,,pagan  ,,christian ,,creeds3 ,,their  
,,origin ,,and ,,meaning    ,by ,edward 
,carpenter          ,the different      
religions being lame attempts to        
represent under various  guises this one
 root-fact of the central universal     
life1 men have at  all times clung to   
the religious creeds and rituals and    
ceremonials as  symbolising in some rude
 way the redemption and fulfilment of   
their own  most intimate natures--and   
this whether consciously understanding  
the interpretations1 or whether 7as most
 often7 only doing so in an  unconscious
 or quite subconscious way4    ,the     
,drama of ,love and ,death1 p4 #if4     
,,contents         ,i4    ,,introductory
       ,,ii4   ,,solar ,,myths ,,and    
,,christian ,,festivals       ,,iii4    
,,the ,,symbolism ,,of ,,the ,,zodiac   
,,iv4   ,,totem-,,sacraments ,,and      
,,eucharists       ,v4    ,,food ,,and  
,,vegetation ,,magic       ,,vi4        
,,magicians1 ,,kings ,,and ,,gods       
,,vii4  ,,rites ,,of ,,expiation ,,and  

,,redemption       ,,viii4 ,,pagan      
,,initiations ,,and ,,the ,,second      
,,birth       ,,ix4   ,,myth ,,of ,,the 
,,golden ,,age       ,x4    ,,the       
,,saviour-,,god ,,and ,,the             
,,virgin-,,mother       ,,xi4   ,,ritual
 ,,dancing       ,,xii4  ,,the          
,,sex-,,taboo       ,,xiii4 ,,the       
,,genesis ,,of ,,christianity           
,,xv4   ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,it ,,all 
,,xv4   ,,the ,,ancient ,,mysteries     
,,xvi4  ,,the ,,exodus ,,of             
,,christianity       ,,xvii4            
,,conclusion         ,,appendix ,,on    
,,the ,,teachings ,,of ,,the            
,,upanishads3       ,i4    ,,rest       
,,ii4   ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,the ,,self
          ,,pagan ,,and ,,christian     
,,creeds3 ,,their ,,origin ,,and        
,,meaning          ,i4 ,,introductory   
,the subject of ,religious ,origins is a
 fascinating one1 as the great          
multitude of books upon it1 published in
 late years1 tends to show4  ,indeed the
 great difficulty to-day in dealing with

 the subject1 lies in  the very mass of 
the material to hand--and that not only 
on account of  the labor involved in    
sorting the material1 but because the   
abundance  itself of facts opens up     
temptation to a student in this         
department of  ,anthropology 7as happens
 also in other branches of general      
,science7 to  rush in too hastily with  
what seems a plausible theory4 ,the more
 facts1  statistics1 and so forth1 there
 are available in any investigation1 the
  easier it is to pick out a            
considerable number which will fit a    
given  theory4 ,the other facts being   
neglected or ignored1 the views put     
forward enjoy for a time a great vogue4 
,then inevitably1 and at a later  time1 
new or neglected facts alter the        
outlook1 and a new perspective is       
established4    ,there is also in these 
matters of ,science 7though many        
scientific men  would doubtless deny    
this7 a great deal of ,fashion4 ,such   
has been  notoriously the case in       

,political ,economy1 ,medicine1         
,geology1 and even  in such definite    
studies as ,physics and ,chemistry4 ,in 
a comparatively  recent science1 like   
that with which we are now concerned1   
one would  naturally expect variations4 
,a hundred and fifty years ago1 and     
since  the time of ,rousseau1 the ,noble
 ,savage was extremely popular2 and he  
lingers still in the story books of our 
children4 ,then the reaction from  this 
extreme view set in1 and of late years  
it has been the popular cue  7largely1  
it must be said1 among armchair         
travelers and explorers7  to represent  
the religious rites and customs of      
primitive folk as a  senseless mass of  
superstitions1 and the early man as     
quite devoid of  decent feeling and     
intelligence4 ,again1 when the study of 
religious  origins first began in modern
 times to be seriously taken up--say in 
the  earlier part of last century--there
 was a great boom in ,sungods4 ,every   
divinity in the ,pantheon was an        

impersonation of the ,sun--unless indeed
  7if feminine7 of the ,moon4 ,apollo   
was a sungod1 of course2 ,hercules was  
a sungod2 ,samson was a sungod2 ,indra  
and ,krishna1 and even ,christ1 the     
same4 ,c4 ,f4 ,dupuis in ,france        
7,origine de tous les ,cultes1 #agie71  
,f4 ,nork  in ,germany 7,biblische      
,mythologie1 #ahdb71 ,richard ,taylor in
 ,england 7,the  ,devil's ,pulpit1 7#a7 
#ahcj71 were among the first in modern  
times to put  forward this view4 ,a     
little later the ,,phallic explanation  
of everything  came into fashion4 ,the  
deities were all polite names for the   
organs and  powers of procreation4 ,r4  
,p4 ,knight 7,ancient ,art and          
,mythology1  #ahah7 and ,dr4 ,thomas    
,inman 7,ancient ,faiths and ,ancient   
,names1 #ahfh7  popularized this idea in
 ,england2 so did ,nork in ,germany4    
,then again  there was a period of what 
is sometimes called ,euhemerism--the    
theory  that the gods and goddesses had 
actually once been men and women1       

historical characters round whom a halo 
of romance and remoteness  had gathered4
 ,later still1 a school has arisen which
 thinks little of  sungods1 and pays    
more attention to ,earth and ,nature    
spirits1 to gnomes  and demons and      
vegetation-sprites1 and to the processes
 of ,magic by  which these 7so it was   
supposed7 could be enlisted in man's    
service if  friendly1 or exorcised if   
hostile4       7#a7 ,this extraordinary 
book1 though carelessly composed and    
containing many unproven statements1 was
 on the whole on the right  lines4 ,but 
it raised a storm of opposition--the    
more so because its  author was a       
clergyman6 ,he was ejected from the     
ministry1 of course1 and  was sent to   
prison twice4      ,it is easy to see of
 course that there is some truth in     
,,all these  explanations2 but naturally
 each school for the time being makes   
the  most of its own contention4 ,mr4   
,j4 ,m4 ,robertson 7,pagan ,christs and 
,christianity and ,mythology71 who has  

done such fine work in this field1  7#a7
 relies chiefly on the solar and        
astronomical origins1 though he does    
not altogether deny the others2 ,dr4    
,frazer1 on the other hand--whose  great
 work1 ,the ,golden ,bough1 is a        
monumental collection of primitive      
customs1 and will be an inexhaustible   
quarry for all future students--is      
apparently very little concerned with   
theories about the ,sun and the  stars1 
but concentrates his attention on the   
collection of innumerable  details 7#b7 
of rites1 chiefly magical1 connected    
with food and  vegetation4 ,still later 
writers1 like ,s4 ,reinach1 ,jane       
,harrison and  ,e4 ,a4 ,crowley1 being  
mainly occupied with customs of very    
primitive  peoples1 like the ,pelasgian 
,greeks or the ,australian aborigines1  
have  confined themselves 7necessarily7 
even more to ,magic and ,witchcraft4    
7#a7 ,if only he did not waste so much  
time1 and so needlessly1 in             
slaughtering opponents6     7#b7 ,to    

such a degree1 indeed1 that sometimes   
the connecting clue  of the argument    
seems to be lost4      ,meanwhile the   
,christian ,church from these           
speculations has kept itself  severely  
apart--as of course representing a      
unique and divine revelation  little    
concerned or interested in such         
heathenisms2 and moreover 7in  this     
country at any rate7 has managed to     
persuade the general public  of its own 
divine uniqueness to such a degree that 
few people1 even  nowadays1 realize that
 it has sprung from just the same root  
as  ,paganism1 and that it shares by far
 the most part of its doctrines and     
rites with the latter4 ,till quite      
lately it was thought 7in ,britain7     
that only secularists and unfashionable 
people took any interest in  sungods2   
and while it was true that learned      
professors might point to a  belief in  
,magic as one of the first sources of   
,religion1 it was easy in  reply to say 
that this obviously had nothing to do   

with ,christianity6  ,the ,secularists1 
too1 rather spoilt their case by        
assuming1 in their  wrath against the   
,church1 that all priests since the     
beginning of  the world have been frauds
 and charlatans1 and that all the rites 
of  religion were merely devil's devices
 invented by them for the purpose of    
preying upon the superstitions of the   
ignorant1 to their own enrichment4      
,they 7the ,secularists7 overleaped     
themselves by grossly exaggerating a    
thing that no doubt is partially true4  
,thus the subject of religious origins  
is somewhat complex1 and yields  many   
aspects for consideration4 ,it is only1 
,i think1 by keeping a broad  course and
 admitting contributions to the truth   
from various sides1 that  valuable      
results can be obtained4 ,it is absurd  
to suppose that in this  or any other   
science neat systems can be found which 
will cover all the  facts4 ,nature and  
,history do not deal in such things1 or 
supply them for  a sop to ,man's vanity4

    ,it is clear that there have been   
three main lines1 so far1 along which   
human speculation and study have run4   
,one connecting religious rites and     
observations with the movements of the  
,sun and the planets in the sky1  and   
leading to the invention of and belief  
in ,olympian and remote gods  dwelling  
in heaven and ruling the ,earth from a  
distance2 the second  connecting        
religion with the changes of the season1
 on the ,earth and  with such practical 
things as the growth of vegetation and  
food1 and  leading to or mingled with a 
vague belief in earth-spirits and       
magical  methods of influencing such    
spirits2 and the third connecting       
religion  with man's own body and the   
tremendous force of sex residing in     
it--emblem of undying life and all      
fertility and power4 ,it is clear       
also--and all investigation confirms    
it--that the second-mentioned phase  of 
religion arose on the whole ,,before the
 first-mentioned--that is1 that  men    

naturally thought about the very        
practical questions of food and         
vegetation1 and the magical or other    
methods of encouraging the same1  before
 they worried themselves about the      
heavenly bodies and the laws of  ,,their
 movements1 or about the sinister or    
favorable influences the stars  might   
exert4 ,and again it is extremely       
probable that the third-mentioned       
aspect--that which connected religion   
with the procreative desires and        
phenomena of human physiology--really   
came ,,first4 ,these desires and        
physiological phenomena must have loomed
 large on the primitive mind  long      
before the changes of the seasons or of 
the sky had been at all  definitely     
observed or considered4 ,thus we find it
 probable that1 in  order to understand 
the sequence of the actual and          
historical phases of  religious worship1
 we must approximately reverse the order
 above-given  in which they have been   
,,studied1 and conclude that in general 

the  ,phallic cults came first1 the cult
 of ,magic and the propitiation of      
earth-divinities and spirits came       
second1 and only last came the belief   
in definite ,god-figures residing in    
heaven4    ,at the base of the whole    
process by which divinities and demons  
were  created1 and rites for their      
propitiation and placation established1 
lay  ,fear--fear stimulating the        
imagination to fantastic activity4      
,primus in  orbe deos fecit ,timor4 ,and
 fear1 as we shall see1 only became a   
mental  stimulus at the time of1 or     
after1 the evolution of                 
self-consciousness4  ,before that time1 
in the period of ,,simple consciousness1
 when the human  mind resembled that of 
the animals1 fear indeed existed1 but   
its nature  was more that of a          
mechanical protective instinct4 ,there  
being no figure  or image of ,,self in  
the animal mind1 there were             
correspondingly no  figures or images of
 beings who might threaten or destroy   

that self4 ,so  it was that the         
imaginative power of fear began with    
,self-consciousness1  and from that     
imaginative power was unrolled the whole
 panorama of the  gods and rites and    
creeds of ,religion down the centuries4 
,the immense force and domination of    
,fear in the first self-conscious       
stages of the human mind is a thing     
which can hardly be exaggerated1 and    
which is even difficult for some of us  
moderns to realize4 ,but naturally  as  
soon as ,man began to think about       
himself--a frail phantom and waif in    
the midst of tremendous forces of whose 
nature and mode of operation he  was    
entirely ignorant--he was ,,beset with  
terrors2 dangers loomed upon  him on all
 sides4 ,even to-day it is noticed by   
doctors that one of the  chief obstacles
 to the cure of illness among some black
 or native races  is sheer superstitious
 terror2 and ,thanatomania is the       
recognized word  for a state of mind    
7obsession of death7 which will often   

cause a  savage to perish from a mere   
scratch hardly to be called a wound4    
,the natural defence against this state 
of mind was the creation of an  enormous
 number of taboos--such as we find among
 all races and on every  conceivable    
subject--and these taboos constituted   
practically a  great body of warnings   
which regulated the lives and thoughts  
of the  community1 and ultimately1 after
 they had been weeded out and to some   
degree simplified1 hardened down into   
very stringent ,customs and ,laws4      
,such taboos naturally in the beginning 
tended to include the avoidance  not    
only of acts which might reasonably be  
considered dangerous1 like  touching a  
corpse1 but also things much more remote
 and fanciful in  their relation to     
danger1 like merely looking at a        
mother-in-law1 or  passing a            
lightning-struck tree2 and 7what is     
especially to be noticed7  they tended  
to include acts which offered any       
special ,,pleasure or  temptation--like 

sex or marriage or the enjoyment of a   
meal4 ,taboos  surrounded these things  
too1 and the psychological connection is
 easy to  divine3 but ,i shall deal with
 this general subject later4    ,it may 
be guessed that so complex a system of  
regulations made life  anything but easy
 to early peoples2 but1 preposterous and
 unreasonable  as some of the taboos    
were1 they undoubtedly had the effect of
  compelling the growth of self-control4
 ,fear does not seem a very worthy      
motive1 but in the beginning it curbed  
the violence of the purely animal       
passions1 and introduced order and      
restraint among them4 ,simultaneously   
it became itself1 through the gradual   
increase of knowledge and  observation1 
transmuted and etherealized into        
something more like wonder  and awe and 
7when the gods rose above the horizon7  
into reverence4  ,anyhow we seem to     
perceive that from the early beginnings 
7in the  ,stone ,age7 of                
self-consciousness in ,man there has    

been a gradual  development--from crass 
superstition1 senseless and accidental1 
to  rudimentary observation1 and so to  
belief in ,magic2 thence to ,animism    
and personification of nature-powers in 
more or less human form1  as            
earth-divinities or sky-gods or         
embodiments of the tribe2 and to        
placation of these powers by rites like 
,sacrifice and the ,eucharist1  which in
 their turn became the foundation of    
,morality4 ,graphic  representations    
made for the encouragement of           
fertility--as on the  walls of          
,bushmen's rock-dwellings or the        
ceilings of the caverns of              
,altamira--became the nurse of pictorial
 ,art2 observations of plants  or of the
 weather or the stars1 carried on by    
tribal medicine-men for  purposes of    
witchcraft or prophecy1 supplied some of
 the material of  ,science2 and humanity
 emerged by faltering and hesitating    
steps on the  borderland of those finer 
perceptions and reasonings which are    

supposed  to be characteristic of       
,civilization4    ,the process of the   
evolution of religious rites and        
ceremonies has in  its main outlines    
been the same all over the world1 as the
 reader will  presently see--and this   
whether in connection with the numerous 
creeds  of ,paganism or the supposedly  
unique case of ,christianity2 and now   
the  continuity and close intermixture  
of these great streams can no longer  be
 denied--nor ,,is it indeed denied by   
those who have really studied the       
subject4 ,it is seen that religious     
evolution through the ages has been     
practically ,one thing--that there has  
been in fact a ,world-religion1  though 
with various phases and branches4       
,and so in the present day a new problem
 arises1 namely how to account  for the 
appearance of this great ,phenomenon1   
with its orderly phases  of evolution1  
and its own spontaneous 7#a7 growths in 
all corners of the  globe--this         
phenomenon which has had such a strange 

sway over the hearts  of men1 which has 
attracted them with so weird a charm1   
which has drawn  out their devotion1    
love and tenderness1 which has consoled 
them in  sorrow and affliction1 and yet 
which has stained their history with    
such  horrible sacrifices and           
persecutions and cruelties4 ,what has   
been the  instigating cause of it8      
7#a7 ,for the question of spontaneity   
see chap4 x and elsewhere4      ,the    
answer which ,i propose to this         
question1 and which is developed to     
some extent in the following chapters1  
is a psychological one4 ,it is  that the
 phenomenon proceeds from1 and is a     
necessary accompaniment of1  the growth 
of human ,consciousness itself--its     
growth1 namely1 through  the three great
 stages of its unfoldment4 ,these stages
 are 7#a7 that of  the simple or animal 
consciousness1 7#b7 that of             
,,self-consciousness1 and  7#c7 that of 
a third stage of consciousness which has
 not as yet been  effectively named1 but

 whose indications and precursive signs 
we here  and there perceive in the rites
 and prophecies and mysteries of the    
early religions1 and in the poetry and  
art and literature generally of  the    
later civilizations4 ,though ,i do not  
expect or wish to catch ,nature  and    
,history in the careful net of a phrase1
 yet ,i think that in the  sequence from
 the above-mentioned first stage to the 
second1 and then  again in the sequence 
from the second to the third1 there will
 be found  a helpful explanation of the 
rites and aspirations of human religion4
 ,it  is this idea1 illustrated by      
details of ceremonial and so forth1     
which  forms the main thesis of the     
present book4 ,in this sequence of      
growth1  ,christianity enters as an     
episode1 but no more than an episode4   
,it does  not amount to a disruption or 
dislocation of evolution4 ,if it did1 or
  if it stood as an unique or           
unclassifiable phenomenon 7as some of   
its  votaries contend71 this would seem 

to be a misfortune--as it would         
obviously rob us of at any rate one     
promise of progress in the future4  ,and
 the promise of something better than   
,paganism and better than  ,christianity
 is very precious4 ,it is surely time   
that it should be  fulfilled4    ,the   
tracing1 therefore1 of the part that    
human self-consciousness has  played1   
psychologically1 in the evolution of    
religion1 runs like a  thread through   
the following chapters1 and seeks       
illustration in a  variety of details4  
,the idea has been repeated under       
different aspects2  sometimes1 possibly1
 it has been repeated too often2 but    
different  aspects in such a case do    
help1 as in a stereoscope1 to give      
solidity to  the thing seen4 ,though the
 worship of ,sun-gods and divine figures
 in  the sky came comparatively late in 
religious evolution1 #a have put this   
subject early in the book 7chapters ii  
and iii71 partly because 7as ,i  have   
already explained7 it was the phase     

first studied in modern times1  and     
therefore is the one most familiar to   
present-day readers1 and  partly because
 its astronomical data give great       
definiteness and  proveability to it1 in
 rebuttal to the common accusation that 
the  whole study of religious origins is
 too vague and uncertain to have much   
value4 ,going backwards in ,time1 the   
two next chapters 7iv and v7 deal  with 
,totem-sacraments and ,magic1 perhaps   
the earliest forms of religion4  ,and   
these four lead on 7in chapters vi to   
xi7 to the consideration of  rites and  
creeds common to ,paganism and          
,christianity4 ,,xii and xiii deal      
especially with the evolution of        
,christianity itself2 xiv and xv explain
  the inner ,meaning of the whole       
process from the beginning2 and xvi and 
xvii look to the ,future4    ,the       
appendix on the doctrines of the        
,upanishads may1 ,i hope1 serve to  give
 an idea1 intimate even though          
inadequate1 of the third ,stage--that   

which follows on the stage of           
self-consciousness2 and to portray the  
mental attitudes which are              
characteristic of that stage4 ,here in  
this  third stage1 it would seem1 one   
comes upon the real ,,facts of the inner
  life--in contradistinction to the     
fancies and figments of the second      
stage2 and so one reaches the final     
point of conjunction between ,science   
and ,religion4          ,,ii4 ,,solar   
,,myths ,,and ,,christian ,,festivals   
,to the ordinary public--notwithstanding
 the immense amount of work which  has  
of late been done on this subject--the  
connection between ,paganism  and       
,christianity still seems rather remote4
 ,indeed the common notion  is that     
,christianity was really a miraculous   
interposition into and  dislocation of  
the old order of the world2 and that the
 pagan gods 7as  in ,milton's ,hymn on  
the ,nativity7 fled away in dismay      
before the sign of  the ,cross1 and at  
the sound of the name of ,jesus4        

,doubtless this was a  view much        
encouraged by the early ,church         
itself--if only to enhance its  own     
authority and importance2 yet1 as is    
well known to every student1 it  is     
quite misleading and contrary to fact4  
,the main ,christian doctrines  and     
festivals1 besides a great mass of      
affiliated legend and ceremonial1  are  
really quite directly derived from1 and 
related to1 preceding  ,nature worships2
 and it has only been by a good deal of 
deliberate  mystification and           
falsification that this derivation has  
been kept out  of sight4    ,in these   
,nature-worships there may be discerned 
three fairly independent  streams of    
religious or quasi-religious enthusiasm3
 7#a7 that connected  with the phenomena
 of the heavens1 the movements of the   
,sun1 planets and  stars1 and the awe   
and wonderment they excited2 7#b7 that  
connected with  the seasons and the very
 important matter of the growth of      
vegetation  and food on the ,earth2 and 

7#c7 that connected with the mysteries  
of ,sex  and reproduction4 ,it is       
obvious that these three streams would  
mingle  and interfuse with each other a 
good deal2 but as far as they were      
separable the first would tend to create
 ,solar heroes and ,sun-myths2  the     
second ,vegetation-gods and             
personifications of ,nature and the     
earth-life2 while the third would throw 
its glamour over the other two  and     
contribute to the projection of deities 
or demons worshipped with  all sorts of 
sexual and phallic rites4 ,all three    
systems of course have  their special   
rites and times and ceremonies2 but1 as1
 ,i say1 the rites  and ceremonies of   
one system would rarely be found pure   
and unmixed with  those belonging to the
 two others4 ,the whole subject is a    
very large  one2 but for reasons given  
in the ,introduction ,i shall in this   
and  the following chapter--while not   
ignoring phases 7#b7 and 7#c7--lay most 
stress on phase 7#a7 of the question    

before us4    ,at the time of the life  
or recorded appearance of ,jesus of     
,nazareth1 and  for some centuries      
before1 the ,mediterranean and          
neighboring world had  been the scene of
 a vast number of pagan creeds and      
rituals4 ,there were  ,temples without  
end dedicated to gods like ,apollo or   
,dionysus among the  ,greeks1 ,hercules 
among the ,romans1 ,mithra among the    
,persians1 ,adonis and  ,attis in ,syria
 and ,phrygia1 ,osiris and ,isis and    
,horus in ,egypt1 ,baal  and ,astarte   
among the ,babylonians and              
,carthaginians1 and so forth4           
,societies1 large or small1 united      
believers and the devout in the  service
 or ceremonials connected with their    
respective deities1 and  in the creeds  
which they confessed concerning these   
deities4 ,and an  extraordinarily       
interesting fact1 for us1 is that       
notwithstanding great  geographical     
distances and racial differences between
 the adherents  of these various cults1 

as well as differences in the details of
 their  services1 the general outlines  
of their creeds and ceremonials were--if
  not identical--so markedly similar as 
we find them4    ,i cannot of course go 
at length into these different cults1   
but ,i may  say roughly that of all or  
nearly all the deities above-mentioned  
it was  said and believed that3         
7#a7 ,they were born on or very near our
 ,christmas ,day4    7#b7 ,they were    
born of a ,virgin-,mother4    7#c7 ,and 
in a ,cave or ,underground ,chamber4    
7#d7 ,they led a life of toil for       
,mankind4    7#e7 ,and were called by   
the names of ,light-bringer1 ,healer1   
,mediator1  ,savior1 ,deliverer4    7#f7
 ,they were however vanquished by the   
,powers of ,darkness4    7#g7 ,and      
descended into ,hell or the ,underworld4
    7#h7 ,they rose again from the dead1
 and became the pioneers of mankind to  
the ,heavenly world4    7#i7 ,they      
founded ,communions of ,saints1 and     
,churches into which disciples  were    

received by ,baptism4    7#aj7 ,and they
 were commemorated by ,eucharistic      
meals4      ,let me give a few brief    
examples4    ,mithra was born in a cave1
 and on the #beth ,december4 7#a7 ,he   
was born of  a ,virgin4 7#b7 ,he        
traveled far and wide as a teacher and  
illuminator  of men4 ,he slew the ,bull 
7symbol of the gross ,earth which the   
sunlight  fructifies74 ,his great       
festivals were the winter solstice and  
the ,spring  equinox 7,christmas and    
,easter74 ,he had twelve companions or  
disciples  7the twelve months74 ,he was 
buried in a tomb1 from which however he 
rose  again2 and his resurrection was   
celebrated yearly with great rejoicings4
  ,he was called ,savior and ,mediator1 
and sometimes figured as a ,lamb2 and   
sacramental feasts in remembrance of him
 were held by his followers4  ,this     
legend is apparently partly astronomical
 and partly vegetational2  and the same 
may be said of the following about      
,osiris4     7#a7 ,the birthfeast of    

,mithra was held in ,rome on the #hth   
day  before the ,kalends of ,january1   
being also the day of the ,circassian   
games1 which were sacred to the ,sun4   
7,see ,f4 ,nork1 ,der ,mystagog1        
,leipzig47     7#b7 ,this at any rate   
was reported by his later disciples 7see
  ,robertson's ,pagan ,christs1 p4      
#cch74      ,osiris was born 7,plutarch 
tells us7 on the #cfast day of the year1
  say the #bgth ,december4 ,he too1 like
 ,mithra and ,dionysus1 was a great     
traveler4 ,as ,king of ,egypt he taught 
men civil arts1 and tamed them by  music
 and gentleness1 not by force of arms2  
7#a7 he was the discoverer  of corn and 
wine4 ,but he was betrayed by ,typhon1  
the power of darkness1  and slain and   
dismembered4 ,this happened1 says       
,plutarch1 on the #agth  of the month   
,athyr1 when the sun enters into the    
,scorpion 7the sign of  the ,zodiac     
which indicates the oncoming of         
,winter74 ,his body was placed  in a    
box1 but afterwards1 on the #aith1 came 

again to life1 and1 as in  the cults of 
,mithra1 ,dionysus1 ,adonis and others1 
so in the cult  of ,osiris1 an image    
placed in a coffin was brought out      
before the  worshipers and saluted with 
glad cries of ,osiris is risen4 7#a7    
,his  sufferings1 his death and his     
resurrection were enacted year by year  
in  a great mystery-play at ,abydos4    
7#b7     7#a7 ,see ,plutarch on ,isis   
and ,osiris4     7#b7 ,ancient ,art and 
,ritual1 by ,jane ,e4 ,harrison1 chap4  
i4      ,the two following legends have 
more distinctly the character of        
,vegetation myths4    ,adonis or        
,tammuz1 the ,syrian god of vegetation1 
was a very beautiful  youth1 born of a  
,virgin 7,nature71 and so beautiful that
 ,venus and  ,proserpine 7the goddesses 
of the ,upper and ,underworlds7 both    
fell in  love with him4 ,to reconcile   
their claims it was agreed that he      
should  spend half the year 7summer7 in 
the upper world1 and the winter half    
with ,proserpine below4 ,he was killed  

by a boar 7,typhon7 in the autumn4  ,and
 every year the maidens wept for ,adonis
 7see ,ezekiel viii4 #ad74 ,in  the     
spring a festival of his resurrection   
was held--the women set out  to seek    
him1 and having found the supposed      
corpse placed it 7a wooden  image7 in a 
coffin or hollow tree1 and performed    
wild rites and  lamentations1 followed  
by even wilder rejoicings over his      
supposed  resurrection4 ,at ,aphaca in  
the ,north of ,syria1 and halfway       
between  ,byblus and ,baalbec1 there was
 a famous grove and temple of ,astarte1 
near which was a wild romantic gorge    
full of trees1 the birthplace of  a     
certain river ,adonis--the water rushing
 from a ,cavern1 under lofty  cliffs4   
,here 7it was said7 every year the youth
 ,adonis was again wounded  to death1   
and the river ran red with his blood1   
7#a7 while the scarlet  anemone bloomed 
among the cedars and walnuts4     7#a7  
,a discoloration caused by red earth    
washed by rain from the  mountains1 and 

which has been observed by modern       
travelers4 ,for the  whole story of     
,adonis and of ,attis see ,frazer's     
,golden ,bough1 part iv4      ,the story
 of ,attis is very similar4 ,he was a   
fair young shepherd or  herdsman of     
,phrygia1 beloved by ,cybele 7or        
,demeter71 the ,mother of the  gods4 ,he
 was born of a ,virgin--,nana--who      
conceived by putting a ripe  almond or  
pomegranate in her bosom4 ,he died1     
either killed by a boar1  the symbol of 
winter1 like ,adonis1 or self-castrated 
7like his own  priests72 and he bled to 
death at the foot of a pine tree 7the   
pine  and pine-cone being symbols of    
fertility74 ,the sacrifice of his blood 
renewed the fertility of the earth1 and 
in the ritual celebration of  his death 
and resurrection his image was fastened 
to the trunk of a  pine-tree 7compare   
the ,crucifixion74 ,but ,i shall return 
to this legend  presently4 ,the worship 
of ,attis became very widespread and    
much honored1  and was ultimately       

incorporated with the established       
religion at ,rome  somewhere about the  
commencement of our ,era4    ,the       
following two legends 7dealing with     
,hercules and with ,krishna7 have       
rather more of the character of the     
solar1 and less of the vegetational     
myth about them4 ,both heroes were      
regarded as great benefactors of        
humanity2 but the former more on the    
material plane1 and the latter on  the  
spiritual4    ,hercules or ,heracles    
was1 like other ,sun-gods and           
benefactors of  mankind1 a great        
,traveler4 ,he was known in many lands1 
and everywhere  he was invoked as       
,saviour4 ,he was miraculously conceived
 from a divine  ,father2 even in the    
cradle he strangled two serpents sent to
 destroy  him4 ,his many labors for the 
good of the world were ultimately       
epitomized into twelve1 symbolized by   
the signs of the ,zodiac4 ,he slew  the 
,nemxan ,lion and the ,hydra 7offspring 
of ,typhon7 and the ,boar4 ,he  overcame

 the ,cretan ,bull1 and cleaned out the 
,stables of ,augeas2 he  conquered      
,death and1 descending into ,hades1     
brought ,cerberus thence and  ascended  
into ,heaven4 ,on all sides he was      
followed by the gratitude and  the      
prayers of mortals4    ,as to ,krishna1 
the ,indian god1 the points of agreement
 with the general  divine career        
indicated above are too salient to be   
overlooked1 and too  numerous to be     
fully recorded4 ,he also was born of a  
,virgin 7,devaki7  and in a ,cave1 7#a7 
and his birth announced by a ,star4 ,it 
was sought to  destroy him1 and for that
 purpose a massacre of infants was      
ordered4  ,everywhere he performed      
miracles1 raising the dead1 healing     
lepers1 and  the deaf and the blind1 and
 championing the poor and oppressed4 ,he
 had  a beloved disciple1 ,arjuna1 7cf4 
,john7 before whom he was transfigured4 
7#b7 ,his death is differently          
related--as being shot by an arrow1 or  
crucified on a tree4 ,he descended into 

hell2 and rose again from the  dead1    
ascending into heaven in the sight of   
many people4 ,he will return  at the    
last day to be the judge of the quick   
and the dead4     7#a7 ,cox's ,myths of 
the ,aryan ,nations1 p4 #ajg4     7#b7  
,bhagavat ,gita1 ch4 xi4      ,such are 
some of the legends concerning the pagan
 and pre-,christian  deities--only      
briefly sketched now1 in order that we  
may get something  like a true          
perspective of the whole subject2 but to
 most of them1 and  more in detail1 ,i  
shall return as the argument proceeds4  
,what we chiefly notice so far are two  
points2 on the one hand the  general    
similarity of these stories with that of
 ,jesus ,christ2 on the  other their    
analogy with the yearly phenomena of    
,nature as illustrated  by the course of
 the ,sun in heaven and the changes of  
,vegetation on the  earth4      7#a7    
,the similarity of these ancient pagan  
legends and beliefs with  ,christian    
traditions was indeed so great that it  

excited the attention  and the          
undisguised wrath of the early          
,christian fathers4 ,they felt no  doubt
 about the similarity1 but not knowing  
how to explain it fell  back upon the   
innocent theory that the ,devil--in     
order to confound the  ,christians--had1
 ,,centuries ,,before1 caused the pagans
 to adopt certain  beliefs and          
practices6 7,very crafty1 we may say1 of
 the ,devil1 but also  very innocent of 
the ,fathers to believe it67 ,justin    
,martyr for instance  describes 7#a7 the
 institution of the ,lord's ,supper as  
narrated in the  ,gospels1 and then goes
 on to say3 ,which the wicked devils    
have ,,imitated  in the mysteries of    
,mithra1 commanding the same thing to be
 done4 ,for1  that bread and a cup of   
water are placed with certain           
incantations in  the mystic rites of one
 who is being initiated you either know 
or can  learn4 ,tertullian also says    
7#b7 that the devil by the mysteries of 
his idols imitates even the main part of

 the divine mysteries4444  ,he baptizes 
his worshippers in water and makes them 
believe that  this purifies them from   
their crimes4444 ,mithra sets his mark  
on the  forehead of his soldiers2 he    
celebrates the oblation of bread2 he    
offers  an image of the resurrection1   
and presents at once the crown and the  
sword2 he limits his chief priest to a  
single marriage2 he even has his        
virgins and ascetics4 7#c7 ,cortez1 too1
 it will be remembered complained  that 
the ,devil had positively taught to the 
,mexicans the same things  which ,god   
had taught to ,christendom4     7#a7 ,i 
,apol4 c4 #ff4     7#b7 ,de             
,praescriptione ,hereticorum1 c4 #dj2   
,de ,bapt4 c4 #c2 ,de  ,corona1 c4 #ae4 
7#c7 ,for reference to both these       
examples see ,j4 ,m4 ,robertson's       
,pagan ,christs1 pp4 #cba1 #cbb4        
,justin ,martyr again1 in the ,dialogue 
with ,trypho says that the ,birth in    
the ,stable was the prototype 767 of the
 birth of ,mithra in the ,cave of       

,zoroastrianism2 and boasts that ,christ
 was born when the ,sun takes its  birth
 in the ,augean ,stable1 7#a7 coming as 
a second ,hercules to cleanse  a foul   
world2 and ,st4 ,augustine says we hold 
this 7,christmas7 day holy1  not like   
the pagans because of the birth of the  
,sun1 but because of the  birth of him  
who made it4 ,there are plenty of other 
instances in the  ,early ,fathers of    
their indignant ascription of these     
similarities to the  work of devils2 but
 we need not dwell over them4 ,there is 
no need for  ,,us to be indignant4 ,on  
the contrary we can now see that these  
animadversions of the ,christian writers
 are the evidence of how and to  what   
extent in the spread of ,christianity   
over the world it had become  fused with
 the ,pagan cults previously existing4  
7#a7 ,the ,zodiacal sign of             
,capricornus1 iii4      ,it was not till
 the year ,a4,d4 #ecj or so--five       
centuries after the  supposed birth of  
,christ--that a ,scythian ,monk1        

,dionysius ,exiguus1 an  abbot and      
astronomer of ,rome1 was commissioned to
 fix the day and the  year of that      
birth4 ,a nice problem1 considering the 
historical science  of the period6 ,for 
year he assigned the date which we now  
adopt1 7#b7 and  for day and month he   
adopted the #beth ,december--a date     
which had been  in popular use since    
about #cej ,b4,c41 and the very date1   
within a day or  two1 of the supposed   
birth of the previous ,sungods4 7#c7    
,from that  fact alone we may fairly    
conclude that by the year #ecj or       
earlier the  existing ,nature-worships  
had become largely fused into           
,christianity4 ,in  fact the dates of   
the main pagan religious festivals had  
by that time  become so popular that    
,christianity was ,,obliged to          
accommodate itself to  them4 7#a7       
7#a7 ,as1 for instance1 the festival of 
,john the ,baptist in ,june  took the   
place of the pagan midsummer festival of
 water and bathing2  the ,assumption of 

the ,virgin in ,august the place of that
 of ,diana in the  same month2 and the  
festival of ,all ,souls early in        
,november1 that of the  world-wide pagan
 feasts of the dead and their ghosts at 
the same season4     7#b7 ,see ,encycl4 
,brit4 art4 ,chronology4     7#c7 ,there
 is however a difficulty in accepting   
the #beth ,december  as the real date of
 the ,nativity1 ,december being the     
height of the rainy  season in ,judaea1 
when neither flocks nor shepherds could 
have been at  night in the fields of    
,bethlehem 7674 ,encycl4 ,brit4 art4    
,christmas  ,day4 ,according to         
,hastings's ,encyclopaedia1 art4        
,christmas1 ,usener  says that the      
,feast of the ,nativity was held        
originally on the #fth  ,january 7the   
,epiphany71 but in #cec-d the ,pope     
,liberius displaced it to  the #beth    
,december444 but there is no evidence of
 a ,feast of the ,nativity  taking place
 at all1 before the fourth century      
,a4,d4 ,it was not till #ecd  ,a4,d4    

that ,christmas ,day and ,epiphany were 
reckoned by the law-courts as  dies non4
      ,this brings us to the second     
point mentioned a few pages back--the   
analogy between the ,christian festivals
 and the yearly phenomena of  ,nature in
 the ,sun and the ,vegetation4    ,let  
us take ,christmas ,day first4 ,mithra1 
as we have seen1 was reported  to have  
been born on the #beth ,december 7which 
in the ,julian ,calendar was  reckoned  
as the day of the ,winter ,solstice     
,,and of the ,nativity of the  ,sun72   
,plutarch says 7,isis and ,osiris1 c4   
#ab7 that ,osiris was born on  the      
#cfast day of the year1 when a ,voice   
rang out proclaiming the ,lord of  ,all4
 ,horus1 he says1 was born on the #cfbnd
 day4 ,apollo on the same4    ,why was  
all this8 ,why did the ,druids at ,yule 
,tide light roaring fires8  ,why was the
 cock supposed to crow all ,christmas   
,eve 7,the bird of  dawning singeth all 
night long78 ,why was ,apollo born with 
only one hair  7the young ,sun with only

 one feeble ray78 ,why did ,samson 7name
 derived  from ,shemesh1 the sun7 lose  
all his strength when he lost his hair8 
,why  were so many of these             
gods--,mithra1 ,apollo1 ,krishna1       
,jesus1 and others1  born in caves or   
underground chambers8 7#a7 ,why1 at the 
,easter ,eve  festival of the ,holy     
,sepulchre at ,jerusalem is a light     
brought from the  grave and communicated
 to the candles of thousands who wait   
outside1 and  who rush forth rejoicing  
to carry the new glory over the world8  
7#b7 ,why  indeed8 except that older    
than all history and all written records
 has  been the fear and wonderment of   
the children of men over the failure of 
the ,sun's strength in ,autumn--the     
decay of their ,god2 and the anxiety    
lest by any means he should not revive  
or reappear8       7#a7 ,this same      
legend of gods 7or idols7 being born in 
caves has1  curiously enough1 been      
reported from ,mexico1 ,guatemala1 the  
,antilles1  and other places in ,central

 ,america4 ,see ,c4 ,f4 ,p4 von         
,martius1  ,etknographie ,amerika1 etc4 
7,leipzig1 #ahfg71 vol4 i1 p4 #geh4     
7#b7 ,compare the ,aztec ceremonial of  
lighting a holy fire and  communicating 
it to the multitude from the wounded    
breast of a human  victim1 celebrated   
every #eb years at the end of one cycle 
and the  beginning of another--the      
constellation of the ,pleiades being in 
the  ,zenith 7,prescott's ,conquest of  
,mexico1 ,bk4 ,i1 ch4 #d74      ,think  
for a moment of a time far back when    
there were absolutely ,,no  ,almanacs or
 ,calendars1 either nicely printed or   
otherwise1 when all that  timid mortals 
could see was that their great source of
 ,light and ,warmth  was daily failing1 
daily sinking lower in the sky4 ,as     
everyone now knows  there are about     
three weeks at the fag end of the year  
when the days are  at their shortest and
 there is very little change4 ,what was 
happening8  ,evidently the god had      
fallen upon evil times4 ,typhon1 the    

prince of  darkness1 had betrayed him2  
,delilah1 the queen of ,night1 had shorn
 his  hair2 the dreadful ,boar had      
wounded him2 ,hercules was struggling   
with ,death itself2 he had fallen under 
the influence of those malign           
constellations--the ,serpent and the    
,scorpion4 ,would the god grow weaker   
and weaker1 and finally succumb1 or     
would he conquer after all8 ,we can     
imagine the anxiety with which those    
early men and women watched for the     
first indication of a lengthening day2  
and the universal joy when the  ,priest 
7the representative of primitive        
science7 having made some  simple       
observations1 announced from the ,temple
 steps that the day ,,was               
lengthening--that the ,sun was really   
born again to a new and glorious        
career4 7#a7     7#a7 ,it was such      
things as these which doubtless gave the
  ,priesthood its power4      ,let us   
look at the elementary science of those 
days a little closer4  ,how without     

,almanacs or ,calendars could the day1  
or probable day1 of the  ,sun's rebirth 
be fixed8 ,go out next ,christmas       
,evening1 and at midnight  you will see 
the brightest of the fixed stars1       
,sirius1 blazing in the  southern       
sky--not however due south from you1 but
 somewhat to the  left of the ,meridian 
line4 ,some three thousand years ago    
7owing to the  ,precession of the       
,equinoxes7 that star at the winter     
solstice did  not stand at midnight     
where you now see it1 but almost exactly
 ,,on  the meridian line4 ,the coming of
 ,sirius therefore to the meridian at   
midnight became the sign and assurance  
of the ,sun having reached the  very    
lowest point of his course1 and         
therefore of having arrived at the      
moment of his re-birth4 ,where then was 
the ,sun at that moment8 ,obviously  in 
the underworld beneath our feet4        
,whatever views the ancients may have   
had about the shape of the earth1 it was
 evident to the mass of people  that the

 ,sungod1 after illuminating the world  
during the day1 plunged  down in the    
,west1 and remained there during the    
hours of darkness in  some cavern under 
the earth4 ,here he rested and after    
bathing in the  great ocean renewed his 
garments before reappearing in the ,east
 next  morning4    ,but in this long    
night of his greatest winter weakness1  
when all the  world was hoping and      
praying for the renewal of his strength1
 it is  evident that the new birth would
 come--if it came at all--at midnight4  
,this then was the sacred hour when in  
the underworld 7the ,stable or the      
,cave or whatever it might be called7   
the child was born who was destined  to 
be the ,savior of men4 ,at that moment  
,sirius stood on the southern  meridian 
7and in more southern lands than ours   
this would be more nearly  overhead72   
and that star--there is little doubt--is
 the ,star in the ,east  mentioned in   
the ,gospels4    ,to the right1 as the  
supposed observer looks at ,sirius on   

the midnight  of ,christmas ,eve1 stands
 the magnificent ,orion1 the mighty     
hunter4 ,there  are three stars in his  
belt which1 as is well known1 lie in a  
straight  line pointing to ,sirius4     
,they are not so bright as ,sirius1 but 
they are  sufficiently bright to attract
 attention4 ,a long tradition gives them
  the name of the ,three ,kings4 ,dupuis
 7#a7 says3 ,orion a trois belles       
etoiles vers le milieu1 qui sont de     
seconde grandeur et posees en ligne     
droite1 l'une pres de l'autre1 le peuple
 les appelle les trois rois4  ,on donne 
aux trois rois ,magis les noms de       
,magalat1 ,galgalat1 ,saraim2  et       
,athos1 ,satos1 ,paratoras4 ,les        
,catholiques les appellent ,gaspard1    
,melchior1 et ,balthasar4 ,the          
last-mentioned group of names comes in  
the ,catholic ,calendar in connection   
with the feast of the ,epiphany 7#fth   
,january72 and the name ,trois ,rois is 
commonly to-day given to these  stars by
 the ,french and ,swiss peasants4       

7#a7 ,charles ,f4 ,dupuis 7,origine de  
,tous les ,cultes1 ,paris1 #ahbb7  was  
one of the earliest modern writers on   
these subjects4      ,immediately after 
,midnight then1 on the #beth ,december1 
the ,beloved ,son  7or ,sun-god7 is     
born4 ,if we go back in thought to the  
period1 some three  thousand years ago1 
when at that moment of the heavenly     
birth ,sirius1  coming from the ,east1  
did actually stand on the ,meridian1 we 
shall come  into touch with another     
curious astronomical coincidence4 ,for  
at the  same moment we shall see the    
,zodiacal constellation of the ,virgin  
in  the act of rising1 and becoming     
visible in the ,east divided through the
  middle by the line of the horizon4    
,the constellation ,virgo is a ,y-shaped
 group1 of which gr a1 the star  at the 
foot1 is the well-known ,spica1 a star  
of the first magnitude4 ,the  other     
principal stars1 gr g at the centre1 and
 gr b and gr e at  the extremities1 are 
of the second magnitude4 ,the whole     

resembles more a  cup than the human    
figure2 but when we remember the        
symbolic meaning  of the cup1 that seems
 to be an obvious explanation of the    
name ,virgo1  which the constellation   
has borne since the earliest times4     
7,the three  stars gr b1 gr g and gr a1 
lie very nearly on the ,ecliptic1 that  
is1 the ,sun's path--a fact to which we 
shall return presently47    ,at the     
moment then when ,sirius1 the star from 
the ,east1 by coming to the  ,meridian  
at midnight signalled the ,sun's new    
birth1 the ,virgin was seen  just rising
 on the ,eastern sky--the horizon line  
passing through  her centre4 ,and many  
people think that this astronomical fact
 is the  explanation of the very        
widespread legend of the ,virgin-birth4 
,i do not  think that it is the sole    
explanation--for indeed in all or nearly
 all  these cases the acceptance of a   
myth seems to depend not upon a single  
argument but upon the convergence of a  
number of meanings and reasons in  the  

same symbol4 ,but certainly the fact    
mentioned above is curious1 and  its    
importance is accentuated by the        
following considerations4    ,in the    
,temple of ,denderah in ,egypt1 and on  
the inside of the dome1  there is or    
,,was an elaborate circular             
representation of the ,northern         
hemisphere of the sky and the ,zodiac4  
7#a7 ,here ,virgo the constellation  is 
represented1 as in our star-maps1 by a  
woman with a spike of corn in  her hand 
7,spica74 ,but on the margin close by   
there is an annotating and  explicatory 
figure--a figure of ,isis with the      
infant ,horus in her arms1  and quite   
resembling in style the ,christian      
,madonna and ,child1 except  that she is
 sitting and the child is on her knee4  
,this seems to show  that--whatever     
other nations may have done in          
associating ,virgo with  ,demeter1      
,ceres1 ,diana 7#b7 etc4--the ,egyptians
 made no doubt of the  constellation's  
connection with ,isis and ,horus4 ,but  

it is well known as  a matter of history
 that the worship of ,isis and ,horus   
descended in the  early ,christian      
centuries to ,alexandria1 where it took 
the form of the  worship of the ,virgin 
,mary and the infant ,savior1 and so    
passed into  the ,european ceremonial4  
,we have therefore the ,virgin ,mary    
connected by  linear succession and     
descent with that remote ,zodiacal      
cluster in the  sky6 ,also it may be    
mentioned that on the ,arabian and      
,persian globes of  ,abenezra and       
,abuazar a ,virgin and ,child are       
figured in connection with  the same    
constellation4 7#c7     7#a7 ,carefully 
described and mapped by ,dupuis1 see op4
 cit4     7#b7 ,for the harvest-festival
 of ,diana1 the ,virgin1 and her        
parallelism with the ,virgin ,mary1 see 
,the ,golden ,bough1 vol4 i1 #ad and    
ii1 #aba4     7#c7 ,see ,f4 ,nork1 ,der 
,mystagog 7,leipzig1 #ahch74      ,a    
curious confirmation of the same        
astronomical connection is afforded  by 

the ,roman ,catholic ,calendar4 ,for if 
this be consulted it will be  found that
 the festival of the ,assumption of the 
,virgin is placed on the  #aeth ,august1
 while the festival of the ,birth of the
 ,virgin is dated the  #hth ,september4 
,i have already pointed out that the    
stars1 gr a1 gr  b and gr g of ,virgo   
are almost exactly on the ,ecliptic1 or 
,sun's path  through the sky2 and a     
brief reference to the ,zodiacal signs  
and the  star-maps will show that the   
,sun each year enters the sign of ,virgo
  about the first-mentioned date1 and   
leaves it about the second date4 ,at    
the present day the ,zodiacal signs     
7owing to precession7 have shifted  some
 distance from the constellations of the
 same name4 ,but at the time  when the  
,zodiac was constituted and these names 
were given1 the first  date obviously   
would signalize the actual disappearance
 of the cluster  ,virgo in the ,sun's   
rays--i4 e4 the ,assumption of the      
,virgin into the  glory of the          

,god--while the second date would       
signalize the reappearance  of the      
constellation or the ,birth of the      
,virgin4 ,the ,church of ,notre  ,dame  
at ,paris is supposed to be on the      
original site of a ,temple of  ,isis2   
and it is said 7but ,i have not been    
able to verify this myself7  that one of
 the side entrances--that1 namely1 on   
the left in entering  from the ,north   
7cloister7 side--is figured with the    
signs of the ,zodiac  ,,except that the 
sign ,virgo is replaced by the figure of
 the ,madonna and  ,child4    ,so       
strange is the scripture of the sky6    
,innumerable legends and customs        
connect the rebirth of the ,sun with a  
,virgin parturition4 ,dr4 ,j4 ,g4       
,frazer in his ,part ,,iv of ,the       
,golden ,bough 7#a7 says3 ,if we may    
trust the  evidence of an obscure       
scholiast the ,greeks 7in the worship of
 ,mithras  at ,rome7 used to celebrate  
the birth of the luminary by a midnight 
service1 coming out of the inner shrines

 and crying1 ',the ,virgin has  brought 
forth6 ,the light is waxing6' 7gr ',h   
parhenos tetoken1 auzei  pws47 ,in ,elie
 ,reclus' little book ,primitive ,folk  
7#b7 it is said of the  ,esquimaux that 
,on the longest night of the year two   
angakout 7priests71  of whom one is     
disguised as a ,,woman1 go from hut to  
hut extinguishing  all the lights1      
rekindling them from a vestal flame1 and
 crying out1  ',from the new sun cometh 
a new light6'     7#a7 ,book ,,ii1 ch4  
vi4     7#b7 ,in the ,contemporary      
,science ,series1 ,i4 #ib4      ,all    
this above-written on the ,solar or     
,astronomical origins of the myths  does
 not of course imply that the           
,vegetational origins must be denied  or
 ignored4 ,these latter were doubtless  
the earliest1 but there is no           
reason--as said in the ,introduction    
7ch4 i7--why the two elements should    
not to some extent have run side by     
side1 or been fused with each other4    
,in fact it is quite clear that they    

must have done so2 and to separate  them
 out too rigidly1 or treat them as      
antagonistic1 is a mistake4 ,the  ,cave 
or ,underworld in which the ,new ,year  
is born is not only the place  of the   
,sun's winter retirement1 but also the  
hidden chamber beneath the  ,earth to   
which the dying ,vegetation goes1 and   
from which it re-arises  in ,spring4    
,the amours of ,adonis with ,venus and  
,proserpine1 the lovely  goddesses of   
the upper and under worlds1 or of ,attis
 with ,cybele1 the  blooming            
,earth-mother1 are obvious              
vegetation-symbols2 but they do not     
exclude the interpretation that ,adonis 
7,adonai7 may also figure as a          
,sun-god4 ,the ,zodiacal constellations 
of ,aries and ,taurus 7to which ,i      
shall return presently7 rule in heaven  
just when the ,lamb and the ,bull  are  
in evidence on the earth2 and the yearly
 sacrifice of those two  animals and of 
the growing ,corn for the good of       
mankind runs  parallel with the drama of

 the sky1 as it affects not only the    
said  constellations but also ,virgo    
7the ,earth-mother who bears the sheaf  
of  corn in her hand74    ,i shall      
therefore continue 7in the next chapter7
 to point out these  astronomical       
references--which are full of           
significance and poetry2 but  with a    
recommendation at the same time to the  
reader not to forget the  poetry and    
significance of the terrestrial         
interpretations4    ,between ,christmas 
,day and ,easter there are several minor
 festivals or  holy days--such as the   
#bhth ,december 7the ,massacre of the   
,innocents71  the #fth ,january 7the    
,epiphany71 the #bnd ,february          
7,candlemas 7#a7 ,day71  the period of  
,lent 7,german ,lenz1 the ,spring71 the 
,annunciation of the  ,blessed ,virgin1 
and so forth--which have been commonly  
celebrated in  the pagan cults before   
,christianity1 and in which elements of 
,star and  ,nature worship can be       
traced2 but to dwell on all these would 

take too  long2 so let us pass at once  
to the period of ,easter itself4        
7#a7 ,this festival of the ,purification
 of the ,virgin corresponds  with the   
old ,roman festival of ,juno ,februata  
7i4 e4 purified7 which was  held in the 
last month 7,february7 of the ,roman    
year1 and which included  a candle      
procession of ,ceres1 searching for     
,proserpine4 7,f4 ,nork1 ,der           
,mystagog47          ,,iii4 ,,the       
,,symbolism ,,of ,,the ,,zodiac    ,the 
,vernal ,equinox has all over the       
ancient world1 and from the earliest    
times1 been a period of rejoicing and of
 festivals in honor of the  ,sungod4 ,it
 is needless to labor a point which is  
so well known4 ,everyone  understands   
and appreciates the joy of finding that 
the long darkness is  giving way1 that  
the ,sun is growing in strength1 and    
that the days are  winning a victory    
over the nights4 ,the birds and flowers 
reappear1 and  the promise of ,spring is
 in the air4 ,but it may be worth while 

to give  an elementary explanation of   
the ,,astronomical meaning of this      
period1  because this is not always     
understood1 and yet it is very important
 in  its bearing on the rites and creeds
 of the early religions4 ,the priests   
who were1 as ,i have said1 the early    
students and inquirers1 had worked  out 
this astronomical side1 and in that way 
were able to fix dates and  to frame for
 the benefit of the populace myths and  
legends1 which were  in a certain sense 
explanations of the order of ,nature1   
and a kind of  popular science4    ,the 
,equator1 as everyone knows1 is an      
imaginary line or circle girdling  the  
,earth half-way between the ,north and  
,south poles4 ,if you imagine a         
transparent ,earth with a light at its  
very centre1 and also imagine the       
,,shadow of this equatorial line to be  
thrown on the vast concave of  the ,sky1
 this shadow would in astronomical      
parlance coincide with the  ,equator of 
the ,sky--forming an imaginary circle   

half-way between the  ,north and ,south 
celestial poles4    ,the ,equator1 then1
 may be pictured as cutting across the  
sky either by  day or by night1 and     
always at the same elevation--that is1  
as seen from  any one place4 ,but the   
,ecliptic 7the other important great    
circle of the  heavens7 can only be     
thought of as a line traversing the     
constellations  as they are seen at     
,,night4 ,it is in fact the ,sun's path 
among the fixed  stars4 ,for 7really    
owing to the ,earth's motion in its     
orbit7 the ,sun  appears to move round  
the heavens once a year--travelling1    
always to the  left1 from constellation 
to constellation4 ,the exact path of the
 sun is  called the ,ecliptic2 and the  
band of sky on either side of the       
,ecliptic  which may be supposed to     
include the said constellations is      
called the  ,zodiac4 ,how then--it will 
of course be asked--seeing that the ,sun
 and  the ,stars can never be seen      
together--were the ,priests ,,able to   

map out  the path of the former among   
the latter8 ,into that question we need 
not  go4 ,sufficient to say that they   
succeeded2 and their success--even with 
the very primitive instruments they     
had--shows that their astronomical      
knowledge and acuteness of reasoning    
were of no mean order4    ,to return to 
our ,vernal ,equinox4 ,let us suppose   
that the ,equator and  ,ecliptic of the 
sky1 at the ,spring season1 are         
represented by two lines  ,eq4 and ,ecl4
 crossing each other at the point ,p4   
,the ,sun1 represented  by the small    
circle1 is moving slowly and in its     
annual course along the  ,ecliptic to   
the left4 ,when it reaches the point ,p 
7the dotted circle7  it stands on the   
,equator of the sky1 and then for a day 
or two1 being  neither ,north nor       
,south1 it shines on the two terrestrial
 hemispheres  alike1 and day and night  
are equal4 ,,before that time1 when the 
sun  is low down in the heavens1 night  
has the advantage1 and the days are     

short2 ,,afterwards1 when the ,sun has  
travelled more to the left1 the days    
triumph over the nights4 ,it will be    
seen then that this point ,p where  the 
,sun's path crosses the ,equator is a   
very critical point4 ,it is the         
astronomical location of the triumph of 
the ,sungod and of the arrival of       
,spring4    ,how was this location      
defined8 ,among what stars was the ,sun 
moving at  that critical moment8 7,for  
of course it was understood1 or         
supposed1  that the ,sun was deeply     
influenced by the constellation through 
which it  was1 or appeared to be1       
moving47 ,it seems then that at the     
period when  these questions were       
occupying men's minds--say about three  
thousand  years ago--the point where the
 ,ecliptic crossed the ,equator was1 as 
a  matter of fact1 in the region of the 
constellation ,aries or the he-,lamb4   
,the triumph of the ,sungod was         
therefore1 and quite naturally1 ascribed
  to the influence of ,aries4 ,,the     

,,lamb ,,became ,,the ,,symbol ,,of     
,,the ,,risen  ,,savior1 ,,and ,,of     
,,his ,,passage ,,from ,,the            
,,underworld ,,into ,,the ,,height ,,of 
,,heaven4 ,at first such an explanation 
sounds hazardous2 but a thousand  texts 
and references confirm it2 and it is    
only by the accumulation of  evidence in
 these cases that the student becomes   
convinced of a theory's  correctness4   
,it must also be remembered 7what ,i    
have mentioned before7  that these myths
 and legends were commonly adopted not  
only for  one strict reason but because 
they represented in a general way the   
convergence of various symbols and      
inferences4    ,let me enumerate a few  
points with regard to the ,vernal       
,equinox4 ,in the  ,bible the festival  
is called the ,passover1 and its        
supposed institution  by ,moses is      
related in ,exodus1 ch4 xii4 ,in every  
house a he-lamb was to  be slain1 and   
its blood to be sprinkled on the        
doorposts of the house4  ,then the ,lord

 would pass over and not smite that     
house4 ,the ,hebrew word  is pasach1 to 
pass4 7#a7 ,the lamb slain was called   
the ,paschal ,lamb4 ,but  what was that 
lamb8 ,evidently not an earthly         
lamb--7though certainly  the earthly    
lambs on the hillsides ,,were just then 
ready to be killed and  eaten7--but the 
heavenly ,lamb1 which was slain or      
sacrificed when the  ,lord passed over  
the equator and obliterated the         
constellation ,aries4  ,this was the    
,lamb of ,god which was slain each year1
 and ,slain since the  foundation of the
 world4 ,this period of the ,passover   
7about the #beth  ,march7 was to be 7#b7
 the beginning of a new year4 ,the      
sacrifice of  the ,lamb1 and its blood1 
were to be the promise of redemption4   
,the  door-frames of the houses--symbols
 of the entrance into a new life--were  
to be sprinkled with blood4 7#c7 ,later1
 the imagery of the saving power  of the
 blood of the ,lamb became more popular1
 more highly colored4 7,see  ,st4       

,paul's epistles1 and the early         
,fathers47 ,and we have the expression  
washed in the blood of the ,lamb adopted
 into the ,christian ,church4     7#a7  
,it is said that pasach sometimes means 
not so much to pass  over1 as to hover  
over and so protect4 ,possibly both     
meanings enter in  here4 ,see ,isaiah   
xxxi4 #e4     7#b7 ,see ,exodus xii4 i4 
7#c7 ,it is even said 7see ,the ,golden 
,bough1 vol4 iii1 #ahe7 that  the       
doorways of houses and temples in ,peru 
were at the ,spring festival  daubed    
with blood of the first-born            
children--commuted afterwards to the    
blood of the sacred animal1 the ,llama4 
,and as to ,mexico1 ,sahagun1 the  great
 ,spanish missionary1 tells us that it  
was a custom of the people  there to    
smear the outside of their houses and   
doors with blood drawn  from their own  
ears and ankles1 in order to propitiate 
the god of  ,harvest 7,kingsborough's   
,mexican ,antiquities1 vol4 vi1 p4      
#bce74      ,in order fully to          

understand this extraordinary expression
 and its  origin we must turn for a     
moment to the worship both of ,mithra1  
the  ,persian ,sungod1 and of ,attis the
 ,syrian god1 as throwing great light   
on the ,christian cult and ceremonies4  
,it must be remembered that in the      
early centuries of our era the          
,mithra-cult was spread over the whole  
,western world4 ,it has left many       
monuments of itself here in ,britain4   
,at ,rome the worship was extremely     
popular1 and it may almost be said  to  
have been a matter of chance whether    
,mithraism should overwhelm             
,christianity1 or whether the younger   
religion by adopting many of the  rites 
of the older one should establish itself
 7as it did7 in the face  of the latter4
    ,now we have already mentioned that 
in the ,mithra cult the slaying of a    
,bull by the ,sungod occupies the same  
sort of place as the slaving of the     
,lamb in the ,christian cult4 ,it took  
place at the ,vernal ,equinox and the   

blood of the ,bull acquired in men's    
minds a magic virtue4 ,mithraism was  a 
greatly older religion than             
,christianity2 but its genesis was      
similar4  ,in fact1 owing to the        
,precession of the ,equinoxes1 the      
crossing-place of  the ,ecliptic and    
,equator was different at the time of   
the establishment  of ,mithra-worship   
from what it was in the ,christian      
period2 and the  ,sun instead of        
standing in the ,he-lamb1 or ,aries1 at 
the ,vernal ,equinox  stood1 about two  
thousand years earlier 7as indicated by 
the dotted line  in the diagram71 in    
this very constellation of the ,bull4   
7#a7 ,the bull  therefore became the    
symbol of the triumphant ,god1 and the  
sacrifice  of the bull a holy mystery4  
7,nor must we overlook here the         
agricultural  appropriateness of the    
bull as the emblem of ,spring-plowings  
and of  service to man47     7#a7 ,with 
regard to this point1 see an article in 
the ,nineteenth  ,century for ,september

 #aijj1 by ,e4 ,w4 ,maunder of the      
,greenwich  ,observatory on ,the ,oldest
 ,picture ,book 7the ,zodiac74 ,mr4     
,maunder  calculates that the ,vernal   
,equinox was in the centre of the ,sign 
of  the ,bull #e1jjj years ago4 7,it    
would therefore be in the centre of     
,aries  #b1hde years ago--allowing      
#b1aee years for the time occupied in   
passing  from one ,sign to another47 ,at
 the earlier period the ,summer solstice
 was  in the centre of ,leo1 the        
,autumnal equinox in the centre of      
,scorpio1 and  the ,winter solstice in  
the centre of ,aquarius--corresponding  
roughly1  ,mr4 ,maunder points out1 to  
the positions of the four ,royal ,stars1
  ,aldebaran1 ,regulus1 ,antares and    
,fomalhaut4      ,the sacrifice of the  
,bull became the image of redemption4   
,in a certain  well-known               
,mithra-sculpture or group1 the ,sungod 
is represented as  plunging his dagger  
into a bull1 while a scorpion1 a        
serpent1 and other  animals are sucking 

the latter's blood4 ,from one point of  
view this may  be taken as symbolic of  
the ,sun fertilizing the gross ,earth by
 plunging  his rays into it and so      
drawing forth its blood for the         
sustenance of  all creatures2 while from
 another more astronomical aspect it    
symbolizes  the conquest of the ,sun    
over winter in the moment of passing    
over the  sign of the ,bull1 and the    
depletion of the generative power of the
 ,bull  by the ,scorpion--which of      
course is the autumnal sign of the      
,zodiac  and herald of winter4 ,one such
 ,mithraic group was found at ,ostia1   
where  there was a large subterranean   
,temple to the invincible god ,mithras4 
,in the worship of ,attis there were 7as
 ,i have already indicated7 many  points
 of resemblance to the ,christian cult4 
,on the #bbnd ,march 7the  ,vernal      
,equinox7 a pinetree was cut in the     
woods and brought into the  ,temple of  
,cybele4 ,it was treated almost as a    
divinity1 was decked  with violets1 and 

the effigy of a young man tied to the   
stem 7cf4 the  ,crucifixion74 ,the #bdth
 was called the ,day of ,blood2 the     
,high ,priest  first drew blood from his
 own arms2 and then the others gashed   
and  slashed themselves1 and spattered  
the altar and the sacred tree with      
blood2 while novices made themselves    
eunuchs for the kingdom of  heaven's    
sake4 ,the effigy was afterwards laid in
 a tomb4 ,but when  night fell1 says    
,dr4 ,frazer1 7#a7 sorrow was turned to 
joy4 ,a light was  brought1 and the tomb
 was found to be empty4 ,the next day1  
the #beth1 was  the festival of the     
,resurrection2 and ended in carnival and
 license  7the ,hilaria74 ,further1 says
 ,dr4 ,frazer1 these mysteries seem to  
have  included a sacramental meal and a 
baptism of blood4     7#a7 ,see ,adonis1
 ,attis and ,osiris1 ,part ,,iv of ,the 
,golden ,bough1 by  ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 p4 
#bbi4      ,in the baptism the devotee1 
crowned with gold and wreathed with     
fillets1 descended into a pit1 the mouth

 of which was covered with a  wooden    
grating4 ,a bull1 adorned with garlands 
of flowers1 its forehead  glittering    
with gold leaf1 was then driven on to   
the grating and there  stabbed to death 
with a consecrated spear4 ,its hot      
reeking blood  poured in torrents       
through the apertures1 and was received 
with devout  eagerness by the worshiper 
on every part of his person and         
garments1  till he emerged from the pit1
 drenched1 dripping1 and scarlet from   
head  to foot1 to receive the homage1   
nay the adoration1 of his fellows--as   
one who had been born again to eternal  
life and had washed away his sins  in   
the blood of the bull4 7#a7 ,and ,frazer
 continuing says3 ,that the  bath of    
blood derived from slaughter of the bull
 7tauro-bolium7  was believed to        
regenerate the devotee for eternity is  
proved by an  inscription found at      
,rome1 which records that a certain     
,sextilius  ,agesilaus ,aedesius1 who   
dedicated an altar to ,attis and the    

mother of  the gods 7,cybele7 was       
taurobolio criobolio que in aeternum    
renatus4  7#b7 ,in the procedure of the 
,taurobolia and ,criobolia1 says ,mr4   
,j4 ,m4  ,robertson1 7#c7 which grew    
very popular in the ,roman world1 we    
have the  literal and original meaning  
of the phrase 'washed in the blood of   
the  lamb' 7#d72 the doctrine being that
 resurrection and eternal life  were    
secured by drenching or sprinkling with 
the actual blood of a  sacrificial bull 
or ram4 7#e7 ,for the ,,popularity of   
the rite we may  quote ,franz ,cumont1  
who says3--,cette douche sacree         
7taurobolium7 pareit  avoir ete         
administree en ,cappadoce dans un grand 
nombre de sanctuaires1  et en           
particulier dans ceux de ,ma la grande  
divinite indigene1 et dans  ceux3 de    
,anahita4     7#a7 ,see vol4 i1 pp4 #ccd
 ff4     7#b7 ,adonis1 ,attis and       
,osiris1 p4 #bbi4 ,references to        
,prudentius1  and to ,firmicus          
,maternus1 ,de errore #bh4 #h4     7#c7 

