,,fishes1 ,,flowers1 ,,and ,,fire ,,worship4 ,fishes1 ,flowers1 ,fire ,,as ,,elements ,,and ,,deities ,,in ,,the ,phallic ,faiths ,worship ,,of ,,the ,,ancient ,,religions ,,of ,greece1 ,babylon1 ,rome1 ,india1 c4 ,,with ,,illustrative ,,myths ,,and ,,legends4 ,,privately ,,printed4 ,a4 ,,reader1 ,,orange ,,street1 ,,red ,,lion ,,square1 ,,london4 #ahij4 ,,preface4 ,the volume now in the reader's hands forms the fifth1 and1 for the present1 the concluding portion of the ,phallic ,series it was found necessary to issue in further explication of certain matters set forth in the first book on this peculiar subject4 ,having dealt with ,sex ,worship generally1 ,ophiolatria1 the ,round ,towers and ,holed ,stones1 ,trees1 ,fishes1 ,flowers1 and ,fire1 the ground has been pretty well covered1 and with the exception of an ,appendix1 which future demands may possibly call forth1 the subject is now complete4 ,it is confidently expected that the present volume will be found equally interesting with those which have preceded it2 it opens up entirely new matter1 and contains a number of curious traditions not before alluded to4 ,,contents4 ,,page4 ,,chapter ,i4 7,,fishes7 #a ,frequent occurrence of the ,fish ,symbol--,fish ,heraldry--,earliest devices--,fish devices on ,churches and other public buildings--,the ,catacombs--,ichthus--,fish devices at ,glastonbury ,abbey1 c4--,the ,book-fish--,glasgow ,fish-arms--,the ,fish and the ,ring ,story of ,scotland--,solomon and the ,fish and ,ring--,the ,hermit's ,fish ,pond of ,st4 ,neot's--,the ,sacred ,perch--,the ,dolphin--,neptune4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 7,,fishes7 #aj ,the ,ancient ,sacred ,fish--,fish diet and its supposed effects--,fish and the ,jews--,the ,god ,krodo--,oanes--,dagon--,the ,fish-god at ,nimrod--,khorsabad--,fish ,worship in ,syria--,temple of ,dagon at ,azotus--,the ,dagon of the ,bible--,adramelech--,abstinence from ,fish-food--,ancient character of ,fish ,worship--,paradise ,lost-- ,the ,irish demi-god ,phin--,the ,fish as a ,christian ,symbol--,idea involved in ,fish ,worship--,holy ,fish ,ponds--,ancient ,caledonian objections to ,fish--,other anti-fish-eating nations--,ishtar4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 7,,flowers7 #be ,universal ,love of ,flowers--,indifference to ,flowers--,excessive ,love of ,flowers leading to adoration--,myths and ,legends connected with ,flowers--,the ,flos ,adonis1 ,narcissus1 ,myrtle1 ,silene inflata1 ,clover--,the ,hundred-leaved ,rose--,worship of ,lily species--,signification of the ,lotos--,hermaphroditic character of the ,lotos--,the ,indian ,mutiny of #aheg1 part played by the ,lotus during its instigation4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 7,,flowers7 #cc ,importance of the ,lotos--,varieties of ,lotos--,statements by ,herodotus1 ,homer1 ,theophrastus1 ,dioscorides1 ,pliny1 ,athenus and others--,the arborescent ,lotos--,the ,sacred ,lotos of the ,nile--,the ,indian ,lotos--,nepaulese adoration of the ,lotos-- ,shing-moo1 the ,chinese ,holy ,mother--,lakshmi--,the ,queens of ,beauty--,the ,loves of ,krishna and ,radha4 ,,chapter ,v4 7,,fire7 #dc ,story of the ,fire-god and his ,secret--,growth of ,fire ,worship-- ,fire an essential in ,hindoo ,worship--,the ,chaldeans--,the ,persians--,the ,hebrews--,fire in ,hindu ,ceremonies--,duties of ,hindu ,life--,the ,serpent and ,fire--,phallo-,pythic ,solar ,shrines-- ,fire and ,phallic ,worship--,leaping through fire--,fire-treading in ,scotland--,fire-leaping in ,russia--,the ,medes as ,fire ,worshippers--,the ,sabines--,fire and the ,ancient ,christians--,the ,roman ,church and ,fire--,the ,jews--,temple of ,vesta--,fire ,worship in ,ireland--,phallo-fire-worship of the ,greeks and ,romans4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 7,,fire7 #fj ,fire ,worship in the ,states of the ,mediterranean--,special sacredness of the ,public ,city-fire of ,greece and ,rome--,the ,sacred ,fire of ,tlachtga--,ceylon ,fire ,worship--,the ,parsees-- ,persian ,monuments--,impiety of ,cambyses--,cingalese ,terms1 ,sanscrit1 ,welsh1 c4--,the ,yule ,log--,fire ,worship in ,england-- ,fire of ,beltane--,druidical ,fires--,may-day ,fires--,november ,fires in ,ireland--,between two ,fires--,scotland--,the ,summer ,solstice-fire ,ceremonies--,worship of ,baal in ,ireland--,st4 ,john's ,day-- ,bonfires--,decree of ,council of ,constantinople4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 7,,fire7 #ge ,paradise ,lost and ,moloch--,the ,god of the ,ammonites--,the slaughter of ,children by ,fire1 notices in the ,scriptures--,fire ,ceremonies and ,moloch--,sacred ,fire of the ,phoenicians--,the ,carthaginians-- ,custom of ,oziese--,sardinian ,customs and ,moloch--,the ,cuthites-- ,persian ,fire ,worship--,house-fires of ,greece and ,rome--,sacred ,books of the ,east--,laws of ,manu--,the ,rig ,veda and ,hymns to ,agni1 the ,god of ,fire--,vesta1 ,worship of--,the ,magi--,zoroaster4 ,,fishes1 ,,flowers1 ,,and ,,fire4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,frequent occurrence of the ,fish ,symbol--,fish ,heraldry--,earliest ,devices--,fish ,devices in churches and other public buildings--,the ,catacombs--,ichthus--,fish ,devices in ,glastonbury ,abbey1 c4--,the ,book ,fish--,glasgow ,fish ,arms--,the ,fish and ,ring ,story of ,scotland--,solomon and the ,fish and ,ring--,the ,hermit's ,fish ,pond of ,st4 ,neot's--,the ,sacred ,perch--,the ,dolphin--,neptune4 ,few1 if any1 symbols are of such frequent occurrence among the relics of bygone ages as that of the fish4 ,whether we look upon the monuments of ,babylon and ,nineveh1 upon the walls of the ,roman ,catacombs where the early ,christians sought a refuge from the fury of their ,pagan persecutors1 or amongst the heraldic devices adopted by our ancestors as coats of arms in comparatively modern times1 the fish is ever prominent4 ,with regard to the latter1 it is certainly remarkable to what an extent it prevails1 and several writers on ,heraldry 7particularly ,moule7 have given us very full accounts and graphic illustrations of its use4 ,nor is it one kind of fish only we find thus employed1 which might perhaps be associated with some special myth or tradition--the dolphin1 the herring1 the salmon1 the trout1 the pike1 the barbel1 the roach1 the sole1 the turbot1 the flounder1 the haddock1 the cod1 the hake1 the ling1 the whiting1 the mullet1 the grayling and others have all been pressed into the same service1 and even the different modes of taking fish by the spear1 the net1 or the hook1 are found in the armorial ensigns of the lords of manors deriving revenue from the produce of the fishery4 ,the boats1 says ,moule1 employed in the same service1 which were at the command of the sovereign in time of war1 and formed the original navy of ,britain1 distinguish the ensigns of the maritime lords1 and the corporate bodies to whom the jurisdiction of the ports was entrusted4 ,it is not unlikely that the vast numbers of fishes and their great variety may have had much to do with their employment in this connection2 some years ago the ,british ,museum contained fifteen hundred different species1 while the museum in ,paris--one unusually rich in specimens of this part of the animal kingdom--possessed as many as five thousand1 a number which has steadily gone on increasing4 ,as the symbol of a name1 almost all fish have been used in ,heraldry2 and in many instances fish have been assumed in arms in reference to the produce of the estate1 giving to the quaint device a twofold interest4 ,they are borne upright and extended1 and when feeding are termed devouring2 ,allum1 when their eyes are bright1 and ,parn when their mouths are open4#a ,the earliest known device of fish1 the zodiacal sign1 is emblematical of the fishery of the ,nile1 commencing in the month of ,february1 about the time when the sun enters ,pisces1 which is the best season for fishing1 according to ,pliny4 ,modern travellers relate that the walls of the temple of ,denderah are literally covered with magnificent sculpture and painting4 ,the figures representing the ,zodiac are on the ceiling of the portico1 and are engraved in the great work on ,egypt published by order of the ,french ,government4 ,the signs of the ,zodiac were frequently sculptured on the exterior of ancient churches1 presenting a sort of rural calendar for the labours of the field each month in the year1 which was of practical use4 ',when in the ,zodiac the fish wheel round1 ,they loose the floods and irrigate the ground4' ,in his directions to the husbandman for the month of ,february1 old ,tusser says3 ',to the coast1 man1 ride1 ,lent stuff provide2' with another couplet in encouragement of the fisherman1 ',the land doth will1 the sea doth wish1 ,spare sometimes flesh1 and feed off fish4' ,the ,zodiacal signs also appear as an ornament on antique vases1 coins1 pavements1 c41 and are painted in bright colours on the inside of several mummy cases now in the ,british ,museum4 ,a manuscript in the ,cottonian ,library shows the sign ,pisces having a connecting line from the tail of each fish4#a ,on many churches and other buildings both in ,england and on the continent the same device is found4 ,the porch of the ,virgin at ,notre ,dame at ,paris has a number of compartments representing the zodiacal signs and the labours of the different months4 ,the doorway of the church of ,st4 ,margaret1 ,york1 is similarly adorned1 as is one of the porches of ,merton ,college1 ,oxford4 ,the western doorway of ,iffley ,church1 said to be one of the most beautiful specimens of ,anglo-,norman architecture in ,england1 bears the sign of the fishes4 ,in ,canterbury ,cathedral also is a pavement of large stones1 somewhat rudely inlaid1 bearing figures of the zodiacal signs in circular compartments4 ,the fishes are attached by a line passing from mouth to mouth4 ,in the ,roman ,catacombs the fish is frequently found amongst the countless inscriptions with which the walls are crowded4 ,maitland describes it as there found as a symbol expressive of the name of ,christ1 and remarkable as affording a combination of everything desirable in a tessera1 or mystic sign4 ,the ,greek for fish1 ,greek3 ichthys1 contains the initials of ,greek3 ,isous1 ,christos ,theos ,yios ,str3 ,jesus ,christ1 ,son of ,god1 the ,saviour2 a sentence which had been adopted from the sibylline verses4 ,moreover the phonetic sign of this word1 the actual fish1 was an emblem whose meaning was entirely concealed from the uninitiated3 an important point with those who were surrounded by foes ready to ridicule and blaspheme whatever of ,christianity they could detect4 ,nor did the appropriateness of the symbol stop here4 ,the fish1 observed ,tertullian1 seems a fit emblem of ,him whose spiritual children are1 like the offspring of fishes1 born in the water of baptism4#b ,on walls1 as well as tombstones1 we find the ,fish1 ,phoenix1 ,anchor1 ,ship1 ,olive and ,palm1 all of which are sacred to the ,god of ,fertility or the procreative energies4 ,the fish1 we are told1 was adopted by those ,christians because of the alphabetical rebus--the ,greek word ,i4 ,k4 ,th4 ,u4 ,s4 containing the initial letters of the words forming this title in ,greek1 ',jesus ,christ1 ,son of ,god1 ,saviour2' but ,ikthus was a holy name in ,egypt and the ,east1 long ere ,greece had adopted her varied faiths1 and long before the good ,nazarene had preached his holy gospel in the wilds of ,judea4 ,the ,hebrew for fish is ,dg1 ,dag or ,de-ag1 which some think may have sprung from the ,sanscrit ,de-,dev1 and ,ag or ,ab1 and be allied to the solar ,ak1 and ,aqua1 water4 ,dagan was the fish-god 7,alheim7 of the ,philistines1 and spelling ,dag backwards as was so common and natural1 seeing some peoples read from right to left1 and others from left to right1 we get ,gad1 the good one1 that is ,god or ,goddess of ,day1 as in ,isa4 lxv4 #aa1 where1 in connection with ,meni the moon1 we read3 ',ye are they that prepare a table for ,gad1 and that furnish the offering unto ,meni2' which ,bagster's ,comprehensive ,bible admits to be stars or such objects4 ,dag1 says ,calmet1 signifies ,preserver1 and so ,saviour1 which has many ancient connections with fish and water1 as we see in the case of ,dagon4 ,st4 ,augustine said of ,christ3 ',he is the great ,fish that lives in the midst of the waters2' so no wonder that ,ichthus1 a fish1 should become a holy term1 and applied to ,christ's representative1 who in token wears a ,poitrine as his higher officers wear what is called a mitre or turban like a fish's mouth4 ,christ1 being a ,hebrew1 of course received the title ,ikthus from his ,greek followers1 just as he got ,i4,h4,s4--the monogram of ,bacchus--from those who forsook that god to follow ,christianity4 ,there is nothing sacred about such matters4 ,ich or ,ik1 or ,ak ,ab1 at once ,our ,father and water2 and in ,india the fish is the god of the water1 and so we have ,dev-ab1 from which may come ,deg-an or ,dagon4 ,the ,greeks1 of course1 used ,thus or theus1 and so ,ik-theus or ,god-,ik2 at any rate ,christians have made ,ik-thus a veritable ,god1 and water its element a very holy thing4 ,the most ancient ,keltic tongues seem to identify the two1 for water in ,gaelic is ,uisge1 the water of life being ,wisge 7whiskey71 and a fish ,iasg1 or in old ,irish1 ,iska or ,ischa1 which is an ,eastern term for ,jesus4 ,if ,v or ,f--the digamma is here admissible1 then we arrive very near our own word ,fish4 ,perhaps ,vishnoo1 ,vinu or ,fishnoo1 is responsible here1 for he is the first who rises out of the water1 and from a fish2 and from his first incarnation to his last1 he is always connected with both4#c ,fish says ,moule1 have often been made the vehicle of religious instruction1 and for this purpose all the fine arts have been put in requisition4 ,amongst many pictures by the first masters in which the finny tribe are introduced1 that of ,saint ,anthony1 of ,padua1 preaching to the fish1 may be mentioned4 ,this fine picture1 by ,salvator ,rosa1 is in the collection at ,althorp ,house1 in ,northamptonshire2 the sermon itself is given in ,addison's ,travels in ,italy4 ,on the conventual seal of ,glastonbury ,abbey are represented the figures of ,saint ,dunstan between ,saint ,patrick and ,saint ,benignus2 each has his emblem beneath his feet2 the last has a party of fish3 perhaps1 adds the historian of the abbey1 he also preached to them1 as ,saint ,anthony did4 ,a fish furnishing the ,university of ,cambridge with a religious feast was the occasion of a tract1 entitled ',vox ,piscis2 or1 the ,book-fish2' containing three treatises which were found inside a cod fish in ,cambridge market1 on ,midsummer ,eve1 #afgf4 ,this fish is said to have been taken in ,lynn deeps1 and after finding a book within it1 the fish was carried by the bedel to the vice-chancellor2 and coming as it did at the commencement1 the very time when good learning and good cheer were most expected1 it was quaintly remarked1 that this sea guest had brought his book and his carcass to furnish both4 ,in the arms of the city of ,glasgow1 and in those of the ancient see1 a salmon with a ring in its mouth is said to record a miracle of ,st4 ,kentigern1 the founder of the see and the first bishop of ,glasgow4 ,on the reverse of ,bishop ,wishart's seal in the reign of ,edward ,,ii41 this supposed allusion to the legendary story of ,st4 ,kentigern appears for the first time4 ,some of the early bishops of ,glasgow displayed the figure of a salmon1 either on the sides of or below the shield of arms on their seals1 a circumstance which may be accounted for1 without reference to a miracle1 as depicting the produce of the ,clyde4 ,the revenue of the church of ,glasgow at the ,reformation included one hundred and sixty-eight salmon arising from the franchise or fishing in that river4 ,james ,cameron1 ,lord ,privy ,seal to ,king ,james ,i4 of ,scotland and bishop of ,glasgow in #adfb1 bore on his episcopal seal the figure of ,st4 ,kentigern in a tabernacle1 below which are his paternal arms1 three bars1 having a salmon with a ring in its mouth on either side of the shield1 which is surmounted by the mitre4 ,the ring is1 perhaps1 a type of the annular money1 then current among the ,britons4 ,it is curious to note how the emblem of the same fish has continued to enter into the composition of the ,glasgow arms and those of the ecclesiastical establishment4 ,the diocese of ,glasgow was erected into an archbishopric in #adia1 with ,galloway1 ,argyll and the ,isles as suffragans4 ,james ,beaton1 archbishop of ,glasgow and abbot of ,dumfermline1 the uncle of ,cardinal ,beaton1 died primate of ,scotland in #aeci4 ,many munificent marks of his public spirit and piety long resisted time1 and remained after the cathedral ceremonies had been deserted for the plain offices of the kirk of ,scotland4 ,on the walls of the ,episcopal ,palace or ,castle of ,glasgow were sculptured the arms of ,beaton--azure1 a fess between three mascles1 or1 quartered with ,balfour1 argent1 on a chevron sable and otter's head erased of the first1 and below the shield1 a salmon with a ring in its mouth1 as represented on the seals of his predecessors4 ,another ,archbishop ,beaton re-founded the ,scotch ,college at ,paris in #afjc1 where1 as a monument to his memory1 are his arms1 surmounted by the episcopal hat1 and beneath the shield the fish and ring1 the emblem of the see of ,glasgow4 ,in more recent times ,archbishop ,cairncross1 in #afhd1 bore the arms of the see impaled with his paternal coat4 ,the arms of the city of ,glasgow are those of the former see1 argent1 on a mount a tree with a bird on a branch to the dexter1 and a bell pendent on the sinister side1 the stem of a tree surmounted by a salmon in fess having in its mouth a gold ring4#d ,dr4 ,dibdin says1 ,the legend of the ',fish and the ,king1' is extant in well nigh every chap-book in ,scotland2 old ,spotswood is among the earliest historians who garnished up the dish from the ,latin monastic legends1 and ,messrs4 ,smith1 ,mc,lellan and ,cleland1 have not failed to quote his words4 ,they report of ,st4 ,kentigern1 that a lady of good place in the country having lost her ring as she crossed the river ,clyde1 and her husband waxing jealous1 as if she had bestowed the same on one of her lovers1 she did mean herself unto ,kentigern1 entreating his help for the safety of her honour2 and that he1 going to the river after he had used his devotion1 willed one who was making to fish1 to bring the first that he caught1 which was done4 ,in the mouth of this fish he found the ring1 and sending it to the lady1 she was thereby freed of her husband's suspicion4 ,the credit of this ,i believe upon the reporters2 but however it be1 the see and city of ,glasgow do both of them bear in their arms a fish with a ring in its mouth even to this day4#e ,moule remarks that the classical tale of ,polycrates1 related by ,herodotus a thousand years before the time of ,st4 ,kentigern1 is perhaps the earliest version of the fish and ring1 which has often been repeated with variations4 ,the ring1 ,herodotus says1 was an emerald set in gold and beautifully engraved1 the work of ,theodorus the ,samian2 and this very ring1 ,pliny relates1 was preserved in the ,temple of ,concord at ,rome1 to which it was given by the ,emperor ,augustus4 ,the device of the fish is engraved in ,m4 ,claude ,paradin's ,hervical ,devices as an emblem of uninterrupted prosperity4 ,if we turn to chapter xxxviii4 of ,mahomet's ,koran1 we find the story of the fish and the ring in another form4 ,the note upon the words--',we placed on his throne a counterfeit body1' says3 ',the most received exposition of this passage is taken from the following ,talmudic fable3 ,solomon1 having taken ,sidon1 and slain the king of that city1 brought away his daughter ,jerada1 who became his favourite2 and because she ceased not to lament her father's loss1 he ordered the devils to make an image of him for her consolation3 which being done1 and placed in her chamber1 she and her maids worshipped it morning and evening1 according to their custom4 ,at length ,solomon being informed of this idolatry1 which was practised under his roof by his vizier1 ,asaf1 he broke the image1 and having chastised the woman went out into the desert1 where he wept and made supplications to ,god2 who did not think fit1 however1 to let his negligence pass without some correction4 ,it was ,solomon's custom1 while he washed himself1 to entrust his signet1 on which his kingdom depended1 with a concubine of his named ,amina3 one day1 therefore1 when she had the ring in her custody1 a devil named ,sakhar came to her in the shape of ,solomon1 and received the ring from her2 by virtue of which he became possessed of the kingdom1 and sat on the throne in the shape which he had borrowed1 making what alterations in the law he pleased4 ,solomon1 in the mean time1 being changed in his outward appearance and known to none of his subjects1 was obliged to wander about and beg alms for his subsistence2 till at length1 after the space of forty days1 which was the time the image had been worshipped in his house1 the devil flew away and threw the signet into the sea2 the signet was immediately swallowed by a fish1 which being taken and given to ,solomon1 he found the ring in its belly1 and having by this means recovered the kingdom1 took ,sakhar1 and1 tying a great stone to his neck1 threw him into the lake of ,tiberias4 ,one of the windows of ,st4 ,neot's ,church1 ,cornwall1 contains the history of that saint known as the pious sacristan of ,glastonbury ,abbey1 perhaps1 says ,moule the only instance of the legend of a local saint so represented1 and one of the most splendid specimens of stained glass in the kingdom4 ,the hermit's fish-pond1 now remaining in the valley near his cell1 afforded materials for one of the legendary tales now represented in the window4 ,in this pool there were three fishes1 of which ,neot had divine permission to take one every day1 with an assurance that the supply should never be diminished4 ,being afflicted with a severe indisposition1 his disciple ,barius one day caught two fishes1 and having boiled one and broiled the other1 placed them before him3 ',what hast thou done8' exclaimed ,neot2 'lo1 the favour of ,god deserts us3 go instantly and restore these fishes to the water4' ,while ,barius was absent ,neot prostrated himself in earnest prayer1 till he returned with the intelligence that the fishes were disporting in the pool4 ,barius again went and took only one fish1 of which ,neot had no sooner tasted than he was restored to perfect health4#f ,a species of perch1 common in the ,mediterranean1 is of a brilliant scarlet colour1 but with a very strong spinal fin1 and1 from the resemblance of this spine to a razor1 it is named le barbier4 ,this fish is held sacred among the divers for marine productions1 and when caught by a hook1 it is instantly relieved by the rest of the shoal cutting the line of the angler with their sharp spines4 ,the dolphin1 as a most peculiarly sacred fish1 was called ,philanthropist by the ancients1 and said to delight in music4 ,it saved the great bard ,arion when he threw himself into the ,mediterranean on his way to ,corinth1 which event is said to have happened in the seventh century ,b4,c41 or about the time the story of ,jonah arose4 ,the ,greeks placed the dolphin in their ,zodiac4 ,burckhardt says in his travels in ,nubia1 that no one is permitted to throw a lance at or injure a dolphin in the ,red ,sea2 and the same rule is enforced among most of the ,greek islands4 ,neptune1 the male sea-god of ,rome1 was identical with ,poseidon of ,greece1 and his temples and festivals were in the ,campus ,martius4 ,poseidon was a brother of ,jupiter and ,pluto1 and a mighty representative god-man of the waters1 and of what the sea symbolised2 his was the teeming womb of fertility1 and therefore woman4 ,his hosts are dolphins and innumerable sea-nymphs and monsters4 ,his chariots are yoked with horses1 which he is said to have created and taught men to manage4 ,his symbol is the phallic trident1 or rather the ,trisool1 or 'giver of life' of ,siva1 which can cleave rocks1 produce water1 and shake heaven and earth4 ,the ,nephthus of ,egypt was the goddess of the coasts of the ,red ,sea and the wife of the wicked serpent deity ,typhon4 ,the ,dolphin as a highly emblematic fish often stands for ,neptune himself1 although it probably first rose in importance from a mere punning on the words delphis a dolphin1 and delphus the womb1 and occasionally the pudenda4 ,delphax was also a young pig which was occasionally offered to ,juno2 ,delphi was goddess ,earth3 symbolic chasm1 and ,delphinius was her ,apollo1 and from dolphin springs the name ,delphin or ,dauphin1 the eldest son of the ,king of ,france4#g ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,ancient ,sacred ,fish--,fish ,diet and its supposed ,effects--,fish and the ,jews--,the god ,krodo--,oanes--,dagon--,the ,fish-god at ,nimroud-- ,khorsabad--,fish ,worship in ,syria--,temple of ,dagon at ,azotus--,the ,dagon of the ,bible--,adramelech--,abstinence from ,fish ,food--,ancient ,character of ,fish ,worship--,paradise ,lost--,the ,irish demi-god ,phin--,the ,fish as a ,christian ,symbol--,idea involved in ,fish ,worship--,holy ,fish ,ponds--,ancient ,caledonian ,objections to ,fish--,other anti-fish-eating ,nations--,ishtar4 ,inman remarks that the fish selected for honour amongst the ancients was neither flat1 globular1 nor cylindrical2 it was more or less oval1 and terminated in a forked tail4 ,in shape it was like the almond1 or the 'concha' with the 'nates4' ,its open mouth resembles the 'os uteri1' still called 'os tinc1' or tench's mouth4 ,ancient priests are represented as clothed with a fish1 the head being the mitre4 ,the fish's head as a mitre still adorns the heads of ,romish bishops4 ,the fish was sacred to ,venus1 and was a favourite esculent among the luxurious ,romans4 ,the fish was an emblem of fecundity4 ,the word nun1 however1 in the ,hebrew1 signifies to sprout1 to put forth1 as well as fish2 and thus the fish symbolises the male principle in an active state4 ,the creature had a very strong symbolic connection with the worship of ,aphrodite1 and the ,romanists still eat it on that day of the week called ,dies ,veneris1 ,venus' ,day4 ,at the present time there are certain fish which are supposed to give greatly increased virile power to those who eat them4 ,i have 7proceeds ,inman7 indistinct recollection of a similar fact having been recorded in ,athenus1 who quotes ,theophrastus as his authority4 ,the passage is to the effect1 that a diet on a certain fish enabled an ,indian prince to show one hundred proofs of his manhood in a single day4 ,the same writer mentions goat's flesh as having something of the same effect4 ,the ,assyrian ,oannes was represented as a man-fish1 and the ,capricorn or goat with fish tail1 in the ,zodiac1 is said to have been an emblem of him4 ,the fish was also associated with ,isis1 who1 like ,venus1 represented the female element in creation4 ,it was likewise a sacred emblem amongst the ,buddhists4 ,since writing the above1 ,i have ascertained that eating fish for supper1 on ,friday night1 is a ,jewish custom or institution4 ,as amongst that nation fecundity is a blessing specially promised by the ,omnipotent1 so it is thought proper to use human means for ensuring the blessing on the day set apart by the ,almighty4 ,the ,jewish ,sabbath begins at sunset on ,friday1 and three meals are to be taken during the day1 which are supposed to have a powerful aphrodisiac operation4 ,the ingredients are meat and fish1 garlic and pepper2 and the particular fish selected1 so far as ,i can learn1 is the skate--that which in the ,isle of ,man is still supposed to be a powerful satyrion4 ,the meal is repeated twice on a ,saturday4 ,mons4 ,lajard bears testimony to the extent of this custom in the following passage1 though he does not directly associate it with the fish1 except that the latter are often seen on coins1 with the other attributes of ,venus4 ,after speaking of the probable origin of the cult1 he says--',in our days1 indeed1 the ,druses of ,lebanon1 in their secret vespers1 offer a true worship to the sexual parts of the female1 and pay their devotions every ,friday night--that is to say1 the day which is consecrated to ,venus2 the day in which1 on his side1 the ,mussulman finds in the code of ,mahomet1 the double obligation to go to the mosque