the Lydian Atys there established her worship and built her temple. The
name of Rhea is also found in the ancient cosmogony of the Phœnicians by
Sanchoniathon. It was Atys the Lydian, says Lucian, who, having been
mutilated, first established the Mysteries of Rhea, and taught the
Phrygians, the Lydians, and the people of Samothrace to celebrate them.
Rhea, like Cybele, was represented drawn by lions, bearing a drum, and
crowned with flowers. According to Varro, Cybele represented the earth.
She partook of the characteristics of Minerva, Venus, the Moon, Diana,
Nemesis, and the Furies; was clad in precious stones; and her High
Priest wore a robe of purple and a tiara of gold.
The Grand Feast of the Syrian Goddess, like that of the Mother of the
Gods at Rome, was celebrated at the Vernal Equinox. Precisely at that
equinox the Mysteries of Atys were celebrated, in which the Initiates
were taught to expect the rewards of a future life, and the flight of
Atys from the jealous fury of Cybele was described, his concealment in
the mountains and in a cave, and his self-mutilation in a fit of
delirium; in which act his priests imitated him. The feast of the
passion of Atys continued three days; the first of which was passed in
mourning and tears; to which afterward clamorous rejoicings succeeded;
by which, Macrobius says, the Sun was adored under the name of Atys. The
ceremonies were all allegorical, some of which, according to the Emperor
Julian, could be explained, but more remained covered with the veil of
mystery. Thus it is that symbols, outlast their explanations, as many
have done in Masonry, and ignorance and rashness substitute new ones.
In another legend, given by Pausanias, Atys dies, wounded like Adonis by
a wild boar in the organs of generation; a mutilation with which all the
legends ended. The pine-tree under which he was said to have died, was
sacred to him; and was found upon many monuments, with a bull and a ram
near it; one the sign of exaltation of the Sun, and the other of that of
the Moon.
The worship of the Sun under the name of Mithras belonged to Persia,
whence that name came, as did the erudite symbols of that worship. The
Persians, adorers of Fire, regarded the Sun as the most brilliant abode
of the fecundating energy of that element, which gives life to the
earth, and circulates in every part of the Universe, of which it is, as
it were, the soul. This worship passed from Persia into Armenia,
Cappadocia, and Cilicia, long before it was known at Rome. The Mysteries
of Mithras flourished more than any others in the imperial city. The
worship of Mithras commenced to prevail there under Trajan. Hadrian
prohibited these Mysteries, on account of the cruel scenes represented
in their ceremonial: for human victims were immolated therein, and the
events of futurity looked for in their palpitating entrails. They
reappeared in greater splendor than ever under Commodus, who with his
own hand sacrificed a victim to Mithras: and they were still more
practised under Constantine and his successors, when the Priests of
Mithras were found everywhere in the Roman Empire, and the monuments of
his worship appeared even in Britain.
Caves were consecrated to Mithras, in which were collected a multitude
of astronomical emblems; and cruel tests were required of the Initiates.
The Persians built no temples; but worshipped upon the summits of hills,
in enclosures of unhewn stones. They abominated images, and made the Sun
and Fire emblems of the Deity. The Jews borrowed this from them, and
represented God as appearing to Abraham in a flame of fire, and to Moses
as a fire at Horeb and on Sinai.
With the Persians, Mithras, typified in the Sun, was the invisible
Deity, the Parent of the Universe, the Mediator. In Zoroaster's cave of
initiation, the Sun and Planets were represented over-head, in gems and
gold, as also was the Zodiac. The Sun appeared emerging from the back of
Taurus. Three great pillars, Eternity, Fecundity, and Authority,
supported the roof; and the whole was an emblem of the Universe.
Zoroaster, like Moses, claimed to have conversed face to face, as man
with man, with the Deity; and to have received from Him a system of pure
worship, to be communicated only to the virtuous, and those who would
devote themselves to the study of Philosophy. His fame spread over the
world, and pupils came to him from every country. Even Pythagoras was
his scholar.
After his novitiate, the candidate entered the cavern of initiation, and
was received on the point of a sword presented to his naked left
breast, by which he was slightly wounded. Being crowned with olive,
anointed with balsam of benzoin, and otherwise prepared, he was purified
with fire and water, and went through seven stages of initiation. The
symbol of these stages was a high ladder with seven rounds or steps. In
them, he went through many fearful trials, in which darkness displayed a
principal part. He saw a representation of the wicked in Hades; and
finally emerged from darkness into light. Received in a place
representing Elysium, in the brilliant assembly of the initiated, where
the Archimagus presided, robed in blue, he assumed the obligations of
secrecy, and was entrusted with the Sacred Words, of which the Ineffable
Name of God was the chief.
