GRICE E COLLI: BACCO E COMPAGNIA

 Che l'esclusione di queste potenze ben presenti e Bi  distinte dalla comunità delle figure dominanti, ed .il sus É  sistere della loro venerabilità, pur tacendo .la vastità É  e profondità loro e più ch’ogni altra cosa, l’orrendo fi  mistero del loro essere, provengano da una particola  rissima valutazione e da una volontà risoluta, si app*  lesa evidentissimo nella figura dominante di tutto que  sto ciclo: Dioniso. La sua virilità, come osserva .J. J.  Bachhofen in modo eccellente, trascina irresistibilmente  seco. l’eterno femminino di questa sfera e ne rimane  assolutamente presa. Il suo spirito s’arroventa nell’ine          L'ESSENZA DEI NUOVI DÈI 193       briante beveraggio, che venne chiamato il sangue della  terra. Istinti elementari, frenesie, dissolvimenti della co-  scienza nello sconfinato, assalgono tempestosamente i suoi  adoratori e agli estasiati si schiudon i tesori del regno.  terrestre. Anche intorno a Dioniso accorrono i morti, che  lo seguono a ‘primavera quand’egli porta i fiori. Amore  e selvaggia ebbrezza, gelidi brividi e beatitudini si ten-  gon per mano e gli fan corteo; ciascuno degli antichis-  simi tratti essenziali della divinità della Terra son in  lui accresciuti a dismisura," ma pure infinitamente ap-  profonditi, Questa figura divina che tutto trascina con  sè è ben nota ad Omero, che chiama il dio « forsennato >,  e ha vivo davanti agli occhi l’andar selvaggio delle sue  accompagnatrici che agitano il tirso. Ma tutto. ciò non è  che similitudine, come quando paragona ad una Menade  Andromaca, la quale presa da oscuro presentimento si  precipita fuor dalle sue stanze (Iliade, 22, 460; cfr.  Inno Omer. a Dem. 386), come pure quando occasional-  mente narra memorabili storie (Iliade, 6, 130 ss.; Odis-  sea, 11, 325). Nel vivo mondo di Omero le Menadi non  trovan posto e pure invano si cerca Dioniso, che non vi  ha parte veruna. Dioniso « dispensator di gioia » (Esio-  do, Erga 614) gli è altrettanto estraneo quanto l’uomo  doloroso annunziatore dell’al di là. L’eccesso, che gli è  proprio, non s’accorda con la chiarezza che contraddi-  stingue qui tutto ciò ch’è realmente divino.   Da questa chiarezza sono assai lontane anche le al-  tre figure del ciclo della Terra. Sian pure intessute. di  dolcissimo incanto, e portin sulla fronte la più sublime  gravità. Il sapere e la sacra legge stanno loro al fianco.  Ma sono.legate alla materia terrestre e partecipano della  sua oscura pesantezza e necessità. La loro benevolenza  è quella dell’elemento materno, ed il loro diritto ha la  rigidità di tutti i legami del sangue. Tutte arrivano    15    194 | GLI DÈI BELLA GRECIA       nella notte della morte, o meglio: la morte ed il passato  risalgono grazie a loro nel presente e nell’esistenza dei  viventi. Non v'è un ritrarsi dal teatro del mondo, nè il  trapassare dall’esistenza oggettiva in una sfera inferiore  nè una liberazione del campo di vita e d’azione da ciò  che una volta fu. Tutto ciò che fu rimane per sempre,  ed. eleva la sua esigenza, sempre con la medesima ron.  cretezza, dalla quale non c’è via di scampo. Ed è solo  una conferma di codesto carattere, il predominio ch’'ha  nel mondo delle divinità di questa sfera, il sesso femmi.  nile. Nella cerchia celeste della religione omerica invece  sì trae in disparte in modo tale, che non può essere ca.  suale. | I   . Gli dèi che dominano colà, non solo: son di sesso  maschile, sibbene rappresentano decisamente lo spirito  virile. Ed anche quando Atena si unisce ad Apollo e-a  Zeus in suprema trinità, è lei a rinnegare esplicitamente  il femmineo e a farsi genio del mascolino. I -m     JUN 121925     Dirisioti ^LT^b     !-'" 0'     25outonV %tt^^\t Hitiratp.     VOL. I.     ELEUSINIAN AND BACCHIC MYSTERIES.     JUN 121925     THE   ELEUSINIAN     AND     BACCHIC MYSTERIES.   A DISSERTATION.     ^ ^y:     THOMAS TAYLOR,   TXANSL4TOH OF ■'PLATO." " PLOTINTJS," " POEPITIllY," " lAMBLICHCS." "PEOCI-nS,'  *■ ABISTOTLE," ETC., ETC.     EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, EMENDATIONS, AND GLOSSARY,   BY   ALEXANDER WILDER, M. D.     Ev Tats TEAETAI2 KaOapcrei'; rjyoyi'Tai (cai ncpip-  pai'TTjpia (Cat ayviiTfjiOL, a nof (v aTTOpprjToi; Spuiixeviav,  (tat TT)! TOD Oeiov |U.€T0U(rias yviJifauiiaTa etaiv.   Pkoclus ; Manuscript Commentary upon Plato, I. AMbiadet.     WITH 85 ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. L, RAWSON.     FOURTH EDITION.     f     NEW- YORK :   J. W. BOUTON, 8 WEST 28th STREET.   1891.     CopyriKlit, 1K91, by  J. W. BulITDN.     The DeVinne Press.     TO MY OLD FRIEND   ^cniarti OSuatitcl)   THE GREATEST BOOKSELLER OF ANCIENT  OR MODERN TIMES   CbiB Dolttme is reBpcctfuIl? Jeiiicateli   BY THE PUBLISHER       Bacchic Ceremonies.      Bacchus ami Nymphs.      Pluto, Prosevpiua, aud Furies.      Eleusinian     Prieatesses.      Bacchante and Faun.     Faun and Bacchus.      CONTENTS.     Fable is Love's World, Poem by Schiller . . 9   Introduction 11   Section I., Eleusinian Mysteries 31   Section II., Bacchic Mysteries 187   Hymn to Minerva 224   Appendix 229   Orphic Hymns . . ^ 238   Hymn of Cleanthes 239   Glossary 241   List of Illustrations 248       Klensiiiiiiii Mj'steriea.      '"Tis not merely  The human breing's pride that peoples space  With life and mystical predominance,  Since likewise for the stricken heart of Love  This visible nature, and this common world  Is all too narrow ; yea, a deeper import  Lurks in the legend told my infant years  That lies upon that truth, we live to learn,  For fable is Love's world, his home, his birthplace ;  Delightedly he dwells 'mong fays and talismans,  And spirits, and delightedly believes  Divinities, being himself divine.  The intelligible forms of ancient poets.  The fair humanities of Old Religion,  The Power, the Beauty, and the Majesty,  That had their haunts in dale or piny motmtain,  Or forests by slow stream, or pebbly spring.  Or chasms or wat'ry depths ; — all these have vanished.  They live no longer in the faith of Eeason,  But still the heart doth need a language ; still  Doth the old instinct bring back the old names."   Schiller : The Piccolomini, Act. ii. Scene 4.     9      Apollo autl Muaes.      ITolM.'tll.MlS.     INTKODrOTlOX TO THE TJIIKM) EDrriON.     IN offering- to the ])ublic a new edition of Mr. Thomas  Taylor's admii-able treatise upon the Elensiidan  and Bacchic Mysteries, it is proper to insert a few  words of explanation. These observances once repre-  sented the spiritual life of (Ireeee, and were considered  for two thousand years and more the appointed means  for regeneration through an interior union with the  Divine Essence. However absurd, or even offensive  they may seem to us, we should therefore hesitate long-  before we venture to lay desecrating hands on what  others have esteemed holy. We can learn a valuable  lesson in this regard from the (xrecian and Roman  writers, who had learned to treat the popular religious  rites with mirth, but always considered the Eleusinian  Mysteries with the deepest reverence.   It is ignorance which leads to profanation. Men  ridicule what they do not properly understand. Alci-  biades was drunk when he ventured to touch what his   11     12 Introduction.   countrymen deemed sacred. The undercurrent of this  worhl is set toward one goal; and inside of human  credulity — call it human weakness, if you please —  is a power almost infinite, a holy faith capa))le of  apprehending the siipremest truths of all Existence.  The veriest dreams of life, pertaining as they do to  " the minor mystery of death," have in them more than  external fact can reach or explain ; and Myth, how-  ever much she is proved to be a child of Earth, is also  received among men as the child of Heaven. The  Cinder- Wench of the ashes will become the Cinderella  of the Palace, and be wedded to the King's Son.   The instant that we attempt to analyze, the sensible,  palpable facts upon which so many try to build dis-  appear beneath the surface, like a foundation laid upon  quicksand. " In the deepest reflections," says a dis-  tinguished writer, '' all that we call external is only the  material basis upon which our dreams are built ; and  the sleep that surrounds life swallows up life, — all  but a dim wreck of matter, floating this way and that,  and forever evanishing from sight. Complete the anal-  ysis, and we lose even the shadow of the external  Present, and only the Past and the Future are left  us as our sure inheritance. This is the first initia-  tion, — the vailing [mnesis] of the eyes to the external.  But as epo])fm, by the synthesis of this Past and Future  in a living nature, we obtain a higher, an ideal  Present, comprehending within itself all that can be  real for us within us or without. This is the second     Introduction. 13   initiation in which is uuvailed to us the Present as a  new birth from our own life. Thus the great problem  of Idealism is symbolically solved in the Eleusinia." *   These were the most celebrated of all the sacred  orgies, and were called, by way of eminence. The  Mysteries. Although exhibiting apparently the fea-  tures of an Eastern origin, they were evidently copied  from the rites of Isis in Egypt, an idea of which, more  or less correct, may be found in The Mefamotyhoses of  Apuleius and The Epicurean by Thomas Moore. Every  act, rite, and person engaged in them was symbolical ;  and the individual revealing them was put to death  without mercy. So also was any uninitiated person who  happened to be present. Persons of all ages and both  sexes were initiated ; and neglect in this respect, as in  the case of Socrates, was regarded as impious and  atheistical. It was required of all candidates that  they should be first admitted at the MiJo'a or Lesser  Mysteries of Agree, by a process of fasting called ^j«f/'/-  ficafion, after which they were styled mysfce, or initi-  ates. A year later, they might enter the higher degree.  In this they learned the aporrheta, or secret meaning of  the rites, and were thenceforth denominated ephori, or  epoptm. To some of the interior mysteries, however,  only a very select number obtained admission. From  these were taken all the ministers of holy rites. The  Hierophant who presided was bound to celibacy, and  requii'ed to devote his entire life to his sacred office.   * Atlantic Monthly, vol. iv. September, 1859.     14 Introduciion.   He had three assistants, — the torch- bearer, the lierux or  crier, and the minister at the altar. There were also a  hasileus or king, who was an archon of Athens, four  curators, elected by suffrage, and ten to offer sacrifices.   The sacred Orgies were celebrated on every fifth  year ; and began on the 15th of the month Boedromiau  or September. The first day was styled the agurmos or  assembly, because the worshipers then convened. The  second was the day of purification, called also alacU  mystaij from the proclamation : ''To the sea, initiated  ones ! " The third day was the day of sacrifices ; for  which purpose were offered a mullet and barley from  a field in Eleusis. The officiating persons were for-  bidden to taste of either ; the offering was for Achtheia  (the sorrowing one, Demeter) alone. On the fourth  day was a solemn procession. The JcalafJios or sacred  basket was borne, followed by women, ciske or chests  in which were sesamum, carded wool, salt, pomegran-  ates, poppies, — also thyrsi, a serpent, boughs of ivy,  cakes, etc. The fifth day was denominated the day of  torches. In the evening were torchlight processions  and much tumult.   The sixth was a great occasion. The statue of  lacchus, the son of Zeus and Demeter, was brought  from Athens, by the laccJiogoroi, all crowned with  myrtle. In the way was heard only an uproar of sing-  ing and the beating of brazen kettles, as the votaries  danced and ran along. The image was borne " through  the sacred Gate, along the sacred way, halting by the        P^  '^^^'      Introduction. 17   sacred fig-tree (all sacred, mark you, from Eleiisinian  associations), where the procession rests, and then  moves on to the bridge over the Cephissns, where again  it rests, and where the expression of the wildest grief  gives place to the trifling farce, — even as Demeter, in  the midst of her grief, smiled at the levity of lambe  in the palace of Celeus. Through the 'mystical en-  trance ' we enter Eleusis. On the seventh day games  are celebrated; and to the victor is given a measure  of barley, — as it were a gift direct from the hand of  the goddess. The eighth is sacred to ^sculapius, the  Divine Physician, who heals all diseases; and in the  evening is performed the initiatory ritual.   " Let us enter the m3\stic temple and be initiated, —  though it must be supposed that, a year ago, we were  initiated into the Lesser Mysteries at Agrae. We must  have been mystm (vailed), before we can become epoptce  (seers) ; in plain English, we must have shut our  eyes to all else before we can behold the mysteries.  Crowned with myrtle, we enter with the other initiates  into the vestibule of the temple, — blind as yet, but the  Hierophaut within will soon open our eyes.   '■' But first, — for here we must do nothing rashly,—  first we must wash in this holy water; for it is with  pure hands and a pure heart that we are bidden to  enter the most sacred enclosure [(xu(rTuoff (f-nxog, tnusfijios  seJcos]. Then, led into the presence of the Hierophaut,*   * In the Oriental countries the designation nns Peter (an in-  terpreter), appears to have been the title of this personage ; and     18 Introduction.   he reads to us, from a book of stone [■jreTpajfjia, petroma]^  tliiuii's which we must not divulge on pain of death.  Let it suffice that they fit the place and the occasion ;  and though you might laugh at them, if they were  spokiMi outside, still you seem very far from that mood  now, as you hear the words of the old man (for old he  he always was), and look upon the revealed symbols.  And very far, indeed, are you from ridicule, when  Demeter seals, by her own peculiar utterance and sig-  nals, by vivid coruscations of light, and cloud piled  upon cloud, all that we have seen and heard from her  sacred priest; and then, finally, the light of a serene  wonder fills the temple, and we see the pure fields of  Elysium, and hear the chorus of the Blessed; — then,  not merely by external seeming or philosophic inter-  pretation, but in real fact, does the Hierophant become  the Creator [(hi-^'ovpyo;, demiourgos] and revealer of all  things; the Sun is but his torch-bearer, the Moon his  attendant at the altar, and Hermes his mystic herald *  [>c7]pu|, kerux]. But the final word has been uttered  ' Conx Om pax.' The rite is consummated, and we are  vpoptit forever ! "  Those who are curious to know the myth on which   the petroma consisted, notably enougli, of two tablets of stone.  There is in these facts some reminder of the peculiar circum-  stances of the Mosaic Law which was so preserved ; and also of  the claim of the Pope to be the successor of Peter, the hierophant  or interpreter of the Christian religion.  * Porphyry.     Introduction. 19   the " mystical drama " of the Eleusinia is founded will  find it in any Classical Dictionary, as well as in these  pages. It is only pertinent here to give some idea of  the meaning. That it was regarded as profound is  evident from the peculiar rites, and the obligations im-  posed on every initiated person. It was a reproach not  to observe them. Socrates was accused of atheism, or  disrespect to the gods, for having never been initiated.*  Any person accidentally guilty of homicide, or of any  crime, or convicted of witcihcraft, was excluded. The  secret doctrines, it is supposed, were the same as are  expressed in the celebrated Hymn of Cleanthes. The  philosopher Isocrates thus bears testimony : " She  [Demeter] gave us two gifts that are the most excel-  lent ; fruits, that we may not live like beasts ; and that  initiation — those who have part in which have sweeter  hope, both as regards the close of life and for all  eternity." In like manner, Pindar also declares : " Happy  is he who has beheld them, and descends into the Under-  world: he knows the end, he knows the origin of life."  The Bacchic Orgies were said to have been instituted,   * Ancient Sijmhol-Worsliip, page 12, note. "Socrates was not  initiated, yet after drinking the hemlock, he addressed Crito :  ' We owe a cock to ^sculapius.' This was the peculiar offering  made by initiates (now called kerJcnophori) on the eve of the last  day, and he thus symbolically asserted that he was about to re-  ceive the great apocalypse."   See, also, " Progress of Religious Ideas," byLYDiA Maria Child,  vol. ii. p. 308 ; and " Discourses on the Worship of Priapus," by  EiCHARD Payne Knight.     20 Introduction.   or iiy)re probably reformed T)y Orpheus, a mythical  personage, supposed to have flourished in Thrace.*  The Orphic associations dedicated themselves to the  worship of Bacchus, in which they hoped to find the  gratification of an ardent longing after the worthy and  elevating influences of a religious life. The worshipers  did not indulge in unrestrained pleasure and frantic  enthnsiasni, but rather aimed at an ascetic purity of   * Euripides : Ehaesns. "Orpheus showed forth the rites of  the hidden Mysteries."   Plato : ProUifforas. " The art of a sophist or sage is ancient,  but tlie men who proposed it in ancient times, fearing the odium  attached to it, sought to conceal it, and vailed it over, some under  the garb of poetry, as Homer, Hesiod, and Simonides : and others  under that of the Mysteries and prophetic manias, such as Orpheus,  Musseus, and their followers."   Herodotus takes a different view — ii. 49. "Melampus, the son  of Amytheon," he says, "introduced into Greece the name of  Dionysus (Bacchus), the ceremonial of his worship, and the pro-  cession of the phallus. He did not, however, so completely ap-  prehend the whole doctrine as to be able to communicate it  entirely : but various sages, since his time, have carried out his  teaching to greater perfection. Still it is certain that Melampus  introduced the phallus, and that the Greeks learnt from him the  ceremonies which they now practice. I therefore maintain that  Melampus, who was a sage, and had acquired the art of divina-  tion, having become acquainted with the worship of Dionysus  tln-ough knowledge derived from Eg>ijt, introduced it into Greece,  with a few slight changes, at the same time rhat he brought in  various other practices. For I can by no means allow that it is by  mere coincidence that the Bacchic ceremonies in Greece are so  nearly the same as the Egyptian."     y     r^isi      Etruscan Kleusiniau Ci-renionies.     Introdiidion, 23   life and manners. The worship of Dionysus \yas the  center of their ideas, and the starting-point of all their  speculations upon the world and human nature. They  believed that human souls were confined in the body as  in a prison, a condition which was denominated genesis  or generation; from which Dionysus would liberate  them. Their sufferings, the stages by which they  passed to a higher form of existence, their lafharsis  or purification, and their enlightenment constituted the  themes of the Orphic writers. All this was represented  in the legend which constituted the groundwork of the  mystical rites.   Dionysus-Zagreus was the son of Zeus, whom he had  begotten in the form of a dragon or serpent, upon the  person of Kore or Persephoneia, considered by some  to have been identical with Ceres or Demeter, and by  others to have been her daughter. The former idea is  more probably the more correct. Ceres or Demeter  was called Kore at Cnidos. She is called Phersephatta  in a fragment by Psellus, and is also styled a Fury.  The divine child, an avatar or incarnation of Zeus, was  denominated Zagreus, or Chakra (Sanscrit) as being  destined to universal dominion. But at the instigation  of Hera* the Titans conspired to murder him. Ac-   * Hera, generally regarded as the Greek title of Juno, is not the  definite name of any goddess, but was used by ancient writers as  a designation only. It signifies doniina or lady, and appears to be  of Sanscrit origin. It is applied to Ceres or Demeter, and other  divinities.     24 Introduction.   cordingly, one day while he was contemplating a mir-  ror,* they set upon him, disguised under a coating of  plaster, and tore him into seven parts. Athena, how-  ever, rescued from them his heart, which was swallowed  by Zeus, and so returned into the paternal substance,  to be generated anew. He was thus destined to be  again born, to succeed to universal rule, establish the  reign of happiness, and release all souls from the  dominion of death.   The hypothesis of Mi-. Taylor is the same as was  maintained by the philosopher Porphyry, that the  Mysteries constitute an illustration of the Platonic   * The mirror was a part of the symbolism of the Thesmophoria,  and was iised in the search for Atmu, the Hidden One, evidently  the same as Tammuz, Adonis, and Atys. See Exodus xxxviii. 8 ;  1 Samuel ii. 22 ; and Esekiel viii. 14. But despite the assertion of  Herodotus and others that the Bacchic Mysteries were in reality  Egyptian, there exists strong probability that they came originally  from India, and were Sivaic or Buddhistical. Core-Persephoneia  was but the goddess Parasu-pani or Bhavani, the patroness of the  Thugs, called also Goree ; and Zagi'eus is from Chakra, a country  extending from ocean to ocean. If this is a Turanian or Tartar  Story, we can easily recognize the "Horns" as the crescent worn  by lama-priests : and translating god-names as merely sacerdotal  designations, assume the whole legend to be based on a tale of  Lama Succession and transmigration. The Titans would then be  the Daityas of India, who were opposed to the faith of the north-  ern tribes ; and the title Dionysus but signify the god or chief-  priest of Nysa, or Mount Meru. The whole story of Orpheus, the  institutor or rather the reformer of the Bacchic rites, has a Hindu  ring all through.     Introduction. 25   philosophy. At first sight, this may l)e hard to believe ;  but we must know that no pageant could hold place so  long, without an under-meaning. Indeed, Herodotus  asserts that " the rites called Orphic and Bacchic are in  reality Egyptian and Pythagorean."* The influence of  the doctrines of Pythagoras upon the Platonic system  is generally acknowledged. It is only important in  that case to understand the great philosopher correctly ;  and we have a key to the doctrines and symbolism of  the Mysteries.   The first initiations of the Eleusinia were called  Telefce or terminations, as denoting that the imperfect  and rudimentary period of generated life was ended  and purged off ; and the candidate was denominated a  mijsfa, a vailed or liberated person. The Greater-  Mysteries completed the work ; the candidate was more  fully instructed and disciplined, becoming an epopta  or seer. He was now regarded as having received the  arcane principles of life. This was also the end sought  by philosophy. The soul was believed to be of com-  posite nature, linked on the one side to the eternal  world, emanating from God, and so partaking of Di-  vinity. On the other hand, it was also allied to the  phenomenal or external world, and so liable to be  subjected to passion, lust, and the bondage of evils.  This condition is denominated genemtion ; and is sup-  posed to be a kind of death to the higher form of life.  Evil is inherent in this condition ; and the soul dwells  * Herodotus: ii. 81.     26 Introduction. .   in the body as in a prison or a grave. In this state, and  previous to the discipline of education and the mysti-  cal initiation, the rational or intellectual element, which  Paul denominates the spiritual, is asleep. The earth-  life is a dream rather than a reality. Yet it has  longings for a higher and nobler form of life, and its  affinities are on high. "All men yearn after God,"  says Homer. The object of Plato is to present to us the  fact that there are in the soul certain ideas or princi-  ples, innate and connatural, which are not derived  from without, but are anterior to all experience, and  are developed and brought to view, but not produced  by experience. These ideas are the most vital of all  truths, and the purpose of instruction and discipline  is to make the individual conscious of them and  willing to be led and inspired b}^ them. The soul  is purified or separated from evils by knowledge,  truth, expiations, sufferings, and prayers. Our life  is a discipline and preparation for another state of  being; and resemblance to God is the highest motive  of action.*   * Many of the early Christian writers were deeply imbued with  the Eclectic or Platonic doctrines. The very forms of speech were  almost identical. One of the four Gospels, bearing the title " ac-  cording to John,'''' was the evident product of a Platonist, and  hardly seems in a considerable degree Jewish or historical. The  epistles ascribed to Paul evince a great familiarity with the Eclec-  tic philosophy and the peculiar symbolism of the Mysteries, as  well as with the Mithraic notions that had penetrated and  permeated the religious ideas of the western countries.     Introduction. 27   Proclus does not hesitate to identify the theological  doctrines with the mystical dogmas of the Orphic  system. He says : '' What Orpheus delivered in hidden  allegories, Pythagoras learned when he was initiated  into the Orphic Mysteries.; and Plato next received a  perfect knowledge of them from the Orphean and  Pythagorean writings."   Mr. Taylor's peculiar style has been the subject of  repeated criticism ; and his translations are not accepted  by classical scholars. Yet they have met with favor at  the hands of men capable of profound and recondite  thinking ; and it must be conceded that he was endowed  with a superior qualification, — that of an intuitive per-  ception of the interior meaning of the subjects which  he considered. Others may have known more Greek,  but he knew more Plato. He devoted his time and  means for the elucidation and dissemination of the doc-  trines of the divine philosopher ; and has rendered into  English not only his writings, but also the works of  other authors, who affected the teachings of the great  master, that have escaped destruction at the hand of  Moslem and Christian bigots. For this labor we can-  not be too grateful.   The present treatise has all the peculiarities of style  which characterize the translations. The principal diffi-  culties of these we have endeavored to obviate — a labor  whicli will, we trust, be not unacceptable to readers.  The book has been for some time out of print ; and no  later writer has endeavored to replace it. There are     28     Introduction.     many who still cherish a regard, almost amounting to  veneration, for the author; and we hope that this repro-  duction of his admirable explanation of the nature and  object of the Mysteries will prove to them a welcome  undertaking. There is an increasing interest in philo-  sophical, mystical, and other antique literature, which  will, we believe, render our labor of some value to a  class of readers whose sympathy, good-will, and fellow-  ship we would gladly possess and cherish. If we have  added to their enjoyment, we shall be doubly gratified.   A. W.      V'euus ami Proserpina iu Hailes.      Rape of Proserplua.   ADVERTISEMENT TO THE AUTHOR'S EDITION.   AS there is nothing more celebrated than the Mys-  ■^l\^ teries of the ancients, so there is perhaps nothing-  which has hitlierto been less solidly known. Of the  trnth of this observation, the liberal reader will, I per-  snade myself, be fully convinced, from au attentive  perusal of the following sheets; in which the secret  meaning of the Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries is un-  folded, from authority the most respectable, and from  a philosophy of all others the most venerable and  august. The authority, indeed, is principally derived  from manuscript writings, which are, of course, in the  possession of but a few; but its respectability is no  more lessened by its concealment, than the value of a  diamond when secluded from the light. And as to the  philosophy, by whose assistance these Mysteries are de-  veloped, it is coeval with the universe itself ; and, how-  ever its continuity maybe broken by opposing systems,  it will make its appearance at different periods of time, as  long as the sun himself shall continue to illuminate the   29     30     Advertisement.     world. It has, indeed, and may hereafter, be violently as-  saulted l)y delusiv^e opinions; but the opposition will be  just as imbecile as that of the waves of the sea against a  temple built on a rock, which majestically pours them   back,   Broken and A^anquish'd, foaming to the main.      Pallas, Venus, aud Diaua.     THE ELEUSINIAN AND BACCHIC      Dionysus as God of the Sun.     a. SECTION I. SJ     DR. WARBURTON, in Ms Divine  Legation of Moses, has ingeniously  proved, that the sixth book of Virgil's  ^neid represents some of the dramatic  exhibitions of the Eleusinian Mysteries ;  but, at the same time, has utterly failed  in attempting to unfold their latent mean-  ing, and obscure though important end.  By the assistance, howevei", of the Pla-  tonic philosophy, I have been enabled to  correct his errors, and to vindicate the  wisdom * of antiquity from his aspersions   * The profounder esoteric doctrines of the ancients were  denominated wisdom, and attevwnrd philosophy, and also the [piosis  or knowledge. They related to the human soul, its divine parent-   31     32 Eleiisinian and   by a genuine account of this sublime  institution; of which the foUowing obser-  vations are designed as a comprehensive  view.   In the fii'st place, then, I shall present  the reader with two superior authorities,  who perfectly demonstrate that a part of  the shows (or dramas) consisted in a  representation of the infernal regions; au-  thorities which, though of the last conse-  quence, were unknown to Dr. Warbiu'ton  himself. The first of these is no less a  person than the immortal Pindar, in a  fragment preserved by Clemens Alexan-  drinus : ^' 'A/J.a %at IJtvoapo^ Trspi xcov sv EXsa-  acvt {Jiua'CTjpuov Xsycov STrcrpspsL OXpcoc, oart?   ^. 6". " But Pindar, speaking of the Eleusinian  Mysteries, says : Blessed is he who, having   age, its supposed degradation from its high estate by becoming  connected with " generation " or the physical world, its onward  progi-ess and restoration to God by regenerations, popularly sup-  posed to be transmigrations, etc. — A. W.  " Stroma la, book iii.     Bacchic Mysteries. 33   seen those common concerns in the under-  world, knows both the end of hfe and its  divine origin from Jupiter." The other of  these is from Prochis in his Commentary  on Plato's Politicus, who, speaking concern-  ing the sacerdotal and symbolical mythol-  ogy, observes, that from this mythology  Plato himseK establishes many of his own  peculiar doctrines, " since in the Phcedo he  venerates, mtli a becoming silence, the  assertion delivered in the arcane discourses,  that men are placed in the body as in a  prison, secured by a guard, and testifies^  accordlny to the mystic cerem^onies, the dif-  ferent allotments of purified and unpuri-  fied souls in Hades, their severed conditions,  and the three-forJicd path from the pecidiar  places where they tcere ; and this was shown  accordiny to traditionary institutions ; every  part of which is full of a symbolical repre-  sentation, as in a dream, and of a descrip-  tion which treated of the ascending and  descending ways, of the tragedies of Dio-  nysus (Bacchus or Zagreus), the crimes of  the Titans, , the three ways in Hades, and     34 Eleusinian and   the wandering of everything of a similar  hind.^^ — "Ar/Aot 5s sv <l>7.too)vt xov ts sv   6'. avi^pcoTTOi, aiyirj xtj Trps'iro'jar^ cs^3(ov, xai  ■:7.c -csXsrac (lege y.7.o %7.-'y. -ac tsXs-c/.) (JLCtp-  -:'jpo{Ji£voc xcov ^La'^optov Xr^^scov -r^; ^^T^'^  %£%ai)-ap|i.£VTj; TS %7.c a^a^aptoy zic, o/joo   rj.lZirjOQ1]Z, r.rjX ZIQ ZS GySGSlC, WJ, V:7.C Xa?   xpio^oDc 7.7:0 x(ov ooGKov 7,7/. x(ov (lege %ai  %7.x7. t(ov), Traipi^cov {)-£a{i(ov ':£7,{i7.ipo[icVOc. a  5'^ z-qc, ao{JL[3o)d%7jc dTuavta ^stopta; sari {xsara,   7,7.L t(OV 7C7.p7. TOIC TZOl'flZrjlC, {)-p'jXXo?J{J.£V(OV   rj.yo^my zs 7.7.t 7,ai)-ooo)v, tcov ts $iovyai7.7C(ov  3'jvi)"^{Ji7.tcov, y.rj.1 xcov TiTy-vizfov onxapiYjixa-   -(OV XSYOJXSVCOV, 'X.7.1 X(OV sv 4^^'-> TpCOOCOV,  7,7.!. XT^C TZKrjyr^C, Y,rjx X(OV T&tOUTCOV d'7L7.VXa)V." *   Ha^dllg iDremised thus much, I now pro-  ceed to prove that the th'amatic spectacles .of  the Lesser Mysteries f were designed by the  ancient theologists, their founders, to signify  occultly the condition of the unpurified soul   * Commentary on the Statesman of Plato, page 374.   t The Lesser Mysteries were celebrated at Agrse ; and the per-  sons there initiated were denominated Mi/sta: Only such could  be received at the sacred rites at Eleusis.     Bacchic Mysteries. 35   invested with an earthly body, and envel-  oped in a material and physical nature ; or,  in other words, to signify that such a soul in  the present life might be said to die, as far  as it is possible for a soul to die, and that  on the dissolution of the present body, while  in this state of impuiity, it would experience  a death still more permanent and profound.  That the soul, indeed, till purified by phi-  losophy,* suffers death through its union with  the body was obvious to the philologist  Macrobius, who, not penetrating the secret  meaning of the ancients, concluded from  hence that they signified nothing more than  the present body, by their descriptions of  the infernal abodes. But this is manifestly  absurd ; since it is universally agreed, that  all the ancient theological poets and philos-  ophers inculcated the doctrine of a future  state of rewards and punishments in the  most full and decisive terms ; at the same  time occultly intimating that the death of  the soul was nothing more than a profound  union with the ruinous bonds of the body.   * Philosophy here relates to discipline of the life.     36 Eleusinian and   Indeed, if these wise men believed in a  future state of retribution, and at the same  time considered a connection with the body-  as death of the soul, it necessarily follows,  that the soul's punishment and existence  hereafter are nothing more than a continu-  ation of its state at present, and a transmi-  gration, as it were, from sleep to sleep, and  from dream to dream. But let us attend  to the assertions of these divine men con-  cerning the soul's union with a material  nature. And to begin with the obscure and  profound Heracleitus, speaking of souls  imembodied: "We live their death, and we  die their life." Z(o{j.£v tov sxslvcov i)-7.v7.':ov,  TsO-vT/Aajisv OS xov £%£lv(ov jiLov. And Em-  pedocles, deprecating the condition termed  " generation," beautifully says of her :   The aspect changing with destruction dread,  She makes the Uv'okj pass into the dead.   Ex \i.z\i yx^ Cojtuv zv.%-1'. VcXpa siOi a|JLj'.j3ojv.   And again, lamenting his connection with  this corporeal world, he pathetically exclaims:     Bacchic Mysteries. 37   For this I weep, for this indulge my woe,   That e'er my soul such novel realms should know.   KXauaa te v.ai xiuxuaot, lowv «afjv*r]i)'sry. ytupov. *   Plato, too, it is well known, considered the  body as the sepulchre of the soul, and in  the Crcifijlus concurs with the doctrine of  Orpheus, that the soul is x>^niished through  its union with body. This was likewise the  opinion of the celebrated Pythagorean, Phi-  lolaus, as is evident from the following re-  markable passage in the Doric dialect, pre-  served by Clemens Alexandrinus in Strom at.  book iii. " Map-cupsovra 5s %c/.t oi TcrjXaifx.  tJ-soXoyoc IS y.r/.i \w,vzzic., 6)C, ^la ziyac, xqj-copiac,   £V a(o{i7.ic XGIJ-Ki) zzd-aizza.i.^'' i. e. " The ancient  theologists and priests * also testify that the  soul is united with the body as if for the  sake of punishment ; f and so is buried in  body as in a sepulchre." And, lastly, Py-   * Greek it-ayxsiq mantels — more properly proi)hets, those filled  by the prophetic mania or eutheasm.   t More correctly — '* The soul is yoked to the body as if by way  of punishment," as culprits were fastened to others or even to  corpses. See PauVs Epistle to the liomans, vii, 25.     38 Eleusinian and   thagoras himself confii'ms the above senti-  ments, when he beautifully observes, accord-  ing to Clemens in the same book, " that  wild fever tee see when airali'e is death ; and  when asleep,- a dreamt brj^rxio;^ sa-rcv, oxoaa   But that the mysteries occultly signi-  fied this sublime truth, that the soul by  being merged in matter resides among the  dead both here and hereafter, though it fol-  lows by a necessary sequence from the preced-  ing observations, yet it is indisputably con-  firmed, by the testimony of the great and  truly divine Plotinus, in Ennead I., book viii.  ''When the soul," says he, '*has descended into  generation (from its first divine condition)  she partakes of evil, and is carried a great  way into a state the opposite of her  first purity and integrity, to he entirely  merged in ivhich, is nothing more than to  fall into dark mire.^^ And again, soon after :  " The soul therefore dies as much as it is pos-  sible for the soul to die : and the death to her  is^ while Mptized or immersed in the present     Bacchic Mysteries. 39   hocly^ to descend into matter * and he wholly  subjected hy it ; and after departing thence  to lie there till it shall arise and turn  its face away from the abhorrent filth.  This is what is meant hy the falling asleep  in Ifades, of those who have come there.'''' j   * Greek ^^>^'<], matter supposed to contain all the principles the  negative of life, order, and goodness.   tThis passage doubtless alludes to the ancient and beautiful  story of Cupid and Psyche, in which Psyche is said to fall asleep  in Hades ; and this through rashly attempting to behold corporeal  beauty : and the observation of Plotinus will enable the profoimd  and contemplative reader to unfold the greater part of the mys-  teries contained in this elegant fable. But, prior to Plotinus,  Plato, in the seventh book of his Republic, asserts that such as  are unable in the present life to apprehend the idea of the good,  will descend to Hades after death, and fall asleep in its dark  abodes. 'Oq av |n-r] syrj o'.op:::aj9'a', xto Xo-|'to, c/.tzo twv aXXtov  Ttavxojv a-^jXiuv ttjv too a-irj.x}oj) torav, v.r/'. inzr.zp £v It-'^'/'fJ 5oa  Tcavtcov sXsY/tuv o'.tt,nuy, jj.s v.ata oo^av aXka v.ax' ouatav npofl'U^oofjLsvo?  eXeY/s'.v, £V Traat. xooto'-c anxcoT: x«) Xo'^w oioi-opsufjxa'., ooxs awzo xo  cnY'/O'CiV rj'jozv cpYjas'.^ e'.osva: xov o'ixiui^ s^ovxa. oozz aWo o.-^rj.^-rr^  ooojv; a),),' s: TC'f] ^iocuXo'j x'.vo; fiiaz.xz'Z'j:., ooJ-/j o'jy. £i:'.-rf|iJ.-(^  c'^aTiXja&ai ; xoci xov vjv fy.vj ovsipciTCoXouvxa, v.ao ijiivtoxovxa, Tip'.v  jvO'ao' E^spY''^^'*' 5 ^-^ aocio TipoxEpov acp:y.o|Ji.svov xsXscoi;  ETTixaxaSapO-aviiv ; ». e. "He who is not able, by the exercise  of his reason, to define the idea of the good, separating it from all  other objects, and piercing, as in a battle, through every kind  of argument ; endeavoring to confute, not according to opinion,  but according to essence, and proceeding through all these dia-  lectical energies with an unshaken reason; — he who can not     40 Bacchic Mysteries.   