,that is1 ,by the slaughter of the bull 
and the slaughter of  the ram born again
 into eternity4     7#d7 ,pagan         
,christs1 p4 #cae4     7#e7 ,mysteres de
 ,mithra1 ,bruxelles1 #aijb1 p4 #aec4   
,whether ,mr4 ,robertson is right in    
ascribing to the priests 7as he  appears
 to do7 so materialistic a view of the  
potency of the actual  blood is1 ,i     
should say1 doubtful4 ,i do not myself  
see that there is  any reason for       
supposing that the priests of ,mithra or
 ,attis regarded  baptism by blood very 
differently from the way in which the   
,christian  ,church has generally       
regarded baptism by water--namely1 as a 
,,symbol of  some inner regeneration4   
,there may certainly have been a little 
more  of the ,,magical view and a little
 less of the symbolic1 in the older     
religions2 but the difference was       
probably on the whole more one of       
degree than of essential disparity4 ,but
 however that may be1 we cannot  but be 
struck by the extraordinary analogy     

between the tombstone  inscriptions of  
that period born again into eternity by 
the blood of  the ,bull or the ,ram1 and
 the corresponding texts in our         
graveyards  to-day4 ,f4 ,cumont in his  
elaborate work1 ,textes et ,monuments   
relatifs  aux ,mysteres de ,mithra 7#b  
vols41 ,brussels1 #ahii7 gives a great  
number of  texts and epitaphs of the    
same character as that above-quoted1 and
 they  are well worth studying by those 
interested in the subject4 ,cumont1 it  
may be noted 7vol4 i1 p4 #cje71 thinks  
that the story of ,mithra and the       
slaying of the ,bull must have          
originated among some pastoral people to
  whom the bull was the source of all   
life4 ,the ,bull in heaven--the symbol  
of the triumphant ,sungod--and the      
earthly bull1 sacrificed for the good   
of humanity were one and the same2 the  
god1 in fact1 ,,sacrificed ,,himself    
,,or ,,his ,,representative4 ,and       
,mithra was the hero who first won this 
conception of divinity for              

mankind--though of course it is in      
essence  quite similar to the conception
 put forward by the ,christian ,church4 
,as illustrating the belief that the    
,baptism by ,blood was accompanied by  a
 real regeneration of the devotee1      
,frazer quotes an ancient writer  7#a7  
who says that for some time after the   
ceremony the fiction of a new  birth was
 kept up by dieting the devotee on      
,,milk1 like a new-born  babe4 ,and it  
is interesting in that connection to    
find that even in the  present day a    
diet of ,,absolutely ,,nothing ,,but    
,,milk for six or eight  weeks is by    
many doctors recommended as the only    
means of getting rid  of deep-seated    
illnesses and enabling a patient's      
organism to make a  completely new start
 in life4     7#a7 ,sallustius          
philosophus4 ,see ,adonis1 ,attis and   
,osiris1 note1  p4 #bbi4      ,at ,rome1
 he further says 7p4 #bcj71 the new     
birth and the remission  of sins by the 
shedding of bull's blood appear to have 

been carried  out above all at the      
sanctuary of the ,phrygian ,goddess     
7,cybele7 on  the ,vatican ,hill1 at or 
near the spot where the great basilica  
of ,st4  ,peter's now stands2 for many  
inscriptions relating to the rites were 
found when the church was being enlarged
 in #afjh or #afji4 ,from  the ,vatican 
as a centre1 he continues1 this         
barbarous system of  superstition seems 
to have spread to other parts of the    
,roman empire4  ,inscriptions found in  
,gaul and ,germany prove that provincial
 sanctuaries  modelled their ritual on  
that of the ,vatican4    ,it would      
appear then that at ,rome in the quiet  
early days of the  ,christian ,church1  
the rites and ceremonials of ,mithra and
 ,cybele1  probably much intermingled   
and blended1 were exceedingly popular4  
,both  religions had been recognized by 
the ,roman ,state1 and the ,christians1 
persecuted and despised as they were1   
found it hard to make any headway       
against them--the more so perhaps       

because the ,christian doctrines        
appeared in many respects to be merely  
faint replicas and copies of the  older 
creeds4 ,robertson maintains 7#a7 that a
 he-lamb was sacrificed in  the         
,mithraic mysteries1 and he quotes      
,porphyry as saying 7#b7 that  a place  
near the equinoctial circle was assigned
 to ,mithra as an  appropriate seat2 and
 on this account he bears the sword of  
the ,ram  7,aries7 which is a sign of   
,mars 7,ares74 ,similarly among the     
early  ,christians1 it is said1 a ram or
 lamb was sacrificed in the ,paschal    
mystery4     7#a7 ,pagan ,christs1 p4   
#ccf4     7#b7 ,de ,antro1 xxiv4        
,many people think that the association 
of the ,lamb-god with the ,cross  arose 
from the fact that the constellation    
,aries at that time ,,was on the        
heavenly cross 7the crossways of the    
,ecliptic and ,equator-see diagram1  ch4
 iii71 and in the very place through    
which the ,sungod had to pass  just     
before his final triumph4 ,and it is    

curious to find that ,justin  ,martyr in
 his ,dialogue with ,trypho 7#a7 7a     
,jew7 alludes to an old ,jewish         
practice of roasting a ,lamb on spits   
arranged in the form of a ,cross4  ,the 
lamb1 he says1 meaning apparently the   
,paschal lamb1 is roasted  and dressed  
up in the form of a cross4 ,for one spit
 is transfixed right  through the lower 
parts up to the head1 and one across the
 back1 to  which are attached the legs  
7forelegs7 of the lamb4     7#a7 ,ch4   
xl4      ,to-day in ,morocco at the     
festival of ,eid-el-,kebir1             
corresponding to the  ,christian        
,easter1 the ,mohammedans sacrifice a   
young ram and hurry it  still bleeding  
to the precincts of the ,mosque1 while  
at the same time  every household slays 
a lamb1 as in the ,biblical institution1
 for its  family feast4    ,but it will 
perhaps be said1 ,you are going too fast
 and proving too  much4 ,in the anxiety 
to show that the ,lamb-god and the      
sacrifice of the  ,lamb were honored by 

the devotees of ,mithra and ,cybele in  
the ,rome of  the ,christian era1 you   
are forgetting that the sacrifice of the
 ,bull and  the baptism in bull's blood 
were the salient features of the        
,persian and  ,phrygian ceremonials1    
some centuries earlier4 ,how can you    
reconcile  the existence side by side of
 divinities belonging to such different 
periods1 or ascribe them both to an     
astronomical origin8 ,the answer  is    
simple enough4 ,as ,i have explained    
before1 the ,precession of the          
,equinoxes caused the ,sun1 at its      
moment of triumph over the powers of    
darkness1 to stand at one period in the 
constellation of the ,bull1 and  at a   
period some two thousand years later in 
the constellation of the  ,ram4 ,it was 
perfectly natural therefore that a      
change in the sacred  symbols should1 in
 the course of time1 take place2 yet    
perfectly natural  also that these      
symbols1 having once been consecrated   
and adopted1  should continue to be     

honored and clung to long after the time
 of their  astronomical appropriateness 
had passed1 and so to be found side by  
side  in later centuries4 ,the devotee  
of ,mithra or ,attis on the ,vatican    
,hill at ,rome in the year #bjj ,a4,d4  
probably had as little notion or        
comprehension of the real origin of the 
sacred ,bull or ,ram which he  adored1  
as the ,christian in ,st4 ,peter's      
to-day has of the origin of the         
,lamb-god whose vicegerent on earth is  
the ,pope4    ,it is indeed easy to     
imagine that the change from the worship
 of the  ,bull to the worship of the    
,lamb which undoubtedly took place among
  various peoples as time went on1 was  
only a ritual change initiated  by the  
priests in order to put on record and   
harmonize with the  astronomical        
alteration4 ,anyhow it is curious that  
while ,mithra in the  early times was   
specially associated with the bull1 his 
association with  the lamb belonged more
 to the ,roman period4 ,somewhat the    

same happened  in the case of ,attis4   
,in the ,bible we read of the           
indignation of  ,moses at the setting up
 by the ,israelites of a ,golden ,calf1 
,,after  the sacrifice of the ram-lamb  
had been instituted--as if indeed the   
rebellious people were returning to the 
earlier cult of ,apis which they  ought 
to have left behind them in ,egypt4 ,in 
,egypt itself1 too1 we find  the worship
 of ,apis1 as time went on1 yielding    
place to that of the  ,ram-headed god   
,amun1 or ,jupiter ,ammon4 7#a7 ,so that
 both from the ,bible  and from         
,egyptian history we may conclude that  
the worship of the ,lamb  or ,ram       
succeeded to the worship of the ,bull4  
7#a7 ,tacitus 7,hist4 v4 #d7 speaks of  
ram-sacrifice by the ,jews in  honor of 
,jupiter ,ammon4 ,see also ,herodotus   
7ii4 #db7 on the same in  ,egypt4       
,finally it has been pointed out1 and   
there may be some real connection  in   
the coincidence1 that in the quite early
 years of ,christianity the  ,,fish came

 in as an accepted symbol of ,jesus     
,christ4 ,considering that  after the   
domination of ,taurus and ,aries1 the   
,fish 7,pisces7 comes next  in          
succession as the ,zodiacal sign for the
 ,vernal ,equinox1 and is now  the      
constellation in which the ,sun stands  
at that period1 it seems  not impossible
 that the astronomical change has been  
the cause of the  adoption of this new  
symbol4    ,anyhow1 and allowing for    
possible errors or exaggerations1 it    
becomes  clear that the travels of the  
,sun through the belt of constellations 
which forms the ,zodiac must have had1  
from earliest times1 a profound         
influence on the generation of religious
 myths and legends4 ,to say that  it was
 the only influence would certainly be a
 mistake4 ,other causes  undoubtedly    
contributed4 ,but it was a main and     
important influence4 ,the  origins of   
the ,zodiac are obscure2 we do not know 
with any certainty the  reasons why the 
various names were given to its         

component sections1 nor  can we measure 
the exact antiquity of these names2     
but--pre-supposing  the names of the    
signs as once given--it is not difficult
 to imagine the  growth of legends      
connected with the ,sun's course among  
them4    ,of all the ancient divinities 
perhaps ,hercules is the one whose role 
as a ,sungod is most generally admitted4
 ,the helper of gods and men1 a  mighty 
,traveller1 and invoked everywhere as   
the ,saviour1 his labors  for the good  
of the world became ultimately defined  
and systematized  as twelve and         
corresponding in number to the signs of 
the ,zodiac4 ,it  is true that this     
systematization only took place at a    
late period1  probably in ,alexandria2  
also that the identification of some of 
the  ,labors with the actual signs as we
 have them at present is not always     
clear4 ,but considering the wide        
prevalence of the ,hercules myth over   
the ancient world and the very various  
astronomical systems it must have  been 

connected with in its origin1 this lack 
of exact correspondence is  hardly to be
 wondered at4    ,the ,labors of        
,hercules which chiefly interest us are3
 7#a7 ,the capture  of the ,bull1 7#b7  
the slaughter of the ,lion1 7#c7 the    
destruction of the  ,hydra1 7#d7 of the 
,boar1 7#e7 the cleansing of the stables
 of ,augeas1 7#f7  the descent into     
,hades and the taming of ,cerberus4 ,the
 first of these  is in line with the    
,mithraic conquest of the ,bull2 the    
,lion is of course  one of the most     
prominent constellations of the ,zodiac1
 and its conquest  is obviously the work
 of a ,saviour of mankind2 while the    
last four  labors connect themselves    
very naturally with the ,solar conflict 
in  winter against the powers of        
darkness4 ,the ,boar 7#d7 we have seen  
already  as the image of ,typhon1 the   
prince of darkness2 the ,hydra 7#c7 was 
said  to be the offspring of ,typhon2   
the descent into ,hades 7#f7--;generally
  associated with ,hercules' struggle   

with and victory over ,death--links on  
to the descent of the ,sun into the     
underworld1 and its long and doubtful   
strife with the forces of winter2 and   
the cleansing of the stables  of ,augeas
 7#e7 has the same signification4 ,it   
appears in fact that the  stables of    
,augeas was another name for the sign of
 ,capricorn through  which the ,sun     
passes at the ,winter solstice 7#a7--the
 stable of course  being an underground 
chamber--and the myth was that there1 in
 this  lowest tract and backwater of the
 ,ecliptic all the malarious and evil   
influences of the sky were collected1   
and the ,sungod came to wash them  away 
7,december was the height of the rainy  
season in ,judaea7 and cleanse  the year
 towards its rebirth4     7#a7 ,see     
diagram of ,zodiac4      ,it should not 
be forgotten too that even as a child in
 the cradle  ,hercules slew two serpents
 sent for his destruction--the serpent  
and the  scorpion as autumnal           
constellations figuring always as       

enemies of the  ,sungod--to which may be
 compared the power given to his        
disciples by  ,jesus 7#a7 to tread on   
serpents and scorpions4 ,hercules also  
as a  ,sungod compares curiously with   
,samson 7mentioned above1 ii71 but we   
need not dwell on all the elaborate     
analogies that have been traced 7#b7    
between these two heroes4     7#a7 ,luke
 x4 #ai4     7#b7 ,see ,doane's ,bible  
,myths1 ch4 viii1 7,new ,york1 #ahhb47  
,the ,jesus-story1 it will now be seen1 
has a great number of  correspondences  
with the stories of former ,sungods and 
with the actual  career of the ,sun     
through the heavens--so many indeed that
 they cannot  well be attributed to mere
 coincidence or even to the blasphemous 
wiles  of the ,devil6 ,let us enumerate 
some of these4 ,there are 7#a7 the birth
  from a ,virgin mother2 7#b7 the birth 
in a stable 7cave or underground        
chamber72 and 7#c7 on the #beth         
,december 7just after the winter        
solstice74  ,there is 7#d7 the ,star in 

the ,east 7,sirius7 and 7#e7 the arrival
 of the  ,magi 7the ,three ,kings72     
there is 7#f7 the threatened ,massacre  
of the  ,innocents1 and the consequent  
flight into a distant country 7told also
  of ,krishna and other ,sungods74      
,there are the ,church festivals of 7#g7
  ,candlemas 7#bnd ,february71 with     
processions of candles to symbolize the 
growing light2 of 7#h7 ,lent1 or the    
arrival of ,spring2 of 7#i7 ,easter ,day
  7normally on the #beth ,march7 to     
celebrate the crossing of the ,equator  
by the ,sun2 and 7#aj7 simultaneously   
the outburst of lights at the ,holy     
,sepulchre at ,jerusalem4 ,there is     
7#aa7 the ,crucifixion and death of the 
,lamb-,god1 on ,good ,friday1 three days
 before ,easter2 there are 7#ab7 the    
nailing to a tree1 7#ac7 the empty      
grave1 7#ad7 the glad ,resurrection 7as 
in the cases of ,osiris1 ,attis and     
others72 there are 7#ae7 the twelve     
disciples 7the ,zodiacal signs72 and    
7#af7 the betrayal by one of the        

twelve4 ,then later there is 7#ag7      
,midsummer ,day1 the #bdth ,june1       
dedicated  to the ,nativity of ,john the
 ,baptist1 and corresponding to         
,christmas  ,day2 there are the         
festivals of 7#ah7 the ,assumption of   
the ,virgin  7#aeth ,august7 and of     
7#ai7 the ,nativity of the ,virgin 7#hth
 ,september71  corresponding to the     
movement of the god through ,virgo2     
there is the  conflict of ,christ and   
his disciples with the autumnal         
asterisms1 7#bj7  the ,serpent and the  
,scorpion2 and finally there is the     
curious fact that  the ,church 7#ba7    
dedicates the very day of the winter    
solstice 7when any  one may very        
naturally doubt the rebirth of the ,sun7
 to ,st4 ,thomas1 who  doubted the truth
 of the ,resurrection6    ,these are    
some of1 and by no means all1 the       
coincidences in question4  ,but they are
 sufficient1 ,i think1 to prove--even   
allowing for possible  margins of       
error--the truth of our general         

contention4 ,to go into the  parallelism
 of the careers of ,krishna1 the ,indian
 ,sungod1 and  ,jesus would take too    
long2 because indeed the correspondence 
is so  extraordinarily close and        
elaborate4 7#a7 ,i propose1 however1 at 
the  close of this chapter1 to dwell now
 for a moment on the ,christian         
festival of the ,eucharist1 partly on   
account of its connection with the      
derivation from the astronomical rites  
and ,nature-celebrations already        
alluded to1 and partly on account of the
 light which the festival  generally1   
whether ,christian or ,pagan1 throws on 
the origins of  ,religious ,magic--a    
subject ,i shall have to deal with in   
the next  chapter4     7#a7 ,see        
,robertson's ,christianity and          
,mythology1 ,part ,,ii1 pp4  #abi-cjb2  
also ,doane's ,bible ,myths1 ch4 xxviii1
 p4 #bgh4      ,i have already 7,ch4    
,,ii7 mentioned the ,eucharistic rite   
held in  commemoration of ,mithra1 and  
the indignant ascription of this by     

,justin  ,martyr to the wiles of the    
,devil4 ,justin ,martyr clearly had no  
doubt  about the resemblance of the     
,mithraic to the ,christian ceremony4 ,a
  ,sacramental meal1 as mentioned a few 
pages back1 seems to have been held  by 
the worshipers of ,attis 7#a7 in        
commemoration of their god2 and  the    
'mysteries' of the ,pagan cults         
generally appear to have included       
rites--sometimes half-savage1 sometimes 
more aesthetic--in which a  dismembered 
animal was eaten1 or bread and wine 7the
 spirits of the ,corn  and the ,vine7   
were consumed1 as representing the body 
of the god whom  his devotees desired to
 honor4 ,but the best example of this   
practice is  afforded by the rites of   
,dionysus1 to which ,i will devote a few
 lines4  ,dionysus1 like other ,sun or  
,nature deities1 was born of a ,virgin  
7,semele  or ,demeter7 untainted by any 
earthly husband2 and born on the #beth4 
,december4 ,he was nurtured in a ,cave1 
and even at that early age was          

identified with the ,ram or ,lamb1 into 
whose form he was for the time  being   
changed4 ,at times also he was worshiped
 in the form of a ,bull4  7#b7 ,he      
travelled far and wide2 and brought the 
great gift of wine to  mankind4 7#c7 ,he
 was called ,liberator1 and ,saviour4   
,his grave was shown  at ,delphi in the 
inmost shrine of the temple of ,apollo4 
,secret offerings  were brought thither1
 while the women who were celebrating   
the feast  woke up the new-born god4444 
,festivals of this kind in celebration  
of  the extinction and resurrection of  
the deity were held 7by women and  girls
 only7 amid the mountains at night1     
every third year1 about the  time of the
 shortest day4 ,the rites1 intended to  
express the excess of  grief and joy at 
the death and reappearance of the god1  
were wild even  to savagery1 and the    
women who performed them were hence     
known by  the expressive names of       
,bacchae1 ,maenads1 and ,thyiades4 ,they
 wandered  through woods and mountains1 

their flying locks crowned with ivy or  
snakes1 brandishing wands and torches1  
to the hollow sounds of the drum1  or   
the shrill notes of the flute1 with wild
 dances and insane cries and            
jubilation4     7#a7 ,see ,frazer's     
,golden ,bough1 ,part ,,iv1 p4 #bbi4    
7#b7 ,the ,golden ,bough1 ,part ,,ii1   
,book ,,ii1 p4 #afd4     7#c7 ,i am the 
,,true ,vine1 says the ,jesus of the    
fourth gospel1  perhaps with an implicit
 and hostile reference to the cult of   
,dionysus--in which ,robertson suggests 
7,christianity and ,mythology1 p4  #ceg7
 there was a ritual miracle of turning  
water into wine4      ,oxen1 goats1 even
 fawns and roes from the forest were    
killed1 torn to  pieces1 and eaten raw4 
,this in imitation of the treatment of  
,dionysus by  the ,titans1 7#a7--who it 
was supposed had torn the god in pieces 
when a  child4     7#a7 ,see art4       
,dionysus4 ,dictionary of ,classical    
,antiquities1  ,nettleship and ,sandys  
#crd edn41 ,london1 #ahih74             

,dupuis1 one of the earliest writers 7at
 the beginning of last century7  on this
 subject1 says1 describing the mystic   
rites of ,dionysus 7#a73  ,the sacred   
doors of the ,temple in which the       
initiation took place were  opened only 
once a year1 and no stranger might ever 
enter4 ,night lent to  these august     
mysteries a veil which was forbidden to 
be drawn aside--for  whoever it might   
be4 7#b7 ,it was the sole occasion for  
the representation  of the passion of   
,bacchus 7,dionysus7 dead1 descended    
into hell1 and  rearisen--in imitation  
of the representation of the sufferings 
of ,osiris  which1 according to         
,herodotus1 were commemorated at ,sais  
in ,egypt4 ,it  was in that place that  
the partition took place of the body of 
the god1  7#c7 which was then eaten--the
 ceremony1 in fact1 of which our        
,eucharist  is only a reflection2       
whereas in the mysteries of ,bacchus    
actual raw  flesh was distributed1 which
 each of those present had to consume in

  commemoration of the death of ,bacchus
 dismembered by the ,titans1 and  whose 
passion1 in ,chios and ,tenedos1 was    
renewed each year by the  sacrifice of a
 man who represented the god4 7#d7      
,possibly it is this last  fact which   
made people believe that the ,christians
 7whose hoc est corpus  meum and sharing
 of an ,eucharistic meal were no more   
than a shadow of a  more ancient rite7  
did really sacrifice a child and devour 
its limbs4     7#a7 ,see ,charles ,f4   
,dupuis1 ,traite des ,mysteres1 ch4 i4  
7#b7 ,pausan1 ,corinth1 ch4 #cg4        
7#c7 ,clem1 ,prot4 ,eur4 ,bacch4        
7#d7 ,see ,porphyry1 ,de ,abstinentia1  
lii1 ,section #ef4      ,that           
,eucharistic rites were very very       
ancient is plain from the               
,totem-sacraments of savages2 and to    
this subject we shall now turn4         
,,iv4 ,,totem-,,sacraments ,,and        
,,eucharists    ,much has been written  
on the origin of the ,totem-system--the 
system1  that is1 of naming a tribe or a

 portion of a tribe 7say a ,,clan7      
after some ,,animal--or sometimes--also 
after some plant or tree or             
,nature-element1 like fire or rain or   
thunder2 but at best the subject is  a  
difficult one for us moderns to         
understand4 ,a careful study has been   
made of it by ,salamon ,reinach in his  
,cultes1 ,mythes et ,religions1 7#a7    
where he formulates his conclusions in  
twelve statements or definitions2  but  
even so--though his suggestions are     
helpful--he throws very little  light on
 the real origin of the system4 7#b7    
7#a7 ,see ,english translation of       
certain chapters 7published by  ,david  
,nutt in #aiab7 entitled ,cults1 ,myths 
and ,religions1 pp4 #a-be4 ,the  ,french
 original is in three large volumes4    
7#b7 ,the same may be said of the       
formulated statement of the  subject in 
,morris ,jastrow's ,handbooks of the    
,history of ,religion1 vol4  iv4        
,there are three main difficulties4 ,the
 first is to understand why  primitive  

,man should name his ,tribe after an    
animal or object of nature  at all2 the 
second1 to understand on what principle 
he selected the  particular name 7a     
lion1 a crocodile1 a lady bird1 a       
certain tree72 the  third1 why he should
 make of the said totem a divinity1 and 
pay honor  and worship to it4 ,it may be
 worth while to pause for a moment over 
these4    7#a7 ,the fact that the ,tribe
 was one of the early things for which  
,man  found it necessary to have a name 
is interesting1 because it shows  how   
early the solidarity and psychological  
actuality of the tribe  was recognized2 
and as to the selection of a name from  
some animal or  concrete object of      
,nature1 that was inevitable1 for the   
simple reason  that there was nothing   
else for the savage to choose from4     
,plainly to  call his tribe ,the        
,wayfarers or ,the ,pioneers or the     
,pacifists or  the ,invincibles1 or by  
any of the thousand and one names which 
modern  associations adopt1 would have  

been impossible1 since such abstract    
terms had little or no existence in his 
mind4 ,and again to name it after  an   
animal was the most obvious thing to do1
 simply because the animals  were by far
 the most important features or         
accompaniments of his own  life4 ,as ,i 
am dealing in this book largely with    
certain psychological  conditions of    
human evolution1 it has to be pointed   
out that to  primitive man the animal   
was the nearest and most closely related
 of all  objects4 ,being of the same    
order of consciousness as himself1 the  
animal  appealed to him very closely as 
his mate and equal4 ,he made with regard
  to it little or no distinction from   
himself4 ,we see this very clearly in   
the case of children1 who of course     
represent the savage mind1 and who      
regard animals simply as their mates and
 equals1 and come quickly into  rapport 
with them1 not differentiating          
themselves from them4    7#b7 ,as to the
 particular animal or other object      

selected in order to  give a name to the
 ,tribe1 this would no doubt be largely 
accidental4 ,any  unusual incident might
 superstitiously precipitate a name4 ,we
 can hardly  imagine the ,tribe         
scratching its congregated head in the  
deliberate  effort to think out a       
suitable emblem for itself4 ,that is not
 the way in  which nicknames are        
invented in a school or anywhere else   
to-day4 ,at the  same time the heraldic 
appeal of a certain object of nature1   
animate or  inanimate1 would be deeply  
and widely felt4 ,the strength of the   
lion1  the fleetness of the deer1 the   
food-value of a bear1 the flight of a   
bird1 the awful jaws of a crocodile1    
might easily mesmerize a whole  tribe4  
,reinach points out1 with great justice1
 that many tribes placed  themselves    
under the protection of animals which   
were supposed 7rightly  or wrongly7 to  
act as guides and augurs1 foretelling   
the future4  ,diodorus1 he says1        
distinctly states that the hawk1 in     

,egypt1 was  venerated because it       
foretold the future4 7,birds generally  
act as   and ,samoa the kangaroo1 the   
crow and the owl premonish their fellow 
clansmen of events to come4 ,at one time
 the ,samoan warriors went so far  as to
 rear owls for their prophetic qualities
 in war4 7,the jackal1  or              
'pathfinder'--whose tracks sometimes    
lead to the remains of a  food-animal   
slain by a lion1 and many birds and     
insects1 have a value of  this kind47   
,the use of animal totems for purposes  
of augury is1 in all  likelihood1 of    
great antiquity4 ,men must soon have    
realized that the  senses of animals    
were acuter than their own2 nor is it   
surprising that  they should have       
expected their totems--that is to say1  
their natural  allies--to forewarn them 
both of unsuspected dangers and of those
  provisions of nature1 ,,wells         
especially1 which animals seem to scent 
by instinct4 7#a7 ,and again1 beyond all
 this1 ,i have little doubt that  there 

are subconscious affinities which unite 
certain tribes to certain  animals or   
plants1 affinities whose origin we      
cannot now trace1 though  they are very 
real--the same affinities that we       
recognize as existing  between          
individual ,,persons and certain objects
 of nature4 ,w4 ,h4  ,hudson--himself in
 many respects having this deep and     
primitive relation  to nature--speaks in
 a very interesting and autobiographical
 volume 7#b7  of the extraordinary      
fascination exercised upon him as a boy1
 not  only by a snake1 but by certain   
trees1 and especially by a particular   
flowering-plant not more than a foot in 
height1 with downy soft  pale green     
leaves1 and clusters of reddish         
blossoms1 something like  valerian4 444 
,one of my sacred flowers1 he calls it1 
and insists on  the inexplicable        
attraction which it had for him4 ,in    
various ways of  this kind one can      
perceive how particular totems came to  
be selected by  particular peoples4     

7#a7 ,see ,reinach1 ,eng4 trans41 op4   
cit41 pp4 #bj1 #ba4     7#b7 ,far away  
and ,long ago 7#aiah7 chs4 xvi and xvii4
      7#c7 ,as to the tendency to       
divinize these totems1 this arises no   
doubt  partly out of question 7#b74 ,the
 animal or other object admired on      
account of its strength or swiftness1 or
 adopted as guardian of the  tribe      
because of its keen sight or prophetic  
quality1 or infinitely  prized on       
account of its food-value1 or felt for  
any other reason to  have a peculiar    
relation and affinity to the tribe1 is  
by that fact ,,set  ,,apart4 ,it becomes
 taboo4 ,it must not be killed--except  
under necessity  and by sanction of the 
whole tribe--nor injured2 and all       
dealings with  it must be fenced round  
with regulations4 ,it is out of this    
taboo or  system of taboos that1        
according to ,reinach1 religion arose4  
,i propose  7he says7 to define religion
 as3 ,a ,,sum ,,of ,,scruples 7,,taboos7
 ,,which ,,impede  ,,the ,,free         

,,exercise ,,of ,,our ,,faculties4 7#a7 
,obviously this definition is  gravely  
deficient1 simply because it is purely  
negative1 and leaves  out of account the
 positive aspect of the subject4 ,in    
,man1 the positive  content of religion 
is the instinctive sense--whether       
conscious or  subconscious--of an inner 
unity and continuity with the world     
around4  ,this is the stuff out of which
 religion is made4 ,the scruples or     
taboos  which impede the freedom of this
 relation are the negative forces  which
 give outline and form to the relation4 
,these are the things which  generate   
the ,,rites ,,and ,,ceremonials of      
religion2 and as far as ,reinach  means 
by religion ,,merely rites and          
ceremonies he is correct2 but clearly   
he only covers half the subject4 ,the   
tendency to divinize the totem is  at   
least as much dependent on the positive 
sense of unity with it1 as on  the      
negative scruples which limit the       
relation in each particular case4  ,but 

,i shall return to this subject         
presently1 and more than once1 with  the
 view of clarifying it4 ,just now it    
will be best to illustrate the  nature  
of ,totems generally1 and in some       
detail4       7#a7 ,see ,orpheus by ,s4 
,reinach1 p4 #c4      ,as would be      
gathered from what ,i have just said1   
there is found among  all the more      
primitive peoples1 and in all parts of  
the world1 an  immense variety of       
totem-names4 ,the ,dinkas1 for instance1
 are a rather  intelligent well-grown   
people inhabiting the upper reaches of  
the ,nile  in the vicinity of the great 
swamps4 ,according to ,dr4 ,seligman    
their  clans have for totems the lion1  
the elephant1 the crocodile1 the        
hippopotamus1 the fox1 and the hyena1 as
 well as certain birds which  infest and
 damage the corn1 some plants and trees1
 and such things as  rain1 fire1 etc4   
,each clan speaks of its totem as its   
ancestor1 and  refrains 7as a rule7 from
 injuring or eating it4 7#a7 ,the       

members of the  ,crocodile clan call    
themselves brothers of the crocodile4   
,the tribes  of ,bechuana-land have a   
very similar list of totem-names--the   
buffalo1  the fish1 the porcupine1 the  
wild vine1 etc4 ,they too have a        
,crocodile  clan1 but they call the     
crocodile their ,,father6 ,the tribes of
 ,australia  much the same again1 with  
the differences suitable to their       
country2 and  the ,red ,indians of      
,north ,america the same4 ,garcilasso1  
della ,vega1  the ,spanish historian1   
son of an ,inca princess by one of the  
,spanish  conquerors of ,peru and author
 of the well-known book ,commentarias   
,reales1 says in that book 7i1 #eg71    
speaking of the pre-,inca period1 ,an   
,indian 7of ,peru7 was not considered   
honorable unless he was descended  from 
a fountain1 river or lake1 or even from 
the sea1 or from a wild  animal1 as a   
bear1 lion1 tiger1 eagle1 or the bird   
they call cuntur  7condor71 or some     
other bird of prey4 7#b7 ,according to  

,lewis ,morgan1  the ,north ,american   
,indians of various tribes had for      
totems the wolf1  bear1 beaver1 turtle1 
deer1 snipe1 heron1 hawk1 crane1 loon1  
turkey1  muskrat2 pike1 catfish1 carp2  
buffalo1 elk1 reindeer1 eagle1 hare1    
rabbit1 snake2 reed-grass1 sand1 rock1  
and tobacco-plant4     7#a7 ,see ,the   
,golden ,bough1 vol4 iv1 p4 #ca4        
7#b7 ,see ,andrew ,lang1 ,custom and    
,myth1 p4 #ajd1 also ,myth1 ,ritual  and
 ,religion1 vol4 i1 pp4 #ga1 #gf1 etc4  
,so we might go on rather indefinitely4 
,i need hardly say that in more  modern 
and civilized life1 relics of the totem 
system are still to be  found in the    
forms of the heraldic creatures adopted 
for their crests by  different families1
 and in the bears1 lions1 eagles1 the   
sun1 moon and  stars and so forth1 which
 still adorn the flags and are flaunted 
as the  insignia of the various nations4
 ,the names may not have been           
,,originally  adopted from any definite 
belief in blood-relationship with the   

animal  or other object in question2 but
 when1 as ,robertson says 7,pagan       
,christs1  p4 #ajd71 a savage learned   
that he was 'a ,bear' and that his      
father  and grandfather and forefathers 
were so before him1 it was really       
impossible1 after ages in which         
totem-names thus passed current1 that he
  should fail to assume that his folk   
were ,,descended from a bear4    ,as a  
rule1 as may be imagined1 the savage    
tribesman will on no account  ,,eat his 
tribal totem-animal4 ,such would        
naturally be deemed a kind of           
sacrilege4 ,also it must be remarked    
that some totems are hardly suitable    
for eating4 ,yet it is important to     
observe that occasionally1 and  guarding
 the ceremony with great precautions1 it
 has been an almost  universal custom   
for the tribal elders to call a feast at
 which  an animal 7either the totem or  
some other7 ,,is killed and commonly    
eaten--and this in order that the       
tribesmen may absorb some virtue        

belonging to it1 and may confirm their  
identity with the tribe and with  each  
other4 ,the eating of the bear or other 
animal1 the sprinkling with  its blood1 
and the general ritual in which the     
participants shared its  flesh1 or      
dressed and disguised themselves in its 
skin1 or otherwise  identified          
themselves with it1 was to them a symbol
 of their community  of life with each  
other1 and a means of their renewal and 
salvation in  the holy emblem4 ,and this
 custom1 as the reader will perceive1   
became  the origin of the ,eucharists   
and ,holy ,communions of the later      
religions4    ,professor                
,robertson-,smith's celebrated ,camel   
affords an instance of  this4 7#a7 ,it  
appears that ,st4 ,nilus 7fifth century7
 has left a detailed  account of the    
occasional sacrifice in his time of a   
spotless white  camel among the ,arabs  
of the ,sinai region1 which closely     
resembles a  totemic communion-feast4   
,the uncooked blood and flesh of the    

animal had  to be entirely consumed by  
the faithful before daybreak4 ,the      
slaughter  of the victim1 the           
sacramental drinking of the blood1 and  
devouring in  wild haste of the pieces  
of still quivering flesh1 recall the    
details  of the ,dionysiac and other    
festivals4 7#b7 ,robertson-,smith       
himself  says3--,the plain meaning is   
that the victim was devoured before its 
life had left the still warm blood and  
flesh444 and that thus in the  most     
literal way1 all those who shared in the
 ceremony absorbed part of  the victim's
 life into themselves4 ,one sees how    
much more forcibly  than any ordinary   
meal such a rite expresses the          
establishment or  confirmation of a bond
 of common life between the worshipers1 
and also1  since the blood is shed upon 
the altar itself1 between the worshipers
  and their god4 ,in this sacrifice1    
then1 the significant factors are two3  
the conveyance of the living blood to   
the godhead1 and the absorption of  the 

living flesh and blood into the flesh   
and blood of the worshippers4  ,each of 
these is effected in the simplest and   
most direct manner1 so  that the meaning
 of the ritual is perfectly transparent4
     7#a7 ,see his ,religion of the     
,semites1 p4 #cbj4     7#b7 ,they also  
recall the rites of the                 
,passover--though in this  latter the   
blood was no longer drunk1 nor the flesh
 eaten raw4      ,it seems strange1 of  
course1 that men should eat their       
totems2 and  it must not by any means be
 supposed that this practice is 7or was7
  universal2 but it undoubtedly obtains 
in some cases4 ,as ,miss ,harrison  says
 7,themis1 p4 #abc72 you do not as a    
rule eat your relations1 and as  a rule 
the eating of a totem is tabu and       
forbidden1 but 7,miss ,harrison         
continues7 at certain times and under   
certain restrictions a man not  only    
may1 but ,,must1 eat of his totem1      
though only sparingly1 as of a  thing   
sacrosanct4 ,the ceremonial carried out 

in a communal way by the  tribe not only
 identifies the tribe with the totem    
7animal71 but is  held1 according to    
early magical ideas1 and when the animal
 is desired  for food1 to favor its     
manipulation4 ,the human tribe partakes 
of the  mana or life-force of the       
animal1 and is strengthened2 the animal 
tribe  is sympathetically renewed by the
 ceremonial and multiplies exceedingly4 
,the slaughter of the sacred animal and 
7often7 the simultaneous  outpouring of 
human blood seals the compact and       
confirms the magic4 ,this  is well      
illustrated by a ceremony of the ',emu' 
tribe referred to by ,dr4  ,frazer3--   
,in order to multiply ,emus which are an
 important article of food1 the  men of 
the ,emu totem in the ,arunta tribe     
proceed as follows3 ,they clear  a small
 spot of level ground1 and opening veins
 in their arms they let  the blood      
stream out until the surface of the     
ground for a space of  about three      
square yards is soaked with it4 ,when   

the blood has dried  and caked1 it forms
 a hard and fairly impermeable surface1 
on which they  paint the sacred design  
of the emu totem1 especially the parts  
of the  bird which they like best to    
eat1 namely1 the fat and the eggs4      
,round  this painting the men sit and   
sing4 ,afterwards performers wearing    
long  head-dresses to represent the long
 neck and small head of the emu1 mimic  
the appearance of the bird as it stands 
aimlessly peering about in all          
directions4 7#a7     7#a7 ,the ,golden  
,bough i1 #he--with reference to        
,spencer and  ,gillen's ,native ,tribes 
of ,central ,australia1 pp4 #agi1 #ahi4 
,thus blood sacrifice comes in2         
and--7whether this has ever actually    
happened in the case of the ,central    
,australians ,i know not7--we can       
easily imagine a member of the ,emu     
tribe1 and disguised as an actual  emu1 
having been ceremonially slaughtered as 
a firstfruits and promise  of the       
expected and prayed-for emu-crop2 just  

as the same certainly  ,,has happened in
 the case of men wearing beast-masks of 
,bulls or ,rams  or ,bears being        
sacrificed in propitiation of           
,bull-gods1 ,ram-gods or  ,bear-gods or 
simply in pursuance of some kind of     
magic to favor the  multiplication of   
these food-animals4    ,in the light of 
totemistic ways of thinking we see      
plainly enough the  relation of man to  
food-animals4 ,you need or at least     
desire flesh food1  yet you shrink from 
slaughtering 'your brother the ox'2 you 
desire his  mana1 yet you respect his   
tabu1 for in you and him alike runs the 
common  life-blood4 ,on your own        
individual responsibility you would     
never kill  him2 but for the common     
weal1 on great occasions1 and in a      
fashion  conducted with scrupulous care1
 it is expedient that he die for his    
people1 and that they feast upon his    
flesh4 7#a7     7#a7 ,themis1 p4 #adj4  
,in her little book ,ancient ,art and   
,ritual 7#a7 ,jane ,harrison describes  

the dedication of a holy ,bull1 as      
conducted in ,greece at ,elis1 and at   
,magnesia and other cities4 ,there at   
the annual fair year by year the        
stewards of the city bought a ,bull 'the
 finest that could be got1' and  at the 
new moon of the month at the beginning  
of seed-time 78 ,april7   ,bull was led 
in procession at the head of which went 
the chief priest  and priestess of the  
city4 ,with them went a herald and      
sacrificer1  and two bands of youths and
 maidens4 ,so holy was the ,bull that   
nothing  unlucky might come near him4   
,the herald pronounced aloud a prayer   
for  'the safety of the city and the    
land1 and the citizens1 and the women   
and children1 for peace and wealth1 and 
for the bringing forth of grain  and all
 other fruits1 and of cattle4' ,all this
 longing for fertility1  for food and   
children1 focuses round the holy ,bull1 
whose holiness is  his strength and     
fruitfulness4 ,the ,bull is sacrificed4 
,the flesh is  divided in solemn feast  

among those who take part in the        
procession4  ,the holy flesh is not     
offered to a god1 it is eaten--to every 
man his  portion--by each and every     
citizen1 that he may get his share of   
the  strength of the ,bull1 of the luck 
of the ,state4 ,but at ,athens the      
,bouphonia1 as it was called1 was       
followed by a curious ceremony4 ,the    
hide was stuffed with straw and sewed   
up1 and next the stuffed animal  was set
 on its feet and yoked to a plough as   
though it were ploughing4  ,the ,death  
is followed by a ,resurrection4 ,now    
this is all important4 ,we  are         
accustomed to think of sacrifice as the 
death1 the giving up1 the  renouncing of
 something4 ,but ,,sacrifice does not   
mean 'death' at all4 ,it  means ,,making
 ,,holy1 sanctifying2 and holiness was  
to primitive man just  special strength 
and life4 ,what they wanted from the    
,bull was just that  special life and   
strength which all the year long they   
had put into him1  and nourished and    

fostered4 ,that life was in his blood4  
,they could not  eat that flesh nor     
drink that blood unless they killed him4
 ,so he must  die4 ,but it was not to   
give him up to the gods that they killed
 him1  not to 'sacrifice' him in our    
sense1 but to have him1 keep him1 eat   
him1  live ,,by him and through him1 by 
his grace4     7#a7 ,home ,university   
,library1 p4 #hg4      ,we have already 
had to deal with instances of the       
ceremonial eating of  the sacred        
he-,lamb or ,ram1 immolated in the      
,spring season of the year1  and        
partaken of in a kind of communal       
feast--not without reference 7at  any   
rate in later times7 to a supposed      
,lamb-god4 ,among the ,ainos in the     
,north of ,japan1 as also among the     
,gilyaks in ,eastern ,siberia1 the ,bear
  is the great food-animal1 and is      
worshipped as the supreme giver of      
health and strength4 ,there also a      
similar ritual of sacrifice occurs4 ,a  
perfect ,bear is caught and caged4 ,he  

is fed up and even pampered to the  day 
of his death4 ,fish1 brandy and other   
delicacies are offered to him4  ,some of
 the people prostrate themselves before 
him2 his coming into  a house brings a  
blessing1 and if he sniffs at the food  
that brings a  blessing too4 ,then he is
 led out and slain4 ,a great feast takes
 place1  the flesh is divided1 cupfuls  
of the blood are drunk by the men2  the 
tribe is united and strengthened1 and   
the ,bear-god blesses the  ceremony--the
 ideal ,bear that has given its life for
 the people4 7#a7       7#a7 ,see ,art  
and ,ritual1 pp4 #ib-ih2 ,the ,golden   
,bough1 ii1 #cge  seq42 ,themis1 pp4    
#adj1 #ada2 etc4      ,that the eating  
of the flesh of an animal or a man      
conveys to you some  of the qualities1  
the life-force1 the mana1 of that animal
 or man1 is an  idea which one often    
meets with among primitive folk4 ,hence 
the common  tendency to eat enemy       
warriors slain in battle against your   
tribe4 ,by  doing so you absorb some of 

their valor and strength4 ,even the     
enemy  scalps which an ,apache ,indian  
might hang from his belt were something 
magical to add to the ,apache's power4  
,as ,gilbert ,murray says1 7#a7 you     
devoured the holy animal to get its     
mana1 its swiftness1 its strength1  its 
great endurance1 just as the savage now 
will eat his enemy's brain  or heart or 
hands to get some particular quality    
residing there4  ,even--as he explains  
on the earlier page--mere ,,contact was 
often  considered sufficient--we have   
holy pillars whose holiness consists  in
 the fact that they have been touched by
 the blood of a bull4 ,and in  this     
connection we may note that nearly all  
the ,christian ,churches have  a great  
belief in the virtue imparted by the    
mere 'laying on of hands4'     7#a7     
,four ,stages of ,greek ,religion1 p4   
#cf4      ,in quite a different         
connection--we read 7#a7 that among the 
,spartans a  warrior-boy would often beg
 for the love of the elder warrior whom 

he  admired 7i4 e4 the contact with his 
body7 in order to obtain in that  way a 
portion of the latter's courage and     
prowess4 ,that through the  mediation of
 the lips one's spirit may be united to 
the spirit of  another person is an idea
 not unfamiliar to the modern mind2     
while the  exchange of blood1 clothes1  
locks of hair1 etc41 by lovers is a     
custom  known all over the world4 7#b7  
7#a7 ,aelian ,,vii1 iii1 #ab3 gr autoi  
goun 7oi paides7 deontai twn  erastwn gr
 eispnein autois4 ,see also ,e4 ,bethe  
on ,die ,dorische  ,knabenliebe in the  
,rheinisches ,museum1 vol4 #bf1 iii1    
#dfa4     7#b7 ,see ,crawley's ,mystic  
,rose1 pp4 #bch1 #bdb4      ,to suppose 
that by eating another you absorb his or
 her soul is somewhat  naive certainly4 
,perhaps it ,,is more native1 more      
primitive4 ,yet there  may be ,,some    
truth even in that idea4 ,certainly the 
food that one eats  has a psychological 
effect1 and the flesh-eaters among the  
human race  have a different temperament

 as a rule from the fruit and vegetable 
eaters1 while among the animals 7though 
other causes may come in  here7 the     
,carnivora are decidedly more cruel and 
less gentle than the  ,herbivora4    ,to
 return to the rites of ,dionysus1      
,gilbert ,murray1 speaking of           
,orphism--a great wave of religious     
reform which swept over ,greece and     
,south ,italy in the sixth century      
,b4,c4--says3 7#a7 ,a curious relic of  
primitive superstition and cruelty      
remained firmly imbedded in ,orphism1  a
 doctrine irrational and unintelligible1
 and for that very reason  wrapped in   
the deepest and most sacred mystery3 a  
belief in the  ,,sacrifice ,,of         
,,dionysus ,,himself1 ,,and ,,the       
,,purification ,,of ,,man ,,by ,,his    
,,blood4 ,it seems possible that the    
savage ,thracians1 in the fury of their 
worship on the mountains1 when they were
 possessed by the god and became  'wild 
beasts1' actually tore with their teeth 
and hands any hares1  goats1 fawns or   

the like that they came across4444 ,the 
,orphic  congregations of later times1  
in their most holy gatherings1 solemnly 
partook of the blood of a bull1 which   
was by a mystery the blood of           
,dionysus-,zagreus himself1 the ,bull of
 ,god1 slain in sacrifice for the       
purification of man4 7#b7     7#a7 ,see 
,notes to his translation of the        
,bacchae of ,euripides4     7#b7 ,for a 
description of this orgy see            
,theocritus1 ,idyll xxvi2  also for     
explanations of it1 ,lang's ,myth1      
,ritual and ,religion1 vol4 ii1  pp1    
#bda-bfj1 on ,dionysus4 ,the            
,encyclopaedia ,brit41 article ,orpheus1
  says3--,orpheus1 in the manner of his 
death1 was considered to personate  the 
god ,dionysus1 and was thus             
representative of the god torn to pieces
  every year--a ceremony enacted by the 
,bacchae in the earliest times with  a  
human victim1 and afterwards with a     
bull1 to represent the bull-formed  god4
 ,a distinct feature of this ritual was 

gr wmofagia 7eating the  flesh of the   
victim raw71 whereby the communicants   
imagined that they  consumed and        
assimilated the god represented by the  
victim1 and thus  became filled with the
 divine ecstasy4 ,compare also the      
,hindu doctrine  of ,prajpati1 the      
dismembered ,lord of ,creation4         
,such instances of early communal       
feasts1 which fulfilled the double part 
of confirming on the one hand the       
solidarity of the tribe1 and on the     
other of bringing the tribe1 by the     
shedding of the blood of a divine       
,victim into close relationship with the
 very source of its life1  are plentiful
 to find4 ,the sacramental rite1 says   
,professor  ,robertson-,smith1 7#a7 is  
also an atoning rite1 which brings the  
community again into harmony with its   
alienated god--atonement being  simply  
an act of communion designed to wipe out
 all memory of previous  estrangement4  
,with this subject ,i shall deal more   
specially in chapter  vii below4        

,meanwhile as instances of early        
,eucharists we may mention the          
following cases1 remembering always that
 as the blood is regarded as the  ,life1
 the drinking or partaking of1 or       
sprinkling with1 blood is always  an    
acknowledgment of the common life2 and  
that the juice of the grape  being      
regarded as the blood of the ,vine1 wine
 in the later ceremonials  quite easily 
and naturally takes the place of the    
blood in the early  sacrifices4     7#a7
 ,religion of the ,semites1 p4 #cjb4    
,thus ,p4 ,andrada ,la ,crozius1 a      
,french missionary1 and one of the first
  ,christians who went to ,nepaul and   
,thibet1 says in his ,history of ,india3
  ,their ,grand ,lama celebrates a      
species of sacrifice with ,,bread and   
,,wine1  in which1 after taking a small 
quantity himself1 he distributes the    
rest among the ,lamas present at this   
ceremony4 7#a7 ,the old ,egyptians      
celebrated the resurrection of ,osiris  
by a sacrament1 eating the sacred  cake 

or wafer after it had been consecrated  
by the priest1 and thereby  becoming    
veritable flesh of his flesh4 7#b7 ,as  
is well known1 the eating  of bread or  
dough sacramentally 7sometimes mixed    
with blood or seed7  as an emblem of    
community of life with the divinity1 is 
an extremely  ancient practice or       
ritual4 ,dr4 ,frazer 7#c7 says of the   
,aztecs1  that twice a year1 in ,may and
 ,december1 an image of the great god   
,huitzilopochtli was made of dough1 then
 broken in pieces and solemnly  eaten by
 his worshipers4 ,and ,lord             
,kingsborough in his ,mexican           
,antiquities 7vol4 vi1 p4 #bbj7 gives a 
record of a most ,holy ,supper  in which
 these people ate the flesh of their    
god4 ,it was a cake made of  certain    
seeds1 and having made it1 they blessed 
it in their manner1 and  broke it into  
pieces1 which the high priest put into  
certain very clean  vessels1 and took a 
thorn of maguey which resembles a very  
thick needle1  with which he took up    

with the utmost reverence single        
morsels1 which  he put into the mouth of
 each individual in the manner of a     
communion4  ,acostas 7#d7 confirms this 
and similar accounts4 ,the ,peruvians   
partook of  a sacrament consisting of a 
pudding of coarsely ground maize1 of    
which  a portion had been smeared on the
 idol4 ,the priest sprinkled it with the
  blood of the victim before            
distributing it to the people4 ,priest  
and  people then all took their shares  
in turn1 with great care that no        
particle should be allowed to fall to   
the ground--this being looked upon  as a
 great sin4 7#e7       7#a7 ,see        
,doane's ,bible ,myths1 p4 #cjf4        
7#b7 ,from ,the ,great ,law1 of         
religious origins3 by ,w4 ,williamson   
7#ahii71 p4 #agg4     7#c7 ,the ,golden 
,bough1 vol4 ii1 p4 #gi4     7#d7       
,natural and ,moral ,history of the     
,indies4 ,london 7#afjd74     7#e7 ,see 
,markham's ,rites and laws of the       
,incas1 p4 #bg4      ,moving from ,peru 

to ,china 7instead of 'from ,china to   
,peru'7 we find that  the ,chinese pour 
wine 7a very general substitute for     
blood7 on a straw  image of ,confucius1 
and then all present drink of it1 and   
taste the  sacrificial victim1 in order 
to participate in the grace of          
,confucius4  7,here again the ,corn and 
,wine are blended in one rite47 ,and of 
,tartary  ,father ,grueber thus         
testifies3 ,this only ,i do affirm1 that
 the devil so  mimics the ,catholic     
,church there1 that although no         
,european or ,christian  has ever been  
there1 still in all essential things    
they agree so  completely with the      
,roman ,church1 as even to celebrate the
 ,host with  bread and wine3 with my own
 eyes ,i have seen it4 7#a7 ,these few  
instances are sufficient to show the    
extraordinarily wide diffusion of       
,totem-sacraments and ,eucharistic rites
 all over the world4     7#a7 ,for these
 two quotations see ,jevons'            
,introduction to the  ,history of       

,religion1 pp4 #adh and #bai4           
,v4 ,,food ,,and ,,vegetation ,,magic   
,i have wandered1 in pursuit of ,totems 
and the ,eucharist1 some way from  the  
astronomical thread of ,chapters ,,ii   
and ,,iii1 and now it would appear  that
 in order to understand religious       
origins we must wander still  farther4  
,the chapters mentioned were largely    
occupied with ,sungods and  astronomical
 phenomena1 but now we have to consider 
an earlier period  when there were no   
definite forms of gods1 and when none   
but the vaguest  astronomical knowledge 
existed4 ,sometimes in historical       
matters it is  best and safest to move  
thus backwards in ,time1 from the things
 recent  and fairly well known to things
 more ancient and less known4 ,in this  
way  we approach more securely to some  
understanding of the dim and remote     
past4    ,it is clear that before any   
definite speculations on heaven-dwelling
  gods or divine beings had arisen in   
the human mind--or any clear  theories  

of how the sun and moon and stars might 
be connected with the  changes of the   
seasons on the earth--there were still  
certain obvious  things which appealed  
to everybody1 learned or unlearned      
alike4 ,one of  these was the return of 
,vegetation1 bringing with it the fruits
 or the  promise of the fruits of the   
earth1 for human food1 and also bringing
  with it increase of animal life1 for  
food in another form2 and the other  was
 the return of ,light and ,warmth1      
making life easier in all ways4 ,food   
delivering from the fear of starvation2 
,light and ,warmth delivering from  the 
fear of danger and of cold4 ,these were 
three glorious things which  returned   
together and brought salvation and      
renewed life to man4 ,the  period of    
their return was ',spring1' and though  
,spring and its benefits  might fade    
away in time1 still there was always the
 ,,hope of its  return--though even so  
it may have been a long time in human   
evolution  before man discovered that it

 really did always return1 and 7with    
certain allowances7 at equal intervals  
of time4    ,long then before any ,sun  
or ,star gods could be called in1 the   
return of  the ,vegetation must have    
enthralled man's attention1 and filled  
him with  hope and joy4 ,yet since its  
return was somewhat variable and        
uncertain  the question1 ,what could man
 do to assist that return8 naturally    
became a pressing one4 ,it is now       
generally held that the use of          
,magic--sympathetic magic--arose in this
 way4 ,sympathetic magic seems to  have 
been generated by a belief that your own
 actions cause a similar  response in   
things and persons around you4 ,yet this
 belief did not rest  on any philosophy 
or argument1 but was purely instinctive 
and sometimes  of the nature of a mere  
corporeal reaction4 ,every schoolboy    
knows how  in watching a comrade's high 
jump at the ,sports he often finds      
himself  lifting a knee at the moment   
'to help him over'2 at football matches 

quarrels sometimes arise among the      
spectators by reason of an  ill-placed  
kick coming from a too enthusiastic     
on-looker1 behind one2  undergraduates  
running on the tow-path beside their    
,college boat in  the races will hurry  
even faster than the boat in order to   
increase its  speed2 there is in each   
case an automatic bodily response       
increased  by one's own desire4 ,a      
person ,,acts the part which he desires 
to be  successful4 ,he thinks to        
transfer his energy in that way4 ,again1
 if by  chance one witnesses a painful  
accident1 a crushed foot or what-not1   
it commonly happens that one feels a    
pain in the same part oneself--a        
sympathetic pain4 ,what more natural    
than to suppose that the pain  really is
 transferred from the one person to the 
other8 and how easy the  inference that 
by tormenting a wretched scape-goat or  
crucifying a human  victim in some cases
 the sufferings of people may be        
relieved or their  sins atoned for8     

,simaetha1 it will be remembered1 in the
 second ,idyll of ,theocritus1  curses  
her faithless lover ,delphis1 and as she
 melts his waxen image she  prays that  
,,he ,,too ,,may ,,melt4 ,all this is of
 the nature of ,magic1 and is           
independent of and generally more       
primitive than ,theology or ,philosophy4
  ,yet it interests us because it points
 to a firm instinct in early  man--to   
which ,i have already alluded--the      
instinct of his unity and  continuity   
with the rest of creation1 and of a     
common life so close  that his lightest 
actions may cause a far-reaching        
reaction in the world  outside4    ,man1
 then1 independently of any belief in   
gods1 may assist the arrival  of ,spring
 by magic ceremonies4 ,if you want the  
,vegetation to appear you  must have    
rain2 and the rain-maker in almost all  
primitive tribes has  been a ,,most     
important personage4 ,generally he based
 his rites on quite  fanciful           
associations1 as when the rain-maker    

among the ,mandans wore a  raven's skin 
on his head 7bird of the storm7 or      
painted his shield with  red zigzags of 
lightning 7#a72 but partly1 no doubt1 he
 had observed  actual facts1 or had had 
the knowledge of them transmitted to    
him--as1  for instance that when rain is
 impending loud noises will bring about 
its speedy downfall1 a fact we moderns  
have had occasion to notice on          
battlefields4 ,he had observed perhaps  
that in a storm a specially loud  clap  
of thunder is generally followed by a   
greatly increased downpour  of rain4 ,he
 had even noticed 7a thing which ,i have
 often verified in  the vicinity of     
,sheffield7 that the copious smoke of   
fires will generate  rain-clouds--and so
 quite naturally he concluded that it   
was his smoking  ,,sacrifices which had 
that desirable effect4 ,so far he was on
 the track  of elementary ,science4 ,and
 so he made bull-roarers to imitate the 
sound of wind and the blessed           
rain-bringing thunder1 or clashed  great

 bronze cymbals together with the same  
object4 ,bull-voices and  thunder-drums 
and the clashing of cymbals were used in
 this connection  by the ,greeks1 and   
are mentioned by ,aeschylus 7#b72 but   
the bull-roarer1  in the form of a      
rhombus of wood whirled at the end of a 
string1 seems  to be known1 or to have  
been known1 all over the world4 ,it is  
described  with some care by ,mr4       
,andrew ,lang in his ,custom and ,myth  
7pp4 #bi-dd71  where he says it is found
 always as a sacred instrument employed 
in  religious mysteries1 in ,new        
,mexico1 ,australia1 ,new ,zealand1     
ancient  ,greece1 and ,africa4     7#a7 
,see ,catlin's ,north ,american         
,indians1 ,letter #ai4     7#b7 ,themis1
 p4 #fa4      ,sometimes1 of course1 the
 rain-maker was successful2 but of the  
inner  causes of rain he knew next to   
nothing2 he was more ignorant even than 
we are6 ,his main idea was a more       
specially 'magical' one--namely1 that   
the sound itself would appeal to the    

,,spirits of rain and thunder and  cause
 them to give a response4 ,for of course
 the thunder 7in ,hebrew  ,bath-,kol1   
the daughter of the ,voice7 was         
everywhere regarded as  the             
manifestation of a spirit4 7#a7 ,to make
 sounds like thunder would  therefore   
naturally call the attention of such a  
spirit2 or he1 the  rain-maker1 might   
make sounds like rain4 ,he made         
gourd-rattles 7known  in ever so many   
parts of the world7 in which he rattled 
dried seeds  or small pebbles with a    
most beguiling and rain-like insistence2
 or  sometimes1 like the priests of     
,baal in the ,bible1 7#b7 he would cut  
himself with knives till the blood fell 
upon the ground in great drops          
suggestive of an oncoming               
thunder-shower4 ,in ,mexico the rain god
 was  propitiated with sacrifices of    
children4 ,if the children wept and shed
  abundant tears1 they who carried them 
rejoiced1 being convinced that  rain    
would also be abundant4 7#c7 ,sometimes 

he1 the rain-maker1 would  ,,whistle for
 the wind1 or1 like the ,omaha ,indians1
 flap his blankets for  the same        
purpose4     7#a7 ,see ,a4 ,lang1 op4   
cit43 ,the muttering of the thunder is  
said  to be his voice calling to the    
rain to fall and make the grass grow up 
green4 ,such are the very words of      
,umbara1 the minstrel of the ,tribe     
7,australian74     7#b7 ,i ,kings xviii4
     7#c7 ,quoted from ,sahagun ,,ii1   
#b1 #c by ,a4 ,lang in ,myth1 ,ritual   
and  ,religion1 vol4 ii1 p4 #ajb4       
,in the ancient myth of ,demeter and    
,persephone--which has been adopted by  
so many peoples under so many           
forms--,demeter the ,earth-mother loses 
her  daughter ,persephone 7who          
represents of course the ,vegetation71  
carried  down into the underworld by the
 evil powers of ,darkness and ,winter4  
,and in ,greece there was a yearly      
ceremonial and ritual of magic for the  
purpose of restoring the lost one and   
bringing her back to the world  again4  

,women carried certain charms1 fir-cones
 and snakes and unnamable  objects made 
of paste1 to ensure fertility2 there was
 a sacrifice of  pigs1 who were thrown  
into a deep cleft of the earth1 and     
their remains  afterwards collected and 
scattered as a charm over the fields4   
7#a7 ,fir-cones and snakes from their   
very forms were emblems of male         
fertility2 snakes1 too1 from their habit
 of gliding out of their own  skins with
 renewed brightness and color were      
suggestive of resurrection  and         
re-vivification2 pigs and sows by their 
exceeding fruitfulness would  in their  
hour of sacrifice remind old mother     
,earth of what was expected  from her6  
,moreover1 no doubt it had been observed
 that the scattering of  dead flesh over
 the ground or mixed with the seed1 did 
bless the  ground to a greater          
fertility2 and so by a strange mixture  
of primitive  observation with a certain
 child-like belief that by means of     
symbols  and suggestions ,nature could  

be appealed to and induced to answer to 
the  desires and needs for her children 
this sort of ceremonial ,magic arose4   
,it was not exactly ,science1 and it was
 not exactly ,religion2 but it was  a   
naive1 and perhaps not altogether       
mistaken1 sense of the bond between     
,nature and ,man4     7#a7 ,see ,gilbert
 ,murray's ,four ,stages of ,greek      
,religion1 p4 #bi4      ,for we can     
perceive that earliest man was not yet  
consciously  differentiated from        
,nature4 ,not only do we see that the   
tribal life was  so strong that the     
individual seldom regarded himself as   
different or  separate or opposed to the
 rest of the tribe2 but that something  
of the  same kind was true with regard  
to his relation to the ,animals and to  
,nature at large4 ,this outer world was 
part of himself1 was also himself4  ,his
 sub-conscious sense of unity was so    
great that it largely dominated  his    
life4 ,that brain-cleverness and        
brain-activity which causes modern  man 

to perceive such a gulf between him and 
the animals1 or between  himself and    
,nature1 did not exist in the early man4
 ,hence it was  no difficulty to him to 
believe that he was a ,bear or an ,emu4 
,sub-consciously he was wiser than we   
are4 ,he knew that he was a bear or  an 
emu1 or any other such animal as his    
totem-creed led him to fix his  mind    
upon4 ,hence we find that a familiarity 
and common consent existed  between     
primitive man and many of his companion 
animals such as has  been lost or much  
attenuated in modern times4 ,elisee     
,reclus in his very  interesting paper  
,la ,grande ,famille 7#a7 gives support 
to the idea that  the so-called         
domestication of animals did not        
originally arise from any  forcible     
subjugation of them by man1 but from a  
natural amity with  them which grew up  
in the beginning from common interests1 
pursuits and  affections4 ,thus the     
chetah of ,india 7and probably the puma 
of ,brazil7  from far-back times took to

 hunting in the company of his          
two-legged and  bow-and-arrow-armed     
friend1 with whom he divided the spoil4 
,w4 ,h4 ,hudson  7#b7 declares that the 
,puma1 wild and fierce though it is1 and
 capable  of killing the largest game1  
will never even to-day attack man1 but  
when maltreated by the latter submits to
 the outrage1 unresisting1 with         
mournful cries and every sign of grief4 
,the ,llama1 though domesticated  in a  
sense1 has never allowed the domination 
of the whip or the bit1  but may still  
be seen walking by the side of the      
,brazilian peasant  and carrying his    
burdens in a kind of proud              
companionship4 ,the mutual  relations of
 ,women and the ,cow1 or of ,man and the
 ,horse 7#c7 7also the  ,elephant7 reach
 so far into the past that their origin 
cannot be traced4  ,the ,swallow still  
loves to make its home under the cottage
 eaves and  still is welcomed by the    
inmates as the bringer of good fortune4 
,elisee  ,reclus assures us that the    

,dinka man on the ,nile calls to certain
 snakes  by name and shares with them   
the milk of his cows4       7#a7        
,published originally in ,le ,magazine  
,international1 ,january  #ahif4        
7#b7 ,see ,the ,naturalist in ,la       
,plata1 ch4 ii4     7#c7 ,it is certain 
that the primitive ,indo-,european      
reared droves  of tame or half-tame     
horses for generations1 if not          
centuries1 before  it ever occurred to  
him to ride or drive them 7,f4 ,b4      
,jevons1 ,introd4 to  ,hist4 ,religion1 
p4 #aai74      ,and so with ,nature4    
,the communal sense1 or subconscious    
perception1  which made primitive men   
feel their unity with other members of  
their  tribe1 and their obvious kinship 
with the animals around them1 brought   
them also so close to general ,nature   
that they looked upon the trees1  the   
vegetation1 the rain1 the warmth of the 
sun1 as part of their  bodies1 part of  
themselves4 ,conscious differentiation  
had not yet set  in4 ,to cause rain or  

thunder you had to make rain- or        
thunder-like  noises2 to encourage      
,vegetation and the crops to leap out of
 the ground1  you had to leap and dance4
 ,in ,swabia and among the              
,transylvanian ,saxons  it is a common  
custom 7says ,dr4 ,frazer7 for a man who
 has some hemp to  leap high in the     
field in the belief that this will make 
the hemp grow  tall4 7#a7 ,native       
,may-pole dances and ,jacks in the      
,green have hardly  yet died out--even  
in this most civilized ,england4 ,the   
bower of green  boughs1 the music of    
pipes1 the leaping and the twirling1    
were all an  encouragement to the       
arrival of ,spring1 and an expression of
 ,sympathetic  ,magic4 ,when you felt   
full of life and energy and virility in 
yourself  you naturally leapt and       
danced1 so why should you not           
sympathetically do  this for the        
energizing of the crops8 ,in every      
country of the world  the vernal season 
and the resurrection of the ,sun has    

been greeted with  dances and the sound 
of music4 ,but if you wanted success in 
hunting  or in warfare then you danced  
before-hand mimic dances suggesting the 
successful hunt or battle4 ,it was no   
more than our children do to-day1  and  
it all was1 and is1 part of a           
natural-magic tendency in human         
thought4     7#a7 ,see ,the ,golden     
,bough1 i1 #aci seq4 ,also ,art and     
,ritual1 p4 #ca4      ,let me pause here
 for a moment4 ,it is difficult for us  
with our  academical and somewhat       
school-boardy minds to enter into all   
this1 and  to understand the sense of   
7unconscious or sub-conscious7          
identification  with the world around   
which characterized the primitive       
man--or to look  upon ,nature with his  
eyes4 ,a ,tree1 a ,snake1 a ,bull1 an   
,ear of ,corn4 ,,we  know so well from  
our botany and natural history books    
what these things  are4 ,why should our 
minds dwell on them any longer or harbor
 a doubt as  to our perfect             

comprehension of them8    ,and yet 7one 
cannot help asking the question73 ,has  
any one of us really  ever ,,seen a     
,tree8 ,i certainly do not think that ,i
 have--except most  superficially4 ,that
 very penetrating observer and          
naturalist1 ,henry ,d4  ,thoreau1 tells 
us that he would often make an          
appointment to visit a  certain tree1   
miles away--but what or whom he saw when
 he got there1 he  does not say4 ,walt  
,whitman1 also a keen observer1 speaks  
of a tulip-tree  near which he sometimes
 sat--the ,apollo of the woods--tall and
  graceful1 yet robust and sinewy1      
inimitable in hang of foliage and       
throwing-out of limb2 as if the         
beauteous1 vital1 leafy creature could  
walk1 if it only would2 and mentions    
that in a dream-trance he actually  once
 saw his favorite trees step out and    
promenade up1 down and around  ,,very   
,,curiously4 7#a7 ,once the present     
writer seemed to have a partial  vision 
of a tree4 ,it was a beech1 standing    

somewhat isolated1 and  still leafless  
in quite early ,spring4 ,suddenly ,i was
 aware of its  skyward-reaching arms and
 up-turned finger-tips1 as if some vivid
 life  7or electricity7 was streaming   
through them far into the spaces of     
heaven1 and of its roots plunged in the 
earth and drawing the same  energies    
from below4 ,the day was quite still and
 there was no movement  in the branches1
 but in that moment the tree was no     
longer a separate or  separable         
organism1 but a vast being ramifying far
 into space1 sharing  and uniting the   
life of ,earth and ,sky1 and full of a  
most amazing  activity4     7#a7        
,specimen ,days1 #ahhb-c ,edition1 p4   
iii4      ,the reader of this will      
probably have had some similar          
experiences4  ,perhaps he will have seen
 a full-foliaged ,lombardy poplar       
swaying in  half a gale in ,june--the   
wind and the sun streaming over every   
little  twig and leaf1 the tree throwing
 out its branches in a kind of ecstasy  

and bathing them in the passionately    
boisterous caresses of its two          
visitants2 or he will have heard the    
deep glad murmur of some huge  sycamore 
with ripening seed clusters when after  
weeks of drought the  steady warm rain  
brings relief to its thirst2 and he will
 have known  that these creatures are   
but likenesses of himself1 intimately   
and  deeply-related to him in their love
 and hunger longing1 and1 like  himself 
too1 unfathomed and unfathomable4    ,it
 would be absurd to credit early man    
with conscious speculations  like these1
 belonging more properly to the         
twentieth century2 yet it is            
incontrovertible1 ,i think1 that in     
,,some ways the primitive peoples1 with 
their swift subconscious intuitions and 
their minds unclouded by mere  book     
knowledge1 perceived truths to which we 
moderns are blind4 ,like  the animals   
they arrived at their perceptions       
without 7individual7 brain  effort2 they
 knew things without thinking4 ,when    

they did ,,think of course  they went   
wrong4 ,their budding science easily    
went astray4 ,religion  with them had as
 yet taken no definite shape2 science   
was equally  protoplasmic2 and all they 
had was a queer jumble of the two in the
 form  of ,magic4 ,when at a later time 
,science gradually defined its outlook  
and  its observations1 and ,religion1   
from being a vague subconscious feeling1
  took clear shape in the form of gods  
and creeds1 then mankind gradually      
emerged into the stage of evolution ,,in
 ,,which ,,we ,,now ,,are4 ,,our        
scientific  laws and doctrines are of   
course only temporary formulae1 and so  
also  are the gods and the creeds of our
 own and other religions2 but these     
things1 with their set and angular      
outlines1 have served in the past  and  
will serve in the future as             
stepping-stones towards another kind of 
knowledge of which at present we only   
dream1 and will lead us on to  a renewed
 power of perception which again will   

not be the laborious  product of thought
 but a direct and instantaneous         
intuition like that of  the animals--and
 the angels4      ,to return to our     
,tree4 ,though primitive man did not    
speculate in modern  style on these     
things1 ,i yet have no reasonable doubt 
that he felt 7and  ,,feels1 in those    
cases where we can still trace the      
workings of his  mind7 his essential    
relationship to the creatures of the    
forest more  intimately1 if less        
analytically1 than we do to-day4 ,if the
 animals with  all their wonderful gifts
 are 7as we readily admit7 a veritable  
part  of ,nature--so that they live and 
move and have their being more or less  
submerged in the spirit of the great    
world around them--then ,man1 when  he  
first began to differentiate himself    
from them1 must for a long  time have   
remained in this ,s,u,bconscious unity1 
becoming only distinctly  ,,conscious of
 it when he was already beginning to    
lose it4 ,that early  dawn of distinct  

consciousness corresponded to the period
 of belief  in ,magic4 ,in that first   
mystic illumination almost every object 
was  invested with a halo of mystery or 
terror or adoration4 ,things were       
either tabu1 in which case they were    
dangerous1 and often not to be  touched 
or even looked upon--or they were       
overflowing with magic grace  and       
influence1 in which case they were holy1
 and any rite which released  their     
influence was also holy4 ,william       
,blake1 that modern prophetic  child1   
beheld a ,tree full of angels2 the      
,central ,australian native  believes   
bushes to be the abode of spirits which 
leap into the bodies of  passing women  
and are the cause of the conception of  
children2 ,moses  saw in the desert a   
bush 7perhaps the mimosa7 like a flame  
of fire1 with  ,jehovah dwelling in the 
midst of it1 and he put off his shoes   
for  he felt that the place was holy2   
,osiris was at times regarded as a      
,tree-spirit 7#a72 and in inscriptions  

is referred to as the solitary one  in  
the acacia--which reminds us curiously  
of the burning bush4 ,the  same is true 
of others of the gods2 in the old ,norse
 mythology ,ygdrasil  was the great     
branching ,world-,ash1 abode of the soul
 of the universe2  the ,peepul or       
,bo-tree in ,india is very sacred and   
must on no account be  cut down1 seeing 
that gods and spirits dwell among its   
branches4 ,it is  of the nature of an   
,aspen1 and of little or no practical   
use1 7#b7 but so  holy that the poorest 
peasant will not disturb it4 ,the       
,burmese believe  the things of nature1 
but especially the trees1 to be the     
abode of  spirits4 ,to the ,burman of   
to-day1 not less than to the ,greek of  
long  ago1 all nature is alive4 ,the    
forest and the river and the mountains  
are full of spirits1 whom the ,burmans  
call ,nats4 ,there are all kinds of     
,nats1 good and bad1 great and little1  
male and female1 now living round  about
 us4 ,some of them live in the trees1   

especially in the huge figtree  that    
shades half-an-acre without the village2
 or among the fern-like  fronds of the  
tamarind4 7#c7       7#a7 ,the ,golden  
,bough1 iv1 #cci4     7#b7 ,though the  
sap is said to contain caoutchouc4      
7#c7 ,the ,soul of a ,people1 by ,h4    
,fielding 7#aijb71 p4 #bej4      ,there 
are also in ,india and elsewhere popular
 rites of ,,marriage of women  7and men7
 to ,trees2 which suggest that trees    
were regarded as very  near akin to     
human beings6 ,the ,golden ,bough 7#a7  
mentions many of these1  including the  
idea that some trees are male and others
 female4 ,the  well-known ,assyrian     
emblem of a ,pine cone being presented  
by a priest to  a ,palm-tree is supposed
 by ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor to symbolize         
fertilization--the  ,pine cone being    
masculine and the ,palm feminine4 ,the  
ceremony of the god  ,krishna's marriage
 to a ,basil plant is still celebrated  
in ,india down  to the present day2 and 
certain trees are clasped and hugged by 

pregnant  women--the idea no doubt being
 that they bestow fertility on those    
who embrace them4 ,in other cases       
apparently it is the trees which are    
benefited1 since it is said that men    
sometimes go naked into the  ,clove     
plantations at night in order by a sort 
of sexual intercourse to  fertilize     
them4 7#b7     7#a7 ,vol4 i1 p4 #dj1    
,vol4 iii1 pp4 #bd sq4     7#b7 ,ibid41 
vol4 ii1 p4 #ih4      ,one might go on  
multiplying examples in this direction  
quite  indefinitely4 ,there is no end to
 them4 ,they all indicate--what was     
instinctively felt by early man1 and is 
perfectly obvious to all to-day  who are
 not blinded by civilization 7and       
,herbert ,spencer67 that the  world     
outside us is really most deeply akin to
 ourselves1 that it is  not dead and    
senseless but intensely alive and       
instinct with feeling and  intelligence 
resembling our own4 ,it is this         
perception1 this conviction  of our     
essential unity with the whole of       

creation1 which lay from the  first at  
the base of all ,religion2 yet at first1
 as ,i have said1 was  hardly a         
conscious perception4 ,only later1 when 
it gradually became more  conscious1 did
 it evolve itself into the definite     
forms of the gods and  the creeds--but  
of that process ,i will speak more in   
detail presently4    ,the ,tree         
therefore was a most intimate presence  
to the ,man4 ,it grew in  the very midst
 of his ,garden of ,eden4 ,it had a     
magical virtue1 which  his tentative    
science could only explain by chance    
analogies and  assimilations4           
,attractive and beloved and worshipped  
by reason of its  many gifts to         
mankind--its grateful shelter1 its      
abounding fruits1 its  timber1 and other
 invaluable products--why should it not 
become the  natural emblem of the       
female1 to whom through sex man's       
worship is ever  drawn8 ,if the ,snake  
has an unmistakable resemblance to the  
male organ in  its active state1 the    

foliage of the tree or bush is equally  
remindful  of the female4 ,what more    
clear than that the conjunction of ,tree
 and  ,serpent is the fulfilment in     
nature of that sex-mystery which is so  
potent in the life of man and the       
animals8 and that the magic ritual  most
 obviously fitted to induce fertility in
 the tribe or the herds  7or even the   
crops7 is to set up an image of the     
,tree and the ,serpent  combined1 and   
for all the tribe-folk in common to     
worship and pay it  reverence4 ,in the  
,bible with more or less veiled sexual  
significance  we have this combination  
in the ,eden-garden1 and again in the   
brazen  ,serpent and ,pole which ,moses 
set up in the wilderness 7as a cure for 
the  fiery serpents of lust72           
illustrations of the same are said to be
 found  in the temples of ,egypt and of 
,south ,india1 and even in the ancient  
temples of ,central ,america4 7#a7 ,in  
the myth of ,hercules the golden  apples
 of the ,hesperides garden are guarded  

by a dragon4 ,the ,etruscans1  the      
,persians and the ,babylonians had also 
legends of the ,fall of man  through a  
serpent tempting him to taste of the    
fruit of a holy ,tree4 ,and  ,de        
,gubernatis1 7#b7 pointing out the      
phallic meaning of these stories1  says 
the legends concerning the tree of      
golden apples or figs which  yields     
honey or ambrosia1 guarded by dragons1  
in which the life1 the  fortune1 the    
glory1 the strength and the riches of   
the hero have their  beginning1 are     
numerous among every people of ,aryan   
origin3 in ,india1  ,persia1 ,russia1   
,poland1 ,sweden1 ,germany1 ,greece and 
,italy4     7#a7 ,see ,ancient ,pagan   
and ,modern ,christian ,symbolism1 by   
,thomas  ,inman 7,trubner1 #ahgd71 p4   
#ee4     7#b7 ,zoological ,mythology1   
vol4 ii1 pp4 #daj sq4      ,thus we see 
the natural-magic tendency of the human 
mind asserting  itself4 ,to some of us  
indeed this tendency is even greater in 
the case  of the ,snake than in that of 

the ,tree4 ,w4 ,h4 ,hudson1 in ,far     
,away  and ,long ,ago1 speaks of that   
sense of something supernatural in  the 
serpent1 which appears to have been     
universal among peoples in a  primitive 
state of culture1 and still survives in 
some barbarous or  semi-barbarous       
countries4 ,the fascination of the      
,snake--the fascination  of its         
mysteriously gliding movement1 of its   
vivid energy1 its  glittering eye1 its  
intensity of life1 combined with its    
fatal dart of  ,death--is a thing felt  
even more by women than by men--and for 
a reason  7from what we have already    
said7 not far to seek4 ,it was the      
,woman who  in the story of the ,fall   
was the first to listen to its          
suggestions4  ,no wonder that1 as       
,professor ,murray says1 7#a7 the       
,greeks worshiped a  gigantic snake     
7,meilichios7 the lord of ,death and    
,life1 with ceremonies  of appeasement1 
and sacrifices1 long before they arrived
 at the worship  of ,zeus and the       

