PAGAN ORIGIN OF MYSTERIES.
WHETHER the word mystery is derived from the Greek _muo_, I close, or
from _mueo_, I teach, is not an important question, for the word mystery
has always implied the double idea of secrecy and of instruction. Kings,
emperors, and even the most liberal of the legislators, seem to have
believed, from the very cradle of nations, that people ought to be
governed with fables, because they are too weak minded, and too ignorant
to understand and bear the truth. Of all the errors which have
enshrouded the human race, none has been more injurious to progress,
virtue, and happiness among men. Even in our days, of all the existing
governments, there is but one, if any at all, which does not place its
strength upon the erroneous basis that the people, being not able to
understand and bear the truth, are more easily ruled by being kept in
their ignorance and superstition. This great error gave birth to
mysteries.
When men constituted themselves into national bodies, they chose men,
and vested them with the power of administering their interests. Those
men forfeited their mandate, and became the tyrants of their
constituents. In order to secure and perpetuate their sway, they
associated to their personal interests hierophants, priests of all
kinds, astronomers, philosophers, and poets, who composed fables,
intended to have a moral bearing upon the people, and to make their
masses believe them as being the truth. Those fables they called
mysteries.
Egypt had her initiations, known under the name of mysteries of Osiris
and Isis; from which those of Bacchus and Ceres were mostly copied. When
we compare the courses and adventures of the Ceres of the Greek, with
those of the Egyptian Isis, we can not but see the filiation of these
two fables. The poems whose Bacchus is the hero, and the history of the
Osiris, the ceremonies practiced to honor these two deities, and the
identity of both acknowledged by the ancients, evidently prove that the
mysteries of the latter have given birth to the former. Cybele and Atys
had their initiations, and the Cabires also.
The Chinese had and still have mysteries on Foë, and Pousa; the Japanese
upon Xaca and Amida; the Siamois on Sommonacodom; the Indians on Brama
and Rudra; the Parsis upon Ormuzd and Ahriman. The Selles studied the
mysterious words of the doves of Dodone; Persia, Ethiopia, Scythia,
Gaul, and Scandinavia, had their caverns, their holy mounts, their
sacred oaks, where the brahmanes, the astrologers, the gymnosophists
and the druids, pronounced the inexplicable oracle of the immortals. The
Mahomedans have mysteries on the miracles of Mahomet.
We hope to interest and instruct the reader in translating the following
extract from the Voyage of Anacharsis, a reliable work. Anacharsis is
supposed to have traveled in Greece, in the fourth century before the
Christian era. He thus relates the mysteries of Eleusis:
"I shall speak of the most important point of the religion of the
Athenians, of those mysteries whose origin is lost in the night of ages;
whose ceremonies inspire no less terror than veneration; and whose
secret has never been revealed, except by a few persons who were
immediately devoted to death, and to public execration; for the law not
only pronounces against them the confiscation of their property and the
loss of their life, but it orders that a column be erected, to
perpetuate the rememberance of their crime and of their punishment.
"Of all the mysteries established in honor of the gods, none were more
celebrated than those of Ceres. This goddess herself, it is said,
regulated them, while she was wandering on the earth for the purpose of
finding Proserpine, ravished by Pluto, she arrived in the plain of
Eleusis. Pleased with the welcome extended to her by the inhabitants,
she presented them with two signaled blessings, agriculture, and
initiation to a sacred doctrine. It is added, that the minor mysteries
which are preparatory to the major, were instituted to the honor of
Hercules.
"People believe, that, wherever the Athenians established the mysteries
of Eleusis, the spirit of union and humanity became more general;
because they free the soul from ignorance and stains; procure the
particular assistance of the gods; the means of arriving at the
perfection of virtue; the sweets of a holy life; the hope of a peaceable
death, and of an endless bliss. Those initiated will occupy a
distinguished place in the Elysian fields; they will enjoy a pure light,
and they will dwell in the bosom of the Deity; whereas, those who are
profane will dwell hereafter in abodes of darkness and of horror.
"In order to avoid such an alternative the Greeks flocked from
everywhere to Eleusis to find the promised bliss. Though young, the
Athenians are admitted to the ceremonies of the initiation; and those
who never participated to them ask this favor before they die; the
menaces and the pictures of the sufferings of another life, before
considered as a subject of derision, cause a more vivid impression on
the mind; and then terror generates weakness. However, there are
enlightened men who do not believe that there is any need for them to be
initiated in order to be virtuous. Socrates constantly declined joining
the mysteries; and, one day, Diogenes being solicited, in my presence,
to ask for initiation, answered: 'Patæcion, a famous thief, was
initiated; Epaminondas and Agesilas never asked for it. Can I believe
that the former will go to the Elysian fields and the latter to the
Tartarus.'