TLVojisvcp 5s Yj [i£taAT;'|L;; rjjjxrjj^ Fcrpvciac yap   '^lavta^raacv sv ^(p rr^c avc/{xoco-Y^T;oc zotzco,  evd-rj. ooQ BIZ r/jizr^y siz 'p^ij^o^joy axorstvov  SGzrji 'jisacov. — A'JToD-VTjay.cc o'jv, (o;; 'j'''>Z''i '^•'^  iJ-avof xctL 6 ^avoLTO? ao'Tj, xai szl sv ^(o  GOiixazi p£J37.7uua{JL£VY^, sv 6Xy^ sarc y-c/.-aoovac,  7C/.C 7tXYjai)"^vac aozr^Q. Kai si^s/a^oaaYj; sxst  %£iai)'7.L, £(oc av7.opa{ji'(j y,c/.t rj/^2kr^ tzcoc, xy^v  G?J;tv £% ZOO fiopjSopo'j. Kac to'jto sb-'. to sv  4*^00 sXiJ-ovra sTzi'/.rj.za SapiJ-stv. Here the   aeeomplisli this, would j^ou not say, that he neither knows the  good itself, nor anything which is pi'operly denominated good?  And would you not assert that such a one, when he apprehends  any certain image of reality, apprehends it rather through the  medium of opinion than of science ; that in the present life he  is sunk in sleep, and conversant with the delusion of dreams ;  and that before he is roused to a vigilant state he will descend  to Hades, and be overwhelmed with a sleep perfectly profound."  Henry Davis ti-anslates this passage more critically: "Is not  the ease the same with i"eference to the good ? Whoever can not  logically define it, abstracting the idea of the good from all  others, and taking, as in a fight, one opposing argument after  another, and can not proceed with unfailing proofs, eager to rest  his ease, not on the ground of opinion, but of true being, — such a  one knows nothing of the r/ood itself, nor of any good whatever ;  and should he have attained to any knowledge of the (jood, we  must say that he has attained it by opinion, not by science  {sKizzfiiirj) ; that he is sleeping and dreaming away his present  life ; and before he is roused will descend to Hades, and there  be profoundly and perfectly laid asleep." vii. 14.     Bacchic Mysteries. 43   reader may observe that the obsciu'e doc-  trine of the Mysteries mentioned by Plato  in the Phcedo^ that the nnpurified soul in a  future state lies immerged in mire, is beauti-  fully explained; at the same time that our  assertion concerning their secret meaning  is not less substantially confirmed.* In a  similar manner the same divine philosopher,  in his book on the Beautiful, Ennead^ I., book  vi., explains the fable of Narcissus as an em-  blem of one who rushes to the contempla-  tion of sensible (phenomenal) forms as if  they were perfect realities, when at the  same time they are nothing more than Uke  beautiful images appearing in water, falla-  cious and vain. " Hence," says he, " as Nar-  cissus, by catching at the shadow, plunged  himself in the stream and disappeared, so  he who is captivated by beautiful bodies,  and does not depart fi'om their embrace,  is precipitated, not with his body, but with   * Phcedo, 38. " Those who instituted the Mysteries for us ap-  pear to have intimated that whoever shall arrive in Hades un-  ptirified and not initiated shall lie in mud ; but he who arrives there  purified and initiated' shall dwell with the gods. For there are  many hearers* of the wand or thyrsus, but few who are inspired."     44 Eleusiniari and   his soul, into a darkness profound and repug-  nant to intellect (the higher soul),* through  which, remaining bhnd both here and in  Hades, he associates with shadows." Tov   T(ov, Tcai [j--^ ojjfiEiQ^ 00 t(o (j{\)\w-i.^ zr^ os '\'y/ri   -iX.rjXOL^O'jezrM^ BIC, axOTTStVa 7.rj.l azsrj'K'fj TO) vco  [5ai)-Tj, SvO-a T'JCpXo? SV O^d^JJ {JL£V(0V, /.oll sv-   taoi^a %q:x£t a%iat? oovsaTL And what still  farther confirms our exposition is that mat-  ter was considered by the Egyptians as a  certain mire or mud. " The Egyptians,"  says Simplicius, " called matter, which they  symbolically denominated water, the dregs  or sediment of the first life ; matter being,  as it were, a certain mire or mud.f Aco xat  AiyuTTtioi TTjV Z'qc, xpcoxr^c C(t)'^/C, y^v 'jdcop Gtj\i-  |5oAt%(oc sxaXofjv, 67roaxai)-{jLT;v rr^v 'jXtjv sXs-  yov, oiov ihjv ziya ooaav. So that fi*om all   * Intellect, Greek vouc, nous, is the higher faculty of the mind.  It is substantially the same as the pncH))ia, or spirit, treated of in  the New Testament; and hence the term '^ iiifcUectual," as used  in Mr. Taylor's translation of the Platonic writers, may be  pretty safely read as spiritual, by those familiar with the Chris-  tian cultus. * A. W.   t Physics of Aristotle.     Bacchic Mysteries. 45   tliat has been said we may safely conclude  with Ficinus, whose words are as express to  our purpose as possible. " Lastly," says he,  "that I may comprehend the opinion of the  ancient theologists, on the state of the soul  after death, in a few words : tlieij considered^  as we have elsewhere asserted, things divine  as the only realities^ and that all others  were only the images and shadows of  truth. Hence they asserted that prudent  men, who earnestly employed themselves in  divine concerns, were above all others in a  vigilant state. But that imprudent [/. e.  without foresight] men, who pursued objects  of a different nature, being laid asleep, as it  were, were only engaged in the delusions  of dreams ; and that if they happened to  die in this sleep, before they were roused,  they would be afflicted with similar and  still more dazzling visions in a future state.  And that as he who in this life pursued  realities, would, after death, enjoy the high-  est truth, so he who pursued deceptions  would hereafter be tormented with fallacies  and delusions in the extreme : as the one     46 Eleusinian and   would be delighted with true objects of  enjoyment, so the other would be tor-  mented with delusive semblances of reali-  ty." — Denique ut priscormn theologorum  sententiam de statu animae post mortem  paucis comprehendam : sola di\ina (ut alias  diximus) arbitrantur res veras existere, re-  hqua esse rerum verarum imagines atque  umbras. Ideo prudentes homines, qui divi-  nis incumbunt, prae ceteris vigilare. Impm-  dentes autem, qui sectantur alia, insomniis  omnino quasi dormientes illudi, ac si in  hoc somno priusquam expergefacti fuerint  moriantur similibus post (hscessum et acri-  oribus visionibus angi. Et sicut emn qui  in vita veris incubuit, post mortem summa  veritate potiri, sic eum qui falsa sectatus  est, fallacia extrema torqueri, ut ille rebus  veris oblectetur, hie falsis vexetur simu-  lachris." *   But notwithstanding this important truth  was obscurely hinted by the Lesser Myster-  ies, we must not suppose that it was gen-   *FiciNUs: De ImmortaL Aniin. book xviii.     Bacchic Mysteries. 47   erally known even to the initiated persons  themselves : for as individuals of almost  all descriptions were admitted to these rites,  it would have been a ridiculous prostitution  to disclose to the multitude a theory so ab-  stracted and sublime.* It was sufficient to  instruct these in the doctrine of a future  state of rewards and punishments, and in  themeans of returning to the principles  from which they originally fell : for this   * We observe in the Netv Testament a like disposition on the part  of Jesns and Paul to classify their doctrines as esoteric and ex-  oteric, ''the Mysteries of the kingdom of God" for the apostles,  and "pai'ables" for the multitude. "We speak wisdom," says  Paul, "among them that are perfect" (or initiated), etc. 1 Cor-  intliians, ii. Also Jesus declares : "It is given to you to know the  Mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given;  therefore I speak to them in parables : because they seeing, see  not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand."  — Matthew xiii., 11-13. He also justified the withholding of the  higher and interior knowledge from the untaught and ill-disposed,  in the memorable Sermon on the Mount. — Matthew vii. :   •'Give ye not that which is sacred to the dogs,  Neither cast ye your pearls to the swine ;  For the swine will tread them under their feet  And the dogs will turn and rend you."   This same division of the Christians into neophytes and perfect,  appears to have been kept up for centuries ; and Godfrey Higgins  asserts that it is maintained in the Roman Cliurch. — A. W.     48 Eleusinian and   last piece of information was, according to  Plato in the PJuedo, the ultimate design of  the Mysteries ; and the former is necessarily  infeiTed from the present discourse. Hence  the reason why it was obvious to none hut  the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophers,  who derived their theology from Orpheus  himseK,* the original founder of these sacred  institutions; and why we meet with no in-  formation in this particular in any writer  prior to Plotinus ; as he was the first who,  having penetrated the profound interior wis-  dom of antiquity, delivered it to posterity  without the concealments of mystic symbols  and fabulous narratives.     VIBGIL NOT A PLATONIST.   Hence too, I think, we may infer, with  the greatest probabihty, that this recondite  meaning of the Mysteries was not known   * Herodotus, ii. 51, 81.   "What Orpheus delivered in hidden allegories Pythagoras  learned when he was initiated into the Orphic Mysteries ; and  Plato next received a knowledge of them from the Orphic and  Pythagorean writings."     Bacchic Mysteries. 49   even to Virgil himself, who has so elegantly  described their external form ; for notwith-  standing the traces of Platonism which are  to be found in the ^neid, nothing of any  great depth occurs throughout the whole,  except what a superficial reading of Plato  and the dramas of the Mysteries might easily  afford. But this is not perceived by modern  readers, who, entirely luiskilled themselves in  Platonism, and fascinated by the charms of  his poetry, imagine him to be deeply knowing  in a subject with which he was most hkely  but slightly acquainted. This opinion is still  farther strengthened by considering that the  doctrine delivered in his Eclogues is perfectly  Epicurean, which was the fashionable phi-  losophy of the Augustan age ; and that there  is no trace of Platonism in any other part of  his works but the present book, which, con-  taining a representation of the Mysteries,  was necessarily obliged to display some of  the principal tenets of this philosophy, so  far as they illustrated and made a part of  these mystic exhibitions. However, on the  supposition that this book presents us with     50 , Eleusinian and   a faithful view of some part of these sacred  rites, and this accompanied with the utmost  elegance, harmony, and purity of versifica-  tion, it ought to be considered as an invalu-  able rehc of antiquity, and a precious mon-  ument of venerable mysticism, recondite  wisdom, and theological information.* This  will be sufficiently e\ddent from what has  been already delivered, by considering some  of the beautiful descriptions of this book in  their natural order; at the same time that  the descriptions themselves will corroborate  the present elucidations.   In the first place, then, when he says,   faeilis descensus Averno.     Noetes atque dies patet atra janua ditis :   Sed revoeare gradum, superasqiie evadere ad aiiras,   Hoe opus, hie labor est. Pauei quos sequus amavit   Jupiter, aut ardens evexit ad sethera virtus,   Dis geniti potuere. Tenent media omnia silvae,   Cocytusque siuu labens, circumvenit atro 1   * Ancient Symhol-Worship, page 11, noie.   t Davidson^s Translation. — " Easy is the path that leads down to  hell ; grim Pluto's gate stands open night and day : but to retrace  one's steps, and escape to the upper regions, this is a work, this is  a task. Some few, whom favoring Jove loved, or illustrious virtue     Bacchic Mysteries. 51   is it not obvious, from tlie preceding expla-  nation, that by Avernus, in this place, and  the dark gates of Pluto, we mnst understand  a corporeal or external nature, the descent  into which is, indeed, at all times obvious  and easy, but to recall our steps, and ascend'  into the upper regions, or, in other words,  to separate the soul from the body by the  purifying discipline, is indeed a mighty work,  and a laborious task ? For a few only, the fa-  vorites of heaven, that is, born with the true  philosophic genius,^ and whom ardent virtue  has elevated to a disposition and capacity for  divine contemplation, have been enabled to  accomplish the arduous design. But when  he says that all the middle regions are  covered with woods, this hkewise plainly in-  timates a material nature ; the word silva^ as  is well known, being used by ancient writers  to signify matter, and implies nothing more  than that the passage leading to the barafh-   advaneecl to heaven, the sons of the gods, have effected it.  Woods cover all the intervening space, and Cocytus, gliding with  his black, winding flood, surrounds it."   * /. e., a disposition to investigate for the purpose of eliciting  truth, and reducing it to practice.     52 Meusinian and   rum [abyss] of body, /. e. into profound  darkness and oblivion, is throngh the me-  dium of a material nature ; and this medium  is surrounded by the black bosom of Cocy-  tus,* that is, by bitter weeping and lamenta-  tions, the necessary consequence of the soul's  union with a nature entirely foreign to her  own. So that the poet in this particular per-  fectly corresponds with Empedocles in the  line we have cited above, where he exclaims,  alluding to this union.   For this I weej), for this indulge my icoe,   That e'er my soul such novel realms should know.   In the next place, he thus describes the  cave, through which ^neas descended to  the infernal regions :   Spelunea alta fuit, vastoque immanis hiatu,  Scrupea, tuta lacu nigro, raemorumque tenebris :  Quam super hand ulla? poterant impune volantes  Tendere iter pennis : talis sese halitus atris  Faueicus effundens supera ad eonvexa fevebat :  Unde locum Graii dixerimt nomiue Aornum 1   * Coeytus, lamentation, a river in the Underworld.  \ Davidson^ s Trnnslation. — "There was a cave profound and  hideous, with wide yawning mouth, stony, fenced by a black lake,     Bacchic Mysteries. 53   Does it not afford a beautiful representation  of a corporeal nature, of which a cave, de-  fended with a black lake, and dark woods,  is an obvious emblem *? For it occultly re-  minds us of the ever-flowing and obscin*e  condition of such a nature, which may be  said   To roll incessant with impetuous speed,  Like some dai'k river, into Matter's sea.   Nor is it with less propriety denominated  Aornus, i. e. destitute of birds, or a winged  nature ; for on account of its native sluggish-  ness and inactivity, and its merged condi-   and the gloom of woods ; over which none of the flying kind were  able to wing their way unliurt ; such exhalations issuing from its  grim jaws ascended to the vaulted skies ; for w^iich reason the  Greeks called the place by the name of Aornos" (without birds).   Jacob Bryant says: " All fountains were esteemed sacred, but  especially those which had any preternatural quality and abounded  with exhalations. It was an universal notion that a divine energy  proceeded from these effluvia ; and that the persons who resided  in their vicinity were gifted with a prophetic quality. . . . The  Ammonians styled such fountains Ain Omphe, or fountains of the  oracle ; o|j,<pY], oniphe, signifying ' the voice of God.' These terms  the Greeks contracted to Nofj-'fY], numphe, a nymph." — Ancient  Mythology, vol. i. p. 276.   The Delphic oracle was above a fissure, (jnnnous or hocca infe-  riore, of the earth, and the pythoness inhaled the vapors. — A. W.     51 Eleiisinian and   tion, being situated in the outmost extremity  of tilings, it is perfectly debile and languid,  incapable of ascending into the regions of  reality, and exchanging its obscure and de-  graded station for one every way splendid  and divine. The propriety too of sacrificing,  previous to his entrance, to Night and Earth,  is obvious, as both these are emblems of a  corporeal nature.   In the verses which immediately follow, —   Ecee autem, priini sub limina solis et ortus,  Sub peclibus mugire solum, et juga eaepta movere  Silvarum, visaque canes ululare per umbram,  Adventante dea *   we may perceive an evident allusion to the  earthquakes, etc., attending the descent of  the soul into body, mentioned by Plato in  the tenth book of his Republic ;\ since the   * " So, now, at the fii-st beams and rising of tlie sun, the earth  under the feet begins to rumble, the wooded hills to quake, and  dogs were seen howling through the shade, as the goddess came  hither "   i Republic, x, 16. "After they were laid asleep, and midnight  was approaching, there was thunder and earthquake ; and they  were thence on a sudden carried upward, some one way, and  some another, approaching to the region of generation like stars."     Bacchic Mysteries. 55   lapse of the soul, as we shall see more fully  hereafter, was one of the important truths  which these Mysteries were intended to re-  veal. And the howling dogs are symbols  of material * demons, who are thus denomi-  nated by the Magian Oracles of Zoroaster,  on account of then" ferocious and malevolent  dispositions, ever baneful to the felicity of  the human soul. And hence Matter herseK  is represented by Synesius in his first Hymn,  with great propriety and beauty, as barking  at the soul with devoimng rage : for thus he  sings, addressing himself to the Deity :   Maxap 6c x:c popov oImc,  npacpUY^JV o\r/.'(ixa, v-w. yxc,  AvaouCj a/.p.«tt xoo'^po)  lyyoc, £? t^sov v.xo.vjzi.   Which may be thus paraphrased :   Blessed! thrice blessed! who, with winged speed,  From Hyle's t dread voracious bai'kiug flies,   * Material demons are a lower grade of spiritual essences that  are capable of assuming forms which make them perceptible by  the physical senses. — A. W.   t Hijle or Matter. All evil incident to human life, as is here  shown, was supposed to originate from the connection of the soul  to material substance, the latter being regarded as the receptacle     56 EleMsinian and   And, leaving Earth's obscnrity behind,  By a light leap, directs his steps to thee.   And that material demons actually ap-  peared to the initiated previous to the lucid  visions of the gods themselves, is evident  from the following passage of Proclus in  his manuscript Commentary on tlie first  Alcibiades : sv zaic rj.-(iozazaic tcov tsaskov  Tzrjo zr^z GoO'j Tcapo'jaia? daqiovov /iS'Gvuov £%-  poAat xpocpacvov~ry.t, -Ani rxr.o aov aypavtcov  ayai^cov zic zr^v ohriy 7ipoy,i7.Xou{JLSvaL /. e.  " In the most interior sanctities of the Mys-  teries, before the presence of the god, the  rushing forms of earthly demons appear, and  call the attention from the immaculate good  to matter." And Pletho (on the Oracles),  expressly asserts, that these spectres ap-  peared in the shape of dogs.   After this, ^neas is described as proceed-  ing to the infernal regions, through profound  night and darkness :   Ibant obscixri sola sub nocte per iimbram,  Perque domos Ditis vaciias, et inania regna.   of everything evil. But why the soul is thus immerged and pun-  ished is nowhere explained. — A. W.     Bacchic Mysteries. 57   Quale per ineertam lunam sub luce maligna  Est iter in silvis : ubi cfehim condidit umbra  Jupiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.*   And this with the greatest propriety; for  the Mysteries, as is well known, were cele-  brated by night ; and in the Republic of  Plato, as cited above, souls are described as  falling into the estate of generation at mid-  night ; this period being peculiarly accom-  modated to the darkness and oblivion of a  corporeal nature ; and to tliis circumstance  the nocturnal celebration of the Mysteries  doubtless alluded.   In the next place, the following vivid  description presents itself to our view :   Vestibulum ante ipsum, primisqiie in faiicibus Orei  Luctus, et ultrices posuere eubilia Curte :  Pallentesque habitant morbi, tristisque senectus,  Et Metus, et mala suada Fames, ac turpis egestas;   *" They went along, amid the gloom under the solitary night,  through the shade, and through the desolate halls, and empty  realms of Dis [Pluto or Hades]. Such is a journey in the woods  beneath the unsteady moon with her niggard light, when Jupiter  has enveloped the sky in shade, and the black Night has taken  from all objects their color."     58 Eleiisinian and   Terribiles visu forraje ; Lethumque Laborque ;  Turn consanguineus Lethi Sopor et mala mentis  Gaudia, mortiferumqiie adverso in limine bellum  Ferreique Eumenidum thalami et Discordia demons,  Vipereum crinem vittis inuexa cruentis.  In medio ramos annosaque braehia pandit  Ulmus opaca ingens : quam sedem somnia vulgo  Vana tenere feruut, foliisqlie sub omnibus ba?i'ent.  Multaque prseterea variarum monstra f erarum :  Centauri in foribus stabiilant, Scyllseque biforines,  Et centumgeminus Briareus, ac bellua Lernse,  Horrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimgera,  Gorgones Hai'pyigeque, et foi'mo tricorpoi-is umbrae.* ^   And surely it is impossible to draw a more  lively picture of the maladies with wliich a   * "Before the entrance itself, and in the first jaws of Hell, Grief  and vengeful Cares have placed their couches; pale Diseases in-  habit there, and sad Old Age, and Fear, and Want, evil goddess  of persuasion, and unsightly Poverty — forms terrible to contem-  plate ! and there, too, are Death and Toil ; then Sleep, akin to  Death, and evil Delights of mind ; and upon the opposite threshold  are seen death-bringing War, and the iron marriage-couches of  the Furies, and raving Discord, with her viper-hair bound with  gory wreaths. In the midst, an Elm dark and huge expands its  boughs and aged limbs ; making an abode which vain Dreams are  said to haunt, and under whose every leaf they dwell. Besides all  these, are many monstrous api^aritions of various wild beasts. The  Centaurs harbor at the gates, and double-formed Scyllas, the hun-  dred-fold Briareus, the Snake of Lerna, hissing dreadfully, and  Chimasra armed with flames, the Gorgons and the Harpies, and  the shades of three-bodied form."     Bacchic Mysteries. 59   material natui'e is connected ; of the sonl's  dormant condition tlirougli its union with  body ; and of the various mental diseases to  which, through such a conjunction, it be-  comes unavoidably subject ; for this descrip-  tion contains a threefold division ; represent-  ing, in the first place, the external evil with  which this material region is replete ; in the  second place, intimating that the life of the  soul when merged in the body is nothing but  a dream; and, in the third place, under the dis-  guise of multiform and terrific monsters, ex-  hibiting the various vices of our iiTational and  sensuous part. Hence Empedocles, in perfect  conformity w^th the first part of this descrip-  tion, calls this material abode, or the realms  of generation, — a-c£p:r£.oc /(opov,* a '^joyless  region^   "Where slaiighter, rage, ami countless ills reside;  EvO'a <povo5 Ts %0'zoc, tj v.rv. rj^Xtuv sftvsa llYjpWV   and into which those who fall,   * This and the other citations from Empedocles are to be found  in the book of Hieroeles on The Golden Verses of Pythagoras.     60 Bacchic Mysteries.   "Through Ate's meads and dreadful darkness stray."     And hence lie justly says to sncli a soul,  that   " She flies from deity and heav'nly light,  To serve mad Discord in the realms of night."     iSf.v.ti ij.a'.vo,asv(t) -tGOvo;.     Where too we may observe that the Discordla  demens of Virgil is an exact translation of  the Nsixst {iaivo{j.£vco of Empeclocles.     In the hues, too, which immediately suc-  ceed, the sorrows and mournful miseries  attending the soul's union with a material  nature, are beautifully described.   Hinc via, Tartarei quae fert Aeherontis ad nndas;  Turbidus hie caeno vastaque voragine gurges  ^stuat, atque omuem Coeyto eructat arenam.*   And when Charon calls out to ^neas to   * "Here is the way whieli leads to the surging billows of Hell  [Acheron] ; here an abyss turbid boils up with loathsome mud and  vast whirlpools; and vomits all its quicksand into Cocytus."      IJiaua auct Calisto.     Bacchic Mysteries. 63   desist from entering any farther, and tells  him,   " Here to reside delusive shades delight;   ''F.or nought dwells here but sleep and drowsy night."   Umbrarum hie locus est, Somni Noctisque soporse   nothing can more aptly express the condi-  tion of the dark regions of body, into which  the soul, when descending, meets with no-  thing but shadows and drowsy night : and  by persisting in her course, is at length lulled  into profound sleep, and becomes a true in-  habitant of the phantom-abodes of the dead.   ^neas having now passed over the Sty-  gian lake, meets with the three-headed mon-  ster Cerberus,* the guardian of these infernal  abodes :   Tandem trans fluvium incolumis vatemque virumque  Informi limo glaueaque exponit in ulva.   * The presence of Cerberus in Grecian and Roman descriptions  of the Underworld shows that the ideas of the poets and mythol-  ogists were derived, not only from Egypt, but from the Brahmans  of the far East. Yama, the lord of the Underworld, is attended  by his dog Karharu, the spotted, styled also Trikasa, the three-  headed.     64 Meusinian and   Cerberus haec ingens latratu regna trifauci  Personat, adverse recubaus immanis in antro.*   By Cerberus we must understand the dis-  criminative part of the soul, of which a dog,  on account of its sagacity, is an emblem ; and  the three heads signify the triple distinction  of this part, into the intellective [or intui-  tional], cogitative [or rational], and opinion-  ative powers. — With respect f to the three  kinds of persons described as situated on the  borders of the infernal realms, the poet  doubtless intended by this enumeration to  represent to us the three most remarkable   * "At length across the river safe, the prophetess and the man,  he lands upon the slimy strand, upon the blue sedge. Huge Cer-  berus makes these realms [of death] resound with barking from his  threefold throat, as he lies stretched at prodigious length in the  opposite cave."   tin the second edition these terms are changed to dianoietic  and doxastic, words which we cannot adopt, as they are not  accepted English terms. The nous, intellect or spirit, pertains  to the higher or intuitional part of the mind; the dianoia or  understanding to the reasoning faculty, and the doxa, or opinion-  forming power, to the faculty of investigation. — Plotinus, accept-  ing this theory of mind, says: "Knowledge has three degrees —  opinion, science, and illumination. The means or instrument of  the first is reception ; of the second, dialectic ; of the third, in-  tuition."— A. W.     Bacchic Mysteries. 65   characters, wlio, though not apparently de-  serving of punishment, are yet each of them  similarly im merged in matter, and conse-  quently require a similar degree of purifica-  tion. The persons described are, as is well  known, first, the souls of infants snatched  away by untimely ends ; secondly, such as  are condemned to death unjustly ; and, third-  ly, those who, weary of their lives, become  guilty of suicide. And with respect to the  first of these, or infants, their connection  with a material nature is obvious. The sec-  ond sort, too, who are condemned to death  unjustly, must be supposed to represent the  souls of men who, though innocent of one  crime for which they were wrongfully pun-  ished, have, notwithstanding, been guilty of  many crimes, for which they are receiving  proper chastisement in Hades, i. e, through  a profoiuid union with a material nature.*  And the third sort, or suicides, though ap-   * Hades, the Underworld, supposed by classical students to be  the region or estate of departed souls, it will have been noticed, is  regarded by Mr. Taylor and other Platonists, as the human body,  which they consider to be the grave and place of punishment of  the soul. — A. W.     66 Eleusinian and   parently separated from the body, have only  exchanged one place for another of similar  nature ; since conduct of this kind, according  to the arcana of divine philosophy, instead  of separating the soul from its body, only  restores it to a condition perfectly correspon-  dent to its former inchnations and habits,  lamentations and woes. But if we examine  this affair more profoundly, we shall find  that these three characters are justly placed  in the same situation, because the reason of  punishment is in each equally obscure. For  is it not a just matter of doubt why the  souls of infants should be punished? And  is it not equally dubious and wonderful why  those who have been unjustly condemned to  death in one period of existence should be  punished in another? And as to suicides,  Plato in Ms PJicvdo says that the prohibition  of this crime in the aTzorjfjrfa {aporrheta) *  is a profound doctrine, and not easy to be   * Aporrheta, tbe areaue or confidential disclosures made to the  candidate undergoing initiation. In the Eleusinia, these were  made by the Hierophant, and enforced by him from the Book  of InterpretatInterpretation, said to have consisted of two tablets of stone.  This was the petroma, a name usuallj' derived from j^e^ra, a rock,     Bacchic Mysteries. 67   understood.* Indeed, the true cause why  the two first of these characters are in Hades,  can only be ascertained from the fact of a prior  state of existence, in surveying which, the  latent justice of punishment will be mani-  festly revealed ; the apparent inconsistencies  in the administration of Providence fully  reconciled; and the doubts concerning the  wisdom of its proceedings entirely dissolved.  And as to the last of these, or suicides, since  the reason of their punishment, and why an  action of this kind is in general highly  atrocious, is extremely mystical and obscure,  the following solution of this difficulty will,  no doubt, be gratefully received by the Pla-  tonic reader, as the whole of it is no where  else to be found but in manuscript. Olym-   or possibly from iflD, J)eier, an interpreter. See //. Corinthians,  xii. 6-8.— A. W.   * PJuedo, 16. " The instruction in the doctrine given in the  Mysteries, that we human beings are in a kind of prison, and  that we ought not to free ourselves from it or seek to- escape,  appears to me difficult to be understood, and not easy to ap-  prehend. The gods take care of us, and we are theirs."   Plotinus, it will be remembered, perceived by the interior  faculty that Porphyry contemplated suicide, and admonished  him accordingly. — A. W.     68 Eleusinian and   piodorus, then, a most learned and excellent  commentator on Plato, in his commentary  on that part of the PJuedo where Plato  speaks of the prohibition of suicide in the  aporrhefa, observes as follows: "The argu-  ment which Plato employs in this place  against suicide is derived fi^om the Orphic  mythology, in which foui" kingdoms are  celebrated; the first of Uranus [Ouranos]  (Heaven), whom Ki'onos or Satm^n as-  saulted, cutting off the genitals of his  father.* But after Saturn, Zeus or Jupiter  succeeded to the government of the world,  having hurled his father into Tartarus. And  after Jupiter, Dionysus or Bacchus rose to  light, who, according to report, was, through  the insidious treachery of Hera or Juno, torn  in pieces by the Titans, by whom he was sur-  rounded, and who afterwards tasted his flesh :  but Jupiter,enraged at the deed, hurled his  thunder at the guilty offenders and consumed  them to ashes. Hence a certain matter be-   * In the Hindu mythology, from which this symbolism is  evidently derived, a deity deprived thus of the lingam or phal-  lus, parted with his diviue authority.     Bacchic Mysteries. 69   ing formed from the ashes or sooty vapor  of the smoke ascending from their burning  bodies, out of this mankind were produced.  It is unlawful, therefore, to destroy ourselves,  not as the words of Plato seem to unport,  because we are in the body, as in prison,  secured by a guard (for this is evident,  and Plato would not have called such an  assertion arcane), but because our body is  Dionysiacal,* or of the nature of Bacchus :  for we are a part of him, since we are  composed from the ashes, or sooty  vapor of the Titans who tasted his  flesh. Socrates, therefore, as if fearful of  disclosing the arcane part of this narra-  tion, relates nothing more of the fable  than that we are placed as in a prison  secured by a guard : but the interpreters re-  late the fable openly." Koci z^zi zo {j.'ji>c7,ov  s-jrc/sijOT^pioL TGCOUtov. Ilapa tcp Oprpst xsaaaps^  paaiXsiat 'juapa^c^ovxaL Ilptor^ [jisv, rj xo'j  Oopctvoy, Tjv 6 Kpovoc Sis^s^axo, sxtsij-cov xct  atSota zoo 'irairpoc. Msxa qt^ tov Kpovov, 6   * From Dionysus, the Greek name of Bacchus, and usually so  translated.     70 Elensinian and   Ze'jc £p7.3'J.£'j3£v '/.c/.-aTapxapwaac 'uov 7:7.-  zz[j^j.. Vjizrj. -ov Ac7. ^Ls^scato 6 Atov'jaoc, 6v  (paac '/.at' £i:c[io'jAY^v rr^? 11^7.^ todc :r£pi a'jto'j  TtTavac STrapaTrstv, %7.c tcov aapxtov a'jtcj   £7,cp7.'JV(03£, X7.t £7, "T^? 7.Cl)-7.AY^C '^03V 7.i:{J-C0V  '(OV 7.V7.50i)-£Vr(OV £s 7.'J':C0V, 6aT^s Y£V0{J-£VY^^  YEVEGil-a^ lO'JC 7.V\)-p(OTrO!JC. Ou 0£l GOV ECa^frj.  Y£CV Y/^i.7.;: £7'J-0'J^, O'J/ OZl 0)^ 5o%£l }v£Y£'.V Y^   Xe^iQ, 5io-'. £v Tiv: 5£C[X(o £a{j-£v xc;3 a(0|X7.rr   TO'JTO Y'^-I^ 5y^).0V £C"^ y.7.l 0'J% 7.V 'ZO'JZO 7.7:0p-  P(J.-0V £X£Y£, 7./X OZl O'J OSl £^7.Y7Y£LV Y^{J.7^  ka.OZ'j'JZ MC, ZO'J (jO)\XazrjC, Y^{X(0V 5i0V'J3C7.%0U  OVrO:;' 'jX£pO^ Y'^-P '^-'J''^'J £3[1£V, £rj'£ £% tYjC   al^•'yXr^z xwv Ti':7.vcov a'JY/.£qJL£i)-7. y^'->^''^-1^*~   V(OV ZiOy a7.p7,(0V XOrjtOy. '0 {JL£V O'JV ]^(07,p7-  XY;C £pY^!^ '^'^ 7.7U0pp'^I0V 5£l'X,V'JC, XO'J {J-'Ji)-0'J   0'jo£v 7rA£ov TupoaxiiJ-jxat xoo (o? £v xivi rppo'jpa  £a(JL£v. 'Oi 5£ £^YjYYjT;7.i xov jx'jO-ov xpoaxiO-£-  7a:v £|(oi)-£v. After this he beautifully ob-  serves, " That these four governments signify  the different gradations of virtues, accord-  ing to which oui^ soul contains the symbols  of all the qualities, both contemplative and  purifying, social and ethical; for it either     Bacchic Mysteries. 71   operates acoording to the theoretic or con-  templative virtues, the model of which is the  government of Uranus or Heaven^ that we  may begin from on high ; and on this ac-  count Uranus (Heaven) is so called irctpa  TOO la avco 6pc/.v, from beholding the things  above : Or it lives purely, the exemplar of  which is the Kronian or Satiu^nian kingdom ;  and on this account Kronos is named as  Koro-nous, one who perceives through him-  self. Hence he is said to devour his own  offspring, signifying the conversion of him-  self into his own substance : — or it operates  according to the social virtues, the sym-  bol of which is the government of Jupiter.  Hence, Jupiter is styled the Demiurgus,  as operating about secondary things : — or  it operates according to both the ethical  and physical virtues, the symbol of which  is the kingdom of Bacchus ; and on this  account is fabled to be torn in pieces by  the Titans, because the virtues are not cut  off by each other." Aiyozzoyzai (lege aLVL-c-  tovtat) 5s zo'jc, ocarpspofjc '^jrj.^\i.o'jc, x(ov aps-  xtov v.rj.d-' ac, -ri fj{X£xspa ^^yji ayjApoXa e'/oo:ja     72 Bacchic Mysteries.   iraawv tcov apsKov, icov tis O-scopYj'iL'jctov, otat   yap ')C7.-a xa^ {^SfoprjitTca? svspyst cbv Tza^jo.-  ^sr^xc/. Tj xo'j oopavotj pctaLAsta, lv7. avoiii-sv  ap^a{j.£i)-a, 5io y,at orjp7.voc sipr^'a: irapa xo'j  T7. av(o opcjLV. 'H '/c^i^apTi^o)? C'^j? '^jC 'irapa-  Sstyjxa Y; Kpovsia jiaacXstc/., oio %at Kpovoc st-  p'Ajtai OLOv xopovofjc tic 03V 5ia zo s7.ytov  6pav. Aio y,7/w xaxamveiv ta ocxsia ysw/)-  {laxa Xsysta^ (o? a'jro^ 'jrpoc saozov sTutatps-  cpcov. 'H 7,7.1:7. X7.C TcoXtttxac tov arj{j.|3oAov, T)   XOU AlOZ ^7.aLX£t7., OLO %7.t $Tj{J.tGfJpYOC 6 ZstJt;,   (0? TuspL t;7 $£'jr£p7. svspYcov. 'H %at7 tac r^^'l-   %aC %7C CpDa:7,7.? 7.p£'C7.C, tOV aUV^oXoV, Tj tou   A'.ovfjaou paatXsca, 5co y-ai a^apa-Tsrai, 5wti  O'JT, aviate- AooO-o'jaiv aXXr^Xatc 7.t 7.p£X7.i.  And thus far Olympiodorus ; in which pas-  sages it is necessary to observe, that as the  Titans are the artificers of things, and stand  next in order to their creations, men are  said to be composed from their fragments,  because the human soul has a partial life  capable of proceeding to the most extreme  division united with its proper natiu'e. And  while the soul is in a state of servitude to       Kleusinian Mysteries.     Bacchic Mysteries. 75   the body, she hves confined, as it were, in  bonds, througli the dominion of this Titan-  ical life. We may observe farther concerning  these dramatic shows of the Lesser Mys-  teries, that as they were intended to rep-  resent the condition of the soul while  subservient to the body, we shall find that  a liberation from this servitude, through the  purifying disciplines, potencies that separate  from evil, was what the wisdom of the an-  cients intended to signify by the descent of  Hercules, Ulysses, etc., into Hades, and their  speedy return from its dark abodes. ' ' Hence,"  says Proclus, " Hercules being purified by  sacred initiations^ obtained at length a per-  fect estabhshment among the gods:"* that  is, well knowing the dreadful condition of  his soul while in captivity to a corporeal  nature, and purifying himself by practice of  the cleansing virtues, of which certain puri-  fications in the mystic ceremonies were sym-  bolical, he at length was freed from the  bondage of matter, and ascended beyond her   Commentary on the Statesman of Plato, p. 382.     76 Meusinian and   reach. On this account, it is said of him,  that   " He dragg'd the three-mouth'd dog to upper day ; "   intimating that by temperance, continence,  and the other virtues, he drew upwards the  intuitional, rational, and opinionative part of  the soul. And as to Theseus, who is repre-  sented as . suffering eternal punishment in  Hades, we must consider him too as an  allegorical character, of which Proclus, in the  above-cited admirable work, gives the fol-  lowing beautiful explanation : " Theseus and  Pirithous," says he, " are fabled to have ab-  ducted Helen, and descended to the infernal  regions, i. e. they were lovers both of mental  and visible beauty. Afterward one of these  (Theseus), on account of his magnanimity,  was Hberated by Hercules from Hades ; but  the other (Pirithous) remained there, be-  cause he could not attain the difficult height  of divine contemplation." This account, in-  deed, of Theseus can by no means be recon-  ciled with Virgil's :   sedet, seternumque sedebit,   Infelix Theseus.*  * " There sits, and forever shall sit, the unhappy Theseus."     Bacchic Mysteries. 11   Nor do I see how Virgil can be reconciled  with himself, who, a httle before this, rep-  resents him as hberated from Hades. The  conjecture, therefore, of Hyginus is most  probable, that Virgil in this particular com-  mitted an oversight, which, had he lived, he  would doubtless have detected, and amended.  This is at least much more probable than the  opinion of Dr. Warbm^ton, that Theseus was  a living character, who once entered into the  Eleusinian Mysteries by force, for which he  was imprisoned upon earth, and afterward  punished in the infernal realms. For if this  was the case, why is not Hercules also  represented as in punishment? and this  with much greater reason, since he actually  dragged Cerberus from Hades ; whereas the  fabulous descent of Theseus was attended  with no real, but only intentional, mischief.  Not to mention that Virgil appears to be  the only writer of antiquity who condemns  this hero to an eternity of pain.   