,,bible ,,studies  ,,essays ,,on        
,,phallic ,,worship ,,and ,,other       
,,curious ,,rites ,,and ,,customs  ,by  
,j4 ,m4 ,wheeler        ,there is       
nothing unclean of itself3 but to him   
that      esteemeth anything to be      
unclean1 to him it is unclean4          
--,paul 7,romans xiv4 #ad74   #ahib4    
,printed and ,published ,by ,g4 ,w4     
,foote     ,,preface4  ,my old friend   
,mr4 ,wheeler asks me to launch this    
little craft1 and ,i do so with great   
pleasure4 ,she is not a thunderous      
ironclad1 nor a gigantic ocean liner2   
but she is stoutly built1 well fitted1  
and calculated to weather all the storms
 of criticism4 ,my only fear is that she
 will not encounter them4  ,during the  
sixteen years of my friend's            
collaboration with me in many           
enterprises for the spread of           
,freethought and the destruction of     
,superstition1 he has written a vast    
variety of articles1 all possessing     
distinctive merit1 and some extremely   

valuable4 ,from these he and ,i have    
made the following selection4 ,the      
articles included deal with the ,bible  
from a special standpoint2 the          
standpoint of an ,evolutionist1 who     
reads the ,jewish ,scriptures in the    
light of anthropology1 and finds        
infinite illustrations in them of the   
savage origin of religion4  ,literary   
and scientific criticism of the ,old    
,testament have their numerous votaries4
 ,mr4 ,wheeler's mind is given to a     
different study of the older half of the
 ,bible4 ,he is bent on showing what it 
really contains2 what religious ideas1  
rites1 and customs prevailed among the  
ancient ,jews and find expression in    
their ,scriptures4 ,this is a fruitful  
method1 especially in our country1 if it
 be true1 as ,dr4 ,tylor observes1 that 
the ,english mind1 not readily swayed by
 rhetoric1 moves freely under the       
pressure of facts4  ,careful readers of 
this little book will find it full of   
precious information4 ,mr4 ,wheeler has 

a peculiarly wide acquaintance with the 
literature of these subjects4 ,he has   
gathered from far and wide1 like the    
summer bee1 and what he yields is not an
 undigested mass of facts1 but the pure 
honey of truth4  ,many readers will be  
astonished at what ,mr4 ,wheeler tells  
them4 ,we have read the ,bible1 they    
will say1 and never saw these things4   
,that is because they read it without   
knowledge1 or without attention4        
,reading is not done with the eyes only1
 but also with the brain2 and the same  
sentences will make various impressions1
 according as the brain is rich or poor 
in facts and principles4 ,even the      
great1 strong mind of ,darwin had to be 
plentifully stored with biological      
knowledge before he could see the       
meaning of certain simple facts1 and    
discover the wonderful law of ,natural  
,selection4  ,those who have studied the
 works of ,spencer1 ,tylor1 ,lubbock1   
,frazer1 and such authors1 will not be  
astonished at the contents of this      

volume4 ,but they will probably find    
some points they had overlooked2 some   
familiar points presented with new      
force2 and some fresh views1 whose      
novelty is not their only virtue3 for   
,mr4 ,wheeler is not a slavish follower 
of even the greatest teachers1 he thinks
 for himself1 and shows others what he  
has seen with his own eyes4  ,i hope    
this little volume will find many       
readers4 ,its doing so will please the  
author1 for every writer wishes to be   
read2 why else1 indeed1 should he write8
 ,only less will be the pleasure of his 
friend who pens this ,preface4 ,i am    
sure the book will be instructive to    
most of those into whose hands it falls2
 to the rest1 the few who really study  
and reflect1 it will be stimulating and 
suggestive4 ,greater praise the author  
would not desire2 so much praise cannot 
often be given with sincerity4  ,g4 ,w4 
,foote4     ,,phallic ,,worship ,,among 
,,the ,,jews4       ,the hatred of      
indecency1 which appears to us so       

natural as      to be thought innate1   
and which is so valuable an aid to      
chastity1 is a modern virtue1           
appertaining exclusively1 as      ,sir  
,g4 ,staunton remarks1 to civilised     
life4 ,this is shown by      the ancient
 religious rites of various nations1 by 
the      drawings on the walls of       
,pompeii1 and by the practices of       
many savages4--,c4 ,darwin1 ,descent of 
,man pt4 #a1 chap4      iv41 vol4 i41 p4
 #ahb2 #ahhh4  ,the study of religions  
is a department of anthropology1 and    
nowhere is it more important to remember
 the maxim of the pagan ,terence1 ,homo 
sum1 nihil humani a me alienum puto4 ,it
 is impossible to dive deep into any    
ancient faiths without coming across a  
deal of mud4 ,man has often been defined
 as a religious animal4 ,he might as    
justly be termed a dirty and foolish    
animal4 ,his religions have been growths
 of earth1 not gifts from heaven1 and   
they usually bear strong marks of their 
clayey origin499       99 ,the          

,contemporary ,review for ,june #ahhh1  
says 7p4 #hjd7 when      ,lord          
,dalhousie passed an ,act intended to   
repress obscenity      7in ,india71 a   
special clause in it exempted all       
temples and      religious emblems from 
its operation4  ,i am not one of those  
who find in phallicism the key to all   
the mysteries of mythology4 ,all the    
striking phenomena of nature--the       
alternations of light and darkness1 sun 
and moon1 the terrors of the            
thunderstorm1 and of pain1 disease and  
death1 together with his own dreams and 
imaginations--contributed to evoke the  
wonder and superstition of early man4   
,but investigation of early religion    
shows it often nucleated around the     
phenomena of generation4 ,the first and 
final problem of religion concerns the  
production of things4 ,man's own body   
was always nearer to him than sun1 moon1
 and stars2 and early man1 thinking not 
in words but in things1 had to express  
the very idea of creation or production 

in terms of his own body4 ,it was so in 
,egypt1 where the symbol1 from being the
 sign of production1 became also the    
sign of life1 and of regeneration and   
resurrection4 ,it was so in ,babylonia  
and ,assyria1 as in ancient ,greece and 
,troy1 and is so till this day in       
,india4  ,montaigne says3  ,fifty       
severall deities were in times past     
allotted to this office4 ,and there hath
 beene a nation found which to allay and
 coole the lustful concupiscence of such
 as came for devotion1 kept wenches of  
purpose in their temples to be used2 for
 it was a point of religion to deale    
with them before one went to prayers4   
,nimirum propter continentiam           
incontinentia neces-saria est1 incendium
 ignibus extinguitur3 ',belike we must  
be incontinent that we may be continent1
 burning is quenched by fire4' ,in most 
places of the world that part of our    
body was deified4 ,in that same province
 some flead it to offer1 and consecrated
 a peece thereof2 others offered and    

consecrated their seed4  ,it is in      
,india that this early worship maybe    
best studied at the present day4 ,the   
worshippers of ,siva identify their     
great god1 ,maha ,deva1 with the linga1 
and wear on their left arm a bracelet   
containing the linga and yoni4 ,the     
rival sect of followers of ,vishnu have 
also a phallic significance in their    
symbolism4 ,the linga yoni 7fig4 #a7 is 
indeed one of the commonest of religious
 symbols in ,india4 ,its use extends    
from the ,himalayas to ,cape ,comorin4  
,major-,general ,forlong says the       
ordinary ,maha ,deva of ,northern ,india
 is the simple arrangement shown in fig4
 #b1 in which we see what was ,i suspect
 the first ,delphic tripod supporting a 
vase of water over the ,linga in ,yona4 
,such may be counted by scores in a     
day's march over ,northern ,india1 and  
especially at ghats or river ferries1 or
 crossings of any streams or roads2 for 
are they not ,herm8 ,the ,linga ,purana 
tells us that the linga was a pillar of 

fire in which ,siva was present4 ,this  
reminds one of ,jahveh appearing as a   
pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of  
fire by night4  ,illustration3 ,fig4    
#a4--,the ,hindu ,maha ,deva1 or        
,linga-,yoni  ,so astounded have been   
many writers at the phenomena presented 
by phallic worship that they have sought
 to explain it1 not only by the story of
 the fall and the belief in original    
sin1 but by the direct agency of        
devils499 ,yet it may be wrong to       
associate the origin of phallic worship 
with obscenity4 ,early man was rather   
unmoral than immoral4 ,obliged to think 
in things1 it was to him no perversion  
to mentally associate with his own      
person the awe of the mysterious power  
of production4 ,the sense of pleasure   
and the desire for progeny of course    
contributed4 ,the worship was indeed    
both natural and inevitable in the      
evolution of man from savagery4 ,when1  
however1 phallic worship was            
established1 it naturally led to        

practices such as those which           
,herodotus1 ,diodorus1 and ,lucian tell 
us took place in the ,egyptian1         
,babylonian1 and ,syrian religions4     
99 ,see ,gougenot des ,mousseaux's      
curious work ,dieu et les      ,dieux1  
,paris1 #ahed4 ,when the ,luxor monument
 was erected in      ,rome1 ,pope       
,sixtus ,v4 deliberately exorcised the  
devils out      of possession of it4    
,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4--,rural ,hindu 
,lingam4  ,hume's observation that      
polytheism invariably preceded          
monotheism has been confirmed by all    
subsequent investigation4 ,the belief in
 one god or supreme spirit springs out  
of the belief in many gods or spirits4  
,that this was so with the ,jews there  
is sufficient evidence in the ,bible1   
despite the fact that the documents so  
called have been frequently redacted1   
that is corrected1 and the evidence in  
large part erased4 ,an instance of this 
falsification may be found in ,judges   
xviii4 #cj 7see ,revised ,version71     

where ,manasseh has been piously        
substituted for ,moses1 in order to     
conceal the fact that the direct        
descendants of ,moses were image        
worshippers down till the time of the   
captivity4 ,the ,rabbis gave what       
,milton calls this insulse rule out of  
their ,talmud2 ',that all words1 which  
in the ,law are written obscenely1 must 
be changed to more civil words4' ,fools 
who would teach men to read more        
decently than ,god thought good to      
write499 ,instances of euphemisms may be
 traced in the case of the feet 7,judges
 iii4 #bd1 ,song v4 #c1 ,isaiah vii99   
#bj72 thigh 7,num4 v4 #bd72 heel 7,gen1 
iii4 #ae72 heels 7,jer4 xiii4 #bb72 and 
hand 7,isaiah lvii4 #g74 ,this last     
verse is translated by ,dr4 ,cheyne1 and
 behind the door and the post hast thou 
placed thy memorial1 for apart from me  
thou hast uncovered and gone up2 thou   
hast enlarged thy bed1 and obtained a   
contract from them 7872 thou hast loved 
their bed2 thou hast beheld the phallus4

 ,in his note ,dr4 ,cheyne gives the    
view of the ,targum and ,jerome that    
'memorial'  idol 7or rather idolatrous  
symbol--the phallus74       99 ,apology 
for ,smectymnus1 ,works1 p4#hd4  ,the   
priests1 whose policy it was to keep the
 nation isolated1 did their best to     
destroy the evidence that the ,jews     
shared in the idolatrous beliefs and    
practices of the nations around them4   
,in particular the cult of ,baal and    
,asherah1 which we shall see was a form 
of phallic worship1 became obnoxious1   
and the evidence of its existence was   
sought to be obliterated4 ,the worship1 
moreover1 became an esoteric one1 known 
only to the priestly caste1 as it still 
is among ,roman ,catholic initiates1 and
 the priestly caste were naturally      
desirous that the ordinary worshipper   
should not become as one of us4  ,it is 
unquestionable that in the earliest     
times the ,hebrews worshipped ,baal4 ,in
 proof there is the direct assertion of 
,jahveh himself 7,hosea ii4 #af7 that   

thou shalt call me ,ishi my husband and 
shalt call me no more ,baali4 ,the      
evidence of names1 too1 is decisive4    
,gideon's other name1 ,jerubbaal 7,jud4 
vi4 #cb1 and #a ,sam4 xii4 #aa71 was    
evidently the true one1 for in #b ,sam4 
xi4 #ba1 the name ,jerubbesheth is      
substituted4 ,eshbaal 7#a ,chron4 viii4 
#cc7 is called ,ishbosheth 7#b ,sam4 ii4
 #h1 #aj74 ,meribbaal 7#a ,chron4 viii4 
#cd7 is ,mephibosheth 7#b ,sam4 iv4     
#d7499 ,now bosheth means v shame1 or   
shameful thing1 and as ,dr4 ,donaldson  
points out1 in especial1 sexual shame1  
as in ,gen4 ii4 #be4 ,in the ,septuagint
 version of #a ,kings xviii4 #be1 the   
prophets of ,baal are called the        
prophets of that shame4 ,hosea ix4 #aj  
says they went to ,baal-peor and        
consecrated themselves to ,bosheth and  
became abominable like that they loved4 
,micah i4 #aa having thy ,bosheth naked4
 ,jeremiah xi4 #e1 ,for according to the
 number of thy cities were thy gods1 ,o 
,judah2 and according to the number of  

the streets of ,jerusalem have ye set up
 altars to ,bosheth1 altars to burn     
incense unto ,baal4       99 ,so        
,baaljadah #a ,chron4 xiv4 #g is ,eliada
 #b ,sam4 v4 #afa4      ,in #a ,chron4  
xii4 #f1 we have the curious            
combination1      ,baaljah1 i4e4 ,baal  
is ,jah1 as the name of one of ,david's 
heroes4  ,the place where the ark stood1
 known afterwards as ,kirjath-jearim1   
was formerly named ,baalah1 or place of 
,baal 7,i ,chron4 xiii4 #f74 ,the change
 of name took place after ,david's time1
 since the writer of #b ,sam4 vi4 #b    
says merely that ,david went with the   
ark from ,baale of ,judah499 ,colenso   
notices that when the four hundred and  
fifty prophets of ,baal are said to have
 been destroyed by ,elijah1 nothing is  
said of the four hundred prophets of the
 ,asherah4 ,also these same '#djj       
prophets1' apparently1 are called       
together by ,ahab as prophets of ,,jhvh1
 and they reply in the name of ,,jhvh1  
#a ,kings xxii4 #e-f4  ,that phallicism 

was an important element in ,baal and   
,asherah worship is well known to       
scholars1 and will be made clear to     
discerning readers4 ,the frequent       
allusion to groves in the ,authorised   
,version must have puzzled many a simple
 student4 ,the natural but erroneous    
suggestion of tree worship does not fit 
in very well with the important         
statement 7#b ,kings xxiii4 #f7 that    
,josiah brought out the grove from the  
house of the ,lord49999 ,a reference to 
the ,revised ,version will show that    
this misleading word is intended to     
conceal the real nature of the worship  
of ,asherah4 ,the door of life1 the     
conventional form of the ,asherah with  
its thirteen flowers or measurements of 
time1 is given in fig4 #c4       99 ,the
 ,baal was afterwards taken out of all  
such names of      places1 and instead  
of ,baal ,peor1 ,baal ,meon1 ,baal      
,tamar1      ,baal ,shalisha1 etc41 we  
find ,beth ,peor1 ,beth ,meon1 ,beth    
,tamar1 etc4       9999 ,verse vii4     

says1 he brake down the houses of the   
sodomites that were by the house of the 
,lord1 where the      women wove        
hangings for the grove4 ,a reference to 
the ,revised      ,version shows that it
 was in the house of the ,lord1 where   
the women wove hangings or tents for the
 ,asherah4 ,see      also ,ezek4 xvi4   
#af4  ,this worship certainly lasted    
from the earliest historic times until  
the seventeenth year of ,josiah1 ,b4,c4 
#fbd4 ,we read how in the days of the   
,judges they served ,baalim and the     
groves 7,r4,v41 the ,asheroth2 ,judges  
iii1 #g2 see ii4 #ab1 ,baal and         
,ash-taroth47 ,we find that ,solomon    
himself went after ,ashtoreth 7#a ,kings
 xi4 #e7 and that he builded the mount  
of corruption 7margin1 i4e41 the mount  
of ,olives7 for that abomination of the 
,zidonians 7#b ,kings xxiii4 #ac74 ,all 
the distinctive features of ,solomon's  
,temple were ,phoenician in character4  
,what the ,phoenician temples were like 
,lucian tells us in his treatise on the 

goddess of ,syria4 ,the great pillars   
,jachin1 the establisher1 and ,boaz1    
strength2 the ornamentation of palm     
trees1 pomegranates1 and lotus work2 are
 all ,phoenician and all phallic4 ,the  
bells and pomegranates on the priests'  
garment were emblematic of the paps and 
full womb4 ,the palm-tree1 which appears
 both in ,solomon's temple and in       
,ezekiel's vision1 was symbolical1 as   
may be seen in the ,assyrian monument   
7fig4 #d71 and which finds a place in   
,eastern ,christian symbolism1 with the 
mystic alpha and omega 7fig4 #e74  ,the 
worship of ,astoreth1 the ,assyrian     
,ishtar1 and ,greek ,astarte1 was       
widespread4 ,the ,phoenicians took it   
with them to ,cyprus and ,carthage4 ,in 
the days of ,abraham there was a town   
called after her 7,gen4 xiv4 #e71 and to
 this day her name is preserved in      
,esther4  ,illustration3 ,fig4          
#c4--;,asherah4  ,it is she who is      
called the ,queen of ,heaven1 to whom   
the women made moon-shaped cakes and    

poured libations 7,jer4 vii4 #ah1 xliv4 
#ag47 ,baal represented the generative1 
,astoreth the productive power4 ,the    
pillars and asherah1 so often alluded to
 in the ,bible1 were the palm-tree1 with
 male and female animals frolicking     
around the tree of life1 the female near
 the fleur de lis and the male near the 
yoni4 ,tall and straight trees1         
especially the palm1 were reverenced as 
symbols4 ,palm branches carried in      
procession were signs of fruitfulness   
and joy4  ,illustration3 ,fig4          
#d4--;,from ,layard1 ,culte de ,venus1  
plate ,i1 fig4 #bj1 depicts the mystic  
signs of their worship1 and ,dr4 ,oort99
 says of the name ,ashera1 ,this word   
expressed originally a pillar on1 or    
near--not only the altars of ,baal--but 
also the altars of ,,jhvh4  ,bishop     
,colenso in his notes to ,dr4 ,oort's   
work remarks1 ,it seems plain that the  
,ashera 7from ashar1 be straight1 erect7
 was in reality a phallus1 like the     
,linga or ,lingam of the ,hindoos1 the  

sign of the male organ of               
generation49999       99 ,the ,worship  
of ,baalim and ,israel1 p4 #df4         
9999 ,asher was the tutelary god of     
,assyria4 ,his emblem was the           
winged circle4  ,illustration3 ,fig4    
#e4--,the ,eastern ,christian palm1 on  
which is placed the cross and banners   
with the ,alpha and ,omega4  ,there can 
be little doubt on the matter in the    
mind of anyone acquainted with ancient  
faiths and the inevitable phases of     
human evolution1 ,we read 7#a ,kings xv4
 #ac1 ,revised ,version71 that ,maachah1
 the queen mother of ,asa1 made an      
abominable image for an ,asherah4 ,this 
the ,vulgate translates ,priape and     
,movers pudendum4 ,jeremiah1 who alludes
 to the same thing 7x4 #e71 tells that  
the people said1 to a stock1 ,thou art  
my father1 and to a stone1 ,thou hast   
brought me forth 7ii4 #bg71 that they   
defiled the land and committed adultery 
with stones and with stocks 7iii4 #i71  
playing the harlot under every green    

tree 7ii4 #bj1 iii4 #f1 #ac2 see also   
,hosea iv4 #ac74 ,isaiah xvii4 #h1      
alludes to the ,asherim as existing in  
his own days1 and alludes to these      
religions in plain terms 7lvii4 #e--h74 
,micah also prophesies against the      
pillars and ,asherim 7v4 #ac1 #ad74     
,ezekiel xvi4 #ag1 says ,thou hast also 
taken thy fair jewels1 of my gold and of
 silver1 which ,i have given thee1 and  
madest to thyself images of men1 and    
didst commit whoredom with them4 ,the   
margin more properly reads images ,heb4 
of a male tsalmi zachar1 a male here    
being an euphemism4 ,as ,gesenius says  
of the metaphor in ,numbers xxiv4 #g    
these things are ex nostra sensu        
obscoena1 sed ,orientalibus familiaria4 
,these images are alluded to and        
prohibited in ,deut4 iv4 #af4 ,it is    
thus evident that some form of phallic  
worship lasted among the ,jews-from the 
earliest times until their captivity in 
,babylon4  ,it is a most significant    
fact that the ,jews used one and the    

same word to signify both harlot and    
holy4 ,there shall be no kedeshah of the
 daughters of ,israel 7,deut4 xxiii4    
#ag7 means no female consecrated to the 
temple worship4 ,kuenen says it is      
natural to assume that this impurity was
 practised in the worship of ,jahveh1   
however much soever the lawgiver abhors 
it4 ,it must be noticed1 too1 that there
 is no absolute prohibition4 ,it only   
insists that the slaves of desire shall 
not be of the house of ,israel1 and     
stipulates that the money so obtained   
shall not be dedicated to ,jahveh4 ,that
 this was the custom both in ,samaria   
and ,jerusalem1 as in ,babylon1 may be  
gathered from ,micah i4 #g1 and ,hosea  
iv4 #ad4  ,dr4 ,kalisch1 by birth a ,jew
 and one of the most fair-minded of     
biblical scholars1 says in his note on  
,leviticus xix4 #bi3 ,the unchaste      
worship of ,ashtarte1 known also as     
,beltis and ,tanais1 ,ishtar1 ,mylitta1 
and ,anaitis1 ,asherah and ,ashtaroth1  
flourished among the ,hebrews at all    

times1 both in the kingdom of ,judah and
 ,israel2 it consisted in presenting to 
the goddess1 who was revered as the     
female principle of conception and      
birth1 the virginity of maidens as a    
first-fruit offering2 and it was        
associated with the utmost              
licentiousness4 ,this-degrading service 
took such deep root1 that in the        
,assyrian period it was even extended by
 the adoption of new rites borrowed from
 ,eastern ,asia1 and described by the   
name of ',tents of the ,maidens'        
7,succoth ,benoth72 and it left its mark
 in the ,hebrew language itself1 which  
ordinarily expressed the notion         
courtesan by 'a consecrated woman'      
7,kadeshah71 and that of sodomite by    
'consecrated man' 7,kadesh74  ,the      
,succoth ,benoth in #b ,kings xvii4 #cj1
 may be freely rendered ,tabernacles of 
,venus4 ,venus is plausibly derived from
 ,benoth1 whose worship was at an early 
time disseminated from ,carthage and    
other parts of ,africa to the shores of 

,italy4 ,the merriest festival among the
 ,jews was the ,feast of ,tabernacles4  
,plutarch 7who suggests that the pig was
 originally worshipped by the ,jews1 a  
position endorsed by ,mr4 ,j4 ,g4       
,frazer1 in his ,golden ,bough1 vol4    
ii41 pp4 #eb1 #ec7 says the ,jewish     
feast of ,tabernacles is exactly        
agreeable to the holy rites of          
,bacchus499 ,he adds1 ,what they do     
within ,i know not1 but it is very      
probable that they perform the rites of 
,bacchus4       99 ,symposiacs1 bk4 iv41
 queat4 #f1 p4 #caj1 vol4 iii41         
,plutarch's ,morals1 #ahgj4  ,dr4 ,adam 
,clarke1 in his ,commentary on #b ,kings
 xvii4 #cj1 gives the                   
following3--,succoth-benoth maybe       
literally translated1 ,the ,tabernacle  
of the ,daughters1 or ,young ,women2 or 
if ,benoth be taken as the name of a    
female idol1 from birth1 to build up1   
procreate1 children1 then the words will
 express the tabernacles sacred to the  
productive powers feminine4 ,and1       

agreeably to this latter exposition1 the
 rabbins say that the emblem was a hen  
and chickens4 ,but however this may be1 
there is no room to doubt that these    
succoth were tabernacles1 wherein young 
women exposed themselves to prostitution
 in honor of the ,babylon goddess       
,melitta4 ,herodotus 7lib4 i41 c4 #aii2 
,rawlinson7 says3 ,every woman born in  
the country must once in her life go and
 sit down in the precinct of ,venus1 and
 there consort with a stranger4 ,many of
 the wealthier sort1 who are too proud  
to mix with the others1 drive in covered
 carriages to the precinct1 followed by 
a goodly train of attendants1 and there 
take their station4 ,but the larger     
number seat themselves within the holy  
enclosure with wreaths of string about  
their heads2 and here there is always a 
great crowd1 some coming and others     
going2 lines of cord mark out paths in  
all directions among the women1 and the 
strangers pass along them to make their 
choice4 ,a woman who has once taken her 

seat is not allowed to return home till 
one of the strangers throws a silver    
coin into her lap1 and takes her with   
him beyond the holy ground4 ,when he    
throws the coin he says these           
words--',the goddess ,mylitta prosper   
thee 7,venus is called ,mylitta by the  
,assyrians74 ,the silver coin may be of 
any size2 it cannot be refused1 for that
 is forbidden by the law1 since once    
thrown it is sacred4 ,the woman goes    
with the first man who throws her money1
 and rejects no one4 ,when she has gone 
with him1 and so satisfied the goddess1 
she returns home1 and from that time    
forth no gift1 however great1 will      
prevail with her4 ,such of the women as 
are tall and beautiful are soon         
released1 but others who are ugly have  
to stay a long time before they can     
fulfil the law4 ,some have waited three 
or four years in the precinct4 ,a custom
 very much like this is also found in   
certain parts of the island of ,cyprus4 
,this custom is alluded to in the       

,apocryphal ,epistle of ,jeremy 7,barch 
vi4 #dc73 ,the women also with cords    
about them sitting in the ways1 burnt   
bran for perfume2 but if any of them1   
drawn by some that passeth by1 lie with 
him1 she reproacheth her fellow1 that   
she was not thought as worthy as        
herself1 nor her cord broken4 ,the      
,commentary published by the ,s4 ,p4 ,c4
 ,k4 says1 ,women with cords about them1
 the token that they were devotees of   
,mylitta1 the ,babylonian ,venus1 called
 in #b ,kings xvii4 #cj1                
',succoth-benoth1' the ropes denoting   
the obligation of the vow which they had
 taken upon themselves4 ,valerius       
,maximus speaks of a temple of ,sicca   
,venus in ,africa1 where a similar      
custom obtained4 ,strabo also mentions  
the custom 7lib4 xvi41 c4 i41 #bj71 and 
says1 ,the money is considered as       
consecrated to ,venus4 ,in book xi41 c4 
xiv41 #af1 ,strabo says the ,armenians  
pay particular reverence to ,anates4    
,they dedicate there to her service male

 and female slaves2 in this there is    
nothing remarkable1 but it is surprising
 that persons of the highest rank in the
 nation consecrate their virgin         
daughters to the goddess4 ,it is        
customary for these women1 after being  
prostituted a long period at the temple 
of ,anaites1 to be disposed of in       
marriage1 no one disdaining a connection
 with such persons4 ,herodotus mentions 
something similar respecting the ,lydian
 women1 all of whom prostitute          
themselves4 ,of the temple of ,venus at 
,corinth1 ,strabo says it had more than 
a thousand women consecrated to the     
service of the goddess1 courtesans1 whom
 men and women had dedicated as         
offerings to the goddess2 and of        
,comana1 in ,cappadocia1 he has a       
similar relation 7bk4 xii41 c4 iii41    
#cf74  ,dr4 ,kalisch also says ,baal    
,peor was probably the principle of     
generation par excellence1 and at his   
festivals virgins were accustomed to    
yield themselves in his honor4 ,to this 

disgraceful idolatry the ,hebrews were  
addicted from very early times2 they are
 related to have already been smitten on
 account of it by a fearful plague which
 destroyed #bd1jjj worshippers1 and they
 seem to have clung to its shameful     
practices in later periods499 ,jerome   
says plainly that ,baal-,peor was       
,priapus1 which some derive from ,peor  
,apis4 ,hosea says 7ix4 #aj1 ,revised   
,version7 they came to ,baal-,peor and  
consecrated themselves unto the shameful
 thing1 and became abominable like that 
which they loved2 see1 too1 ,num4 xxvi4 
#a1 #c4 ,amos 7ii4 #g1h7 says a son and 
a father go in unto the same maid in the
 house of ,god to profane ,jahveh's holy
 name1 so that it appears this maid was 
regarded as in the service of ,jahveh4  
,maimonides says it was known that the  
worship of ,baal-,peor was by uncovering
 of the nakedness2 and this he makes the
 reason why ,god commanded the priests  
to make themselves breeches to wear at  
the time of service1 and why they might 

not go up to the altar by steps that    
their nakedness might not be            
discovered49999 ,jules ,soury says999999
 ,the tents of the sacred prostitutes   
were generally erected on the high      
places4       99 ,leviticus1 p4 #cfd4   
9999 ,that even more shameful practices 
were once common is      evident from   
the narratives in ,genesis xix4 and     
,judges xix4       999999 ,religion of  
,israel chap4 ix41 p4 #ga4              
99999999 ,leviticus1 part i41 p4 #chc4  
,kork1 ,die ,gotter ,syrian1 p4         
#ajc1 says the pillars and ,asherah     
stood in the adytum1 that      is the   
holy of holies1 which represented the   
genetrix4  ,in the temple at ,jerusalem 
the women wove hangings for the ,asherah
 7#b ,kings xxiii4 #g71 that is for     
concealment in the worship of the       
genetrix1 and in the same precincts were
 the houses of prostitute priests 7see  
also #a ,kings xiv4 #bd2 xv4 #ab2 xxii4 
#df4 ,luther translates ,hurer74        
,although ,josiah destroyed these1      