"All the Greeks can aspire to participate to the mysteries: an ancient
law excludes the foreigners. The major mysteries are celebrated every
year on the fifteenth of the month of Boedromion. The celebration of the
minor mysteries is also annual, and takes place six months before.
During the celebration of the major mysteries the tribunals are closed.
The day following, the senate pronounces the penalty of death against
those who have willfully disturbed the ceremonies. This severity is
required to maintain order among the immense multitude of people. In
time of war the Athenians send to their foes safe conducts to induce
them to assist at the celebration.
"On the fourteenth of Boedromion, in the second year of the one hundred
and ninth Olympiad, I left Athens with several of my friends. The gate
through which the Athenians pass to go to Eleusis is called sacred. The
space between these two cities is of about one hundred stadiums. After
crossing a high hill decked with rosy laurels, we entered the territory
of Eleusis; and we arrived on the banks of two small brooks consecrated,
the one to Ceres, and the other to Proserpine. I mention them because
the priests of the temple are the only ones who are permitted to fish in
them; and because their waters are salted, and are used in the
ceremonies of initiation. Farther, on the bridge of a river named
Cephize, we had to bear the mockeries of a numerous populace, who stand
there to criticize the comers, and more especially the most
distinguished men of the Republic. It is an old tradition that Ceres had
been welcomed on this very spot by an old woman, called Yambe.
"At a short distance from the sea there is a high and long hill, at the
eastern end of which the famous temple of Ceres and Proserpine has been
reared. Further down is the small city of Eleusis. In the vicinity, and
on the hill itself, there are chapels and altars, and rich
country-seats. The temple, built under the care of Pericles, on the bare
rock, is of pantelic marble; and is turned towards the Orient. It is so
vast as magnificent; its enclosure at the south is of about three
hundred and eighty-four feet, and at the east of three hundred and
twenty-five. The most celebrated artists have adorned this temple with
master-pieces of art.
"Among the numerous priests who officiate in the temple, there are four
principal. The first is the Hierophant; his name designates the one who
reveals the sacred things, and his main office is to initiate the
postulants to the mysteries. He appears with a distinguished tunic; his
forehead is decked with a diadem, and his hair is floating on his
shoulders. His age must be mature enough to correspond with the gravity
of his ministry, and his voice fine enough to be pleasing to the ears.
His priesthood is for life; and he is obliged to keep celibacy. The
second priest carries the sacred flambeau in the ceremonies, and
purifies the candidates; he has also the privilege of wearing a diadem.
The two others are the sacred herald, and the assistant at the altar.
"The holiness of their ministry is rendered even more respectable by
their noble birth. The Hierophant is chosen in the family of the
Eumolpides, one of the most ancient of Athens; the sacred herald in that
of the Ceryces, which is a collateral branch of the other; the two other
priests belong also to illustrious families. These four priests have
under their command other ministers, such as the interpreters, the
singers, and other officers, who have the direction of the processions
and other ceremonies. Also there are at Eleusis priestesses consecrated
to Ceres and to Proserpine. They have the privilege of initiating
certain persons on particular days, and to offer sacrifices.
"The celebrations are presided by the second of the Archontes, whose
duty is to keep order, and to prevent any change or alteration in the
worship. They last several days. Sometimes those initiated interrupt
their sleep to continue their pious exercises: we saw them during the
night crossing the enclosure, walking in silence two by two, and holding
each one a lighted torch. When they reentered the sacred asylum they
hastened their march; and I learned that they were going to figure the
courses of Ceres and of Proserpine; and that, in their rapid evolutions,
they shook their torches, and handed them to each other. The light which
springs out, it is said, has the virtue of purifying the souls, and
becomes the symbol of the light which ought to instruct them.
"One day games were celebrated in the honor of the two goddesses. Famous
champions had come from various parts of Greece, and the prize was a
measure of barley, raised in the neighboring plain, whose inhabitants
hold from Ceres the art of cultivating this sort of wheat. On the sixth
day, the most brilliant of all, the priests of the temple, and those
initiated, carried from Athens to Eleusis, the statue of Iacchus, said
to be the son of Ceres or of Proserpine. The god, crowned with myrtle,
held a flambeau. About thirty thousand people followed, making the air
resound with the name of Iacchus. The march, led by the sound of
instruments and the singing of hymns, was sometimes suspended to perform
dances and sacrifices. The statue was introduced in the temple of
Eleusis, and then taken back in his own, with the same splendors, and
the same ceremonies.