and to perform the conjugal duty4'#h ,in #adib1 ,bede mentions that 'a ,god ,krodo is worshipped in the ,hartz1 having his feet on a fish1 a wheel in one hand and a pail of water in the other--clearly a ,vishnoo or ,fishnoo solar deity carrying the solar or lunar disk1 and the ark or womb of fertility4 ,these fish-gods1 as ,mr4 ,baring ,gould states in the case of the ,american ,kox-,kox or ,teokipaktli1 i4e41 fish-god1 much resemble the ,old ,testament ,noah1 for ,kox1 encountered a flood and rescued himself in a cypress trunk 7a true phallic symbol71 and peopled the world with wise and intelligent beings4' ,his full title mixes him up with the 'flesh-god' idea of ,hebrews and others4 ,north ,american ,indians relate that they too followed a fish-man or demi-god from ,asia2 he was only a man from the breasts upward1 below he was a fish1 or1 indeed1 two fish1 for each leg was a separate fish4#i ,it is said ,oanes was a man-headed fish1 and the earliest ,hermes or ,messenger of ,god to ,kaldia4 ,berosus says he ate not1 yet taught all the arts of geometry1 and the harvesting and storing of fruits and seeds4 ,every night he retired to the sea 7the ,female and ,holy ,spirit71 and after him came ,messiahs4 ,helladius called him ,oes1 but says he had the feet of a man1 and sprang from a mundane egg4 ,he had a fish's skin1 and ,higgins says he first taught astrology in ,kaldia4 ,the mother of ,oanes was worshipped as ,venus ,atergates1 'the good spirit1' and ,oanes himself possibly signifies the 'first-born of the ,yoni1' the ,protogonos of ,sankuniathon4 ,the ,japanese represent their ,messiah emerging like ,vishnoo from a fish1 and as such call him ,kan-,on or ,can-on1 and his temple1 ,onius1 and make his spirit repose on twelve cushions1 just as they do in the case of ,fo or ,boodha1 showing clearly the solar significance of the whole4 ,so we see a close connection between the ,kaldian ,o-,,an or ,oanes the ,hebrew ,,aon1 which in ,koptic is the ',enlightener1' and the ,egyptian ,,on4 ,in ,armorik1 ,oan and ,oanic1 and in ,irish1 ,,uan is a lamb1 and in ,hebrew ,jonas signifies the gentle one1 a ',revealer' or word from ,god1 and a dove1 so that the sum of the whole points to the ,sanscrit ,yoni4 ,pan1 ,jove's senior brother1 used to be called 'a whale-like fish1' and he entangled ,typhon in his nets and caught him1 and yet who so unlike a fish in character as the goat-footed god4 ,so ,boodha is called ,day-,po or ,fishpo2 ,vishnoo appears in the first ,avatar as a fish1 for he is ,vioo1 ,fioo or ,fish-oo1 as ,christ is ,ischa in ,ireland1 which is the ,welsh ,fischa4 ,in all lands1 fish have proved the saviours of many men1 and among the fish1 the dolphin1 as the delphus or womb4 ,she who has dedicated her life to her ,god we call a nun1 and this with ,hebrews is a fish1 and the ,yoni4 ,fish and birds were called in ,asyrian ,nanu-,itsurn1 yet a fish spoken of in opposition to a bird was ,kha and a bird ,khu4 ,isis was a brooding bird1 yet is generally seen with a fish on her head4 ,the fish was the first to swallow up the genitals of ,osiris1 when ,typhon caused him to be cut up into pieces and thrown away4 ,eating fish was considered to induce venery even more than beef or garlic1 and ,shemitic races recommended or ordered such repasts on ,frig's ,day1 or night--their ,sabbath or ,sabbath ,eve4 ,among the ,druses of ,syria1 ,layard assures us such matters are still carefully attended to on ,venus' or ,frig's ,eve1 adding that 'in secret vespers' these pious persons 'offer a true worship to the sexual parts of the female4'#aj ,oannes and ,dag-on 7the fish ,on7 are identical4 ,according to an ancient fable preserved by ,berosus1 a creature half man and half fish came out of that part of the ,erythran ,sea1 which borders upon ,babylonia1 where he taught men the arts of life1 to construct cities1 to found temples1 to compile laws1 and1 in short1 instructed them in all things that tend to soften manners and humanize their lives2 and1 he adds1 that a representative of this animal ,oannes was preserved in his day4 ,a figure of him sporting in the waves1 and apparently blessing a fleet of vessels1 was discovered in a marine piece of sculpture by ,m4 ,botta1 in the excavations of ,khorsabad4 ,at ,nimroud1 a gigantic image was found by ,mr4 ,layard1 representing him with the fish's head as a cap and the body of the fish depending over his shoulders1 his legs those of a man1 his left hand holding a richly decorated bag1 and his right hand upraised as if in the act of presenting the mystic ,assyrian fir-cone4 7,baring ,gould's ,myths of the ,middle ,ages47 ,mr4 ,layard1 in his interesting work ,nineveh and its ,remains1 thus alludes to this--,i must not omit to allude to the tradition preserved by ,berosus1 which appears to attribute to a foreign nation1 arriving by sea1 the introduction at some remote period of civilization and certain arts into ,babylonia4 ,according to the historian1 there appeared out of the ,erythran or ,persian ,gulf1 an animal endowed with reason1 called ,oannes4 ,its body was like that of a fish2 but under the head of the fish was that of a man1 and added to its tail were women's feet4 ,its voice1 too1 was human1 and it spoke an articulate language4 ,during the day it instructed the ,chaldans in letters and in all arts and sciences1 teaching them to build temples2 but at night it plunged again into the sea4 ,five such monsters appeared at different epochs in ,babylonia1 and were called ',annedoti' 7coming out of1 or proceeding from74 ,the first was named the ,musarus ,oannes1 and the last ,odacon4 ,their images1 he adds1 were preserved in ,chalda even to this day4 7,this fragment of ,berosus is preserved by ,apollodorus4 ,see ,cory's ,fragments47 ,in a bas-relief from ,korsabad representing a naval engagement1 or the seige of a city on the sea coast1 we have the god nearly as described by ,berosus4 ,to the body of a man as far as the waist1 is joined the tail of a fish4 ,the three-horned cap1 surmounted by the flower in the form of a fleur-de-lis1 as worn by the winged figures of the bas-reliefs1 marks the sacred character4 ,the right hand is raised as in the representations of the winged deity in the circle4 ,this figure is in the sea amongst fish and marine animals4 ,on ,assyrian cylinders and germs the same symbolical figure is very frequently found1 even more closely resembling in its form the description of ,berosus1 numerous instances of which are given in ,lajard's large work on the ,worship of ,venus4 ,this ,fish ,worship extended to ,syria1 and appears to have been more prevalent in that country than in ,assyria4 ,the ,dagon of the ,philistines of ,ashdad evidently resembled the figure on the ,assyrian sculptures and cylinders4 ,when it fell before the ark1 the head and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold2 only the fishy part of ,dagon was left to him4 7,i4 ,samuel1 v4 #d2 see the marginal reading47 ,the same idol is mentioned in ,judges xvi4 ,the meaning of the word in ,hebrew is 'a fish4' ,although the image1 like that of the ,assyrians1 appears to have been originally male2 at a later period1 it became female in ,syria1 as we learn from ,lucian 7de ,de ,syri71 and ,diodorus ,siculus1 who describes the idol at ,ascalon with the face of a woman and body of a fish4 7,lib4 ii47 ,an icthyolatry1 connected with ,derceto or ,atergates1 was perhaps confounded with the worship of ,dagon4#aa ,in ,azotus1 or ,asdotus1 a renowned city of the ,philistines1 there was a celebrated temple of ,dagon in which the inhabitants kept the ark of the covenant1 in presence of the idols4 ,and when they arose early in the morning1 behold ,dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the ,lord1 and the head of ,dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold2 and rah dagon nischar aghlaju1 that is1 as ,r4 ,d4 ,cimchi explains it1 only the form of a fish was left to him4 7,i4 ,samuel1 v4 #d47 ,for ,dag and ,dagah are words interpreted to mean fish1 whence he was called ,dagon4 ,the sacred scriptures1 in ,hebrews1 bestow on him the masculine gender1 and so do the authors of the ,greek version4 ,philo ,biblius says of ,dagon1 that he is a fruiterer and the son of ,coelus1 and thus thinks he should be called1 because he first discovered fruit4 ,for ,dagon in ,hebrew is translated by the ,greek word ,siton1 which means fruit4 ,he is also said to be the inventor of the plough1 therefore was named ,zeus the plougher1 as if he were ,jupiter1 the president of agriculture4 ,ptolemus says that ,ceres was called ,sito among the ,syracusans1 from the same ,greek word ,sito4 ,but he is mistaken2 for1 while he derives it from ,dagon 7which means fruit71 he should have deduced it from ,dag 7which means a fish74 ,there is the most ancient testimony outside of the ,bible in regard to this god of ,asia in what ,berosus1 ,apollodorus1 and ,polyhistor write concerning ,oannes4 ,for ,oannes is mentioned as a two-headed animal2 that feet like those of human beings grew from his tail1 and that the rest of him is a fish4 ,his voice was likewise human1 and they say that1 emerging from the ,red ,sea1 he came to ,babylon1 but that he returned to the sea at sunset4 ,he did this every day as if he were an amphibious animal4 ,from him men learned all the various arts1 letters1 agriculture1 the consecration of temples1 architecture1 political government1 and whatever could possibly pertain to civilised life1 and the most wonderful history of ,belus and ,omorea4 ,his image was preserved down to the time of ,berosus1 that is1 to the beginning of the ,grecian monarchy4 ,this marine god can be no other than ,dagon1 whose history is found in ,samuel4 ,he was worshipped not only by the ,philistines1 but by the ,babylonians also4 ,apollodorus1 from the same ,berosus1 narrates more extensively of four ,oannes1 called ,annedotos1 who likewise in the lapse of ages appeared out of the ,red ,sea1 every one of whom was half man and half fish4 ,but in the time of doracus1 king of the ,chaldeans1 who preceded the deluge a few ages1 another similar figure appeared1 who was called ,odakon4 ,dagon is undoubtedly intended and referred to in this fable of ,odakon4 ,abydenos speaks of a second ,annedotos1 and bestows on him the form of a semi-demon4 ,helladius ,besantinus speaks of a certain man of the name of ,oleus arising out of the ,red ,sea1 whose head1 hands and feet were human1 but that the other members of the body were those of a fish and that he taught letters1 and the science of astronomy4 ,as all these references are so applicable to the ,oannes of ,besorus1 it is more than probable that the librarian made the mistake in the name of abbreviation in the copy4 ,what has been extracted from the ,scriptures and what has been said from the writings of the ancients will convince any one that the figure of ,dagon was a mixture of the human and marine form4 ,his body was marine1 and his face1 hands1 and feet were human4 ,the ,scriptures say expressly that his hands and feet were cut off1 or broken1 when he fell before the ark of the ,testament4 ,these ancients wrote that his feet grew to his tail4 ,the ,scriptures make him a masculine god1 but what has been said elsewhere of the common sex of the gods should be here considered1 for this very ,dagon was changed into the goddess ,adirdaga1 that is1 ,atergatis1 ,adargatis1 ,derceto1 and those other names mispronounced by the ,europeans4 ,it is certain that the ,phoenician and ,babylon goddess is the very same figure as ,dagon1 if you will change the sex4 ,lucianus describes briefly the image of ,derceto as seen by him in ,phoenicia1 and it answers to that of ,dagon4 ,but also among other great writers the goddess of ,hierapolis is called ,derceto1 or ,atergatis4 ,macrobius contends that1 with the figures of ,atergatis1 she is ,astarte1 that very mother of gods1 and he does not speak of her as any other than that goddess of ,hierapolis4 ,unless she had been half fish1 she would by no means have been called ,derceto4 ,but ,atergatis1 ,adergatis1 ,atargata1 ,derceto1 ,derce1 ,adargidis1 ,atargatis1 all of which are names of this goddess1 are corrupt words1 and from ,adardaga1 which in ,hebrew means a magnificent or potent fish4 ,this name was surely most suitable for ,oannes1 who is said to have conferred so many benefits on mankind4 ,in the same way the ,sepharvites called their god ,adramelech1 which means a magnificent king4 ,in the fables there is generally no other reason for the figure than that because formerly ,dirce1 the daughter of ,venus1 having fallen into the sea1 was by fish preserved from all injuries of the waters1 or on account of the metamorphosis of ,venus into a fish1 when she was running away terrified at the horrible advances of the monstre ,typhon4 ,manilius1 in his ,astronomicon1 book fourth1 says3-- ',when ,heaven grew weak and a successful fight1 ,the giants raised and gods were saved by flight1 ,from snaky ,typhon's arms1 a fish's shape ,saved ,venus and secured her from a rape4 ,euphrates hid her1 and from thence his streams ,owe all obedience to the fish's beams4' ,or because a fish carried from the ,euphrates an egg of wonderful size1 which a dove kept warm1 and hatched the ,syrian goddess2 hence it was that they abstained from the eating of fish4 ,they feared that if they ate those animals the vengeance of the goddess would be aroused3 that the limbs of their body would swell2 that they would be covered by ulcers1 and consumed by wasting disease4 ,plutarch says of the ,pythagoreans1 that of sea creatures they especially abstained from eating the fish called mullet and urtic4 ,they abstained from eating any kind of fish in order to instruct men and accustom themselves to acts of justice1 for they say that fish neither do nor are capable of doing us harm4 ,others abstained from fish1 the same author says1 because man arose from a liquid substance1 and therefore they worship fish as of the same production and breeding with themselves4 ,anaximander says that men were first produced in fish1 and when they were grown up and able to help themselves were thrown out1 and so lived upon the land4 ,so he contends that fishes were our common parents4 ,xenophon1 in his ,anabasis1 speaking of the river ,chalos1 says it was filled with large and gentle fish1 which the ,syrians worshipped as gods4 ,neither would they permit them to be injured4 ,these stories about fish are by no means the growth of the more ancient ages1 for about the time of the return of the ,israelites from ,egyptian bondage1 the ,tyrians were in the habit of taking fish to ,jerusalem for sale4 ,in ,nehemiah xiii41 v4 #af the words are as follows3 ',there dwell men of ,tyre also therein1 which brought fish1 and all manner of ware and sold on the sabbath1 unto the children of ,judah1 and in ,jerusalem4' ,at this time the ,jews were not free from the profane rites of their neighbours1 particularly such as had taken their wives from among the ,philistines1 who especially worshipped ,dagon4 ,to eat fish or to sell them on the public market-place was surely a great indignity to the god4 ,there were certain fish sacred among other nations1 as ,pompilius among the ,grecians1 ,anguilla among the ,egyptians1 and others among the ,pythagoreans4 ,in the same way as fish1 so were also doves held in great honour out of favour to this god4 ,it is1 however1 well known that doves were sacred to ,venus1 and she is ,derceto4 ,the temple of ,dagon is called ,beth-,dagon1 which is pure ,hebrew4 7,see ,i4 ,maccabeus x41 #bc47 ',the horsemen also being scattered in the field1 fled to ,azotus and went into ,beth-,dagon1 their idol's temple1 for safety4' ,venus of the ,ascalonites--that is ,derceto--has the very same name with ,herodotus1 as ,mylitta1 ,alitta1 and the mother of the gods1 and about the temple of the goddess of ,hierapolis fish and doves were received as sacred1 and in her honour1 no less than where ,derceto was worshipped4 ',paradise ,lost' has the following of this deity3-- ',next came one ,who mourned in earnest1 when the captive ark ,maimed his brute image1 heads and hands lopped off ,in his own temple on the grunsel edge1 ,where he fell flat1 and shamed his worshippers2 ,dagon his name1 sea-monster1 upward man ,and downward fish3 yet had his temple high ,reared in ,azotus1 dreaded through the coast ,of ,palestine1 in ,gath and ,ascalon1 ,and ,accaron and ,gaza's frontier bounds4'#ab ,phin4--,the old ,irish demi-god ,pin or ,fin seems to have been a form of ,pineus1 and1 like him1 was a son of ,hermes1 sharing1 with the ,budh or ,da-,beoc1 the exalted title of ,bar-en-di1 ,son of the ,one ,god4 ,it was ,fin who conquered the dragon or put down serpent worship and established all the holy rites connected with ,crones or ,lingams1 and1 strangely enough1 ,phins or ,feni1 as ,dr4 ,p4 ,w4 ,joyce calls them1 showed like ,eastern ,boodhists1 a great liking for both charms1 which are but small phali1 suitable for carrying or wearing on the person4 ,they are exactly like the little ,lingas worn on the arms1 or secreted on the head or chest of ,indian ,sivaites4 ,irish history relates that ,christian ,feni diligently searched out and revered the teeth of ,st4 ,patrick4 ,in the ,brehon ,laws of the ,senchus ,mor1 the ,feni or ,fiannas1 or champions1 are described as a real historical people and the lawgivers of ,irene4 ,what ,arthur and his knights were to ,brythonick1 ,british1 or ',little ,briton' ,kelts1 ,fin and his ,fenians were in the two ,skotias or among the ,skoti4 ,before the ,pagan ,phin was converted1 he is described as presiding over the ,tara assembly 'as a ,druid in strangely flowered garments' 7note the likeness to ,indra and ,herakles71 and with a double-pointed head-dress1 and bearing in his hand a book1 like ,brahma1 ,matthew1 ,vishnoo1 and the fishy deities of ,assyria1 and of the ,clonfest ,cathedral1 ,county ,galway1 pictures of which are given by ,keane4 ,the two-headed mitre of fishy form1 the upright rod1 spotted or chequered garment1 and basket in hand1 distinctly mark the ,eastern idea of a great ,phalik chief1 whilst in the mermaid with open book and jaunty arm akimbo1 who allows not even the waters to obscure her sexual capacities1 we see the ,irish idea of ,atargatis or ,derketis1 or ',divine ,ketis1' that form of ,venus which ,juno assumed at ,kupros1 in the old ,kelto-,pelasgian temple of ,kupreuses4 ,there1 says ,bryant1 she was worshipped by the ,pigalia1 ,pialia or ,pials1 that is1 the worshippers of the ,oracle or ,pi1 who may be called the ,pi-i1 ,phin-i1 ,pi-ni or ,pini1 a word which is possibly the base of the ,latin and ,french terms for the ,phallus1 and which is otherwise of unknown but significant derivation4 ,macrobius calls ,der-,ketis 'the mother of the gods1' and ,syrians1 'the receptacle of the gods1' that is1 an ,erk or ,ark1 which the fish represented4 ,if we were fully cognisant of the origin of ,der-,ketis1 it might turn out to be1 like the ,indian names1 a dual or ,linga-in ,yoni4 ,thus ,brahma1 sitting on the lotus1 is called ,brahma-,yoni1 and if ,der be the ,jovine tree or ,oak1 ,der-,ketis would be simply the bi-sexual name of a supreme god4 ,the mythical ,semiramis was a daughter of ,der-ketis1 who was changed into a dove1 and her mother into a fish1 showing the close intertwining of all these figures by phallists4#ac ,christians were very partial to the fish1 but indeed1 may be said to have carried on freely all the ancient ideas1 as which faith has not after its first attempt at purification8 ,on ,christian tombs especially do fish abound1 commonly crossed1 which reminds us that crossed serpents denote their act of intercourse1 and in this symbolism the fish would be very natural and usual1 because denoting new life in death4 ,derceto1 the half-fish and half-woman of the temple of the ,dea ,syria at ,hira1 was1 says ,lucian1 the perfection of woman2 she was the mystic ,oanes1 ,athor1 and ,venus1 whom ,egyptians have handed down to us embalmed4 ,so the ,fathers of the ,church have called their flocks ,pisciculi1 and their high-priest a fisherman2 and have given to all cardinals and bishops the fish-head of ,dagon4 ,the fish is universally worshipped in all lands as the most fecundative of all creatures2 and where most valued1 the superstitious have offered it in sacrifice to their gods refusing to eat it4 ,many a time have ,i travelled through a poor and barren country where it was all mankind could do to live1 and seen rivers and lakes teeming with fine fish which ,i dared not touch1 or only so by stealth as night came on1 much to the annoyance of my followers and myself1 and the detriment of the people4 ,we find ,phoenicians1 ,kelts and ,syrians specially mentioned as holding the fish in the greatest reverence1 and at different periods of their history not eating it4 ,the hill-tribes towards the sources of the ,indus have the same ideas4 ,the ,phoenicians picture ,dagon and ,dorketa the gods of ,gaza and ,as-,kal-on1 as ,fish ,gods1 or perhaps we should say a fish god and goddess1 for we know they were also ,astartian ,deities4 ,kuthera and ,kupros 7,cypress7 as shrines of ,aphrodite1 vied in the worship of this fruitful ,kubele1 and ,syria held the great northern shrine of ,hieropolis most holy to ,venus as the ,fish ,goddess4 ,cadiz1 ,kodes1 or ,gadir-,gades1 had ,herkales on one side of her coins1 and a fish or ,lunette on the other2 whilst ,syracuse1 or rather ,soora-,koos1 and ,soosa alike held their finny multitudes sacred to ,fertility4 ,in these days we can imagine what a curse these faiths here were to the poor1 and1 indeed1 to humanity4#ad ,the high round hill of ,tabor1 known to ,christians as the ',mount of ,transfiguration1' is called by the ,falhin the umbilicus of their great earth mother ,terra--that womb of nature in which we are transfigured4 ,to her also they had sacred temples at ,askalon and ,akcho with suitable holy waters2 and still at ,tripolis1 her very ancient city1 do we find her pond of holy fish1 which are said to 'fight against infidels1' and to which multitudes still make long pilgrimages1 and worship with offerings and sacrifices4 ,we have often come across similar holy ponds and lakes in ,india1 and been warned off with our unholy rod and line4 ,the ,venus of ,tripolis was ,kadishah or ,atergatis2 indeed the city is called ,kadishah1 a name expressive of coarse phallic vices4#ad ,dion ,cassius says the ,caledonians never taste fish1 although their lakes and rivers furnish an inexhaustible supply4 ,two 'holie fishes' in the seventeenth century occupied a well near the church of ,kilmore in ,argyleshire4 ,they were black--never changed colour--neither increased in number nor in size in the memory of the most aged4 ,the people believed that no others existed anywhere4 ,mr4 ,martin1 in his ',western ,isles1' describes the ceremonies practised by invalids who came to be cured by the waters of a well at ,loch ,saint1 in the ,isle of ,skye4 ,they drank the water and then moved round the well deasil 7sunwise71 and before departing left an offering on the stone4 ,martin adds that no one would venture to kill any of the fish in ,loch ,saint1 or to cut as much as a twig from an adjacent copse4 ,these customs practised in the end of the seventeenth century1 have apparently reference to the worship of the sun1 the fountain1 the fish1 and the oak4 ,the absence of any allusion to the art of catching fish has been used as an argument in support of the authenticity of the poem of ,ossian1 as well as being corroborative of the statement of ,dion ,cassius4 ,fish-eaters was one of the contemptuous epithets which the ,scottish ,celt applied to the ,saxon and other races that settled in the ,lowlands of ,scotland1 and the remains of the superstitious veneration of fish1 or rather abstaining from fish as an article of food1 is registered by the author of ',caledonia' as influencing the more purely ,celtic portions of the ,british population in the early part of the present century4 ,ancient nations that did not eat but worshipped the fish were the ,syrians1 ,phoenicians1 and ,celts4 ,but in ,caufiristaun1 in the remote parts of the ,hindu-,cosh1 the ,caufirs will not eat fish1 although it is not said that they worship it4 ,they believe in one great god1 but have numerous idols that represent those who were once men and women4 ,a plain stone1 about four feet high1 represents ,god1 whose shape they say they do not know4 ,one of their tribes call ,god ,dagon4 ,the fish-god and goddess of the ,phoenicians were called ,dago and ,derceto2 the worship of ,dagon being more particularly celebrated at ,gaza and ,ashdod2 that of ,derceto at ,ascalon4#ae ,the old sculptures and gems of ,babylon and ,assyria furnish sufficient proof of the worship of ,fertility1 but writers and readers have alike lost the key1 or purposely skipped the subject1 and this we have a prominent example of in the case of the beautiful ,assyrian cylinder1 exhibiting the worship of the ,fish ,god1 which ,mr4 ,rawlinson gives us without a comment4 ,there we see the mitred man-god with rod and basket adoring the solar ,fructifier1 hovering over the fruitful tree from which spring thirteen full buds1 whilst behind him stands another adoring winged deity backed by a star1 a dove1 and a yoni4 ,on the opposite side of the ,tree of ,life is fire1 and another man in the act of adoration1 probably the ,priest of ,god1 pleading with both hands open1 that the requests of the other two figures may be granted4#af ,i may state that all that the author of ,anc4 ,mons4 writes in regard to these old faiths thoroughly supports what ,i urge1 though he is far from looking at their features as ,i do1 for he clearly knows very little of ,eastern ,phallic faiths and their interpretation4 ,ashtoreth is ,ishtar or woman1 the ,star in more senses than one2 the ,phoenicians call her ,astarte1 but the 'present ,mendean form is ,ashtar1' and the plural ,ashtaroth4 ,bunsen derives this representative name from the very coarse1 but ,i fear perfectly correct source1 'the seat of the cow--,has and toreth2' for this is true to the idea of all ,hindoos1 and shows us that the terms 'male' and 'female' originally meant the organs pur et simple1 which indeed the writer of ,gen4 i4 #bg expresses in the words ,zakar and ,nekabah4 ,in all ,african and ,arabian dialects1 ,nana and not ,ishtar is the commonest term for ,mother1 the usual initial being ,ma1 ,ya1 ,ye1 ,ni1 and rarely ,om and ,on2 see the long list of over one hundred names given by ,sir ,john ,lubbock as those of the 'non-,aryan nations of ,europe and ,asia' and of ',east ,africa4' ,there we see ,ma and even ,ama occasionally used for ,father1 perhaps because among some tribes the strange custom existed of his going to bed to protect and warm the infant as soon as born4 ,the almost universal initial sounds for the male ancestor are ,pa1 ,fa1 ,ba1 and in a few instances ,da and ,ad1 and once ,od and ,ta4 ,in ,asia ,baba1 ,aba1 ,apa1 and sometimes ,ama occur2 now what we want to know is the origin of these sounds1 but here philology is silent with seemingly no power to advance4 ,this is not the case1 however1 in regard to the objective roots of religion2 here we work with reasoning creatures1 and can see that the child continues1 and that all mankind have ever continued to mate1 whether in their own kind1 or in their gods1 the same ,a's1 ,p's1 ,f's1 ,d's1 to males1 and ,m's1 ,n's1 ,om's1 ,y's to females1 and we therefore conclude that those were man's earliest symbols and names for the organs of sex1 the ,omphe or ,mamma of the mother1 which man had first cognisance of1 and the ,a1 ,ab or ,pa which he noticed as the characteristic of the opposite sex4 ,the ,assyrian often represented ,ishtar as the upright fish1 probably because of the fecundative powers of the fish1 and as the creature par excellence of water4 ,the great mythic queen ,semiramis1 wife of ,ninus1 the founder of ,nineveh or ,ninus1 was said to have sprung from a fish some twenty-three centuries ,b4,c41 and to be representative woman1 ,eva or ,mary4 ,the mythic genealogy of ,semiramis begins with a fish and ends with ,ninyas4 ,her mother was ,dorketo the ,fish ,goddess of ,askalon1 in ,syria1 where she was worshipped as ,astarte or ,aphrodite4 ,she was famed down to the days of ,augustus for her beauty1 voluptuousness1 virtues and vices4 ,there seems no doubt but that there was some ruler called ,semiramis1 who conquered most of ,western ,asia1 ,egypt and part of ,ethiopia1 and who attempted ,india4 ,her fish origin is