,olympian gods4     7#a7 ,four ,stages  
of ,greek ,religion1 p4 #bi4      ,or   
let us take the example of an ,ear of   
,corn4 ,some people  wonder--hearing    
nowadays that the folk of old used to   
worship a  ,corn-spirit or              
,corn-god--wonder that any human beings 
could have been so  foolish4 ,but       
probably the good people who wonder thus
 have never ,,really  ,,looked 7with    
their town-dazed eyes7 at a growing     
spike of wheat4 7#a7 ,of  all the       
wonderful things in ,nature ,i hardly   
know any that thrills one  more with a  
sense of wizardry than just this very   
thing--to observe1  each year1 this     
disclosure of the ,ear within the       
,blade--first a swelling  of the sheath1
 then a transparency and a whitey-green 
face within a  hooded shroud1 and then  
the perfect spike of grain disengaging  
itself  and spiring upward towards the  
sky--the resurrection of the wheat with 
pale visage appearing out of the ground4
     7#a7 ,even the thrice-learned ,dr4 

,famell quotes apparently with  approval
 the scornful words of ,hippolytus1 who 
7he says7 speaks of the  ,athenians     
imitating people at the ,eleusinian     
mysteries and showing to  the epoptae   
7initiates7 that great and marvelous    
mystery of perfect  revelation--in      
solemn silence--a ,,cut ,,cornstalk 7gr 
teqerismenon gr  stacon74--,cults of the
 ,greek ,states1 vol4 iii1 p4 #ahb4     
,if this spectacle amazes one to-day1   
what emotions must it not have  aroused 
in the breasts of the earlier folk1     
whose outlook on the world  was so much 
more direct than ours--more 'animistic' 
if you like6 ,what  wonderment1 what    
gratitude1 what deliverance from fear   
7of starvation71  what certainty that   
this being who had been ruthlessly cut  
down and  sacrificed last year for human
 food had indeed arisen again as a      
savior  of men1 what readiness to make  
some human sacrifice in return1 both as 
an acknowledgment of the debt1 and as a 
gift of something which would  no doubt 

be graciously accepted6--7for was it not
 well known that where  blood had been  
spilt on the ground the future crop was 
so much more  generous87--what readiness
 to adopt some magic ritual likely to   
propitiate the unseen power--even though
 the outline and form of the  latter    
were vague and uncertain in the extreme6
 ,dr4 ,frazer1 speaking of  the         
,egyptian ,osiris as one out of many    
corn-gods of the above character1  says 
7#a73 ,the primitive conception of him  
as the corn-god comes clearly  out in   
the festival of his death and           
resurrection1 which was celebrated  the 
month of ,athyr4 ,that festival appears 
to have been essentially a  festival of 
sowing1 which properly fell at the time 
when the husbandman  actually committed 
the seed to the earth4 ,on that occasion
 an effigy of  the corn-god1 moulded of 
earth and corn1 was buried with funeral 
rites  in the ground in order that1     
dying there1 he might come to life again
  with the new crops4 ,the ceremony was 

in fact a charm to ensure the  growth of
 the corn by sympathetic magic1 and we  
may conjecture that as  such it was     
practised in a simple form by every     
,egyptian farmer on his  fields long    
before it was adopted and transfigured  
by the priests in the  stately ritual of
 the temple4 7#b7     7#a7 ,the ,golden 
,bough1 iv1 p4 #ccj4     7#b7 ,see ch4  
xv4      ,the magic in this case was of 
a gentle description2 the clay image of 
,osiris sprouting all over with the     
young green blade was pathetically      
poetic2 but1 as has been suggested1     
bloodthirsty ceremonies were also       
common enough4 ,human sacrifices1 it is 
said1 had at one time been  offered at  
the grave of ,osiris4 ,we hear that the 
,indians in ,ecuador used  to sacrifice 
men's hearts and pour out human blood on
 their fields  when they sowed them2 the
 ,pawnee ,indians used a human victim   
the same1  allowing his blood to drop on
 the seed-corn4 ,it is said that in     
,mexico  girls were sacrificed1 and that

 the ,mexicans would sometimes ,,grind  
their  7male7 victim1 like corn1 between
 two stones4 7,i'll grind his bones to  
make me bread47 ,among the ,khonds of   
,east ,india--who were particularly     
given to this kind of ritual--the very  
,,tears of the sufferer were an         
incitement to more cruelties1 for tears 
of course were magic for ,rain4  7#a7   
7#a7 ,the ,golden ,bough1 vol4 vii1 ,the
 ,corn-,spirit1 pp4 #bcf sq4      ,and  
so on4 ,we have referred to the ,bull   
many times1 both in his  astronomical   
aspect as pioneer of the ,spring-,sun1  
and in his more direct  role as plougher
 of the fields1 and provider of food    
from his own body4  ,the tremendous mana
 of the wild bull1 says ,gilbert        
,murray1 occupies  almost half the stage
 of pre-,olympic ritual4 7#a7 ,even to  
us there is  something mesmeric and     
overwhelming in the sense of this       
animal's  glory of strength and fury and
 sexual power4 ,no wonder the primitives
  worshiped him1 or that they devised   

rituals which should convey his  power  
and vitality by mere contact1 or that in
 sacramental feasts  they ate his flesh 
and drank his blood as a magic symbol   
and means of  salvation4     7#a7 ,four 
,stages1 p4 #cd4          ,,vi4         
,,magicians1 ,,kings ,,and ,,gods    ,it
 is perhaps necessary1 at the           
commencement of this chapter1 to say a  
few more words about the nature and     
origin of the belief in ,magic4  ,magic 
represented on one side1 and clearly    
enough1 the beginnings of               
,religion--i4e4 the instinctive sense of
 ,man's inner continuity with the  world
 around him1 ,,taking ,,shape3 a        
fanciful shape it is true1 but with     
very real reaction on his practical life
 and feelings4 7#a7 ,on the other  side 
it represented the beginnings of        
,science4 ,it was his first attempt  not
 merely to ,,feel but to ,,understand   
the mystery of things4     7#a7 ,for an 
excellent account of the relation of    
,magic to ,religion  see ,w4            

,mc,dougall1 ,social ,psychology        
7#aijh71 pp4 #cag-cbj4      ,inevitably 
these first efforts to understand were  
very puerile1 very  superficial4 ,as ,e4
 ,b4 ,tylor says 7#a7 of primitive folk 
in general1 they  mistook an imaginary  
for a real connection4 ,and he instances
 the case  of the inhabitants of the    
,city of ,ephesus1 who laid down a rope1
 seven  furlongs in length1 from the    
,city to the temple of ,artemis1 in     
order to  place the former under the    
protection of the latter6 ,,we should   
lay down  a telephone wire1 and consider
 that we established a much more        
efficient  connection2 but in the       
beginning1 and quite naturally1 men1    
like  children1 rely on surface         
associations4 ,among the ,dyaks of      
,borneo 7#b7  when the men are away     
fighting1 the ,,women must use a sort of
 telepathic  magic in order to safeguard
 them--that is1 they must themselves    
rise  early and keep awake all day 7lest
 darkness and sleep should give         

advantage to the enemy72 they must not  
,,oil their hair 7lest their  husbands  
should make any ,,slips72 they must eat 
sparingly and put aside  rice at every  
meal 7so that the men may not want for  
food74 ,and so on4  ,similar            
superstitions are common4 ,but they     
gradually lead to a little  thought1 and
 then to a little more1 and so to the   
discovery of actual  and provable       
influences4 ,perhaps one day the cord   
connecting the temple  with ,ephesus was
 drawn ,,tight and it was found that    
messages could be1 by  tapping1         
transmitted along it4 ,that way lay the 
discovery of a fact4 ,in  an age which  
worshiped fertility1 whether in mankind 
or animals1 ,,twins  were ever counted  
especially blest1 and were credited with
 a magic  power4 7,the ,constellation of
 the ,twins was thought peculiarly      
lucky47  ,perhaps after a time it was   
discovered that twins sometimes run in  
families1 and in such cases really do   
bring fertility with them4 ,in  cattle  

it is known nowadays that there are more
 twins of the female sex  than of the   
male sex4 7#c7     7#a7 ,primitive      
,culture1 vol4 i1 p4 #ajf4     7#b7 ,see
 ,the ,golden ,bough1 i1 #abg4     7#c7 
,see ,evolution of ,sex1 by ,geddes and 
,thomson 7#aija71 p4 #da1  note4        
,observations of this kind were         
naturally made by the ablest members of 
the tribe--who were in all probability  
the medicine-men and wizards--and       
brought in consequence power into their 
hands4 ,the road to power in  fact--and 
especially was this the case in         
societies which had not  yet developed  
wealth and property--lay through ,magic4
 ,as far as magic  represented early    
superstition and religion it laid hold  
of the hearts  of men--their hopes and  
fears2 as far as it represented science 
and the  beginnings of actual knowledge1
 it inspired their minds with a sense of
  power1 and gave form to their lives   
and customs4 ,we have no reason to      
suppose that the early magicians and    

medicine-men were peculiarly wicked  or 
bent on mere self-aggrandizement--any   
more than we have to think the  same of 
the average country vicar or country    
doctor of to-day4 ,they  were merely men
 a trifle wiser or more instructed than 
their flocks4  ,but though probably in  
most cases their original intentions    
were decent  enough1 they were not proof
 against the temptations which the      
possession  of power always brings1 and 
as time went on they became liable to   
trade  more and more upon this power for
 their own advancement4 ,in the  matter 
of ,religion the history of the         
,christian priesthood through the       
centuries shows sufficiently to what    
misuse such power can be put2 and  in   
the matter of ,science it is a warning  
to us of the dangers attending  the     
formation of a scientific priesthood1   
such as we see growing up  around us    
to-day4 ,in both cases--whether ,science
 or ,religion--vanity1  personal        
ambition1 lust of domination and a      

hundred other vices1 unless  corrected  
by a real devotion to the public good1  
may easily bring as  many evils in their
 train as those they profess to cure4   
,the ,medicine-man1 or ,wizard1 or      
,magician1 or ,priest1 slowly but       
necessarily gathered power into his     
hands1 and there is much evidence to    
show that in the case of many tribes at 
any rate1 it was ,,he who became        
ultimate chief and leader and laid the  
foundations of ,kingship4 ,the          
,basileus was always a sacred           
personality1 and often united in himself
 as  head of the clan the offices of    
chief in warfare and leader in priestly 
rites--like ,agamemnon in ,homer1 or    
,saul or ,david in the ,bible4 ,as a    
magician he had influence over the      
fertility of the earth and1 like the    
blameless king in the ,odyssey1 under   
his sway                             the
 dark earth beareth in season           
,barley and wheat1 and the trees are    
laden with fruitage1 and       alway    

,yean unfailing the flocks1 and the sea 
gives fish in       abundance4 7#a7     
7#a7 ,odyssey xix1 #aji sq4 ,translation
 by ,h4 ,b4 ,cotterill4      ,as a      
magician too he was trusted for success 
in warfare2 and  ,schoolcraft1 in a     
passage quoted by ,andrew ,lang1 7#a7   
says of the ,dacotah  ,indians the      
war-chief who leads the party to war is 
always one of  these medicine-men4 ,this
 connection1 however1 by which the      
magician is  transformed into the king  
has been abundantly studied1 and need   
not be  further dwelt upon here4    ,and
 what of the transformation of the king 
into a god--or of the  ,magician or     
,priest directly into the same8 ,perhaps
 in order to  appreciate this1 one must 
make a further digression4    ,for the  
early peoples there were1 as it would   
appear1 two main objects  in life3 7#a7 
to promote fertility in cattle and      
crops1 for food2 and 7#b7  to placate or
 ward off ,death2 and it seemed very    
obvious--even before  any distinct      

figures of gods1 or any idea of prayer1 
had arisen--to  attain these objects by 
magic ritual4 ,the rites of ,baptism1 of
  ,initiation 7or ,confirmation7 and the
 many ceremonies of a ,second ,birth1   
which we associate with fully-formed    
religions1 did belong also to  the age  
of ,magic2 and they all implied a belief
 in some kind of  re-incarnation--in a  
life going forward continually and being
 renewed  in birth again and again4 ,it 
is curious that we find such a belief   
among  the lowest savages even to-day4  
,dr4 ,frazer1 speaking of the ,central  
,australian tribes1 says the belief is  
firmly rooted among them that the  human
 soul undergoes an endless series of    
re-incarnations--the living  men and    
women of one generation being nothing   
but the spirits of their  ancestors come
 to life again1 and destined themselves 
to be reborn  in the persons of their   
descendants4 ,during the interval       
between  two re-incarnations the souls  
live in their nanja spots1 or local     

totem-centres1 which are always natural 
objects such as trees or rocks4  ,each  
totem-clan has a number of such         
totem-centres scattered over the        
country4 ,there the souls of the dead   
men and women of the totem1 but no      
others1 congregate1 and are born again  
in human form when a favorable          
opportunity presents itself4 7#b7       
7#a7 ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion1 vol4 
i1 p4 #aac4     7#b7 ,the ,golden       
,bough1 vol4 i1 p4 #if4      ,and what  
the early people believed of the human  
spirit1 they believed of  the           
corn-spirits and the tree and vegetation
 spirits also4 ,at the great            
,spring-ritual among the primitive      
,greeks the tribe and the growing  earth
 were renovated together3 the earth     
arises afresh from her dead  seeds1 the 
tribe from its dead ancestors4 ,and the 
whole process  projects itself in the   
idea of a spirit of the year1 who in the
 first  stage is living1 then dies with 
each year1 and thirdly rises again from 

the dead1 raising the whole dead world  
with him4 ,the ,greeks called him  in   
this stage ',the ,third ,one' 7,tritos  
,soter7 or 'the ,saviour'2 and the      
renovation ceremonies were accompanied  
by a casting-off of the old year1  the  
old garments1 and everything that is    
polluted by the infection of  death4    
7#a7 ,thus the multiplication of the    
crops and the renovation of  the tribe1 
and at the same time the evasion and    
placation of death1 were  all assured by
 similar rites and befitting ceremonial 
magic4 7#b7     7#a7 ,gilbert ,murray1  
,four ,stages1 p4 #df4     7#b7 ,it is  
interesting to find1 with regard to the 
renovation of  the tribe1 that among the
 ,central ,australians the foreskins or 
male  members of those who died were    
deposited in the above-mentioned nanja  
spots--the idea evidently being that    
like the seeds of the corn the  seeds of
 the human crop must be carefully and   
ceremonially preserved for  their       
re-incarnation4      ,in all these      

cases1 and many others that ,i have not 
mentioned--of  the magical worship of   
,bulls and ,bears and ,rams and ,cats   
and ,emus and  ,kangaroos1 of ,trees and
 ,snakes1 of ,sun and ,moon and ,stars1 
and the  spirit of the ,corn in its     
yearly and miraculous resurrection out  
of the  ground--there is still the same 
idea or moving inspiration1 the sense   
mentioned in the foregoing chapter1 the 
feeling 7hardly yet conscious of  its   
own meaning7 of intimate relationship   
and unity with all this outer  world1   
the instinctive conviction that the     
world can be swayed by the  spirit of   
,man1 if the man can only find the right
 ritual1 the right  word1 the right     
spell1 wherewith to move it4 ,an aura of
 emotion  surrounded everything--of     
terror1 of tabu1 of fascination1 of     
desire4  ,the world1 to these people1   
was transparent with presences related  
to  themselves2 and though hunger and   
sex may have been the dominant and      
overwhelmingly practical needs of their 

life1 yet their outlook on the  world   
was essentially poetic and imaginative4 
,moreover it will be seen that in this  
age of magic and the belief in  spirits1
 though there was an intense sense of   
every thing being  alive1 the gods1 in  
the more modern sense of the world1     
hardly existed  7#a7--that is1 there was
 no very clear vision1 to these people1 
of  supra-mundane beings1 sitting apart 
and ordaining the affairs of  earth1 as 
it were from a distance4 ,doubtless this
 conception was slowly  evolving1 but it
 was only incipient4 ,for the time      
being--though there  might be orders and
 degrees of spirits 7and of gods7--every
 such being  was only conceived of1 and 
could only be conceived of1 as actually 
a  part of ,nature1 dwelling in and     
interlaced with some phenomenon of      
,earth  and ,sky1 and having no separate
 existence4     7#a7 ,for a discussion  
of the evolution of ,,religion out of   
,,magic1  see ,westermarck's ,origin of 
,moral ,ideas1 ch4 #dg4      ,how was it

 then1 it will be asked1 that the belief
 in separate and  separable gods and    
goddesses--each with his or her         
well-marked outline  and character and  
function1 like the divinities of        
,greece1 or of ,india1  or of the       
,egyptian or ,christian religions1      
ultimately arose8 ,to  this question    
,jane ,harrison 7in her ,themis and     
other books7 gives an  ingenious answer1
 which as it chimes in with my own      
speculations 7in the  ,art of ,creation 
and elsewhere7 ,i am inclined to adopt4 
,it is that the  figures of the         
supranatural gods arose from a process  
in the human mind  similar to that which
 the photographer adopts when by        
photographing a  number of faces on the 
same plate1 and so superposing their    
images on  one another1 he produces a   
so-called composite photograph or image4
  ,thus1 in the photographic sphere1 the
 portraits of a lot of members  of the  
same family superposed upon one another 
may produce a composite  image or ideal 

of that family type1 or the portraits of
 a number of  ,aztecs or of a number of 
,apache ,indians the ideals respectively
 of the  ,aztec or of the ,apache types4
 ,and so in the mental sphere of each   
member  of a tribe the many images of   
the well-known ,warriors or ,priests or 
wise and gracious ,women of that tribe  
did inevitably combine at last  to      
composite figures of gods and           
goddesses--on whom the enthusiasm  and  
adoration of the tribe was concentrated4
 7#a7 ,miss ,harrison has  ingeniously  
suggested how the leading figures in the
 magic rituals of  the past--being the  
figures on which all eyes would be      
concentrated2 and  whose importance     
would be imprinted on every mind--lent  
themselves to  this process4 ,the       
suffering ,victim1 bound and scourged   
and crucified1  recurring year after    
year as the centre-figure of a thousand 
ritual  processions1 would at last be   
dramatized and idealized in the great   
race-consciousness into the form of a   

,suffering ,god--a ,jesus ,christ or  a 
,dionysus or ,osiris--dismembered or    
crucified for the salvation of  mankind4
 ,the ,priest or ,medicine-,man--or     
rather the succession of ,priests  or   
,medicine-,men--whose figures would     
recur again and again as leaders  and   
ordainers of the ceremonies1 would be   
glorified at last into the              
composite-image of a ,god in whom were  
concentrated all magic powers4  ,recent 
researches1 says ,gilbert ,murray1 have 
shown us in abundance  the early ,greek 
medicine-chiefs making thunder and      
lightning and rain4  ,here is the germ  
of a ,zeus or a ,jupiter4 ,the          
particular medicine-man  may fail2 that 
does not so much matter2 he is only the 
individual  representative of the       
glorified and composite being who exists
 in the  mind of the tribe 7just as a   
present-day ,king may be unworthy1 but  
is  surrounded all the same by the      
agelong glamour of ,royalty74 ,the real 
gr qeos1 tremendous1 infallible1 is     

somewhere far away1 hidden in  clouds   
perhaps1 on the summit of some          
inaccessible mountain4 ,if the  mountain
 is once climbed the god will move to   
the upper sky4 ,the  medicine-chief     
meanwhile stays on earth1 still         
influential4 ,he has some  connection   
with the great god more intimate than   
that of other men444 he  knows the rules
 for approaching him and making prayers 
to him4 7#b7 ,thus  did the             
,medicine-man1 or ,priest1 or ,magician 
7for these are but three  names for one 
figure7 represent one step in the       
evolution of the god4     7#a7 ,see ,the
 ,art of ,creation1 ch4 viii1 ,the ,gods
 as ,apparitions  of the ,race-,life4   
7#b7 ,the ,four ,stages1 p4 #adj4       
,and farther back still in the          
evolutionary process we may trace 7as in
  chapter iv above7 the divinization or 
deification of four-footed animals  and 
birds and snakes and trees and the like1
 from the personification of  the       
collective emotion of the tribe towards 

these creatures4 ,for people  whose     
chief food was bear-meat1 for instance1 
whose totem was a bear1  and who        
believed themselves descended from an   
ursine ancestor1 there  would grow up in
 the tribal mind an image surrounded by 
a halo of  emotions--emotions of hungry 
desire1 of reverence1 fear1 gratitude   
and  so forth--an image of a divine     
,bear in whom they lived and moved and  
had  their being4 ,for another tribe or 
group in whose yearly ritual a ,bull or 
a ,lamb or a ,kangaroo played a leading 
part there would in the same  way spring
 up the image of a holy bull1 a divine  
lamb1 or a sacred  kangaroo4 ,another   
group again might come to worship a     
,serpent as its  presiding genius1 or a 
particular kind of ,tree1 simply because
 these  objects were and had been for   
centuries prominent factors in its      
yearly  and seasonal ,magic4 ,as        
,reinach and others suggest1 it was the 
,taboo  7bred by ,fear7 which by first  
forbidding contact with the totem-animal

  or priest or magician-chief gradually 
invested him with ,awe and  ,divinity4  
,according to this theory the god--the  
full-grown god in human shape1  dwelling
 apart and beyond the earth--did not    
come first1 but was a late  and more    
finished product of evolution4 ,he grew 
up by degrees and out of  the preceding 
animal-worships and totem-systems4 ,and 
this theory is much  supported and      
corroborated by the fact that in a vast 
number of early  cults the gods are     
represented by human figures with animal
 heads4 ,the  ,egyptian religion was    
full of such divinities--the            
jackal-headed  ,anubis1 the ram-headed  
,ammon1 the bull-fronted ,osiris1 or    
,muth1 queen of  darkness1 clad in a    
vulture's skin2 ,minos and the ,minotaur
 in ,crete2 in  ,greece1 ,athena with an
 owl's head1 or ,herakles masked in the 
hide  and jaws of a monstrous lion4     
,what could be more obvious than that1  
following on the tribal worship of any  
totem-animal1 the priest or             

medicine-man or actual king in leading  
the magic ritual should don the  skin   
and head of that animal1 and wear the   
same as a kind of mask--this  partly in 
order to appear to the people as the    
true representative of  the totem1 and  
partly also in order to obtain from the 
skin the magic  virtues and mana of the 
beast1 which he could then duly impart  
to the  crowd8 ,zeus1 it must be        
remembered1 wears the aegis1 or         
goat-skin--said  to be the hide of the  
goat ,amaltheia who suckled him in his  
infancy2  there are a number of legends 
which connected the ,arcadian ,artemis  
with  the worship of the bear1 ,apollo  
with the wolf1 and so forth4 ,and1 most 
curious as showing similarity of rites  
between the ,old and ,new ,worlds1      
there are found plenty of examples of   
the wearing of beast-masks in  religious
 processions among the native tribes of 
both ,north and ,south  ,america4 ,in   
the ,atlas of ,spix and ,martius 7who   
travelled together in  the ,amazonian   

forests about #ahbj7 there is an        
understanding and  characteristic       
picture of the men 7and some women7 of  
the tribe of the  ,tecunas moving in    
procession through the woods mostly     
naked1 except for  wearing animal heads 
and masks--the masks representing       
,cranes of various  kinds1 ,ducks1 the  
,opossum1 the ,jaguar1 the ,parrot1     
etc41 probably  symbolic of their       
respective clans4    ,by some such      
process as this1 it may fairly be       
supposed1 the forms of  the ,gods were  
slowly exhaled from the actual figures  
of men and women1  of youths and girls1 
who year after year took part in the    
ancient  rituals4 ,just as the ,queen of
 the ,may or ,father ,christmas with us 
are  idealized forms derived from the   
many happy maidens or white-bearded  old
 men who took leading parts in the ,may 
or ,december mummings and thus  gained  
their apotheosis in our literature and  
tradition--so doubtless  ,zeus with his 
thunderbolts and arrows of lightning is 

the idealization  into ,heaven of the   
,priestly rain-maker and                
storm-controller2 ,ares the  god of     
,war1 the similar idealization of the   
leading warrior in the  ritual war-dance
 preceding an attack on a neighboring   
tribe2 and ,mercury  of the foot-running
 ,messenger whose swiftness in those    
days 7devoid of  steam or electricity7  
was so precious a tribal possession4    
,and here it must be remembered that    
this explanation of the genesis of  the 
gods only applies to the ,,shapes and   
,,figures of the various deities4  ,it  
does not apply to the genesis of the    
widespread belief in spirits or  a      
,great ,spirit generally2 that1 as ,i   
think will become clear1 has  quite     
another source4 ,some people have jeered
 at the 'animistic' or                  
'anthropomorphic' tendency of primitive 
man in his contemplation of the  forces 
of ,nature or his imaginations of       
religion and the gods4 ,with a  kind of 
superior pity they speak of the poor    

,indian whose untutored  mind sees ,god 
in clouds and hears him in the wind4    
,but ,i must confess  that to me the    
poor ,indian seems on the whole to show 
more good sense  than his critics1 and  
to have aimed his rude arrows at the    
philosophic  mark more successfully than
 a vast number of his learned and       
scientific  successors4 ,a consideration
 of what we have said above would show  
that  early people felt their unity with
 ,nature so deeply and intimately       
that--like the animals themselves--they 
did not think consciously or  theorize  
about it4 ,it was just their life to    
be--like the beasts of the  field and   
the trees of the forest--a part of the  
whole flux of things1                   
non-differentiated so to speak4 ,what   
more natural or indeed more  logically  
correct than for them to assume 7when   
they first began to  think or           
differentiate themselves7 that these    
other creatures1 these  birds1 beasts   
and plants1 and even the sun and moon1  

were of the same  blood as themselves1  
their first cousins1 so to speak1 and   
having the  same interior nature8 ,what 
more reasonable 7if indeed they credited
  ,,themselves with having some kind of 
soul or spirit7 than to credit these    
other creatures with a similar soul or  
spirit8 ,im ,thurn1 speaking of the     
,guiana ,indians1 says that for them the
 whole world swarms with beings4        
,surely this could not be taken to      
indicate an untutored mind--unless      
indeed a mind untutored in the nonsense 
of the ,schools--but rather a  very     
directly perceptive mind4 ,and again    
what more reasonable 7seeing  that these
 people themselves were in the animal   
stage of evolution7 than  that they     
should pay great reverence to some ideal
 animal--first cousin  or ancestor--who 
played an important part in their tribal
 existence1 and  make of this animal a  
totem emblem and a symbol of their      
common life8    ,and1 further still1    
what more natural than that when the    

tribe passed  to some degree beyond the 
animal stage and began to realize a life
 more  intelligent and emotional--more  
specially human in fact--than that  of  
the beasts of the field1 that it should 
then in its rituals and  ceremonies     
throw off the beast-mask and pay        
reverence to the interior  and more     
human spirit4 ,rising to a more         
enlightened consciousness of its  own   
intimate quality1 and still deeply      
penetrated with the sense of its        
kinship to external nature1 it would    
inevitably and perfectly logically      
credit the latter with an inner life and
 intelligence1 more  distinctly human   
than before4 ,its religion in fact would
 become ,,more  'anthropomorphic'       
instead of less so2 and one sees that   
this is a  process that is inevitable2  
and inevitable notwithstanding a        
certain parenthesis in the process1 due 
to obvious elements in our              
',civilization' and to the temporary and
 fallacious domination of  a leaden-eyed

 so-called ',science4' ,according to    
this view the true  evolution of        
,religion and ,man's outlook on the     
world has proceeded not  by the denial  
by man of his unity with the world1 but 
by his seeing and  understanding that   
unity more deeply4 ,and the more deeply 
he understands  himself the more        
certainly he will recognize in the      
external world a  ,being or beings      
resembling himself4    ,w4 ,h4          
,hudson--whose mind is certainly not of 
a quality to be jeered  at--speaks of   
,animism as the projection of ourselves 
into nature3  the sense and apprehension
 of an intelligence like our own1 but   
more  powerful1 in all visible things2  
and continues1 old as ,i am this same   
primitive faculty which manifested      
itself in my early boyhood1 still       
persists1 and in those early years was  
so powerful that ,i am almost  afraid to
 say how deeply ,i was moved by it4 7#a7
 ,nor will it be quite  forgotten that  
,shelley once said3--         ,the      

moveless pillar of a mountain's weight  
,is active living spirit4 ,every grain  
,is sentient both in unity and part1    
,and the minutest atom comprehends      
,a world of loves and hatreds4     7#a7 
,far ,away and ,long ,ago1 ch4 xiii1 p4 
#bbe4      ,the tendency to animism and 
later to anthropomorphism is ,i say     
inevitable1 and perfectly logical4 ,but 
the great value of the work done  by    
some of those investigators whom ,i have
 quoted has been to show that  among    
quite primitive people 7whose interior  
life and 'soul-sense' was  only very    
feeble7 their projections of            
intelligence into ,nature were          
correspondingly feeble4 ,the reflections
 of themselves projected into  the world
 beyond could not reach the stature of  
eternal 'gods1' but  were rather of the 
quality of ephemeral phantoms and       
ghosts2 and the  ceremonials and creeds 
of that period are consequently more    
properly  described as ,magic than as   
,religion4 ,there have indeed been great

  controversies as to whether there has 
or has not been1 in the course  of      
religious evolution1 a pre-animistic    
stage4 ,probably of course human        
evolution in this matter must have been 
perfectly continuous from stages        
presenting the very feeblest or an      
absolutely deficient animistic sense  to
 the very highest manifestations of     
anthropomorphism2 but as there is  a    
good deal of evidence to show that      
animals 7notably dogs and horses7  see  
ghosts1 the inquiry ought certainly to  
be enlarged so far as to  include the   
pre-human species4 ,anyhow it must be   
remembered that the  question is one of 
consciousness--that is1 of how far and  
to what degree  consciousness of self   
has been developed in the animal or the 
primitive  man or the civilized man1 and
 therefore how far and to what degree   
the  animal or human creature has       
credited the outside world with a       
similar  consciousness4 ,it is not a    
question of whether there is an inner   

life  and sub-consciousness common to   
all these creatures of the earth and    
sky1 because that1 ,i take it1 is a fact
 beyond question2 they all emerge  or   
have emerged from the same matrix1 and  
are rooted in identity2 but  it is a    
question of how far they are aware of   
this1 and how far by  separation 7which 
is the genius of evolution7 each        
individual creature  has become         
conscious of the interior nature both of
 itself and of the  other creatures and 
of the great whole which includes them  
all4    ,finally1 and to avoid          
misunderstanding1 let me say that       
,anthropomorphism1 in man's conception  
of the gods1 is itself of course  only a
 stage and destined to pass away4 ,in so
 far1 that is1 as the  term indicates a 
belief in divine beings corresponding to
 our ,,present  conception of           
ourselves--that is as separate          
personalities having each  a separate   
and limited character and function1 and 
animated by  the separatist motives of  

ambition1 possession1 power1 vainglory1 
superiority1 patronage1 self-greed1     
self-satisfaction1 etc4--in so far  as  
anthropomorphism is the expression of   
that kind of belief it is of  course    
destined1 with the illusion from which  
it springs1 to pass away4  ,when man    
arrives at the final consciousness in   
which the idea of such a  self1 superior
 or inferior or in any way antagonistic 
to others1 ceases  to operate1 then he  
will return to his first and primal     
condition1 and  will cease to need ,,any
 special religion or gods1 knowing      
himself and all  his fellows to be      
divine and the origin and perfect       
fruition of all4          ,,vii4 ,,rites
 ,,of ,,expiation ,,and ,,redemption    
,there is a passage in ,richard         
,jefferies' imperishably beautiful book 
,the ,story of my ,heart--a passage well
 known to all lovers of that            
prose-poet--in which he figures himself 
standing in front of the ,royal         
,exchange where the wide pavement       

reaches out like a promontory1 and      
pondering on the vast crowd and the     
mystery of life4 ,is there any  theory1 
philosophy1 or creed1 he says1 is there 
any system of culture1  any formulated  
method1 able to meet and satisfy each   
separate item of  this agitated pool of 
human life8 ,by which they may be       
guided1 by which  they may hope1 by     
which look forward8 ,not a mere illusion
 of the craving  heart--something real1 
as real as the solid walls of fact      
against  which1 like seaweed1 they are  
dashed2 something to give each separate 
personality sunshine and a flower in its
 own existence now2 something  to shape 
this million-handed labor to an end and 
outcome that will leave  more sunshine  
and more flowers to those who must      
succeed8 ,something real  now1 and not  
in the spirit-land2 in this hour now1 as
 ,i stand and the  sun burns4444 ,full  
well aware that all has failed1 yet1    
side by side  with the sadness of that  
knowledge1 there lives on in me an      

unquenchable  belief1 thought burning   
like the sun1 that there is yet         
something to  be found4444 ,it must be  
dragged forth by the might of thought   
from the  immense forces of the         
universe4    ,in answer to this passage 
we may say ,no1--a thousand times ,no6  
there  is no theory1 philosophy1 creed1 
system or formulated method which  will 
meet or ever satisfy the demand of each 
separate item of the  human whirlpool4  
,and happy are we to know there is no   
such thing6 ,how  terrible if one of    
these bloodless 'systems' which strew   
the history  of religion and philosophy 
and the political and social paths of   
human endeavor ,,had been found         
absolutely correct and universally      
applicable--so that every human being   
would be compelled to pass  through its 
machine-like maw1 every personality to  
be crushed under  its ,juggernath       
wheels6 ,no1 thank ,heaven6 there is no 
theory or creed or  system2 and yet     
there is something--as ,jefferies       

prophetically felt and  with a great    
longing desired--that ,,can satisfy2 and
 that1 the root  of all religion1 has   
been hinted at in the last chapter4 ,it 
is the  ,,consciousness of the          
world-life burning1 blazing1 deep down  
within us3  it is the ,soul's intuition 
of its roots in ,omnipresence and       
,eternity4    ,the gods and the creeds  
of the past1 as shown in the last       
chapter--whatever they may have been1   
animistic or anthropomorphic  or        
transcendental1 whether grossly brutish 
or serenely ideal and  abstract--are    
essentially projections of the human    
mind2 and no doubt  those who are       
anxious to discredit the religious      
impulse generally will  catch at this1  
saying ,yes1 they are mere forms and    
phantoms of the  mind1 ephemeral dreams1
 projected on the background of ,nature1
 and  having no real substance or solid 
value4 ,the history of ,religion 7they  
will say7 is a history of delusion and  
illusion2 why waste time over  it8      

,these divine grizzly ,bears or         
,aesculapian ,snakes1 these cat-faced   
,pashts1 this ,isis1 queen of heaven1   
and ,astarte and ,baal and ,indra  and  
,agni and ,kali and ,demeter and the    
,virgin ,mary and ,apollo and ,jesus    
,christ and ,satan and the ,holy ,ghost1
 are only shadows cast outwards onto  a 
screen2 the constitution of the human   
mind makes them all tend to  be         
anthropomorphic2 but that is all2 they  
each and all inevitably pass  away4 ,why
 waste time over them8    ,and this is  
in a sense a perfectly fair way of      
looking at the matter4  ,these gods and 
creeds ,,are only projections of the    
human mind4 ,but all  the same it       
misses1 does this view1 the essential   
fact4 ,it misses the  fact that there is
 no shadow without a fire1 that the very
 existence of  a shadow argues a light  
somewhere 7though we may not directly   
see it7 as  well as the existence of a  
solid form which intercepts that light4 
,deep1 deep in the human mind there is  

that burning blazing light of  the      
world-consciousness--so deep indeed that
 the vast majority of  individuals are  
hardly aware of its existence4 ,their   
gaze turned  outwards is held and       
riveted by the gigantic figures and     
processions  passing across their sky2  
they are unaware that the latter are    
only  shadows--silhouettes of the forms 
inhabiting their own minds4 7#a7 ,the   
vast majority of people have never      
observed their own minds2 their own     
mental forms4 ,they have only observed  
the reflections cast by these4  ,thus it
 may be said1 in this matter1 that there
 are three degrees of  reality4 ,there  
are the mere shadows--the least real and
 most  evanescent2 there are the actual 
mental outlines of humanity 7and of  the
 individual71 much more real1 but       
themselves also of course slowly        
changing2 and most real of all1 and     
permanent1 there is the light which     
lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world--the glorious light  of the       

world-consciousness4 ,of this last it   
may be said that it never  changes4     
,every thing is known to it--even the   
very ,,impediments to its  shining4 ,but
 as it is from the impediments to the   
shining of a light  that shadows are    
cast1 so we now may understand that the 
things of this  world and of humanity1  
though real in their degree1 have       
chiefly a  kind of negative value2 they 
are opaquenesses1 clouds1 materialisms1 
ignorances1 and the inner light falling 
upon them gradually reveals  their      
negative character and gradually        
dissolves them away till they  are lost 
in the extreme and eternal ,splendor4 ,i
 think ,jefferies1 when  he asked that  
question with which ,i have begun this  
chapter1 was in some  sense             
subconsciously1 if not quite            
consciously1 aware of the answer4 ,his  
frequent references to the burning      
blazing sun throughout ,the ,story of   
the ,heart seem to be an indication of  
his real deep-down attitude of  mind4   

7#a7 ,see1 in the same connection1      
,plato's allegory of the ,cave1         
,republic1 ,book vii4      ,the         
shadow-figures of the creeds and        
theogonies pass away truly like         
ephemeral dreams2 but to say that time  
spent in their study is wasted1  is a   
mistake1 for they have value as being   
indications of things much  more real   
than themselves1 namely1 of the stages  
of evolution of the  human mind4 ,the   
fact that a certain god-figure1 however 
grotesque and  queer1 or a certain      
creed1 however childish1 cruel1 and     
illogical1 held  sway for a considerable
 time over the hearts of men in any     
corner or  continent of the world is    
good evidence that it represented a real
  formative urge at the time in the     
hearts of those good people1 and  a     
definite stage in their evolution and   
the evolution of humanity4  ,certainly  
it was destined to pass away1 but it was
 a step1 and a  necessary step in the   
great process2 and certainly it was     

opaque and  brutish1 but it is through  
the opaque things of the world1 and not 
through the transparent1 that we become 
aware of the light4    ,it may be worth 
while to give instances of how some     
early rituals and  creeds1 in themselves
 apparently barbarous or preposterous1  
were really  the indications of         
important moral and social conceptions  
evolving in  the heart of man4 ,let us  
take1 first1 the religious customs      
connected  with the ideas of ,sacrifice 
and of ,sin1 of which such innumerable  
examples are now to be found in the     
modern books on ,anthropology4 ,if we   
assume1 as ,i have done more than once1 
that the earliest state of ,man  was one
 in which he did not consciously        
separate himself from the world1        
animate and inanimate1 which surrounded 
him1 then 7as ,i have also said7  it was
 perfectly natural for him to take some 
animal which bulked large  on his       
horizon--some food-animal for           
instance--and to pay respect to it  as  

the benefactor of his tribe1 its        
far-back ancestor and totem-symbol2  or1
 seeing the boundless blessing of the   
cornfields1 to believe in  some kind of 
spirit of the corn 7not exactly a god   
but rather a magical  ghost7 which1     
reincarnated every year1 sprang up to   
save mankind  from famine4 ,but then no 
sooner had he done this than he was     
bound to  perceive that in cutting down 
the corn or in eating his totem-bear  or
 kangaroo he was slaying his own best   
self and benefactor4 ,in  that instant  
the consciousness of ,,disunity1 the    
sense of sin in some  undefined yet no  
less disturbing and alarming form would 
come in4 ,if1  before1 his ritual magic 
had been concentrated on the simple     
purpose of  multiplying the animal or1  
vegetable forms of his food1 now in     
addition  his magical endeavor would be 
turned to averting the just wrath of the
  spirits who animated these forms--just
 indeed1 for the rudest savage  would   
perceive the wrong done and the         

probability of its retribution4         
,clearly the wrong done could only be   
expiated by an equivalent sacrifice  of 
some kind on the part of the man1 or the
 tribe--that is by the  offering to the 
totem-animal or to the corn-spirit of   
some victim whom  these nature powers in
 their turn could feed upon and         
assimilate4 ,in  this way the           
nature-powers would be appeased1 the    
sense of unity would  be restored1 and  
the first ,at-one-ment effected4    ,it 
is hardly necessary to recite in any    
detail the cruel and hideous  sacrifices
 which have been perpetrated in this    
sense all over the world1  sometimes in 
appeasement of a wrong committed or     
supposed to have been  committed by the 
tribe or some member of it1 sometimes in
 placation or  for the averting of      
death1 or defeat1 or plague1 sometimes  
merely  in fulfilment of some           
long-standing custom of forgotten       
origin--the  flayings and floggings and 
burnings and crucifixions of victims    

without  end1 carried out in all        
deliberation and solemnity of           
established  ritual4 ,i have mentioned  
some cases connected with the sowing of 
the  corn4 ,the ,bible is full of such  
things1 from the intended sacrifice of  
,isaac by his father ,abraham1 to the   
actual crucifixion of ,jesus by  the    
,jews4 ,the first-born sons were claimed
 by a god who called himself  jealous   
and were only to be redeemed by a       
substitute4 7#a7 ,of the  ,canaanites it
 was said that even their daughters they
 have ,,burnt in the  fire to their     
gods2 7#b7 and of the ,king of ,moab1   
that when he saw  his army in danger of 
defeat1 he took his eldest son that     
should have  reigned in his stead and   
offered him for a burnt-offering on the 
wall6  7#c7 ,dr4 ,frazer 7#d7 mentions  
the similar case of the ,carthaginians  
7about ,b4,c4 #cjj7 sacrificing two     
hundred children of good family as a    
propitiation to ,baal and to save their 
beloved city from the assaults  of the  

,sicilian tyrant ,agathocles4 ,and even 
so we hear that on that  occasion three 
hundred more young folk ,,volunteered to
 die for the  fatherland4     7#a7      
,exodus xxxiv4 #bj4     7#b7 ,deut4 xii4
 #ca4     7#c7 #b ,kings iii4 #bg4      
7#d7 ,the ,golden ,bough1 vol4 ,the     
,dying ,god1 p4 #afg4      ,the awful   
sacrifices made by the ,aztecs in       
,mexico to their gods  ,huitzilopochtli1
 ,texcatlipoca1 and others are described
 in much detail  by ,sahagun1 the       
,spanish missionary of the sixteenth    
century4 ,the victims  were mostly      
prisoners of war or young children2 they
 were numbered by  thousands4 ,in one   
case ,sahagun describes the huge ,idol  
or figure of the  god as largely plated 
with gold and holding his hands palm    
upward and in  a downward sloping       
position over a cauldron or furnace     
placed below4 ,the  children1 who had   
previously been borne in triumphal state
 on litters  over the crowd and         
decorated with every ornamental device  

of feathers  and flowers and wings1 were
 placed one by one on the vast hands and
  ,,rolled ,,down into the flames--as if
 the god were himself offering them4    
7#a7 ,as the procession approached the  
temple1 the members of it wept and      
danced and sang1 and here again the     
abundance of tears was taken for a  good
 augury of rain4 7#b7     7#a7 ,it is   
curious to find that exactly the same   
story 7of the  sloping hands and the    
children rolled down into the flames7 is
 related  concerning the above-mentioned
 ,baal image at ,carthage 7see ,diodorus
  ,siculus1 xx4 #ad2 also ,baring       
,gould's ,religious ,belief1 vol4 i1 p4 
#cge74     7#b7 ,a los ninos que        
mataban1 componianlos en muchos atavios 
para  llevarlos al sacrificio1 y        
llevabos en unas literas sobre los      
hombros1  estas literas iban adornadas  
con plumages y con flores3 iban tanendo1
  cantando y bailando delante de        
ellos444 ,cuando ,ileviban los ninos a  
matar1 si llevaban y echaban muchos     

lagrimas1 alegrabansi los que los       
llevaban porque tomaban pronostico de   
que habian de tener muchas aguas  en    
aquel ano4 ,sahagun1 ,historia ,nueva   
,espana1 ,bk4 ,,ii1 ch4 i4      ,bernal 
,diaz describes how he saw one of these 
monstrous figures--that  of             
,huitzilopochtli1 the god of war1 all   
inlaid with gold and precious  stones2  
and beside it were braziers1 wherein    
burned the hearts of three  ,indians1   
torn from their bodies that very day1   
and the smoke of them and  the savor of 
incense were the sacrifice4    ,sahagun 
again 7in ,book ,,ii1 ch4 #e7 gives a   
long account of the sacrifice  of a     
perfect youth at ,easter-time--which    
date ,sahagun connects with the         
,christian festival of the              
,resurrection4 ,for a whole year the    
youth had  been held in honor and adored
 by the people as the very image of the 
god 7,tetzcatlipoca7 to whom he was to  
be sacrificed4 ,every luxury  and       
fulfilment of his last wish 7including  

such four courtesans as he  desired7 had
 been granted him4 ,at the last and on  
the fatal day1 leaving  his companions  
and his worshipers behind1 be slowly    
ascended the ,temple  staircase2        
stripping on each step the ornaments    
from his body2 and  breaking and casting
 away his flutes and other musical      
instruments2  till1 reaching the summit1
 he was stretched1 curved on his back1  
and  belly upwards1 over the altar      
stone1 while the priest with obsidian   
knife cut his breast open and1 snatching
 the heart out1 held it up1 yet         
beating1 as an offering to the ,sun4 ,in
 the meantime1 and while the heart      
still lived1 his successor for the next 
year was chosen4    ,in ,book ,,ii1 ch4 
#g of the same work ,sahagun describes  
the similar  offering of a woman to a   
goddess4 ,in both cases 7he explains7 of
 young  man or young woman1 the victims 
were richly adorned in the guise of the 
god or goddess to whom they were        
offered1 and at the same time great     

largesse of food was distributed to all 
who needed4 7,here we see the           
connection in the general mind between  
the gift of food 7by the gods7  and the 
sacrifice of precious blood 7by the     
people747 ,more than once  ,sahagun     
mentions that the victims in these      
,mexican ceremonials not  infrequently  
offered ,,themselves as a voluntary     
sacrifice2 and ,prescott  says 7#a7 that
 the offering of one's life to the gods 
was sometimes  voluntarily embraced1 as 
a most glorious death opening a sure    
passage  into ,paradise4     7#a7       
,conquest of ,mexico1 ,bk4 ,i1 ch4 #c4  
,dr4 ,frazer describes 7#a7 the far-back
 ,babylonian festival of the ,sacaea  in
 which a prisoner1 condemned to death1  
was dressed in the king's  robes1 seated
 on the king's throne1 allowed to issue 
whatever commands  he pleased1 to eat1  
drink and enjoy himself1 and even to lie
 with the  king's concubines4 ,but at   
the end of the five days he was stripped
  of his royal robes1 scourged1 and     

hanged or impaled4 ,it is certainly     
astonishing to find customs so similar  
prevailing among peoples so far  removed
 in space and time as the ,aztecs of the
 sixteenth century ,a4,d4  and the      
,babylonians perhaps of the sixteenth   
century ,b4,c4 ,but we know  that this  
subject of the yearly sacrifice of a    
victim attired as a  king or god is one 
that ,dr4 ,frazer has especially made   
his own1 and for  further information on
 it his classic work should be          
consulted4     7#a7 ,golden ,bough1 ,the
 ,dying ,god1 p4 #aad4 7,see also ,s4   
,reinach1  ,cults1 ,myths and ,religion1
 p4 #id7 on the martyrdom of ,st4       
,dasius4      ,andrew ,lang also1 with  
regard to the ,aztecs1 quotes largely   
from  ,sahagun1 and summarizes his      
conclusions in the following passage3   
,the general theory of worship was the  
adoration of a deity1 first by          
innumerable human sacrifices1 next by   
the special sacrifice of a ,,man for    
the male gods1 of a ,,woman for each    

goddess4 7#a7 ,the latter victims were  
regarded as the living images or        
incarnations of the divinities in1 each 
case2 for no system of worship carried  
farther the identification of the  god  
with the sacrifice 78 victim71 and of   
both with the officiating priest4  ,the 
connection was emphasized by the priests
 wearing the newly-flayed skins  of the 
victims--just as in ,greece1 ,egypt and 
,assyria1 the fawn-skin  or bull-hide or
 goat-skin or fish-skin of the victims  
is worn by the  celebrants4 ,finally1 an
 image of the god was made out of paste1
 and this  was divided into morsels and 
eaten in a hideous sacrament by those   
who  communicated4 7#b7     7#a7        
,compare the festival of ,thargelia at  
,athens1 originally  connected with the 
ripening of the crops4 ,a procession was
 formed and  the first fruits of the    
year offered to ,apollo1 ,artemis and   
the ,horae4  ,it was an expiatory feast1
 to purify the ,state from all guilt and
 avert  the wrath of the god 7the ,sun74

 ,a man and a woman1 as representing    
the male and female population1 were led
 about with a garland of figs           
7fertility7 round their necks1 to the   
sound of flutes and singing4 ,they  were
 then scourged1 sacrificed1 and their   
bodies burned by the seashore4          
7,nettleship and ,sandys47     7#b7 ,a  
,lang1 ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion1    
vol4 ii1 p4 #ig4      ,revolting as this
 whole picture is1 it represents as we  
know a mere  thumbnail sketch of the    
awful practices of human sacrifice all  
over the  world4 ,we hold up our hands  
in horror at the thought of             
,huitzilopochtli  dropping children from
 his fingers into the flames1 but we    
have to  remember that our own most     
,christian ,saint ,augustine was content
 to  describe unbaptized infants as     
crawling for ever about the floor of    
,hell6 ,what sort of god1 we may ask1   
did ,augustine worship8 ,the ,being who 
could condemn children to such a fate   
was certainly no better than the        

,mexican ,idol4    ,and yet ,augustine  
was a great and noble man1 with some by 
no means  unworthy conceptions of the   
greatness of his ,god4 ,in the same way 
the  ,aztecs were in many respects a    
refined and artistic people1 and their  
religion was not all superstition and   
bloodshed4 ,prescott says of them  7#a7 
that they believed in a supreme ,creator
 and ,lord omnipresent1  knowing all    
thoughts1 giving all gifts1 without whom
 ,man is as  nothing--invisible1        
incorporeal1 one ,god1 of perfect       
perfection and  purity1 under whose     
wings we find repose and a sure defence4
 ,how can  we reconcile ,st4 ,augustine 
with his own devilish creed1 or the     
religious  belief of the ,aztecs with   
their unspeakable cruelties8 ,perhaps we
 can  only reconcile them by remembering
 out of what deeps of barbarism and     
what nightmares of haunting ,fear1 man  
has slowly emerged--and is  even now    
only slowly emerging2 by remembering    
also that the ancient  ceremonies and   

rituals of ,magic and ,fear remained on 
and were cultivated  by the multitude in
 each nation long after the bolder and  
nobler spirits  had attained to breathe 
a purer air2 by remembering that even to
 the  present day in each individual the
 ,old and the ,new are for a long period
  thus intricately intertangled4 ,it is 
hard to believe that the practice  of   
human and animal sacrifice 7with        
whatever revolting details7 should  have
 been cultivated by nine-tenths of the  
human race over the globe  out of sheer 
perversity and without some reason which
 at any rate to  the perpetrators       
themselves appeared commanding and      
convincing4 ,to-day  7#aiah7 we are     
witnessing in the ,great ,european ,war 
a carnival of human  slaughter which in 
magnitude and barbarity eclipses in one 
stroke all  the accumulated ceremonial  
sacrifices of historical ages2 and when 
we ask the why and wherefore of this    
horrid spectacle we are told1           
apparently in all sincerity1 and by both

 the parties engaged1 of the  noble     
objects and commanding moralities which 
inspire and compel it4 ,we  can hardly1 
in this last case1 disbelieve altogether
 in the genuineness  of the plea1 so why
 should we do so in the former case8 ,in
 both cases we  perceive that underneath
 the surface pretexts and moralities    
,fear is and  was the great urging and  
commanding force4     7#a7 ,conquest of 
,mexico1 ,bk4 ,i1 ch4 #c4      ,the     
truth is that ,sin and ,sacrifice       
represent--if you once allow for the    
overwhelming sway of fear--perfectly    
reasonable views of human conduct1      
adopted instinctively by mankind since  
the earliest times4 ,if in a  moment of 
danger or an access of selfish greed you
 deserted your brother  tribesman or    
took a mean advantage of him1 you       
'sinned' against him2 and  naturally you
 expiated the sin by an equivalent      
sacrifice of some kind  made to the one 
you had wronged4 ,such an idea and such 
a practice were  the very foundation of 

social life and human morality1 and must
 have  sprung up as soon as ever1 in the
 course of evolution1 man became        
,,capable of differentiating himself    
from his fellows and regarding his  own 
conduct as that of a 'separate self4'   
,it was in the very conception  of a    
separate self that 'sin' and disunity   
first began2 and it was  by 'sacrifice' 
that unity and harmony were restored1   
appeasement and  atonement effected4    
,but in those earliest times1 as ,i have
 already indicated more than once1  man 
felt himself intimately related not only
 to his brother tribesman1  but to the  
animals and to general ,nature4 ,it was 
not so much that he  ,,thought thus as  
that he never thought ,,otherwise6 ,he  
,,felt subconsciously  that he was a    
part of all this outer world4 ,and so he
 adopted for his  totems or presiding   
spirits every possible animal1 as we    
have seen1  and all sorts of            
nature-phenomena1 such as rain and fire 
and water and  clouds1 and sun1 moon and

 stars--which ,,we consider quite       
senseless and  inanimate4 ,towards these
 apparently senseless things therefore  
he felt  the same compunction as ,i have
 described him feeling towards his      
brother  tribesmen4 ,he could sin       
against them too4 ,he could sin against 
his  totem-animal by eating it2 he could
 sin against his 'brother the ox' by    
consuming its strength in the labor of  
the plough2 he could sin against  the   
corn by cutting it down and grinding it 
into flour1 or against the  precious and
 beautiful pine-tree by laying his axe  
to its roots and  converting it into    
mere timber for his house4 ,further     
still1 no doubt he  could sin against   
elemental nature4 ,this might be more   
difficult to be  certain of1 but when   
the signs of elemental displeasure were 
not to be  mistaken--when the rain      
withheld itself for months1 or the      
storms and  lightning dealt death and   
destruction1 when the crops failed or   
evil  plagues afflicted mankind--then   

there could be little uncertainty that  
he had sinned2 and ,fear1 which had     
haunted him like a demon from the  first
 day when he became conscious of his    
separation from his fellows  and from   
,nature1 stood over him and urged to    
dreadful propitiations4    ,in all these
 cases some sacrifice in reparation was 
the obvious thing4  ,we have seen that  
to atone for the cutting-down of the    
corn a human  victim would often be     
slaughtered4 ,the corn-spirit clearly   
approved of  this1 for wherever the     
blood and remains of the victim were    
strewn the  corn always sprang up more  
plentifully4 ,the tribe or human group  
made  reparation thus to the corn2 the  
corn-spirit signified approval4 ,the    
'sin' was expiated and harmony restored4
 ,sometimes the sacrifice was           
voluntarily offered by a tribesman2     
sometimes it was enforced1 by lot  or   
otherwise2 sometimes the victim was a   
slave1 or a captive enemy2  sometimes   
even an animal4 ,all that did not so    

much matter4 ,the main  thing was that  
the formal expiation had been carried   
out1 and the wrath  of the spirits      
averted4    ,it is known that tribes    
whose chief food-animal was the bear    
felt it  necessary to kill and eat a    
bear occasionally2 but they could not do
  this without a sense of guilt1 and    
some fear of vengeance from the great   
,bear-spirit4 ,so they ate the slain    
bear at a communal feast in which  the  
tribesmen shared the guilt and          
celebrated their community with their   
totem and with each other4 ,and since   
they could not make any reparation      
directly to the slain animal itself     
,,after its death1 they made their      
reparation ,,before1 bringing all sorts 
of presents and food to it for a  long  
anterior period1 and paying every kind  
of worship and respect to  it4 ,the same
 with the bull and the ox4 ,at the      
festival of the ,bouphonia1  in some of 
the cities of ,greece as ,i have already
 mentioned1 the actual  bull sacrificed 

was the handsomest and most carefully   
nurtured that  could be obtained2 it was
 crowned with flowers and led in        
procession  with every mark of reverence
 and worship4 ,and when--as ,i have     
already  pointed out--at the great      
,spring festival1 instead of a bull or a
 goat  or a ram1 a ,,human victim was   
immolated1 it was a custom 7which can be
  traced very widely over the world7 to 
feed and indulge and honor the  victim  
to the last degree for a ,,whole ,,year 
before the final ceremony1  arraying him
 often as a king and placing a crown    
upon his head1 by way  of acknowledgment
 of the noble and necessary work he was 
doing for the  general good4    ,what a 
touching and beautiful ceremony was     
that--belonging especially  to the      
,north of ,syria1 and lands where the   
pine is so beneficent and  beloved a    
tree--the mourning ceremony of the death
 and burial of ,attis6  when a          
pine-tree1 felled by the axe1 was       
hollowed out1 and in the hollow  an     

image 7often itself carved out of       
pinewood7 of the young ,attis was       
placed4 ,could any symbolism express    
more tenderly the idea that the         
glorious youth--who represented ,spring1
 too soon slain by the rude tusk  of    
,winter--was himself the very human soul
 of the pine-tree8 7#a7 ,at some        
earlier period1 no doubt1 a real youth  
had been sacrificed and his body  bound 
within the pine2 but now it was deemed  
sufficient for the maidens  to sing     
their wild songs of lamentation2 and for
 the priests and male  enthusiasts to   
cut and gash themselves with knives1 or 
to sacrifice  7as they did7 to the      
,earth-mother the precious blood        
offering of their  virile               
organs--symbols of fertility in return  
for the promised and  expected renewal  
of ,nature and the crops in the coming  
,spring4 ,for  the ceremony1 as we have 
already seen1 did not end with death and
  lamentation1 but led on1 perfectly    
naturally1 after a day or two to a      

festival of resurrection1 when it was   
discovered--just as in the case of      
,osiris--that the pine-tree coffin was  
empty1 and the immortal life had  flown4
 ,how strange the similarity and        
parallelism of all these things to  the 
story of ,jesus in the ,gospels--the    
sacrifice of a life made in order  to   
bring salvation to men and expiation of 
sins1 the crowning of the  victim1 and  
arraying in royal attire1 the scourging 
and the mockery1 the  binding or nailing
 to a tree1 the tears of ,mary1 and the 
resurrection  and the empty coffin6--or 
how not at all strange when we consider 
in  what numerous forms and among how   
many peoples1 this same parable  and    
ritual had as a matter of fact been     
celebrated1 and how it had  ultimately  
come down to bring its message of       
redemption into a somewhat  obscure     
,syrian city1 in the special shape with 
which we are familiar4     7#a7 ,see    
,julius ,firmicus1 who says 7,de        
,errore1 c4 #bh73 in sacris  ,phrygiis1 

quae ,matris deum dicunt1 per annos     
singulos arbor pinea  caeditur1 et in   
media arbore simulacrum uvenis          
subligatur4 ,in ,isiacis  sacris de     
pinea arbore caeditur truncus2 hujus    
trunci media pars  subtiliter excavatur1
 illis de segminibus factum idolum      
,osiridis  sepelitur4 ,in ,prosperpinae 
sacris caesa arbor in effigiem virginis 
formaraque componitur1 et cum intra     
civitatem fuerit illata1 quadraginta    
noctibus piangitur1 quadragesima vero   
nocte comburitur4      ,though the      
parable or legend in its special        
,christian form bears with it  the      
consciousness of the presence of beings 
whom we may call gods1 it is  important 
to remember that in many or most of its 
earlier forms1 though  it dealt in      
'spirits'--the spirit of the corn1 or   
the spirit of the  ,spring1 or the      
spirits of the rain and the thunder1 or 
the spirits of  totem-animals--it had   
not yet quite risen to the idea of gods4
 ,it  had not risen to the conception of

 eternal deities sitting apart and      
governing the world in solemn           
conclave--as from the slopes of ,olympus
  or the recesses of the ,christian     
,heaven4 ,it belonged1 in fact1 in its  
inception1 to the age of ,magic4 ,the   
creed of ,sin and ,sacrifice1 or of     
,guilt and ,expiation--whatever we like 
to call it--was evolved perfectly       
naturally out of the human mind when    
brought face to face with ,life  and    
,nature7 at some early stage of its     
self-consciousness4 ,it was  essentially
 the result of man's deep1 original and 
instinctive sense of  solidarity with   
,nature1 now denied and belied and to   
some degree  broken up by the growth and
 conscious insistence of the            
self-regarding  impulses4 ,it was the   
consciousness of disharmony and         
disunity1  causing men to feel all the  
more poignantly the desire and the need 
of  reconciliation4 ,it was a           
realization of union made clear by its  
very  loss4 ,it assumed of course1 in a 

subconscious way as ,i have already     
indicated1 that the external world was  
the ,,habitat of a mind or minds        
similar to man's own2 but ,,that being  
granted1 it is evident that the         
particular theories current in this or  
that place about the nature of  the     
world--the theories1 as we should say1  
of science or theology--did  not alter  
the general outlines of the creed2 they 
only colored its  details and gave its  
ritual different dramatic settings4 ,the
 mental  attitudes1 for instance1 of    
,abraham sacrificing the ram1 or of the 
,siberian angakout slaughtering a       
totem-bear1 or of a modern and pious    
,christian contemplating the ,saviour on
 the ,cross are really almost  exactly  
the same4 ,i mention this because in    
tracing the origins or the  evolution of
 religions it is important to           
distinguish clearly what is  essential  
and universal from that which is merely 
local and temporary4  ,some people1 no  
doubt1 would be shocked at the          

comparisons just made2  but surely it is
 much more inspiriting and encouraging  
to think that  whatever progress ,,has  
been made in the religious outlook of   
the world  has come about through the   
gradual mental growth and consent of the
  peoples1 rather than through some     
unique and miraculous event of a  rather
 arbitrary and unexplained              
character--which indeed might never be  
repeated1 and concerning which it would 
perhaps be impious to suggest  that it  
,,should be repeated4    ,the           
consciousness then of ,sin 7or of       
alienation from the life of the  whole71
 and of restoration or redemption       
through ,sacrifice1 seems to  have      
disclosed itself in the human race in   
very far-back times1 and  to have       
symbolized itself in some most ancient  
rituals2 and if we are  shocked         
sometimes at the barbarities which      
accompanied those rituals1  yet we must 
allow that these barbarities show how   
intensely the early  people felt the    

solemnity and importance of the whole   
matter2 and we  must allow too that the 
barbarities did sear and burn themselves
 into  rude and ignorant minds with the 
sense of the ,,need of ,sacrifice1 and  
with a result perhaps which could not   
have been compassed in any other  way4  
,for after all we see now that sacrifice
 is of the very essence of social  life4
 ,it is expedient that ,,one man should 
die for the people2 and not  only that  
one man should actually die1 but 7what  
is far more important7  that each man   
should be ready and ,,willing to die in 
that cause1 when  the occasion and the  
need arises4 ,taken in its larger       
meanings and  implications ,sacrifice1  
as conceived in the ancient world1 was a
  perfectly reasonable thing4 ,it       
,,should pervade modern life more than  
it  does4 ,all we have or enjoy flows   
from1 or is implicated with1 pain  and  
suffering in others1 and--if there is   
any justice in ,nature or  ,humanity--it
 demands an equivalent readiness to     

suffer on our part4 ,if  ,christianity  
has any real essence1 that essence is   
perhaps expressed  in some such ritual  
or practice of ,sacrifice1 and we see   
that the dim  beginnings of this idea   
date from the far-back customs of       
savages coming  down from a time        
anterior to all recorded history4       
,,viii4 ,,pagan ,,initiations ,,and     
,,the ,,second ,,birth    ,we have      
suggested in the last chapter how the   
conceptions of ,sin and  ,sacrifice     
coming down to us from an extremely     
remote past1 and  embodied among the    
various peoples of the world sometimes  
in crude and  bloodthirsty rites1       
sometimes in symbols and rituals of a   
gentler and  more gracious character1   
descended at last into ,christianity and
 became  a part of its creed and of the 
creed of the modern world4 ,on the whole
  perhaps we may trace a slow           
amelioration in this process and may    
flatter  ourselves that the ,christian  
centuries exhibit a more philosophical  

understanding of what ,sin is1 and a    
more humane conception of what          
,sacrifice ,,should be1 than the        
centuries preceding4 ,but ,i fear that  
any  very decided statement or sweeping 
generalization to that effect would     
be--to say the least--rash4 ,perhaps    
there ,,is a very slow amelioration2    
but the briefest glance at the history  
of the ,christian churches--the         
horrible rancours and revenges of the   
clergy and the sects against  each other
 in the fourth and fifth centuries      
,a4,d41 the heresy-hunting  crusades at 
,beziers and other places and the       
massacres of the ,albigenses  in the    
twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 the   
witch-findings and  burnings of the     
sixteenth and seventeenth1 the hideous  
science-urged and  bishop-blessed       
warfare of the twentieth--horrors fully 
as great as any  we can charge to the   
account of the ,aztecs or the           
,babylonians--must give  us pause4 ,nor 
must we forget that if there is by      

chance a substantial  amelioration in   
our modern outlook with regard to these 
matters the same  had begun already     
before the advent of ,christianity and  
can by no means  be ascribed to any     
miraculous influence of that religion4  
,abraham was  prompted to slay a ram as 
a substitute for his son1 long before   
the  ,christians were thought of2 the   
rather savage ,artemis of the old ,greek
  rites was 7according to ,pausanias7   
7#a7 honored by the yearly sacrifice  of
 a perfect boy and girl1 but later it   
was deemed sufficient to draw a  knife  
across their throats as a symbol1 with  
the result of spilling only  a few drops
 of their blood1 or to flog the boys    
7with the same result7  upon her altar4 
,among the ,khonds in old days many     
victims 7meriahs7 were  sacrificed to   
the gods1 but in time the man was       
replaced by a horse1  the horse by a    
bull1 the bull by a ram1 the ram by a   
kid1 the kid by  fowls1 and the fowls by
 many flowers4 7#b7 ,at one time1       

according to the  ,yajur-,veda1 there   
was a festival at which one hundred and 
twenty-five  victims1 men and women1    
boys and girls1 were sacrificed2 but    
reform  supervened1 and now the victims 
were bound as before to the stake1  but 
afterwards amid litanies to the         
immolated 7god7 ,narayana1 the          
sacrificing priest brandished a knife   
and--severed the bonds of the  captives4
 7#c7 ,at the ,athenian festival of the 
,thargelia1 to which ,i  referred in the
 last chapter1 it appears that the      
victims1 in later  times1 instead of    
being slain1 were tossed from a height  
into the sea1  and after being rescued  
were then simply banished2 while at     
,leucatas a  similar festival the fall  
of the victim was graciously broken by  
tying  feathers and even living birds to
 his body4 7#d7     7#a7 vii4 #ai1 and  
iii4 #h1 #af4     7#b7 ,primitive ,folk1
 by ,elie ,reclus 7,contemp4 ,science   
,series71 p4  #ccj4     7#c7 ,ibid4     
7#d7 ,muller's ,dorians ,book ,,ii1 ch4 

ii1 par4 #aj4      ,with the lapse of   
time and the general progress of        
mankind1 we may1  ,i think1 perceive    
some such slow ameliorations in the     
matter of the  brutality and            
superstition of the old religions4 ,how 
far any later  ameliorations were due to
 the direct influence of ,christianity  
might  be a difficult question2 but what
 ,i think we can clearly see--and what  
especially interests us here--is that in
 respect to its main religious  ideas1  
and the matter underlying them          
7exclusive of the ,,manner of  their    
treatment1 which necessarily has varied 
among different peoples7  ,christianity 
is of one piece with the earlier pagan  
creeds and is  for the most part a      
re-statement and renewed expression of  
world-wide  doctrines whose first       
genesis is lost in the haze of the past1
 beyond  all recorded history4    ,i    
have illustrated this view with regard  
to the doctrine of ,sin and  ,sacrifice4
 ,let us take two or three other        

illustrations4 ,let us take the         
doctrine of ,re-birth or ,regeneration4 
,the first few verses of ,st4 ,john's   
,gospel are occupied with the subject of
 salvation through rebirth or           
regeneration4 ,except a man be born     
again1 he cannot see the kingdom of     
,god4444 ,except a man be born of water 
and the ,spirit1 he cannot enter  into  
the kingdom of ,god4 ,our ,baptismal    
,service begins by saying that          
forasmuch as all men are conceived and  
born in sin2 and that our  ,saviour     
,christ saith1 ,none can enter into the 
kingdom of ,god except he  be regenerate
 and born anew of water and the ,holy   
,ghost2 therefore it  is desirable that 
this child should be baptized1 received 
into ,christ's  ,holy ,church1 and be   
made a lively member of the same4 ,that1
 is to say1  there is one birth1 after  
the flesh1 but a second birth is        
necessary1 a  birth after the ,spirit   
and into the ,church of ,christ4 ,our   
,confirmation  ,service is simply a     

service repeating and confirming these  
views1 at  an age 7fourteen to sixteen  
or so7 when the boy or girl is capable  
of  understanding what is being done4   
,but our ,baptismal and ,confirmation   
ceremonies combined are clearly  the    
exact correspondence and parallel of the
 old pagan ceremonies of  ,initiation1  
which are or have been observed in      
almost every primitive  tribe over the  
world4 ,the rite of the second birth1   
says ,jane  ,harrison1 7#a7 is          
widespread1 universal1 over half the    
savage world4  ,with the savage to be   
twice-born is the rule4 ,by his first   
birth he  comes into the world2 by his  
second he is born into his tribe4 ,at   
his  first birth he belongs to his      
mother and the women-folk2 at his second
  he becomes a full-fledged man and     
passes into the society of the  warriors
 of his tribe4444 ,these rites are very 
various1 but they all  point to one     
moral1 that the former things are passed
 away and that  the new-born man has    

entered upon a new life4 ,simplest of   
all1 and most  instructive1 is the rite 
practised by the ,kikuyu tribe of       
,british ,east  ,africa1 who require    
that every boy1 just before             
circumcision1 must be  born again4 ,the 
mother stands up with the boy crouching 
at her feet2 she  pretends to go through
 all the labour pains1 and the boy on   
being reborn  cries like a babe and is  
washed4 7#b7     7#a7 ,ancient ,art and 
,ritual1 p4 #ajd4     7#b7 ,see also    
,themis1 p4 #ba4      ,let us pause for 
a moment4 ,an ,initiate is of course one
 who enters  in4 ,he enters into the    
,tribe2 he enters into the revelation of
 certain  ,mysteries2 he becomes an     
associate of a certain ,totem1 a certain
 ,god2 a  member of a new ,society1 or  
,church--a church of ,mithra1 or        
,dionysus or  ,christ4 ,to do any of    
these things he must be born again2 he  
must die  to the old life2 he must pass 
through ceremonials which symbolize the 
change4 ,one of these ceremonials is    

washing4 ,as the new-born babe is       
washed1 so must the new-born initiate be
 washed2 and as by primitive  man 7and  
not without reason7 ,,blood was         
considered the most vital and           
regenerative of fluids1 the very elixir 
of life1 so in earliest times  it was   
common to wash the initiate with blood4 
,if the initiate had to be  born anew1  
it would seem reasonable to suppose that
 he must first die4  ,so1 not           
unfrequently1 he was wounded1 or        
scourged1 and baptized with his  own    
blood1 or1 in cases1 one of the         
candidates was really killed and his    
blood used as a substitute for the blood
 of the others4 ,no doubt ,,human       
sacrifice attended the earliest         
initiations4 ,but later it was          
sufficient  to be half-drowned in the   
blood of a ,bull as in the ,mithra cult1
 7#a7  or 'washed in the blood of the   
,lamb' as in the ,christian phraseology4
  ,finally1 with a growing sense of     
decency and aesthetic perception  among 

the various peoples1 washing with pure  
water came in the  initiation-ceremonies
 to take the place of blood2 and our    
baptismal  service has reduced the      
ceremony to a mere sprinkling with      
water4 7#b7     7#a7 ,see ch4 iii4      
7#b7 ,for the virtue supposed to reside 
in blood see ,westermarck's  ,moral     
,ideas1 ,ch4 #df4      ,to continue the 
quotation from ,miss ,harrison3 ,more   
often the new birth  is stimulated1 or  
imagined1 as a death and a resurrection1
 either of  the boys themselves or of   
some one else in their presence4 ,thus  
at  initiation among some tribes of     
,south-east ,australia1 when the boys   
are  assembled an old man dressed in    
stringy bark-fibre lies down in a       
grave4 ,he is covered up lightly with   
sticks and earth1 and the grave is      
smoothed over4 ,the buried man holds in 
his hand a small bush which seems  to be
 growing from the ground1 and other     
bushes are stuck in the ground  round   
about4 ,the novices are then brought to 

the edge of the grave and  a song is    
sung4 ,gradually1 as the song goes on1  
the bush held by the  buried man begins 
to quiver4 ,it moves more and more1 and 
bit by bit the  man himself starts up   
from the grave4    ,strange in our own  
,baptismal ,service and just before the 
actual  christening we read these words1
 ,then shall the ,priest say3 ,o        
merciful  ,god1 grant that old ,adam in 
this child may be so ,,buried that the  
new  man may be raised up in him3 grant 
that all carnal affections may die  in  
him1 and that all things belonging to   
the ,spirit may live and grow  in him6  
,can we doubt that the ,australian      
medicine-man1 standing at the  graveside
 of the re-arisen old black-fellow1     
pointed the same moral to  the young    
initiates as the priest does to-day to  
those assembled before  him in          
church--for indeed we know that among   
savage tribes initiations  have always  
been before all things the occasions of 
moral and social  teaching8 ,can we     

doubt that he said1 in substance if not 
in actual  words3 ,as this man has      
arisen from the grave1 so you must also 
arise  from your old childish life of   
amusement and self-gratification and1   
,,enter ,,into the life of the tribe1   
the life of the ,spirit of the tribe4   
,in totemistic societies1 to quote ,miss
 ,harrison again1 and in the  animal    
secret societies that seem to grow out  
of them1 the novice is  born again as   
,,the ,,sacred ,,animal4 ,thus among the
 ,carrier ,indians 7#a7  when a man     
wants to become a ,lulem or ',bear1'    
however cold the season  he tears off   
his clothes1 puts on a bear-skin and    
dashes into the  woods1 where he will   
stay for three or four days4 ,every     
night his  fellow-villagers will go out 
in search parties to find him4 ,they cry
 out  ,yi6 ,kelulem 7come on1 ,bear71   
and he answers with angry growls4       
,usually  they fail to find him1 but he 
comes back at last himself4 ,he is met1 
and  conducted to the ceremonial lodge1 

and there in company with the rest  of  
the ,bears dances solemnly his first    
appearance4 ,disappearance and          
reappearance is as common a rite in     
initiation as stimulated killing and    
resurrection1 and has the same object4  
,both are rites of transition1  of      
passing from one to another4 ,in the    
,christian ceremonies the boy or  girl  
puts away childish things and puts on   
the new man1 but instead  of putting on 
a bear-skin he puts on ,christ4 ,there  
is not so much  difference as may appear
 on the surface4 ,to be identified with 
your  ,totem is to be identified with   
the sacred being who watches over your  
tribe1 who has given his life for your  
tribe2 it is to be born again1  to be   
washed not only with water but with the 
,holy ,spirit of all your  fellows4 ,to 
be baptized into ,christ ought to mean  
to be regenerated  in the ,holy ,spirit 
of all humanity2 and no doubt in cases  
it does mean  this1 but too often       
unfortunately it has only amounted to a 

pretence of  religious sanction given to
 the meanest and bitterest quarrels of  
the  ,churches and the ,states4     7#a7
 ,golden ,bough1 ,section #b1 ,,iii1 p4 
#dch4      ,this idea of a ,new ,birth  
at initiation explains the prevalent    
pagan  custom of subjecting the         
initiates to serious ordeals1 often     
painful and  even dangerous4 ,if one is 
to be born again1 obviously one must be 
ready  to face death2 the one thing     
cannot be without the other4 ,one must  
be  able to endure pain1 like the ,red  
,indian braves2 to go long periods      
fasting and without food or drink1 like 
the choupan among the ,western          
,inoits--who1 wanders for whole nights  
over the ice-fields under the  moon1    
scantily clothed and braving the intense
 cold2 to overcome the  very fear of    
death and danger1 like the ,australian  
novices who1 at first  terrified by the 
sound of the bull-roarer and threats of 
fire and the  knife1 learn finally to   
cast their fears away4 7#a7 ,by so doing

 one  puts off the old childish things1 
and qualifies oneself by firmness  and  
courage to become a worthy member of the
 society into which one  is called4 7#b7
 ,the rules of social life are          
taught--the duty to one's  tribe1 and to
 oneself1 truth-speaking1 defence of    
women and children1  the care of cattle1
 the meaning of sex and marriage1 and   
even the  mysteries of such religious   
ideas and rudimentary science as the    
tribe  possesses4 ,and by so doing one  
really enters into a new life4 ,things  
of  the spiritual world begin to dawn4  
,julius ,firmicus1 in describing  the   
mysteries of the resurrection of        
,osiris1 7#c7 says that when the        
worshipers had satiated themselves with 
lamentations over the death  of the god 
then the priest would go round anointing
 them with oil and  whispering1 ,be of  
good cheer1 ,o ,neophytes of the        
new-arisen ,god1 for to  us too from our
 pains shall come salvation4 7#d7       
7#a7 ,according to accounts of the      