Nor is the secret meaning of the fables  concernmg the punishment of impure souls     78 Eleusinian and   less impressive and profound, as the follow-  ing extract fi'om the manuscript commentary  of Olympiodorus on the Gorgias of Plato will  abundantly affirm: — "Ulysses," says he,  " descending into Hades, saw, among others,  Sisyphus, and Tityus, and Tantalus. Tityus  he saw lying on the earth, and a vulture de-  vouring his liver; the liver signifying that  he lived solely according to the principle of  cupidity in his natiu'e, and tln^ough this was  indeed internally prudent ; but the earth  signifies that his disposition was sordid. But  Sisyphus, living under the dominion of ambi-  tion and anger, was employed in continually  rolling a stone up an eminence, because it  perpetually descended again ; its descent im-  plying the vicious government of himself ;  and his rolling the stone, the hard, refractory,  and, as it were, rebounding condition of his  hf e. And, lastly, he saw Tantalus extended  by the side of a lake, and that there was a  tree before him, with abundance of fruit on  its branches, which he desired to gather, but  it vanished from his view ; and this indeed  indicates, that he lived under the dominion     Bacchic Mysteries. 79   of phantasy ; but his hanging over the lake,  and in vain attempting to drink, imphes the  elusive, humid, and rapidly-ghding condition  of such a hfe." '0 O^uaasa? xaxsX^wv sec   cf'^o'j, oiQZ zoy Slgo^'ov, y.rji z^jV Tcc'jov, '/otc  xov TavraXov. Kc/.t tov {xsv TtTuov, st:'. xt^c  yrj? £t§s %£L[X£Vov, vcat oxc xo r^Trajj aoxoo r^aO-tsv  Y'j'|. To {JL£V GOV T^Tuap GTjiJ-aLvst oxt ya-cct xo   STTtiJ'DJJL'/^XL/.OV fJ-SpOC sCTjaS, XOLl §17. XOfJXO £C3(0   cppovxiCs'co. 'H 5s Y'^j OYjiJiaLvst xo yO-ovtov  a'jxoy '-ppovrjiia. 5s -Itaocpoc, 7,axa xo cp^Xo-  xqjLov, y.7.t O-ujJLOscSsi; C'^aa? sy-uXis xov Xcr)-ov,  %at TuaXtv %ax£cp£p£v, £7U£i5£ T:£pi afjxc/. xaxap-   p£C, 7,7.7,(0^ 'jroXtX£00{JL£VOC. AtO^OV 0£ £7,oXt£,   hirj, XO axXrjpov, %ac avxixuTcov xyjc auxoa C<'>''JC-  Tov o£ T7.vx7.A0v £t.5£v £v Xt{JLV (lege Xqj.virj)   %7.l OXt £V 5£v5pOtC '^a7.V 07:(0p7.'., ■X,7.L T^{)'£X£   xpuyav, X7.t wj^rjyziQ ^^^v/o^zo ai o^copat.   TOUXO 5£ arj{X7.CV£t XTjV 7,7x7. (p7.VX7.ai7.V Cto'^v.   Aox'/j 5£ aTj[j,7.v£t xo oXiaO-'/jpov 7,7.t ^lopyov,  %7t i9'7.xxov7. 'jLO'!77.yo|jL£vov. So that accord-  ing to the wisdom of the ancients, and the  most sublime philosophy, the misery which  a soul endures in the present life, when giv-  ing itself up to the dominion of the irrational     80 Elensinian and   part, is nothing more than the commence-  ment, as it were, of that torment which it  win experience hereafter : a torment the  same in kind though different in degree, as  it will be much more di'eadful, vehement,  and extended. And by the above specimen,  the reader may perceive how infinitely supe-  rior the explanation which the Platonic phi-  losophy affords of these fables is to the frigid  and trifling interpretations of Bacon and  other modern mythologists ; who are able  mdeed to point out their correspondence to  something in the natui'al or moral world, be-  cause such is the wonderful connection of  things, that all things sympathize with all,  but are at the same time ignorant that these  fables were composed by men divinely wise,  who framed them after the model of the  highest originals, from the contemplation of  real and permanent heing, and not from re-  garding the delusive and fluctuating objects  of sense. This, indeed, mil be evident to  every ingenuous mind, from reflecting that  these wise men universally considered Hell  or death as commencing in the present life     Baccldc Mysteries. 81   (as we have already abundantly proved), and  that, consequently, sense is nothing more  than the energy of the dormant soul, and a  perception, as it were, of the delusions of  di'eams. In consequence of tliis, it is ab-  surd in the highest degree to imagine that  such men would compose fables from the  contemplation of shadows only, without re-  garding the splendid originals from which  these dark phantoms were produced : — not  to mention that their harmonizing so much  more perfectly with intellectual explications  is an indisputable proof that they were de-  rived from an intellectual [noetic] source.   And thus much for the dramatic shows  of the Lesser Mysteries, or the first part of  these sacred institutions, which was properly  denominated xsXst-r] [telete^ the closing up]  and [vrrpiz Muesis [the initiation], as con-  taining certain perfective rites, symbolical ex-  hibitions and the imparting and reception of  sacred doctrines, previous to the beholding of  the most splendid visions, or ETuoTutsta \epop-  teia, seership]. For thus the gradation of     82 Bacchic Mysteries.   the Mysteries is disposed by Proclus in  Theology of Plato, book iv. " The perfective  rite [rsXsrrj, telete],^^ says he, " precedes in or-  der the initiation [\xorpiQ, muesis], and initia-  tion, the final apocalypse, epopteiay npoY^yst-   STzoiizziaQ.* At the same time it is proper to  observe that the whole business of initiation  was distributed into five parts, as we are  informed by Theon of Smyrna, in Matliema-  tica, who thus elegantly compares philosophy  to these mystic rites : " Again," says he,  " philosophy may be called the initiation into  true sacred ceremonies, and the instruction  in genuine Mysteries ; for there are five  parts of initiation : the first of which is the  previous purification ; for neither are the  Mysteries communicated to all who are  wilhng to receive them ; but there are cer-  tain persons who are prevented by the voice  of the crier [%Tjpu^, herux^, such as those  who possess impure hands and an inartic-  ulate voice ; since it is necessary that such  as are not expelled from the Mysteries   * Theology of Plato, book iv. p. 220.     Bacchic Mysteries. 85   should first be refined by certain purifica-  tions : but after purification, the reception of  the sacred rites succeeds. The third part is  denominated epopfeia, or reception.* And  the fourth, which is the end and design of the  revelation, is [the investiture] the binding of  the head and fixing of the crowns. The ini-  tiated person is, by this means, authorized  to communicate to others the sacred rites  in which he has been instructed ; whether  after this he becomes a torch-bearer, or an  hierophant of the Mysteries, or sustains some  other part of the sacerdotal office. But the  fifth, which is produced from all these, is  friendship and interior commtmion with  God, and the enjoyment of that felicity  which arises from intimate converse with  divine beings. Similar to this is the com-  munication of political instruction ; for, in  the first place, a certain purification precedes,   * Theon appears to regard the final apocalypse or epopteia, like  E. Poeocke to whose views allusion is made elsewhere. This  writer says : " The initiated were styled ebaptoi," and adds in a  foot-note — " Avaptoi, literaWj obtaining or getting." According  to this the epopteia would imply the final reception of the interior  doctrines. — A. W.     86 Eleusinian and   or else an exercise in proper matliematical  discipline from early youth. For thus Em-  pedocles asserts, that it is necessary to be  purified from sordid concerns, by drawing  from five fountains, with a vessel of indis-  soluble brass : but Plato, that purification  is to be derived fi'om the five mathematical  disciplines, namely from arithmetic, geome-  try, stereometry, music, and astronomy ; but  the philosophical instruction in theorems,  logical, pohtical, and physical, is similar to  initiation. But he (that is, Plato) denom-  inates zTzoizzzirj, [or the reveahng], a contem-  plation of things which are apprehended in-  tuitively, absolute truths, and ideas. But he  considers the binding of the head, and corona-  tion, as analogous to the authority w^hich any  one receives from his instructors, of leading  others to the same contemplation. And the  fifth gradation is, the most perfect fehcity  arising from hence, and, according to Plato,  an assimilation to divinity^ as far as is pos-  sible to mankind." But though s'jroTrTS'.a,  or the rendition of the arcane ideas, princi-  pally characterized the Greater Mysteries, yet     Bacchic Mysteries. 87   this was likewise accompanied with the [j.uyj-  GLc, or initiation, as will be evident in the  conrse of this inquuy.   But let US now proceed to the doctrine of  the Greater Mysteries : and here I shall en-  deavor to prove that as the dramatic shows  of the Lesser Mysteries occultly signified the  miseries of the soul while in subjection to  body, so those of the Grreater obscurely inti-  mated, by mystic and splendid visions, the  felicity of the soul both here and hereafter,  when purified from the defilements of a  material nature, and constantly elevated to  the realities of intellectual [spiritual] vision.  Hence, as the ultimate design of the Mys-  teries, according to Plato, was to lead us back  to the principles from which we descended,  that is, to a perfect enjoyment of intellectual  [spiritual] good, the imparting of these prin-  ciples was doubtless one part of the doctrine  contained in the airoppTjia, aporrheta, or se-  cret discourses ; * and the different purifica-   * The apostle Paul apparently alludes to the disclosing of the  Mystical doctrines to the epopts or seers, in his Second Epistle  to the Corinthians, xii. 3, 4: "I knew a certain man, — whether in     88 Eleusinian and   tions exhibited in these rites, in conjunction  with initiation and the epopteia were symbols  of the gradation of virtues requisite to this  reascent of the soul. And hence, too, if this  be the case, a representation of the descent of  the soul [from its former heavenly estate]  must certainly form no inconsiderable part of  these mystic shows ; all which the f ollomng  observations will, I do not doubt, abundantly  evince.   In the first place, then, that the shows of  the Greater Mysteries occultly signified the  felicity of the soul both here and hereafter,  when separated from the contact and influ-  ence of the body, is evident from what has  been demonstrated in the former part of this  discourse : for if he who in the present life is  in subjection to Ms irrational part is truly  in ITades, he who is superior to its dominion  is liheivise an inhahitayit of a place totally  different from Hades* If Hades therefore   body or outside of body, I know not: God knoweth, — who was  rapt into paradise, and heard appv]xr/. pYjfxata, tilings ineffable,  which it is not lawful for a man to repeat."   *Paul, Epistle to the PhlUpjnans, iii, 20: "Our citizenship is  in the heavens."     Bacchic Mysteries. 89   is the region or condition of punishment and  misery, the purified soul must reside in the  regions of bhss ; in a hf e and condition of  purity and contemplation in the present life,  and entheastically,* animated by the divine   * Medical and Surgical Bejiorter, vol. xxxii. p. 195. "Those  who have professed to teach their fellow-mortals new truths eon-  cerning immortality, have based their authority on direct divine  inspiration. Numa, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Swedenborg, all  claimed communication with higher spirits ; they were what the  Greeks called eniheast — 'immersed in God' — a sti'iking word  which Byron introduced into our tongue." Carpenter describes  the condition as an automatic action of the brain. The inspired  ideas arise in the mind suddenly, spontaneously, but very vividly,  at some time when tliinhing of some other topic. Francis Galton  defines genius as " the automatic activity of the mind, as distin-  guished from the effort of the will, — the ideas coming by inspira-  tion." This action, says the editor of the Reporter, is largely  favored by a condition approaching mental disorder — at least by  one remote from the ordinary working day habits of thought.  Fasting, prolonged intense mental action, gi-eat and unusual com-  motion of mind, will produce it ; and, indeed, these extraordinary  displays seem to have been so preceded. Jesus, Buddha, Moham-  med, all began their careers by fasting, and visions of devils fol-  lowed by angels. The candidates in the Eleusinian Mysteries  also saw visions and apparitions, while engaged in the mystic  orgies. "We do not, however, accept the materialistic view of this  subject. The cases are enftieasHe ; and although hysteria and  other disorders of the sympathetic system sometimes imitate the  phenomena, we believe with Plato and Plotimis, that the higher  faculty, intellect or intuition as we prefer to call it, the noetic part  of our nature, is the faculty actually at work. "By reflection,     90 Eleusinian and   energy, in the next. This being admitted,  let us proceed to consider the description  which Virgil gives us of these fortunate  abodes, and the latent signification which  it contains, ^neas and his guide, then, hav-  ing passed tlu^ough Hades, and seen at a dis-  tance Tartarus, or the utmost profundity of  a material nature, they next advance to the  Elysian fields :   Devenere locus Isetos, et amaena vireta  Fortunatoi'uin nemorum, sedesque beatas.  Largiov Me campos gether et lumine vestit  Purpureo ; solemque suum, sua sidera norunt. *   Now the secret meaning of these joyful  places is thus beautifully unfolded by Olym-  piodorus in his manuscript Commentary on  the Gorgias of Plato. "It is necessary to  know," says he, " that the fortunate islands  are said to be raised above the sea ; and   self-knowledge, and intellectual discipline, the soul can be raised  to the vision of eternal truth, goodness, and beauty — that is, to  the vision of God." This is the epopteia. — A. W.   * "They came to the blissful regions, and delightful gi'eeu re-  treats, and happy abodes in the fortunate gi'oves. A freer and  purer sky here clothes the fields with a purjile light ; they recog-  uize their own suu, their own stars."     Bacchic Mysteries. 91   hence a condition of being, which transcends  this corporeal hfe and generated existence, is  denominated the islands of the blessed ; but  these are the same with the Elysian fields.  And on this account Hercules is said to  have accomphshed his last labor in the Hes-  perian regions ; signifying bythis, that having  vanquished a dark and earthly life he after-  ward hved in day, that is, in truth and light."  Asc 5s st^svai ozi w. Yfpoi uTTspxu'jrxGoaiv zt^q  i)-aXaaa'rj? avco-cspw otjoai. Tt;v oov Tzokizsiay  XTjV 67:£|v7,u^0Laav too fjioo if.rji z'qc, ysvY^ascoc,  {jLa7,7.p(ov VTjaouc '/.''jXo'JOI. TaoTC/v $£ saxi ■vcc/.t  xo ^qkocjiw TtS^iov. Airy, zoi zoozo xat 6 'Hpay,-  Xtj^ zeXeozaioy alJ-Xov sv xo:;; saTTspcocc {xspsatv  s'jTorr^aaxo, 7.vxi xax'^jYcovcaato xov axoxstvov  ■jcai yO-oviov pwv, xai Xotirov sv '^^t^spcf., oaxiv  sv rjXrid-sio^ %rxi rp(oxi sC'^- So that he who  in the present state vanquishes as much  as possible a corporeal life, through the  practice of the piu'ifying virtues, passes in  reahty into the Fortunate Islands of the soul,  and lives surrounded with the bright splen-  dors of truth and wisdom proceeding from  the sun of good.     92 Bacchic Mysteries.   The poet, in describing the employments   of the blessed, says :   Pars in gramineis exereent membra paleestris :  Coutendunt ludo, et f ulva luctantur arena :  Pars pedibus plaudunt choreas, et carmina dicunt.  Nee non Threicius longa cum veste saeerdos  Obloquitur uumeris septem discrimina vocum:  lamque eadem digitis, jam pectiue pulsat eburno.  Hie genus antiquum Teucri, puleherrima proles,  Magnanimi heroes, nati melioribus annis,  Illusque, Assaracusque, et TroJEe Dardanus auctor.  Arma procul, currusque virum miratur inanis.  Stant terra defixse hastse, passimque soluti  Per campum pascuntur equi. Quae gratia curruum  Armorumque fuit vivis, quae cura nitentis  Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos.  Conspicit, ecee alios, dextra laevaque per herbam  Vescentis, Isetumque choro Pgeana eanentis.  Inter odoratum lauri nemus : unde superne  Pliu'imus Eridaui per silvam volvitur amnis.*   * "Some exercise their limbs upon the grassy field, contend in  play and wrestle on the yellow sand ; some dance on the ground  and utter songs. The priestly Thracian, likewise, in his long  robe [Orj^heus] responds in melodious numbers to the seven  distinguished notes ; and now strikes them with his fingers, now  with the ivory quill. Here are also' the ancient race of Teucer,  a most illustrious progeny, noble heroes, born in happier j-ears, —  II, Assarac, and Dardan, the founder of Troy, ^neas looking  from afar, admires the arms and empty war-cars of the heroes.  There stood spears fixed in the ground, and scattered over the  plain horses are feeding. The same taste which when alive      •'i%^^^^_^ ^^^!^mm^      Eleusiuiau Mj'steries.     Bacchic Mysteries. 95   This must not be understood as if the soul  in the regions of fehcity retained any affec-  tion for material concerns, or was engaged in  the trifling pursuits of the everyday cor-  poreal life ; but that when separated from  generation, and the world's life, she is con-  stantly engaged in employments proper to the  higher spiritual nature ; either in divine con-  tests of the most exalted wisdom ; in forming  the responsive dance of refined imagina-  tions; in tuning the sacred lyi'e of mystic  piety to strains of divine fury and ineffable  dehght ; in giving free scope to the splendid  and winged powers of the soul; or in  nourishing the higher intellect with the sub-  stantial banquets of intelligible [spiritual]  food. Nor is it without reason that the  river Eridanus is represented as flowing  through these delightful abodes; and is at   these men had for chariots and arms, the same passion for rear-  ing glossy steeds, follow them reposing beneath the earth. Lo!  also he views others, on the right and left, feasting on the grass,  and singing in chorus the joyful pteon, amid a fragrant grove of  laui'el; whence from above the greatest river Eridanus rolls  through the woods."  A peeon was chanted to Apollo at Delphi every seventh day.     96 Eleusinian and   the same time denominated plurimus (great-  est), because a great part of it was absorbed  in the earth without emerging from thence :  for a river is the symbol of hfe, and conse-  quently signifies in this place the intellectual  or spii'ituaJ life, j)roceeding from on liigh, that  is, from divinity itself, and gliding with pro-  lific energy through the hidden and profound  recesses of the soul.   In the following lines he says :   Nulli eerta domus. Lucis habitamus opacis,  Riparumque toros, et prata recentia rivis  Incolimus.*   By the blessed not being confined to a par-  ticular habitation, is implied that they are  perfectly free in all things ; being entirely  free from all material restraint, and purified  from all inclination incident to the dark  and cold tenement of the body. The shady  groves are symbols of the retiring of the     » li     ' No one of us has a fixed abode. We inhabit the dark groves,  and occupy couches on the river-banks, and meadows fresh with  little rivulets."     Bacchic Mysteries. 97   soul to the depth of her essence, and there,  by energy solely divine, establishing herself  in the ineffable principle of things.* And  the meadows are syin])ols of that prolific  power of the gods through which all the  variety of reasons, animals, and forms was  produced, and which is here the refresh-  ing pastui'e and retreat of the hberated  soul.   But that the communication of the knowl-  edge of the principles from which the soul  descended formed a part of the sacred Mys-  teries is evident from Yirgil ; and that this  was accompanied with a vision of these prin-  ciples or gods, is no less certain, from the  testimony of Plato, Apuleius, and Proclus.  The first part of this assertion is evinced by  the following beautiful lines :   * Plato: BepiihUc, vi. 5. "He who possesses the love of true  knowledge is naturally carried in his aspirations to the real prin-  ciple of being ; and his love knows no repose till it shall have been  united with the essence of each object through that jiart of the soul,  which is akin to the Permanent and Essential ; and so, the divine  conjunction having evolved interior knowledge and truth, the  knowledge of being is won."     98 EleiiHinian and   Prineipio cfelum ac tei-ras, eamposque liquentes   Lucentemque globum luuas, Titauiaque astra   Spiritus intus alit, totumque infusa per artus   Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet.   Inde hominum peeudiimque genus, vitseque volantum,   Et qu£e marmoreo fert monstra sub sequore pontus.   Igneus est oUis vigor, et cselestis origo   Seminibus, quantum non uoxia corpora tardant,   Terrenique hebetant artus, moribundaque membra.   Hinc metiiunt cupiuntque : dolent, gaudentque : neque auras   Despieiunt clausa tenebris et carcere csecc*   For the sources of the soul's existence are  also the principles from which it fell; and  these, as we may learn from the Thnams of  Plato, are the Demiurgus, the mundane soul,  and the junior or mundane gods.f Now, of   * "First of all the interior spirit sustains the heaven and earth  and watery plains, the illuminated orb of the moon, and the Titan-  ian stars ; and the Mind, diffused through all the members, gives  energy to the whole frame, and mingles with the vast body [of the  universe]. Thence proceed the race of men and beasts, the vital  souls of birds and the brutes which the Ocean breeds beneath  its smooth surface. In them all is a potency like fire, and a  celestial origin as to the rudimentary principles, so far as they  are not clogged by noxious bodies. They are deadened by earthly  forms and members subject to death ; hence they fear and desire,  grieve and rejoice ; nor do they, thus enclosed in darkness and  the gloomy prison, behold the heavenly air."   \ Timceus. xliv. "The Deity (Demiurgus) himself formed the  divine; and then delivered over to his celestial offspring [the     Bacchic Mysteries. 99   these, the mundane intellect, which, accord-  ing to the ancient theology, is represented  by Bacchus, is principally celebrated by the  poet, and this because the soul is particu-  larly distributed into generation, after the  manner of Dionysus or Bacchus, as is evident  from the preceding extracts from Olympio-  dorus : and is still more abundantly confirmed  by the following curious passage from the  same author, in his comment on the Plicedo of  Plato. " The soul," says he, " descends Cori-  cally [or after the manner of Proserpine]  into generation,* but is distributed into gen-  eration Dionysiacally,t and she is bound in  body PrometheiacallyJ and Titanically: she  fi'ees herself therefore from its bonds by ex-  ercising the strength of Hercules ; but she   subordinate or generated gods], the task of creating the mortal.  These subordinate deities, copying the example of their parent,  and receiving from his hands the immortal principles of the human  soul, fashioned after this the mortal body, which they consigned  to the soul as a vehicle, and in which they placed also another  kind of a soul, which is mortal, and is the seat of violent and fatal  passions."   * That is to say, as if dying. Kore was a name of Proserpina.   t /. e. as if divided into pieces.   X I. e. Chained fast.     100 We US in km and   is collected into one through the assistance  of Apollo and the savior Minerva, by phi-  losophical discipline of mind and heart purify-  ing the nature." i)zi /.opr^toc {j.sv sic ysvE^tv   'jTzo zT^z Ysvsascoc' npojXY^O-suo? "^s, v.rj.1 Tiza-   AttoXXcovoc %ol^ rr^c acorrjpac A\)*T;va?, ':r7.{)-a(vT:L-  '^(oc -(0 oyzi r5'.Xoaorpo'ja7.. The poet, however,  intimates the other causes of the soul's exis-  tence, when he says,   Igneiis est ollis vigor, et coelestis origo  Semiuibus *   which evidently alludes to the sowing of  souls into generation, t mentioned in the  Timmus. And fi'om hence the reader will   * "There is then a certain fiery potency, and a celestial oi'igiu  as to the rudimentary principles." /. e. Restored to wholeness  and divine life.   tl Corinthians, xv. 42-44. "So also is the onafitaHis of the  dead. It is sown in corruption [the material body] ; it is raised  in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor ; it is raised in gloi-y : it  is sown in weakness ; it is raised in power : it is sown a psychical  body ; it is raised a spiritual body."     Bacchic Mysteries. 101   easily perceive the extreme ridiculousness of  Dr. Warburton's system, that the grand secret  of the Mysteries consisted in exposing the  errors of Polytheism, and in teaching the  doctrine of the unity, or the existence of one  deity alone. For he might as well have said,  that the great secret consisted in teaching a  man how, by writing notes on the works of  a poet, he might become a bishop ! But it  is by no means wonderful that men who  have not the smallest conception of the true  nature of the gods ; who have persuaded  themselves that they were only dead men  deified ; and who measure the understand-  ings of the ancients by their own, should be  led to fabricate a system so improbable and  absurd.   But that this instruction was accompanied  with a vision of the source from which the  soul proceeded, is evident from the express  testimony, in the first place, of Apuleius,  who thus describes his initiation into the  Mysteries. " Accessi confinium mortis ; et  calcato Proserpinse limine, per omnia vectus  elementa remeavi. Nocte media vidi solem.     102 Meusinicm and   candido coniscantem kimine, deos inferos, et  deos superos. Access! coram, et adoravi de  proximo." * That is, "I approached the  confines of death : and having trodden on  the threshold of Proserpina returned, having  been carried through all the elements. In  the depths of midnight I saw the sun glitter-  ing with a splendid light, together with the  infernal and supernal gods : and to these  divinities approaching near, I paid the tribute  of devout adoration." And this is no less  evidently implied by Plato, who thus de-  scribes the fehcity of the holy soul prior to  its descent, in a beautiful allusion to the  arcane visions of the Mysteries. Ka/.Ao? 3s   TOIS Y^V tOStV X7.[JLirpOV, OTS GOV £UOaL|J,OVt   )^op(p {j-ay,7.pcctv o^iv zz xac O-sav £:ro{jL£vot jjis'La  [jLsv Aio^ T;tJ-£tc, aXXot o£ \xez aXXoo ^scov, £l§ov  t£ 7.71 BzzKO'jyzo T£X£t(ov YjV 0-£|j.ic Xb^biv {i-7.%a-   pKOXW.TYjV YjV 0pYl7.C0[J-£V oXoX^Y^pOL {JL£V 7.010^  OVr£C, y,7.l 7.'Jr7.^£tC %7.'5t(OV 037. Y^|X7.C £V 63r£p(p  /p<5V(j) 67C£{X£V£V. '0X07cXy^P7. $£ 7,7.1 TLTiXa %7.C  aTp£(J.Y^ %7.t £u5aqJL0V7. rp7.a{J.7.-7. JJLyG'J{JL£VOt T£  7,71 £TC0TCT:£U0V'C£C £V auyTJ %7.9-7.pq: %7.l)-7.pOl  * The Golden Ass. xi. p. 239 (Bohn).     Bacchic Mysteries. 103     TTSpLrpspovrs? ovofxaCopisv oarpsoa xpo':rov 5s  d£3{jL£ujj-£V0L That is, " But it was tlien law-  ful to survey the most splendid beauty, when  we obtained, together with that blessed choir,  this happy vision and contemplation. And  we indeed enjoyed this blessed spectacle to-  gether with Jupiter ; but others in conjunc-  tion with some other god ; at the same time  being initiated in those Mysteries^ which it  is lawful to call the most blessed of all  Mysteries. And these divine Orgies* were  celebrated by us, while we possessed the  proper integrity of our nature, we were  freed from the molestations of evil which  otherwise await us in a future period of time.  Likewise, in consequence of this divine  initiation, we became spectators of entire,  simple, immovable, and blessed visions, res-  ident in a pure hght ; and were ourselves  pure and immaculate, being hberated from  this surrounding vestment, which we denom-  inate body, and to which we are now bound   * The peculiar rites of the Mysteries were indifferently termed  Orgies or Labors, teletai or finishings, and initiations.     10-i Bacchic Mysteries.   like an oyster to its shell."* Upon this  beautiful passage Proclus observes, "That the  initiation and epopfeia [the vailing and the  reveahng] are symbols of ineffable silence,  and of union with mystical natures, through  intelligible \dsions.t Kocl yap -q {xor^zic, v.ai r^   * Phcedriis, 64.   t Proclus : Theology of Plato, book iv. The following reading  is suggested : "The initiation and final disclosing are a symbol  of the Ineffable Silence, and of the enosis, or being at one and  en rapport with the mystical verities through manifestations in-  tuitively comprehended."   The ixv>'f\z<.z, muesis, or initiation is defined by E. Pocoeke as  relating to the "well-known Buddhist Moksha, final and eternal  happiness, the liberation of the soul from the body and its exemp-  tion from fvirther transmigration." For all mystcB therefore there  was a certain welcome to the abodes of the blessed. The term  cTTOTrcjioi, epopteia, applied to the last scene of initiation, he de-  rives from the Sanscrit, evaptoi, an obtaining; the epopt being  regarded as having secured for himself or herself divine bliss.   It is more usual, however, to treat these terms as pure Greek;  and to render the mnesis as initiation and to derive epopteia from  STCOrtTopiat. According to this etymology an epopt is a seer or  clairvoyant, one who knows the interior wisdom. The terms in-  spector and superintendent do not, tome, at all express the idea,  and I am inclined, in fact, to suppose with Mr. Pocoeke, that the  Mysteries came from the East, and from that to deduce that the  technical words and expressions are other than Greek.   Plotinus, speaking of this enosis or oneness, lays down a spiritual  discipline analogous to that of the Mystic Orgies : " Purify your  soul from all undue hope and fear about earthly things ; mortify        tl'^     £leii8iiiiau Mysteries. Etruscan.     Bacchic Mysteries. 107   TYjC iTpoc xa {jLoatixa "^ta t(ov vo'/^xcov cpaajjia-  xtov svcoascoc;. Now, from all tliis, it may be  inferred, that the most sublime part of the  zTzrj'Kisirx \epoptei(i\ or final revealing, con-  sisted in beholding the gods themselves in-  vested with a resplendent hght ; * and that  this was symbohcal of those transporting  visions, which the virtuous soul will con-  stantly enjoy in a future state ; and of which  it is able to gain some ravishing glimpses,  even while connected with the cumbrous  vestment of the body.f   the body, deny self, — affections as well as appetites, — and the inner  eye will begin to exercise its clear and solemn vision." " In the  reduction of yonr soul to its simplest principles, the divine germ,  you attain this oneness. We stand then in the immediate pres-  ence of God, who shines out from the profound depths of the  soul."- A. W.   * Apuleius: The Golden Ass. xi. The candidate was instructed  by the hierophant, and permitted to look within the cistn or chest,  which contained the mystic serpent, the phallus, egg, and gi-ains  sacred to Demeter. As the epopt was reverent, or otherwise, he  now "knew himself" by the sentiments aroused. Plato and Al-  cibiades gazed with emotions wide apart. — A. W.  t Plotinus : Letter to Flaccus. " It is only now and then that  . we can enjoy the elevation made possible for us, above the limits  of the body and the world. I myself have realized it but three  times as yet, and Porphyry hitherto not once."     108 Bacchic Mysteries.   But that this was actually the case, is  evident fi'om the following unequivocal tes-  timony of Proclus : Ev airaac zaic, zsXszaic   TzpozEiyoo(ji [xoryfj.Q^ TToXXa $s G'/r^iiaza s^-  aXazzoyzzc, rpctcvovroir %ru zoze {j.£v azoizM-  zov a'jrcov xpojBsjBXrjtac «:p(oc, xors 5s sec c(v-  {J-pcoTTStov {j-opY'/jv £a/'/j{j.axta[JL£vov, ':o':£ os stc  dXXotov trjTTov ';:po£XY|XfjG(o?. /. ^. " In all  the initiations and Mysteries, the gods ex-  hibit many forms of themselves, and appear  in a variety of shapes : and sometimes, in-  deed, a formless light ^ of themselves is held  forth to the view ; sometimes this hght is  according to a human form, and sometimes  it proceeds into a different shape." f This  assertion of divine visions in the Mysteries,     Porpbyiy afterward declared that he witnessed four times,  when near him, the soul or " intellect " of Plotiiius thns raised up  to the First and Sovereign Good ; also that he himself was only  once so elevated to the enosis or union with God, so as to have  glimpses of the eternal world. This did not occur till he was  sixty-eight years of age. — A. W.   * I. e. Si luminous appearance without any defined form or shape  of an object.   \ Commentary upon the Republic of Plato, page 380.      Cupids, Satyr, aud statue of Priapua.     Bacchic Mysteries. Ill   is clearly confirmed by Plotinus.* And, in  short, that magical evocation formed a part  of the sacerdotal office in the Mysteries, and  that this was universally believed by all  antiquity, long before the era of the latter  Platonists,t is plain from the testimony of  Hippocrates, or at least Democritus, in his  Treatise de Morbo Sacro.X For speaking of  those who attempt to cure this disease by  magic, he observes : st yap csayjvtjv ts %aGac-   Xaaaav arpovov 7.7.1 yqy, zat z'rjXka ta zoiotjzo  zpOTzrj, TTOLVca zizi^z/ovzrji sxiataaO-ai, slis 7cac  STc TEAET12N, scxs xoll Ss aXhric, zivoq yvtofj-Tj?  {xsXsrr^^ cpaatv ocot xs scvai 01 zrjjjza btzizt^^so-  oyzec, ^uaspsstv sjj-oi ys 5oy.£oaaL y,. X. /. e.  " For if they profess themselves able to draw  down the moon, to obscure the sun, to pro-  duce stormy and pleasant weather, as like-  wise showers of rain, and heats, and to render  the sea and earth barren, and to accomplish   *Ennead, i. book 6; and ix. book 9.   t Plotinus, Porphyry, lamblichus, Proclus, Longinus, and their  associates.  X Epilepsy.     112 Eleusinian and   every thing else of this kind ; whether they  derive this knowledge from flie Mysteries^ or  from some other mental effort or meditation,  they appear to me to be impious, from the  study of such concerns." From all which is  easy to see, how egregiously Dr. Warburton  was mistaken, when, in page 231 of his Divine  Legation^ he asserts, " that the light beheld  in the Mysteries, was nothing more than an  illuminated image which the priests had  thoroughly purified."   But he is likewise no less mistaken, in  transferring the injunction given in one of  the Magic Oracles of Zoroaster, to the busi-  ness of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and in per-  verting the meaning of the Oracle's admoni-  tion. For thus the Oracle speaks :   Myj 'puocojc y.akto'f\c, aoxonxoy a-^aKiw.,   That is, " Invoke not the self -revealing image  of Nature, for you must not behold these  things before your body has received the  initiation." Upon which he observes, " that     Bacchic Mysteries. 113   the self-revealing image ivas only a diffusive  shining light, as the name partly declares^ *  But this is a piece of gross ignorance, from  which he might have been freed by an atten-  tive perusal of Proehis on the Timceus of  Plato : for in these truly divine Commenta-  ries we learn, " that the moonf is the cause  of nature to mortals, and the self -rev eating  image of the fountain of nature.^^ "^.zXriyq {isv  acrca zoic, O-vyjzoi? zr^c, ^fO(jSo:)C, to ayioTitCiV rj^^rjX\i.a.  o'j37. xT^c 'izr^'^fr/.iac, 'f'jasco^. If the reader is  desirous of knowing what we are to under-  stand by the fountain of nature of which the  moon is the image, let him attend to the fol-  lowing information, derived from a long and  deep study of the ancient theology : for from  hence I have learned, that there are many  divine fountains contained in the essence of  the demiurgus of the world ; and that among  these there are three of a very distinguished  rank, namely, the fountain of souls, or Juno,  — the fountain of virtues, or Minerva — and   * Divine Legation, p. 231.   t /. e. The Mother-Goddess, Isis or Demeter, symbolized as  Selene or the Moon,     114 Eleusinian and   the fountain of nature, or Diana. This last  fountain too immediately depends on the  vilifying goddess Rhea; and was assumed  by the Demiurgus among the rest, as neces-  sary to the prohfic reproduction of liimself.  And this information will enable us besides  to explain the meaning of the following i3as-  sages in Apuleius, which, from not being-  understood, have induced the moderns to  believe that Apuleius acknowledged but one  deity alone. The first of these passages is  in the beginning of the eleventh book of his  MetamorpJioses, in which the divinity of the  moon is represented as addressing him in  this sublime manner : " En adsum tuis com-  mota, Luci, precibus, rerum Natura parens,  elementorum omnium domina, seculorum  progenies initialis, summa numinum, regina  Manium, prima cai^litum, Deoruni Dearum-  que facies uniformis : quae cseh luminosa  culmina, maris salubria flamina, inferorum de  plorata silentia nutibus meis dispenso : cu jus  numen unicum, multiformi specie, ritu vario,  nomine multijugo totus veneratur orbis. Me  primigenii Phryges Pessinunticam nominant     Bacchic Mysteries. 115   Deum matrem. Hiiic Autochthones Attici  Cecropiam Minervam ; ilhiic fluctuantes Cy-  prii Paphiam Veiierem : Cretes sagittif eri  Dictjninam Dianam ; Sicuh trihngues Sty-  giam Proserpinam ; Eleusinii vetustam Deam  Cererem : Junonem ahi, ahi Bellonam, alii  Hecaten, Rhamnusiam ahi. Et qui nascen-  tis dei Sohs inchoantibus radiis iUustrantur,  ^thiopes, Ariique, priscaque doctrina pol-  lentes ^gyptii cserimoniis me prorsus propriis  percolentes appellant vero nomine reginam  Isidem." That is, " Behold, Lucius, moved  with thy supphcations, I am present ; I,  who am Nature, the parent of things, mis-  tress of all the elements, initial progeny of  the ages, the highest of the divinities, queen  of departed spirits, the first of the celes-  tials, of gods and goddesses the sole hkeness  of all : who rule by my nod the luminous  heights of the heavens, the salubrious breezes  of the sea, and the woful silences of the in-  fernal regions, and whose divinity, in itself  but one, is venerated by all the earth, in  many characters, various rites, and different  appellations. Hence the primitive Phry-     116 Bacchic Mysteries.   gians call me Pessinuntica, the motlier of  the gods ; the Attic Autochthons, Cecropian  Muierva; the wave-siUTOunded Cyprians,  Paphian Venus ; the arrow-bearing Cretans,  Dictynnian Diana; the three-tongued Sicil-  ians, Stygian Proserpina ; and the inhabit-  ants of Eleusis, the ancient goddess Ceres.  Some, again, have invoked me as Juno, others  as Bellona, others as Hecate, and others as  Rhamnusia ; and those who are enlightened  by the emerging rays of the rising sun, the  Ethiopians, and Aryans, and likewise the  Egyptians powerful in ancient learning, who  reverence my divinity with cerenioaies per-  fectly proper, call me by my true appellation  Queen Isis." And, again, in another place of  the same book, he says of the moon : " Te  Superi colunt, observant Inferi : tu rotas  orbem, luminas Solem, regis mundum, calcas  Tartarum. Tibi respondent sidera, gaudent  numina, redeunt tempora, serviunt elementa,  etc." That is, " The supernal gods reverence  thee, and those in the realms beneath at-  tentively do homage to thy divinity. Thou  dost make the universe revolve, illuminate     Bacchic Mysteries. 119   the sun, govern the world, and tread on Tar-  tarns. The stars answer thee, the gods re-  joice, the houi's and seasons retui*n by thy  appointment, and the elements serve thee."  