"Many of those who composed the procession had been initiated only to
the minor mysteries, annually celebrated in a small temple, situated
near the Illissus. There a priest examines and prepares the candidates;
he excludes them if they are guilty of enormous crimes, and particularly
if they have committed murder, even without purpose. He imposes upon
the others frequent expiations, and teaches them the first rudiments of
the sacred doctrine. This noviciate sometimes lasts several years, but
generally one only. During the time of probation, the candidates assist
at the celebration of the major mysteries; but they remain at the door
of the temple.
"The initiation to the great mysteries had been appointed for the night
following. One of the preparatory ceremonies was the offering of
sacrifices, for the prosperity of the state, presided by the second of
the Archontes. The novices were crowned with myrtle. Their robes seem to
contract such a holiness that many of them wear them until they are worn
out; others make of them swaddling-clothes for their children, or hang
them in the temple. We saw them enter in the sacred hall; and, on the
next morning, one of my friends, who had been newly initiated, related
to me many of the ceremonies which he had witnessed.
"He told me, 'We found the ministers of the temple dressed in their
pontifical robes. The Hierophant, who, in that moment, represents the
author of the universe, had symbols which designated the power supreme.
The flambeau-bearer and the assistant to the altar appeared with the
attributes of the sun and of the moon; and the sacred herald with those
of Mercury. We had just taken our seats when the herald exclaimed: 'Away
from here ye profane and impious men, and all those whose souls are
contaminated with crimes!' The penalty of death was decreed against
those who had the temerity of remaining in the temple without being
entitled to it, after this admonition. The second of the priests ordered
that the skins of the victims be spread beneath our feet; and he
purified us anew. The rituals of initiation were loudly read, and hymns
in the honor of Ceres were sung.
"Soon after a roar was heard. The earth seemed to shake. Amid lightning
and thunder phantoms and spectres were seen roaming in darkness. They
filled the holy hall with soul-rending groans and howlings. Sufferings,
cares, diseases, poverty, and death, under hideous forms, struck our
gaze. The Hierophant explained these various emblems, and his vivid
pictures added to our terror. However, guided by a feeble light, we were
advancing towards the regions of the Tartarus, where the souls get
purified before they reach the abode of bliss. Amidst sorrowful voices
we heard the bitter regrets of those who had committed suicide. They are
punished, the Hierophant said, because they have deserted the posts
assigned to them by the gods.
"He had scarcely pronounced these words, when brass gates were thrown
open before us with a frightful roar, and then we saw the horrors of the
Tartarus. It resounded with the rattle of chains, and the yells of its
unfortunate inmates. Learn from us, did they say, to respect the gods,
and to be just and grateful. We saw the furies, armed with whips,
unmercifully torturing the criminals. These frightening pictures, made
more so by the sonorous and imposing voice of the Hierophant, who seemed
to exercise the ministry of divine vengeance, filled our soul with
terror. In fine, we were introduced in delightful thickets; in enameled
meadows; fortunate abodes, image of the Elysean fields, where a pure
light shone, where charming voices were heard. We passed into the
sanctuary, where we saw the statue of the goddess resplendent with
brightness, and dressed in the richest attire. In this sanctuary our
trials ended; there our eyes saw, and our ears heard, what we are
forbidden to reveal. I will simply confess that in the delirium of a
holy joy we sung hymns of joy.'
"Such was the recital of the newly-initiated. Another told me a
circumstance which the other omitted. One day, during the celebrations,
the Hierophant uncovered the mysterious baskets, which are carried in
the procession, and which are the object of the public veneration. They
contained the sacred symbols, whose sight is prohibited to those
uninitiated, and which are but cakes of various forms, grains of salt,
and other objects, which relate to the history of Ceres, and to the
dogmas taught in the mysteries. When those initiated have taken them
from a basket, and put them in another, they say that they have fasted
and drank the Ciceon.