simply due to her being a woman and to her marrying ,on or ,ones1 or probably ,oanes or ,ho-,anes1 the ,serpent ,fish1 or recognised ,god of ,passion1 both on the lower ,euphrates and the lower ,nile4 ,her conquests may merely signify that the race who had faith in her conquered1 or that certain conquerors embraced the worship of the ,sun ,goddess4 ,when ,kaldia fell to ,assyria1 she was very naturally made to marry ,ninus1 or the strong ,bull-,uan which this name signifies2 she was preserved by doves1 for these birds were sacred to ,aphrodite4 ,mr4 ,rawlinson believes that the origin of the myth lies in ,ivaloosh's ,queen of the eighth century ,b4,c41 who was possibly a ,babylonian1 and shared in the ,government with her ,lord1 but there is little doubt that there was such a queen or goddess4 ,her name1 if embracing ,sun and fertilizing energies1 would naturally be ,sivamy or ,sami 7,god71 ,rames1 ,rami1 or ,ramesi--the ,goddess of the ,sun1 in fact ,ishtar1 which ,wilford calls her1 saying these names mean ,isis4 ,the ,assyrian story is1 that she sprang from a dove or ,yoni1 which ,capotesi would signify1 and this is the ,indian manifestation4#ag ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,universal ,love of ,flowers--,indifference to ,flowers--,excessive ,love of ,flowers leading to ,adoration--,myths and ,legends connected with ,flowers1 the ,flos ,adonis1 ,narcissus1 ,myrtle1 ,silene inflata1 ,clover--,the ,hundred-leaved ,rose--,the ,worship of the ,lily ,species-- ,signification of the ,lotos--,hermaphroditic ,character of the ,lotos-- ,the ,indian ,mutiny of #aheg1 part played by the ,lotos during its ,instigation4 ,why8 asked a writer some years ago1 why is it that every eye kindles with delight at the sight of beautiful flowers8 that in all lands1 and amidst all nations1 the love of flowers appears to prevail to so great an extent1 that no home is considered complete without them--no festival duly honoured unless they decorate the place where it is observed8 ,they are strewn in the path of the bride2 they are laid on the bier of the dead2 the merry-maker selects from the floral tribes the emblem of his joy2 and the mourner the insignia of his grief4 ,everywhere and under all circumstances1 flowers are eagerly sought after and affectionately cherished2 and when the living and growing are not to be obtained1 then is their place filled by some substitute or other1 according to the circumstances or taste of the wearer2 but whether that substitute be a wreath of gorgeous gems for the brow of royalty1 or a bunch of coloured cambric for the adornment of a servant girl1 it is usually wrought into the form of flowers4 ,this taste depends not on wealth or on education1 but is given1 if not to all individuals1 yet to some of every class4 ,from the infant's first gleam of intelligence1 a flower will suffice to still its cries2 and even in old age the mind which has not been perverted from its natural instincts1 can find a calm and soothing pleasure in the contemplation of these gems of creation4 ,a man1 reputed wise1 was once asked in a garden3 do you like flowers8 ,no1 said he2 ,i seldom find time to descend to the little things4 ,this man1 said an ,american writer1 betrayed a descent1 in his speech1 to the pithole of ignorance4 ,flowers1 sweet flowers6 he that loves them not should be classed with the man that hath not music in his soul1 as a dangerous member of the community4 ,instead of not liking or not caring1 leaving out1 not loving flowers1 the general tendency with humanity has been to run to an opposite extreme and render them not merely estimation1 care or love1 but veneration and worship4 ,the adoration of flowers is one of the most ancient systems of worship with which we are acquainted4 ,it can be traced back for ages amongst the ,hindus1 who believing that the human soul is a spark or emanation from the ,great ,supreme1 held that this essence can only be renovated in man by a communion with his works2 it is found amongst the ,chinese1 it occupied a most important position in the mysteries of ,egyptian idolatry1 it figures prominently on the past and present monuments of ,mexico1 and to some extent prevailed in ,europe4 ,naturally enough1 it arose in the warmer regions of the earth1 where the vegetable productions of the tropics are so much more gorgeous in their colouring and noble in their growth1 and in those regions it still lingers1 after having been swept away in other lands before the advance of education and a more intellectual religion4 ,it would be interesting did space allow to enumerate some of the myths and legends connected with flowers1 but as we have another object in view these must be allowed to pass with a mere cursory allusion4 ,there is the ,flos ,adonis which perpetuates the memory of ,venus's favourite1 ,adonis1 the son of ,myrrha1 who was herself said to be turned into a tree called myrrh4 ,adonis had often been warned by ,venus not to hunt wild beasts2 but disregarding her advice1 he was at last killed by a wild boar and was then changed by his mistress into this flower4 ,there was ,narcissus1 too1 destroying himself in trying to grasp his form when reflected in the water by whose margin he was reclining4 ,then we have ,myrtillus and the ,myrtle4 ,the father of ,hippodamia declared that no one should marry his daughter who could not conquer him in a chariot race2 and one of the lovers of the young lady bribed ,myrtillus1 who was an attendant of ,oenomas1 to take out the linchpin from his master's chariot1 by which means the master was killed2 and ,myrtillus1 repenting when he saw him dead1 cast himself into the sea1 and was afterwards changed by ,mercury into the myrtle4 ,a bladder campion 7,silene inflata7 is another curiosity4 ,ancient writers say that it was formerly a youth named ,campion1 whom ,minerva employed to catch flies for her owls to eat during the day1 when their eyes did not serve them to catch food for themselves2 but ,campion indulging himself with a nap when he ought to have been busy at his task1 the angry goddess changed him into this flower1 which still retains in its form the bladders in which ,campion kept his flies1 and droops its head at night when owls fly abroad and have their eyes about them4 ,the common clover which was much used in ancient ,greek festivals1 was regarded by the ,germans as sacred1 chiefly in its four leaved variety4 ,there is indeed1 in the vicinity of ,altenburg1 a superstition that if a farmer takes home with him a handful of clover taken from each of the four corners of his neighbour's field it will go well with his cattle during the whole year2 but the normal belief is that the four-leaved clover1 on account of its cross form1 is endowed with magical virtues4 ,the general form of the superstition is that one who carries it about with him will be successful at play1 and will be able to detect the proximity of evil spirits4 ,in ,bohemia it is said that if the maiden manages to put it into the shoe of her lover without knowledge when he is going on any journey1 he will be sure to return to her faithfully and safely4 ,in the ,tyrol the lover puts it under the pillow to dream of the beloved4 ,on ,christmas ,eve1 especially1 one who has it may see witches4 ,plucked with a gloved hand and taken into the house of a lunatic without anyone else perceiving it1 it is said to cure madness4 ,in ,ireland also it is deemed sacred and has been immortalized in ,lover's beautiful song as a safeguard against every imaginable kind of sorrow and misfortune4 ,it was a belief among the ,jews1 according to ,zoroaster says ,howitt1 that every flower is appropriated to a particular angel1 and that the hundred-leaved rose is consecrated to an archangel of the highest order4 ,the same author relates that the ,persian fire-worshippers believe that ,abraham was thrown into a furnace by ,nimrod1 and the flames forthwith turned into a bed of roses4 ,in contradistinction to this in sentiment is the belief of the ,turk1 who holds that this lovely flower springs from the perspiration of ,mohammed1 and1 in accordance with this creed1 they never tread upon it or suffer one to lie upon the ground4 ,of shrub or flower worship1 the most important in the east and south has been that of the lily species4 ,the lily of ,october--the saffron--was very sacred to the ,karnean1 or horned ,apollo--that is1 the sun--for horns usually stand for rays of glory1 as in the case of the horned ,moses of our poets1 artists and ecclesiastics1 who make him like an ,apis of ,egypt1 because of the text which says1 'his face shone' when he came down from the mountain4 ,all lilies have more or less to do with the female or fecundating energies1 and so even in ,europe we have many stories of the crocus species1 because it is said 'of their irradiating light1 having peculiar looking bells1 three-headed and crested capillaments1 three cells1 and reddish seeds1' c4 ,the ,lotus is the seat of most deities1 but notably so of the creator ,brahma1 who1 thus enthroned1 is called the ,kamal-a-yoni1 or the great androgynous god4 ,the lotus is the womb of all creation4 ,it is said to originate from the great fertiliser1 water1 alone2 and dropping its great leaves on this fertiliser as on a bed1 it springs upwards with a slender1 elegant stalk1 and spreads forth in a lovely flower4 ,even the grave and mighty ,vishnoo delights in the lotus1 which is one of the four emblems he holds in his fourfold arms4 ,it is ,venus' sacred flower4 ,the flower is shaped like a boat1 is a representation of divinity1 and is shown as springing from the navel of the great god resting on his milky sea4 ,it always signifies fecundation4 ,inman1 under the head ,nabhi1 navel1 says--',the germ is ,meroo 7the highest pinnacle of the earth71 the petals and filaments are the mountains which encircle ,meroo1 a type of the ,yoni1' and ,sanscrit for mons veneris4 ,amongst fourteen kinds of fruit and flowers which must be presented to ',ananta' 7,sanskrit1 eternity71 the lotus is the only indispensable one1 as he 7,ananta7 is then worshipped in the form of a mighty serpent with seven heads4 ,hindoo and other writers often tell us that the lotus originated the idea of the triangle1 which is 'the first of perfect figures1 for two lines are an imperfection1' and the lotus also gives us a circle on a triangle which is full of cells and seed1 and so is more perfect still4 ,siva is1 as ,orientals know1 'the god of the triangle1' and hence1 in his palace in ,kailasa we are told the most precious object 'on his table of nine precious stones is the padma 7lotus71 carrying in its bosom the triangle1 as origin and source of all things2' and that from 'this triangle issues the ,lingam1 the eternal god who makes in it his eternal dwelling2' which1 however1 is not quite correct on the part of ,m4 ,guigniant1 whom ,mr4 ,barlow quotes4 ,the lotus is an inverted triangle1 and is therefore the female sign2 the pyramid or triangle on base is ,siva1 or the ,ray of ,light1 the sun-god4 ,another reason why the lotus is in all lands so sacred is its androgynous or hermaphrodite character1 a feature imperative in the case of all the great gods of man1 though this is not very clear if we dive deeply below the surface1 either in the case of the ,jewish ,elohim or the lotus4 ,brahma1 the creator1 whilst sitting on the lotus1 as all great gods do1 desired1 says the ',hindoo ,inspired ,word1' to create the universe1 and for this purpose1 became androgynous1 or a breathing-spirit 7,ruach87--prakriti or nature2 when creation at once commenced and progressed1 much as we have it in the genesis of most faiths4 ,the details of this mystic plant have much exercised all ,asiatic and ,egyptian minds4 ,in its circular stamina it shows two equilateral triangles placed across each other1 which ,sanskritists call the shristi-chakra1 also sixteen petals called the shoodasa2 and this1 it is held1 is a revelation from the deity as to the proper age for the representative woman or prakriti1 in the ,sakti ceremonies4 ,these triangles1 with apex upwards and downwards1 are the chapel or magic diagram which the pious are told to ponder over1 for it has many significations and possesses numerous spells2 and hence we see it venerated in all early ages1 and still an important article of ,freemasonry4 ,the spells go by the name of the devi-chakrams1 or godesses of circles1 no doubt having a solar signification4 ,the ,padma and ,kamalata or ,granter-of-,desires1 or ',consummator-of-our-,wishes1' are all terms applied to the lotus4 ,it is the symbol of ,venus or ,lakshmi1 or of her incarnation--,krishna's wife1 ,padha1 who is commonly a nude ,venus or ,sakti4 ,it is also called 'love's creeper1' the throne and ark of the gods1 and the water-born one4 ,one author writes1 that from far ,thibet to ,ceylon1 and over every eastern land and islet1 the holy ,padma is only a little less sacred than the ,queen of ,heaven--,juno 7,i ,oni7 herself4 ,it is as mysterious as the ,yoni--is1 like it1 the flower of concealment1 of night and of silence1 and that mysteriousness of generation and reproduction2 it is described as a sort of incomprehensible dualism which veils the ,almighty ,one and his mysteries from our minds4 ,linnus tells us it is the ,nelumbo1 but ,r4 ,payne ,knight is clearer when he writes to this effect4 ,the flowers of the lotus contain a seed vessel shaped like an inverted cone or bell1 which are very holy symbols with all peoples1 and representative male and female4 ,this inverted bell is punctuated on the top with little cavities or cells in which the seeds grow as in a matrix fed by the parent plant till they arrive at such a size as to break open 'the ark boat of life4' ,they then emerge and float away1 taking root wherever they find ground1 and throwing down long tentacles or tendrills in quest of it4 ,the idea is expressed by ,brahma in his address to the angels1 as given in the ,linga-,pooran1 beginning3 ',when ,i sprang into existence1 ,i beheld the mighty ,narayana reposing on the abyss of waters2' which reminds us of the ,jewish ,elohim-god who it is said generated all things 'by brooding o'er the deep4'#ah ,those who remember the ,indian mutiny of the year #ahfg and the long tale of horrors which overwhelmed the ,british dominions with grief1 dismay and indignation1 will be interested by the information that the conspiracy was first manifested by the circulation of symbols in the forms of cakes and lotus flowers4 ,commenting upon this1 a writer in ,household ,words1 of ,september1 #aheg1 said1 after he had given a description and historical account of the flower3 ,i fear ,i may have indulged in too long an excursion into the realms of botany to suit the reader1 who merely wishes to know why the ,indian rebels choose lotus flowers as symbols of cospiracy4 ,i am sure ,i am as innocent of the knowledge as of the rebellion1 but ,i will try to help my readers to a guess4 ,four-fifths of the human species worship a ,god-woman2 and the vestiges of this worship are found in the most ancient monuments1 documents and traditions1 stretching backwards into the past eternity from millenium to millenium1 towards an epoch beyond the records of the ,deluge1 and almost coeval with the loss of ,eden4 ,the ,tentyrian planisphere of the ancient ,egyptians represents the virgin and child rising out of a lotus flower4 ,the ,egyptian hieroglyphics depict the goddess ,asteria1 or ,justice1 issuing out of a lotus1 and seating herself upon the centre of the beam of ,libra1 or the ,scales4 ,pictorial delineations of the judgment of the dead1 represent ,osiris as ,ameuti1 swathed in the white garments of the grave1 girt with a red girdle1 and seated upon a chequered throne of white and black spots1 or good and evil4 ,before him are the vase of nectar1 the table of ambrosia1 the great serpent1 and the lotus of knowledge--the emblems of ,paradise4 ,there are ,egyptian altar-pieces upon which the lotus figures as the tree of life4 ,the ,hindu priests say that the lotus rising out of the lakes is the type of the world issuing out of the ocean of time4 ,travellers who have observed the worship of the ,hindus and ,parsees1 tell us that they give religious honours to the lotus4 ,the ,budhist priests cultivate it in precious vases1 and place it in their temples4 ,the ,chinese poets celebrate the sacred bean of ,india1 out of which their god ,amida and her child arose1 in the middle of a lake4 ,we can be at no loss to imagine the appearance of the ,budhist pagodas1 for our ,gothic cathedrals are just those pagodas imitated in stone4 ,their pillars copy the trunks of the palm-trees and the effects of the creeping plants of the pagodas2 their heaven piercing spires are the golden spathes of palm flowers1 and the stained glass reproduces1 feebly1 the many brilliances of the tropical skies4 ,every pious ,buddist1 giving himself up to devout meditations1 repeats as often as he can1 the words ,on ma ni bat mo ,klom4 ,when many worshippers are kneeling and repeating the sound1 the effect is like counter-bass or the humming of bees2 and profound sighs mingle with the repetitions4 ,the ,mongolian priests say these words are endowed with mysterious and supernatural powers2 they increase the virtues of the faithful2 they bring them nearer to divine protection1 and they exempt them from the pains of the future life4 ,when the priests are asked to explain the words1 they say volumes would be required to tell all their meanings4 ,klaproth1 however1 says that the formula is nothing but a corruption of four ,hindu words1 ,om man'i padma houm1 signifying ,oh6 precious lotus6 ,without pretending that the volume of the ,hindu fakirs on the signification of the lotus1 might not throw more light upon the use of it as a symbol of conspiracy1 there are hints enough in the facts ,i have stated to warrant the conclusion that it serves as a sign of a great and general rising on behalf of ,budhism4 ,the flower was circulated to rally the votaries of the goddess of the lotus4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,importance of the ,lotos--,varieties of ,lotos--,statements by ,herodotus1 ,homer1 ,theophrastus1 ,dioscorides1 ,pliny1 ,athenus and others--,the ,arborescent ,lotos--,the ,sacred ,lotos of the ,nile--,the ,indian ,lotos-- ,nepaulese ,adoration of the ,lotos--,shing-moo1 the ,chinese ,holy ,mother-- ,lakshmi--,the ,queens of ,beauty--,the ,loves of ,krishna and ,radha4 ,the ,lotos is a flower of such importance and prominence in the subject before us1 and especially in connection with the ancient worship of the ,east--notably of that of a phallic character1 that we naturally look carefully about us for the best descriptive information we can find respecting it4 ,a writer 7,m4 ,c4 ,cooke1 ,m4,a47 in the ,popular ,science ,review for ,july1 #ahga1 says3--,the history of sacred plants is always an interesting and instructive study2 more so when it extends into a remote antiquity1 and is associated with such great and advanced nations as those of ,egypt and ,india4 ,much has been written and speculated concerning the ,lotos of old authors2 and great confusion has existed in many minds on account of the desire to make all allusions and descriptions to harmonise with one ideal plant--the classic ,lotos4 ,we must clearly intimate that it is impossible to combine all the fragments of history and description applied to some plant or plants1 known by the name of ,lotos--and met with in the pages of ,herodotus1 ,homer1 ,theophrastus1 and others--into one harmonising whole1 and apply them to a single mythical plant4 ,it is manifest1 from the authors themselves1 that more than one ,lotos is spoken of1 and it was never intended to convey the notion that1 like immortal ,jove1 the ,lotos was one and indivisible4 ,starting1 then1 with the conviction that the one name has been applied to more than one or two very distinct and different plants1 we shall have less difficulty than were we to attempt the futile task of reconciling all remarks about the ,lotos to a single plant4 ,in the first instance1 it is perfectly clear that the ,lotos of ,homer1 which ,ulysses discovered1 and which is alluded to in the ninth book of the ',odyssey1' is quite distinct from any of the rest4 ,it is the fruit of this tree to which interest attaches1 and not to the flower as in some others--this is the arborescent ,lotos4 ,the second ,lotos may be designated as the ,sacred ,lotos1 or ,lotos of the ,nile4 ,it is the one which figures so conspicuously on the monuments1 enters so largely into the decoration1 and seems to have been interwoven with the religious faith of the ,ancient ,egyptians4 ,this ,lotos is mentioned by ,herodotus1 ,theophrastus1 ,dioscorides1 ,pliny1 and ,athenus as an herbaceous plant of aquatic habits1 and from their combined description1 it seems evident that some kind of water-lily is intended4 ,herodotus says3--',when the river is full1 and the plains are inundated1 there grow in the water numbers of lilies which the ,egyptians call ,lotos4' ,theophrastus says3--',the ,lotos1 so called1 grows chiefly in the plains when the country is inundated4 ,the flower is white1 the petals are narrow1 as those of the lily1 and numerous1 as of a very double flower4 ,when the sun sets they cover the seed-vessel1 and as soon as the sun rises the flowers open1 and appear above the water2 and this is repeated until the seed-vessel is ripe and the petals fall off4 ,it is said that in the ,euphrates both the seed-vessel and the petals sink down into the water from the evening until midnight to a great depth1 so that the hand cannot reach them2 at daybreak they emerge1 and as day comes on they rise above the water2 at sunrise the flowers open1 and when fully expanded they rise up still higher1 and present the appearance of a very double flower4' ,dioscorides says3--',the ,lotos which grows in ,egypt1 in the water of the inundated plains1 has a stem like that of the ,egyptian bean4 ,the flower is small and white like the lily1 which is said to expand at sunrise1 and to close at sunset4 ,it is also said that the seed-vessel is then entirely hid in the water1 and that at sunrise it emerges again4' ,athenus states that they grow in the lakes in the neighbourhood of ,alexandria1 and blossom in the heat of summer4 ,he also mentions a rose-coloured and a blue variety4 ',i know that in that fine city they have a crown called ,antinoean1 made of the plant which is there named ,lotos1 which plant grows in the lakes in the heat of summer1 and there are two colours of it2 one of them is the colour of a rose1 of which the ,antinoean crown is made2 the other is called ,lotinos1 and has a blue flower4' ,after quoting a number of other descriptions from these authors1 the writer proceeds3--,from these descriptions it is evident that the ,sacred ,lotos of the ,nile1 the ,egyptian ,lotos of the ancients1 was a species of ,nymphoea1 common in the waters of that river4 ,plants1 and animals also1 submit so much to external circumstances1 that the lapse of centuries may eradicate them from spots on which they were at one time common4 ,it by no means follows that the same plants will be found flourishing in the ,nile now1 that were common under the ,pharaohs2 but1 when the ,french invaded ,egypt in #agih1 ,savigny brought home from the ,delta a blue ,nymphoea1 which was figured in the ',annales du ,museum1' corresponding very closely in habit to the conventional ,lotos so common on the ,egyptian monuments4 ,it seems to be very probable that the ,lotos-flower in the hands of the guests at ,egyptian banquets1 and those presented as offerings to the deities1 were fragrant4 ,the manner in which they are held strengthens this probability1 as there is no other reason why they should be brought into such close proximity with the nose4 ,there is still a third ,lotos mentioned by ,dioscorides1 ,theocritus1 and ,homer1 which may be some species of ,medicago or of the modern genus ,lotos4 ,it is herbaceous1 sometimes wild1 and sometimes cultivated2 but always written about as though constituting herbage1 and is on one occasion cropt by the horses of ,achilles4 ,we shall not pause to identify this plant1 but proceed at once to the last plant it is our design to deal with4 ,the ,kyamos1 or ,indian ,lotos4 ,this can scarcely claim to be one of the kinds of ,lotos mentioned by the ancients1 since it is distinctly alluded to by them as the ,egyptian bean1 or ,kyamos4 ,this plant among the ,hindus has a sacred character1 equal to that of the ,lotus among the ,egyptians4 ,it was doubtless ,asiatic in its origin1 but at one time was plentiful in ,egypt1 whence it has now totally vanished4 ,it is represented on the ,egyptian monuments1 but far less common than the ,sacred ,lotos4 ,some authors declare this to be the veritable ',sacred ,lotos of ,egypt1' a title to which it has no claim4 ,herodotus1 after describing the ,lotos1 adds--',there are likewise other lilies1 like roses 7and these1 too1 grew in the ,nile7 whose fructification is produced in a separate seed-vessel1 springing like a sucker from the root1 in appearance exactly resembling a wasp's nest and containing a number of esculent seeds1 about the size of olive-berries4 ,these are also eaten when tender and dry4 ,theophrastus describing this plant1 says3--',it is produced in marshes and in stagnant waters2 the length of the stem1 at the longest1 four cubits1 and the thickness of a finger1 like the smooth jointless reed4 ,the inner texture of the stem is perforated throughout like a honey-comb1 and upon the top of it is a poppy-like seed-vessel1 in circumference and appearance like a wasp's nest4 ,in each of the cells there is a bean projecting a little above the surface of the seed-vessel1 which usually contains about thirty of these beans or seeds4 ,the flower is twice the size of a poppy1 of the colour of a full-blown rose1 and elevated above the water2 about each flower are produced large leaves of the size of a ,thessalian hat1 having the same kind of stem as the flower-stem4 ,in each bean when broken may be seen the embryo plant1 out of which the leaf grows4 ,so much for the fruit4 ,the root is thicker than the thickest reed1 and cellular like the stem2 and those who live about the marshes eat it as food1 either raw1 or boiled1 or roasted4 ,these plants are produced spontaneously1 but they are cultivated in beds4 ,to make these bean-beds1 the beans are sown in the mud1 being previously mixed up carefully with chaff1 so that they may remain without injury till they take root1 after which the plant is safe4 ,the root is strong1 and not unlike that of the reed2 the stem is also similar1 except that it is full of prickles1 and therefore the crocodiles1 which do not see very well1 avoid the plant1 for fear of running the prickles into their eyes4 ,major ,drury observes that the mode of sowing the seeds1 is by first enclosing them in balls of clay1 and then throwing them into the water4 ,sir ,james ,smith says that in process of time the receptacle separates from the stalk1 and1 laden with ripe oval nuts1 floats down the water4 ,the nuts vegetating1 it becomes a cornucopoeia of young sprouting plants1 which at length break loose from their confinement1 and take root in the mud4 ,after comparing these and other accounts1 the author of the paper urges that there is no room for doubt that this is the plant which was known to the ancients as the ,kyamos or ,egyptian bean1 the ,tamara of modern ,india4 ,the beans and flower stalks of this plant abound in spiral tubes1 which are extracted with great care by gently breaking the stems and drawing apart the ends2 with these filaments are prepared those wicks which are burnt by the ,hindoos in the lamps placed before the shrines of their gods4 ,in ,india1 as well as in ,china and ,ceylon1 the flowers are held to be specially sacred4 ,sir ,william ,jones says3--,the ,thibetans embellish their temples and altars with it1 and a native of ,nepaul made prostration before it on entering my study1 where the fine plant and beautiful flowers lay for examination4 ,thunberg affirms that the ,japanese regard the plant as pleasing to the gods1 the images of their idols being often represented sitting on its large leaves4 ,in ,china1 the ,shing-moo or ,holy ,mother is generally represented with a flower of it in her hand1 and few temples are without some representation of the plant4 ,according to ,chinese mythology1 ,shing-moo bore a son1 while she was a virgin1 by eating the seeds of this plant1 which lay upon her clothes