For all tliis easily follows, if we consider it as  addressed to the fountain-deity of nature,  subsisting in the Demiurgus, and which is  the exemplar of that nature which flourishes  in the lunar orb, and throughout the mate-  rial world, and from which the deity itself  of the moon originally proceeds. Hence, as  this fountain innnediately depends on the  life-giving goddess Rhea, the reason is ob-  vious, why it was formerly worshiped as the  mother of the gods : and as all the mundane  are contained in the super-mundane gods,  the other appellations are to be considered as  names of the several mundane divinities pro-  duced by this fountain, and in whose essence  they are likewise contained.   But to proceed with our inquiry, I shall,  in the next place, prove that the different  purifications exhibited in these rites, in con-  junction with initiation and the epopteia  were symbols of the gradation of disciplines     120 Eleusinian and   requisite to the reascent of the soul.* And  the fii'st part, indeed, of this proposition  respecting the purifications, immediately fol-  lows from the testimony of Plato in the pas-  sage already adduced, in which he asserts  that the ultimate design of the Mysteries was  to lead us back to the principles from which  we originally fell. For if the Mysteries were  symbohcal, as is universally acknowledged,  this must likewise be true of the purifica-  tions as a part of the Mysteries ; and as in-  ward puiity, of which the external is sym-  bolical, can only be obtained by the exercise  of the virtues, it evidently follows that the  purifications were symbols of the pimfying  moral virtues. And the latter part of the  proposition may be easily inferred, from the  passage ah'eady cited from the Phmdrus of  Plato, in which he compares initiation and  the epopteia to the blessed vision of the  higher intelligible natures ; an employment  which can alone belong to the exercise of  contemplation. But the whole of this is  rendered indisputable by the following re-   */. e. to its former divine condition.     Bacchic Mysteries. 121   markable testimony of Olympiodorus, in his  excellent manuscript Commentary on the  PJuedo of Plato.* "In the sacred rites," says  he, "popular pui4fications are in the first  place brought forth, and after these such as  are more arcane. But, in the third place,  collections of various things into one are re-  ceived ; after which follows inspection. The  ethical and political virtues therefore are  analogous to the apparent purifications ; the  cathartic virtues which banish all external  impressions, correspond to the more arcane  purifications. The theoretical energies about  intelligibles, are analogous to the collections ;  and the contraction of these energies into an   * We have taken the liberty to present the following version of  this passage, as more correctly expressing the sense of the orig-  inal: "At the holy places are first the public purifications. With  these the more arcane exercises follow ; and after those the obliga-  tions [-jozzaizz'.z) are taken, and the initiations follow, ending  with the epopiic disclosures. So, as will be seen, the moral and  social (political) virtues are analogous to the public purifications ;  the purifying virtues in their turn, which take the place of all  external matters, correspond to the moi'e arcane disciplines ; the  contemplative exei'cises concerning things to be known intui-  tively to the taking of the obligations ; the including of them as  an undivided whole, to the initiations ; and the simple ocular view  of simple objects to the epoptic revelations."     122 Eleusinian and   indivisible nature, corresponds to initiation.  And the simple self-inspection of simple  forms, is analogous to epoptic vision." 'On   QZIQ. Etra ZTZl ZnjJZrjXZ aTZOrjfjr^ZOZZrjrjr ^xszfj, 5s   za'jzac, QOGzaaeic, Tzarjzhr^x'^jrjyrjyzrj, y-ai siri  zaozruQ ixorpBiQ- £v TsXst 5s siroirrscc/i. xVvc/Ao-  yooaL TGCV'JV ai [J-sv TjO-^xat 7,7.^ 7:o/dziY.'y,i aps-  xa^ XGtc s[xcpavsai y,7,i)'7.p{j-occ. Ai 5s %7.i)"7pii-   7,7^ 0371 77C0a7.SU7.C0Vt7t TZaVZO. Zrj. kY.ZOC, ZOIQ   aTTopp'^ro-spoic. Ai 5s xspt ':7 voriza r^scopYpt-  %7c TS svspYSi7.i zai^ GOGzaoeaiy. Ac 5s to'jtojv  G'jya.irjSJsiQ sec "co ajispiarov X7cc \vyqGZGiy.   Ai 5s CLTZkr/l X(OV 7.7rAC0V SC5(0V 70X0'V.7C t71C   s7U07ursc7t?. And here I can not refrain from  noticing, with indignation mingled with pity,  the ignorance and arrogance of modern crit-  ics, who pretend that this distribution of the  virtues is entirely the invention of the latter  Platonists, and without any foundation in the  writings of Plato.* And among the sup-  porters of such ignorance, I am sovry to find   * The writings of Augustin handed Neo-Platonism down to pos-  terity as the original and esoteric doctrine of the first followers  of Plato. He enumerates the causes which led, in his opinion, to  the negative position assumed by the Academics, and to the con-     Bacchic Mysteries. 123   Fabricius, in his prolegomena to the hfe of  Proclus. For nothing can be more obvious  to every reader of Plato than that in his  Laws he treats of the social and political  virtues ; in his Phcedo, and seventh book of  the RepiibUc^ of the purifying; and in his  Thceafetus, of the contemplative and sub-  limer virtues. This observation is, indeed,  so obvious, in the Phcedo, with respect to the  purifying virtues, that no one but a verbal  critic could read this dialogue and be insen-  sible to its truth : for Socrates in the very  beginning expressly asserts that it is the  business of philosophers to study to die, and  to be themselves dead,* and yet at the same  time reprobates suicide. What then can such   eealment of their real opinions. He describes Plotinus as a re-  suscitated Plato. — Against the Academics, iii. 17-20.   * Phcedo, 21. Kivoovjooos: y^P o'^o- TOY/_otvou-iv op&to? «t:to|j.evo'.  (pcXoaocp'.a? XsXfj^cVai la? aWooc^, bv. odgsv aXXo aoxo'. ziz'.x-ffitiionz'y  Y) aTCofl-VYjoxstv zt xa: TsS-vava:. /. e. For as many as rightly apply  themselves to philosophy seem to have left others ignorant, that  they themselves aim at nothing else than to die and to be dead.   Elsewhere (31) Socrates says : " While we live, we shall ap-  proach nearest to intuitive knowledge, if we hold no communion  with the body, except, what absolute necessity requires, nor suffer  ourselves to be pervaded by its nature, but purify ourselves from  it until God himself shall release us."     124 Eleusinian and   a death mean but symbolical or philosophical  death ? And what is this but the true ex-  ercise of the virtues which purify '? But  these poor men read only superficially, or  for the sake of displaying some critical  acumen in verbal emendations ; and yet with  such despicable preparations for philosoph-  ical discussion, they have the impudence to  oppose their puerile conceptions to the de-  cisions of men of elevated genius and pro-  found investigation, who, happily freed from  the danger and drudgery of learning any  foreign language,* directed all their attention  without restraint to the acquisition of the  most exalted truth.   It only now remains that we prove, in the  last place, that a representation of the descent  of the soul formed no inconsiderable part of  these mystic shows. This, indeed, is doubt-   * It is to be regretted, nevertheless, that our author had not  risked the " danger and drudgery " of learning Greek, so as to  have rendered fuller justice to his subject, and been of greater  service to his readers. We are conscious that those who are too  learned in verbal criticism are prone to overlook the real purport  of the text.— A. W.     Bacchic Mysteries. 125   less occultly intimated by Yirgil, when speak-  ing of the souls of the blessed ui Elysium, he  adds,   Has omnes, ubi mille rotam volvere per annos,  Lethaeum ad fluviiim deus evocat agmine magno :  Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant,  Eursus et incipiant iu eorpore velle reverti.*   But openly by Apuleius in the following  prayer which Psyche addresses to Ceres :  Per ego te frugiferam tuam dextram istam  deprecor, per Isetificas messium cserimonias,  per tacita sacra cistarum, et per famulorum  tuorum draconum pinnata cuiTicula, et glebae.  Siculae fulcamina, et currum rapacem, et ter-  ram tenacem, et illuminarum Proserpinse  nuptiarum demeacula, et caetera quae silentio  tegit Eleusis, Atticae sacrarium ; miserandse  Psyches animse, supplicis fuse, subsiste.f That  is, "I beseech thee, by thy fruit-bearing right   * " All these, after they have passed away a thousand years, are  summoned by the divine one in great array, to the Lethfean river.  In this way they become forgetful of their former earth-life, and  revisit the vatilted realms of the world, willing again to return  into bodies."   t Apuleius : The Golden Ass. (Story of Cupid and Psyche),  book vi.     126 Bacchic Mysteries.   hand, by the joyful ceremonies of harvest, by  the occult sacred rites of thy cistae,* and by  the winged car of thy attending dragons, and  the furrows of the Sicilian soil, and the ra-  pacious chariot (or car of the ravisher), and  the dark descending ceremonies attending the  marriage of Proserpina^ and the ascending  rites which accompanied the lighted return  of thy daughter^ and l)ij other arcana  which Eleusis the Attic sanctuary conceals  in profound silence^ reheve the sorrows of  thy wretched suppliant Psyche." For the  abduction of Proserpina signifies the descent  of the soul, as is e^ddent from the passage  previously adduced from Olympiodorus, in  which he says the soul descends Corically ; f  and this is confirmed by the authority of the  philosopher Sallust, who observes, " That the  abduction of Proserpina is fabled to have  taken place about the opposite equinoctial ;  and by this the descent of souls [into earth-   * Chests or baskets, made of osiers, in which were enclosed the  mystical images and utensils which the uninitiated were not per-  mitted to behold.   t /• €. as to death ; analogously to the descent of Kore-Per-  sephone to the Underworld.      Ceres lends lier ear to Triptolemus.      Proserpina and Pluto. Jupiter augry.     Bacchic Mysteries. 129   life] is implied." Tlepi ^(oov x'ajv svaviiav lo^q-   {)-ac, 6 5'^ /.^.O-oSoc soTt tcov '|y/cov.* And as  the abduction of Proserpina was exhibited in  the dramatic representations of the Myste-  ries, as is clear from Apuleius, it indisputa-  bly follows, that this represented the descent  of the soul, and its union with the dark tene-  ment of the body. Indeed, if the ascent and  descent of the soul, and its condition while  connected with a material nature, were rep-  resented in the dramatic shows of the Mys-  teries, it is evident that this was implied by  the rape of Proserpina. And the former  part of this assertion is manifest from Apu-  leius, when describing his initiation, he says,  in the passage already adduced : "I ap-  proached the confines of death, and having  trodden on the threshold of Proserpina,  / returned^ having been carried through all  the elements.^'' And as to the latter part, it  has been amply proved, fi'om the highest  authority, in the first division of this dis-  course.   * De Diis et Mundo, p. 251.     130 Meusinian and   Nor must the reader be distiu^bed on find-  ing that, according to Porphyry, as cited by  Eusebius,* the fable of Proserpina alludes to  seed placed in the ground ; for this is like-  wise true of the fable, considered according-  to its material explanation. But it will be  proper on this occasion to rise a httle higher,  and consider the various species of fables,  according to their philosophical arrange-  ment ; since by this means the present sub-  ject will receive an additional elucidation,  and the wisdom of the ancient authors of  fables will be vindicated from the unjust  aspersions of ignorant declaimers. I shall  present the reader, therefore, with the fol-  lowing interesting division of fables, fi'om  the elegant book of the Platonic philoso-  pher Sallust, on the gods and the universe.  " Of fables," says he, " some are theological,  others physical, others animastic (or relating  to soul), others material, and lastly, others  mixed from these. Fables are theological  which relate to nothing corporeal, but contem-  plate the very essences of the gods ; such as   * Evang. Prcepui: book iii. chap. 2.     Bacchic Mysteries. 131   the fable which asserts that Saturn devoured  his children : for it insinuates nothing more  than the nature of an intellectual (or intu-  itional) god ; since every such intellect returns  into itself. We regard fables physically when  we speak concerning the operations of the  gods about the world ; as when considering  Saturn the same as Time, and calhng the  parts of time the children of the universe, we  assert that the children are devoiu'ed by their  parent. But we utter fables in a spiritual  mode, when we contemplate the operations  of the soul ; because the intellections of our  souls, though by a discursive energy they go  forth into other things, yet abide in their  parents. Lastly, fables are material, such as  the Egyptians ignorantly employ, consider-  ing and calling corporeal natures divinities :  such as Isis, earth, Osiris, humidity, Typhon,  heat • or, again, denominating Saturn water,  Adonis, fruits, and Bacchus, wine. And, in-  deed, to assert that these are dedicated to the  gods, in the same manner as herbs, stones, and  animals, is the part of wise men ; but to call  them gods is alone the province of fools and     132 Eleusinian and   madmen ; unless we speak in the same man-  ner as when, from estabhshed custom, we call  the orb of the sun and its rays the sun itself.  But we may perceive the mixed kind of  fables, as well in many other particulars, as  when they relate that Discord, at a banquet  of the gods, tlu'ew a golden apple, and that  a dispute about it arising among the god-  desses, they were sent by Jupiter to take the  judgment of Paris, who, charmed with the  beauty of Venus, gave her the apple in pref-  erence to the rest. For in this fable the  banquet denotes the super-mundane powers  of the gods ; and on this account they sub-  sist in conjunction with each other : but the  golden apple denotes the world, which, on  account of its composition from contrary  natures, is not improperly said to be thrown  by Discord, or strife. But again, since dif-  ferent gifts are imparted to the world by dif-  ferent gods, they appear to contest with each  other for the apple. And a soul living ac-  cording to sense (for this is Paris), not per-  ceiving other powers in the universe, asserts  that the apple is alone the beauty of Venus.     Bacchic Mysteries. 133   But of these species of fables, such as are  theological belong to philosophers ; the phys-  ical and spiritual to poets ; l)ut the mixed to  the first of the initiator i/ rites (ze'kszal(;) ;  since the intention of all mystic ceremonies  is to conjoin us with the world and the  gods.^''   Thus far the excellent Sallust : from  whence it is evident, that "the fable of Pro-  serpina, as belonging to the Mysteries, is  properly of a mixed nature, or composed  from all the four species of fables, the theo-  logical [spiritual or psychical], and material.  But in order to understand this divine  fable, it is requisite to know, that according  to the arcana of the ancient theology, the  Coric * order (or the order belonging to  Proserpina) is twofold, one part of which is  super-mundane, subsisting with Jupiter, or  the Demiurgus, and thus associated with him  establishing one artificer of divisible natures ;  but the other is mundane, in which Proser-   * Coric from KopY], Kore, a name of Proserpina. The name is  derived by E. Pococke from the Sanscrit Goure.     134 EJeiisinian and   pina is said to be ravished by Pluto, and to  animate the extremities of the universe.  *' Hence," says Prockis, "according to the  statement of theologists, who dehvered to  us the most holy Mysteries, she [Proserpina]  abides on high in those dwellings of her  mother which she prepared for her in inac-  cessible places, exempt from the sensible  world. But she likewise dwells beneath  with Pluto, administering terrestrial con-  cerns, governing the recesses of the earth,  supplying life to the extremities of the uni-  verse, and imparting soul to beings which  are rendered by her inanimate and dead."  Kai yap yj twv iJ-soXoytov "^'^{J-yj, xwv tac aytco-  xata? Y/^iiv £V EXsaacvt tsAs-ca? 7rry.pry.o£0(oy,G-  xtov, avco, ji£v OL'jr/jV sv xocc {X'ffrjOQ owoic  JJLSV8CV cp'^acv, O'j^ Yj (J-'^r/jp aur^ y-arsaxsuaCsv  sv a[57'0L? £(;Y^pY;{ji£voac too tz^vzoq. Katco §£  {i£'ca nXoD-covoc xcDV yO-ovuov eizapyeiy^ v.rj.i  zooQ ZTiQ YQC, \Loyofjc £':it'cpo7U£U£tv, vcat Cf«^Y^v  £xop£Y£tv ZOIC eyrj.zoic ^oo xavToc, %at ^^/''i^  {ji£ta5i5ovat rote Trap £rjjjzo)y aj^oyoic, 7.ai V£-  xpot?.* Hence we may easily perceive that   * Proclus: TJieology of Plato, p. 371.     Bacchic Mysteries. 135   this fable is of the mixed kind, one part of  which relates to the super-mundane estabhsh-  ment of the secondarj^ cause of life,* and the  other to the procession or outgoing of life  and soul to the farthest extremity of things.  Let us therefore more attentively consider  the fable, in that part of it which is sym-  bolical of the descent of souls ; in order to  which, it will be requisite to premise an  abridgment of the arcane discourse, respecting  the wanderings of Ceres, as preserved by  Minutius Felix. " Proserpina," says he, " the  daughter of Ceres by Jupiter, as she was  gathering tender flowers, in the new spring,  was ravished from her dehghtful abodes by  Pluto ; and being carried from thence  through thick woods, and over a length of  sea, was brought by Pluto into a cavern,  the residence of departed spirits, over whom  she afterward ruled with absolute sway. But   * Plotiuus taught the existence of three hypostases in the Divine  Nature. There was the Demiurge, the God of Creation and  Providence ; the Second, the Intelligible, self-contained and im-  mutable Source of life ; and above all, the One, who like the  Zervane Akerene of the Persians, is above all Being, a pure will,  an Absolute Love — " Intellect." — A. W.     136 Bacchic Mysteries.   Ceres, upon discovering the loss of her daugh-  ter, with hghted torches, and begirt with a  serpent, wandered over the whole earth for  the purpose of finding her till she came to  Eleusis ; there she found her daughter, and  also taught to the Eleusinians the cultivation  of corn." Now in this fable Ceres represents  the evolution of that intuitional part of our  nature which we properly denominate intel-  lect'^ (or the unfolding of the intuitional  faculty of the mind from its quiet and col-  lected condition in the world of thought) ;  and Proserpina that living, self -moving, and  animating part which we call sonl. But lest  this comparing of unfolded intellect to Ceres  should seem ridiculous to the reader, unac-  quainted with the Orphic theology, it is neces-  sary to inform him that this goddess, from  her intimate union with Rhea, in conjunc-  tion with whom she produced Jupiter, is   * Also denominated by Kant, Pure reason, and by Prof, Cocker,  Intuitive reason. It was considered by Plato, as " not amenable to  the conditions of time and space, but in a particular sense, as  dwelling in eternity : and therefore capable of beholding eternal  realities, and coming into communion with absolute beauty, and  goodness, and truth — that is, with God, the Absolute Being."       Proserpina.— Greek.     Bacclius.— India.       Ceres.— Roman.     Demeter.— Ktruscan.     Bacchic Mysteries. 139   evidently of a Saturnian and zoogonic, or in-  tellectual and vivific rank ; and hence, as we  are informed by the philosopher Sallust,  among the mundane divinities she is the  deity of the planet Saturn.* So that in con-  sequence of this, our intellect (or intuitive  faculty) in a descending state must aptly  symbohze with the divinity of Ceres. But  Pluto signifies the whole of a material  natui'e ; since the empire of this god, accord-  ing to Pythagoras, commences downward  from the Gralaxy or milky way. And the  cavern signifies the entrance, as it were, into  the profundities of such a nature, which is  accomplished by the soul's union with this  terrestrial body. But in order to under-  derstand perfectly the secret meaning of the  other parts of this fable, it will be necessary  to give a more exphcit detail of the particu-  lars attending the abduction, from the beau-  tiful poem of Claudian on this subject. From   * Hence we may perceive the reason why Ceres as well as Sat-  urn was denominated a legislative deity; and why illuminations  were used in the celebration of the Saturnalia, as well as in the  Eleusinian Mysteries.     140 Bacchic Mysteries.   this elegant production we learn that Ceres,  who was a&aid lest some violence should be  offered to Proserpina, on account of her in-  imitable beauty, conveyed her privately to  Sicily, and concealed her in a house built on  purpose by the Cyclopes, while she herself  directs her course to the temple of Cybele,  the mother of the gods. Hej:'e, then, we see  the first cause of the soul's descent, namely,  the abandoning of a life wholly according to  the higher intellect, which is occultly signi-  fied by, the separation of Proserpina fi*om  Ceres. Afterward, we are told that Jupiter  instructs Venus to go to this abode, and be-  tray Proserpina from her retirement, that  Pluto may be enabled to carry her away;  and to prevent any suspicion in the virgin's  mind, he commands Diana and Pallas to go  in company. The three goddesses arriving,  find Proserpina at work on a scarf for her  mother ; in which she had embroidered the  primitive chaos, and the formation of the  world. Now by Venus in this part of the  narration we must understand desire^ which  even in the celestial regions (for such is the      Venus, Diana, and Pallas visit Proserpina*     Bacchic Mysteries. 143   residence of Proserpina till slie is ravished by  Pluto), begins silently and stealthily to creep  into the recesses of the soul. By Minerva  we must conceive the rational power of the  soul, and by Diana, nature^ or the merely  natural and vegetable part of our composi-  tion ; both which are now ensnared through  the allurements of desire. And lastly, the  web in which Proserpina had displayed all  the fair variety of the material world, beau-  tifully represents the commencement of the  illusive operations through which the soul  becomes ensnared with the beauty of imagi-  native forms. But let us for a while attend  to the poet's elegant description of her em-  ployment and abode :   Devenere locum, Cereris quo tecta nitebant  Cyclopum firmata manu. Stant ardua f erro  Msenia ; ferrati postes : immensaqiie nectit  Claustra elialybs. Nullum tanto sudore Pyracmon,  Nee Steropes, eonstruxit opus : nee talibus unquam  Spiravere uotis animge : nee flumine tanto  Incoctum maduit lassa fornaee metallum.  Atria vestit ebur : trabibus solidatur aenis  Culmen, et in eelsas surgunt eleetra eolumnas.  Ipsa domum tenero mulcens Proserpina eantu  Irrita texebat rediturje munera matri.  Hie elementorum seriem sedesque pateruas     144 Eleusinian and   Insignibat aeu : veterem qua lege tutmiltum  Diserevit natiira parens, et semiua jiistis  Diseessere locis : quidquid leve fertiu" iu altum :  111 medium graviora caduut : incaiiduit tether :  Egit flamma polum : fluxit mare •. terra pependit  Nee color uuus inest. Stellas accendit in auro.  Ostro fundit aquos, attollit litora gemmis,  Filaque mentitos jam jam cfelantia liuctus  Arte tumeiit. Credas illidi cautibus algam,  Et raucum bibiilis inserpere murmur arenis.  Addit quinqiie plagas : mediam subtemine rubro  Obsessam fervore notat : squalebat adustus  Limes, et assiduo sitiebant stamina sole.  Vitales utrimque duas ; quas mitis oberrat  Temperies habitanda viris. Tum fine supremo  Torpentes traxit geminas, brumaque perenni  Fgedat, et a3terno coiitristat frigore telas.  Nee non et patrui piugit sacraria Ditis,  Fatalesque sibi manes. Nee def nit omen.  Prasscia nam subitis maduerimt fletibus ora.     After this, Proserpina, forgetful of her par-  ent's commands, is represented as venturing  from her retreat, through the treacherous  persuasions of Venus :   Impulit Joiiios pra?misso lumine fluetus  Nondum pura dies : tremulis vibravit in iindis  Ardor, et errantes ludunt per cferula flammfe.  Jamque audax animi, fidseque oblita parentis,  Fraude Dioiifea riguos Proserpina saltus  (Sic Parcse voluere) petit.     Bacchic Mysteries. 145   And this with the greatest propriety: for  obhvion necessarily follows a remission of  intellectnal action, and is as necessarily at-  tended with the allurements of desire.* Nor  is her dress less symbolical of the acting of   * When the person turns the back upon his higher faculties, and  disregards the communications which he receives through them  from the world of unseen realities, an oblivion ensues of their  existence, and the person is next brought within the province and  operation of lower and worldly ambitions, such as a love of power,  passion for riches, sensual pleasure, etc. This is a descent, fall,  or apostasy of the soul, — a separation from the sources of divine  life and ravishment into the region of moral death.   In the Pluedras, in the allegory of the Chariot and Winged  Steeds, Plato represents the lower or inferior part of man's nature  as dragging the soul down to the earth, and subjecting it to the  slavery of corporeal conditions. Out of these conditions there  arise numerous evils, that disorder the mind and becloud the rea-  son, for evil is inherent to the condition of finite and multiform  being into which we have "fallen by our own fault." The pres-  ent earthly life is a fall and a punishment. The soul is now  dwelling in ''the gi-ave which we call the body." In its incorpo-  rate state, and previous to the discipline of education, the rational-  element is " asleep." " Life is more of a dream than a reality."  Men are utterly the slaves of sense, the sport of phantoms and  illusions. We now resemble those " captives chained in a subter-  raneous cave," so poetically described in the seventh book of The  Republic ; their backs are turned to the light, and consequently  they see but the shadows of the objects which pass behind them,  and " they attribute to these shadows a perfect reality." Their  sojourn upon earth is thus a dark imprisonment in the body, a  dreamy exile from their proper home." — CucJcer's Greek Philosophy,     146 Eleiisinian and   the soul in such a state, principally according  to the energies and promptings of imagina-  tion and nature. For thus her garments are  beautifully described by the poet :     Qiias inter Cereris proles, nunc gloria luatris,  Mox dolor, sequali tendit per gratnina passu,  Nee membris nee honore minor ; potuitque  Pallas, si clipeum, si ferret spieula, Phoebe.  CoUeetsB tereti nodantur jaspide vestes.  Peetinis ingenio nunquam felicior arti  Coutigit eventus. Nullse sic consona telae  Fila, nee in tantum veri duxere figuram.  Hie Hyperionis Solem de semine nasei  Fecerat, et pariter, sed forma dispare lunam,  Aurora} noetisque duces. Cunabula Tethys  Praebet, et infantes gremio solatur anhelos,  Cseruleusque sinus roseis radiatur alumnis.  Invalidum dextro portat Titana laeerto  Nondum luce gravem, nee pubescentibus alte  Cristatum radiis : prime clementior sevo  Fiugitur, et tenerum vagitu despiiit ignem.  Lseva parte soror vitrei libaraina potat  Uberis, et parvo signatur tempora cornu.   In which description the sun represents the  phantasy, and the moon, nature, as is well  known to every tyro in the Platonic philos-  ophy. They are likewise, with great pro-  priety, described in their infantine state : for     Bacchic Mysteries. 147   these energies do not arrive to perfection  previous to the sinking of the soul into the  dark receptacle of matter. After this we be-  hold her issuing on the plain with Minerva  and Diana, and attended by a beauteous  train of nymphs, who are evident symbols of  world of generation,* and are, therefore, the  proper companions of the soul about to fall  into its fluctuating realms.   But the design of Proserpina, in venturing  from her retreat, is beautifully significant of  her approaching descent: for she rambles  from home for the purpose of gathering  flowers ; and this in a lawn replete with the  most enchanting variety, and exhahng the  most dehcious odors. This is a manifest  image of the soul operatmg principally ac-  cording to the natural and external life, and  so becoming effeminated and ensnared  through the delusive attractions of sensible  form. Minerva (the rational faculty in this  case), likewise gives herself wholly to the   * Porphyry : Cave of the Nymphs. lu the later Greek, v'j|i.'f rj  sigaified a bride.     148 EJeusinian and   dangerous employment, and abandons the  proper characteristics of her nature for the  destructive revels of desire.   All which is thus described with the ut-  most elegance by the poet :   Forma loci siiperat flores : eurvata tumore  Pai'vo planities, et moUibus edita clivis  Creverat in eoUem. Vivo de pumice fontes  Roscida mobilibus lambebant gramina rivis.  Silvaque torrentes ramonim fi"igore soles  Temperat, et medio brumam sibi viudicat sestu.  Apta fretis abies, bellis aecomoda eomus,  Quercus arnica Jovi, tumulos tectura cupressus,  Hex plena favis, venturi pra?seia lanrus.  Fluctuat hie denso crispata cacumine buxus,  Hie ederae serpunt, hie pampinus indnit ulmos.  Hand proeul inde laciis (Pergum dixere Sioani)  Panditur, et nemorum frondoso margine cinetus  Vicinis pallescit aquis : admittit in altum  Cernentes oculos, et late perviiis humor  Ducit inoflfensus liquido sub gurgite visus,  Imaque perspicui prodit secreta profundi.   Hue elapsa eohors gaudent per florea rura  Hortarur Cytherea, legant. Nunc ite, sorores,  Dum matutinis prsesudat solibus aer :  Dum meus humectat flaventes Lucifer agros,  Rotanti praevectus equo. Sic fata, doloris  Carpit signa sui. Varios turn cjetera saltus  Invasere eohors. Credas examina fundi  Hyblagum raptura thymum, cum cerea reges     Baccliic Mysteries. 149   Castra movent, fagique cava demissus ab alvo  Mellifer electis exereitus obstrepit lierbis.  Pratorum spoliatur honos. Hac lilia fuseis  Iiitexit violis : banc mollis amaraeus ornat :  Heec graditur stellata rosis ; haec alba ligiistris.  Te quoqiie flebilibus mserens, Hyacintbe, figuris,  Narcissumque metunt, nunc inclita germina veris,  Proestantes dim pueros. Tu natus Amyclis :  Hunc Helicon genuit. Te disci perculit error :  Hune fontis decepit amor. Te fronte retusa  Deluis, hiinc fracta Cephissus arundiue luget.  j3^]staat ante alias avido fervore legeudi  Frugiferte spes una Dese. Nunc vimine texto  Eidentes ealatbos spoliis agrestibus implet :  Nunc sociat flores, seseque ignara corouat.  Augurium fatale tori. Quin ipsa tubarum  Armorumque potens, dextram qua fortia turbat  Agmina ; qua stabiles portas et msenia vellit,  Jam levibus laxat studiis, hastamque reponit,  Insolitisque docet galeam mitescere sertis.  Ferratus lascivit apex, horrorque recessit  Martins, et cristse pacato fulgure vernant.  Nee quae Parthenium canibus scrutatur odorem,  Aspernata clioros, libertatemque comarum  Injecta tantum voluit freuare corona.   But there is a circumstance relative to the  narcissus which must not be passed over in  silence : I mean its being, according to Ovid,  the metamorphosis of a youth who fell a  victim to the love of his own corporeal  form ; the secret meaning of which most     150 Bacchic Mysteries.   admirably accords with the rape of Proser-  pina, which, according to Homer, was the  immediate consequence of gathering this  wonderful flower.* For by Narcissus falling  in love with his shadow in the limpid stream  we may behold an exquisitely apt represen-  tation of a soul vehemently gazing on the  flowing condition of a material body, and in  consequence of this, becoming enamored  with a corporeal life, which is nothing more  than the delusive image of the true man, or  the rational and immortal soul. Hence, by  an immoderate attachment to this unsubstau-  tial mockery and gliding semblance of the  real soul, such an one becomes, at length,  wholly changed, as far as is possible to his  nature, into a vegetive condition of being,  into a beautiful but transient flower, that is,  into a corporeal life, or a life totally consist-   * Homer: Rymn to Ceres. "We were plucking the pleasant  flowers, the beauteous crocus, and the Iris, and hyacinth, and the  narcissus, which, like the crocus, the wide earth produced. I was  plucking them with joy, when the earth yawned beneath, and out  leaped the Strong King, the Many-Receiver, and went bearing me,  grieving much, beneath the earth in his golden chariot, and I  cried aloud."     "v..            Pioseipiua gathering Flowers.      Pluto carrj'iiig off Pioserplna.     Bacchic Mysteries, 153   ing in the mere operations of nature. Pro-  serpina, therefore, or the soul, at the very  instant of her descent into matter, is, with  the utmost propriety, represented as eagerly  engaged in pkicking this fatal flower ; for  her faculties at this period are entirely oc-  cupied with a hf e divided about the fluctuat-  ing condition of body.   After this, Pluto, forcing his passage  through the earth, seizes on Proserpina,  and carries her away with him, notwith-  standing the resistance of Minerva and  Diana. They, indeed, are forbid by Jupiter,  who in this place signifies Fate, to attempt  her deUverance. By this resistance of Mi-  nerva and Diana no more is signified than  that the lapse of the soul into a material  nature is contrary to the genuine wish and  proper condition, as well of the corporeal hfe  depending on her essence, as of her true and  rational nature. Well, therefore, may the  soul, in such a situation, pathetically exclaim  with Proserpina :     154 Bacchic Mysteries.   O male dileeti flores, despeetaque matris  Consilia : O Veneris deprensse serius artes ! *   But, according to Minutius Felix, Proserpina  was carried by Pluto tlu-ough thick woods,  and over a length of sea, and brought into a  cavern, the residence of the dead : where by  'woods a material nature is plainly implied, as  we have already observed in the first part of  this discourse ; and where the reader may  likewise observe the agreement of the de-  scription in this particular with that of Yvn-  gil in the descent of his hero :   Tenent media omnia silvce  Coeytusque sinuque labens, cireumvenit atro.t   In these words the woods are expressly  mentioned; and the ocean has an evident  agreement with Cocytus, signifying the out-  flowing condition of a material nature, and  the sorrows and sufferings attending its con-  nection with the soul.   * Oh flowers fatally dear, and the mother's cautions despised :  Oh cruel arts of cunning Venus !   t " Woods cover all the middle space and Cocytus gliding on,  surrounds it with his dusky bosom."     Bacchic Mysteries. 157   Pluto hurries Proserpina into the infernal  regions : in other words, the soul is sunk  into the profound depth and darkness of a  material nature. A description of her mar-  riage next succeeds, her union with the dark  tenement of the body :   Jam siius iuferno processerat Hesperus orbi  Ducitur in thalamum virgo. Stat pronuba juxta  Stellautes Nox pieta sinus, tangensque cubile  Omina perpetuo genitalia federe sancit.   Night is with great beauty and propriety in-  troduced as standing by the nuptial couch,  and confirming the oblivious league. For  the soul through her union with a material  body becomes an inhabitant of darkness, and  subject to the empire of night ; in conse-  quence of which she dwells wholly with de-  lusive phantoms, and till she breaks her  fetters is deprived of the intuitive percep-  tion of that which is real and true.   In the next place, we are presented with  the following beautiful and pathetic descrip-  tion of Proserpina appearing in a dream to     158 Eleusinian and   Ceres, and bewailing her captive and miser-  able condition :   Sed tunc ipsa, sui jam non ambagibus ullis  Nuutia, materna faeies ingesta sopori.  Namque videbatur tenebroso obtecta reeessu  Carceris, et ssevis Proserpina vineta catenis,  Non qualem roseis nuper convallibus ^tnae  Suspexere Dete. Squalebat pulchrior auro  Csesaries, et nox oculorum infeeerat ignes.  Exhaustusque gelu pallet rubor. Die superbi  Flamineus oris honos, et non cessura pruinis  Membra eolorantur pieei caligine regni.  Ergo hanc ut dubio vix tandem agnoseere visu  Evaluit : cujus tot p«n£e criminis ? inquit.  Unde hsec infoi'mis macies ? Cui tanta f acultas  In me ssevitisB est? Eigidi cur vincula ferri  Vix aptanda f eris molles meruere lacerti ?  Tu, mea tu proles I An vana fallimur umbra ?   Such, indeed, is the wretched situation of  the soul when profoundly merged in a cor-  poreal nature. She not only becomes captive  and fettered, but loses all her original splen-  dor ; she is defiled with the impurity of mat-  ter ; and the sharpness of her rational sight  is blunted and dunmed through the thick  darkness of a material night. The reader  may observe how Proserpina, being repre-  sented as confined in the dark recess of a     Bacchic Mysteries. 159   prison, and bound with fetters, confirms the  explanation of the fable here given as sym-  bolical of the descent of the soul ; for such,  as we have ah*eady largely proved, is the  condition of the soul from its union with the  body, according to the uniform testimony of  the most ancient philosophers and priests.*   After this, the wanderings of Ceres for the  discovery of Proserpina commence. She is  described, by Minutius Fehx, as begirt ^dth  a serpent, and bearing two hghted torches in  her hands ; but by Claudian, instead of being  gu^t with a serpent, she commences her  search by night in a car drawn by dragons.  But the meaning of the allegory is the same  in each ; for both a serpent and a di'agon are  emblems of a divisible hfe subject to transi-  tions and changes, with which, in this case,  our intellectual (and diviner) part becomes  connected : since as these animals put off  their skins, and become young again, so   * Manteis, /jLavisic, not bpE'.;;. The term is more commonly trans-  lated prophets, and actually signifies persons gifted with divine  insight, through being in an entheastic condition, called also mania  or divine fury.     160 Bacchic Mysteries.   tlie divisible life of the soul, falling into  generation, is rejuvenized in its subsequent  career. But what emblem can more beau-  tifully represent the evolutions and out-  goings of an intellectual nature into the  regions of sense than the wanderings of  Ceres by the hght of torches through the  darkness of night, and continuing the pursuit  until she proceeds into the depths of Hades  itself ? For the intellectual part of the soul,*  when it verges towards body, enkindles, in-  deed, a light in its dark receptacle, but be-  comes itself situated in obscurity : and, as  Proclus somewhere divinely observes, the  mortal nature by this means participates of  the divme intellect, but the intellectual part  is drawn down to death. The tears and lam-  entations too, of Ceres, in her coiu'se, are sym-  bolical both of the providential operations of   * " The soul is a composite nature, is on one side linked to the  eternal world, its essence being generated of that ineffable ele-  ment which constitutes the real, the immutable, and the perma-  nent. It is a beam of the eternal Sun, a spark of the Divinity, an  emanation from God. On the other hand, it is linked to the phe-  nomenal or sensible world, its emotive part being formed of that  which is relative and phenomenal." — Cocker.     