"I often met with men who were not initiated, and who freely expressed
their opinions about the secret doctrines taught in the mysteries. One
of the disciples of Plato said: 'It seems to be certain that the
Hierophant teaches the necessity of pains and rewards beyond the grave;
and that he represents to the postulants the various destinies of men
here below and hereafter. Also it seems to be certain that he teaches
them, that, among the great number of deities adored by the multitude,
the ones are pure spirits, who, ministers of the will of the god
supreme, regulate under his command the motion of the universe; and the
others have been simple mortals, whose tombs are kept yet in several
parts of Greece. Is it not natural to think, that, in order to give a
more accurate idea of the Deity, the institutors of mysteries endeavored
to maintain, and to thus perpetuate a dogma, whose vestiges are more or
less visible in the opinions, and ceremonies, of nearly all
nations--that of a God, who is the principal and end of all things? Such
is, in my opinion, the august secret revealed to those initiated.'
"No doubt political ends encouraged the institution of this religious
association. Polytheism was generally spread, and was pleasing the
people, but on account of the multiplicity of the gods it was dangerous
to society. It was thought wiser not to destroy this belief, but to
counterbalance it by a purer religion. As the people are more restrained
by the laws than by abstract principles of morals, the legislators
contrived to harmonize the superstition of the people with purer
religious and moral principles, which they should simultaneously teach.
'Thus,' the disciple of Plato added, 'you understand why the gods are
represented on the theatre of Athens: the magistrates who do not believe
the false doctrines of Polytheism are very careful not to repress a
superstition and a license, which amuse the people, and whose repression
would indispose them.
"'Also you understand how two religions, though opposed in their dogmas,
conjointly exist in peace and harmony in the same cities. The reason of
it is, that, though their dogmas are different, these religions use the
same language, and that the truth has for the error the same tolerance,
and courtesy, which the truth should obtain from the error. Externally
the mysteries present but the worship adopted by the people. The hymns
sung in public, and the most of the ceremonies retrace to the masses
many circumstances of the rape of Proserpine, of the courses of Ceres,
of her arrival and sojourn at Eleusis. The vicinity of this city is full
of monuments reared in the honor of the goddess, and the priests show,
as yet, the stone upon which, tradition relates, she rested when
exhausted with fatigue. Thus, on one hand, the ignorant people believe
appearances as if they were realities; and on another hand, those who
have been initiated, having a clear sight of the spirit of the
mysteries, think they are right on account of the purity of their
intentions.'
"Whatever it may be of the supposition I have related, the initiation is
now but a vain ceremony. Those who have been initiated are not more
virtuous than the others; every day they violate their pledge of
abstaining from fowl, from fish, from pomegranates, from beans, and
several other kinds of fruits, and of vegetables. Several have
contracted this sacred engagement through unworthy means; for, not long
ago, we have seen the government permitting the sale of the privilege of
participating to the mysteries; and, for a long while, women of ill fame
have been admitted to initiation."
As it would require volumes to describe the ceremonies of all these
Pagan mysteries, we shall only examine their general character; show
forth their end; group together their common features, and glance at the
means used by political and religious leaders, to give a full scope to
this powerful governmental engine.
The mysteries of Eleusis, and in general of all mysteries, aimed at the
amelioration of mankind, at the reformation of morals, and at taking
hold of the souls of men with more power than through the means of the
laws. If the means used was not lawful, we must however confess that the
aim was laudable, not in the minds of kings, emperors, hierophants and
other priests, but in itself. Cicero, the illustrious Roman orator,
said, that the institution of mysteries was one of the most useful to
humanity; at least the mysteries of Eleusis, whose effects, he added,
have been to civilize nations; to soften the barbarous and ferocious
habits and morals of the first societies of men; and to make known the
most important principles of morals, which initiate man to a sort of
life that is worthy of his nature.
The same was said of Orpheus, who introduced in Greece the mysteries of
Bacchus. Poets wrote of him, that he had tamed tigers and lions; and
that he attracted even trees and rocks with the melodious strains of his
lyre. Mysteries aimed at the establishment of the reign of justice and
of religion, in the system of the rulers, who, from policy, maintained
the one by the other. This double end is contained in this verse of
Virgil:--"Learn from me to respect justice and the gods;" this was the
great lesson given by the Hierophant when the postulants were initiated.
Those initiated learned in those profound sanctuaries, under the dark
and deep veil of fables, their duties towards their fellow men;
pretended duties which they were taught to the gods, and, more
unfortunately yet, pretended duties towards their political and
religious leaders, or rather tyrants.
Rulers used all imaginable means to give a supernatural character to
their laws, and to make the people believe that they had this character.
