By comparing the sacred writings of the Persians with the history of the
events connected with the conception and birth of the mythical Christ
as recorded in the New Testament, the fact is observed that the latter
appears to be closely connected with the central figure of Persian
mythology. It has been found that the visit of the Magi, who, following
a star, were guided to the spot where the young child lay, was the
fulfilment of a Persian prophecy, which is to be found in the life of
Zarathustra as recorded in the Zendavesta, while the subsequent history
of the same personage is seen to be almost identical with that of the
Hindoo Sun-god Chrishna.
According to the sacred books of the Persians, three sons of the great
Zarathustra were to appear at three successive periods of time. These
sons were to be incarnations of the sun, and the result of immaculate
conceptions.
"The first is named Oschederbami. He will appear in the last millennium
of the world. He will stop the sun for ten days and ten nights, and the
second part of the human race will embrace the law, of which he will
bring the 22d portion.
"The second posthumous son of Zoroaster is Oschedermah. He will appear
four hundred years after Oschederbami. He will stop the sun twenty days
and twenty nights, and he will bring the 23d part of the law, and the
third part of the world will be converted.
"The third is named Sosiosch. He will be born at the end of the ages.
He will bring the 24th part of the law; he will stay the sun thirty
days and thirty nights, and the whole earth will embrace the law of
Zoroaster. After him will be the resurrection."(123) This last named
son was to be born of a pure and spotless virgin, whereupon a star would
appear blazing even at noonday with undiminished lustre.
123) Quoted by Waite, History of the Christian Religion, p. 168.
"You, my sons," exclaimed the seer, "will perceive its rising before any
other nation. As soon, therefore, as you shall behold the star, follow
it, withersoever it shall lead you; and adore that mysterious child,
offering your gifts to him, with profound humility. He is the Almighty
Word, which created the heavens."(124)
124) Ibid., 169.
Waite notices the conclusion of Faber that this prediction was long
before the birth of Christ, and states that one of the reasons for
such a conclusion was, that in the old Irish history a similar prophecy
appears--a prophecy which was delivered by a "Druid of Bokhara." The
identity of this Irish prophecy with the one in the East ascribed to
Zarathustra or Zoroaster, is so singular that Faber thinks it can be
accounted for only on the hypothesis "of an ancient emigration from
Persia to Ireland by the northwest passage, which carried the legend
with it."
By those who have investigated the origin of the early gospels, it is
stated that the story of the Magi and the star appeared in the Gospel
of the Infancy early in the second century, and was subsequently
incorporated into the preparatory chapters of Luke and Matthew.
According to Waite, there was a sect of Christians called Prodiceans
whose leader, Prodicus, about A.D. 120, boasted that they had the sacred
books of Zoroaster. From an extant fragment of the Chronography of
Africanus is the following:
"Christ first of all became known from Persia. For nothing escapes the
learned jurists of that country, who investigated all things with the
utmost care. The facts, therefore, which are inscribed upon the golden
plates, and laid up in the royal temples, I shall record; for it is from
the temples there, and the priests connected with them, that the name
of Christ has been heard of. Now, there is a temple there to Juno,
surpassing the royal palace, which temple Cyrus, that prince instructed
in all piety, built, and in which he dedicated, in honor of the gods,
golden and silver statues, and adorned them with precious stones. ...
Now about that time (as the records on the plates testify), the king
having entered the temple, with the view of getting an interpretation
of certain dreams, was addressed by the priest Prupupius thus: 'I
congratulate thee, master: Juno has conceived.' 'And the king, smiling,
said to him: 'Has she who is dead conceived?' And he said: 'Yes, she who
was dead has come to life again, and begets life.' And the king said:
'What is this? explain it to me.' And he replied: 'In truth, master, the
time for these things is at hand. For during the whole night the images,
both of gods and goddesses, continued beating the ground, saying to each
other, Come, let us congratulate Juno. And they say to me, Prophet, come
forward, congratulate Juno, for she has been embraced. And I said, How
can she be embraced who no longer exists? To which they reply, She has
come to life again, and is no longer called Juno, but Urama. For the
mighty Sol has embraced her.' "(125)
125) Hyppolytus, vol. ii., p. 196.
There is a tradition which asserts that during the early part of the
second century, St. Thomas went as a missionary to Parthia; that after
he had visited the various countries of the Parthian Empire, tarrying
for a time at Balkh, the capital of Bactria, and the ancient residence
of the Magi, he went to India. Soon after the visit of Thomas to Persia
and India, there appeared in Palestine and the adjacent countries
a gospel of Thomas, in which were set forth various stories closely
resembling the legends found in the Hindoo sacred writings. After
comparing various passages of the Bhagavat Purana with those of the
Infancy, and after furnishing conclusive evidence that the latter must
have been copied from the former, Waite says:
"The conclusion must be, that while for some of the salient points of
the Gospels of the Infancy, the authors were indebted to Zoroaster, and
the legends of Persia, the outline of the story was largely filled up
from the history of Crishna, as sent back to Palestine, by the Apostle
Thomas, from the land of the Brahmins."