on the bank of a river where she was bathing4 ,in the course of time she returned to the same place1 and was there delivered of a boy4 ,the infant was afterwards found and educated by a poor fisherman1 and in process of time became a great man and performed miracles4 ,when ,shing-moo is represented standing1 she generally holds a flower in her hand2 when she is sitting1 she is usually placed upon one of its leaves4#ai ,the ,lotos 7,lotus7 is held in the highest veneration in ,india1 inclusive of ,thibet and ,nepaul4 ,amongst the ,brahmans and enthusiastic ,hindoos1 no object in nature is looked on with more superstition2 and their books abound in mystical allusions to this lovely aquatic4 ,being esteemed the most beautiful of vegetables1 it not unappropriately furnishes a name for the ,hindoo queen of beauty1 and ,kamal or ,kamala is a name of ,lakshmi3 as is ,padma or ,pedma1 another ,sanscrit appellation for both4 ,under the form of ,kamala1 ,lakshmi is usually represented with a ,lotos in her hand1 and in most pictures and statues of her consort ,vishnu1 he is furnished with the ,pedma1 or ,lotus bud1 in one of his four hands1 as a distinguishing attribute4 ,accordingly1 as it is represented in different stages of efflorescence1 it varies1 in the eyes of mystics1 its emblematical allusions4 ,as an aquatic1 the ,lotos is a symbol also of ,vishnu1 he being a personification of water or humidity1 and he is often represented seated on it4 ,brahma the creative power1 is also sometimes seated on the ,lotos1 and is borne on its calyx in the whimsical representation of the renovation of the world1 when this mystical plant issued out of the navel of ,vishnu from the bottom of the sea where he was reposing on the serpent ,lesha4 ,lakshmi1 as we have just noticed1 is the sakti or consort of ,vishnu1 the preservative power of the deity4 ,the extensive sect of ,vaishnava1 or worshippers of ,vishnu1 esteem ,lakshmi as mother of the world1 and then call her ,ada ,maya2 and such ,vaishnavas as are saktas1 that is1 adorers of the supremacy of the female energy1 worship her extensively as the type of the ,eternal ,being1 and endow her with suitable attributes4 ,she is represented by the poets and painters as of perfect beauty4 ,hindoo females are commonly named after her3 and there are few in the long catalogue of their deities whose various names and functions are so frequently alluded to in conversation and writing1 either on theogony1 mythology1 poetry or philosophy4 ,her terrestrial manifestations have been frequent1 and her origin various4 ,as ,rhemba1 the sea born goddess1 she arose out of the fourteen gems from the ocean when churned by the good and evil beings for the amrita or beverage of immortality4 ,she then assumes the character of ,venus ,marina1 or ,aphrodites of the ,greeks1 who1 as ,hesiod and ,homer sing1 arose from the sea1 ascended to ,olympus1 and captivated all the gods4 ,the production of ,rhemba1 ,sri1 or ,lakshmi is thus described in the thirty-sixth section of the first book of ,ramayana4 ,the gods1 the asuras and the gandharvas1 again agitating the sea1 after a long time appeared the great goddess1 inhabiting the lotus2 clothed with superlative beauty1 in the first bloom of youth1 covered with ornaments1 and bearing every auspicious sign2 adorned with a crown1 with bracelets on her arms1 her jetty locks flowing in ringlets1 and her body--which resembled burnished gold--adorned with ornaments of pearl4 ,thus was produced the goddess ,padma or ,sri1 adored by the whole universe1 ,padma by name4 ,she took up her abode in the bosom of ,padma-nabha1 even of ,heri1 that is1 of ,vishnu1 of whom these are names4 ,sri1 as this deity is often called1 distinguished her more particularly as the goddess of fortune1 the word meaning prosperity2 but it is not given exclusively to ,lakshmi4 ,other of her names are derived from the lotus1 which is the emblem of female beauty1 and especially applicable to this goddess4 ,in images and pictures of her1 which are very common in ,india1 ,lakshmi is generally represented as a mere woman2 sometimes1 however1 four-armed2 often holding a kamal or lotus1 in an easy and elegant attitude1 and always very handsome4 ,with her lord1 ,vishnu1 she is frequently seen on the serpent ,sesha2 he reposing1 she in respectful attendance1 while a lotus springing from ,vishnu's navel to the surface of the sea 7for this scene is subaqueous7 bears in its expanded calyx1 ,brahma1 the creator of the world1 about to perform the work of renovation4 ,sometimes she is seated with her lord on ,garuda1 or ,superva1 clearing the air1 of which ,vishnu is a personification4 ,in ,vishnu's most splendid avatara1 or incarnation of ,krishna1 she became manifested as ,rukmein1 or ,radha1 the most adored of the amorous deities1 and mother of the god of love2 here again corresponding with our popular ,venus1 the mother of ,cupid4 ,in the avatara of ,rama1 ,lakshmi was his faithful spouse1 in the form of ,sita2 in that of ,narsingha she was ,narsinhi1 or ,nrisinhi2 when ,varaha1 ,varahi2 and as the ,sakti of ,narayana she is by her own sectaries called ,narayni2 and in most of the many incarnations of ,vishnu she appears to have descended with him1 frequently under his own celestial name3 as his consort generally she is called ,vaishnavi4 ,lakshmi and ,bhavani are both considered queens of beauty1 and their characters are said to melt into each other4 ,lakshmi being commonly seen with a ,kamal or ,lotos1 the emblem of female beauty1 in her hand1 she is called ,kamala3 the word is by some--by ,sir ,w4 ,jones1 indeed1 in his earlier lucubrations on ,hindu mythology1 spelled ,kemel4 ,in his profound and spirited hymn to ,narayana1 which every inquirer into its subject would do well to consult with attention1 that deity1 a personification of the ,spirit of ,brahme1 as he heavenly pensive on the ,lotus lay1 said to ,brahma1 ,go2 bid all the worlds exist6 and the ,lotus is thus apostrophised3-- ,hail1 primal blossom6 hail1 empyreal gem6 ,kemel1 or ,pedma1 or whate'er high name ,delight thee2 say1 what four-formed ,godhead came1 ,with graceful stole1 and bearing diadem1 ,forth from thy verdant stem8-- ,full-gifted ,brahma4#bj ,the following extract from the ,loves of ,krishna and ,radha shews the deep poetic sentiment associated with flowers1 and especially with the ,lotos4 ,krishna1 afflicted by the jealous anger of ,radha1 exclaims-- ,grant me but a sight of thee1 ,o lovely ,radhica6 for my passion torments me4 ,i am not the terrible ,mahesa3 a garland of water-lilies1 with subtile threads1 decks my shoulders--not serpents with twisted folds3 the blue petals of the ,lotos glitter on my neck--not the azure gleam of poison3 powdered sandal wood is sprinkled on my limbs--not pale ashes4 ,o god of love6 mistake me not for ,mahadeva2 wound me not again2 approach me not in anger2 hold not in thy hand the shaft barbed with an amra flower4 ,my heart is already pierced by arrows from ,radha's eyes1 black and keen as those of an antelope2 yet mine eyes are not gratified by her presence4 ,her's are full of shafts2 her eyebrows are bows1 and the tips of her ears are silken strings3 thus armed by ,ananga1 the god of desire1 she marches1 herself a goddess1 to ensure his triumph over the vanquished remorse4 ,i meditate on her delightful embrace3 on the vanishing glances darted from the fragrant ,lotos of her mouth3 on her nectar-dropping speech2 on her lips1 ruddy as the berries of the ,bimba4 ,radha1 half pacified1 thus tenderly reproaches him-- ,alas6 alas6 ,go1 ,madhava--depart1 ,kesavi2 speak not the language of guile3 follow her1 ,o ,lotus-eyed god--follow her1 who dispels thy care4 ,look at his eyes1 half-opened1 red with waking through the pleasurable night--yet smiling still with affection for my rival4 ,thy teeth1 ,o cerulean youth6 are as azure as thy complexion1 from the kisses which thou hast imprinted on the beautiful eyes of thy darling1 graced with dark blue powder2 and thy limbs1 marked with punctures in love's warfare1 exhibit a letter of conquest1 written in polished sapphire with liquid gold4 ,that broad bosom1 stained by the bright ,lotos of her foot1 displays a vesture of ruddy leaves over the tree of thy heart1 which trembles within it4 ,the pressure of her lips on thine wound me to the soul4 ,ah6 how canst thou assert that we are one1 since our sensations differ thus widely8--,thy soul1 ,o dark-limbed god6 shows its blackness externally2 even thy childish heart was malignant1 and thou gavest death to the nurse who would have given thee milk4 ,krishna is thus farther described in the same poem-- ,his azure breast glittered with pearls of unblemished lustre1 like the full bed of the cerulean ,yamuna1 interspersed with curls of white foam4 ,from his graceful waist flowed a pale yellow robe1 which resembled the golden dust of the water-lily scattered over its blue petals4 ,his passion was inflamed by the glances of her eyes1 which played like a pair of water birds with azure plumage1 that sport near a full-blown ,lotos on a pool1 in a season of dew4 ,bright earrings1 like two suns1 displayed1 in full expansion1 the flowers of his cheeks and lips1 which glistened with the liquid radiance of smiles4 ,his locks1 interwoven with blossoms1 were like a cloud variegated with moonbeams1 and on his forehead shone a circle of odorous oils1 extracted from the sandal of ,malaya--like the moon just appearing on the dusky horizon1 while his whole body seemed in a flame from the blaze of unnumbered gems4 ,with respect to the mention above of the blue ,lotos1 ,moor notes3--,written in the north of ,india2 the ,lotos in the southern parts1 ,bengal and the ,dekhan1 having only white and red flowers4 ,hence the ,hindu poets feign that the ,lotus was dyed red by the blood of ,siva1 that flowed from the wound made by the arrow of ,kama4 ,and with respect to the expression1 the bright ,lotos of her foot1 he says3--,hindustani women dye the soles of their feet1 and nails1 of a bright red4 ,redha1 in her frenzied jealousy1 fancies she sees a print of her rival's foot on ,krishna's breast2 observing1 perhaps1 the indelible impression of the foot of ,brighu1 received on his breast by ,vishnu4 ,the ,indians commonly represent the mystery of their physiological religion by the emblem of a ,nymphoea1 or ,lotos1 floating like a boat on the boundless ocean2 where the whole plant signifies both the earth and the two principles of its fecundation3 the germ is both ,mru and the ,linga2 the petals and filaments are the mountains which encircle ,mru1 and are also a type of the ,yoni2 the leaves of the calyx are the four vast regions to the cardinal points of ,mru1 and the leaves of the plant are the dwipas or isles round the land of ,jambu4 ,another of their emblems is called ,argha1 which means a cup or dish1 or any other vessel1 in which fruit and flowers are offered to the deities1 and which ought always to be shaped like a boat1 though we now see arghas of many different forms1 oval1 circular or square2 and hence it is that ,iswara has the title of ,arghanatha1 or the lord of the boat-shaped vessel3 a rim round the argha represents the mysterious ,yoni1 and the navel of ,vishnu is commonly denoted by a convexity in the centre1 while the contents of the vessel are symbols of the linga4 ,this argha1 as a type of the adhara-sacti1 or power of conception1 excited and vivified by the linga1 or ,phallus1 we cannot but suppose to be one and the same with the ship ,argo1 which was built1 according to ,orpheus1 by ,juno and ,pallas1 and according to ,appolonius1 by ,pallas and ,argus at the instance of ,juno3 the ,yoni1 as it is usually pronounced1 nearly resembles the name of the principal ,hetruscan goddess1 and the ,sanscrit phrase ,arghanatha ,iswara seems accurately rendered by ,plutarch1 when he asserts ,osiris was commander of the ,argo4 ,we cannot yet affirm that the words phala1 or fruit1 and phulla1 or a flower1 have ever the sense of ,phallus2 but fruit and flowers are the chief oblations in the argha1 and triphala is a name sometimes given1 especially in the ,west of ,india1 to the trifula1 or trident of ,mahadeva4 ,it can be shown that the ,jupiter ,triphylius of the ,pauchoean ,islands was no other than ,siva holding a triphala1 who is represented also with three eyes to denote a triple energy1 as ,vishnu and ,prithivi are severally typified by an equilateral triangle1 7which likewise gives an idea of capacity7 and conjointly1 when their powers are supposed to be combined1 by two such equal triangles intersecting each other4#ba ,,chapter ,v4 ,story of the ,fire-,god and his secret--,growth of ,fire-,worship--,fire an essential in ,hindu ,worship--,the ,chaldeans--,the ,persians--,the ,hebrews-- ,fire in ,hindu ,ceremonies--,duties of ,hindu ,life--,the ,serpent and ,fire-- ,phallo-,pythic ,solar ,shrines--,fire and ,phallic ,worship--,leaping through ,fire--,fire-treading in ,scotland--,fire-leaping in ,russia--,the ,medes as ,fire ,worshippers--,the ,sabines--,fire and the ,ancient ,christians--,the ,roman ,church and ,fire--,the ,jews--,temple of ,vesta--,fire ,worship in ,ireland--,phallo-,fire ,worship of ,greeks and ,romans4 ,the ,rev4 ,w4 ,gill in his ,myths and ,songs from the ,south ,pacific supplies us with a story particularly suitable for notice here1 called the ,fire ,god's ,secret4 ,the story tells us that originally fire was unknown to the inhabitants of the world1 who of necessity ate raw food4 ,that in the nether-world 7,avaiki7 lived four mighty ones3 ,manike1 god of fire2 the ,sun-god ,ra2 ,ru1 supporter of the heavens2 and lastly1 his wife ,buataranga1 guardian of the road to the invisible world4 ,to ,ru ,buataranga was born a famous son ,mani4 ,at an early age ,mani was appointed one of the guardians of this upper world where mortals live4 ,like the rest of the inhabitants of the world1 he subsisted on uncooked food4 ,the mother ,buataranga1 occasionally visited her son2 but always ate her food apart1 out of a basket brought with her from nether-land4 ,one day1 when she was asleep1 ,mani peeped into her basket and discovered cooked food4 ,upon tasting it he was decidedly of opinion that it was a great improvement upon the raw diet to which he was accustomed4 ,this food came from nether-world2 it was evident that the secret of fire was there4 ,to nether-world1 the home of his parents he would descend to gain this knowledge1 so that ever after he might enjoy the luxury of cooked food4 ,the story goes on to say that when ,buataranga set out1 next day1 on her journey to nether-world1 ,mani followed her1 unbeknown to her4 ,he then saw his mother standing opposite a black rock which she addressed in these words3 ,buataranga1 descend thou bodily through this chasm4 ,the rainbow-like must be obeyed4 ,as two dark clouds parting at dawn1 ,open1 open up my road to nether-world1 ye fierce ones6 ,at these words the rock divided1 and ,buataranga descended4 ,mani carefully treasured up these words2 and started off to see the god ,tane1 the owner of some wonderful pigeons4 ,he begged ,tane to lend him one1 but as the one ,tane lent him did not please him1 he returned it1 as he did also another and a better one4 ,the only bird that would content him was a certain red pigeon1 which was specially prized by its owner and was made a great pet of4 ,tane at first objected to part with the bird and only did so upon ,mani's faithfully promising to restore it uninjured4 ,off went ,mani with the bird to the place where his mother had descended4 ,pronouncing the magic words1 the rock opened1 and ,mani descended4 ,the guardian demons of the chasm1 enraged at finding themselves imposed upon by a stranger1 tried to seize the pigeon1 intending to devour it4 ,they only succeeded in getting possession of the tail1 which the pigeon went on without4 7,they say that ,mani had transformed himself into a small dragon-fly and was perched upon the pigeon's back47 ,arrived at nether-land1 ,mani sought for the home of his mother1 which was the first house he saw4 ,the pigeon alighted on an oven-house opposite to an open shed where ,buataranga was beating out cloth4 ,she stopped her work to gaze at the bird1 which she guessed to be a visitor from the upper world as none of the pigeons in the shades were red4 ,she said to the bird3--,are you not come from daylight8 ,the pigeon nodded assent2 ,are you not my son ,mani8 ,again the pigeon nodded4 ,at this ,buataranga entered her dwelling and the bird flew to a bread-fruit tree4 ,mani resumed his proper form1 and went to embrace his mother1 who inquired how he had descended to nether-world and the object of his visit4 ,mani answered that he had come to learn the secret of fire4 ,buataranga said1 ,this secret rests with the fire-god ,manike4 ,when ,i wish to cook ,i ask your father ,ru to beg a lighted stick from ,manike4 ,mani inquired where the fire-god lived4 ,his mother pointed out the direction1 and said it was called ,are-ava1 house-of-banyan-sticks4 ,she warned her son to be careful1 for1 she said1 the fire is a terrible fellow1 and of a very irritable temper4 ,mani walked up boldly towards the house of the fire-god4 ,manike1 who happened to be busy cooking an oven of food1 stopped at his work and demanded what the stranger wanted4 ,mani replied1 ,a fire brand4 ,the fire brand was given4 ,mani carried it to a stream running past the bread fruit tree and there extinguished it4 ,he now returned to ,manike and obtained a second fire brand1 which he also extinguished in the stream4 ,the third time a lighted stick was demanded of the fire-god he was beside himself with rage4 ,raking the ashes of the oven1 he gave the daring ,mani some of them on a piece of dry wood4 ,these live coals were thrown into the stream as the former lighted sticks had been4 ,mani correctly thought that a fire brand would be of little use unless he could obtain the secret of fire4 ,the brand would eventually go out2 but how to reproduce the fire8 ,his object therefore was to pick a quarrel with the fire-god1 and compel him by sheer violence to yield up the invaluable secret1 as yet known to none but himself4 ,on the other hand1 the fire-god1 confident in his own prodigious strength1 resolved to destroy this insolent intruder into his secret4 ,mani for the fourth time demanded fire of the enraged god4 ,manike ordered him away1 under pain of being tossed into the air2 for ,mani was small of stature4 ,but the visitor said he should enjoy nothing better than a trial of strength with the fire-god4 ,manike entered his dwelling to put on his war-girdle2 but on returning found that ,mani had swelled himself to an enormous size4 ,nothing daunted at this1 ,manike boldly seized him with both hands and hurled him to the height of a cocoa-nut tree4 ,mani contrived in falling to make himself so light that he was in no degree hurt by his adventure4 ,manike1 maddened that his adversary should yet breathe1 excited his full strength1 and next time hurled him far higher than the highest cocoa-nut tree that ever grew4 ,yet ,mani was uninjured by his fall1 whilst the fire-god lay panting for breath4 ,it was now ,mani's turn4 ,seizing the fire-god he threw him up to a dizzy height and caught him again like a ball with his hands4 ,without allowing ,manike to touch the ground1 he threw him a second time into the air1 and caught him in his hands4 ,assured that this was but a preparation for a final toss which would seal his fate1 the panting and thoroughly exhausted ,manike entreated ,mani to stop and to spare his life4 ,whatever he desired should be his4 ,the fire-god1 now in miserable plight1 was allowed to breathe awhile4 ,mani said1 ,only on one condition will ,i spare you--tell me the secret of fire4 ,where is it hidden8 ,how is it produced8 ,manike gladly promised to tell him all he knew1 and led him inside his wonderful dwelling4 ,in one corner there was a quantity of fine cocoa-nut fibre2 in another1 bundles of fire-yielding sticks--the au1 the oronga1 the tauinu1 and particularly the aoa or banyan tree4 ,these sticks were all dry and ready for use4 ,in the middle of the room were two smaller sticks by themselves4 ,one of these the fire-god gave to ,mani1 desiring him to hold it firmly1 while he himself plied the other most vigorously4 ,and thus runs the ,fire-god's ,song3-- ,grant1 oh grant me thy hidden fire1 ,thou banyan tree6 ,perform an incantation2 ,utter a prayer to 7the spirit of7 ,the banyan tree6 ,kindle a fire for ,manike ,of the dust of the banyan tree4 ,by the time the song was completed1 ,mani1 to his great joy1 perceived a faint smoke arising out of the fine dust produced by the friction of one stick upon another4 ,as they persevered in their work the smoke increased2 and1 favoured with the fire-god's breath1 a slight flame arose1 when the fine cocoa-nut fibre was called into requisition to catch and increase the flame4 ,manike now called to his aid the different bundles of sticks and speedily got up a blazing fire1 to the astonishment of ,mani4 ,the grand secret of fire was secured4 ,the story tells us that the victor then in order to be revenged for his trouble and his tossing into the air1 set fire to his adversary's abode1 that in a short time all the nether-world was in flames1 which consumed the fire-god and all he possessed4 ,mani then picked up the two fire-sticks and hastened to the bread-fruit tree1 where the red pigeon awaited his return4 ,his first care was to restore the tail of the bird so as to avoid the anger of ,tane4 ,there was no time to be lost1 for the flames were rapidly spreading4 ,he re-entered the pigeon1 which carried his fire-stalks one in each claw1 and flew to the lower entrance of the chasm4 ,once more pronouncing the words he learnt from ,buataranga1 the rocks parted1 and he safely got back to this upper world4 ,mani now resumed his original human form1 and hastened to carry back the pet bird of ,tane4 ,passing through the main valley of ,keia1 he found that the flames had preceded him1 and had found an aperture at ,teava1 since closed up4 ,the king's ,rangi and ,mokoiro trembled for their land2 for it seemed as if everything would be destroyed by the devouring flames4 ,to save ,mangaia from utter destruction1 they excited themselves to the utmost1 and finally succeeded in putting out the fire4 ,rangi thenceforth adopted the new name of ,matamea1 or ,watery-eyes1 to commemorate his sufferings2 and ,mokoiro was ever after called ,anai1 or ,smoke4 ,the inhabitants of ,mangaia availed themselves of the conflagration to get fire and to cook food4 ,but after a time the fire went out1 and as they were not in possession of the secret1 they could not get new fire4 ,but ,mani was never without fire in his dwelling2 a circumstance that excited the surprise of all4 ,many were the inquiries as to the cause4 ,at length he took compassion on the inhabitants of the world1 and told them the wonderful secret--that fire lies hidden in the hibiscus1 the urtica argenta1 the 'tauinu' and the banyan4 ,this hidden fire might be elicited by the use of fire sticks which he produced4 ,finally1 he desired them to chant the fire-god's song1 to give efficacy to the use of the fire-sticks4 ,from that memorable day all the dwellers in this upper world used fire-sticks with success1 and enjoyed the luxuries of light and cooked food4 ,to the present time this primitive method of obtaining fire is still in vogue2 cotton1 however1 being substituted for fine cocoa-nut fibre as tinder4 ,it was formerly supposed that only the four kinds of wood found in the fire-god's dwelling would yield fire4 ',aoa' means banyan-tree2 for intensity and rhythm the word is lengthed into 'aoaoaoa4' ,the banyan was sacred to the fire-god4 ,the spot where the flames are said to have burst through1 named ,te-oao or the banyan-tree1 was sacred till ,christianity induced the owner to convert the waste land into a couple of taro patches4#bb ,light1 then fire1 the sun1 and the 'whole host of heaven' seem successively1 and at last collectively1 to have become objects of worship to the ,arian race2 but first of all light1 which was to them pre-eminently the object of adoration in ,northern ,india previous to the period of the collection or composition of the hymns of the earliest ,hindu ,veda1 or1 in round numbers1 thirty-five centuries ago4 ,according to ,herodotus1 the ,persians venerated fire as a divinity1 and ,pliny explains that the magic of ,persia might apparently have been learned from the practices of the ,britons4 ,there is abundant evidence to show that our heathen ancestors worshipped the sun and moon4 ,it might1 therefore1 reasonably be inferred that in ,britain1 as in other countries1 fire would be substituted as typical of the great luminary--of its light and its heat--and became an object of adoration1 when the sun was obscured or invisible in seasons set apart for celebrating the religious rites of a ,sabian worship4 ,but we are not dependent on inference1 however rational1 for a knowledge of the fact that fire was an object of adoration to our heathen ancestors1 even so late as the eleventh century2 for in the laws of ,cnut fire appears as one of the objects the worship of which is forbidden4 ,fire seems to have always had the firmest hold upon the wonderment and then the adoration of the infant mind4 ,to the present moment it is an essential part of all ,hindoo worship and ceremonies4 ,from his cradle to his grave1 when the ,hindoo is folded in the god's embrace1 the ancient races around me seek for it1 use it1 offer sacrifices to it1 and adore it4 ,the ,chaldeans had a high veneration for fire1 which they accounted a divinity2 and in the province of ,babylon there was a city consecrated to this usage1 which was called the city of ,ur1 or of ,fire4 ,the ,persians also adored ,god under the image or representation of fire1 because it is fire that gives motion to everything in nature4 ,they had temples which they called ,pyra1 fire temples set apart solely for the preservation of the sacred fire4 ,they are said to have in that empire fires still subsisting which have burnt many thousand years4 ,the worship of the goddess ,vesta and of fire1 was brought into ,italy by neas and the other ,trojans who landed there2 but the ,phrygians themselves had received it from the eastern nations4 ,fire was held in religious veneration among the ,gauls2 and similar sentiments and practices have prevailed in several countries of ,america4 ,the ,hebrews kept up the holy fire in the temple4 ,this holy fire descended from heaven1 first upon the altar in the tabernacle at the consecration of ,aaron and his sons to the priesthood1 and afterwards it descended anew on the altar in the temple of ,solomon1 at the consecration of that temple4 ,and there it was constantly maintained by the priest day and night1 without suffering it ever to go out2 and with this all the sacrifices were offered that required fire4 ,this fire1 according to some of the ,jewish writers1 was extinguished in the days of ,manasseh2 but the more general opinion among them is1 that it continued till the destruction of the temple by the ,chaldeans2 after that it was never more restored2 but instead of it1 they had only common fire in the second temple4 ,the part played by fire in the life of a ,hindoo is a remarkable one1 and shews the immense extent to which this form of worship has prevailed and still prevails in some countries4 ,in the man's earliest days--in his childhood--at the ceremony called the investiture of the thread1 fire is kindled from the droppings of the sacred cow1 sprinkled with holy water and blessed4 ,then are brought to it various offerings of grain1 butter1 c41 by the worshippers who are supplicating blessings1 the officiating priest all the while reading passages from the sacred books4 ,the child's father and mother pray to ,agni 7,fire7 that its past sins may be forgiven1 having been done in ignorance2 then they declare him to be of an age to know good and evil--he is between seven and nine4 ,the sacred thread is then1 after being duly washed and held over the fire1 placed around the child's neck1 constituting him a ,brahm ,achari--one sworn to practise the laws and behests of ,brahm or ,almighty ,god4 ,dubois1 in ,moeurs des ,indes1 says--,a pious father will then say privately to his child1 ',remember1 my son1 there is but one ,god1 the ,sovereign ,master and ,principle of all things1 and every ,brahman is bound to worship him in secret4' ,a fortnight afterwards1 a kind of confirmation ceremony takes place1 