The imposing picture of the universe, and the poetry of mythological
conceptions, gave to the legislators the subject of the varied and
wonderful scenes which were represented in the temples of Egypt, of
Asia, and of Greece. All that can produce illusion, all the resources of
witchcraft and of theatrical exhibitions, which were but the secret
knowledge of the effects of nature, and the art of imitating them; the
brilliant pomp of festivities; the variety and riches of decorations and
costumes; the majesty of the ceremonial; the captivating power of music;
the choirs; the chants; the dances; the electrifying sounds of cymbals,
calculated to produce enthusiasm and delirium, and more favorable to
religious exaltation than the calm of reason, all was brought to action
to attract the people to the celebration of the mysteries; and to create
in their souls a want, a desire for them.
Under the charms of pleasure, of rejoicings and of celebrations,
legislators and other rulers oftentimes concealed a salutary aim; and
they treated the people like a child, which can never be more
efficaciously instructed, than when he thinks that his preceptor intends
only to amuse him. They resorted to great institutions to shape society;
to form habits; and to direct public opinion and morals.
How magnificent was the procession of those initiated advancing to the
temple of Eleusis! The banners, the sacred chants, the music, the
costumes, and the dances, had a rapturous effect on the masses. They
thronged an immense temple; we say immense, for if we judge the number
of those initiated by the number of those who assembled in the plains
of Thriase, when Xerxes went to Attic, they were more than thirty
thousand. The costly and glowing ornaments which decked the vast hall,
the symbolic statues, which were master-pieces of sculpture, and the
mysterious pictures which were symmetrically arranged in the rotunda of
the sanctuary, filled the soul with amazement, and with a religious
respect.
All that was seen in the temple, the decorations, costumes, ceremonies,
splendor; and all that was heard, the sacred chants, the melody of
instruments, the mythological teaching, the elevating poetry and the
eloquence of orators, struck the spectators with wonder, produced and
left in their souls the most profound impressions. Not only the universe
was presented to their gaze under the emblem of an egg divided into
twelve parts, representing the months of the year, but also the division
of the universe into cause active and cause passive, and its division
into the Principle of light, or good god, and the Principle of darkness,
or bad god.
Varron informs us that the great gods adored at Samothrace were the
heaven and the earth, considered, the first as the cause active, and the
second as the cause passive of generation. In other mysteries the same
idea was retraced by the exposition of the Phallus and of the Cteis. It
is the Lingham of the Indians.
The same was done in regard to the division of the world into two
Principles, the one of light, or good god, and the other of darkness,
or bad god. Plutarch writes, that this religious dogma had been
consecrated in the initiations, and in the mysteries of all nations; and
the example which he puts forth, extracted from both the theology of the
Chaldeans, and from the dogma of the symbolic egg produced by these two
Principles, is a proof of it. In the temple of Eleusis there were scenes
of darkness and of light, which were successively presented to the eyes
of the candidates to initiation: those scenes retraced the combats of
the Principle of light, or good god, and of the Principle of darkness,
or bad god.
In the cavern of the god Sun, or Mithra, the priests had represented,
among the mysterious pictures of the initiation, the descent of the
souls to the earth, and their return to the heavens through the seven
planetary spheres. Also were exhibited the phantoms of invisible powers,
which chained them to bodies, or freed them from their bonds. Several
millions of men witnessed those various spectacles, of which they were
most severely forbidden to speak before the public. However the poets,
the orators, and the historians give us in their writings some idea of
what were those scenes, formulas, ceremonies, fables, and morals,--as,
for instance, in what they have written about the adventures of Ceres,
and of her daughter. There was seen the chariot of this goddess drawn by
dragons; it seemed to hover above the earth and the seas. It was a true
theatrical exhibition. The variety of the scenes was pleasing, and the
play of machines was attractive. Grave were the actors, majestic the
ceremonial, and passion-stirring the fables and representations.
The hierophants, or priests, profoundly versed in the knowledge of the
genius of the people, and in the art of leading them, availed of the
minutest circumstances to create in them the desire to be initiated to
their mysteries. Night seems to be the mother of secrecy and the emblem
of mystery; it is favorable to prestige and illusion; in consequence
they celebrated their mysteries in the night. The fifth day of the
celebration of the mysteries of Eleusis was renowned by the superb
torchlight procession, in which those initiated, holding each one a
bright torch, walked two by two wearing enigmatic emblems.
It was during the night, that the Egyptians solemnly and processionally
went to the shore of a lake; they embarked, and landed in an island
beautifully situated in the middle of the lake; and there they
celebrated the mysteries of the passion of Osiris. At other times those
celebrations took place in vast and dark grottos, or in retired and
shady thickets. Even now, in France, are seen caverns where the Druids
celebrated their mysteries; and forests where the Gauls assembled at
midnight; hung the heads of their vanquished enemies; immolated a young
virgin on the altar of Teutates; and celebrated their mysteries under
the leadership of the Druids.