Concerning the story of Herod and his order to slay all the male
infants, there has been discovered in a cavern at Elephanta, in India,
a sculptured representation of a huge and ferocious figure, bearing a
drawn sword and surrounded by slaughtered children, while mothers appear
weeping for their slain. This figure is said to be of great antiquity.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, like Mai, the Mother of Gatama Buddha, was
regarded by certain sects in the earlier ages of Christianity as an
Immortal Virgin whose birth had been announced by an angel.(126) She was
in fact the ancient Virgin of the Sphere--the Mother of the Gods--the
Queen of Heaven.
126) See Gospels of Mary and the Protovangelion.
As soon as Christ was born he conversed with Mary, as did also Crishna
with his mother, informing her of his divine mission.
Crishna was cradled among shepherds, so was Christ. Cansa, fearing the
loss of his kingdom, sought to destroy the life of the divine infant in
the same manner as did Herod in the case of Christ. Both children are
carried away by night, after which an order is issued by the ruler
of the country that all the young children throughout the kingdom be
slaughtered.
When Joseph and Mary arrived in Egypt, they visited the temple of
Serapis, where "all the magistrates and priests of the idols
were assembled." Upon the image being interrogated concerning the
"consternation and dread which had fallen upon all our country," it
answered them as follows: "The unknown god has come hither, who is truly
God; nor is there anyone besides him, who is worthy of divine worship;
for he is truly the son of God." And at the same instant this idol fell
down, and at his fall all the inhabitants of Egypt, besides others, ran
together.(127) A similar story is related of Crishna. This Indian god,
the same as Christ, cured a leper. A woman, after having poured a box
of precious ointment on the head of Crishna, was healed; so also a woman
anointed the head of Jesus. Crishna when but a lad displayed remarkable
mental powers and the most profound wisdom before the tutor who was sent
to instruct him. Christ astonished the school-master Zaccheus with his
great learning.(128)
127) Gospel of the Infancy, ch. iv.
128) Gospel of the Infancy, ch. xx.
Crishna had a terrible encounter with the serpent Calinaga; the infant
Christ had also a dreadful adventure with a serpent. Now this Calinaga
which Crishna encountered was a serpent goddess who was worshipped
by the sect in India which was opposed to the adoration of the male
principle. The early Christians, however, being ignorant of the
allegorical meaning of the legend, transferred it to Christ literally.
The mother of Crishna looked in his mouth and beheld all the nations of
the earth. The same story is reported of Christ and his mother. Finally
Christ, like Crishna, was crucified, and like him was buried. He
descended into hell and on the third day arose and ascended into
heaven.(129)
129) It will doubtless be urged that I am quoting from the Apocryphal
Gospels--that the genuine books of the New Testament are silent
concerning many of these Eastern legends. We must bear in mind, however,
that during the earlier ages of Christianity, these finally rejected
gospels were, equally with the canonical books, considered as the word
of God. The Infancy is thought to be one of the earliest gospels. Justin
Martyr was acquainted with it, A.D. 150 to 160. It is referred to by
Irenaeus, A.D. 190.
In the poetical myths of the ancients the sun is yearly overpowered
by cold or by the destructive agencies in Nature. Astronomically, or
astrologically, it wanders in darkness and desolation during the winter
months; in fact dies, and descends into hell in order that he may
rise at the Easter season to gladden and make all things new again.
Mythologically, this new sun becomes incarnate; enters again his
mother's womb, and is born into the world in the form of a man whose
mission is to renew human life. Hence we have an explanation of the
Eastern Buddhas and Crishnas, all of which were born of virgins at the
winter solstice.
The new sun which at the close of each cycle was believed by the more
ancient people of the globe to "issue forth from the womb of Nature to
renew the world," now that the truths underlying Nature-worship were
lost, became a redeemer or mediator between earth and heaven, or between
spirit and matter. It is stated that at the time of the appearance of
Christ not alone the Jews, but the Persians, the Romans, the ancient
Irish, and in fact all the nations of the globe, were anxiously awaiting
the event of another incarnation of the solar Deity; and that maidens
of all classes and conditions were in a state of eager expectation, the
more pious, or at least the more ambitious among them, being in almost
constant attendance at the temples and sacred shrines, whither they went
to pay homage to the male emblem of generation, thereby hoping to be
honored as a Mai or Mary.
On the wall of the temple at Luxor are a series of sculptures,
"in which the miraculous annunciation, conception, birth, and adoration
of Amunoph III., the son of the Virgin Queen Mautmes, is represented in
a manner similar to what is described in St. Luke's Gospel (ch. 1 and 2)
of Jesus Christ, the son of the Virgin Mary, and which is found also
in the Gospel of St. Matthew (ch. 1) as an addition not met with in the
earliest manuscripts,"(130) which fact has caused Sharpe, from whom the
above is quoted, to suggest that both accounts may have been of Egyptian
origin.