Bacchic Mysteries. 163   intellect about a mortal nature, and the mis-  eries with which such operations are (with  respect to imperfect souls like oui's) attended.  Nor is it without reason that lacchus, or  Bacchus, is celebrated by Orpheus as the  companion of her search : for Bacchus is the  evident symbol of the imperfect energies of  intellect, and its scattering into the obscure  and lamentable dominions of sense.   But our explanation will receive additional  strength from considering that these sacred  rites occupied the space of nine days in their  celebration; and this, doubtless, because,  according to Homer,* this goddess did not  discover the residence of her daughter till  the expu-ation of that period. For the soul,  in falling from her original and divine abode  in the heavens, passed through eight spheres,   * Hymn to Ceres. "For nine days did holy Demeter perambulate  the earth . . and when the ninth shining morn had come, Hecate  met her, bringing news."   Apuleius also explains that at the initiation into the Mysteries  of Isis the candidate was enjoined to abstain from luxurious food  for ten days, from the flesh of animals, and from wine. — Golden Ass,  book xi. p. 239 (BoJin).     164 Eleusinian and   namely, the fixed or inerratic sphere, and  the seven planets, assuming a different body,  and employing different faculties in each;  and becomes connected with the sublunary  world and a terrene body, as the ninth, and  most abject gradation of her descent. Hence  the first day of initiation into these mystic  rites was called agurmos^ L e. according to  Hesychius, eM'Jesia et '^rav to ayscpoiJ-svov,  an assembly^ and all collecting fogefher :  and this with the greatest propriety; for,  according to Pythagoras, "the people of  dreams are souls collected together in the  Gralaxy.* Atj[jlo^ 5s ovstpcov 7.a.za noO-ayopav   Jcav.f And from this part of the heavens  souls first begin to descend. After this, the  soul falls from the tropic of Cancer into the  planet Satm'n; and to this the second day  of initiation was consecrated, which they  called AXol5s (j-uarai, [" to the sea, ye initi-  ated ones ! "] because, says Meui'sius, on that   * Only persons taking a view solely external will suppose the  galaxy to be literally the milky belt of stars in the sky.  t Cave of the Xymphs.     Bacchic Mysteries. 165   day the crier was accustomed to admonisli  the mystte to betake themselves to the sea.  Now the meaning of this will be easily  understood, by considering that, according to  the arcana of the ancient theology, as may be  learned from Proclus, * the whole planetary  system is under the dominion of Neptune;  and this too is confirmed by Martianus  Capella, who describes the several planets  as so many streams. Hence when the soul  falls into the planet Saturn, which Capella  compares to a river voluminous, sluggish,  and cold, she then first merges herself into  fluctuating matter, though purer than that  of a sublunary natiu'e, and of which water is  an ancient and significant symbol. Besides,  the sea is an emblem of purity, as is evident  from the Orphic hymn to Ocean, in which that  deity is called {^swv ayvtajxa {xsy^^'^^v, tlieon  agnisma megiston^ i. e. the greatest purifier of  the gods : and Saturn, as we have already  observed, is pure [intuitive] intellect. And  what still more confirms this observation is,  that Pythagoras, as we are informed by Por-   * Theology of Plato, book vi.     166 Bacchic Mysteries.   pliyry, in his life of that philosopher, symbol-  ically called the sea a tear of Saturn. But the  eighth day of initiation, which is symbohcal  of the falhng of the soul into the lunar  orb,* was celebrated by the candidates by a  repeated initiation and second sacred rites ;  because the soul in this situation is about to  bid adieu to every thing of a celestial natui'e ;  to sink into a perfect obhvion of her divine  origin and pristine felicity ; and to rush pro-  foundly into the region of dissimilitude,!  ignorance, and error. And lastly, on the  ninth day, when the soul falls into the sub-  lunary world and becomes united with a ter-  restrial body, a hbation was performed, such  as is usual in sacred rites. Here the initiates,  filling two earthen vessels of broad and spa-  cious bottoms, which were called irX'^fj-o/oat,  plemokhoai^ and y-G-cuXoaTcoL, JcotuIusJioi, the  former of these words denoting vessels of a  conical shape, and the latter small bowls or   * The Moon typified the mother of gods and men. The soul  descending into the lunar orb thus came near the scenes of earthly  existence, where the life which is transmitted by generation has  opportunity to involve it about.   t The condition most unlike the former divine estate.      Goddess Night.     Three Graces.     Bacchic Mysteries. 169   cups sacred to Bacchus, they placed one  towards the east, and the other towards the  west. And the first of these was doubtless,  according to the interpretation of Proclus,  sacred to the earth, and symbolical of the  soul proceeding from an orbicular figure, or  divine form, into a conical defluxion and ter-  rene situation : * but the other was sacred to  the soul, and symbolical of its celestial origin ;  since our intellect is the legitimate progeny  of Bacchus. And this too was occultly sig-  nified by the position of the earthen ves-  sels ; for, according to a mundane distribu-  tion of the divinities, the eastern center of  the universe, which is analogous to fire,  belongs to Jupiter, who likewise governs the  fixed and inerratic sphere ; and the western  to Pluto, who governs the earth, because  the west is allied to earth on account of  its dark and nocturnal nature. f   Again, according to Clemens Alexandri-  nus, the following confession was made by   * An orbicular figure symbolized the maternal, and a cone the  masculine divine Energy.  t Proclus: Theology of Plato, book vi. c. 10.     170 Eleusinian and   tlie new initiate in these sacred rites, in an-  swer to the interrogations of the Hierophant :  "I have fasted; I have drank the Cyceon;*  I have taken out of the Cista, and placed  what I have taken ont into the Calathns;  and alternately I have taken out of the Ca-  lathus and put into the Cista." Kcj^a-cc xo  a'jv^r^{xa EXsoaivLcov {xoax-r^puov. EvYja-cwaa*   xtatY^v. But as this pertains to a circum-  stance attending the wanderings of Ceres,  which formed the most mystic and emblem-  atical part of the ceremonies, it is necessary  to adduce the following arcane narration,  summarily collected from the writings of  Arnobius : " The goddess Ceres, when search-  ing through the earth for her daughter, in the  course of her wanderings arrived at the  boundaries of Eleusis, in the Attic region, a  place which was then inhabited by a people  called Autochthones, or descended fi'om the   * Homer: Hymn to Ceres. "To her Metaneira gave a cup of  sweet wine, but slie refused it ; but bade her to mix wheat and  water with pounded pennyroyal. Having made the mixture, she  gave it to the goddess."     Bacchic Mysteries. 171   earth, whose names were as follows : Baubo  and Triptolemus ; Dysaules, a goatherd ; Eu-  bulus, a keeper of swme ; and Eumolpus, a  shepherd, from whom the race of the Eumol-  pidse descended, and the illustrious name of  Cecropidse was derived ; and who afterward  flourished as bearers of the caduceus, hiero-  phants, and criers belonging to the sacred  rites. Baubo, therefore, who was of the  female sex, received Ceres, wearied with  complicated evils, as her guest, and endea-  vored to soothe her sorrows by obsequious  and flattering attendance. For this purpose  she entreated her to pay attention to the re-  freshment of her body, and placed before her  a mixed potion to assuage the vehemence of  her thirst. But the sorrowful goddess was  averse from her solicitations, and rejected the  friendly officiousness of the hospitable dame.  The matron, however, who was not easily re-  pulsed, still continued her entreaties, which  were as obstinately resisted by Ceres, who  persevered in her refusal with unshaken per-  sistency and invincible firmness. But when  Baubo had thus often exerted her endeavors     172 Bacchic Mysteries.   to appease the sorrows of Ceres, but without  any effect, she, at length, changed her arts,  and determined to try if she could not exhil-  arate, by prodigies (or out-of-the-way expe-  dients), a mind which she was not able to  allure by earnest endeavors. For this pur-  pose she uncovered that part of her body by  which the female sex produces children and  derives the appellation of woman.* This she  caused to assume a purer appearance, and a  smoothness such as is found in the private  parts of a stripling child. She then returns  to the afflicted goddess, and, in the midst of  those attempts which are usually employed  to alleviate distress, she uncovers herself,  and exhibits her secret parts ; upon which  the goddess fixed her eyes, and was diverted  with the novel method of mitigating the an-  guish of soiTow; and afterward, becoming  more cheerful through laughter, she assuages  her thirst with the mingled potion which she  had before despised." Thus far Arnobius ;  and the same narration is epitomized by  Clemens Alexandrinus, who is very indignant   * FuvT), (June, woman, from y^juvo;, gounos, Latin ciodiks.      Cupifl auil Veuus. Satyr and Goat. Baubo, Ceres, and Nymphs.     Bacchic Mysteries. 175   at the indecency as he conceives, in the stoiy,  and because it composed the arcana of the  Eleusinian rites. Indeed as the simple father,  with the usual ignorance * of a Christian  priest, considered the fable literally, and as  designed to promote indecency and lust, we  can not wonder at his ill-timed abuse. But  the fact is, this narration belonged to the  aiuoppYjxa, aporrheta^ or arcane discourses, on  account of its mystical meaning, and to pre-  vent it from becoming the object of ignorant  declamation, licentious perversion, and im-  pious contempt. For the purity and excel-  lence of these institutions is perpetually  acknowledged even by Dr. Warburton him-  seK, who, in this instance, has dispersed, for a  moment, the mists of delusion and intolerant  zeaLf Besides, as lamblichus beautifully ob-  serves, t "exhibitions of this kind in the  Mysteries were designed to free us from hcen-   * Uneandidness was more probably the fault of which Clement  was guilty.   t Divine Legation of Moses, book ii.   I "The wisest and best men in the Pagan world are unanimous  in this, that the Mysteries were instituted pure, and proposed the  noblest ends by the worthiest means.     176 Bacchic Mysteries.   tioiis passions, by gratifying the sight, and  at the same time vanquisliing desire, through  the awful sanctity with which these rites  were accompanied : for," says he, " the proper  way of freeing ourselves from the passions is,  first, to indulge them mth moderation, by  which means they become satisfied ; hsten, as  it were, to persuasion, and may thus be en-  tirely removed."* This doctrine is indeed so  rational, that it can never be objected to by  any but quacks in philosophy and rehgion.  For as he is nothing more than a quack in  medicine who endeavors to remove a latent  bodily disease before he has called it forth  externally, and by this means diminished its  fuiy ; so he is nothing more than a pretender  in philosophy who attempts to remove the  passions by violent repression, instead of  moderate comphance and gentle persuasion.   But to return from this disgression, the fol-  lowing appears to be the secret meaning of  this mystic discourse : The matron Baubo  may be considered as a symbol of that pas-   * Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians.     Bacchic Mysteries. 177   sive, womanish, and corporeal life tlirongh  whicli the soul becomes united with this  earthly body, and through which, being at  first ensnared, it descended, and, as it were,  was born into the world of generation, pass-  ing, by this means, from mature perfection,  splendor and reality, into infancy, darkness,  and error. Ceres, therefore, or the intel-  lectual soul, in the course of her wanderings,  that is, of her evolutions and goings-f orth into  matter, is at length captivated with the arts  of Baubo, or a corporeal hf e, and forgets her  sorrows, that is, imbibes oblivion of her  wretched state in the mingled potion which  she prepares : the mingled hquor being an  obvious symbol of such a life, mixed and im-  pure, and, on this account, liable to cor-  ruption and death ; since every thing pure  and unmixed is incorruptible and divine.  And here it is necessary to caution the  reader from imagining, that because, accord-  ing to the fable, the wanderings of Ceres  commence after the rape of Proserpina,  hence the intuitive intellect descends sub-  sequently to the soul, and separate from it.     178 Eleusinimi and   Notliing more is meant by this circumstance  than that the diviner intellect, from the su-  perior excellence of its nature, has in cause,  though not in time, a priority to soul, and  that on this account a defection and revolt  (and descent earthward from the heavenly  condition) commences, from the soul, and  afterward takes place in the intellect, yet  so that the former descends with the latter  in inseparable attendance.   From this explanation, then, of the fable,  we may easily perceive the meaning of the  mystic confession, / have fasted; I have  drank a mingled potion, etc.; for by the  former part of the assertion, no more is  meant than that the higher intellect, previous  to imbibing of oblivion through the decep-  tive arts of a corporeal life, abstains from  all material concerns, and does not mingle  itself (as far as its nature is capable of such  abasement) with even the necessary delights  of the body. And as to the latter part, it  doubtless alludes to the descent of Proser-  pina to Hades, and her re-ascent to the     Bacchic Mysteries. 179   abodes of her mother Ceres : that is, to the  outgoing and return of the soul, alternately  falhng into generation, and ascending thence  into the intelhgible world, and becoming per-  fectly restored to her divine and intellec-  tual nature. For the Cista contained the  most arcane symbols of the Mysteries, into  which it was unlawful for the profane to  look : and whatever were its contents,* we  learn from the hymn of Callimachus to  Ceres, that they were formed from gold,  which, from its incorruptibihty, is an evi-  dent symbol of an immaterial nature. And  as to the Calathus, or basket, this, as we are  told by Claudian, was filled with spoliis agres-  tibus^ the spoils or fruits of the field, which are  manifest symbols of a life corporeal and  earthly. So that the candidate, by confess-  ing that he had taken from the Cista, and  placed what he had taken into the Calathus,   *A golden serpent, an egg, and the phallus. The epopt look-  ing upon these, was rapt with awe as contemplating in the»sym-  bols the deeper mysteries of all life, or being of a grosser temper,  took a lascivious impression. Thus as a seer, he beheld with the  eyes of sense or sentiment ; and the real apocalypse was therefore  that made to himself of his own moral life and character. — A. W.     180 Eleusinian and   and tlie contrary, occultly acknowledged the  descent of his soul from a condition of being  super-material and immortal, into one mate-  rial and mortal ; and that, on the contrary,  by hving according to the purity which the  Mysteries inculcated, he should re-ascend to  that perfection of his nature, from which he  had unhappily fallen.*   * "Exiled from the true home of the spirit, imprisoned in the  body, disordered by passion, and becloixded by sense, the soul has  yet longings after that state of perfect knowledge, and purity, and  bliss, in which it was first created. Its affinities are still on high.  It yearns for a higher and nobler form of life. It essays to rise,  but its eye is darkened by sense, its wings are besmeared by pas-  sion and lust ; it is ' borne downward until it falls upon and  attaches itself to that which is material and sensual,' and it floun-  ders and grovels still amid the objects of sense. And now, Plato  asks: How may the soul be delivered from the illusions of sense,  the distempering influence of the body, and the disturbances of  passion, which becloud its vision of the real, the good, and the  true?"   " Plato believed and hoped that this could be accomplished by  philosophy. This he regarded as a grand intellectual discipline  for the purification of the soul. By this it was to be disenthralled  from the bondage of sense, and raised into the empyrean of pure  thought, 'where truth and reality shine forth.' All souls have the  faculty of knowing, but it is only by reflection and self-knowledge,  and intellectual discipline, that the soul can be raised to the  vision of eternal truth, goodness, and beauty — that is, to the  vision of God." — Cocker: Christianity and Greek Philosophy, x.  pp. 351-2.     Bacchic Mysteries. 181   It only now remains that we consider the  last part of this fabulous narration, or arcane  discourse. It is said, that after the goddess  Ceres, on arriving at Eleusis, had discovered  her daughter, she instructed the Eleusinians  in the planting of corn : or, according to  Claudian, the search of Ceres for her daugh-  ter, through the goddess, instructing in the  art of tillage as she went, proved the occasion  of a universal benefit to mankind. Now the  secret meaning of this will be obvious, by  considering that the descent of the superior  intellect into the realms of generated exis-  tence becomes, indeed, the greatest benefit  and ornament which a material nature is  capable of receiving : for without this parti-  cipation of intellect in the lowest department  of corporeal life, nothing but the irrational  soul* and a brutal life would subsist in its  dark and fluctuating abode, the body. As the  art of tillage, therefore, and particularly the  growing of corn, becomes the greatest possi-   * " It is linked to the phenomenal or sensible world, its emotive  part (sTitf)ujj.Y)Tixov) being formed of what is relative and phe-  nomenal."     182 Elensinian and   ble benefit to our sensible life, no symbol can  more aptly represent the unparalleled ad-  vantages arising from the evolution and pro-  cession of intellect with its divine natui^e into  a corporeal life, than the good resulting from  agriculture and corn : for whatever of horrid  and dismal can be conceived in night, sup-  posing it to be perpetually destitute of the  friendly illuminations of the moon and stars,  such, and infinitely more dreadful, would be  the condition of an earthly nature, if de-  prived of the beneficent irradiations [irfio-  o5o J and supervening benefits of the diviner  hfe.   And this much for an explanation of the  Eleusinian Mysteries, or the history of Ceres  and Proserpina ; in which it must be remem-  bered that as this fable, according to the  excellent observation of Sallust already ad-  duced, is of the mixed kind, though the  descent of the soul was doubtless principally  alluded to by these sacred rites, yet they  hkewise occultly signified, agreeable to the  nature of the fable, the descending of divinity     Bacchic Mysteries. 183   into the sublunary world. But when we  view the fable in this part of its meaning,  we must 'be careful not to confound the nature  of a partial inteUect like ours with the one uni-  versal and divine. As everything subsisting  about the gods is divine, therefore intellect  in the highest degree, and next to this soul,  and hence wanderings and abductions, lam-  entations and tears, can here only signify  the participations and providential opera-  tions of these in inferior natures ; and this  in such a manner as not to derogate from  the dignity, or impair the perfection, of the  divine principle thus imparted. I only add,  that the preceding exposition will enable  us to perceive the meaning and beauty of  the following representation of the rape of  Proserpina, from the Heliacan tables of Hi-  eronymus Aleander.* Here, first of all, we  behold Ceres in a car drawn by two drag-  ons, and afterwards, Diana and Minerva,  with an inverted calathus at their feet, and  pointing out to Ceres her daughter Proser-  pina, who is hurried away by Pluto in his   * KiRCHEB : Obeliscus Famjyhilius, page 227.     184 Meusinian and   car, and is in the attitude of one struggling  to be free. Hercules is likewise represented  with his club, in the attitude of opposing the  violence of Pluto : and last of all, Jupiter is  represented extending his hand, as if wilhng  to assist Proserpina in escaping from the  embraces of Pluto. I shall therefore con-  clude this section with the following remark-  able passage from Plutarch, which will not  only confirm, but be itself corroborated by  the preceding exposition. 'Ozi [xey o'jv y^ Tza-  Xata ^uaio/voyca, xai Trap EWrpi xai Bappa-   Tcporpoc, %r/x ix'jaz'qpiMOfic, GooXoyca. Ta ts Xrj-  Xo'j[j,£V7. Tcov arj'cojxsvcov Gr//fe::ze[jrj. zoic, izoX-  Xoic syovza. Kat zr/. arj'cojisva tcov AaXoy|jLSV(ov  UTTOTrrorspct. AyjXov sart, pergit, £v tolc Opcpt-  Y.01Q s-i^sac, y,ac tote Ar^'oirrtaxoic %ai (j^prrfirjiQ  XojoiQ. MaXcara 5s of 'Jispt try.c xsXszac opyt-  aa{j,oc, y,7.c 1:7. $po){X£V7 a'j|x[BoXi%(oc sv zaiQ  cspoapycaie, xyjv tcov TzrjXrjKov sjxrpacvat $ia-  voirjy.^ i. e. " The ancient physiology,! both   * Plutarch : Euseh.   i I. e. Exposition of the laws and oi^erations of Nature.     Bacchic Mysteries. 185   of the Greeks and the Barbarians^ was noth-  ing else than a discoiu'se on natiu^al subjects,  involved or veiled in fables, conceahng many  things through enigmas and under -meanings,  and also a theology taught, in which, after  the manner of the Mysteries,* the things  spoken were clearer to the multitude than  those dehvered in silence, and the things  delivered in silence were more subject to  investigation than what was spoken. This  is manifest from the Orphic verses^ and the  Egyptian and Phrygian discourses. But the  orgies of initiations^ and the sumbolical cere-  monies of sacred rites especiallij, exhibit the  understanding had of them by the ancients,''''   * MuaxYjp:tuoTj?, mystery-like.      A.IB^     Psyche Asleep in Hades.      River Gortrtesses.     O. SECTION 11. 4:::?   THE Dionysiacal sacred rites instituted  by Orpheus,* depended on the follow-  ing arcane narration, part of which has been  already related in the preceding section,  and the rest may be found in a variety of  authors. "Dionysus, or Bacchus [Zagreus],  while he was yet a boy, w^s engaged by the  Titans, through the stratagems of Juno, in a  variety of sports, with which that period of   * Whethei' Orpheus was an actual living person has been ques-  tioned by Aristotle ; but Herodotus, Pindar, and other writers,  mention him. Although the Orphic system is asserted to have  come from Egypt, the internal evidence favors the opinion that it  was derived from India, and that its basis is the Buddhistic phi-  losophy. The Orphic associations of Greece were ascetic, con-  trasting markedly with the frenzies, enthusiasm, and license of the  popular rites. The Thracians had numerous Hindu customs.  The name Kox-e is Sanscrit; and Zeus may be the Dyaus of  Hindu story. His visit to the chamber of Kore-Persephoneia  (Parasu-pani) in the form of a dragon or na(ja, and the horns or  crescent on the head of the child, are Tartar or Buddhistic. The   187     188 Eleusinian and   life is so vehemently allured ; and among  the rest, he was particularly captivated with  beholding his image in a mirror ; during his  admiration of which, he was miserably torn  in pieces by the Titans; who, not content  with this cruelty, first boiled his members in  water, and afterwards roasted them by the  fire. But while they were tasting his flesh  thus dressed, Jupiter, roused by the odor,  and perceiving the cruelty of the deed,  hurled his thunder at the Titans ; but com-  mitted the members of Bacchus to Apollo,  his brother, that they might be properly in-  terred. And this being performed, Diony-  sus (whose heart during his laceration was  snatched away by Pallas and preserved), by  a new regeneration again emerged, and  being restored to his pristine life and integ-   name Zagreus is evidently Chahra, or ruler of the earth. The  Hera who compassed his death is Aira, the wife of Buddha ; and  the Titans are the Daityas, or apostate tribes of India. The doc-  trine of metempsychosis is expressed by the swallowing of the heart  of the murdered child, so as to reabsorb his soul, and bring him  anew into existence as the son of Semele. Indeed, all the stories  of Bacchus liave Hindu characteristics ; and his cultus is a part  of the serpent worship of the ancients. The evidence appears to  us unequivocal. A. W.     Bacchic Mysteries. 189   rity, he afterwards filled up the number of  the gods. But m the mean time, from the  exhalations arising from the ashes of the  burning bodies of the Titans, mankind were  produced." Now, in order to understand  properly the secret of this naiTation, it is  necessary to repeat the observation already  made in the preceding chapter, "that all  fables belonging to mystic ceremonies are  of the mixed kind " : and consequently the  present fable, as well as that of Proserpina,  must in one part have reference to the gods,  and in the other to the human soul, as the  following exposition will abundantly evince :   In the first place, then, by Dionysus, or  Bacchus, according to the highest concep-  tion of this deity, we understand the spiritual  part of the mundane soul ; for there are  Various processions or avatars of this god,  or Bacchuses, derived from his essence. But  by the Titans we must understand the mun-  dane gods, of whom Bacchus is the highest ;  by Jupiter, the Demiurgus,* or artificer of   * Plotiuus regarded the Demiurgus, or creator, as the god of  providence, thought, essence, and power. Above him was the     190 Eleusinian and   the universe ; by Apollo, the deity of the  Sun, who has both a mundane and super-  mundane establishment, and by whom the  universe is bound in symmetry and consent,  through splendid reasons and harmonizing  power ; and, lastly, by Minerva we must un-  derstand that original, intellectual, ruhng,  and providential deity, who guards and pre-  serves all middle lives* in an immutable  condition, through intelhgence and a self-  supporting life, and by this means sustains  them from the depredations and inroads  of matter. Again, by the infancy of Bac-  chus at the period of his laceration, the  condition of the intellectual natui^e is im-  phed; since, according to the Orphic theol-  ogy, souls, under the government of Saturn,  or Kronos, who is pure intellect or spiritual-  ity, instead of proceeding, as now, from youth  to age, advance in a retrograde progression  from age to youth.t The arts employed by   deity of " pure intellect," aud still higher The One. These three  were the hypostases.   * Lives which are not conjoined with material bodies, nor yet  elevated to the lofty state which is the true divine condition.   t Emanuel Swedenborg says: "They who are in heaven are     Bacchic Mysteries. 191   the Titans, in order to ensnare Dionysus, are  symbolical of those apparent and divisible  operations of the mundane gods, through  which the participated intellect of Bacchus  becomes, as it were, torn in pieces ; and by  the mirror we must understand, in the lan-  guage of Proclus, the inaptitude of the uni-  verse to receive the plenitude of intellectual  or spiritual perfection ; but the symbolical  meaning of his laceration, through the strat-  agems of Juno, and the consequent punish-  ment of the Titans, is thus beautifully  unfolded by Olympiodorus, in his manuscript  Commentary on the PJi(edo of Plato : " The  form," says he, " of that which is universal is  plucked off, torn in pieces, and scattered into  generation ; and Dionysus is the monad of  the Titans. But his laceration is said to  take place through the stratagems of Juno,   continually advancing to the spring of life, and the more thou-  sands of years they live, so much the more delightful and happy is  the spring to which they attain, and this to eternity with increments  according to the progresses and degrees of love, of charity, and of  faith. Women who have died old and worn out with age, yet have  lived in faith on the Lord, in charity toward their neighbor, and in  happy conjugal love with a husband, after a succession of years,  come more and more into the flower of youth and adolescence."     192 Eleusinian and   because this goddess is the supervising  guardian of motion and progression ; * and  on this account, in the Iliad, she perpetually  rouses and excites Jupiter to providential  action about secondary concerns ; and, in  another respect, Dionysus is the epJiof^us or  supervising guardian of generation, because  he presides over life and death ; for he is the  guardian or epliorus of life because of genera-  tion, and also of death because wine produces  an enthusiastic condition. We become more  enthusiastic at the period of dying, as Proc-  lus indicates in the example of Homer who  became prophetic [[xavxcxoc] at the time of his  death.f They likewise assert, that tragedy  and comedy are assigned to Dionysus : com-  edy being the play or ludicrous representation  of life ; and tragedy having relation to the   'By progression [7rpoo5oc] is here signified the raying-out, or  issuing forth of the soul ; having left the divine or pre -existent  life, and come forth toward the human.   t See also Plato : Phcedrus, 43. " When I was about to  cross the river, the divine and wonted signal was given me — it  always deters me from what I am about to do — and I seemed to  hear a voice from this very spot, which would not suffer me to  depart before I had purified myself, as if I had committed some     Bacchic Mysteries. 193   passions and death. The comic writers,  therefore, do not rightly call in question the  tragedians as not rightly representing Bac-  chus, saying that such things did not happen  to Bacchus. But Jupiter is said to have  hurled his thunder at the Titans ; the thun-  der signifying a conversion or changing : for  fire naturally ascends ; and hence Jupiter,  by this means, converts the Titans to his  own essence." ^TzapazzEzai §£ to xa^oXoo  si^oQ £v zTj ysvsasi, [xovctc 5s Ttxavcov 6 Aiovo-   aoc. Kctr ZTzi^oohqy ^s zriQ 'Hpac ^lozi -/.i-   vrpetoc, et^opoc, y; ^-boq %at 'Epoo'^o'j. Aio v.ru  aov£'/(o^ £v TTj Wirj.Gi si^avcaTTjatv aozrj, %ai   OlE^fOpSl TOV 5t7. eiQ TZrjCiyrjirjy XCOV SsOXSpCOV.   Kat ysvsascoc aXX(o? srpopoc sartv 6 AcovDao?,  5wrt %ai Cw^js ^^-t tsXsfjTYjC. Zcc/j? |j-sv yap  srpopG?, STTsid'^ .7,at z^qz ysvsaswc, xsXsutTjC 5s  5^0X1 svO-ouacav 6 otvoc ttocsl Kat ';r£pt xyjv  TsXsuTTjV 5s svO-Guatcta'ccxcotspc/t YtvoiJLSxJ'a, coi;   offense against the Deity. Now I am a prophet, though not a very  good one : for the soul is in some measure prophetic."  See also Shakspere : Henry IV. part 1.   " Oh I could prophesy,  But that the earthy and cold hand of death  Lies on my tongue."     194 Eleiisinian and   StjXol 6 Trap 'OiJi'/jpco UpOTcXoc, (JLavTC%oc ys-   T'/jv {i£v 7,(o[JL(o5tav Tuaiyvcov o'jaav to'j [3tov  TYjv dc Tpayco^^av 5ca xa 7ta{)-rj, %7.t xr^v xsXs'j-  I'^v. O'jy, apct %aX(oc of y,co{it7,o^ xoi? xpayLy-oi?  syxaXoaacv, (o:; \rq AtovoataTcoic oyar.^, Asyov  Tsc otc oD^sv zwjzrj, xpo? TGV AiovDaov. Kspau-   VOt §£ TO'JtOl? 6 ZSD^, TOO %£paOV0'J $TjXoaVZ05   X'^v STiiatpo'fSV xupyap stcl xa oivco zivo'J[X£Vol'  S'lriatpsrpsL O'jv aoroa^ zpoc saoTOv. But by  the members of Dionysus being first boiled  in water by the Titans, and afterward roasted  by the fire, the outgoing or distribution of  intellect into matter, and its subsequent re-  turning from thence, is evidently implied:  for water was considered by the Egyptians,  as we have ah*eady observed, as the symbol  of matter ; and fire is the natural symbol of  ascending. The heart of Dionysus too, is,  with the greatest propriety, said to be pre-  served by Minerva ; for this goddess is the  guardian of hfe, of which the heart is a sym-  bol. So that this part of the fable plainly  signifies, that while intellectual or spiritual     Bacchic Mysteries. 195   life is distributed into the universe, its prin-  ciple is preserved entire by the guardian  power and providence of the Divine intel-  ligence. And as Apollo is the source of all  union and harmony, and as he is called by  Proclus, " the key-keeper of the fountain of  life," * the reason is obvious why the mem-  bers of Dionysus, which were buried by this  deity, again emerged by a new generation,  and were restored to their pristine integrity  and life. But let it here be carefidly ob-  served, that renovation, when apphed to the  gods, is to be considered as secretly implying  the rising of their proper hght, and its con-  sequent appearance to subordinate natures.  And that punishment, when considered as  taking place about beings of a nature superior  to mankind, signifies nothing more than a  secondary providence over such beings which  is of a punishing character, and which sub-  sists about souls that deteriorate. Hence,  then, from what has been said, we may  easily collect the ultimate design of the first  part of this mystic fable ; for it appears to be   * Hymn to the Sun.     196 Bacchic Mysteries.   no other than to represent the manner in  which the form of the mundane intellect is  divided through the universe ; — that such an  intellect (and every one which is total) re-  mains entire during its division into parts,  and that the divided parts themselves are  continually turned again to their source,  with which they become finally united. So  that illumination from the liigher reason,  while it proceeds into the dark and rebound-  ing receptacle of matter, and invests its ob-  scurity with the supervening ornaments of  divine light, returns at the same time with-  out interruption to the source or principle  of its descent.   Let us now consider the latter part of the  fable, in which it is said that our souls were  formed from the vapors emanating from the  ashes of the burning bodies of the Titans;  at the same time connecting it with the  former part of the fable, which is also appli-  cable in a certain degree to the condition of  a partial intellect * hke ours. In the first   * Partial, as being parted from the Supreme Mind.      Etruscan Kleusiuiaus.     Bacchic Mysteries. 199   place, then, we are made up from frag-  ments (says Olympiodorus), because, through  faUing into generation, our hf e has proceeded  into the most distant and extreme division ;  and from Titanic fragments^ because the  Titans are the ultimate artificers of things,*  and stand immediately next to whatever is  constituted from them. But further, our  irrational life is Titanic, by which the rational  and higher life is torn in pieces. Hence,  when we disperse the Dionysus, or intuitive  intellect contained in the secret recesses of  our nature, breaking in pieces the kindred  and divine form of our essence, and which  communicates, as it were, both with things  subordinate and supreme, then we become  Titans (or apostates) ; but when we establish  ourselves in union with this Dionysiacal or  kindred form, then we become Bacchuses, or  perfect guardians and keepers of our irra-  tional life : for Dionysus, whom in this re-  spect we resemble, is himself an epJiorus or   * The Demiurge or Creator being superior to matter in which  is concupiscence and all evil, the Titans who are not thus superior  are made the actual artificers.     200 Meusinian and   guardian deity, dissolving at his pleasure the  bonds by which the soul is united to the  body, since he is the cause of a parted hfe.  But it is necessary that the passive or femi-  nine nature of our UTational part, through  which we are bound in body, and which is  nothing more than the resounding echo, as it  were, of soul, should suffer the punishment  incurred by descent ; for when the soul casts  aside the [divine] peculiarity of her nature,  she requires her own, but at the same time a  multiform body, that she may again become  in need of a common form, which she has  lost through Titanic dispersion into matter.   But in order to see the perfect resem-  blance between the manner in which our  souls descend and the dividing of the intui-  tive intellect by mundane natures, let the  reader attend to the following admirable  citation from the manuscript Commentary  of Olympiodorus on the Phcedo of Plato :  "It is necessary, first of all, for the soul to  place a hkeness of herself in the body. This  is to ensoul the body. Secondly, it is neces-     Baccliic Mysteries. 201   sary for her to sympathize with the image, as  being of hke idea. For every external form  or substance is wrought into an identity with  its interior substance, through an ingenerated  tendency thereto. In the third place, being  situated in a divided nature, it is necessary  that she should be torn in pieces, and fall  into a last separation, till, through the action  of a life of puiification, she shall raise herself  from the dispersion, loose the bond of sym-  pathy, and act as of herself without the  external image, having become established  according to the first-created life. The like  things are fabled in the example. For Dio-  nysus or Bacchus because his image was  formed in a mirror, pursued it, and thus  became distributed into everything. But  Apollo collected him and brought him up ;  being a deity of puiification, and the true  savior of Dionysus ; and on this account he  is styled in the sacred hymns, Dionusites."   sauto'j £v TO) a(ojiatc. Tooxo yap sait f^yyco-  oai TO awjjict. Asorspov 5s afjjJLiraO-stv x(p £l5(o-  Xcj), xctxa z^(]v ojiosL^stav. Ilav yap stSoc sTust-     202 Eleusinian and   xcti £Lc Tov ZT/az^jy ST.'JTsastv {j.£{jLa[xov. 'Eco?  av oat TT^i; 7,a{>a[>xiT^%'r]v; C^otj? aavaystpat {xsv  eaoTTjv aiTo xou avcop:rta[xo'j, Xoa'/^ gs tov Ssa-  jj-ov XYji; a^j{iYj7:7.i8'£iac, xpopaXXsiai §£ xvjv avso  xou £co(oAou, xctx)-' Erjjjzr^y iaxtoaav iipcoTO'jpYOV  C(OYjV. 'Oxi ta 6{JL0ta [xuO-sosxai, '>c7.i sv xcp  Tzarjaciei'^ixrj.zi. '0 yap Aiovaaoc, on zo scoco-  Xov svsO-'^xs T(o saoTuTTpto XGU-cp scpsairsto. Kac  ouxd)? eiQ zo Tifjy sjispiaiJ-Yj. ""0 5s AttoXXwv aov-  aystpst t£ aozoy 7,ac avaysi, xavJ-apiwoc (ov  ^£oc, 'x.ai xo'j AcGvoaoD aojxY^p (oc aXcoO-m?.  Kat 5l7. xodto AcovoaoxY^? av'j(j.£tx7.L Hence,  as the same author beautifully observes, the  soul revolves according to a mystic and  mundane revolution : for flying from an in-  divisible and Dionysiacal hfe, and operating  according to a Titanic and revolting energy,  she becomes bound in the body as in a prison.  Hence, too, she abides in punishment and  takes care of her partial and secondary  concerns; and being purified from Titanic  defilements, and collected into one, she be-     Bacchic Mysteries. 