,b4,c4 #fbd1 ,kalisch says ,the image of
 ,ashtarte was probably erected again in
 the inner court 7,jer4 xxxii4 #cd2     
,ezek4 viii4 #f74 ,ezekiel says 7xvi4   
#af71 ,and of thy garments thou didst   
take1 and deckedst thy high places with 
divers colors and playedst the harlot   
thereupon1 and 7v4 #bd7 ,thou hast also 
built unto thee an eminent place1 and   
hast made thee a high place in every    
street1 which is plainly translated in  
the ,roman ,catholic ,douay version     
,thou didst also build thee a common    
stew and madest thee a brothel house in 
every street4 ,the strange woman1       
against whom the ,proverbs warns1       
practised her profession under cover of 
religion 7see ,prov4 vii4 #ad74 ,the    
peace offerings there alluded to were   
religious sacrifices4  ,together with   
their other functions the ,kadeshah1    
like the eastern nautch girls and       
bayaderes1 devoted themselves to dancing
 and music 7see ,isaiah xxiii4 #af74    
,dancing was an important part of       

ancient religious worship1 as may be    
noticed in the case of ,king ,david1 who
 danced before the ark1 clad only in a  
linen ephod1 probably a symbolic emblem 
7see ,judges viii4 #bg71 to the scandal 
of his wife1 whom he had purchased by a 
trophy of two hundred foreskins from the
 uncircumcised ,philistines 7#a ,sam4   
xviii4 #bg2 #b ,sam4 vi4 #ad-af74 ,when 
the ,israelites worshipped the golden   
calf they danced naked 7,exodus xxxii4  
#ai1 #be74 ,they sat down to eat and to 
drink1 and rose up to play1 the word    
being the same as that used in ,gen4    
xxvi4 #h4 ,the word chag is frequently  
translated feast1 and means dance4 ,in  
the wide prevalence of sacred           
prostitution ,sir ,john ,lubbock sees a 
corroboration of his hypothesis of      
communal marriage4 ,mr4 ,wake1 however1 
refers it to the custom of sexual       
hospitality1 a practice widely spread   
among all savage races1 the rite like   
that of blood covenanting being         
associated with ideas of kinship and    

friendliness4  ,we have seen that the   
early ,jews shared in the phallic       
worship of the nations around them4     
,despite the war against ,baal and      
,asherah worship by the prophets of     
,jahveh1 it was common in the time of   
the ,judges 7iii4 #g74 ,solomon himself 
was a worshipper of ,ashtoreth1 a faith 
doubtless after the heart of the sensual
 sultan 7#a ,kings xi4 #e74 ,the people 
of ,judah built them high places and    
phalli and ashera on every high hill and
 under every green tree4 ,and there were
 also ,sodomites in the land 7#a ,kings 
xiv4 #bc1 #bd74 ,the mother of ,asa made
 an abominable image for an ,asherah 7#a
 ,kings xv4 #ac7499 ,the images of      
,asherah were kept in the house of      
,jahveh till the time of ,josiah 7#b    
,kings xxiii4 #f74 ,dr4 ,kuenen says    
7,religion of ,israel1 vol4 i41 p4 #hj71
 the images1 pillars and asheras were   
not considered by those who worshipped  
them as antagonistic to the             
acknowledgment of ,jahveh as the ,god of

 ,israel4 ,the same writer contends that
 ,jeroboam exhibiting the calves or     
young bulls could truly say ,these be   
thy gods1 ,o ,israel4 ,remembering1 too1
 that every ,jew bears in his own body  
the mark of a special covenant with the 
,lord1 the reader may take up his ,bible
 and find much over which pious         
preachers and commentators have woven a 
pretty close veil4 ,i will briefly      
notice a few particulars4       99      
,larousse1 in his ,grande ,dictionnaire 
,universelle1 says3      ,le phallos    
hbraique fut pedant neuf cent ans le    
rival      souvent victorieux de        
,jhovah4  ,without going into the       
question of the translation of ,genesis 
i4 #b1 it is evident from v4 #bg that   
,god is hermaphrodite4 ,so ,god created 
man in his own image1 in the image of   
,god created he him1 male and female    
7zakar and nekaba7 created he them4  ,it
 is not difficult to find traces of     
phallicism in the allegory of the       
,garden of ,eden4 ,this has been noticed

 from the earliest times4 ,the rabbis   
classed the first chapters of ,genesis  
with the ,song of ,solomon and certain  
portions of ,ezekiel as not to be read  
by anyone under thirty4 ,the ,manichans 
and other early ,christians held the    
phallic view4 ,clement of ,alexandria   
7,strom iii47 admits the sin of ,adam   
consists in a premature indulgence of   
the sexual appetite4 ,this view explains
 why knowledge was prohibited and why   
the first effect of the fall was the    
perception of nakedness4 ,basilides     
contended that we should reverence the  
serpent because it induced ,eve to share
 the caresses of ,adam1 without which   
the human race would never have existed4
 ,many modern writers1 notably          
,beverland and ,dr4 ,donaldson1 have    
sustained the phallic interpretation4   
,archbishop ,whately is also said to    
have advocated a similar opinion in an  
anonymous ,latin work published in      
,germany4 ,dr4 ,donaldson1 who was      
renowned as a scholar1 makes some       

curious versions of the ,hebrew4 ,his   
translation of the alleged ,messianic   
promise in ,genesis iii4 #ae1 his       
adversary1 ,dr4 ,perowne1 the present   
,dean of ,peterborough1 says1 is so     
gross that it will not bear rendering   
into ,english4 ,a good ,hebraist1 a ,jew
 by birth1 who had never heard of ,dr4  
,donaldson's ,jashar1 gave me an exactly
 similar rendering of this verse--which 
makes it a representation of            
coition--and instanced the phrase the   
serpent was more subtle than the other  
beasts of the field1 as an illustration 
of early ,jewish humor4  ,the ,french   
physician1 ,parise1 eloquently says3    
,this sublime gift of transmitting      
life--fatal perogative1 which man       
continually forfeits--at once the       
mainstay of morality by means of family 
ties1 and the powerful cause of         
depravity--the energetic spring of life 
and health--the ceaseless source of     
disease and infirmity--this faculty     
involves almost all that man can attain 

of earthly happiness or misfortune1 of  
earthly pleasure or of pain2 and the    
tree of knowledge1 of good and evil1 is 
the symbol of it1 as true as it is      
expressive4  ,dr4 ,adam ,clarke was so  
impressed by the difficulty of the      
serpent having originally gone erect1   
that he thinks that nachash means a     
creature of the ape or ourang-outang    
kind4 ,yet it has been suggested that a 
key to the word may be found in ,ezekiel
 xvi4 #cf1 where it is translated       
filthiness4 ,there is nothing whatever  
in the story to show that the serpent is
 the ,devil4 ,this was an after idea    
when the ,devil had become the symbol of
 passion and the instigator of lust4 ,de
 ,gubernatis1 in his ,zoological        
,mythology 7vol4 ii41 p4 #cii71 says    
,the phallical serpent is the cause of  
the fall of the first man4 ,many other  
difficulties in the story become less   
obscure when it is viewed as a remnant  
in which a phallic element is embodied4 
,some have detected a phallic           

signification in the story of the ark   
and the deluge1 a legend capable of many
 interpretations4 ,the phallic view is  
represented in the symbols in fig4 #f1  
taken from ,jacob ,bryant's ,mythology1 
vol4 iv41 p4 #bhf1 in which the rainbow 
overshadows the mystic ark1 which       
carries the life across the restless    
flood of time1 which drowns everything  
that has life1 and promises that        
seed-time and harvest shall endure1 and 
the ,ruach broods over the waters4      
,gerald ,massey devotes a section of his
 ,natural ,genesis to the typology of   
the ,ark and the ,deluge4 ,m4           
,clermont-,ganneau holds that the ,ruach
 was the feminine companion of ,elohim1 
and that this idea was continued under  
the name of ,kodesh the ,euach ,kodesh  
or ,holy ,ghost1 which with the ,jews   
and early ,nazarene ,christians was     
feminine4  ,illustration3 ,fig4         
#f4--,the ,mystic ,ark4  ,another point 
to be briefly noticed is ,jacob's       
anointing of the stone which he slept   

on1 and then erected and called ,beth   
,el1 or house of ,god1 the residence of 
the creative spirit4 ,this was a phallic
 rite4 ,exactly the same anointing of   
the linga is performed in ,india till   
this day4 ,it is evident that ,jacob's  
worship of the pillar was orthodox at   
the time the narrative was written1 for 
,god sends him back to the pillar to    
perform his vow 7see ,gen4 xxxv471 and  
again he goes through phallic rites 7v4 
#ad74 ,when ,paul says1 ,flee           
fornication4 ,know ye not that your body
 is the temple of the ,holy ,ghost8 he  
elevates and spiritualises the          
conception which lay in the word        
,bethel4 ,according to ,philo ,byblius1 
the huge stones common in ,syria1 as in 
so many lands1 were called ,baetylia4   
,kalisch says it is not extravagant to  
suppose that the words are identical4   
,from this custom of anointing comes the
 conception of the ,messiah1 or ,christ 
the ,anointed4 ,kissing the stone or god
 appears also to have been a religious  

rite4 ,thus we read of kissing ,baal 7#a
 ,kings xix4 #ah7 and kissing the calves
 7,hos4 xiii4 #b74 ,epi-phanius said    
that the ,ophites kissed the serpent    
which this wretched people called the   
,eucharist4 ,they concluded the         
ceremonies by singing a hymn through him
 to the ,supreme ,father4 7,see         
,fergusson's ,tree and ,serpent         
,worship1 p4 #i47 ,the kissing of the   
,mohammedan saint's member and of the   
,pope's toe are probably connected4     
,amalarius1 who lived in the age of     
,charlemagne1 says that on ,friday      
7,dies ,veneris7 the ,pope and cardinals
 crawl on all fours along the aisles of 
,st4 ,peter's to a cross before an altar
 which they salute and kiss4  ,mr4      
,grant ,allen1 in an article on ,sacred 
,stones in the ,fortnightly ,review1    
,jan41 #ahij1 says3  ,samuel judged     
,israel every year at ,bethel1 the place
 of ,jacob's sacred pillar2 at ,gilgal1 
the place where ,joshua's twelve stones 
were set up2 and at ,mizpeh1 where stood

 the cairn surmounted by the pillars of 
,laban's servant4 ,he1 himself1 'took a 
stone and set it up between ,mizpeh and 
,shen'2 and its very name1 ,ebenezer1   
'the stone of help1' shows that it was  
originally worshipped before proceeding 
on an expedition1 though the ,jehovistic
 gloss1 'saying ,hitherto the ,lord hath
 helped us1' does its best1 of course1  
to obscure the real meaning4 ,it was to 
the stone circle of ,gilgal that ,samuel
 directed ,saul to go down1 saying2 ',i 
will come down unto thee1 to offer burnt
 offerings1 and to sacrifice sacrifices 
of peace offerings4' ,it was at the     
cairn of ,mizpeh that ,saul was chosen  
king2 and after the victory over the    
,ammonites1 ,saul went once more to the 
great ,stonehenge at ,gilgal to 'review 
the kingdom1' and ',there they made     
,saul king before ,jahveh in ,gilgal2   
and there they sacrificed sacrifices of 
peace offerings before ,jahyeh4'  ,this 
last passage1 as ,mr4 ,allen points out1
 is very instructive1 as showing that in

 the opinion of the writer1 ,jahveh was 
then domiciled at ,gilgal4  ,m4 ,soury1 
in his note to chap4 ii4 of his         
,religion of ,israel1 says3 ,it is      
needful to point out1 with ,m4          
,schrader1 that the most ancient        
,babylonian inscriptions in the         
,accadian tongues1 those of ,urukh and  
of ,ur ,kasdim1 preserved in the        
,british ,museum1 were engraved on clay 
phalii4 ,we have here the origin of the 
usages and customs of religion so long  
followed among the ,oanaanites and      
,hebrews 7,y4 ,movers1 ,die ,phonizer1  
,i41 #eia1 et passim74  ,in the old hymn
 embodied in ,deut4 xxxii41 ,god is     
frequently called ,tsur1 ,the ,rock     
which begat thee1 etc4 ,major-,general  
,forlong believes that the ,jews had a  
,phallus or phallic symbol in their     
',ark of the ,testimony' or ,ark of the 
,eduth1 a word which ,i hold tries to   
veil the real objects 7,rivers of ,life1
 vol4 i41 p4 #adi74 ,he does not scruple
 to say this was the real ,god of the   

,jews2 that ,god of the ,ark or the     
,testimony1 but surely not of ,europe   
7vol4 i41 p4 #afi74 ,this contention is 
forcibly suggested by the picture of the
 ,egyptian ,ark found in ,dr4 ,smith's  
,bible ,dictionary1 art4  ,ark of the   
,covenant4 ,the ,ark of the ,testimony1 
or significant thing1 the tabernacle of 
the testimony and the veil of the       
testimony alluded to in ,exodus are     
never mentioned in ,deuteronomy4 ,the   
,rev4 ,t4 ,wilson1 in his               
,archaeological ,dictionary1 art4       
,sanctum1 observes that the ,ark of the 
,covenant1 which was the greatest       
ornament of the first temple1 was       
wanting in the second1 but a stone of   
three inches thick1 it is said1 supplied
 its place1 which they the ,jews further
 assert is still in the ,mahommedan     
mosque called the temple of the ,stone1 
which is erected where the ,temple of   
,jerusalem stood4 ,this forcibly        
suggests that the nature of the ,god in 
the box which the ,jews carried about   

with them was similar to that carried in
 the processions of ,osiris and         
,dionysos4 ,according to #a ,kings viii4
 #i the ,ark contained two stones1 but  
the much later writer of ,heb4 ix4 #d   
makes it contain the golden pot with    
manna1 ,aaron's rod1 and the tables of  
the covenant4  ,mr4 ,sellon1 in the     
papers of the ,anthropological ,society 
of ,london1 #ahfc-d1 p4 #cbg1 argues3   
,there would also now appear good ground
 for believing that the ark of the      
covenant1 held so sacred by the ,jews1  
contained nothing more nor less than a  
phallus1 the ark being the type of the  
,argha or ,yoni 7,linga worship7 of     
,india4 ,hargrave ,jennings             
7,phallicism1 p4 #fg7 says3 ,we know    
from the ,jewish records that the ark   
contained a table of stone4444 ,that    
stone was phallic1 and yet identical    
with the sacred name ,jehovah1 which1   
written in unpointed ,hebrew with four  
letters1 is ,,jeve1 or ,,jhvh 7the ,h   
being merely an aspirate and the same as

 ,e74 ,this process leaves us the two   
letters ,i and ,v 7in another form1 ,u72
 then1 if we place the ,i in the ,v1 we 
have the ',holy of ,holies'2 we also    
have the ,linga and ,yoni and ,argha of 
the ,hindus1 the ,isvara and ',supreme  
,lord'2 and here we have the whole      
secret of its mystic and arc-celestial  
import confirmed in itself by being     
identical with the ,ling-yoni of the    
,ark of the ,covenant4  ,in ,hosea1 who 
finds it quite natural that the ,lord   
should tell him ,go take unto thee a    
wife of whoredoms1 we find the ,lord    
called his zakar 7translated memorial1  
xii4 #e74 ,in the same prophet we read  
that ,jahveh declares thou shalt call me
 ,ishi 7my husband72 and shalt no more  
call me ,baali 7ii4 #af74 ,again he says
 to his people ,i am your husband       
7,hosea iii4 #ad72 ,thy maker is thine  
husband2 ,jahveh ,sabaoth is his name   
7,isaiah liv4 #e74 ,i was an husband to 
them1 saith ,jahveh 7,jer4 xxxi4 #cb4   
,see also ,jer4 iii4 #bj and ,ezek4 xvi4

 #cb74 ,god even does not scruple to    
represent himself in ,ezekiel xxiii4 as 
the husband of two adulterous sisters4  
,taking to other deities is continually 
called whoring and adultery4 ,see ,exod4
 xxxiv4 #ae1 #af2 ,lev4 xx4 #e2 ,num4   
xxv4 #a-c2 ,deut4 xxxi4 #af2 xxxii4     
#af-ba2 ,jud4 ii4 #ag2 viii4 #bg2 #a    
,chron4 v4 #be2 ,ps4 lxxiii4 #bg2 cvi4  
#ci2 ,jer4 iii4 #a1 #b1 #f2 ,ezek4 xvi4 
#ae1 #ag2 xxiii4 #c2 ,hos4 i4 #b2 ii4   
#d1 #e2 iv4 #ac1 #ae2 v4 #c1 #d2 ix4 #g4
 ,in the ,wisdom of ,solomon 7xiv4 #ab71
 we read3 ,for the devising of idols was
 the beginning of spiritual fornication1
 and the invention of them the          
corruption of life4 ,here the word      
spiritual is deliberately inserted to   
pervert the meaning4 ,let any one       
reflect how such coarse expressions     
could continually be used unless the    
writers were used to phallic worship4   
,further consider the narrative in      
,numbers xxxi41 where the ,lord takes a 
maiden tribute out of #cb1jjj girls1 who

 must all have been examined4 ,vestal   
virgins and nuns are all consecrated    
like the kadeshim to the god1 and the   
god is personified by the priest4 ,in   
this sense phallicism is the key of all 
the creeds4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4   
,fig4 #h  ,that some remnants of        
phallicism may be traced even in        
,christianity1 will be evident to the   
readers of ,anacalypsis1 by ,godfrey    
,higgins2 ,ancient ,faiths ,embodied in 
,ancient ,names1 by ,dr4 ,thomas ,inman1
 and ,ancient ,pagan and ,modern        
,christian ,symbolism ,exposed and      
,explained1 by the same author2 the     
valuable ,rivers of ,life1 by           
,major-,general ,forlong2 a little book 
on ,idolomania1 by ,investigator        
,abhorrens2 and another on ,the         
,masculine ,cross1 by ,sha ,rocco 7,new 
,york1 #ahgd74 ,the sign of the cross1  
certainly long pre-,christian in the    
,egyptian sign for life1 is specially   
dealt with in the last two works4 ,in   
fig4 #g we see the connection of the    

,egyptian tau with the ,herm4 ,of fig4  
#h ,general ,forlong 7,rivers of ,life1 
vol i41 p #fe7 says3 ,the ,samaritan    
cross1 which they stamped on their      
coins1 was ,no4 #a1 but the ,norseman   
preferred ,no4 #b 7the circle and four  
stout arms of equal size and weight71   
and called it ,tor's hammer4 ,it is     
somewhat like ,no4 #c1 which the ,greek 
,christians early adopted1 though this  
is more decidedly phallic1 and shows    
clearly the meaning so much insisted on 
by some writers as to all meeting in the
 centre4  ,the custom of eating fish on 
,friday 7,dies ,veneris7 is considered a
 survival of the days when a peculiar   
sexual signification was given to the   
fish1 which has such a prominent place  
in ,christian symbolism4 ,fig4 #i       
illustrates the origin of the bishop's  
mitre4  ,the vescica piscis1 or fish's  
bladder 7fig4 #aj71 is a well-known     
ecclesiastical emblem of the virgin1    
often used in church windows1 seals1    
etc4 ,the symbol is equally known in    

,india4 ,its real nature is shown in    
fig4 #aa1 discovered by ,layard at      
,nineveh1 depicting its worshipper      
seated on a lotus4 ,the vescica piscis  
is conspicuously displayed in fig4 #ab1 
copied from a ,rosary of the ,blessed   
,virgin1 printed at ,venice #aehb1 with 
the license from the ,inquisition1 in   
which the ,holy ,dove darts his ray1    
fecundating the ,holy ,virgin4 ,many    
instances of ,christ in an elliptical   
aureole may be seen in ,didron's        
,christian ,iconography1 fig4 #ga1 p4   
#bha1 vol4 i4 strikingly resembles our  
figure4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 #i42 ,fig4
 #aj42 ,fig4 #aa4  ,illustration3 ,fig4 
#ab4     ,,circumcision4  ,among the    
many traces that the ,jews were once    
savages ,i place the distinguishing mark
 of their race1 circumcision4 ,many     
explanations have been given of this    
curious custom4 ,the account1 in        
,genesis xvii4 that ,god commanded it to
 ,abraham1 at the ripe age of #ii1      
critics agree was written after the     

exile--that is1 thirteen hundred years  
after the death of the patriarch4 ,now1 
there is evidence from the ,egyptian    
monuments that circumcision was known   
long before ,abraham's time4 ,this      
constrains ,dr4 ,kitto to say1 ,god     
might have selected a practice already  
in use among other nations4 ,if so1 ,god
 must have had a curious taste and an   
uninventive mind4 ,why1 having made     
people as they are1 he should order his 
chosen race to be mutilated1 must be a  
puzzle to the orthodox4 ,some writers   
have absurdly argued that the ,egyptians
 borrowed from the ,jews1 whom they     
despised 7see ,genesis xliii4 #cb74     
,apart from the evidence of ,herodotus  
and of monuments and mummies to the     
contrary1 this view is never suggested  
in the ,bible1 but the testimony of the 
book of ,joshua 7v4 #i7 implies the     
reverse4  ,the narrative of the ,lord's 
attempted assassination of ,moses       
7,exodus iv4 #bd-bf71 which we shall    
shortly examine1 has the most archaic   

complexion of any of the biblical       
references to circumcision1 and from it 
,dr4 ,t4 ,k4 ,cheyne argues that the    
rite is of ,arabian origin499 ,if       
instituted in the time of ,abraham under
 the penalty of death1 it is curious    
that ,moses never circumcised his own   
son1 nor saw to its performance in the  
wilderness for forty years1 so that     
,joshua had personally to circumcise    
over a million males at ,gilgal4  ,let  
us now look at the various theories of  
the origin and purpose of circumcision4 
,rationalising ,jews say it is of a     
sanatory character4 ,this view1 though  
found in ,philo1 may be dismissed as an 
after theory to meet a religious        
difficulty4 ,most ,asiatic nations are  
uncircumcised4 ,the ,philistines did not
 practice the rite1 nor did the ,syrians
 in the time of ,josephus4 ,even if in a
 few cases it might possibly be         
beneficial1 that would be no sufficient 
reason for imposing it on a whole nation
 under penalty of death4 ,the fact is1  

the rite is a religious one4 ,indeed1   
upon its retention the early controversy
 between ,jews and ,christians largely  
turned4  ,the view that it is an imposed
 mutilation of a subject race is        
suggested in ,dr4 ,remondino's ,history 
of ,circumcision1 and has the high      
authority of ,herbert ,spencer4 ,he     
instances the trophy of foreskins taken 
by ,david as a dowry for ,saul's        
daughter 7#a ,sam4 xviii4 #bg71 and that
 ,hyrcanus having subdued the ,idumeans1
 made them submit to circumcision4      
,this1 however1 may have been a part of 
the policy of making them one with the  
,jewish race in being tributary to      
,jahveh4 ,it is not easy to see how a   
mutilation imposed from without should  
ever become a part of the pride of race 
and be enjoined when all other          
mutilations were forbidden4       99    
,encyclopaedia ,britannica1 article     
,circumcision4  ,i incline to a view    
which1 although in accord with early    
sociological conditions1 ,i have never  

yet seen stated4 ,it was suggested to me
 by the passage where ,tacitus alludes  
to this custom among the ,jews4 ,it is  
that circumcision is of the nature of   
savage totem and tattoo marks--a device 
to distinguish the tribal division from 
other tribes1 and to indicate those with
 whom the tribe might marry499 ,if1 as  
has been suggested1 the meaning of      
,genesis xxxiv4 #ad is one who is       
uncircumcised is as a woman to us1 this 
view is confirmed4 ,the ,jewish         
abhorrence to mixed marriages and the   
bed of the uncircumcised is well known4 
99 ,what ,tacitus says is1 ,they do not 
eat with strangers or      make         
marriages with them1 and this nation1   
otherwise most      prone to debauchery1
 abstains from all strange women4 ,they 
have introduced circumcision in order to
 distinguish      themselves thereby4   
,the ,hebrew distinguishing term for    
male--zachar1 which also means record or
 memorial--will agree with this view1 as
 also with that of ,dr4 ,trumbull1 which

 associates circumcision with that of   
blood-covenanting4 ,it seems evident    
from the narrative in ,exodus iv41 where
 ,zipporah1 after circumcising her son1 
says--not as generally understood to    
,moses--,a bloody husband art thou to   
me1 but to ,jahveh1 ,thou art a ,kathan 
of blood--i4e41 one made akin by        
circumcision--that this idea of a       
blood-covenant became interwoven with   
the rite4 ,it is to be noticed that in  
the covenant between ,god and the ,jews 
women had no share4  ,dr4 ,kuenen holds 
that circumcision is of the nature of a 
substitute for human sacrifice4 ,no     
doubt the ,jews had such sacrifices1 and
 were familiar with the idea of         
substitution2 but with this ,i rather   
connect the ,passover observance4 ,if a 
sacrifice1 it was doubtless phallic--an 
offering to the god on whom the fruit of
 the womb depended2 possibly a          
substitution for the barbarous rites by 
which the priests of ,cybele were       
instituted for office4 ,ptolemy's       

,tetrabibles1 speaking of the           
neighboring nations1 says3 ,many of them
 devote their genitals to their         
divinities4 ,according to ,gerald       
,massey1 it was a dedication of the     
first-fruits of the male at the shrine  
of the virgin mother and child1 which   
was one way of passing the seed through 
the fire to ,moloch4  ,westrop and ,wake
 7,phallicism in ,ancient ,religion1 p4 
#cg7 say ,circumcision1 in its          
inception1 is a purely phallic rite1    
having for its aim the marking of that  
which from its associations is viewed   
with peculiar veneration1 and it        
converts the two phases of this         
superstition which have for their object
 respectively the instrument of         
generation and the agent4  ,general     
,forlong1 who maintains the phallic     
view1 also holds that truth compels us  
to attach an ,aphrodisiacal character to
 the mutilations of this highly sensual 
,jewish race4 ,this view will not be    
hastily rejected by those who know of   

the many strange devices resorted to by 
barbarous peoples4 ,some have believed  
that circumcision enhances fecundity4   
,with the exception of the two first    
views1 which ,i dismiss as not          
explaining the religious and permanent  
character of the rite1 all these views  
imply a special regard being paid to the
 emblem of generation4 ,this is further 
confirmed by the manner of oath-taking  
customary among the ancient ,jews4 ,when
 ,abraham swore his servant1 he said1   
,put1 ,i pray thee1 thy hand under my   
thigh 7,gen4 xxiv4 #b74 ,the same       
euphemism is used in the account of     
,jacob swearing ,joseph 7xlvii4 #bi71   
and the custom1 which has lasted among  
,arabs until modern days1 is also       
alluded to in the ,hebrew of #a         
,chronicles xxix4 #bd4 ,the ,latin      
testiculi seems to point to a similar   
custom4 ,in the law that no             
uncircumcised or sexually-imperfect     
person might appear before the shrine of
 the ,lord1 we may see yet further      

evidence that ,jewish worship was akin  
to the phallic rites of the nations     
around them4     ,,moses ,,at ,,the     
,,inn  ,and it came to pass by the way  
in the inn1 that the lord met him1 and  
sought to kill him4 ,then ,zipporah took
 a sharp stone1 and cut off the foreskin
 of her son1 and cast it at his feet1   
and said1       ,surely a bloody husband
 art thou to me4      ,so he let him go3
 then she said1      ,a bloody husband  
thou art1 because of the circumcision4  
--,exodus iv4 #bd-bf4  ,anyone who      
wishes to note the various shifts to    
which orthodox people will resort in    
their attempts to pass off the barbarous
 records of the ,jews as ,god's holy    
word1 should demand an explanation of   
the attempted assassination of ,moses by
 ,jehovah1 as recorded in the above     
verses4 ,some commentators say that by  
the ,lord is meant the angel of the     
,lord1 as if ,jehovah was incapable of  
personally conducting so nefarious a    
piece of business4 ,bishop ,patrick says