130) Barlow, Symbolism, p. 127.
The titles "lamb," "anointed," etc., which were applied to Christ, all
appear attached to former incarnations of the sun, the first named
standing for the sun in Aries. The effigies of a crucified savior found
in Ireland and Scotland in connection with the figure of a lamb, a bull,
or an elephant, the latter of which is not a native of those countries,
shows that they do not represent Christ, but a crucified sun-god
worshipped by the inhabitants of the British Islands ages before the
birth of the great Judean philosopher and teacher.
It is plain that Crishna of India and the Persian Mithra furnished the
copy for the Jesus of the Romish Church, all of whom mean one and the
same thing--the second person in the Solar Trinity. By the Jews, who
attempted to ignore the female principle, this God is called the "Lord
of Hosts" and "God of Sabaoth," which astronomically means God of the
stars and constellations, and astrologically the creator or producer of
the multitudes. Of this God, ieue, I H S, the author of Anacalypsis says
that he was the son of the celestial virgin, which she carries in her
arms; the Horus, Lux, of the Egyptians, the Lux of St. John.
"It is from this infant that Jesus took his origin; or at least it is
from the ceremonies and worship of this infant that this religion came
to be corrupted into what we have of it. This infant is the seed of the
woman who, according to Genesis, was to bruise the head of the serpent,
which, in return, was to bruise his foot or heel, or the foot or heel
of her seed as the figure of the Hindoo Crishna proves. From the
traditionary stories of this god Iao, which was figured annually to be
born at the winter solstice, and to be put to death and raised to life
on the third day at the vernal equinox, the Roman searchers after the
evangelion or gospel made out their Jesus. The total destruction
of everything at Jerusalem and in Judea--buildings, records,
everything--prevented them from coming to any absolute certainty
respecting this person who, they were told by tradition, had come to
preach the gospel of peace, to be their savior, in fulfilment of the
prophecy which their sect of Israelites found in their writings, and who
had been put to death by the Jews. From all these circumstances he came
to have applied to him the monogram of I H S.... and to him at last all
the legendary stories related of the god Iao were attributed."(131)
131) Godfrey Higgins, Anacalypsis, book vi., ch. iv., p. 455.
According to Faber, Jesus was not originally called Jesus Christ, but
Jescua Hammassiah--Jescua meaning Joshua, and Jesus, Savior. Ham is
the Om of India, and Messiah, the anointed. Commenting on this Higgins
remarks: "It will then be, The Savior Om the Anointed, precisely as
Isaiah had literally foretold; or reading in the Hebrew made, The
Anointed Om the Savior. This was the name of Jesus of Bethlehem."
We have observed the fact that at the time of the birth of Christ the
entire world was expecting a Savior--a new incarnation of the sun. The
end of a cycle had come and the entire earth was to undergo a process of
renovation.
In a poem by Virgil, who was a Druid, the birth of a wonderful child is
celebrated, and the prophecy of a heathen Sibyl is seen to be identical
with that of Isaiah.
"The last period sung by the Sibylline prophetess is now arrived; and
the grand series of ages. That Series which recurs again and again
in the course of our mundane revolution begins afresh. Now the
Virgin Astrea returns from heaven; and the primeval reign of Saturn
recommences; now a new race descends from the celestial realms of
holiness. Do thou, Lucina, smile propitious on the birth of a boy who
will bring to a close the present age of iron and introduce throughout
the whole world, a new age of gold. Then shall the herds no longer dread
the fury of the lion, nor shall the poison of the serpent any longer
be formidable. Every venomous animal and every deleterious plant shell
perish together. The fields shall be yellow with corn, the grape
shall hang its ruddy clusters from the bramble, and honey shall distil
spontaneously from the rugged oak. The universal globe shall enjoy the
blessings of peace, secure under the mild sway of its new and divine
sovereign."
There is no lack of evidence to prove that for several centuries great
numbers of Christians regarded Christ as a solar incarnation similar to
those which from time to time were born in the valleys of the Nile and
the Ganges. By the fathers in the church Jesus Christ was named the New
Sun, and in the early days of Christianity the Egyptians struck a coin
representing O. B. or the holy Basilisk, with rays of light darting from
his head, on the reverse side of which was figured "Jesus Christ as the
New Solar Deity."
The similarity if not the actual identity of the religion of Christ and
that of the pagans in the second century is shown by various writers.
The Emperor Hadrian writing to his friend Servianus says:
"Those who worship Serapis are also Christians; even those who style
themselves the Bishops of Christ are devoted to Serapis.. .. There is
but one God for them all; him do the Christians, him do the Jews, him do
all the Gentiles also worship."
