Part 136 (1/2)

Buddha, the Lord and Saviour, was described as a superhuman organ of light, to whom a superhuman organ of darkness, Mara, the Evil Serpent, was opposed. He, like _Christ_ Jesus, resisted the temptations of this evil one, and is represented sitting on a serpent, as if its conqueror.

(See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 39.)

Crishna also overcame the evil one, and is represented ”bruising the head of the serpent,” and standing upon it. (See vol. i. of Asiatic Researches, and vol. ii. of Higgins' Anacalypsis.)

In Egyptian Mythology, one of the names of the G.o.d-_Sun_ was _Ra_. He had an adversary who was called _Apap_, represented in the form of a serpent. (See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, p. 109.)

Horus, the Egyptian incarnate G.o.d, the Mediator, Redeemer and Saviour, is represented in Egyptian art as overcoming the Evil Serpent, and standing triumphantly upon him. (See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 158, and Monumental Christianity, p. 402.)

Osiris, Ormuzd, Mithras, Apollo, Bacchus, Hercules, Indra, dipus, Quetzalcoatle, and many other _Sun-G.o.ds_, overcame the Evil One, and are represented in the above described manner. (See c.o.x's Tales of Ancient Greece, p. xxvii. and Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 129. Baring-Gould's Curious Myths, p. 256. Bulfinch's Age of Fable, p. 34. Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. x., and Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi.

p. 176.)

[483:1] The crucifixion of the Sun-G.o.ds is simply the power of Darkness triumphing over the ”Lord of Light,” and Winter overpowering the Summer.

It was at the _Winter_ solstice that the ancients wept for Tammuz, the fair Adonis, and other Sun-G.o.ds, who were put to death by the boar, slain by the thorn of winter. (See c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p.

113.)

Other versions of the same myth tell us of Eurydike stung to death by the hidden serpent, of Sifrit smitten by Hagene (the Thorn), of Isfendiyar slain by the thorn or arrow of Rustem, of Achilleus vulnerable only in the heel, of Brynhild enfolded within the dragon's coils, of Meleagros dying as the torch of doom is burnt out, of Baldur, the brave and pure, smitten by the fatal mistletoe, and of Crishna and others being crucified.

In Egyptian mythology, Set, the destroyer, triumphs in the _West_. He is the personification of _Darkness_ and _Winter_, and the Sun-G.o.d whom he puts to death, is Horus the Saviour. (See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, pp.

112-115.)

[483:2] ”In the _Rig-Veda_ the G.o.d _Vishnu_ is often named as a manifestation of the _Solar_ energy, or rather as a form of the Sun.”

(Indian Wisdom, p. 322.)

[483:3] Crishna says: ”I am Vishnu, Brahma, _Indra_, and the source as well as the destruction of things, the creator and the annihilator of the whole aggregate of existences.” (c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p.

131.)

[484:1] See Chap. XX.

[484:2] _Indra_, who was represented as a crucified G.o.d, is also the _Sun_. No sooner is he born than he speaks to his mother. Like Apollo and all other Sun-G.o.ds he has _golden locks_, and like them he is possessed of an inscrutable wisdom. He is also born of a virgin--the Dawn. Crishna and Indra are one. (See c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. i. pp.

88 and 341; vol. ii. p. 131.)

[484:3] Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 55.

[484:4] See c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 113.

[484:5] Ibid. pp. 115 and 125.

[484:6] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 157.

[484:7] Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 88.

A great number of the Solar heroes or Sun-G.o.ds are forced to endure being bound, which indicates the tied-up power of the sun in winter.

(Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, p. 406.)

[484:8] The Sun, as climbing the heights of heaven, is an arrogant being, given to making exorbitant claims, who must be bound to the fiery cross. ”The phrases which described the Sun as revolving daily on his four-spoked _cross_, or as doomed to sink in the sky when his...o...b..had reached the zenith, would give rise to the stories of _Ixion_ on his flaming wheel.” (c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 27.)

[484:9] ”So was Ixion bound on the fiery wheel, and the sons of men see the flaming spokes day by day as it whirls in the high heaven.”