,wiradthuri tribe of ,western           
,australia1 in their initiations1 the   
lads were frightened by a large  fire   
being lighted near them1 and hearing the
 awful sound of the  bull-roarers1 while
 they were told that ,dhuramoolan was   
about to burn  them2 the legend being   
that ,dhuramoolan1 a powerful being1    
whose voice  sounded like thunder1 would
 take the boys into the bush and        
instruct  them in all the laws1         
traditions and customs of the community4
 ,so he  pretended that he always killed
 the boys1 cut them up1 and burnt them  
to  ashes1 after which he moulded the   
ashes into human shape1 and restored    
them to life as new beings4 7,see ,r4   
,h4 ,matthews1 ,the ,wiradthuri  tribes1
 ,journal ,anthrop4 ,inst41 vol4 xxv1   
#ahif1 pp4 #big sq47     7#b7 ,see      
,catlin's ,north-,american ,indians1    
vol4 i1 for initiations  and ordeals    
among the ,mandans4     7#c7 ,de        
,errore1 c4 #bb4     7#d7 gr ,qarreite1 
mustai ton qeou seswsmenou1  gr ,estai  

gar hmin ek ponwn swthria4      ,it     
would seem that at some very early time 
in the history of tribal and  priestly  
initiations an attempt was made to      
impress upon the neophytes  the         
existence and over-shadowing presence of
 spiritual and ghostly  beings4 ,perhaps
 the pains endured in the various       
ordeals1 the long  fastings1 the        
silences in the depth of the forests or 
on the mountains  or among the          
ice-floes1 helped to rouse the visionary
 faculty4  ,the developments of this    
faculty among the black and colored     
peoples--,east-,indian1 ,burmese1       
,african1 ,american-,indian1 etc4--are  
well  known4 ,miss ,alice ,fletcher1 who
 lived among the ,omaha ,indians for    
thirty  years1 gives a most interesting 
account 7#a7 of the general philosophy  
of that people and their rites of       
initiation4 ,the ,omahas regard all     
animate and inanimate forms1 all        
phenomena1 as pervaded by a common      
life1 which was continuous with and     

similar to the will-power they were     
conscious of in themselves4 ,this       
mysterious power in all things they     
called ,wakonda1 and through it all     
things were related to man and  to each 
other4 ,in the idea of the continuity of
 life a relation was  maintained between
 the seen and the unseen1 the dead and  
the living1  and also between the       
fragment of anything and its entirety4  
7#b7 ,thus an  ,omaha novice might at   
any time seek to obtain ,wakonda by what
 was called  ,,the ,,rite ,,of ,,the    
,,vision4 ,he would go out alone1 fast1 
chant incantations1  and finally fall   
into a trance 7much resembling what in  
modern times has  been called ,,cosmic  
,,consciousness7 in which he would      
perceive the inner  relations of all    
things and the solidarity of the least  
object with the  rest of the universe4  
7#a7 ,summarized in ,themis1 pp4 #fh-ga4
     7#b7 ,a4 ,c4 ,fletcher1 ,the       
,significance of the ,scalp-lock1       
,journal  of ,anthropological ,studies1 

xxvii 7#ahig-h71 p4 #dcf4      ,another 
rite in connection with initiation1 and 
common all over  the pagan world--in    
,greece1 ,america1 ,africa1 ,australia1 
,new ,mexico1  etc4--was the daubing of 
the novice all over with clay or chalk  
or even  dung1 and then after a while   
removing the same4 7#a7 ,the novice must
 have  looked a sufficiently ugly and   
uncomfortable object in this state2 but 
later1 when he was thoroughly ,,washed1 
the ceremony must have afforded a       
thrilling illustration of the idea of a 
new birth1 and one which would  dwell in
 the minds of the spectators4 ,when the 
daubing was done as not  infrequently   
happened with white clay or gypsum1 and 
the ritual took  place at night1 it can 
easily be imagined that the figures of  
young men  and boys moving about in the 
darkness would lend support to the idea 
that they were spirits belonging to some
 intermediate world--who had  already   
passed through death and were now       
waiting for their second birth  on earth

 7or into the tribe7 which would be     
signalized by their thorough  and       
ceremonial washing4 ,it will be         
remembered that ,herodotus 7viii7  gives
 a circumstantial account of how the    
,phocians in a battle with the          
,thessalians smeared six hundred of     
their bravest warriors with white  clay 
so that1 looking like supernatural      
beings1 and falling upon the            
,thessalians by night1 they terrified   
the latter and put them to instant      
flight4     7#a7 ,see ,a4 ,lang's ,myth1
 ,ritual and ,religion1 i1 #bgd sq4     
,such then--though only very scantily   
described--were some of the rites  of   
,initiation and ,second ,birth          
celebrated in the old ,pagan world4 ,the
  subject is far too large for adequate 
treatment within the present  limits2   
but even so we cannot but be struck by  
the appropriateness in  many cases of   
the teaching thus given to the young1   
the concreteness of  the illustrations1 
the effectiveness of the symbols used1  

the dramatic  character of the rites1   
the strong enforcement of lessons on the
 nature  and duties of the life into    
which the candidates were about to      
enter4  ,christianity followed on1 and  
inherited these traditions1 but one     
feels  that in its ceremonies of        
,baptism and ,confirmation1 which of    
course  correspond to the ,pagan        
,initiations1 it falls short of the     
latter4 ,its  ceremonies 7certainly as  
we have them to-day in ,protestant      
countries7  are of a very               
milk-and-watery character2 all allusion 
to and teaching on  the immensely       
important subject of ,sex is omitted1   
the details of social  and industrial   
morality are passed by1 and instruction 
is limited to a  few rather commonplace 
lessons in general morality and         
religion4      ,it may be appropriate   
here1 before leaving the subject of the 
,second  ,birth1 to inquire how it has  
come about that this doctrine--so remote
  and metaphysical as it might          

appear--has been taken up and embodied  
in  their creeds and rituals by quite   
,,primitive people all over the world1  
to such a degree indeed that it has     
ultimately been adopted and built  into 
the foundations of the latter and more  
intellectual religions1 like  ,hinduism1
 ,mithraism1 and the ,egyptian and      
,christian cults4 ,i think the  answer  
to this question must be found in the   
now-familiar fact that the  earliest    
peoples felt themselves so much a part  
of ,nature and the animal  and vegetable
 world around them that 7whenever they  
thought about these  matters at all7    
they never for a moment doubted that the
 things which  were happening all round 
them in the external world were also    
happening  within themselves4 ,they saw 
the ,sun1 overclouded and nigh to death 
in  winter1 come to its birth again each
 year2 they saw the ,vegetation  shoot  
forth anew in spring--the revival of the
 spirit of the ,earth2 the  endless     
breeding of the ,animals1 the strange   

transformations of ,worms  and ,insects2
 the obviously new life taken on by boys
 and girls at  puberty2 the same at a   
later age when the novice was           
transformed into  the medicine-man--the 
choupan into the angakok among the      
,esquimaux1 the  ,dacotah youth into the
 wakan among the ,red ,indians2 and they
 felt in  their sub-conscious way the   
same everlasting forces of rebirth and  
transformation working within           
themselves4 ,in some of the ,greek      
,mysteries  the newly admitted          
,initiates were fed for some time after 
on milk only  as though we were being   
born again4 7,see ,sallustius1 quoted by
 ,gilbert  ,murray47 ,when sub-conscious
 knowledge began to glimmer into direct 
consciousness one of the first aspects  
7and no doubt one of the truest7  under 
which people saw life was just thus3 as 
a series of rebirths and                
transformations4 7#a7 ,the most modern  
science1 ,i need hardly say1 in  biology
 as well as in chemistry and the field  

of inorganic ,nature1  supports that    
view4 ,the savage in earliest times     
,,felt the truth of some  things which  
we to-day are only beginning            
intellectually to perceive and  analyze4
     7#a7 ,the fervent and widespread   
belief in animal metamorphoses  among   
early peoples is well known4            
,christianity adopted and absorbed--as  
it was bound to do--this  world-wide    
doctrine of the second birth4 ,passing  
over its physiological  and biological  
applications1 it gave to it a fine      
spiritual  significance--or rather it   
insisted especially on its spiritual    
significance1 which 7as we have seen7   
had been widely recognized before4      
,only--as ,i suppose must happen with   
all local religions--it narrowed the    
application and outlook of the doctrine 
down to a special case--,as  in ,adam   
all die1 so in ,,christ shall all be    
made alive4 ,the ,universal  ,spirit    
which can give rebirth and salvation to 
,,every child of man to  whom it comes1 

was offered only under a very special   
form--that of ,jesus  ,christ4 7#a7 ,in 
this respect it was no better than the  
religions  which preceded it4 ,in some  
respects--that is1 where it was         
especially  fanatical1 blinkered1 and   
hostile to other sects--it was ,,worse4 
,but  to those who perceive that the    
,great ,spirit may bring new birth and  
salvation to some under the form of     
,osiris1 equally well as to others      
under the form of ,jesus1 or again to   
some under the form of a ,siberian      
totem-,bear equally as to others under  
the form of ,osiris1 these  questionings
 and narrowings fall away as of no      
importance4 ,we in this  latter day can 
see the main thing1 namely that         
,christianity was and is  just one phase
 of a world-old religion1 slowly perhaps
 expanding its  scope1 but whose chief  
attitudes and orientations have been the
 same  through the centuries4     7#a7  
,the same happened with regard to       
another great ,pagan doctrine  7to which

 ,i have just alluded71 the doctrine of 
transformations and  metamorphoses2 and 
whereas the pagans believed in these    
things1 as the  common and possible     
heritage of ,,every man1 the ,christians
 only allowed  themselves to entertain  
the idea in the special and unique      
instance of  the ,transfiguration of    
,christ4      ,many other illustrations 
might be taken of the truth of this     
view1 but  ,i will confine myself to two
 or three more4 ,there is the instance  
of the  ,eucharist and its exceedingly  
widespread celebration 7under very      
various  forms7 among the pagans all    
over the world--as well as among        
,christians4  ,i have already said      
enough on this subject1 and need not    
delay over it4  ,by partaking of the    
sacramental meal1 even in its wildest   
and crudest  shapes1 as in the mysteries
 of ,dionysus1 one was identified with  
and  united to the god2 in its milder   
and more spiritual aspects as in the    
,mithraic1 ,egyptian1 ,hindu and        

,christian cults1 one passed behind the 
veil of maya and this ever-changing     
world1 and entered into the region  of  
divine peace and power4 7#a7       7#a7 
,baring ,gould in his ,orig4 ,relig4    
,belief1 ,i4 #dja1  says3--,among the   
ancient ,hindus ,soma was a chief deity2
 he is called  the ,giver of ,life and  
,health4444 ,he became incarnate among  
men1 was  taken by them and slain1 and  
brayed in a mortar 7a god of corn and   
wine  apparently74 ,but he rose in flame
 to heaven to be 'the ,benefactor of the
  ,world' and the ',mediator between    
,god and ,man6' ,through communion with 
him in his sacrifice1 man 7who partook  
of this god7 has an assurance of        
immortality1 for by that sacrament he   
obtains union with his divinity4        
,or again the doctrine of the ,saviour4 
,that also is one on which ,i need  not 
add much to what has been said already4 
,the number of pagan deities  7mostly   
virgin-born and done to death in some   
way or other in their  efforts to save  

mankind7 is so great 7#a7 as to be      
difficult to keep  account of4 ,the god 
,krishna in ,india1 the god ,indra in   
,nepaul and  ,thibet1 spilt their blood 
for the salvation of men2 ,buddha said1 
according to ,max ,muller1 7#b7 ,let all
 the sins that were in the world  fall  
on me1 that the world may be delivered2 
the ,chinese ,tien1 the ,holy  ,one--one
 with ,god and existing with him from   
all eternity--died to  save the world2  
the ,egyptian ,osiris was called        
,saviour1 so was ,horus2  so was the    
,persian ,mithras2 so was the ,greek    
,hercules who overcame ,death  though   
his body was consumed in the burning    
garment of mortality1 out  of which he  
rose into heaven4 ,so also was the      
,phrygian ,attis called  ,saviour1 and  
the ,syrian ,tammuz or ,adonis          
likewise--both of whom1 as we  have     
seen1 were nailed or tied to a tree1 and
 afterwards rose again  from their      
biers1 or coffins4 ,prometheus1 the     
greatest and earliest  benefactor of the

 human race1 was ,,nailed ,,by ,,the    
,,hands and feet1 and with  arms        
extended1 to the rocks of ,mount        
,caucasus4 ,bacchus or ,dionysus1  born 
of the virgin ,semele to be the         
,liberator of mankind 7,dionysus        
,eleutherios as he was called71 was torn
 to pieces1 not unlike ,osiris4  ,even  
in far ,mexico ,quetzalcoatl1 the       
,saviour1 was born of a virgin1 was     
tempted1 and fasted forty days1 was done
 to death1 and his second coming  looked
 for so eagerly that 7as is well known7 
when ,cortes appeared1 the  ,mexicans1  
poor things1 greeted ,,him as the       
returning god6 7#c7 ,in ,peru  and among
 the ,american ,indians1 ,north and     
,south of the ,equator1 similar  legends
 are1 or were1 to be found4     7#a7    
,see for a considerable list ,doane's   
,bible ,myths1 ch4 xx4     7#b7 ,hist4  
,sanskrit ,literature1 p4 #hj4     7#c7 
,see ,kingsborough1 ,mexican            
,antiquities1 vol4 vi4      ,briefly    
sketched as all this is1 it is enough to

 prove quite abundantly  that the       
doctrine of the ,saviour is world-wide  
and world-old1 and that  ,christianity  
merely appropriated the same and 7as the
 other cults did7  gave it a special    
color4 ,probably the wide range of this 
doctrine would  have been far better and
 more generally known1 had not the      
,christian  ,church1 all through1 made  
the greatest of efforts and taken the   
greatest  precautions to extinguish and 
snuff out all evidence of pagan claims  
on  the subject4 ,there is much to show 
that the early ,church took this line   
with regard to pre-,christian saviours2 
7#a7 and in later times the same  policy
 is remarkably illustrated by the       
treatment in the sixteenth  century of  
the writings of ,sahagun the ,spanish   
missionary--to whose work  ,i have      
already referred4 ,sahagun was a        
wonderfully broad-minded and fine  man  
who1 while he did not conceal the       
barbarities of the ,aztec religion1  was
 truthful enough to point out redeeming 

traits in the manners and  customs of   
the people and some resemblances to     
,christian doctrine and  practice4 ,this
 infuriated the bigoted ,catholics of   
the newly formed  ,mexican ,church4     
,they purloined the manuscripts of      
,sahagun's ,historia and  scattered and 
hid them about the country1 and it was  
only after infinite  labor and an appeal
 to the ,spanish ,court that he got them
 together  again4 ,finally1 at the age  
of eighty1 having translated them into  
,spanish 7from the original ,mexican7 he
 sent them in two big volumes home  to  
,spain for safety2 but there almost     
immediately ,,they ,,disappeared1 and   
could not be found6 ,it was only after  
,,two ,,centuries that they ultimately  
turned up 7#agij7 in a ,convent at      
,tolosa in ,navarre4 ,lord ,kingsborough
  published them in ,england in #ahcj4  
7#a7 ,see ,tertullian's ,apologia1 c4   
#af2 ,ad ,nationes1 c4 xii4      ,i have
 thus dwelt upon several of the main    
doctrines of  ,christianity--namely1    

those of ,sin and ,sacrifice1 the       
,eucharist1 the  ,saviour1 the ,second  
,birth1 and ,transfiguration--as showing
 that they are  by no means unique in   
our religion1 but were common to nearly 
all the  religions of the ancient world4
 ,the list might be much further        
extended1  but there is no need to delay
 over a subject which is now very       
generally  understood4 ,i will1 however1
 devote a page or two to one instance1  
which  ,i think is very remarkable1 and 
full of deep suggestion4    ,there is no
 doctrine in ,christianity which is more
 reverenced by the  adherents of that   
religion1 or held in higher estimation1 
than that ,god  sacrificed his only ,son
 for the salvation of the world2 also   
that since  the ,son was not only of    
like nature but of the ,,same nature    
with the  ,father1 and equal to him as  
being the second ,person of the ,divine 
,trinity1 the sacrifice amounted to an  
immolation of ,himself for the good  of 
mankind4 ,the doctrine is so mystical1  

so remote1 and in a sense so  absurd and
 impossible1 that it has been a favorite
 mark through the  centuries for the    
ridicule of the scoffers and enemies of 
the ,church2  and here1 it might easily 
be thought1 is a belief which--whether  
it be  considered glorious or whether   
contemptible--is at any rate unique1 and
  peculiar to that ,church4    ,and yet 
the extraordinary fact is that a similar
 belief ranges all  through the ancient 
religions1 and can be traced back to the
 earliest  times4 ,the word host which  
is used in the ,catholic ,mass for the  
bread  and wine on the ,altar1 supposed 
to be the transubstantiated body  and   
blood of ,christ1 is from the ,latin    
,hostia which the dictionary  interprets
 as an animal slain in sacrifice1 a     
sin-offering4 ,it takes  us far far back
 to the ,totem stage of folk-life1 when 
the tribe1 as ,i  have already          
explained1 crowned a victim-bull or bear
 or other animal  with flowers1 and     
honoring it with every offering of food 

and worship1  sacrificed the victim to  
the ,totem spirit of the tribe1 and     
consumed it  in an ,eucharistic         
feast--the medicine-man or priest who   
conducted the  ritual wearing a skin of 
the same beast as a sign that he        
represented  the ,totem-divinity1 taking
 part in the sacrifice of 'himself to   
himself4' ,it reminds us of the ,khonds 
of ,bengal sacrificing their  meriahs   
crowned and decorated as gods and       
goddesses2 of the ,aztecs doing  the    
same2 of ,quetzalcoatl pricking his     
elbows and fingers so as to draw  blood1
 which he offered on his own altar2 or  
of ,odin hanging by his own  desire upon
 a tree4 ,i know ,i was hanged upon a   
tree shaken by the winds  for nine long 
nights4 ,i was transfixed by a spear2 ,i
 was moved to ,odin1  myself to myself4 
,and so on4 ,the instances are endless4 
,i am the  oblation1 says the ,lord     
,krishna in the ,bhagavad ,gita1 7#a7 ,i
 am the  sacrifice1 ,i the ancestral    
offering4 ,in the truly orthodox        

conception  of sacrifice1 says ,elie    
,reclus1 7#b7 the consecrated offering1 
be it  man1 woman or virgin1 lamb or    
heifer1 cock or dove1 represents ,,the  
,,deity  ,,himself4444 ,brahma is the   
'imperishable sacrifice'2 ,indra1 ,soma1
 ,hari  and the other gods1 became      
incarnate in animals to the sole end    
that  they might be immolated4 ,perusha1
 the ,universal ,being1 caused himself  
to  be slain by the ,immortals1 and from
 his substance were born the birds of   
the air1 wild and domestic animals1 the 
offerings of butter and curds4  ,the    
world1 declared the ,rishis1 is a series
 of sacrifices disclosing  other        
sacrifices4 ,to stop them would be to   
suspend the life of ,nature4  ,the god  
,siva1 to whom the ,tipperahs of ,bengal
 are supposed to have  sacrificed as    
many as a thousand human victims a year1
 said to the  ,brahamins3 ',it is ,i    
that am the actual offering2 it is ,i   
that you  butcher upon my altars4'      
7#a7 ,ch4 ix1 v4 #af4     7#b7          

,primitive ,folk1 ch4 vi4      ,it was  
in allusion to this doctrine that ,r4   
,w4 ,emerson1 paraphrasing the          
,katha-,upanishad1 wrote that immortal  
verse of his3--         ,if the red     
slayer thinks he slays1            ,or  
the slain thinks he is slain1           
,they know not well the subtle ways     
,i take1 and pass1 and turn again4      
,i say it is an astonishing thing to    
think and realize that this profound    
and mystic doctrine of the eternal      
sacrifice of ,himself1 ordained by  the 
,great ,spirit for the creation and     
salvation of the world--a doctrine      
which has attracted and fascinated many 
of the great thinkers and nobler  minds 
of ,europe1 which has also inspired the 
religious teachings of  the ,indian     
sages and to a less philosophical degree
 the writings of the  ,christian        
,saints--should have been seized in its 
general outline and  essence by rude and
 primitive people before the dawn of    
history1 and  embodied in their rites   

and ceremonials4 ,what is the           
explanation of this  fact8    ,it is    
very puzzling4 ,the whole subject is    
puzzling4 ,the world-wide  adoption of  
similar creeds and rituals 7and1 we may 
add1 legends and  fairy tales7 among    
early peoples1 and in far-sundered      
places and times  is so remarkable that 
it has given the students of these      
subjects  'furiously to think' 7#a7--yet
 for the most part without great success
 in  the way of finding a solution4 ,the
 supposition that 7#a7 the creed1 rite  
or legend in question has sprung up1 so 
to speak1 accidentally1 in one  place1  
and then has travelled 7owing to some   
inherent plausibility7 over  the rest of
 the world1 is of course one that       
commends itself readily at  first2 but  
on closer examination the practical     
difficulties it presents  are certainly 
very great4 ,these include the          
migrations of customs and  myths in     
quite early ages of the earth across    
trackless oceans and  continents1 and   

between races and peoples absolutely    
incapable of  understanding each other4 
,and if to avoid these difficulties it  
is  assumed that the present human race 
all proceeds from one original  stock   
which radiating from one centre--say in 
,south-,eastern ,asia  7#b7--overspread 
the world1 carrying its rites and       
customs with it1 why1  then we are      
compelled to face the difficulty of     
supposing this radiation  to have taken 
place at an enormous time ago 7the      
continents being then  all more or less 
conjoined7 and at a period when it is   
doubtful if any  religious rites and    
customs at all existed2 not to mention  
the further  difficulty of supposing all
 the four or five hundred languages now 
existing to be descended from one common
 source4 ,the far tradition of  the     
,island of ,atlantis seems to afford a  
possible explanation of the  community  
of rites and customs between the ,old   
and ,new ,world1 and  this without      
assuming in any way that ,atlantis 7if  

it existed7 was the  original and ,,sole
 cradle of the human race4 7#c7 ,anyhow 
it is clear that  these origins of human
 culture must be of extreme antiquity1  
and that  it would not be wise to be put
 off the track of the investigation of a
  possible common source merely by that 
fact of antiquity4     7#a7 ,see ,a4    
,lang's ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion1   
vol4 ii4     7#b7 ,see ,hastings1       
,encycl4 ,religion and ,ethics1 art4    
,ethnology4     7#c7 ,e4 ,j4 ,payne1    
,history of the ,new ,world called      
,america 7vol4 i1  p4 #ic7 says3 ,it is 
certain that ,europe and ,america once  
formed a single  continent1 but inroads 
of the sea left a vast island or        
peninsula  stretching from ,iceland to  
the ,azores--which gradually            
disappeared4  ,also he speaks 7i4 #ic7  
of the ,miocene ,bridge between ,siberia
 and the  ,new ,world4      ,a second   
supposition1 however1 is 7#b7 that the  
natural psychological  evolution of the 
human mind has in the various times and 

climes led folk  of the most diverse    
surroundings and heredity--and perhaps  
even sprung  from separate anthropoid   
stocks--to develop their social and     
religious  ideas along the same general 
lines--and that even to the extent of   
exhibiting at times a remarkable        
similarity in minute details4 ,this is a
  theory which commends itself greatly  
to a deeper and more philosophical      
consideration2 but it brings us up      
point-blank against another most        
difficult question 7which we have       
already raised71 namely1 how to  account
 for extremely rude and primitive       
peoples in the far past1 and on  the    
very borderland of the animal life1     
having been ,,susceptible to the  germs 
of great religious ideas 7such as we    
have mentioned7 and having  been        
instinctively--though not of course by  
any process of conscious                
reasoning--moved to express them in     
symbols and rites and ceremonials1  and 
7later no doubt7 in myths and legends1  

which satisfied their  ,,feelings and   
sense of fitness--though they may not   
have known ,,why--and  afterwards were  
capable of being taken up and embodied  
in the great  philosophical religions4  
,this difficulty almost compels us to a 
view of human knowledge which has  found
 supporters among some able             
thinkers--the view1 namely1 that a vast 
store of knowledge is already contained 
in the subconscious mind of man  7and   
the animals7 and only needs the         
provocation of outer experience  to     
bring it to the surface2 and that in the
 second stage of human  psychology this 
process of crude and piecemeal          
externalization is  taking place1 in    
preparation for the final or third stage
 in which the  knowledge will be        
re-absorbed and become direct and       
intuitional on a  high and harmonious   
plane--something like the present       
intuition of the  animals as we perceive
 it on the animal plane4 ,however this  
general  subject is one on which ,i     

shall touch again1 and ,i do not propose
 to  dwell on it at any length now4     
,there is a third alternative theory    
7#c7--;a combination of 7#a7 and        
7#b7--namely1 that if one accepts 7#b7  
and the idea that at any given  stage of
 human development there is a           
,,predisposition to certain symbols  and
 rites belonging to that stage1 then it 
is much more easy to accept  theory 7#a7
 as an important factor in the spread of
 such symbols and  rites2 for clearly1  
then1 the smallest germ of a custom or  
practice1  transported from one country 
or people to another at the right time1 
would be sufficient to wake the         
development or growth in question  and  
stimulate it into activity4 ,it will be 
seen1 therefore1 that the  important    
point towards the solution of this whole
 puzzling question is  the discussion1  
of theory 7#b7--;and to this theory1 as 
illustrated by the  world-wide myth of  
the ,golden ,age1 ,i will now turn4     
,,ix4 ,,myth ,,of ,,the ,,golden ,,age  

,the tradition of a ,golden ,age is     
widespread over the world1 and it is    
not necessary to go at any length into  
the story of the ,garden of ,eden  and  
the other legends which in almost every 
country illustrate this  tradition4     
,without indulging in sentiment on the  
subject we may hold it  not unlikely    
that the tradition is justified by the  
remembrance1 among  the people of every 
race1 of a pre-civilization period of   
comparative  harmony and happiness when 
two things1 which to-day we perceive to 
be  the prolific causes of discord and  
misery1 were absent or only weakly      
developed--namely1 ,,property and       
,,self-,,consciousness4 7#a7     7#a7   
,for a fuller working out of this1 see  
,civilisation3 its ,cause  and ,cure1 by
 ,e4 ,carpenter1 ch4 i4      ,during the
 first century ,b4,c4 there was a great 
spread of ,messianic  ,ideas over the   
,roman world1 and ,virgil's #dth        
,eclogue1 commonly called  the          
,messianic ,eclogue1 reflects very      

clearly this state of the public  mind4 
,the expected babe in the poem was to be
 the son of ,octavian  7,augustus7 the  
first ,roman emperor1 and a messianic   
halo surrounded it  in ,virgil's verse4 
,unfortunately it turned out to be a    
,,girl6 ,however  there is little doubt 
that ,virgil did--in that very sad age  
of the  world1 an age of misery and     
massacre1 and in common with thousands  
of others--look for the coming of a     
great 'redeemer4' ,it was only a few    
years earlier--about ,b4,c4 #gj--that   
the great revolt of the shamefully      
maltreated ,roman slaves occurred1 and  
that in revenge six thousand  prisoners 
from ,spartacus' army were nailed on    
crosses all the way from  ,rome to      
,capua 7#aej miles74 ,but long before   
this ,hesiod had recorded a  past       
,golden ,age when life had been gracious
 in communal fraternity and  joyful in  
peace1 when human beings and animals    
spoke the same language1  when death had
 followed on sleep1 without old age or  

disease1 and after  death men had moved 
as good daimones or genii over the      
lands4 ,pindar1  three hundred years    
after ,hesiod1 had confirmed the        
existence of the  ,islands of the       
,blest1 where the good led a blameless1 
tearless1 life4  ,plato the same1 7#a7  
with further references to the fabled   
island of  ,atlantis2 the ,egyptians    
believed in a former golden age under   
the god  ,ra to which they looked back  
with regret and envy2 the ,persians had 
a garden of ,eden similar to that of the
 ,hebrews2 the ,greeks a garden  of the 
,hesperides1 in which dwelt the serpent 
whose head was ultimately  crushed      
beneath the heel of ,hercules2 and so   
on4 ,the references to a  supposed      
far-back state of peace and happiness   
are indeed numerous4     7#a7 ,see arts4
 by ,margaret ,scholes1 ,socialist      
,review1 ,nov4 and  ,dec4 #aiab4        
,so much so that latterly1 and partly to
 explain their prevalence1 a  theory has
 been advanced which may be worth while 

mentioning4 ,it is  called the ,theory  
of intra-uterine ,blessedness1 and1     
remote as it may  at first appear1 it   
certainly has some claim for attention4 
,the theory  is that in the minds of    
mature people there still remain certain
 vague  memories of their pre-natal days
 in the maternal womb--memories of a    
life which1 though full of growing vigor
 and vitality1 was yet at that  time one
 of absolute harmony with the           
surroundings1 and of perfect peace  and 
contentment1 spent within the body of   
the mother--the embryo indeed  standing 
in the same relation to the mother as   
,st4 ,paul says ,,we stand to  ,god1    
,,in whom we live and move and have our 
being2 and that these vague  memories of
 the intra-uterine life in the          
individual are referred back  by the    
mature mind to a past age in the life of
 the ,,race4 ,though it  would not be   
easy at present to positively confirm   
this theory1 yet one  may say that it is
 neither improbable nor unworthy of     

consideration2  also that it bears a    
certain likeness to the former ones     
about the  ,eden-gardens1 etc4 ,the     
well-known parallelism of the           
,individual history  with the           
,race-history1 the recapitulation by the
 embryo of the  development of the race1
 does in fact afford an additional      
argument for  its favorable reception4  
,these considerations1 and what we have 
said so often in the foregoing  chapters
 about the unity of the ,animals 7and   
,early ,man7 with ,nature1 and  their   
instinctive and age-long adjustment to  
the conditions of the  world around     
them1 bring us up hard and fast against 
the following  conclusions1 which ,i    
think we shall find difficult to avoid4 
,we all recognize the extraordinary     
grace and beauty1 in their different    
ways1 of the 7wild7 animals2 and not    
only their beauty but the extreme       
fitness of their actions and habits to  
their surroundings--their subtle  and   
penetrating ,intelligence in fact4 ,only

 we do not generally use  the word      
,intelligence4 ,we use another word     
7,instinct7--and rightly  perhaps1      
because their actions are plainly not   
the result of definite  self-conscious  
reasoning1 such as we use1 carried out  
by each  individual2 but are 7as has    
been abundantly proved by ,samuel       
,butler and  others7 the systematic     
expression of experiences gathered up   
and sorted  out and handed down from    
generation to generation in the bosom of
 the  race--an ,intelligence in fact1 or
 ,insight1 of larger subtler scope than 
the other1 and belonging to the tribal  
or racial ,being rather than to  the    
isolated individual--a                  
super-consciousness in fact1 ramifying  
afar  in space and time4    ,but if we  
allow 7as we must7 this unity and       
perfection of nature1 and  this somewhat
 cosmic character of the mind1 to exist 
among the ,animals1  we can hardly      
refuse to believe that there must have  
been a period when  ,man1 too1 hardly as

 yet differentiated from them1 did      
himself  possess these same             
qualities--perhaps even in greater      
degree than the  animals--of grace and  
beauty of body1 perfection of movement  
and action1  instinctive perception and 
knowledge 7of course in limited         
spheres72 and  a period when he         
possessed above all a sense of unity    
with his fellows  and with surrounding  
,nature which became the ground of a    
common  consciousness between himself   
and his tribe1 similar to that which    
,maeterlinck1 in the case of the ,bees1 
calls the ,spirit of the ,hive4 7#a7    
,it would be difficult1 nay impossible1 
to suppose that human beings  on their  
first appearance formed an entire       
exception in the process of  evolution1 
or that they were completely lacking in 
the very graces and  faculties which we 
so admire in the animals--only of course
 we see that  7,,like the animals7 they 
would not be ,,self-conscious in these  
matters1  and what perception they had  

of their relations to each other or to  
the world around them would be largely  
inarticulate and                        
,,sub-conscious--though none the less   
real for that4     7#a7 ,see ,the ,life 
of the ,bee by ,maurice ,maeterlinck2   
and for  numerous similar cases among   
other animals1 ,p4 ,kropotkin's ,mutual 
,aid3 a  factor in ,evolution4      ,let
 us then grant this preliminary         
assumption--and it clearly is not  a    
large or hazardous one--and what        
follows8 ,it follows--since to-day      
discord is the rule1 and ,man has       
certainly lost the grace1 both physical 
and mental1 of the animals--that at some
 period a break must have  occurred in  
the evolution-process1 a                
discontinuity--similar perhaps to  that 
which occurs in the life of a child at  
the moment when it is born  into the    
world4 ,humanity took a new departure2  
but a departure which for  the moment   
was signalized as a ,,loss--the loss of 
its former harmony and  self-adjustment4

 ,and the cause or accompaniment of this
 change was the  growth of              
,self-consciousness4 ,into the general  
consciousness of the  tribe 7in relation
 to its environment7 which in fact had  
constituted  the mentality of the       
animals and of man up to this stage1    
there now was  intruded another kind of 
consciousness1 a consciousness centering
 round  each little individual self and 
concerned almost entirely with the      
interests of the latter4 ,here was      
evidently a threat to the continuance   
of the former happy conditions4 ,it was 
like the appearance of  innumerable     
little ulcers in a human body--a menace 
which if continued  would inevitably    
lead to the break-up of the body4 ,it   
meant loss of  tribal harmony and       
nature-adjustment4 ,it meant instead of 
unity a myriad  conflicting centres2 it 
meant alienation from the spirit of the 
tribe1  the separation of man from man1 
discord1 recrimination1 and the fatal   
unfolding of the sense of sin4 ,the     

process symbolized itself in the  legend
 of the ,fall4 ,man ate of the ,tree of 
the knowledge of good and  evil4        
,sometimes people wonder why knowledge  
of any kind--and especially  the        
knowledge of good and evil--should have 
brought a curse4 ,but the  reason is    
obvious4 ,into1 the placid and          
harmonious life of the animal  and human
 tribes fulfilling their days in        
obedience to the slow  evolutions and   
age-long mandates of nature1            
,self-consciousness broke  with its     
inconvenient and impossible query3 ,how 
do these arrangements  suit ,,me8 ,are  
they good for me1 are they evil for me8 
,i want to know4 ,i  ,,will ,,know6     
,evidently knowledge 7such knowledge as 
we understand by  the word7 only began1 
and could only begin1 by queries        
relating to the  little local self4     
,there was no other way for it to begin4
 ,knowledge and  self-consciousness were
 born1 as twins1 together4 ,knowledge   
therefore  meant ,sin 7#a72 for         

self-consciousness meant sin 7and it    
means sin  to-day74 ,sin is ,separation4
 ,that is probably 7though disputed7 the
  etymology of the word--that which     
sunders4 7#b7 ,the essence of sin is    
one's separation from the whole 7the    
tribe or the god7 of which one is  a    
part4 ,and knowledge--which separates   
subject from object1 and in its         
inception is necessarily occupied with  
the 'good and evil' of the little  local
 self1 is the great engine of this      
separation4 7,mark6 ,i say nothing      
,,against this association of           
,self-consciousness with ',sin'         
7so-called7  and ',knowledge'           
7so-called74 ,the growth of all three   
together is an  absolutely necessary    
part of human evolution1 and to rail    
against it  would be absurd4 ,but we may
 as well open our eyes and see the fact 
straight instead of blinking it47 ,the  
culmination of the process and the      
fulfilment of the 'curse' we may watch  
to-day in the towering expansion  of the

 self-conscious individualized          
,intellect--science as the handmaid  of 
human ,greed devastating the habitable  
world and destroying its  unworthy      
civilization4 ,and the process must go  
on--necessarily must  go on--until      
,self-consciousness1 ceasing its vain   
quest 7vain in both  senses7 for the    
separate domination of life1 surrenders 
itself back  again into the arms of the 
,mother-consciousness from which it     
originally  sprang--surrenders itself   
back1 not to be merged in nonentity1 but
 to be  affiliated in loving dependence 
on and harmony with the cosmic life4    
7#a7 ,compare also other myths1 like    
,cupid and ,psyche1 ,lohengrin  etc41 in
 which a fatal curiosity leads to       
tragedy4     7#b7 ,german ,sunde1 sin1  
and sonder1 separated2 ,dutch zonde1    
sin2  ,latin sons1 guilty4 ,not unlikely
 that the ,german root ,suhn1 expiation1
  is connected2 ,suhn-bock1 a           
scape-goat4      ,all this ,i have dealt
 with in far more detail in             

,civilization3 its  ,cause and ,cure1   
and in ,the ,art of ,creation2 but ,i   
have only repeated the  outline of it as
 above1 because some such outline is    
necessary for the  proper ordering and  
understanding of the points which       
follow4    ,we are not concerned now    
with the ultimate effects of the ',fall'
 of ,man  or with the present-day       
fulfilment of the ,eden-curse4 ,what we 
want to  understand is how the ',fall'  
into self-consciousness led to that     
great  panorama of ,ritual and ,religion
 which we have very briefly described   
and summarized in the preceding chapters
 of this book4 ,we want for the  present
 to fix our attention on the            
,,commencement of that process by  which
 man lapsed away from his living        
community with ,nature and his  fellows 
into the desert of discord and toil1    
while the angels of the  flaming sword  
closed the gates of ,paradise behind    
him4    ,it is evident ,i think that in 
that 'golden' stage when man was simply 

the crown and perfection of the         
animals--and it is hardly possible  to  
refuse the belief in such a stage--he   
possessed in reality all the  essentials
 of ,religion4 7#a7 ,it is not necessary
 to sentimentalize over  him2 he was    
probably raw and crude in his lusts of  
hunger and of sex2  he was certainly    
ignorant and superstitious2 he loved    
fighting with  and persecuting 'enemies'
 7which things of course all religions  
to-day--except perhaps the              
,buddhist--love to do72 he was dominated
 often  by unreasoning ,fear1 and was   
consequently cruel4 ,yet he was full of 
that  ,faith which the animals have to  
such an admirable degree--unhesitating  
faith in the inner promptings of his    
,,own nature2 he had the joy which      
comes of abounding vitality1 springing  
up like a fountain whose outlet  is free
 and unhindered2 he rejoiced in an      
untroubled and unbroken  sense of unity 
with his ,tribe1 and in elaborate social
 and friendly  institutions within its  

borders2 he had a marvelous             
sense-acuteness  towards ,nature and a  
gift in that direction verging towards  
second-sight2 strengthened by a         
conviction--which had never become      
,,conscious because it had never been   
,,questioned--of his own personal       
relation to the things outside him1 the 
,earth1 the ,sky1 the ,vegetation1  the 
,animals4 ,of such a ,man we get        
glimpses in the far past--though  indeed
 only glimpses1 for the simple reason   
that all our knowledge of  him comes    
through civilized channels2 and wherever
 civilization has  touched these early  
peoples it has already withered and     
corrupted  them1 even before it has had 
the sense to properly observe them4 ,it 
is sufficient1 however1 just to mention 
peoples like some of the early  ,pacific
 ,islanders1 the ,zulus and ,kafirs of  
,south ,africa1 the ,fans of the  ,congo
 ,region 7of whom ,winwood ,reade 7#b7  
speaks so highly71 some of the          
,malaysian and ,himalayan tribes1 the   

primitive ,chinese1 and even the        
evidence with regard to the neolithic   
peoples of ,europe1 7#c7 in order to    
show what ,i mean4     7#a7 ,see ,s4    
,reinach1 ,cults1 ,myths1 etc41         
introduction3 ,the  primitive life of   
humanity1 in so far as it is not purely 
animal1 is  religious4 ,religion is the 
parent stem which has thrown off1 one by
 one1  art1 agriculture1 law1 morality1 
politics1 etc4     7#b7 ,savage ,africa1
 ch4 xxxvii4     7#c7 ,see ,kropotkin's 
,mutual ,aid1 ch4 iii4      ,perhaps one
 of the best ideas of the gulf of       
difference between the  semi-civilized  
and the quite primal man is given by ,a4
 ,r4 ,wallace in  his ,life 7,vol4 i1 p4
 #bhh73 ,a most unexpected sensation of 
surprise and  delight was my first      
meeting and living with man in a state  
of nature  with absolute uncontaminated 
savages6 ,this was on the ,uaupes       
river4444  ,they were all going about   
their own work or pleasure1 which had   
nothing  to do with the white men or    

their ways2 they walked with the free   
step  of the independent                
forest-dweller444 original and          
self-sustaining as the  wild animals of 
the forests1 absolutely independent of  
civilization444  living their own lives 
in their own way1 as they had done for  
countless  generations before ,america  
was discovered4 ,indeed the true denizen
 of  the ,amazonian forests1 like the   
forest itself1 is unique and not to be  
forgotten4 ,elsewhere 7#c7 ,wallace     
speaks of the quiet1 good-natured1      
inoffensive character of these          
copper-colored peoples1 and of their    
quickness of hand and skill1 and        
continues3 their figures are generally  
superb2 and ,i have never felt so much  
pleasure in gazing at the finest  statue
 as at these living illustrations of the
 beauty of the human  form4       7#c7  
,travels on the ,amazon 7#ahec71 ch4    
xvii4      ,though some of the peoples  
just mentioned may be said to belong to 
different grades or stages of human     

evolution and physically some no  doubt 
were far superior to others1 yet they   
mostly exhibit this simple  grace of the
 bodily and mental organism1 as well as 
that closeness of  tribal solidarity of 
which ,i have spoken4 ,the immense      
antiquity1 of  the clan organization1 as
 shown by investigations into early     
marriage1  points to the latter         
conclusion4 ,travellers among ,bushmen1 
,hottentots1  ,fuegians1 ,esquimaux1    
,papuans and other peoples--peoples who 
have been  pushed aside into unfavorable
 areas by the invasion of more warlike  
and better-equipped races1 and who have 
suffered physically in                  
consequence--confirm this4 ,kropotkin1  
speaking of the ,hottentots1 quotes  the
 ,german author ,p4 ,kolben who         
travelled among them in #abge or so4 ,he
  knew the ,hottentots well and did not 
pass by their defects in silence1  but  
could not praise their tribal morality  
highly enough4 ,their word is  sacred1  
he wrote1 they know nothing of the      

corruption and faithless arts  of       
,europe4 ,they live in great            
tranquillity and are seldom at war with 
their neighbors1 and are all kindness   
and goodwill to one another4 7#a7       
,kropotkin further says3 ,let me remark 
that when ,kolben says 'they are        
certainly the most friendly1 the most   
liberal and the most benevolent  people 
to one another that ever appeared on the
 earth' he wrote a  sentence which has  
continually appeared since in the       
description of  savages4 ,when first    
meeting with primitive races1 the       
,europeans usually  make a caricature of
 their life2 but when an intelligent man
 has  stayed among them for a longer    
time he generally describes them as the 
'kindest' or the 'gentlest' race on the 
earth4 ,these very same words  have been
 applied to the ,ostyaks1 the           
,samoyedes1 the ,eskimos1 the ,dyaks1   
the ,aleuts1 the ,papuans1 and so on1 by
 the highest authorities4 ,i also       
remember having read them applied to the

 ,tunguses1 the ,tchuktchis1 the        
,sioux1 and several others4 ,the very   
frequency of that high commendation     
already speaks volumes in itself4 7#b7  
7#a7 ,p4 ,kropotkin1 ,mutual ,aid1 p4   
#ij4 ,w4 ,j4 ,solias also speaks in     
terms of the highest praise of the      
,bushmen--their energy1 patience1       
courage1 loyalty1 affection1 good       
manners and artistic sense 7,ancient    
,hunters1 #aiae1 p4 #dbe74     7#b7     
,ibid1 p4 #ia4      ,many of the tribes1
 like the ,aleuts1 ,eskimos1 ,dyaks1    
,papuans1 ,fuegians1  etc41 are         
themselves in the ,neolithic stage of   
culture--though for the  reason given   
above probably degenerated physically   
from the standard of  their neolithic   
ancestors2 and so the conclusion is     
forced upon one  that there must have   
been an ,,immense ,,period1 7#a7 prior  
to the first  beginnings of             
'civilization1' in which the human      
tribes in general led a  peaceful and   
friendly life on the earth1             

comparatively little broken  up by      
dissensions1 in close contact with      
,nature and in that degree  of sympathy 
with and understanding of the ,animals  
which led to the  establishment of the  
,totem system4 ,though it would be      
absurd to credit  these tribes with any 
great degree of comfort and well-being  
according  to our modern standards1 yet 
we may well suppose that the memory of  
this long period lingered on for        
generations and generations and was     
ultimately idealized into the ,golden   
,age1 in contrast to the succeeding     
period of everlasting warfare1 rancor   
and strife1 which came in with the      
growth of ,property with its greeds and 
jealousies1 and the accentuation  of    
,self-consciousness with all its        
vanities and ambitions4     7#a7 ,see   
for estimates of periods ch4 xiv2 also1 
for the  peacefulness of these early    
peoples1 ,havelock ,ellis on ,the       
,origin of  ,war1 where he says ,we do  
not find the ,,weapons of warfare or the

 ,,wounds  of warfare among these       
,palaeolithic remains 444 it was with   
civilization  that the art of killing   
developed1 i4 e4 within the last #aj1jjj
 or  #ab1jjj years when ,neolithic men  
7who became our ancestors7 were just    
arriving4      ,i say that each tribe at
 this early stage of development had    
within it  the ,,essentials of what we  
call ,religion--namely a bedrock sense  
of its  community with ,nature1 and of  
the ,common life among its members--a   
sense  so intimate and fundamental that 
it was hardly aware of itself 7any more 
than the fish is aware of the sea in    
which it lives71 but yet was really  the
 matrix of tribal thought and the spring
 of tribal action4 ,it  was this sense  
of unity which was destined by the      
growth of  ,,self-,,consciousness to    
come to light and evidence in the shape 
of all  manner of rituals and           
ceremonials2 and by the growth of the   
,,imaginative  ,,intellect to embody    
itself in the figures and forms of all  

manner of  deities4    ,let us examine  
into this a little more closely4 ,a lark
 soaring in the  eye of the sun1 and    
singing rapt between its heaven and home
 realizes  no doubt in actual fact all  
that those two words mean to us2 yet    
its realization is quite subconscious4  
,it does not define its own  experience3
 it ,,feels but it does not ,,think4 ,in
 order to come to the  stage of         
,,thinking it would perhaps be necessary
 that the lark should  be exiled from   
the earth and the sky1 and confined in a
 cage4 ,early ,man  ,,felt the great    
truths and realities of ,life--often ,i 
believe more purely  than we do--but he 
could not give form to his experience4  
,,that stage  came when he began to lose
 touch with these realities2 and it     
showed  itself in rites and ceremonials4
 ,the inbreak of self-consciousness     
brought ,,out the facts of his inner    
life into ritualistic and afterwards    
into intellectual forms4    ,let me give
 examples4 ,for a long time the ,tribe  

is all in all2 the  individual is       
completely subject to the ',spirit of   
the ,hive'2 he  does not even ,,think of
 contravening it4 ,then the day comes   
when  self-interest1 as apart from the  
,tribe1 becomes sufficiently strong to  
drive him against some tribal custom4   
,he breaks the tabu2 he eats the        
forbidden apple2 he sins against the    
tribe1 and is cast out4 ,suddenly he    
finds himself an exile1 lonely1         
condemned and deserted4 ,a horrible     
sense  of distress seizes him--something
 of which he had no experience before4  
,he tries to think about it all1 to     
understand the situation1 but  is dazed 
and cannot arrive at any conclusion4    
,his one ,,necessity is                 
,reconciliation1 ,atonement4 ,he finds  
he cannot ,,live outside of and         
alienated from his tribe4 ,he makes a   
,sacrifice1 an offering to his  fellows1
 as a seal of sincerity--an offering of 
his own bodily suffering  or precious   
blood1 or the blood of some food-animal1

 or some valuable  gift or other--if    
only he may be allowed to return4 ,the  
offering is  accepted4 ,the ritual is   
performed2 and he is received back4 ,i  
have  already spoken of this perfectly  
natural evolution of the twin-ideas  of 
,sin and ,sacrifice1 so ,i need not     
enlarge upon the subject4 ,but two      
things we may note here3 7#a7 that the  
ritual1 being so concrete 7and  often   
severe71 graves itself on the minds of  
those concerned1 and  expresses the     
feelings of the tribe1 with an intensity
 and sharpness of  outline which no     
words could rival1 and 7#b7 that such   
rituals may have1  and probably did1    
come into use even while language itself
 was in an  infantile condition and     
incapable of dealing with the           
psychological  situation except by      
symbols4 ,they1 the rituals1 were the   
first effort of  the primitive mind to  
get beyond1 subconscious feeling and    
emerge into a  world of forms and       
definite thought4    ,let us carry the  

particular instance1 given above1 a     
stage farther1 even  to the confines of 
abstract ,thought and ,philosophy4 ,i   
have spoken of  ,the ,spirit of the     
,hive as if the term were applicable to 
the ,human as  well as to the ,bee      
tribe4 ,the individual bee obviously has
 never ,,thought  about that ',spirit1' 
nor mentally understood what            
,maeterlinck means by  it2 and yet in   
terms of actual experience it is an     
intense reality to  the bee 7ordaining  
for instance on some fateful day the    
slaughter of all  the drones71          
controlling bee-movements and           
bee-morality generally4 ,the  individual
 tribesman similarly steeped in the     
age-long human life of his  fellows has 
never thought of the ,tribe as an       
ordaining being or ,spirit1  separate   
from himself--,,till that day when he is
 exiled and outcast from  it4 ,,then he 
sees himself and the tribe as two       
opposing beings1 himself  of course an  
,intelligence or ,spirit in his own     

limited degree1 the ,tribe  as a much   
greater ,intelligence or ,spirit1       
standing against and over him4  ,from   
that day the conception of a god arises 
on him4 ,it may be only  a totem-god--a 
divine ,grizzly-,bear or what not--but  
still a god or  supernatural ,presence1 
embodied in the life of the tribe4 ,this
 is  what ,sin has taught him4 7#a7     
,this is what ,fear1 founded on         
self-consciousness1 has revealed to him4
 ,the revelation may be true1  or it may
 be fallacious 7,i do not prejudge it72 
but there it is--the  beginning of that 
long series of human evolutions which we
 call  ,religion4     7#a7 ,it is to be 
noted1 in that charming idyll of the    
,eden garden1  that it is only ,,after  
eating of the forbidden fruit that ,adam
 and ,eve  perceive the ,lord ,god      
walking in the garden1 and converse with
 him  7,genesis iii4 #h74       7,for   
when the human mind has reached that    
stage of  consciousness in which each   
man realizes his own 'self' as a        

rational  and consistent being1 looking 
before and after1 then1 as ,i have  said
 already1 the mind projects on the      
background of ,nature similarly         
rational ,presences which we may call   
',gods'2 and at that stage  ',religion' 
begins4 ,before that1 when the mind is  
quite unformed and  dream-like1 and     
consists chiefly of broken and scattered
 rays1 and when  distinct               
self-consciousness is hardly yet        
developed1 then the presences  imagined 
in ,nature are merely flickering and    
intermittent phantoms1 and  their       
propitiation and placation comes more   
properly under1 the head of  ',magic4'7 
,so much for the genesis of the         
religious ideas of ,sin and ,sacrifice1 
and  the rites connected with these     
ideas--their genesis through the        
in-break  of self-consciousness upon the
 corporate ,,sub-consciousness of the   
life  of the ,community4 ,but an exactly
 similar process may be observed in the 
case of the other religious ideas4    ,i

 spoke of the doctrine of the ,,second  
,,birth1 and the rites connected  with  
it both in ,paganism and in             
,christianity4 ,there is much to show   
that  among quite primitive peoples     
there is less of shrinking from death   
and  more of certainty about a continued
 life after death than we generally     
find among more intellectual and        
civilized folk4 ,it is1 or has been1    
quite1 common among many tribes for the 
old and decrepit1 who are  becoming a   
burden to their fellows1 to offer       
themselves for happy  dispatch1 and to  
take willing part in the ceremonial     
preparations for  their own extinction2 
and this readiness is encouraged by     
their  nai3ve and untroubled belief in a
 speedy transference to happy           
hunting-grounds beyond the grave4 ,the  
truth is that when1 as in such  cases1  
the tribal life is very whole and       
unbroken--each individual  identifying  
himself completely with the tribe--the  
idea of the  individual's being dropped 

out at death1 and left behind by the    
tribe1  hardly arises4 ,the individual  
is the tribe1 has no other existence4   
,the tribe goes on1 living a life which 
is eternal1 and only changes its        
hunting-grounds2 and the individual1    
identified with the tribe1 feels in     
some subconscious way the same about    
himself4    ,but when one member has    
broken faith with the tribe1 when he has
 sinned  against it and become an       
outcast--ah6 then the terrors of death  
and  extinction loom large upon him4    
,the wages of sin is death4 ,there comes
  a period in the evolution of tribal   
life when the primitive bonds are       
loosening1 when the tendency towards    
,,self-will and ,,self-determination    
7so necessary of course in the long run 
for the evolution of humanity7  becomes 
a real danger to the tribe1 and a terror
 to the wise men and  elders of the     
community4 ,it is seen that the children
 inherit this  tendency--even from their
 infancy4 ,they are no longer mere      

animals1  easily herded2 it seems that  
they are born in sin--or at least in    
ignorance and neglect of their tribal   
life and calling4 ,the only cure is     
that they ,,must ,,be ,,born ,,again4   
,they must deliberately and of set      
purpose  be adopted into the tribe1 and 
be made to realize1 even severely1  in  
their own persons what is happening4    
,they must go through the  initiations  
necessary to impress this upon them4    
,thus a whole series of  solemn rites   
spring up1 different no doubt in every  
locality1 but all  having the same      
object and purpose4 7,and one can       
understand how the  necessity of such   
initiations and second birth may easily 
have been  itself felt in every race1 at
 some stage of its evolution--and ,,that
  quite as a spontaneous growth1 and    
independently of any contagion of       
example caught from other races47       
,the same may be said about the         
world-wide practice of the ,eucharist4  
,no more effective method exists for    

impressing on the members of a body     
their community of life with each other1
 and causing them to forget  their      
jangling self-interests1 than to hold a 
feast in common4 ,it is a  method which 
has been honored in all ages as well as 
to-day4 ,but when  the flesh partaken of
 at the feast is that of the ,totem--the
 guardian  and presiding genius of the  
tribe--or perhaps of one of its chief   
food-animals--then clearly the feast    
takes on a holy and solemn  character4  
,it becomes a sacrament of unity--of the
 unity of all with the  tribe1 and with 
each other4 ,self-interests and         
self-consciousness are  for the time    
submerged1 and the common life asserts  
itself2 but here  again we see that a   
custom like this would not come into    
being as a  deliberate rite ,,until     
self-consciousness and the divisions    
consequent  thereon had grown to be an  
obvious evil4 ,the herd-animals 7cows1  
sheep1  and so forth7 do not have       
,eucharists1 simply because they are    

sensible  enough to feed along the same 
pastures without quarrelling over the   
richest tufts of grass4    ,when the    
flesh partaken of 7either actually or   
symbolically7 is not that  of a         
divinized animal1 but the flesh of a    
human-formed god--as in the  mysteries  
of ,dionysus or ,osiris or ,christ--then
 we are led to suspect  7and of course  
this theory is widely held and          
supported7 that the rites  date from a  
very far-back period when a human being1
 as representative  of the tribe1 was   
actually slain1 dismembered and partly  
devoured2  though as time went on1 the  
rite gradually became glossed over and  
mitigated into a love-communion through 
the sharing of bread and wine4    ,it is
 curious anyhow that the dismemberment  
or division into fragments  of the body 
of a god 7as in the case of ,dionysus1  
,osiris1 ,attis1  ,praja'pati and       
others7 should be so frequent a tenet of
 the  old religions1 and so commonly    
associated with a love-feast of         

reconciliation and resurrection4 ,it may
 be fairly interpreted as a  symbol of  
,nature-dismemberment in ,winter and    
resurrection in ,spring2 but  we must   
also not forget that it may 7and indeed 
must7 have stood as  an allegory of     
,,tribal dismemberment and              
reconciliation--the tribe1  conceived of
 as a divinity1 having thus suffered and
 died through the  inbreak of sin and   
the self-motive1 and risen again into   
wholeness by  the redemption of love and
 sacrifice4 ,whatever view the rank and 
file of  the tribe may have taken of the
 matter1 ,i think it is incontestable   
that  the more thoughtful regarded these
 rites as full of mystic and spiritual  
meaning4 ,it is of the nature1 as ,i    
have said before1 of these early        
symbols and ceremonies that they held so
 many meanings in solution2 and  it is  
this fact which gave them a poetic or   
creative quality1 and their  great hold 
upon the public mind4    ,i use the word
 tribe in many places here as a matter  

of convenience2  not forgetting however 
that in some cases clan might be more   
appropriate1 as referring to a section  
of a tribe2 or people or folk  as       
referring to unions of ,,several tribes4
 ,it is impossible of course to  follow 
out all the gradations of organization  
from tribal up to national  life2 but it
 may be remembered that while animal    
totems prevail as a  rule in the earlier
 stages1 human-formed gods become more  
conspicuous in  the later developments4 
,all through1 the practice of the       
,eucharist goes  on1 in varying forms   
adapting itself to the surrounding      
conditions2 and  where in the later     
societies a religion like ,mithraism or 
,christianity  includes people of very  
various race1 the ,rite loses quite     
naturally  its tribal significance and  
becomes a celebration of allegiance to a
  particular god--of unity within a     
special ,church1 in fact4 ,ultimately it
  may become--as for a brief moment in  
the history of the early ,christians  it

 seemed likely to do--a celebration of  
allegiance to all ,humanity1            
irrespective of race or creed or color  
of skin or of mind3 though              
unfortunately that day seems still far  
distant and remains yet  unrealized4 ,it
 must not be overlooked1 however1 that  
the religion of the  ,persian ,bab1     
first promulgated in #ahde to           
#ahej--;and a subject ,i shall  deal    
with presently--had as a matter of fact 
this all embracing and  universal scope4
    ,to return to the ,golden ,age or   
,garden of ,eden4 ,our conclusion seems 
to  be that there really was such a     
period of comparative harmony in human  
life--to which later generations were   
justified in looking back1 and  looking 
back with regret4 ,it corresponded in   
the psychology of human  ,evolution to  
stage ,one4 ,the second stage was that  
of the ,fall2 and so  one is inevitably 
led to the conjecture and the hope that 
a third stage  will redeem the earth and
 its inhabitants to a condition of      

comparative  blessedness4          ,x4  
,,the ,,saviour-,,god ,,and ,,the       
,,virgin-,,mother    ,from the          
consideration of the world-wide belief  
in a past ,golden ,age1  and the        
world-wide practice of the ,eucharist1  
in the sense indicated  in the last     
chapter1 to that of the equally         
widespread belief in a  human-divine    
,saviour1 is a brief and easy step4     
,some thirty years ago1  dealing with   
this subject1 7#a7 ,i wrote as          
follows3--,the true ,self of  man       
consists in his organic relation with   
the whole body of his fellows2  and when
 the man abandons his true ,self he     
abandons also his true  relation to his 
fellows4 ,the mass-,man must rule in    
each unit-man1 else  the unit-man will  
drop off and die4 ,but when the outer   
man tries to  separate himself from the 
inner1 the unit-man from the mass-,man1 
then  the reign of individuality        
begins--a false and impossible          
individuality  of course1 but the only  

means of coming to the consciousness of 
the true  individuality4 ,and further1  
,thus this divinity in each creature1   
being that which constitutes it and     
causes it to cohere together1 was       
conceived of as that creature's saviour1
 healer--healer of wounds of  body and  
wounds of heart--the ,man within the    
man1 whom it was not only  possible to  
know1 but whom to know and be united    
with was the alone  salvation4 ,this1 ,i
 take it1 was the law of health--and of 
holiness--as  accepted at some elder    
time of human history1 and by us seen as
 through  a glass darkly4     7#a7 ,see 
,civilisation3 its ,cause and ,cure1 ch4
 i4      ,i think it is impossible not  
to see--however much in our pride of    
,civilization 767 we like to jeer at the
 pettinesses of tribal  life--that these
 elder people perceived as a matter of  
fact and direct  consciousness the      
redeeming presence 7within each         
unit-member of the  group7 of the larger
 life to which he belonged4 ,this larger

 life was a  reality--a ,presence to be 
felt and known2 and whether he called it
 by  the name of a ,totem-animal1 or by 
the name of a ,nature-divinity1 or  by  
the name of some gracious human-limbed  
,god--some ,hercules1 ,mithra1  ,attis1 
,orpheus1 or what-not--or even by the   
great name of ,humanity  itself1 it was 
still in any case the ,saviour1 the     
living incarnate ,being  by the         
realization of whose presence the little
 mortal could be lifted  out of exile   
and error and death and suffering into  
splendor and life  eternal4    ,it is   
impossible1 ,i think1 not to see that   
the myriad worship of  ,saviours all    
over the world1 from ,china to ,peru1   
can only be  ascribed to the natural    
working of some such law of human and   
tribal  psychology--from earliest times 
and in all races the same--springing up 
quite spontaneously and independently1  
and 7so far7 unaffected by the  mere    
contagion of local tradition4 ,to       
suppose that the ,devil1 long  before   

the advent of ,christianity1 put the    
idea into the heads of all  these       
earlier folk1 is really to pay ,,too    
great a compliment both to the  power   
and the ingenuity of his ,satanic       
,majesty--though the ingenuity  with    
which the early ,church ,,did itself    
suppress all information about  these   
pre-,christian ,saviours almost rivals  
that which it credited to  ,satan6 ,and 
on the other hand to suppose this       
marvellous and universal  consent of    
belief to have sprung by mere contagion 
from one accidental  source would seem  
equally far-fetched and unlikely4       
,but almost more remarkable than the    
world-encircling belief in  human-divine
 ,saviours is the equally widespread    
legend of their birth  from             
,virgin-mothers4 ,there is hardly a     
god--as we have already had  occasion to
 see--whose worship as a benefactor of  
mankind attained  popularity in any of  
the four continents1 ,europe1 ,asia1    
,africa and  ,america--who was not      

reported to have been born from a       
,virgin1 or at  least from a mother who 
owed the ,child not to any earthly      
father1 but to  an impregnation from    
,heaven4 ,and this seems at first sight 
all the more  astonishing because the   
belief in the possibility of such a     
thing is so  entirely out of the line of
 our modern thought4 ,so that while it  
would seem not unnatural that such a    
legend should have1 sprung up           
spontaneously in some odd benighted     
corner of the world1 we find it  very   
difficult to understand how in that case
 it should have spread  so rapidly in   
every direction1 or--if it did not      
spread--how we are  to account for its  
,,spontaneous appearance in all these   
widely sundered  regions4    ,i think   
here1 and for the understanding of this 
problem1 we are thrown  back upon a very
 early age of human evolution--the age  
of ,magic4 ,before  any settled science 
or philosophy or religion existed1 there
 were  still certain ,things--and       

consequently also certain ,words--which 
had  a tremendous influence on the human
 mind1 which in fact affected it        
deeply4 ,such a word1 for instance1 is  
',thunder'2 to hear thunder1 to  imitate
 it1 even to mention it1 are sure ways  
of rousing superstitious  attention and 
imagination4 ,such another word is      
',serpent1' another  ',tree1' and so    
forth4 ,there is no one who is          
insensible to the  reverberation of     
these and other such words and images   
7#a72 and among  them1 standing         
prominently out1 are the two ',mother'  
and ',virgin4'  ,the word ,mother       
touches the deepest springs of human    
feeling4 ,as the  earliest word learnt  
and clung to by the child1 it twines    
itself with  the heart-strings of the   
man even to his latest day4 ,nor must we
 forget  that in a primitive state of   
society 7the ,matriarchate7 that        
influence  was probably even greater    
than now2 for the father of the child   
being  7often as not7 ,,unknown the     

attachment to the mother was all the    
more  intense and undivided4 ,the word  
,mother had a magic about it which has  
remained even until to-day4 ,but if that
 word rooted itself deep in the  heart  
of the ,child1 the other word 'virgin'  
had an obvious magic for  the full grown
 and sexually mature ,man--a magic which
 it1 too1 has never  lost4     7#a7 ,nor
 is it difficult to see how out of the  
discreet use of  such words and images1 
combined with elementary forms like the 
square1  the triangle and the circle1   
and elementary numbers like #c1 #d1 #e1 
etc41  quite a science1 so to speak1 of 
,magic arose4      ,there is ample      
evidence that one of the very earliest  
objects of human  worship was the ,earth
 itself1 conceived of as the fertile    
,mother of all  things4 ,gaia or ,ge    
7the earth7 had temples and altars in   
almost all the  cities of ,greece4 ,rhea
 or ,cybele1 sprung from the ,earth1 was
 mother of  all the gods4 ,demeter      
7earth mother7 was honored far and wide 

as the  gracious patroness of the crops 
and vegetation4 ,ceres1 of course1 the  
same4 ,maia in the ,indian mythology and
 ,isis in the ,egyptian are forms  of   
,nature and the ,earth-spirit1          
represented as female2 and so forth4    
,the  ,earth1 in these ancient cults1   
was the mystic source of all life1 and  
to it1 as a propitiation1 life of all   
kinds was sacrificed4 7,there are       
strange accounts of a huge fire being   
made1 with an altar to ,cybele in  the  
midst1 and of deer and fawns and wild   
animals1 and birds and sheep  and corn  
and fruits being thrown pell-mell into  
the flames4 7#a77 ,it was1  in a way1   
the most natural1 as it seems to have   
been the earliest  and most spontaneous 
of cults--the worship of the            
,earth-mother1  the all-producing       
eternal source of life1 and on account  
of her  never-failing ever-renewed      
fertility conceived of as an immortal   
,virgin4     7#a7 ,see ,pausanias iv4   
#cb4 #f2 and ,lucian1 ,de ,syria ,dea1  

#di4      ,but when the ,saviour-legend 
sprang up--as indeed ,i think it must   
have sprung up1 in tribe after tribe and
 people after people1                   
independently--then1 whether it sprang  
from the divinization of some  actual   
man who showed the way of light and     
deliverance to his fellows  sitting in  
darkness1 or whether from the           
personification of the tribe  itself as 
a god1 in either case the question of   
the hero's parentage was  bound to      
arise4 ,if the 'saviour' was plainly a  
personification of the  tribe1 it was   
obviously impossible to suppose him the 
son of a mortal  mother4 ,in that       
case--and if the tribe was generally    
traced in the  legends to some primeval 
,animal or ,mountain or thing of        
,nature--it was  probably easy to think 
of him 7the saviour7 as1 born out of    
,nature's  womb1 descended perhaps from 
that pure ,virgin of the ,world who is  
the ,earth and ,nature1 who rules the   
skies at night1 and stands in the       

changing phases of the ,moon1 and is    
worshiped 7as we have seen7 in  the     
great constellation ,virgo4 ,if1 on the 
other hand1 he was the  divinization of 
some actual man1 more or less known     
either personally  or by tradition to   
his fellows1 then in all probability the
 name of his  mortal mother would be    
recognized and accepted2 but as to his  
father1  that side of parentage being1  
as we have said1 generally very         
uncertain1  it would be easy to suppose 
some heavenly ,annunciation1 the        
midnight  visit of a ,god1 and what is  
usually termed a ,virgin-birth4         
,there are two elements to be remembered
 here1 as conspiring to this            
conclusion4 ,one is the condition of    
affairs in a remote matriarchial        
period1 when descent was reckoned always
 through the maternal line1 and  the    
fatherhood in each generation was       
obscure or unknown or commonly  left out
 of account2 and the other is the       
fact--so strange and difficult  for us  

to realize--that among some very        
primitive peoples1 like the  ,australian
 aborigines1 the necessity for a woman  
to have intercourse  with a male1 in    
order to bring about conception and     
child-birth1 was  actually not          
recognized4 ,scientific observation had 
not always got as  far as that1 and the 
matter was still under the domain of    
,magic6 7#a7  ,a ,virgin-,mother was    
therefore a quite imaginable 7not to say
  'conceivable'7 thing2 and indeed a    
very beautiful and fascinating thing1   
combining in one image the potent magic 
of two very wonderful words4  ,it does  
not seem impossible that considerations 
of this kind led to the  adoption of the
 doctrine or legend of the virgin-mother
 and the heavenly  father among so many 
races and in so many localities--even   
without any  contagion of tradition     
among them4     7#a7 ,probably the long 
period 7nine months7 elapsing between   
cohabitation and childbirth confused    
early speculation on the subject4  ,then

 clearly cohabitation was ,,not always  
followed by childbirth4 ,and1  more     
important still1 the number of virgins  
of a mature age in primitive  societies 
was so very minute that the fact of     
their childlessness  attracted no       
attention--whereas in ,,our societies   
the sterility of the  whole class is    
patent to everyone4      ,anyhow1 and as
 a matter of fact1 the world-wide       
dissemination of the  legend is most    
remarkable4 ,zeus1 ,father of the gods1 
visited ,semele1 it  will be remembered1
 in the form of a thunderstorm2 and she 
gave birth to  the great saviour and    
deliverer ,dionysus4 ,zeus1 again1      
impregnated ,danae  in a shower of gold2
 and the child was ,perseus1 who slew   
the ,gorgons  7the powers of darkness7  
and saved ,andromeda 7the human soul    
7#a774  ,devaki1 the radiant ,virgin of 
the ,hindu mythology1 became the wife   
of the god ,vishnu and bore ,krishna1   
the beloved hero and prototype of       
,christ4 ,with regard to ,buddha ,st4   

,jerome says 7#b7 ,it is handed down    
among the ,gymnosophists1 of ,india that
 ,buddha1 the founder of their  system1 
was brought forth by a ,virgin from her 
side4 ,the ,egyptian ,isis1  with the   
child ,horus1 on her knee1 was honored  
centuries before the  ,christian era1   
and worshiped under the names of ,our   
,lady1 ,queen of  ,heaven1 ,star of the 
,sea1 ,mother of ,god1 and so forth4    
,before her1  ,neith1 the ,virgin of the
 ,world1 whose figure bends from the sky
 over the  earthly plains and the       
children of men1 was acclaimed as mother
 of the  great god ,osiris4 ,the saviour
 ,mithra1 too1 was born of a ,virgin1 as
 we  have had occasion to notice before2
 and on the ,mithrais monuments the     
mother suckling her child is a not      
uncommon figure4 7#c7     7#a7 ,for this
 interpretation of the word ,andromeda  
see ,the ,perfect  ,way by ,edward      
,maitland1 preface to ,first ,edition1  
#ahha4     7#b7 ,contra ,jovian1 ,book  
,i2 and quoted by ,rhys ,davids in his  

