Part 147 (1/2)

The G.o.ds of the ancient inhabitants of what are now called the ”British Islands” were identically the same. The _Sun_-G.o.d wors.h.i.+ped by the Ancient Druids was called _Hu_, _Beli_, _Budd_ and _Buddu-gre_.[550:3]

The same wors.h.i.+p which we have found in the Old World, from the farthest East to the remotest West, may also be traced in AMERICA, from its simplest or least clearly defined form, among the roving hunters and squalid Esquimaux of the North, through every intermediate stage of development, to the imposing systems of Mexico and Peru, where it took a form nearly corresponding that which it at one time sustained on the banks of the Ganges, and on the plains of a.s.syria.[550:4]

Father Acosta, speaking of the Mexicans, says:

”Next to Viracocha, or their Supreme G.o.d, that which most commonly they have, and do adore, is the _Sun_; and after, those things which are most remarkable in the celestial or elementary nature, as the Moon, Stars, Sea, and Land.

”Whoso shall merely look into it, shall find this manner which the Devil hath used to deceive the Indians, to be the same wherewith he hath deceived the Greeks and Romans, and other ancient Gentiles, giving them to understand that these notable creatures, the Sun, Moon, Stars, and elements, had power or authority to do good or harm to men.”[551:1]

We see, then, that the G.o.ds and heroes of antiquity were originally personifications of certain elements of Nature, and that the legends of adventures ascribed to them are merely mythical forms of describing the phenomena of these elements.

These legends relating to the elements of Nature, whether they had reference to the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, or a certain natural phenomenon, became, in the course of time, to be regarded as accounts of men of a high order, who had once inhabited the earth. Sanctuaries and temples were erected to these heroes, their bones were searched for, and when found--which was always the case--were regarded as a great source of strength to the town that possessed them; all relics of their stay on earth were hallowed, and a form of wors.h.i.+p was specially adapted to them.

The idea that heavenly luminaries were inhabited by spirits, of a nature intermediate between G.o.d and men, first led mortals to address prayers to the orbs over which they were supposed to preside. In order to supplicate these deities, when Sun, Moon, and Stars were not visible, _they made images of them_, which the priests consecrated with many ceremonies. Then they p.r.o.nounced solemn invocations to draw down the spirits into the statues provided for their reception. By this process it was supposed that a mysterious connection was established between the spirit and the image, so that prayers addressed to one were thenceforth heard by the other. This was probably the origin of image wors.h.i.+p everywhere.

The _motive_ of this wors.h.i.+p was the same among all nations of antiquity, _i. e._, _fear_. They supposed that these deities were irritated by the sins of men, but, at the same time, were merciful, and capable of being appeased by prayer and repentance; for this reason men offered to these deities sacrifices and prayers. How natural that such should have been the case, for, as Abbe Dubois observes: ”To the rude, untutored eye, the 'Host of Heaven,' clothed in that calm beauty which distinguishes an Oriental night, might well appear to be instinct with some divine principle, endowed with consciousness, and the power to influence, from its throne of unchanging splendor on high, the fortunes of transitory mortals.”

FOOTNOTES:

[544:1] ”All Paganism is at bottom _a wors.h.i.+p of nature_ in some form or other, and in all Pagan religions the deepest and most awe-inspiring attribute of _nature_ was its power of reproduction.” (Encyclo. Brit., art. ”Christianity.”)

[544:2] In Montfaucon's L'Antiquite Expliquee (vol. i.), may be seen a representation of the seven planets _personified_. It was by such personifications that the real objects wors.h.i.+ped became unknown. At first the real Sun, Moon, Stars, &c., would be wors.h.i.+ped, but as soon as man personified them, other terms would be introduced, and peculiar rites appropriated to each, so that in time they came to be considered as so many different deities.

[545:1] Thornton: Hist. China, vol. i. pp. 14, 49 and 50.

[545:2] Max Muller: The Science of Religion, p. 298.

[545:3] Indian Wisdom, p. 10.

[546:1] The emblem of Parvati, the ”Mother G.o.ddess,” was the YONI, and that of her consort Siva, the LINGHAM.

[546:2] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.

[546:3] See c.o.x: Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. pp. 105 and 130.

[546:4] Ibid. p. 135.

[546:5] Ibid. p. 137.

[546:6] See Ibid. p. 88, and Moor's Hindu Pantheon, p. 63.

[547:1] ”According to Champollion, the tomb of Ramses V. at Thebes, contains tables of the constellations and of their influence (on human beings) for every hour of every month of the year.” (Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 456.)

[547:2] P. 118.

[549:1] See Chapter XI.

[549:2] Muller: The Science of Relig., p. 190.

[549:3] See Chapter XI.