IN all probability the first religion was Sun-worship. Nothing could
have been more natural. Light was life and warmth and love. The sun
was the fireside of the world. The sun was the "all-seeing"--the "Sky
Father." Darkness was grief and death, and in the shadows crawled the
serpents of despair and fear.
The sun was a great warrior, fighting the hosts of Night. Apollo was
the sun, and he fought and conquered the serpent of Night. Agni, the
generous, who loved the lowliest and visited the humblest, was the sun.
He was the god of fire, and the crossed sticks that by friction leaped
into flame were his emblem. It was said that, in spite of his goodness,
he devoured his father and mother, the two pieces of wood being his
parents. Baldur was the sun. He was in love with the Dawn--a maiden--he
deserted her and traveled through the heavens alone. At the twilight
they met, were reconciled, and the drops of dew were the tears of joy
they shed.
Chrishna was the sun. At his birth the Ganges thrilled from its source
to the sea. All the trees, the dead as well as the living, burst into
leaf and bud and flower.
Hercules was a sun-god.
Jonah the same, rescued from the fiends of Night and carried by the fish
through the under world. Samson was a sun-god. His strength was in
his hair--in his beams. He was shorn of his strength by Delilah, the
shadow--the darkness. So, Osiris, Bacchus, Mithra, Hermes, Buddha,
Quelzalcoatle, Prometheus, Zoroaster, Perseus, Codom Lao-tsze Fo-hi,
Horus and Rameses were all sun-gods.
All these gods had gods for fathers and all their mothers were virgins.
The births of nearly all were announced by stars.
When they were born there was celestial music--voices declared that a
blessing had come upon the earth.
When Buddha was born, the celestial choir sang: "This day is born
for the good of men Buddha, and to dispel the darkness of their
ignorance--to give joy and peace to the world."
Chrishna was born in a cave, and protected by shepherds. Bacchus,
Apollo, Mithra and Hermes were all born in caves. Buddha was born in an
inn--according to some, under a tree.
Tyrants sought to kill all of these gods when they were babes.
When Chrishna was born, a tyrant killed the babes of the neighborhood.
Buddha was the child of Maya, a virgin, in the kingdom of Madura. The
king arrested Maya before the child was born, imprisoned her in a tower.
During the night when the child was born, a great wind wrecked the
tower, and carried mother and child to a place of safety. The next
morning the king sent his soldiers to kill the babes, and when they came
to Buddha and his mother, the babe appeared to be about twelve years of
age, and the soldiers passed on.
So Typhon sought in many ways to destroy the babe Horus. The king
pursued the infant Zoroaster. Cadmus tried to kill the infant Bacchus.
All of these gods were born on the 25th of December.