 ,the ,schechinah1 ,i suppose1 appeared 
to him--appeared with a drawn sword1    
perhaps1 as he did to ,balaam and       
,david4 ,some say it was ,moses's       
firstborn the ,lord sought to kill4     
,some say it was at the child's feet the
 foreskin was cast1 others at those of  
,moses1 but the ,targums of ,jonathan   
and ,jerusalem more properly represent  
that it was at the feet of ,god1 in     
order to pacify him4  ,the story        
certainly presents some difficulties4   
,moses had just had one of his numerous 
interviews with ,jehovah1 who had told  
him to go back to ,egypt1 for all those 
are dead who sought his life4 ,he is to 
tell ,pharaoh that ,israel is the       
,lord's firstborn1 and that if ,pharaoh 
will not let the ,israelites go he will 
slay ,pharaoh's firstborn4 ,then        
immediately follows this passage4 ,why  
this sudden change of conduct towards   
,moses1 whose life ,jehovah was         
apparently so anxious to save8  ,adam   
,clarke says the meaning is that the son

 of ,moses had not been circumcised1 and
 therefore ,jehovah was about to have   
slain the child because not in covenant 
with him by circumcision1 and thus he   
intended after his usual brutal fashion 
to punish the disobedience of the father
 by the death of the son4 ,zip-porah    
getting acquainted with the nature of   
the case1 and the danger to which her   
firstborn was exposed1 took a sharp     
stone and cut off the foreskin of her   
son4 ,by this act the displeasure of the
 ,lord was turned aside1 and ,zipporah  
considered herself as now allied to ,god
 because of this circumcision4 ,old     
,adam tries to gloss over the attempted 
assassination of ,moses by pretending it
 was only a child's life that was in    
danger4 ,but we beg the reader to notice
 that no child is mentioned1 but only a 
son whose age is unspecified4 ,dr4      
,clarke can hardly have read the        
treatise of ,john ,frischl1 ,de         
,circumcisione ,zipporo1 or he would    
surely have admitted that the person    

menaced with death was ,moses1 and not  
his son4  ,other commentators say that  
,zipporah did not like the snipping     
business 7although she seems to have    
understood it at once71 and therefore   
addressed her husband opprobriously4    
,circumcision1 we may remark1 was       
anciently performed with stone4 ,the    
,septuagint version records how the     
flints with which ,joshua circumcised   
the people at ,gilgal were buried in his
 grave4  ,a nice specimen of the modern 
,christian method of semi-rationalising 
may be found in ,dr4 ,smith's ,bible    
,dictionary1 to which the clergy usually
 turn for help in regard to any         
difficulties in connection with the     
sacred fetish they call the word of     
,god4 ,smith says3  ,the most probable  
explanation seems to be1 that at the    
caravanserai either ,moses or ,gershom  
was struck with what seemed to be a     
mortal illness4 ,in some way1 not       
apparent to us1 this illness was        
connected by ,zipporah with the fact    

that her son had not been circumcised4  
,she instantly performed the rite1 and  
threw the sharp instrument1 stained with
 the fresh blood1 at the feet of her    
husband1 exclaiming in the agony of a   
mother's anxiety for the life of her    
child1 ',a bloody husband thou art1 to  
cause the death of my son4' ,then when  
the recovery from the illness took place
 7whether of ,moses or ,gershom71 she   
exclaims again1 ',a bloody husband still
 thou art1 but not so as to cause the   
child's death1 but only to bring about  
his circumcision4'  ,we have no         
hesitation in saying that this most     
approved explanation is the worst4 ,in  
seeking to make the story rational1 it  
utterly ignores the primitive ideas and 
customs by which alone this ancient     
fragment can be interpreted4 ,one little
 fact is sufficient to refute it4 ,the  
,jews never use the word ,khathan1      
improperly translated husband1 after    
marriage4 ,the word may be interpreted  
spouse1 betrothed or bridegroom1 but not

 husband4 ,the ,revised ,version1 which 
always follows as closely as possible   
the ,authorised ,version1 translates a  
bridegroom of blood4 ,but this makes it 
evident that ,moses was not addressed1  
for no woman having a son calls her     
husband bridegroom4 ,we may now see the 
true meaning of the incident--that by   
the blood covenant of circumcision1     
,zipporah entered into kinship with     
,jehovah and thereby claimed his        
friendship instead of enmity4 ,in       
ancient times only the good-will of     
those who recognise the family bond or  
ties of blood could be relied on4       
,herbert ,spencer1 in his ,ceremonial   
,institutions1 contends that bloody     
sacrifices arise from the practice of   
establishing a sacred bond between      
living persons by partaking of each     
other's blood3 the derived conception1  
being that those who give some of their 
blood to the ghost of a man just dead   
and lingering near1 effect with it a    
union which on the one side implies     

submission1 and on the other side       
friendliness4  ,dr4 ,t4 ,k4 ,oheyne1 in 
his article on ,circumcision in the     
,encyclopaedia ,britannica1 takes the   
story of ,moses at the inn as a proof   
that circumcision was of ,arabic origin4
 ,he says2 ,khathan meant originally not
 'husband1' but 'a newly admitted member
 of the family4' ,so that 'a khathan of 
blood' meant one who has become a       
khathan1 not by marriage1 but by        
circumcision1 a meaning confirmed by the
 derived sense of the ,arabic khatana1  
to circumcise--circumcision being       
performed in ,arabia at the age of      
puberty4  ,the ,english of the ,catholic
 ,douay version is not so good as the   
,authorised ,version1 but it brings us  
nearer the real meaning of the story4   
,it runs thus3  ,and when he was in his 
journey1 in the inn1 the ,lord met him  
and would have killed him4 ,immediately 
,sephora took a very sharp stone1 and   
circumcised the foreskin of her son1 and
 touched his feet1 and said3 ,a bloody  

spouse art thou to me4 ,and he let him  
go after she had said3 ,a bloody spouse 
art thou unto me1 because of the        
circumcision4  ,here it is evidently the
 feet of the ,lord that are touched1 as 
was the ancient practice in rendering   
tribute1 and we see that the foreskin   
was a propitiatory offering4  ,dr4      
,trumbull in his interesting book on the
 ,blood ,covenant1 says3 ,the ,hebrew   
word ,khathan has as its root idea1 the 
binding through severing1 the           
covenanting by blood2 an idea that is in
 the marriage-rite1 as the ,orientals   
view it1 and that is in the rite of     
circumcision also4 ,dr4 ,trumbull omits 
to say that the term is not used after  
marriage1 and consequently that it must 
be taken as applied to the ,lord4       
,zipporah1 being already married1 did   
not need to enter into the blood        
covenant with ,moses1 but with ,jehovah1
 so that to her and hers the ,lord might
 henceforth be friendly4  ,we do not    
make much of the inn4 ,there were no    

public-houses between ,midian and       
,egypt4 ,probably the reference is only 
to a resting-place or caravanserai4 ,we 
would1 therefore1 render the passage    
thus3  ,the ,lord met him ,moses at a   
halting place and sought to kill him4   
,then ,zipporah took a flint1 and cut   
off the foreskin of her son and cast it 
at made it touch his the ,lord's feet1  
and she said3 ,surely a kinsman of blood
 one newly bound through blood art thou 
to me4 ,so he the ,lord let him ,moses  
alone4  ,kuenen considers the passage1  
in connection with the place where it is
 inserted1 indicated that circumcision  
was a substitute for child sacrifice4   
,any way1 it may safely be said that the
 mark which every ,jew bears on his own 
body is a sign that his ancestry        
worshipped a deity who sought to        
assassinate ,moses1 and was only to be  
appeased by an offering of blood4       
,,the ,,brazen ,,serpent1 ,,and         
,,salvation ,,by ,,similars4            
,hahnemann1 the founder of homoeopathy1 

is usually credited with the            
introduction of the medical maxim1      
similta similibus ourantur--like things 
are cured by like4 ,those who would     
dispute his originality need not refer  
to the ancient saying familiar to all   
topers1 of taking a hair of the dog that
 bit you2 they may find the origin of   
the homoeopathic doctrine in the great  
source of all inspiration--the holy     
,bible4  ,the book of ,numbers contains 
several recipes which would be          
invaluable if divine grace would enable 
us to re-discover and correctly employ  
them4 ,there is1 for instance1 the holy 
water described in chap4 v41 the effects
 of which will enable any jealous       
husband to discover if his wife has been
 faithful to him or not1 and in the case
 of her guilt enable him to dispense    
with the services of ,sir ,james        
,hannen4  ,but perhaps the most curious 
prescription in the book is that        
recorded in the twenty-first chapter4   
,the ,israelites wandering about for    

forty years1 without travelling forty   
miles1 got tired of the heavenly manna  
with which the universal provider       
supplied them4 ,they looked back on the 
fried fish1 which they did eat in ,egypt
 freely1 the cucumbers1 melons1 leeks1  
onions and garlic1 wherein the ,jewish  
stomach delighteth1 and they longed for 
a change of diet4 ,upon remonstrating   
with ,moses1 and stating their          
preference for ,egyptian lentils rather 
than celestial mushrooms1 the ,lord of  
his tender mercy sent fiery serpents    
7the word is properly translated        
seraphim71 and they bit the people2 and 
much people of ,israel died4 ,then the  
people prayed ,moses to intercede for   
them1 saying1 ,we have sinned1 for we   
have spoken against the ,lord and       
against thee2 and ,jahveh1 in direct    
opposition to his own commandment1      
directed ,moses to make a fiery serpent1
 and set it upon a pole1 and it shall   
come to pass that every one that is     
bitten when he looketh upon it shall    

live4 ,moses accordingly made a serpent 
of brass1 we presume from some of that  
stolen from the ,egyptians1 which had   
the desired effect4 ,instead of being   
but one monster more1 the sight         
immediately cured the wounds1 and these 
seraphim sent by the ,lord1 ashamed of  
being beaten by their brazen brother1   
skedaddled4 ,of course it may be        
contended that a seraph is neither in   
the likeness of anything in heaven      
above1 in earth beneath1 or in the      
water1 or fire1 under the earth1 and    
that consequently ,moses in no wise     
infringed the ,decalogue4  ,commentators
 have been puzzled to account for this  
evident relic of serpent worship in a   
religion so abhorrent of idolatry as    
that of the ,jews4 ,these gentry usually
 shut their eyes very close to the many 
evidences that the god-guided people    
were always falling into the idolatries 
of the surrounding nations4 ,now we know
 that the ,babylonians1 in common with  
all the great nations of antiquity1     

worshipped the serpent4 ,it has been    
thought1 indeed1 that the name ,baal is 
an abbreviation of ,ob-el1 the serpent  
god4 ,in the ,apocryphal book of ,bel   
and the ,dragon1 to be found in every   
,catholic ,bible1 it says 7v4 #bc73 ,and
 in that same place there was a great   
dragon1 which they of ,babylon          
worshipped4 ,and the king said unto     
,daniel1 ,wilt thou also say that this  
is of brass8 ,lo1 he liveth1 he eateth  
and drinketh1 thou canst not say that he
 is no living god2 therefore worship    
him4 ,serpent worship is indeed so      
widely spread1 and of such great        
antiquity1 that it has been conjectured 
to have sprung from the antipathy       
between our monkey ancestors and snakes4
 ,in this legend the brazen serpent is  
benevolent1 but more usually that       
reptile represents the evil principle4  
,thus a story in the ,zendavesta 7which 
is clearly allied to1 and may have      
suggested that in ,genesis7 says that   
,ahriman assumed a serpent's form in    

order to destroy the first of the human 
race1 whom he accordingly poisoned4 ,in 
the ,saddu we read3 ,when you kill      
serpents you shall repeat the           
,zendavesta1 whereby you will obtain    
great merit2 for it is the same as if   
you had killed so many devils4 ,it is   
curious that the serpent which is the   
evil genius of ,genesis is the good     
genius in ,numbers1 and that ,jesus     
himself is represented as comparing     
himself to it 7,john iii4 #ad74 ,an     
early ,christian sect1 the ,ophites1    
found serpent worshipping quite         
consistent with their ,christianity4    
,it seems likely that this story of the 
brazen serpent having been made by      
,moses1 was a priestly invention to     
account for its being an object of      
idolatry among the ,jews1 as we know    
from #b ,kings xviii4 #d1 it was        
worshipped down to the time of          
,hezekiah1 that is #gjj years after the 
time of ,moses4 ,hezekiah1 we are told1 
broke the brazen serpent in pieces1 but 

it must have been miraculously joined   
again1 for the identical article is     
still to be seen1 for a consideration1  
in the ,church of ,st4 ,ambrose at      
,milan4 ,some learned rabbis regard the 
brazen serpent as a talisman which      
,moses was enabled to prepare from his  
knowledge of astrology4 ,others say it  
was a form of amulet to be copied and   
worn as a charm against disease4 ,others
 again declare it was only set up in    
terrorem1 as a man who has chastised his
 son hangs up the rod against the wall  
as a warning4 ,rationalising            
commentators have pretended that it was 
but an emblem of healing by the medical 
art1 a sort of sign-post to a camp      
hospital1 like the red cross flag over  
an ambulance4 ,these altogether pervert 
the text1 and miss the meaning of the   
passage4 ,the resemblance of the object 
set up was of the essence of the cure1  
as may be seen in #a ,sam4 vi4 #e4 ,in  
truth1 the doctrine of like curing like1
 instead of being a modern discovery is 

a very ancient superstition4 ,the old   
medical books are full of prescriptions1
 or rather charms1 founded on this      
notion499 ,it is1 indeed1 one of the    
recognised principles in savage magic   
and medicine that things like each      
other1 however superficially1 affect    
each other in a mystic way1 and possess 
identical properties4 ,thus in          
,melanesia1 according to ,mr4           
,codrington19999 a stone in the shape of
 a pig1 of a bread fruit1 of a yam1 was 
a most valuable find1 because it made   
pigs prolific1 and fertilised bread1    
fruit trees1 and yam plots4       99    
,see ,myths in ,medicine and ,old ,time 
,doctors1 by ,alfred ,c4      ,garratt1 
,m4,d4       9999  ,journal             
,anthropological ,institute1 ,february1 
#ahha4  ,in ,scotland1 too1 stones were 
called by the names of the limbs they   
resembled1 as 'eye-stanes1 head-stane4' 
,a patient washed the affected part of  
his body1 and rubbed it well with the   
stone corresponding4 ,in precisely the  

same way the mandrake99 root1 being     
thought to resemble the human body1 was 
supposed to be of wondrous medical      
efficacy1 and was credited with human   
and super-human powers49999 ,the method 
of cure1 when the ,philistines were     
smitten with emerods and mice1 was to   
make images of the same 7#a ,sam4 vi4   
#e71 and the same idea was found in the 
well-known superstition of sorcerers    
making a waxen man to represent an      
enemy1 injuries to the waxen figure     
being supposed to affect the person     
represented4       99 ,gregor1          
,folk-lore of ,north-,east ,counties1 p4
 #dj4       9999 ,see the paper on ,moly
 and ,mandragora1 in ,a4 ,lang's        
,custom and ,myth2 #ahhd4  ,many curious
 customs and superstitions may be traced
 to this belief4 ,in old medical works  
one may still read that to eat of a     
lion's heart is a specific to ensure    
courage1 while other organs and certain 
bulbous plants are a remedy for         
sterility4 ,the virtue of all the       

ancient aphrodisiacs resided in their   
shape4 ,this notion1 which largely      
affected the early history of medicine1 
is known as the doctrine of signatures4 
,certain plants and other natural       
objects were believed to be so marked or
 stamped that they presented visibly the
 indications of the diseases1 or        
diseased organs1 for which they were    
specifics2 these were their signatures4 
,hence a large portion of the ancient   
art of medicine consisted in            
ascertaining what plants were analogous 
to the symptoms of disease1 or to the   
organ diseased4 ,to this doctrine we owe
 some popular names of plants1 such as  
eye-bright1 liver-wort1 spleen-wort1    
etc4 ,the mandrake1 from its supposed   
resemblance to the human form1 was      
credited with marvellous powers1 and    
anyone who will take the trouble to     
inquire into the folk-lore concerning   
plants and disease will find that much  
depends upon the appearance of the      
remedy4  ,one of the most curious       

peculiarities of ,christianity is its   
doctrine of a ,god crucified for        
sinners4 ,so strange1 so repugnant to   
reason as such a doctrine is1 it was    
quite consonant to the thoughts of those
 who held the belief in salvation by    
similars4 ,if ,paul said1 since by man  
came death by man came also the         
resurrection of the dead1 the           
development of the doctrine necessitated
 that if it is ,god who damns it is also
 ,god who saves4 ,any casual reader of  
,paul must have been struck by the      
antithesis which he constantly draws    
between the law and the ,gospel1 works  
and faith1 the fall of man1 and the     
redemption through the second ,adam4    
,the very phrase second ,adam implies   
this doctrine1 which is summed up in the
 statement that ,christ hath redeemed us
 from the curse of the law1 being made a
 curse for us 7,gal4 iii4 #ac74  ,god1  
in order to redeem man1 had to take on  
sinful flesh and be himself the curse in
 order to be the cure4 ,hence we read in

 the ,teaching of the ,twelve ,apostles1
 chap4 xvi41 that they who endure in    
their faith shall be saved by the very  
curse4 ,thus may we understand that     
which modern ,christians find so        
difficult of explanation1 viz41 that the
 whole ,christian world for the first   
thousand years from ,st4 ,justin to ,st4
 ,anselm believed that ,christ paid the 
ransom for sinners to the ,devil1 their 
natural owner4 ,christ in order to      
become the ,savior had to become the    
curse1 had to die and had to descend to 
hell1 though of course1 being ,god1 he  
could not stay there4 ,hence his being  
likened to the brazen serpent1 that     
remnant of early ,jewish fetichism which
 was smashed by ,hezekiah 7#b ,kings    
xviii4 #d74 ,john makes ,jesus himself  
teach that as ,moses lifted up the      
serpent in the wilderness as a cure for 
serpent bites even so must the ,son of  
man be lifted up1 that whosoever        
believeth in him should not perish but  
have eternal life4  ,so ,irenus says    

7bk4 iv41 chap4 #b71 men can be saved in
 no other way from the old wound of the 
serpent than by believing in him1 who in
 the likeness of sinful flesh1 is lifted
 up from the earth on the tree of       
martyrdom1 and draws all things to      
himself and vivified the dead4 ,that is1
 ,christ was made sinful flesh to be the
 curse itself1 just as the innocent     
brass appeared a serpent1 because the   
form of the curse was necessary to the  
cure4 ,paul dwells on the passage of the
 law ,cursed is he that hangeth on a    
tree1 with the very object of showing   
that ,christ1 cursed under the law1 was 
a blessing under his glad tidings4 ,the 
,fathers were never tired of saying that
 man was lost by a tree 7in ,eden7 and  
saved by a tree 7on ,calvary71 that as  
the curse came in child-birth99 and     
thorns1 so the world was saved by the   
birth of ,christ and his crown of       
thorns4 ,justin says1 ,as the curse came
 by a ,virgin1 so by a ,virgin the      
salvation1 and this antithesis between  

,eve and ,mary has been carried on by   
,catholic writers down to our own day4  
99 ,notice too #a ,tim4 #ae1 where women
 are said to be saved by      child     
birth1 their curse4  ,as the ,christian 
doctrine of salvation through the blood 
of ,christ has certainly no more        
foundation in fact than the efficacy of 
liver-wort in liver diseases1 we suggest
 it may have no better foundation than  
the ancient superstition of salvation by
 similars4     ,,religion ,,and ,,magic4
  ,new ,presbyter1 says ,milton1 is but 
old priest writ large4 ,old priest1 it  
may be said1 is but older sorcerer in   
disguise4 ,in early times religion and  
magic were intimately associated2       
indeed1 it may be said they were one and
 the same4 ,the earliest religion being 
the belief in spirits1 the earliest     
worship is an attempt to influence or   
propitiate them by means that can only  
be described as magical2 the belief in  
spirits and in magic both being founded 
on dreams4 ,medicine men and sorcerers  

were the first priests4 ,herbert        
,spencer says 7,principles of           
,sociology1 sec4 #ehi73 ,a satisfactory 
distinction between priests and medicine
 men is difficult to find4 ,both are    
concerned with supernatural agents1     
which in their original form are ghosts2
 and their ways of dealing with these   
supernatural agents are so variously    
mingled1 that at the outset no clear    
classification can be made4 ,among the  
,patagonians the same men officiate in  
the threefold capacity of priests1      
magicians and doctors2 and among the    
,north ,american ,indians the functions 
of sorcerer1 prophet1 physician1        
exorciser1 priest1 and rain doctor are  
united4  ,everywhere we find the priests
 are magicians4 ,their authority rests  
on imagined and dreaded power4  ,they   
are supposed by their spells and        
incantations to have power over nature1 
or rather the spirits supposed to       
preside over it4 ,hence they became the 
rulers of the people4 ,the modern       

priest1 who is supposed by muttering a  
formula to change the nature of         
consecrated elements or by his prayers  
to bring blessings on the people1       
betrays his lineal descent from the     
primitive rain-makers and sorcerers of  
savagery4  ,the ,bible is full of magic 
and sorcery4 ,its heroes are magicians1 
from ,jahveh ,elohim1 who puts ,adam    
into a sleep and then makes woman from  
his rib1 to ,jesus who casts out devils 
and cures blindness with clay and       
spittle1 and whose followers perform    
similar works by the power of his name4 
,the most esteemed persons among the    
,jews were magicians4 ,pious ,jacob     
cheats his uncle by a species of magic  
with peeled rods4 ,joseph not only tells
 fortunes by interpreting dreams but has
 a divining cup 7,gen4 xliv4 #e71       
doubtless similar to the magic bowls    
used to the present day in ,egypt1 in   
which1 as described by ,lane in his     
,modern ,egyptians1 a boy looks and     
pretends to see images of the future in 

water4  ,the fourth chapter of ,exodus  
gives the initiation of ,moses into the 
magician's art by ,jahveh1 the great    
adept1 who changes the rod of ,moses    
into a serpent and back again into a    
rod2 suddenly makes his hand leprous1   
and as suddenly restores it4 ,moses and 
,aaron show themselves superior         
magicians to those at the court of      
,pharaoh1 who1 when ,aaron cast down his
 magic rod and it became a serpent1 did 
in like manner with their rods1 which   
also became serpents1 though ,aaron's   
rod swallowed up their rods 7,exodus    
vii4 #aa1ab74 ,upon this passage the    
learned ,methodist commentator1 ,dr4    
,adam ,clarke1 writing at an age when   
the belief in witchcraft was almost     
extinct1 after remarking that such feats
 evidently required something more than 
jugglery1 observes3 ,how much more      
rational at once to allow that these    
magicians had familiar spirits who could
 assume all shapes1 change the          
appearance of the subjects on which they

 operated1 or suddenly convey one thing 
away and substitute another in its      
place4  ,aaron also used his rod to     
change all the water into blood1 a feat 
which the ,egyptian magicians also      
contrived to perform--we presume with   
the aid of spirits4 ,if you believe in  
spirits1 there is no end to the         
supposition of what they might do4 ,the 
magic rod of ,moses is used to divide   
the water of the ,red ,sea1 so that the 
children went through the midst of the  
sea on dry ground 7,ex4 xiv4 #af71 and  
to draw water from a rock 7,num4 xx4    
#h74 ,aaron's rod blossoms miraculously 
to show the superiority of the tribe of 
,levi 7,num4 xvii4 #h74  ,the ,urim and 
,thummin of ,aaron's breastplate were   
also magical articles used in divination
 7see ,num4 xxviii4 #ba2 #a ,sam4 xxiii4
 #i1 and xxx4 #g1 #h74 ,casting lots was
 another method of divination often     
referred to in the ,bible4 ,prov4 xvi4  
#ca1 says ,the lot is cast into the lap1
 but the whole disposing thereof is with

 the ,lord4 ,it was because when ,saul  
inquired of ,jahveh1 ,jahveh answered   
him not1 neither by dreams1 nor by      
,urim1 nor by prophets 7#a ,sam4 xxviii4
 #f71 that he resorted to the witch of  
,endor4 ,the ephod and holy plate 7,ex4 
xxviii471 and the phylacteries worn as  
frontlets between the eyes 7,deut4 vi4  
#h71 were magical amulets4 ,modern      
,arabs wear scraps of the ,koran in a   
similar way4 ,the holy oil 7,ex4 xxx47  
and the water of jealousy 7,num4 v47    
were magical1 as was also the brazen    
serpent1 adored down to the days of     
,hezekiah4 ,the great ,wizard's ark was 
also endowed with magical powers1       
bringing with it victory and punishing  
those who infringed its tabu2 it was    
taken into battle4 ,his sanctuary was   
also called an oracle where the priest  
inquired of the ,lord 7#b ,sam4 xvi4    
#bc2 #a ,kings vi4 #af74  ,the teraphim 
were also magical1 as we learn from     
,ezek4 xxi4 #ba1 where the word is      
translated images4 ,the prophet ,hosea1 

one of the very earliest of the ,old    
,testament writers 7about #gdj71        
announced as a misfortune that the      
children of ,israel shall abide many    
days without a king1 and without a      
prince1 and without a sacrifice1 and    
without an image1 and without an ephod1 
and without teraphim4 ,laban1 although a
 believer in ,elohim1 calls the teraphim
 his gods 7,genesis xxxi4 #bi1 #cj71 and
 so does ,micah 7,judges xviii4 #ah-bd74
 ,the latter chapter shows that the     
teraphim were worshipped and served by  
the descendants of ,moses down to the   
time of ,david 7see ,revised ,version74 
,david's wife ,michal kept one in the   
house 7#a ,sam4 xix4 #ac74 ,it was      
evidently a fetish in human shape4 ,how 
comes it1 then1 one may ask1 that       
divination and sorcery are denounced in 
,deuteronomy xviii48 ,the answer is     
simple4 ,the ,deutoronomic law was first
 found in the time of ,josiah1 ,b4,c4   
#fda 7see #b ,kings xxii4 #h-aa71 and   
there is abundant evidence it was not   

known before that time4 ,josiah1 as we  
learn from #b ,kings xxiii4 #bd1 put    
away the familiar spirits1 and the      
wizards and the teraphim and the idols1 
as ,hezekiah 7b4c4 #gbf7 had destroyed  
the brazen serpent4 ,not only had       
,jezebel practised witchcraft 7#b ,kings
 ix4 #bb71 but ,manasseh1 the son of    
,hezekiah1 dealt with a familiar spirit 
and with wizards 7#b ,chron4 xxxiii4    
#f74 ,these1 it may be said1 were wicked
 persons4  ,yet another piece of        
evidence is derived from the fact that  
,nashon1 the chief of the tribe of      
,judah and one of the ancestry of the   
blessed ,savior1 signifies enchanter4   
,zechariah 7b4c4 #ehj7 shows the great  
advance made from the time of ,hosea by 
declaring that the teraphim have spoken 
vanity1 and the diviners have seen a    
lie1 and have told false dreams 7x4 #b74
  ,samuel1 like other early priests1 was
 ruler and weather doctor1 ,elijah was a
 corpse restorer and rain com-peller4   
,elisha not only inherited his mantle1  