203   comes a Bacchus ; that is, she passes into the  proper integrity of her nature according to  the divine principle ruhng on high. From all  which it evidently fohows, that he who hves  Dionysiacally rests from labors and is freed  from his bonds ; * that he leaves his prison,  or rather his apostatizing life ; and that he  who does this is a philosopher purifying him-  seK from the contaminations of his earthly  life. But farther fi'om this account of Dio-  nysus, we may perceive the truth of Plato's  observation, " that the design of the Myste-  ries is to lead us back to the perfection from  which, as our beginning, we first made our de-  scent." For in this perfection Dionysus him-  self subsists, establishing perfect souls in  the throne of his father ; that is, in the in-  tegrity of a life according to Jupiter. So  that he who is perfect necessarily resides  with the gods, according to the design of  those deities, who are the sources of con-  summate perfection to the soul. And lastly,   *"We strive toward virtue by a strenuous use of the gifts  which God communicates ; but when God communicates himself,  then we can be only passive — we repose, we enjoy, but all opera-  tion ceases."     204 Bacchic Mysteries.   the Thyrsus itself, which was used in the  Bacchic procession, as it was a reed full of  knots, is an apt symbol of the diffusion of the  higher nature into the sensible world. And  agreeable to this, Olympiodorus on the Pluedo  observes, " that the Thyrsus * is a symbol of  a forming anew of the material and parted  substance from its scattered condition ; and  that on this account it is a Titanic plant.  This it was customary to extend before Bac-  chus instead of his paternal scepter; and  through this they called him down into our  partial nature. Indeed, the Titans are Thyr-  sus-bearers ; and Prometheus concealed fire  in a Thyi'sus or reed ; after which he is con-  sidered as bringing celestial light into genera-  tion, or leading the soul into the body, or  calling forth the divine illumination, the  whole being ungenerated, into generated ex-  istence. Hence Socrates calls the multitude  Thyrsus-bearers Orphically, as hving accord-  ing to a Titanic life." 'On 6 vapO-rj^ aa[x[5oXov  ZQZi zriz svaXo'j $7j{xtC(0pYtac, %ai {xsptatYjc, 5ta   * The word thyrsus, it will be seen, is here translated from  vapd'Yj^, a rod or ferula.     Bacchic Mysteries. 207   TY]v [laXtaxa StsaTCapiJ-svYjv aovs/scav, o^sv %at  Tixavtxov xo cprjxov. Kat yap t(p Aiovoacp  Tupoxscvooatv aoto), avcc too 'irarpty.oo axY^irxpofj.  Kai xauTTj irpoxaXoovxai a'jxov zic, xov {xspcxov.  Kat {isvcoi, 'jcc/.i vapi^TjTcocpopooacv oc Tixavs?, %at g   ITpGIJLTjiJ'SaC, £V VapO-YjT.l' 'AkZlZZl TO 'EUp, SLTS XO   oupaviov cp(oc see x'A^v ysvsatv xaxaaTucov, stxs  xr;v 4^yX'/jV £1? xo a(0[jLa xpoaycov, stxs xtjv o^scav  £XXa{i-'];tv oXt^v aysvvTjXOv ouaav, see xtjv ysvs-  atv TTpoxaXouiisvGC. Ata 5s xorjxo, %at 6 -co-  y-pax'^C xorj:; ttoXXo'jc "JcolXsl vapi)"f]%ocpopoy? Op-  cpt7,(oc, co^ C^'^vxac Ttxry.vcy.(oc.   And thus much for the secret meaning  of the fable, which formed a principal part of  these mystic rites. Let us now proceed to  consider the signification of the symbols,  which, according to Clemens Alexandrinus,  belonged to the Bacchic ceremonies ; and  which are comprehended in the following-  Orphic verses :   M7]Xa to )(po-ca y,aXv. trap egtcj^wiuv Xi-p^oivcov.   That is,   A wheel, a pine-nut, and the wanton plays,  Which move and bend the limbs in various ways :     208 Eleusinian and   With these th' Hesperian golden-fruit combine,  Which beauteous nymphs defend of voice divine.   To all which Clemens adds saoTU'pov, esop-  troii, a mirror, i:oy.oCj polios, a fleece of wool,  and aa-payaXoc, asfragaios, the anMe-bone.  In the first place, then, wdth respect to the  wheel, since Dionysus, as we have already  explained, is the mimdane intellect, and in-  tellect is of an elevating and convertive na-  ture, nothing can be a more apt symbol of  intellectual action than a w^heel or sphere :  besides, as the laceration and dismemberment  of Dionysus signifies the going-forth of in-  tellectual illumination into matter, and its  returning at the same time to its source, this  too will be aptly symbolized by a wheel. In  the second place, a pine-nut, from its conical  shape, is a perspicuous symbol of the manner  in which intellectual or spiritual illmnination  proceeds from its source and beginning into  a material nature. " For the soul," says Ma-  crobius,* "proceeding from a round figure,  which is the only divine form, is extended  into the form of a cone in going forth."   * In Somnid Scijnonis, xii.     Bacchic Mysteries. 209   And the same is true sjrmbolically of the  higher intellect. And as to the wanton  sports which bend the limbs, this evidently  alludes to the Titanic arts, by which Dionysus  was allured, and occultly signifies the facul-  ties of the mundane intellect, considered as  subsisting according to an apparent and  divisible condition. But the Hesperian  golden-apples signify the pure and incorrupt-  ible nature of that intellect or Dionysus, which  is possessed by the world ; for a golden-apple,  according to Sallust, is a symbol of the world ;  and this doubtless, both on account of its ex-  ternal figui'e, and the incorruptible intellect  which it contains, and with the illuminations  of which it is externally adorned ; since gold,  on account of never being subject to rust, aptly  denotes an incorruptible and immaterial na-  ture. The mirror, which is the next symbol,  we have already explained. And as to the  fleece of wool, this is a symbol of laceration,  or distri])ution of intellect, or Dionysus, into  matter; for the verb o'jrapattco, sparaffOy  diJanio, which is used in the relation of the  Bacchic discerption, signifies to tear in pieces     210 Bacchic Mysteries.   like wool : and hence Isidoinis derives the  Latin word laua, wool, from Janiando, as  velliis from vellendo. Nor must it pass un-  observed, that Xq^jz^ in Greek, signifies wool,  and Xtjvo;, a wine-press.* And, indeed, the  pressing of grapes is as evident a symbol of  dispersion as the tearing of wool; and this  circumstance was doubtless one principal  reason why grapes were consecrated to Bac-  chus : for a grape, previous to its pressure,  aptly represents that which is collected into  one ; and when it is pressed into juice, it no  less aptly represents the diffusion of that  which was before collected and entu'e. And  lastly, the aarpotyaXoc, astragalos, or anJiJe-  hone, as it is principally subser\dent to the  progressive motion of animals, so it belongs,  with great propriety, to the mystic symbols  of Bacchus; since it doubtless signifies the  going forth of that deity into the department  of physical existence : for nature, or that  divisible life which subsists about the body,   * The practice of punning, so common in all the old rites, is  here forcibly exhibited. It aided to conceal the symbolism and  mislead uninitiated persons who might seek to ascertain the  genuine meaning.         i\v>'- .../Mm      Hercules Reclining.     Bacchic Mysteries. 213   and whicli is productive of seeds, imme-  diately depends on Bacchus. And hence we  are informed by Proclus, that the sexual parts  of this god are denominated by theologists,  Diana, who, says he, presides over the whole  of the generation into natural existence,  leads forth into light all natural reasons, and  extends a prolific power from on high even  to the subterranean reahns.* And hence we  may perceive the reason why, in the Orphic  Hjjmn to Nature, that goddess is described as  " turning round silent traces with the ankle-  bones of her feet. ^^   And it is highly worthy our observation that  in this verse of the hymn Nature is cele-  brated as Fortune, according to that descrip-  tion of the goddess in which she is repre-  sented as standing with her feet on a wheel  which she continually turns round ; as the  following verse from the same hymn abun-  dantly confirms :   Asvao) axpo'-paXiYY- S'oov po/xa o'.vsooooa..  * Commentary upon the Timceus.     214 Meusinian and   The sense of which is, "moving with rapid  motion on an eternal wheel." Nor ought it  to seem wonderful that Nature should he  celebrated as Fortune; for Fortune in the  Orphic h}Tnn to that deity is invoked as  Diana : and the moon, as we have observed  in the preceding section, is the aoro'iriov  ayaXjia rpyasto?, fJie self-revealing emblem of  Nature ; and indeed the apparent incon-  stancy of Fortune has an evident agreement  with the fluctuating condition in which the  dominions of nature are perpetually involved.  It only now remains that we explain the  secret meaning of the sacred dress with  which the initiated in the Dionysiacal Myste-  ries were invested, in order to the GpovLajxo^  (fhromsmoSy enthroning) taking place ; or  sitting in a solemn manner on a throne,  about which it was customary for the other  initiates to dance. But the particulars of  this habit are thus described in the Orphic  verses preserved by Macrobius : *   Scojxa ti-£00 ji"/,aTT£'.v s^'.a'j-fooq r^zX'.o'.Q.  * Satunialia, i. 18.     Bacchic Mysteries. 215   flpwxct ;j.Ev ap-p'f :«:? evaXcYxcov «xTtvsaa:v   IIsttUv cpo'.vtxjpov (lege -^otvtxjov) -pottxjXov a^cp-paAEO^oc-.   ii'Jxocp 67ispa-j vsi^poio TiavatoXoo sJpu xa*«-|a'.   ^^plxrx Kfjhjzxi-Azrrj ^vjpoc xaxa Sa^tov Jjjulojv,   Aatpoiv o«-5aXftov ;j.i|uh;jl' bpoo xz nolo'.o.   Eka r 6;.jp,<).s vs^pY)? xpt>asov UoxY^pa pocXeaS-at   n«;A'favoaiVTa irsp-^ oxspvuiv cpopjj-v fxsya arj|jia   Eo9-u5 ox' EX Ttspaxwv Tac-r]? (paja-wv avopouaiov   Xpoasiai? axxcat ,3(x>.-/j poov Oxsavow,   Auyv] o' atjjTjxo? -f], ava S' Spoaoj a;jLcpt;xtYE:aa   Mapixrxirj-fj o'y-rpvj A:zar>iitY(] maxfj. xoxXov,   Ilpoci&s ^£00. Z(ovf] o' ap OTTO axjpvuiv a/ji£xp7]xu>v   <I>aovjx' ap' ily.zrj.wo ■Kov.Uq, iityx Oau^' ecowsa^ac.   That is,   He who desires in pomp of sacred dress   The sun's resplendent body to express,   Should first a vail assume of purple bright,   Like fair white beams combin'd with fiery light :   On his right shoulder, next, a mule's broad hide   Widely diversified with spotted pride   Should hang, an image of the pole divine,   And dfBdal stars, whose orbs eternal shine.   A golden splendid zone, then, o'er the vest   He next should throw, and bind it round his breast;   In mighty token, how with golden light.   The rising sun, from earth's last bounds and night   Sudden emerges, and, with matchless force,   Darts through old Ocean's billows in his course.   A boundless splendor hence, enshrin'd in dew,   Plays on his whirlpools, glorious to the view ;   While his circumfluent waters spread abroad,   Full in the presence of the radiant god :     216 Eleusinian and   But Ocean's circle, like a zone of light,   The sun's wide bosom girds, and charms the wond'ring sight.   lu the first place, then, let us consider  why this mystic dress belonging to Bacchus  is to represent the sun. Now the reason of  this will be evident from the following ob-  servations : according to the Orphic theol-  ogy, the divine intellect of every planet is  denominated a Bacchus, who is characterized  in each by a different appellation; so that  the intellect of the solar deity is called Trie-  tericus Bacchus. And in the second place,  since the divinity of the sun, according to  the arcana of the ancient theology, has a  super-mundane as well as mundane establish-  ment, and is wholly of an exalting or intel-  lectual nature ; hence considered as super-  mundane he must both produce and contain  the mundane intellect, or Dionysus, in his  essence ; for all the mimdane are contained  in the super-mundane deities, by whom also  they are produced. Hence Proclus, in his  elegant Hijmn to the Sun, says :     Bacchic Mysteries. 217   That is, " they celebrate thee in hymns as the  illustrious parent of Dionysus." And thirdly,  it is through the subsistence of Dionysus in  the sun that that luminary derives its circular  motion, as is evident from the following Or-  phic verse, in which, speaking of the sun, it  is said of him, that     " He is called Dionysus, because he is carried  with a circular motion through the immense-  ly-extended heavens." And this with the  greatest propriety, since intellect, as we have  already observed, is entirely of a transforming  and elevating nature : so that from all this, it  is sufficiently evident why the dress of Diony-  sus is represented as belonging to the sun.  In the second place, the vail, resembling a  mixture of fiery light, is an obvious image of  the solar fire. And as to the spotted mule-  skin,* which is to represent the starry heav-  ens, this is nothing more than an image of   * Nehris is also a fawn-skin. The Jewish high-priest wore one  at the great festivals. It is rendered *• badger's skin " in the Bible.  In India the robe of Indra is spotted.     218 Bacchic Mysteries.   tlie moon ; tMs luminary, according to Proc-  lus on Hesiod, resembling the mixed nature  of a mule ; " becoming dark through her par-  ticipation of earth, and deriving her proper  light from the sun." T-qz [isy s/ooaa xo a%o-   So that the spotted hide signifies the moon  attended with a multitude of stars : and  hence, in the Oi'phic Hymn to the Moon, that  deity is celebrated "as shining surrounded  with beautiful stars " : v.rjXoic, aaz^jOiGi ppy-  ooarj., and is likewise called aaxpap/Tj, as-  trarche, or " queen of the starsy   In the next place, the golden zone is the  circle of the Ocean, as the last verses plainly  evince. But, you will ask, what has the  rising of the sun through the ocean, from the  boundaries of earth and night, to do with the  adventures of Bacchus ? I answer, that it is  inpossible to devise a symbol more beauti-  fully accommodated to the purpose : for, in  the first place, is not the ocean a proper  emblem of an earthly nature, whirling and     Bacchic Mysteries. 221   stormy, and perpetually rolling without ad-  mitting any periods of repose ? And is not  the sun emerging from its boisterous deeps a  perspicuous symbol of the higher spiritual  nature, apparently rising from the dark and  fluctuating material receptacle, and confer-  ring form and beauty on the sensible uni-  verse through its light ? I say apparently  rising, for though the spiritual nature always  diffuses its splendor with invariable energy,  yet it is not always perceived by the subjects  of its illuminations : besides, as psychical na-  tures can only receive partially and at inter-  vals the benefits of the divine irradiation ;  hence fables regarding this temporal partici-  pation transfer, for the purpose of conceal-  ment and in conformity to the phenomena,  the imperfection of subordinate natures to  such as are supreme. This description, there-  fore, of the rising sun, is a most beautiful  symbol of the new birth of Bacchus, which,  as we have already observed, implies nothing  more than the rising of intellectual light, and  its consequent manifestation to subordinate  orders of existence.     222 Eleusinian and   And thus much for the mysteries of Bac-  chus, which, as well as those of Ceres, relate  in one part to the descent of a partial in-  tellect into matter, and its condition while  united with the dark tenement of the body :  but there appears to be this difference be-  tween the two, that in the fable of Ceres and  Proserpine the descent of the whole rational  soul is considered ; and in that of Bacchus  the scattering and going forth of tliat su-  preme part alone of our nature which we  properly characterize hy the appellation of.  intellect* In the composition of each we  may discern the same traces of exalted wis-  dom and recondite theology; of a theology  the most venerable for its antiquity, and the  most admirable for its excellence and reahtyo   I shall conclude this treatise by presenting  the reader with a valuable and most elegant  hymn of Proclusf to Minerva, which I have   * Greek, wn;;, nous, the Intuitive Eeasoii, that faculty of the  mind that apprehends the Ineffable Truth.   t That the following hymn was composed by Proclus, can not  be doubted by any one who is conversant with those already ex-  tant of this incomparable man, since the spirit and manner in  both is perfectly the same.     Bacchic Mysteries. 223   discovered in the British Museum ; and the  existence of which appears to have been  hitherto utterly unknown. This hymn is to  be found among the Harleian Manuscripts,  in a volume containing several of the OrpJiic  liymns^ with which, through the ignorance of  transcriber, it is indiscriminately ranked, as  well as the other four hymns of Proclus,  already printed in the Bihliotlieca Grmca of  Fabricius. Unfortunately too, it is tran-  scribed in a character so obscure, and with  such great inaccuracy, that, notwithstanding  the pains I have taken to restore the text  to its original purity, I have been obUged to  omit two hues, and part of a third, as beyond  my abilities to read or amend ; however, the  greatest, and doubtless the most important  part, is fortunately intelhgible, which I now  present to the reader's inspection, accompa-  nied with some corrections, and an Enghsh  paraphrased translation. The original is  highly elegant and pious, and contains one  mythological particular, which is no where  else to be found. It has likewise an evident  connection with the preceding fable of Bac-     224 EJeusinian and   chus, as will be obvious from the perusal;  and on tins account principally it was in-  serted in the present discoui'se.   Ek aohnan.   KATOI fJLcU a'.'(lO/0{.0 OiO? TJXO?' Tj Y£VETY]pO(;   IlTjYf]? oY.Tzpo9-opoooa, v.a'. wxpoxaxY,? ano asipa?  Apo£vod'0|j.3- cpspa^iLf jj.cY«-3'2V;5* o,3p:|i,07tarrjp,*  KiV.Xo&r ov/yozo 3' u;xvov £0'f pov: Tioxvia i)'U^uj   'H aO'^'.Tj? ViZXrj.Zrj.ir/. ^iZOZv/^trxC,] TTuXjUlVa;;.   Ka: "/^O-ovuuv orj.^r/.zrj.zrx Oj(ojxaya (p'j)>a •j-'-Y^"^'^'^^*  '11 %pa3'.r|V saawaai; ajj-UGXiXsutov J rjyrj.v.xo^  Ai&jpo? sv YU«Xc'-a'. p-ipiCo/J-svoo TcatJ Bav-^ou  l\xav(uv oTzo X.'p"-, TiopcC oj 2 Tiaxpt '|)4po'Joa  Ocppa VEOi; ^ouX'rjatv wtt' appYjxo:at xov.yjo?,  Ev. ScJuisXt]? TCcpt xoa^aov avY]^f]av] Alovuooo?.  'Hi; ttsXsx'.? § 6-rjpiu)V xafjivcuv TCpo^£Xu|Jt.va %apv]va  Ilavojpy.ou? sy.oir^; ir«t)£u>v T|VUOj 'iz'^tifK-qv  'H v.paxQC 'Hpar Oc|xvov eY'P"^- ppcixoiv apjxa'iov  H jjioxov v.QajJLTjaoti; oXov uo/.ojiSi';: zz/yrj.'.c,  Azix:oof'^:xry ojprjv || '{^'j'/at-t ^aXXouaa*   'II Krj./ZQ rxv.pOTZo\'.r/.   So|JLpoXov axpoxarq? ixs'(rj.\-r^q azo ixoxvia 0£tpf]?'   * Lege oPptjULOTraxpT),  t Lege f)joaj,3Eia?.  t Lege a|j.oax'. Xuxoo.  § Lege tceXexu?.  II Lege Op;jL-r]v.     BaccJiic Mysteries. 225   'H x8-ova ,3coT:ccvE.pa tpt^aa? fxvjtjpa? p-^Xoiv.   K/.oa-: ixEU Y| <pao? ay^ov aiiaoTpaTrxooaa Trpoatouou-  Ao? OS ;i.oi oXptov op;j.ov aXiuo/xsva rspo yacav.  Ao? -]/ox-/y Y^-oc, GtYvov air' eo^pjiuv oso |jio{).uiv  Ka: ao-^iY]v -/.at jpcoxoc- ,j.svoc S's/J-Tivsoaov jpwTi,  Toaaattov, xac towv, oaov /&ov:ojv ajio xoXttojv  A'^spv-r] ,rpoc OXd|xkov s? Yjf^sa Traxpo^ £o:o,  Ei5j Ttc «/j.T:Xax:-r];x£* xocx-r] f.tototo Sa/uiaCs;.   IXa9.- /x£:X:xo,3ooXj- aao/i,3potj- /Ji7]5s/JL£aoY)? f   Trcjoavat? TOivatacv eXtup xot: xop/xa Ysvsaaot,   KstfAsvov Ev 8aTT:s5otatv, 61: TcO? so/o/jiac swxr   KsxXofl-: xjxXoO-- xa: ;xol iitCu^yiv 00a? 6tox£C.   TO MINEEVA.   Daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, divine,   Propitious to thy votaries' prayer incline ;   From thy great father's fount supremely bright,   Like fire resounding, leaping into light.   Shield-bearing goddess, hear, to whom belong   A manly mind, and power to tame the strong!   Oh, sprung from matchless might, with joyful mind   Accept this hymn ; benevolent and kind !   The holy gates of wisdom, by thy hand   Are wide unfolded ; and the daring band   Of earth-born giants, that in impious fight   Strove with thy fire, were vanquished by thy might.   Once by thy care, as sacred poets sing.   The heart of Bacchus, swiftly-slaughtered king,   * Lege a|xirXaxY]|ULa.  t Lege iKiy: t^C tr^zr^^^.     226 Eleusinian and   Was sav'd in ^ther, when, with fnry fired,   Tlie Titans fell against his life conspired ;   And with relentless rage and thirst for gore,   Their hands his members into fragments tore :   But ever watchful of thy father's will,   Thy power preserv'd him from succeeding ill.   Till from the secret counsels of his fire,   And born from Semele through heavenly sire,   Great Dionysus to the world at length   Again appeared with renovated strength.   Once, too, thy warlike ax, with matchless sway,   Lopped from their savage necks the heads away   Of furious beasts, and thus the pests destroyed   Which long all-seeing Hecate annoyed.   By thee benevolent great Juno's might   Was roused, to furnish mortals with delight.   And thro' life's wide and various range, 't is thine   Each part to beautify with art divine :   Invigorated hence by thee, we find   A demiurgic impulse in the mind.   Towers proudly raised, and for protection strong.   To thee, dread guardian deity, belong.   As proper symbols of th' exalted height   Thy series claims amidst the courts of light.   Lands are beloved by thee, to learning prone.   And Athens, Oh Athena, is thy own !   Great goddess, hear! and on my dark'ned mind   Pour thy pure light in measure unconfined ; —   That sacred light, Oh all-protecting queen.   Which beams eternal from thy face serene.   My soul, while wand'ring on the earth, inspire   With thy own blessed and impulsive fire :   And from thy fables, mystic and divine.   Give all her powers with holy light to shine.     Bacchic Mysteries. 227   Give love, give wisdom, and a power to love,  Incessant tending to the realms above ;  Such as unconscious of base earth's control  Gently attracts the vice-subduing soul :  From night's dark region aids her to retire,  And once moi'e gain the palace of her sire.  O all-propitious to my prayer incline !  Nor let those horrid punishments be mine  Which guilty souls in Tartarus confine,  With fetters fast'ned to its brazen floors.  And lock'd by hell's tremendous iron doors.  Hear me, and save (for power is all thine own)  A soul desirous to be thine alone.*   It is very remarkable in this hymn, that  the exploits of Minerva relative to cutting  off the heads of wild beasts with an ax, etc.,  is mentioned by no writer whatever; nor  can I find the least trace of a circumstance  either in the history of Minerva or Hecate  to which it alludes.f And from hence, I   * If I should ever be able to publish a second edition of my  translation of the hymns of Orpheus, I shall add to it a translation  of all those hymns of Proclus, which are fortunately extant ; but  which are nothing more than the wreck of a great multitude which  he composed.   t If Mr. Taylor had been conversant with Hindu literature, he  would have perceived that these exploits of Minerva-Athene were  taken from the buffalo-sacrifice of Durga or Bhavani. The whole  Dionysiac legend is but a rendering of the Sivaic and Buddhistic  legends into a Grecian dress. — ^A. W.     228     Bacchic Mysteries.     think, we may reasonably conclude that it  belonged to the arcane Orphic narrations  concerning these goddesses, which were con-  sequently but rarely mentioned, and this but  by a few, whose works, which might afford  us some clearer information, are unfortu-  nately lost.      Musical Couference.      Venus Kisiiig troni the Sea.     APPENDIX.     SINCE writing the above Dissertation, I  have met with a curious Greek manu-  script entitled: "Of Psellus, Concerning  DcBmons^* according to the opinion of the  GreeJiS " : zoo WeWoo xivct Tuspt ^aqiovcov  So^aCooacv 'EXXtjvs? : In the course of which  he describes the machinery of the Eleusinian  Mysteries as follows : — 'A oe ys [lo^jzr^iAa xoo-  T(ov, oiov aaxi^a ta EXsuatvia, xov [xod-i^ov  OTUOTcpivsrac 3ia {i^iyvo^ASVov xifj Stjgi, t] "cyj Atjix'/j-  x£pL, xctt XT] OoYatspsL Tc/.ux'A]? Ospas^axxTj xt]  xctt Kop'^. Etcsiotj 5s sjjisXXov %7.t acppoStaiot  sict XT] {JiaYjGst ytvsa^at aujJi'jrXoxac, avaSostat  iro)? Y] ArppoScx'rj airo xtvcov 'jrsTuXaajj.svwv (JL'rjSs-   * Daemons, divinities, spirits ; a term formerly applied to all  rational beings, good or bad, other than mortals.   229     230 Appendix,   (ov TusAayw^. Etta 5s yafJiYjXioc S'Jrt 'Ctj Kopifj  6[JL£vaio?. Kat s'^a^ouatv of t£Xou{i.£VOC, sx to[jl-  Tuavou scpayov £% %o{Ji[57.X(ov sttiov, sxtpvo'fo-  p'^aa (lege s^spvocpopr^cc/.) utto tov xoLarov  siasouv. TTroT-pcvstaL $£.%at ta^ Stjooc (o^iva?.   Ttat xapocaXytaL Erp' otc ^oii tpaYoa^sXsc {Jtt-  {x-^{ia TTOLO-atvojxsvov xspi roi? ^l^'jjxo^c' otc xsp   TSpayou (lege Tpayou) opyscc aTrorsjKov, to)  x-oXiro) xauxT^c xaxsO-e'co, (oairsp 5yj y,7.c saotou.  Etc^ xaatv c/i xoy AtovoaoD xqiat, y,at yj xrjauc,  y,ai T7. iroXyoix'-paXa TuoTrava, ^ai of x(o }:^apa-   CtCO XSXO'JJXSVOC, %X'^50V£C '^2 ^^-^ {XC{J-aA(OV£C, %at   zic, rf/iny XsfJr^Q O£a'jrp(ox£toc y-^M A(o5(ovctcov  yaXv.ziov, -/.rji KopyjBctc aXXo? xai 7,0'jp'rj^ £X£-  poc, 5at{JL0V(ov {xc{JLYj|jL7.xa. Ecp' ot? Yj Bapfoxooc  (lege Y^ Baupfo xo^c) {J-'^pooc avaaopojj.£V7j, xat  6 yovaixo? %x£ic> oozio yap ovo{xaCoDaL xy^v  ai5(o aia/ovo[JL£VOL Kai ouxco? £v ata/pco xy^v  x£X£X7]v %7.xa)jjo'jacv. /. e. " The Mysteries  of these demons, such as the Eleusinia, con-  sisted in representing the mythical narra-  tion of Jupiter mingling mth Ceres and her  daughter Proserpina (Phersephatte). But as     Appendix. 231   venereal connections are in the initiation,* a  Venus is represented rising from the sea, from  certain moving sexual parts : afterwards the  celebrated marriage of Proserpina (with  Pluto) takes place ; and those who are  initiated sing :   " 'Out of the drum I have eaten,  Out of the cymbal I have drank,  The mystic vase I have sustained,  The bed I have entered.'   The pregnant throes likewise of Ceres [Deo]  are represented : hence the supphcations of  Deo are exhibited; the drinking of bile,  and the heart-aches. After this, an effigy  with the thighs of a goat makes its appear-  ance, which is represented as suffering vehe-  mently about the testicles : because Jupiter,  as if to expiate the violence which he had  offered to Ceres, is represented as cutting off  the testicles of a goat, and placing them on  her bosom, as if they were his own. But  after all this, the rites of Bacchus suc-  ceed; the Cista, and the cakes with many  bosses, Uke those of a shield. Likewise the   * /. e. a representation of them.     232 Appendix.   mysteries of Sabazius, divinations, and the  mimalons or Bacchants ; a certain sound of  the Thesprotian bason ; the Dodonsean brass ;  another Corybas, and another Proserpina, —  representations of Demons. After these suc-  ceed the uncovering of the thighs of Baubo,  and a woman's comb (lie is), for thus, through  a sense of shame, they denominate the sexual  parts of a woman. And thus, with scanda-  lous exhibitions, they finish the initiation."   From this curious passage, it appears that  the Eleusinian Mysteries comprehended those  of almost all the gods ; and this account will  not only throw hght on the relation of the  Mysteries given by Clemens Alexandidnus,  but likewise be elucidated by it in several  particulars. I would willingly unfold to the  reader the mystic meaning of the whole of  this machinery, but this can not be accom-  phshed by any one, without at least the pos-  session of all the Platonic manuscripts which  are extant. This acquisition, which I would  infinitely prize above the wealth of the In-  dies, will, I hope, speedily and fortunately     k'^■      Jupiter disguised as Diana, and Calisto.     ~-_ ;^ ^ C\r I           ■■■■ mt^         Hercules, Deianeira and Nessus.     Appendix. 235   be mine, and then I shall be no less anxious  to communicate this arcane infoiTQation,  than the liberal reader will be to receive it.  I shall only therefore observe, that the mu-  tual communication of energies among the  gods was called by ancient theologists c'spo^  yafiGc, hieros gcimos, a sacred marriage ;  concerning which Proclus, in the second  book of his manuscript Commentary on the  Parmenides, admirably remarks as follows:   TaUTTTJV $£ tTjV 7.0tV(l>VtaV, TTOrS {1£V £V ZOIQ GO-   Gzor^oic, 6p(oac d-zoic, (oi {^ooXoyot) %at vcaXooat  Ya{j.ov 'Hpoic y-^J-i Aloc, Ojpavoo %ac TqQ, Kpo-  voo v.0.1 Tsac* '7L0ZS §£ ttov T-ara^ssarspcov TzpOQ  xa xpsLtto), %ai v^aXooGi ya^ioy Aco? y-ac Atjjxtj-  Tpac* irors 5s xai £{jL'3r7.Xtv xcov xpsiTiKovcov  xpo? xa 6rp£t[j,£V7., %7.i Xsyouat Atoc %ct: KopTj?  Ya{xov. Etcsl^'A] tcov 0£(ov aXXat jj-sv staiv af  irpoc X7. GDGZoiya 7,oiva)vi7,c, 7.XX7.1 5s at 'jrpoi;  xa xpo 7.'jx(ov' aXXat 5s 7.c xpo? xa |X£X7. xa^)xa.  Kai dsL XYjV £%7.axTj? i5lgxyjx7. /,7.xavo£iv y,7C {j.£-   XaY£tV 7.7r0 X(OV 0£(OV £Xt X7. £C57J X'^V XCiC7.0X7]V   dta'jiXoxYjV. /. ^. " Theologists at one time  considered this communion of the gods in  divinities co-ordinate with each other ; and     236 Appendix.   then tliey called it the mamage of Jupiter  and Jiino, of Heaven and Earth [Uranos and  Gre], of Saturn and Rhea : but at another  time, they considered it as svibsisting be-  tween subordinate and superior divinities;  and then they called it the marriage of Jupi-  ter and Ceres ; but at another time, on the  contrary, they beheld it as subsisting be-  tween superior and subordinate divinities;  and then they called it the marriage of Jupi-  ter and Kore. For in the gods there is one  kind of communion between such as are of  a co-ordinate nature ; another between the  subordinate and supreme ; and another again  between the supreme and subordinate. And  it is necessary to understand the peculiarity  of each, and to transfer a conjunction of this  kind froin the gods to the communion of  ideas with each other." And in Tim (mis ^  book i., he observes : y.rj.i zo rrjv wjzr^v (supple   /. e. '' And that the same goddess is conjoined  with other gods, or the same god with many  goddesses, may be collected fi'om the mystic     Appendix.     237     discourses, and those marriages which are  called in the Mysteries Sacred Marriages.''^  Thus far the divine Proclus ; from the first  of which passages the reader may perceive  how adultery and rapes, as represented in the  machinery of the Mysteries, are to be under-  stood when apphed to the gods; and that  they mean nothing more than a communica-  tion of divine energies, either between a su-  perior and subordinate, or subordinate and  superior, divinity. I only add that the ap-  parent indecency of these exhibitions was, as I  have already observed, exclusive of its mystic  meaning, designed as a remedy for the passions  of the soul : and hence mystic ceremonies  were very properly called a%£7., akea, medicines,  by the obscure and noble Heracleitus.'^   * Iamblichus : De Mijsteriis.      Saciifice of a Pig.      Hercules Drunk.     ORPHIC HYMNS.     I shall utter to whom it is lawful ; but let the doors be closed,  Nevertheless, against all the profane. But do thou hear,  Oh Musseus, for I will declare what is true. . . .   He is the One, self -proceeding ; and from him all things proceed,  And in them he himself exerts his activity ; no mortal  Beholds Him, but he beholds all.   There is one royal body in which all things are enwombed,  Fire and Water, Earth, ^ther, Night and Day,  And Counsel [Metis'], the first producer, and delightful Love, —  For all these are contained in the great body of Zeus.     Zeus, the mighty thunderer, is first ; Zeus is last ;  Zeus is the head, Zeus the middle of all things ;  From Zeus were all things produced. He is male, he is female ;  Zeus is the depth of the earth, the height of the starry heavens ;   238     Appendix. 239   He is the breath of all things, the force of untamed fire ;  The bottom of the sea ; Sun, Moon, and Stars ;  Origin of all ; King of all ;  One Power, one God, one Great Ruler.   HYMN OF CLEANTHES.   Greatest of the gods, God with many names,   God ever-ruling, and ruling all things !  Zeus, origin of Nature, governing the universe by law,  All hail ! For it is right for mortals to address thee ;  For we are thy offspring, and we alone of all <   That live and creep on earth have the power of imitative speech.  Therefore will I praise thee, and hymn forever thy power.  Thee the wide heaven, which surrounds the earth, obeys :  Following where thou wilt, willingly obeying thy law.  Thou boldest at thy sei'vice, in thy mighty hands,  The two-edged, flaming, immortal thunderbolt.  Before whose flash all nature trembles.  Thou rulest in the common reason, which goes through all.  And appears mingled in all things, great or small,  Which filling all nature, is king of all existences.  Nor without thee. Oh Deity,* does anything happen in the world.  From the divine ethereal pole to the great ocean,  Except only the evil preferred by the senseless wicked.  But thou also art able to bring to order that which is chaotic.  Giving form to what is formless, and making the discordant   friendly ;  So reducing all variety to imity, and even making good out of evil.  Thus throughout nature is one great law  Which only the wicked seek to disobey.  Poor fools ! who long for happiness.  But will not see nor hear the divine commands.   * Greek, Aaifxov, Demon,     240     Appendix.     [In frenzy blind they stray a\v;iy from good,   By thii'st of glory tempted, or sordid avarice,   Or pleasures sensual and joys that fall.]   But do thou, Oh Zeus, all-bestower, cloud-compeller!   Ruler of thunder ! guard men from sad error.   Father ! dispel the clouds of the soul, and let us follow   The laws of thy great and just reign !   That we may be honored, let us honor thee again,   Chanting thy great deeds, as is proper for mortals,   For nothing can be better for gods or men   Than to adore with hymns the Universal King.*   * Rev. J. Freeman Clarke, whose version is here copied, renders  this phrase "the law common to all." The Greek text reads:  " 7] xoivov a;c vojAciv £v v.-A-Q u/ivstv," — the term vojj.oc:, nomos, or  Law, being used for King, as Love is for God. — A. W.      Proserpina Enthroned in Hades.      Nymphs and Centaurs.     GLOSSARY.     AporrJieta, Greek aiioppTjTa — The instructions given by the  hierophant or interpreter in the Eleusinian Mysteries, not to  be disclosed on pain of death. There was said to be a syn-  opsis of them in the i^etroma or two stone tablets, which, it  is said, were bound together in the form of a book.   Apostatise — To fall or descend, as the spiritual part of the soul is  said to descend from its divine home to the world of nature.   Cathartic — Purifying. The term was used by the Platonists and  others in connection with the ceremonies of purification be-  fore initiation, also to the corresponding performance of rites  and duties which renewed the moral life. The cathartic  virtues were the duties and mode of living, which conduced  to that end. The phrase is used but once or twice in this  edition.   Cause — The agent by which things are generated or produced.   Circulation — The peculiar spiral motion or progress by which the  spiritual nature or "intellect" descended from the divine  region of the universe into the world of sense.   Cogitative — Relating to the understanding: dianoetic.   Conjecture, or Opinion — A mental conception that can be changed  by argument.   Core — A name of Ceres or Demeter, applied by the Orphic and  later writers to her daughter Persephone or Proserpina. She  was supposed to typify the spiritual nature which was ab-  241     242 Glossary,   Core — con tinned.   ducted by Hades or Pluto into the Underworld, the figure  signifying the apostasy or descent of the soul from the higher  life to the material body.   CoricaUy — After the manner of Proserpina, i. e., as if descending  into death from the supernal world.   D(emoii — A designation of a certain class of divinities. Different  authors employ the term differently. Hesiod regards them as  the souls of the men who lived in the Golden Age, now act-  ing as guardian or tutelary spirits. Socrates, in the CratyJus,  says " that daemon is a term denoting wisdom, and that every  good man is dsemonian, both while living and when dead, and  is rightly called a daemon." His own attendant spirit that  checked him whenever he endeavored to do what he might  not, was styled his Daemon. lamblichus places Daemons in  the second order of spiritual existence. — Cleanthes, in his  celebrated Hymn, styles Zeus oatfiov (daimon).   Demiurgiis — The creator. It was the title of the; chief-magistrate  in several Grecian States, and in this work is applied to Zeus  or Jupiter, or the Euler of the Universe. The latter Pla-  tdnists, and more especially the Gnostics, who regarded matter  as constituting or containing the principle of Evil, sometimes  applied this term to the Evil Potency, who, some of them  affirmed, was the Hebrew God.   Distrihuted — 'SiQ(hxc&^ from a whole to parts and scattered. The  spiritual nature or intellect in its higher estate was regarded  as a whole, but in descending to worldly conditions became  divided into parts or perhaps characteristics.   Divisible — Made into parts or attributes, as the mind, intellect, or  spiritual, first a whole, became thus distinguished in its de-  scent. This division was regarded as a fall into a lower plane  of life.   Energise, Greek z^z^^-^zw — Ho operate or work, especially to  undergo discipline of the heart and character.     Glossary. 243   Energy — Operation, activity.   Eternal — Existing through all past time, and still continuing.   Faith — The correct conception of a thing as it seems, — fidelity.   Freedom — The ruling power of one's life ; a power over what per-  tains to one's self in life.   Friendship — Union of sentiment; a communion in doing well.   Fury — The peculiar mania, ardor, or enthusiasm which inspired  and actuated prophets, poets, intei'preters of oracles, and  others ; also a title of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone  as the chastisers of the wicked, — also of the Eumenides.   Generation, Greek Y^^'^t? — Generated existence, the mode of  life peculiar to this world, but which is equivalent to death,  so far as the pure intellect or spiritual nature is concerned ;  the process by which the soul is separated from the higher  form of existence, and brought into the conditions of life  upon the earth. It was regarded as a punishment, and ac-  cording to Mr. Taylor, was prefigured by the abduction of  Proserpina. The soul is supposed to have pre-existed with  God as a pure intellect like him, but not actually identical —  at one but not absolutely the same.   Good — That which is desired on its own account.   Hades — A name of Pluto; the Underworld, the state or region of  departed souls, as understood by classic writers ; the physical  nature, the corporeal existence, the condition of the soul  while in the bodily life.   Herald, Greek y.7]po4 — The crier at the Mysteries.   Hierophant — The interpreter who explained the purport of the  mystic doctrines and dramas to the candidates.   Holiness, Greek ooioty]? — Attention to the honor due to God.   Idea — A principle in all minds underlying our cognitions of the  sensible world.   Imprudent — Without foresight ; deprived of sagacity.   Infernal regions — Hades, the Underworld.   Instruction — A power to cure the soul.     244 Glossary.   Intellect, Greek voo? — Also rendered j)?^re reason, and by Professor  Cocker, intuitive reason, and the rational soul; the spiritual  nature. " The organ of self-evident, necessary, and universal  truth. In an immediate, direct, and intuitive manner, it takes  hold on truth with absolute certainty. The reason, through  the medium of ideas, holds communion with the world of real  Being. These ideas are the light y^\\\(^\i reveals the world of  unseen realities, as the sun reveals the world of sensible forms.  ' The Idea of the good is the Sun of the Intelligible World ;  it sheds on objects the light of truth, and gives to the soul  that knows the power of knowing.' Under this light the eye  of reason apprehends the eternal world of being as truly, yet  more truly, than the eye of sense appi'ehends the world of  phenomena. This power the rational soul possesses by virtue  of its having a nature kindred, or even homogeneous with  the Divinity. It was ' generated by the Divine Father,' and  like him, it is in a certain sense ' eternal.' Not that we  are to understand Plato as teaching that the rational soul had  an independent and underived existence ; it was created or  'generated' in eternity, and even now, in its incorporate state,  is not amenable to the condition of time and space, but, in a  peculiar sense, dwells in eternity : and therefore is capable of  beholding eternal realities, and coming into communion with  absolute beauty, and goodness, and truth — that is, with God,  the Absolute Being." — Christianity and Greek Philosophy, x.  pp. 349, 350,   Intellective — Intuitive ; perceivable by spiritual insight.   Ititelligihle — Eelating to the higher reason.   Interpreter — The hierophant or sacerdotal teacher who, on the last  day of the Eleusinia, explained the petroma or stone book to  the candidates, and unfolded the final meaning of the repre-  sentations and symbols. In the Phoenician language he was  called ins, peter. Hence the petroma, consisting of two  tablets of stone, was a pun on the designation, to imply the     Glossary. 245   Interpreter — continued.   wisdom to be uiit'olcled. It has been suggested by the Rev,  Mr. Hyslop, that the Pope derived his claim, as the successor  of Peter, from his succession to the rank and function of  the Hierophant of the Mysteries, and not from the celebrated  Apostle, who probably was never in Rome.   Just — Productive of Justice.   Justice — The harmony or perfect proportional action of all the  powers of the soul, and comprising equity, veracity, fidelity,  usefulness, benevolence, and purity of mind, or holiness.   Judgment — A. peremptory decision covering a disputed matter;  also o'.avoLa, dianoia, or understanding.   Knowledge — A comprehension by the mind of fact not to be over-  thrown or modified by argument. o   Legislative — Regulating.   Lesser Mysteries — The TsXeia:, teletai, or ceremonies of purifica-  tion, which were celebrated at Agrae, prior to full initiation  at Eleusis. Those initiated on this occasion were styled  fJLuaxai, mystcB, from (xoto, muo, to vail ; and their initiation  was called (jiuYjat?, muesis, or vailing, as expressive of being  vailed from the former life.   Magic — Persian mag, Sanscrit maha, great. Relating to the order  of the Magi of Persia and Assyria.   Material do'mons — Spirits of a nature so gross as to be able to  assume visible bodies like individuals still living on the Earth.   Matter — The elements of the world, and especially of the human  body, in which the idea of evil is contained and the soul  incarcerated. Greek oXt], Hule or Hyle.   Muesis, Greek iinrioiq, from ixotn, to vail — The last act in the  Lesser Mysteries, or rsXtza:, teletai, denoting the separating of  the initiate from the former exotic life.   Mysteries — Sacred dramas performed at stated periods. The  most celebrated were those of Isis, Sabazius, Cybelfe, and  Eleusis.     246 Glossary.   Mystic — Relating to the Mysteries: a person initiated in the  Lesser Mysteries — Greek jj.u3Totu   Occult — Arcane; hidden; pertaining to the mystical sense.   Orgies, Greek opY-'^' — The peculiar rites of the Bacchic Mysteries.   Opinion — A hypothesis or conjecture.   Partial — Divided, in parts, and not a whole.   Philologist — One pursuing literature.   Philosopher — One skilled in philosophy; one disciplined in a right  life.   Philosophise — To investigate final causes; to undergo discipline  of the life.   Philosophy — The aspiration of the soul after wisdom and truth,  " Plato asserted philosophy to be the science of unconditioned  being, and asserted that this was known to the soul by its  intuitive reason (intellect or spiritual instinct) which is the  organ of all philosophic insight. The reason perceives sub-  stance ; the understanding, only phenomena. Being (xo ov),  which is the reality in all actuality, is in the ideas or thoughts  of God; and nothing exists (or appears outwardly), except  by the force of this indwelling idea. The word is the true  expression of the nature of every object : for each has its divine  and natural name, besides its accidental human appellation.  Philosophy is the recollection of what the soul has seen of  things and their names." (J. Freeman Clarke.)   Plotinus — A philosopher who lived in the Third Century, and re-  vived the doctrines of Plato.   Prudent — Having foresight.   Purgation, purification — The introduction into the Teletce or Lesser  Mysteries ; a separation of the external principles from the soul.   Punishment — The curing of the soul of its errors.   Prophet, Greek \i.rj.^x'.c, — One possessing the prophetic mania, or  inspiration.   Priest — Greek \xrjyz'.c, — A prophet or inspired person, ispjuc — a  sacerdotal person.     Glossary.     247     Revolt — A rolling away, the career of the soul in its descent from  the pristine divine condition.   Science — The knowledge of universal, necessary, unchangeable,  and eternal ideas.   Shows — The peculiar dramatic representations of the Mysteries.   Telete, Greek tjXext] — The finishing or consummation ; the Lesser  Mysteries.   Theologist — A teacher of the literatiu-e relating to the gods.   Theoretical — Perceptive.   Torch bearer — A priest who bore a torch at the Mysteries.   Titans — The beings who made war against Kronos or Saturn. E.  Poeoeke identifies them with the Daittjas of India, who resisted  the Brahmans. In the Orphic legend, they are described as  slaying the child Bacchus-Zagreus.   Titanic — Eelating to the nature of Titans.   Transmigration — The passage of the soul from one condition of  being to another. This has not any necessary reference to  any rehabilitation in a corporeal nature, or body of flesh and  blood. See I Corinthians, XV.   Virtue — A good mental condition; a stable disposition.   Virtues — Agencies, rites, inflluences. Cathartic Virtues — Purify-  ing rites or influences.   Wisdom — The knowledge of things as they exist ; " the approach  to God as the substance of goodness in truth."   World — The cosmos, the universe, as distinguished from the earth  and human existence upon it.      /■ ('§     Eleusinian Priest and Assistants.      Fortune and the Three Fates.     LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.     DRAWN FROM THE ANTIQUE BY A. L. RAWSON.     A DESCRIPTION of tlie illustrations to this volume properly  includes the two or three theories of human life held by the  ancient Greeks, and the beautiful myth of Demeter and Pro-  serpina, the most charming of all mythological fancies, and  the Orgies of Bacchus, which together supplied the motives  to the artists of the originals from which these drawings  were made.   From them* we learn that it was believed»that the soul is a  part of, or a spark from, the Great Soul of the Kosmos, the Cen-  tral Sun of the intellectual universe, and therefore immortal ;  has lived before, and will continue to hve after this '' body  prison " is dissolved ; that the river Styx is between us and  the unseen world, and hence we have no recollection of any  former state of existence ; and that the body is Hades, in  which the soul is made to suffer for past misdeeds done in the  unseen world.   Poets and philosophers, tragedians and comedians, embel-  lished the myth with a thousand fine fancies which were   248     List of Illustrations. 249   woven into the ritual of Eleusis, or were presented in the  theaters during the Bacchic festivals.   The pictures include, beside the costumes of priests, jiriest-  esses, and their attendants, and of the fauns and satjrrs, many  of the sacred vessels and implements used in celebrating the  Mysteries, in the orgies, and in the theaters, all of which were  drawn by the ancient artists from the objects represented,  and their work has been carefully followed here.   Page.   1. Frontispiece. Sacrifice to Ceres.   — Denhndler, sculptur.  The goddess stands near a serpent-guarded altar, on which a  sheaf of grain is aflame. Worshipers attend, and Jupiter  approves. (See page 17.)   2. Decoratinq a Statue of Bacchus 4   — Bom. Campana.  The priest wears a lamb-skin skirt, the thyrsus is a natural  vine with grape clusters, and there are fruit and wine bearers.   3. Bacchantes with Thyrsus and Flute 4   Two fragments. —Bom. Camp.   4. Symbolical Ceremony. — Bom. Camp 4   Torch and thyrsus bearers and faun. See cut No. 40, and page  208 for reference to pine nut.   5. Bacchus and Nymphs 5   6. Pluto, Proserpina, and Furies 5   — Galerie des Peintres.  The Furies were said to be children of Pluto and Proserpina ;  other accounts say of Nox and Acheron, and Acheron was a son  of Ceres Avithout a father. (See page 65.)   7. Priestess with Amphora and Sacred Cake 6   8. Priestess with Musical Instruments 6   9. Faun Kissing Bacchante. — Bourbon Mus 6   10. Faun and Bacchus. — Bourbon Mus 6     250 List of Ilhistrations.   Page.   11. Etruscan Y A^Y^.—MilUngen 7   See drawings on page lOG.   12. Mercury Presenting a Soul to Pluto 8   — Pict. Ant. Sep. Nasonion, pi. I, 8.   13. Mystic Rites. — Arhniranda, tav. 17 8   14. Eleusinian Ceremony. — Oes^. Benk. Alt. Kimst, II., 8 8   15. Bacchic Festival.— JSarto?*, Admiranda, 43 9   Probably a stage scene. The cliaracters are the king, who was  an archon of Athens; a thyrsns bearer, musician, wine and  fruit bearers, dancers, and Pluto and Proserpina. A boy re-  moves the king's sandal. (See page 35.)   16. Apollo and the Muses. — Florentine Museum 10   The muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne ;  that is, of the god of the present instant, and of memory.  Their office was, in part, to give information to any inquiring  soul, and to preside over the various arts and sciences. They  were called by various names derived from the places where  they were worshiped : Aganippides, Aonides, Castalides,  HeUconiades, Lebetheides, Pierides, and others. Apollo was  called Musagetes, as their leader and conductor. The palm  tree, laurel, fountains on Helicon, Parnassus, Pindus, and  other sacred mountains, were sacred to the muses.   17. Prometheus Forms a Woman 11   — Visconti, Mus. Fio. Clem., IV., 34.  Mercury, the messenger of the gods, brings a soul from  Jupiter for the body made by Prometheus, and the three Fates  attend. The Athenians built an altar for the worship of Pro-  metheus in the grove of the Academy.   18. Procession of Iacchus and Phallus 16   — Montfaucon.  From Athens to Eleusis, on the sixth day of the Eleusinia.  The statue is made to play its part in a mystic ceremony, typi-  fying the union of the sexes in generation. Attendant priest-  esses bear a basket of dried flgs and a phallus, baskets of fruit,  vases of wine, with clematis, and musical and sacrificial instni-  ments. None but women and children were permitted to take  part in this ceremony. The wooden emblem of fecundity was  an object of supreme veneration, and the ceremony of placing  and hooding it. was assigned to the most highly respected  woman in Athens, as a mark of honor. Lucian and Plutarch     List of Illustrations. 251   Pagk.   say the phallus bearers at Rome carried images (phalloi) at the  top of long poles, and their bodies were stained with wine lees,  and partly covered with a lamb-skin, their heads crowned with  a wreath of ivy. (See page 14.)   19, 20, 21. From Etruscan Vases — Florentine Museum. 22   Human sacrifice may be indicated in the lower group.   22. Venus and Proserpina in Hades 28   — Galerie des Peintres.  The myth relates that Venus gave Proserpina a pomegranate  to eat in Hades, and so made her subject to the law which re-  quired her to remain four months of each year with Pluto in  the Underworld, for Venus is the goddess who presides over  birth and growth in all cases. Cerberus (see page 65) keeps  guard, and one of the heads holds her garment, signifying that  his master is entitled to one-third of her time.   23. Rape of Proserpina. Carried Down to Hades   (Invisibility) — Flor. Mus 29   See note, p. 152.   24. Pallas, Venus, and Diana Consulting 30   — Gal. des Peint.  Jupiter ordered these divinities to excite desire in the heart of  Proserpina as a means of leading her into the power of the  richest of all monarchs, the one who most abounds in treasures.  (See page 140.)   25. Dionysus as God op the Sun 31   — Pit. Ant. Ercolmio.  Dionysus — Bacchus — symbolizes the sun as god of the sea-  sons ; rides on a panther, pours wine into a drinking-horn held  by a satyr, who also carries a wine skin bottle. The winged genii  of the seasons attend. Winter carries two geese and a cornu-  copia ; Spring holds in one hand the mystical cist, and in the  other the mystic zone ; Summer bears a sickle and a sheaf  of grain ; and Autumn has a hare and a horn-of-plenty full of  fruits. Fauns, satyrs, boy-fauns, the usual attendants of  Bacchus, play with goats and panthers between the legs of the  larger figures.   26. Herse and Mercury 42   — Pit. Ant. Ercolano.  A fabled love match between the god and a daughter of Cecrops,  the Egyptian who founded Athens, supplied the ritual for  the festivals Hersephoria, in which young girls of seven  to eleven years, from the most noted families, dressed in     252 List of Illustrations.   Page.   white, carried the sacred vessels and implements used in the  Mysteries in procession. Cakes of a peculiar form were made  for the occasion.   27. Narcissus Sees His Image in Water 42   — P. Ovid. Naso.  The son of Cephissus and Liriope, an Oceanid, was said to be  very beautiful. He sought to win the favor of the nymph of  the fountain where he saw his face reflected, and failing, he  drowned himself in chagrin. The gods, unwilling to lose so  much beauty, changed him into the flower now known by his  name. (See page 150.)   28. Jupiter as Diana, and Calisto. — P. Ovid. Naso . . 62   The supreme deity of the ancients, beside numerous marriages,  was credited with many amours with both divinities and mor-  tals. In some of those adventures he succeeded by using a  disguise, as here in the form of the Queen of the Starry  Heavens, when he surprised Calisto (Helice), a daughter of  Lycaon, king of Arcadia, an attendant on Diana. The com-  panions of that goddess were pledged to celibacy. Jupiter, in  the form of a swan, surprised Leda, who became mother of the  Dioscuri (twins).   29. Diana and Calisto. — Ovid. Naso, Neder 62   The fable says that when Diana and her nymphs were bathing   the swelling form of Calisto attracted attention. It was re-  ported to the goddess, when she punished the maid by chang-  ing her into the form of a bear. She would have been torn in  pieces by the hunter's dogs, biit Jupiter interposed and trans-  lated her to the heavens, where she forms the constellation  The Great Bear. Juno was jealous of Jupiter, and requested  Thetis to refuse the Great Bear permission to descend at night  beneath the waves of ocean, and she, being also jealous of  Poseidon, complied, and therefore the dipper does not dip,  but revolves close around the pole star.   30. Bacchantes and Fauns Dancing 74   A stage ballet. — Bom. Campana, 37.   31. Hercules, Bull, and Priestess. — Bom. Camp 74   Bacchic orgies.   32. Fruit and Thyrsus Bearers. — Boiir. Mm 84   33. Torch-Bearer as Apollo. — Bourbon Mits 84   34. Eleusinian Mysteries. — Florence 3Ius 94     List of Illustrations. 253     r>- T-, Page,   60. Etruscan Mystic Ceremony.— i?oH«. Camp 94   36. Etruscan Altar Group.— JPtor. Mus 106   The mystic cist with serpent coiled around, the sacred oaks,  baskets, drinking-horns, zones, f estoou of branches and flowers,  make very pretty and impressive accessories to two handsome  priestesses.   37. Etruscan Bacchantes.— JfiZZm^en 106   These two groups were drawn from a vase (page 7) which is  a very fine work of art. The drapery, .decoration, symbols,  accessories, and all the details of implements used in the cele-  bration of the Mysteries are very carefully drawn on the vase,  which is well preserved. This vase is a strong proof of the  antiquity of the orgies, for the Etruscans, Tyrrheni, and  Tusci were ancient before the Romans began to build on the  Tiber.   38. Etruscan Ceremony.- m7fo><r/m 106   39. Satyr, Cupid and Venus.— ilfo>i?/a«cow; SculpUre . 110   Some Roman writers affirmed that the Satyr was a real animal,  but science has dissipated that belief, and the monster has  been classed among the artificial attractions of the theater  where it belongs, and where it did a large share of duty in the  Mysteries. They were invented by the poets as an impersona-  tion of the life that animates the branches of trees when the  wind sweeps through them, meaning, whistling, or shrieking  in the gale. They were said to be the chief attendants on  Bacchus, and to delight in revel and wine.   40. Cupids, Satyr, and Statue of ^niwvs^.—Montfaucon 110   The many suggestive emblems in this picture form an instruc-  tive group, symbolic of Nature's life-renewing power. The  ancients adored this power under the emblems of the organs  of generation. Many passages in the Bible denounce that wor-  ship, which is called " the grove," and usually was an iipright  stone, or wooden pillar, plain or ornamented, as in Rome,  where it became a statue to the waist, as seen in the engrav-  ing. The Palladium at Athens was a Greek form. The  Druzes of Mount Lebanon in Syria now dispense with em-  blems of wood and stone, and use the natural objects in their  mystic rites and ceremonies.   41. Apollo and Daphne,— Galerie des Peint 118   The rising sun shines on the dew-drops, and warming them as  they hang on the leaves of the laurel tree, they disappear,     254 List of lUiisfrations.   Page.   leaving the tree ; and it is said by the poet that Apollo loves and  seeks Daphne, striving to embrace her, when she flies and is  transformed into a laurel tree at the instant she is embraced by  the sun-god.   42. Diana and Endymion. — Bourbon 3Ius 118   Diana as the queen of the night loves Endymion, the setting  sun. The lovers ever strive to meet, but inexorable fate as ever  prevents them from enjoying each other's society. The fair  huntress sometimes is permitted, as when she is the new moon,  or in the first quarter, to approach near the place where her  beloved one lingers near the Hesperian gardens, and to follow  him even to the Pillars of Hercules, but never to embrace him.  The new moon, as soon as visible, sets near but not with the sun.  Endymion reluctantly sinks behind the western horizon, and  would linger until the loved one can be folded in his arms,  but his duty calls and he must turn his steps toward the  Elysian Fields to cheer the noble and good souls who await  his presence, ever cheerful and benign. Diana follows closely  after and is welcomed by the brave and beautiful inhabitants  of the Peaceful Islands, but while receiving their homage her  lover hastens on toward the eastern gates, where the golden  fleece makes the morning sky resplendent.   43. Ceres and the Car op Treptolemus 127   P. Ovid. Naso, Neder.  Triptolemus (the word means three plowings) was the founder  of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and was presented by Ceres with  her car drawn by winged dragons, in which he distributed seed  grain all over the world.   44. Pluto Marries Proserpina 127   — P. Ovid. Naso, Neder.  Jupiter is said to have consented to request of Pluto that Proser-  pina might revisit her mother's dwelling, and the picture repre-  sents him as very earnest in his appeal to his brother. Since  then the seed of grain has remained in the ground no longer  than four months ; the other eight it is above, in the regions of  light. In the engraving a curtain is held up by bronze figures.  This seems conclusive that it was a representation of a dra-  matic scene. (See pp. 159, 186.)   45. Proserpina, according to the Greeks. — Heck... 138   46. Bacchus after the Visit to India. — Heck 138   47. A Roman Figure of Geres.— Heck 138     List of Illustrations. 255   Page.   48. Demeter, from Etruscan Vase.— IfecZ; 138   49. Venus, Pallas, and Dlana Inspecting the   Needlework of Proserpina.— Galerie des Peini . 142   50. Proserpina Exposed to Pluto 152   — Ovid. Naso, Neder.  There may have been a mild sarcasm in this artist's mind when  he drew the maid as dallying with Cupid, and the richest mon-  arch in all the earth in the distance, hastening toward her. He  succeeded, as is shown in the next engraving.   51. Pluto Carrying Off Proserpina 152   — P. Ovid. Naso, Neder.  Eternal change is the universal law. Proserpina must go down  into the Underworld that she may rise again into light and life.  The seed must be planted under or into the soil that it may  have a new birth and growth.   52. Proserpina in Pluto's Court. — Montfaucon 156   As a personation she was the "Apparent Brilliance" of all  fruits and flowers.   53. Ceres in Hades. — Montfaucon 162   54. Bacchus, Fauns, and Wine Jars. — Montfaucon .... 168   55. Tragic KQTOn.^Bourhon Museum 168   56. A Group of Deities. — Heck 168   Pan and Dionysus, Hygeia, Hermes, Dionysus and Faunus,  and Silenus.   57. Night with Her Starry Canopy. — Heck 168   58. The Three Graces. — Heck 168   59. Cupid Asleep in the Arms of Venus 174   — Galerie des Peint.   60. Prize Dance between a Satyr and a Goat 174   — Anticld.   61. Baubo and Ceres at Eleusis. — Galerie des Peint. 174  See page 232.     256 List of Illustrations.   Page.   62. Psyche Asleep in Hades 186   — From the ruins of the Bath of Titus, Rome.  See page 45.   63. Nymphs of the Four Rivers in Hades 187   — Tomb of the Nasons.  "It was easy for poets and mythographers, when they had  once started the idea of a gloomy land watered with the rivers  of woe, to place Styx, the stream which mates men shudder, as  the boundary which separates it from the world of Uving men,  and to lead through it the channels of Lethe, in which all  things are forgotten, of Kokytos, which echoes only with  shrieks of pain, and of Pyiyphlegethon, with its waves of fire."  Acheron, in the early myths, was the only river of Hades.   64. Etruscan Vase Group. — MilUngen 198   65. Dancers, ETRUscANS.~i¥i//M?, 1 pJ. 27 198   66. Greek Convivial Scene. — Millin, 1 ^9^ 38 198   67. Faun and Bacchante. — Bour. Mus 206   68. Thyrsus-Bearer. — Bourbon Museum 206   69. Bacchante and Faun.— 5o«r. Mus 206   These three verj' graceful pictures were drawn from paintings  on walls in Herculaneum.   70. KiN<T, Torch, Fruit, and Thyrsus Bearer 212   71. Hercules RECLiNiNG.^.^oe5f«, Bassirilievi, 70 212   Here is an actual ceremony in which many actors took parts ;  with an altar, flames, a torch, tripod, the kerux (crier), bac-  chantes, fauns, and other attendants on the celebration of the  Mystei'ies, including tlie role of an angel with wings.   72. Marriage (or Adultery) or Mars and Venus 220   — Montfaucon.  See pages 231-2.37. If this is from a scene as played at the  Bacchic theaters, those dramas must have been very popular,  and justly so. To those theaters, which were supported by the  government in Athens and in many other cities througliout  Greece, we owe the immortal works of ^schylus and Soph-  ocles.     List of Illustrations. 257   Page.   73, Musical Conference (Epithalamium) 228   S. Bartoli, Admiranda, pi. 62,  Written music was evidently used, for one of the company is  writing as if correcting the score, and writing with the left  hand.   74. Venus Rising from the QEA.—Ovid. Naso, Verburg. 229   This goddess was called Venus Anadyomene, for the poets said  she rose from the sea — the morning sunlight on the foam of  the sea on the shore of the island Cythera, or Cyprus, or  wherever the poet may choose as the favored place for the  manifestation of the generative power of nature, and wherever  flowers show her footprints. The loves bear aloft her magic  girdle, which Juno borrowed as a means of winning back  Jupiter's affection. The rose and the myrtle were sacred to  her. Her worship was the motive for building temples in Cy-  thera and in Cyprus at Amathus, Idalium. Golgoi, and in many  other places. (See engravings 22, 39, and 49, and page 230.)   75, Jupiter Disguised as Diana, and Calisto 234   — Ovid. Naso, Neder.  The gods were said to have the power, and to practice as-  suming the form of any other of their train, or of any animal.  In these disguises they are supposed to play tricks on each  other as here. Diana is the queen of the night sky, Calisto is  one of her attendants, and many white clouds float over the  blue ether (Jupiter), and are chased by the winds (as dogs).   76. Hercules, Deianeira, and Nessus 234   — Ovid. Naso, Neder.  The sun nears the end of the day's journey; he is aged and  weary ; dark clouds obscure his face and obstruct his way, but  stUl Hercules loves beautiful things, and Deianeira, the  fair daughter of the king of ^tolia, retires with him into exile.  At a ford the hero entrusts his bride to Nessiis the Centaur, to  carry across the river. The ferryman made love to the lady,  and Hercules resented the indiscretion, and wounded him by  an arrow. Dying Nessus tells Deianeira to keep his blood as a  love charm in case her husband should love another woman.  Hercules did love another, named lole, and Deianeira dipped  his shirt in the blood of Nessus — the crimson' and scarlet  clouds of a splendid sunset are made glorious by the blood of  Nessus, and Hercules is burnt on the funeral pyre of scarlet  and crimson sunset clouds.     258 List of Illustrations.   Page.   77. The Sacrifice. — Herculaneum, IV., 13 237   78. Hercules Drunk. — Zoegciy BassirilievU tav. 67 238   79. Proserpina Enthroned in Hades- — Archdol. Zeit. 240   The principle of growth rules the Underworld.   80. Bacchante and Centaur. — Bourbon Mus . . . . ■ . 241   81. Bacchante and Cbntauress.^ — Bourbon Mus 241   82. Eleusinian Priest and Assistants 247   83. The Fates. — Zoeya, Bassirilievi, tav. 46 248   84. Supper Scene 258   85. Bacchic Bull. — Antichi Ou cover.      Suppei- Scene.       Date Due      5" : - q    .        MY is'iS          MM^>«4^9^fiC    1        ... :^^m          NCWMf          JliPf'U "'■          ,11^    !«>            •s--.*^-.^.;;^    '■                JUL 1 ? i^    /                                                                        (|)           BL795 E5T24   The Eleusinian and Bacchic mysteries.     Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library      1 1012 00009 5325 PHALLIC WORSHIP      PHALLIC WORSHIP    A DESCRIPTION OF THE MYSTERIES   OF THE   SEX WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENTS   WITH THE HISTORY OF   THE MASCULINE CROSS    AN ACCOUNT OF   PRIMITIVE SYMBOLISM, HEBREW PHALLICISM,  BACCHIC FESTIVALS, SEXUAL RITES, AND  THE MYSTERIES OF THE ANCIENT FAITHS    LONDON   PRIVATELY PRINTED   1880   NAWAL S>a:..'.. ■ JCWO UAHAUUH.      PREFACE    The present somewhat slight sketch of a most interesting  subject , whilst not claiming entire originality , yet embraces  the cream y so to speak , of various learned works of great costy  some of which being issued for private circulation onlyy are almost  unobtainable.   During the past few years several books have been written  upon Phallicism in conjunction with other kindred matters f  but not devoting themselves entirely to one ancient mystery y  the writers have only partially ventilated the subject. The  present work seeks to obviate this failing by confining its  attention entirely to the Sex Worship or Phallicism of the  ancient world.   Many of the topics have received only slight treatmenty  being little more than indicated ; but the work will enable the  reader to understand and possess the truth concerning the  Phallic Worship of the Ancients .   Those who desire to know more, or to authenticate the  statements and facts given in this book , should consult the large  and important works of Payne Knight , Higgins , Dulaure,  Rolky Inman , and other writers .   It was intended to give with this volume a list of works  and miscellaneous pieces written on the subject , but the length  of the list prevented its being added.      PHALLIC WORSHIP   NATURE AND SEX WORSHIP   Sex Worship has prevailed among all peoples of ancient  times, sometimes contemporaneous and often mixed with  Star, Serpent, and Tree Worship. The powers of nature  were sexualised and endowed with the same feelings,  passions, and performing the same functions as human  beings.   Among the ancients, whether the Sun, the Serpent,  or the Phallic Emblem was worshipped, the idea was the  same — the veneration of the generative principle. Thus  we find a close relationship between the various  mythologies of the ancient nations, and by a comparison  of the creeds, ideas, and symbols, can see that they spring  from the same source, namely, the worship of the forces  and operations of nature, the original of which was doubt-  less Sun worship. It is not necessary to prove that in  primitive times the Sun must have been worshipped  under various names, and venerated as the Creator,  Light, Source of Life, and the Giver of Food.   In the earliest times the worship of the generative  power was of the most simple and pure character, rude  in manner, primitive in form, pure in idea, the homage  of man to the supreme power, the Author of life.   Afterwards the worship became more depraved, a  religion of feeling, sensuous bliss, corrupted by a priest-     8    Phallic Worship    hood who were not slow to take advantage of this state  of affairs, and inculcated with it profligate and mysterious  ceremonies, union of gods with women, religious prosti-  tution and other degrading rites. Thus it was not long  before the emblems lost their pure and simple meaning  and became licentious statues and debased objects.   Hence we have the depraved ceremonies at the worship  of Bacchus, who became, not only the representative  of the creative power, but the God of pleasure and  licentiousness.   The corrupted religion always found eager votaries,  willing to be captives to a pleasant bondage by the  impulse of physical bliss, as was the case in India and  Egypt, and among the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Jews  and other nations.   Sex worship once personified became the supreme and  governing deity, enthroned as the ruling God over all ;  dissent therefrom was impious and punished. The priests  of the worship compelled obedience ; monarchs complied  to the prevailing faith and became willing devotees to the  shrines of Isis and Venus on the one hand, and of Bacchus  and Priapus on the other, by appealing to the most  animating passion of nature.    PHALLICISM   This is the worship of the reproductive powers, the  sexual appointments revered as the emblems of the  Creator. The one male, the active creative power ;  the other the female or passive power ; ideas which were  represented by various emblems in different countries.     Phallic Worship    9    These emblems were of a pure and sacred character,  and used at a time when the prophets and priests spoke  plain speech, understood by a rude and primitive people ;  although doubtless by the common people the emblems  were worshipped themselves, even as at the present day  in Roman Catholic countries the more ignorant, in many  cases, actually worship the images and pictures themselves,  while to the higher and more intelligent minds they are  only symbols of a hidden object of worship. In the  same manner, the concealed meaning or hidden truth  was to the ignorant and rude people of early times entirely  unknown, while the priests and the more learned kept  studiously concealed the meaning of the ceremonies and  symbols. Thus, the primitive idea became mixed with  profligate, debased ceremonies, and lascivious rites,  which in time caused the more pure part of the worship  to be forgotten. But Phallicism is not to be judged  from these sacred orgies, any more than Christianity  from the religious excitement and wild excesses of a few  Christian sects during the Middle Ages.   In a work on the “ Worship of the Generative Powers  during the Middle Ages,” the writer traces the superstition  westward, and gives an account of its prevalence through-  out Southern and Western Europe during that period.   The worship was very prevalent in Italy, and was  invariably carried by the Romans into the countries they  conquered, where they introduced their own institutions  and forms of worship. Accordingly, in Britain have  been found numerous relics and remains ; and many  of our ancient customs are traced to a Phallic origin.  “ When we cross over to Britain,” says the writer, “ we  find this worship established no less firmly and extensively  in that island; statuettes of Priapus, Phallic bronzes.     io Phallic Worship   pottery covered with obscene pictures, are found wherever  there are any extensive remains of Roman occupation,  as our antiquaries know well. The numerous Phallic  figures in bronze found in England are perfectly identical  in character with those that occur in France and Italy.”   All antiquaries of any experience know the great number  of obscene subjects which are met with among the fine  red pottery which is termed Samian ware, found so  abundantly in all Roman sites in our island. “ They  represent erotic scenes, in every sense of the word, with  figures of Priapus and Phallic emblems.”    PHALLUS   The Phallus, or Lingam, which stood for the image  of the male organ, or emblem of creation, has been  worshipped from time immemorial. Payne Knight  describes it as of the greatest antiquity, and as having  prevailed in Egypt and all over Asia.   The women of the former country carried in their re-  ligious processions, a movable Phallus of disproportionate  magnitude, which Deodorus Siculus informs us signified  the generative attribute. It has also been observed  among the idols of the native Americans and ancient  Scandinavians, while the Greeks represented the Phallus  alone, and changed the personified attribute into a distinct  deity, called Priapus.   Phallus, or privy member ( membrum virile ), signifies,  “ he breaks through, or passes into.” This word survives  in German pfabl, and pole in English. Phallus is supposed     Phallic Worship    ii    to be of Phoenician origin, the Greek word pallo> or  phallo , “ to brandish preparatory to throwing a missile,”  is so near in assonance and meaning to Phallus, that one  is quite likely to be parent of the other. In Sanskrit  it can be traced to phal> “ to burst,” “ to produce,” “ to  be fruitful ” ; then, again, phal is “ a ploughshare,” and  is also the name of Siva and Mahadeva, who are Hindu  deities. Phallus, then, was the ancient emblem of  creation : a divinity who was companion to Bacchus.   The Indian designation of this idol was Lingam, and  those who dedicated themselves to its service were to  observe inviolable chastity. “ If it were discovered,”  says Crawford, “ that they had in any way departed from  them, the punishment is death. They go naked, and  being considered as sanctified persons, the women  approach without scruple, nor is it thought that their  modesty should be offended by it.”    SYMBOLS OR EMBLEMS   The Phallus and its emblems were representative of the  gods Bacchus, Priapus, Hercules, Siva, Osiris, Baal, and  Asher, who were all Phallic deities. The symbols were  used as signs of the great creative energy or operating  power of God from no sense of mere animal appetite,  but in the highest reverence. Payne Knight, describing  the emblems, says : —   “ Forms and ceremonials of a religion are not always  to be understood in their direct and obvious sense, but     12    Phallic Worship    arc to be considered as symbolical representations of some  hidden meaning extremely wise and just, though the  symbols themselves, to those who know not their true  signification, may appear in the highest degree absurd  and extravagant. It has often happened that avarice  and superstition have continued these symbolical repre-  sentations for ages after their original meaning has  been lost and forgotten; they must, of course, appear  nonsensical and ridiculous, if not impious and extravagant.  Such is the case with the rite now under consideration,  than which nothing can be more monstrous and indecent,  if considered in its plain and obvious meaning, or as part  of the Christian worship ; but which will be found to be  a very natural symbol of a very natural and philosophical  system of religion, if considered according to its original  use and intention.”   The natural emblems were those which from their  character were most suitable representatives ; such as  poles, pillars, stones, which were sacred to Hindu,  Egyptian, and Jewish divinities.   Blavalsky gives an account of the Bimlang Stone, to  be found at Narmada and other places, which is sacred  to the Hindu deity Siva ; these emblem stones were  anointed, like the stone consecrated by the Patriarch  Jacob.   Blavalsky further says that these stones are “ identical  in shape, meaning, and purpose with the ‘ pillars ’ set up  by the several patriarchs to mark their adoration of the  Lord God. In fact, one of these patriarchal lithoi might  even now be carried in the Sivaitic processions of Calcutta  without its Hebrew derivation being suspected.”     Phallic Worship    *5    THE POLE   The Pole was an emblem of the Phallus, and with the  serpent upon it, was a representative of its divine wisdom  and symbol of life. The serpent upon the tree is the same  in character, both are representative of the tree of life.  The story of Moses will well illustrate this, when he  erected in the wilderness this effigy, which stood as a  sign of hope and life, as the cross is used by the Catholics  of the present day ; the cross then, as now, being simply  an emblem of the Creator, used as a token of resurrection  or regeneration. iEsculapius, as the restorer of health,  has a rod or Phallus with a serpent entwined.   The Rev. M. Morris has shown that the raising of the  May-pole is of Phallic origin, the remains of a custom of  India or Egypt, and is typical of the fructifying powers  of spring.   The May festival was carried on with great licentious-  ness by the Romans, and was celebrated by nearly all  peoples as the month consecrated to Love. The May-day  in England was the scene of riotous enjoyment, very  nearly approaching to the Roman Floralia. No wonder  the Puritans looked upon the May-pole as a relic of  Paganism, and in their writings may be gleaned much  of the licentious character of the festival.   Philip Stubbes, a Puritan writer in the reign of Elizabeth,  thus describes a May-day in England : “ Every parishe,  towne, and village assemble themselves together, bothe  men, women, and children, olde and younge even indiffer-  ently ; and either goyng all together, or devidyng  themselves into companies, they go some to the woods  and groves, some to one place, some to another, where  thei spend all the night in pleasant pastymes ; and in the     14 Phallic Worship   mornyng they returne, bryngyng with them birch bowes  and branches of trees, to deck their assemblies withall.  . . . But their cheerest jewell thei bryng from thence  is their Maie pole, whiche thei bryng home with great  veneration, as thus : thei have twentie or fortie yoke  of oxen, every oxe havyng a sweet nosegaie of flowers  placed on the tippe of his homes, and these oxen drawe  home this Maie pole (this stinckyng idoll rather), which  is covered all over with flowers and hearbes, bound  rounde aboute with strynges from the top to the bottome,  and sometyme painted with variable colours, with two  or three hundred men, women, and children, folio wyng  it with great devotion. And thus beyng reared up, with  handekerchiefes and flagges streamyng on the top, thei  strawe the grounde aboute, binde greene boughes aboute  it, sett up sommer haules, bowers, and arbours hard by  it. And then fall thei to banquet and feast, to leape and  daunce aboute it, as the heathen people did at the dedication  of their idols, whereof this is a perfect patterne, or rather  the thyng itself.”   