,buddhisim4     7#c7 ,see ,doane's      
,bible ,myths1 p4 #ccb1 and ,dupuis'    
,origins of  ,religious ,beliefs4       
,the old ,teutonic goddess ,hertha 7the 
,earth7 was a ,virgin1 but was          
impregnated by the heavenly ,spirit 7the
 ,sky72 and her image with a child  in  
her arms was to be seen in the sacred   
groves of ,germany4 7#a7 ,the           
,scandinavian ,frigga1 in much the same 
way1 being caught in the embraces  of   
,odin1 the ,all-father1 conceived and   
bore a son1 the blessed ,balder1  healer
 and saviour of mankind4 ,quetzalcoatl1 
the 7crucified7 saviour of  the ,aztecs1
 was the son of ,chimalman1 the ,virgin 
,queen of ,heaven4 7#b7  ,even the      
,chinese had a mother-goddess and virgin
 with child in her arms  7#c72 and the  
ancient ,etruscans the same4 7#d7       
7#a7 ,r4 ,p4 ,knight's ,ancient ,art and
 ,mythology1 p4 #ba4     7#b7 ,see      
,kingsborough's ,mexican ,antiquities1  
vol4 vi1 p4 #agf1  where it is said an  
ambassador was sent from heaven on an   

embassy to a  ,virgin of ,tulan1 called 
,chimalman444 announcing that it was the
 will  of the ,god that she should      
conceive a son2 and having delivered her
 the  message he rose and left the      
house2 and as soon as he had left it    
she conceived a son1 without connection 
with man1 who was called  ,quetzalcoat1 
who they say is the god of air4         
,further1 it is explained  that         
,quetzalcoatl sacrificed himself1       
drawing forth his own blood with        
thorns2 and that the word               
,quetzalcoatlotopitzin means our        
well-beloved  son4     7#c7 ,doane1 p4  
#cbg4     7#d7 ,see ,inman's ,pagan and 
,christian ,symbolism1 p4 #bg4          
,finally1 we have the curiously large   
number of ,,black virgin mothers  who   
are or have been worshiped4 ,not only   
cases like ,devaki the ,indian  goddess1
 or ,isis the ,egyptian1 who would      
naturally appear black-skinned  or dark2
 but the large number of images and     
paintings of the same  kind1 yet        

extant--especially in the ,italian      
churches--and passing for               
representations of ,mary and the infant 
,jesus4 ,such are the well-known  image 
in the chapel at ,loretto1 and images   
and paintings besides in the  churches  
at ,genoa1 ,pisa1 ,padua1 ,munich and   
other places4 ,it is difficult  not to  
regard these as very old ,pagan or      
pre-,christian relics which  lingered on
 into ,christian times and were baptized
 anew--as indeed  we know many relics   
and images actually were--into the      
service of the  ,church4 ,great is      
,diana of the ,ephesians2 and there is  
,i believe more  than one black figure  
extant of this ,diana1 who1 though of   
course a  virgin1 is represented with   
innumerable breasts 7#a7--not unlike    
some of  the archaic statues of ,artemis
 and ,isis4 ,at ,paris1 far on into     
,christian  times there was1 it is said1
 on the site of the present ,cathedral  
of  ,notre ,dame1 a ,temple dedicated to
 'our ,lady' ,isis2 and images belonging

  to the earlier shrine would in all    
probability be preserved with altered   
name in the later4     7#a7 ,see        
illustration1 p4 #cj1 in ,inman's ,pagan
 and ,christian  ,symbolism4      ,all  
this illustrates not only the wide      
diffusion of the doctrine of the        
,virgin-mother1 but its extreme         
antiquity4 ,the subject is obscure1 and 
worthy of more consideration than has   
yet been accorded it2 and ,i do not     
feel able to add anything to the        
tentative explanations given a page or  
two back1 except perhaps to suppose that
 the vision of the ,perfect ,man        
hovered dimly over the mind of the human
 race on its first emergence  from the  
purely animal stage2 and that a quite   
natural speculation  with regard to such
 a being was that he would be born from 
a ,perfect  ,woman--who according to    
early ideas would necessarily be the    
,virgin  ,earth itself1 mother of all   
things4 ,anyhow it was a wonderful      
,intuition1  slumbering as it would seem

 in the breast of early man1 that the   
,great  ,earth after giving birth to all
 living creatures would at last bring   
forth a ,child who should become the    
,saviour of the human race4    ,there is
 of course the further theory1          
entertained by some1 that               
virgin-parturition--a kind of           
,parthenogenesis--has as a matter of    
fact  occasionally occurred among mortal
 women1 and even still does occur4 ,i   
should be the last to deny the          
,,possibility of this 7or of anything   
else  in ,nature71 but1 seeing the      
immense difficulties in the way of      
,,proof  of any such asserted case1 and 
the absence so far of any thoroughly    
attested and verified instance1 it      
would1 ,i think1 be advisable to leave  
this theory out of account at present4  
,but whether any of the ,,explanations  
spoken of are right or wrong1  and      
whatever explanation we adopt1 there    
remains the ,,fact of the  universality 
over the world of this legend--affording

 another instance  of the practical     
solidarity and continuity of the ,pagan 
,creeds with  ,christianity4            
,,xi4 ,,ritual ,,dancing    ,it is      
unnecessary to labor the conclusion of  
the last two or three  chapters1 namely 
that ,christianity grew out of the      
former ,pagan ,creeds  and is in its    
general outlook and origins continuous  
and of one piece  with them4 ,i have not
 attempted to bring together ,,all the  
evidence  in favor of this contention1  
as such work would be too vast1 but more
  illustrations of its truth will       
doubtless occur to readers1 or will     
emerge as we proceed4    ,i think we may
 take it as proved 7#a7 that from the   
earliest ages1 and  before ,history1 a  
great body of religious belief and      
ritual--first  appearing among very     
primitive and unformed folk1 whom we    
should call  'savages'--has come slowly 
down1 broadening and differentiating    
itself  on the way into a great variety 
of forms1 but embodying always certain  

main ideas which became in time the     
accepted doctrines of the later         
,churches--the ,indian1 the ,egyptian1  
the ,mithraic1 the ,christian1 and  so  
forth4 ,what these ideas in their       
general outline have been we can        
perhaps best judge from our ,apostles'  
,creed1 as it is recited every  ,sunday 
in our churches4    ,i believe in ,god  
the ,father ,almighty1 ,maker of heaven 
and earth3 ,and in  ,jesus ,christ his  
only ,son our ,lord1 who was conceived  
by the ,holy ,ghost1  born of the       
,virgin ,mary1 suffered under ,pontius  
,pilate1 was crucified1  dead and       
buried4 ,he descended into ,hell2 the   
third day he rose again  from the dead1 
,he ascended into heaven1 and sitteth on
 the right hand  of ,god the ,father    
,almighty2 from thence he shall come to 
judge the quick  and the dead4 ,i       
believe in the ,holy ,ghost2 the holy   
,catholic ,church2 the  communion of    
,saints2 the ,forgiveness of sins2 the  
,resurrection of the  body1 and the life

 everlasting4 ,amen4    ,here we have   
the ,all-,father and ,creator1          
descending from the ,sky in the  form of
 a spirit to impregnate the earthly     
,virgin-mother1 who thus gives  birth to
 a ,saviour-hero4 ,the latter is slain  
by the powers of ,evil1 is  buried and  
descends into the lower world1 but      
arises again as ,god  into heaven and   
becomes the leader and judge of mankind4
 ,we have the  confirmation of the      
,church 7or1 in earlier times1 of the   
,tribe7 by means  of a ,eucharist or    
,communion which binds together all the 
members1 living  or dead1 and restores  
errant individuals through the          
,sacrifice of the  hero and the         
,forgiveness of their sins2 and we have 
the belief in a  bodily ,resurrection   
and continued life of the members within
 the fold of  the ,church 7or ,tribe71  
itself regarded as eternal4    ,one has 
only1 instead of the word ',jesus1' to  
read ,dionysus or ,krishna  or ,hercules
 or ,osiris or ,attis1 and instead of   

',mary' to insert ,semele  or ,devaki or
 ,alcmene or ,neith or ,nana1 and for   
,pontius ,pilate to use the  name of any
 terrestrial tyrant who comes into the  
corresponding story1  and lo6 the creed 
fits in all particulars into the rites  
and worship of  a pagan god4 ,i need not
 enlarge upon a thesis which is         
self-evident  from all that has gone    
before4 ,i do not say1 of course1 that  
,,all  the religious beliefs of         
,paganism are included and summarized in
 our  ,apostles' ,creed1 for--as ,i     
shall have occasion to note in the next 
chapter--,i think some very important   
religious elements are there  ,,omitted2
 but ,i do think that all the beliefs   
which ,,are summarized in the  said     
creed had already been fully represented
 and elaborately expressed  in the      
non-,christian religions and rituals of 
,paganism4    ,further 7#b7 ,i think we 
may safely say that there is no certain 
proof  that the body of beliefs just    
mentioned sprang from any one particular

  centre far back and radiated thence by
 dissemination and mental  contagion    
over the rest of the world2 but the     
evidence rather shows that  these       
beliefs were1 for the most part1 the    
,,spontaneous outgrowths  7in various   
localities7 of the human mind at certain
 stages of its  evolution2 that they    
appeared1 in the different races and    
peoples1 at  different periods according
 to the degree of evolution1 and were   
largely  independent of intercourse and 
contagion1 though of course1 in cases1  
considerably influenced by it2 and that 
one great and all-important  occasion   
and provocative of these beliefs was    
actually the ,,rise ,,of                
,,self-,,consciousness--that is1 the    
coming of the mind to a more or  less   
distinct awareness of itself and of its 
own operation1 and  the consequent      
development and growth of               
,individualism1 and of the              
,self-centred attitude in human thought 
and action4    ,in the third place 7#c7 

,i think we may see--and this is the    
special  subject of the present         
chapter--that at a very early period1   
when  humanity was hardly capable of    
systematic expression in what we call   
,philosophy or ,science1 it could not   
well rise to an ordered and literary    
expression of its beliefs1 such as we   
find in the later religions  and the    
',churches' 7,babylonian1 ,jewish1 ,east
 ,indian1 ,christian1 or  what-not71 and
 yet that it ,,felt these beliefs very  
intensely and was  urged1 almost        
compelled1 to their utterance in some   
form or other4 ,and  so it came about   
that people expressed themselves in a   
vast mass of  ritual and myth--customs1 
ceremonies1 legends1 stories--which on  
account  of their popular and concrete  
form were handed down for generations1  
and  some of which linger on still in   
the midst of our modern civilization4   
,these rituals and legends were1 many of
 them1 absurd enough1 rambling  and     
childish in character1 and preposterous 

in conception1 yet they gave  the       
expression needed2 and some of them of  
course1 as we have seen1 were  full of  
meaning and suggestion4    ,a critical  
and commercial ,civilization1 such as   
ours1 in which  7notwithstanding much   
,,talk about ,art7 the artistic sense is
 greatly  lacking1 or at any rate but   
little diffused1 does not as a rule     
understand that poetic ,,rites1 in the  
evolution of peoples1 came  naturally   
before anything like ordered poems or   
philosophy or  systematized ,,views     
about life and religion--such as ,,we   
love to wallow  in6 ,things were ,,felt 
before they were spoken4 ,the loading of
 diseases  into disease-boats1 of sins  
onto scape-goats1 the propitiation of   
the  forces of nature by victims1 human 
or animal1 sacrifices1 ceremonies of    
re-birth1 eucharistic feasts1 sexual    
communions1 orgiastic celebrations  of  
the common life1 and a host of other    
things--all ,,said plainly enough  what 
was meant1 but not in ,,words4 ,partly  

no doubt it was that at some  early time
 words were more difficult of command   
and less flexible in use  than actions  
7and at all times are they not less     
expressive874 ,partly it  was that      
mankind was in the child-stage4 ,the    
,child delights in ritual1  in symbol1  
in expression through material objects  
and actions3          ,see1 at his feet 
some little plan or chart1        ,some 
fragment from his dream of human life1  
,shaped by himself with newly learned   
art2            ,a wedding or a         
festival1            ,a mourning or a   
funeral2                 ,and this hath 
now his heart4    ,and primitive man in 
the child-stage felt a positive joy in  
ritual  celebrations1 and indulged in   
expressions which we but little         
understand2 for these had then his      
heart4    ,one of the most pregnant of  
these expressions was ,,dancing4        
,children  dance instinctively4 ,they   
dance with rage2 they dance with joy1   
with  sheer vitality2 they dance with   

pain1 or sometimes with savage glee at  
the suffering of others2 they delight in
 mimic combats1 or in animal  plays and 
disguises4 ,there are such things as    
,courting-dances1 when  the mature male 
and female go through a ritual          
together--not only in  civilized        
ball-rooms and the back-parlors of inns1
 but in the farmyards  where the rooster
 pays his addresses to the hen1 or the  
yearling bull  to the cow--with quite   
recognized formalities2 there are       
elaborate  ceremonials performed by the 
,australian bower-birds and many other  
animals4 ,all these things--at any rate 
in children and animals--come  before   
speech2 and anyhow we may say that      
,,love-,,rites1 even in mature  and     
civilized man1 hardly ,,admit of speech4
 ,words only vulgarize love and  blunt  
its edge4    ,so ,dance to the savage   
and the early man was not merely an     
amusement or  a gymnastic exercise 7as  
the books often try to make out71 but it
 was  also a serious and intimate part  

of life1 an expression of religion and  
the relation of man to non-human        
,powers4 ,imagine a young dancer--and   
the admitted age for ritual dancing was 
commonly from about eighteen  to        
thirty--coming forward on the           
dancing-ground or platform for the      
,,invocation ,,of ,,rain4 ,we have      
unfortunately no kinematic records1 but 
it  is not impossible or very difficult 
to imagine the various gestures  and    
movements which might be considered     
appropriate to such a rite in  different
 localities or among different peoples4 
,a modern student of  ,dalcroze         
,eurhythmics would find the problem     
easy4 ,after a time a certain  ritual   
dance 7for rain7 would become           
stereotyped and generally adopted4  ,or 
imagine a young ,greek leading an       
invocation to ,apollo to ,,stay ,,some  
,,plague which was ravaging the country4
 ,he might as well be accompanied  by a 
small body of co-dancers2 but he would  
be the leader and chief  representative4

 ,or it might be a ,,war-,,dance--as a  
more or less magical  preparation for   
the raid or foray4 ,we are familiar     
enough with accounts  of war-dances     
among ,american ,indians4 ,c4 ,o4       
,muller in his ,history and             
,antiquities of the ,doric ,race 7#a7   
gives the following account of the      
,pyrrhic dance among the ,greeks1 which 
was danced in full armor3--,plato  says 
that it imitated all the attitudes of   
defence1 by avoiding a thrust  or a     
cast1 retreating1 springing up1 and     
crouching-as also the opposite          
movements of attack with arrows and     
lances1 and also of every kind of       
thrust4 ,so strong was the attachment to
 this dance at ,sparta that1 long  after
 it had in the other ,greek states      
degenerated into a ,bacchanalian  revel1
 it was still danced by the ,spartans as
 a warlike exercise1 and  boys of       
fifteen were instructed in it4 ,of the  
,hunting-dance ,i have  already given   
instances4 7#b7 ,it always had the      

character of ,magic about  it1 by which 
the game or quarry might presumably be  
influenced2 and it  can easily be       
understood that if the ,hunt was not    
successful the blame  might well be     
attributed to some neglect of the usual 
ritual mimes or  movements--no laughing 
matter for the leader of the dance4     
7#a7 ,book ,,iv1 ch4 #f1 ,section #g4   
7#b7 ,see also ,winwood ,reade's ,savage
 ,africa1 ch4 xviii1 in which  he speaks
 of the gorilla dance1 before hunting   
gorillas1 as a  religious festival4     
,or there were dances belonging to the  
ceremonies of ,initiation--dances  both 
by the initiators and the initiated4    
,jane ,e4 ,harrison in ,themis 7p4  #bd7
 says1 ,instruction among savage peoples
 is always imparted in more  or less    
mimetic dances4 ,at initiation you learn
 certain dances which  confer on you    
definite social status4 ,when a man is  
too old to dance1  he hands over his    
dance to another and a younger1 and he  
then among  some tribes ceases to exist 

socially4444 ,the dances taught to boys 
at  initiation are frequently if not    
always ,,armed dances4 ,these are not   
necessarily warlike4 ,the accoutrement  
of spear and shield was in part         
decorative1 in part a provision for     
making the necessary hubbub4 7,here     
,miss ,harrison reproduces a photograph 
of an ,initiation dance among the       
,akikuyu of ,british ,east ,africa47    
,the ,initiation-dances blend insensibly
  and naturally with the ,mystery and   
,religion dances1 for indeed  initiation
 was for the most part an instruction in
 the mysteries and  social rites of the 
,tribe4 ,they were the expression of    
things which  would be hard even for us1
 and which for rude folk would be       
impossible1  to put into definite words4
 ,hence arose the expression--whose     
meaning  has been much discussed by the 
learned--to dance out 7gr ezorceisqai7  
a mystery4 7#a7 ,lucian1 in a           
much-quoted passage1 7#b7 observes3 ,you
  cannot find a single ancient mystery  

in which there is not dancing 444  and  
this much all men know1 that most people
 say of the revealers of the  mysteries 
that they 'dance them out4' ,andrew     
,lang1 commenting on this  passage1 7#c7
 continues3 ,clement of ,alexandria uses
 the same term when  speaking of his own
 'appalling revelations4' ,so closely   
connected are  mysteries with dancing   
among savages that when ,mr4 ,orpen     
asked ,qing1 the  ,bushman hunter1 about
 some doctrines in which ,qing was not  
initiated1  he said3 ',only the         
initiated men of that dance know these  
things4' ,to  'dance' this or that means
 to be acquainted with this or that     
myth1 which is represented in a dance or
 ballet d'action4 ,so widely            
distributed is the practice that ,acosta
 in an interesting passage  mentions it 
as familiar to the people of ,peru      
before and after the  ,spanish conquest4
 7,and we may say that when the         
'mysteries' are of a  sexual nature it  
can easily be understood that to 'dance 

them out' is  the only way of explaining
 them67     7#a7 ,meaning apparently    
either simply to represent1 or1         
sometimes  to ,,divulge1 a mystery4     
7#b7 gr peri ',orchsews1 ,ch4 xv4 #bgg4 
7#c7 ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion1 i1   
#bgb4      ,thus we begin to appreciate 
the serious nature and the importance of
 the  dance among primitive folk4 ,to   
dub a youth a good dancer is to pay him 
a great compliment4 ,among the          
well-known inscriptions on the rocks in 
the island of ,thera in the ,aegean sea 
there are many which record in  deeply  
graven letters the friendship and       
devotion to each other of  ,spartan     
warrior-comrades2 it seems strange at   
first to find how often  such an epithet
 of praise occurs as ,bathycles ,,dances
 ,,well1 ,eumelos is  a ,,perfect       
,,dancer 7gr aristos orcestas74 ,one    
hardly in general expects  one warrior  
to praise another for his dancing6 ,but 
when one realizes  what is really       
meant--namely the fitness of the loved  

comrade to lead in  religious and       
magical rituals--then indeed the        
compliment takes on a  new complexion4  
,religious dances1 in dedication to a   
god1 have of course  been honored in    
every country4 ,muller1 in the work just
 cited1 7#a7  describes a lively dance  
called the hyporchema which1 accompanied
 by  songs1 was used in the worship of  
,apollo4 ,in this1 besides the chorus   
of singers who usually danced around    
,,the ,,blazing ,,altar1 several persons
  were appointed to accompany the action
 of the poem with an appropriate        
pantomimic display4 ,it was probably    
some similar dance which is  recorded in
 ,exodus1 ch4 xxxii1 when ,aaron made   
the ,israelites a golden  ,calf 7image  
of the ,egyptian ,apis74 ,there was an  
altar and a fire and  burnt offerings   
for sacrifice1 and the people dancing   
around4 ,whether in  the ,apollo ritual 
the dancers were naked ,i cannot say1   
but in the affair  of the golden ,calf  
they evidently were1 for it will be     

remembered that  it was just this which 
upset ,moses' equanimity so badly--when 
he ,,saw  ,,that ,,the ,,people ,,were  
,,naked--and led to the breaking of the 
two tables  of stone and the slaughter  
of some thousands of folk4 ,it will be  
remembered also that ,david on a        
sacrificial occasion danced naked before
  the ,lord4 7#b7     7#a7 ,book ,,ii1  
ch4 viii1 ,section #ad4     7#b7 #b     
,sam4 vi4      ,it may seem strange that
 dances in honor of a god should be held
 naked2  but there is abundant evidence 
that this was frequently the case1 and  
it  leads to an interesting speculation4
 ,many of these rituals undoubtedly     
owed their sanctity and solemnity to    
their extreme antiquity4 ,they came     
down in fact from very far back times   
when the average man or woman--as  in   
some of the ,central ,african tribes    
to-day--wore simply nothing at  all2 and
 like all religious ceremonies they     
tended to preserve their  forms long    
after surrounding customs and conditions

 had altered4  ,consequently nakedness  
lingered on in sacrificial and other    
rites into  periods when in ordinary    
life it had come to be abandoned or     
thought  indecent and shameful4 ,this   
comes out very clearly in both instances
  above--quoted from the ,bible4 ,for in
 ,exodus xxxii4 #be it is said that     
,aaron had made them 7the dancers7 naked
 ,,unto ,,their ,,shame among their     
enemies 7,,read opponents71 and in #b   
,sam4 vi4 #bj we are told that ,michal  
came out and sarcastically rebuked the  
glorious king of ,israel for            
shamelessly uncovering himself1 like a  
vain fellow 7for which rebuke1  ,i am   
sorry to say1 ,david took a mean revenge
 on ,michal74 ,in both cases  evidently 
custom had so far changed that to a     
considerable section of  the population 
these naked exhibitions had become      
indecent1 though as  parts of an        
acknowledged ritual they were still     
retained and supported  by others4 ,the 
same conclusion may be derived from the 

commands recorded  in ,exodus xx4 #bf   
and xxviii4 #db1 that the priests be not
 uncovered  before the altar--commands  
which would hardly have been needed had 
not  the practice been in vogue4        
,then there were dances 7partly magical 
or religious7 performed at rustic  and  
agricultural festivals1 like the        
,epilenios1 celebrated in ,greece at    
the gathering of the grapes4 7#a7 ,of   
such a dance we get a glimpse in the    
,bible 7,judges xxi4 #bj7 when the      
elders advised the children of ,benjamin
  to go out and lie in wait in the      
vineyards1 at the time of the yearly    
feast2 and when the daughters of ,shiloh
 come out to dance in the  dances1 then 
come ye out of the vineyards and catch  
you every man a wife  from the daughters
 of ,shiloh--a touching example         
apparently of early  so-called 'marriage
 by capture'6 ,or there were dances1    
also partly or  originally religious1 of
 a quite orgiastic and ,bacchanalian    
character1  like the ,bryallicha        

performed in ,sparta by men and women in
 hideous  masks1 or the ,deimalea by    
,sileni and ,satyrs waltzing in a       
circle2 or the  ,bibasis carried out by 
both men and women--a quite gymnastic   
exercise in  which the performers took a
 special pride in striking their own    
buttocks  with their heels6 or others   
wilder still1 which it would perhaps not
 be  convenient to describe4     7#a7 gr
 ,epilhnioi umnoi3  hymns sung over the 
winepress  7,dictionary74      ,we must 
see how important a part ,dancing played
 in that great panorama  of ,ritual and 
,religion 7spoken of in the last        
chapter7 which1 having  originally been 
led up to by the ',fall of ,man1' has   
ever since the dawn  of history         
gradually overspread the world with its 
strange procession of  demons and       
deities1 and its symbolic               
representations of human destiny4  ,when
 it is remembered that ritual dancing   
was the matrix out of which  the ,drama 
sprang1 and further that the drama in   

its inception 7as still  to-day in      
,india7 was an affair of religion and   
was acted in1 or in  connection with1   
the ,temples1 it becomes easier to      
understand how all  this mass of        
ceremonial sacrifices1 expiations1      
initiations1 ,sun and  ,nature          
festivals1 eucharistic and orgiastic    
communions and celebrations1            
mystery-plays1 dramatic representations1
 myths and legends1 etc41 which  ,i have
 touched upon in the preceding          
chapters--together with all the         
emotions1 the desires1 the fears1 the   
yearnings and the wonderment which  they
 represented--have practically sprung   
from the same root3 a root  deep and    
necessary in the psychology of ,man4    
,presently ,i hope to show  that they   
will all practically converge again in  
the end to one meaning1  and prepare the
 way for one great ,synthesis to        
come--an evolution also  necessary and  
inevitable in human psychology4    ,in  
that truly inspired ,ode from which ,i  

quoted a few pages back1 occur  those   
well-known words whose repetition now   
will1 on account of their  beauty1 ,i am
 sure be excused3--          ,our birth 
is but a sleep and a forgetting3        
,the ,soul that rises with us1 our      
life's ,star1            ,hath had      
elsewhere its setting1                  
,and cometh from afar2            ,not  
in entire forgetfulness1            ,and
 not in utter nakedness1        ,but    
trailing clouds of glory do we come     
,from ,god1 who is our home3            
,heaven lies about us in our infancy6   
,shades of the prison-house begin to    
close            ,upon the growing ,boy1
        ,but ,he beholds the light and  
whence it flows            ,he sees it  
in his joy2        ,the youth who daily 
farther from the east            ,must  
travel1 still is ,nature's ,priest1     
,and by the vision splendid             
,is on his way attended2        ,at     
length the man perceives it die away    
,and fade into the light of common day4 

,wordsworth--though he had not the      
inestimable advantage of a              
nineteenth-century education and the    
inheritance of the ,darwinian           
philosophy--does nevertheless put the   
matter of the ,genius of the ,child  in 
a way which 7with the alteration of a   
few conventional terms7 we  scientific  
moderns are quite inclined to accept4   
,we all admit now that  the ,child does 
not come into the world with a mental   
tabula rasa of  entire forgetfulness but
 on the contrary as the possessor of    
vast stores  of sub-conscious memory1   
derived from its ancestral inheritances2
 we  all admit that a certain grace and 
intuitive insight and even prophetic    
quality1 in the child-nature1 are due to
 the harmonization of these  racial     
inheritances in the infant1 even before 
it is born2 and that  after birth the   
impact of the outer world serves rather 
to break up  and disintegrate this      
harmony than to confirm and strengthen  
it4 ,some  psychologists indeed nowadays

 go so far as to maintain that the child
  is not only ',father of the man1' but 
superior to the man1 7#a7 and that      
,boyhood and ,youth and ,maturity are   
attained to not by any addition but  by 
a process of loss and subtraction4 ,it  
will be seen that the last ten  lines of
 the above quotation rather favor this  
view4     7#a7 ,man in the course of his
 life falls away more and more from  the
 specifically ,,human type of his early 
years1 but the ,ape in the  course of   
his short life goes very much farther   
along the road of  degradation and      
premature senility4 7,man and ,woman1 by
 ,havelock ,ellis1  p4 #bd74      ,but  
my object in making the quotation was   
not to insist on the truth  of its      
application to the individual ,child1   
but rather to point out  the remarkable 
way in which it illustrates what ,i have
 said about the  ,childhood of the      
,race4 ,in fact1 if the quotation be    
read over again with  this              
interpretation 7which ,i do not say     

,wordsworth intended7 that  the 'birth' 
spoken of is the birth or evolution of  
the distinctively  self-conscious ,man  
from the ,animals and the               
animal-natured1  unself-conscious human 
beings of a preceding age1 then the     
parable  unfolds itself perfectly       
naturally and convincingly4 ,,that birth
  certainly was sleep and a forgetting2 
the grace and intuition and  instinctive
 perfection of the animals was lost4    
,but the forgetfulness  was not entire2 
the memory lingered long of an age of   
harmony1 of an  ,eden-garden left       
behind4 ,and trailing clouds of this    
remembrance  the first tribal men1 on   
the edge of but not yet ,,within the    
civilization-period1 appear in the dawn 
of ,history4    ,as ,i have said before1
 the period of the dawn of              
,self-consciousness was  also the period
 of the dawn of the practical and       
inquiring ,intellect2 it  was the period
 of the babyhood of both2 and so we     
perceive among these  early people 7as  

we also do among children7 that while in
 the main the  heart and the intuitions 
were right1 the intellect was for a long
 period  futile and rambling to a       
degree4 ,as soon as the mind left the   
ancient  bases of instinct and          
sub-conscious racial experience it fell 
into  a hopeless bog1 out of which it   
only slowly climbed by means of the     
painfully-gathered stepping-stones of   
logic and what we call ,science4        
,heaven lies about us in our infancy4   
,wordsworth perceived that  wonderful   
world of inner experience and glory out 
of which the child  emerges2 and some   
even of us may perceive that similar    
world in which  the untampered animals  
,,still dwell1 and ,,out of which       
self-regarding ,man  in the history of  
the race was long ago driven4 ,but a    
curse went  with the exile4 ,as the     
,brain grew1 the ,heart withered4 ,the  
inherited  instincts and racially       
accumulated wisdom1 on which the first  
men  thrived and by means of which they 

achieved a kind of temporary  ,paradise1
 were broken up2 delusions and disease  
and dissension set  in4 ,cain turned    
upon his brother and slew him2 and the  
shades of the  prison-house began to    
close4 ,the growing ,boy1 however1 7by  
whom we may  understand the early tribes
 of ,mankind7 had yet a radiance of     
,light and  joy in his life2 and the    
,youth--though travelling daily farther 
from the  ,east--still remained         
,nature's priest1 and by the vision     
splendid was on  his way attended3 but  
,at length the ,man perceived it die    
away4       ,and fade into the light of 
common day4    ,what a strangely apt    
picture in a few words 7if we like to   
take it  so7 of the long pilgrimage of  
the ,human ,race1 its early and pathetic
  clinging to the tradition of the      
,eden-garden1 its careless and vigorous 
boyhood1 its meditative youth1 with     
consciousness of sin and endless        
expiatory ritual in ,nature's bosom1 its
 fleeting visions of  salvation1 and    

finally its complete disillusionment and
 despair in the  world-slaughter and    
unbelief of the twentieth century6      
,leaving ,wordsworth1 however1 and      
coming back to our main line of         
thought1 we may point out that while    
early peoples were intellectually  mere 
babies--with their endless yarns about  
heroes on horseback leaping  over wide  
rivers or clouds of monks flying for    
hundreds of miles  through the air1 and 
their utter failure to understand the   
general  concatenations of cause and    
effect--yet practically and in their    
instinct of life and destiny they were1 
as ,i have already said1 by no  means   
fools2 certainly not such fools as many 
of the arm-chair students  of these     
things delight to represent them4 ,for  
just as1 a few years  ago1 we modern    
civilizees studying outlying nations1   
the ,chinese for  instance1 rejoiced 7in
 our vanity7 to pick out every quaint   
peculiarity  and absurdity and          
monstrosity of a supposed topsyturvydom1

 and failed  entirely to see the real   
picture of a great and eminently        
sensible  people2 so in the case of     
primitive men we have been1 and even    
still  are1 far too prone to catalogue  
their cruelties and obscenities and     
idiotic superstitions1 and to miss the  
sane and balanced setting of  their     
actual lives4    ,mr4 ,r4 ,r4 ,marett1  
who has a good practical acquaintance   
with his  subject1 had in the ,hibbert  
,journal for ,october #aiah an article  
on ,the  ,primitive ,medicine ,man in   
which he shows that the latter is as a  
rule  anything but a fool and a         
knave--although like 'medicals' in all  
ages he  hocuspocuses his patients      
occasionally6 ,he instances the         
medicine-man's  excellent management1 in
 most cases1 of childbirth1 or of wounds
 and  fractures1 or his primeval skill  
in trepanning or trephining--all of     
which operations1 he admits1 may be     
accompanied with grotesque and          
superstitious ceremonies1 yet show real 

perception and ability4 ,we all         
know--though ,i think the article does  
not mention the matter--what a          
considerable list there is of drugs and 
herbs which the modern art of  healing  
owes to the ancient medicine-man1 and it
 may be again mentioned  that one of the
 most up-to-date treatments--the use of 
a prolonged and  exclusive diet of      
,,milk as a means of giving the organism
 a new start  in severe cases--has      
really come down to us through the ages 
from this  early source4 7#a7 ,the real 
medicine-man1 ,mr4 ,marett says1 is     
largely  a 'faith-healer' and           
'soul-doctor'2 he believes in his       
vocation1 and  undergoes much for the   
sake of it3 ,the main point is to grasp 
that by  his special initiation and the 
rigid taboos which he practises--not to 
speak of occasional remarkable gifts1   
say of trance and ecstasy1 which  he may
 inherit by nature and have improved by 
art--he ,,has access to a               
wonder-working power4444 ,and the great 

need of primitive folk is for  this     
healer of souls4 ,our author further    
insists on the enormous play  and       
influence of ,fear in the savage mind--a
 point we have touched on  already--and 
gives instances of ,thanatomania1 or    
cases where1 after a  quite slight and  
superficial wound1 the patient becomes  
so depressed  that he1 quite needlessly1
 persists in dying6 ,such cases1        
obviously1  can only be countered by    
,faith1 or something 7whatever it may   
be7 which  restores courage1 hope and   
energy to the mind4 ,nor need ,i point  
out  that the situation is exactly the  
same among a vast number of 'patients'  
to-day4 ,as to the value1 in his degree1
 of the medicine-man many modern        
observers and students quite agree with 
the above4 7#b7 ,also as the  present   
chapter is on ,ritual ,dancing it may   
not be out of place to call  attention  
to the supposed healing of sick people  
in ,ceylon and other  places by         
,devil-dancing--the enormous output of  

energy and noise in the  ritual possibly
 having the effect of reanimating the   
patient 7if it does  not kill him71 or  
of expelling the disease from his       
organism4     7#a7 ,milk 7fast-milk or  
vrata7 was1 says ,mr4 ,hewitt1 the only 
diet in the ,soma-sacrifice4 ,see       
,ruling ,races of ,prehistoric ,times   
7preface74 ,the ,soma itself was a      
fermented drink prepared with ceremony  
from the milky and semen-like sap of    
certain plants1 and much used in        
sacrificial offerings4 7,see            
,monier-,williams4 ,sanskrit            
,dictionary47     7#b7 ,see ,winwood    
,reade 7,savage ,africa71 ,salamon      
,reinach 7,cults1  ,myths and           
,religions71 and others4      ,with     
regard to the practical intelligence of 
primitive peoples1  derived from their  
close contact with life and nature1     
,bishop ,colenso's  experiences among   
the ,zulus may appropriately be         
remembered4 ,when  expounding the ,bible
 to these supposedly backward 'niggers' 

he was met  at all points by practical  
interrogations and arguments which he   
was  perfectly unable to                
answer--especially over the recorded    
passage of the  ,red ,sea by the        
,israelites in a single night4 ,from the
 statistics given  in the ,sacred ,book 
these naughty savages proved to him     
absolutely  conclusively that the       
numbers of fugitives were such that even
 supposing  them to have marched--men1  
women and children--,,five ,,abreast and
 in close  order1 they would have formed
 a column #ajj miles long1 and this  not
 including the baggage1 sheep and       
cattle6 ,of course the feat was         
absolutely impossible4 ,they could not  
have passed the ,red ,sea in a night  or
 a week of nights4    ,but the sequel is
 still more amusing and instructive4    
,colenso1 in his  innocent sincerity1   
took the side of the ,zulus1 and feeling
 sure the  ,church at home would be     
quite glad to have its views with regard
 to  the accuracy of ,bible statistics  

corrected1 wrote a book embodying the   
amendments needed4 ,modest as his       
criticisms were1 they raised a ,,storm  
of  protest and angry denunciation1     
which even led to his deposition for the
  time being from his bishopric6 ,while 
at the same time an avalanche of  books 
to oppose his heresy poured forth from  
the press4 ,lately ,i had the  curiosity
 to look through the ,british ,museum   
catalogue and found that  in refutation 
of ,colenso's ,pentateuch ,examined some
 #adj 7a hundred and  forty7 volumes    
were at that time published6 ,to-day1 ,i
 need hardly  say1 all these arm-chair  
critics and their works have sunk into  
utter  obscurity1 but the arguments of  
the ,zulus and their ,bishop still stand
  unmoved and immovable4    ,this is a  
case of searching intelligence shown by 
'savages1' an  intelligence founded on  
intimate knowledge of the needs of      
actual  life4 ,i think we may say that a
 similarly instinctive intelligence     
7sub-conscious if you like7 has guided  

the tribes of men on the whole  in their
 long passage through the ,red ,sea of  
the centuries1 from those  first days of
 which ,i speak even down to the present
 age1 and has in  some strange1 even if 
fitful1 way kept them along the path of 
that final  emancipation towards which  
,humanity is inevitably moving4         
,,xii4 ,,the ,,sex-,,taboo    ,in the   
course of the last few chapters ,i have 
spoken more than once  of the solidarity
 and continuity of ,christianity1 in its
 essential  doctrines1 with the ,pagan  
rites4 ,there is1 however1 one notable  
exception to this statement4 ,i refer of
 course to ,christianity's  treatment of
 ,sex4 ,it is certainly very remarkable 
that while the ,pagan  cults generally  
made a great deal of all sorts of       
sex-rites1 laid much  stress upon them1 
and introduced them in what we consider 
an unblushing  and shameless way into   
the instincts connected with it4 ,i say 
'the  ,christian ,church1' on the whole 
took quite the opposite line--ignored   

sex1 condemned it1 and did much despite 
to the perfectly natural  instincts     
connected with it4 ,i say 'the          
,christian ,church1' because  there is  
nothing to show that ,jesus himself 7if 
we admit his figure as  historical7     
adopted any such extreme or doctrinaire 
attitude2 and the  quite early          
,christian teachers 7with the chief     
exception of ,paul7 do not  exhibit this
 bias to any great degree4 ,in fact1 as 
is well known1 strong  currents of pagan
 usage and belief ran through the       
,christian assemblies  of the first     
three or four centuries4 ,the ,christian
 art of this period  remained           
delightfully pagan4 ,in the catacombs we
 see the ,saviour as a  beardless youth1
 like a young ,greek god2 sometimes     
represented1 like  ,hermes the guardian 
of the flocks1 bearing a ram or lamb    
round his neck2  sometimes as ,orpheus  
tuning his lute among the wild animals4 
7#a7  ,the followers of ,jesus were at  
times even accused--whether rightly  or 

wrongly ,i know not--of celebrating     
sexual mysteries at their  love-feasts4 
,but as the ,church through the         
centuries grew in power and  scope--with
 its monks and their mutilations and    
asceticisms1 and its  celibate clergy1  
and its absolute refusal to recognize   
the sexual  meaning of its own acclaimed
 symbols 7like the ,cross1 the three    
fingers  of ,benediction1 the ,fleur de 
,lys and so forth7--it more and more    
consistently defined itself as          
anti-sexual in its outlook1 and stood   
out  in that way in marked contrast to  
the earlier ,nature-religions4     7#a7 
,angels' ,wings1 by ,e4 ,carpenter1 p4  
#ajd4      ,it may be said of course    
that this anti-sexual tendency can be   
traced in  other of the pre-,christian  
,churches1 especially the later ones1   
like the  ,buddhist1 the ,egyptian1 and 
so forth2 and this is perfectly true2   
but it  would seem that in many ways the
 ,christian ,church marked the          
culmination  of the tendency2 and the   

fact that other cults participated in   
the taboo  makes us all the more ready  
and anxious to inquire into its real    
cause4    ,to go into a disquisition on 
the ,sex-rites of the various           
pre-,christian  religions would be 'a   
large order'--larger than ,i could      
attempt to fill2  but the general facts 
in this connection are fairly patent4   
,we know1  of course1 from the ,bible   
that the ,syrians in ,palestine were    
given to  sexual worships4 ,there were  
erect images 7phallic7 and groves       
7sexual  symbols7 on every high hill and
 under every green tree2 7#a7 and these 
same images and the rites connected with
 them crept into the ,jewish  ,temple   
and were popular enough to maintain     
their footing there for a  long period  
from ,king ,rehoboam onwards1           
notwithstanding the efforts of  ,josiah 
7#b7 and other reformers to extirpate   
them4 ,moreover there were  girls and   
men 7hierodouloi7 regularly attached    
during this period to  the ,jewish      

,temple as to the heathen ,temples1 for 
the rendering of sexual  services1 which
 were recognized in many cases as part  
of the ritual4  ,women were persuaded   
that it was an honor and a privilege to 
be  fertilized by a 'holy man' 7a priest
 or other man connected with the        
rites71 and children resulting from such
 unions were often called  ,children of 
,god--an appellation which no doubt     
sometimes led to a  legend of miraculous
 birth6 ,girls who took their place as  
hierodouloi in  the ,temple or          
,temple-precincts were expected to      
surrender themselves  to men-worshipers 
in the ,temple1 much in the same way1   
probably1 as  ,herodotus describes in   
the temple of the ,babylonian ,venus    
,mylitta1 where  every native woman1    
once in her life1 was supposed to sit in
 the ,temple  and have intercourse with 
some stranger4 7#c7 ,indeed the ,syrian 
and  ,jewish rites dated largely from   
,babylonia4 ,the ,hebrews entering      
,syria1 says ,richard ,burton 7#d7 found

 it religionized by ,assyria and        
,babylonia1 when the ,accadian ,ishtar  
had passed ,west1 and had become        
,ashtoreth1 ,ashtaroth1 or ,ashirah1 the
 ,anaitis of ,armenia1 the ,phoenician  
,astarte1 and the ,greek ,aphrodite1 the
 great ,moon-goddess who is queen of    
,heaven and ,love4 ,the word translated 
grove as above1 in our ,bible1  is in   
fact ,asherah1 which connects it pretty 
clearly with the ,babylonian  ,queen of 
,heaven4     7#a7 #a ,kings xiv4 #bb-bd4
     7#b7 #b ,kings xxiii4     7#c7 ,see
 ,herodotus i4 #aii2 also a reference to
 this custom in the  apocryphal ,baruch1
 vi4 #db1 #dc4     7#d7 ,the ,thousand  
,nights and a ,night 7#ahhf edn471 vol4 
x1 p4 #bbi4      ,in ,india again1 in   
connection with the ,hindu ,temples and 
their rites1  we have exactly the same  
institution of girls attached to the    
,temple  service--the                   
,nautch-girls--whose functions in past  
times were certainly  sexual1 and whose 
dances in honor of the god are1 even    

down to the  present day1 decidedly     
amatory in character4 ,then we have the 
very  numerous lingams 7conventional    
representations of the male organ7 to   
be seen1 scores and scores of them1 in  
the arcades and cloisters of the  ,hindu
 ,temples--to which women of all        
classes1 especially those who  wish to  
become mothers1 resort1 anointing them  
copiously with oil1 and  signalizing    
their respect and devotion to them in a 
very practical  way4 ,as to the lingam  
as representing the male organ1 in some 
form or  other--as upright stone or     
pillar or obelisk or slender round      
tower--it  occurs all over the world1   
notably in ,ireland1 and forms such a   
memorial of the adoration paid by early 
folk to the great emblem and  instrument
 of human fertility1 as cannot be       
mistaken4 ,the pillars set  up by       
,solomon in front of his temple were    
obviously from their  names--,jachin and
 ,boaz 7#a7--meant to be emblems of this
 kind2 and the  fact that they were     

crowned with pomegranates--the          
universally accepted  symbol of the     
female--confirms and clinches this      
interpretation4 ,the  obelisks before   
the ,egyptians' temples were signs of   
the same character4  ,the well-known    
,t-shaped cross was in use in pagan     
lands long before  ,christianity1 as a  
representation of the male member1 and  
also at the  same time of the 'tree' on 
which the god 7,attis or ,adonis or     
,krishna or  whoever it might be7 was   
crucified2 and the same symbol combined 
with  the oval 7or yoni7 formed ,,the   
,crux ,ansata ,ankh of the old ,egyptian
  ritual--a figure which is to-day sold 
in ,cairo as a potent charm1 and        
confessedly indicates the conjunction of
 the two sexes in one design4  7#b7     
,mac,lennan in ,the ,fortnightly ,review
 7,oct4 #ahfi7 quotes with approval  the
 words of ,sanchoniathon1 as saying that
 men first worship plants1  next the    
heavenly bodies1 supposed to be animals1
 then 'pillars'  7emblems of the        

,procreator71 and last1 the             
anthropomorphic gods4     7#a7 ,he shall
 establish and ,in it is strength are in
 the ,bible  the marginal               
interpretations of these two words4     
7#b7 ,the connection between the        
production of fire by means of the      
fire-drill and the generation of life by
 sex-intercourse is a very  obvious one1
 and lends itself to magical ideas4 ,j4 
,e4 ,hewitt in his  ,ruling ,races of   
,prehistoric ,times 7#ahid7 says 7vol4  
i1 p4 #h7 that  ,magha1 the             
mother-goddess worshipped in ,asia      
,minor1 was originally the  socket-block
 from which fire was generated by the   
fire-drill4 ,hence we  have1 he says1   
the ,magi of ,persia1 and the ,maghadas 
of ,indian ,history1  also the word     
,magic4      ,it is not necessary to    
enlarge on this subject4 ,the facts of  
the  connection of sexual rites with    
religious services nearly everywhere in 
the early world are1 as ,i say1         
sufficiently patent to every inquirer4  

,but it ,,is necessary to try to        
understand the rationale of this        
connection4 ,to dispatch all such cases 
under the mere term religious           
prostitution is no explanation4 ,the    
term suggests1 of course1 that the  plea
 of religion was used simply as an      
excuse and a cover for sexual           
familiarities2 but though this kind of  
explanation commends itself1  no doubt1 
to the modern man--whose religion is as 
commercial as his  sex-relationships    
are--and though in ,,cases no doubt it  
was a true  explanation--yet it is      
obvious that among people who took      
religion  seriously1 as a matter of life
 and death and who did not need         
hypocritical excuses or covers for      
sex-relationships1 it cannot be         
accepted as in general the ,,right      
explanation4 ,no1 the real explanation  
is--and ,i will return to this          
presently--that sexual relationships are
  so deep and intimate a part of human  
nature that from the first it has  been 

simply impossible to keep them ,,out of 
religion--it being of  course the object
 of religion to bring the whole human   
being into  some intelligible relation  
with the physical1 moral1 and if you    
like  supernatural order of the great   
world around him4 ,sex was felt from the
  first to be part1 and a foundational  
part1 of the great order of the  world  
and of human nature2 and therefore to   
separate it from ,religion  was         
unthinkable and a kind of contradiction 
in terms4 7#a7     7#a7 ,for further    
development of this subject see ch4 xv4 
,if that is true--it will be asked--how 
was it that that divorce ,,did take     
place--that the taboo did arise8 ,how   
was it that the ,jews1 under the        
influence of ,josiah and the ,hebrew    
prophets1 turned their faces away  from 
sex and strenuously opposed the ,syrian 
cults8 ,how was it that this  reaction  
extended into ,christianity and became  
even more definite in the  ,christian   
,church--that monks went by thousands   

into the deserts of the  ,thebaid1 and  
that the early ,fathers and ,christian  
apologists could  not find terms foul   
enough to hurl at ,woman as the symbol  
7to them7 of  nothing but sex-corruption
 and delusion8 ,how was it that this    
contempt  of the body and degradation of
 sex-things went on far into the ,middle
  ,ages of ,europe1 and ultimately      
created an organized system of          
hypocrisy1  and concealment and         
suppression of sex-instincts1 which1    
acting as cover  to a vile commercial   
,prostitution and as a breeding ground  
for horrible  ,disease1 has lasted on   
even to the edge of the present day8    
,this is a fair question1 and one which 
demands an answer4 ,there must  have    
been a reason1 and a deep-rooted one1   
for this remarkable reaction  and       
volte-face which has characterized      
,christianity1 and1 perhaps to  a lesser
 degree1 other both earlier and later   
cults like those of the  ,buddhists1 the
 ,egyptians1 the ,aztecs1 7#a7 and so   

forth4     7#a7 ,for the ,aztecs1 see   
,acosta1 vol4 ii1 p4 #cbd 7,london1     
#afjd74      ,it may be said--and this  
is a fair answer on the ,,surface of the
  problem--that the main reason ,,was   
something in the nature of a reaction4  
,the excesses and corruptions of sex in 
,syria had evidently become pretty  bad1
 and that very fact may have led to a   
pendulum-swing of the ,jewish  ,church  
in the opposite direction2 and again in 
the same way the general  laxity of     
morals in the decay of the ,roman empire
 may have confirmed the  ,church of     
early ,christendom in its determination 
to keep along the  great high road of   
asceticism4 ,the ,christian followed on 
the ,jewish  and ,egyptian ,churches1   
and in this way a great tradition of    
sexual  continence and anti-pagan       
morality came right down the centuries  
even  into modern times4    ,this seems 
so far a reasonable theory2 but ,i think
 we shall go farther  and get nearer the
 heart of the problem if we revert to   

the general clue  which ,i have followed
 already more than once--the clue of the
 necessary  evolution of human          
,consciousnss4 ,in the first or animal  
stage of  human evolution1 ,sex was 7as 
among the animals7 a perfectly          
necessary1  instinctive and             
unself-conscious activity4 ,it was      
harmonious with  itself1 natural1 and   
unproductive of evil4 ,but when the     
second stage set  in1 in which man      
became preponderantly self-conscious1 he
 inevitably  set about deflecting       
sex-activities to his own private       
pleasure and  advantage2 he employed his
 budding intellect in scheming the      
derailment  of passion and desire from  
tribal needs and ,nature's uses to the  
poor  details of his own gratification4 
,if the first stage of harmonious       
sex-instinct and activity may be held as
 characteristic of the ,golden  ,age1   
the second stage must be taken to       
represent the ,fall of man and his      
expulsion from ,paradise in the ,garden 

of ,eden story4 ,the pleasure and  glory
 of ,sex having been turned to          
self-purposes1 ,sex itself became the   
great ,sin4 ,a sense of guilt overspread
 man's thoughts on the subject4  ,he    
knew that he was naked1 and he fled from
 the voice and face of the  ,lord4 ,from
 that moment one of the main objects of 
his life 7in its inner  and newer       
activities7 came to be the denial of    
,sex4 ,sex was conceived  of as the     
great ,antagonist1 the old ,serpent     
lying ever in wait to betray  him2 and  
there arrived a moment in the history of
 every race1 and of  every              
representative religion1 when the sexual
 rites and ceremonies of  the older time
 lost their naive and quasi-innocent    
character and became  afflicted with a  
sense of guilt and indecency4 ,this     
extraordinarily  interesting and        
dramatic moment in human evolution was  
of course that in  which                
self-consciousness grew powerful enough 
to penetrate to the centre  of human    

vitality1 the sanctum of man's inner    
life1 his sexual instinct1  and to deal 
it a terrific blow--a blow from which it
 has never yet  recovered1 and from     
which indeed it will not recover1 until 
the very  nature of man's inner life is 
changed4    ,it may be said that it was 
very foolish of ,man to deny and to try 
to expel a perfectly natural and        
sensible thing1 a necessary and         
indispensable part of his own nature4   
,and that1 as far as ,i can see1 is     
perfectly true4 ,but sometimes it is    
unavoidable1 it would seem1 to do       
foolish things--if only to convince     
oneself of one's own foolishness4  ,on  
the other hand1 this policy on the part 
of ,man was certainly very  wise--wiser 
than he knew--for in attempting to drive
 out ,sex 7which of  course he could not
 do7 he entered into a conflict which   
was bound  to end in the expulsion of   
,,something2 and that something was the 
domination1 within himself1 of          
self-consciousness1 the very thing which

  makes and ever has made sex           
detestable4 ,man did not succeed in     
driving  the snake out of the ,garden1  
but he drove himself out1 taking the    
real  old serpent of self-greed and     
self-gratification with him4 ,when some 
day  he returns to ,paradise this latter
 will have died in his bosom and been   
cast away1 but he will find the good    
,snake there as of old1 full of  healing
 and friendliness1 among the branches of
 the ,tree of ,life4    ,besides it is  
evident from other considerations that  
this moment of the  denial of sex ,,had 
to come4 ,when one thinks of the        
enormous power of this  passion1 and its
 age-long1 hold upon the human race1 one
 realizes that  once liberated from the 
instinctive bonds of nature1 and backed 
by a  self-conscious and self-seeking   
human intelligence it was on the way to 
become a fearful curse4      ,a         
monstrous ,eft was of old the ,lord and 
,master of ,earth2    ,for him did his  
high sun flame1 and his river billowing 

ran4    ,and this may have been all very
 well and appropriate in the            
carboniferous ,epoch1 but ,,we in the   
end of ,time have no desire to fall     
under any such preposterous domination1 
or to return to the primal  swamps from 
which organic nature has so slowly and  
painfully emerged4    ,i say it was the 
entry of self-consciousness into the    
sphere of ,sex1 and  the consequent use 
of the latter for private ends1 which   
poisoned  this great race-power at its  
root4 ,for above all1 ,sex1 as          
representing  through ,childbirth the   
life of the ,race 7or of the ,tribe1 or1
 if you  like1 of ,humanity at large7   
should be sacred and guarded from merely
  selfish aims1 and therefore to use it 
only for such aims is indeed a          
desecration4 ,and even if--as some      
maintain and ,i think rightly 7#a7--sex 
is not ,,merely for child-birth and     
physical procreation1 but for mutual    
vitalizing and invigoration1 it still   
subserves union and not egotism2  and to

 use it egotistically is to commit the  
sin of ,separation indeed4  ,it is to   
cast away and corrupt the very bond of  
life and fellowship4 ,the  ancient      
peoples at any rate threw an            
illumination of religious 7that is1  of 
communal and public7 value over         
sex-acts1 and to a great extent made    
them into matters either of             
,temple-ritual and the worship of the   
gods1  or of communal and pandemic      
celebration1 as in the ,saturnalia and  
other similar festivals4 ,we have       
certainly no right to regard these      
celebrations--of either kind--as        
insincere4 ,they were1 at any rate in   
their inception1 genuinely religious or 
genuinely social and festal2  and from  
either point of view they were far      
better than the secrecy  of private     
indulgence which characterizes our      
modern world in these  matters4 ,the    
thorough and shameless commercialism of 
,sex has alas6  been reserved for what  
is called ,christian civilization1 and  

with  it 7perhaps as a necessary        
consequence7 ,prostitution and ,syphilis
 have  grown into appalling evils1      
accompanied by a gigantic degradation of
  social standards1 and upgrowth of     
petty ,philistinism and niaiserie4      
,love1 in fact1 having in this modern   
world-movement been denied1 and its     
natural manifestations affected with a  
sense of guilt and of sin1 has  really  
languished and ceased to play its       
natural part in life2 and a  vast number
 of people--both men and women1 finding 
themselves barred or  derailed from the 
main object of existence1 have turned   
their energies  to 'business' or        
'money-making' or 'social advancement'  
or something  equally futile1 as the    
only poor substitute and pis aller open 
to them4     7#a7 ,see ,havelock ,ellis1
 ,the ,objects of ,marriage1 a pamphlet 
published by the ,british ,society for  
the ,study of ,sex-psychology4      ,why
 7again we ask7 did ,christianity make  
this apparently great mistake8  ,and    

again we must reply3 ,perhaps the       
mistake was not so great as  it appears 
to be4 ,perhaps this was another case of
 the necessity of  learning by loss4    
,love had to be denied1 in the form of  
sex1 in order  that it might thus the   
better learn its own true values and    
needs4 ,sex  had to be rejected1 or     
defiled with the sense of guilt and     
self-seeking1  in order that having cast
 out its defilement it might return one 
day1  transformed in the embrace of     
love4 ,the whole process has had a deep 
and  strange world-significance4 ,it has
 led to an immensely long period of     
suppression--suppression of two great   
instincts--the physical instinct  of sex
 and the emotional instinct of love4    
,two things which should  naturally be  
conjoined have been separated2 and both 
have suffered4  ,and we know from the   
,freudian teachings what suppressions in
 the  root-instincts necessarily mean4  
,we know that they inevitably terminate 
in diseases and distortions of proper   

action1 either in the body or  in the   
mind1 or in both2 and that these evils  
can only be cured by the  liberation of 
the said instincts again to their proper
 expression and  harmonious functioning 
in the whole organism4 ,no wonder then  
that1 with  this agelong suppression    
7necessary in a sense though it may have
  been7 which marks the ,christian      
dispensation1 there should have  been   
associated endless ,sickness and ,crime 
and sordid ,poverty1 the  ,crucifixion  
of animals in the name of ,science and  
of human workers in  the name of        
,wealth1 and wars and horrors           
innumerable6 ,hercules writhing  in the 
,nessus-shirt or ,prometheus nailed to  
the rocks are only as  figures of a toy 
miniature compared with this vision of  
the great and  divine ,spirit of ,man   
caught in the clutches of those dread   
,diseases  which through the centuries  
have been eating into his very heart and
  vitals4    ,it would not be fair to   
pile on the ,christian ,church the blame

 for all  this4 ,it had1 no doubt1 its  
part to play in the whole great scheme1 
namely1 to accentuate the self-motive2  
and it played the part very  thoroughly 
and successfully4 ,for it must be       
remembered 7what ,i have  again and     
again insisted on7 that in the pagan    
cults it was always  the salvation of   
the ,,clan1 the ,,tribe1 the people that
 was the main  consideration2 the       
advantage of the individual took only a 
very  secondary part4 ,but in           
,christendom--after the communal        
enthusiasms  of apostolic days and of   
the medieval and monastic brotherhoods  
and  sisterhoods had died down--religion
 occupied itself more and more with     
each man or woman's ,,individual        
salvation1 regardless of what might     
happen to the community2 till1 with the 
rise of ,protestantism and  ,puritanism1
 this tendency reached such an extreme  
that1 as some one has  said1 each man   
was absorbed in polishing up his own    
little soul in a  corner to himself1 in 

entire disregard to the damnation which 
might come  to his neighbor4 ,religion1 
and ,morality too1 under the commercial 
regime  became1 as was natural1         
perfectly selfish4 ,it was always3 ,am  
,i saved8  ,am ,i doing the right thing8
 ,am ,i winning the favor of ,god and   
man8  ,will my claims to salvation be   
allowed8 ,did ,i make a good bargain  in
 allowing ,jesus to be crucified for me8
 ,the poison of a diseased              
self-consciousness entered into the     
whole human system4    ,as ,i say1 one  
must not blame the ,christians too much 
for all  this--partly because1 ,,after  
the communal periods which ,i have just 
mentioned1 ,christianity was evidently  
deeply influenced by the rise  of       
,,commercialism1 to which during the    
last two centuries it has so  carefully 
and piously adapted itself2 and partly  
because--if our view is  anywhere near  
right--this microbial injection of      
self-consciousness was  just the        
necessary work which 7in conjunction    

with commercialism7 it ,,had  to        
perform4 ,but though one does not blame 
,christianity one cannot blind  oneself 
to its defects--the defects necessarily 
arising from the part it  had to play4  
,when one compares a healthy ,pagan     
ritual--say of ,apollo or               
,dionysus--including its rude and crude 
sacrifices if you like1 but also        
including its whole-hearted spontaneity 
and dedication to the common  life and  
welfare--with the morbid                
self-introspection of the ,christian    
and the eternally recurring question    
,what shall ,i do to be saved8--the     
comparison is not favorable to the      
latter4 ,there is 7at any rate in       
modern days7 a mawkish                  
milk-and-wateriness about the ,christian
 attitude1  and also a painful          
self-consciousness1 which is not        
pleasant2 and though  ,nietzsche's      
blonde beast is a sufficiently          
disagreeable animal1 one  almost thinks 
that it were better to be ,,that than to

 go about with one's  head meekly       
hanging on one side1 and talking always 
of altruism and  self-sacrifice1 while  
in reality one's heart was entirely     
occupied with  the question of one's own
 salvation4 ,there is besides a         
lamentable want  of grit and substance  
about the ,christian doctrines and      
ceremonials4  ,somehow under the        
sex-taboo they became spiritualized and 
etherealized  out of all human use4     
,study the initiation-rites of any      
savage  tribe--with their strict        
discipline of the young braves in       
fortitude1  and the overcoming of pain  
and fear2 with their very detailed      
lessons in  the arts of war and life and
 the duties of the grown man to his     
tribe2  and with their quite practical  
instruction in matters of ,sex2 and then
  read our little ,baptismal and        
,confirmation services1 which ought to  
correspond thereto4 ,how thin and       
attenuated and weak the latter  appear6 
,or compare the ,holy ,communion1 as    

celebrated in the sentimental           
atmosphere of a ,protestant ,church1    
with an ancient ,eucharistic feast of   
real jollity and community of life under
 the acknowledged presence  of the god2 
or the ,roman ,catholic service of the  
,mass1 including its  genuflexions and  
mock oblations and droning ritual       
sing-song1 with the  actual sacrifice in
 early days of an animal-god-victim on a
 blazing  altar2 and ,i think my meaning
 will be clear4 ,we do not want1 of     
course1  to return to all the crudities 
and barbarities of the past2 but also we
  do not want to become attenuated and  
spiritualized out of all mundane  sense 
and recognition1 and to live in an      
otherworld ,paradise void of            
application to earthly affairs4    ,the 
sex-taboo in ,christianity was          
apparently1 as ,i have said1 an effort  
of the human soul to wrest itself free  
from the entanglement of physical       
lust--which lust1 though normal and     
appropriate and in a way gracious  among

 the animals1 had through the domination
 of self-consciousness  become diseased 
and morbid or monstrous in ,man4 ,the   
work thus done has  probably been of the
 greatest value to the human race2 but1 
just as in  other cases it has sometimes
 happened that the effort to do a       
certain  work has resulted in the end in
 an unbalanced exaggeration so here4 ,we
  are beginning to see now the harmful  
side of the repression of sex1 and  are 
tentatively finding our way back again  
to a more pagan attitude4  ,and as this 
return-movement is taking place at a    
time when1 from many  obvious signs1 the
 self-conscious1 grasping1 commercial   
conception of  life is preparing to go  
on the wane1 and the sense of solidarity
 to  re-establish itself1 there is      
really good hope that our return-journey
  may prove in some degree successful4  
,man progresses generally1 not both legs
 at once like a sparrow1 but  by putting
 one leg forward first1 and then the    
other4 ,there was this  advantage in the

 ,christian taboo of sex that by        
discouraging the  physical and sensual  
side of love it did for the time being  
allow the  spiritual side to come       
forward4 ,but1 as ,i have just now      
indicated1  there is a limit to that    
process4 ,we cannot always keep one leg 
first in  walking1 and we do not want1  
in life1 always to put the spiritual    
first1  nor always the material and     
sensual4 ,the two sides in the long run 
have  to keep pace with each other4     
,and it may be that a great number of   
the very curious and seemingly          
senseless taboos that we find among the 
primitive peoples can be partly         
explained in this way3 that is1 that by 
ruling out certain directions  of       
activity they enabled people to         
concentrate more effectually1 for  the  
time being1 on other directions4 ,to    
primitive folk the great world1  whose  
ways are puzzling enough in all         
conscience to us1 must have been  simply
 bewildering in its dangers and         

complications4 ,it was an amazement  of 
,fear and ,ignorance4 ,thunderbolts     
might come at any moment out of the     
blue sky1 or a demon out of an old tree 
trunk1 or a devastating plague  out of a
 bad smell--or apparently even out of   
nothing at all6 ,under  those           
circumstances it was perhaps wise1      
wherever there was the smallest         
,,suspicion of danger or ill-luck1 to   
create a hard and fast ,,taboo--just  as
 we tell our children ,,on ,,no         
,,account to walk under a ladder        
7thereby  creating a superstition in    
their minds71 partly because it would   
take  too long to explain all about the 
real dangers of paint-pots and other    
things1 and partly because for the      
children themselves it seems simpler  to
 have a fixed and inviolable law than to
 argue over every case that  occurs4    
,the priests and elders among early folk
 no doubt took the  line of ,,forbiddal 
of activities1 as safer and simpler1    
even if  carried sometimes too far1 than

 the opposite1 of easy permission and   
encouragement4 ,taboos multiplied--many 
of them quite senseless--but  perhaps in
 this perilous maze of the world1 of    
which ,i have spoken1  it really ,,was  
simpler to cut out a large part of the  
labyrinth1 as  forbidden ground1 thus   
rendering it easier for the people to   
find their  way in those portions of the
 labyrinth which remained4 ,if you read 
in  ,deuteronomy 7ch4 xiv7 the list of  
birds and beasts and fishes permitted   
for food among the ,israelites1 or      
tabooed1 you will find the list on  the 
whole reasonable1 but you will be struck
 by some curious exceptions  7according 
to our ideas71 which are probably to be 
explained by the  necessity of making   
the rules simple enough to be           
comprehended by  everybody--even if they
 included the forbiddal of some quite   
eatable  animals4    ,at some early     
period1 in ,babylonia or ,assyria1 a    
very stringent taboo on  the ,sabbath   
arose1 which1 taken up in turn by the   

,jewish and ,christian  ,churches1 has  
ruled the ,western ,world for three     
thousand years or more1  and still      
survives in a quite senseless form among
 some of our rural  populations1 who    
will see their corn rot in the fields   
rather than save  it on a ,sunday4 7#a7 
,it is quite likely that this taboo in  
its first  beginning was due not to any 
need of a weekly rest-day 7a need which 
could never be felt among nomad savages1
 but would only occur in  some kind of  
industrial and stationary civilization71
 but to some  superstitious fear1       
connected with such things as the       
changes of the  ,moon1 and the probable 
,,ill-,,luck of any enterprise          
undertaken on the  seventh day1 or any  
day of ,moon-change4 ,it is probable1   
however1 that as  time went on and      
,society became more complex1 the       
advantages of a weekly  ,,rest-,,day 7or
 market-day7 became more obvious and    
that the priests and  legislators       
deliberately turned the taboo to a      

social use4 7#b7 ,the  learned modern   
,ethnologists1 however1 will generally  
have none of this  latter idea4 ,as a   
rule they delight in representing early 
peoples as  totally destitute of common 
sense 7which is supposed to be a        
monopoly  of us moderns672 and if the   
,sabbath-arrangement has had any value  
or  use they insist on ascribing this to
 pure accident1 and not to the          
application of any sane argument or     
reason4     7#a7 ,for other absurd      
,sunday taboos see ,westermarck on ,the 
,moral  ,ideas1 vol4 ii1 p4 #bhi4       
7#b7 ,for a tracing of this taboo from  
useless superstition to  practical      
utility see ,hastings's ,encycl4        
,religion and ,ethics1 art4 ,the        
,sabbath4      ,it is true indeed that a
 taboo--in order to be a proper         
taboo--must not  rest in the general    
mind on argument or reason4 ,it may have
 had good  sense in the past or even an 
underlying good sense in the present1   
but  its foundation must rest on        

something beyond4 ,it must be an        
absolute  fiat--something of the nature 
of a ,mystery 7#a7 or of ,religion or   
,magic-and not to be disputed4 ,this    
gives it its blood-curdling quality4    
,the rustic does not know what would    
happen to him if he garnered his  corn  
on ,sunday1 nor does the diner-out in   
polite society know what  would happen  
if he spooned up his food with his      
knife--but they both are  stricken with 
a sort of paralysis at the very         
suggestion of infringing  these taboos4 
7#a7 ,see ,westermarck1 ,ibid41 ii4     
#ehf4      ,marriage-customs have always
 been a fertile field for the generation
  of taboos4 ,it seems doubtful whether 
anything like absolute promiscuity  ever
 prevailed among the human race1 but    
there is much to show that wide  choice 
and intercourse were common among       
primitive folk and that the  tendency of
 later marriage custom has been on the  
whole to ,,limit this  range of choice4 
,at some early period the forbiddal of  

marriage between  those who bore the    
same totem-name took place4 ,thus in    
,australia no man  of the ,emu stock    
might marry an ,emu woman2 no           
,blacksnake might marry a  ,blacksnake  
woman1 and so forth4 7#a7 ,among the    
,kamilaroi and the ,arunta  of ,s4      
,australia the tribe was divided into   
classes or clans1 sometimes  four1      
sometimes eight1 and a man of one       
particular clan was only  marriageable  
with a woman of another particular      
clan--say 7#a7 with 7#c7  or 7#b7 with  
7#d71 and so on4 7#b7 ,customs with a   
similar tendency1 but  different in     
detail1 seem to have prevailed among    
native tribes in  ,central ,africa and  
,n4 ,america4 ,and the regulations in   
all this matter  have been so           
7apparently7 entirely arbitrary in the  
various cases that  it would almost     
appear as if the bar of kinship through 
the ,totem had  been the ,,excuse1      
originating perhaps in some             
superstition1 but that the  real and    

more abiding object was simply          
limitation4 ,and this perhaps was  a    
wise line to take4 ,a taboo on          
promiscuity had to be created1 and for  
this purpose any current prejudice could
 be made use of4 7#c7     7#a7 ,myth1   
,ritual and ,religion1 i1 p4 #ff4       
7#b7 ,see ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,native 
,tribes of ,australia4     7#c7 ,the    
author of ,the ,mystic ,rose seems to   
take this view4 ,see  p4 #bad of that   
book4      ,with us moderns the whole   
matter has taken a different complexion4
 ,when  we consider the enormous amount 
of suffering and disease1 both of mind  
and body1 arising from the              
sex-suppression of which ,i have just   
spoken1  especially among women1 we see 
that mere unreasoning taboos--which     
possibly had their place and use in the 
past--can be tolerated no  longer4 ,we  
are bound to turn the searchlight of    
reason and science on a  number of      
superstitions which still linger in the 
dark and musty  places of the ,churches 

and the ,law courts4 ,modern inquiry has
 shown  conclusively not only the       
foundational importance of sex in the   
evolution of each human being1 but also 
the very great ,,variety of  spontaneous
 manifestations in different individuals
 and the vital  necessity that these    
should be recognized1 if society is ever
 to expand  into a rational human form4 
,it is not my object here to sketch the 
future of marriage and sex-relations    
generally--a subject which is now  being
 dealt with very effectively from many  
sides2 but only to insist on  our using 
our good sense in the whole matter1 and 
refusing any longer to  be bound by     
senseless pre-judgments4    ,something  
of the same kind may be said with regard
 to ,nakedness1 which  in modern        
,civilization has become the object of a
 very serious and  indeed harmful taboo2
 both of speech and act4 ,as someone has
 said1 it  became in the end of the     
nineteenth century almost a crime to    
mention  by name any portion of the     

human body within a radius of about     
twenty  inches from its centre 767 and  
as a matter of fact a few               
dress-reformers  of that period were    
actually brought into court and treated 
as criminals  for going about with legs 
bare up to the knees1 and shoulders and 
chest  uncovered6 ,public follies such  
as these have been responsible for much 
of the bodily and mental disease and    
suppression just mentioned1 and  the    
sooner they are sent to limbo the       
better4 ,no sensible person  would      
advocate promiscuous nakedness any more 
than promiscuous  sex-relationship2 nor 
is it likely that aged and deformed     
people would  at any time wish to expose
 themselves4 ,but surely there is enough
 good  sense and appreciation of grace  
and fitness in the average human mind   
for it to be able to liberate the body  
from senseless concealment1 and  give it
 its due expression4 ,the ,greeks of    
old1 having on the whole  clean bodies1 
treated them with respect and           

distinction4 ,the young men  appeared   
quite naked in the palaestra1 and even  
the girls of ,sparta ran  races publicly
 in the same condition2 7#a7 and some   
day when our  bodies 7and minds too7    
have become clean we shall return to    
similar  institutions4 ,but that will   
not be just yet4 ,as long as the        
defilement  of this commercial          
civilization is on us we shall prefer   
our dirt and  concealment4 ,the powers  
that be will protest against change4    
,heinrich  ,scham1 in his charming      
little pamphlet ,nackende ,menschen1    
7#b7 describes  the consternation of the
 commercial people at such ideas3       
',what will become of us1' cried the    
tailors1 'if you go naked8'    ,and all 
the lot of them1 hat1 cravat1 shirt1 and
 shoemakers joined in  the chorus4      
',,and ,,where ,,shall ,i ,,carry ,,my  
,,money8' cried one who had just been   
made a  director4       7#a7 ,see       
,theocritus1 ,idyll xviii4     7#b7     
,published at ,leipzig about #ahic4     

,,xiii4 ,,the ,,genesis ,,of            
,,christianity    ,referring back to the
 existence of something resembling a    
great  ,world-religion which has come   
down the centuries1 continually         
expanding  and branching in the process1
 we have now to consider the genesis of 
that special brand or branch of it which
 we call ,christianity4 ,each  religion 
or cult1 pagan or ,christian1 has had1  
as we have seen1 a vast  amount in      
common with the general ,world-religion2
 yet each has had its  own special      
characteristics4 ,what have been the    
main characteristics of  the ,christian 
branch1 as differentiating it from the  
other branches8    ,we saw in the last  
chapter that a certain ascetic attitude 
towards ,sex  was one of the most       
salient marks of the ,christian ,church2
 and that  whereas most of the pagan    
cults 7though occasionally favoring     
frightful  austerities and cruel        
sacrifices7 did on the whole rejoice in 
pleasure  and the world of the senses1  