It has been said that the head of Serapis supplied the first idea of the
portrait of Christ. Before the figure of Serapis, in his temple, used
to stand Isis, the Celestial Virgin, with the inscription "Immaculate is
our Lady Isis." In her hand she bore a sheaf of grain.
As Serapis, or Pan, finally became Christ, so Isis, or the Queen of
Heaven, became his mother, and to the latter were transferred all the
titles, ceremonies, festivals, and seasons which from the earliest time
had belonged to the great Goddess of Nature. Subsequently, probably
about the close of the second century, Christianity began slowly to
emerge from the worship of Mithras and Serapis, "changing the names but
not the substance."
Upon the coinage of Constantine appears Soli Invicto Comita--"To the
invincible sun my companion or guardian," and when the Greek and Roman
Christians finally separated themselves from the great body of pagan
worshippers they apologized for celebrating the birthday of their Savior
on the 25th of December, saying that "they could better perform their
rites when the heathen were busy with theirs." We are assured that the
early Christians no less than the Maji acknowledged Mithras as the first
emanation from Ormuzd, or the God of Light. He was the Savior which in
an earlier age had represented returning life--that which follows the
cold of winter. It was doubtless while they worshipped the Persian
Mithras that many of the so-called Christians gathered their first
ideas concerning the immortality of the soul and of future rewards and
punishments.
The analogy existing between the festivals, seasons, mythoses, etc., of
the various incarnations of the sun which were worshipped by the early
historic nations and those belonging to Christianity is too striking to
be the result of chance.
Buddha originally represented the sun in Taurus. Crishna was the sun
in Aries. The laborings and sufferings of Hercules, a god who was an
incarnation of the latter, portrays the history of the passage of the
sun through the signs of the Zodiac.
All the principal events of Christ's life correspond to certain solar
phases; or, in other words, all ecclesiastical calendars are arranged
with reference to the festivals which commemorate the important events
of his life from his conception and birth to his ascension and reception
in heaven. Each and every one of the solar deities has been born at
midnight, on the 25th of December, at the time when the sun has reached
its lowest position and begins to ascend. Macrobius, a learned Roman
writer, observes that the early historic nations "believed that the sun
comes forth as a babe from its cradle at the winter solstice." Neith is
made to say, "The sun is the fruit of my womb."
The 15th of August, assumption day, the time when Mary, the mother of
Jesus, ascends to heaven is the day when the Zodiacal constellation
Virgo, "the Greek Astrea, leaves the European horizon," and the "8th of
September, when Virgo emerges from the sun's rays, is held sacred as the
Nativity of the Queen of Heaven."
Of the mid-winter festival, Bede says: "The Pagans of these isles began
their year on the eighth of the Kalends of January, which is now our
Christmas Day. The night before that (24th Dec. eve) was called by them
the Medre-Nak, or Night of Mothers, because of the ceremonies which were
performed on that night."(132)
132) Rivers of Life, vol. i., p. 430.
Among Christians as among Pagans the Christmas season was in honor of
"returning light," the vernal equinox of "growing light" and St. John's
day of "perfected light."
In England, among pagan Saxons, the midwinter festival lasted twelve
days, during which time light, fire, the sun, huge stones and other
similar manifestations of the Deity were adored. Christian and pagan
alike worshipped these objects. They called Christmas "the birthday of
the god who is light." The Savior, or the New Sun, was the true light
which lighteth every man who cometh into the world. According to
the testimony of various writers, the festival held by Christians on
Christmas eve used to resemble the Feast of Lights, celebrated in Egypt
in honor of Neith. The tokens distributed among friends were cakes made
of paste in the form of babies. These cakes were called yuledows. Dow
means to "grow bigger," or, "to increase."
The Kalends of January at Rome were sacred to Janus and Juno to whom
sacrifices were offered. The Etruscans also worshipped Janus who was the
god (or goddess) of the year. Although this Deity does not appear
among the twelve gods it is said to be the parent of them all. It was
represented as having two faces. Upon one were the letters representing
365, and upon the other were the keys of life and death. According to
Bryant this Deity was called Junonius, from the goddess Juno, whose name
resolves itself into Juneh, a dove. In the Hebrew this name is identical
with Yoni or Yuni--the female principle. On the coins of this god (which
was subsequently regarded as male) is usually figured a boat, although a
dove with an olive branch is sometimes observed.(133)
133) See Faber, Pagan Idolatry.
Juno is thought to be the same as Jana, which came from Jah of the
Hebrews. Diana was Diva Jana or "Dea Jana who is the same as Astarte or
Ashtaroth of the Sidonians."
Regarding the transference of the mid-winter festival of the pagans to
the Christian calendar, Forlong says:
"The early Christians undoubtedly selected this Roman Saturnalia as an
important period in the life of Christ, at first calling it the time of
his conception, and later of his birth, this last best suiting the views
and feelings of their Solo-Christian flocks. The Jews called the day
of the Winter Solstice The Fast of Tebet. The previous time was one of
darkness, and on the 28th began their Feast of Lights."(134)
134) Rivers of Life, vol. i., p. 430.
