid, and +refrain from perfumes and other gratifications: they must likewise omit +the daily ceremonies of ablution and divine worship. On the third and +fifth days, as also on the seventh and ninth, the kinsmen assemble, bathe +in the open air, offer tila and water to the deceased, and take a repast +together: they place lamps at cross roads, and in their own houses, and +likewise on the way to the cemetery; and they observe vigils in honour of +the deceased. + +On the last day of mourning, or earlier in those countries where the +obsequies are expedited on the second or third day, the nearest kinsman of +the deceased gathers his ashes after offering a sradha singly for him. + +In the first place, the kinsman smears with cow-dung the spots where the +oblation is to be presented; and after washing his hands and feet, sipping +water and taking up cusa grass in his hand, he sits down on a cushion +pointed towards the south, and placed upon a blade of cusa grass, the tip +of which must also point towards the south. He then places near him a +bundle of cusa grass, consecrated by pronouncing the word namah! or else +prepares a fire for oblations. Then lighting a lamp with clarified butter +or with oil of sesamum, and arranging the food and other things intended +to be offered, he must sprinkle himself with water, meditating on Vishnu, +surnamed the lotos-eyed, or revolving in his mind this verse, "Whether +pure or defiled, or wherever he may have gone, he, who re-enters the being +whose eyes are like the lotos, shall be pure externally and internally." +Shifting the sacerdotal cord on his right shoulder, he takes up a brush of +cusa grass and presents water together with tila and with blossoms, naming +the deceased and the family from which he sprung, and saying "may this +water for ablutions be acceptable to thee." Then saying "may this be +right," he pronounces a vow or solemn declaration. "This day I will offer +on a bundle of cusa grass (or, if such be the custom, 'on fire') a sradha +for a single person, with unboiled food, together with clarified butter +and with water, preparatory to the gathering of the bones of such a one +deceased." The priests answering "do so," he says "namo! namah!" while the +priests meditate the gayatri and thrice repeat, "Salutation to the Gods; +to the manes of ancestors, and to mighty saints; to Swaha [goddess of +fire]: to Swadha [the food of the manes]: salutation unto them for ever +and ever." + +He then presents a cushion made of cusa grass, naming the deceased and +saying "may this be acceptable to thee;" and afterwards distributes meal +of sesamum, while the priests recite "May the demons and fierce giants +that sit on this consecrated spot, be dispersed; and the bloodthirsty +savages that inhabit the earth; may they go to any other place, to which +their inclinations may lead them." + +Placing an oval vessel with its narrowest end towards the south, he takes +up two blades of grass; and breaking off a span's length, throws them into +the vessel; and after sprinkling them with water, makes a libation while +the priests say, "May divine waters be auspicious to us for accumulation, +for gain, and for refreshing draughts; may they listen to us, and grant +that we may be associated with good auspices." He then throws tila while +the priests say, "Thou art tila, sacred to Soma; framed by the divinity, +thou dost produce celestial bliss [for him, that makes oblations]; mixed +with water may thou long satisfy our ancestors with the food of the manes, +be this oblation efficacious." He afterwards silently casts into the +vessel, perfumes, flowers, and durva grass. Then taking up the vessel with +his left hand, putting two blades of grass on the cushion, with their tips +pointed to the north, he must pour the water from the argha thereon. The +priests meantime recite:--"The waters in heaven, in the atmosphere, and on +the earth, have been united [by their sweetness] with milk; may those +silver waters, worthy of oblation, be auspicious, salutary, and +exhilarating to us; and be happily offered: may this oblation be +efficacious." He adds namah, and pours out the water, naming the deceased +and saying, "may this argha be acceptable unto thee." Then oversetting the +vessel, and arranging in due order the unboiled rice condiments, clarified +butter, and the requisites, he scatters tila, while the priests recite +"Thrice did Vishnu step, &c." He next offers the rice, clarified butter, +water and condiments, while he touches the vessel with his left hand, and +names the deceased, saying, "may this raw food, with clarified butter and +condiments, together with water, be acceptable unto thee." After the +priests have repeated the gayatri preceded by the names of the worlds, he +pours honey or sugar upon the rice, while they recite this prayer, "may +the winds blow sweet, the rivers flow sweet, and salutary