Then all the incidents of his initiation were explained to him: he was
taught that these ceremonies brought him nearer the Deity; and that he
should adore the consecrated Fire, the gift of that Deity and His
visible residence. He was taught the sacred characters known only to the
initiated; and instructed in regard to the creation of the world, and
the true philosophical meaning of the vulgar mythology; and especially
of the legend of Ormuzd and Ahriman, and the symbolic meaning of the six
Amshaspands created by the former: _Bahman_, the Lord of Light;
_Ardibehest_, the Genius of Fire; _Shariver_, the Lord of Splendor and
Metals; _Stapandomad_, the Source of Fruitfulness; _Khordad_, the Genius
of Water and Time; and _Amerdad_, the protector of the Vegetable World,
and the prime cause of growth. And finally he was taught the true nature
of the Supreme Being, Creator of Ormuzd and Ahriman, the Absolute First
Cause, styled ZERUANE AKHERENE.
In the Mithriac initiation were several Degrees. The first, Tertullian
says, was that of Soldier of Mithras. The ceremony of reception
consisted in presenting the candidate a crown, supported by a sword. It
was placed near his head, and he repelled it, saying, "Mithras is my
crown." Then he was declared the soldier of Mithras, and had the right
to call the other Initiates fellow-soldiers or companions in arms. Hence
the title _Companions_ in the Royal Arch Degree of the American Rite.
Then he passed, Porphyry says, through the Degree of the Lion,--the
constellation Leo, domicile of the Sun and symbol of Mithras, found on
his monuments. These ceremonies were termed at Rome Leontic and Heliac;
and _Coratia_ or _Hiero-Coracia_, of the Raven, a bird consecrated to
the Sun, and a sign placed in the Heavens below the Lion, with the
Hydra, and also appearing on the Mithriac monuments.
Thence he passed to a higher Degree, where the Initiates were called
_Perses_ and children of the Sun. Above them were the _Fathers_, whose
chief or Patriarch was styled Father of Fathers or _Pater Patratus_. The
Initiates also bore the title of _Eagles_ and _Hawks_, birds consecrated
to the Sun in Egypt, the former sacred to the God Mendes, and the latter
the emblem of the Sun and Royalty.
The little island of Samothrace was long the depositary of certain
august Mysteries, and many went thither from all parts of Greece to be
initiated. It was said to have been settled by the ancient Pelasgi,
early Asiatic colonists in Greece. The Gods adored in the Mysteries of
this island were termed CABIRI, an oriental word, from _Cabar_, great.
Varro calls the Gods of Samothrace, _Potent Gods_. In Arabic, Venus is
called _Cabar_. Varro says that the Great Deities whose Mysteries were
practised there, were Heaven and Earth. These were but symbols of the
Active and Passive Powers or Principles of universal generation. The two
Twins, Castor and Pollux, or the Dioscuri, were also called the Gods of
Samothrace; and the Scholiast of Apollonius, citing Mnaseas, gives the
names of Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto, and Mercury, as the four Cabiric
Divinities worshipped at Samothrace, as Axieros, Axiocersa, Axiocersus,
and Casmillus. Mercury was, there as everywhere, the minister and
messenger of the Gods; and the young servitors of the altars and the
children employed in the Temples were called Mercuries or Casmilli, as
they were in Tuscany, by the Etrusci and Pelasgi, who worshipped the
Great Gods.
Tarquin the Etruscan was an Initiate of the Mysteries of Samothrace; and
Etruria had its Cabiri as Samothrace had. For the worship of the Cabiri
spread from that island into Etruria, Phrygia, and Asia Minor: and it
probably came from Phœnicia into Samothrace: for the Cabiri are
mentioned by Sanchoniathon; and the word _Cabar_ belongs to the Hebrew,
Phœnician, and Arabic languages.