but also raised the dead and multiplied 
food4 ,his very bones proved magical4   
,jesus ,christ was a great wonderworker 
or magician1 casting out devils1 turning
 water into wine1 healing diseases even 
by the touch of his magical robe1 and   
finally levitating from earth4  ,the    
charge brought against ,jesus by the    
,jews was that he had stolen the sacred 
,word and by it wrought miracles4 ,we   
read in the ,gospels that ,jesus cast   
out spirits with his word 7,matt4 viii4 
#af74 ,jesus promised that in his name  
his disciples should cast out devils1   
and ,peter declared that his name healed
 the lame 7,acts iii4 #af74 ,when the   
,jews asked1 ,by what power1 or by what 
name have we done this 7,acts iv4 #g71  
,peter answered1 ,by the name of ,jesus 
,christ4 ,paul says1 ,god hath444 given 
him a name which is above every name3   
,that at the name of ,jesus every knee  
should bow in heaven and in earth and   
under the earth 7,philip ii4 #i1 #aj74  
,any careful reader of the ,bible must  

have been struck with the frequency with
 which the name of the ,lord is         
mentioned1 and the care not to profane  
that name4 ,thou shalt not take the name
 of the ,lord thy ,god in vain is the   
second commandment1 and ,christians     
still speak of ,god in a bondsman's key 
with bated breath and whispering        
humbleness1 for no better reason than   
this old superstition4 ,in ,leviticus   
xxiv4 #aa and #af1 the word translated  
by us blasphemeth was by the ,jews      
rendered pronounces1 so that the son of 
the ,israelitish woman was stoned to    
death for pronouncing the ineffable name
 of ,j4,h4,v4,h4 ,the ,talmud say ,he   
who attempts to pronounce it shall have 
no part in the world to come4 ,once a   
year only1 on the day of ,atonement1 was
 the high priest allowed to whisper the 
word1 even as at the present day the    
word is whispered in ,masonic lodges4   
,the ,hebrew ,jehovah dates only from   
the ,massoretic invention of points4    
,when the ,rabbis began to insert the   

vowel-points they had lost the true     
pronunciation of the sacred name4 ,to   
the letters ,j4 ,h4 ,v4 ,h4 they put the
 vowels of ,edonai or ,adonai1 lord or  
master1 the name which in their prayers 
they substitute for ,jahveh4 ,moses     
wanted to know the name of the god of   
the burning bush4 ,he was put off with  
the formula ,i am that ,i am4 ,jahveh   
having lost his name has become ,i was  
but am not4 ,when ,jacob wrestled with  
the god1 angel1 or ghost1 he demanded   
his name4 ,the wary angel did not comply
 7,gen4 xxxii4 #bi47 ,so the father of  
,samson begs the angel to say what is   
his name4 ,and the angel of the ,lord   
said unto him1 why asketh thou thus     
after my name seeing it is secret       
7,judges xiii4 #ah74 ,all this          
superstition can be traced to the belief
 that to know the names of persons was  
to acquire power over them4  ,in process
 of time the priest displaces the       
sorcerer1 while still retaining certain 
of his functions4 ,the gods of a        

displaced religion are regarded as      
devils and their worship as sorcery4    
,much of the persecution of witchcraft  
which went on in the ages when          
,christianity was dominant was really   
the extirpation of the surviving rites  
of ,paganism4 ,it is curious that it is 
always the more savage races that are   
believed to have the greatest magical   
powers4 ,dr4 ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor says3 ,in   
the ,middle ,ages the name of ,finn was1
 as it still remains among seafaring    
men1 equivalent to that of sorcerer1    
while ,lapland witches had a ,european  
celebrity as practitioners of the black 
art4 ,ages after the ,finns had risen in
 the social scale1 the ,lapps retained  
much of their old half-savage habit of  
life1 and with it naturally their       
witchcraft1 so that even the            
magic-gifted ,finns revered the occult  
powers of a people more barbarous than  
themselves4  ,the same writer           
continues993 ,among the early           
,christians1 sorcery was recognised as  

illegal miracle2 and magic arts1 such as
 turning men into beasts1 calling up    
familiar demons1 raising storms1 etc41  
are mentioned1 not in a sceptical       
spirit1 but with reprobation4 ,in the   
changed relations of the state to the   
church under ,constantine1 the laws     
against magic served the new purpose of 
proscribing the rites of the ,greek and 
,roman religion1 whose oracles1         
sacrifices and auguries1 once carried on
 under the highest public sanction1 were
 put under the same ban with the low    
arts of the necromancer and the witch4  
,as ,christianity extended its sway over
 ,europe1 the same antagonism continued1
 the church striving with considerable  
success to put down at once the old     
local religions1 and the even older     
practices of witchcraft2 condemning     
,thor and ,woden as demons1 they        
punished their rites in common with     
those of the sorceresses who bewitched  
their neighbors and turned themselves   
into wolves or cats4 ,thus gradually    

arose the legal persecution of witches  
which went on through the ,middle ,ages 
under ecclesiastical sanction both      
,catholic and ,protestant4       99     
,encyclopedia ,britannica1 article      
,magic4  ,but the religion of           
,christendom contained scarcely less    
elements of magical practices than that 
of ,paganism4 ,in the early ,christian  
,church a considerable section of its   
ministry was devoted to the casting out 
of devils4 ,regulations concerning the  
same were contained in the canons of the
 ,church of ,england4 ,the magical power
 of giving absolution and remission of  
sins is still claimed in our national   
,church4 ,throughout the course of      
,christianity1 indeed1 magical effects  
have been ascribed to religious rites   
and consecrated objects4  ,viktor       
,rydberg1 the ,swedish author of an     
interesting work on ,the ,magic of the  
,middle ,ages1 says 7p4 #he73 ,every    
monastery has its master magician1 who  
sells agni ,dei1 conception billets1    

magic incense1 salt and tapers which    
have been consecrated on ,candlemas     
,day1 palms consecrated on ,palm        
,sunday1 flowers besprinkled with holy  
water on ,ascension ,day1 and many other
 appliances belonging to the great      
magical apparatus of the ,church4       
,bells are consecrated to this day1     
because they were supposed to have a    
magical effect in warding off demons4   
,their efficacy for this purpose is     
specifically asserted by ,st4 ,thomas   
,aquinas1 the greatest doctor of the    
,church1 who lays it down that the      
changeableness of the weather is owing  
to the constant conflict between good   
and bad spirits4  ,baptism is another   
magical process4 ,there are people still
 in ,england who think harm will come to
 a child if it is not christened4 ,in   
,christian baptism we have the magical  
invocation of certain names1 those of   
the ever-blessed ,trinity4 ,the names of
 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 were  
used as spells to ward off demons4 ,the 

process is supposed to have a magical   
efficacy1 and is as much in the nature  
of a charm as making the sign of the    
cross with holy water1 or the unction   
with holy oil1 as a preparation for     
death4 ,so important was it considered  
that the saving water should prevent    
demoniac power1 that holy squirts were  
used to bring magical liquid in contact 
with the child before it saw the light6 
,the doctrine of salvation through blood
 is nothing but a survival of the faith 
in magic4 ,volumes might be written on  
the belief in the magical efficacy of   
blood as a sacrifice1 a cementer of     
kinship1 and a means of evoking         
protecting spirits4 ,blood baths for the
 cure of certain diseases were used in  
,egypt and medival ,europe4 ,longfellow 
alludes to this superstition in his     
,golden ,legend3      ,the only remedy  
that remains     ,is the blood that     
flows from a maiden's veins1     ,who of
 her own free will shall die1     ,and  
give her life as the price of yours6    

,this is the strangest of all cures1    
,and one ,i think1 you will never try4  
,the changing of the bread and wine of  
the ,christian sacrament into the body  
and blood of ,god is evidently a piece  
of magic1 dependent on the priestly     
magical formula4 ,the affinities of the 
,christian communion with savage        
superstition are so many that they      
deserve to be treated in a separate     
article4 ,meanwhile let it be noticed   
that priests lay much stress upon the   
,blessed ,sacrament1 for it is this     
which invests them with magical         
functions and the awe and reverence     
consequent upon belief therein4         
,formulated prayers are of the nature of
 magical spells or invocations4 ,a      
prayer-book is a collection of spells   
for fine weather1 rain1 or other        
blessings4 ,the ,catholic soldier takes 
care to be armed with a blessed scapular
 to guard off stray bullets1 or1 in the 
event of the worst coming1 to waft his  
soul into heaven4 ,the ,protestant      

smiles at this superstition1 but mutters
 a prayer for the self-same purpose4 ,in
 essence the procedure is the same4 ,the
 earliest known ,egyptian and ,chaldean 
psalms and hymns are spells against     
sorcery or the influence of evil        
spirits1 just as the invocation taught  
to ,christian children--       ,matthew1
 ,mark1 ,luke ,and ,john      ,bless    
,the ,bed ,that ,i ,lie ,on4  ,the      
belief in magic1 though it shows a      
survival in ,theosophy1 as ghost belief 
does in ,spiritism1 is dying slowly2 and
 with it1 in the long run1 must die     
those religious doctrines and practices 
founded upon it4 ,no magic can endure   
scientific scrutiny4 ,almost expelled   
from the physical world1 it takes refuge
 in the domain of psychology2 but there1
 too1 it is being gradually ousted1     
though it still affords a profitable    
area for charlantanry4  ,lucian has a   
story how ,pancrates1 wanting a servant1
 took a door-bar and pronounced over it 
magical words1 whereon he stood up1     

brought him water1 turned a spit1 and   
did all the other tasks of a slave4     
,what is this1 asks ,emerson1 but a     
prophecy of the progress of art8 ,moses 
striking water from the rock was        
inferior to ,sir ,hugh ,middleton       
bringing a water supply to ,london4     
,jesus walking on the water was nothing 
to crossing the ,atlantic by steam4 ,the
 only true magic is that of science1    
which is a conquest of the human mind1  
and not a phantasy of superstition4     
,,taboos4  ,viscount ,amberley1 in his  
able ,analysis of ,religious ,belief    
points out that everywhere the religious
 instinct leads to the consecration of  
certain actions1 places1 and things4 ,if
 this instinct is analysed1 it is found 
at bottom to spring from fear4 ,certain 
places are to be dreaded as the abode of
 evil spirits2 certain actions are      
calculated to propitiate them1 and      
certain things are dangerous1 and are   
therefore tabooed4  ,from ,polynesia was
 derived the word taboo or tapu1 and the

 first conception of its importance as  
an element lying at the bottom of many  
of our religious and social conventions2
 though this is not as yet by any means 
sufficiently recognised4  ,the term     
taboo implies something sacred1         
reserved1 prohibited by supernatural    
agents1 the breaking of which           
prohibition will be visited by          
supernatural punishment4 ,this notion is
 one of the most widely extended        
features of early religion4 ,holy       
places1 holy persons1 and holy things   
are all founded on this conception4     
,prof4 ,w4 ,robertson ,smith199 says3   
,rules of holiness in the sense just    
explained1 i4e41 a system of            
restrictions on man's arbitrary use of  
natural things enforced by the dread of 
supernatural penalties1 are found among 
all primitive peoples4       99         
,religion of the ,semites1 p4 #adb4     
,the holy ark of the ,north ,american   
,indians was deemed so sacred and       
dangerous to be touched that no one     

except the war chief and his attendant  
will touch it under the penalty of      
incurring great evil4 ,nor would the    
most inveterate enemy touch it in the   
woods for the very same reason499       
99 ,adair1 ,history of the ,american    
,indians1 p4 #afb4  ,in ,numbers iv4 #ae
 we read of the ,jewish ark1 ,the sons  
of ,kohath shall come to bear it2 but   
they shall not touch any holy thing lest
 they die4 ,in #b ,sam4 vi4 #f1 #g1 we  
are told how the ,lord smote ,uzzah so  
that he died1 simply for putting his    
hand on the ark to steady it4 ,so the   
,lord punished the ,philistines for     
keeping his ark1 and smote fifty        
thousand and seventy men of             
,bethshemesh1 because they had looked   
into the ark of the ,lord 7#a ,sam4 v4  
#f74  ,disease and death were so        
constantly thought of as the penalties  
of breaking taboo that cases are on     
record of those who1 having unwittingly 
done this1 have died of terror upon     
recognising their error4 ,mr4 ,frazer1  

in his ,golden ,bough1 instances a ,new 
,zealand chief1 who left the remains of 
his dinner by the way side4 ,a slave ate
 it up without asking questions4 ,hardly
 had he finished when he was told the   
food was the chief's1 and taboo4 ,no    
sooner did he hear the fatal news than  
he was seized by the most extraordinary 
convulsions and cramp in the stomach1   
which never ceased till he died1 about  
sundown the same day4  ,all the old     
temples had an adytum1 sanctuary1 or    
holy of holies--a place not open to the 
profane1 but protected by rigid taboos4 
,this was the case with the ,jews4 ,it  
was death to enter the holy places1 or  
even to make the holy oil of the        
priests4 ,even the name of the ,lord was
 taboo1 and to this day cannot be       
pronounced4  ,take off your sandals1    
says ,god to ,moses1 for the place      
whereon you stand is taboo4 ,the whole  
of ,mount ,horeb was taboo1 and we      
continually read of the holy mountain4  
,the ideas of taboo and of holiness are 

admitted by ,prof4 ,robertson ,smith to 
be at bottom identical4  ,some taboos   
are simply artful1 as the prohibition of
 boats to ,south ,pacific women1 lest   
they should escape to other islands4    
,when ,tamehameha1 the ,king of the     
,sandwich ,islands1 heard that diamonds 
had been found in the mountains near    
,honolulu1 he at once declared the      
mountains taboo1 in order that he might 
be the sole possessor4  ,in ,hawai the  
flesh of hogs1 fowls1 turtle1 and       
several kinds of fish1 cocoa-nuts1 and  
nearly everything offered in sacrifice1 
were reserved for gods and men1 and     
could not1 except in special cases1 be  
consumed by women99 ,some taboos of     
animals being used for food seem to have
 been dictated by dread or aversion1 but
 others had a foundation of prudence and
 forethought4 ,thus there is little     
doubt that the prohibition of the sacred
 cow in ,india has been the means of    
preserving that animal from             
extermination in times of famine4       

,various reasons have been assigned for 
the taboos upon certain kinds of food   
found in ,leviticus and ,deuteronomy4   
,as we have these laws they seem to     
represent a rough attempt at classifying
 animals it was beneficial or hurtful to
 eat4 ,some ridiculous mistakes were    
made by the divine tabooist4 ,the hare1 
a rodent1 was declared to chew the cud  
7,lev4 xi4 #f1 ,deut4 xiv4 #g74 ,the    
camel was excluded because it does not  
divide the hoof2 yet in reality it has  
cloven feet4 ,but doubtless it was seen 
it might be disastrous to kill the camel
 for food4 ,mr4 ,frazer is of opinion   
that the pig was originally a sacred    
animal among the ,jews4  ,the cause of  
the custom of tabooing certain kinds of 
food1 which was in existence long before
 the ,levitical laws were written1      
perhaps arose partly from reverence1    
partly from aversion4 ,it may1 too1 have
 been connected with the totemism of    
early tribes4 ,no less than one hundred 
and eighty ,bible names have a          

zoological signification4 ,caleb1 the   
dog tribe2 ,doeg1 the fish tribe2 may be
 instanced as specimens4  ,touching the 
carcass of a dead animal was taboo1 and 
the taboo was contagious4 ,in ,lev4 xi4 
#ba--be we find rigorous laws on the    
subject4 ,whoever carries the carcass of
 an unclean animal must wash his        
garments4 ,the objects upon which a     
carcass accidentally falls1 must be     
washed1 and left in water till the      
evening1 and if of earthenware the      
defilement is supposed to enter into the
 pores1 and the vessel1 oven1 or        
stove-range must be broken4  ,touching a
 corpse was taboo among the ,greeks199  
,romans19999 ,hindoos1999999            
,parsees199999999 and ,phoenicians47v7  
,if a ,jew touched a dead body--even a  
dead animal 7,lev4 xi4 #hi7--;he became 
unclean1 and if he purified not himself1
 that soul shall be cut off from ,israel
 7,num4 xix4 #ac74 ,so those who have   
defiled themselves by touching a dead   
body are regarded by the ,maoris as in a

 very dangerous state1 and are          
sedulously shunned and isolated47v997   
,doubtless it was felt that death was   
something which could communicate       
itself1 as disease was seen to do4      
99 ,eurip4 ,alcest1 #ajj4       9999    
,virgil n41 vi4 #bba2 ,tacit4 ,annal41  
#afb4       999999 ,manu1 y4 #ei1 #fb1  
#gd-gi4       99999999 ,vendid iii4     
#be-bg4       7v7 ,lucian ,dea ,syr41   
#ebc       7v997 ,j4 ,gk ,frazer1       
,golden ,bough1 vol4 i41 p4 #afi4  ,when
 iron was first discovered it was       
invested with mystery and held as a     
charm4 ,it was tabooed4 ,the ,jews would
 use no iron tools in building the      
temple or making an altar 7,ex4 xx4 #be1
 #a ,kings vi4 #g74 ,roman and ,sabine  
priests might not be shaved with iron   
but only with bronze1 as stone knives   
were used in circumcision 7,ex4 iv4 #be1
 ,josh4 v4 #b74 ,to this day a          
,hottentot priest never uses an iron    
knife1 but always a sharp splint of     
quartz in sacrificing an animal or      

circumcising a boy4 ,in the boys' game  
of touch iron we may see a remnant of   
the old belief in its charm4 ,when      
,scotch fishermen were at sea and one of
 them happened to take the name of ,god 
in vain1 the first man who heard him    
called out ,cauld airn1 at which every  
man of the crew grasped the nearest bit 
of iron and held it between his hand for
 a while499       99 ,e4 ,b4 ,guthrie1  
,old ,scottish ,customs1 p4 #adi4       
,charles      ,rogers1 ,social ,life in 
,scotland1 iii4 #bah4  ,women were      
especially tabooed after childbirth and 
during menstruation 7,lev4 xii4 and xv47
 ,among the ,indians of ,north ,america1
 women at this time are forbidden to    
touch men's utensils1 which would be so 
defiled by their touch that their       
subsequent use would be attended with   
misfortune4 ,they walk round the fields 
at night dragging their garments1 this  
being considered a protection against   
vermin4 ,among the ,eskimo1 of ,alaska1 
no one will eat or drink from the same  

cup or dishes used by a woman at her    
confinement until it has been purified  
by certain incantations4  ,in the       
,church of ,england ,service1 what is   
now called the ,thanksgiving of ,women  
after ,childbirth1 commonly called the  
,churching of ,women1 was formerly known
 as ,the ,order of the ,purification of 
,women1 and was read at the church door 
before the unclean creatures were       
permitted to enter the holy building4   
,this should be known by all women who  
think it their duty to be churched after
 fulfilling the sacred office of        
motherhood4  ,in ,hebrew the same word  
signifies at once a holy person1 a      
harlot and a sodomite--sacred           
prostitution having been common in      
ancient times4 ,mr4 ,frazer1 noticing   
that the rules of ceremonial purity     
observed by divine kings1 priests1      
homicides1 women in child-births1 and so
 on1 are in some respects alike1 says3  
,to us these different classes of       
persons appear to differ totally in     

character and condition2 some of them we
 should call holy1 others we might      
pronounce unclean and polluted4 ,but the
 savages make no such moral distinction 
between them2 the conceptions of        
holiness and pollution are not yet      
differentiated in his mind4 ,to him the 
common feature of all these persons is  
that they are dangerous and in danger1  
and the danger in which they stand and  
to which they expose others is what we  
should call spiritual or                
supernatural--that is1 imaginary499     
,few would suspect it1 but it is likely 
that the custom of wearing ,sunday      
clothes comes from certain garments     
being tabooed in the holy places4 ,among
 the ,maoris ,a slave or other person   
would not enter a wahi tapu1 or sacred  
place1 without having first stripped off
 his clothes2 for the clothes1 having   
become sacred the instant they entered  
the precincts of the wahi tapu1 would   
ever after be useless to him in the     
ordinary business of life49999          

,according to the ,rabbins1 the handling
 of the scriptures defiles the          
hands--that is1 entails a washing of    
purification4 ,this because the notions 
of holiness and uncleanness are alike   
merged in the earlier conception of     
taboo4 ,blood1 the great defilement1 is 
also the most holy thing4 ,just as with 
the ,hindus to this day1 the excrements 
of the cow are the great means of       
purification4       99 ,golden ,bough1  
vol4 i41 p4 #aga4       9999            
,shortland's ,southern ,districts of    
,new ,zealand1 p4 #bic4  ,dr4 ,kalisch  
says1 ,next to sacrifices purifications 
were the most important of ,hebrew      
rituals499 ,the purpose was to remove   
the stain of contact either with the    
holy or unclean taboos4 ,a holy1 or     
taboo water--or1 as it is called in the 
,authorised ,version1 water of          
separation--was prepared4 ,first1 an    
unblemished red heifer was slain by the 
son of the high priest outside the camp1
 then burnt1 and as the ash mingled with

 spring water1 which was supposed to    
have a magical effect in removing       
impurities when the tabooed person was  
sprinkled with it on the third and again
 on the seventh day4 ,it was called a   
purification for sin 7,num4 xix4 #i71   
and was doubtless good as the blood of  
the ,lamb1 if not equal to ,pear's soap4
       99 ,leviticus1 pt4 ii41 p4 #ahg4 
,in the ninth edition of the            
,encylopedia ,britannica1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,g4  
,frazer says3 ,amongst the ,jews the vow
 of the ,nazarite 7,num4 vi4 #a--ba7    
presents the closest resemblance to the 
,polynesian taboo4 ,the meaning of the  
word ,nazarite is 'one separated or     
consecrated1' and this is precisely the 
meaning of taboo4 ,it is the head of the
 ,nazarite that is especially           
consecrated1 and so it was in the taboo4
 ,the ,nazarite might not partake of    
certain meats and drinks1 nor shave his 
head1 nor touch a dead body--all rules  
of taboo4 ,mr4 ,frazer points out other 
particulars in the mode of terminating  

the vow4 ,secondly that some of the     
rules of ,sabbath observance are        
identical with the rules of strict      
taboo2 such are the prohibitions to do  
any work1 to kindle a fire in the house1
 to cook food and to go out of doors4   
,we still have some remnant of the      
,sabbath taboo1 and many a child's life 
is made miserable by being checked for  
doing what is tabooed on the ,lord's    
,day4 ,other taboos abound4 ,we must    
not1 for instance1 question the sacred  
books1 the sacred character of ,jesus1  
or the existence of the divine being4   
,these subjects are tabooed4 ,for       
reverence is a virtue much esteemed by  
solemn humbugs4     ,,blood ,,rites4    
,without shedding of blood is no        
remission1      --,heb4 ix4 #bb4        
,there is a fountain filled with blood  
,drawn from ,immanuel's veins1      ,and
 sinners plunged beneath that flood     
,lose all their guilty stains4  ,judaism
 was a religion of blood and thunder4   
,the ,lord ,god of ,israel delighted in 

blood4 ,his worshippers praised him as a
 god of battles and a man of war4 ,all  
his favorites were men of blood4 ,the   
,lord ,god was likewise very fond of    
roast meat1 and the smell thereof was a 
sweet savor unto his nostrils4 ,he had  
respect to ,abel and his bloody         
offering1 but not to ,cain and his      
vegetables4 ,he ordered that in his holy
 temple a bullock and a lamb should be  
killed and hacked to pieces every       
morning for dinner1 and a lamb for      
supper in the evening4 ,to flavor the   
repast he had twelve flour cakes1 olive 
oil1 salt and spice2 and to wash it down
 he had the fourth part of a hin of wine
 7over a quart7 with a lamb twice a day1
 the third part of a hin with a ram1 and
 half a hin with a bullock 7,exodus     
xxix4 #dj1 ,numbers xv4 #e-aa1 xxviii4  
#g74 ,but his great delight was blood1  
and from every victim that was          
slaughtered the blood was caught by the 
priest in a bason and offered to him    
upon his altar1 which daily reeked with 

the sanguine stream from slaughtered    
animals4 ,the interior of his temple was
 like shambles1 and a drain had to be   
made to the brook ,oedron to carry off  
the refuse499 ,incense had to be used to
 take away the smell of putrifying      
blood4       99 ,smith's ,bible         
,dictionary1 article ,blood4            
,illustration3 ,the ,altar of ,jehovah4 
,the most characteristic customs of the 
,jews1 circumcision and the ,passover1  
alike show the sanguinary character of  
their deity4 ,because ,moses did not    
mutilate his child1 the ,lord met him at
 an inn and sought to kill him 7,exodus 
iv4 #be74 ,the ,passover1 according to  
the ,jews' own account1 commemorated the
 ,lord's slaying all the first-born of  
,egypt1 and sparing those of the ,jews  
upon recognising the blood sprinkled    
upon the lintels and sideposts of the   
doors2 more probably it was a survival  
of human sacrifice4 ,god's worshippers  
were interdicted from tasting1 though   
not from shedding1 the sacred fluid2 yet

 we read of ,saul's army that the people
 flew upon the spoil1 and took sheep and
 oxen and calves1 and slew them on the  
ground1 and the people did eat them with
 the blood 7#a ,sam1 xiv4 #cb71 much as 
the ,abyssinians cut off living steaks  
to this day4  ,christianity is a        
modified gospel of gore4 ,the great     
theme of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews is
 that the blood and sacrifice of ,christ
 is so much better than that of animals4
 ,the substitutionary sacrifice of      
,jesus ,christ is the great inspiration 
of emotional religion4 ,revivalists     
revel in the blood1 the precious blood3 
,just as ,i am1 without one plea1       
,but that thy blood was shed for me1    
,and that thou bidd'st me come to thee1 
,oh6 ,lamb of ,god1 ,i come1 ,i come6   
,chorus--,jesus paid it all1      ,all  
to him ,i owe2      ,sin had left a     
crimson stain2      ,he washed it white 
as snow4  ,jesus ,christ says1 ,he that 
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood   
dwelleth in me1 and ,i in him1 and the  

most holy sacrament of the ,christian   
,church consists in this cannabalistic  
communion4  ,to understand this         
fundamental rite of communion1 or1      
indeed1 the essence of any other part of
 the ,christian religion1 we must go    
back to those savage ideas out of which 
it has evolved4 ,it is easy to account  
for savage superstitions in connection  
with blood4 ,the life of the savage     
being largely spent in warfare1 either  
with animals or his fellow men1 the     
connection between blood and life is    
strongly impressed upon his mind4 ,he   
sees1 moreover1 the child formed from   
the mother1 the flow of whose blood is  
arrested4 ,hence the children of one    
mother are termed of the same blood4 ,in
 a state of continual warfare the only  
safe alliances were with those who      
recognised the family bond4 ,those who  
would be friends must be sharers in the 
same blood4 ,hence we find all oyer the 
savage world rites of blood-covenanting1
 of drinking together from the same     

blood1 thereby symbolising community of 
nature4 ,like eating and drinking       
together1 it was a sign of communion and
 the substitution of bread and wine for 
flesh and blood is a sun-worshipping    
refinement upon more primitive and      
cannibalistic communion4  ,dr4          
,trumbull1 in his work on ,the ,blood   
,covenant1 has given many instances of  
shedding blood in celebrating covenants 
and blood brotherhood4 ,the idea of     
substitution is widespread in all early 
religions4 ,one of the most curious was 
the sacrament of the natives of ,central
 ,america1 thus noticed by ,dr4         
,trumbull3  ,cakes of the maize         
sprinkled with their own blood1 drawn   
from 'under the girdle1' during the     
religions worship1 were 'distributed and
 eaten as blessed bread4' ,moreover an  
image of their god1 made with certain   
seeds from the first fruits of their    
temple gardens1 with a certain gum1 and 
with the blood of human sacrifices1 were
 partaken of by them reverently1 under  

the name1 ',food of our ,soul4'  ,here  
we have1 no doubt1 a link between the   
rude cannibal theory of sacrifice and   
the ,christian doctrine of communion4   
,millington1 in his ,testimony of the   
,heathen1 cites as illustration of      
,exodus xxii4 #h1 the most telling      
passages from ,herodotus in regard to   
the ,lydians and ,arabians confirming   
alliances in this fashions4 ,the        
well-known case of ,cataline and his    
fellow conspirators who drank from      
goblets of wine mixed with blood is of  
course not forgotten1 but ,dr4 ,trumbull
 overlooks the passage in ,plutarch's   
,life of ,publicola1 in which he        
narrates that the conspirators 7against 
,brutus7 agreed to take a great and     
horrible oath1 by drinking together of  
the blood1 and tasting the entrails of a
 man sacrificed for that purpose4 ,mr4  
,wake also in his ,evolution of         
,morality1 has drawn attention to the   
subject1 and1 what is more1 to its      
important place in the history of the   

evolution of society4 ,herbert ,spencer 
points out in his ,ceremonial           
,institutions1 that blood offerings over
 the dead may be explained as arising in
 some cases from the practice of        
establishing a sacred bond between      
living persons by partaking of each     
other's blood3 the derived conception   
being that those who give some of their 
blood to the ghost of a man just dead   
and lingering near1 effect with it a    
union which on the one side implies     
submission1 and on the other side1      
friendliness4  ,the widespread custom of
 blood-covenanting illustrates most     
clearly1 as ,dr4 ,tylor points out1 the 
great principle of old-world morals1    
that man owes friendship1 not to mankind
 at large1 but only to his own kin2 so  
that to entitle a stranger to kindness  
and good faith he must become a kinsman 
by blood499 ,that any sane man seated at
 a table ever said1 ,take eat1 this is  
my body1 and ,drink1 this is my blood1  
is ridiculous4 ,the bread and wine are  

the fruits of the the ,sun4 ,justin     
,martyr1 one of the earliest of the     
,christian fathers1 informs us that this
 eucharist was partaken in the mysteries
 of ,mithra4 ,the ,christian doctrine of
 partaking of the blood of ,christ is a 
mingling of the rites of sun-worshippers
 with the early savage ceremony of the  
blood covenant4       99 ,the origin of 
the mystery of the ,rosy ,gross may have
 been      in the savage rite of        
initiation by baptism with arms         
outstretched in a cruciform pool of     
blood4 ,see ,nimrod1 vol4      ii4      
,,scapegoats4  ,in the sixteenth chapter
 of ,leviticus is found a description of
 the rites ordained for the most solemn 
,day of ,atonement4 ,of these1 the      
principal was the selection of two      
goats4 ,and ,aaron shall cast lots upon 
the two goats2 one lot for the ,lord and
 the other for the scapegoat--7,heb4    
,azazel74 ,the goat on whom ,jahveh's   
lot fell was sacrificed as a sin        
offering1 but all the iniquities of the 

children of ,israel were put on the head
 of ,azazel's goat1 and it was sent into
 the wilderness4 ,the parallelism makes 
it clear that ,azazel was a separate    
evil spirit or demon1 opposed to        
,jahveh1 and supposed to dwell in the   
wilderness4 ,the purification necessary 
after touching the goat upon whose head 
the sins of ,israel were put            
corroborates this499 ,yet how often has 
,azazel been instanced as a type of the 
blessed ,savior6 ,and indeed the chief  
purpose to which ,jesus is put by       
orthodox ,christians at the present day 
is that of being their scapegoat1 the   
substitute for their sins4       99     
,azazel appears to mean the goat god4   
,the goat1 like some      other animals1
 seems to have had a sacred character   
among      the ,jews4 7,see ,ex4 xxiii4 
#ai1 ,lev4 ix4 #c-ae1 x4 #af1 xvii4     
#ag1 ,jud4 vi4 #ai1 xiii4 #ae1 #a ,sam4 
xix #ah-af1 #b ,chron4 xi4 #ae47  ,the  
doctrine of the transference of sin was 
by no means peculiar to the ,jews4 ,both

