Part 56 (1/2)

[89] As given in Mr. Alabaster's 'The Wheel of the Law' (Trubner & Co., 1871). In the Apocryphal Gospels, some of the signs of nature's joy attending the birth of Buddha are reported at the birth of Mary and that of Christ, as the pausing of birds in their flight, &c. Anna is said to have conceived Mary under a tree, as Maia under a tree brought forth Buddha.

[90] 'Mara, or Man (Sanscrit Mara, death, G.o.d of love; by some authors translated 'illusion,' as if it came from the Sanscrit Maya), the angels of evil, desire, of love, death, &c. Though King Mara plays the part of our Satan the tempter, he and his host were formerly great givers of alms, which led to their being born in the highest of the Deva heavens, called Paranimit Wasawatti, there to live more than nine thousand million years, surrounded by all the luxuries of sensuality. From this heaven the filthy one, as the Siamese describe him, descends to the earth to tempt and excite to evil.'--Alabaster.

[91] Some say Djemschid, others Guenschesp, a warrior sent to h.e.l.l for beating the fire.

[92] Leben Jesu, ii. 54. The close resemblance between the trial of Israel in the wilderness and this of Jesus is drawn in his own masterly way.

[93] A pa.s.sage of the Pesikta (iii. 35) represents a conversation between Jehovah and Satan with reference to Messias which bears a resemblance to the prologue of Job. Satan said: Lord, permit me to tempt Messias and his generation. 'To him the Lord said: You could have no power over him. Satan again said: Permit me because I have the power. G.o.d answered: If you persist longer in this, rather would I destroy thee from the world, than that one soul of the generation of Messias should be lost.' Though the rabbin might report the trial declined, the Christian would claim it to have been endured.

[94] In his fresco of the Temptation at the Vatican, Michael Angelo has painted the Devil in the dress of a priest, standing with Jesus on the Temple.

[95] 'Idols and Ideals.' London: Trubner & Co. New York: Henry Holt & Co. In the Essay on Christianity I have given my reasons for this belief.

[96] 'Paradise Regained,' ii.

[97] 'Henry Luria; or, the Little Jewish Convert: being contained in the Memoir of Mrs. S. T. Cohen, relict of the Rev. Dr. A. H. Cohen, late Rabbi of the Synagogue in Richmond, Va.' 1860.

[98] 'Heroes and Hero-wors.h.i.+p,' iv.

[99] 'Sartor Resartus.' London: Chapman & Hall, 1869, p. 160.

[100] 'The American Scholar.' An Oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge (Ma.s.sachusetts), August 31, 1837. By Ralph Waldo Emerson.

[101] The relations of this system to those of various countries are stated by Professor King in his work 'The Gnostics and their Remains.'

[102] In the Architectural Museum, Westminster, there is an old picture which possibly represents the hairy Adam.

[103] Josephus; 'Wars of the Jews,' vi. 1.

[104] Those who wish to pursue the subject may consult Plutarch, Philo, Josephus, Diog. Laertius; also Eisenmenger, Wetstein, Elsner, Doughtaei, Lightfoot, Sup. Relig., &c.

[105] See 'Supernatural Religion,' vol. i. ch. 4 and 5, for ample references concerning these superst.i.tions among both Jews and Christians.

[106] 'Saducismus,' p. 53.

[107] 'Eastern Morning News,' quoted in the 'National Reformer,'

December 17, 1877.

[108] Much curious information is contained in the work already referred to, 'L'Eau Benite au Dix-neuvieme Siecle.' Par Monsignor Gaume, Protonotaire Apostolique. Paris, 1866. It is there stated that water escaped the curse; that salt produces fecundity; that devils driven off temporarily by the cross are effectually dismissed by holy water; that St. Vincent, interrupted by a storm while preaching, dispersed it by throwing holy water at it; and he advises the use of holy water against the latest devices of the devil--spirit-rapping. It must not, however, be supposed that these notions are confined to Catholics. Every element in the disquisition of Monsignor Gaume is represented in the region where his church is most hated. Mr. James Napier, in his recent book on Folklore, shows us the Scotch hastening new-born babes to baptism lest they become 'changelings,' and the true meaning of the rite is ill.u.s.trated in a reminiscence of his own childhood. He was supposed to be pining under an Evil Eye, and the old woman, or 'skilly,' called in, carefully locked the door, now unlocked by her patient, and proceeded as follows:-- 'A sixpence was borrowed from a neighbour, a good fire was kept burning in the grate, the door was locked, and I was placed upon a chair in front of the fire. The operator, an old woman, took a tablespoon and filled it with water. With the sixpence she then lifted as much salt as it would carry, and both were put into the water in the spoon. The water was then stirred with the forefinger till the salt was dissolved. Then the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands were bathed with this solution thrice, and after these bathings I was made to taste the solution three times. The operator then drew her wet forefinger across my brow--called scoring aboon the breath. The remaining contents of the spoon she then cast right over the fire, into the hinder part of the fire, saying as she did so, 'Guid preserve frae a'

skaith.' These were the first words permitted to be spoken during the operation. I was then put in bed, and, in attestation of the charm, recovered. To my knowledge this operation has been performed within these forty years, and probably in many outlying country places it is still practised. The origin of this superst.i.tion is probably to be found in ancient fire-wors.h.i.+p. The great blazing fire was evidently an important element in the transaction; nor was this a solitary instance in which regard was paid to the fire. I remember being taught that it was unlucky to spit into the fire, some evil being likely shortly after to befall those who did so. Crumbs left upon the table after a meal were carefully gathered and put into the fire. The cuttings from the nails and hair were also put into the fire. These freaks certainly look like survivals of fire-wors.h.i.+p.' It may be well here to refer the reader to what has been said in vol. i. on Demons of Fire. The Devil's fear of salt and consequently of water confirmed the perhaps earlier apprehension of all fiery phantoms of that which naturally quenches flame.

[109] We here get a clue to the origin of various strange ceremonies by which men bind themselves to one another. Michelet, in his 'Origines du Droit Francais,' writes: 'Boire le sang l'un de l'autre, c'etait pour ainsi dire se faire meme chair. Ce symbole si expressif se trouve chez un grand nombre de peuples;' and he gives instances from various ancient races. But, as we here see, this practice is not originally adopted as a symbol (no practices begin as symbols), but is prompted by the belief that a community of nature is thus established, and a community of power over one another.

[110] 'Principles of Sociology,' i. ch. xix. Origen says, that a man eats and drinks with demons when he eats flesh and drinks wine offered to idols. (Contra Cels. viii. 31.)

[111] Dr. James Browne's 'History of the Highlands,' ed. 1855, i. 108.

[112] 'Aurea Legenda.' The story, as intertwined with that of the discovery of the true cross by the Empress Helena, was a fruitful theme for artists. It has been painted in various versions by Angiolo Gaddi in S. Croce at Florence, by Pietro della Francesca at Arezzo, and in S. Croce in Ger. at Rome are frescoes celebrating Helena in a chapel named from her, but into which persons of her s.e.x are admitted only once a year.

[113] To the 'Secular Chronicle,' February 11, 1877.