Part 92 (1/2)

The wors.h.i.+p of the ”Virgin,” the ”Queen of Heaven,” the ”Great G.o.ddess,”

the ”Mother of G.o.d,” &c., which has become one of the grand features of the Christian religion--the Council of Ephesus (A. D. 431) having declared Mary ”Mother of G.o.d,” her a.s.sumption being declared in 813, and her Immaculate Conception by the Pope and Council in 1851[326:1]--was almost universal, for ages before the birth of Jesus, and ”the _pure virginity_ of the celestial mother was a tenet of faith for two thousand years before the virgin now adored was born.”[326:2]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. No. 16]

In _India_, they have wors.h.i.+ped, for ages, _Devi_, _Maha-Devi_--”The One Great G.o.ddess”[326:3]--and have temples erected in honor of her.[326:4]

Gonzales states that among the Indians he found a temple ”_Pariturae Virginis_”--of the Virgin about to bring forth.[326:5]

_Maya_, the mother of Buddha, and _Devaki_ the mother of Crishna, were wors.h.i.+ped as _virgins_,[326:6] and represented with the infant Saviours in their arms, just as the virgin of the Christians is represented at the present day. Maya was so pure that it was impossible for G.o.d, man, or Asura to view her with carnal desire. Fig. No. 16 is a representation of the Virgin Devaki, with, the infant Saviour Crishna, taken from Moor's ”Hindu Pantheon.”[327:1] ”No person could bear to gaze upon Devaki, because of the light that invested her.” ”The G.o.ds, invisible to mortals, celebrated her praise continually from the time that _Vishnu_ was contained in her person.”[327:2]

”Crishna and his mother are almost always represented _black_,”[327:3]

and the word ”_Crishna_” means ”_the black_.”

The _Chinese_, who have had several _avatars_, or virgin-born G.o.ds, among them, have also wors.h.i.+ped a Virgin Mother from time immemorial.

Sir Charles Francis Davis, in his ”History of China,” tells us that the Chinese at Canton wors.h.i.+ped an idol, to which they gave the name of ”The Virgin.”[327:4]

The Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his ”Heathen Religion,” tells us that:

”Upon the altars of the Chinese temples were placed, behind a screen, an image of _s.h.i.+n-moo_, or the '_Holy Mother_,'

_sitting with a child in her arms_, in an alcove, with rays of glory around her head, and tapers constantly burning before her.”[327:5]

s.h.i.+n-moo is called the ”Mother G.o.ddess,” and the ”Virgin.” Her child, who was exposed in his infancy, was brought up by poor fishermen. He became a great man, and performed wonderful miracles. In wealthy houses the sacred image of the ”Mother G.o.ddess” is carefully kept in a recess behind an altar, veiled with a silken screen.[327:6]

The Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, in his ”Travels,” speaking of the Chinese people, says:

”Though otherwise very reasonable men, they have always showed themselves bigoted heathens. . . . They have everywhere built splendid temples, chiefly in honor of _Ma-tsoo-po_, the '_Queen of Heaven_.'”[327:7]

_Isis_, mother of the Egyptian Saviour, Horus, was wors.h.i.+ped as a virgin. Nothing is more common on the religious monuments of Egypt than the infant Horus seated in the lap of his virgin mother. She is styled ”Our Lady,” the ”Queen of Heaven,” ”Star of the Sea,” ”Governess,”

”Mother of G.o.d,” ”Intercessor,” ”Immaculate Virgin,” &c.;[328:1] all of which epithets were in after years applied to the Virgin Mother wors.h.i.+ped by the Christians.[328:2]

”The most common representation of Horus is being nursed on the knee of Isis, or suckled at her breast.”[328:3] In _Monumental Christianity_ (Fig. 92), is to be seen a representation of ”Isis and Horus.” The infant Saviour is sitting on his mother's knee, while she gazes into his face. A cross is on the back of the seat. The author, Rev. J. P. Lundy, says, in speaking of it:

”Is this Egyptian mother, too, meditating her son's conflict, suffering, and triumph, as she holds him before her and gazes into his face? And is this CROSS meant to convey the idea of life through suffering, and conflict with Typho or Evil?”

In some statues and _ba.s.so-relievos_, when Isis appears alone, she is entirely veiled from head to foot, in common with nearly every other G.o.ddess, as a symbol of a mother's chast.i.ty. No mortal man hath ever lifted her veil.

Isis was also represented standing on the _crescent_ moon, with _twelve stars_ surrounding her head.[328:4] In almost every Roman Catholic Church on the continent of Europe may be seen pictures and statues of _Mary_, the ”Queen of Heaven,” standing on the crescent moon, and her head surrounded with _twelve_ stars.

Dr. Inman, in his ”Pagan and Christian Symbolism,” gives a figure of the Virgin Mary, with her infant, standing on the _crescent moon_. In speaking of this figure, he says:

”In it the Virgin is seen as the 'Queen of Heaven,' nursing her infant, and identified with the crescent moon. . . . Than this, nothing could more completely identify the Christian mother and child, with Isis and Horus.”[328:5]

This _crescent moon_ is the symbol of Isis and Juno, and is the _Yoni_ of the Hindoos.[328:6]

The priests of Isis yearly dedicated to her a new s.h.i.+p (emblematic of the YONI), laden with the first fruits of spring. Strange as it may seem, the carrying in procession of s.h.i.+ps, in which the Virgin Mary takes the place of the heathen G.o.ddesses, has not yet wholly gone out of use.[328:7]

Isis is also represented, with the infant Saviour in her arms, enclosed in a framework of the flowers of the Egyptian bean, or _lotus_.[328:8]

The Virgin _Mary_ is very often represented in this manner, as those who have studied mediaeval art, well know.