 ,herodotus and ,plutarch tells us how  
the ,egyptians cursed the head of the   
sacrifice and then threw it into the    
river4 ,it seems likely that the        
expression ,your blood be on your own   
head refers to this belief4 7,see ,lev4 
xx4 #i-aa1 ,psalms vii4 #af1 ,acts      
xviii4 #f47  ,at the cleansing of a     
leper and of a house suspected of being 
tainted with leprosy1 the ,jews had a   
peculiar ceremony4 ,two birds were      
taken1 one killed in an earthern vessel 
over running water1 and the living bird 
after being dipped in the blood of the  
killed bird let loose into the open air 
7,lev4 xiv4 #g and #ec74 ,the idea      
evidently was that the bird by sympathy 
took away the plague4 ,the ,battas of   
,sumatra have a rite they call making   
the curse to fly away4 ,when a woman is 
childless a sacrifice is offered and a  
swallow set free1 with a prayer that the
 curse may fall on the bird and fly away
 with it4 ,the doctrine of substitution 
found among all savages flows from the  

belief in sympathetic magic4 ,it arises1
 as ,mr4 ,frazer says1 from an obvious  
confusion between the physical and the  
mental4 ,because a load of stones may be
 transferred from one back to another1  
the savage fancies it equally possible  
to transfer the burden of his pains and 
sorrows to another who will suffer then 
in his stead4 ,many instances could be  
given from peasant folk-lore4 ,a cure   
current in ,sunderland for a cough is to
 shave the patient's head and hang the  
hair on a bush4 ,when the birds carry   
the hair to the nests1 they will carry  
the cough with it4 ,a ,northamptonshire 
and ,devonshire cure is to put a hair of
 the patient's head between two slices  
of buttered bread and give it to a dog4 
,the dog will get the cough and the     
patient will lose it4  ,mr4 ,frazer1    
after showing that the custom of killing
 the god had been practised by peoples  
in the hunting1 pastoral1 and           
agricultural stages of society1 says    
7vol4 ii41 p4 #adh73 ,one aspect of the 

custom still remains to be noticed4 ,the
 accumulated misfortunes and sins of the
 whole people are sometimes laid upon   
the dying god1 who is supposed to bear  
them away for ever1 leaving the people  
innocent and happy4 ,he gives many      
instances of scapegoats1 of sending away
 diseases in boats1 and of the annual   
expulsion of evils1 of which1 ,i        
conjecture1 our ringing-out of the old  
year may1 perhaps1 be a survival4 ,of   
the divine scapegoat1 he says3  ,if we  
ask why a dying god should be selected  
to take upon himself and carry away the 
sins and sorrow of the people1 it may be
 suggested that in the practice of using
 the divinity as a scapegoat1 we have a 
combination of two customs which were at
 one time distinct and independent4 ,on 
the one hand we have seen that it has   
been customary to kill the human or     
animal god in order to save his divine  
life from being weakened by the inroads 
of age4 ,on the other hand we have seen 
that it has been customary to have a    

general expulsion of evils and sins once
 a year4 ,now1 if it occurred to people 
to combine these two customs1 the result
 would be the employment of the dying   
god as scapegoat4 ,he was killed not    
originally to take away sin1 but to save
 the divine life from the degeneracy of 
old age2 but1 since he had to be killed 
at any rate1 people may have thought    
that they might as well seize the       
opportunity to lay upon him the burden  
of their sufferings and sins1 in order  
that he might bear it away with him to  
the unknown world beyond the grave499   
99 ,golden ,bough1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bjf4   
,the early ,christians believed that    
diseases were the work of devils1 and   
that cures could be effected by casting 
out the devils by the spell of a name   
7see ,mark ix4 #be-ch1 etc47 ,they      
believed in the transference of devils  
to swine4 ,we need not wonder1 then1    
that they explained the death of their  
hero as the satisfaction for their own  
sins4 ,the doctrine of the              

substitutionary atonement1 like that of 
the divinity of ,christ1 appears to have
 been an after-growth of ,christianity1 
the foundations of both being laid in   
pre-,christian ,paganism4 ,both         
doctrines are alike remnants of         
savagery4     ,a ,,bible ,,barbarity4   
,the fifth chapter of the ,book of      
,numbers 7#aa--ca7 exhibits as gross a  
specimen of superstition as can be      
culled from the customs of any known    
race of savages4 ,the divine law of     
jealousy1 to which ,i allude1 provides  
that a man who is jealous of his wife   
may1 simply to satisfy his own          
suspicions1 and without having the      
slightest evidence against her1 bring   
her before the priest1 who shall take   
holy water1 and charge her by an oath of
 cursing to declare if she has been     
unfaithful to her husband4 ,the priest  
writes out the curse and blots it into  
the water1 which he then administers to 
the woman4 ,the description of the      
effects of the water is more suitable to

 the pages of the holy ,bible than to   
those of a modern book4 ,sufficient to  
say1 if faithful1 the holy water has    
only a beneficial effect on the lady1   
but if unfaithful1 its operation is such
 as to dispense with the necessity of   
her husband writing out a bill of       
divorcement4  ,the absurdity and        
atrocity of this divine law only finds  
its parallel in the customs of the worst
 barbarians1 and in the ecclesiastical  
laws of the ,dark ,ages1 that is of the 
days when ,christianity was predominant 
and the ,bible was considered as the    
guide in legislation4  ,a curious       
approach to the ,jewish custom is that  
which found place among the savages at  
,cape ,breton4 ,at a marriage feast two 
dishes of meat were brought to the bride
 and bridegroom1 and the priest         
addressed himself to the bride thus3    
,thou that art upon the point of        
entering the marriage state1 know that  
the nourishment thou art going to take  
forebodes the greatest calamities to    

thee if thy heart is capable of         
harboring any ill design against thy    
husband or against thy nation2 should   
thou ever be led astray by the caresses 
of a stranger2 or shouldst thou betray  
thy husband or thy country1 the victuals
 in this vessel will have the effect of 
a slow poison1 with which thou wilt be  
tainted from this very instant4 ,if1 on 
the other hand1 thou art faithful to thy
 husband and thy country1 thou wilt find
 the nourishment agreeable and          
wholesome499       99 ,genuine ,letters 
and ,memoirs ,relating to the ,isle of  
,cape      ,breton4 ,by ,t4 ,pichon4    
#agfj4  ,this custom manifestly was1    
like the ,christian doctrine of hell1   
designed to restrain crime by operating 
upon superstitious fear4 ,it was devoid 
of the worst feature of the ,jewish     
law--the opportunity for crime disguised
 under the mask of justice4 ,for this we
 must go to the tribes of ,africa4  ,dr4
 ,kitto1 in his ,bible ,encyclopedia    
7article ,adultery71 alludes thus to the

 trial by red water among ,african      
savages1 which1 he says1 is so much     
dreaded that innocent persons often     
confess themselves guilty in order to   
avoid it4  ,the person who drinks the   
red water invokes the ,fetish to destroy
 him if he is really guilty of the      
offence of which he is charged4 ,the    
drink is made by an infusion in water of
 pieces of a certain tree or of herbs4  
,it is highly poisonous in itself2 and  
if rightly prepared1 the only chance of 
escape is the rejection of it by the    
stomach1 in which case the party is     
deemed innocent1 as he also is if1 being
 retained1 it has no sensible effect1   
which can only be the case when the     
priests1 who have the management of the 
matters1 are influenced by private      
considerations1 or by reference to the  
probabilities of the case1 to prepare   
the draught with a view to acquittal499 
99 ,in like manner ,maimonides1 the     
great ,jewish commentator1      said    
that innocent women would give all they 

had to escape      it1 and reckoned     
death preferable 7,moreh ,nevochim1 pt4 
iii41      ch4 xlix47  ,dr4 ,livingstone
 says the practice of ordeal is common  
among all the negro natives north of the
 ,zambesi3  ,when a man suspects that   
any of his wives have bewitched him1 he 
sends for the witch-doctor1 and all the 
wives go forth into the field1 and      
remain fasting till the person has made 
an infusion of the plant called 'go ho4'
 ,they all drink it1 each one holding up
 her hand to heaven in attestation of   
her innocence4 ,those who vomit it are  
considered innocent1 while those whom it
 purges are pronounced guilty1 and are  
put to death by burning4  ,in this case1
 be it noticed1 there is no provision   
for the woman who thinks her husband has
 bewitched her1 as in the holy ,bible   
there is no law for the woman who       
conceives she has cause for jealousy2   
nor1 although she is supernaturally     
punished1 is there any indication of any
 punishment falling on the male culprit 

who has perhaps seduced her from her    
allegiance to her lord and master4      
,throughout ,europe1 when under the sway
 of ,christian priests1 trials by ordeal
 were quite common4 ,it was held as a   
general maxim that ,god would judge as  
to the righteousness or unrighteousness 
of a cause4 ,the chief modes of the     
,judicium ,dei1 as it was called1 was by
 walking on or handling hot iron2 by    
chewing consecrated bread1 with the wish
 that the morsel might be the last2 by  
plunging the arm in boiling water1 or by
 being thrown into cold water1 to swim  
being considered a proof of guilt1 and  
to sink the demonstration of innocence4 
,pope ,eugenius had the honor of        
inventing this last ordeal1 which became
 famous as a trial for witches4  ,dr4   
,e4 ,b4 ,tylor1 whose information on all
 such matters is only equalled by his   
philosophical insight1 says of ordeals3 
,as is well known1 they have always been
 engines of political power in the hands
 of unscrupulous priests and chiefs4    

,often it was unnecessary even to cheat1
 when the arbiter had it at his pleasure
 to administer either a harmless ordeal1
 like drinking cursed water1 or a deadly
 ordeal1 by a dose of aconite or        
physostigma4 ,when it comes to sheer    
cheating1 nothing can be more atrocious 
than this poison ordeal4 ,in ,west      
,africa1 where the ,oalabar bean is     
used1 the administers can give the      
accused a dose which will make him sick1
 and so prove his innocence2 or they can
 give him enough to prove him guilty1   
and murder him in the very act of proof4
 ,when we consider that over a great    
part of that great continent this and   
similar drugs usually determine the     
destiny of people inconvenient to the   
,fetish man and the chief--the          
constituted authorities of ,church and  
,state--we see before us one efficient  
cause of the unprogressive character of 
,african society4  ,trial by ordeal was 
in all countries1 whether ,pagan or     
,christian1 under the management of the 

priesthood4 ,that it originated in      
ignorance and superstition1 and was     
maintained by fraud1 is unquestionable4 
,christians1 when reading of ordeals    
among savages1 deplore the ignorance and
 barbarity of the unenlightened heathen 
among whom such customs prevail1 quite  
unmindful that in their own sacred book1
 headed with the words ,and the ,lord   
spake unto ,moses1 saying1 occurs as    
gross an instance of superstitious      
ordeal as can be found among the records
 of any people4     ,,bible             
,,witchcraft4       ,thou shalt not     
suffer a witch to live 7,ex4 xxii4 #ah74
       ,if there had been no witches1   
such a law as this had never      been  
made4 ,the existence of the law1 given  
under the      direction of the ,spirit 
of ,god1 proves the existence of the    
thing444 that witches1 wizards1 those   
who dwelt with      familiar spirits1   
etc41 are represented in the sacred     
writing as actually possessing a power  
to evoke the dead1 to      perform      

supernatural operations1 and to discover
 hidden or      secret things by spells1
 charms1 incantations1 etc41 is         
evident to every unprejudiced reader of 
the ,bible4--,dr4      ,adam ,clarice1  
,commentary on the above passage4  ,thus
 wrote the great ,methodist theologian4 
,his master1 ,john ,wesley1 had         
previously declared1 ,it is true that   
the ,english in general1 and1 indeed1   
most of the men of learning in ,europe  
have given up all accounts of witches   
and apparitions as mere old wives'      
fables4 ,i am sorry for it1 and ,i      
willingly take this opportunity of      
entering my solemn protest against this 
violent compliment which so many that   
believe the ,bible pay to those who do  
not believe it4 ,i owe them no such     
service4 ,they well know 7whether       
,christians know it or not7 that the    
giving up witchcraft is in effect giving
 up the ,bible499       99 ,journal1    
,may #be1 #agfh1 p4 #cjh8 vol4 iii41    
,works1 #ahef4 ,the      earlier volumes

 of the ,methodist ,magazine abound with
 tales      of diabolical possession4   
,that ,wesley was right is a fact patent
 to all who have eyes4 ,from the        
,egyptian magicians1 who performed like 
unto ,moses and ,aaron with their       
enchantments1 to the demoniacs of the   
,gospels and the sorcerers of the       
fifteenth verse of the last chapter of  
,revelation1 the ,bible abounds in      
references to this superstition4        
,matthew ,henry1 the great ,bible       
commentator1 writing upon our text1 at a
 time when the statutes against         
witchcraft were still in force1 said3   
,by our law1 consulting1 covenanting    
with1 invoking1 or employing1 any evil  
spirit to any intent whatsoever1 and    
exercising any enchantment1 charm1 or   
sorcery1 whereby hurt shall be done to  
any person whatsoever1 is made felony   
without benefit of clergy2 also1        
pretending to tell where goods lost or  
stolen may be found1 or the like1 is an 
iniquity punishable by the judge1 and   

the second offence with death4 ,the     
justice of our law herein is supported  
by the law of ,god here4  ,the number of
 innocent1 helpless women who have been 
legally tortured and murdered by this   
law of ,god is beyond computation4  ,in 
,suffolk alone sixty persons were hung  
in a single year4 ,the learned ,dr4     
,zachary ,grey states that between three
 and four thousand persons suffered     
death for witchcraft from the year #afdj
 to #affj499       99 ,note on ,butler's
 ,hudibras1 part ii41 canto #h1 line    
#adc4  ,in ,scotland the                
,bible-supported superstition raged     
worse than in ,england4 ,the clergy     
there had1 as part of their duty1 to    
question their parishioners as to their 
knowledge of witches4 ,boxes were placed
 in the churches to receive the         
accusations1 and when a woman had fallen
 under suspicion the minister from the  
pulpit denounced her by name1 exhorted  
his parishioners to give evidence       
against her1 and prohibited any one from

 sheltering her499 ,a traveller casually
 notices having seen nine women burning 
together in ,leith1 in #affd4  ,scotch  
witchcraft1 says ,lecky1 was but the    
result of ,scotch ,puritanism1 and it   
faithfully reflected the character of   
its parent49999  ,on the ,continent it  
was as bad4 ,catholics and ,protestants 
could unite in one thing--the           
extirpation of witches and infidels4    
,papal bulls were issued against        
witchcraft as well as heresy4 ,luther   
said3 ,i would have no compassion on    
these witches--,i would burn them       
all4999999 ,in ,catholic ,italy a       
thousand persons were executed in a     
single year in the province of ,como4   
99 ,see ,the ,darker ,superstitions of  
,scotland1 by ,sir ,john      ,graham   
,dalyell1 chap4 xviii4 ,glasgow1 #ahce4 
9999 ,history of the ,rise and          
,influence of ,rationalism in           
,europe1 vol4 i41 p4 #add4       999999 
,colloquia de ,fascinationibus4  ,in one
 province of ,protestant ,sweden #b1ejj 

witches were burnt in #afgj4 ,stories of
 the horrid tortures which accompanied  
witch-finding1 stories that will fill   
the eyes with tears and the heart with  
raging fire against the brutal          
superstition which provoked such        
barbarities1 may be found in ,dalyell1  
,lecky1 ,michelet1 and the voluminous   
literature of the subject4 ,and all     
these tortures and executions were      
sanctioned and defended from the ,bible4
 ,the more pious the people the more    
firm their conviction of the reality of 
witchcraft4 ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 in     
hanging two men in #affd1 took the      
opportunity of declaring that the       
reality of witchcraft was               
unquestionable2 for first1 the          
,scripture had affirmed so much2 and1   
secondly1 the wisdom of all nations had 
provided laws against such persons4     
,witch belief and witch persecutions    
have existed from the most savage times 
down to the rise and spread of medical  
science1 but nothing is more striking in

 history than the fact of the great     
,european outburst against witchcraft   
following upon the ,reformation and the 
translations of ,god's ,holy ,word1     
,this was no mere coincidence1 but a    
necessary consequence4 ,it was not until
 after the ,reformation that there was  
any systematic hunting out of witches1  
says ,j4 ,r4 ,lowell499       99 ,among 
my ,books1 p4 #abh4 ,macmillan1 #ahgj4  
,if the ,bible teaches not witchcraft1  
then it teaches nothing4  ,science and  
scepticism having made ,christians      
ashamed of this biblical doctrine1 as   
usual they have sought a new            
interpretation4 ,they say it is a       
mistranslation2 that poisoners are      
meant1 and not witches4 ,now1 in the    
first place1 poisoners were really dealt
 with by the command1 ,thou shalt not   
kill4 ,in the second place1 not a single
 ,hebrew scholar of repute would venture
 to so render the word of our text4 ,its
 root1 translated witch1 is given by    
,gesenius as to use enchantment4        

,fuerst1 ,parkhurst1 ,frey1 ,newman1    
,buxtorf1 in short1 all ,hebrew         
lexicographers1 agree4 ,not one suggests
 that poisoner could be considered an   
equivalent4 ,the derivatives of this    
word are translated with this meaning   
wherever they occur4 ,thus ,exodus vii4 
#aa1 the wise men and the sorcerers4    
,deuteronomy xviii41 #aj1aa1 ,there     
shalt not be found among you anyone that
 useth divination1 or an observer of    
times1 or an enchanter1 or a witch1 or a
 charmer1 or a consulter with familiar  
spirits1 or a wizard or a necromancer4  
#b ,kings ix4 #bb1 her witchcrafts4 #b  
,chronicles xxxiii4 #f1 ,manesseh used  
enchantments1 and used witchcraft1 and  
dealt with a familiar spirit and with   
wizards4 ,isaiah xlvii4 #i and #ab1 thy 
sorceries4 ,jeremiah xxvii4 #i1 your    
sorcerers4 ,daniel ii4 #b1 the          
magicians1 and the astrologers1 and the 
sorcerers1 and the ,chaldeans4 ,micah v4
 #ab1 ,and ,i will cut off witchcrafts1 
and thou shalt have no soothsayers4     

,nahum iii4 #d1 witchcrafts4 ,malachi   
iii4 #e1 ,i will be a swift witness     
against the sorcerers4 ,the only        
pretence for this rendering of poisoner 
is the fact that ,josephus              
7,antiquities1 bk4 iv41 ch4 viii41 sec4 
#cd7 gives a law against keeping        
poisons4 ,as there is no such law in the
 ,pentateuch1 ,whiston tried to kill two
 difficulties with one note1 by saying  
that what we render a witch meant a     
poisoner4 ,the ,septuagint has also been
 appealed to1 but ,sir ,charles ,lee    
,brenton1 in his translation of the     
,septuagint1 has not thought proper to  
render our text other than1 ,ye shall   
not save the lives of sorcerers4  ,but  
apart from texts 7of which ,i have only 
given those in which occurs one word out
 of the many implying the belief71 the  
thing itself is woven into the structure
 of the ,bible4 ,not only do the        
,egyptian enchanters work miracles and  
the witch of ,endor raise ,samuel1 but  
the power of evil spirits over men is   

the occasion of most of the miracles of 
,jesus4 ,the very doctrine of the       
inspiration of the ,bible1 so cherished 
by ,protestant ,christians1 is but a    
part of that doctrine of men being      
possessed by spirits1 good and evil1    
which is the substratum of belief in    
witchcraft4  ,even yet this belief is   
not entirely extinct in ,england2 and   
,dr4 ,buckley says that in ,america a   
majority of the citizens believe in     
witchcraft4 ,the modern ,roman ,catholic
 priest is cautioned in the rubric      
concerning the examination of a         
possessed patient not to believe the    
demon if he profess to be the soul of   
some saint or deceased person1 or a good
 angel4 ,as late as #aggc the divines of
 the ,associated ,presbytery passed a   
resolution declaring their belief in    
witchcraft1 and deploring the scepticism
 that was general4 ,in the ,church      
,catechism1 explained by the ,rev4 ,john
 ,lewis1 minister of ,margate in        
,kent--a work which went through many   

editions1 and received the sanction of  
the ,society for ,promoting ,christian  
,knowledge--a copy of which lies before 
me1 published in #ahac1 reads 7p4 #ah73 
,q4 ,what is meant by renouncing the    
,devil8--,a4 ,the refusing of all       
familiarity and contracts with the      
,devil1 whereof witches1 conjurors1 and 
such as resort to them are guilty4  ,let
 it never be forgotten that this belief 
which has not only been the cause of the
 deaths of tens of thousands of innocent
 women1 but has sent far more into the  
worst convulsions of madness and        
despair1 is the evident and unmistakable
 teaching of the ,bible4     ,,saul',s  
,,spiritualist ,,stance ,,at ,,endor4   
,our own time has revived a group of    
beliefs and practices which have their  
roots deep in the very stratum of early 
philosophy1 where witchcraft makes its  
first appearance4 ,this group of beliefs
 and practices constitutes what is now  
commonly known as ,spiritualism4--,dr4  
,e4 ,b4 ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture vol4

 i41 p4 #abh4  ,the oldest portion of   
the ,old ,testament scriptures are      
imbedded in the ,book of ,judges and the
 ,books of ,samuel4 ,few indeed of these
 narratives throw more light on the     
early belief of the ,jews than the story
 of ,saul and the witch of ,endor4 ,it  
is hardly necessary to recount the      
story1 which is told with a vigor and   
simplicity showing its antiquity and    
genuineness4 ,saul1 who had incurred    
,samuel's enmity by refusing to slay the
 king ,agag1 after the death of the     
prophet1 found troubles come upon him4  
,alarmed at the strength of his enemies1
 the ,philistines1 he inquired of the   
,lord4 ,but the ,lord was not at home4  
,at any rate1 he answered him not1      
neither by dreams1 nor by ,urim1 nor by 
prophets4 ,the legitimate modes of      
learning one's fortune being thus shut  
up1 ,saul sought in disguise and by     
night a woman who had an ob4 or familiar
 spirit4 ,now ,saul had done his best to
 suppress witchcraft1 having put away   

those who had familiar spirits1 and the 
wizards out of the land4 ,so when he    
said to the witch1 ,i pray thee divine  
unto me by the familiar spirit and bring
 him up whom ,i shall name unto thee1   
the woman was afraid1 and asked if he   
laid a snare for her4 ,saul swore hard  
and fast he would not hurt her1 and it  
is evident from his question he believed
 in her powers of necromancy by the aid 
of the familiar spirit4 ,this alone     
shows that the ,jews1 like all          
uncivilised people1 and many who call   
themselves civilised1 believed in ghosts
 and the possibility of their return1   
but1 as we shall see1 it does not imply 
that they believed in future rewards and
 punishments4 ,saul's expectations were 
not disappointed4 ,he asked to see      
,samuel1 and up ,samuel came4 ,he asked 
what she saw1 and she said ,elohirn1 or 
as we have it1 gods ascending out of the
 earth4 ,in this fact that the same word
 in ,hebrew is used for ghosts and for  
gods1 we have the most important light  

upon the origin of all theology4  ,the  
modern ,christian of course believes    
that ,samuel as a holy prophet dwells in
 heaven above1 and may wonder1 if he    
thinks of the narrative at all1 why he  
should be recalled from his abode of    
bliss and placed under the magic control
 of this weird1 not to say scandalous1  
female4 ,but ,samuel came up1 not down  
from heaven1 in accordance1 of course1  
with the old belief that ,sheol1 or the 
underworld1 was beneath the earth4      
,christian commentators have resorted to
 a deal of shuffling and wriggling to   
escape the difficulties of this story1  
and its endorsement of the superstition 
of witchcraft4 ,the ,speakers'          
,commentary suggests that the ,witch of 
,endor was a female ventriloquist1 but1 
disingenuously1 does not explain that   
ventriloquists in ancient times were    
really supposed to have a spirit        
rumbling or talking inside their bodies4
 ,as ,dr4 ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor says in that   
great storehouse of savage beliefs1     