The Dioscuri, tutelary Deities of Navigation, with Venus, were invoked
in the Mysteries of Samothrace. The constellation Auriga, or Phaëton,
was also honored there with imposing ceremonies. Upon the Argonautic
expedition, Orpheus, an Initiate of these Mysteries, a storm arising,
counselled his companions to put into Samothrace. They did so, the storm
ceased, and they were initiated into the Mysteries there, and sailed
again with the assurance of a fortunate voyage, under the auspices of
the Dioscuri, patrons of sailors and navigation.
But much more than that was promised the Initiates. The Hierophants of
Samothrace made something infinitely greater to be the object of their
initiations; to wit, the consecration of men to the Deity, by pledging
them to virtue; and the assurance of those rewards which the justice of
the Gods reserves for Initiates after death. This, above all else, made
these ceremonies august, and inspired everywhere so great a respect for
them, and so great a desire to be admitted to them. That originally
caused the island to be styled _Sacred_. It was respected by all
nations. The Romans, when masters of the world, left it its liberty and
laws. It was an asylum for the unfortunate, and a sanctuary inviolable.
There men were absolved of the crime of homicide, if not committed in a
temple.
Children of tender age were initiated there, and invested with the
sacred robe, the purple cincture, and the crown of olive, and seated
upon a throne, like other Initiates. In the ceremonies was represented
the death of the youngest of the Cabiri, slain by his brothers, who fled
into Etruria, carrying with them the chest or ark that contained his
genitals: and there the Phallus and the sacred ark were adored.
Herodotus says that the Samothracian Initiates understood the object and
origin of this reverence paid the Phallus, and why it was exhibited in
the Mysteries. Clemens of Alexandria says that the Cabiri taught the
Tuscans to revere it. It was consecrated at Heliopolis in Syria, where
the Mysteries of a Divinity having many points of resemblance with Atys
and Cybele were represented. The Pelasgi connected it with Mercury; and
it appears on the monuments of Mithras; always and everywhere a symbol
of the life-giving power of the Sun at the Vernal Equinox.
In the Indian Mysteries, as the candidate made his three circuits, he
paused each time he reached the South, and said, "I copy the example of
the Sun, and follow his beneficent course." Blue Masonry has retained
the Circuits, but has utterly lost the explanation; which is, that in
the Mysteries the candidate invariably represented the Sun, descending
Southward toward the reign of the Evil Principle, Ahriman, Siba, or
Typhon (darkness and winter); there figuratively to be slain, and after
a few days to rise again from the dead, and commence to ascend to the
Northward.
Then the death of Sita was bewailed; or that of Cama, slain by Iswara,
and committed to the waves on a chest, like Osiris and Bacchus; during
which the candidate was terrified by phantoms and horrid noises.
Then he was made to personify Vishnu, and perform his avatars, or
labors. In the first two he was taught in allegories the legend of the
Deluge: in the first he took three steps at right angles, representing
the three huge steps taken by Vishnu in that avatar; and hence the three
steps in the Master's Degree ending at right angles.
The nine avatars finished, he was taught the necessity of faith, as
superior to sacrifices, acts of charity, or mortifications of the flesh.
Then he was admonished against five crimes, and took a solemn obligation
never to commit them. He was then introduced into a representation of
Paradise; the Company of the Members of the Order, magnificently
arrayed, and the Altar with a fire blazing upon it, as an emblem of the
Deity.
Then a new name was given him, and he was invested in a white robe and
tiara, and received the signs, tokens, and lectures. A cross was marked
on his forehead, and an inverted level, or the Tau Cross, on his breast.
He received the sacred cord, and divers amulets or talismans; and was
then invested with the sacred Word or Sublime Name, known only to the
initiated, the Triliteral A.U.M.
Then the multitude of emblems was explained to the candidate; the arcana
of science hidden under them, and the different virtues of which the
mythological figures were mere personifications. And he thus learned the
meaning of those symbols, which, to the uninitiated, were but a maze of
unintelligible figures.
The third Degree was a life of seclusion, after the Initiate's children
were capable of providing for themselves; passed in the forest, in the
practice of prayers and ablutions, and living only on vegetables. He was
then said to be born again.
The fourth was absolute renunciation of the world, self-contemplation
and self-torture; by which Perfection was thought to be attained, and
the soul merged in the Deity.