In France the ancient name for Christmas is Noel, a term which until
recently has baffled all antiquarian research. It is now thought that it
is formed from Nuadh and Vile which together mean All Heal.
Although every possible effort has been put forward to give to this date
(the 25th of December) the appearance of authenticity as the birth of
Christ, still, so far as I am able to find, no one accredited with
any degree of trustworthiness has ever been rash enough to attempt its
ratification as a matter of history.
Tylor calls attention to the fact that in the religious symbolism of the
material and spiritual sun Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa discourse on
the "growing light and dwindling darkness that follow the nativity,"
and cites the instance of Leo the Great who, in a sermon, rebukes the
"pestiferous persuasion, that this solemn day is to be honored not for
the birth of Christ, but for the rising of the New Sun."
On the authority of this same prelate it is found that in the fifth
century, the faithful, before entering the Basilica of St. Peter, were
wont to turn and salute the shining orb of day.
The Roman winter solstice which was connected with the worship of
Mithra, and which was named the "Birthday of the Unconquered Om," was
adopted by the western churches some time during the fourth century.
From the west it passed to the eastern churches, where it finally became
"the solemn anniversary of the birth of Christ."
In Ireland the ceremonies attending the mid-winter festival were
formerly regarded as exceedingly important. A short time before the
approach of the winter solstice, voices were heard throughout the
island proclaiming: "The New Year is at hand! Gather the Mistletoe!"
The mistletoe wreaths which formed the principal decorations of Venus'
temple were at first proscribed by the Christian preachers, but, in
process of time they not only found their way into the sanctuary, but
were given a place over the altars, their final signification being
"good will to men."(135)
135) Rivers of Life, vol. i., p. 81.
Although the tokens of friendship which were distributed by the pagans
at the season of the mid-winter festival differed somewhat from those
which at the present time are exchanged among Christians at the same
season of the year, still, there can be no doubt that the Christmas
tree, loaded with gifts, is a remnant of that worship under which the
sun was recognized as the source whence all blessings flow. Down to a
late date, fire was a conspicuous element at the festival of the winter
solstice. As the yule-log blazed upon the hearth, our ancestors set
up huge stones and danced round them, thus worshipping the god of
fertility.
On the 20th and 21st of March the sun illumines exactly half the earth.
At this time the Day has conquered the Night. Light has dethroned
Darkness, a complete victory has been gained over Typhon and the new
god comes forth "with healing in his wings." On Lady's day, the 25th of
March, the Virgin conceives. In Phoenicia numerous fetes were instituted
to rejoice with Astarte in her conception. During the months preceding
the birth of the young sun-god the Queen of Heaven receives marked
homage.
In a former portion of this work we have observed that the festival
which celebrated the return of spring was instituted by the inventors
of the Neros thousands of years prior to the beginning of the Christian
era, to celebrate the vernal equinox and to commemorate a return of
Nature's bounties; but, after male reproductive power began to be
regarded as the creator, when passion came to be considered as the
moving force in the universe, and when the operations of Nature began to
be typified by a dead man on a cross who was to rise again, Easter was
celebrated in commemoration of a risen savior or sun-god.
The following is an account given in Ramsay's Travels of Cyrus,
concerning the vernal equinox festivals in the East. When Cyrus entered
the temples he found the public clad in mourning. In a cavern lay
the image of a young man (the dying savior) on a bed of flowers
and odoriferous herbs Nine days were spent in fasting, prayers, and
lamentations, after which the public sorrow ceased and was changed into
gladness. Songs of joy succeeded weeping (for Tamuz), the whole assembly
singing hymns: "Adonis is returned to life, Urania weeps no more, he has
ascended to heaven, he will soon return to earth and banish hence all
crimes and miseries forever." This scene, it will be remembered, was
presented 500 years prior to the birth of Christ. In Rome, throughout
the months preceding the winter solstice, Hilaria or Ceres, was
especially honored. Apollo and Diana rose on the 7th of the Julian April
and on the 10th their religious festivals began.
On Easter morn, during the earlier ages of the church, the observances
of Christians were exactly the same as were those of the so called
pagans, all together hurried out long before the break of day that they
might behold the sun ascend, or "dance" as they called it, for on this
morning he was to "make the earth laugh and sing." Pagan and Christian
alike greeted each other with the salutation "The Lord is risen," and
the reply was "The Lord is risen indeed." On Easter morning the peasants
of Saxony and Brandenburg still climb to the hilltops "to see the sun
give his three joyful leaps."
In Buckland's Land and Water it is stated that on the first of May all
the choristers of Magdalene College, Oxford, still meet on the summit
of their tower, 150 feet high, and sing a Latin hymn as the sun rises,
during which time ten bells are rung "to welcome the gracious Apollo."