,christianity--following largely on     
,judaism--displayed a tendency towards  
renunciation of the world and the       
flesh1 and a withdrawal into the inner  
and more spiritual regions of the  mind4
 ,the same tendency may be traced in the
 ,egyptian and ,phrygian cults  of that 
period4 ,it will be remembered how      
,juvenal 7,sat4 ,,vi1 #eaj-dj7  chaffs  
the priests of ,cybele at ,rome for     
making themselves eunuchs for  the      
kingdom of heaven's sake1 or the rich   
,roman lady for plunging in  the wintry 
,tiber for a propitiation to ,isis4 ,no 
doubt among the later  pagans the long  
intolerable tyranny of the senses over  
the soul had  become a very serious     
matter4 ,but ,christianity represented  
perhaps the  most powerful reaction     
against this2 and this reaction had1 as 
indicated  in the last chapter1 the     
enormously valuable result that 7for the
 time7  it disentangled love from sex   
and established ,love1 pure and         
undefiled1  as ruler of the world4 ,god 

is ,love4 ,but1 as also indicated1 the  
divorce between the two elements of     
human nature1 carried to an extreme1    
led in time to a crippling of both      
elements and the development of a       
certain morbidity and self-consciousness
 which1 it cannot be denied1 is         
painfully marked among some sections of 
,christians--especially those of  the   
altruistic and 'philanthropic' type4    
,another characteristic of ,christianity
 which is also very fine in  its way but
 has its limits of utility1 has been its
 insistence on  morality4 ,some modern  
writers indeed have gone so             
far--forgetting1 ,i  suppose1 the       
,stoics--as to claim that               
,christianity's chief mark is its  high 
morality1 and that the pagans generally 
were quite wanting in the  moral sense6 
,this1 of course1 is a profound mistake4
 ,i should say that1  in the true sense 
of the word1 the early and tribal       
peoples have been  much more 'moral' as 
a rule--that is1 ready as individuals to

 pay  respect to the needs of the       
community--than the later and more      
civilized  societies4 ,but the mistake  
arises from the different               
interpretations of  the word2 for       
whereas all the pagan religions insisted
 very strongly on  the just-mentioned   
kind of morality1 which we should call  
civic duty to  one's neighbor1 the      
,christian made morality to consist more
 especially  in a man's duty to ,god4   
,it became with them a private affair   
between a  man's self and ,god1 rather  
than a public affair2 and thus led in   
the end  to a very obnoxious and quite  
pharisaic kind of morality1 whose chief 
inspiration was not the helping of one's
 fellow-man but the saving of  one's own
 soul4    ,there may perhaps be other   
salient points of differentiation       
between  ,christianity and the preceding
 pagan religions2 but for the present we
  may recognize these two--7a7 the      
tendency towards a renunciation of the  
world1 and the consequent cultivation of

 a purely spiritual love and 7b7  the   
insistence on a morality whose          
inspiration was a private sense of  duty
 to ,god rather than a public sense of  
duty to one's neighbor and to  society  
generally4 ,it may be interesting to    
trace the causes which led  to this     
differentiation4    ,three centuries    
before our era the conquests of         
,alexander had had the  effect of       
spreading the ,greek thought and culture
 over most of the known  world4 ,a vast 
number of small bodies of worshipers of 
local deities1  with their various      
rituals and religious customs1 had thus 
been broken  up1 or at least brought    
into contact with each other and        
partially  modified and hellenized4 ,the
 orbit of a more general conception of  
life  and religion was already being    
traced4 ,by the time of the founding of 
the first ,christian ,church the immense
 conquests of ,rome had greatly         
extended and established the process4   
,the ,mediterranean had become a  great 

,roman lake4 ,merchant ships and routes 
of traffic crossed it in all            
directions2 tourists visited its shores4
 ,the known world had become one4  ,the 
numberless peoples1 tribes1 nations1    
societies within the girdle of  the     
,empire1 with their various languages1  
creeds1 customs1 religions1             
philosophies1 were profoundly           
influencing each other4 7#a7 ,a great   
fusion  was taking place2 and it was    
becoming inevitable that the next great 
religious movement would have a         
world-wide character4     7#a7 ,for an  
enlargement on this theme see ,glover's 
,conflict of  ,religions in the early   
,roman ,empire2 also ,s4 ,j4 ,case1     
,evolution of  ,early ,christianity     
7,university of ,chicago1 #aiad74 ,the  
,adonis worship1 for  instance 7a       
resurrection-cult71 was still thriving  
in ,syria and ,cyprus  when ,paul       
preached there1 and the worship of ,isis
 and ,serapis had  already reached then1
 ,rome and ,naples4      ,it was        

probable that this new religion would   
combine many elements from  the         
preceding rituals in one cult4 ,in      
connection with the fine temples  and   
elaborate services of ,isis and ,cybele 
and ,mithra there was growing  up a     
powerful priesthood2 ,franz ,cumont 7#a7
 speaks of the learned  priests of the  
,asiatic cults as building up1 on the   
foundations of old  fetichism and       
superstition1 a complete religious      
philosophy--just as  the ,brahmins had  
built the monism of the ,vedanta on the 
monstrous  idolatries of ,hinduism4 ,and
 it was likely that a similar process   
would  evolve the new religion expected4
 ,toutain again calls attention to the  
patronage accorded to all these cults by
 the ,roman ,emperors1 as favoring  a   
new combination and                     
synthesis3--,hadrien1 ,commode1 ,septime
 ,svre1  ,julia ,domna1 ,elagabal1      
,alexandre ,svre1 en particulier ont    
contribu  personnellement a la popularit
 et au succes des cultes qui se         

celebraient en l'honneur de ,serapis et 
d',isis1 des divinits syriennes  et de  
,mithra4 7#b7     7#a7 ,see ,cumont1    
,religions ,orientales dans le          
,paganisme ,romain  7,paris1 #aijf71 p4 
#bec4     7#b7 ,cultes paiens dans      
l',empire ,romain 7#b vols41 #aiaa71    
vol4 ii1  p4 #bfc4      ,it was also    
probable that this new ,religion would  
show 7as indicated  in the last chapter7
 a reaction against mere sex-indulgence2
 and1  as regards its standard of       
,morality generally1 that1 among so many
  conflicting peoples with their various
 civic and local customs1 it could  not 
well identify itself with any ,,one of  
these but would evolve an  inner        
inspiration of its own which in its best
 form would be love of the  neighbor1   
regardless of the race1 creed or customs
 of the neighbor1 and  whose sanction   
would not reside in any of the external 
authorities  thus conflicting with each 
other1 but in the sense of the soul's   
direct  responsibility to ,god4    ,so  

much for what we might expect a priori  
as to the influence of the  surroundings
 on the general form of the new         
,religion4 ,and what about the  kind of 
creed or creeds which that religion     
would favor8 ,here again  we must see   
that the influence of the surroundings  
compelled a certain  result4 ,those     
doctrines which we have described in the
 preceding  chapters--doctrines of ,sin 
and ,sacrifice1 a ,savior1 the          
,eucharist1 the  ,trinity1 the          
,virgin-birth1 and so forth--were in    
their various forms  seething1 so to    
speak1 all around4 ,it was impossible   
for any new  religious synthesis to     
escape them2 all it could do would be to
  appropriate them1 and to give them    
perhaps a color of its own4 ,thus  it is
 into the midst of this germinating mass
 that we must imagine the  various pagan
 cults1 like fertilizing streams1       
descending4 ,to trace all  these streams
 would of course be an impossible task2 
but it may be of  use1 as an example of 

the process1 to take the case of some   
particular  belief4 ,let us take the    
belief in the coming of a ,savior-god2  
and this  will be the more suitable as  
it is a belief which has in the past    
been  commonly held to be distinctive of
 ,christianity4 ,of course we know now  
that it is not in any sense distinctive1
 but that the long tradition of  the    
,savior comes down from the remotest    
times1 and perhaps from every  country  
of the world4 7#a7 ,the ,messianic      
prophecies of the ,jews and the         
fifty-third chapter of ,isaiah emptied  
themselves into the ,christian          
teachings1 and infected them to some    
degree with a ,judaic tinge4 ,the       
,messiah means of course the ,anointed  
,one4 ,the ,hebrew word occurs some  #dj
 times in the ,old ,testament2 and each 
time in the ,septuagint or ,greek       
translation 7made mainly in the third   
century ,,before our era7 the word  is  
translated gr cristos1 or ,christos1    
which again means ,anointed4  ,thus we  

see that the idea or the word ,the      
,christ was in vogue in  ,alexandria as 
far back certainly as #bhj ,b4,c41 or   
nearly three centuries  before ,jesus4  
,and what the word ,the ,anointed       
strictly speaking means1  and from what 
the expression is probably derived1 will
 appear later4 ,in  ,the ,book of       
,enoch1 written not later than ,b4,c4   
#agj1 7#b7 the ,christ is  spoken of as 
already existing in heaven1 and about to
 come as judge  of all men1 and is      
definitely called the ,son of ,man4 ,the
 ,book of  ,revelations is ,,full of    
passages from ,enoch2 so are the        
,epistles of ,paul2  so too the         
,gospels4 ,the ,book of ,enoch believes 
in a ,golden ,age that is  to come2 it  
has ,dantesque visions of ,heaven and   
,hell1 and of ,angels good  and evil1   
and it speaks of a garden of            
,righteousness with the ,tree of        
,wisdom in its midst4 ,everywhere1 says 
,prof4 ,drews1 in the first century     
,b4,c41 there was the longing for a     

coming ,savior4     7#a7 ,even to-day1  
the ,arabian lands are always vibrating 
with  prophecies of a coming ,mahdi4    
7#b7 ,see ,edition by ,r4 ,h4 ,charles  
7#ahic74      ,but the ,savior-god1 as  
we also know1 was a familiar figure in  
,egypt4 ,the  great ,osiris was the     
,savior of the world1 both in his life  
and death3 in  his life through the     
noble works he wrought for the benefit  
of mankind1  and in his death through   
his betrayal by the powers of darkness  
and  his resurrection from the tomb and 
ascent into heaven4 7#a7 ,the ,egyptian 
doctrines descended through ,alexandria 
into ,christianity--and though  they did
 not influence the latter deeply until  
about #cjj ,a4,d41 yet they  then       
succeeded in reaching the ,christian    
,churches1 giving a color to  their     
teachings with regard to the ,savior1   
and persuading them to accept  and honor
 the ,egyptian worship of ,isis in the  
,christian form of the  ,virgin ,mary4  
7#a7 ,see ch4 ii4      ,again1 another  

great stream of influence descended from
 ,persia in the  form of the cult of    
,mithra4 ,mithra1 as we have seen1 7#a7 
stood as a  great ,mediator between ,god
 and man4 ,with his baptisms and        
eucharists1  and his twelve disciples1  
and his birth in a cave1 and so forth1  
he seemed to the early ,fathers an      
invention of the devil and a most       
dangerous mockery on ,christianity--and 
all the more so because his  worship was
 becoming so exceedingly popular4 ,the  
cult seems to have  reached ,rome about 
,b4,c4 #gj4 ,it spread far and wide     
through the ,empire4  ,it extended to   
,great ,britain1 and numerous remains of
 ,mithraic  monuments and sculptures in 
this country--at ,york1 ,chester and    
other  places--testify to its wide      
acceptance even here4 ,at ,rome the     
vogue of  ,mithraism became so great    
that in the third century ,a4 ,d41 it   
was quite  doubtful 7#b7 whether it ,,or
 ,christianity would triumph2 the       
,emperor  ,aurelian in #bgc founded a   

cult of the ,invincible ,sun in         
connection with  ,mithraism2 7#c7 and as
 ,st4 ,jerome tells us in his letters1  
7#d7 the latter  cult had at a later    
time to be suppressed in ,rome and      
,alexandria by  ,,physical ,,force1 so  
powerful was it4     7#a7 ,ch4 ii4      
7#b7 ,see ,cumont1 op4 cit41 who says1  
p4 #aga3--;,jamais1 pas meme a  l'epoque
 des invasions mussulmanes1 l',europe ne
 sembla plus pres  de devenir asiatique 
qu'au moment ou ,diocletien             
reconnaissait  officiellement en        
,mithra1 le protecteur de l'empire      
reconstitue4 ,see  also ,cumont's       
,mysteres de ,mithra1 preface4 ,the     
,roman ,army1 in fact1  stuck to ,mithra
 throughout1 as against ,christianity2  
and so did the  ,roman nobility4 7,see  
,s4 ,augustine's ,confessions1 ,book    
,,viii1 ch4 #b47     7#c7 ,cumont indeed
 says that the identification of ,mithra
 with the  ,sun 7the emblem of imperial 
power7 formed one reason why ,mithraism 
was  ,,not persecuted at that time4     

7#d7 ,epist4 cvii1 ad ,laetam4 ,see     
,robertson's ,pagan ,christs1 p4  #cej4 
,nor was force the only method employed4
 ,,imitation is not only the  sincerest 
flattery1 but it is often the most      
subtle and effective way of  defeating a
 rival4 ,the priests of the rising      
,christian ,church were1 like  the      
priests of ,,all religions1 not wanting 
in craft2 and at this moment  when the  
question of a ,world-religion was in the
 balance1 it was an  obvious policy for 
them to throw into their own scale as   
many elements  as possible of the       
popular ,pagan cults4 ,mithraism had    
been flourishing  for #fjj years2 and it
 is1 to say the least1 ,,curious that   
the ,mithraic  doctrines and legends    
which ,i have just mentioned should all 
have been  adopted 7quite               
unintentionally of course67 into        
,christianity2 and still  more so that  
some others from the same source1 like  
the legend of the  ,shepherds at the    
,nativity and the doctrine of the       

,resurrection and  ,ascension1 which are
 ,,not mentioned at all in the original 
draft of the  earliest ,gospel 7,st4    
,mark71 should have made their          
appearance1 in the  ,christian writings 
at a later time1 when ,mithraism was    
making great  forward strides4 ,history 
shows that as a ,church progresses and  
expands  it generally feels compelled to
 enlarge and fortify its own foundations
  by inserting material which was not   
there at first4 ,i shall shortly give   
another illustration of this2 at present
 ,i will merely point out  that the     
,christian writers1 as time went on1 not
 only introduced new  doctrines1        
legends1 miracles and so forth--most of 
which we can trace to  antecedent pagan 
sources--but that they took especial    
pains to  destroy the pagan records and 
so obliterate the evidence of their own 
dishonesty4 ,we learn from ,porphyry    
7#a7 that there were several elaborate  
treatises setting forth the religion of 
,mithra2 and ,j4 ,m4 ,robertson adds    

7,pagan ,christs1 p4 #cbe73 everyone of 
these has been destroyed by the  care of
 the ,church1 and it is remarkable that 
even the treatise of  ,firmicus is      
mutilated at a passage 7v47 where he    
seems to be accusing  ,christians of    
following ,mithraic usages4 ,while again
 ,professor ,murray  says1 ,the polemic 
literature of ,christianity is loud and 
triumphant2  the books of the ,pagans   
have been ,,destroyed4 7#b7     7#a7 ,de
 ,abstinentia1 ii4 #ef2 iv4 #af4        
7#b7 ,four ,stages1 p4 #ahj4 ,we have   
probably an instance of this            
destruction in the total disappearance  
of ,celsus' lively attack  on           
,christianity 7#ahj ,a4,d471 of which1  
however1 portions have been  fortunately
 preserved in ,origen's rather prolix   
refutation of the same4      ,returning 
to the doctrine of the ,savior1 ,i have 
already in preceding  chapters given so 
many instances of belief in such a deity
 among the  pagans--whether he be called
 ,krishna or ,mithra or ,osiris or      

,horus or  ,apollo or ,hercules--that it
 is not necessary to dwell on the       
subject any  further in order to        
persuade the reader that the doctrine   
was 'in the  air' at the time of the    
advent of ,christianity4 ,even          
,dionysus1 then  a prominent figure in  
the ',mysteries1' was called            
,eleutherios1 ,the  ,deliverer4 ,but it 
may be of interest to trace the same    
doctrine among  the ,,pre-,,christian   
sects of ,gnostics4 ,the ,gnostics1 says
 ,professor  ,murray1 7#a7 are still    
commonly thought of as a body of        
,,christian  heretics4 ,in reality there
 were ,gnostic sects scattered over the 
,hellenistic world ,,before             
,christianity as well as after4 ,they   
must have  been established in ,antioch 
and probably in ,tarsus well before the 
days of ,paul or ,apollos4 ,their       
,savior1 like the ,jewish ,messiah1 was 
established in men's minds before the   
,savior of the ,christians4 ',if  we    
look close1' says ,professor ,bousset1  

'the result emerges with great          
clearness that the figure of the        
,redeemer as such did not wait for      
,christianity to force its way into the 
religion of ,gnosis1 but was  already   
present there under various forms4'     
7#a7 ,four ,stages1 p4 #adc4      ,this 
,gnostic ,redeemer1 continues ,professor
 ,murray1 is descended by a  fairly     
clear genealogy from the ',tritos       
,soter' 7'third ,savior'7 7#a7 of  early
 ,greece1 contaminated with similar     
figures1 like ,attis and ,adonis  from  
,asia ,minor1 ,osiris from ,egypt1 and  
the special ,jewish conception of  the  
,messiah of the ,chosen people4 ,he has 
various names1 which the name  of ,jesus
 or ',christos1' 'the ,anointed1' tends 
gradually to supersede4  ,above all1 he 
is in some sense ,man1 or 'the second   
,man' or 'the ,son of  ,man'444 ,he is  
the real1 the ultimate1 the perfect and 
eternal ,man1 of  whom all bodily men   
are feeble copies4 7#b7     7#a7 ,there 
seems to be some doubt about the exact  

meaning of this  expression4 ,even ,zeus
 himself was sometimes called ',soter1' 
and at  feasts1 it is said1 the ,,third 
goblet was always drunk in his honor4   
7#b7 ,see also ,the ,gnostic ,story of  
,jesus ,christ1 by ,gilbert ,t4  ,sadler
 7,c4 ,w4 ,daniel1 #aiai74      ,this   
passage brings vividly before the mind  
the process of which ,i  have spoken1   
namely1 the fusion and mutual           
interchange of ideas on the  subject of 
the ,savior during the period anterior  
to our era4 ,also it  exemplifies to us 
through what an abstract sphere of      
,gnostic religious  speculation the     
doctrine had to travel before reaching  
its expression in  ,christianity4 7#a7  
,this exalted and high philosophical    
conception passed  on and came out again
 to some degree in the ,fourth ,gospel  
and the  ,pauline ,epistles 7especially 
,i ,cor4 xv72 but ,i need hardly say it 
was not maintained4 ,the enthusiasm of  
the little scattered ,christian         
bodies--with their communism of practice

 with regard to ,,this world and  their 
intensity of faith with regard to the   
next--began to wane in the  second and  
third centuries ,a4,d4 ,as the ,church  
7with capital initial7  grew1 so was it 
less and less occupied with real        
religious feeling1 and  more and more   
with its battles against persecution    
from outside1 and its  quarrels and     
dissensions concerning heresies within  
its own borders4 ,and  when at the      
,council of ,nicaea 7#cbe ,a4,d47 it    
endeavored to establish an  official    
creed1 the strife and bitterness only   
increased4 ,there is no  wild beast1    
said the ,emperor ,julian1 like an angry
 theologian4 ,where  the fourth         
,evangelist had preached the gospel of  
,love1 and ,paul had  announced         
redemption by an inner and spiritual    
identification with  ,christ1 ,as in    
,adam all die1 so in ,christ shall all  
be made alive2  and whereas some at any 
rate of the ,pagan cults had taught a   
glorious  salvation by the new birth of 

a divine being within each man3 ,be of  
good cheer1 ,o initiates in the mystery 
of the liberated god2 ,for to  you too  
out of all your labors and sorrows shall
 come ,liberation--the  ,nicene creed   
had nothing to propound except some     
extremely futile  speculations about the
 relation to each other of the ,father  
and the  ,son1 and the relation of      
,,both to the ,holy ,ghost1 and of all  
,,three to the  ,virgin                 
,mary--speculations which only served   
for the renewal of shameful  strife and 
animosities--riots and bloodshed and    
murder--within the  ,church1 and the    
mockery of the heathen without4 ,and as 
far as it dealt  with the crucifixion1  
death and resurrection of the ,lord it  
did not  differ from the score of       
preceding pagan creeds1 except in the   
thorough  materialism and lack of poetry
 in statement which it exhibits4 ,after 
the ,council of ,nicaea1 in fact1 the   
,judaic tinge in the doctrines of the   
,church becomes more apparent1 and more 

and more its ,scheme of ,salvation      
through ,christ takes the character of a
 rather sordid and huckstering  bargain 
by which ,man gets the better of ,god by
 persuading the latter  to sacrifice his
 own ,son for the redemption of the     
world6 ,with the  exception of a few    
episodes like the formation during the  
,middle ,ages of  the noble brotherhoods
 and sisterhoods of ,frairs and ,nuns1  
dedicated to  the help and healing of   
suffering humanity1 and the appearance  
of a few  real lovers of mankind 7and   
the animals7 like ,st4 ,francis--7and   
these  manifestations can hardly be     
claimed by the ,church1 which pretty    
consistently opposed them7--it may be   
said that after about the fourth        
century the real spirit and light of    
early ,christian enthusiasm died  away4 
,the incursions of barbarian tribes from
 the ,north and ,east1 and  later of    
,moors and ,arabs from the ,south1      
familiarized the ,european  peoples with
 the ideas of bloodshed and violence2   

gross and material  conceptions of life 
were in the ascendant2 and a romantic   
and aspiring  ,christianity gave place  
to a worldly and vulgar ,churchianity4  
7#a7 ,when travelling in ,india ,i found
 that the ,gnanis or ,wise ,men  there  
quite commonly maintained that ,jesus   
7judging from his teaching7  must have  
been initiated at some time in the      
esoteric doctrines of the  ,vedanta4    
,i have in these two or three pages     
dealt only--and that very  briefly--with
 the entry of the pagan doctrine of the 
,savior into the  ,christian field1     
showing its transformation there and how
 ,christianity  could not well escape   
having a doctrine of a ,savior1 or avoid
 giving a  color of its own to that     
doctrine4 ,to follow out the same course
  with other doctrines1 like those which
 ,i have mentioned above1 would         
obviously be an endless task--which must
 be left to each student or  reader to  
pursue according to his opportunity and 
capacity4 ,it is clear  anyhow1 that all

 these elements of the pagan            
religions--pouring down  into the vast  
reservoir1 or rather whirlpool1 of the  
,roman ,empire1  and mixing among all   
these numerous brotherhoods1 societies1 
collegia1  mystery-clubs1 and groups    
which were at that time looking out     
intently  for some new revelation or    
inspiration--did more or less           
automatically  act and react upon each  
other1 and by the general conditions    
prevailing  were modified1 till they    
ultimately combined and took united     
shape  in the movement which we call    
,christianity1 but which only--as ,i    
have  said--narrowly escaped being      
called ,mithraism--so nearly related and
  closely allied were these cults with  
each other4      ,at this point it will 
naturally be asked3 ,and where in this  
scheme of  the ,genesis of ,christianity
 is the chief figure and accredited     
leader of  the movement--namely ,jesus  
,christ himself--for to all appearance  
in the  account here given of the matter

 he is practically non-existent or a    
negligible quantity8 ,and the question  
is a very pertinent one1 and very       
difficult to answer4 ,where is the      
founder of the ,religion8--or to  put it
 in another form3 ,is it necessary to   
suppose a human and visible  ,founder at
 all8 ,a few years ago such a mere      
question would have been  accounted rank
 blasphemy1 and would only--if passed   
over--have been  ignored on account of  
its supposed absurdity4 ,to-day1        
however1 owing to  the enormous amount  
of work which has been done of late on  
the  subject of ,christian origins1 the 
question takes on quite a different     
complexion4 ,and from ,strauss onwards a
 growingly influential and learned  body
 of critics is inclined to regard the   
whole story of the ,gospels as          
,,legendary4 ,arthur ,drews1 for        
instance1 a professor at ,karlsruhe1 in 
his  celebrated book ,the ,christ-,myth1
 7#a7 places ,david ,f4 ,strauss as     
first  in the myth field--though he     

allows that ,dupuis in ,l'origine de    
tous  les cultes 7#agie7 had given the  
clue to the whole idea4 ,he then        
mentions  ,bruno ,bauer 7#ahgg7 as      
contending that ,jesus was a pure       
invention  of ,mark's1 and ,john ,m4    
,robertson as having in his             
,christianity and  ,mythology 7#aijj7   
given the first thoroughly reasoned     
exposition of the  legendary theory2    
also ,emilio ,bossi in ,italy1 who wrote
 ,jesu ,christo  non e mai esistito1 and
 similar authors in ,holland1 ,poland1  
and other  countries1 including ,w4     
,benjamin ,smith1 the ,american author  
of ,the  ,pre-christian ,jesus 7#aijf71 
and ,p4 ,jensen in ,das ,gilgamesch     
,epos in  den ,welt-literatur 7#aijf71  
who makes the ,jesus-story a variant of 
the  ,babylonian epic1 #bjjj ,b4,c4 ,a  
pretty strong list6 7#b7 ,but1 continues
  ,drews1 ordinary historians still     
ignore all this4 ,finally1 he  dismisses
 ,jesus as a figure swimming obscurely  
in the mists of  tradition4             

,nevertheless ,i need hardly remark     
that1 large and learned  as the body of 
opinion here represented is1 a still    
larger 7but less  learned7 body fights  
desperately for the actual ,,historicity
 of ,jesus1  and some even still for the
 old view of him as a quite unique and  
miraculous revelation of ,godhood on    
earth4     7#a7 ,die ,christus-mythe3   
verbesserte und erweitezte ,ausgabe1    
,jena1  #aiaj4     7#b7 ,to which we may
 also add ,schweitzer's ,quest of the   
historical  ,jesus 7#aiaj74      ,at    
first1 no doubt1 the ,,legendary theory 
seems a little ,,too far-fetched4       
,there is a fashion in all these things1
 and it ,,may be that there is a        
fashion even here4 ,but when you reflect
 how rapidly legends grow up even  in   
these days of exact ,science and an     
omniscient ,press2 how the figure  of   
,shakespeare1 dead only #cjj years1 is  
almost completely lost in  the mist of  
,time1 and even the authenticity of his 
works has become a  subject of          

controversy2 when you find that ,william
 ,tell1 supposed to  have lived some    
#cjj years again before ,shakespeare1   
and whose deeds in  minutest detail have
 been recited and honored all over      
,europe1 is almost  certainly a pure    
invention1 and never existed2 when you  
remember--as  mentioned earlier in this 
book 7#a7--that it was more than five   
hundred  years after the supposed birth 
of ,jesus before any serious effort  was
 made to establish the date of that     
birth--and that then a purely  mythical 
date was chosen3 the #beth ,december1   
the day of the ,,sun',s new  birth after
 the winter solstice1 and the time of   
the supposed birth of  ,apollo1         
,bacchus1 and the other ,sungods2 when1 
moreover1 you think for  a moment what  
the state of historical criticism must  
have been1 and  the general standard of 
credibility1 #a1ijj years ago1 in a     
country like  ,syria1 and among an      
ignorant population1 where any story    
circulating  from lip to lip was assured

 of credence if sufficiently marvelous  
or imaginative2--why1 then the legendary
 theory does not seem so  improbable4   
,there is no doubt that after the       
destruction of ,jerusalem  7in ,a4,d4   
#gj71 little groups of believers in a   
redeeming ',christ' were  formed there  
and in other places1 just as there had  
certainly existed1  in the first century
 ,b4,c41 groups of ,gnostics1           
,therapeutae1 ,essenes and  others whose
 teachings were very ,,similar to the   
,christian1 and there was  now a demand 
from many of these groups for 'writings'
 and 'histories'  which should hearten  
and confirm the young and growing       
,churches4 ,the  ,gospels and ,epistles1
 of which there are still extant a great
 abundance1  both apocryphal and        
canonical1 met this demand2 but how far 
their  records of the person of ,jesus  
of ,nazareth are reliable history1 or   
how  far they are merely imaginative    
pictures of the kind of man the ,saviour
  might be expected to be1 7#b7 is a    

question which1 as ,i have already      
said1 is a difficult one for skilled    
critics to answer1 and one on which  ,i 
certainly have no intention of giving a 
positive verdict4 ,personally ,i  must  
say ,i think the 'legendary' solution   
quite likely1 and in some ways  more    
satisfactory than the opposite one--for 
the simple reason that  it seems much   
more encouraging to suppose that the    
story of ,jesus1  7gracious and         
beautiful as it is7 is a myth which     
gradually formed  itself in the         
conscience of mankind1 and thus points  
the way of  humanity's future evolution1
 than to suppose it to be the mere      
record  of an unique and miraculous     
interposition of ,providence1 which     
depended  entirely on the powers above1 
and could hardly be expected to occur   
again4     7#a7 ,ch4 ,,ii4     7#b7 ,one
 of ,celsus' accusations against the    
,christians was that  their ,gospels had
 been written several times over 7see   
,origen1 ,contra  ,celsum1 ii4 #bf1     

#bg74      ,however1 the question is not
 what we desire1 but what we can prove  
to be  the actual fact4 ,and certainly  
the difficulties in the way of regarding
  the ,gospel story 7or stories1 for    
there is not one consistent story7  as  
,,true are enormous4 ,if anyone will    
read1 for instance1 in the four         
,gospels1 the events of the night       
preceding the crucifixion and reckon    
the time which they would necessarily   
have taken to enact--the ,last  ,supper1
 the agony in the ,garden1 the betrayal 
by ,judas1 the haling  before ,caiaphas 
and the ,sanhedrin1 and then before     
,pilate in the ,hall  of judgment       
7though courts for the trial of         
malefactors do not ,,generally  sit in  
the middle of the night72 then--in      
,luke--the interposed visit to  ,herod1 
and the ,,return to ,pilate2 ,pilate's  
speeches and washing of hands  before   
the crowd2 then the scourging and the   
mocking and the arraying of  ,jesus in  
purple robe as a king2 then the         

preparation of a ,cross and the  long   
and painful journey to ,golgotha2 and   
finally the ,crucifixion at             
sunrise2--he will see--as has often been
 pointed out--that the whole  story is  
physically impossible4 ,as a record of  
actual events the story  is impossible2 
but as a record or series of notes      
derived from the  witnessing of a       
mystery-play--and such plays with ,,very
 ,,similar  incidents were common enough
 in antiquity in connection with cults  
of  a dying ,savior1 it very likely ,,is
 true 7one can see the very dramatic    
character of the incidents3 the washing 
of hands1 the threefold denial  by      
,peter1 the purple robe and crown of    
thorns1 and so forth72 and as  such it  
is now accepted by many well-qualified  
authorities4 7#a7     7#a7 ,dr4 ,frazer 
in ,the ,golden ,bough 7vol4 ix1 ,the   
,scapegoat1 p4  #djj7 speaks of the     
frequency in antiquity of a             
,mystery-play relating  to a ,god-man   
who gives his life and blood for the    

people2 and he  puts forward tentatively
 and by no means dogmatically the       
following  note3--,such a drama1 if we  
are right1 was the original story of    
,esther  and ,mordecai1 or 7to give     
their older names7 ,ishtar and ,marduk4 
,it was  played in ,babylonia1 and from 
,babylonia the returning ,captives      
brought  it to ,judaea1 where it was    
acted1 rather as an historical than a   
mythical piece1 by players who1 having  
to die in grim earnest on a  cross or   
gallows1 were naturally drawn from the  
gaol rather than the  green-room4 ,a    
chain of causes1 which because we cannot
 follow them  might--in the loose       
language of common life--be called an   
accident1  determined that the part of  
the dying god in this annual play should
  be thrust upon ,jesus of ,nazareth1   
whom the enemies he had made in high    
places by his outspoken strictures were 
resolved to put out of the way4  ,see   
also vol4 iv1 ,the ,dying ,god1 in the  
same book4      ,there are many other   

difficulties4 ,the raising of ,lazarus1 
already dead  three days1 the turning of
 water into wine 7a miracle attributed  
to  ,bacchus1 of old71 the feeding of   
the five thousand1 and others of the    
marvels are1 to say the least1 not easy 
of digestion4 ,the ,sermon on the       
,mount which1 with the ,lord's ,prayer  
embedded in it1 forms the great  and    
accepted repository of ',christian'     
teaching and piety1 is well known  to be
 a collection of sayings from           
pre-christian writings1 including the   
,psalms1 ,isaiah1 ,ecclesiasticus1 the  
,secrets of ,enoch1 the ,shemonehesreh  
7a book of ,hebrew prayers71 and others2
 and the fact that this  collection was 
really made ,,after the time of ,jesus1 
and could not  have originated from him1
 is clear from the stress which it lays 
on  persecutions and false              
prophets--things which were certainly   
not a  source of trouble at the time    
,jesus is supposed to be speaking1      
though  they were at a later time--as   

well as from the occurrence of the word 
,gentiles1 which being here used        
apparently in contra-distinction to     
,christians could not well be           
appropriate at a time when no recognized
  ,christian bodies as yet existed4     
,but the most remarkable point in this  
connection is the absolute  silence of  
the ,gospel of ,mark on the subject of  
the ,resurrection and  ,ascension--that 
is1 of the ,,original ,gospel1 for it is
 now allowed on  all hands that the     
twelve verses ,mark xvi4 #i to the end1 
are a later  insertion4 ,considering the
 nature of this event1 astounding       
indeed1 if  physically true1 and unique 
in the history of the world1 it is      
strange  that this ,gospel--the earliest
 written of the four ,gospels1 and      
nearest  in time to the actual          
evidence--makes no mention of it4 ,the  
next ,gospel  in point of time--that of 
,matthew--mentions the matter rather    
briefly  and timidly1 and reports the   
story that the body had been ,,stolen   

from  the sepulchre4 ,luke enlarges     
considerably and gives a whole long     
chapter  to the resurrection and        
ascension2 while the ,fourth ,gospel1   
written  fully twenty years later       
still--say about ,a4 ,d4 #abj--;gives   
two chapters  and a ,,great ,,variety   
,,of ,,details6    ,this increase of    
detail1 however1 as one gets farther and
 farther from  the actual event is just 
what one always finds1 as ,i have said  
before1  in legendary traditions4 ,a    
very interesting example of this has    
lately  come to light in the case of the
 traditions concerning the life and     
death of the ,persian ,bab4 ,the ,bab1  
as most of my readers will know1 was    
the ,founder of a great religious       
movement which now numbers 7or numbered 
before the ,great ,war7 some millions of
 adherents1 chiefly ,mahommedans1       
,christians1 ,jews and ,parsees4 ,the   
period of his missionary activity  was  
from #ahde to #ahej4 ,his ,gospel was   
singularly like that of ,jesus--a       

gospel of love to mankind--only 7as     
might be expected from the  difference  
of date7 with an even wider and more    
deliberate inclusion of  all classes1   
creeds and races1 sinners and saints2   
and the incidents and  entourage of his 
ministry were also singularly similar4  
,he was born at  ,shiraz in #ahbj1 and  
growing up a promising boy and youth1   
fell at the  age of #ba under the       
influence of a certain ,seyyid ,kazim1  
leader of a  heterodox sect1 and a kind 
of fore-runner or ,john the ,baptist to 
the  ,bab4 ,the result was a period of  
mental trouble 7like the temptation in  
the wilderness71 after which the youth  
returned to ,shiraz and at the  age of  
twenty-five began his own mission4 ,his 
real name was ,mirza ,ali  ,muhammad1   
but he called himself thenceforth ,the  
,bab1 i4e4 the ,gate 7,i  am the ,way72 
and gradually there gathered round him  
disciples1 drawn  by the fascination of 
his personality and the devotion of his 
character4  ,but with the rapid increase

 of his following great jealousy and    
hatred  were excited among the ,mullahs1
 the upholders of a fanatical and       
narrow-minded ,mahommedanism and quite  
corresponding to the ,scribes and       
,pharisees of the ,new ,testament4 ,by  
them he was denounced to the  ,turkish  
,government4 ,he was arrested on a      
charge of causing political             
disturbance1 and was condemned to death4
 ,among his disciples was one  favorite1
 7#a7 who was absolutely devoted to his 
,master and refused to  leave him at the
 last4 ,so together they were suspended 
over the city  wall 7at ,tabriz7 and    
simultaneously shot4 ,this was on the   
#hth ,july1  #ahej4     7#a7 ,mirza     
,muhammad ,ali2 and one should note the 
similarity of  the two names4      ,in  
,november #ahej--or between that date   
and ,october #ahea1 a book  appeared1   
written by one of the ,bab's earliest   
and most enthusiastic  disciples--a     
merchant of ,kashan--and giving in quite
 simple and  unpretending form a record 

of the above events4 ,there is in it no 
account of miracles or of great         
pretensions to godhood and the like4 ,it
  is just a plain history of the life   
and death of a beloved teacher4  ,it was
 cordially received and circulated far  
and wide2 and we have no  reason for    
doubting its essential veracity4 ,and   
even if proved now to be  inaccurate in 
one or two details1 this would not      
invalidate the moral of  the rest of the
 story--which is as follows3    ,after  
the death of the ,bab a great           
persecution took place 7in #aheb72      
there were many ,babi martyrs1 and for  
some years the general followers  were  
scattered4 ,but in time they gathered   
themselves together again2  successors  
to the original prophet were            
appointed--though not without           
dissensions--and a ,babi church1 chiefly
 at ,acca or ,acre in ,syria1 began  to 
be formed4 ,it was during this period   
that a great number of legends  grew    
up--legends of miraculous babyhood and  

boyhood1 legends of miracles  performed 
by the mature ,bab1 and so forth2 and   
when the newly-forming  ,church came to 
look into the matter it concluded 7quite
 naturally67 that  such a simple history
 as ,i have outlined above would never  
do for the  foundation of its plans1 now
 grown somewhat ambitious4 ,so a new    
,gospel  was framed1 called the         
,tarikh-i-,jadid 7,the new ,history or  
,the new  ,way71 embodying and including
 a lot of legendary matter1 and issued  
with the authority of the ,church4 ,this
 was in #ahha-b2 and comparing  this    
with the original record 7called ,the   
point of ,kaf7 we get a  luminous view  
of the growth of fable in those thirty  
brief years which  had elapsed since the
 ,bab's death4 ,meanwhile it became very
 necessary of  course to withdraw from  
circulation as far as possible all      
copies of the  original record1 lest    
they should give the lie to the later   
',gospel'2  and this apparently was done
 very effectively--so effectively indeed

  that ,professor ,edward ,browne 7to   
whom the world owes so much on account  
of his labors in connection with        
,babism71 after arduous search1 came at 
one time to the conclusion that the     
original was no longer extant4 ,most    
fortunately1 however1 the well-known    
,comte de ,gobineau had in the course   
of his studies on ,eastern ,religions   
acquired a copy of ,the point of ,kaf2  
and this1 after his death1 was found    
among his literary treasures and        
identified 7as was most fitting7 by     
,professor ,browne himself4    ,such in 
brief is the history of the early ,babi 
,church 7#a7--;a ,church  which has     
grown up and expanded greatly within the
 memory of many yet  living4 ,much might
 be written about it1 but the chief     
point at present  is for us to note the 
well-verified and interesting example it
 gives of  the rapid growth in ,syria of
 a religious legend and the reasons     
which  contributed to this growth--and  
to be warned how much more rapidly      

similar legends probably grew up in the 
same land in the middle of  the ,first  
,century1 ,a4,d4 ,the story of the ,bab 
is also interesting to us  because1     
while this mass of legend was formed    
around it1 there is no  possible doubt  
about the actual existence of a         
historical nucleus in the  person of    
,mirza ,ali ,muhammad4     7#a7 ,for    
literature1 see ,edward ,g4 ,browne's   
,traveller's ,narrative  on the ,episode
 of the ,bab 7#ahia71 and his ,new      
,history of the ,bab  translated from   
the ,persian of the ,tarikh-i-,jadid    
7,cambridge1 #ahic74  ,also ,sermons and
 ,essays by ,herbert ,rix 7,williams and
 ,norgate1 #aijg71 pp4  #bie-cbe1 ,the  
,persian ,bab4      ,on the whole1 one  
is sometimes inclined to doubt whether  
any great  movement ever makes itself   
felt in the world1 without dating first 
from  some powerful personality or group
 of personalities1 ,,round which the    
idealizing and myth-making genius of    
mankind tends to crystallize4 ,but  one 

must not even here be too certain4      
,something of the ,apostle ,paul we     
know1 and something of ',john' the      
,evangelist and writer of the ,epistle  
,i ,john2 and that the ',christian'     
doctrines dated largely from the        
preaching and teaching of these two we  
cannot doubt2 but ,paul never  saw      
,jesus 7except in the ,spirit71 nor does
 he ever mention the man  personally1 or
 any incident of his actual life 7the   
crucified ,christ  being always an ideal
 figure72 and ',john' who wrote the     
,gospel was  certainly not the same as  
the disciple who lay in ,jesus'         
bosom--though  an intercalated verse1   
the last but one in the ,gospel1 asserts
 the  identity4 7#a7     7#a7 ,it is    
obvious1 in fact1 that the ,,whole of   
the last chapter of  ,st4 ,john is a    
later insertion1 and again that the two 
last verses of  that chapter are later  
than the chapter itself6      ,there may
 have been a historic ,jesus--and if so1
 to get a reliable  outline of his life 

would indeed be a treasure2 but at      
present it would  seem there is no sign 
of that4 ,if the historicity of ,jesus1 
in any  degree1 could be proved1 it     
would give us reason for supposing--what
 ,i  have personally always been        
inclined to believe--that there was also
  a historical nucleus for such         
personages as ,osiris1 ,mithra1         
,krishna1  ,hercules1 ,apollo and the   
rest4 ,the question1 in fact1 narrows   
itself  down to this1 ,have there been  
in the course of human evolution        
certain1  so to speak1 ,,nodal points or
 periods at which the psychologic       
currents  ran together and condensed    
themselves for a new start2 and has each
 such  node or point of condensation    
been marked by the appearance of an     
actual  and heroic man 7or woman7 who   
supplied a necessary impetus for the    
new departure1 and gave his name to the 
resulting movement8 ,,or is  it         
sufficient to suppose the automatic     
formation of such nodes or              

starting-points without the intervention
 of any special hero or genius1  and to 
imagine that in each case the           
myth-making tendency of mankind         
,,created a legendary and inspiring     
figure and worshiped the same for a     
long period afterwards as a god8    ,as 
,i have said before1 this is a question 
which1 interesting as it is1  is not    
really very important4 ,the main thing  
being that the prophetic  and creative  
spirit of mankind ,,has from time to    
time evolved those  figures as          
idealizations of its heart's desire and 
placed a halo  round their heads4 ,the  
long procession of them becomes a ,,real
 piece of  ,history--the history of the 
evolution of the human heart1 and of    
human  consciousness4 ,but with the     
psychology of the whole subject ,i shall
 deal  in the next chapter4      ,i may 
here1 however1 dwell for a moment on two
 other points which belong  properly to 
this chapter4 ,i have already mentioned 
the great reliance  placed by the       

advocates of a unique 'revelation' on   
the high morality  taught in the        
,gospels and the ,new ,testament        
generally4 ,there is no need  of course 
to challenge that morality or to        
depreciate it unduly2 but the  argument 
assumes that it is so greatly superior  
to anything of the kind  that had been  
taught before that we are compelled to  
suppose something  like a revelation to 
explain its appearance--whereas of      
course anyone  familiar with the        
writings of antiquity1 among the ,greeks
 or ,romans  or ,egyptians or ,hindus or
 later ,jews1 knows perfectly well that 
the  reported sayings of ,jesus and the 
,apostles may be paralleled abundantly  
from these sources4 ,i have illustrated 
this already from the ,sermon  on the   
,mount4 ,if anyone will glance at the   
,testament of the ,twelve               
,patriarchs--a ,jewish book composed    
about #abj ,b4 ,c4--he will see that  it
 is full of moral precepts1 and         
especially precepts of love and         

forgiveness1 so ardent and so noble that
 it hardly suffers in any way  when     
compared with the ,new ,testament       
teaching1 and that consequently no      
special miracle is required to explain  
the appearance of the latter4    ,the   
twelve ,patriarchs in question are the  
twelve sons of ,jacob1 and the  book    
consists of their supposed deathbed     
scenes1 in which each patriarch  in turn
 recites his own 7more or less          
imaginary7 life and deeds and  gives    
pious counsel to his children and       
successors4 ,it is composed in a  fine  
and poetic style1 and is full of lofty  
thought1 remindful in scores  of        
passages of the ,gospels--words and     
all--the coincidences being too         
striking to be accidental4 ,it evidently
 had a deep influence on the  authors of
 the ,gospels1 as well as on ,st4 ,paul4
 ,it affirms a belief  in the coming of 
a ,messiah1 and in salvation for the    
,gentiles4 ,the  following are some     
quotations from it3 7#a7 ,testament of  

,zebulun 7p4  #aaf73 ,my children1 ,i   
bid you keep the commands of the ,lord1 
and show  mercy to your neighbours1 and 
have compassion towards all1 not towards
  men only1 but also towards beasts4    
,dan 7p4 #abg73 ,love the ,lord through 
all your life1 and one another with a   
true heart4 ,joseph 7p4 #agc73 ,i  was  
sick1 and the ,lord visited me2 in      
prison1 and my ,god showed favor  unto  
me4 ,benjamin 7p4 #bji73 ,for as the sun
 is not defiled by shining  on dung and 
mire1 but rather drieth up both and     
driveth away the evil  smell1 so also   
the pure mind1 encompassed by the       
defilements of earth1  rather cleanseth 
them and is not itself defiled4     7#a7
 ,the references being to the ,edition  
by ,r4 ,h4 ,charles 7#aijg74      ,i    
think these quotations are sufficient to
 prove the high standard of  this book1 
which was written in the ,second        
,century ,b4 ,c41 and ,,from which  the 
,new ,testament authors copiously       
borrowed4    ,the other point has to do 

with my statement at the beginning of   
this  chapter that two of the main      
'characteristics' of ,christianity were 
its  insistence on 7a7 a tendency       
towards renunciation of the world1 and a
  consequent cultivation of a purely    
spiritual love1 and 7b7 on a morality   
whose inspiration was a private sense of
 duty to ,god rather than a  public     
sense of duty to one's neighbor and to  
society generally4 ,i  think1 however1  
that the last-mentioned characteristic  
ought to  be viewed in relation to a    
third1 namely1 7c7 the extraordinarily  
,,democratic tendency of the new        
,religion4 7#a7 ,celsus 7,a4,d4 #bjj7   
jeered  at the early ,christians for    
their extreme democracy3 ,it is only    
the simpletons1 the ignoble1 the        
senseless--slaves and womenfolk and     
children--whom they wish to persuade 7to
 join their churches7 or ,,can          
persuade--wool-dressers and cobblers and
 fullers1 the most uneducated  and      
vulgar persons1 and whosoever is a      

sinner1 or unintelligent or  a fool1 in 
a word1 whoever is god-forsaken 7gr     
kakodaimwn71 him the  ,kingdom of ,god  
will receive4 7#b7 ,thus ,celsus1 the   
accomplished1 clever1  philosophic and  
withal humorous critic1 laughed at the  
new religionists1  and prophesied their 
speedy extinction4 ,nevertheless he was 
mistaken4  ,there is little doubt that  
just the inclusion of women and         
weaklings  and outcasts did contribute  
,,largely to the spread of ,christianity
 7and  ,mithraism74 ,it brought hope and
 a sense of human dignity to the        
despised  and rejected of the earth4 ,of
 the immense numbers of lesser officials
  who carried on the vast organization  
of the ,roman ,empire1 most perhaps1    
were taken from the ranks of the        
freedmen and quondam slaves1 drawn from 
a great variety of races and already    
familiar with pagan cults of all        
kinds--,egyptian1 ,syrian1 ,chaldean1   
,iranian1 and so forth4 7#c7 ,this  fact
 helped to give to ,christianity--under 

the fine tolerance of the  ,empire--its 
democratic character and also its       
willingness to accept all4  ,the rude   
and menial masses1 who had hitherto been
 almost beneath the  notice of ,greek   
and ,roman culture1 flocked in2 and     
though this was  doubtless1 as time went
 on1 a source of weakness to the        
,church1 and a  cause of dissension and 
superstition1 yet it was in the         
inevitable  line of human evolution1 and
 had a psychological basis which ,i must
 now  endeavor to explain4     7#a7 ,it 
is important to note1 however1 that this
 same democratic  tendency was very     
marked in ,mithraism4 ,il est certain1  
says ,cumont1  qu'il a fait ses         
premieres conquetes dans les classes    
inferieures de  la societe et c'est l'a 
un fait considerable2 le mithracisme est
 reste  longtemps la religion des       
humbles4 ,mysteres de ,mithra1 p4 #fh4  
7#b7 ,see ,glover's ,conflict of        
,religions in the early ,roman ,empire1 
ch4 viii4     7#c7 ,see ,toutain1       

,cultes paiens1 vol4 ii1 conclusion4    
,,xiv4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,it ,,all  
,the general drift and meaning of the   
present book must now1 ,i think1  from  
many hints scattered in the course of   
it1 be growing clear4 ,but it  will be  
well perhaps in this chapter1 at the    
risk of some repetition1  to bring the  
whole argument together4 ,and the       
argument is that since the  dawn of     
humanity on the earth--many hundreds of 
thousands or perhaps  a million years   
ago--there has been a slow psychologic  
evolution1 a  gradual development or    
refinement of ,consciousness1 which at a
 certain  stage has spontaneously given 
birth in the human race to the phenomena
  of religious belief and religious     
ritual--these phenomena 7whether in  the
 race at large or in any branch of it7  
always following1 step by  step1 a      
certain order depending on the degrees  
of psychologic evolution  concerned2 and
 that it is this general fact which     
accounts for the  strange similarities  

of belief and ritual which have been    
observed all  over the world and in     
places far remote from each other1 and  
which have  been briefly noted in the   
preceding chapters4    ,and the main    
stages of this psychologic              
evolution--those at any rate  with which
 we are here concerned--are ,three3 the 
stage of ,simple  ,consciousness1 the   
stage of ,self-consciousness1 and a     
third ,stage  which for want of a better
 word we may term the stage of          
,universal  ,consciousness4 ,of course  
these three stages may at some future   
time be  analyzed into lesser degrees1  
with useful result--but at present ,i   
only  desire to draw attention to them  
in the rough1 so to speak1 to show that 
it is from them and from their passage  
one into another that there  has flowed 
by a perfectly natural logic and        
concatenation the strange  panorama of  
humanity's religious evolution--its     
superstitions and  magic and sacrifices 
and dancings and ritual generally1 and  

later its  incantations and prophecies1 
and services of speech and verse1 and   
paintings and forms of art and figures  
of the gods4 ,a wonderful ,panorama     
indeed1 or poem of the ,centuries1 or1  
if you like1 ,world-symphony with  three
 great leading motives6      ,and first 
we have the stage of ,simple            
,consciousness4 ,for hundreds of        
centuries 7we cannot doubt7 ,man        
possessed a degree of consciousness not 
radically different from that of the    
higher ,animals1 though probably  more  
quick and varied4 ,he saw1 he heard1 he 
felt1 he noted4 ,he acted or  reacted1  
quickly or slowly1 in response to these 
impressions4 ,but the  consciousness of 
him,s,e,l,f1 as a being separate from   
his impressions1 as  separate from his  
surroundings1 had not yet arisen or     
taken hold on him4  ,he was an          
instinctive part1 of ,nature4 ,and in   
this respect he was very  near to the   
,animals4 ,self-consciousness in the    
animals1 in a germinal  form is there1  

no doubt1 but ,,embedded1 so to speak1  
in the general  world consciousness4 ,it
 is on this account that the animals    
have such  a marvellously acute         
perception and instinct1 being embedded 
in ,nature4  ,and primitive ,man had the
 same4 ,also we must1 as ,i have said   
before1  allow that man in that stage   
must have had the same sort of grace and
  perfection of form and movement as we 
admire in the 7wild7 animals now4  ,it  
would be quite unreasonable to suppose  
that he1 the crown in the same  sense of
 creation1 was from the beginning a lame
 and ill-made abortion4  ,for a long    
period the tribes of men1 like the      
tribes of the higher  animals1 must have
 been 7on the whole1 and allowing for   
occasional  privations and sufferings   
and conflicts7 well adapted to their    
surroundings and harmonious with the    
earth and with each other4 ,there  must 
have been a period resembling a ,golden 
,age--some condition at  any rate which1
 compared with subsequent miseries1     

merited the epithet  'golden4'    ,it   
was during this period apparently that  
the system of ,totems arose4  ,the      
tribes felt their relationship to their 
winged and fourfooted mates  7including 
also other objects of nature7 so deeply 
and intensely that  they adopted the    
latter as their emblems4 ,the           
pre-civilization ,man  fairly           
worshipped1 the animals and was proud to
 be called after them4  ,of course we   
moderns find this strange4 ,we1 whose   
conceptions of these  beautiful         
creatures are mostly derived from a     
broken-down cab-horse1  or a melancholy 
milk-rummaged cow in a sooty field1 or a
 diseased and  despondent lion or eagle 
at the ,zoo1 have never even seen or    
loved them  and have only wondered with 
our true commercial instinct what profit
 we  could extract from them4 ,but they1
 the primitives1 loved and admired  the 
animals2 they domesticated many of them 
by the force of a natural  friendship1  
7#a7 and accorded them a kind of        

divinity4 ,this was the age  of tribal  
solidarity and of a latent sense of     
solidarity with ,nature4  ,and the point
 of it all is 7with regard to the       
subject we have in hand7  that this was 
also the age from which by a natural    
evolution the sense  of ,religion came  
to mankind4 ,if ,religion in man is the 
sense of ties  binding his inner self to
 the powers of the universe around him1 
then it  is evident ,i think that       
primitive man as ,i have described him  
possessed  the ,,reality of this        
sense--though so far buried and         
subconscious that  he was hardly aware  
of it4 ,it was only later1 and with the 
coming of  the ,second ,stage1 that this
 sense began to rise distinctly into    
consciousness4     7#a7 ,see ch4 iv4    
,tylor in his ,primitive ,culture 7vol4 
i1 p4 #dfj1  edn4 #aijc7 says3 ,the     
sense of an absolute psychical          
distinction between  man and beast1 so  
prevalent in the civilized world1 is    
hardly to be  found among the lower     

races4      ,let us pass then to the    
,second ,stage4 ,there is a moment in   
the evolution  of a child--somewhere    
perhaps about the age of three          
7#a7--when the  simple almost           
animal-like consciousness of the babe is
 troubled by a new                      
element--,,self-consciousness4 ,the     
change is so marked1 so definite1 that  
7in the depth of the infant's eyes7 you 
can almost ,,see it take place4 ,so  in 
the evolution of the human race there   
has been a period--also marked  and     
definite1 though extending intermittent 
over a vast interval  of time--when on  
men in general there dawned the         
consciousness of  ,,themselves1 of their
 own thoughts and actions4 ,the old     
simple acceptance  of sensations and    
experiences gave place to ,,reflection4 
,the question  arose3 ,how do these     
sensations and experiences affect ,,me8 
,what can ,i  do to modify them1 to     
encourage the pleasurable1 to avoid or  
inhibit the  painful1 and so on8 ,from  

that moment a new motive was added to   
life4  ,the mind revolved round a new   
centre4 ,it began to spin like a little 
eddy round its own axis4 ,it studied    
,,itself first and became deeply        
concerned about its own pleasures and   
pains1 losing touch the while with  the 
larger life which once dominated it--the
 life of ,nature1 the life of  the      
,tribe4 ,the old unity of the spirit1   
the old solidarity1 were broken  up4    
7#a7 ,see ,bucke's ,cosmic              
,consciousness 7,philadelphia1 #aija71  
pp4 #a  and #ci2 also ,w4 ,mc,dougall's 
,social ,psychology 7#aijh71 p4         
#adf--where the  same age is tentatively
 suggested4      ,i have touched on this
 subject before1 but it is so important 
that the  reader must excuse repetition4
 ,there came an inevitable severance1 an
  inevitable period of strife4 ,the     
magic mirror of the soul1 reflecting    
nature as heretofore in calm and simple 
grace1 was suddenly cracked  across4    
,the new self-conscious man 7not all at 

once but gradually7  became alienated   
from his tribe4 ,he lapsed into strife  
with his fellows4  ,ambition1 vanity1   
greed1 the love of domination1 the      
desire for property  and possessions1   
set in4 ,the influences of fellowship   
and solidarity  grew feebler4 ,he became
 alienated from his great ,mother4 ,his 
instincts  were less and less sure--and 
that in proportion as brain-activity and
  self-regarding calculation took their 
place4 ,love and mutual help were  less 
compelling in proportion as the demands 
of self-interest grew  louder and more  
insistent4 ,ultimately the crisis came4 
,cain murdered  his brother and became  
an outcast4 ,the ,garden of ,eden and   
the ,golden ,age  closed their gates    
behind him4 ,he entered upon a period of
 suffering--a  period of labor and toil 
and sorrow such as he had never before  
known1 and such as the animals certainly
 have never known4 ,and in that         
distressful state1 in that doleful      
valley of his long pilgrimage1 he  still

 remains to-day4    ,thus has the canker
 of self-consciousness done its work4   
,it would be  foolish and useless to    
rail against the process1 or to blame   
any one for  it4 ,it had to be4 ,through
 this dismal vale of self-seeking       
mankind had  to pass--if only in order  
at last to find the ,true ,self which   
was 7and  still remains7 its goal4 ,the 
pilgrimage will not last for ever4      
,indeed  there are signs that the recent
 ,great ,war and the following ,events  
mark  the lowest point of descent and   
the beginning of the human soul's return
  to sanity and ascent towards the      
heavenly ,kingdom4 ,no doubt ,man will  
arrive again ,,some day at the grace1   
composure and leisurely beauty of  life 
which the animals realized long ago1    
though he seems a precious  long time   
about it2 and when all this nightmare of
 ,greed and ,vanity and  ,self-conceit  
and ,cruelty and ,lust of oppression and
 domination1 which  marks the present   
period1 is past--and it ,,will          

pass--then ,humanity will  come again to
 its ,golden ,age and to that ,paradise 
of redemption and  peace which has for  
so long been prophesied4    ,but we are 
dealing with the origins of ,religion2  
and what ,i want  the reader to see is  
that it was just this breaking up of the
 old  psychologic unity and continuity  
of man with his surroundings which led  
to the whole panorama of the rituals and
 creeds4 ,man1 centering round  himself1
 necessarily became an exile from the   
great ,whole4 ,he committed  the sin 7if
 it was a sin7 of ,separation4 ,anyhow  
,nemesis was swift4 ,the  sense of      
loneliness and the sense of guilt came  
on him4 ,the realization  of himself as 
a separate conscious being necessarily  
led to his  attributing a similar       
consciousness of some kind to the great 
,life  around him4 ,action and reaction 
are equal and opposite4 ,whatever he may
  have felt before1 it became clear to  
him now that beings more or less  like  
himself--though doubtless vaster and    

more powerful--moved behind  the veil of
 the visible world4 ,from that moment   
the belief in ,magic and  ,demons and   
,gods arose or slowly developed itself2 
and in the midst of  this turmoil of    
perilous and conflicting powers1 he     
perceived himself an  alien and an      
exile1 stricken with ,fear1 stricken    
with the sense of ,sin4  ,if before1 he 
had experienced fear--in the kind of    
automatic way of  self-preservation in  
which the animals feel it--he now1 with 
fevered  self-regard and excited        
imagination1 experienced it in double or
 treble  degree4 ,and if1 before1 he had
 been aware that fortune and chance were
  not always friendly and propitious to 
his designs1 he now perceived  or       
thought he perceived in every adverse   
happening the deliberate  persecution of
 the powers1 and an accusation of guilt 
directed against  him for some neglect  
or deficiency in his relation to them4  
,hence by  a perfectly logical and      
natural sequence there arose the belief 

in  other-world or supernatural powers1 
whether purely fortuitous and  magical  
or more distinctly rational and         
personal2 there arose the sense  of     
,sin1 or of offence against these       
powers2 there arose a complex ritual  of
 ,expiation--whether by personal        
sacrifice and suffering or by  the      
sacrifice of victims4 ,there arose too a
 whole catalogue of                     
ceremonies--ceremonies of ,initiation1  
by which the novice should learn  to    
keep within the good grace of the       
,powers1 and under the blessing of  his 
,tribe and the protection of its ,totem2
 ceremonies of ,eucharistic  meals which
 should restore the lost sanctity of the
 common life and  remove the sense of   
guilt and isolation2 ceremonies of      
,marriage and  rules and rites of       
sex-connection1 fitted to curb the      
terrific and  demonic violence of       
passions which else indeed might easily 
rend the  community asunder4 ,and so on4
 ,it is easy to see that granted an     

early  stage of simple unreflecting     
nature-consciousness1 and granting  this
 broken into and1 after a time1         
shattered by the arrival of             
,,self-consciousness there would        
necessarily follow in spontaneous yet   
logical order a whole series of         
religious institutions and beliefs1     
which phantasmal and unreal as they may 
appear to us1 were by no  means unreal  
to our ancestors4 ,it is easy also to   
see that as the  psychological process  
was necessarily of similar general      
character in  every branch of the human 
race and all over the world1 so the     
religious  evolutions--the creeds and   
rituals--took on much the same          
complexion  everywhere2 and1 though they
 differed in details according to       
climate  and other influences1 ran on   
such remarkably parallel lines as we    
have  noted4    ,finally1 to make the   
whole matter clear1 let me repeat that  
this event1  the inbreak of             
,self-consciousness1 took place1 or     

,,began to take place1  an enormous time
 ago1 perhaps in the beginning of the   
,neolithic ,age4  ,i dwell on the word  
began because ,i think it is probable   
that in its  beginnings1 and for a long 
period after1 this newborn consciousness
 had  an infantile and very innocent    
character1 quite different from its     
later  and more aggressive forms--just  
as we see self-consciousness in a little
  child has a charm and a grace which it
 loses later in a boastful  or grasping 
boyhood and manhood4 ,so we may         
understand that though                  
self-consciousness may have begun to    
appear in the human race at this  very  
early time 7and more or less            
contemporaneously with the invention  of
 very rude tools and unformed language71
 there probably did elapse  a very long 
period--perhaps the whole of the        
,neolithic ,age--before the  evils of   
this second stage of human evolution    
came to a head4 ,max ,muller  has       
pointed out that among the words which  

are common to the various  branches of  
,aryan language1 and which therefore    
belong to the very early  period before 
the separation of these branches1 there 
are not found  the words denoting war   
and conflict and the weapons and        
instruments of  strife--a fact which    
suggests a long continuance of peaceful 
habit among  mankind ,,after the first  
formation and use of language4    ,that 
the birth of language and the birth of  
self-consciousness were  ,,approximately
 simultaneous is a probable theory1 and 
one favored by many  thinkers2 7#a7 but 
the slow beginnings of both must have   
been so  very protracted that it is     
perhaps useless to attempt any very     
exact  determination4 ,late researches  
seem to show that language began in what
  might be called ,,tribal expressions  
of mood and feeling 7holophrases like   
go-hunting-kill-bear7 without reference 
to individual personalities  and        
relationships2 and that it was only at a
 later stage that words like  ,i and    

,thou came into use1 and the holophrases
 broke up into parts  of speech and took
 on a definite grammatical structure4   
7#b7 ,if  true1 these facts point       
clearly to a long foreground of rude    
communal  language1 something like      
though greatly superior to that of the  
animals1  preceding or preparing the    
evolution of ,self-consciousness proper1
 in  the forms of ,i and ,thou and the  
grammar of personal actions and         
relations4 ,they show that the plural   
and all other forms of number in        
grammar arise not by multiplication of  
an original ',i1' but by selection  and 
gradual ,,exclusion from an original    
collective 'we4' 7#c7 ,according  to    
this view the birth of                  
self-consciousness in the human family1 
or  in any particular race or section of
 the human family1 must have been       
equally slow and hesitating2 and it     
would be easy to imagine1 as just  said1
 that there may have been a very long   
and 'golden' period at its  beginning1  

before the new consciousness took on its
 maturer and harsher  forms4     7#a7   
,dr4 ,bucke 7,cosmic ,consciousness7    
insists on their  simultaneity1 but     
places both events excessively far back1
 as we  should think1 i4e4 #bjj1jjj or  
#cjj1jjj years ago4 ,possibly he does   
not  differentiate sufficiently between 
the rude language of the holophrase  and
 the much later growth of formed and    
grammatical speech4     7#b7 ,see ,a4   
,e4 ,crawley's ,idea of the ,soul1 ch4  
ii2 ,jane ,harrison's  ,themis1 pp4     
#dgc-e2 and ,e4 ,j4 ,payne's ,history of
 the ,new ,world called  ,america1 vol4 
ii1 pp4 #aae sq41 where the beginning of
 self-consciousness  is associated with 
the break-up of the holophrase4     7#c7
 ,themis1 p4 #dga4      ,all estimates  
of the ,time involved in these          
evolutions of early man are  notoriously
 most divergent and most difficult to be
 sure of2 but if we  take #ejj1jjj years
 ago for the first appearance of        
veritable ,man 7homo  primigenius71 7#b7

 and 7following ,professor ,w4 ,j4      
,sollas7 7#c7 #cj1jjj  or #dj1jjj years 
ago for the first tool-using men 7homo  
sapiens7 of  the ,chellean ,age         
7palaeolithic71 #ae1jjj for the         
rock-paintings and  inscriptions of the 
,aurignacian and ,magdalenian peoples1  
and #e1jjj years  ago for the first     
actual historical records that have come
 down to us1  we may perhaps get        
something like a proportion between the 
different  periods4 ,that is to say1    
half a million years for the purely     
animal man  in his different forms and  
grades of evolution4 ,then somewhere    
towards the end of palaeolithic or      
commencement of neolithic times         
,self-consciousness dimly beginning and1
 after some #aj1jjj years of slow       
germination and pre-historic culture1   
culminating in the actual historic      
period and the dawn of civilization #dj 
or #ej centuries ago1 and to-day  7we   
hope71 reaching the climax which        
precedes or foretells its abatement  and

 transformation4     7#b7 ,though ,dr4  
,arthur ,keith1 ,ancient ,types of ,man 
7#aiaa71 pp4 #ic  and #ajb1 puts the    
figure at more like a million4     7#c7 
,see ,ancient ,hunters 7#aiae72 also    
,hastings's ,encycl4 art4  ,ethnology2  
and ,havelock ,ellis1 ,the ,origin of   
,war1 in ,the ,philosophy  of ,conflict 
and other ,essays4      ,no doubt many  
geologists and anthropologists would    
favor periods greatly  ,,longer than    
those here mentioned2 but possibly there
 would be some  agreement as to the     
,,ratio to each other of the times      
concerned3 that  is1 the said           
authorities would probably allow for a  
,,very long animal-man  7#a7-period     
corresponding to the first stage2 for a 
much shorter  aggressively 'self        
conscious' period1 corresponding to the 
,second  ,stage--perhaps lasting only   
one thirtieth or fiftieth of the time of
  the first period2 and then--if they   
looked forward at all to a third        
stage--would be inclined for obvious    

reasons to attribute to that again  a   
very extended duration4     7#a7 ,i use 
the phrase 'animal-man' here1 not with  
any flavor of  contempt or reprobation1 
as the dear ,victorians would have used 
it1 but  with a sense of genuine respect
 and admiration such as one feels       
towards  the animals themselves4        
,however1 all this is very speculative4 
,to return to the difficulty about      
,language and the consideration of those
 early times when words adequate  to the
 expression of religious or magical     
ideas simply did not exist1  it is clear
 that the only available1 or at any rate
 the ,,chief means  of expression1 in   
those times1 must have consisted in     
gestures1 in  attitudes1 in ceremonial  
,,actions--in a more or less elaborate  
ritual1  in fact4 7#a7 ,such ideas as   
,adoration1 ,thanksgiving1 confession of
 ,guilt1  placation of ,wrath1          
,expiation1 ,sacrifice1 ,celebration of 
,community1  sacramental ,atonement1 and
 a score of others could at that time be

  expressed by appropriate rites--and as
 a matter of fact are often  so         
expressed even now--,,more readily and  
directly than by language4              
',dancing'--when that word came to be   
invented--did not mean a mere  flinging 
about of the limbs in recreation1 but   
any expressive movements  of the body   
which might be used to convey the       
feelings of the dancer or  of the       
audience whom he represented4 ,and so   
the 'religious dance' became  a most    
important part of ritual4     7#a7 ,see 
ch4 ix and xi4      ,so much for the    
second stage of ,consciousness4 ,let us 
now pass on to  the ,third ,stage4 ,it  
is evident that the process of          
disruption and  dissolution--disruption 
both of the human mind1 and of society  
round  about it1 due to the action of   
the ,second ,stage--could not go on     
indefinitely4 ,there are hundreds of    
thousands of people at the present      
moment who are dying of mental or bodily
 disease--their nervous  systems broken 

down by troubles connected with         
excessive  self-consciousness--selfish  
fears and worries and restlessness4     
,society  at large is perishing both in 
industry and in warfare through the     
domination in its organism of the       
self-motives of greed and vanity and    
ambition4 ,this cannot go on for ever4  
,things must either continue in  the    
same strain1 in which case it is evident
 that we are approaching  a crisis of   
utter dissolution1 ,,or a new element   
must enter in1 a new  inspiration of    
life1 and we 7as individuals7 and the   
society of which  we form a part1 must  
make a fresh start4 ,what is that new   
and necessary  element of regeneration8 
,it is evident that it must be a new    
birth--the entry into a further  stage  
of consciousness which must supersede   
the present one4 ,through  some such    
crisis as we have spoken of1 through the
 extreme of  suffering1 the mind of     
,man1 ,,as ,,at ,,present ,,constituted1
 has to die4 7#a7  ,self-consciousness  

has to die1 and be buried1 and rise     
again in a new  form4 ,probably nothing 
but the extreme of suffering can bring  
this  about4 7#b7 ,and what is this new 
form in which consciousness has to      
rearise8 ,obviously1 since the miseries 
of the world during countless  centuries
 have dated from that fatal attempt to  
make the little personal  ,,self the    
centre of effort and activity1 and since
 that attempt has  inevitably led to    
disunity and discord and death1 both    
within the mind  itself and within the  
body of society1 there is nothing left  
but  the return to a ,consciousness     
which shall have ,unity as its          
foundation-principle1 and which shall   
proceed from the direct ,,sense  ,,and  
,,perception of such an unity throughout
 creation4 ,the simple mind of  ,early  
,man and the ,animals was of that       
character--a consciousness1 so  to      
speak1 continuous through nature1 and   
though running to points of             
illumination and foci of special        

activity in individuals1 yet at no      
point essentially broken or imprisoned  
in separate compartments4 7,and  it is  
this ,,continuity of the primitive mind 
which enables us1 as ,i have  already   
explained1 to understand the mysterious 
workings of instinct  and intuition47   
,to some such unity-consciousness we    
have to return2 but  clearly it will    
be--it is not--of the simple inchoate   
character of the  ,first ,stage1 for it 
has been enriched1 deepened1 and greatly
 extended  by the experience of the     
,second ,stage4 ,it is in fact1 a new   
order of  mentality--the consciousness  
of the ,third ,stage4     7#a7 ,the mind
 must be restrained in the heart till it
 comes to an  end1 says the             
,maitrayana-,brahmana-,upanishad4       
7#b7 ,one may remember in this          
connection the tapas of the ,hindu      
yogi1 or the ordeals of initiates into  
the pagan ,mysteries generally4      ,in
 order to understand the operation and  
qualities of this ,third                