In the second Degree, the Initiate was taught the Unity of the Godhead,
the happiness of the patriarchs, the destruction by the Deluge, the
depravity of the heart, and the necessity of a mediator, the instability
of life, the final destruction of all created things, and the
restoration of the world in a more perfect form. They inculcated the
Eternity of the Soul, explained the meaning of the doctrine of the
Metempsychosis, and held the doctrine of a state of future rewards and
punishments: and they also earnestly urged that sins could only be
atoned for by repentance, reformation, and voluntary penance; and not by
mere ceremonies and sacrifices.
The Mysteries among the Chinese and Japanese came from India, and were
founded on the same principles and with similar rites. The word given to
the new Initiate was O-MI-TO Fo, in which we recognize the original name
A.U.M., coupled at a much later time with that of Fo, the Indian Buddha,
to show that he was the Great Deity Himself.
The equilateral triangle was one of their symbols; and so was the
mystical Y; both alluding to the Triune God, and the latter being the
ineffable name of the Deity. A ring supported by two serpents was
emblematical of the world, protected by the power and wisdom of the
Creator; and that is the origin of the two parallel lines (into which
time has changed the two serpents), that support the circle in our
Lodges.
Among the Japanese, the term of probation for the highest Degree was
twenty years.
The main features of the Druidical Mysteries resembled those of the
Orient.
The ceremonies commenced with a hymn to the sun. The candidates were
arranged in ranks of _threes_, _fives_, and _sevens_, according to their
qualifications; and conducted nine times around the Sanctuary, from East
to West. The candidate underwent many trials, one of which had direct
reference to the legend of Osiris. He was placed in a boat, and sent out
to sea alone, having to rely on his own skill and presence of mind to
reach the opposite shore safety. The death of Hu was represented in his
hearing, with external mark of sorrow, while he was in utter darkness.
He met with many obstacles, had to prove his courage, and expose his
life against armed enemies; represented various animals, and at last,
attaining the permanent light, he was instructed by the Arch-Druid in
regard to the Mysteries, and in the morality of the Order, incited to
act bravely in war, taught the great truths of the immortality of the
soul and a future state, solemnly enjoined not to neglect the worship of
the Deity, nor the practice of rigid morality; and to avoid sloth,
contention, and folly.
The aspirant attained only the exoteric knowledge in the first two
Degrees. The third was attained only by a few, and they persons of rank
and consequence, and after long purification, and study of all the arts
and sciences known to the Druids, in solitude, for nine months. This was
the symbolical death and burial of these Mysteries.
The dangerous voyage upon the actual open sea, in a small boat covered
with a skin, on the evening of the 29th of April, was the last trial,
and closing scene, of initiation. If he declined this trial, he was
dismissed with contempt. If he made it and succeeded, he was termed
thrice-born, was eligible to all the dignities of the State, and
received complete instruction in the philosophical and religious
doctrines of the Druids.
The Greeks also styled the [Greek: Εποπτηϛ, Τριγονος], thrice-born; and
in India perfection was assigned to the Yogee who had accomplished many
births.
The general features of the initiations among the Goths were the same as
in all the Mysteries. A long probation, of fasting and mortification,
circular processions, representing the march of the celestial bodies,
many fearful tests and trials, a descent into the infernal regions, the
killing of the God _Balder_ by the Evil Principle, _Lok_, the placing of
his body in a boat and sending it abroad upon the waters; and, in short,
the Eastern Legend, under different names, and with some variations.
The Egyptian Anubis appeared there, as the dog guarding the gates of
death. The candidate was immured in the representation of a tomb; and
when released, goes in search of the body of Balder, and finds him, at
length, restored to life, and seated upon a throne. He was obligated
upon a naked sword (as is still the custom in the _Rit Moderne_), and
_sealed_ his obligation by drinking mead _out of a human skull_.
Then all the ancient primitive truths were made known to him, so far as
they had survived the assaults of time: and he was informed as to the
generation of the Gods, the creation of the world, the deluge, and the
resurrection, of which that of Balder was a type.
He was marked with the sign of the cross, and a ring was given to him
as a symbol of the Divine Protection; and also as an emblem of
Perfection; from which comes the custom of giving a ring to the Aspirant
in the 14th Degree.