Formerly, high mass was celebrated here and early mass for Sol was
held in the College chapel, but, as at the time of the Reformation this
service was forbidden, "it has since been performed on the top of the
tower." After the hymn is sung "boys blow loud blasts to Sol through
bright new tin horns."
Perhaps none of the ideas which enter into present religious rites and
ceremonies proclaims its eastern origin more forcibly than do those
connected with the veneration of fire. The testimony of all writers upon
this subject agrees that in Europe, down to a late date in the Christian
era, fire was still adored, and in some mysterious manner was connected
with the Creator.
Upon the subject of the continuation of sun and fire worship to modern
times, it is stated that the ancient bonfires with which the North
German hills used to be ablaze mile after mile are not altogether given
up by local custom. In Ireland as late as the year 1829, the ancient
Canaanitish and Jewish rite of passing children through fire as a
cleansing or regenerating process was still in operation. It is related
that at stated seasons great fires were lighted in public places, on
which occasions, fathers, taking their children in their arms, would
leap and run through the flames. At the same time, two large fires were
kindled a short distance from each other through which the cattle were
driven. It was believed that by means of this ceremony, fecundity is
imparted both to man and beast. May, the month in which all Nature
revives, and in which life starts anew, is the time selected for the
lighting of those sacred fires. May is the month of the fires of Baal.
According to Maurice in his work on the Antiquities of India, the
festival and the May-pole of Great Britain are the remnants of a
religious ceremony once common in Egypt, India, and Phoenicia, which
nations all worshipping the same Deity, celebrated the entrance of
the sun into the sign of Taurus at the vernal equinox, but which in
consequence of the precession of the equinoxes is removed far in the
year from its original situation. This festival is thought to be coeval
with a time when the equinox actually took place at that time. It was
formerly in honor of the goddess Bhavania, who, under various names, was
once worshipped in every country of the globe. "She is identical with
the Dea Syria of Chaldea, and the Venus Urania of Persia."
At the present time there is direct and indisputable evidence that
sacred fires once flamed over the whole of Britain. A few days prior to
Bealtine season, every flame was ordered extinguished, to be relighted
on the first of May by holy fire drawn directly from the sun. Of
fire-worship Toland observes:
"On May-day the Druids made prodigious fires on these cairns, which
being every one in sight of some other could not but afford a glorious
show over a whole nation. These fires were in honor of Beal, or Bealan,
Latinized by the Roman writers into Belanus, by which name the Gauls
and their colonies understood the sun, and therefore, to this hour, the
first of May is, by the aboriginal Irish, called la Bealtine, or the
day of Belan's fires. May-day is likewise called la Bealtine by the
Highlanders of Scotland, who are no contemptible part of the Celtic
offspring. So it is with the Isle of Man: and in Armorica a priest is
called Belee, or the servant of Bel, and the priesthood Belegieth."(136)
136) Quoted by Godfrey Higgins, Celtic Druids, ch. v., p. 181.
Down to a comparatively recent time, in the British Isles, the youth of
both sexes used to arise long before daybreak on May-day, and in large
companies set out for the woods, there to gather flowers, boughs, and
branches, which, on returning at night, were used to decorate their
homes. This festival is said to be the most ancient of any known, and
during the earlier and purer ages of human faith was celebrated in honor
of returning spring. In later ages, however, after passion had become
the only recognized god, May-day was celebrated with "all manner of
obscenity and lewdness."
Although the uneducated masses among the Gauls worshipped Apollo,
Mercury, and Mars without understanding their true significance, the
Druids, who are thought to be Pythagorians, invoked one great power, the
animating force which pervades the universe, the essence of which they
believed resides in fire.
It is related that although after the introduction of Romish
Christianity, May fires still continued to be lighted on Bealtine day,
the more impressive ceremonies took place on the 23d of June, on the eve
of the nativity of St. John. The early preachers, wishing to defer to
the prejudices and usages of the people, "yet not so as to interfere
with the celebration of Easter at the vernal equinox, retained the
Bealtine ceremonial, only transferring it to the saint's day." Of these
fire festivals and their adoption by the Christian church Tylor says:
"The solar Christmas festival has its pendant at mid-summer. The summer
solstice was the great season of fire festivals throughout Europe on
the heights, of dancing round and leaping through the fires, of sending
blazing fire-wheels to roll down from the hills into the valleys,
in sign of the sun's descending course. These ancient rites attached
themselves in Christendom to St. John's Eve.
"It seems as though the same train of symbolism which had adapted the
mid-winter festival to the Nativity, may have suggested the dedication
of the mid-summer festival to John the Baptist, in clear allusion to his
words 'He must increase but I must decrease.' "(137)
137) Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. ii., p. 271.