again before the fire1 in which the parents promise that they will see that he gets married and leads a good life4 ,marriage is the principal feature in a ,hindoo's life1 and this1 as most people know1 takes place very early and is attended with many important ceremonies4 ,here1 again1 fire is conspicuous as an object of worship1 the ceremony before it--the ,god ,agni--being the last and most serious of all4 ,with clothes tied together1 bride and bridegroom parade round about the deity casting to him their offerings which now symbolise1 says ,forlong1 the sacrifice of all their virgin modesty to the god1 as the emblem of sexual fire4 ,the final oath of mutual love and faith is then taken in an address to the fire1 and the pair1 who are mere boy and girl1 are duly married4 ,a little further on when the period arrives for cohabitation1 the fourth ceremony is then gone through1 fire again being adored and sacrifice offered4 ,in the final scene1 when death has taken possession of the body1 fire is again called into requisition2 it is carried before the corpse by the nearest relatives1 and ultimately reduces the inanimate form to its original dust and ashes4 ,forlong says--,fire enters into every duty of a ,hindoo's life4 ,before partaking of his morning meal he utters incantations to ,agni1 offers to him portions of that meal2 and in like manner1 before he wears a new cloth or garment1 he must take some threads or parts of it and offer these to the same deity4 ,it is from the rubbing together of the wood of trees1 notably of the three ,banian figs--,peepal1 ,bar1 and ,gooler1 the favourite woods for ,phallic images1 that holy fire is drawn from heaven1 and before all these species do women crave their desires from ,god4 ,cave and fire rites are not yet extirpated from ,jerusalem1 nor1 indeed1 from any nation of the earth4 ,christians still rush for sacred fire to the holy cave at the birth of ,sol1 and men and women strive1 in secret nooks1 to pass naked through holy fire4 ,syrians1 as well as all other nations1 connected the ,serpent with ,fire4 ,thus the ,jews had their fire altars1 on which the holy flame must be ever burning and never go out2 and they carried about a serpent on a pole as their healer4 ,so also the writer of the ,acts of the ,apostles speaks of the ,christian ,holy ,ghost as having serpent-like 'cloven tongues of fire1' which the margin of orthodox ,bibles very properly connects with ,isaiah's ,seraphim4 ,forlong says3--,i began my study of ,british ruins about eight years ago 7from #ahhb71 during a two-year-furlough1 attracted to it at first by my friend the late ,sir ,james ,simpson--,president of the ,society of ,antiquaries1 ,edinburgh--at that time writing and debating much on these matters2 and ,i came then to the same conclusion as ,i hold to-day2 viz43 that the ruins of ,armorika1 those of ,stonehenge1 ,abury1 and various others1 known popularly as ',druid ,circles1' are1 or originally were1 ,phallo-,pythic--,solar shrines1 or places where all the first five elemental faiths more or less flourished2 the first 7,tree7 very little1 and the last 7,sun7 very abundantly2 and if so1 then we see the cause why ,european writers so pugnaciously hold out1 some for ,sun1 some for ,fire2 one that they are mere places for sacrifices or burial1 or for assembly of rulers1 clans1 c42 whilst a few outlying writers hint that the large stones are ,lingams1 or mere groups of such stones as that of ,kerloaz--the ,newton stone1 c4 ,colonel ,forbes ,leslie1 in his ',ancient ,races of ,scotland1' has very nearly told us the truth1 his long residence and travels in ,asia having enabled him almost to pierce the cloud1 though he seems at first not to have fully appreciated the ever very close connection between ,sun1 ,fire1 ,serpent and ,lingam faiths1 which ,i believe he does now4 ,the ,european mind having once lost the old ideas of what these words meant1 and from having still such objects as ,sun1 ,fire1 and ,serpent before them1 is always thinking of these visible objects1 which ,i might almost say a true ,sivaite never recognises per se2 for in fire the true ,phallic worshipper sees no flame1 and in the sun no far-out resplendent orb as we know1 standing apart1 as it were1 in space1 and to which we all gravitate2 he sees simply a source of fertility1 without which the ,serpent has no power or passion1 and in whose absence the animal and vegetable world must cease to exist4 ,the fire here1 then1 is not that which the real ,sivaite sees or cooks by1 but ,hot or ,holy ,fire1 or the ',holy ,spirit1' or the fire of passion1 which to a certain small extent1 and in certain symbolic forms and positions1 he recognises in flame1 as when raised on a tower1 coming out of an obelisk1 or rising in a column or pillar over an ark1 or smouldering in the secret adytum2 for the first impresses him with the ,arkite1 the second with the ,phallic and ,arkite1 and the third with the purely feminine idea2 in all1 he merely sees representative male and female energies which are excited and fructified by the ,sun1 ,apollo1 or the ,sun-,serpent1 as in his old coin1 where fertility fed by fire feeds the shell4 ,in a column1 be it wood1 stone1 or fire1 he sees the ,sun-stone1 such as the ,mudros of ,phoenicia1 the ,mindir of ,ireland1 and obelisk of ,egypt2 and in the cist1 shell1 or ,akros1 the womb1 ,yoni1 or sun-box2 in all1 the column or ,palas1 and its ,caput-oline4 ,leaping or walking through the fire1 so frequently mentioned in ,jewish writings in connection with ,molek1 is still quite common in the less civilised parts of ,india1 being usually done in fulfilment of a vow for blessings desired1 or believed to have been conferred by the deity upon the ,nazarite or ,vower4 ,i have known of it being gone through for recovery from a severe illness1 and for success in an expedition or project which the ,nazarite had much at heart4 ,some say fire should be trod because ,drupadi1 the mythical wife of the ,pandoos1 did this1 after defilement through the touch of ,kichaka1 and because ,sita proved her purity by fire4 ,where the ,british ,government can prevent this rite1 flowers are thrown into the fire-pit1 which seems as if the fire were looked upon as a female energy4 ,fire-treading is commonly accomplished by digging a deepish narrow pit1 and filling it with firewood1 and then when the flames are scorching hot1 leaping over it2 usually the rite begins by first walking closely round the fire1 slowly at first1 then faster and faster1 with occasional leaps into and out of it in the wildest excitement4 ,mr4 ,stokes1 of the ,madras ,civil ,service1 thus describes the rite as it came officially to notice in ,april1 #ahgc4 ,in a level place before the village deity1 who was ,drupadi ,ama 7,mother ,d471 a fire-pit1 in size #bg by #g-a_/b feet by #i inches deep1 was excavated east and west1 and the goddess set up at the west end4 ,six ,babool or ,acacia trees 7this being a fiercely burning wood7 were cut and thrown in2 thirteen persons trod this fire1 and one died from the effects4 ,they followed each other1 some with tabors1 others ringing a bell1 and each1 after passing through the fire1 went into a pit filled with water1 called the milk pit4 ,all merely wore a waist cloth1 and had their bodies daubed over with sandal4 ,the one who died1 fell into the fire1 and had to be pulled out4 ,the fire was lit at noon1 and walking it took place at two p4m41 when it had become very bright and hot4 ,the ,poojore1 or priest of the temple1 said it was his duty to walk annually through the fire1 and that he had done so for seven or eight years4 ,it was the mother of the dead man who had vowed that if her son recovered from an attack of jaundice she would tread the fire1 but the old woman being blind1 her son fulfilled the vow4 ,some said that the dead man himself had vowed thus to the ,goddess ,drupadi3 ,mother1 if ,i recover1 ,i shall tread on your fire4 ,death is rarely the result of this practice1 but ,mr4 ,stokes adds that a few years ago1 a mother and her infant died from the effects4 ,on the #bith of ,june1 men1 and even babes1 had to be passed through the fire4 ',on this night1' says ,dr4 ,moresin1 'did the ,highlanders run about on the mountains and high grounds with lighted torches1 like the ,cicilian women of old1 in search of ,proserpine1' and ,scotch farmers then used to go round their corn-fields with blazing torches1 as was the custom at the ,cerealia4 ,the ancient ,roman ,kalendar states1 among other matter1 that fires are made on the #bcrd2 ',boys dress in girls' clothes2 waters are swum in during the night4 ,water is fetched in vessels and hung up for purposes of divination2 fern is esteemed by the vulgar because of the seed4442 girls gather thistles1 and place a hundred crosses by the same2' for has not the thistle a cap like the lotus1 and is it not a trefoil8 ,in the ',englishwoman in ,russia1' p4 #bbc1 a writer says that 'on midsummer eve a custom still 7#ahee7 exists in ,russia1 among the lower classes1 that could only be derived from a very remote antiquity1 and is perhaps a remnant of the worship of ,baal4 ,a party of peasant women and girls assemble in some retired unfrequented spot1 and light a large fire1 over which they leap in succession4 ,if by chance one of the other sex should be found near the place1 or should have seen them in the act of performing the rite1 it is at the imminent hazard of his life1 for the women would not scruple to sacrifice him for his temerity4' ,the writer was assured that such instances had often been known4 ,thus this ',fire-dance' is a very serious matter1 and one which under the circumstances1 we can learn very little about3 from its secret practice here by women it is clearly connected with ,agni1 the ,procreator or ,fertiliser4 ,our ancestors were inveterate fire-worshippers1 especially at the four great solar festivals4 ,they thought no cattle safe unless passed through the ,may ,day and ,midsummer ,beltine fires1 and no person would suffer a fire within their parish which had not been then kindled afresh from the ,tin-,egin1 or sacred fire produced by friction4 ,the ,medes were undoubtedly worshippers of ,fire1 as the most subtle1 ethereal1 incomprehensible1 and powerful agent4 ,they were averse to all temples or personification of the material things1 or of ,ormazd4 ,like our ,parsee fellow-subjects1 they never allowed their hearth-fires to be extinguished1 nor would they even blow out any ordinary fire or candle2 in the ,magian days1 he who did so forfeited his life4 ,we still see the remains--some very perfect--of the lone ,fire-towers1 which ,greeks called ,puraitheia1 amidst the lofty hills of ,armenia1 ,azerbijan1 ,koordistan and ,looristan1 some of which were ,dakmas1 or ',towers of ,silence1' having gratings for roofs1 through which the bones fell when the body was destroyed4 ,the ,fire-,god was called ,at-,ar4 ,the ,sabines were1 perhaps1 more nearly related to our ancestors than is generally thought2 at least we may believe so from the ,sabine and ,glic languages having more affinity even than the ,welsh and ,irish1 and from other evidence4 ,dr4 ,leatham1 in his work on ,descriptive ,ethnology1 says that 'much of the blood of the ,romans was ,keltic1 and so is much of the ,latin language1' and a study of the movements of ancient peoples will show how this is so4 ,like the ,skyths1 these old ,sabines were devoted to all the worship of ,sivaites1 and particularly of ,mars' symbol1 the ,quiris or ,spear1 after which we still call their greatest fte ,quirinalia1 and their ,mount ,zion1 the ,quirinal4 ,the worship of the ,quiris has not yet ceased in high ,asia1 nor1 ,i believe1 in ,america4 ,it was prominent on the summits of all the ,skythian bonfire piles and mounds at which these ,aryan fathers worshipped1 and is connected with most rites4 ,we also see it on numerous sculpturings which have been unearthed from the ruins of the ,skuti1 or ,kelts of ,ireland and ,scotland--much to the perplexity of local antiquaries4 ,hue1 in his ',travels in ,tartary1' gives us these ,phalli as existing all over the immense extent of country he traversed1 including ,northern ,china1 ,mongolia1 ,thibet4 ,spears are1 however1 too valuable to be left sticking in 'these ,obos1' as he calls them1 and therefore 'dried branches of trees' are substituted in very good imitation of spears4 ,we have abundant proof that ,fire was never neglected by ancient ,christians1 either on tomb or altar4 ,in a letter from ,rome1 we find that in front of the ,cubiculum1 or square tomb of ,cornelius the martyr1 is a short pillar supporting an ever-burning lamp of oil2 and when this custom of never-dying flame--alike common to all faiths--was revived in the third century ,a4,c41 we read that the ,popes used to send to kings and queens a few drops of the oil from this lamp of the tomb of ,cornelius4 7,see ,cor4--,ill4 ,lon4 ,news1 #c-gb47 ,nor need we be astonished at this1 seeing that ,vesta's shrine still flourished and received ,papal attention1 and that in every corner of the world ,fire-faith existed4 ,to this day none may neglect the rites of this faith in ,syria--cradle of the ,god1 as the poor ,turkish ,bey of ,antioch and his son found to their cost1 when1 after the earthquake of ,april #crd1 #ahgb1 they and their officers kindly1 reverently and wisely buried the ,christian dead1 but without the fire-symbols and bell-ringing 7which they failed to understand71 thereby greatly offending a powerful sect of ,antioch1 called the ,dusars1 who1 still clearly worshipping ,baal and ,astaroth1 rose upon the poor ,turks and smote them hip and thigh4 ,in the county of ,kildare1 ,ireland1 'everlasting fire' was preserved by 'holy virgins--called ,ingheaw ,andagha1 or daughters of fire1' down to the time of the ,reformation4 ,these were often the first ladies of the land1 and never other than those of gentle birth4 ,no blessing can be asked or granted from the altar of any ,catholic ,church until the candles are lighted4 ,if a woman when pregnant desires to be blessed by the ,christian ,church1 she is instructed 'to wait on her knees1 at the door of the church1 with a lighted taper in her hand1' nor can any cross be blessed until three tapers are lighted by the 'man of ,god1' had placed at its base4 ,see ,picart ,,ii41 #aag1 where he gives some graphic plates of ,christian ,phallo-solar-fire rites4 ,in ,goodwin's ,civil and ,ecclesiastical ,rites1 under the head of ,feasts of the ,expiation1 which we have reason to believe was at one time a period of human sacrifice1 we have the great ,winter-,christmas ,saturnalia1 or ,juvenalia ,festival of ,lights and ,fires described1 when not only the temples of ,jews and ,christians1 but every house had to be carefully lighted4 ,jews taught that the lights must be held in the left hand1 and the holder must 'walk between two commandments1' which seems to denote the climatic or solar turn of the year4 ,this old writer tells us that it was 'woman's peculiar province to light their lamps2' and that 'there are certain prayers appropriated to this festival1 and among the rest one in praise of ,god1 who hath ordained the lighting up of lamps upon ,solemn ,days4' ,here we see a close resemblance between the faith of the ,jew and the ,islami1 whose wives are enjoined personally to see to the lighting of the household lamps on ,venus' ,eve4 ,jerusalem1 we know1 acknowledges the ,god of ,agni to the present hour1 by annually giving out that holy ,fire descends from heaven at a stated season into the dark ,adyta of the ,sacred ,shrine2 all old fires must be extinguished at this the season of ,sol's renewed vigour1 so when the priest emerges from the adytum with the new fire in his hand 7and ,christian priests have often done this1 if they do not do so still71 crowds of every hue and creed rush towards him1 light their tapers1 and bear away the new fire to their homes4 ,referring to the ,temple of ,vesta mentioned by ,davies1 ,forlong says--,now1 what was this ,temple of ,vesta8 ,in its rites and surroundings1 its duties social and political1 it was one with the temples still existing in ,asia devoted to ,phallic and ,fire-worship combined1 or perhaps ,i should say a temple to ,phallic worship only1 but the cult in the dawn of brighter faiths was somewhat hid away by the priests in the darkest recesses of their temples1 and not well-known by many of the worshippers1 and scarcely at all by ,european writers even of the middle ages4 ,any student of ,delphic lore and of ,eastern travel1 however1 will recognise at once in ,delphi's ,oracle and ,vesta's ,temple1 ',the ,old ,faith' and its priestess worshippers1 although the writer in ,smith's ,dictionary of ,antiquities does not appear to do so4 ,he describes ,vesta's as merely a ,fire-temple1 and says that there were six ,vestales or ,virgin ,priestesses to watch the eternal ,fire which blazed everlastingly on the altar of the goddess4 ,on the ,pope has descended the name of their superior as ',pontifex ,maximus4' ,if by any negligence or misfortune the ,fire went out1 the ,pontifex ,maximus scourged the erring vestal virgin1 for had not she--a woman--permitted the procreative energy of the god to forsake mankind8 ,dr4 ,george ,petrie1 who in #ahde still combatted1 but without force1 the pre-,christian idea of ,irish ,towers1 acknowledges signs of a very strong and all-prevailing ,fire ,worship in ,ireland4 ,this he sees in ,bel or ,bil-tene--'the goodly fire1' in which ,bel1 the sun in ,ireland1 as of old in ,babylon1 was the great purifier4 ,the ,druids1 he says1 used to worship in presence of two fires1 and make cattle walk between them to keep off evil4 ,even in ,dublin we have still ,may-fires1 and those of ,st4 ,john's ,eve2 and an old manuscript of ,trinity ,college tells us that ',bel was the name of an idol at whose festival 7,bel-tine7 a couple of all cattle were exhibited as in his possession1' which ,i conclude means--fixed by his rays4 ,the name of this feast in ,scotland was ,egin-,tin1 in which we can recognise ,agin1 ,ag1 or ,agni-fire1 and the fire-god of all ,asia4 ,in the island of ,skye--says ,dr4 ,martin1 quoted by ,petrie1 page xxxviii4--the ,tin ,egin was a forced fire or fire of necessity which cured the plague and murrain amongst cattle4 ,all the fires in the parish were extinguished1 and eighty-one married men 7a multiple of the mystic number nine7 being thought the necessary number for effecting this design took two great planks of wood1 and nine of them were employed by turns1 who1 by their repeated efforts1 rubbed one of the planks against the other until the heat thereof produced fire1 and from this forced fire each family is supplied with new fire4 ,this is the true 'fire which falls from heaven1' and it must still be so produced at the temples of all fire-worshipping races1 and at the hearths of the ,guebre or ,parsees1 as it was in this remote ,isle of ,skye4 ,i must now make a few general observations upon the marked ,phallo-,fire ,worship of the ,greeks and ,romans1 too commonly called ',fire and ,ancestor ,worship1' it not being perceived that the ancestor came to be honoured and worshipped only as the ,generator1 and so also the ,serpent1 as his symbol4 ,the ',signs' or ,nishans of the generating parents1 that is the ,lares and ,penates1 were placed in the family niches close to the holy flame--that 'hot air1' 'holy spirit1' or 'breath'--the active force of the ,hebrew ,,bra1 and the ,egyptian ,p'ta--the engenderer of the heavens and earth1 before which ignorant and superstitious races prayed and prostrated themselves1 just as they do to-day before very similar symbols4 ,the ,greeks and ,romans watched over their fires as do our ,parsees or ,zoroastrians4 ,the males of the family had to see that the holy flame never went out1 but in the absence of the head1 and practically at all times1 this sacred duty devolved on the matron of the house4 ,every evening the sacred fire was carefully covered with ashes so that it might not go out by oversight1 but quietly smoulder on2 and in the early morning the ashes were removed1 when it was brightened up and worshipped4 ,in ,march or early spring it was allowed to die out1 but not before the ,new ,year's ,fire had been kindled from ,sol's rays and placed in the sanctuary4 ,no unclean object was allowed to come near ,agni2 none durst even warm themselves near him2 nor could any blameworthy action take place in his presence4 ,he was only approached for adoration or prayer2 not as fire1 which he was not1 but as sexual flame or life4 ,prayers were offered to him similar to those ,christians use2 and with most he held just such a mediatorial office as ,christ does4 ,the ,almighty was addressed through him1 and he was asked for health1 happiness wisdom and foresight2 guidance in prosperity and comfort in adversity1 long life1 off-spring1 and all manly and womanly qualifications4 ,his followers were taught that it was the most heinous sin to approach him with unclean hearts or hands1 and were encouraged to come to him at all times for repentance and sanctification4 ,before leaving the house1 prayer had to be made to the sacred fire2 and on returning1 the father must do so even before embracing his wife and children4 ,thus ,agamemnon acted1 we are told1 on his return from ,troy4 ,sacrifices1 libations1 wine1 oil and victims were regularly offered to the ,fire1 and as the god brightened up under the oils1 all exulted and fell down before him4 ,they believed that he ate and drank1 and with more reason than the ,jew said this of his ,jehovah and ,el-,shadai4 ,above all1 it was necessary to offer food and wine to him2 to ask a blessing before every meal1 and return thanks when it was over4 ,from ,ovid and ,horace we see it was thought pious and proper to sup in presence of the sacred flame1 and to make oblations to it4 ,there was no difference between ,romans1 ,greeks1 and ,hindoos in these respects1 except that ,soma wine in ,india took the place of the grape of cooler lands4 ,all alike besought ,agni by fervent prayers for increase of flocks and families1 for happy lives and serene old age1 for wisdom and pardon of sin4 ,we see the great antiquity of this faith in the well-known fact1 that even when the early ,greeks were sacrificing to ,zeus and ,athene at ,olympia1 they always first invoked ,agni1 precisely as had been ordered in the ,vedas some #b1jjj years ,b4,c41 and probably as he had been invoked many thousands of years before the art of writing was known4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,fire-worship in the ,states of the ,mediterranean--,special ,sacredness of the public ,city-fire of ,greece and ,rome--,the sacred ,fire of ,tlachtga--,ceylon ,fire-worship--,the ,parsees--,persian ,monuments--,impiety of ,cambyses--,cingalese ,terms1 ,sanscrit1 ,welsh1 c4--,the ,yule-log-- ,fire-worship in ,england--,the ,fire of ,beltane--,druidical ,fires--,may-day ,fires--,november ,fires in ,ireland--,between ,two ,fires--,scotland--,the ,summer ,solstice and ,fire ,ceremonies--,worship of ,baal in ,ireland--,st4 ,john's ,day--,bonfires--,decree of ,council of ,constantinople4 ,all the states of the ,mediterranean and ,persia had1 like ,india1 baptismal forms connected with ,fire4 ,with the ,greeks and ,romans the baptismal ceremony took place between the ninth and twelfth days of birth1 and generally commenced by women seizing the infant and running round1 or dashing through the fire with it4 ,so also at marriages1 fire was the active and 'covenant god4' ,no account was taken of a bride's faith2 to marry was to embrace the husband's religion1 to be to him in fili loco1 and to break entirely with her own family2 nay1 marriage was for long entered into with a show of violence1 as if to demonstrate the separation4 ,it certainly reminds one of early times when men thus obtained their wives4 ,the principal part of the marriage ceremony was to bring the bride before her husband's hearth1 anoint her with holy water1 and make her touch the sacred fire2 after which she broke bread or ate a cake with him4 ,fire was also the ,god who witnessed the separation of husband and wife1 which1 if there were offspring1 was a rare and difficult act2 but if the couple were childless1 divorce was an easy matter4 ,no stranger dared appear before the city-fire either in ,greece or ,rome1 indeed the mere look of a person foreign to the worship would profane a sacred act1 and disturb the auspices4 ,the very name of strangers was hostis1 or enemy to the gods4 ,when the ,roman ,pontiff had to sacrifice out-of-doors1 he veiled his face so that the chance sight of strangers might be thus atoned for to the gods1 who were supposed to dislike foreigners so much1 that the most laborious ceremonies were undertaken if any of these passed near1 not to say handled any holy object4 ,every sacred fire had to be re-lit if a stranger entered a temple2 and so in ,india1 every sacred place must be carefully purified if a foreigner 7ruler and highly respected though he may be7 pass too close to a ,hindoo shrine4 ,i have seen ,government servants under me1 and ,sepoys1 who meant no disrespect1 throw away the whole of a day's food1 and dig up the little fire-places they had prepared before cooking and eating1 because1 by accident or oversight1 my shadow had passed over it2 though sometimes1 if there were no onlookers1 this extreme measure was not carried out1 partly out of regard for me4 ,dr4 ,keating1 in his ,history of ,ireland1 speaks of the royal seat of ,tlachtga1 where the ,fire ,tlachtga was ordained to be kindled4 ,he says3--,the use of this sacred fire was to summon the ,priests1 the ,augurs1 and ,druids of ,ireland to repair thither and assemble upon the ,eve of ,all ,saints1 in order to consume the sacrifices that were offered to their ,pagan ,gods2 and it was established under the penalty of a great fine1 that no other fire should be kindled upon that night throughout the kingdom2 so that the fire that was to be used in the country1 was to be derived from this holy fire2 for which privilege the people were to pay a ,scraball1 which amounts to threepence every year as an acknowledgment to the ,king of ,munster1 because the palace of ,tlachtga1 where this fire burned1 was the proportion taken from the province of ,munster1 and added to the country of ,meath4 ,the second royal palace that was erected was in the proportion taken from the province of ,conacht1 and here was a general convocation assembled of all the inhabitants of the kingdom that were able to appear1 which was called the ,convocation of ,visneach1 and kept upon the first day of ,may1 where they offered sacrifices to the principal deity in the island1 whom they adored under the name of ,beul4 ,upon this occasion they were used to kindle two fires in every territory in the kingdom1 in honour of this pagan god4 ,it was a solemn ceremony at this time to drive a number of cattle of every kind between these fires2 this was conceived to be an antidote and a preservation against the murrain1 or any other pestilential distemper among cattle for the year following2 and from these fires that were made in worship of the god ,beul1 the day upon which the ,christian festival of ,st4 ,philip and ,st4 ,james is observed1 is called in the ,irish language ,beul-tinne4 ,the derivation of the word is thus3 ,la in ,irish signifies a day1 ,beul is the name of the pagan deity1 and ,teinne is the same with fire in the ,english1 which words1 when they are pronounced together1 sound ,la ,beultinne4 ,leslie in his ,early ,races of ,scotland1 says3 ,from ,dondera ,head in ,ceylon to the ,himalaya ,mountains1 and from the borders of ,china to the extremities of ,western ,europe and its islands1 we find clear evidence of the former prevalence of the earliest form of false worship1 viz41 the adoration of light1 the sun1 and 'the whole host of heaven4' ,in the ,rajpoot state of ,marwar1 in its capital ,udayayoor1 ',the ,city of the ,rising ,sun6' the precedence of ,surya1 the sun god1 is still maintained4 ,the sacred standard of the country bears his image1 and the ,raja1 claiming to be his descendant1 appears as his representative4 ,in a complicated form the ,parsees of ,british ,india still retain that worship of light1 symbolised in the sun and fire1 for which they became exiles when their faith was proscribed in the land of their ancestors4 ,leslie quotes various authors and travellers who had personally witnessed the remains of many of these altars4 ,chardin1 he says1 in his travels in ,media in the end of