The point within a Circle, and the Cube, emblem of Odin, were explained
to him; and lastly, the nature of the Supreme God, "the author of
everything that existeth, the Eternal, the Ancient, the Living and Awful
Being, the Searcher into concealed things, the Being that never
changeth;" with whom Odin the Conqueror was by the vulgar confounded:
and the Triune God of the Indians was reproduced, as ODIN, the Almighty
FATHER, FREA, (_Rhea_ or _Phre_), his wife (emblem of universal
_matter_), and _Thor_ his son (the Mediator). Here we recognize _Osiris,
Isis_, and _Hor_ or _Horus_. Around the head of Thor, as if to show his
eastern origin, twelve stars were arranged in a circle.
He was also taught the ultimate destruction of the world, and the rising
of a new one, in which the brave and virtuous shall enjoy everlasting
happiness and delight: as the means of securing which happy fortune, he
was taught to practise the strictest morality and virtue.
The Initiate was prepared to receive the great lessons of all the
Mysteries, by long trials, or by abstinence and chastity. For many days
he was required to fast and be continent, and to drink liquids
calculated to diminish his passions and keep him chaste.
Ablutions were also required, symbolical of the purity necessary to
enable the soul to escape from its bondage in matter. Sacred baths and
preparatory baptisms were used, lustrations, immersions, lustral
sprinklings, and purifications of every kind. At Athens they bathed in
the Ilissus, which thence became a sacred river; and before entering the
Temple of Eleusis, all were required to wash their hands in a vase of
lustral water placed near the entrance. Clean hands and a pure heart
were required of the candidates. Apuleius bathed seven times in the sea,
symbolical of the Seven Spheres through which the Soul must reascend:
and the Hindus must bathe in the sacred river Ganges.
Clemens of Alexandria cites a passage of Menander, who speaks of a
purification by sprinkling three times with salt and water. Sulphur,
resin, and the laurel also served for purification, as did air, earth,
water, and fire. The Initiates at Heliopolis, in Syria, says Lucian,
sacrificed the sacred lamb, symbol of Aries, then the sign of the Vernal
Equinox; ate his flesh, as the Israelites did at the Passover; and then
touched his head and feet to theirs, and knelt upon the fleece. Then
they bathed in warm water, drank of the same, and slept upon the ground.
There was a distinction between the lesser and greater Mysteries. One
must have been for some years admitted to the former before he could
receive the latter, which were but a preparation for them, the Vestibule
of the Temple, of which those of Eleusis were the Sanctuary. There, in
the lesser Mysteries, they were prepared to receive the holy truths
taught in the greater. The Initiates in the lesser were called simply
_Mystes_, or Initiates; but those in the greater, _Epoptes_, or Seers.
An ancient poet says that the former were an imperfect shadow of the
latter, as sleep is of Death. After admission to the former, the
Initiate was taught lessons of morality, and the rudiments of the sacred
science, the most sublime and secret part of which was reserved for the
Epopt, who saw the Truth in its nakedness, while the Mystes only viewed
it through a veil and under emblems fitter to excite than to satisfy his
curiosity.
Before communicating the first secrets and primary dogmas of initiation,
the priests required the candidate to take a fearful oath never to
divulge the secrets. Then he made his vows, prayers, and sacrifices to
the Gods. The skins of the victims consecrated to Jupiter were spread on
the ground, and he was made to set his feet upon them. He was then
taught some enigmatic formulas, as answers to questions, by which to
make himself known. He was then enthroned, invested with a purple
cincture, and crowned with flowers, or branches of palm or olive.
We do not certainly know the time that was required to elapse between
the admission to the Lesser and Greater Mysteries of Eleusis. Most
writers fix it at five years. It was a singular mark of favor when
Demetrius was made Mystes and Epopt in one and the same ceremony. When
at length admitted to the Degree of Perfection, the Initiate was brought
face to face with entire nature, and learned that the soul was the whole
of man: that earth was but his place of exile; that Heaven was his
native country; that for the soul to be born is really to die; and that
death was for it the return to a new life. Then he entered the
sanctuary; but he did not receive the whole instruction at once. It
continued through several years. There were, as it were, many
apartments, through which he advanced by degrees, and between which
thick veils intervened. There were Statues and Paintings, says Proclus,
in the inmost sanctuary, showing the forms assumed by the Gods, finally
the last veil fell, the sacred covering dropped from the image of the
Goddess, and she stood revealed in all her splendor, surrounded by a
divine light, which, filling the whole sanctuary, dazzled the eyes and
penetrated the soul of the Initiate. Thus is symbolized the final
revelation of the true doctrine as to the nature of Deity and of the
soul, and of the relations of each to matter.