,primitive ,culture1 ,to this day in    
,china one may get an oracular response 
from a spirit apparently talking out of 
a medium's stomach1 for a fee of about  
twopence-halfpenny4  ,some make out1    
because ,saul at first asked the woman  
what she saw1 that1 as at many modern   
seances1 it was only the medium1 who saw
 the ghost1 and ,saul only knew who it  
was through her1 else why should he have
 asked her what form ,samuel had8--which
 elicited the not very detailed reply of
 an old man cometh up2 and he is covered
 with a mantle--that is1 we suppose1    
with the ghost of a mantle4 ,she did the
 seeing and he the hearing4 ,but it says
 ,saul perceived it was ,samuel1 and    
prostrated himself1 which he would      
hardly have done at a description4      
,indeed1 the whole narrative is         
inconsistent with the modern theory of  
imposture on the part of the witch4 ,had
 this been the explanation1 the writer  
should have said so plainly4 ,he should 
have said her terror was pretended1 that

 the apparition was unreal1 and that    
,saul trembled at the woman's words1    
whereas it is plainly declared that he  
was sore afraid because of the words of 
,samuel4 ,moreover1 and this is         
decisive1 the spirit utters a           
prophecy--not an encouraging1 but a     
gloomy one--which was exactly fulfilled4
  ,all this shows the writer was        
saturated in supernaturalism4 ,he never 
uses an expression indicating a shadow  
of a ghost of a doubt of the ghost4 ,he 
might easily have said the whole thing  
was deceit4 ,he does not1 for he        
believed in witchcraft like the priests 
who ordered ,thou shalt not suffer a    
witch to live4 ,one little circumstance 
shows his sympathy4 ,samuel says3 ,why  
hast thou disquieted me to bring me up8 
,this is quite in consonance with savage
 belief that spirits should not be      
disturbed4 ,here was ,samuel quietly    
buried in ,ramah1 some fifty miles off1 
taking his comfortable nap1 may be for  
millenniums in ,sheol1 when the old     

woman's incantations bustle him out of  
his grave and transport him to ,endor4  
,no wonder he felt disquieted and       
prophesied vengeance to ,saul and to his
 sons1 because thou obeyedst not the    
voice of the ,lord nor executedest his  
fierce wrath upon ,amalek4  ,matthew    
,henry and other commentators think that
 the person who presented himself to    
,saul was not ,samuel1 but ,satan       
assuming his appearance4 ,those who     
believe in ,satan1 and that he can      
transform himself into an angel of light
 7#b ,cor4 xi4 #ad71 cannot refuse to   
credit the possibility of this4 ,folks  
with that comfortable belief can credit 
anything4 ,to sensible people it is     
scarcely necessary to say there is      
nothing about ,satan in the narrative1  
nor any conceivable reason why he should
 be credited with a true prophecy4 ,the 
words uttered are declared to be the    
words of ,samuel499       99 ,the       
seventeenth verse stupidly reads1 ,the  
,lord hath done      to him as he spake 

by me4 ,the ,,lxx and ,vulgate more     
sensibly      reads to thee4  ,much is  
said of ,saul's wickedness1 but the only
 wickedness attributed to him is his    
mercy in not executing ,god's fierce    
wrath4 ,if it was wicked to seek the old
 woman1 it is curious ,god should grant 
the object he was seeking1 by raising up
 one of his own holy servants4 ,why did 
the ,lord employ such an agency8 ,it    
looks very much like sanctioning        
necromancy4 ,and further1 if a spirit   
returned from the dead to tell ,saul he 
should die and go to ,sheol--where      
,samuel was1 for he says to-morrow shalt
 thou and thy sons be with me--why      
should not spirits now return to tell us
 we are immortal8 ,if the witch of      
,endor could raise spirits1 why not     
,lottie ,fowler or ,mr4 ,eglinton8 ,such
 are the arguments of the spiritists4   
,we venture to think they cannot be     
answered by the orthodox4 ,to us1       
however1 the fact that the beliefs of   
the spiritists find their countenance in

 the beliefs of savages like the early  
,jews is their sufficient refutation4   
,spiritism1 as ,dr4 ,tylor says1 is but 
a revival of old savage animism4        
,,sacrifices4       ,no sacrifice to    
heaven1 no help from heaven2      ,that 
runs through all the faiths of all the  
world4      --,tennyson--,harold4  ,the 
origin and meaning of sacrifices        
constitute a central problem of ancient 
religion4 ,it links indeed the          
stronghold of orthodox                  
,christianity--its doctrine of the      
,atonement--with the most barbarous     
customs of primitive savages4 ,when we  
hear of the ,lamb slain for sinners1 the
 very phrase takes us back to the time  
when sins were formally placed upon the 
heads of unconscious animals that they  
might be held accursed instead of man2  
and to the yet older notion of human    
sacrifice as a most acceptable offering 
to the gods4  ,sacrifices were primarily
 meals offered to the spirits of the    
dead4 ,it is not hard to understand how 

they arose4 ,the ,hindoos who placed    
upon the grave of an ,english officer   
the brandy and cheroots which he loved  
in life in order to propitiate his      
spirit illustrated a prominent aspect4  
,just as men were appeased with gifts1  
usually of substances which minister to 
life1 so were spirits supposed to be1   
and the general form which the offering 
took was something in the shape of what 
the ,americans call a square meal4 ,the 
,romans never sat down to eat without   
placing a portion aside for the ,lares  
and ,penates4 ,professor ,smith1 in his 
,lectures on the ,religion of the       
,semites1 gives abundant evidence that  
the early sacrifices of the ,semitic    
people were animals offered at a meal   
partaken by the worshippers4 ,the       
sacrifice1 he holds1 was originally a   
nourishing of the common life of the    
kindred and their god by a common meal4 
,the primary communion with deity was   
communion of food4 ,this may not be very
 poetical1 but it is natural and true4  

,eating and drinking together were      
primarily signs of fraternity4 ,only to 
his own kin did early man own duty1 and 
his god was always of his own kin4      
,jehovah was1 as we are often told1 the 
,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob4   
,he was their father and their king4    
,when ,ruth said to ,naomi1 ,thy people 
shall be my people1 and thy ,god my     
,god1 the exclamation showed that taking
 up new kindred involved a change of    
worship4 ,professor ,smith says3 ,it    
cannot be too strongly insisted on that 
the idea of kinship between gods and men
 was originally taken in a purely       
physical sense4 ,the modern ,christian's
 explanations of biblical               
anthropomorphisms may be dismissed as   
unfounded assumptions4 ,the story in    
,genesis of the sons of ,god going with 
the daughters of men is one of the      
remnants of early myths unexplained by  
later editors4  ,the ,bible ,god1 as any
 careful reader will perceive1 was very 
partial to roast meat4 ,one of the      

earliest items recorded of him is that  
he had no respect for ,cain and his     
offering of vegetables1 while to ,abel  
who brought him the firstlings of his   
flock1 and of the fat thereof1 he had   
respect4 ,he much prefered mutton to    
turnips4 ,when ,noah offered a          
sacrifice1 we are told ,he smelt a sweet
 savor 7,gen4 vii4 #ba74 ,but the ,lord 
was by no means content with the smell4 
,on his altars huge hecatombs of animals
 were continually being slaughtered1 and
 the choicest portions set aside as the 
,lord's4 ,the ,lord ,god seems to have  
been extremely fond of fat1 especially  
that about the rump4 ,as the richest    
part of the animal1 it was reserved with
 the two kidneys and the fat that is    
upon them especially for the ,lord      
7,lev4 iii4 #i-aa74 ,let it be noticed  
that the ,lord ,god required no         
sacrifices except of eatable animals1   
oxen1 rams1 goats1 lambs1 and kids4     
,fishes he had no regard for1 and of    
birds only turtle doves and pigeons were

 his favorite dishes4 ,wine and oil he  
took to wash them down1 but never       
mentioned water4 ,like his ministers1 he
 lived on the fat of the land199        
claiming as his own the firstlings of   
the flock4 ,from his claim to the first 
born1 it appears that ,jahveh was       
originally given to long pig1 but in the
 case of ,abraham's son1 he took a ram  
instead4 ,he was1 however1 so partial to
 blood that he interdicted the sacred   
fluid to his worshippers1 but demanded  
that it should be poured out upon his   
altar 7,deut4 xii47 ,even the early     
,christians made it a fundamental rule  
of the ,church that disciples should    
abstain from blood1 and from things     
strangled 7,acts xv4 #bj74 ,the blood   
was supposed to be especially the       
,lord's4       99 ,to eat the fat seems1
 as in ,neh4 viii4 #aj1 to have been    
a biblical expression for good living4  
,let not the serious reader suppose we  
are jesting4 ,hear what ,prof4          
,robertson ,smith says4  ,all sacrifices

 laid upon the altar were taken by the  
ancients as being literally the food of 
the gods4 ,the ,homeric deities 'feast  
on hecatombs1' nay particular ,greek    
gods have special epithets designating  
them as the goat-eater1 the ram-eater1  
the bull-eater1 even 'cannibal1' with   
allusion to human sacrifices4 ,among the
 ,hebrews the conception that ,jehovah  
eats the flesh of bulls and drinks the  
blood of goats1 against which the author
 of ,psalm #a4 protests so strongly1 was
 never eliminated from the ancient      
technical language of the priestly      
ritual1 in which the sacrifices are     
called lechem ,elohim1 'the food of the 
deity4'99       99 ,religion of the     
,semites1 p4 #bjg4  ,our translators of 
the passages where this phrase occurs   
7,lev4 xxi4 #h1 #ag1 #ba1 #bb2 ,num4    
xxviii4 #b7 have done their best to     
conceal the meaning1 but like the phrase
 wine which cheereth ,god and man       
7,judges ix4 #ac71 it takes us back to  
the time when gods were supposed1 like  

men1 to eat1 drink1 and be refreshed4   
,it was a fundamental rule of the       
,jewish faith that no one should appear 
before the ,lord empty handed 7,exodus  
xxiii4 #ae47 ,not to take him an        
offering was as improper as in the ,east
 it still is to approach a chief or     
great man without some present4 ,a      
sacrifice was as imperative as it now is
 to put something in the church plate4  
,when ,god made a call on ,abraham1 with
 ,eastern hospitality the patriarch     
procured water to wash his feet and     
killed a calf for the entertainment of  
his visitor4 ,the ,lord ,god was not a  
vegetarian but a stout kreophagist4 ,in 
,numbers 7xxix4 #ac7 he orders as a     
sacrifice of a sweet savor unto the     
,lord1 thirteen young bullocks1 two rams
 and fourteen lambs of the first year4  
,from the frequent mention of the sweet 
savor1 it seems likely that the original
 idea of the god partaking of the food1 
developed into that of his taking only  
the essence of the food4 ,as ,god got   

less anthropomorphic he lost his teeth  
and had1 poor spirit1 to be content with
 the smell of the good things offered up
 to him4 ,we gather from ,lev4 vii4 #f  
that the kidneys1 fat and other         
delicacies really fell to the lot of the
 priests1 and some people have found a  
sufficient reason for the sacrifices to 
,god in the fact that the priests liked 
mutton4  ,in #a ,samuel ii4 #ac-af we   
are told how it was the custom of the   
priests that when any man offered       
sacrifice1 the priest's servant came1   
while the flesh was in seething1 with a 
fleshhook of three teeth in his hand4   
,and he struck it into the pan or       
kettle1 or caldron or pot2 all that the 
fleshhook brought up the priest took for
 himself4  ,in the time of ,david the   
,lord had a table of shew-bread set     
before him--that is1 a table spread with
 food in the temple1 where he was       
supposed to come and take it when he    
desired1 just as ,africans place meal   
and liquor in their fetish houses4 ,such

 tables were set in the great temple of 
,bel at ,babylon1 and the story of ,bel 
and the ,dragon in the ,apocrypha       
explains how the priests and their women
 and children came in by a secret door  
and ate up the things which were        
supposed to be consumed by the ,god4    
,while the ,lord and the priests were   
certainly not vegetarians1 neither did  
they insist on a vegetable diet for     
their people4 ,the ,lord's table of fare
 is set out in ,leviticus xi41 and a    
very curious menu it is4 ,the hare is   
expressly excluded because he cheweth   
the cud1 although he does nothing of the
 kind2 but the locust after his kind1   
the bald locust after his kind1 and the 
beetle after his kind1 and the          
grasshopper after his kind1 are freely  
permitted4 ,another divine regulation1  
and one which throws much light on the  
divine methods1 is recorded in ,deut4   
xvi4 #ba--,thou shalt not eat of        
anything that dieth of itself3 thou     
shalt give it unto the stranger that is 

within thy gates that he may eat it1 or 
thou mayest sell it unto an alien4 ,to  
this day the ,jews are particular in    
observing this godly method of disposing
 of diseased meat4  ,to arrive at the   
truth in regard to the question whether 
human sacrifice was at one time a       
portion of the ,jewish religion1 or     
whether it was1 as the orthodox         
generally assert1 simply a corruption   
copied from the surrounding heathen     
nations1 it is necessary to bear in mind
 that every portion of the ,jewish law  
is of later date than the prophets4 ,the
 book of the law was only found in the  
time of ,king ,josiah1 who opposed this 
very practice 7#b ,kings xxiii4 #aj71   
and there is no evidence of its         
existence before that date4 ,there is   
reason to believe that the priestly code
 of ,leviticus is later still1 dating   
only from the time of ,ezra4 ,instead of
 reflecting the ideas of the age of     
,moses1 it reflects those of almost a   
thousand years later4 ,it is therefore  

only in the historical books that we can
 expect to find traces of what the      
actual religion of ,israel was4 ,there  
is ample evidence that human sacrifice  
formed a conspicuous element4 ,ahaz1    
,king of ,judah1 burnt his children in  
the fire 7#b ,chron4 xxviii4 #c72       
,mannasseh1 ,king of ,judah1 was guilty 
of the same atrocity 7#b ,chron4 xxxiii4
 #f72 ,jeremiah denounces the children  
of ,judah for having built the high     
place of ,tophet1 which is in the valley
 of the son of ,hinnom1 to burn their   
sons and their daughters in the fire    
7vii4 #ca72 ,micah remonstrates against 
both animal and human sacrifice--,will  
the ,lord be pleased with thousands of  
rams2 shall ,i give my first-born for my
 transgression2 the fruit of my body for
 the sin of my soul8 7vi4 #g74 ,in the  
well-known story of ,abraham and ,isaac1
 as in the ,greek story of ,iphigenia1  
and the ,roman one of ,valeria ,luperca1
 we have an account of the transition to
 a less barbarous stage in the          

substitution of animal for human        
sacrifice4 ,it was natural that this    
legend should be ascribed to the time of
 the father of the faithful1 but there  
is1 as we have seen1 abundant evidence  
of the practice existing long subsequent
 to the time of ,abraham1 who was by no 
means surprised at and in no way        
demurred to the divine command1 ,take   
now thy son1 thine only son ,isaac1 whom
 thou lovest1 and get thee unto the land
 of ,moriah2 and offer him there for a  
burnt offering upon one of the mountains
 which ,i will tell thee of 7,genesis   
xxii4 #b74 ,anyone who at the present   
day should exhibit a faith like unto    
that of the patriarchal saint would be  
in jeopardy of finding himself within   
the walls of a criminal lunatic asylum4 
,that human sacrifices lasted long after
 the time of ,abraham we have an        
instance in the case of ,jephthah1 who  
vowed that if ,jahveh would deliver the 
children of ,ammon into his hand1 he    
would offer up for a burnt offering     

whosoever came forth from his house to  
meet him upon his return from his       
expedition 7,judges xi4 #cj1 #ca74 ,in  
order to tone this down the ,authorised 
,version reads whatsoever instead of    
whosoever1 which is supplied in the     
margin of the ,revised ,version4        
,despite the emphatic statement that    
,jephthah did with her according to his 
vow1 it has been alleged that because   
his daughter petitioned to be allowed to
 bewail her virginity for two months1   
she was only condemned to a life of     
celibacy4 ,this is preposterous4        
,jahveh1 unlike ,jesus1 had no          
partiality for the unmarried state4 ,he 
liked a real sacrifice of blood4 ,to    
lament childlessness was a common       
ancient custom1 and even the ,greek and 
,latin poets have represented their     
heroines who were similarly doomed to an
 early death1 such as ,antigone1        
,polyxena1 and ,iphigenia1 as actually  
lamenting in a very similar manner their
 virginity or unmarried condition4      

,there is no single instance in the ,old
 ,testament of a woman being set apart  
as a virgin1 though1 as we have seen1   
there are numerous indications of human 
sacrifices4  ,even in the ,levitical law
 sanction is given to human sacrifice4  
,none devoted1 which shall be devoted of
 men1 shall be ransomed2 he shall surely
 be put to death 7,lev4 xxvii4 #bi74    
,jahveh insisted on the sacrifice being 
completed4 ,david sent seven sons of    
,saul to be hung before the ,lord to    
stay a famine4  ,that a party remained  
in ,israel who considered human         
sacrifice a part of their religion is   
evident also from ,jeremiah1 who says3  
,they have built also the high places of
 ,baal1 to burn their sons with fire for
 burnt offerings unto ,baal1 which ,i   
commanded not1 nor spake it1 neither    
came it into my mind 7xix4 #e74 ,these  
strong asseverations were evidently     
called forth by assertions made by      
persons addicted to such practices1 and 
those persons had the support of        

,ezekiel1 who1 in contradiction to the  
statements of ,jeremiah1 contended that 
,jahveh gave them up to pollution1 even 
as he hardened the heart of ,pharaoh    
that they might know that he was the    
,lord 7,ezek4 xx4 #be-bf74     ,,the    
,,passover4       ,christ our passover  
is sacrificed for us4      --,paul 7#a  
,cor4 v4 #g47  ,the ,passover is the    
most important and impressive festival  
of the ,jews1 instituted1 it is said1 by
 ,god himself1 and a type of the        
sacrifice of his only son4 ,its         
observance was most rigorously enjoined 
under penalty of death1 and although the
 circumstances of the ,jews have        
prevented their carrying out the        
sacrificial details1 they still1 in the 
custom of each head of the family       
assuming pro tem1 the rle of high       
priest1 preserve the most primitive type
 of priesthood known4  ,the ,bible      
account of the institution of the       
,passover is utterly incredible4 ,after 
afflicting the ,egyptians with nine     

plagues1 ,god still hardens ,pharaoh's  
heart 7,exodus x4 #bg71 and tells ,moses
 that about midnight he will go into the
 midst of ,egypt and slay all the       
firstborn4 ,but in order that he shall  
make no mistake in carrying out his     
atrocious design1 he orders that each   
family of the children of ,israel shall 
take a lamb and kill it in the evening1 
and smear the doorposts of the house    
with blood1 and when ,i see the blood ,i
 will pass over you4 ,the omniscient    
needed this sign1 that he might not make
 a mistake and slay the very people he  
meant to deliver4 ,one cannot help      
wondering what would have been the      
result if some ,egyptian1 like ,morgiana
 in ,the ,forty ,thieves1 had wiped off 
the blood from the ,israelite doorposts 
and sprinkled the doorposts of the      
,egyptians4 ,moses received this command
 on the very day at the close of which  
the paschal lambs were to be killed4    
,this was very short notice for         
communicating with the head of each     

family about to start on a hurried      
flight4 ,as the people were two million 
in number and the lambs had to be all   
males1 without blemish1 of one year old1
 this supposes1 on the most moderate    
computation1 a flock of sheep as        
numerous as the people4 ,who can credit 
this monstrous libel on the character of
 ,god and on the intelligence of those  
to whom such a story is proffered8      
,what1 then1 is the correct version of  
the origin of the ,passover8 ,dr4       
,hardwicke1 in his ,popular ,faith      
,unveiled1 following ,sir ,wm4 ,drummond
 and ,godfrey ,higgins1 says it meant   
nothing more or less than the pass-over 
of the sun across the equator1 into the 
constellation ,aries1 when the          
astronomical lamb was consequently      
obliterated or sacrificed by the        
superior effulgence of the sun4 ,it is  
noticeable that the principal festivals 
of the ,jews1 as of other nations1 were 
in spring and autumn1 at the time of    
lambing and sowing and when the harvest 

ripened4 ,but while allowing that this  
may have determined the time of the     
festival1 ,i cannot think it covers the 
ground of its significance4 ,the story  
relates that when ,moses first asked    
,pharaoh to let the ,israelites go1 it  
was that they might celebrate a feast in
 the wilderness which was accompanied by
 a sacrifice 7see ,exodus v4 i4 and iii4
 #ai74 ,this may be taken as indicating 
that there was known to be a festival at
 this season prior to the days of       
,pharaoh4 ,and at the festival of the   
spring increase of flocks the god must  
of course have his share4  ,epiphanius  
declares that the ,egyptians marked     
their sheep with red1 because of the    
general conflagration which once raged  
at the time when the sun passed over    
into the sign of ,aries1 thereby to     
symbolise the fiery death of those      
animals who were not actually offered   
up4 ,von ,bohlen says the ancient       
,peruvians marked with blood the doors  
of the temples1 royal residences1 and   

private dwellings1 to symbolise the     
triumph of the sun over the winter4     
,the suggestion that owing to           
peculiarities of diet or of constitution
 some pestilence afflicted the          
,egyptians which passed over and spared 
the ,jews1 is a very plausible one1 and 
deserves more attention than it has yet 
received1 since it would account for    
many features in the institution4 ,but  
there remains another signification1    
which seems indicated in the thirteenth 
chapter of ,exodus in connection with   
the institution of the ,passover4 ,there
 we read the order1 ,thou shalt set     
apart the margin more properly reads    
cause to pass over unto the ,lord1 all  
that openeth the matrix 7verse #ab74    
,and every firstling of an ass thou     
shalt redeem with a lamb2 and if thou   
will not redeem it1 then thou shalt     
break his neck3 and all the firstborn of
 man among thy children shalt thou      
redeem499 ,professor ,huxley asks upon  
this passage3 ,is it possible to avoid  

the conclusion that immolation of their 
firstborn sons would have been incumbent
 on the worshippers of ,jahveh1 had they
 not been thus specially excused89999   
,in one of the oldest portions of the   
,pentateuch 7,exodus xxii4 #bi7 the     
command stands simply1 the firstborn of 
thy sons shalt thou give unto me4 ,in   
,exodus xii4 #bg1 xxiii4 #ah1 xxxiv4    
#be2 and ,numbers ix4 #ac1 the ,passover
 is spoken of as particularly the       
,lord's own sacrifice4       99 ,why is 
the ass only mentioned besides man8 ,one
 cannot but      suspect that his       
introduction is an interpolation by the 
reformed ,jews1 who had outgrown the    
custom of human      sacrifice1 betrayed
 by the phrase thou shalt break his     
neck4       9999 ,nineteenth ,century1  
,april1 #ahhf4  ,the law proceeds to    
enjoin that the father shall tell his   
son as the reason for the festival1 how 
the ,lord slew all the firstborn in the 
land of ,egypt1 both the firstborn of   
man and the firstborn of beasts3        

therefore ,i sacrifice to the ,lord all 
that openeth the matrix being males2 but
 all the firstborn of my children ,i    
redeem4 ,evidently here is the notion of
 a substitutionary offering1 although   
the reason given is not the true reason4
 ,in ,exodus xxxiv4 #ah-bj1 the festival
 is brought into the same connection    
with immediate reference to the         
redemption of the firstborn4 ,in the    
story of ,abraham and ,isaac we have the
 same idea4 ,god commands the patriarch 
to offer up his only son as a burnt     
sacrifice 7,gen4 xxii4 #b71 an order    
which he receives without astonishment1 
and proceeds to execute as if it were   
the most ordinary business imaginable1  
without the slightest sign of           
reluctance4 ,a messenger from ,jahveh1  
however1 intervenes and a ram is        
substituted499 ,i do not doubt that this
 story1 like similar ones found in      
,hindu and ,greek mythology1 indicates  
an era when animal sacrifices were      
substituted for human ones49999       99

 ,observe that ,elohim1 the old gods1   
claim the sacrifice and      ,jahveh1   
the new ,lord1 prevents it4       9999  
,it may help us to understand how the   
sacrifice of an      animal may atone   
for human life1 if we notice how in     
,south      ,africa a ,zulu will redeem 
a lost child from the finder by a       
bullock4  ,the legend is of course far  
older than the record of it which       
reaches us4 ,in a notable passage in    
,ezekiel xx4 #be1 #bf1 the ,lord        
declares that he had given his people   
statutes that were not good1 and        
judgments whereby they should not live4 
,and he continues1 ,i polluted them in  
their own gifts in that they cause to   
pass through the fire all that openeth  
the womb1 that ,i might make them       
desolate1 to the end that they might    
know that ,i am the ,lord4 ,the fact    
that the very same words are used in    
,ezekiel which are found in ,exodus     
xiii4 #ab1 at once suggests that        
originally the passover was a human     

sacrifice1 and that of the most         
abominable kind--the offering of the    
firstborn--and that the story of the    
,lord slaying the firstborn of ,egypt   
was an invention to account for the     
relics of the custom4 ,we know that such
 sacrifices did remain as part of the   
,jewish religion4 ,ezekiel himself says 
that when they had slain their children 
to their idols1 they came the same day  
in the sanctuary to profane it 7xxiii4  
#ci74 ,micah argues against the         
barbarous practice3 ,shall ,i give my   
firstborn for my transgression1 the     
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul8
 7vi4 #f74 ,two kings of ,judah1 ,ahaz  
and ,manasseh1 are recorded to have     
offered up their children as burnt      
offerings 7#b ,chron4 xxviii4 #c1       
xxxiii4 #f71 as upon one occasion did   
the king of ,moab 7#b ,kings iii4 #bg74 
#b ,chron4 xxx41 in relating how        
,hezekiah commanded all ,israel to keep 
the ,passover1 says that they had not   
done it of a long time in such sort as  

it was written1 and relates how the     
,levites were ashamed and many yet did  
eat the ,passover otherwise than it was 
written4 ,and in the account of how     
,josiah broke down the altars which had 
been set up by ,ahaz and ,manasseh one  
reads surely there was not held such a  
,passover from the days of the judges4  
,in other words1 it had never been kept 
in the same fashion within human memory4
 ,the keeping of the ,passover had been 
different before this reformation1 just 
as until the age of ,hezekiah the ,jews 
worshipped a brazen serpent1 which they 
afterwards accounted for by ascribing it
 to ,moses1 the law-giver who had       
prohibited all idolatry4 ,on the eve of 
the ,passover1 to the present day1 the  
firstborn son among the ,jews1 who is of
 full age--i4e41 thirteen--fasts4 ,this 
we take to be a rudimentary survival4   
,if then we interpret the offering of   
the paschal lamb as being substituted   
for a human sacrifice1 we shall         
understand how it is at once a          

thank-offering and yet eaten with the   
bread of affliction1 the motzahs1 or    
unleavened cakes1 and bitter herbs1     
which are the remaining features of the 
festival1 and this may help to explain  
the accusation which in all ages has    
been brought against the ,jews1 viz41   
that once in seven years at least they  
required their ,passover to be          
celebrated with human blood4 ,it is true
 the accusation has been often brought  
without evidence1 but the ,jews         
themselves profess astonishment at the  
unanimity with which their opponents    
have fixed upon this charge4 ,further1  
we shall see that in adopting the       
paschal lamb as the type of ,christ1 the
 substitutionary sacrifice for our sins1
 the ,christians were simply reverting  
to the early savage notion that deities 
are only to be appeased with blood1 and 
to this degraded belief they have added 
the absurdity that ,christ himself was  
,god1 thus making ,god sacrifice himself
 in order to appease himself6     ,,the 