,consciousness1 it may be of assistance 
just now to consider in what more  or   
less rudimentary way or ways it figured 
in the pagan rituals and in             
,christianity4 ,we have seen the rude   
,siberyaks in ,north-,eastern ,asia or  
the ',grizzly' tribes of ,north         
,american ,indians in the neighborhood  
of  ,mount ,shasta paying their respects
 and adoration to a captive bear--at    
once the food-animal1 and the divinity  
of the ,tribe4 ,a tribesman had  slain a
 bear--and1 be it said1 had slain it not
 in a public hunt with  all due         
ceremonies observed1 but privately for  
his own satisfaction4 ,he  had          
committed1 therefore1 a sin             
theoretically unpardonable2 for had he  
not--to gratify his personal desire for 
food--levelled a blow at the  guardian  
spirit of the ,tribe8 ,had he not       
alienated himself from his  fellows by  
destroying its very symbol8 ,there was  
only one way by which  he could regain  
the fellowship of his companions4 ,he   

must make amends by  some public        
sacrifice1 and instead of retaining the 
flesh of the animal  for himself he must
 share it with the whole tribe 7or clan7
 in a common  feast1 while at the same  
time1 tensest prayers and thanks are    
offered to  the animal for the gift of  
his body for food4 ,the ,magic formula  
demanded  nothing less than this--else  
dread disaster would fall upon the man  
who  sinned1 and upon the whole         
brotherhood4 ,here1 and in a hundred    
similar  rites1 we see the three phases 
of tribal psychology--the first1 in     
which  the individual member simply     
remains within the compass of the tribal
  mind1 and only acts in harmony with   
it2 the second1 in which the  individual
 steps outside and to gratify his       
personal ,,self performs an  action     
which alienates him from his fellows2   
and the third1 in which1  to make amends
 and to prove his sincerity1 he submits 
to some sacrifice1  and by a common     
feast or some such ceremony is received 

back again  into the unity of the       
fellowship4 ,the body of the            
animal-divinity is  consumed1 and the   
latter becomes1 both in the spirit and  
in the flesh1  the ,savior of the tribe4
    ,in course of time1 when the ,totem 
or ,guardian-spirit is no longer merely 
an ,animal1 or animal-headed ,genius1   
but a quite human-formed ,divinity1     
still the same general outline of ideas 
is preserved--only with gathered        
intensity owing to the specially human  
interest of the drama4 ,the  ,divinity  
who gives his life for his flock is no  
longer just an ordinary  ,bull or ,lamb1
 but ,adonis or ,osiris or ,dionysus or 
,jesus4 ,he is betrayed  by one of his  
own followers1 and suffers death1 but   
rises again  redeeming all with himself 
in the one fellowship2 and the corn and 
the  wine and the wild flesh which were 
his body1 and which he gave for the     
sustenance of mankind1 are consumed in a
 holy supper of reconciliation4  ,it is 
always the return to unity which is the 

ritual of ,salvation1 and  of which the 
symbol is the ,eucharist--the second    
birth1 the formation of  a new creature 
when old things are passed away4 ,for   
,except a man be  born again1 he cannot 
see the ,kingdom of ,god2 and the first 
man is of  the earth1 earthly1 but the  
second man is the ,lord from heaven4    
,like  a strange refrain1 and from      
centuries before our era1 comes down    
this  belief in a god who is imprisoned 
in each man1 and whose liberation is a  
new birth and the beginning of a new    
creature3 ,rejoice1 ye initiates  in the
 mystery of the liberated god--rejoice  
in the thought of the hero  who died as 
a mortal in the coffin1 but rises again 
as ,lord of all6    ,who then was this  
,christos for whom the world was waiting
 three  centuries before our era 7and   
indeed centuries before that78 ,who was 
this thrice ,savior whom the ,greek     
,gnostics acclaimed8 ,what was the      
meaning of that coming of the ,son of   
,man whom ,daniel beheld in vision      

among the clouds of heaven8 or of the   
perfect man who1 ,paul declared1  should
 deliver us from the bondage of         
corruption into the glorious  liberty of
 the children of ,god8 ,what was this   
salvation which time after  time and    
times again the pagan deities promised  
to their devotees1 and  which the       
,eleusinian and other ,mysteries        
represented in their religious  dramas  
with such convincing enthusiasm that    
even ,pindar could say ,happy  is he who
 has seen them 7the ,mysteries7 before  
he goes beneath the  hollow earth3 that 
man knows the true end of life and its  
source  divine2 and concerning which    
,sophocles and ,aeschylus were equally  
enthusiastic8 7#a7     7#a7 ,see        
,farnell's ,cults of the ,greek ,states1
 vol4 iii1 p4 #aid2  also ,the          
,mysteries1 ,pagan and ,christian1 by   
,s4 ,cheetham1 ,d4,d4 7,london1  #ahig74
      ,can we doubt1 in the light of all
 that we have already said1 what  the   
answer to these questions is8 ,as with  

the first blossoming of                 
self-consciousness in the human mind    
came the dawn of an immense cycle  of   
experience--a cycle indeed of exile from
 ,eden1 of suffering and toil  and blind
 wanderings in the wilderness1 yet a    
cycle absolutely necessary  and         
unavoidable--so now the redemption1 the 
return1 the restoration has  to come    
through another forward step1 in the    
same domain4 ,abandoning  the quest and 
the glorification of the separate       
isolated self we have to  return to the 
cosmic universal life4 ,it is the       
blossoming indeed of this  'new' life in
 the deeps of our minds which is        
salvation1 and which  all the           
expressions which ,i have just cited    
have indicated4 ,it is  this presence   
which all down the ages has been hailed 
as ,savior and  ,liberator3 the daybreak
 of a consciousness so much vaster1 so  
much more  glorious1 than all that has  
gone before that the little candle of   
the  local self is swallowed up in its  

rays4 ,it is the return home1 the       
return into direct touch with ,nature   
and ,man--the liberation from the  long 
exile of separation1 from the painful   
sense of isolation and  the odious      
nightmare of guilt and 'sin4' ,can we   
doubt that this new  birth--this third  
stage of consciousness1 if we like to   
call it so--has  to come1 that it is    
indeed not merely a pious hope or a     
tentative  theory1 but a ,,fact         
testified to already by a cloud of      
witnesses in the  past--witnesses       
shining in their own easily recognizable
 and authentic  light1 yet for the most 
part isolated from each other among the 
arid and  unfruitful wastes of          
,civilization1 like glow-worms in the   
dry grass of a  summer night8    ,since 
the first dim evolution of human        
self-consciousness an immense  period1  
as we have said--perhaps #cj1jjj years1 
perhaps even more--has  elapsed4 ,now1  
in the present day this period is       
reaching its  culmination1 and though it

 will not terminate immediately1 its end
 is1  so to speak1 in sight4 ,meanwhile1
 during all the historical age behind   
us--say for the last #d1jjj or #e1jjj   
years--evidence has been coming in      
7partly in the religious rites recorded1
 partly in oracles1 poems and  prophetic
 literature7 of the onset of this       
further illumination--the  light which  
never was on sea or land--and the cloud 
of witnesses1  scattered at first1 has  
in these later centuries become so      
evident and  so notable that we are     
tempted to believe in or to anticipate a
 great  and general new birth1 as now   
not so very far off4 7#a7 7,we should1  
however1 do well to remember1 in this   
connexion1 that many a time  already in 
the history the ,millennium has been    
prophesied1 and yet not  arrived        
punctual to date1 and to take to        
ourselves the words of  ',peter1' who   
somewhat grievously disappointed at the 
long-delayed  second coming of the ,lord
 ,jesus in the clouds of heaven1 wrote  

in his  second ,epistle3 ,there shall   
come in the last days scoffers1 walking 
after their own lusts1 and saying1      
,where is the promise of his coming8    
for since the fathers fell asleep1 all  
things continue as they were  from the  
beginning of the creation4 7#b77        
7#a7 ,for an amplification of all this  
theme1 see ,dr4 ,bucke's  remarkable and
 epoch-making book1 ,cosmic             
,consciousness 7first published  at     
,philadelphia1 #aija74     7#b7 #b      
,peter iii4 #d2 written probably about  
,a4,d4 #aej4      ,i say that all       
through the historical age behind us    
there has been  evidence--even though   
scattered--of salvation and the return  
of the  ,cosmic life4 ,man has never    
been so completely submerged in the     
bitter  sea of self-centredness but what
 he has occasionally been able to dash  
the spray from his eyes and glimpse the 
sun and the glorious light of  heaven4  
,from how far back we cannot say1 but   
from an immense antiquity  come the     

beautiful myths which indicate this4    
,cinderella1 the cinder-maiden1 sits    
unbeknown in her earthly hutch2   ,gibed
 and jeered at she bewails her lonely   
fate2   ,nevertheless youngest-born she 
surpasses her sisters and endues       a
 garment of the sun and stars2   ,from a
 tiny spark she ascends and irradiates  
the universe1       and is wedded to the
 prince of heaven4      ,how lovely this
 vision of the little maiden sitting    
unbeknown close to  the ,hearth-fire of 
the universe--herself indeed just a     
little spark from  it2 despised and     
rejected2 rejected by the world1        
despised by her two  elder sisters 7the 
body and the intellect72 yet she1 the   
soul1 though  latest-born1 by far the   
most beautiful of the three4 ,and of the
 ,prince  of ,love who redeems and sets 
her free2 and of her wedding garment the
  glory and beauty of all nature and of 
the heavens6 ,the parables of  ,jesus   
are charming in their way1 but they     
hardly reach this height of             

inspiration4    ,or the world-old myth  
of ,eros and ,psyche4 ,how strange that 
here again  there are three sisters 7the
 three stages of human evolution71 and  
the  latest-born the most beautiful of  
the three1 and the jealousies and       
persecutions heaped on the youngest by  
the others1 and especially by           
,aphrodite the goddess of mere sensual  
charm4 ,and again the coming of the     
unknown1 the unseen ,lover1 on whom it  
is not permitted for mortals to  look2  
and the long1 long tests and sufferings 
and trials which ,psyche  has to undergo
 before ,eros may really take her to his
 arms and translate  her to the heights 
of heaven4 ,can we not imagine how when 
these things  were represented in the   
,mysteries the world flocked to see     
them1 and the  poets indeed said1 ,happy
 are they that see and seeing can       
understand8  ,can we not understand how 
it was that the ,amphictyonic decree of 
the  second century ,b4,c4 spoke of     
these same ,mysteries as enforcing the  

lesson that the greatest of human       
blessings is fellowship and mutual      
trust8          ,,xv4 ,,the ,,ancient   
,,mysteries    ,thus we come to a thing 
which we must not pass over1 because it 
throws  great light on the meaning and  
interpretation of all these rites and   
ceremonies of the great ,world-religion4
 ,i mean the subject of the  ,ancient   
,mysteries4 ,and to this ,i will give a 
few pages4    ,these ,mysteries were    
probably survivals of the oldest        
religious rites  of the ,greek races1   
and in their earlier forms consisted not
 so much  in worship of the gods of     
,heaven as of the divinities of ,earth1 
and  of ,nature and ,death4 ,crude1 no  
doubt1 at first1 they gradually became  
7especially in their ,eleusinian form7  
more refined and philosophical2  the    
rites were gradually thrown open1 on    
certain conditions1 not only  to men    
generally1 but also to women1 and even  
to slaves2 and in the end  they         
influenced ,christianity deeply4 7#a7   

7#a7 ,see ,edwin ,hatch1 ,d4,d41 ,the   
,influence of ,greek ,ideas and  ,usages
 on the ,christian ,church 7,london1    
#ahij71 pp4 #bhc-e4      ,there were    
apparently three forms of teaching made 
use of in these  rites3 these were gr   
legomena1 things ,,said2 gr deiknumena1 
things  ,,shown2 and gr drwmena1 things 
,,performed or ,,acted4 7#a7 ,i have    
given  already some instances of things 
said--texts whispered for consolation in
  the neophyte's ear1 and so forth2 of  
the ,,third group1 things enacted1  we  
have a fair amount of evidence4 ,there  
were ritual dramas or  passion-plays1 of
 which an important one dealt with the  
descent of ,kore  or ,proserpine into   
the underworld1 as in the ,eleusinian   
representations1  7#b7 and her          
redemption and restoration to the upper 
world in ,spring2  another with the     
sufferings of ,psyche and her rescue by 
,eros1 as  described by ,apuleius       
7#c7--;himself an initiate in the cult  
of ,isis4  ,there is a parody by        

,lucian1 which tells of the birth of    
,apollo1 the  marriage of ,coronis1 and 
the coming of ,aesculapius as ,savior2  
there was  the dying and rising again of
 ,dionysus 7chief divinity of the       
,orphic  cult72 and sometimes the       
mystery of the birth of ,dionysus as a  
holy  child4 7#d7 ,there was1 every year
 at ,eleusis1 a solemn and lengthy      
procession or pilgrimage made1 symbolic 
of the long pilgrimage of the  human    
soul1 its sufferings and deliverance4   
7#a7 ,cheetham1 op4 cit41 pp4 #di-fa sq4
     7#b7 ,see ,farnell1 op4 cit41 iii4 
#aeh sq4     7#c7 ,see ,the ,golden     
,ass4     7#d7 ,farnell1 ii1 #agg4      
,almost always1 says ,dr4 ,cheetham1 the
 suffering of a god--suffering  followed
 by triumph--seems to have been the     
subject of the sacred  drama4 ,then     
occasionally to the ,neophytes1 after   
taking part in the  pilgrimage1 and when
 their minds had been prepared by an    
ordeal of  darkness and fatigue and     
terrors1 was accorded a revelation of   

,paradise1  and even a vision of        
,transfiguration--the form of the       
,hierophant  himself1 or teacher of the 
,mysteries1 being seen half-lost in a   
blaze  of light4 7#a7 ,finally1 there   
was the eating of food and drinking  of 
barley-drink from the sacred chest      
7#b7--;a kind of ,communion or          
,eucharist4     7#a7 ,ibid41 #agi sq4   
7#b7 ,ibid41 #ahf4 ,sacred chests1 in   
which holy things were kept1  figure    
frequently in early rites and           
legends--as in the case of the ark  of  
the ,jewish tabernacle1 the ark or box  
carried in celebrations of the          
mysteries of ,bacchus 7,theocritus1     
,idyll xxvi71 the legend of ,pandora's  
box which contained the seeds of all    
good and evil1 the ark of ,noah  which  
saved all living creatures from the     
flood1 the ,argo of the  argonauts1 the 
moonshaped boat in which ,isis floating 
over the waters  gathered together the  
severed limbs of ,osiris1 and so brought
 about his  resurrection1 and the many  

chests or coffins out of which the      
various  gods 7,adonis1 ,attis1 ,osiris1
 ,jesus71 having been laid there in     
death1  rose again for the redemption of
 the world4 ,they all evidently refer to
  the mystic womb of ,nature and of     
,woman1 and are symbols of salvation and
  redemption 7,for a full discussion of 
this subject1 see ,the ,great ,law of   
religious origins1 by ,w4 ,williamson1  
ch4 iv47      ,apuleius in ,the ,golden 
,ass gives an interesting account of his
 induction  into the mysteries of ,isis3
 how1 bidding farewell one evening to   
the  general congregation outside1 and  
clothed in a new linen garment1 he was  
handed by the priest into the inner     
recesses of the temple itself2 how  he  
approached the confines of death1 and   
having trod on the threshold  of        
,proserpine 7the ,underworld71 returned 
therefrom1 being borne through  all the 
elements4 ,at midnight ,i saw the sun   
shining with its brilliant  light3 and  
,i approached the presence of the ,gods 

beneath and the ,gods  above1 and stood 
near and worshipped them4 ,during the   
night things  happened which must not be
 disclosed2 but in the morning he came  
forth  consecrated by being dressed in  
twelve stoles painted with the figures  
of animals4 7#a7 ,he ascended a pulpit  
in the midst of the ,temple1  carrying  
in his right hand a burning torch1 while
 a chaplet encircled  his head1 from    
which palm-leaves projected like rays of
 light4 ,thus  arrayed like the ,sun1   
and placed so as to resemble a statue1  
on a  sudden the curtains being drawn   
aside1 ,i was exposed to the gaze of the
  multitude4 ,after this ,i celebrated  
the most joyful day of my initiation1   
as my natal day 7day of the ,new ,birth7
 and there was a joyous banquet  and    
mirthful conversation4     7#a7 ,an     
allusion no doubt to the twelve signs of
 the ,zodiac1 the  pathway of the ,sun1 
as well as to the practice of the       
ancient priests of  wearing the skins of
 totem-animals in sign of their         

divinity4      ,one can hardly refuse to
 recognize in this account the          
description of  some kind of ceremony   
which was supposed to seal the          
illumination of a  man and his new birth
 into divinity--the animal origin1 the  
circling of  all experience1 the terrors
 of death1 and the resurrection in the  
form of the ,sun1 the symbol of all     
light and life4 ,the very word          
illumination carries the ideas of light 
and a new birth with it4  ,reitzenstein 
in his very interesting book on the     
,greek ,mysteries 7#a7  speaks over and 
over again of the illumination 7gr      
fwtismos7 which  was held to attend     
,initiation and ,salvation4 ,the        
doctrine of ,salvation  indeed 7gr      
swthria7 was1 as we have already seen1  
rife and widely  current in the ,second 
,century ,b4 ,c4 ,it represented a real 
experience1  and the man who shared this
 experience became a gr qeios gr        
anqrwpos  or divine man4 7#b7 ,in the   
,orphic ,tablets the phrase ,i am a     

child of  earth and the starry heaven1  
but my race is of heaven 7alone7 occurs 
more than once4 ,in one of the longest  
of them the dead man is instructed      
after he has passed the waters 7of      
,lethe7 where the white ,cypress and    
the ,house of ,hades are to address     
these very words to the guardians  of   
the ,lake of ,memory while he asks for a
 drink of cold water from that  ,lake4  
,in another the dead person himself is  
thus addressed3 ,hail1 thou  who hast   
endured the ,suffering1 such as indeed  
thou hadst never suffered  before2 thou 
hast become god from man6 7#c7 ,ecstacy 
was the acme of the  religious life2    
and1 what is especially interesting to  
us1 ,salvation or  the divine nature was
 open to all men--to all1 that is1 who  
should go  through the necessary stages 
of preparation for it4 7#d7     7#a7    
,die hellenistischen                    
,mysterien-,religionen1 by ,r4          
,reitzenstein1  ,leipzig1 #aiaj4        
7#b7 ,reitzenstein1 p4 #ab4     7#c7    

,these ,tablets 7so-called7 are         
instructions to the dead as to  their   
passage into the other world1 and have  
been found in the tombs1 in  ,italy and 
elsewhere1 inscribed on very thin gold  
plates and buried with  the departed4   
,see ,manual of ,greek ,antiquities by  
,percy ,gardner and ,f4  ,b4 ,jerome    
7#ahif72 also ,prolegomena to ,greek    
,religion by ,jane ,e4 ,harrison        
7#aijh74     7#d7 ,reitzenstein1 pp4 #ae
 and #ah2 also ,s4 ,j4 ,case1 ,evolution
 of  ,early ,christianity1 p4 #cja4     
,reitzenstein contends 7p4 #bf7 that in 
the ,mysteries1 transfiguration  7gr    
metamorfwsis71 salvation 7gr swthria71  
and new birth 7gr  paliggenesia7 were   
often conjoined4 ,he says 7p4 #ca71 that
 in the  ,egyptian ,osiris-cult1 the    
,initiate acquires a nature equal to    
,god  7gr isoqeos71 the very same       
expression as that used of ,christ      
,jesus in  ,philippians ii4 #f2 he      
mentions ,apollonius of ,tyana and      
,sergius ,paulus  as instances of men   

who by their contemporaries were        
considered to have  attained this       
nature2 and he quotes ,akhnaton         
7,pharaoh of ,egypt in #acge  ,b4,c47 as
 having said1 ,thou art in my heart2    
none other knows ,thee1 save  thy son   
,akhnaton2 ,thou hast initiated him into
 thy wisdom and into thy  power4 ,he    
also quotes the words of ,hermes        
7,trismegistus7--,come unto  ,me1 even  
as children to their mother's bosom3    
,thou art ,i1 and ,i am ,thou2  what is 
thine is mine1 and what is mine is      
thine2 for indeed ,i am thine  image 7gr
 eidwlon71 and refers to the dialogue   
between ,hermes and  ,tat1 in which they
 speak of the great and mystic ,new     
,birth and ,union  with the ,all--with  
all ,elements1 ,plants and ,animals1    
,time and ,space4    ,the ,mysteries1   
says ,dr4 ,cheetham very candidly1      
influenced  ,christianity considerably  
and modified it in some important       
respects2  and ,dr4 ,hatch1 as we have  
seen1 not only supports this general    

view1 but  follows it out in detail4    
7#a7 ,he points out that the membership 
of the  ,mystery-societies was very     
numerous in the earliest times1 ,a4,d42 
that  their general aims were good1     
including a sense of true religion1     
decent  life1 and brotherhood2 that     
cleanness from crime and confession were
  demanded from the neophyte2 that      
confession was followed by baptism  7gr 
kaqarsis7 and ,,that by sacrifice2 that 
the term gr fwtismos  7illumination7 was
 adopted by the ,christian ,church as   
the name for the  new birth of baptism2 
that the ,christian usage of placing a  
seal on the  forehead came from the same
 source2 that baptism itself after a    
time  was called a mystery 7gr          
musihriou72 that the sacred cakes and   
barley-drink of the ,mysteries became   
the milk and honey and bread  and wine  
of the first ,christian ,eucharists1 and
 that the occasional  sacrifice of a    
lamb on the ,christian altar 7whose     
mention is often  suppressed7 probably  

originated in the same way4 ,indeed1 the
 conception  of the communion-table ,,as
 an altar and many other points of      
ritual  gradually established themselves
 from these sources as time went on4    
7#b7  ,it is hardly necessary to say    
more in proof of the extent to which  in
 these ancient representations things   
said and scenes enacted  forestalled the
 doctrines and ceremonials of           
,christianity4     7#a7 ,see ,hatch1 op4
 cit41 pp4 #bij sq4     7#b7 ,see       
,dionysus ,areop4 7end of fifth         
century71 who describes the  ,christian 
rites generally in ,mystery language    
7,hatch1 #bif74      ,but what of the   
second group above-mentioned1 the things
 ,,shown8 ,it  is not so easy naturally 
to get exact information concerning     
these1 but  they seem to have been      
specially holy objects1 probably things 
connected  with very ancient rituals in 
the past--such as sacred stones1 old and
  rude images of the gods1 magic        
nature-symbols1 like that half-disclosed

  ear of corn above-mentioned 7,ch4     
,v474 ,in the ,temple of ,isis at       
,philae1  says ,dr4 ,cheetham1 the dead 
body of ,osiris is represented with     
stalks  of corn springing from it1 which
 a priest waters from a vessel4 ,an     
inscription says3 ',this is the form of 
him whom we may not name1 ,osiris  of   
the ,mysteries who sprang from the      
returning waters' 7the ,nile74  ,above  
all1 no doubt1 there were images of the 
phallus and the vulva1 the  great       
symbols of human fertility4 ,we have    
seen 7,ch4 ,,xii7 that the lingam  and  
the yoni are1 even down to to-day1      
commonly retained and honored as  holy  
objects in the ,s4 ,indian ,temples1 and
 anointed with oil 7some  of them7 for a
 very practical reason4 ,sir ,j4 ,g4    
,frazer1 in his lately  published       
volumes on ,the ,folk-lore of the ,old  
,testament1 has a chapter  7in vol4 ii7 
on the very numerous sacred stones of   
various shapes and  sizes found or      
spoken of in ,palestine and other parts 

of the world4  ,though uncertain as to  
the meaning of these stones he mentions 
that they  are frequently1 though not   
always1 ,,upright4 ,anointing them with 
oil1  he assures us1 is a widespread    
practice1 sometimes by women who wish   
to obtain children4 ,and he concludes   
the chapter by saying3 ,the holy  stone 
at ,bethel was probably one of those    
massive standing stones or  rough       
pillars which the ,hebrews called       
masseboth1 and which1 as we  have seen1 
were regular adjuncts of ,canaanite and 
early ,israelitish  sanctuaries4 ,we    
have already mentioned the pillars      
,jachin and ,boaz  which stood before   
the ,temple of ,solomon1 and which had  
an acknowledged  sexual significance2   
and so it seems probable that a great   
number of  these holy stones had a      
similar meaning4 7#a7 ,following this   
clue it  would appear likely that the   
lingam thus anointed and worshipped in  
the  ,temples of ,india and elsewhere   
,,is the original gr cristos 7#b7 adored

  by the human race from the very       
beginning1 and that at a later time1    
when the ,priest and the ,king1 as      
objects of worship1 took the place of   
the ,lingam1 ,,they also were anointed  
with the chrism of fertility4  ,that the
 exhibition of these emblems should be  
part of the original  ',mystery'-rituals
 was perfectly natural--especially      
because1 as we have  explained already  
7#c7 old customs often continued on in a
 quite naive  fashion in the rituals1   
when they had come to be thought        
indecent or  improper by a later public 
opinion2 and 7we may say7 was perfectly 
in order1 because there is plenty of    
evidence to show that in ,,savage       
initiations1 of which the ,mysteries    
were the linear descendants1 all  these 
things ,,were explained to the novices1 
and their use actually  taught4 7#d7 ,no
 doubt also there were some             
representations or dramatic  incidents  
of a fairly coarse character1 as        
deriving from these ancient  sources4   

7#e7 ,it is1 however1 quaint to observe 
how the mere mention of  such things has
 caused an almost hysterical commotion  
among the critics  of the               
,mysteries--from the day of the early   
,christians who 7in order  to belaud    
their own religion7 were never tired of 
abusing the ,pagans1  onward to the     
present day when modern scholars either 
on the one hand  follow the early       
,christians in representing the         
,mysteries as sinks of  iniquity or on  
the other 7knowing this charge could not
 be substantiated  except in the period 
of their final decadence7 take the line 
of ignoring  the sexual interest        
attaching to them as non-existent or at 
any rate  unworthy of attention4 ,the   
good ,archdeacon ,cheetham1 for         
instance1 while  writing an interesting 
book on the ,mysteries passes by this   
side of the  subject ,,almost as if it  
did not exist2 while the learned ,dr4   
,farnell1  overcome apparently by the   
weight of his learning1 and unable to   

confront the alarming obstacle presented
 by these sexual rites and  aspects1    
hides himself behind the rather         
non-committal remark 7speaking  of the  
,eleusinian rites7 we have no right to  
imagine any part of this  solemn        
ceremony as coarse or obscene4 7#f7 ,as 
,nature1 however1 has been  known 7quite
 frequently7 to be coarse or obscene1   
and as the initiators  of the ,mysteries
 were probably neither 'good' nor       
'learned1' but were  simply anxious to  
interpret ,nature as best they could1 we
 cannot find  fault with the latter for 
the way they handled the problem1 nor   
indeed  well see how they could have    
handled it better4     7#a7 ,f4 ,nork1  
,der ,mystagog1 mentions that the ,roman
 ,penates were  commonly anointed with  
oil4 ,j4 ,stuart ,hay1 in his ,life of  
,elagabalus  7#aiaa71 says that         
,elagabal was worshipped under the      
symbol of a great  black stone or       
meteorite1 in the shape of a ,phallus1  
which having fallen  from the heavens   

represented a true portion of the       
,godhead1 much after  the style of those
 black stone images popularly venerated 
in ,norway and  other parts of ,europe4 
7#b7 ,j4 ,e4 ,hewitt1 in his ,ruling    
,races of ,pre-historic ,times 7p4      
#fd71 gives a long list of pre-historic 
races who worshipped the lingam4        
7#c7 ,see ,ch4 ,,xi4     7#d7 ,see      
,ernest ,crawley's ,mystic ,rose1 ch4   
xiii1 pp4 #caj and #cac3  ,in certain   
tribes of ,central ,africa both boys and
 girls after  initiation must as soon as
 possible have intercourse4 ,initiation 
being  not merely preliminary to1 but   
often ,,actually marriage4 ,the same    
among ,kaffirs1 ,congo tribes1          
,senegalese1 etc4 ,also among the       
,arunta of  ,australia4     7#e7        
,professor ,diederichs has said that in 
much ancient ritual it  was thought that
 mystic communion with the deity could  
be obtained  through the semblance of   
sex-intercourse--as in the              
,attis-,cybele  worship1 and the        

,isis-ritual4 7,farnell47 ,reitzenstein 
says 7op4 cit41  p4 #bj47 that the      
,initiates1 like some of the ,christian 
,nuns at a later  time1 believed in     
union with ,god through receiving the   
seed4     7#f7 ,farnell1 op4 cit41 iii4 
#agf4 ,messrs4 ,gardner and ,jevons1 in 
their ,manual of ,greek ,antiquities1   
above-quoted1 compare the ,eleusinian   
,mysteries favorably with some of the   
others1 like the ,arcadian1 the         
,troezenian1 the ,aeginaean1 and the    
very primitive ,samothracian3  saying   
7p4 #bgh7 that of the last-mentioned we 
know little1 but safely  conjecture that
 in them the ideas of sex and           
procreation dominated ,,even  ,,more    
than in those of ,eleusis4      ,after  
all it is pretty clear that the early   
peoples saw in ,sex the great  cohesive 
force which kept 7we will not say       
,humanity but at any rate7  the ,tribe  
together1 and sustained the race4 ,in   
the stage of simple  ,consciousness this
 must have been one of the first things 

that the  budding intellect perceived4  
,sex became one of the earliest         
divinities1  and there is abundant      
evidence that its organs and processes  
generally  were invested with a         
religious sense of awe and sanctity4 ,it
 was in fact  the symbol 7or rather the 
actuality7 of the permanent undying life
  of the race1 and as such was sacred to
 the uses of the race4 ,whatever  taboos
 may have1 among different peoples1     
guarded its operations1 it  was not     
essentially a thing to be concealed1 or 
ashamed of4 ,rather the  contrary4 ,for 
instance the early ,christian writer1   
,hippolytus1 ,bishop of  ,pontus 7,a4,d4
 #bjj71 in his ,refutation of all       
,heresies1 ,book ,v1 says that  the     
,samothracian ,mysteries1 just          
mentioned1 celebrate ,adam as the       
primal or archetypal ,man eternal in the
 heavens2 and he then continues3        
,habitually there stand in the temple of
 the ,samothracians two images  of naked
 men having both hands stretched aloft  

towards heaven1 and their  pudenda      
turned upwards1 as is also the case with
 the statue of ,mercury  on ,mt4        
,cyllene4 ,and the aforesaid images are 
figures of the primal man1  and of that 
spiritual one that is born again1 in    
every respect of the  same substance    
with that 7first7 man4      ,this       
extract from ,hippolytus occurs in the  
long discourse in which he  'exposes'   
the heresy of the so-called ,naassene   
doctrines and mysteries4  ,but the whole
 discourse should be read by those who  
wish to understand  the ,gnostic        
philosophy of the period contemporary   
with and anterior to  the birth of      
,christianity4 ,a translation of the    
discourse1 carefully  analyzed and      
annotated1 is given in ,g4 ,r4 ,s4      
,mead's ,thrice-greatest  ,hermes 7#a7  
7vol4 i72 and ,mead himself1 speaking of
 it1 says 7p4 #ada73  ,the claim of     
these ,gnostics was practically that the
 good news of the  ,christ 7the         
,christos7 was the consummation of the  

inner doctrine of the                   
,mystery-institutions of all the        
nations2 the end of them all being the  
revelation of the ,mystery of ,man4     
,further1 he explains that the ,soul1   
in these doctrines1 was regarded as     
synonymous with the ,cause of ,all2  and
 that its loves were twain--of          
,aphrodite 7or ,life71 and of           
,persephone  7or ,death and the other   
world74 ,also that ,attis1 abandoning   
his sex in  the worship of the          
,mother-,goddess 7,dea ,syria71 ascends 
to ,heaven--a new  man1 ,male-female1   
and the origin of all things3 the hidden
 ,mystery being  the ,phallus itself1   
erected as ,hermes in all roads and     
boundaries and  temples1 the ,conductor 
and ,reconductor of ,souls4     7#a7    
,reitzenstein1 op4 cit41 quotes the     
discourse largely4 ,the                 
,thrice-greatest ,hermes may also be    
consulted for a translation of          
,plutarch's ,isis and ,osiris4      ,all
 this may sound strange1 but one may    

fairly say that it represented  in its  
degree1 and in that first 'unfallen'    
stage of human thought  and psychology1 
a true conception of the cosmic ,life1  
and indeed a  conception quite sensible 
and admirable1 until1 of course1 the    
,second  ,stage brought corruption4 ,no 
sooner was this great force of the      
cosmic  life diverted from its true uses
 of ,generation and ,regeneration 7#a7  
and  appropriated by the individual to  
his own private pleasure--no sooner  was
 its religious character as a tribal    
service 7#b71 7often rendered  within   
the ,temple precincts7 lost sight of or 
degraded into a commercial              
transaction--than every kind of evil    
fell upon mankind4 ,corruptio optimi    
pessima4 ,it must be remembered too that
 simultaneous with this sexual          
disruption occurred the disruption of   
other human relations2 and  we cease to 
be surprised that disease and selfish   
passions1 greed1  jealousy1 slander1    
cruelty1 and wholesale murder1          

raged--and have raged  ever since4      
7#a7 ,for the special meaning of these  
two terms1 see ,the ,drama of  ,love and
 ,death1 by ,e4 ,carpenter1 pp4 #ei-fa4 
7#b7 ,ernest ,crawley in ,the ,mystic   
,rose challenges this  identification of
 ,religion with tribal interests2 yet   
his arguments  are not very convincing4 
,on p4 #e he admits that there is a     
religious  meaning inherent in the      
primitive conception and practice of    
,,all human  relations2 and a large part
 of his ch4 xii is taken up in showing  
that  even such institutions as the     
,saturnalia were religious in confirming
  the sense of social union and leading 
to 'extended identity4'      ,but for   
the human soul--whatever its fate1 and  
whatever the dangers and  disasters that
 threaten it--there is always redemption
 waiting4 ,as we  saw in the last       
chapter1 this corruption of ,sex led    
7quite naturally7 to  its denial and    
rejection2 and its denial led to the    
differentiation from  it of ,love4      

,humanity gained by the enthronement and
 deification of ,love1  pure and        
undefiled1 and 7for the time being7     
exalted beyond this mortal  world1 and  
free from all earthly contracts4 ,but   
again in the end1 the  divorce thus     
introduced between the physical and the 
spiritual led  to the crippling of both4
 ,love relegated1 so to speak1 to heaven
 as a  purely philanthropical1 pious and
 'spiritual' affair1 became exceedingly 
,,dull2 and sex1 remaining on earth1 but
 deserted by the redeeming  presence1   
fell into mere carnal curiosity and     
wretchedness of unclean  living4        
,obviously for the human race there     
remains nothing1 in the  final event1   
but the reconciliation of the physical  
and the spiritual1  and after many      
sufferings1 the reunion of ,eros and    
,psyche4      ,there is still1 however1 
much to be said about the ,third ,state 
of  ,consciousness4 ,let us examine into
 it a little more closely4 ,clearly1    
since it is a new state1 and not merely 

an extension of a former one1  one      
cannot arrive at it by argument derived 
from the ,second state1 for  all        
conscious ,thought such as we habitually
 use simply keeps us ,,in the  ,second  
state4 ,no animal or quite primitive man
 could possibly understand  what we mean
 by ,self-consciousness till he had     
experienced it4 ,mere  argument would   
not enlighten him4 ,and so no one in the
 ,second state  can quite realize the   
,third state till he has experienced it4
 ,still1  explanations may help us to   
perceive in what direction to look1 and 
to recognize in some of our experiences 
an approach to the condition  sought4   
,evidently it is a mental condition in  
some respects more similar to the  first
 than to the second stage4 ,the second  
stage of human psychologic  evolution is
 an aberration1 a divorce1 a            
parenthesis4 ,with its  culmination and 
dismissal the mind passes back into the 
simple state of  union with the ,whole4 
7,the state of ,ekagrata in the ,hindu  

philosophy3  one-pointedness1 singleness
 of mind47 ,and the consciousness of    
the ,whole1 and of things past and      
things to come and things far           
around--which consciousness had been    
shut out by the concentration on  the   
local self--begins to return again4     
,this is not to say1 of course1  that   
the excursus in the second stage has    
been a loss and a defect4 ,on  the      
contrary1 it means that the ,return is a
 bringing of all that  has been gained  
during the period of exile 7all sorts of
 mental and  technical knowledge and    
skill1 emotional developments1 finesse  
and  adaptability of mind7 ,,back into  
harmony with the ,whole4 ,it means      
ultimately a great gain4 ,the ,man1     
perfected1 comes back to a vastly       
extended harmony4 ,he enters again into 
a real understanding and  confidential  
relationship with his physical body and 
with the body of  the society in which  
he dwells--from both of which he has    
been sadly  divorced2 and he takes up   

again the broken thread of the ,cosmic  
,life4    ,everyone has noticed the     
extraordinary consent sometimes         
observable  among the members of an     
animal community--how a flock of #ejj   
birds 7e4  g4 starlings7 will suddenly  
change its direction of flight--the     
light  on the wings shifting            
,,instantaneously1 as if the impulse to 
veer came  to all at the same identical 
moment2 or how bees will swarm or       
otherwise  act with one accord1 or      
migrating creatures 7lemmings1 deer1    
gossamer  spiders1 winged ants7 the     
same4 ,whatever explanation of these    
facts we  favor--whether the possession 
of swifter and finer means of external  
communication than we can perceive1 or  
whether a common and inner  sensitivity 
to the genius of the ,tribe 7the ,spirit
 of the ,hive7 or to  the promptings of 
great ,nature around--in any case these 
facts of animal  life appear to throw   
light on the possibilities of an accord 
and consent  among the members of       

emaciated humanity1 such as we dream of 
now1 and  seem to bid us have good hope 
for the future4    ,it is here1 perhaps1
 that the ancient worship of the ,lingam
 comes in4  ,the word itself is         
apparently connected with our word      
'link1' and has  originally the same    
meaning4 7#a7 ,it is the link between   
the generations4  ,beginning with the   
worship of the physical ,race-life1 the 
course of  psychologic evolution has    
been first to the worship of the ,tribe 
7or  of the ,totem which represents the 
tribe72 then to the worship of  the     
human-formed ,god of the tribe--the ,god
 who dies and rises  again eternally1 as
 the tribe passes on eternal--though its
 members  perpetually perish2 then to   
the conception of an undying ,savior1   
and the  realization and distinct       
experience of some kind of              
,super-consciousness  which does        
certainly reside1 more or less hidden1  
in the deeps of the  mind1 and has been 
waiting through the ages for its        

disclosure and  recognition4 ,then again
 to the recognition that in the         
sacrifices1  the ,slayer and the ,slain 
are one--the strange and profoundly     
mystic  perception that the ,god and the
 ,victim are in essence the same--the   
dedication of ',himself to ,himself'    
7#b7 and simultaneously with this the   
interpretation of the ,eucharist as     
meaning1 even for the individual1  the  
participation in ,eternal ,life--the    
continuing life of the ,tribe1  or      
ultimately of ,humanity4 7#c7 ,the      
,tribal order rises to ,humanity2 love  
ascends from the lingam to yogam1 from  
physical union alone to the union  with 
the ,whole--which of course includes    
physical and all other kinds of  union4 
,no wonder that the good ,st4 ,paul1    
witnessing that extraordinary  whirlpool
 of beliefs and practices1 new and old1 
there in the first  century ,a4,d4--the 
unabashed adoration of sex side by side 
with the  transcendental devotions of   
the ,vedic sages and the                

,gnostics--became  somewhat confused    
himself and even a little violent1      
scolding his  disciples 7,i ,cor4 x4    
#ba7 for their undiscriminating         
acceptance1 as it  seemed to him1 of    
things utterly alien and antagonistic4  
,ye cannot  drink the cup of the ,lord  
and the cup of devils3 ye cannot be     
partakers  of the ,lord's table and the 
table of devils4       7#a7 ,see        
,sanskrit ,dictionary4     7#b7 ,see    
,ch4 ,,viii4     7#c7 ,there are many   
indications in literature--in prophetic 
or  poetic form--of this awareness and  
distinct conviction of an eternal  life1
 reached through love and an inner sense
 of union with others and  with humanity
 at large2 indications which bear the   
mark of absolute  genuineness and       
sincerity of feeling4 ,see1 for         
instance1 ,whitman's poem1  ,to the     
,garden the ,world 7,leaves of ,grass1  
complete edition1 p4 #gi74  ,but an     
eternal life of the third order2 not1   
thank heaven6 an eternity  of the       

meddling and muddling self-conscious    
,intellect6      ,every careful reader  
has noticed the confusedness of ,paul's 
mind and  arguments4 ,even taking only  
those ,epistles 7,galatians1 ,romans and
  ,corinthians7 which the critics assign
 to his pen1 the thing is               
observable--and some learned ,germans   
even speak of ,,two ,pauls4 7#a7 ,but   
also the thing is quite natural4 ,there 
can be little doubt that ,paul of       
,tarsus1 a ,jew brought up in the       
strictest sect of the ,pharisees1 did at
  some time fall deeply under the       
influence of ,greek thought1 and quite  
possibly became an initiate in the      
,mysteries4 ,it would be difficult      
otherwise to account for his constant   
use of the ,mystery-language4           
,reitzenstein says 7p4 #ei73 ,the       
hellenistic religious literature ,,must 
have been read by him2 he uses its      
terms1 and is saturated with its        
thoughts 7see ,rom4 vi4 #a-ad4 ,and this
 conjoined with his ,jewish  experience 

gave him creative power4 ,a great deal  
in his sentiment and  thought may have  
,,remained ,jewish1 but to his          
,hellenism he was indebted  for his love
 of freedom and his firm belief in his  
apostleship4 ,he  adopts terms 7like gr 
sarkikos1 gr yucikos and gr pneumatikos7
  7#b7 which were in use among the      
hellenistic sects of the time2 and  he  
writes1 as in ,romans vi4 #d1 #e1 about 
being buried with ,christ or  planted in
 the likeness of his death1 in words    
which might well have  been used 7with  
change of the name7 by a follower of    
,attis or ,osiris  after witnessing the 
corresponding 'mysteries'2 certainly the
 allusion  to these ancient deities     
would have been understood by every     
religionist  of that day4 ,these few    
points are sufficient to acentuatesic   
the two  elements in ,paul1 the ,jewish 
and the ,greek1 and to explain 7so far7 
the seeming confusion in his utterances4
 ,further it is interesting to  note--as
 showing the pagan influences in the ,n4

 ,t4 writings--the degree  to which the 
,epistle to ,philemon 7ascribed to      
,paul7 is ,,full--short as it  is--of   
expressions like ,,prisoner of the      
,lord1 ,,fellow ,,soldier1 ,,captive or 
,,bondman1 7#c7 which were so common at 
the time as to be almost a cant in      
,mithraism and the allied cults4 ,in ,i 
,peter ii4 #b 7#d71 we have the verse   
,as newborn babes1 desire ye the sincere
 ,,milk of the word1 that ye  may grow  
thereby4 ,and again we may say that no  
one in that day could  mistake the      
reference herein contained to old       
initiation ceremonies and  the new birth
 7as described in ,chapter ,,viii       
above71 for indeed milk was  the        
well-known diet of the novice in the    
,isis mysteries1 as well as 7in  some   
savage tribes7 of the ,medicine-man when
 practising his calling4     7#a7 ,die  
,mysterien-anschauungen1 die bei ,paulus
 im ,hintergrunde  stehen1 drangen sich 
in dem sogenarmten ,deuteropaulinismus  
machtig vor  7,reitzenstein74     7#b7  

,remindful of our ,three ,stages3 the   
,animal1 the  ,self-conscious1 and the  
,cosmic4     7#c7 gr desmios1           
stratiwths1 doulos4     7#d7 ,see also  
,i ,cor4 iii4 #b4      ,and here too    
,democracy comes in--strangely foreboded
 from the first in  all this matter4    
7#a7 ,not only does the ,third ,stage   
bring illumination1  intuitive          
understanding of processes in ,nature   
and ,humanity1 sympathy  with the       
animals1 artistic capacity1 and so      
forth1 but it necessarily  brings a new 
,order of ,society4 ,a preposterous--one
 may almost say a  hideous--social ,age 
is surely drawing to its end1 ,the      
debacle we are  witnessing to-day all   
over ,europe 7including the ,british    
,islands71 the  break-up of old         
institutions1 the generally             
materialistic outlook on  life1 the     
coming to the surface of huge masses of 
diseased and fatuous  populations1 the  
scum and dregs created by the past      
order1 all point to  the ,end of a      

,dispensation4 ,protestantism and       
,commercialism1 in the two  fields of   
religion and daily life have1 as ,i have
 indicated before1  been occupied in    
concentrating the mind of each man      
solely on his ,,own  welfare1 the       
salvation of his ,,own soul or body4    
,these two forces have  therefore been  
disruptive to the last degree2 they mark
 the culmination  of the ,self-conscious
 ,age--a culmination in ,war1 ,greed1   
,materialism1 and  the general principle
 of ,devil-take-the-hindmost--and the   
clearing of  the ground for the new     
order which is to come4 ,so there is    
hope for the  human race4 ,its evolution
 is not all a mere formless craze and   
jumble4  ,there is an inner necessity by
 which ,humanity unfolds from one degree
 or  plane of consciousness to another4 
,and if there has been a great ',fall'  
or ,lapse into conflict and disease and 
'sin' and misery1 occupying the  major  
part of the ,historical period hitherto1
 we see that this period  is only brief1

 so to speak1 in comparison with the    
whole curve of growth  and expansion4   
,we see also that1 as ,i have said      
before1 the belief in a  state of       
salvation or deliverance has in the past
 ages never left  itself quite without a
 witness in the creeds and rituals and  
poems and  prophecies of mankind4 ,art1 
in some form or other1 as an activity or
  inspiration dating not from the       
conscious ,intellect1 but from deeper   
regions of sub-conscious feeling and    
intuition1 has continually come to  us  
as a message from and an evidence of the
 ,third stage or state1 and as  a       
promise of its more complete realization
 under other conditions4     ,through   
the long night-time where the ,nations  
wander       ,from ,eden past to        
,paradise to be1   ,art's sacred        
flowers1 like fair stars shining yonder1
       ,alone illumine ,life's          
obscurity4     ,o gracious ,artists1 out
 of your deep hearts       ',tis some   
great ,sun1 ,i doubt1 by men unguessed1 

,whose rays come struggling thus1 in    
slender darts1       ,to shadow what    
,is1 till ,time shall manifest4         
7#a7 ,see the germs of ,democracy in the
 yoga teaching of the  ,hindus1 and in  
the ,upanishads1 the ,bhagavat ,gita1   
and other books4      ,with the ,cosmic 
stage comes also necessarily the        
rehabilitation of the  ,,whole of       
,society in one fellowship 7the true    
,democracy74 ,not the rule or           
domination of one class or caste--as of 
the ,intellectual1 the ,pious1  the     
,commercial or the ,military--but the   
fusion or at least consentaneous        
organization of ,,all 7as in the        
corresponding functions of the human    
,body74 ,class rule has been the mark of
 that second period of human  evolution1
 and has inevitably given birth during  
that period to wars and                 
self-agrandizements of classes and      
sections1 and their consequent greeds   
and tyrannies over other classes and    
sections4 ,it is not found in the       

primitive human tribes and societies1   
and will not be found in the final      
forms of human association4 ,the        
liberated and emancipated ,man passes   
unconstrained and unconstraining through
 all grades and planes of human         
fellowship1 equal and undisturbed1 and  
never leaving his true home  and abiding
 place in the heart of all4 ,equally    
necessarily with the  rehabilitation of 
,society as an entirety will follow the 
rehabilitation  of the entire physical  
body ,,in each member of ,society4 ,we  
have spoken  already of ,nakedness3 its 
meaning and likely extent of adoption   
7,ch4  ,,xii74 ,the idea that the head  
and the hands are the only seemly and   
presentable members of the organism1 and
 that the other members are  unworthy   
and indecent1 is obviously as onesided  
and lopsided as that  which honors      
certain classes in the commonwealth and 
despises others4  ,why should the head  
brag of its ascendancy and domination1  
and the heart  be smothered up and      

hidden8 ,it will only be a life far more
 in the open  air than that which we    
lead at present1 which will restore the 
balance  and ultimately bring us back to
 sanity and health4          ,,xvi4     
,,the ,,exodus ,,of ,,christianity      
,we have dealt with the ,genesis of     
,christianity2 we now come to the       
,exodus4 ,for that ,christianity can    
,,continue to hold the field of         
,religion  in the ,western ,world is    
neither probable nor desirable4 ,it is  
true1 as  ,i have remarked already1 that
 there is a certain trouble about       
defining what we mean by ,christianity  
similar to that about the word          
,civilization4 ,if we select out of the 
great mass of doctrines and  rites      
favored by the various ,christian       
,churches just those which commend      
themselves to the most modern and humane
 and rational human mind and  choose to 
call that resulting 7but rather small7  
body of belief and  practice            
',christianity' we are1 of course1      

entitled to do so1 and to  hope 7as we  
do hope7 that this residuum will survive
 and go forward into  the future4 ,but  
this sort of proceeding is hardly fair  
and certainly not  logical4 ,it enables 
,christianity to pose as an angel of    
light while at  the same time keeping   
discreetly out of sight all its own     
abominations  and deeds of darkness4    
,the ,church--which began its career by 
destroying1  distorting and denying the 
pagan sources from which it sprang2     
whose  bishops and other ecclesiastics  
assassinated each other in their        
theological rancour of wild beasts1     
which encouraged the wicked folly  of   
the ,crusades--especially the           
,children's ,crusades--and the shameful 
murders of the ,manicheans1 the         
,albigenses1 and the ,huguenots2 which  
burned at the stake thousands and       
thousands of poor 'witches' and         
'heretics'2 which has hardly ever spoken
 a generous word in favor or  defence of
 the animals2 which in modern times has 

supported vivisection  as against the   
latter1 ,capitalism and ,commercialism  
as against the  poorer classes of       
mankind2 and whose priests in the forms 
of its various  sects1 ,greek or        
,catholic1 ,lutheran or ,protestant1    
have in these last  days rushed forth to
 urge the nations to slaughter each     
other with every  diabolical device of  
,science1 and to glorify the war-cry of 
,patriotism  in defiance of the         
principle of universal                  
,brotherhood--such a ,church can  hardly
 claim to have established the angelic  
character of its mission  among mankind6
 ,and if it be said--as it often ,,is   
,,said3 ,oh6 but you must  go back to   
the genuine article1 and the ,church's  
real origin and one  foundation in the  
person and teaching of ,jesus ,christ1  
then indeed you  come back to the point 
which this book1 as above1 enforces3    
namely1 that  as to the person of       
,jesus1 there is no ,,certainty at all  
that he ever  existed2 and as to the    

teaching credited to him1 it is certain 
that that  comes down from a period long
 anterior to ',christianity' and is part
 of  what may justly be called a very   
ancient ,world-religion4 ,so1 as in the 
case of ',civilization1' we are         
compelled to see that it is useless to  
apply the word to some ideal state of   
affairs or doctrine 7an ideal  by no    
means the same in all people's minds1 or
 in all localities and  times71 but that
 the only reasonable thing to do is to  
apply it in each  case to a ,,historical
 ,,period4 ,in the case of ,christianity
 the historical  period has lasted      
nearly #b1jjj years1 and1 as ,i say1 we 
can hardly  expect or wish that it      
should last much longer4    ,the very   
thorough and careful investigation of   
religious origins which  has been made  
during late years by a great number of  
students and  observers undoubtedly     
tends to show that there has been       
something like  a great ,world-religion 
coming down the centuries from the      

remotest times  and gradually expanding 
and branching as it has come--that is to
 say  that the similarity 7in ,,essence 
though not always in external detail7   
between the creeds and rituals of widely
 sundered tribes and peoples is  so     
great as to justify the view--advanced  
in the present volume--that  these      
creeds and rituals are the necessary    
outgrowths of human  psychology1 slowly 
evolving1 and that consequently they    
have a common  origin and in their      
various forms a common expression4 ,of  
this great  ,world-religion1 so coming  
down1 ,christianity is undoubtedly a    
branch1  and an important branch4 ,but  
there have been important branches      
before2  and while it may be true that  
,christianity emphasizes some points    
which  may have been overlooked or      
neglected in the ,vedic teachings or in 
,buddhism1 or in the ,persian and       
,egyptian and ,syrian cults1 or in      
,mahommedanism1 and so forth1 it is also
 equally true that ,christianity  has   

itself overlooked or neglected valuable 
points in these religions4  ,it has1 in 
fact1 the defects of its qualities4 ,if 
the ,world-religion  is like a great    
tree1 one cannot expect or desire that  
all its branches  should be directed    
towards the same point of the compass4  
,reinach1 whose studies of religious    
origins are always interesting  and     
characterized by a certain ,gallic grace
 and nettete1 though with a  somewhat   
,jewish non-perception of the mystic    
element in life1 defines  ,religion as a
 combination of animism and scruples4   
,this is good in  a way1 because it     
gives the two aspects of the subject3   
the inner1  animism1 consisting of the  
sense of contact with more or less      
intelligent beings moving in ,nature2   
and the outer1 consisting in  scruples  
or taboos4 ,the one aspect shows the    
feeling which ,,inspires  religion1 the 
other1 the checks and limitations which 
,,define it and give  birth to ritual4  
,but like most anthropologists he       

7,reinach7 is a little  ,,too           
patronizing towards the poor ,indian    
with untutored mind4 ,he is  sorry for  
people so foolish as to be animistic in 
their outlook1 and he  is always careful
 to point out that the scruples and     
taboos were quite  senseless in their   
origin1 though occasionally 7by         
accident7 they turned  out useful4      
,yet--as ,i have said before--,animism  
is a perfectly sensible1  logical and   
,,necessary attitude of the human mind4 
,it is a necessary  attribute of man's  
psychical nature1 by which he projects  
into the great  ,world around him the   
image of his own mind4 ,when that mind  
is in a very  primitive1 inchoate1 and  
fragmentary condition1 the images so    
projected  are those of fragmentary     
intelligences 7'spirits1' gnomes1       
etc4--the age  of magic72 when the mind 
rises to distinct consciousness of      
itself the  reflections of it are       
anthropomorphic 'gods'2 when finally it 
reaches  the universal or cosmic state  

it perceives the presence of a universal
  ,being behind all phenomena--which    
,being is indeed itself--,himself to    
,himself4 ,if you like you may call the 
whole process by the name of  ,animism4 
,it is perfectly sensible throughout4   
,the only proviso is that  you should   
also be sensible1 and distinguish the   
different stages in the  process4       
,jane ,harrison makes considerable      
efforts to show that ,religion is       
primarily a reflection of the ,,social  
,conscience 7see ,themis1 pp4           
#dhb-ib7--that is1 that the sense in    
,man of a ,power that makes for         
righteousness outside 7and also inside7 
him is derived from his feeling  of     
continuity with the ,tribe and his      
instinctive obedience to its  behests1  
confirmed by ages of collective habit   
and experience4 ,he  cannot in fact     
sever the navel-string which connects   
him with his tribal  ,mother1 even      
though he desires to do so4 ,and no     
doubt this view of the  origin of       

,religion is perfectly correct4 ,but it 
must be pointed out that  it does not by
 any means exclude the view that        
religion derives  also from an ,animism 
by which man recognizes in general      
,nature his  foster-mother and feels    
himself in closest touch with ,,her4    
,which may  have come first1 the ,social
 affiliation or the ,nature affiliation1
 ,i  leave to the professors to         
determine4 ,the term ,animism may1 as   
far as ,i  can see1 be quite well       
applied to the social affiliation1 for  
the latter  is evidently only a case in 
which the individual projects his own   
degree  of consciousness into the human 
group around him instead of into the    
animals or the trees1 but it is a case  
of which the justice is so  obvious that
 the modern man can intellectually seize
 and understand it1  and consequently he
 does not tar it with the 'animistic'   
brush4    ,and ,miss ,harrison1 it must 
be noticed1 does1 in other passages of  
the  same book 7see ,themis1 pp4 #fh1   

#fi71 admit that ,religion has its      
origin  not only from unity with the    
,tribe but from the sense of affiliation
 to  ,nature--the sense of a world of   
unseen power lying behind the visible   
universe1 a world which is the sphere1  
as will be seen1 of magical  activity   
and the medium of mysticism4 ,the       
mystical element1 the oneness  and      
continuousness comes out very clearly in
 the notion of ,wakonda among  the      
,sioux ,indians4444 ,the ,omahas        
regarded all animate and inanimate      
forms1 all phenomena1 as pervaded by a  
common life1 which was continuous  and  
similar to the will-power they were     
conscious of in themselves4 ,this       
mysterious power in all things they     
called ,wakonda1 and through it  all    
things were related to man1 and to each 
other4 ,in the idea of the  continuity  
of life1 a relation was maintained      
between the seen and  the unseen1 the   
dead and the living1 and also between   
the fragment of  anything and its       

entirety4 ,thus our general position is 
confirmed1  that ,religion in its origin
 has been ,,inspired by a deep          
instinctive  conviction or actual sense 
of continuity with a being or beings in 
the  world around1 while it has derived 
its ,,form and ritual by slow degrees   
from a vast number of taboos1 generated 
in the first instance chiefly  by       
superstitious fears1 but gradually with 
the growth of reason and  observation   
becoming simplified and rationalized    
into forms of use4 ,on  the one side    
there has been the positive impulse--of 
mere animal ,desire  and the animal urge
 of self-expression2 on the other there 
has been  the negative force of ,fear   
based on ignorance--the latter          
continually  carving1 moulding and      
shaping the former4 ,according to this  
an organized  study and classification  
of taboos might yield some interesting  
results2  because indeed it would throw 
light on the earliest forms of both     
religion and science4 ,it would be seen 

that some taboos1 like those  of        
,,contact 7say with a menstruous woman1 
or a mother-in-law1 or a                
lightning-struck tree7 had an obvious   
basis of observation1 justifiable  but  
very crude2 while others1 like the taboo
 against harming an enemy  who had      
contracted blood-friendship with one of 
your own tribe1 or  against giving      
decent burial to a murderer1 were       
equally rough and rude  expressions or  
indications of the growing moral        
sentiment of mankind4  ,all the same    
there would be left1 in any case1 a     
large residuum of  taboos which could   
only be judged as senseless1 and the    
mere rubbish of  the savage mind4    ,so
 much for the first origins of the      
,world-religion2 and ,i think enough    
has been said in the various chapters of
 this book to show that the same        
general process has obtained throughout4
 ,man1 like the animals1 began  with    
this deep1 subconscious sense of unity  
with surrounding ,nature4  ,when this   

became 7in ,man7 fairly conscious1 it   
led to ,magic and  ,totemism4 ,more     
conscious1 and it branched1 on the one  
hand1 into figures  of ,gods and        
definite forms of ,creeds1 on the other 
into elaborate  ,scientific             
,theories--the latter based on a strong 
,,intellectual belief in  ,unity1 but   
fervently denying any 'anthropomorphic' 
or 'animistic'  ,,sense of that unity4  
,finally1 it seems that we are now on   
the edge of  a further stage when the   
theories and the creeds1 scientific and 
religious1 are on the verge of          
collapsing1 but in such a way as to     
leave  the sense and the perception of  
,unity--the real content of the whole   
process--not only undestroyed1 but      
immensely heightened and illuminated4   
,meanwhile the taboos--of which there   
remain some still1 both religious  and  
scientific--have been gradually breaking
 up and merging themselves  into a      
reasonable and humane order of life and 
philosophy4    ,i have said that out of 

this ,world-religion ,christianity      
really sprang4  ,it is evident that the 
time has arrived when it must either    
acknowledge  its source and frankly     
endeavor to affiliate itself to the     
same1 or  failing that must perish4 ,in 
the first case it will probably have to 
change its name2 in the second the      
question of its name 'will interest  it 
no more4'    ,with regard to the first  
of these alternatives1 ,i might         
venture--though  with indifference--to  
make a few suggestions4 ,why should we  
not have--instead of a ,holy ,roman     
,church--a ,holy ,,human ,church1       
rehabilitating the ancient symbols and  
rituals1 a ,christianity 7if you  still 
desire to call it so7 frankly and gladly
 acknowledging its own  sources8 ,this  
seems a reasonable and even feasible    
proposition4 ,if such  a church wished  
to celebrate a ,mass or ,communion or   
,eucharist it would  have a great       
variety of rites and customs of that    
kind to select from2  those that were   

not appropriate for use in our times or 
were connected  with the worship of     
strange gods need not be rejected or    
condemned1  but could still be commented
 on and explained as approaches to the  
same  idea--the idea of dedication to   
the ,common ,life1 and of reinvigoration
  in the partaking of it4 ,if the       
,church wished to celebrate the         
,crucifixion or betrayal of its         
,founder1 a hundred instances of such   
celebrations would be to hand1 and still
 the thought that has underlain  such   
celebrations since the beginning of the 
world could easily be  disentangled and 
presented in concrete form anew4 ,in the
 light of such  teaching expressions    
like ,i know that my ,redeemer liveth   
would be  traced to their origin1 and   
men would understand that               
notwithstanding  the mass of rubbish1   
cant and humbug which has collected     
round them they  really do mean         
something and represent the age-long    
instinct of ,humanity  feeling its way  

towards a more extended revelation1 a   
new order of  being1 a third stage of   
consciousness and illumination4 ,in such
 a ,church  or religious organization   
,,every quality of human nature would   
have to  be represented1 every practice 
and custom allowed for and its place    
accorded--the magical and astronomical  
meanings1 the rites connected  with     
sun-worship1 or with sex1 or with the   
worship of animals2 the  consecration of
 corn and wine and other products of the
 ground1  initiations1 sacrifices1 and  
so forth--all 7if indeed it claimed to  
be  a ,world-religion7 would have to be 
represented and recognized4 ,for they   
all have their long human origin and    
descent in and through the pagan        
creeds1 and they all have penetrated    
into and become embodied to some  degree
 in ,christianity4 ,christianity        
therefore1 as ,i say1 must either  now  
come frankly forward and1 acknowledging 
its parentage from the great  ,order of 
the past1 seek to rehabilitate ,,that   

and carry mankind one step  forward in  
the path of evolution--or else it must  
perish4 ,there is no  other alternative4
 7#a7     7#a7 ,comte in founding his   
philosophy of ,positivism seems to have 
had in view some such ,holy ,human      
,church1 but he succeeded in making it  
all so profoundly dull that it never    
flourished1 ,the seed of ,life was  not 
in it4      ,let me give an instance of 
how a fragment of ancient ritual which  
has  survived from the far ,past and is 
still celebrated1 but with little       
intelligence or understanding1 in the   
,catholic ,church of to-day1 might  be  
adopted in such a ,church as ,i have    
spoken of1 interpreted1 and made        
eloquent of meaning to modern humanity4 
,when ,i was in ,ceylon nearly #cj      
years ago ,i was fortunate enough to    
witness a night-festival in a ,hindu    
,temple--the great festival of          
,taipusam1 which takes place every year 
in  ,january4 ,of course1 it was full   
moon1 and great was the blowing up of   

trumpets in the huge courtyard of the   
,temple4 ,the moon shone down above     
from among the fronds of tall           
coco-palms1 on a dense crowd of native  
worshipers--men and a few women--the men
 for the most part clad in  little more 
than a loin-cloth1 the women picturesque
 in their colored  saris and jewelled   
ear and nose rings4 ,the images of ,siva
 and two other  gods were carried in    
procession round and round the          
temple--three or  four times2 nautch    
girls danced before the images1         
musicians1 blowing  horns and huge      
shells1 or piping on flageolets or      
beating tom-toms1  accompanied them4    
,the crowd carrying torches or high     
crates with flaming  coco-nuts1 walked  
or rather danced along on each side1    
elated and  excited with the sense of   
the present divinity1 yet pleasantly    
free from  any abject awe4 ,the whole   
thing indeed reminded one of some       
bas-relief  of a ,bacchanalian          
procession carved on a ,greek           

sarcophagus--and  especially so in its  
hilarity and suggestion of friendly     
intimacy with  the god4 ,there were     
singing of hymns and the floating of the
 chief  actors on a raft round a sacred 
lake4 ,and then came the final ,act4    
,siva1  or his image1 very weighty and  
borne on the shoulders of strong men1   
was  carried into the first chamber or  
hall of the ,temple and placed on an    
altar with a curtain hanging in front4  
,the crowd followed with a rush2  and   
then there was more music1 recital of   
hymns1 and reading from sacred  books4  
,from where we stood we could see the   
rite which was performed  behind the    
curtain4 ,two five-branched candlesticks
 were lighted2 and the  manner of their 
lighting was as follows4 ,each branch   
ended in a  little cup1 and in the cups 
five pieces of camphor were placed1 all 
approximately equal in size4 ,after     
offerings had been made1 of fruit1      
flowers and sandalwood1 the five        
camphors in each candlestick were       

lighted4 ,as the camphor flames burned  
out the music became more wild and      
exciting1 and then at the moment of     
their extinction the curtains  were     
drawn aside and the congregation outside
 suddenly beheld the god  revealed and  
in a blaze of light4 ,this burning of   
camphor was1 like  other things in the  
service1 emblematic4 ,the five lights   
represent  the five senses4 ,just as    
camphor consumes itself and leaves no   
residue  behind1 so should the five     
senses1 being offered to the god1       
consume  themselves and disappear4 ,when
 this is done1 that happens in the soul 
which was now figured in the ritual--the
 ,god is revealed in the inner  light4  
7#a7     7#a7 ,for a more detailed      
account of this ,temple-festival1 see   
,adam's ,peak to ,elephanta by ,e4      
,carpenter1 ch4 vii4      ,we are       
familiar with this parting or rending of
 the veil4 ,we hear of it  in the       
,jewish ,temple1 and in the ,greek and  
,egyptian ,mysteries4 ,it had  a        

mystically religious1 and also obviously
 sexual1 signification4 ,it  occurs here
 and there in the ,roman ,catholic      
ritual4 ,in ,spain1 some  ancient       
,catholic ceremonials are kept up with a
 brilliance and splendor  hardly found  
elsewhere in ,europe4 ,in the           
,cathedral1 at ,seville the  service of 
the ,passion1 carried out on ,good      
,friday with great  solemnity and       
accompanied with fine music1 culminates 
on the ,saturday  morning--i4e4 in the  
interval between the ,crucifixion and   
the  ,resurrection--in a spectacle      
similar to that described in ,ceylon4 ,a
 rich  velvet-black curtain hangs before
 the ,high ,altar4 ,at the appropriate  
moment and as the very emotional strains
 of voices and instruments reach  their 
climax in the ,gloria in ,excelsis1 the 
curtain with a sudden  burst of sound   
7thunder and the ringing of all the     
bells7 is rent  asunder1 and the        
crucified ,jesus is seen hanging there  
revealed in a  halo of glory4    ,there 

is also held at ,seville ,cathedral and 
before the ,high ,altar every  year1 the
 very curious ,dance of the ,seises     
7sixes71 performed now by #af  instead  
of 7as of old7 by #ab boys1 quaintly    
dressed4 ,it seems to be a  survival of 
some very ancient ritual1 probably      
astronomical1 in which  the two sets of 
six represent the signs of the ,zodiac1 
and is celebrated  during the festivals 
of ,corpus ,christi1 the ,immaculate    
,conception1 and  the ,carnival4        
,numerous instances might of course be  
adduced of how a ,church aspiring  to be
 a real ,church of ,humanity might adopt
 and re-create the rituals  of the past 
in the light of a modern inspiration4   
,indeed the difficulty  would be to     
limit the process1 for ,,every ancient  
ritual1 we can now  see1 has had a      
meaning and a message1 and it would be a
 real joy to  disentangle these and to  
expose the profound solidarity of       
humanity and  aspiration from the very  
dawn of civilization down to the present

 day4  ,nor would it be necessary to    
imagine any ,act of ,uniformity or dead 
level of ceremonial in the matter4      
,different groups might concentrate on  
different phases of religious thought   
and practice4 ,the only necessity  would
 be that they should approach the       
subject with a real love of  ,humanity  
in their hearts and a real desire to    
come into touch with the  deep inner    
life and mystic growing-pains of the    
souls of men and women  in all ages4 ,in
 this direction ,m4 ,loisy has done     
noble and excellent  work2 but the dead 
weight and selfish blinkerdom of the    
,catholic  organization has hampered him
 to that degree that he has been unable 
to get justice done to his liberalizing 
designs--or1 perhaps1 even to  reveal   
the full extent of them4 ,and the same  
difficulty will remain4 ,on  the one    
hand no spiritual movement which does   
not take up the attitude  of a          
,world-religion has now in this age1 any
 chance of success2 on the  other1 all  

the existing ,churches--whether ,roman  
,catholic1 or ,greek1  or ,protestant or
 ,secularist--whether ,christian or     
,jewish or ,persian or  ,hindu--will in 
all probability adopt the same blind and
 blinkered and  selfish attitude as that
 described above1 and so disqualify     
themselves  for the great role of       
world-wide emancipation1 which some     
religion at  some time will certainly   
have to play4 ,it is the same difficulty
 which  is looming large in modern      
,world-politics1 where the local        
selfishness  and vainglorious           
patriotisms of the ,nations are sadly   
impeding and  obstructing the           
development of that sense of            
,internationalism and  ,brotherhood     
which is the clearly indicated form of  
the future1 and  which alone can give   
each nation deliverance from fear1 and a
 promise of  growth1 and the confident  
assurance of power4    ,i say that      
,christianity must either frankly adopt 
this generous attitude  and confess     

itself a branch of the great            
,world-religion1 anxious only to  do    
honor to its source--or else it must    
perish and pass away4 ,there is  no     
other alternative4 ,the hour of its     
,exodus has come4 ,it may be1 of        
course1 that neither the ,christian     
,church nor any branch of it1 nor any   
other religious organization1 will step 
into the gap4 ,it may be--but ,i  do not
 think this is likely--that the time of 
rites and ceremonies and  formal creeds 
is ,,past1 and churches of any kind will
 be no more needed  in the world3 not   
likely1 ,i say1 because of the still far
 backwardness  of the human masses1 and 
their considerable dependence yet on    
laws and  forms and rituals4 ,still1 if 
it should prove that that age of        
dependence  ,,is really approaching its 
end1 that would surely be a matter for  
congratulation4 ,it would mean that     
mankind was moving into a knowledge  of 
the ,,reality which has underlain these 
outer shows--that it was coming  into   

the ,third stage of its ,consciousness4 
,having found this there would  be no   
need for it to dwell any longer in the  
land of superstitions and  formulae4 ,it
 would have come to the place of which  
these latter are only  the outlying     
indications4    ,it may1 therefore1     
happen--and this quite independently of 
the growth of  a ,world-cult such as ,i 
have described1 though by no means in   
antagonism  to it--that a religious     
philosophy or ,theosophy might develop  
and  spread1 similar to the ,gnonam of  
the ,hindus or the ,gnomsis of the      
pre-,christian sects1 which would       
become1 first among individuals and     
afterwards among large bodies over the  
world1 the religion of--or  perhaps one 
should say the religious approach to the
 ,third ,state4 ,books  like the        
,upanishads of the ,vedic seers1 and the
 ,bhagavat ,gita1 though  garbled and   
obscured by priestly interferences and  
mystifications1 do  undoubtedly         
represent and give expression to the    

highest utterance of  religious         
experience to be found anywhere in the  
world4 ,they are indeed  the manuals of 
human entrance into the cosmic state4   
,but as ,i say1  and as has happened in 
the case of other sacred books1 a vast  
deal of  rubbish has accreted round     
their essential teachings1 and has to be
  cleared away4 ,to go into a serious   
explication of the meaning of these     
books would be far too large an affair1 
and would be foreign to the  purpose of 
the present volume2 but ,i have in the  
,appendix below inserted  two papers1   
7on ,rest and ,the ,nature of the ,self7
 containing the  substance of lectures  
given on the above books4 ,these papers 
or lectures  are couched in the very    
simplest language1 free from ,sanskrit  
terms and  the usual 'jargon of the     
,schools1' and may1 ,i hope1 even on    
that account  be of use in familiarizing
 readers who are not specially          
,,students with  the ideas and mental   
attitudes of the cosmic state4          