The ceremonial of the mysteries was ordained, particularly among the
civilized and populous nations, in such a manner that it could not fail
to excite the curiosity of the people, who naturally eagerly desire and
seek to know what is held in secrecy. Legislators and hierophants
rendered this curiosity more intense by the extremely stringent law of
secrecy imposed upon those initiated. Thus the profane, namely, those
uninitiated, were the more desirous to be acquainted with the mysteries,
and thus they joined them in large numbers. Legislators gave to this
spirit of secrecy the most specious pretext. It was proper, they said,
to imitate the gods who concealed themselves from man's gaze, for the
purpose of creating in his soul the desire to find them; and who have
made the phenomena of nature a profound secret to them, in order to
stimulate them to the study of the universe. Those initiated were not
permitted to speak of the mysteries except among themselves. The penalty
of death had been decreed against the one who would have revealed them,
even without purpose; and also against any one who would have entered
the sacred temple before having been previously initiated.
Aristoteles was accused of impiety by the hierophant Eurymedon, for
having sacrificed to the manes of his wife, according to the rite
practiced in the worship of Ceres. He had to flee, and to retire at
Chalcis to save his life; and in order to clear his name from this stain
he ordered his heirs to erect a statue to Ceres. Eschyles, having been
charged with having written about mysterious subjects, saved his life
only by proving that he had never been initiated. The entry of the
temple of Ceres, and the participation to her mysteries, were prohibited
to the slaves, and to those whose birth was not legal; to women of ill
fame, to the philosophers who denied a Providence, such as the
Epicureans, etc. This interdiction was considered as a great
deprivation, for it was generally believed among the people that
initiation was the greatest blessing.
In fact, those initiated were taught that they belonged to a class of
privileged beings, and were the favorites of the gods. The priests of
Samothrace credited their initiation by promising favorable winds, a
speedy and safe navigation to travelers who were candidates to their
mysteries. Those initiated to the mysteries of Orpheus believed that
they were no longer under the rule of the evil principle; that
initiation made them holy, and secured to them future happiness. After
the ceremonies of the initiation the candidate thus answered to the
priest: "I have rejected the evil and found the good." After that he
considered himself, and was considered by his fellows, wholly purified.
Those who were initiated to the mysteries of Eleusis believed that the
sun shone brighter and purer to their eyes than to the sight of other
men; also that the goddesses inspired and gave them counsels from the
heaven, as seen by the example of Pericles. Initiation was considered as
freeing the soul from the darkness of error; as preventing misfortunes;
and as securing happiness on earth.
One of the greatest blessings and privileges of the initiation, the
hierophant and other priests taught, was to secure here below a direct
communion with the gods, and more especially beyond the grave. According
to Cicero, Isocrates, and the rhetor Aristides, when he who had been
initiated departed from this earthly life he inhabited meadows enameled
with flowers of a celestial beauty, and lighted with a sun brighter and
purer than the one we see. In that charming abode he was to live
centuries, and long preserve his youth. When arrived at an old age, he
was to become young again. There was no labor, no sorrow, but all was
rapture and delight.
In the Greek and Roman mysteries the unity and also the trinity of God
were consecrated dogmas. Jupiter was adored as the father of the gods
and of men, and as filling the whole universe with his power. He was the
supreme monarch of nature: the names of gods ascribed to the other
deities were more of an association in the title than in the nature of
their power, for each one of them had a particular work to perform under
the command of the supreme God. In the mysteries of the religion of the
Greeks, a hymn expressing the unity of God or Jupiter was sung; and the
High Priest, turning towards the worshipers, said: "Admire the master
of the universe; he is one; he is everywhere." It was acknowledged by
Eusebius, St. Augustine, Lactance, Justin, Athenagoras, and many other
Fathers of the Church, that the dogma of the unity of God was admitted
by ancient philosophers, and was the basis of the religion of Orpheus,
and of all the mysteries of the Greeks.
The Platonicians believed in the unity of the archetype, or model on
which God formed the world; also they believed in the unity of
demiourgos, or god-forming, by a consequence of the same philosophical
principles, namely, from the unity itself of the universe, as can be
seen in Proclus, and in the writings of the Platonician authors.
Trinity also, (see chapter fifth) was taught in the mysteries.