,,evolution ,,of ,,jahveh4  ,in the     
beginning when men created gods they    
made them in their own image1 cruel1    
unrestrained and vacillating1 ,all the  
early religions give evidence of the    
savage nature of ancient man4 ,the      
departed gods1 viewed in the light of   
modern ideals1 were all ugly devils4    
,the boasted ,god of the ,jews is no    
exception4 ,although the books of the   
,old ,testament do not give us the      
earliest and doubtless still more savage
 beliefs of the ,israelites1 the oldest 
portions1 such as the legends embodied  
in ,genesis and the historical books1   
sufficiently betray that ,jahveh was no 
better than his compeers4 ,it is evident
 that originally he was only one of many
 gods4 ,he is always spoken of as a     
family deity--the ,god of ,abraham1 of  
,isaac and of ,jacob4 ,human sacrifices 
were at one time offered to him 7see    
,genesis xxii41 ,leviticus xxvii4 #bi1  
,numbers xxv4 #d1 ,judges xi4 #ca-ci1a  
,samuel xv4 #bc1 ,micah vi4 #f1g74 ,he  

is anthropomorphic1 yet anything but a  
gentleman4 ,in his decalogue he         
describes himself as a jealous god1     
visiting the iniquity of the fathers    
upon the children until the third and   
fourth generation4 ,he delights in blood
 and sacrifice4 ,he is entitled a god of
 battles1 ,lord of hosts1 and a man of  
war4 ,he has the form1 the movements1   
and the imperfections of a human being4 
,man is said to be made in his image and
 after his likeness4 ,it is plain these 
words must be taken in their literal    
significance1 since1 a little further   
on1 ,adam is described1 in the same     
language1 as having begotten ,seth in   
his own likeness and after his image    
7,genesis v4 #c74  ,jahveh walks in the 
garden in the cool of the day4 ,he has  
come down to see the tower of ,babel    
7,gen4 xi4 #e74 ,he covers ,moses with  
his hand so that he should not see his  
face2 and while ,moses stands in a clift
 of the rock ,jahveh shows him his back 
parts 7,exodus xxxiii4 #bc74 ,he makes  

clothes for ,adam and ,eve1 and writes  
his laws with his own finger4 ,after six
 days' work we are told that on the     
seventh day he rested and was refreshed 
7,exodus xxxi4 #ag74 ,when ,noah        
sacrificed we are told that ,jahveh     
smelled a sweet savor 7,gen4 vii4 #ba74 
,he creates mankind and then regrets    
their creation--,it repented ,jahveh    
that he had made man on the earth and it
 grieved him at his heart 7,genesis vi4 
#f74 ,he puts a bow in the clouds in    
order to remember his vow1 and again and
 again he repents of the evil which he  
thought to do unto his people 7see      
,exodus xxxii4 #ad2 ,numbers xiv42 #b   
,sam4 xxiv4 #af2 ,jonah iii4 #aj2 etc47 
,jacob wrestles with him2 and when      
things do not go as they wish1 ,moses1  
,joshua1 ,david and ,job no more        
hesitate to remonstrate with their deity
 than the ,african hesitates to chide   
the fetish that does not answer his     
prayers4  ,in the early books ,jahveh is
 irascible and unjust4 ,his temper is   

soon up1 and his vengeance usually falls
 on the wrong parties4 ,eve eats the    
forbidden fruit and all her female      
descendants are condemned to pains at   
childbirth4 ,pharaoh refuses to let the 
,hebrews go and the firstborn child of  
every ,egyptian family is slain1 and    
other dreadful afflictions are poured on
 the innocent people4 ,david1 like a    
wise king1 takes a census of his nation1
 and ,jahveh punishes him by slaying    
seventy thousand of the people by a     
pestilence 7#a ,chron4 xxi4 #a--ag74 ,he
 slaughters fifty thousand inhabitants  
of the village of ,bethshemesh for      
innocently looking into his             
travelling-trunk on its return from     
captivity 7#a ,samuel vi4 #ai74 ,he     
smites ,uzzah for putting his hand to   
save the ark from falling 7#b ,samuel   
vi4 #f1 #g71 and withers ,jeroboam's    
hand for venturing to put it upon the   
altar 7#a ,kings xiii4 #d74 ,he sends   
bears to kill forty-two little children 
for calling ,elisha bald-head 7#b ,kings

 ii4 #bc1 #bd71 and his general conduct 
is that of a barbarous1 bloodthirsty and
 irresponsible tyrant4 ,we say nothing  
here of the character of his favorite   
people4 ,man paints himself in his gods1
 said ,schiller4  ,the captivity of the 
,jews and their consequent contact with 
other nations led to their own          
refinement and an enlarged ideal of     
their divinity4 ,he improves much in his
 character1 tastes and propensities4    
,nehemiah addressed ,jahveh in the      
elevated tone the ,persians addressed   
,ahura-,mazda4 ,whereas in the old days 
,jahveh ordered whole hecatombs of sheep
 and oxen to be sacrificed to him1      
doubtless because his priests liked beef
 and mutton 7they had the meat and he   
had the smell7--the prophet ,isaiah in  
his first chapter writes1 ,to what      
purpose is the multitude of your        
sacrifices unto me8 saith ,jahveh4 ,wash
 you1 make you clean2 put away the evil 
of your doings from before my eyes2     
cease to do evil2 learn to do well2 seek

 judgment1 relieve the oppressed1 judge 
the fatherless1 plead for the widow4    
,similarly1 ,micah gives worship an     
ethical instead of a ceremonial         
character3 ,will ,jahveh be pleased with
 thousands of rams1 or with ten thousand
 rivers of oil8 ,shall ,i give my       
firstborn for my transgression1 the     
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul8
 ,he hath showed thee1 ,o man1 what is  
good2 and what doth ,jahveh require of  
thee but to do justly and love mercy1   
and to walk humbly with thy ,god4       
,ezekiel bluntly contradicts ,moses1 and
 declares that the son shall not bear   
the iniquity of the father1 neither     
shall the father bear the iniquity of   
the son 7xviii4 #bj74  ,the second      
,isaiah even looks forward to the time  
when ,gentiles will acknowledge the     
,jewish ,jahveh1 and ,zechariah declares
 ,thus saith ,jahveh of hosts3 ,in those
 days it shall come to pass that the ten
 men shall take hold of all languages of
 the nations1 even shall take hold of   

the skirt of him that is a ,jew1 saying1
 ,we will go with you3 for we have heard
 that ,god is with you 7viii4 #bc74     
,jewish vanity did not permit tolerance 
to extend beyond this4 ,even in the ,new
 ,testament ,god only offers salvation  
to those who believe1 and mercilessly   
damns all the rest4 ,an honest ,god is  
the noblest work of man1 and theists of 
all kinds have found great difficulty in
 supplying the article4  ,herbert       
,spencer1 in a paper on ,religion in the
 ,nineteenth ,century99 well says3 ,if  
we contrast the ,hebrew ,god described  
in primitive tradition1 manlike in      
appearance1 appetites and emotions1 with
 the ,hebrew ,gods as characterised by  
the prophets1 there is shown a widening 
range of power along with a nature      
increasingly remote from that of man4   
,and on passing to the conceptions of   
him which are now entertained1 we are   
made aware of an extreme                
transfiguration4 ,by a convenient       
obliviousness1 a deity who in early     

times is represented as hardening men's 
hearts so that they may commit          
punishable acts1 and as employing a     
lying spirit to deceive them1 comes to  
be mostly thought of as an embodiment of
 virtues transcending the highest we can
 imagine4 ,and so the idea of ,god      
developes       ,till by broad spreading
 it disperse to nought4       99        
,january1 #ahhd4  ,for the process is   
not simply from the savage to the       
civilised--it is from the definite to   
the dim4 ,as man advances ,god retires4 
,with each increase of our knowledge of 
nature the sphere of the supernatural is
 lessened till all deities and devils   
are seen to be but reflections of man's 
imagination and symbols of his          
ignorance4     ,,joshua ,,and ,,the     
,,sun4  ,savages fail to recognise the  
limits of their power over nature4      
,things which the experience of the race
 shows us to be obviously impossible are
 not only attempted but believed to be  
performed by persons in a low stage of  

culture4 ,miracles always accompany     
ignorance4 ,no better proof of the      
barbarous and unintelligent state whence
 we have emerged could be given than the
 stories of the supernatural which are  
found embodied in all religions1 and    
also in the customs of savages and the  
folk-lore of peasantry4  ,primitive man 
thinks of all phenomena as caused by    
spirits4 ,hence to control the spirits  
is to control the phenomena4 ,herodotus 
7iv41 #agc7 tells a curious tale how    
once in the land of ,psylii1 the modern 
,tripoli1 the wind blowing from the     
,sahara dried up all the water-tanks4   
,so the people took counsel and marched 
in a body to make war on the south wind4
 ,but when they entered the desert1 the 
simoon swept down on them and buried    
them4 ,it is still said of the ,bedouins
 of ,eastern ,africa that no whirlwind  
ever sweeps across the path without     
being pursued by a dozen savages with   
drawn creeses1 who stab into the centre 
of the dusty column1 in order to drive  

away the evil spirit that is believed to
 be riding on the blast4 ,the ,chinese  
beat gongs and make other noises at an  
eclipse1 to drive away the dragon of    
darkness4 ,at an eclipse1 too1 the      
,ojibbeways used to think the sun was   
being extinguished1 so they shot        
fire-tipped arrows in the air1 hoping   
thus to re-kindle his expiring light4   
,at the present day ,theosophists seek  
to compass magical powers which in early
 times were supposed to be generally    
possessed by sorcerers4  ,rain-making   
was one of the most common of these     
supposed powers4 ,instances are found in
 the ,bible4 ,samuel says3 ,i will call 
unto the ,lord and he shall send thunder
 and rain1 and he does so 7#a ,sam4 xii4
 #ag1 #ah74 ,so ,elijah1 by prayer      
7which in early times meant a magical   
spell71 obtained rain4 ,jesus controls  
the winds and the waves1 walks on the   
water1 and levitates through the air4   
,mr4 ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 in his splendid   
work ,the ,golden ,bough gives many     

instances of savages making sunshine and
 staying the sun4 ,thus the ,melanesians
 make sunshine by means of a mock sun4  
,a round stone is wound about with red  
braid and stuck with owl's feathers to  
represent rays2 it is then hung on a    
high tree4 ,in a pass of the ,peruvian  
,andes stand two ruined towers on       
opposite hills4 ,iron hooks are clamped 
into their walls for the purpose of     
stretching a net from one tower to      
another4 ,the net is intended to catch  
the sun4 ,numerous other methods are    
resorted to by different tribes4        
,jerome1 of ,prague1 travelling among   
the ,lithuanians1 who early in the      
fifteenth century were still ,pagans1   
found a tribe who worshipped the sun and
 venerated a large iron hammer4 ,the    
priests told him at once the sun had    
been invisible for several months       
because a powerful king had shut it up  
in a strong tower2 but the signs of the 
zodiac had broken open the tower with   
this very hammer and released the sun4  

,therefore they adored the hammer499    
,mr4 ,frazer gives reasons for thinking 
that the fire festivals solemnised at   
,midsummer in ancient times were really 
sun-charms4  ,the phenomena of nature   
were supposed to be at the service of   
the pious4 ,the thunderbolts of ,zeus   
fell upon the heads of perjurers4 ,some 
people still wonder the earth does not  
open when a man announces himself an    
,atheist4 ,jahveh just before stopping  
the sun1 pelted the enemies of ,israel  
with hailstones 7,joshua x4 #aa74 ,so   
,diodorus ,siculus 7xi4 #a7 relates how 
the ,persians when on their way to spoil
 the temple at ,delphi1 were deterred by
 a sudden and incredible tempest of wind
 and hail1 with dreadful thunder and    
lightning1 by which great rocks were    
rent to pieces and cast upon the heads  
of the ,persians1 destroying them in    
heaps4 ,herodotus too 7ii4 #adb7 tells  
how ,the ,egyptians asserted that the   
sun had four times deviated from his    
ordinary course4 ,clergymen cite this as

 a corroboration of the fact that all   
ancient peoples have similar absurd     
legends displaying their ignorance of   
nature and consequent superstition4 ,the
 power of arresting the stars in their  
courses1 and lengthening the days and   
nights was imputed to witches4 ,thus    
,tibullus says of a sorceress 7i4 eleg4 
#b7--       ,i've seen her tear the     
planets from the sky1      ,seen        
lightning backward at her bidding fly4  
,and ,lucan in his ,pharsalia 7vi4      
#dfb7--       ,whene'er the proud       
enchantress gives command1      ,eternal
 motion stops her active hand2      ,no 
more ,heav'n's rapid circles joarney on1
      ,but universal nature stands      
foredone2      ,the lazy ,god of day    
forgets to rise1      ,and everlasting  
night pollutes the skies4       99 ,the 
,golden ,bough1 vol4 i41 pp4 #bd1 #be4  
,no modern poet would think of saying   
like ,statius that the sun stood still  
at the unnatural murder of ,atreus4     
,such an idea found its way into poetry 

because it had previously been conceived
 as a fact4  ,hence we find numerous    
similar stories to that of ,joshua4     
,thus it is related of ,bacchus in the  
,orphic hymns that he arrested the      
course of the sun and the moon4 ,mr4    
,spence ,hardy in his ,legends and      
,theories of ,buddhists1 shows that     
arresting the course of the sun was a   
common thing among the disciples of     
,buddha4 ,we need not be surprised to   
find that men were once believed to be  
able to control the sun when we reflect 
that to this day the majority of people 
fancy there is some magnified           
non-natural man1 they call ,god1 who is 
able to do the same4 ,seeing the legend 
of ,joshua in its true form as one of   
numerous similar instances illustrating 
the barbarity and ignorance of the past1
 we see also that the whole merit and   
instruction of the story is taken away  
by those modern ,christians1 who speak  
of it as poetry1 or who endeavor to     
reconcile it with the conclusions of    

science4 ,these explanations were never 
sought for while miracles were generally
 credible4 ,josephus speaks of the      
miracle as a literal one1 and the author
 of ,ecclesiasticus xlvi4 #e says the   
,lord stopped the sun in his anger and  
made one day as two4  ,rationalistic    
explanations of miracles are often the  
most irrational1 because they fail to   
take into account the vast difference   
between the state of mind which gave    
rise to the stories1 and that which     
seeks to rationalise them4     ,,the    
,,hebrew ,,prophets4  ,anyone who has   
read an account of the mystery men among
 savages1 will have the clue to the     
original nature and functions of the    
inspired prophets of ,jahveh4 ,these    
persons occupied a rle somewhat similar 
to that of ,brian the hermit1 the       
highland seer described by ,sir ,walter 
,scott in his ,lady of the ,lake4 ,they 
were a sort of cross between the bard   
and the fortuneteller4 ,divination1     
though forbidden by the law of ,moses1  

was continually resorted to by the      
superstitious ,jews4  ,the mysterious   
,urim and ,thummim clearly represented  
some method of divination4 ,in #a ,kings
 vi4 #af and ,psalms xxviii4 #b1 the    
adytum of the temple is called the      
oracle4 ,numerous references are to be  
found in the ,bible to the practice of  
casting lots1 the disposing of which is 
said to be of the ,lord 7see ,num4 xxvi4
 #ee1 ,joshua xiii4 #f1 #a ,sam4 xiv4   
#da1 ,prov4 xiv4 #cc1 xviii4 #ah1 and   
,esther iii4 #g71 and also to inquiring 
of ,god1 which was equivalent to        
divination4 ,thus in ,judges xviii4 #e  
five ,danites ask the ,levite1 who      
became ,micah's priest1 to ask counsel  
of ,god whether they shall prosper on   
their way4  ,the ninth chapter of the   
first book of ,samuel gives an          
instructive glimpse into the nature of  
the prophets4 ,saul1 sent to recover his
 father's asses1 and1 unable to find    
them1 is told by his servant that there 
is in the city a man of ,god1 and all   

what he saith cometh surely to pass4    
,saul1 perhaps guessing the lucre-loving
 propensities of men of ,god1 complains 
that he has no present to offer4 ,the   
servant1 however1 had the fourth part of
 a shekel of silver 7about #h;d47       
wherewith to cross the seer's palms2 and
 ,saul1 seeking for asses1 is made king 
over ,israel by the prophet ,samuel4    
,the custom of making a present to the  
prophet is also alluded to in #a ,kings 
xiv4 #c4 ,jereboam1 when his son falls  
sick1 sends his wife to ,ahijah the     
prophet with ten loaves and cracknels   
and a cruse of honey1 to inquire his    
fate4 ,later on1 ,micah 7iii4 #aa7      
complains that the prophets divine for  
money4 ,see also ,nehe-miah vi4 #ab4 ,as
 with the oracles of ancient ,greece and
 ,rome 7the inspiration of which was    
believed by the early ,christian        
fathers1 with the proviso that they were
 inspired not by deities1 but by        
devils71 the prophets were especially   
consulted in times of war4 ,thus1 in #a 

,kings xxii41 ,ahab consults #djj       
prophets about going to battle against  
,ramoth-,gilead4 ,he is told to go and  
prosper1 for the ,lord shall deliver it 
into the king's hand4 ,micaiah the      
prophet1 however1 explains that he had  
seen the ,lord in counsel with all the  
host of heaven1 and the ,lord sent a    
lying spirit to the prophets in order to
 persuade ,ahab to go to his            
destruction4 ,this is quite in          
accordance with the declaration in      
,ezekiel xiv4 #i1 that if the prophet be
 deceived when he hath spoken a thing1  
,i the ,lord hath deceived that prophet4
 ,david on one occasion 7#a ,sam4 xxiii4
 #i7 took counsel of ,god1 as this      
divination was called1 by means of the  
ephod1 probably connected with the ,urim
 and ,thummim4 ,he sought to know if he 
would be safe from his enemy1 ,saul1 if 
he stayed at ,keilah4 ,on receiving an  
unfavorable response ,david decamped4   
,inquiring of the ,lord on another      
occasion1 ,david got more particular    

instructions than were usually imparted 
by oracles4 ,he was told not to go up   
against the ,philistines1 but to fetch a
 compass behind them and come on them   
over against the mulberry trees 7#b     
,sam4 v4 #bc74  ,we read1 #a ,sam4      
xxviii4 #f1 that when ,saul inquired of 
the ,lord1 the ,lord answered him not1  
neither by dreams1 nor by ,urim1 nor by 
prophets4 ,this1 presumably1 was because
 7verse #c7 ,saul had put away those    
that had familiar spirits1 and the      
wizards out of the land4 ,he therefore  
had to seek out the witch of ,endor to  
raise the spirit of ,samuel4  ,the ,lord
 is said to have declared through       
,moses1 ,if there be a prophet among you
 ,i the ,lord will make myself known    
unto him in a vision1 and will speak    
unto him in a dream 7,num4 xii4 #f74    
,this method of divine revelation is    
alluded to in ,job xxxiii4 #ad-af1 ,for 
,god speaketh once1 yea twice1 yet man  
perceiveth it not4 ,in a dream1 in a    
vision of the night1 when deep sleep    

falleth upon men1 in slumberings upon   
the bed2 then he openeth the ears of men
 and sealeth his instruction4 ,god came 
to ,abimelech in a dream by night and   
threatened him for taking ,abraham's    
wife 7,gen4 xx4 #c74 ,so he revealed    
himself and his angels to his favorite  
,jacob 7,gen4 xxviii4 #ab74 ,god came to
 ,laban1 the ,syrian1 in a dream by     
night 7,gen4 xxxi4 #bd7 to warn him     
against touching juggling ,jacob4       
,joseph dreams of his own future        
advancement and of the famine in ,egypt1
 and interprets the dreams of others4   
,gideon was visited by the ,lord in the 
night1 and encouraged by some other     
person's dream 7,judges vii47 ,jahveh   
appeared also to his servant1 ,sultan   
,solomon1 in a dream by night 7#a ,kings
 iii4 #e74 ,daniel1 too1 was a dreamer  
and dream interpreter 7,dan4 ii4 #ai1   
vii4 #a74 ,god promises through ,joel   
that he will pour his spirit upon all   
flesh1 and your sons and your daughters 
shall prophecy1 your old men shall dream

 dreams1 your young men shall see       
visions 7chap4 ii4 #bh74  ,the original 
meaning of the ,hebrew word cohen or    
priest is said to be diviner4 ,it is1 ,i
 believe1 still so in ,arabic4 ,prophets
 and dreamers are frequently classed    
together in the ,bible1 as in ,deut4    
xiii4 #a3 ,if there arise among you a   
prophet or a dreamer of dreams4 ,jer4   
xxvii4 #i3 ,therefore hearken ye not to 
your prophets1 nor to your diviners1 nor
 to your dreamers4 ,zech4 x4 #b3 ,the   
diviners have seen a lie1 and have told 
false dreams4 ,when religion is         
organised the dreamers and interpreters 
of dreams1 who are an irresponsible     
class1 fall into the background before  
the priests4  ,no one can read the      
account of ,balaam's falling1 and lying 
prostrate with his eyes open while      
prophesying 7,numbers xxiv472 and of    
,saul when1 after an evil spirit from   
,god had come upon him 7#a ,sam4 xviii4 
#aj71 he stripped off his clothes also  
and prophesied in like manner1 and lay  

down naked all that day and all that    
night2 wherefore they say1 ,is ,saul    
also among the prophets 7#a ,sam4 xix4  
#bd71 without calling to mind the       
exhibitions of ecstatic mania among     
semi-savages4 ,the ,shamans of ,siberia1
 for instance1 work themselves up into  
fury1 supposing or pretending that in   
this condition they are inspired by the 
spirit in whose name they speak1 and    
through whose inspiration they are      
enabled to answer questions as well as  
to foretell the future4 ,the root of the
 ,hebrew word for prophet--,nabi1 said  
to mean a bubbling up--confirms this    
view4 ,the vehement gestures and gushing
 current of speech which accompanied    
their improvisations suggested a        
fountain bubbling up4 ,insanity and     
inspiration are closely allied4 ,various
 methods were resorted to among the     
ancients to attain the state of ecstacy1
 when the excited nerves found          
significance in all around4 ,the        
,brahmans used the intoxicating ,soma4  

,at ,delphi the ,pythia inhaled an      
incense until she fell into a state of  
delirious intoxication2 and the sounds  
she uttered in this state were believed 
to contain the revelations of ,apollo4  
,in ,david dancing with all his might   
and scantily clad before the ark of     
,jahveh1 we are forcibly reminded of the
 dervishes and other religious dancers4 
,from the mention of music in connection
 with prophesying 7#a ,sam4 x4 #e1 xvi4 
#bc1 #b ,kings iii4 #e71 it has been    
conjectured the ,jewish prophets        
anticipated the ,salvationists in this  
means of producing or relieving         
excitement4 ,in the ,mysteries of ,isis1
 in ,orphic ,cory-bantian revels1 music 
was employed to work the worshippers    
into a state of orgiastic frenzy4  ,the 
passage about ,saul suggests the nudity 
or scanty costume of the prophets4      
,isaiah the elder--for the poet who     
wrote from chap4 xl4 to lxvi4 must be   
distinguished from his                  
predecessor--alleges a commandment from 

,jahveh to walk naked and barefoot for  
three years 7,isaiah xx4 #c74 ,apollos1 
or whoever wrote the epistle to the     
,hebrews 7xi4 #cg71 speaks of them      
wandering about in sheepskins and       
goatskins4 ,a girdle of leather seems to
 have been the sole costume of ,elijah  
7#b ,kings i4 #h74 ,micah 7i4 #h7 says  
,i will wail and howl1 ,i will go       
stripped and naked4 ,zechariah speaks of
 the prophets who wear a rough garment  
to deceive1 and say ,i am no prophet ,i 
am an husbandman 7,zech4 xiii4 #de71    
which is like what ,amos 7vii4 #ad7     
says3 ,i was no prophet1 neither was ,i 
a prophet's son2 but ,i was an herdman  
and a gatherer of sycamore fruit4       
,isaiah 7xxviii4 #g7 says1 the priest   
and the prophet have erred through      
strong drink2 they are swallowed up of  
wine4 ,jahveh tells ,jeremiah ,the      
prophets prophesy lies in my name1 ,i   
sent them not1 neither have ,i commanded
 them1 neither spake unto them2 they    
prophesy unto you a false vision and    

divination1 and a thing of nought1 and  
the deceit of their heart 7xiv4 #ad74   
,further on he says1 ,o ,lord thou hast 
deceived me and ,i was deceived 7xx4    
#g74 ,the prophets of ,jerusalem1       
,jeremiah declares1 commit adultery and 
walk in lies 7xxiii4 #ad74 ,ezekiel too1
 prophesies against the prophets and    
their lying divination 7xiii4 #b-g74    
,hosea 7ix4 #g7 says1 the prophet is a  
fool1 the spiritual man is mad499       
99 ,see too ,isaiah lvi4 #aa-ab2 ,jer4  
xxvii4 #aj-ae1 xxix4 #h-i2      ,micah  
iii #e-g4  ,some of the prophets can    
only be described as silly4 ,such are   
the two in #a ,kings xiii4 #e the       
prophet who asks to be smitten 7#a      
,kings xii472 ,zedekiah1 who makes      
himself horns of iron2 and ,micaiah1 who
 opposes him when a lying sprit comes   
from the ,lord 7#a ,kings xxii47 ,to    
these may be added the man of ,god 7#b  
,chron4 xxv4 #g71 who made ,amaziah     
dismiss his hundred thousand mighty men 
of valor1 who in consequence fell upon  

the cities of ,judah and took much      
spoil4  ,the student of comparative     
religion in reading of the ,hebrew      
prophets1 is forcibly reminded of the   
,hindu sunnyasis and ,mussulman fakirs4 
,in the east insanity is confounded with
 inspiration1 and ,dr4 ,maudsley1 in his
 ,responsibility in ,mental ,disease1   
has given his opinion that several of   
the ,hebrew prophets were insane4 ,the  
dread and respect in which they were    
held is evinced in the legend of the    
forty-two children who were slain by    
bears for calling ,elisha bald-head4    
,their arrogance and ferocity were      
exhibited by ,samuel1 who made ,saul    
king till he found a more serviceable   
tool in ,david1 and hewed ,agag in      
pieces before the ,lord 7#a ,sam4 xv4   
#cj72 and by ,elijah1 who destroyed #ajb
 men for obeying the order of their king
 7#b ,kings ii4 #i-ac71 and at another  
time slew #hej for a difference of      
opinion 7#a ,kings xviii4 #ai--dj74     
,elisha was unscrupulous enough to send 

,hazael to his master saying he should  
certainly recover2 though at the time he
 knew he would certainly die 7#b ,kings 
viii4 #aj74 ,judging by such examples we
 may congratulate ourselves that the    
race of prophets is almost extinct4  ,it
 must in fairness be said that some of  
the prophets used their influence in    
protecting the people against their     
priests and rulers1 and that the greater
 prophets like ,isaiah did much to      
elevate the religion of ,israel1 which  
in its modern form is largely their     
creation4     ,,old ,,testament         
,,marriage4  ,marriage1 says ,goethe1 is
 the beginning and end of all culture4  
,too often the end of all culture1 the  
cynic may say4 ,it may safely be        
affirmed that marriage is the chief     
cause and product of civilisation4 ,like
 other institutions1 it has passed      
through various stages of growth among  
all nations1 the ,jews included4 ,it has
 been said ,motherhood is a matter of   
observation1 fatherhood a matter of     

opinion4 ,certain it is that in early   
society kinship was reckoned through    
mothers only4 ,of this we have some     
evidence in the ,bible4 ,abraham1 the   
father of the faithful1 married ,sarah1 
the daughter of my father1 but not the  
daughter of my mother 7,gen4 xx4 #ab74  
,his brother ,nahor took the daughter of
 his other brother1 ,haran1 to wife     
7,gen4 ix4 #bg-bi74 ,such marriages     
could not have occurred except when     
relationship through males was not      
sufficiently acknowledged for a bar to  
marriage to have been raised upon it4   
,jacob had two sisters to wife at once4 
,amram1 the father of ,moses1 married   
his own aunt 7,exodus ii4 #a and #a     
,chron4 vii4 #c74 ,even in the time of  
pious ,king ,david marriage with        
half-sisters was not considered         
improper1 for when ,ammon wished to     
force his sister ,tamar1 she said unto  
him1 ,speak unto the king2 for he will  
not withhold me from thee 7#b ,samuel   
xiii4 #ac74 ,brothers by the same mother

 are specially distinguished 7,deut4    
xiii4 #f1 ,judges viii4 #ai74 ,the      
child1 moreover1 in early times1 was    
thought rather to belong to the mother  
than the father4 ,thus we find that     
,ishmael was turned adrift with ,hagar1 
and ,hannah1 one of the wives of        
,elkanah the ,levite1 had the right of  
presenting or devoting her son ,samuel  
to ,jahveh4  ,a survival of consanguine 
marriage is found in ,deut4 xxv41 where 
it is expressly ordered that when a     
brother's widow is left childless her   
husband's brother shall go in unto her  
and take her to him to wife2 and in the 
event of his refusing to do so he has to
 have his shoe loosed and his face spat 
upon4 ,of the antiquity of this usage we
 have evidence in ,genesis xxxviii4     
,when ,er1 ,judah's firstborn1 died1 the
 father commanded his second son1 ,go in
 unto thy brother's wife1 and marry her1
 and raise up seed to thy brother4 ,the 
second son refusing1 the thing which he 
did displeased the ,lord1 wherefore he  

slew him4 ,judah now putting ,tamar off 
from taking his next son1 she disguised 
herself and made her father-in-law do   
his son's duty1 he acknowledging she    
hath been more righteous than ,i4 ,the  
custom is also referred to in the story 
of ,ruth4 ,ewald amends ,ruth iv4 #e3   
,thou must buy also ,ruth the           
,moabitess4 ,the ,bible reader will     
remember that the disgusting story of   
the patriarch ,lot and his daughters is 
related without the slightest token of  
disapproval4 ,the daughters justified   
themselves by the plea that they would  
preserve seed of our father4 ,to        
understand these narratives1 the reader 
must remember that in the early history 
of the family it was desirable1 in the  
struggle for existence1 that its numbers
 should not be diminished4 ,many        
instances are found in the ,bible of the
 blessing of a large family4 ,happy is  
the man who has his quiver full4 ,the   
blessing on the typical servant of      
,jahveh is that he shall see his seed1  