herbs be sweet, +unto us; may night be sweet, may the mornings pass sweetly; may the soil +of the earth, and heaven parent [of all productions], be sweet unto us; +may [Soma] king of herbs and trees be sweet: may the sun be sweet, may +kine be sweet unto us." He then says "namo! namah!" While the priests +recite "whatever may be deficient in this food; whatever may be imperfect +in this rite; whatever may be wanting in this form; may all that become +faultless." + +He should then feed the Brahmanas, whom he has assembled, either silently +distributing food amongst them, or adding a respectful invitation to them +to eat. When he has given them water to rinse their mouths, he may +consider the deceased as fed through their intervention. The priests again +recite the gayatri and the prayer "may the winds blow sweet," &c., and add +the prescribed prayers, which should be followed by the music of +flageolets, lutes, drums, &c. + +Taking in his left hand another vessel containing tila, blossoms and +water, and in his left hand a brush made of cusa grass, he sprinkles water +over the grass spread on the consecrated spot, naming the deceased and +saying "May this ablution be acceptable to thee:" he afterwards takes a +cake or ball or food mixed with clarified butter, and presents it saying, +"May this cake be acceptable to thee," and deals out the food with this +prayer; "Ancestors, rejoice; take your respective shares, and be strong as +bulls." Then walking round by the left to the northern side of the +consecrated spot, and meditating, "Ancestors, be glad; take your +respective shares, and be strong as bulls," he returns by the same road, +and again sprinkles water on the ground to wash the oblation, saying, "May +this ablution be acceptable to thee." + +Next, touching his hip with his elbow, or else his right side, and having +sipped water, he must make six libations of water with the hollow palms of +his hands, saying, "Salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the +saddening [hot] season; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the +month of tapas [or dewy season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto +that [season] which abounds with water; salvation unto thee, O deceased, +and to the nectar [of blossoms]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and to +the terrible and angry [season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and to +female fire [or the sultry season]." + +He next offers a thread on the funeral cake, holding the wet brush in his +hand, naming the deceased, and saying, "May this raiment be acceptable to +thee;" the priests add, "Fathers, this apparel is offered unto you." He +then silently strews perfumes, blossoms, resin, and betel leaves, as the +funeral cake, and places a lighted lamp on it. He sprinkles water on the +bundle of grass, saying, "May the waters be auspicious;" and offers rice, +adding, "May the blossoms be sweet: may the rice be harmless;" and then +pours water on it, naming the deceased and saying, "May this food and +drink be acceptable unto thee." In the next place he strews grass over the +funeral cake, and sprinkles water on it, reciting this prayer: "Waters! ye +are the food of our progenitors; satisfy my parents, ye who convey +nourishment, which is ambrosia, butter, milk, cattle, and distilled +liquor." Lastly, he smells some of the food, and poises in his hand the +funeral cakes, saying, "May this ball be wholesome food;" and concludes, +paying the officiating priest his fee with a formal declaration, "I do +give this fee (consisting of so much money) to such a one (a priest sprung +from such a family, and who uses such a veda and such a sacha of it), for +the purpose of fully completing the obsequies this day performed by me in +honour of one person singly, preparatory to the gathering of the bones of +such a one deceased." + +After the priest has thrice said: "Salutation to the gods, to progenitors, +to mighty saints, &c.," he dismisses him; lights a lamp in honour of the +deceased; meditates on Heri with undiverted attention; casts the food, and +other things used at the obsequies, into the fire; and then proceeds to +the cemetery for the purpose of gathering the ashes of the deceased. + +So long as mourning lasts after gathering the ashes, the near relations of +the deceased continue to offer water with the same formalities and prayers +as already mentioned, and to refrain from factitious salt, butter, &c. On +the last day of mourning, the nearest relation puts on neat apparel, and +causes his house and furniture to be cleaned; he then goes out of the +town, and after offering the tenth funeral cake, he makes ten libations of +water from the palms of his hands; causes the hair of his head and body to +be shaved, and his nails to be cut, and gives the barber the clothes which +were worn at the funeral of the