Pythagoras, and many other philosophers, explained the unity and trinity
of God by the theory of numbers. They called the monade cause, or
principle. They expressed by the number one, or unit, the first cause,
and they concluded to the unity of God from mathematical abstractions.
Next to this unity they placed triades, which expressed faculties or
powers emanated from them, and also intelligences of a second order. The
triple incarnation of the god Wichnou into the body of a virgin was one
of the doctrines taught in the mysteries of Mithra.
So much for the mysteries of Paganism; however, we shall, in the course
of this work, refer to them several times. Let us now examine the
origin of the mysteries, which, the Partialists say, Jesus Christ has
taught. Mysteries suppose secrecy; but Jesus Christ preached his Gospel
in the open air to his apostles, to his disciples, to crowds of people,
and to all who were willing to hear his doctrines. He urged upon his
disciples to preach above the roofs what he taught them. When, after his
death, his apostles spread his gospel, they spoke in open air,
everywhere, to masses of people; Paul to the Areopagus, to thousands in
Jerusalem, etc. How then can it be supposed that Jesus Christ taught
mysteries? Indeed, he did not, but afterwards several Christian churches
did.
The Protestant historian, Mosheim, cites in his History of the Church,
several authors, who state, that, in the second century, several
Christian churches imitated the mysteries of Paganism. The profound
respect, they say, that the people entertained for those mysteries, and
the extraordinary sacredness ascribed to them were for the Christians a
motive sufficient to give a mysterious appearance to their religion, so
as to command as much respect to the public as the religion of the
Pagans. To this effect they called mysteries the institutions of the
Gospel, particularly the Eucharist. They used in this ceremony, and in
that of baptism, several words and rites consecrated in the mysteries of
the Pagans. This abuse commenced in Orient, chiefly in Egypt; Clement of
Alexandria, in the beginning of the third century, was one of those who
contributed the most to this innovation, which then spread in Occident
when Adrian had introduced the mysteries in that portion of the Empire.
Hence, a large portion of the service of the Church hardly differed from
that of Paganism.
That the Church of Rome copied many of the ceremonies, rites, customs,
and fables of Pagan mysteries is certain, for they have been perpetuated
in that Church down to our days. From the Pagan mysteries the Roman
Church borrowed the following:
In the initiation to the Pagan mysteries there were degrees; so in the
Roman Church there are the degrees of porter or door-keeper, of acolyte,
of reader and of exorcist; the latter degree confers the power of
expelling the devil. The ecclesiastical ornaments in the Church of Rome,
with the difference of the cross represented on them and of some
trimming, are like those used in the mysteries of the Pagans, at least
in Rome, and in Greece. The long floating gown, the girdle, the casula,
the stola, the dalmatica, the round and pyramidal cap, the capa, and
several other garments and ornaments, are alike to those used in the
temples, where the mysteries of the Pagans were celebrated.
In those temples there was an altar richly decorated; so it is in the
Church of Rome. In those temples there were twelve flambeaux,
representing the twelve months of the year: so there are in Catholic
churches, upon the first degree above the altar, six chandeliers with
six tapers burning during the celebration of the mysteries or mass; six
others are on the second degree. The vestals kept a light constantly
burning in the Pagan temples: so a lamp is kept burning, day and night,
near the altar, in the Catholic churches. In the Pagan temples the disc
of the sun and his beams were represented: so they are in the Catholic
churches. Upon the altar, in the Pagan temples, there was an image of
the god Osiris or Bacchus, and the emblems of an aries or lamb: so upon
the altar, in Catholic churches, there is a tabernacle in which God is
said to dwell, and the door of the tabernacle represents a bleeding
lamb.
The Pagans solemnly and processionally carried the image of Osiris, or
Bacchus, around the head of which there was a halo representing the rays
of the sun: so in the Romish church the priests processionally and with
great pomp, carry, both in the aisles of the churches and on the
streets, a wafer which they call God. It is encased in a silver or gold
ostenserium, whose circular centre, in which their pretended God is seen
between two crystals, is shaped like the disc of the sun; and the
outside, of which called halo or glory, is shaped like his rays. In the
Pagan temples there was a sanctuary exclusively reserved to the
high-pontiff, and to the priests: so it is in the Catholic churches. In
the Pagan temples the sanctuary was turned towards the Orient: so it is
in the Catholic churches.