,it was the duty of the next of kin to  
see that the family stock did not       
diminish4 ,we find at the beginning of  
,genesis that1 when ,abel was slain1    
,god gave ,seth instead4 ,in patriarchal
 life1 as exhibited by the ,bedouins1   
the next of kin1 the goel1 is a most    
important personage4 ,to him the tribe  
looks to avenge or redeem a kinsman's   
death or misfortune4 ,on him the widow  
and fatherless depend for support4 ,he  
is1 above all1 the blood-balancer1 who  
sees that the house is kept in its      
normal strength1 and who seeks to       
recruit it as far as possible from the  
same blood--a state of things implying  
feud with surrounding tribes4 ,job1 in  
his anguish1 can find no stronger       
consolation this--,i know that my goel  
liveth4 ,according to the morality of   
that time1 not only ,tamar1 but the     
family was grossly wronged by ,onan4 ,by
 refusing to allow ,shelah to take the  
duties of goel1 on the ground of his    
youth1 ,judah himself incurred the      

responsibilities of that office4 ,it was
 his duty to see that seed was raised4  
,tamar resorted to cunning1 the weapon  
of the weak1 and ,judah's confession is 
the real moral of what1 to a modern1    
must be considered the very disgusting  
story in ,genesis xxxviii4  ,all the    
,old ,testament heroes1 from ,lamech    
downwards1 were polygamists4 ,indeed1   
both polygamy and concubinage were      
practised by those ,hebrew saints who   
were most distinguished by their piety1 
faith1 and communion with ,jahveh4      
,abraham not only took ,hagar as a      
secondary wife1 but turned her adrift in
 the wilderness when it suited his own  
goodwill and pleasure4 ,jacob1 who lived
 under the special guidance of ,god1    
married two sisters at the same time1   
and each of them presented him with     
concubines4 ,david1 the man after ,god's
 own heart1 had many wives and          
concubines 7#b ,samuel iii4 #b-e1 v4    
#ac71 while ,solomon1 who was wiser than
 all men1 boasted of seven hundred wives

 and three hundred concubines 7#a ,kings
 xi4 #e74 ,jahveh1 while denouncing     
intermarriage with women of foreign     
races1 never says a word against either 
polygamy or concubinage4 ,on the        
contrary1 both are sanctioned and       
regulated by the ,mosaic law 7,deut4    
xxi4 #aj-ae74 ,more than this1 ,god     
himself is said to have married two     
sisters1 ,aholah and ,aholibah 7,ezekiel
 xxiii471 and although this is          
figurative1 the figure would never have 
been used had the fact been considered  
sinful4  ,a ,hebrew father might sell   
his daughter to be a wife1 concubine1 or
 maid-servant to an ,israelite1 and her 
master might put her away if she pleased
 him not 7,exodus xxi4 #g-aa74 ,women   
taken captives in war might be used as  
wives and dismissed at pleasure 7,deut4 
xxi4 #aj-ad74 ,in the case of the       
,midianites only virgins were preserved4
 ,moses indignantly asked1 ,have ye     
saved all the women alive8 ,now         
therefore kill every male among the     

little ones and kill every woman that   
hath known man by lying with him4 ,but  
all the women children1 that hath not   
known man by lying with him1 keep alive 
for yourselves4 ,and the ,lord took     
shares in this maiden tribute 7,numb1   
xxxi47  ,woman in the ,bible is treated 
as merchandise4 ,in ,jacob's time she   
was bought by seven years' service1 but 
in the time of the prophet ,hosea she   
was valued only at fifteen pieces of    
silver and a homer and a half of barley4
 ,in the ,decalogue it is prohibited to 
covet a man's wife on the same ground as
 his man slave1 his maid slave1 his ox1 
or his ass1 or anything that is his4    
,her lord and master could say with     
,petruchio3       ,she is my goods1 my  
chattels2 she is my house1      ,my     
household stuff1 my field1 my barn1     
,my horse1 my ox1 my ass1 my anything4  
,by ,god's law a man was permitted to   
dismiss a wife when she found no favor  
in his eyes1 by simply writing out a    
bill of divorcement4 ,there is no       

mention of the woman having any similar 
power of getting quit of her lord and   
master4 ,if he suspected her fidelity he
 could compel her to go through an      
ordeal in which the priest administered 
to her the water of jealousy1 which if  
guilty would cause her to rot1 but which
 was harmless if she was innocent4 ,no  
doubt this was a potent means in        
securing wifely devotion and a ready    
remedy for any hated spouse4 ,in the    
hands of a friendly priest the          
concoction would be little likely to    
fail1 and even should it prove innocuous
 there was the expedient of writing a   
bill of divorcement4  ,it is usually    
said that ,god winked at 7,acts xvii4   
#cj7 these proceedings1 because of the  
hardness of the old ,jews' hearts1 and  
that from the beginning it was not so4  
,in proof of this is cited the passage  
in ,genesis which says1 ,therefore shall
 a man leave his father and his mother1 
and shall cleave unto his wife3 and they
 shall be one flesh4 ,the proper        

interpretation of this passage          
illustrates a very early form of        
marriage still found in some tribes1 and
 known in ,ceylon as beenah marriage4   
,mr4 ,mc,lennan1 one of the highest     
authorities on primitive marriage1 says3
  ,in beenah marriage the young husband 
leaves the family of his birth and      
passes into the family of his wife1 and 
to that he belongs as long as the       
marriage subsists4 ,the children born to
 him belong1 not to him1 but to the     
family of their mother4 ,living with1 he
 works for1 the family of his wife2 and 
he commonly gains his footing in it by  
service4 ,his marriage involves usually 
a change of village2 nearly always      
7where the tribal system is in force7 a 
change of tribe1 but always a change of 
family4 ,so that1 as used to happen in  
,new ,zealand1 he may be bound even to  
take part in war against those of his   
father's house4 ,the man leaves father  
and mother as completely as with the    
,patriarchal ,family prevailing1 a bride

 would do2 and he leaves them to live   
with his wife and her family4 ,that this
 accords with the passage in ,genesis   
will not be disputed499  ,marriage by   
purchase of the bride and her issue can 
hardly be thought to have been primeval 
practice4 ,when we find beenah marriage 
and marriage by purchase as             
alternatives1 therefore it is not       
difficult to believe that the former is 
the older of the two1 and it was once in
 sole possession of the field49999      
99 ,the ,patriarchal ,theory1 p4 #dc2   
#ahhe4       9999 ,ibid1 p4 #de4  ,it   
was a beenah marriage which ,jacob made 
into the family of ,laban1 and we find  
from ,genesis xxiv4 #a-h that it was    
thought not improbable that ,isaac might
 do the same4 ,in beenah marriage the   
children belong to the mother's clan1   
and we thus find that ,laban says3      
,these daughters are my daughters1 and  
these children my children4 ,it was     
exactly against such a marriage as that 
of ,jacob1 viz41 with two women at one  

time that the text 7,lev4 xvii4 #ah7 was
 directed which is so much squabbled    
about by both opponents of and advocates
 for marriage with a deceased wife's    
sister4 ,the custom of the ,levirate    
mentioned in ,deut4 xxv4 possibly       
indicates pre-existent polyandry4       
,lewis1 in his ,hebrew ,republic1 says3 
,in the earliest ages the ,levir had no 
alternative but to take the widow2      
indeed1 she was his wife without any    
form of marriage4  ,casting off a shoe1 
it may be said1 is a symbol of foregoing
 a right2 thus the relatives of a bride 
still throw slippers4 ,the ,arabs have  
preserved the ceremony intact4 ,a       
proverb among them1 when a young man    
foregoes his prescriptive right to marry
 his first cousin1 is1 ,she was my      
slipper2 ,i have cast her off           
7,burckhardt1 ,bedouins and ,wahabys1 i4
 #aac74 ,among the ,caribs of ,venezuela
 and in ,equatorial ,west ,africa1 the  
eldest son inherits all the wives of his
 deceased father with the sole exception

 of his own mother4 ,schweinfurth       
relates that the same custom obtains in 
,central ,africa4 ,on the ,gold ,coast  
the throne is occupied by the prince1   
who gains possession of the paternal    
harem before his other brothers4 ,thus  
,absalom took ,david's harem in the     
sight of all ,israel before the old man 
had gone to glory1 as a proof he wished 
his reign to be considered over2 and    
when ,adonijah asks his brother ,solomon
 for ,abishag1 the comforter of ,david's
 old age1 the wise ,solomon kills him1  
as thus betraying designs on the throne4
 ,in the custom that widows passed to   
the heir with other property1 and hence 
that marriage with the widow grew to be 
a sign of a claim to the deceased       
person's possessions1 we have a         
reasonable explanation of what must     
otherwise appear irrational crime4 ,the 
custom of inheriting widows is adverted 
to in the ,koran2 and ,bendhawi1 in his 
commentary1 gives the whole ceremony1   
which consists in the relative of the   

deceased throwing his cloak over the    
widow and saying1 ,i claim her4 ,the    
,mormons always defended their plurality
 of wives from the divine book1 and     
polygamy has been defended by various   
,christian ministers1 from the ,lutheran
 divine1 ,joannes ,lyser1 author of     
,discoursus ,politicus de ,polygamia1   
and the ,rev4 ,martin ,madan1 author of 
,thelyphthora to the ,rev4 ,mercer      
,davies1 author of ,hangar1 and ,ap     
,richard1 ,m4,a41 who urges a biblical  
plea for polygamy under the title of    
,marriage and ,divorce4 ,such works have
 done little to bring into favor the    
divine ordinance of polygamy1 but they  
have done much to show how unsuited is  
the morality of the word of ,god to the 
requirements of modern civilisation4    
,surely it is time that the ,christians 
were ashamed of appealing to polygamous 
,jews for any laws to regulate social   
institutions4     ,,the ,,song ,,of     
,,solomon4  ,although there is no book  
with which students of divinity are     

better acquainted than with the ,song of
 ,songs1 there is also none of the same 
dimensions over which theologians have  
expressed so much diversity of opinion4 
,its authorship has been ascribed to    
,solomon for no better reason than      
because that sensual sultan is one of   
the subjects of its story4 ,it is true  
it is one of the oldest books of the    
,old ,testament1 and begins by calling  
itself the ,song of ,songs1 which is    
,solomon's2 but the book of             
,ecclesiastes1 which is one of the      
latest in the ,hebrew collection1 is    
also ascribed to ,solomon1 and possibly 
with as much reason4 ,it has been       
credited with unfolding the sublime     
mysteries of the relation of ,christ to 
his ,church4 ,it has been called an     
epithalamium upon the marriage of       
,solomon with the daughter of ,pharaoh4 
,according to a distinguished           
commentator1 ,de ,lyra1 the first       
portion describes the history of ,israel
 from the time of the ,exodus to the    

birth of ,christ1 while from chapter    
vii4 to the end gives the history of the
 ,christian ,church to ,constantine4    
,the ,roman ,catholic theologian1 ,hug1 
makes it treat of the ten tribes and    
,hezekiah4 ,cocceius1 in accordance with
 his principle that holy scripture meant
 whatever it could be made to mean1     
found in the ,canticle the history of   
the ,church from its origin to its final
 judgment4 ,hahn sees in it a prediction
 of the victory obtained over the       
heathen1 by the love of ,israel1 and    
finds the conversion of the negro in the
 passage which says1 ,we have a little  
sister1 and she hath no breasts4 ,in    
short1 nearly every possible explanation
 has been offered of this portion of the
 ,word of ,god except the obvious and   
natural one1 that it is an erotic poem4 
,that there is any allegory in the piece
 is a pure assumption4 ,the theory was  
unknown before the time of the ,talmud4 
,the ,canticles are never referred to in
 the ,new ,testament4 ,there is not the 

slightest indication in the work itself 
that there is any such object4 ,not the 
most delicate hint1 save in the headings
 of the chapters made by ,king ,james's 
bishops1 that by the secret charms of   
the young lady we are to understand the 
mysterious graces of the ,christian     
,church4 ,in all allegories it is       
necessary the subject should be in some 
way indicated4 ,the parables of ,jesus  
often proved puzzles to his disciples1  
but they had no doubt they were         
parables4 ,moreover1 the allegory--if it
 is one--is absurd or blasphemous4 ,why 
should the ,church say of ,god3 ,his    
head is as the most fine gold1 his locks
 are bushy and black as a raven8 or     
compare his legs to pillars of marble1  
or celebrate other parts of his divine  
person which are not usually mentioned  
in polite society8 ,nor is it easy to   
see why ,christ should say to the       
,church3 ,thy teeth are like a flock of 
sheep that are even shorn1 which came up
 from the washing2 whereof every one    

bear twins1 and none is barren among    
them2 or why he should declare1 ,thy    
neck is as a tower of ivory2 thine eyes 
like the fish-pools in ,heshbon1 by the 
gate of ,bath-rabbim2 thy nose is as the
 ,tower of ,lebanon1 which looketh      
towards ,damascus4 ,of course1 to parody
 a phrase of ,voltaire's1 the ,holy     
,ghost was not bound to write like      
,alfred ,tennyson1 but1 if intended for 
human guidance1 one would think the     
divine meaning should be a little more  
apparent4  ,the truth of the matter is1 
an allegorical interpretation has been  
forced into the ,song of ,solomon in    
order to relieve the ,holy ,ghost from a
 charge of indecency4 ,grotius ventured 
to call the ,song of ,songs a libertine 
work4 ,even the orthodox ,methodist     
commentator1 ,adam ,clarke1 earnestly   
exhorted young ministers not to found   
their sermons on its doubtful phrases4  
,he knew how apt religious people are to
 mix up carnal desire and appetite with 
love to their blessed ,savior1 and was  

perhaps aware that a number of          
,christian hymns might appropriately    
have been addressed to ,priapus499      
99 ,see ,rimini's ,history of the       
,moravians and ,southey's ,life      of 
,wesley99 vol4 i4 pp4 #ahh1 #chg4  ,in  
the ,jewish ,church no one under the age
 of thirty was permitted to read the    
,song of ,songs1 a prohibition which may
 have assisted to give it its sacred    
character4 ,it is1 nevertheless1 not    
more indelicate than many other portions
 of ,god's ,holy ,word1 and viewed in   
its proper light as an ,oriental        
dramatic love poem1 although it cannot  
be acquitted of outraging modern notions
 of decency1 it is not1 ,i think1 so    
much1 as some other portions of the     
,bible1 open to the charge of teaching  
immorality4 ,on the contrary1 its       
purpose is commendable4 ,an attentive   
reading of the ,revised ,version1 which 
is without the misleading headlines1 and
 is divided to indicate the different   
speakers in the love drama1 will make   

this apparent1 and show this little     
scrap of the ,jewish national literature
 to possess a certain natural beauty    
which has been utterly obscured by the  
orthodox commentators who1 from the time
 of the early fathers to ,hengstenberg  
and ,keil1 have sought to associate it  
with ,christ and his ,church4  ,sir     
,william ,jones1 in his essay on the    
mystical poetry of ,persia and ,india1  
called attention to the sensuous images 
in which ,oriental religious poetry     
expresses itself4 ,this connection will 
surprise no one who has discovered from 
the history of religion that women and  
wine formed important features in       
ancient worship4 ,the readiness with    
which ungratified sexual passion runs   
into religious emotion has frequently   
been marked by physicians1 and finds    
much corroboration in the devotional    
works of monks and nuns4 ,but the ,song 
of ,songs has nothing religious about   
it4 ,even the personages are not        
religious1 as in the ,hindu erotic ,gita

 ,govinda1 by ,jayadeva1 which tells of 
the loves of ,badha and the god ,krishna
 in the guise of a shepherd4 ,christ and
 his ,church only appear in the headings
 given to the chapters4  ,though to be  
classed among erotic poems1 the ,song of
 ,songs cannot fairly be called immoral 
or obscene4 ,the character of the       
interlocutors and the division of the   
scenes is a little uncertain4 ,it is1   
for instance1 dubious whether the first 
speaker is ,solomon or the ,shulamite4  
,if we take the version of ,m4 ,rville1 
the piece opens with the yearnings of   
the heroine1 whom the king hath brought 
into his chambers1 for her absent lover4
 ,let him kiss me with the kisses of his
 mouth1 for thy love is better than     
wine4 ,she is black but comely2 swarthy1
 because having to tend the vineyards   
she has been scorched by the sun4 ,she  
is a ,shulammite1 or native of ,shulam1 
now ,solma1 near ,carmel--a part        
renowned for the beauty of its women4   
,it was ,abishag1 a ,shulamite1 who was 

chosen when they sought for a fair      
damsel throughout all the coasts of     
,israel to warm the bed of old ,king    
,david4 ,solomon had seen the fair maid 
of ,shulam1 and1 when she went down into
 the garden of nuts to see the green    
plants of the valley1 or ever she was   
aware1 she was abducted4 ,in vain1      
however1 does the monarch offer her the 
best place in his harem4 ,amid the      
glories of the court she sighs for the  
shepherd lover from whom she is         
separated4 ,she tells how early one     
spring morning her beloved engaged her  
to go out with him4 ,for1 lo1 the winter
 is past1 the rain is over and gone1 the
 flowers appear on the earth2 the time  
of the singing of birds is come4 ,and   
the voice of the turtle is heard in our 
land and now1 although she seeks and    
finds him not1 she declares my beloved  
is mine and ,i am his4 ,her constant    
burden to her harem companions is1 ,i   
adjure you1 ,o daughters of ,jerusalem1 
by the roes and by the hinds of the     

field1 that ye stir not up nor awaken   
love until it please499 ,love must be   
spontaneous1 she declares1 and she      
refuses to yield to the wishes of the   
libidinous monarch4 ,when ,solomon      
praises her she replies with praises of 
her beloved peasant swain4 ,she longs   
for him by day and seeks him in dreams  
by night4 ,solomon offers to place her  
above his threescore queens and         
fourscore concubines and virgins without
 number2 but she is home-sick1 and      
prefers the embraces of her lover to    
those of the lascivious king4 ,her      
humble vineyard is more to her than all 
the king's riches4 ,the moral is1 ,many 
waters cannot quench love1 neither can  
the floods drown it3 ,if a man would    
give all the substance of his house for 
love he would utterly be condemned4 ,and
 a far better one too than most morals  
to be drawn from the pages of the ,old  
,testament4       99 ,revised ,version4 
,the ,authorised ,version changes the   
whole      purpose of the piece by      

reading that ye stir not up nor         
awaken my love till he please4  ,the    
,song of ,songs1 which is not           
,solomon's1 is a valuable relic of      
antiquity1 both because it utterly      
refutes the orthodox notion of biblical 
inspiration1 and because it deals with  
the old old story of human passion which
 surges alike in peasants and in        
princes1 and which animated the hearts  
of men and maidens two thousand years   
ago even as it does to-day4     ,,sacred
 ,,seven4  ,it was natural that in the  
early ages of human intelligence man    
should attach a superstitious reverence 
to numbers4 ,the mystery attached to the
 number seven has been variously        
accounted for4 ,some have explained it  
by the figures of the square and        
triangle1 others by the stars of the    
,great ,bear nightly seen overhead4     
,gerald ,massey says3 ,the              
,constellation of the ,seven ,great     
,stars 7,ursa ,major7 was probably the  
primordial figure of ,seven4 ,seven was 

often called the perfect number4 ,its   
name as ,hept 7,eg47 is also the name   
for ,plenty--a heap of food and good    
luck4 ,the ,seven were the great heap or
 cluster of stars1 an image of plenty1  
or a lot that revolved together499 ,my  
own opinion is that the superstition    
arose in connection first with the      
menstrual period1 and then with the     
phases of the moon as a measurer of     
time4 ,its period of twenty-eight days  
could be twice divided until the week of
 seven days was reached1 and then       
further division was impossible4 ,hence 
we everywhere find the superstition     
linked to the days of the week and the  
seven planets supposed to preside over  
these days4       99 ,natural ,genesis1 
ii41 #bai4  ,the ,egyptians worshipped  
the seven planets1 and ,herodotus tells 
us of their seven castes4 ,so with the  
,babylonians4 ,from them was derived the
 ,jewish week4 ,hesiod1 according to    
,eusebius1 said ,the seventh is the     
sacred day4 ,what he says in his ,works 

and ,days is1 ,on the seventh day       
,latona brought forth ,apollo2 and      
schylus1 in his ,seven ,against ,thebes1
 says the number ,seven was sacred to   
,apollo4 ,the moon periods were sacred  
as measuring time and also in connection
 with female periodicity4 ,man          
discovered the month before the year4   
,hence the moon was widely worshipped4  
,the worship of the queen of heaven in  
,palestine is alluded to in ,jer4 vii4  
#ah and xliv4 #ag4 ,the superstition of 
the new moon bringing luck has descended
 to our own time4 ,when the year was    
reckoned by thirteen moons of           
twenty-eight days1 thirteen was the     
lucky number2 but when this was changed 
for the twelve months of solar time1    
thirteen became one too many4 ,the      
,parsee ,bundahisli1 according to       
,gerald ,massey1 exhibits seven races of
 men--7#a7 the earth-men1 7#b7          
water-men1 7#c7 breast-eared men1 7#d7  
breast-eyed men1 7#e7 one-legged men1   
7#f7 batwinged men1 7#g7 men with tails4

  ,section #g of the ,kabbalistic       
,sepher ,yezirah99 says1 ,the seven     
planets in the world are ,saturn1       
,jupiter1 ,mars1 ,sun1 ,venus1 ,mercury1
 ,moon4 ,seven days in the year are the 
seven days of the week2 seven gates in  
man1 male and female1 are two eyes1 two 
ears1 two nostrils and the mouth4       
,again1 section #ae says1 ,by the seven 
double consonants were also designed    
seven worlds1 seven heavens1 seven      
lands1 seven seas1 seven rivers1 seven  
deserts1 seven days a week1 seven weeks 
from ,passover to ,pentecost1 there is a
 cycle of seven years1 the seventh is   
the release year1 and after seven       
release years is jubilee4 ,hence ,god   
loves the number seven under the whole  
heaven4       99 ,trans1 by ,dr4 ,i4    
,kalisch1 pp4 #bg and #ha4  ,the ,bible1
 it has been remarked1 begins in        
,genesis with a seven1 and ends in the  
,apocalypse with a series of sevens4    
,god himself took a rest on the seventh 
day and was refreshed1 or1 as the       

,hebrew reads1 took breath4 ,the        
,passover and other festivals lasted    
seven days2 ,jacob bowed seven times2   
,solomon's temple was seven years in    
building2 the tabernacle had seven      
lamps1 a candlestick with seven arms1   
etc4 ,in a variety of passages it seems1
 like #dj1 to have been a sort of round 
number--as people sometimes say a dozen 
for an indeterminate quantity4 ,thus in 
,daniel iii4 #ai the fiery furnace was  
to be heated seven times more than it   
was wont to be heated4 ,in ,proverbs    
7xxiv4 #af7 we are told a just man      
falleth seven times and rises up again4 
,one of the ,psalmists says 7cix4 #afd71
 ,seven times a day do ,i praise thee   
because of thy righteous judgments 7see 
too ,lev4 xxvi4 #ah1 #bh2 ,dent1 xxviii4
 #g1 #ce2 ,job ix2 ,psalm xii4 #f1      
lxxix4 #ab2 ,isaiah iv4 #a1 xi4 #ae1    
xxx4 #bf2 ,jer4 xv4 #i1 ,matt4 xii4     
#de74 ,the week induced reckoning by    
sevens1 and led to such enactments as   
that the ,jews on the seventh day of the

 seventh month should feast seven days  
and remain seven days in tents4  ,the   
root idea of the number is that of      
religious periodicity4 ,we find it not  
only in the ,sabbath1 but in all other  
sacred periods4 ,thus the seventh month 
is ushered in by the ,feast of          
,trumpets1 and signalised by the        
celebration of the ,feast of            
,tabernacles and ,yom ,kippur4 ,seven   
weeks is the interval between ,passover 
and ,pentecost4 ,the seventh is the     
,sabbatical year1 when bondsmen were to 
be released and debts go free4 ,with    
this custom is connected the binding of 
youths for seven years apprenticeship1  
and of punishing incorrigible offenders 
for #g1 #ad1 or #ba years4 ,the year    
succeeding seven times seven is the     
,jubilee4 ,the earliest form1 that of   
the menstrual period1 is shown in the   
duration of various kinds of legal      
uncleanness1 as after childbirth1 after 
contact with a corpse1 etc4 ,so we have 
the sprinkling of the house seven times 

with the water of purification 7,lev4   
xiv4 #ea71 the command of ,elisha to    
,naaman to wash in ,jordan seven times  
7#b ,kings v4 #aj74 ,hezekiah1 in       
cleansing the temple1 offered seven     
bullocks1 seven rams1 and seven he-goats
 for a sin offering4 ,septuple actions  
and agents abound4 ,thus the blood of   
sacrifices were sprinkled seven times   
7,lev4 iv4 #f1 #ag2 xiv4 #g1 #af1 #bg2  
xvi4 #ad1 #ae74 ,so ,jacob bowed to his 
brother ,esau seven times 7,gen4 xxxiii4
 #c74 ,balak built for ,balaam seven    
altars1 and prepares seven oxen and     
seven rams 7,num4 xxiii4 #a1 #d1 #ad1   
#bi71 and ,abraham employed seven       
victims for sacrifice 7,gen4 xxi4 #bh1  
#cj74 ,we are reminded of the lines in  
,virgil's neid 7vi4 #eh74       ,seven  
bullocks1 yet unyoked1 for ,phoebus     
choose1      ,and for ,diana1 seven     
unspotted ewes4  ,the ,hebrew verb      
,shaba1 to swear1 is evidently derived  
from ,sheba seven1 and denoted a        
sevenfold affirmation4 ,herodotus 7xiii4

 #h71 tells us the manner of swearing   
among the ancient ,arabians included    
smearing seven stones with blood4 ,sheba
 is allied to the ,egyptian ,seb-ti     
7#e-b71 the ,zend ,hapta1 ,greek ,epta1 
,latin septem4 ,the ,pythagoreans said  
that ,heptad came from the ,greek ,sebo 
to venerate1 but ,egyptian and other    
,african dialects suffice to prove it is
 far earlier4  ,the writer of the       
,apocalypse had the mystic number on the
 brain4 ,dr4 ,milligan has explained the
 #fff number of the beast1 as a fall    
below the sacred seven ,john of ,patmos 
gives us seven golden candlesticks1 7i4 
#a71 seven stars 7i4 #bj71 seven spirits
 and churches 7iii4 #a71 seven seals 7v4
 #a71 trumpets 7viii4 #b71 thunders 7x4 
#cd71 vials 7xvi4 #a71 and seven angels 
with seven plagues 7xvi47 ,the beast has
 seven heads1 horns and crowns 7xii4 #c1
 xiii4 #a1 xvii4 #g74 ,the ,lamb with   
seven horns and seven eyes 7v4 #a 74    
,there are seven spirits before the     
throne of ,god 7,rev4 i4 #d1 etc47 like 

the seven ,dhyani ,chohans emanating    
from ,parabrahm in ,hindu ,theosophy4   
,so ,christians have kept up legends of 
seven wise men1 seven wonders of the    
world1 seven champions of ,christendom1 
seven cardinal virtues1 seven deadly    
sins1 seven devils in ,mary ,magdalene1 
etc4 ,of course there is no better      
reason why there should be seven than   
the old idea of mystery and completion  
attached to the number4  ,modern        
,theosophists1 too1 go in largely for   
the number seven4 ,there are seven      
planets1 seven rounds on each planet and
 seven races4 ,every ego is composed of 
seven principles--,atma1 ,buddhi1       
,manas1 ,kamarupa1 ,linga ,sharira1     
,prana1 and ,sthula ,sharira4 ,it may   
seem strange that a lady of ,madame     
,blavatsky's undoubted powers of        
imagination should run in the old rut4  
,but the well-worn superstitions work   
the easiest1 although to every          
instructed person this one carries the  
mind back to the days when men knew only

 of seven planets and measured their    
time by the moon4