deceased, and adds some other +remuneration. He then anoints his head and limbs, down to his feet, with +oil of sesamum; rubs all his limbs with meal of sesamum, and his head with +the ground pods of white mustard; he bathes, sips water, touches and +blesses various auspicious things, such as stones, clarified butter, +leaves of Nimba, white mustard, Durva grass, coral, a cow, gold, curds, +honey, a mirror, and a couch, and also touches a bamboo staff. He now +returns purified to his home, and thus completes the first obsequies of +the deceased. + +The second series of obsequies, commencing on the day after the period of +mourning has elapsed, is opened by a lustration termed the consolatory +ceremony. The lustration consists in the consecration of four vessels of +water, and sprinkling therewith the house, the furniture, and the persons +belonging to the family. After lighting a fire, and blessing the attendant +Brahmanas, the priest fills four vessels with water, and, putting his hand +into the first, meditates the gayatri, before and after reciting the +following prayers: 1.--May generous waters be auspicious to us, for gain +and for refreshing draughts; may they approach towards us, that we may be +associated with good auspices. 2.--Earth afford us ease; be free from +thorns; be habitable. Widely extended as thou art, procure us happiness. +3.--O waters! since ye afford delight, grant us food, and the rapturous +sight [of the Supreme Being]. 4.--Like tender mothers, make us here +partakers of your most auspicious essence. + +Putting his hand into the second vessel, the priest meditates the gayatri, +and the four prayers above quoted; adding some others, and concluding this +second consecration of water by once more meditating the gayatri. + +Then taking a lump of sugar and a copper vessel in his left hand, biting +the sugar and spitting it out again, the priest sips water. Afterwards +putting his hand into the third vessel, he meditates the gayatri and the +four prayers above cited, interposing this: May Indra and Varuna [the +regents of the sky and of the ocean] accept our oblations, and grant us +happiness; may Indra and the cherishing sun grant us happiness in the +distribution of food; may Indra and the moon grant us the happiness of +attaining the road to celestial bliss, and the association of good +auspices. + +It is customary immediately after this lustration to give away a vessel of +tila, and also a cow, for the sake of securing the passage of the deceased +over the Vaitarani, or river of hell: whence the cow, so given, is called +Vaitarani-dhenu. Afterwards a bed, with its furniture, is brought; and the +giver sits down near the Brahmana, who has been invited to receive the +present. After saying, "Salutation to this bed with its furniture; +salutation to this priest, to whim it is given," he pays due honour to the +Brahmana in the usual form of hospitality. He then pours water into his +hand, saying, "I give thee this bed with its furniture;" the priest +replies, "give it." Upon this he sprinkles it with water; and taking up +the cusa grass, tila, and water, delivers them to the priest, pouring the +water into his hand, with a formal declaration of the gift and its +purpose; and again delivers a bit of gold with cusa grass, &c., making a +similar formal declaration, 1.--This day, I, being desirous of obtaining +celestial bliss for such a one defunct, do give unto thee, such a one, a +Brahmana descended from such a family, to whom due honour has been shown, +this bed and furniture, which has been duly honoured, and which is sacred +to Vishnu. 2. This day I give unto thee (so and so) this gold, sacred to +fire, as a sacerdotal fee, for the sake of confirming the donation I have +made of this bed and furniture. The Brahmana both times replies "be it +well." Then lying upon the bed, and touching it with the upper part of his +middle finger, he meditates the gayatri with suitable prayers, adding +"This bed is sacred to Vishnu." + +With similar ceremonies and declarations he next gives away to a Brahmana, +a golden image of the deceased, or else a golden idol, or both. Afterwards +he distributes other presents among Brahmanas for the greater honour of +the deceased. Of course, all this can only be done by rich people. + +The principal remaining ceremonies consist chiefly of the obsequies called +sradhas. The first set of funeral ceremonies is adopted to effect, by +means of oblations, the reimbodying of the soul of the deceased, after +burning his corpse. The apparent scope of the second is to raise his shade +from this world (where it would else, according to the notions of the +Hindus, continue to roam among demons and evil spirits), up to heaven, and +there deify him, as it were, among the manes of departed ancestors. For +this end, a sradha should regularly be offered to the deceased on the day +after mourning