,non-differentiation  7,advaita 7#a77 is
 the root attitude of the mind          
inculcated4     7#a7 ,the word means    
not-two-ness4 ,here we see a great      
subtlety  of definition4 ,it is not to  
be one with others that is urged1 but to
  be not two4      ,we have seen that   
there has been an age of                
non-differentiation in the              
,past--non-differentiation from other   
members of the ,tribe1 from the         
,animals1 from ,nature and the ,spirit  
or ,spirits of nature2 why  should there
 not arise a similar sense of           
non-differentiation in the              
,future--similar but more extended more 
intelligent8 ,certainly this will       
arrive1 in its own appointed time4      
,there will be a surpassing of the      
bounds of separation and division4      
,there will be a surpassing of all      
,taboos4 ,we have seen the use and      
function of ,taboos in the early stages 
of ,evolution and how progress and      
growth have been very much a matter  of 

their gradual extinction and            
assimilation into the general body  of  
rational thought and feeling4           
,unreasoning and idiotic taboos still   
linger1 but they grow weaker4 ,a new    
,morality will come which will shake    
itself free from them4 ,the sense of    
kinship with the animals 7as in the  old
 rituals7 7#a7 will be restored2 the    
sense of kinship with all the  races of 
mankind will grow and become            
consolidated2 the sense of the          
defilement and impurity of the human    
body will 7with the adoption of a       
generally clean and wholesome life7 pass
 away2 and the body itself will  come to
 be regarded more as a collection of    
shrines in which the  gods may be       
worshiped and less as a mere organ of   
trivial  self-gratifications2 7#b7 there
 will be no form of ,nature1 or of human
  life or of the lesser creatures1 which
 will be barred from the approach  of   
,man or from the intimate and           
penetrating invasion of his spirit2 and 

as in certain ceremonies and after      
honorable toils and labors a citizen  is
 sometimes received into the community  
of his own city1 so the  emancipated    
human being on the completion of his    
long long pilgrimage on  ,earth will be 
presented with the ,freedom of the      
,universe4       7#a7 ,the record of the
 ,roman ,catholic ,church has been sadly
  callous and inhuman in this matter of 
the animals4     7#b7 ,see ,the ,art of 
,creation1 by ,e4 ,carpenter4           
,,xvii4 ,,conclusion    ,in conclusion  
there does not seem much to say1 except 
to accentuate  certain points which may 
still appear doubtful or capable of     
being  understood4    ,the fact that the
 main argument of this volume is along  
the lines of  psychological evolution   
will no doubt commend it to some1 while 
on the  other hand it will discredit the
 book to others whose eyes1 being fixed 
on purely ,,material causes1 can see no 
impetus in ,history except through      
these4 ,but it must be remembered that  

there is not the least reason  for      
,,separating the two factors4 ,the fact 
that psychologically man has  evolved   
from simple consciousness to            
self-consciousness1 and is now  in      
process of evolution towards another and
 more extended kind of  consciousness1  
does not in the least bar the           
simultaneous appearance and  influence  
of material evolution4 ,it is clear     
indeed that the two must  largely go    
together1 acting and reacting on each   
other4 ,whatever the  physical          
conditions of the animal brain may be   
which connect themselves  with simple   
7unreflected and unreflecting7          
consciousness1 it is evident  that these
 conditions--in animals and primitive   
man--lasted for an  enormous period1    
before the distinct consciousness of the
 individual and  separate ,,self arose4 
,this second order of consciousness     
seems to have  germinated at or about   
the same period as the discovery of the 
use  of ,tools 7tools of stone1 copper1 

bronze1 c471 the adoption of            
picture-writing and the use of          
reflective words 7like ,i and ,thou72   
and it led on to the appreciation of    
gold and of iron with their  ornamental 
and practical values1 the accumulation  
of ,property1 the  establishment of     
slavery of various kinds1 the subjection
 of ,women1  the encouragement of luxury
 and self-indulgence1 the growth of     
crowded  cities and the endless         
conflicts and wars so resulting4 ,we can
 see  plainly that the incoming of the  
self-motive exercised a direct stimulus 
on the pursuit of these material objects
 and adaptations2 and that  the material
 adaptations in their turn did largely  
accentuate the  self-motive2 but to     
insist that the real explanation of the 
whole  process is only to be found along
 one channel--the material ,,or the     
psychical--is clearly quite unnecessary4
 ,those who understand that all  matter 
is conscious in some degree1 and that   
all consciousness has a  material form  

of some kind1 will be the first to admit
 this4    ,the same remarks apply to the
 ,third ,stage4 ,we can see that in     
modern  times the huge and unlimited    
powers of production by machinery1      
united  with a growing tendency towards 
intelligent ,birth-control1 are         
preparing the way for an age of         
,communism and communal ,plenty which   
will  inevitably be associated 7partly  
as cause and partly as effect7 with  a  
new general phase of consciousness1     
involving the mitigation of  the        
struggle for existence1 the growth of   
intuitional and psychical  perception1  
the spread of amity and solidarity1 the 
disappearance of  ,war1 and the         
realization 7in degree7 of the ,cosmic  
life4    ,perhaps the greatest          
difficulty or stumbling-block to the    
general  acceptance of the belief in a  
third 7or ',golden-,age'7 phase of human
  evolution is the obstinate and        
obdurate pre-judgment that the passing  
of  ,humanity out of the ,second stage  

can only mean the entire ,,abandonment  
,,of ,,self-,,consciousness2 and this   
people say--and quite rightly--is both  
impossible and undesirable4 ,throughout 
the preceding chapters ,i have  striven1
 wherever feasible1 to counter this     
misunderstanding--but ,i have  little   
hope of success4 ,the ,,determination of
 the world to misunderstand  or         
misinterpret anything a little new or   
unfamiliar is a thing which  perhaps    
only an author can duly appreciate4 ,but
 while it is clear that                 
self-consciousness originally came into 
being through a process of  alienation  
and exile and fear which marked it with 
the ,cain-like brand  of loneliness and 
apartness1 it is equally clear that to  
think of that  apartness as an absolute 
and permanent separation is an illusion1
 since  no being can really continue to 
live divorced from the source of its    
life4 ,for a period in evolution the    
,,self took on this illusive form in    
consciousness1 as of an ignis           

fatuus--the form of a being sundered    
from  all other beings1 atomic1 lonely1 
without refuge1 surrounded by dangers   
and struggling1 for itself alone and for
 its own salvation in the midst  of a   
hostile environment4 ,perhaps some such 
terrible imagination was  necessary at  
first1 as it were to start ,humanity on 
its new path4 ,but  it had its          
compensation1 for the sufferings and    
tortures1 mental and  bodily1 the       
privations1 persecutions1 accusations1  
hatreds1 the wars and  conflicts--so    
endured by millions of individuals and  
whole races--have  at length stamped    
upon the human mind a sense of          
individual  responsibility which        
otherwise perhaps would never have      
emerged1 and  whose mark can now be     
effaced2 ultimately1 too1 these things  
have  searched our inner nature to its  
very depths and exposed its bed-rock    
foundation4 ,they have convinced us that
 this idea of ultimate  separation is an
 illusion1 and that in truth we are all 

indefeasible and  indestructible parts  
of one great ,unity in which we live and
 move and  have our being4 ,that being  
so1 it is clear that there remains in   
the  end a self-consciousness which need
 by no means be abandoned1 which  indeed
 only comes to its true fruition and    
understanding when  it recognizes its   
affiliation with the ,whole1 and glories
 in an  individuality which is an       
expression both of itself ,,and of the  
whole4  ,the human child at its mother's
 knee probably comes first to know it   
,,has a 'self' on some fateful day when 
having wandered afar it goes  lost among
 alien houses and streets or in the     
trackless fields4 ,that  appalling      
experience--the sense of danger1 of     
fear1 of loneliness--is  never          
forgotten2 it stamps some new sense of  
,being upon the childish  mind1 but that
 sense1 instead of being destroyed1     
becomes all the  prouder and more       
radiant in the hour of return to the    
mother's arms4 ,the  return1 the        

salvation1 for which humanity looks1 is 
the return of the  little individual    
self to harmony and union with the great
 ,self of the  universe1 but by no means
 its extinction or abandonment--rather  
the  finding of its own true nature as  
never before4      ,there is another    
thing which may be said here3 namely1   
that the  disentanglement1 as above1 of 
three main stages of psychological      
evolution as great formative influences 
in the history of mankind1 does  not by 
any means preclude the establishment of 
lesser stages within the  boundaries of 
these4 ,in all probability subdivisions 
of all the three  will come in time to  
be recognized and allowed for4 ,to take 
the  ,second stage only1 it ,,may appear
 that ,self-consciousness in its first  
development is characterized by an      
accentuation of ,timidity2 in its       
second development by a more deliberate 
pursuit of sensual ,pleasure  7lust1    
food1 drink1 c472 in its third by the   
pursuit of mental  gratifications       

7vanities1 ambitions1 enslavement of    
others72 in its  fourth by the pursuit  
of ,property1 as a means of attaining   
these  objects2 in its fifth by the     
access of enmities1 jealousies1 wars and
 so  forth1 consequent on all these     
things2 and so on4 ,i have no intention 
at  present of following out this line  
of thought1 but only wish to suggest    
its feasibility and the degree to which 
it may throw light on the social        
evolutions of the ,past4 7#a7     7#a7  
,for an analysis of the nature of       
,self-consciousness see vol4  iii1 p4   
#cge sq4 of the three ponderous tomes by
 ,wilhelm  ,wundt--,grund-zuge der      
,physiologischen ,psychologie--in which 
amid an  enormous mass of verbiage      
occasional gleams of useful suggestion  
are to  be found4      ,as a kind of    
rude general philosophy we may say that 
there are only two  main factors in     
life1 namely1 ,love and ,ignorance4 ,and
 of these we may  also say that the two 
are not in the same plane3 one is       

positive and  substantial1 the other is 
negative and merely illusory4 ,it may be
  thought at first that ,fear and       
,hatred and ,cruelty1 and the like1 are 
very positive things1 but in the end we 
see that they are due merely to         
,,absence of perception1 to dulness of  
understanding4 ,or we may put the       
statement in a rather less crude form1  
and say that there are only  two factors
 in life3 7#a7 the sense of ,unity with 
others 7and with  ,nature7--which covers
 ,love1 ,faith1 ,courage1 ,truth1 and so
 forth1 and  7#b7 ,non-perception of the
 same--which covers ,enmity1 ,fear1     
,hatred1  ,self-pity1 ,cruelty1         
,jealousy1 ,meanness and an endless     
similar list4  ,the present world which 
we see around us1 with its idiotic wars1
 its  senseless jealousies of nations   
and classes1 its fears and greeds  and  
vanities and its futile endeavors--as of
 people struggling in a  swamp--to find 
one's own salvation by treading others  
underfoot1 is a  negative phenomenon4   

,ignorance1 non-perception1 are at the  
root of it4  ,but it is the blessed     
virtue of ,ignorance and of             
non-perception that  they inevitably--if
 only slowly and painfully--,,destroy   
,,themselves4 ,all  experience serves to
 dissipate them4 ,the world1 as it is1  
carries' the  doom of its own           
transformation in its bosom2 and in     
proportion as that  which is negative   
disappears the positive element must    
establish itself  more and more4    ,so 
we come back to that with which we      
began1 7#a7 to ,fear bred by            
,ignorance4 ,from that source has sprung
 the long catalogue of follies1         
cruelties and sufferings which mark the 
records of the human race since  the    
dawn of history2 and to the overcoming  
of this ,fear we perforce  must look for
 our future deliverance1 and for the    
discovery1 even in  the midst of this   
world1 of our true ,home4 ,the time is  
coming when the  positive constructive  
element must dominate4 ,it is inevitable

 that ,man  must ever build a state of  
society around him after the pattern and
  image of his own interior state4 ,the 
whole futile and idiotic structure  of  
commerce and industry in which we are   
now imprisoned springs from  that       
falsehood of individualistic            
self-seeking which marks the second     
stage of human evolution4 ,that stage is
 already tottering to its fall1         
destroyed by the very flood of egotistic
 passions and interests1 of  vanities1  
greeds1 and cruelties1 all warring with 
each other1 which are  the sure outcome 
and culmination of its operation4 ,with 
the restoration  of the sentiment of the
 ,common ,life1 and the gradual growth  
of a mental  attitude corresponding1    
there will emerge from the flood        
something like  a solid earth--something
 on which it will be possible to build  
with good  hope for the future4 ,schemes
 of reconstruction are well enough in   
their  way1 but if there is no ground of
 ,,real ,,human ,,solidarity beneath1 of

 what  avail are they8     7#a7 ,see    
,introduction1 ,ch4 ,i4      ,an        
industrial system which is no real      
industrial order1 but only 7on  the part
 of the employers7 a devil's device for 
securing private profit  under the guise
 of public utility1 and 7on the part of 
the employed7 a  dismal and             
poor-spirited renunciation--for the sake
 of a bare living--of  all real interest
 in life and work3 such a 'system' must 
infallibly  pass away4 ,it cannot in the
 nature of things be permanent4 ,the    
first  condition of social happiness and
 prosperity must be the sense of the    
,common ,life4 ,this sense1 which       
instinctively underlay the whole ,tribal
  order of the far past--which first    
came to consciousness in the  worship of
 a thousand pagan divinities1 and in the
 rituals of countless  sacrifices1      
initiations1 redemptions1 love-feasts   
and communions1 which  inspired the     
dreams of the ,golden ,age1 and flashed 
out for a time in the  ,communism of the

 early ,christians and in their         
adorations of the risen  ,savior--must  
in the end be the creative condition of 
a new order3 it  must provide the       
material of which the ,golden ,city     
waits to be built4  ,the long travail of
 the ,world-religion will not have been 
in vain1 which  assures this            
consummation4 ,what the signs and       
conditions of any general  advance into 
this new order of life and consciousness
 will be1 we know  not4 ,it may be that 
as to individuals the revelation of a   
new vision  often comes quite suddenly1 
and ,,generally perhaps after a period  
of  great suffering1 so to society at   
large a similar revelation will         
arrive--like the lightning which cometh 
out of the ,east and shineth  even unto 
the ,west--with unexpected swiftness4   
,on the other hand  it would perhaps be 
wise not to count too much on any such  
sudden  transformation4 ,when we look   
abroad 7and at home7 in this year of    
grace  and hoped-for peace1 #aiai1 and  

see the spirits of rancour and revenge1 
the fears1 the selfish blindness and the
 ignorance1 which still hold in  their  
paralyzing grasp huge classes and       
coteries in every country in the  world1
 we see that the second stage of human  
development is by no means  yet at its  
full term1 and that1 as in some vast    
chrysalis1 for the  liberation of the   
creature within still more and more     
terrible struggles  ,,may be necessary4 
,we can only pray that such may not be  
the case4  ,anyhow1 if we have followed 
the argument of this book we can hardly 
doubt that the destruction 7which is    
going on everywhere7 of the  outer form 
of the present society marks the first  
stage of man's final  liberation2 and   
that1 sooner or later1 and in its own   
good time1 that  further 'divine event' 
will surely be realized4      ,nor need 
we fear that ,humanity1 when it has once
 entered into the great  ,deliverance1  
will be again overpowered by evil4 ,from
 ,knowledge back to  ,ignorance there is

 no complete return4 ,the nations that  
have come to  enlightenment need        
entertain no dread of those others      
7however hostile  they appear7 who are  
still plunging darkly in the troubled   
waters  of self-greed4 ,the dastardly   
,fears which inspire all brutishness and
  cruelty of warfare--whether of ,white 
against ,white or it may be of ,white   
against ,yellow or ,black--may be       
dismissed for good and all by that blest
  race which once shall have gained the 
shore--since from the very nature  of   
the case those who are on dry land can  
fear nothing and need fear  nothing from
 the unfortunates who are yet tossing in
 the welter and  turmoil of the waves4  
,dr4 ,frazer1 in the conclusion of his  
great work ,the ,golden ,bough1 7#a7    
bids farewell to his readers with the   
following words3 ,the laws of  ,nature  
are merely hypotheses devised to explain
 that ever-shifting  phantasmagoria of  
thought which we dignify with the       
high-sounding names  of the ,world and  

the ,universe4 ,in the last analysis    
magic1 religion  and science are nothing
 but theories 7of thought72 and as      
,science has  supplanted its            
predecessors so it may hereafter itself 
be superseded by  some more perfect     
hypothesis1 perhaps by some perfectly   
different way of  looking at            
phenomena--of registering the shadows on
 the screen--of which  we in this       
generation can form no idea4 ,i imagine 
,dr4 ,frazer is right  in thinking that 
a way of looking at phenomena different 
from the way  of ,science1 may some day 
prevail4 ,but ,i think this change will 
come1  not so much by the growth of     
,science itself or the extension of its 
'hypotheses1' as by a growth and        
expansion of the human ,,heart and a    
change in its psychology and powers of  
perception4 ,perhaps some of the        
preceding chapters will help to show how
 much the outlook of humanity on  the   
world has been guided through the       
centuries by the slow evolution of  its 

inner consciousness4 ,gradually1 out of 
an infinite mass of folly and  delusion1
 the human soul has in this way         
disentangled itself1 and will  in the   
future disentangle itself1 to emerge at 
length in the light of  true ,,freedom4 
,all the taboos1 the insane terrors1 the
 fatuous forbiddals  of this and that   
7with their consequent heart-searchings 
and distress7  may perhaps have been in 
their way necessary1 in order to rivet  
and  define the meaning and the         
understanding of that word4 ,to-day     
these taboos and terrors still linger1  
many of them1 in the form of            
conventions of morality1 uneasy         
strivings of conscience1 doubts and     
desperations of religion2 but ultimately
 ,man will emerge from all these        
things1 ,,free--familiar1 that is1 with 
them all1 making use of all1  allowing  
generously for the values of all1 but   
hampered and bound by  ,,none4 ,he will 
realize the inner meaning of the creeds 
and rituals of the  ancient religions1  

and will hail with joy the fulfilment of
 their far  prophecy down the           
ages--finding after all the             
long-expected ,saviour of  the world    
within his own breast1 and ,paradise in 
the disclosure there of  the everlasting
 peace of the soul4     7#a7 ,see       
,balder1 vol4 ii1 pp4 #cjf1 #cjg4       
7,farewell to ,nemi47                   
,,appendix    ,,the ,,teaching ,,of     
,,the ,,upanishads    ,,being ,,the     
,,substance ,,of ,,two ,,lectures ,,to  
,,popular ,,audiences    ,i4 ,,rest     
,,ii4 ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,the ,,self  
,i4 ,,rest    ,to some1 in the present  
whirlpool of life and affairs it may    
seem almost  an absurdity to talk about 
,rest4 ,for long enough now rest has    
seemed a  thing far off and             
unattainable4 ,with the posts knocking  
at our doors  ten or twelve times a day1
 with telegrams arriving every hour1 and
 the  telephone bell constantly ringing2
 with motors rushing wildly about the   
streets1 and aeroplanes whizzing        

overhead1 with work speeded up in every 
direction1 and the drive in the         
workshops becoming more intolerable     
every day2 with the pace of the walkers 
and the pace of the talkers from  hour  
to hour insanely increasing--what room1 
it may well be asked1 is  there for     
,rest8 ,and now the issues of war1      
redoubling the urgency of all           
questions1 are on us4    ,the problem is
 obviously a serious one4 ,so urgent is 
it that ,i think one  may safely say the
 amount of insanity due to the pressure 
of daily life  is increasing2           
nursing-homes have sprung up for the    
special purpose of  treating such cases2
 and doctors are starting special       
courses of  tuition in the art--now     
becoming very important--of             
systematically doing  nothing6 ,and yet 
it is difficult to see the outcome of it
 all4 ,the clock  of what is called     
,progress is not easily turned backward4
 ,we should  not very readily agree     
nowadays to the abolition of telegrams  

or to a  regulation compelling express  
trains to stop at every station6 ,we    
can't  ,,all go to ,nursing ,homes1 or  
afford to enjoy a winter's rest-cure in 
,egypt4 ,and1 if not1 is the speeding-up
 process to go on indefinitely1         
incapable of being checked1 and destined
 ultimately to land civilization  in the
 mad-house8    ,it is1 ,i say1 a serious
 and an urgent problem4 ,and it is1 ,i  
think1  forcing a certain answer on     
us--which ,i will now endeavor to       
explain4    ,if we cannot turn back and 
reverse this fatal onrush of modern life
 7and  it is evident that we cannot do  
so in any very brief time--though of    
course ultimately we might succeed7 then
 ,i think there are clearly only  two   
alternatives left--either to go forward 
to general dislocation and  madness1    
or--to learn to rest even in the very   
midst of the hurry and  the scurry4     
,to explain what ,i mean1 let me use an 
illustration4 ,the typhoons and         
cyclones of the ,china ,seas are some of

 the most formidable storms that  ships 
can encounter4 ,their paths in the past 
have been strewn with  wrecks and       
disaster4 ,but now with increased       
knowledge much of their  danger has been
 averted4 ,it is known that they are    
,,circular in  character1 and that      
though the wind on their outskirts often
 reaches a  speed of #ajj miles an hour1
 in the centre of the storm there is a  
space of complete calm--not a calm of   
the ,,sea certainly1 but a complete     
absence of wind4 ,the skilled navigator1
 if he cannot escape the storm1  steers 
right into the heart of it1 and rests   
there4 ,even in the midst  of the       
clatter he finds a place of quiet where 
he can trim his sails  and adjust his   
future course4 ,he knows too from his   
position in what  direction at every    
point around him the wind is moving and 
where it will  strike him when at last  
his ship emerges from the charmed       
circle4    ,is it not possible1 we may  
ask1 that in the very midst of the      

cyclone of  daily life we may find a    
similar resting-place8 ,if we can1 our  
case is  by no means hopeless4 ,if we   
cannot1 then indeed there is danger4    
,looking back in ,history we seem to see
 that in old times people took  life    
much more leisurely than they do now4   
,the elder generations gave  more scope 
in their customs and their religions for
 contentment and  peace of mind4 ,we    
associate a certain quietism and        
passivity with the  thought of the      
,eastern peoples4 ,but as civilization  
traveled ,westward  external activity   
and the pace of life increased--less and
 less time was  left for meditation and 
repose--till with the rise of ,western  
,europe and  ,america1 the dominant note
 of life seems to have simply become one
 of  feverish and ceaseless activity--of
 activity merely for the sake of        
activity1 without any clear idea of its 
own purpose or object4    ,such a       
prospect does not at first seem very    
hopeful2 but on second  thoughts we see 

that we are not forced to draw any very 
pessimistic  conclusion from it4 ,the   
direction of human evolution need not   
remain  always the same4 ,the movement1 
in fact1 of civilization from ,east to  
,west has now clearly completed itself4 
,the globe has been circled1 and  we    
cannot go any ,,farther to the ,west    
without coming round to the ,east       
again4 ,it is a commonplace to say that 
our psychology1 our philosophy  and our 
religious sense are already taking on an
 ,eastern color2 nor is  it difficult to
 imagine that with the end of the       
present dispensation a  new era may     
perfectly naturally arrive in which the 
,st4 ,vitus' dance of  money-making and 
ambition will cease to be the chief end 
of existence4    ,in the history of     
nations as in the history of individuals
 there  are periods when the formative  
ideals of life 7through some hidden     
influence7 change2 and the mode of life 
and evolution in consequence  changes   
also4 ,i remember when ,i was a boy     

wishing--like many other  boys--to go to
 sea4 ,i wanted to join the ,navy4 ,it  
was not1 ,i am sure1  that ,i was so    
very anxious to defend my country4 ,no1 
there was a much  simpler and more      
prosaic motive than that4 ,the ships of 
those days with  their complex rigging  
suggested a perfect paradise of         
,,climbing1 and ,i  know that it was the
 thought of ,,that which influenced me4 
,to be able  to climb indefinitely among
 those ropes and spars6 ,how delightful6
 ,of  course ,i knew perfectly well that
 ,i should not always have free access  
to the rigging2 but then--some day1 no  
doubt1 ,i should be an ,admiral1  and   
who then could prevent me8 ,i remember  
seeing myself in my mind's  eye1 with   
cocked hat on my head and spy-glass     
under my arm1 roaming at  my own sweet  
will up aloft1 regardless of the        
remonstrances which  might reach me from
 below6 ,such was my childish ideal4    
,but a time  came--needless to say--when
 ,i conceived a different idea of the   

object  of life4    ,it is said that    
,john ,tyndall1 whose lectures on       
,science were so much  sought after in  
their time1 being on one occasion in    
,new ,york was  accosted after his      
discourse by a very successful ,american
 business  man1 who urged him to devote 
his scientific knowledge and ability to 
commercial pursuits1 promising that if  
he did so1 he1 ,tyndall1 would  easily  
make a big pile4 ,tyndall very calmly   
replied1 ,well1 ,i myself  thought of   
that once1 but ,i soon abandoned the    
idea1 having come to  the conclusion    
that ,i had ,,no ,,time ,,to ,,waste    
,,in ,,making ,,money4 ,the man of      
dollars nearly sank into the ground4    
,such a conception of life had never    
entered his head before4 ,but to        
,tyndall no doubt it was obvious that if
  he chained himself to the commercial  
ideal all the joy and glory of his  days
 would be gone4    ,we sometimes hear of
 the awful doom of some of the ,russian 
convicts in  the quarries and mines of  

,siberia1 who are 7or were7 chained     
permanently  to their wheelbarrows4 ,it 
is difficult to imagine a more dreadful 
fate3  the despair1 the disgust1 the    
deadly loathing of the accursed thing   
from  which there is no escape day or   
night--which is the companion not only  
of the prisoner's work but of his hours 
of rest--with which he has to  sleep1 to
 feed1 to take his recreation if he has 
any1 and to fulfil all  the offices of  
nature4 ,could anything be more         
crushing8 ,and yet1 and  yet444 is it   
not true that we1 most of us1 in our    
various ways are  chained to our        
wheelbarrows--is it not too often true  
that to these  beggarly things we have  
for the most part chained ,,ourselves8  
,let me be understood4 ,of course we all
 have 7or ought to have7 our work  to   
do4 ,we have our living to get1 our     
families to support1 our trade1  our    
art1 our profession to pursue4 ,in that 
sense no doubt we are tied2  but ,i take
 it that these things are like the      

wheelbarrow which a man  uses while he  
is at work4 ,it may irk him at times1   
but he sticks to it  with a good heart1 
and with a certain joy because it is the
 instrument  of a noble purpose4 ,that  
is all right4 ,but to be chained to it1 
not to  be able to leave it when the    
work of the day is done--that is indeed 
an ignoble slavery4 ,i would say1 then1 
take care that even with these  things1 
these necessary arts of life1 you       
preserve your independence1  that even  
if to some degree they may confine your 
body they do not  enslave your mind4    
,for it is the freedom of the mind which
 counts4 ,we are all no doubt  caught in
 the toils of the earth-life4 ,one man  
is largely dominated  by sensual        
indulgence1 another by ambition1 another
 by the pursuit  of money4 ,well1 these 
things are all right in themselves4     
,without the  pleasures of the senses we
 should be dull mokes indeed2 without   
ambition  much of the zest and          
enterprise of life would be gone2 gold1 

in the  present order of affairs1 is a  
very useful servant4 ,these things are  
right enough--but to be ,,chained to    
them1 to be unable to think of  anything
 else--what a fate6 ,the subject reminds
 one of a not uncommon  spectacle4 ,it  
is a glorious day2 the sun is bright1   
small white clouds  float in the        
transparent blue--a day when you linger 
perforce on the  road to enjoy the      
scene4 ,but suddenly here comes a man   
painfully running  all hot and dusty and
 mopping his head1 and with no eye1     
clearly1 for  anything around him4 ,what
 is the matter8 ,he is absorbed by one  
idea4  ,he is running to catch a train6 
,and one cannot help wondering what     
,,exceedingly important business it must
 be for which all this glory and  beauty
 is sacrificed1 and passed by as if it  
did not exist4    ,further we must      
remember that in our foolishness we very
 commonly chain  ourselves1 not only to 
things like sense-pleasures and         
ambitions which  are on the edge1 so to 

speak1 of being vices2 but also to other
 things  which are accounted virtues1   
and which as far as ,i can see are just 
as  bad1 if we once become enslaved to  
them4 ,i have known people who were so  
exceedingly 'spiritual' and 'good' that 
one really felt quite depressed  in     
their company2 ,i have known others     
whose sense of duty1 dear things1  was  
so strong that they seemed quite unable 
to ,,rest1 or even to allow  their      
friends to rest2 and ,i have wondered   
whether1 after all1 worriting  about    
one's duty might not be as bad--as      
deteriorating to oneself1 as            
distressing to one's friends--as sinning
 a good solid sin4 ,no1 in this  respect
 virtues ,,may be no better than vices2 
and to be chained to a  wheelbarrow made
 of alabaster is no way preferable to   
being chained to  one of wood4 ,to      
sacrifice the immortal freedom of the   
mind in order to  become a prey to      
self-regarding cares and anxieties1     
self-estimating  virtues and vices1     

self-chaining duties and indulgences1 is
 a mistake4  ,and ,i warn you1 it is    
quite useless4 ,for the destiny of      
,freedom is  ultimately upon every one1 
and if refusing it for a time you heap  
your  life persistently upon one        
object--however blameless in itself that
  object may be--,beware6 ,for one      
day--and when you least expect it--the  
gods will send a thunderbolt upon you4  
,one day the thing for which  you have  
toiled and spent laborious days and     
sleepless nights will lie  broken before
 you--your reputation will be ruined1   
your ambition will be  dashed1 your     
savings of years will be lost--and for  
the moment you will  be inclined to     
think that your life has been in vain4  
,but presently you  will wake up and    
find that something quite different has 
happened4 ,you  will find that the      
thunderbolt which you thought was your  
ruin has been  your salvation--that it  
has broken the chain which bound you to 
your  wheelbarrow1 and that you are     

free6 --------    ,i think you will now 
see what ,i mean by ,rest4 ,rest is the 
loosing of the  chains which bind us to 
the whirligig of the world1 it is the   
passing  into the centre of the         
,cyclone2 it is the ,stilling of        
,thought4 ,for 7with  regard to this    
last7 it is ,thought1 it is the         
,attachment of the ,mind1  which binds  
us to outer things4 ,the outer things   
themselves are all  right4 ,it is only  
through our thoughts that they make     
slaves of us4  ,obtain power over your  
thoughts and you are free4 ,you can then
 use the  outer things or dismiss them  
at your pleasure4    ,there is nothing  
new of course in all this4 ,it has been 
known for ages2  and is part of the     
ancient philosophy of the world4    ,in 
the ,katha ,upanishad you will find     
these words 7,max ,muller's             
translation73 ,as rainwater that has    
fallen on a mountain ridge runs  down on
 all sides1 thus does he who sees a     
difference between qualities  run after 

them on all sides4 ,this is the figure  
of the man who does ,,not  rest4 ,and it
 is a powerful likeness4 ,the thunder   
shower descends on the  mountain top2   
torrents of water pour down the crags in
 every direction4  ,imagine the state of
 mind of a man--however thirsty he may  
be--who  endeavors to pursue and        
intercept all these streams6    ,but    
then the ,upanishad goes on3 ,as pure   
water poured into pure water  remains   
the same1 thus1 ,o ,gautama1 is the     
,self of a thinker who  knows4 ,what a  
perfect image of rest6 ,imagine a       
cistern before you with  transparent    
glass sides and filled with pure water4 
,and then imagine  some one comes with a
 phial1 also of pure water1 and pours   
the contents  gently into the cistern4  
,what will happen8 ,almost nothing4 ,the
 pure  water will glide into the pure   
water--remaining the same4 ,there will  
be no dislocation1 no discoloration 7as 
might happen if ,,muddy water were      
poured in72 there will be only perfect  

harmony4    ,i imagine here that the    
meaning is something like this4 ,the    
cistern is  the great ,reservoir of the 
,universe which contains the pure and   
perfect ,spirit of all life4 ,each one  
of us1 and every mortal creature1       
represents a drop from that reservoir--a
 drop indeed which is also pure  and    
perfect 7though the phial in which it is
 contained may not always  be so74 ,when
 we1 each of us1 descend into the world 
and meet the great  ,ocean of ,life     
which dwells there behind all mortal    
forms1 it is like the  little phial     
being poured into the great reservoir4  
,if the tiny canful  which is our selves
 is pure and unsoiled1 then when it     
meets the  world it will blend with the 
,spirit which informs the world         
perfectly  harmoniously1 without        
distress or dislocation4 ,it will pass  
through and  be at one with it4 ,how can
 one describe such a state of affairs8  
,you  will have the key to every person 
that you meet1 because indeed you are   

conscious that the real essence of that 
person is the same as your own4  ,you   
will have the solution of every event   
which happens4 ,for every event  is 7and
 is felt to be7 the touch of the great  
,spirit on yours4 ,can any  description 
of ,rest be more perfect than that8     
,pure water poured into  pure water4444 
,there is no need to hurry1 for         
everything will come in  its good time4 
,there is no need to leave your place1  
for all you desire  is close at hand4   
,here is another verse 7from the        
,vagasaneyi-,samhita ,upanishad7        
embodying  the same idea3 ,and he who   
beholds all beings in the ,self1 and the
  ,self in all beings1 he never turns   
away from ,it4 ,when1 to a man who      
understands1 the ,self has become all   
things1 what sorrow1 what trouble1  can 
there be to him--having once beheld that
 ,unity8--,what trouble1  what sorrow1  
indeed1 when the universe has become    
transparent with the  presences of all  
we love1 held firm in the ,one enfolding

 ,presence8    ,but it will be said3    
,our minds are ,,not pure and           
transparent4 ,more often  they are muddy
 and soiled--soiled1 if not in their    
real essence1 yet by  reason of the     
mortal phial in which they are          
contained4 ,and that alas6  is true4 ,if
 you pour a phial of muddy water into   
that reservoir which  we described--what
 will you see8 ,you will see a queer and
 ugly cloud  formed4 ,and to how many of
 us1 in our dealings with the world1    
does life  take on just such a form--of 
a queer and ugly cloud8    ,now not so  
very long after those ,upanishads were  
written there lived  in ,china that     
great ,teacher1 ,lao-tze2 and he too had
 considered these  things4 ,and he      
wrote--in the ,tao-,teh-,king--,who is  
there who can make  muddy water clear8  
,the question sounds like a conundrum4  
,for a moment  one hesitates to answer  
it4 ,lao-tze1 however1 has an answer    
ready4 ,he  says3 ,but if you ,,leave   
,,it ,,alone it will become clear of    

itself4 ,that  muddy water of the mind1 
muddied by all the foolish little       
thoughts  which like a sediment infest  
it--but if you leave it alone it will   
become clear of itself4 ,sometimes      
walking along the common road after  a  
shower you have seen pools of water     
lying here and there1 dirty and         
unsightly with the mud stirred up by the
 hoofs of men and animals4 ,and  then   
returning some hours afterwards along   
the same road--in the evening  and after
 the cessation of traffic--you have     
looked again1 and lo6  each pool has    
cleared itself to a perfect calm1 and   
has become a lovely  mirror reflecting  
the trees and the clouds and the sunset 
and the stars4    ,so this mirror of the
 mind4 ,leave it alone4 ,let the ugly   
sediment  of tiresome thoughts and      
anxieties1 and of fussing over one's    
self-importances and duties1 settle     
down--and presently you will look  on   
it1 and see something there which you   
never knew or imagined                  

before--something more beautiful than   
you ever yet beheld--a reflection  of   
the real and eternal world such is only 
given to the mind that rests4      ,do  
not recklessly spill the waters of your 
mind in this direction and in  that1    
lest you become like a spring lost and  
dissipated in the desert4    ,but draw  
them together into a little compass1 and
 hold them still1 so  still2    ,and let
 them become clear1 so clear--so limpid1
 so mirror-like2    ,at last the        
mountains and the sky shall glass       
themselves in peaceful  beauty1    ,and 
the antelope shall descend to drink1 and
 the lion to quench his  thirst1    ,and
 ,love himself shall come and bend over1
 and catch his own likeness in  you4    
7#a7       7#a7 ,towards ,democracy1 p4 
#cgc4      ,yes1 there is this priceless
 thing within us1 but hoofing along the 
roads in the mud we fail to find it2    
there is this region of calm1  but the  
cyclone of the world raging around      
guards us from entering it4  ,perhaps it

 is best so--best that the access to it 
should not be made  too easy4 ,one day1 
some time ago1 in the course of         
conversation with  ,rabindranath ,tagore
 in ,london1 ,i asked him what impressed
 him most in  visiting the great city4  
,he said1 ,the restless incessant       
movement of  everybody4 ,i said1 ,yes1  
they seem as if they were all rushing   
about  looking for something4 ,he       
replied1 ,it is because each person does
 not  know of the great treasure he has 
within himself4 --------    ,how then   
are we to reach this treasure and make  
it our own8 ,how are we  to attain to   
this ,stilling of the ,mind1 which is   
the secret of all power  and possession8
 ,the thing is difficult1 no doubt2 yet 
as ,i tried to show  at the outset of   
this discourse1 we ,moderns ,,must reach
 it2 we have got  to attain to it--for  
the penalty of failure is and must be   
widespread  ,madness4    ,the power to  
still the mind--to be ,,able1 mark you1 
when you want1  to enter into the region

 of ,rest1 and to dismiss or command    
your  ,thoughts--is a condition of      
,health2 it is a condition of all ,power
  and ,energy4 ,for all health1 whether 
of mind or body1 resides in one's       
relation to the central ,life within4   
,if one cannot get into touch with      
,,that1 then the life-forces cannot flow
 down into the organism4 ,most1  perhaps
 all1 disease arises from the           
disturbance of this connection4 ,all    
mere hurry1 all mere running after      
external things 7as of the man after    
the water-streams on the mountain-top71 
inevitably breaks it4 ,let a pond  be   
allowed calmly under the influence of   
frost to crystallize1 and most          
beautiful flowers and spears of ice will
 be formed1 but keep stirring  the water
 all the time with a stick or a pole and
 nothing will result  but an ugly brash 
of half-frozen stuff4 ,the condition of 
the exercise of  power and energy is    
that it should proceed from a center of 
,rest within  one4 ,so convinced am ,i  

of this1 that whenever ,i find myself   
hurrying  over my work1 ,i pause and    
say1 ,now you are not producing anything
  good6 and ,i generally find that that 
is true4 ,it is curious1 but ,i  think  
very noticeable1 that the places where  
people hurry most--as  for instance the 
,city of ,london or ,wall ,street1 ,new 
,york--are just the  places where the   
work being done is of ,,least importance
 7being  mostly money-gambling72 whereas
 if you go and look at a ploughman      
ploughing--doing perhaps the most       
important of human work--you find  all  
his movements most deliberate and       
leisurely1 as if indeed he had  infinite
 time at command2 the truth being that  
in dealing 7like a  ploughman7 with the 
earth and the horses and the weather and
 the things  of ,nature generally you   
can no more hurry than ,nature herself  
hurries4    ,following this line of     
thought it might seem that one would    
arrive at a  hopeless paradox4 ,if it be
 true that the less one hurries the     

better  the work resulting1 then it     
might seem that by sitting still and    
merely  twirling one's thumbs one would 
arrive at the very greatest activity and
  efficiency6 ,and indeed 7if understood
 aright7 there is a truth even in  this1
 which--like the other points ,i have   
mentioned--has been known and  taught   
long ages ago4 ,says that humorous old  
sage1 ,lao-tze1 whom ,i have  already   
quoted3 ,by non-action there is nothing 
that cannot be done4 ,at  first this    
sounds like mere foolery or worse2 but  
afterwards thinking on  it one sees     
there is a meaning hidden4 ,there is a  
secret by which ,nature  and the powers 
of the universal life will do all for   
you4 ,the ,bhagavat  ,gita also says1   
,he who discovers inaction in action and
 action in  inaction is wise among      
mortals4    ,it is worth while dwelling 
for a moment on these texts4 ,we are    
all--as ,i  said earlier on--involved in
 work belonging to our place and        
station2 we  are tied to some degree in 

the bonds of action4 ,but that fact need
 not  imprison our inner minds4 ,while  
acting even with keenness and energy    
along the external and necessary path   
before us1 it is perfectly  possible to 
hold the mind free and untied--so that  
the ,,result of our  action 7which of   
course is not ours to command7 shall    
remain indifferent  and incapable of    
unduly affecting us4 ,similarly1 when it
 is our part  to remain externally      
,,inactive1 we may discover that        
underneath this  apparent inaction we   
may be taking part in the currents of a 
deeper life  which are moving on to a   
definite end1 to an end or object which 
in a  sense is ours and in a sense is   
,,not ours4    ,the lighthouse beam     
flies over land and sea with incredible 
velocity1  and you think the light      
itself must be in swiftest movement2 but
 when  you climb up thither you find the
 lamp absolutely stationary4 ,it is only
  the reflection that is moving4 ,the   
rider on horseback may gallop to and    

fro wherever he will1 but it is hard to 
say that ,,he is acting4 ,the horse     
guided by the slightest indication of   
the man's will performs an the  action  
that is needed4 ,if we can get into     
right touch with the immense1  the      
incalculable powers of ,nature1 is there
 anything which we may not be  able to  
do8 ,if a man worship the ,self only as 
his true state1 says  the               
,brihad-aranyaka ,upanishad1 his work   
cannot fail1 for whatever he  desires1  
that he obtains from the ,self4 ,what a 
wonderful saying1 and  how infallibly   
true6 ,for obviously if you succeed in  
identifying your  true being with the   
great ,self of the universe1 then       
whatever you desire  the great ,self    
will also desire1 and therefore every   
power of ,nature  will be at your       
service and will conspire to fulfil your
 need4    ,there are marvelous things   
here well wrapped up--difficult to      
describe1 yet not impossible to         
experience4 ,and they all depend upon   

that power of stilling ,thought1 that   
ability to pass unharmed and  undismayed
 through the grinning legions of the    
lower mind into the very  heart of      
,paradise4    ,the question inevitably  
arises1 ,how can this power be obtained8
 ,and  there is only one answer--the    
same answer which has to be given for   
the  attainment of ,,any power or       
faculty4 ,there is no royal road4 ,the  
only way  is 7however imperfectly7 to   
,,do the thing in question1 to practice 
it4 ,if  you would learn to play        
cricket1 the only way is to play        
cricket2 if you  would be able to speak 
a language1 the only way is to speak it4
 ,if you  would learn to swim1 the only 
way is to practice swimming4 ,or would  
you  wish to be like the man who when   
his companions were bathing and bidding 
him come and join them1 said3 ,yes1 ,i  
am longing to join you1 but ,i am  not  
going to be such a fool as to go into   
the water ,,till ,i ,,know ,,how ,,to   
,,swim6    ,there is nothing but        

practice4 ,if you want to obtain that   
priceless  power of commanding          
,thought--of using it or dismissing it  
7for the  two things go together7 at    
will--there is no way but practice4 ,and
  the practice consists in two          
exercises3 7a7 that of concentration--in
  holding the thought steadily for a    
time on one subject1 or point of a      
subject2 and 7b7 that of effacement--in 
effacing any given thought from  the    
mind1 and determining ,,not to entertain
 it for such and such a  time4 ,both    
these exercises are difficult4 ,failure 
in practicing them is  certain--and may 
even extend over years4 ,but the power  
equally certainly  grows ,,with         
practice4 ,and ultimately there may come
 a time when the  learner is not only   
able to efface from his mind any given  
thought  7however importunate71 but may 
even succeed in effacing1 during short  
periods1 ,,all thought of any kind4     
,when this stage is reached1 the  veil  
of illusion which surrounds all mortal  

things is pierced1 and the  entrance to 
the ,paradise of ,rest 7and of universal
 power and knowledge7  is found4    ,of 
indirect or auxiliary methods of        
reaching this great conclusion1  there  
are more than one4 ,i think of life in  
the open air1 if not  absolutely        
necessary1 at least most important4 ,the
 gods--though  sometimes out of         
compassion they visit the interiors of  
houses--are not  fond of such places and
 the evil effluvium they find there1 and
 avoid  them as much as they can4 ,it is
 not merely a question of breathing     
oxygen instead of carbonic acid4 ,there 
is a presence and an influence in       
,nature and the ,open which expands the 
mind and causes brigand cares  and      
worries to drop off--whereas in confined
 places foolish and futile  thoughts of 
all kinds swarm like microbes and cloud 
and conceal the  soul4 ,experto ,crede4 
,it is only necessary to try this       
experiment in  order to prove its truth4
    ,another thing which corresponds in 

some degree to living physically in  the
 open air1 is the living mentally and   
emotionally in the atmosphere  of love4 
,a large charity of mind1 which refuses 
absolutely to shut  itself in little    
secluded places of prejudice1 bigotry   
and contempt for  others1 and which     
attains to a great and universal        
sympathy1 helps1 most  obviously1 to    
open the way to that region of calm and 
freedom of which  we have spoken1 while 
conversely all petty enmity1 meanness   
and spite1  conspire to imprison the    
soul and make its deliverance more      
difficult4    ,it is not necessary to   
labor these points4 ,as we said1 the way
 to attain  is to sincerely ,,try to    
attain1 to consistently ,,practice      
attainment4  ,whoever does this will    
find that the way will open out by      
degrees1 as  of one emerging from a vast
 and gloomy forest1 till out of darkness
 the  path becomes clear4 ,for          
whomsoever really ,,tries there is no   
failure2 for  every effort in that      

region is success1 and every onward     
push1 however  small1 and however little
 result it may show1 is really a move   
forward1  and one step nearer the light4
        ,,ii4 ,,the ,,nature ,,of ,,the 
,,self    ,the true nature of the ,self 
is a matter by no means easy to compass4
 ,we  have all probably at some time or 
other attempted to fathom the deeps of  
personality1 and been baffled4 ,some    
people say they can quite distinctly    
remember a moment in early childhood1   
about the age of ,,three 7though the    
exact period is of course only          
approximate7 when                       
self-consciousness--the  awareness of   
being a little separate ,self--first    
dawned in the mind4  ,it was generally  
at some moment of childish              
tension--alone perhaps in a  garden1 or 
lost from the mother's protecting       
hand--that this happened2  and it was   
the beginning of a whole range of new   
experience4 ,before  some such period   
there is in childhood strictly speaking 

no distinct  self-consciousness4 ,as    
,tennyson says 7,in ,memoriam xliv73    
,the baby new to earth and sky1         
,what time his tender palm is prest     
,against the circle of the breast1      
,hath never thought that ,this is ,i4   
,it has consciousness truly1 but no     
distinctive self-consciousness4 ,it  is 
this absence or deficiency which        
explains many things which at first     
sight seem obscure in the psychology of 
children and of animals4 ,the  baby 7it 
has often been noticed7 experiences     
little or no sense of ,,fear4  ,it does 
not know enough to be afraid2 it has    
never formed any image of  itself1 as of
 a thing which might be injured4 ,it may
 shrink from actual  pain or discomfort1
 but it does not ,,look ,,forward--which
 is of the  essence of fear--to pain in 
the future4 ,fear and self-consciousness
 are  closely interlinked4 ,similarly   
with animals1 we often wonder how a     
horse  or a cow can endure to stand out 
in a field all night1 exposed to cold   

and rain1 in the lethargic patient way  
that they exhibit4 ,it is not that  they
 do not ,,feel the discomfort1 but it is
 that they do not envisage  ,,themselves
 as enduring this pain and suffering for
 all those coming  hours2 and as we know
 with ourselves that nine-tenths of our 
miseries  really consist in looking     
forward to future miseries1 so we       
understand  that the absence or at any  
rate slight prevalence of               
self-consciousness  in animals enables  
them to endure forms of distress which  
would drive us  mad4    ,in time then   
the babe arrives at self-consciousness2 
and1 as one might  expect1 the growing  
boy or girl often becomes intensely     
aware of ,self4  ,his or her            
self-consciousness is crude1 no doubt1  
but it has very little  misgiving4 ,if  
the question of the nature of the ,self 
is propounded to  the boy as a problem  
he has no difficulty in solving it4 ,he 
says ,i know  well enough who ,i am3 ,i 
am the boy with red hair what gave      

,jimmy ,brown  such a jolly good licking
 last ,monday week4 ,he knows well      
enough--or  thinks he knows--who he is4 
,and at a later age1 though his         
definition  may change and he may       
describe himself chiefly as a good      
cricketer or  successful in certain     
examinations1 his method is practically 
the same4  ,he fixes his mind on a      
certain bundle of qualities and         
capacities which  he is supposed to     
possess1 and calls that bundle ,himself4
 ,and in a more  elaborate way we most  
of us1 ,i imagine1 do the same4         
,presently1 however1 with more careful  
thought1 we begin to see  difficulties  
in this view4 ,i see that directly ,i   
think of myself as a  certain bundle of 
qualities--and for that matter it is of 
no account  whether the qualities are   
good or bad1 or in what sort of charming
  confusion they are mixed--,i see at   
once that ,i am merely looking at  a    
bundle of qualities3 and that the real  
,i1 the ,self1 is not that  bundle1 but 

is the being ,,inspecting the           
same--something beyond and  behind1 as  
it were4 ,so ,i now concentrate my      
thoughts upon that inner  ,something1 in
 order to find out what it really is4 ,i
 imagine perhaps an  inner being1 of    
'astral' or ethereal nature1 and        
possessing a new  range of much finer   
and more subtle qualities than the      
body--a being  inhabiting the body and  
perceiving through its senses1 but quite
 capable  of surviving the tenement in  
which it dwells and ,i think of that as 
the  ,self4 ,but no sooner have ,i taken
 this step than ,i perceive that ,i am  
committing the same mistake as before4  
,i am only contemplating a new  image or
 picture1 and ,i still remain beyond and
 behind that which ,i  contemplate4 ,no 
sooner do ,i turn my attention on the   
subjective being  than it becomes       
,,objective1 and the real subject       
retires into the  background4 ,and so on
 indefinitely4 ,i am baffled2 and unable
 to say  positively what the ,self is4  

,meanwhile there are people who look    
upon the foregoing speculations  about  
an interior ,self as merely unpractical4
 ,being perhaps of a more  materialistic
 type of mind they fix their attention  
on the body4 ,frankly  they try to      
define the ,self by the body and all    
that is connected  therewith--that is by
 the mental as well as corporeal        
qualities which  exhibit themselves in  
that connection2 and they say1 ,at any  
rate the  ,self--whatever it may be--is 
in some way limited by the body2 each   
person studies the interest of his body 
and of the feelings1 emotions  and      
mentality directly associated with it1  
and you cannot get beyond  that2 it     
isn't in human nature to do so4 ,the    
,self is limited by this  corporeal     
phenomenon and doubtless it perishes    
when the body perishes4  ,but here again
 the conclusion1 though specious at     
first1 soon appears to  be quite        
inadequate4 ,for though it is possibly  
true that a man1 if left  alone in a    

,robinson ,crusoe life on a desert      
island1 might ultimately  subside into a
 mere gratification of his corporeal    
needs and of those  mental needs which  
were directly concerned with the body1  
yet we know  that such a case would by  
no means be representative4 ,on the     
contrary we  know that vast numbers of  
people spend their lives in considering 
other  people1 and often so far as to   
sacrifice their own bodily and mental   
comfort and well-being4 ,the mother     
spends her life thinking almost  day and
 night about her babe and the other     
children--spending all her  thoughts and
 efforts on them4 ,you may call her     
selfish if you will1 but  her           
selfishness clearly extends beyond her  
personal body and mind1 and  extends to 
the personalities of her children around
 her2 her body--if  you insist on your  
definition--must be held to include the 
bodies of all  her children4 ,and again1
 the husband who is toiling for the     
support of  the family1 he is thinking  

and working and toiling and suffering   
for a  'self' which includes his wife   
and children4 ,do you mean that the     
whole  family is his body8 ,or a man    
belongs to some society1 to a church or 
to a social league of some kind1 and his
 activities are largely ruled by  the   
interests of this larger group4 ,or he  
sacrifices his life--as many  have been 
doing of late--with extraordinary       
bravery and heroism for the  sake of the
 nation to which he belongs4 ,must we   
say then that the whole  nation is      
really a part of the man's body8 ,or    
again1 he gives his life  and goes to   
the stake for his religion4 ,whether his
 religion is right or  wrong does not   
matter1 the point is that there is that 
in him which can  carry him far beyond  
his local self and the ordinary         
instincts of his  physical organism1 to 
dedicate his life and powers to a       
something of far  wider circumference   
and scope4    ,thus in the ,,first of   
these two examples of a search for the  

nature of  the ,self we are led         
,,inwards from point to point1 into     
interior and ever  subtler regions of   
our being1 and still in the end are     
baffled2 while  in the ,,second we are  
carried outwards into an ever wider and 
wider  circumference in our quest of the
 ,ego1 and still feel that we have      
failed to reach its ultimate nature4 ,we
 are driven in fact by these two        
arguments to the conclusion that that   
which we are seeking is indeed          
something very vast--something far      
extending around1 yet also buried  deep 
in the hidden recesses of our minds4    
,how far1 how deep1 we do not  know4 ,we
 can only say that as far as the        
indications point the true self  is     
profounder and more far-reaching than   
anything we have yet fathomed4    ,in   
the ordinary commonplace life we shrink 
to ordinary commonplace  selves1 but it 
is one of the blessings of great        
experiences1 even though  they are      
tragic or painful1 that they throw us   

out into that enormously  greater self  
to which we belong4 ,sometimes1 in      
moments of inspiration1  of intense     
enthusiasm1 of revelation1 such as a man
 feels in the midst  of a battle1 in    
moments of love and dedication to       
another person1 and  in moments of      
religious ecstasy1 an immense world is  
opened up to the  astonished gaze of the
 inner man1 who sees disclosed a self   
stretched  far beyond anything he had   
ever imagined4 ,we have all had         
experiences  more or less of that kind4 
,i have known quite a few people1 and   
most of  you have known some1 who at    
some time1 even if only once in their   
lives1  have experienced such an        
extraordinary lifting of the veil1 an   
opening  out of the back of their minds 
as it were1 and have had such a vision  
of  the world1 that they have never     
afterwards forgotten it4 ,they have seen
  into the heart of creation1 and have  
perceived their union with the rest  of 
mankind4 ,they have had glimpses of a   

strange immortality belonging to  them1 
a glimpse of their belonging to a far   
greater being than they have  ever      
imagined4 ,just once--and a man has     
never forgotten it1 and even if  it has 
not recurred it has colored all the rest
 of his life4    ,now1 this subject has 
been thought about--since the beginning 
of the  world1 ,i was going to say--but 
it has been thought about since the     
beginnings of history4 ,some three      
thousand years ago certain groups       
of--,i hardly like to call them         
philosophers--but1 let us say1 people   
who  were meditating and thinking upon  
these problems1 were in the habit of    
locating themselves in the forests of   
,northern ,india2 and schools arose     
there4 ,in the case of each school some 
teacher went into the woods and         
collected groups of disciples around    
him1 who lived there in his company  and
 listened to his words4 ,such schools   
were formed in very considerable        
numbers1 and the doctrines of these     

teachers were gathered together1        
generally by their disciples1 in notes1 
which notes were brought  together into 
little pamphlets or tracts1 forming the 
books which  are called the             
',upanishads' of the ,indian sages4     
,they contain some  extraordinary words 
of wisdom1 some of which ,i want to     
bring before  you4 ,the conclusions     
arrived at were not so much what we     
should call  philosophy in the modern   
sense4 ,they were not so much the result
 of the  analysis of the mind and the   
following out of concatenations of      
strict  argument2 but they were flashes 
of intuition and experience1 and all    
through the ',upanishads' you find these
 extraordinary flashes embedded  in the 
midst of a great deal of what we should 
call a rather rubbishy  kind of         
argument1 and a good deal of merely     
conventional ,brahmanical  talk of those
 days4 ,but the people who wrote and    
spoke thus had an  intuition into the   
heart of things which ,i make bold to   

say very few  people in modern life     
have4 ,these ',upanisihads1' however    
various their  subject1 practically     
agree on one point--in the definition of
 the  self4 ,they agree in saying3 that 
the self of each man is continuous  with
 and in a sense identical with the ,self
 of the universe4 ,now that  seems an   
extraordinary conclusion1 and one which 
almost staggers the  modern mind to     
conceive of4 ,but that is the           
conclusion1 that is the  thread which   
runs all through the ',upanishads'--the 
identity of the self  of each individual
 with the self of every other individual
 throughout  mankind1 and even with the 
selves of the animals and other         
creatures4    ,those who have read the  
,khandogya ,upanishad remember how in   
that  treatise the father instructs his 
son ,svetakeitu on this very            
subject--pointing him out in succession 
the objects of ,nature and  on each     
occasion exhorting him to realize his   
identity with the  very essence of the  

object--,tat twam asi1 ,,that thou art4 
,he calls  ,svetaketu's attention to a  
tree4 ,what is the ,,essence of the     
tree8  ,when they have rejected the     
external characteristics--the leaves1   
the  branches1 etc4--and agreed that the
 ,,sap is the essence1 then the father  
says1 ,,tat ,,twam ,,asi--,,that thou   
art4 ,he gives his son a crystal of     
salt1  and asks him what is the essence 
of that4 ,the son is puzzled4 ,clearly  
neither the form nor the transparent    
quality are essential4 ,the father      
says1 ,put the crystal in water4 ,then  
when it is melted he says1 ,where  is   
the crystal8 ,the son replies1 ,i do not
 know4 ,dip your finger in  the bowl1   
says the father1 and taste4 ,then       
,svetaketu dips here and  there1 and    
everywhere there is a salt flavor4 ,they
 agree that ,,that is  the essence of   
salt2 and the father says again1 ,t,at  
twam asi4 ,i am of  course neither      
defending nor criticizing the scientific
 attitude here  adopted4 ,i am only     

pointing out that this psychological    
identification  of the observer with the
 object observed runs through the       
,upanishads1  and is ,i think worthy of 
the deepest consideration4    ,in the   
',bhagavat ,gita1' which is a later     
book1 the author speaks of  him whose   
soul is purified1 whose self is the     
,self of all creatures4 ,a  phrase like 
that challenges opposition4 ,it is so   
bold1 so sweeping1 and  so immense1 that
 we hesitate to give our adhesion to    
what it implies4  ,but what does it     
mean--whose soul is purified8 ,i believe
 that it means  this1 that with most of 
us our souls are anything but clean or  
purified1 they are by no means          
transparent1 so that all the time we are
  continually deceiving ourselves and   
making clouds between us and others4    
,we are all the time grasping things    
from other people1 and1 if not in       
words1 are mentally boasting ourselves  
against others1 trying to think  of our 
own superiority to the rest of the      

people around us4 ,sometimes we  try to 
run our neighbors down a little1 just to
 show that they are not  quite equal to 
our level4 ,we try to snatch from others
 some things which  belong to them1 or  
take credit to ourselves for things to  
which we are  not fairly entitled4 ,but 
all the time we are acting so it is     
perfectly  obvious that we are weaving  
veils between ourselves and others4 ,you
  cannot have dealings with another     
person in a purely truthful way1 and  be
 continually trying to cheat that person
 out of money1 or out of his  good name 
and reputation4 ,if you are doing that1 
however much in the  background you may 
be doing it1 you are not looking the    
person fairly  in the face--there is a  
cloud between you all the time4 ,so long
 as your  soul is not purified from all 
these really absurd and ridiculous      
little  desires and superiorities and   
self-satisfactions1 which make up so    
much  of our lives1 just so long as that
 happens you do not and you cannot see  

the truth4 ,but when it happens to a    
person1 as it does happen in times  of  
great and deep and bitter experience2   
when it happens that all these  trumpery
 little objects of life are swept away2 
then occasionally1 with  astonishment1  
the soul sees that4 ,it is also the soul
 of the others  around4 ,even if it does
 not become aware of an absolute        
identity1 it  perceives that there is a 
deep relationship and communion between 
itself  and others1 and it comes to     
understand how it may really be true    
that  to him whose soul is purified the 
self is literally the ,self of all      
creatures4    ,ordinary men and those   
who go on more intellectual and less    
intuitional  lines will say that these  
ideas are really contrary to human      
nature and  to nature generally4 ,yet ,i
 think that those people who say this in
 the  name of ,science are extremely    
unscientific1 because a very superficial
  glance at nature reveals that the very
 same thing is taking place  throughout 

nature4 ,consider the madrepores1       
corallines1 or sponges4 ,you  find1 for 
instance1 that constantly the little    
self of the coralline  or sponge is     
functioning at the end of a stem and    
casting forth its  tentacles into the   
water to gain food and to breathe the   
air out of  the water4 ,that little     
animalcule there1 which is living in    
that way1  imagines no doubt that it is 
working all for itself1 and yet it is   
united down the stem at whose extremity 
it stands1 with the life of the  whole  
madrepore or sponge to which it belongs4
 ,there is the common  life of the whole
 and the individual life of each1 and   
while the little  creature at the end of
 the stem is thinking 7if it is         
conscious at all7  that its whole       
energies are absorbed in its own        
maintenance1 it really  is feeding the  
common life through the stem to which it
 belongs1 and in  its turn it is being  
fed by that common life4    ,you have   
only to look at an ordinary tree to see 

the same thing going  on4 ,each little  
leaf on a tree may very naturally have  
sufficient  consciousness to believe    
that it is an entirely separate being   
maintaining itself in the sunlight and  
the air1 withering away and dying  when 
the winter comes on--and there is an end
 of it4 ,it probably does  not realize  
that all the time it is being supported 
by the sap which  flows from the trunk  
of the tree1 and that in its turn it is 
feeding  the tree1 too--that its self is
 the self of the whole tree4 ,if the    
leaf  could really understand itself1 it
 would see that its self was deeply1    
intimately connected1 practically one   
with the life of the whole tree4        
,therefore1 ,i say that this ,indian    
view is not unscientific4 ,on the       
contrary1 ,i am sure that it is         
thoroughly scientific4    ,let us take  
another passage1 out of the             
',svetasvatara ,upanishad1' which1      
speaking of the self says3 ,he is the   
one ,god1 hidden in all creatures1  all 

pervading1 the self within all1 watching
 over all works1 shadowing  all         
creatures1 the witness1 the perceiver1  
the only one free from  qualities4      
,and now we can return to the point     
where we left the argument at the       
beginning of this discourse4 ,we said1  
you remember1 that the ,self is         
certainly no mere bundle of             
qualities--that the very nature of the  
mind  forbids us thinking that4 ,for    
however fine and subtle any quality or  
group of qualities may be1 we are       
irresistibly compelled by the  nature of
 the mind itself to look for the ,self1 
not in any quality or  qualities1 but in
 the being that ,,perceives those       
qualities4 ,the passage  ,i have just   
quoted says that being is ,the one ,god1
 hidden in all  creatures1 all          
pervading1 the self within all444 the   
witness1 the  perceiver1 the only one   
free from qualities4 ,and the more you  
think about it the clearer ,i think you 
will see that this passage is           

correct--that there can be only ,,one   
witness1 ,,one perceiver1 and that  is  
the one ,god hidden in all creatures1   
,sarva ,sakshi1 the ,universal          
,witness4    ,have you ever had that    
curious feeling1 not uncommon1          
especially in  moments of vivid         
experience and emotion1 that there was  
at the back of  your mind a witness1    
watching everything that was going on1  
yet too deep  for your ordinary thought 
to grasp8 ,has it not occurred to       
you--in a  moment say of great danger   
when the mind was agitated to the last  
degree  by fears and anxieties--suddenly
 to become perfectly calm and collected1
  to realize that ,,nothing can harm    
you1 that you are identified with  some 
great and universal being lifted far    
over this mortal world and  unaffected  
by its storms8 ,is it not obvious that  
the real ,self ,,must be  something of  
this nature1 a being perceiving all1 but
 itself remaining  unperceived8 ,for    
indeed if it were perceived it would    

fall under the  head of some definable  
quality1 and so becoming the object of  
thought  would cease to be the subject1 
would cease to be the ,self4    ,the    
witness is and must be free from        
qualities4 ,for since it is  capable of 
perceiving ,,all qualities it must      
obviously not be itself  imprisoned or  
tied in any quality--it must either be  
entirely without  quality1 or if it have
 the potentiality of quality in it1 it  
must have  the potentiality of ,,every  
quality2 but in either case it cannot be
 in  bondage to any quality1 and in     
either case it would appear that there  
can be only ,,one such ultimate ,witness
 in the universe4 ,for if there were    
two or more such ,witnesses1 then we    
should be compelled to suppose them     
distinguished from one another by       
something1 and that something could     
only be a difference of qualities1 which
 would be contrary to our  conclusion   
that such a ,witness cannot be in       
bondage to any quality4    ,there is    

then ,i take it--as the text in question
 says--only one ,witness1  one ,self1   
throughout the universe4 ,it is hidden  
in all living things1  men and animals  
and plants2 it pervades all creation4   
,in every thing  that has consciousness 
it is the ,self2 it watches over all    
operations1  it overshadows all         
creatures1 it moves in the depths of our
 hearts1 the  perceiver1 the only being 
that is cognizant of all and yet free   
from  all4    ,once you really          
appropriate this truth1 and assimilate  
it in the depths  of your mind1 a vast  
change 7you can easily imagine7 will    
take place  within you4 ,the whole world
 will be transformed1 and every thought 
and act of which you are capable will   
take on a different color and           
complexion4 ,indeed the revolution will 
be so vast that it would be quite       
impossible for me within the limits of  
this discourse to describe it4  ,i will1
 however1 occupy the rest of my time in 
dealing with some points  and           

conclusions1 and some mental changes    
which will flow perfectly  naturally    
from this axiomatic change taking place 
at the very root of  life4    ,free from
 qualities4 ,we generally pride         
ourselves a little on our  qualities4   
,some of us think a great deal of our   
good qualities1 and some  of us are     
rather ashamed of our bad ones6 ,i would
 say3 ,do not trouble  very much about  
all that4 ,what good qualities you      
have--well you may be  quite sure they  
do not really amount to much2 and what  
bad qualities1  you may be sure they are
 not very important6 ,do not make too   
much fuss  about either4 ,do you see8   
,the thing is that you1 you yourself1   
are not  ,,any of your qualities--you   
are the being that perceives them4 ,the 
thing  to see to is that they should not
 confuse you1 bamboozle you1 and hide   
you from the knowledge of yourself--that
 they should not be erected into  a     
screen1 to hide you from others1 or the 
others from you4 ,if you cease  from    

running after qualities1 then after a   
little time your soul will  become      
purified1 and you will ,,know that your 
self is the ,self of all  creatures2 and
 when you can feel that you will know   
that the other  things do not much      
matter4    ,sometimes people are so     
awfully good that their very goodness   
hides them  from other people4 ,they    
really cannot be on a level with others1
  and they feel that the others are far 
below them4 ,consequently their         
'selves' are blinded or hidden by their 
'goodness4' ,it is a sad end to  come   
to6 ,and sometimes it happens that very 
'bad' people--just because  they are so 
bad--do not erect any screens or veils  
between themselves  and others4 ,indeed 
they are only too glad if others will   
recognize them1  or if they may be      
allowed to recognize others4 ,and so1   
after all1 they  come nearer the truth  
than the very good people4    ,the ,self
 is free from qualities4 ,that thing    
which is so deep1 which  belongs to all1

 it either--as ,i have already said--has
 ,,all qualities1  or it has none4 ,you1
 to whom ,i am speaking now1 your       
qualities1 good and  bad1 are all mine4 
,i am perfectly willing to accept them4 
,they are all  right enough and in      
place--if one can only find the places  
for them4 ,but  ,i know that in most    
cases they have got so confused and     
mixed up that  they cause great conflict
 and pain in the souls that harbor them4
 ,if  you attain to knowing yourself to 
be other than and separate from the     
qualities1 then you will pass below and 
beyond them all4 ,you will be  able to  
accept ,,all your qualities and         
harmonize them1 and your soul  will be  
at peace4 ,you will be free from the    
domination of qualities then  because   
you will know that among all the        
multitudes of them there are  none of   
any importance6    ,if you should happen
 some day to reach that state of mind in
 connection  with which this revelation 
comes1 then you will find the experience

  a most extraordinary one4 ,you will   
become conscious that there is no       
barrier in your path2 that the way is   
open in all directions2 that all  men   
and women belong to you1 are part of    
you4 ,you will feel that there  is a    
great open immense world around1 which  
you had never suspected  before1 which  
belongs to you1 and the riches of which 
are all yours1  waiting for you4 ,it    
may1 of course1 take centuries and      
thousands of  years to realize this     
thoroughly1 but there it is4 ,you are   
just at the  threshold1 peeping in at   
the door4 ,what did ,shakespeare say8   
,to thine  own self be true1 and it must
 follow as the night the day1 thou      
can'st  not then be false to any man4   
,what a profound bit of philosophy in   
three lines6 ,i doubt if anywhere the   
basis of all human life has been        
expressed more perfectly and tersely4   
,one of the ,upanishads 7the            
,maitrayana-,brahmana7 says3 ,the       
happiness belonging to a mind1 which    

through deep inwardness 7#a7 7or        
understanding7 has been washed clean and
 has entered into the ,self1 is a  thing
 beyond the power of words to describe3 
it can only be perceived by  an inner   
faculty4 ,observe the conviction1 the   
intensity with which this  joy1 this    
happiness is described1 which comes to  
those whose minds have  been washed     
clean 7from all the silly trumpery      
sediment of self-thought7  and have     
become transparent1 so that the great   
universal ,being residing  there in the 
depths can be perceived4 ,what sorrow   
indeed1 what1 grief1  can come to such  
an one who has seen this vision8 ,it is 
truly a thing  beyond the power of words
 to describe3 it can only be            
,,perceived--and  that by an inner      
faculty4 ,the external apparatus of     
thought is of no  use4 ,argument is of  
no use4 ,but experience and direct      
perception are  possible2 and probably  
all the experiences of life and of      
mankind  through the ages are gradually 

deepening our powers of perception to   
that point where the vision will at last
 rise upon the inward eye4     7#a7 ,the
 word in the ,max ,muller translation is
 meditation4 ,but  that is1 ,i think1 a 
somewhat misleading word4 ,it suggests  
to most people  the turning inward of   
the ,,thinking faculty to grope and     
delve in the  interior of the mind4     
,this is just what should ,,not be done4
 ,meditation  in the proper sense should
 mean the inward deepening of ,,feeling 
and  consciousness till the region of   
the universal self is reached2 but      
,,thought should not interfere there4   
,that should be turned on outward       
things to mould them into expression of 
the inner consciousness4      ,another  
text1 from the ,brihad-,aranyaka        
,upanishad 7which ,i have already       
quoted in the paper on ,rest71 says3 ,if
 a man worship the ,self only as  his   
true state1 his work cannot fail1 for   
whatever he desires1 that he  obtains   
from the ,self4 ,is that not            

magnificent8 ,if you truly realize  your
 identity and union with the great ,self
 who inspires and informs the  world1   
then obviously whatever you desire the  
great ,self win desire1 and  the whole  
world will conspire to bring it to you4 
,he maketh the winds  his angels1 and   
the flaming fires his ministers4 7,i    
need not say that  ,i am not asking you 
to try and identify yourself with the   
great ,self  universal ,,in ,,order to  
get riches1 opulence1 and other things  
of that  kind which you desire2 because 
in that quest you will probably not     
succeed4 ,the ,great ,self is not such a
 fool as to be taken in in that  way4   
,it may be true--and it is true--that if
 ye seek ,,first the ,kingdom  of       
,heaven all these things shall be added 
unto you2 but you must seek it  first1  
not second47    ,here is a passage from 
,towards ,democracy3 ,as space spreads  
everywhere1  and all things move and    
change within it1 but it moves not nor  
changes1    ,so ,i am the space within  

the soul1 of which the space without is 
but  the similitude and mental image2   
,comest thou to inhabit me1 thou hast   
the entrance to all life--death  shall  
no longer divide thee from whom thou    
lovest4    ,i am the ,sun that shines   
upon all creatures from within--gazest  
thou  upon me1 thou shalt be filled with
 joy eternal4    ,yes1 this great sun is
 there1 always shining1 but most of the 
time it is  hidden from us by the clouds
 of which ,i have spoken1 and we fail to
 see  it4 ,we complain of being out in  
the cold2 and in the cold1 for the time 
being1 no doubt we are2 but our return  
to the warmth and the light has  now    
become possible4      ,thus at last the 
,ego1 the mortal immortal               
self--disclosed at first in  darkness   
and fear and ignorance in the growing   
babe--,,finds ,,its ,,true  ,,identity4 
,for a long period it is baffled in     
trying to understand what  it is4 ,it   
goes through a vast experience4 ,it is  
tormented by the  sense of separation   

and alienation--alienation from other   
people1 and  persecution by all the     
great powers and forces of the universe2
 and it  is pursued by a sense of its   
own doom4 ,its doom truly is            
irrevocable4  ,the hour of fulfilment   
approaches1 the veil lifts1 and the soul
 beholds  at last ,,its ,,own ,,true    
,,being4      ,we are accustomed to     
think of the external world around us as
 a nasty  tiresome old thing of which   
all we can say for certain is that it   
works  by a law of cussedness--so that1 
whichever way we want to go1 that way   
seems always barred1 and we only bump   
against blind walls without  making any 
progress4 ,but that uncomfortable state 
of affairs arises from  ourselves4 ,once
 we have passed a certain barrier1 which
 at present looks  so frowning and      
impossible1 but which fades into nothing
 immediately we  have passed it--once we
 have found the open secret of          
identity--then the  way is indeed open  
in every direction4    ,the world in    

which we live--the world into which we  
are tumbled as  children at the first   
onset of self-consciousness--denies this
 great  fact of unity4 ,it is a world in
 which the principle of separation      
rules4 ,instead of a common life and    
union with each other1 the contrary     
principle 7especially in the later      
civilizations7 has been the one         
recognized--and to such an extent that  
always there prevails the  obsession of 
separation1 and the conviction that each
 person is an  isolated unit4 ,the whole
 of our modern society has been founded 
on this  delusive idea1 ,,which ,,is    
,,false4 ,you go into the markets1 and  
every man's  hand is against the        
others--that is the ruling principle4   
,you go into  the ,law ,courts where    
justice is1 or should be1 administered1 
and you  find that the principle which  
denies unity is the one that prevails4  
,the criminal 7whose actions have really
 been determined by the society  around 
him7 is cast out1 disacknowledged1 and  

condemned to further  isolation in a    
prison cell4 ',property' again is the   
principle which  rules and determines   
our modern civilization--namely that    
which is  proper to1 or can be          
appropriated by1 each person1 as        
,,against the  others4    ,in the moral 
world the doom of separation comes to us
 in the shape of  the sense of sin4 ,for
 sin is separation4 ,sin is actually    
7and that  is its only real meaning7 the
 separation from others1 and the        
non-acknowledgment of unity4 ,and so it 
has come about that during all  this    
civilization-period the sense of sin has
 ruled and ranged to such  an           
extraordinary degree4 ,society has been 
built on a false base1 not  true to fact
 or life--and has had a dim uneasy      
consciousness of its  falseness4        
,meanwhile at the heart of it all--and  
within all the frantic  external strife 
and warfare--there is all the time this 
real great life  brooding4 ,the kingdom 
of ,heaven1 as we said before1 is still 

within4    ,the word ,democracy         
indicates something of the kind--the    
rule of the  ,demos1 that is of the     
common life4 ,the coming of that will   
transform1  not only our ,markets and   
our ,law ,courts and our sense of       
,property1 and  other institutions1 into
 something really great and glorious    
instead  of the dismal masses of rubbish
 which they at present are2 but it will 
transform our sense of ,morality4       
,our ,morality at present consists in   
the idea of self-goodness--one of  the  
most pernicious and disgusting ideas    
which has ever infested the  human      
brain4 ,if any one should follow and    
assimilate what ,i have just  said about
 the true nature of the ,self he will   
realize that it will  never again be    
possible for him to congratulate himself
 on his own  goodness or morality or    
superiority2 for the moment he does so  
he will  separate himself from the      
universal life1 and proclaim the sin of 
his  own separation4 ,i agree that this 

conclusion is for some people a most    
sad and disheartening one--but it cannot
 be helped6 ,a man may truly be  'good' 
and 'moral' in some real sense2 but only
 on the condition that  he is not aware 
of it4 ,he can only ,,be good when not  
thinking about the  matter2 to be       
conscious of one's own goodness is      
already to have fallen6    ,we began by 
thinking of the self as just a little   
local self2 then we  extended it to the 
family1 the cause1 the nation--ever to a
 larger and  vaster being4 ,at last     
there comes a time when we recognize--or
 see that  we ,,shall have to           
recognize--an inner ,equality between   
ourselves and all  others2 not of course
 an external equality--for that would be
 absurd and  impossible--but an inner   
and profound and universal ,equality4   
,and so we  come again to the mystic    
root-conception of ,democracy4    ,and  
now it will be said3 ,but after all this
 talk you have not defined  the ,self1  
or given us any intellectual outline of 

what you mean by the  word4 ,no--and ,i 
do not intend to4 ,if ,i could1 by any  
sort of copybook  definition1 describe  
and show the boundaries of myself1 ,i   
should  obviously lose all interest in  
the subject4 ,nothing more dull could be
  imagined4 ,i may be able to define and
 describe fairly exhaustively  this     
inkpot on the table2 but for you or for 
me to give the limits and  boundaries of
 ourselves is1 ,i am glad to say1       
impossible4 ,that does not1  however1   
mean that we cannot ,,feel and be       
,,conscious of ourselves1 and of  our   
relations to other selves1 and to the   
great ,whole4 ,on the contrary  ,i think
 it is clear that the more vividly we   
feel our organic unity with  the whole1 
the less shall we be able to separate   
off the local self and  enclose it      
within any definition4 ,i take it that  
we can and do become  ever more vividly 
conscious of our true ,self1 but that   
the mental  statement of it always does 
and probably always will lie beyond us4 

,all life and all our action and        
experience consist in the gradual       
manifestation of that which is within   
us--of our inner being4 ,in that        
sense--and reading its handwriting on   
the outer world--we come to know  the   
soul's true nature more and more        
intimately2 we enter into the mind  of  
that great artist who beholds himself in
 his own creation4