the seventeenth century describes circles of large stones that must have been brought a distance of six leagues to the place where he observed them4 ,the tradition regarding these circles was1 that councils were there held1 each member of the assembly being seated on a separate stone4#bc ,in the ,persian province of ,fars1 ,sir ,william ,ouseley observed a monolith ten or twelve feet high1 surrounded by a fence of stones4 ,this rude column had a cavity on the top4 ,similar instances--viz41 of monoliths having a cavity in the top--existed among the primitive monuments of ,scotland4 ,in ,kincardineshire1 at ,auchincorthie1 there were five circles of stones4 ,on the top of one of the stones which stood on the east side of the largest circle1 there was a hollow three inches deep1 along the bottom of which1 and down the side of the stone1 a channel was cut4 ,another of the stones in this group had a similar cavity and channel4 ,other examples of such artificial cavities in ancient ,british monuments could be pointed out4--7,gibson's ,camden1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bia47 ,the same traveller remarked a few old trees which grew near this column1 and these he supposed to be the remains of a consecrated grove4 ,one of the trees was thickly hung with rags1 the native offerings of the inhabitants of the country4 ,trees with such garniture may commonly be observed in the ,dekhan and other parts of ,india1 and not long since might be seen in many places in ,britain4 ,the ,monolith thus described1 and adjacent to the grove1 was called by an expression equivalent to ,stone of the ,fire ,temple4 ,we know from ,herodotus that the ancient ,persians1 like their expatriated descendants the ,parsees1 were worshippers of the sun and fire1 and the mysterious rites of the heathen inhabitants of ,britain must have closely resembled those of the ,persians1 when the similarity induced ,pliny to remark that ,britain cultivates magic with ceremonial so august that it might be supposed that the art was first communicated from them to the people of ,persia4 ,turning to ,herodotus as here suggested1 speaking of the order given by ,cambyses to burn the corpse of ,amasis1 after his people had failed to tear it apart1 owing to its having been embalmed1 the historian says3--,this was truly an impious command to give1 for the ,persians hold fire to be a god1 and never by any chance burn their dead4 ,indeed this practice is unlawful1 both with them and with the ,egyptians--with them for the reason above mentioned1 since they deem it wrong to give the corpse of a man to a god2 and with the ,egyptians1 because they believe fire to be a live animal1 which eats whatever it can seize1 and then glutted with the food1 dies with the matter it feeds upon4#bd ,leslie says it is important1 as a prelude to the description of rites in a worship common to the early inhabitants of the ,indian ,peninsula and to the ,celtic population of ,gaul and ,britain1 to refer to the cognate expressions which they employed for the object of their adoration4 ,in ,cingalese1 ,ja1 ,jwala1 signifies light1 lustre1 flame2 ,jwalana1 light2 also ,agni1 or personified and deified fire4 ,eliya is also ,cingalese for light2 in ,welsh1 ,lleuer and ,lleuad1 the moon2 in ,gaelic1 ,eibhle1 anything on fire4 ,in ,sanscrit1 ,jwala signifies light1 flame2 in ,cornish1 ,gwawl2 in ,welsh1 ,goleu2 in ,armorican1 ,goleu4 ,in ,gaelic1 ,geal and ,eallaidhe is white2 ,soillse1 light1 sunlight2 ,suil1 the eye4 ,in ,cingalese1 ,haili and ,hel1 and in ,sanscrit1 ,heli or ,helis is the sun4 ,in ,welsh it is ,haul1 pronounced ,hail2 in ,armorican1 ,haul and ,heol2 in ,cornish1 ,houl and ,heul4 ,the great festival of heathen ,britain--viz1 ,yeul--was celebrated at that period of the year when the sun having obtained the greatest distance from the earth1 commenced his return to restore warmth and to revivify nature4 ,although ,christmas superseded the heathen festival1 not only the ancient name of ,yeul1 but many of the customs1 evidently connected with the heathen rites1 are not yet obsolete in ,south ,britain2 and in ,scotland1 at least in the more remote parts1 and in agricultural districts1 ,yeul is still the word in general use for ,christmas ,day4 ,hone1 in his ,every-day ,book vol4 ,i4 p4 #bjd1 says3 ,the ,yeul feast and ,yeul log can be clearly traced to their original source4 ,the blaze of lights1 and the kindling of the great ,yule log on ,christmas ,eve by a portion of the ,yule brand of the former year1 is as clearly a heathen ceremony1 and for the same object of worship1 as the fires on ,midsummer ,eve4 ,as to the feast1 in times comparatively recent1 the ,greenlanders held a sun-feast at the winter solstice1 to rejoice in the conmencement of returning light and warmth4 ,from ,teinidh and ,tein1 ,irish and ,gaelic for fire1 is probably derived the obsolete ,english word 'to teend4' ,herrich1 speaking of the ,christmas brand1 says part must be kept wherewith to teend the ,christmas by next year4 ,evidence of some sort of fire-worship in ,england at various times is to be found in the ,confessional of ,ecgbert1 ,archbishop of ,york 7#hth century7 and the ,penitential of ,theodore1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury 7#gth century71 and that this included the adoration of the light of the sun and moon seems probable from the prohibition of the practice of passing children through fire extending to that of exposing them on the house-tops for the benefit of their health4 ,leslie remarks that it is curious to compare these restrictions and penalties to be enforced by ,english ecclesiastical authorites with the denunciation of the same heathen practices by the prophet ,zephaniah1 7,chap4 ,i41 #d1 #e47 ,i will cut off the remnant of ,baal1 and them that worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops4 ,the allusion to the ,midsummer ,eve ,fire in ,hone1 reminds us of the ,fire of ,bel or ,beltane of ,scotland1 a festival generally celebrated on ,may-day old style4 ,leslie says1 in other ,celtic countries of ,western ,europe the same expression1 with slight variations in sound1 was also used for the great heathen festival which was held about the beginning of the month of ,may4 ,he further says3 ,beltane is also used to express the fires that were kindled in honour of ,bel on that and on other days connected with his worship1 as on ,midsummer ,eve1 afterwards called the vigil of ,st4 ,john1 on ,all-,hallowe'en1 and on ,yeule1 which is now ,christmas4 ,of the ceremonies practised at ,beltane1 and continued almost to our own times1 the most remarkable and general were the fires lighted in honour of ,bel4 ,kindling fires at ,beltane1 on the hills and conspicuous places in level districts1 was so universal in ,scotland--also in ,ireland and ,cornwall--that it is unnecessary to refer to records for proof of events which may still be witnessed in this year #ahfe4 ,conjoined with ,apollo in the inscription on a ,roman altar found at ,inveresk is an epithet bearing a considerable resemblance to the name of the sun in ,gaelic4 ,apollini-,granno is the commencement of the inscription4 ,grian or ,greine is the sun in ,gaelic1 and ,grianach is 'the sunny4' ,this resemblance it is as well to notice1 for epithets not similar in sound but identical in meaning are used for ,apollo or the sun by classic authors and the ,scottish ,celts1 as ,gruagach1 the fair-haired4 ,enclosures called ,grianan or ,greinham1 'the house of the sun1' where the people worshipped the sun1 are to be met with everywhere4 ,on the ,gruagach stones libations of milk were poured4 ,a clergyman of the ,western ,isles says that about a century ago 7this was in #aggd71 ,gruagach got credit for being the father of a child at ,shulista1 near ,duntulme1 the seat of ,m',donald4 ,gruagach1 the sun1 was represented by certain rude stones of large size4 ,on the island of ,bernera1 in the parish of ,harris1 a circle1 defined by long sharp pointed stones1 has in the centre a stone in the form of an inverted pyramid1 called ,clach-na-,greine1 'the stone of the sun4' ,toland1 in his ,history of ,druids1 gathers together a good deal of important information relative to ,fire ,customs in various parts of ,england1 ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,wales1 and the adjacent islands4 ,he speaks of the carns 7cairns7 or heaps of stones which are found on mountain tops and other eminencies in different localities1 and after alluding to the uses they served in course of time as beacons1 being conveniently situated for such a purpose1 says--,they were originally designed for fires of another nature4 ,the fact stood thus4 ,on ,may-eve the ,druids made prodigious fires on those carns1 which being every one in sight1 could not but afford a glorious show over a whole nation4 ,these fires were in honour of ,beal or ,bealan1 latinised by the ,roman authors into ,belenus1 by which name the ,gauls and their colonies understood the sun3 and1 therefore1 to this hour the first day of ,may is by the aboriginal ,irish called ,la ,bealteine1 or the day of ,belen's fire4 ,may-day is likewise called ,la ,bealteine by the ,highlanders of ,scotland1 who are no contemptible part of the ,celtic offspring4 ,so it is in the ,isle of ,man2 and in ,armoric a priest is still called ,belec1 or the ,servant of ,bel1 and priesthood ,belegieth4 ,two such fires as we have mentioned were kindled by one another on ,may-eve in every village of the nation 7as well throughout all ,gaul1 as in ,britain1 ,ireland1 and the adjoining lesser islands71 between which fires the men and the beasts to be sacrificed were to pass2 from whence came the proverb1 ,between ,bel's two fires1 meaning one in a great strait1 not knowing how to extricate himself4 ,one of the fires was on the carn1 another on the ground4 ,on the eve of the first day of ,november there were also such fires kindled1 accompanied 7as they constantly were7 with sacrifices and feasting4 ,these ,november fires were in ,ireland called ,tine tlach'd gha1 from tlach'd-gha1 a place hence so called in ,meath where the ,archdruid of the realm had his fire on the said eve2 and for which piece of ground1 because originally belonging to ,munster1 but appointed by the supreme monarch for this use1 there was an annual acknowledgement 7called sgreaboll7 paid to the king of that province4 ,on the aforesaid eve all the people of the country1 out of a religious persuasion instilled into them by the ,druids1 extinguished their fires as entirely as the ,jews are wont to sweep their houses the night before the feast of unleavened bread4 ,then every master of a family was religiously obliged to take a portion of the consecrated fire home1 and to kindle the fire anew in his house1 which for the ensuing year was to be lucky and prosperous4 ,he was to pay1 however1 for his future happiness whether the event proved answerable or not2 and though his house should be afterwards burnt1 yet he must deem it the punishment of some new sin1 or ascribe it to anything rather than to want of virtue in the consecration of the fire1 or of validity in the benediction of the ,druid1 who1 from officiating at the carns1 was likewise called ,cairnech1 a name that continued to signify priest even in ,christian times4 ,but if any man had not cleared with the ,druids for the last year's dues1 he was neither to have a spark of this holy fire from the carns1 nor durst any of his neighbours let him take the benefit of theirs under pain of excommunication1 which1 as managed by the ,druids1 was worse than death4 ,if he would brew1 therefore1 or bake1 or roast1 or boil1 or warm himself and family2 in a word1 if he would live the winter out1 the ,druid's dues must be paid by the last of ,october1 so that this trick alone was more effectual than are all the ,acts of ,parliament made for securing our present clergy's dues4 ,as to the fire-worship which 7by the way7 prevailed over all the world1 the ,celtic nations kindled other fires on ,midsummer-eve1 which are still continued by the ,roman ,catholics of ,ireland2 making them in all their grounds1 and carrying flaming brands about their corn-fields4 ,this they do likewise all over ,france and in some of the ,scottish ,isles4 ,these midsummer fires and sacrifices were to obtain a blessing on the fruits of the earth1 now becoming ready for gathering2 as those of the first of ,may1 that they might prosperously grow2 and those of the last of ,october were a thanksgiving for finishing their harvest4 ,but in all of them regard was also had to the several degrees of increase and decrease in the heat of the sun's rays4 ,with regard to the proverb ,between ,bel's two fires1 ,mr4 ,huddleston in his new edition of ,toland 7#ahad7 adds a note in which he says3--,as ,mr4 ,toland in his note on this passage1 informs us the ,irish phrase is ,ittir dha theine ,bheil2 ,dr4 ,smith has also given us the ,scottish phrase1 ,gabha ,bheil1 i4e41 the jeopardy of ,bel4 ,both agree that these expressions denote one in the most imminent danger4 ,mr4 ,toland says the men and beasts to be sacrificed passed between two fires1 and that hence the proverb originated4 ,dr4 ,smith1 on the contrary1 imagines that this was one of the ,druidical ordeals whereby criminals were tried2 and instead of making them pass betwixt the fires1 makes them march directly across them4 ,indeed1 he supposed the ,druids were kind enough to anoint the feet of the criminals1 and render them invulnerable to the flames4 ,if so there could have been neither danger nor trial4 ,it may also be remarked1 that had the doctor's hypothesis been well founded1 there was no occasion for two fires1 whereas by the phrase1 between ,bel's two fires1 we know that two were used4 ,doctor ,smith has evidently confounded the ,gabha ,bheil with a feat practised by the ,hirpins on ,mount ,soracte4 ,it seems that the expression used by the ,scotch expressive of a man in difficulties1 ,he is between the two fires of ,bel1 was common enough to attract the attention of other writers than those we have cited1 and of most travellers in the ,highlands4 ,martin mentions it in his ,western ,isles1 as also ,shaw and the ,rev4 ,d4 ,m',queen4 ,the latter is cited by ,leslie as a ,gaelic scholar of the last century1 who in regard to the expression1 ,he is betwixt two ,beltein fires1 gives as an explanation that the ,celtic tribes in their sacred enclosures offered sacrifices1 commonly horses1 that were burnt between two large fires1 and ,leslie adds1 ,on this it may be remarked that horses were sacrificed to the sun by the ,arian race from the earliest times2 and this continued to be practised by ,hindus1 ,persians1 and other nations4 ,in ,britain it is probable that our heathen ancestors sacrificed horses1 and it is certain that they ate them4 ,jamieson's splendid ,etymological ,dictionary of the ,scottish ,language1 supplies us with valuable information on the point we are discussing1 drawn from a variety of reliable authorities4 ,under ,,beltane1 ,beltein1 the name of a sort of festival observed on the first day of ,may1 ,o4,s42 we have3--,a town in ,perthshire1 on the borders of the ,highlands1 is called ,tillie- 7or ,tullie7 beltane1 i4e4 the eminence or rising ground of the fire of ,baal4 ,in the neighbourhood is a druidical temple of eight upright stones1 where it is supposed the fire was kindled4 ,at some distance from this is another temple of the same kind1 but smaller1 and near it a well still held in great veneration4 ,on ,beltane morning superstitious people go to this well1 and drink of it2 then they make a procession round it1 as ,i am informed1 nine times4 ,after this1 they in like manner go round the temple4 ,so deep rooted is this heathenish superstition in the minds of many who reckon themselves good ,protestants1 that they will not neglect these rites1 even when ,beltane falls on ,sabbath4 ,quoting from ,p4 ,loudon1 ,statist4 ,acc4 iii41 #aje1 the writer proceeds3--,the custom still remains in the ,west of ,scotland among the herds and young people to kindle fires in the high grounds1 in honour of ,beltan4 ,beltan1 which in ,gaelic signifies ,baal or ,bel's fire1 was anciently the time of this solemnity4 ,it is now kept on ,st4 ,peter's ,day4 ,just here we may turn to ,mr4 ,pennant's ,tour in ,scotland1 for the following interesting particulars4 ,on the first of ,may1 the herdsmen of every village hold their ,beltein1 a rural sacrifice4 ,they cut a square trench on the ground1 leaving the turf in the middle2 on that they make a fire of wood1 on which they dress a large caudle of eggs1 butter1 oatmeal1 and milk2 and bring1 besides the ingredients of the caudle1 plenty of beer and whisky2 for each of the company must contribute something4 ,the rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground by way of libation3 on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal1 upon which are raised nine square knobs1 each dedicated to some particular being1 the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds1 or to some particular animal1 the real destroyer of them3 each person then turns his face to the fire1 breaks off a knob1 and flinging it over his shoulder1 says--,this ,i give to thee1 preserve thou my horses2 this to thee1 preserve thou my sheep2 and so on4 ,after that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals2 ,this ,i give to thee1 ,o ,fox6 spare thou my lambs2 this to thee1 ,o hooded ,crow6 this to thee1 ,o ,eagle6#be ,further on the same traveller writes3--,the ,beltein1 or the rural sacrifice on the first of ,may1 ,o4,s41 has been mentioned before4 ,hallow-eve is also kept sacred3 as soon as it is dark1 a person sets fire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole1 and attended with a crowd1 runs round the village4 ,he then flings it down1 keeps a great quantity of combustible matters in it1 and makes a great bonfire4 ,a whole tract is thus illuminated at the same time1 and makes a fine appearance4 ,the carrying of the fiery pole appears to be a relic of ,drudism4#bf ,the ,statistical ,account of ,scotland1 ,parish of ,callander1 ,perths1 supplies several important and interesting facts relating to this4 ,the people of this district have two customs which are fast wearing out1 not only here1 but all over the ,highlands1 and therefore ought to be taken notice of while they remain4 ,upon the first day of ,may1 which is called ,beltau or ,baltein ,day1 all the boys in a township or hamlet meet in the moors4 ,they cut a table in the green sod1 of a round figure1 by casting a trench in the ground of such circumference as to hold the whole company4 ,they kindle a fire1 and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard4 ,they knead a cake of oatmeal1 which is toasted at the embers against a stone4 ,after the custard is eaten up1 they divide the cake into so many portions1 as similar as possible to one another in size and shape1 as there are persons in the company4 ,they daub one of these portions all over with charcoal1 until it be perfectly black4 ,they put all the bits of cake into a bonnet4 ,every one1 blindfold1 draws out a portion4 ,he who holds the bonnet is entitled to the last bit4 ,whoever draws the black bit is the devoted person who is to be sacrificed to ,baal1 whose favour they mean to implore1 in rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast4 ,there is little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices having been once offered in this country1 as well as in the east1 although they now pass from the act of sacrificing1 and only compel the devoted person to leap three times through the flames2 with which the ceremonies of this festival are closed4 ,again referring to ,jamieson1 he says3--,the respect paid by the ancient ,britons to ,belus1 or ,belinus1 is evident from the names of some of their kings4 ,as the ,babylonians had their ,beletis or ,belibus1 ,rige-,belus1 ,merodoch-,baladan and ,belshazzar2 the ,tyrians their ,ich-baals and ,balator1 the ,britons had their ,cassi-belin1 and their ,cuno-belin4 ,the ,gael and ,ir4 word ,beal-tine or ,beil-teine signifies ,belus' ,fire2 as composed of ,baal or ,belis1 one of the names of the sun in ,gaul1 and tein signifying fire4 ,even in ,angus a spark of fire is called a tein or teind4 ,martin's ,western ,islands bears similar testimony1 thus3--,another god of the ,britons was ,belus or ,belinus1 which seems to have been the ,assyrian god ,bel1 or ,belus2 and probably from this ,pagan deity comes the ,scots' term of ,beltin--having its first rise from the custom practised by the ,druids in the isles1 of extinguishing all the fires in the parish until the tythes were paid2 and upon payment of them1 the fires were kindled in each family1 and never till then4 ,in those days malefactors were burnt between two fires2 hence when they would express a man in a great strait1 they say1 ,he is between two fires of ,bel1 which in their language they express thus1 ,edir da hin ,veaul or ,bel4 ,it has been remarked that the ,pagan rites of the festival of ,midsummer ,eve1 the ,summer ,solstice may be considered as a counterpart of those used at the ,winter ,solstice of ,yule-tide4 ,there is one thing1 says ,brand1 that seems to prove this beyond the possibility of a doubt4 ,in the old ,runic ,fasti1 a wheel was used to denote the festival of ,christmas4 ,thus ,durandus1 when speaking of the ,rites of the ,feast of ,st4 ,john ,baptist1 informs us of this curious circumstance1 that in some places they roll a wheel about to signify that the ,sun1 then occupying the highest place in the ,zodiac1 is beginning to descend2 and in the amplified account given by ,naogeorgus1 we read that this wheel was taken up to the top of a mountain and rolled down from thence2 and that1 as it had been previously covered with straw1 twisted about it and set on fire1 it appeared at a distance as if the sun had been falling from the sky4 ,and he further observes1 that the people imagine that all their ill-luck rolls away from them together with this wheel4 ,leaping over the fires is mentioned among the superstitious rites used at the ,palilia in ,ovid's ,fasti4 ,the ,palilia were feasts instituted in honour of ,pales1 the goddess of shepherds 7though ,varro makes ,pales masculine71 on the calends of ,may4 ,in order to drive away wolves from the folds1 and distempers from the cattle1 the shepherds on this day kindled several heaps of straw in their fields1 which they leaped over4 ,bourne tells us that it was the custom in his time1 in the ,north of ,england1 chiefly in country villages1 for old and young people to meet together and be merry over a large fire1 which was made for that purpose in the open street4 ,this1 of whatever materials it consisted1 was called a ,bone-fire4 ,over and about this fire they frequently leap1 and play at various games such as running1 wrestling1 dancing1 c42 this1 however1 is generally confined to the younger sort2 for the old ones1 for the most part1 sit by as spectators only1 and enjoy themselves over their bottle1 which they do not quit till midnight1 and sometimes till cock-crow the next morning4 ,a correspondent of the ,gentleman's ,magazine for ,february1 #agie1 writing from ,skye1 gives us3--,curious fact relating to the worship of ,baal in ,ireland4 ,the ,irish have ever been worshippers of fire1 and of ,baal1 and are so to this day4 ,the chief festival in honour of the sun and fire1 is upon the twenty-first of ,june1 when the sun arrives at the ,summer ,solstice1 or rather begins its retrograde movement4 ,i was so fortunate1 in the summer of #aghb1 as to have my curiosity gratified by a sight of this ceremony over a very great extent of country4 ,at the house where ,i was entertained1 it was told me that we should see at midnight the most singular sight in ,ireland1 which was the lighting of ,fires in honour of the ,sun4 ,accordingly1 exactly at midnight1 the ,fires began to appear2 and taking the advantage of going up to the leads of the house1 which had a widely-extended view1 ,i saw on a radius of thirty miles1 all around1 the ,fires burning on every eminence which the country afforded4 ,i had a farther satisfaction1 in learning from undoubted authority1 that the people danced round the ,fires1 and at the close went through these ,fires1 and made their sons and daughters1 together with their cattle1 pass through the ,fire2 and the whole was conducted with religious solemnity4 ,this account is exceedingly curious1 and though ,i forbear the mention of names1 ,i can venture to assure you that it is authentic4 ,the remarks of ,borlase in his ,antiquities of ,cornwall1 come in here very suitably4 ,he says--,of the fires we kindle in many parts of ,england1 at some stated time of the year1 we know not certainly the rise1 reason or occasion1 but they may probably be reckoned among the relicks of the ,druid superstitious fires4 ,in ,cornwall1 the festival fires called ,bonfires1 are kindled on the ,eve of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist and ,st4 ,peter's ,day2 and ,midsummer is thence1 in the ,cornish tongue1 called ',golnan1' which signifies both light and rejoicing4 ,at these fires the ,cornish attend with lighted torches1 tarred and pitched at the end1 and make their perambulations round their fires1 and go from village to village carrying their torches before them1 and this is certainly the remains of the ,druid superstition1 for 'faces prferre1' to carry lighted torches1 was reckoned a kind of ,gentilism1 and as such particularly prohibited by the ,gallick ,councils4 ,they were in the eye of the law 'accensores facularum1' and thought to sacrifice to the devil1 and to deserve capital punishment4 ,brand mentions a few additional particulars which we here transcribe4 ,torreblanca1 in his ',demonology1' has a passage in which he tells us how the ancients were accustomed to pass their children of both sexes through the fire for the sake of securing them a prosperous and fortunate lot1 and he adds that the ,germans imitated this profane usage in their ,midsummer pyres in honour of the anniversary of ,st4 ,john's ,day4 ,moresin appears to have been of opinion that the custom of leaping over these fires is a vestige of the ordeal1 where to be able to pass through fires with safety was held to be an indication of innocence4 ,to strengthen the probability of this conjecture1 we may observe that not only the young and vigorous1 but even those of grave characters used to leap over them1 and there was an interdiction of ecclesiastical authority to deter clergymen from this superstitious instance of agility4 ,a note at the foot of the page says that ,mr4 ,brand saw in the possession of ,douce1 a ,french print1 entitled ',l'este le ,feu de la ,st4 ,jean1' from the hand of ,mariette4 ,in the centre was the fire made of wood piled up very regularly1 and having a tree stuck up in the midst of it4 ,young men and women were represented dancing round it hand in hand4 ,herbs were stuck in their hats and caps1 and garlands of the same surrounded their waists or were slung across their shoulders4 ,in the ',traite des ,superstitions1' we read ',whoever desires to know the colour of his future wife's hair1 has only to walk three times round the fire of ,st4 ,john1 and when the fire is half extinguished he must take a brand1 let it go out1 and then put it under his pillow1 and the next morning he will find encircling it threads of hair of the desired colour4' ,but this must be done with the eyes shut4 ,we are further told1 where there is a widow or a marriageable girl in a house1 it is necessary to be very careful not to remove the brands1 as this drives away lovers4 ,the third ,council of ,constantinople1 ,a4,d4 #fhj1 in its sixty-fifth canon1 enacted the following interdiction3--',those ,bonefires that are kindled by certaine people on ,new ,moones before their shops and houses1 over which also they do foolishly leape1 by a certaine ancient custome1 we command them from henceforth to cease4 ,whoever1 therefore1 shall doe any such thing2 if he be a clergyman1 let him be deposed2 if a layman1 let him be excommunicated4 ,for1 in the ,fourth ,book of the ,kings it is written3 ,and ,manasseh built an altar to all the host of heaven1 in the two courts of the ,lord's house1 and made his children to passe through the ,fire1 c4' ,prynne observes upon this3 ',bonefires1 therefore1 had their originall from this idolatrous custome1 as this ,generall ,councell hath defined2 therefore all ,christians should avoid them4' ,and the ,synodus ,francica