expires; twelve other sradhas singly to the deceased in +twelve successive months: similar obsequies at the end of the third +fortnight, and also in the sixth month, and in the twelfth; and the +oblation called Sapindana, on the first anniversary of his decease. In +most provinces the periods for these sixteen ceremonies, and for the +concluding obsequies entitled Sapindana, are anticipated, and the whole is +completed on the second or third day. After which they are again performed +at the proper times, but in honour of the whole set of progenitors, +instead of the deceased singly. The obsequies intended to raise the shade +of the deceased to heaven are thus completed. Afterwards, a sradha is +annually offered to him on the anniversary of his decease. + +What we have just described, elaborate as it looks, is simply an +abridgment of the long and complicated ceremonies attendant upon the +funeral and after obsequies of a rich man among the Hindus, but it is +enough for our purpose. It shows the vast importance attached to those +obsequies, and enables us to understand the desire on the part of these +Hindus to have children who will in a proper and acceptable manner carry +out these proceedings. We have already quoted from the sacred books to +show that a son was regarded as better able to perform those duties than +any other relation, and that failing such offspring in the ordinary course +of nature, it was obligatory upon the would be father to adopt one. + +Dulaure and some other writers describe a variety of ceremonies which were +taken part in by the women in order to procure the children who would +satisfy the cravings of their husbands. It is probable that a good deal of +what took place at the shrines of heathen goddesses in other lands, arose +from this anxiety, and not altogether from a merely licentious habit of +character and disposition. It has been said, as we may have already +suggested perhaps, that the priests connected with some of the temples +resorted to by childless women for the cure of their misfortune, were +cunning enough to provide for what was wanted in a more practical way than +by the simple performance of certain ceremonies, and that where the +failure to produce children was due to some fault on the part of the +husband, means were at hand by which the woman soon found herself in the +desired condition. It is rather singular that something very similar was +found among the Jewish women in the time of Ezekiel, as we have found in +India; the Indian woman sacrificed her virginity at the shrine of the +Lingam, and in the 16th chapter of the prophet's book, verse 17, we +read:--"Thou didst take also thy fair jewels of my gold, and didst make to +thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them." The latter, +however, was evidently of a very different character to the former, being +nothing more or less than the impure worship of Priapus as carried on in +the orgies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis, the images of the Hebrew women +being such as the Priapi used in those ceremonies; on no account must +those foolish and filthy practices be confounded with that act of worship +which men in primitively simple condition rendered to the agents employed +in the act of generation, which was innocently regarded as only one of the +operations of nature. + +The moral of this part of the subject, and with which for the present we +take leave of it, is this, that the Eastern, from his views of the future +life, deems it absolutely necessary that he should leave offspring, either +real or adopted, behind him, to carry out the obligations imposed by his +religion, and that in order to attain in the possession of what is to him +such a blessing, he is called upon to propitiate in every possible manner +the physical agents and powers employed in the process,--hence the rise +and practice of phallic worship. + + +THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See Dudley's _Naology_. + +[2] _Edin. Rev._, 1870, p. 239. + +[3] Jewitt. + +[4] Hawkins' _Sketch of the Creek Country_. + +[5] _Myths of the New World._ + +[6] Jewitt in _Art Journal_, 1876. + +[7] Quoted by Jewitt, in _Art Journal_, 1874. + +[8] Lysons, _Our British Ancestors_. + +[9] Cory, _Mytho. Inquiry_. + +[10] Cory, _Mytho. Inquiry_. + +[11] Faber, _Orig. Pag. Idol._ + +[12] Meyrick's _Cardigan_. + +[13] Inman, _Anc. Faiths_. I. + +[14] _Rivers of Life._ + +[15] Dr. Beke. + +[16] Dr. F. A. Cox. + +[17] Ewald, _Antiq. Israel_. + +[18] _Mems. Anthrop. Soc. 1._ + +[19] Lewis. _Origines Heb._ + +[20] _Keys of the Creeds_, V. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASCULINE CROSS*** + + +******* This file should be named 39414.txt or 39414.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/9/4/1/39414 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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