In a description recently given of the "moral, religious, and social
disease" which broke out A.D. 1374, in the lower Rhine region, and which
was denominated as the "greatest, perhaps, of all manifestations of
possession," Andrew D. White says: "The immediate origin of these
manifestations seems to have been the wild revels of St. John's
Day."(138)
138) Pop. Science, vol. xxxv., p. 3.
Upon this subject Toland observes that he has seen the people of Ireland
running and leaping through the St. John's fire proud of passing through
it unsinged. Although ignorant of the origin of this ceremony, they
nevertheless regarded it as some kind of a lustration by means of which
they were to be specially blessed.
To every domestic hearth was carried the seed of Bealtine, or St. John's
fire, which during the year was not permitted to go out.(139)
139) Although the preservation of holy fire upon every hearth was
clearly a religious observance, still, as in those days there were
no matches, the material benefit to be derived from this precaution
doubtless had a significance apart from that connected with worship.
According to the testimony of Tylor, the festival of John the Baptist
was celebrated in Germany down to a late date. This writer quoting from
a low German book of the year 1859, refers to the "nod fire" which was
sawed out of wood to light the St. John's bonfire "through which the
people leapt and ran and drove their cattle."
With regard to the worship of Fire and Light it is related that in
Jerusalem, at the present time, the Easter service is performed by the
bishop of the church emerging from a tomb with lighted tapers "from
which all crave lights."
On the authority of Peter Martyr, Bishop of Alexandria in the third
century, we are informed that the place in Egypt where Christ was
banished, which is called Maturea, a lamp is kept constantly burning
in remembrance of this event. Although the story of this banishment is
doubtless borrowed from the life of the Hindoo god Crishna, the fact is
evident that those who appropriated it, and used it in furbishing the
mythical history of Christ, had no scruples against fire worship--a
religion which we have been taught to regard as belonging exclusively to
the pagans.
In the ecclesiastical processions of the Church of Rome is frequently
to be observed the figure of a dragon, in the mouth of which "holy
and everlasting fire" is observed to be burning. A boy follows
the procession with a lighted taper, so that in case the fire is
extinguished it may be relighted. In referring to this subject the Rev.
J. B. Deane says:
"The whole ceremony may be considered as a lively representation of
an ophite procession as it advanced through the sinuous paralleiths
of Karnak. So that no wonder the illiterate races were deceived into
thinking that there was no harm in calling themselves Christians, for
all their dear old faiths are here--fire, arks, poles, and fire in an
ark."
Almost innumerable instances are given by various writers upon this
subject, showing that the sun worship of the ancients has been continued
to the present time by the so called followers of Christ, in the shrines
of the East, with no change even of names to distinguish it from that of
the Christian faith. By those who have spent much time in investigating
the Holy Land, it is related that nearly all the spots in and about
Jerusalem, sacred to Greek and Romish Christians as connected with the
life and death of their risen Lord, are equally sacred to the pagans
as commemorating the life and death of their Savior--the New Sun. Even
Gethsemane is marked by characteristics which prove that it is no
less interesting to pagans, or, more properly speaking, to the pagan
followers of Christ, than it is to those of the Greek and Romish
churches. Here is a holy tree, and not far distant is a cave of Mithras.
There is also to be seen a trinity of stones "those of Janus (Chemosh),
Petros and Ion, all solar terms and connected with the sitting or
sinking down to rest of the Kuros."
Messrs. Maundrell and Sandys, who in 1697 visited all the holy places
in and around Jerusalem, state that the entire city, but especially
the sites of Moriah, Zion, and suburbs were hotbeds of fire and phallic
worship as usually developed still in the East.
The topography of ancient Delphi, on the site of which was built the
village of Kastri, and at which place excavations are now being made
under the direction of the American School of Archaeology, has ever been
a place of peculiar interest to the mystic. Here are to be found all the
natural features and objects which gladden the heart and stimulate the
imagination of a solo-phallic worshipper. The holy Mt. Parnassus, the
fountain of Kastali, the deep cave said to be Pythian, and the remnants
of huge sepulchres hewn in the rocks all conspire to make of this spot
a perfect abode for the god, or goddess, of fertility. Here, too, is a
beautiful lake and near it a sacred fig-tree which has been struck by
lightning, or, "touched by holy fire." Of this sacred place Forlong
writes:
"Christianity has never neglected this so-called Pagan shrine, nor yet
misunderstood it, if we may judge by the saint she has located here, for
Mr. Hobhouse found in the rocky chasm dipped in the dews of Castaly, but
safe in a rocky niche, a Christian shrine; and close by a hut called the
church of St. John; yea verily of Ione, she who had once reigned here
supreme; whilst on a green plot a few yards below the basin, in a little
grove of olive trees, stood the monastery of Panhagia or Holy Virgin, so
that here we still have and beside her sacred form in the cleft, men who
have consecrated their manhood to the old Mother and Queen of Heaven,
just as if she of Syria had never been heard of.