under ,pope ,zachary1 ,a4,d4 #gdb1 inhibits 'those sacrilegious ,fires which they call ,nedfri 7or ,bonefires71 and all other observations of the ,pagans whatsoever4' ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,paradise ,lost and ,moloch--,the ,god of the ,ammonites--,the slaughter of ,children by ,fire1 notices in the ,scriptures--,fire ,ceremonies and ,moloch--,sacred ,fires of the ,phoenicians--,the ,carthaginians--,custom of the ,oziese--,sardinian ,customs and ,moloch--,the ,cuthites--,persian ,fire ,worship--,the ,house-,fires of ,greece and ,rome--,sacred ,books of the ,east--,laws of ,manu--,the ,rig ,veda and ,hymns to ,agni1 the ,god of ,fire-- ,vesta1 worship of--,the ,magi--,zoroaster4 ,in ,milton's ,paradise ,lost we read3-- ,first1 ,moloch1 horrid king1 besmeared with blood ,of human sacrifice1 and parents' tears2 ,though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud1 ,their children's cries unheard1 that passed through fire1 ,to his grim idol4 ,him the ,ammonite ,worshipped in ,rabba and her watery plain1 ,in ,argob and in ,basan1 to the stream ,of utmost ,arnon3 nor content with such ,audacious neighbourhood1 the wisest heart ,of ,solomon he led by fraud to build ,his temple right against the temple of ,god1 ,on that opprobrious hill1 and made his grove ,the pleasant valley of ,hinnom1 ,tophet thence ,and black ,gehenna called1 the type of ,hell4 ,moloch was the god of the ,ammonites4 ,in the worship and sacrifices in his honour they burnt their sons and daughters1 with the accustomed forms and ceremonies4 ,in ,leviticus xviii4 #ba we find a prohibition of passing the children through the fire and in chapter xx4 the punishment of death by stoning is awarded to any who gave their seed to ,moloch4 ,however1 says ,selden1 many of the ,hebrews write that the children were neither burnt nor slain1 but that two funeral pyres were constructed by the priests of ,moloch1 and that they led the children only between the pyres1 as if in this way to purify them4 ,moses ,ben ,maimon says that in those days the servitors of the fires made men believe that their sons and daughters would die unless they were thus led1 and on this account and the love of their children they hastened to do that which was so easy1 and there was no other way of saving the children from the fire4 ,there are some who say that the father in due form delivered the child to the priests to be given back1 and that he led it through1 carrying it on his shoulders4 ,it is nevertheless true that the children were not only led between the fires1 but were also burnt in the sacrifices of the idols4 ,see ,psalm cvi4 #cg and #ch1 and read1 ,yea1 they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils1 and shed innocent blood1 even the blood of their sons and their daughters1 whom they sacrificed unto the idols of ,canaan1 and the land was polluted with the blood4 ,philastrius says that they placed an altar in the valley of the children of ,hinnom1 and so called after the name of a certain ,tophet1 and in that place the ,jews sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons4 ,there are other places which sufficiently indicate immolation of children in those regions of ,syria where ,moloch was adored4 ,thus1 see ,wisdom of ,solomon1 xii4 #e1 ,and also those merciless murders of children and devourers of men's flesh1 the feasts of blood2 and xiv4 #bc1 ,for whilst they slew their children in sacrifices2 and ,jeremiah vii4 #ca1 says ,and they have built the high places of ,tophet1 which is in the valley of the son of ,hinnom1 to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire4 ,see also nineteenth chapter1 verse #e2 ,ezekiel xvi4 #bj1 #ba1 and xxiii4 #cg and #ci4 ,from this affair perhaps arose the delusion of the ,greeks and ,hebrews that1 by another ancient rite1 they who took an oath were accustomed to pass through fire1 as if by escaping from injury their words would be proved true4 ,the learned ,paul ,fagius1 in speaking of him1 says1 ,the statue of ,moloch was such that it had seven hollow chambers4 ,one was open for meal offerings1 another for turtle doves1 the third for sheep1 the fourth for the ram1 the fifth for the calf1 the sixth for the bull1 and a seventh was open for him who wished to offer his child4 ,the face of the idol was the same as that of the calf1 and the hands were evidently disposed and arranged conveniently to receive from the bystanders all that was offered4 ,while the child was burning in the blazing fire1 they danced about and beat drums to drown the horrible cries and lamentations4 ,there is a question whether the author of these seven hollow chambers did not learn it from the sacred rites of the ,persian ,mithra1 for he also had seven sacred doors1 which referred to the number of the planets1 and men1 women and children were likewise sacrificed to him4 ,it was necessary to such as were initiated to this god to pass through eighty kinds of sufferings1 that is1 through fire and cold and most serious dangers of every kind1 before they could be received as epoptas1 or regularly initiated4 ,it is proper to add that neither elsewhere than in ,moloch will be found ,adrammelech and ,anammelech1 the gods of ,sepharvaim4 ,see ,,ii4 ,kings xviii4 #ca3 ,and they burnt their children in fire to ,adrammelech and ,anammelech1 the gods of ,sepharvaim4 ,his priests1 who were also frequently the priests of other gods1 were called ,cemerin4 ,this word in the ,chaldee dialect ,comeraja1 is everywhere in the ,targum substituted for priests of idolatry4 ,in ,,ii4 ,kings xxiii4 #aj1 it reads1 ,and he 7,josiah7 defiled ,topheth1 which is in the valley of the children of ,hinnom1 that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to ,moloch4 ,the valley of the children of ,hinnom1 which in ,hebrew is gi ber ,hinnom1 was a field near the city1 and is so called from the groans or lamentations of the children while they were burning4 ,hinnom is from the ,hebrew word nahmen1 and means that he groans or gnashed his teeth from intense pain4 ,that place is watered by the streams of ,siloe1 and in the time of ,st4 ,jerome was beautiful1 and ornamented with shady groves and delightful gardens4 ,and there he remarks that it was a custom among other nations to select the head of streams and groves for sacred rites4 ,but the word ,tophet is from the ,hebrew ,toph1 that is1 they ask for a drum1 which was beaten and loudly sounded in the vicinity to prevent the parents hearing the most doleful lamentations and wailings of their children while the sacred rites were performing4 ,moloch is also called ,baal4 ,see ,jeremiah xix4 #e41 ,they have built also the high places of ,baal to burn their sons with fire4 ,he is also called ,milcolm in ,kings xi4 #e41 ,for ,solomon went after ,ashtoreth the goddess of the ,zidonians1 and after ,milcolm the abominations of the ,ammonites4 ,and ,luke1 in ,acts viii4 #dc41 says1 ,yea1 ye took up the tabernacle of ,molech4 ,the ,syrians and ,arabians call it ,melcom4 ,in many oriental languages ,melech1 means king1 ,milcom means their king1 and ,malcecem1 our king1 and both words in sacred scripture designate ,moloch4 ,to him reference is had in ,zephaniah i4 #e41 ,and them that worship and swear by the ,lord1 and that swear by ,melcham1 because ,moloch was especially worshipped under the name of king4 ,as thus ,baal means ,lord1 and as ,melech or ,molech or ,moloch means king1 they denote this god of the ,ammonites2 and it is perhaps1 he himself who1 in the most ancient theology of the ,phoenicians1 was often called by the singular title of king of gods4 ,he was also called ,adodus1 and was worshipped by the ,syrians not only as ,adad-,hadad and ,benhadad 7and which could readily pass into ,adodus71 but the very name ,adad was propagated continually for ten generations in their royal families4 ,these names1 and ,bedad1 ,hedar ,mesahab1 and ,ahab1 will be found in ,genesis xxxvi4 and ,i ,kings xx4 ,macrobius1 speaking of the ,syrians and this god ,adodus and king of gods1 says1 ,they gave to the god whom they venerate as the highest and the greatest the name ,adad1 and which means unus or one4 ,hada or ,chada is a god of the female sex1 and agrees with ,adardaga or ,atergatis1 and was worshipped in that name in the neighbourhood of ,syria4 ,heseychius says that ,hada was the goddess of ,juno1 and ,adad a god and the sun4 ,but ,hadad very well denotes the clamour or loud noise of persons exhorting2 neither is it altogether unlike the lamentations of children in the sacrifices to ,moloch4 ,and ancient writers say that the effigies of both ,adad and ,moloch were the same1 and fashioned for expressing the sun4 ,theophylactus says that the bright shining stone in the image of ,phosphorus he understands to be the sun4 ,all these are very proper for the sun1 the king of gods or stars1 and which he also thought who made the first mention of the seven hollow chambers in the statue of ,moloch4 ,in the same number is ascribed to ,mithra1 who by the unanimous consent of antiquity1 and especially of the ancient inscriptions1 is regarded as being the same as the sun1 shines with many colours4 ,but ,mithri1 ,mithir or ,mether1 in ,persian1 signifies dynasty or lord1 and this is also one of the titles of ,moloch4 ,saturn among the ,latins1 and ,chronos among the ,greeks1 is oft-times considered to be ,moch4 ,infants or children were victims common to both1 and that nefarious sacred rite would seem to have migrated from ,syria into ,europe and ,africa4 ,pescennius ,festus says that the ,carthaginians were accustomed to offer human victims to ,saturn1 and when they were overcome in battle by ,agathocles1 king of the ,siculi1 he 7the king7 believed that his god was angry with him1 and1 therefore1 that he might diligently make the necessary expiation1 he immolated to this god two hundred children of the nobility4 ,those who had no children were forced to buy them from the poor4 ,tertullian writes3--,that impious custom continued in ,africa down to the times of ,tiberias4 ,these sacred rites of the ,phoenicians proceeded from those of the ,syrians1 as the solemn use of fifes and drums among them will prove4 ,for the lamentations of the children or parents among those about to be sacrificed is held to be an atonement4 ,it is almost certain that by the name of ,moloch this ,god was worshipped in like manner among the ,carthaginians4 ,the ,carthaginians worshipped ,amilear1 and that name comes from the same source as ,molech4 ,both words are pure ,hebrew or ,punic1 if you regard their etymology1 and they mean king1 or perhaps ,ameliar may be queen1 that is1 may mean ,basilia1 queen of the ,atlantians1 and which may refer to ,celestis1 queen of the ,carthaginians4 ,for as among them ,bel or ,uranus is a god1 and ,coelestis a goddess1 so ,uranus and ,basilia may be a god and goddess among them4 ,and from the same source we must look for the name of ,milicus1 the father-in-law of ,hannibal1 and of his daughter ,imilcis1 which is queen1 and of ,imilco1 a ,carthaginian general4 ,melech means king1 and ,malcha queen1 which they pronounce ,molicus and ,imilcis4 ,strabo says that ,hercules1 worshipped among the ,tyrians1 was called ,melcartos or ,melcarthos4 ,but he was the son of ,jove ,demaruns1 and he is the same as the ,phoenician and ,carthaginian ,hercules1 who was appeased by human victims as ,moloch was4 ,the first part of his name was evidently derived from ,melech of the ,hebrews1 for almost by the same word ,hercules was known among the ,amathusians4 ,amathus was a city of ,phoenicia1 and an island of the ,phoenician sea adjoins ,cyprus1 and in it there is also a city called ,amathus4 ,the latter had sacred rites in common with the former4 ,what the words ,artos or ,arthos in the name mean is not clear4 ,traces of it1 however1 are seen in the ,punic names ,bomilcar and ,hamilcar4 ,in ,boeotia1 which retains many names which ,cadmus brought with him from ,phoenicia1 there is a river and a city called ,haliartus1 named after the builder and discoverer4 ,in ,scolus there is likewise an image of ,megalartus held in great esteem4 ,some think it is the image of the ,megalartian ,ceres1 and derive it from the ,greek word artos1 which means bread1 because she was the goddess of corn4 ,but whatever the god was1 his ,phoenician origin is evident1 for ,cadmus1 ,ismenus1 and ,thebes were all ,phoenician names1 and perhaps the ,hebrew word ,aritz in artes passed into ,melicartes1 which some read ,melicatus4 ,aritz means very strong1 and thus ,melicaritz signifies a strong king or tyrant1 and the word could readily pass into ,melicartos4 ,thence perhaps in the ,persian language ,artaioi is heroes1 or those who in the olden periods made themselves particularly illustrious1 and the word with this idea is present in the names ,artoxerxis and ,artabasis4 ,hence in ,persian1 ,artas meant great or illustrious1 and ,artana kingdoms1 and ,herodotus says that ,artoxerxis means a great warrior4 ,among the ancient ,persians and ,syrians in customs and languages many things were common to both4 ,the ,persians are accounted among our ,syrians now and then by ,european writers1 and ,babylon is called a ,persian city4 ,as to the horrid sacrifice1 the slaying of children1 its origin does not lie concealed if there is any truth in ,phoenician annals4 ,there is a tradition among them that ,saturn1 one of the most ancient kings of ,phoenicia1 and whom they called ,israel in order that he might deliver his kingdom from the greatest peril of an impending war1 to render the gods propitious1 immolated an only begotten son of himself and wife ,anobreta4 ,he was first ornamented with the royal fillets1 and then led to the altar built for that purpose1 and a wicked posterity1 not understanding the case or the circumstances1 continued to follow his example4#bg ,among the many usages derived by the ,sardes from their ,phoenician ancestors1 one of a singular character is still practised by the ,oziese1 of which ,father ,bresciani gives the following account3--,towards the end of ,march1 or the beginning of ,april1 it is the custom for young men and women to agree together to fill the relation of godfathers and godmothers of ,st4 ,john1 compare e comare--such is the phrase--for the ensuing year4 ,at the end of ,may the proposed comare1 having procured a segment of the bark of a cork tree1 fashions it in the shape of a vase1 and fills it with rich light mould in which are planted some grains of barley or wheat4 ,the vase being placed in the sunshine1 well watered and carefully tended1 the seed soon germinates1 blades spring up1 and1 making a rapid growth1 in the course of twenty-one days--that is1 before the eve of ,st4 ,john--the vase is filled by a spreading and vigorous plant of young corn4 ,it then receives the name of ,hermes1 or1 more commonly1 of ,su ,nennere1 from a ,sarde word1 which possibly has the same signification as the ,phoenician name of garden2 similar vases being called1 in ancient times1 the gardens of ,adonis4 ,forester in his ,rambles in ,corsica and ,sardinia1 quoting the above and remarking upon it says3--,on the eve of ,st4 ,john1 the cereal vase1 ornamented with ribbons1 is exposed on a balcony1 decorated with garlands and flags4 ,formerly1 also a little image in female attire1 or phallic emblems moulded in clay1 such as were exhibited in the feasts of ,hermes1 were placed among the blades of corn2 but these representations have been so severely denounced by the ,church1 that they are fallen into disuse4 ,the young men flock in crowds to witness the spectacle and attend the maidens who come out to grace the feast4 ,a great fire is lit on the piazza1 round which they leap and gambol1 the couple who have agreed to be ,st4 ,john's compare completing the ceremony in this manner3--,the man is placed on one side of the fire1 the woman on the other1 each holding opposite ends of a stick extended over the burning embers1 which they pass rapidly backwards and forwards4 ,this is repeated three times1 so that the hand of each party passes thrice through the flames4 ,the union being thus sealed1 the comparatico or spiritual alliance is considered perfect4 ,after that1 the music strikes up1 and the festival is concluded by dances1 prolonged to a late hour of the night4 ,father ,bresciani1 ,la ,marmora1 and other writers1 justly consider the ,nennere as one of the many relics of the ,phoenician colonisation of ,sardinia4 ,every one knows that the sun and moon1 under various names such as ,isis and ,osiris1 ,adonis and ,astarte1 were the principal objects of worship in the east from the earliest times2 the sun being considered as the vivifying power of universal nature1 the moon represented as a female1 deriving her light from the sun1 as the passive principle of production4 ,the abstruse doctrines on the origin of things1 thus shadowed out by the ancient seers1 generated the grossest ideas1 expressed in the phallic emblems1 the lewdness and obscenities mixed up in the popular worship of the deified principles of all existence4 ,of the prevalence in ,sardinia of the ,egypto-,phoenician mythology1 in times the most remote1 no one who has examined the large collection of relics in the ,royal ,museum at ,cagliari1 or who consults the plates attached to ,la ,marmora's work1 can entertain any doubt4 ,but it is surprising to find1 among the usages of the ,sardes at the present day1 a very exact representation of the rites of a primitive religion1 introduced into the island nearly thirty-five years ago1 though it now partakes more of the character of a popular festival than a religious ceremony4 ,one of the principal incidents in the ,sarde ,nennere consists in the consecration of the spiritual relation between the compare and comare1 by their thrice crossing hands over the fire in the ceremonies of ,st4 ,john's ,day4 ,a still more extraordinary vestige of the idolatrous rite of passing through the fire1 is said to be still subsisting among the customs of the people of ,logudoro1 in the neighbourhood of ,ozieri1 and in other parts of ,sardinia4 ,of the worship of ,moloch--par excellence the ,syrian and ,phoenician god of fire--by the ancient ,sardes1 there is undoubted proof4 ,we find among the prodigious quantity of such relics1 collected from all parts of the island1 in the ,royal ,museum at ,cagliari1 a statuette of this idol1 supposed to have been a household god4 ,its features are appalling3 great goggle eyes leer fiercely from their hollow sockets2 the broad nostrils seem ready to sniff the fumes of the horrid sacrifice2 a wide gaping mouth grins with rabid fury at the supposed victim2 dark plumes spring from the forehead1 like horns1 and expanded wings from each shoulder and knee4 ,the image brandishes a sword with the left hand1 holding in the right a small grate1 formed of metal bars4 ,it would appear that1 this being heated1 the wretched victim was placed on it1 and then1 scorched so that the fumes of the disgusting incense savoured in the nostrils of the rabid idol1 it fell upon a brazier of burning coals beneath1 where it was consumed4 ,there is another idol in this collection with the same truculent cast of features1 but horned1 and clasping a bunch of snakes in the right hand1 a trident in the left1 with serpents twined round its legs4 ,this image has a large orifice in the belly1 and flames are issuing between the ribs1 so that it would appear that when the brazen image of the idol was thoroughly heated1 the unhappy children intended for sacrifice were thrust into the mouth in the navel1 and there grilled--savoury morsels1 on which the idol seems1 from its features1 rabidly gloating1 while the priests1 we are told1 endeavoured to drown the cries of the sufferers by shouts and the noise of drums and timbrels-- '444 horrid king1 besmeared with blood ,of human sacrifice1 and parents' tears2 ,though1 for the noise of drums and timbrels loud1 ,their children's cries unheard1 that passed through fire ,to his grim idol4'--,par4 ,lost1 i4 #cib4 ,this cruel child-sacrifice was probably the giving of his seed to ,moloch1 for which any ,israelite or stranger that sojourned in ,israel guilty of the crime was1 according to the ,mosaic law1 to be stoned to death4 ,we are informed in the ,sacred ,records that no such denunciations of the idolatries of the surrounding nations1 no revelations of the attributes or teachings of the pure worship of ,jehovah1 restrained the ,israelites from the practice of the foul and cruel rites of their heathen neighbours2 and we find in the latter days of the ,jewish ,commonwealth the prophet ,jeremiah predicting the desolation of the people for this sin among others1 that they had estranged themselves from the worship of ,jehovah1 and burned incense to strange gods1 and filled the holy place with the blood of innocents1 and burned their sons and their daughters with fire for burnt-offerings unto ,baal4 ,there appear to have been two modes in which the ancient idolaters devoted their children to ,moloch4 ,in one they were sacrificed and consumed in the manner already described1 a burnt offering to the idol for the expiation of the sins of their parents or their people4 ,in the other they were only made to pass through the fire1 in honour of the deity1 and as a sort of initiation into his mysteries1 and consecration to his service4 ,thus ,ahaz1 ,king of ,judah1 is said to have made his son to pass through the fire1 according to the abominations of the heathen4 ,and it is reckoned in the catalogue of the sins of ,judah1 which drew on them the vengeance of ,god1 that they 'built the high places of ,baal1 to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto ,moloch4'#bh ,in the case of infants1 it is supposed that this initiation1 this 'baptism by fire' was performed either by placing them on a sort of grate suspended by chains from the vault of the temple1 and passed rapidly over the sacred fire1 or by the priests taking the infants in their arms and swaying them to and fro over or across the fire1 chanting meanwhile certain prayers or incantations4 ,with respect to children of older growth1 they were made to leap naked through the fire before the idol1 so that their whole bodies might be touched by the sacred flames1 and purified1 as it were1 by contact with the divinity4 ,the ,sardes1 we are informed by ,father ,bresciani1 still preserve a custom representing this initiation by fire1 but as in other ,phoenician rites and practices1 without the slightest idea of their profane origin4 ,in the first days of spring1 from one end of the island to the other1 the villagers assemble and light great fires in the piazza and at the cross roads4 ,the flames beginning to ascend1 the children leap through them at a bound1 so rapidly and with such dexterity that when the flames are highest it is seldom that their clothes or a hair of their head are singed4 ,they continue this practice till the fuel is reduced to embers1 the musicians meanwhile playing on the lionedda tunes adapted to a ,phyrric dance4 ,this1 says the learned father1 is a representation of the initiation through fire into the mysteries of ,moloch4#bi ,nergal1 which is a ,hebrew word1 was1 perhaps1 a perpetual fire most religiously preserved in their ,sefta1 or sacred places4 ,the ,cuthites were so called from ,cuthus1 which was both the name of a river and region in ,persia1 and from which they were carried into ,samaria in very large numbers4 ,strabo confirms the existence of the sacred fire in ,persia in book fifteen4 ,he says 'that in the temples of the worshippers of ,anaitis and ,omanus1 or ,amanus1 ,persian gods among the ,cappadocians1 the care of the perpetual fire was committed to magi1 who were called ,pyrethri1 or fire worshippers4' ,he further says1 ',in that country there is a great multitude of them1 and likewise many temples of the ,persian gods2 that they do not slay the victims with a knife1 but with a certain kind of club1 as pounding them to death with a pestle2 that there were also certain chapels in which these fires were kept worthy of being remembered2 that the altar was in the centre of the chapel1 and upon which there were many cinders1 and there the priests watched the inextinguishable fires2 that they entered there daily1 and sang or chanted for the space of almost an hour1 at the same time holding a bundle of rods before the fire2 that they were veiled in a woollen tiara1 which1 fitting well on all sides1 covered their lips and jaws4 ,these1 which were built in their shrines1 and which were called ,pyratheia1 were the eternal fires of the magi4 ,that which they chanted was the theogony1 or primeval history of the gods4' ,the ,persians believed that every song was not equally efficacious in sacred rites4 ,the rods seem to have been of tamarisk1 and without a magus no kind of sacrifices were performed4 ,in the other sacred rites it was an annual custom for the magi to hold the tamarisk while they chanted the theogony1 as it was the habit of the ancient poets while singing to carry laurel in their hands4 ,for this reason some believed that they were called rhapsodists1 from the ,greek word rhabdos1 which means a rod4 ,while chanting they stirred the fires with their rods and increased the flames4 ,that which the ancients write is true regarding the institutions of the ,persians1 that any one who was about to become a king should be initiated into the magic rites1 and that ,ninus could not be more a king than a magus from that custom4 ,the ,persians received these sacred rites from the most ancient ,chaldeans1 and the latter called them ,nergal1 from two ,hebrew words1 nir and gal1 which may mean either the fountain of fire or light1 or fire or versatile light1 and especially that inextinguishable fire which they watched in their holy places as the symbol of the sun4 ,and although there were many gods in ,persia1 yet fire was worshipped by them before and above all other gods1 and in every sacrifice they especially invoked him as the ,romans did ,janus4 ,and hence1 bound by religion1 they did not dare to pollute fire destined for daily uses with any uncleanliness4 ,the ,pyratheia1 or fires1 were called ,pyreia by others4 ,suidas says that ,heraclius destroyed the ,persian cities and overthrew their ,pyreia4 ,but so ancient do the ,hebrews make the worship of fire among the ,chaldeans1 that ,ur of the ,chaldeans1 mentioned in ,genesis ,,xi41 they took for their fire god4 ,neither do the writings of the ancients quoted by ,maimonides prove anything else than that fire was held in so much honour because it was a symbol of the sun4 ,in regard to this most ancient worship in ,chalda he thus discourses in ',more ,nebochim1' book three1 chapter thirty3--',it is known that ,abraham was born among a people who served fire1 and who1 in their credulity1 believed there was no other god except the stars1 and ,i will in this chapter make you acquainted with their books1 which are not found with us translated in the ,arabic language4 ,in their narrations and ancient contentions you will know their reasons and opinions4 ,their credulity is proved to you in their worship of the stars which they believed to be gods1 and that the sun is the greater among the gods4 ,and they said that the other planets are gods1 but that the sun and moon are the greatest of their gods4 ,you will find what they undoubtedly say1 that the sun governs the upper and lower world4 ,all this you will find in their books2 and they speak of the condition of ,abraham1 and they declare further that ,abraham was born and educated in the land of fire worshippers4 ,he there contradicted their opinions1 saying that there was another operator besides the sun4 ,and they offered their reasons opposed to his1 and among which they mentioned the operations of the sun1 which are manifest and which appear to be seen throughout the universe4' ,but ,abraham was cast into chains because he refused to adore their sun1 and after that he was robbed of his goods1 and by the king banished into ,canaan4 ,they believed that the sun ruled the world1 that there was no god superior to him1 and they adored fire4 ,therefore1 what else was fire than the sign or symbol of the sun1 and very consonant to his nature8 ,and here1 ,i think1 is seen the god of ,nahor1 son of ,terah1 referred to in ,genesis ,,xxxi41 #ec3--',the god of ,abraham1 the ,god of ,nahor1 the god of their father1 judge betwixt us4' ,here1 likewise1 you have the foreign gods1 which the ancients served in the time of ,abraham1 as the ,sacred ,scriptures testify1 in ,joshua ,,xxiv41 #b3--';,and ,joshua said unto all the people1 ,thus saith the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in the olden time1 even ,terah1 the father of ,abraham and the father of ,nahor3 and they served other gods4' ,certainly before the ,babylonian captivity also1 and in the kingdom of ,judea1 those ,pyratheia and the worship of fire existed1 if ,joseph ,scaliger conjectures correctly in ,catullus1 when1 in the sacred language1 or that of the prophets1 he says that the ,pyratheia are called ,chamanim4 ,in ,,ii4 ,chronicles1 ,,xxxiv41 #d1 we find as follows in regard to ,josiah1 the king3--',and they broke down the altars of ,baalim in his presence1 and he broke into pieces the images that were sacred to him4' ,the images here in ,hebrew are called ,chamanim1 and the ,rabbins understand them to be effigies of the sun4 ,for the sun and heat were called ,chamha1 thence ,chamanim was used for the images1 chapels1 or ,pyrathean consecrated to the sun4 ,in ,leviticus ,,xxvi41 #cj1 the words are as follows3--',i will destroy your high places1 and cut down ,chamanicem1 that is1 your images1' c4 ,the ,hebrews understand that their idols were dedicated in honour of the sun4 ,in that place in ,leviticus and elsewhere ,chamanim and other sacred rites borrowed from the ,persians are reproved1 and among these 'high places1' called ,bamoth in ,hebrew4 ,it was a custom of the ,persians to perform their sacred rites in the most high and elevated places1 and in this way they offered sacrifice to heaven or ,jove4 ,herodotus1 in ,clio1 says 'it was their custom to ascend the most lofty summits of the mountains1 and there immolate their victims to ,jove1 and calling by the name of ,jove every circle of the heavens4' ,but it was a custom both of the ,europeans and ,asiatics to ascend the summits of mountains to worship ,jove4 ,hence he was called ,epakrios1 or the ,lofty4 ,that ,jupiter1 with ,herodotus1 is ,belus and ,assyrius1 for in that name he was called ,jove in the most ancient theology of the ,persians1 as ,berosus1 ,athenocles1 and ,simachus write4 ,it is a question for the learned whether in the god ,omanus1 or ,amanus1 whom ,strabo mentions1 reference may be had to ,chamanim1 or ,hamanim4 ,scaliger thinks in the affirmative1 and he thence deduces ,achmenis and ,achmeniss1 who denote ,persian extraction4 ,amanus was indeed the sun1 as ,anaitis was the moon1 and who were called ,diana and ,venus4 ,no one1 however1 is ignorant that the ,persians worshipped fire as a symbol of the sun1 and that is the reason why ,datis1 the captain of a ship under ,xerxes1 left the island of ,delos unharmed1 inasmuch as it was sacred to the sun1 or ,apollo4 ,as to the other kind of ,chamanim1 or effigy reduced to powder by ,king ,josiah1 the following will be found in ,,ii4 ,kings1 ,,xxiii41 #aa1 ',and in process of time he removed the horses which the ,king of ,judah had given to the sun1 in the entrance of the temple of the ,lord1 near the tabernacle of ,nathan-melech the eunuch1 who was a prince in the suburbs1 and he burnt the chariots of the sun in fire4' ,these also1 perhaps1 should be called ,chamanim1 as ,cimchi1 ,solomon ,jarchi1 and ,levi ,ben ,gershon explain that place concerning the horses and chariot1 that1 while adoring the rising sun1 they led them in solemn pomp from the entrance of the temple to the tabernacle of ,nathan-melech4 ,this more probably means the molten images of the horses and chariots consecrated to the sun1 for1 among the ,persians1 the horse was sacred to the sun1 and accustomed to be sacrificed to it4 ,the same custom was transplanted among the ,grecians4 ,in ancient times the chariots were also dedicated to the same1 as the swiftest of swift gods4 ,but their place was at the door of the ,true ,god4 ,the ,jews worshipped the sun towards the east within the vestibule of the door4 ,thus in ,ezekiel ,,viii41 #ad1 ',and behold1 near the temple of the ,lord1 between the vestibule and the altar1 there were as if twenty-five men1 whose backs were towards the temple of the ,lord1 and their faces towards the east1 and they adored the sun in the east4'#cj ,from most of the classic authors1 such as ,homer1 ,tibullus1 ,horace1 ,ovid1 ,euripides1 ,aristophanes1 ,virgil1 c41 we gather that every ,greek and ,roman house had its altar on which fire was ever burning4 ,at night it was covered up with ashes so as to reserve some of the wood for the morrow and keep it gently and slowly smouldering4 ,day by day1 the first thing in the morning1 the master of the house applied himself to the rousing up or rekindling of the fire1 in order that it might be ready for the coming ceremonies and worship2 in his absence from home this duty devolved upon his wife as his nearest relation4 ,writers tell us that the fire did not cease to burn until the family had altogether perished1 and an extinguished hearth in early days meant the same thing as an extinguished family4 ,nor was the keeping up of this fire a mere matter of unmeaning form1 a simple custom to which no signification of any particular importance was attached2 it was essentially connected with the people's most ancient and cherished religious beliefs4 ,so serious a matter was it that even the particular kind of wood was specified4 ,virgil and ,plutarch distinctly state that only certain trees ought to be used for such a purpose1 and these were kept sacred and forbidden for other uses4 ,the fire1 according to ,euripides and ,ovid1 must be kept pure--no polluted object might be cast into it1 no offensive action might be performed in its presence4 ,as we remark in another place1 there was one day in the year 7,march #ast in ,rome7 when all fires and lights were put out--but immediately renewed with the observation of many rites4 ,the strictest rules had to be attended to on these occasions2 it was forbidden to renew the fire from any remaining spark of the old--indeed it was essential to thoroughly extinguish every spark of the previous flame--neither might a spark be struck from flint and steel2 only by the sun's rays or by rubbing two pieces of wood together might the new fire be started into being1 for the fire was regarded as the representative of the sun--the greatest of lights and fires1 and as such was adored4 ,well it was not unreasonable or to be wondered at1 that men1 for want of better knowledge1 should render divine honours to that from which they received such benefits2 they saw the light and heat of the sun pouring down upon the earth and in conjunction with the rain and dew1 softening its crust1 swelling and fructifying its seed and bringing forth from it food and nourishment for man and beast4 ,and so they prayed as we read in the ,orphic hymns3 ,render us always flourishing1 always happy1 ,o fire3 thou who art eternal1 beautiful1 ever young2 thou who nourishest1 thou who art rich1 receive favourably these our offerings1 and in return give us happiness and sweet health4 ,the fire seems to have been perpetually invoked2 hardly a monument was made1 hardly a household or business duty performed or engagement fulfilled1 without a prayer to it2 if a man left his home for a brief while1 he worshipped the fire2 when he returned1 before he saluted his nearest relatives1 the same duty was observed4 schylus tells of ,agamemnon returning from ,troy1 and instead of going to the temple and returning thanks to ,jupiter1 offering thanksgiving before the fire in his own house4 ,euripides1 also1 represents the dying ,alcestis speaking to the fire3 ,mistress1 ,i go beneath the earth1 and for the last time fall before thee1 and address thee4 ,protect my infant children2 give to my boy a tender wife1 and to my daughter a noble husband4 ,let them not die1 like their mother1 before the time1 but may they lead a long and happy life in their fatherland4 ,de ,coulanges says the sacred fire was a sort of providence in the family4 ,sacrifices were offered to it1 and not merely was the flame supplied with wood1 but upon the altar were poured wine1 oil1 incense and the fat of victims4 ,the god graciously received these offerings and devoured them4 ,radiant with satisfaction1 he rose above the altar1 and lit up the worshipper with his brightness4 ,then was the moment for the suppliant humbly to invoke him and give heartfelt utterance to his prayer4 ,corresponding with the grace of modern times1 recited before and after meals1 was the tribute of prayer and praise uttered by the ancient before his fire when he was about to partake of food and when he had satisfied his hunger4 ,he went even further than the modern does1 for before a particle of food was eaten a due proportion of meat and drink had to be poured out upon the altar and presented to the god4 ,and when the flame rose up1 they regarded it as the deity rearing himself in their midst and consuming what had been presented4 ,if we turn to the ,sacred ,books of the ,east we shall find how strong a hold this ,fire ,worship has upon the ,hindoo mind1 and the importance attached to a due observance of all points of ritual connected with it4 ,in the ,laws of ,manu we find directions for his guidance extending to the most ordinary domestic necessities and some of which we cannot very well repeat in these pages4 ,some of his private necessities must not be satisfied in view of the fire but he must retire either into darkness or out of sight of it4 ,let him not blow a fire with his mouth--,let him not throw any impure substance into the fire1 let him not warm his feet at it--,let him not place fire under a bed or the like2 nor step over it1 nor place it when he sleeps at the footend of his bed--,let him keep his right arm uncovered in a place where a sacred fire is kept--,a ,brahmana who is impure must not touch with his hand a cow1 a ,brahmana1 or fire2 nor1 being in good health1 let him look at the luminaries in the sky while he is impure4 ,then again1 ,a ,brahmana shall offer of the cooked food destined for the ,vaisvadeva in the sacred domestic fire to the following deities3 ,first to ,agni1 and next to ,soma1 then to both these gods conjointly1 further to all the gods1 and then to ,dhanvautari1 further to ,kuhu 7the goddess of the new moon day71 to ,anumati 7the goddess of the full moon day71 to ,pragapati 7the lord of creatures71 to heaven and earth conjointly1 and finally to ,agni ,svishtakrit 7the fire which performs the sacrifice well74 ,and so on in many other places1 in one of which the king is to behave like fire4 ,let the king emulate the energetic action of ,indra1 of the sun1 of the wind1 of ,yama1 of ,varuna1 of the moon1 of the fire1 and of the earth4 ,if he is ardent in wrath against criminals and endowed with brilliant energy1 and destroys wicked vassals1 then his character is said to resemble that of fire4 ,turning to the ,rig ,veda we find ,hymns to ,agni 7the god of fire7 and the ,maruts 7the storm gods74 #a4 ,thou art called forth to this fair sacrifice for a draught of milk2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #b4 ,no god1 indeed1 no mortal1 is beyond the might of thee1 the mighty one2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #c4 ,those who know of the great sky1 the ,visne ,devas without guile2 with those ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #d4 ,the wild ones who sing their song1 unconquerable by force2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #e4 ,those who are brilliant1 of awful shape1 powerful1 and devourers of foes2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #f4 ,they who in heaven are enthroned as gods1 in the light of the firmament2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #g4 ,they who shoot with their darts across the sea with might2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 #i4 ,i pour out to thee for the early draught the sweet juice of ,soma2 with the ,maruts come hither1 ,o ,agni6 ,another one says3--,o ,agni1 thou art the life1 thou art the patron of man4 ,in return for our prayers1 bestow glory and riches on the father of a family who now addresses thee4 ,agni1 thou art a wise protector and a father2 to thee we owe life1 we are of thy household4 ,de ,coulanges says3--,so the hearth-god was1 as in ,greece1 a tutelary deity4 ,men asked of him abundance1 and that the earth might be productive4 ,he was prayed to for health1 and that a man might long enjoy the light and arrive at old age like the sun at his setting4 ,even wisdom is demanded1 and pardon for sin4 ,for as in ,greece the fire-god was essentially pure1 so not only was the ,brahmin forbidden to throw anything filthy into his fire1 but he might not even warm his feet at it4 ,the guilty man1 also1 as in ,greece1 might not approach his own hearth before he was purified from the stain he had contracted4 ,assuredly the ,greeks did not borrow this religion from the ,hindoos1 nor the ,hindoos from the ,greeks2 but ,greeks1 ,italians1 and ,hindoos1 belonged to one and the same race1 and their ancestors at a very early period had lived together in ,central ,asia4 ,there they had learnt this creed1 and established their rites4 ,when the tribes gradually moved further away from one another1 they transported this religion with them1 the one to the banks of the ,ganges1 and the others to the ,mediterranean4 ,afterwards1 some learnt to worship ,brahma1 others ,zeus1 and others again ,janus2 but all had preserved as a legacy the earlier religion which they had practised at the common cradle of the race4 ,it is remarkable that in all sacrifices1 even in those offered to ,zeus or to ,athene1 it was always to the fire that the first invocation was made4 ,at ,olympia assembled ,greece offered her first sacrifice to the hearth-fire1 and the second to ,zeus4 ,similarly at ,rome1 the first to be adored was always ,vesta1 who was nothing else but the fire4 ,and so we read in the hymns of the ,veda3 ,before all gods1 ,agni must be invoked4 ,we will pronounce thy holy name before that of all the other immortals4 ,o ,agni1 whatever be the god we honour by our sacrifice1 to thee is the holocaust offered4 ,it was not that ,jupiter and ,brahma had not acquired a much greater importance in the minds of men1 but it was remembered that the fire was much older than the gods4 ,when the populations of ,greece and ,italy had learnt to represent their ,gods as persons1 and had given each a proper name and a human shape1 the old worship of the fire was similarly modified4 ,the sacred fire was called ,vesta4 ,the common noun was made a proper name1 and a legend by degrees attached to it4 ,they even went so far as to represent the fire in statues under the features of a woman1 the gender of the noun having determined the sex of the deity4 ,vesta1 in mythology1 was one of the principal deities of the ,pagans4 ,those who have diligently investigated the religion of the ,pythagorean philosophers pretend that by ,vesta they meant the universe1 to which they ascribed a soul1 and which they worshipped as the sole divinity sometime under the name of ,greek3 to pan1 the whole1 and sometimes under the appellation of ,greek3 monos1 unity4 ,however1 fabulous history records two goddesses under the name of ,vesta2 one the mother of ,saturn1 and wife of ,coelum1 and the other the daughter of ,saturn1 by his wife ,rhea4 ,the first was ,terra1 or the ,earth1 called also ,cybele1 and derived her name ,vesta1 according to some1 from clothing1 because the earth is clothed1 vestitur1 with plants and fruits1 or1 according to ,ovid1 from the stability of the earth because stat vi terra sua1 or it supports itself4 ,hence the first oblations in all sacrifices were offered to her1 because whatsoever is sacrificed springs from the earth2 and the ,greeks both began and concluded their sacrifices with ,vesta1 because they esteemed her the mother of all gods4 ,the second was ,fire1 and ,vesta whose power was exercised about altars and houses1 derives her name1 according to ,cicero1 from fire or hearth4 ,accordingly the poets frequently use ,vesta for fire or flame2 as they do ,jupiter for air1 ,ceres for corn1 c4 ,an image of ,vesta1 to which they sacrificed every day1 was placed before the doors of the houses at ,rome2 and the places where these statues were erected were called vestibula1 from ,vesta4 ,this goddess was a virgin1 and so great an admirer of virginity1 that when ,jupiter her brother gave her leave to ask what she would1 she besought that she might always be a virgin1 and have the first oblations in all sacrifices4 ,this goddess is called by ,horace terna ,vesta1 and it was in honour of her that ,numa erected a temple at ,rome1 and dedicated virgins to keep a perpetual fire upon her altars4 ,one way of representing this goddess1 it is said1 was in the habit of a matron1 holding in her right hand a flambeau or lamp1 and sometimes a ,palladium or small ,victory4 ,the worship of ,vesta and of fire was brought from ,phrygia into ,italy by neas and the other ,trojans who resorted thither4 ,to this purpose ,virgil observes that neas1 before he left the palace of his father1 had taken away the fire from the sacred hearth4 ,the name ,vesta was synonymous with the ,chaldean and ,persian ,avesta and hence ,zoroaster gave to his book on the worship of fire1 the name of ,avesta or ,abesta1 i4e41 the custody of fire4 ,the ,vestals were the virgins in ,ancient ,rome1 consecrated to the service of the goddess ,vesta1 whose worship1 we have said1 was brought into ,italy by neas1 and one of their special duties was the watching of the sacred fire1 the going out of which was visited upon them with such severe whipping4 ,this fire1 which they had to watch so jealously and carefully1 was neither on an altar nor on a hearth1 but in little earthen vessels with two handles1 called capeduncula4 ,it was held a pledge of the empire of the world4 ,if it went out1 it was judged a very unlucky prognostic1 and was to be expiated with infinite ceremonies4 ,among the ,romans1 ,festus tells us1 it was only to be rekindled by rubbing a kind of wood proper for the purpose4 ,but among the ,greeks1 ,plutarch1 in his life of ,numa1 observes1 it was to be rekindled by exposing some inflammable matter in the centre of a concave vessel held to the sun4 ,it is to be noted1 the ,romans were not the only people who kept the perpetual fire of ,vesta1 in imitation of the celestial fires2 but the ,greeks were possessed with the same superstition2 particularly the ,delphians1 ,athenians1 ,tenedians1 ,argives1 ,rhodians1 ,cyzicenians1 ,milesians1 ,ephesians1 c4 ,magi1 or ,magians1 was the title which the ancient ,persians gave to their wise men and philosophers4 ,whatever may be the origin of the word1 and upon this great diversity of opinion seems to have prevailed1 it corresponds with the ,greek3 sophoi among the ,greeks2 sapientes among the ,latins2 ,druids among the ,gauls2 ,gynosophists among the ,indians2 and prophets1 priests among the ,egyptians4 ,plato1 ,apuleius1 ,laertius1 and others agree that the philosophy of the ,magi related principally to the worship of the gods2 they were the persons who were to offer prayers1 supplications and sacrifices1 as if the gods would be heard by them alone4 ,they teach their doctrine concerning the nature and origin of the gods1 says ,laertius1 whom they think to be fire1 earth1 and water2 they reject the use of pictures and images1 and reprobate the opinion that the gods are male and female2 they discourse to the people concerning justice2 they think it impious to consume dead bodies with fire2 they all practise divination and prophecy1 pretending that the gods appear to them2 they forbid the use of ornaments in dress2 they clothe themselves in a white robe2 they make use of the ground as their bed1 of herbs1 cheese and bread for food1 and of a reed for their staff4 ,strabo also relates1 that there were in ,cappadocia a great number of ,magi1 who were called ,pyrethi1 or worshippers of fire1 and many temples of the ,persian gods1 in the midst of which were altars attended by priests1 who daily renewed the sacred fire1 accompanying the ceremony with music4 ,the chief doctrine of the ,magi was1 that there were two principles1 one of which was the cause of all good1 and the other the cause of all evil4 ,the former was represented by light1 and the latter by darkness1 as their truest symbols2 and of the composition of these two they supposed that all things in the world were made4 ,the good god they always worshipped before fire1 as being the cause of light1 and especially before the sun1 as being in their opinion the most perfect fire1 and causing the most perfect light2 and for this reason they had in all their temples fire constantly burning on altars erected in them for that purpose4 ,before these sacred fires1 they performed all their public acts of devotion1 as they likewise practised their private devotions before their private fires in their own houses4 ,such were the tenets of this sect when ,smerdis1 who was the principal leader of it1 having usurped the crown after the death of ,cambyses1 was slain by seven princes of ,persia2 and many of the ,magians1 who adhered to him1 shared likewise the same fate4 ,in consequence of this event1 those who adopted the sentiments of this sect were called1 by way of derision1 ,magians1 from mige-gush1 which signified1 in the language of the country then in use1 one that had his ears cropped4 ,the whole sect of the ,magians would soon have sunk into utter extinction if it had not1 in a few years after this period1 been revived and reformed by ,zoroaster4 ,this celebrated philosopher1 called by the ,persians ,zerdusht or ,zaratusht1 began about the thirty-sixth year of the reign of ,darius to restore and reform the ,magian system of religion4 ,he was not only excellently skilled in all the learning of the ,east that prevailed in his time1 but likewise thoroughly versed in the ,jewish religion1 and in all the sacred writings of the ,old ,testament that were then extant1 whence some have inferred that he was a native ,jew both by birth and profession2 and that he had been servant to one of the prophets1 probably ,ezekiel or ,daniel4 ,he made his first appearance in ,media1 in the city of ,xiz1 afterwards called ,aderbijan1 as some say2 or according to others1 in ,ecbatana1 afterwards ,tauris4 ,instead of admitting the existence of two first causes with the ,magians1 he introduced a principle superior to them both--one supreme ,god1 who created both these1 and out of these two produced1 according to his sovereign pleasure1 everything else4 ,zoroaster caused fire temples to be erected wherever he came3 for having feigned that he was taken up into heaven1 and there instructed in the doctrines he taught by ,god himself1 out of the midst of a great and most bright flame of fire1 he taught his followers that fire was the truest shekinah of the divine presence2 that the sun being the most perfect fire1 ,god had there the throne of his glory1 and the residence of his divine presence in a peculiar manner2 and next to this in our elementary fire2 and1 therefore1 he ordered them to direct all their worship to ,god1 first towards the sun1 which they called ,mithra1 and next towards their sacred fires2 and when they came before these fires to worship1 they always approached them on the west side1 that having their faces towards them1 and also towards the rising sun at the same time1 they might direct their worship towards both4 ,and in this posture they always performed every act of their worship4 ,zoroaster also pretended that he brought some of the heavenly fire with him on his return and placed it on the altar of the first fire temple1 which he erected at ,xiz1 in ,media1 whence it was propagated to all the rest2 and on this account their priests carefully watched it and never suffered it to be extinguished4 ,zoroaster1 having assumed the character of a divine prophet and reformer of religion1 retired into a cave1 devoting himself to prayer and meditation1 where he composed the book called the ,zend1 in which his pretended revelations were contained4 ,from ,media he removed into ,bactria2 and he went also into ,india among the ,brachmans1 and having acquired all their knowledge in mathematics1 philosophy and astronomy1 returned and communicated the knowledge to his ,magians2 and thus they became famous for their skill in these sciences2 so that a learned man and a ,magian were equivalent terms4 ,the vulgar conceived of them as persons actuated and inspired by supernatural powers2 and hence those who pretended to wicked and diabolical acts1 assumed the name of ,magians2 and the term ,magician acquired its evil meaning4 ,however1 this distinguished knowledge was confined to those who were by way of eminence1 the ,magi1 or the priests2 who1 like those of the ,jews1 being of the same tribe1 appropriated their learning to their own families4 ,these priests were distributed into three orders1 viz43 the inferior priests1 who conducted the ordinary ceremonies of religion2 the superintendents who governed them and presided over the sacred fire2 and the archimagus1 or high-priest1 who possessed supreme authority over the whole order2 and their churches or temples were also of three sorts1 parochial or oratories1 in which the people performed their devotions1 and where the sacred fire was kept only in lamps2 fire-temples1 in which fire was kept continually burning on a sacred altar1 where the higher order of the ,magi directed the public devotions1 and the people assembled to perform magical incantations1 hear interpretations of dreams1 and practise other superstitions2 and lastly1 the fire-temple in which the archimagus resided1 which was visited by the people at certain seasons with peculiar solemnity1 and to which it was deemed an indispensable duty for every one to repair at least once in his life4 ,zoroaster at length carried his religious system to the royal court at ,susa1 and made ,darius a proselyte1 together with most of the great men of the kingdom4 ,,the ,,end4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,moule's ,heraldry4 #b ,maitland's ,church in the ,catacombs4 #c ,forlong4 #d ,moule's ,heraldry4 #e ,northern ,tour4 #f ,gorham1 ,hist4 ,s4 ,neots4 #g ,rivers of ,life4 #h ,ancient ,faiths1 vol4 i4 #i ,rivers of ,life4 #aj ,riv4 ,life1 ,forlong4 #aa ,nineveh1 c4 #ab ,selden's ,syrian ,deities4 #ac ,forlong4 #ad ,rivers of ,life4 #ae ,leslie's ,early ,races of ,scotland4 #af ,rivers of ,life4 #ag ,forlong1 ,riv4 ,life4 #ah ,rivers of ,life4 #ai ,see ,pop4 ,science ,rev41 vol4 x4 #bj ,hindu ,pantheon4 #ba ,see ,asiat4 ,res41 vol4 iii4 #bb ,for a somewhat longer account of this and other ,myths1 see ,rev4 ,w4 ,gill's ,book4 #bc ,chardin's ,voyages1 vol4 ii4 #bd ,thalia1 #af1 ,rawlinson4 #be ,pennant1 vol4 ,i41 p4 #aaa4 #bf ,pennant1 vol4 ,,iii4 #bg ,selden's ,syrian ,deities4 ,hauser's ,translation4 #bh ,jeremiah xxxii4 #ce4 #bi ,see ,bresciani and ,forrester's ,sardinia4 #cj ,selden's ,syrian ,deities1 ,hausser's ,translation4 ,,phallic ,,series ,,cr4 #h,,vo1 ,,vellum1 #g_/f ,,each4 ,only a very limited number1 privately printed ,,phallicism4--,a ,description of the ,worship of ,lingam-,yoni in various parts of the ,world1 and in different ,ages1 with an ,account of ,ancient and ,modern ,crosses1 particularly of the ,crux ,ansata 7or ,handled ,cross7 and other ,symbols connected with the ,mysteries of ,sex ,worship4 ,only a few copies to be sold with sets at #g_/f1 or separately1 #aj_/f4 ,,ophiolatreia4--,an ,account of the ,rites and ,mysteries connected with the ,origin1 ,rise1 and ,development of ,serpent ,worship in various parts of the ,world1 enriched with ,interesting ,traditions1 and a full description of the celebrated ,serpent ,mounds and ,temples1 the whole forming an exposition of one of the phases of ,phallic1 or ,sex ,worship4 ,,phallic ,,objects1 ,,monuments ,,and ,,remains2 ,illustrations of the ,rise and ,development of the ,phallic ,idea 7,sex ,worship71 and its embodiment in ,works of ,nature and ,art4 ,etched ,frontispiece4 ,,cultus ,,arborum4--,a ,descriptive ,account of ,phallic ,tree ,worship1 with illustrative ,legends1 ,superstitious ,usages1 c42 exhibiting its ,origin and ,development amongst the ,eastern and ,western ,nations of the ,world1 from the earliest to modern times4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,passages in italics are indicated by italics4 ,letters with diacritical marks are not represented in this text version4 ,the original text includes ,greek characters4 ,for this text version these letters have been replaced with transliterations4