The Pagans did not permit their candidates to initiation to assist at
the celebration of the mysteries, which was always preceded by this
formula, solemnly and loudly spoken by an officer, "Away from here ye
profane and impious men, and all those whose soul is contaminated with
crimes!" So in Catholic churches, not now, but from the first centuries
down to the middle age, the deacon arose after the homily, turned toward
the assistant, and ordered the catechumens to leave the church, because
the celebration of the mysteries was to commence. Those mysteries are
the mass, during which the priest who officiates commands Jesus Christ
to descend from heaven into a wafer, which he, (priest,) holds in his
hands, and to change it into his own blood, flesh, soul, and divinity.
The Pagans initiated the candidates near the front door of their
temples: so in the Catholic churches, the baptismal fonts where the
catechumens are initiated, namely, baptized, are placed near the portal.
Here we shall remark, that, for many centuries, children are baptized,
(even now parents are obliged under the pain of mortal sin to have their
children taken to the church to be baptized) three days after they are
born. The Pagans initiated candidates chiefly on the eve of great
celebrations: so, in the Romish church, catechumens are baptized chiefly
on the eve of Easter, and of Pentecost.
The Pagans believed that initiation made them holy; so the Romish church
holds that baptism remits the original and all other sins, and makes
holy. The Pagans revered in their temples the statue of Pan, in whose
hands was a seven-pipe flute; also, they revered other emblems of the
seven planets: so in the Romish Church holds the doctrine of the seven
gifts of the Holy Spirit, and of the doctrine of the seven sacraments.
In the month of February the Pagans celebrated the Lupercales, and the
feast of Proserpine: so the Church of Rome celebrates the Candlemas-day.
We cite the very words of Bergier, a Catholic priest, and an ultra
Papist, who writes thus in his Theological Dictionary; article
Candlemas:
"Several authors ascribe the institution of Candlemas-day to the pope
Gelase, for the purpose of opposing it to the Lupercales of the Pagans,
who went processionally out in the fields making exorcisms. It is the
opinion of the venerable Bede. 'The Church,' he says, 'has happily
changed the lustrations of the Pagans, which took place in February
around the fields. She has substituted to them processions, in which the
people carry in their hands burning tapers.' Others ascribe this
institution to the pope Vigil, and say that it has been substituted to
the feast of Proserpine, which the Pagans celebrated in the first days
of February with torches.'
The Pagans worshiped Juno as the wife of the god Jupiter: so the Church
of Rome worships the virgin Mary as the wife of God. The Pagans
celebrated the exaltation of the virgo or virgin, the sixth sign and
seventh constellation in the ecliptic; so the Romish Church has
established the feast of Assumption, namely, of the ascension of the
virgin Mary to heaven. The Pagans made solemn processions to honor the
goddess Ceres; so the Romish Church has instituted pompous processions
in the honor of the virgin Mary.
REMARK.--All the above institutions and doctrines of the Romish Church,
and also those which we shall examine in the following chapters, date
from the first centuries. All the Catholic doctors, theologians, and
historians, confess it.
From the numerous and undeniable historical facts summed up in this
chapter we legitimately draw the conclusions, 1st. That, in the first
centuries of the Christian era, the Church of Rome established
mysteries; 2d. That the Church of Rome borrowed her mysteries from the
mysteries of the Pagans; and, 3d. That a law of secrecy was binding the
catechumens after their initiation, though this law was not so stringent
as it was among the Pagans.
When, in the sixteenth century, the Protestants shook the yoke of the
Pope, they rejected many of the mysteries of the Church of Rome;
however, they kept several of them, such as the mystery of Trinity,
namely, of three Gods composing but one God; the mystery of incarnation,
namely of God himself descending from the heavens, vesting our mortal
clay in the womb of a woman for the purpose of being persecuted and
slain on a cross by men, thus pay to himself the debt owed to him by
men who had disobeyed him, (though they did not live yet,) in the person
of Adam. These, we say, and other mysteries of the Romish Church, the
Protestants or Heterodox in the opinion of the Catholics, preserved and
transmitted them to their sons, or Partialists, who now call the Roman
Catholics heathens; call the liberal Christian Churches heterodox, and
call themselves most emphatically Evangelical Churches, Orthodox
Churches.
The final and strictly logical conclusion of this chapter is this:
_Therefore the mysteries of the Romish Church, and those of the
self-called Orthodox Protestant Churches, are of Pagan origin._
_Corollary._ Since mysteries are of Pagan origin, and since Jesus Christ
and his apostles did not establish mysteries, there ought not to be
mysteries in Christianity. Since Jesus Christ and his apostles preached
the Gospel in open air to all, everywhere, there cannot be any mysteries
in their teaching, and there cannot be any mysteries in their writings,
we mean in the New Testament.