"Doubtless they knew little of what civilized Europe calls Christianity,
for I have spent many days conversing with such men, and seen
little difference between them and those similarly placed in the far
East--fervid Christians though Greeks and Syrians are."
Perhaps nothing shows the extent to which the religion of the pagans has
been retained by Christianity more than does the worship of the serpent.
It has been said that this reptile enters into every mythology extant.
Ferguson is authority for the statement that "he is to be found in the
wilderness of Sinai, the groves of Epidaurus, and in Samothracian huts."
He constitutes a prominent factor in the religious worship of India,
Assyria, Palestine, and Egypt, and, notwithstanding the fact that he is
not a native of Ireland, in an earlier age representations of him appear
in profusion among the symbols of that country. It has been said that
there is scarcely an Egyptian sculpture known in which this reptile does
not figure. The serpent whenever it appears as a religious emblem always
typifies desire--creative energy--which, proceeding from the sun, is
manifested in man and in animals. Whether it be a veritable snake in
a box, a serpent connected with the figure of a woman, or as a carved
representation on monuments or stones, or as chains or wreaths on
columns, bas-reliefs or friezes, the signification is the same.
The sacred character of this reptile among the Gnostics is shown by the
accounts given of their religious rites and ceremonies. By many of these
sects this holy creature was kept in a box, ark, or chest, and when the
eucharistic service was to be performed, he was enticed forth from
his resting-place by a bit of bread. So soon as his holiness had wound
himself about the offering, the sacrifice was complete and the service
was concluded by "singing a hymn to Almighty God, and praying for
acceptance in and through the serpent."
In later ages when the attempt was made to abolish serpent worship from
the Christian church, it was declared by the leaders in the movement
that Ophiolatry had been imported from Persia--that it had been brought
in by ignorant devotees who were too weak to renounce their former
faith.(140)
140) Forlong, Rivers of Life.
The extent to which the symbols representing Serpent, Sun, Tree, and
Plant worship are still retained as part and parcel of the symbolism of
Christianity is shown by the following report regarding the adoption of
a seal by the Presbyterian Church which appeared in the daily press only
a few years ago.
"After the assembly opened, the committee for the selection of a seal
made a report recommending: That the general assembly hereby adopts
as its official seal the device of a serpent suspended upon a cross,
uplifted within a wilderness, in form as represented upon the official
seal of the trustees of the general assembly, and displayed upon a
circular field of the same proportions. In addition thereto the figure
of a rising sun appearing above the margin of the wilderness, whose
out-shooting beams shall occupy the centre of the field. Further, the
decoration of a demi-wreath of two palm branches (in the form of the
wreath upon the seal of the Westminster assembly of divines), placed
around the margin of the upper hemisphere of the field; and on the lower
hemisphere of the field a demi-wreath composed of a branch of oak united
with an olive branch. Further, that the words of the motto, 'Christus
Exaltus Salvatar,' shall be displayed in a semi-circle upon the upper
part of the field, on either side of the standard of the cross, and,
encompassing the whole in a bordure, the following words, in full or in
proper abbreviation thereof, 'The Seal of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.'"
The origin of the rite of Baptism as performed at the present time in
Christian churches, may be traced directly to the worship of the sun,
within which were supposed to reside the reproductive powers of Nature.
All nations have had ceremonies corresponding to our baptism and
confirmation rites, such baptism being either by fire or water. When we
remember that for ages fertility, or the power to reproduce, constituted
the idea of the Deity, we are not surprised to find that the original
signification of the rite of baptism had, and still has, in some of the
oriental countries, special reference to the child's sexual obligations.
In India, the religious rites performed upon the individual occur at
birth or soon after; at betrothal, which takes place in childhood; at
puberty; at marriage, and at death. The fact will be noticed that all
sexual (spiritual) obligations and seasons fall within the domain of
priestly supervision and surveillance. The child at baptism is dedicated
to Vesta, or Hestia, the Queen of Hearths and Homes, a divinity who is
supposed to assist him in securing the special evidence of divine favor,
namely, fruitfulness of body.
Among Hindoos and Jews, excessive reproduction was the Lord's mark of
favor. In India there has been a special hell provided for childless
women, and with Jewesses no curse was equal to barrenness.
Baptism, or the ceremony connected with the naming of children in
Christian countries, is seen to be identical with that performed in
Mexico among the Aztecs. After the lips and bosom of the infant had been
sprinkled with water, the Lord was implored to "permit the holy drops
to wash away the sin that was given to it before the foundation of the
world, so that the child might be born anew."
Among the petitions which are offered to the Deity is the following:
"Impart to us, out of thy great mercy, thy gifts which we are not worthy
to receive through our own merit." In their moral code appear these
maxims: "Keep peace with all; bear injuries with humility; God who
sees, will avenge you." "He who looks too curiously on a woman, commits
adultery with his eyes."(141)
141) Quoted by Prescott from Sahagun. Conquest of Mexico, book i., chap
3.