The ceremony was almost identical with the Roman  festival, where the Phallus was introduced with garlands.  Both were attended with the same licentiousness, for  Stubbes gives a further account of the depravity attending  the festivities.    PILLARS   Another type of emblem was the stone pillar, remains of  which still exist in the British Isles. These pillars or so  called crosses generally consist of a shaft of granite with     Phallic Worship    iJ    a carved head. In the West of England crosses are very  common, standing in the market and receiving the name  of “ The Cross.”   These stone pillars were first erected in honour of the  Phallic deity, and on the introduction of Christianity  were not destroyed, but consecrated to the new faith,  doubtless to honour the prejudices of the people. These  monolisks abound in the Highlands, they are stones set  up on end, some twenty-four or thirty feet high, others  higher or lower and this sometimes where no such stones  are to be quarried.   We learn that the Bacchus of the Thebans was a pillar.  The Assyrian Nebo was represented by a plain pillar,  consecrated by anointing with oil. Arnobius gives an  account of this practice, as also does Theophrastus, who  speaks of it as a custom for a superstitious man, when  he passed by these anointed stones in the streets to take  out a phial of oil and pour it upon them and having  fallen on his knees to make his adorations, and so depart.   In various parts of the Bible the Pillar is referred to as  of a sacred character, as in Isaiah xix. 19, 20, “ In that  day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst oi the  land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah,  and it should be for a sign and a witness to the Lord.”   The Orphic Temples were doubtless emblems of the  same principle of the mystic faiths of the ancients, the  same as the Round Towers of Ireland, a history of which  was collected by O’Brien, who describes the Towers as  “ Temples constructed by the early Indian colonists  of the country in honour of the Fructifying principle of  nature, emanating as was supposed from the Sun, or the  deity of desire instrumental in that principle of universal  generativeness diffused throughout all nature.”     16 Phallic Worship   According to the same author these towers were very  ancient, and of Phoenician origin, as similar towers have  been found in Phoenicia. “ The Irish themselves,” says  O’Brien, “ designated them ‘ Bail-toir,’ that is the tower  of Baal. Baal was the name of the Phallic deity, and the  priest who attended them ‘ Aoi Bail-toir ’ or superin-  tendent of Baal tower.” This Baal was worshipped  wherever the Phoenicians went, and was represented by  a pillar or stone or similar objects. The stone that  Jacob set up, and anointed as a rallying place for worship,  became afterwards an object of worship to the Phoenicians.   The earliest navigators of the world were the Phoenicians,  they founded colonies and extended their commerce  first to the isles of the Mediterranean, from thence to  Spain, and then to the British Isles. Historians have  accorded to them the settlements of the most remote  localities. They formed settlements in Cyprus, and  Atticum, according to Josephus, was the principal settle-  ment of the Tyrians upon this island. Strabo’s testimony  is, that the Phoenicians, even before Homer, had possessed  themselves of the best part of Spain.   Where the Phoenicians settled, there they introduced  their religion, and it is in these countries we find the  remains of ancient stone and pillar worship.    LOGGIN STONES, ETC.   Loggin stones are by Payne Knight considered as  Phallic emblems. “ Their remains,” he says, “ are still  extant, and appear to have been composed of a crone set  into the ground, and another placed upon the point of     Phallic Worship    *7    it and so nicely balanced that the wind could move it,  though so ponderous that no human force, unaided by  machinery, can displace it; whence they are called  * logging rocks * and * pendre stones/ as they were  anciently * living stones * and 4 stones of God/ titles  which differ very little in meaning from that on the  Tyrian coins. Damascius saw several of them in the  neighbourhood of Heliopolis or Baalbeck, in Syria,  particularly one which was then moved by the wind ;  and they are equally found in the Western extremities  of Europe and the Eastern extremities of Asia, in Britain,  and in China.”   Bryant mentions it as very usual among the Egyptians  to place with much labour one vast stone upon another  for a religious memorial.   Such immense masses, being moved by causes seeming  so inadequate, must naturally have conveyed the idea of  spontaneous motion to ignorant observers, and persuaded  them that they were animated by an emanation of the  vital spirit, whence they were consulted as oracles, the  responses of which could always be easily obtained by  interpreting the different oscillatory movements into  nods of approbation or dissent.   Phallic emblems abounded at Heliopolis in Syria, and  many other places, even in modern times. A physician,  writing to Dr. Inman, says : “ I was in Egypt last winter  (1865-66), and there certainly are numerous figures of  gods and kings, on the walls of the temple at Thebes,  depicted with the male genital erect. The great temple  at Karnak is, in particular, full of such figures, and the  temple of Danclesa likewise, though that is of much later  date, and built merely in imitation of old Egyptian art.  The same inspiring bas-reliefs arc pointed out by Ezek.   B     1 8 Phallic Worship   xxiii. 14. I remember one scene of a king (Rameses II)  returning in triumph with captives, many of whom were  undergoing the process of castration.”   Obelisks were also representative of the same emblem.  Payne Knight mentions several terminating in a cross,  which had exactly the appearance of one of those crosses  erected in churchyards and at cross roads for the adoration  of devout persons, when devotions were more prevalent  than at present. Stones, pillars, obelisks, stumps of  trees, upright stones have all the same signification, and  are means by which the male element was symbolised.    TRIADS   The Triune idea is to be found in the system of almost  every nation. All have their Trinity in Unity, three in  one, which can be distinctly recognised in the cross.  The Triad is the male or triple, the constitution of the  three persons of most sacred Trinity forming the Triune  system. In the analysis of the subject by Rawlinson,  we find the Trinity consisted of Asshur or Asher, associated  with Anu and Hea or Hoa. Asshur, the supreme god of  the Assyrians, represents the Phallus or central organ  or the Linga, the membrum virile . The cognomen Anu  was given to the right testis, while that of Hea designated  the left.   It was only natural that Asshur being deified, his  appendages should be deified also. “ Beltus,” says  Inman, “ was the goddess associated with them, the four  together made up Arba or Arba-il, the four great gods,”  the Trinity in Unity. The idea thus broached receives     Phallic Worship    *9   great confirmation when we examine the particular stress  laid in ancient times respecting the right and left side of  the body in connection with the Triad names given to  offspring mentioned in the scriptures with the titles given  to Anu and Hea. The male or active principle was typified  by the idea of “solidity ” and “ firmness,” and the  females or passive by the principles of “ water,” “ soft-  ness,” and other feminine principles. Thus the goddess  Hea was associated with water, and according to Forlong,  the Serpent, the ruler ot the Abyss, was sometimes repre-  sented to be the great Hea, without whom there was no  creation or life, and whose godhead embraced also the  female element water.   Rawlinson also gives a similar conclusion, and states  as far as he could determine the third divinity or left side  was named Hea, and he considered this deity to correspond  to Neptune. Neptune was the presiding deity of the deep,  ruler of the abyss, and king of the rivers. As Darwin  and his coadjutors teach, mankind, in common with all  animal life, originally sprung from the sea ; so physiology  teaches that each individual had origin in a pond of water.  The fruit of man is both solid and fluid. It was natural  to imagine that the two male appendages had a distinct  duty, that one formed the infant, the other water in which  it lived, that one generated the male, the other the female  offspring ; and the inference was then drawn that water  must be feminine, the emblem of all possible powers of  creation.   It will be seen that the names and signification of the  gods and their attributes had no ideal meaning. Thus in  Genesis xxx. 13, we find Asher given as a personality,  which signifies “ to be straight,” “ upright,” “ fortunate,”   “ happy.” Asher was the supreme god of the Assyrians,     20    Phallic Worship    the Vedic Mahadeva, the emblem of the human male  structure and creative energy. The same idea of the  creator is still to be seen in India, Egypt, Phoenicia, the  Mediterranean, Europe, and Denmark, depicted on stone  relics.   To a rude and ignorant people, enslaved with such a  religion, it was an easy step from the crude to the more  refined sign, from the offensive to a more pictured and  less obnoxious symbol, from the plain and self-evident  to the mixed, disguised, and mystified, from the unclothed  privy member to the cross.    THE CROSS   The Triad, or Trinity, has been traced to Phoenicia,  Egypt, Japan, and India ; the triple deities Asshur, Anu,  and Hea forming the “ tau.” This mark of the Christians,  Greeks, and Hebrews became the sign or type of the  deities representing the Phallic trinity, and in time became  the figure of the cross. It is remarked by Payne Knight  that “ The male organs of generation are sometimes found  represented by signs of the same sort, which properly  should be called the symbol of symbols. One of the most  remarkable of these is a cross, in the form of the letter  (T), which thus served as the emblem of creation and  generation before the Church adopted it as a sign of  salvation.”   Another writer says, “ Reverse the position of the  triple deities Asshur, Anu, Hea, and we have the figure  of the ancient ‘ tau * of the Christians, Greeks, and ancient  Hebrews. It is one of the oldest conventional forms of     Phallic Worship    21    the cross. It is also met with in Gallic, Oscan, Arcadian,  Etruscan, original Egyptian, Phoenician, Ethiopic, and  Pelasgian forms. The Ethiopic form of the * tau ’ is the  exact prototype and image of the cross, or rather, to state  the fact in order of merit and time, the cross is made in  the exact image of the Ethiopic * tau.’ The fig-leaf,  having three lobes to it, became a symbol of the triad.  As the male genital organs were held in early times  to exemplify the actual male creative power, various  natural objects were seized upon to express the theistic  idea, and at the same time point to those parts of the human  form. Hence, a similitude was recognised in a pillar,  a heap of stones, a tree between two rocks, a club between  two pine cones, a trident, a thyrsus tied round with two  ribbons with the two ends pendant, a thumb and two  fingers, the caduceus. Again, the conspicuous part of  the sacred triad Asshur is symbolised by a single stone  placed upright — the stump of a tree, a block, a tower,  spire, minaret, pole, pine, poplar, or palm tree, while  eggs, apples, or citrons, plums, grapes, and the like  represented the remaining two portions, altogether called  Phallic emblems. Baal-Shalisha is a name which seems  designed to perpetuate the triad, since it signifies c my  Lord the Trinity,’ or ‘ my God is three.’ ”   We must not omit to mention other Phallic emblems,  such as the bull, the ram, the goat, the serpent, the torch,  fire, a knobbed stick, the crozier ; and still further per-  sonified, as Bacchus, Priapus, Dionysius, Hercules,  Hermes, Mahadeva, Siva, Osiris, Jupiter, Moloch, Baal,  Asher, and others.   If Ezekiel is to be credited, the triad, T, as Asshur,  Anu, and Hea, was made of gold and silver, and was in  his day not symbolically used, but actually employed;     22    Phallic Worship    for he bluntly says “ whoredom was committed with the  images of men/’ or, as the marginal note has it, images  of “ a male ” (Ezek. xvi. 17). It was with this god-mark  — a cross in the form of the letter T — that Ezekiel was  directed to stamp the foreheads of the men of Judaea  who feared the Lord (Ezek. ix. 4).   That the cross, or crucifix, has a sexual origin we  determine by a similar rule of research to that by which  comparative anatomists determine the place and habits of  an animal by a single tooth. The cross is a metaphoric  tooth which belongs to an antique religious body physical,  and that essentially human. A study of some of the  earliest forms of faith will lift the veil and explain the  mystery.   India, China, and Egypt have furnished the world with  a genus of religion. Time and culture have divided and  modified it into many species and countless varieties.  However much the imagination was allowed to play upon  it, the animus of that religion was sexuality — worship  of the generative principle of man and nature, male and  female. The cross became the emblem of the male  feature, under the term of the triad — three in one. The  female was the unit ; and, joined to the male triad, con-  stituted a sacred four. Rites and adoration were sometimes  paid to the male, sometimes to the female, or to the two  in one.   So great was the veneration of the cross among the  ancients that it was carried as a Phallic symbol in the  religious processions of the Egyptians and Persians.  Higgins also describes the cross as used from the earliest  times of Paganism by the Egyptians as a banner, above  which was carried the device of the Egyptian cities.   The cross was also used by the ancient Druids, who held     Phallic Worship    2 3    it as a sacred emblem. In Egypt it stood for the significa-  tion of eternal life. Schedeus describes it as customary  for the Druids “ to seek studiously for an oak tree, large  and handsome, growing up with two principal arms in  the form of a cross , besides the main stem upright. If  the two horizontal arms are not sufficiently adapted to  the figure, they fasten a cross-beam to it. This tree they  consecrate in this manner : Upon the right branch they  cut in the bark, in fair characters, the word ‘ Hesus ’ ;  upon the middle, or upright stem, the word ‘ Taranius 9 ;  upon the left branch * Belenus * ; over this, above the  going off of the arms, they cut the name of the god Thau ;  under all, the same repeated, Thau ”    YONI   There is in Hindostan an emblem of great sanctity,  which is known as the “ Linga-Yoni.” It consists of  a simple pillar in the centre of a figure resembling the  outline of a conical ear-ring. It is expressive of the female  genital organ both in shape and idea. The Greek letter  “ Delta ” is also expressive of it, signifying the door of a  house.   Yoni is of Sanskrit origin. Yanna, or Yoni, means  (i) the vulva, (2) the womb, (3) the place of birth, (4)  origin, (5) water, (6) a mine, a hole, or pit. As Asshur  and Jupiter were the representatives of the male potency,  so Juno and Venus were representatives of the female  attribute. Moore, in his “ Oriental Fragments,” says :  “ Oriental writers have generally spelled the word,  * Yoni/ which I prefer to write ‘ IOni/ As Lingam     24 Phallic Worship   was the vocalised cognomen of the male organ, or deity,  so IOni was that of hers.” Says R. P. Knight : “ The  female organs of generation were revered as symbols  of the generative powers of nature or of matter, as those  of the male were of the generative powers of God. They  are usually represented emblematically by the shell  Concha Veneris , which was therefore worn by devout  persons of antiquity, as it still continues to be by the  pilgrims of many of the common people of Italy ” (“ On  the worship of Priapus,” p. 28).   If Asshur, the conspicuous feature of the male Creator,  is supplied with types and representative figures of himself,  so the female feature is furnished with substitutes and  typical imagery of herself.   One of these is technically known as the sistrum of  Isis. It is the virgin’s symbol. The bars across the  fenestrum> or opening, are bent so that they cannot be  taken out, and indicate that the door is closed. It signifies  that the mother is still virgo intacta — a truly immaculate  female — if the truth can be strained to so denominate  a mother . The pure virginity of the Celestial Mother  was a tenet of faith for 2,000 years before the accepted  Virgin Mary now adored was born. We might infer  that Solomon was acquainted with the figure of the  sistrum , when he said, “ A garden enclosed is my spouse,  a spring shut up, a fountain sealed ” (Song of Sol. iv. 12).  The sistrum , we are told, was only used in the worship  of Isis, to drive away Typhon (evil).   The Argha is a contrite form, or boat-shaped dish or  plate used as a sacrificial cup in the worship of Astarte,  Isis, and Venus. Its shape portrays its own significance.  The Argha and crux ansata were often seen on Egyptian  monuments, and yet more frequently on bas-reliefs.     Phallic Worship    *3    Equivalent to Iao, or the Lingam, we find Ab, the  Father, the Trinity ; Asshur, Anu, Hea, Abraham, Adam,  Esau, Edom, Ach, Sol, Helios (Greek for Sun), Dionysius,  Bacchus, Apollo, Hercules, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Jupiter,  Zeus, Aides, Adonis, Baal, Osiris, Thor, Oden ; the cross,  tower, spire, pillar, minaret, tolmen, and a host of others ;  while the Yoni was represented by IO, Isis, Astarte, Juno,  Venus, Diana, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera, Rhea, Cybele,  Ceres, Eve, Frea, Frigga ; the queen of Heaven, the oval,  the trough, the delta, the door, the ark, the ship, the  chasm, a ring, a lozenge, cave, hole, pit. Celestial Virgin,  and a number of other names. Lucian, who was an  Assyrian, and visited the temple of Dea Syria, near the  Euphrates, says there are two Phalli standing in the porch  with this inscription on them, “ These Phalli I, Bacchus,  dedicate to my step-mother Juno.”   The Papal religion is essentially the feminine, and built  on the ancient Chaldean basis. It clings to the female  element in the person of the Virgin Mary. Naphtali  (Gen. xxx. 8) was a descendant of such worshippers,  if there be any meaning in a concrete name. Bear in mind,  names and pictures perpetuate the faith of many peoples.  Neptoah is Hebrew for “ the vulva,” and, A1 or El being  God, one of the unavoidable renderings of Naphtali is  “the Yoni is my God,” or “I worship the Celestial  Virgin.” The Philistine towns generally had names  strongly connected with sexual ideas. Ashdod, aisb or  esby means “ fire, heat,” and dod means “ love, to love,”  “ boiled up,” “ be agitated,” the whole signifying “ the  heat of love,” or “ the fire which impels to union.”  Could not those people exclaim, Our " God is love ” ?  (i John iv. 8).   The amatory drift of Solomon’s song is undisguised.     26 Phallic Worship   though the language is dressed in the habiliments of seem-  ing decency. The burden of thought of most of it bears  direct reference to the Linga-Yoni. He makes a woman  say, “ He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts ” (S. of S.  i. 1 3). Again, of the Phallus, or Linga, she says, “ I  will go up the palm-tree, I will take hold of the boughs  thereof ” (vii. 8). Palm-tree and boughs are euphemisms  of the male genitals.    HEBREW PHALLICISM   The nations surrounding the Jews practising the  Phallic rites and worshipping the Phallic deities, it is not  to be supposed that the Jews escaped their influence.  It is indeed certain that the worship of the Phallics was a  great and important part of the Hebrew worship.   This will be the more plainly seen when we bear in  mind the importance given to circumcision as a covenant  between God and man. Another equally suggestive  custom among the Patriarchs was the act of taking the  oath, or making a sacred promise, which is commented  upon by Dr. Ginsingburg in Kitto’s Cyclopadia. He says :  “ Another primitive custom which obtained in the  patriarchal age was, that the one who took the oath put  his hand under the thigh of the adjurer (Gen. xxiv. 2,  and xlvii. 29). This practice evidendy arose from the  fact that the genital member, which is meant by the euphe-  mistic expression thigh , was regarded as the most sacred  part of the body, being the symbol of union in the tenderest  relation of matrimonial life, and the seat whence all issue     Phallic Worship 27   proceeds and the perpetuity so much coveted by the  ancients. Compare Gen. xlvi. 26 ; Exod. i. 5 ; Judges  vii. 30. Hence the creative organ became the symbol  of the Creator , and the object of worship among all  nations of antiquity. It is for this reason that God  claimed it as a sign of the covenant between himself  and his chosen people in the rite of circumcision. Nothing  therefore could render the oath more solemn in those days  than touching the symbol of creation, the sign of the  covenant, and the source of that issue who may at any  future period avenge the breaking a compact made with  their progenitor.” From this we learn that Abraham,  himself a Chaldee, had reverence for the Phallus as an  emblem of the Creator. We also learn that the rite of  circumcision touches Phallic or Lingasic worship. From  Herodotus we are informed that the Syrians learned  circumcision from the Egyptians, as did the Hebrews.  Says Dr. Inman : “I do not know anything which  illustrates the difference between ancient and modern  times more than the frequency with which circumcision is  spoken of in the sacred books, and the carefulness with  which the subject is avoided now.”   The mutilation of male captives, as practised by Saul  and David, was another custom among the worshippers  of Baal, Asshur, and other Phallic deities. The practice  was to debase the victims and render them unfit to take  part in the worship ?nd mysteries. * Some idea can be  formed of the esteem in which people in former times  cherished the male or Phallic emblems of creative power  when we note the sway that power exercised over them.  If these organs were lost or disabled, the unfortunate one  was unfitted to meet in the congregation of the Lord,  and disqualified to minister in the holy temples. Excessive     28    Phallic Worship    punishment was inflicted upon the person who had the  temerity to injure the sacred structure. If a woman were  guilty of inflicting injury, her hand was cut off without  pity (Deut. xxv. 12). The great object of veneration  in the Ark of the Covenant was doubtless a Phallic  emblem, a symbol of the preservation of the germ of  life.   In the historical and prophetic books of the Old  Testament we have repeated evidence that the Hebrew  worship was a mixture of Paganism and Judaism, and  that Jehovah was worshipped in connection with other  deities. Hezekiah is recorded in 2 Kings xviii. 3, to  have “ removed the high places, and broken the images,  and cut down the groves (Ashera), and broken in pieces  the brazen serpent that Moses had made, for unto those  days the children of Israel did burn incense to it.” The  Ashera, or sacred groves here alluded to are named  from the goddess Ashtaroth, which Dr. Smith describes  as the proper name of the goddess ; while Ashera is the  name of the image of the goddess. Rawlinson, in his  Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient World, describes  Ashera to imply something that stood straight up, and  probably its essential element was the stem of a tree,  an analogy suggestive of the Assyrian emblem of the  Tree of Life of the Scriptures. This stem, which stood  for the emblem of life, was probably a pillar, or Phallus,  like the Lingi of the Hindus, sometimes erected in a grove  or sacred hollow, signifying the Yoni and Lingi. We  read in 2 Kings xxi. 7, that Manasseh “ set up a graven  image in the grove,” and, according to Dr. Oort, the older  reading is in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 7, 15, where it is an image  or pillar. During the reigns of the Jewish kings, the  worship of Baal, the Priapus of the Greeks and Romans,     Phallic Worship    *9   was extensively practised by the Jews. Pillars and  groves were reared in his name.   In front of the Temple of Baal, in Samaria, was erected  an Ashera (i Kings xvi. 31, 32) which e ven survived  the temple itself, for although Jehu destroyed the Temple  of Baal, he allowed the Ashera to remain (2 Kings x.  18, 19; xiii. 6). Bernstein, in an important work on  the origin of the legends of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,  undoubtedly proves that during the monarchial period  of Israel, the sanguinary wars and violent conflicts between  the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel were between  the Elohistic and Jehovahic faiths, kept alive by the  priesthood at the chief places of worship, concerning the  true patriarch, and each party manufacturing and inserting  legends to give a more ancient and important part to its  own faith.   It is not at all improbable that the conflict was between  the two portions of the Phallic faith, the Lingam and  Yoni parties. The cause of this conflict was the erection  of the consecrated stones or pillars which were put up  by the Hebrews as objects of Divine worship. The altar  erected by Jacob at Bethel was a pillar, for according  to Bernstein the word altar can only be used for the erection  of a pillar. Jacob likewise set up a Matzebah, or pillar  of stone, in Gilead, and finally he set one up upon the  tomb of Rachel.   A great portion of the facts have been suppressed by  the translators, who have given to the world histories  which have glossed over the ancient rites and practices  of the Jews.   An instance is given by Forlong on the important  word “ Rock or Stone,” a Phallic emblem to which the  Jews addressed their devotions. He says, “It should     30    Phallic Worship    not be, but I fear it is, necessary to explain to mere English  readers of the Old Testament that the Stone or Rock Tsur  was the real old god of all Arabs , Jews, and Phoenicians,  that this would be clear to Christians were the Jewish  writings translated according to the first ideas of the  people and Rock used as it ought to be, instead of ‘ God/  * Theos/ ‘ Lord,’ etc., being written where Tsur occurs .  Numerous instances of this are given in Dr. Ort’s worship  of Baal in Israel, where praises, addresses, and adorations  are addressed to the Rock , instance, Deut. xxxii. 4, 18.  Stone pillars were also used by the Hebrews as a memorial  of a sacred covenant, for we find Jacob setting up a pillar  as a witness, that he would not pass over it. Connected  with this pillar worship is the ceremony of anointing  by pouring oil upon the pillar, as practised by Jacob  at Bethel. According to Sir W. Forbes, in his Oriental  Memoirs, the “ pouring of oil upon a stone is practised  at this day upon many a shapeless stone throughout  Hindostan.”   Toland gives a similar account of the Druids as practising  the same rite, and describes many of the stones found in  England as having a cavity at the top made to receive the  offering. The worship of Baal like the worship of  Priapus was attended with prostitution, and we find the  Jews having a similar custom to the Babylonians.   Payne Knight gives the following account of it in his  work : “ The women of every rank and condition held  it to be an indispensable duty of religion to prostitute  themselves once in their lives in her temple to any stranger  who came and offered money, which, whether little or  much, was accepted, and applied to a sacred purpose.  Women sat in the temple of Venus awaiting the selection  of the stranger, who had the liberty of choosing whom     Phallic Worship 51   he liked. A woman once seated must remain until she  has been selected by a piece of silver being cast into her  lap, and the rite performed outside the temple.”   Similar customs existed in Armenia, Phrygia, and even  in Palestine, and were a feature of the worship of Baal  Peor. The Hebrew prophets described and denounced  these excesses which had the same characteristics as the  rites of the Babylonian priesthood. The identical  custom is referred to in 1 Sam. ii. 22, where “ the sons of  Eli lay with the women that assembled at the door of the  tabernacle of the congregation.”   Words and history corroborate each other, or are apt  to do so if contemporaneous. Thus kadesh , or kaesb ,  designate in Hebrew “ a consecrated one,” and history  tells the unworthy tale in descriptive plainness, as will  be shown in the sequel.   That the religion was dominating and imperative is  determined by Deut. xvii. 12, where presumptuous  refusal to listen to the priest was death to the offender.  To us it is inconceivable that the indulgence of passion  could be associated with religion, but so it was. Much  as it is covered over by altered words and substituted  expressions in the Bible — an example of which see men  for male organ, Ezek. xvi. 17 — it yet stands out offensively  bold. The words expressive of “ sanctuary,” “ conse-  crated,” and “ Sodomite,” are in the Hebrew essentially  the same. They indicate the passion of amatory devotion.  It is among the Hindus of to-day as it was in Greece and  Italy of classic times ; and we find that “ holy women ”  is a title given to those who devote their bodies to be used  for hire, the price of which hire goes to the service of the  temple.   As a general rule, we may assume that priests who make     Phallic Worship    3 *   or expound the laws, which they declare to be from God,  are men, and, consequently, through all time, have  thought, and do think, of the gratification of the masculine  half of humanity. The ancient and modern Orientals  are not exceptions. They lay it down as a momentous  fact that virginity is the most precious of all the possessions  of a woman, and, being so, it ought, in some way or  other, to be devoted to God.   Throughout India, and also through the densely  inhabited parts of Asia, and modern Turkey there is a  class of females who dedicate themselves to the service  of the deity whom they adore ; and the rewards accruing  from their prostitution are devoted to the service of the  temple and the priests officiating therein.   The temples of the Hindus in the Dekkan possessed  their establishments. They had bands of consecrated  dancing-girls called the Women of the Ido/, selected in their  infancy by the priests for the beauty of their persons, and  trained up with every elegant accomplishment that could  render them attractive.   We also find David and the daughters of Shiloh per-  forming a wild and enticing dance ; likewise we have the  leaping of the prophets of Baal.   It is again significant that a great proportion of Bible  names relate to “ divine,” sexual, generative, or creative  power ; such as Alah, “ the strong one ” ; Ariel, “ the  strong Jas is El”; Amasai, “Jah is firm”; Asher,  <c the male ” or “ the upright organ ” ; Elijah, “ El is  Jah ” ; Eliab, “ the strong father ” ; Elisha, iC El is  upright ” ; Ara, “ the strong one,” “ the hero ” ; Aram,  " high,” or, “ to be uncovered ” ; Baal Shalisha, “ my  Lord the trinity,” or “ my God is three ” ; Ben-zohett,  M son of firmness ” ; Camon, “ the erect One ” ; Cainan,     Phallic Worship    33   “ he stands upright ” ; these are only a few of the many  names of a similar signification.   It will be seen, from what has been given, that the Jews,  like the Phoenicians (if they were not the same), had the  same ceremonies, rites, and gods as the surrounding  nations, but enough has been said to show that Phallic  worship was much practised by the Jews. It was very  doubtful whether the Jehovah-worship was not of a  monotheistic character, but those who desire to have a  further insight into the mysteries of the wars between the  tribes should consult Bernstein’s valuable work.    EARTH MOTHER   The following interesting chapter is taken from a  valuable book issued a few years ago anonymously :   “ Mother Earth ” is a legitimate expression, only of  the most general type. Religious genius gave the female  quality to the earth with a special meaning. When once  the idea obtained that our world was feminine , it was  easy to induce the faithful to believe that natural chasms  were typical of that part which characterises woman.  As at birth the new being emerges from the mother,  so it was supposed that emergence from a terrestrial  cleft was equivalent to a new birth. In direct proportion  to the resemblance between the sign and the thing signified  was the sacredness of the chink, and the amount of virtue  which was imparted by passing through it. From natural  caverns being considered holy, the veneration for apertures  in stones, as being equally symbolical, was a natural   c     34    Phallic Worship    transition. Holes, such as we refer to, are still to be seen  in those structures which are called Druidical, both in  the British Isles and in India. It is impossible to say  when these first arose ; it is certain that they survive in  India to this day. We recognise the existence of the  emblem among the Jews in Isaiah li. i, in the charge to  look “ to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” We  have also an indication that chasms were symbolical  among the same people in Isaiah lvii. 5 , where the wicked  among the Jews were described as “ inflaming themselves  with idols under every green tree, and slaying the children  in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks.” It is possible  that the “ hole in the wall ” (Ezek. viii. 7) had a similar  signification. In modern Rome, in the vestibule of the  church close to the Temple of Vesta, I have seen a large  perforated stone , in the hole of which the ancient Romans  are said to have placed their hands when they swore a  solemn oath, in imitation, or, rather, a counterpart, of  Abraham swearing his servant upon his thigh — that is  the male organ. Higgins dwells upon these holes, and  says : “ These stones are so placed as to have a hole under  them, through which devotees passed for religious  purposes. There is one of the same kind in Ireland,  called St. Declau’s stone. In the mass of rocks at Bramham  Crags there is a place made for the devotees to pass  through. We read in the accounts of Hindostan that  there is a very celebrated place in Upper India, to which  immense numbers of pilgrims go, to pass through a place  in the mountains called “ The Cow’s Belly.” In the  Island of Bombay, at Malabar Hill, there is a rock upon  the surface of which there is a natural crevice, which  communicates with a cavity opening below. This place  is used by the Gentoos as a purification of their sins.     Phallic Worship 35   which they say is effected by their going in at the opening  below, and emerging at the cavity above — “ born again.”  The ceremony is in such high repute in the neighbouring  countries that the famous Conajee Angria ventured by  stealth, one night, upon the Island, on purpose to perform  the ceremony, and got off undiscovered. The early  Christians gave them a bad name, as if from envy ; they  called these holes “ Cunni Diaboli ” (. Atiacalypsis, p. 346)    BACCHANALIA AND LIBERALIA FESTIVALS   The Romans called the feasts of Bacchus, Bacchanalia  and Liberalia, because Bacchus and Liber were the names  for the same god, although the festivals were celebrated  at different times and in a somewhat different manner.  The latter, according to Payne Knight, was celebrated  on the 17th of March, with the most licentious gaiety,  when an image of the Phallus was carried openly in  triumph. These festivities were more particularly cele-  brated among the rural or agricultural population, who,  when the preparatory labour of the agriculturist was over,  celebrated with joyful activity Nature’s reproductive  powers, which in due time was to bring forth the fruits.  During the festival a car containing a huge Phallus was  drawn along accompanied by its worshippers, who in-  dulged in obscene songs and dances of wild and extrava-  gant character. The gravest and proudest matrons  suddenly laid aside their decency and ran screaming  among the woods and hills half-naked, with dishevelled  hair, interwoven with which were pieces of ivy or vine.     }6    Phallic Worship    The Bacchanalian feasts were celebrated in the latter part  of October when the harvest was completed. Wine and  figs were carried in the procession of the Bacchants, and  lastly came the Phalli, followed by honourable virgins,  called canephora , who carried baskets of fruit. These were  followed by a company of men who carried poles, at the  end of which were figures representing the organ of  generation. The men sung the Phallica and were crowned  with violets and ivy, and had their faces covered with  other kinds of herbs. These were followed by some  dressed in women’s apparel, striped with white, reaching  to their ancles, with garlands on their heads, and wreaths  of flowers in their hands, imitating by their gestures the  state of inebriety. The priestesses ran in every direction  shouting and screaming, each with a thyrsus in their  hands. Men and women all intermingled, dancing and  frolicking with suggestive gesticulations. Deodorus says  the festivals were carried into the night, and it was then  frenzy reached its height. He says, “ In performing  the solemnity virgins carry the thyrsus, and run about  frantic, halloing ‘ Evoe ’ in honour of the god ; then  the women in a body offer the sacrifices, and roar out the  praises of Bacchus in song as if he were present, in imitation  of the ancient Maenades, who accompanied him.” These  festivities were carried into the night, and as the celebrators  became heated with wine, they degenerated into extreme  licentiousness.   Similar enthusiastic frenzy was exhibited at the Luper-  calian Feasts instituted in honour of the god Pan (under  the shape of a Goat) whose priests, according to Owen in  his Worship of Serpents , on the morning of the Feast ran  naked through the streets, striking the married women  they met on the hands and belly, which was held as an     Phallic Worship    37    omen promising fruitfulness. The nymphs performing  the same ostentatious display as the Bacchants at the  festival of Bacchanalia.   The festival of Venus was celebrated towards the begin-  ning of April, and the Phallus was again drawn in a car,  followed by a procession of Roman women to the temple  of Venus. Says a writer, “ The loose women of the town  and its neighbourhood, called together by the sounding  of horns, mixed with the multitude in perfect nakedness,  and excited their passions with obscene motions and  language until the festival ended in a scene of mad revelry,  in which all restraint was laid aside.”   It is said that these festivals took their rise from Egypt,  from whence they were brought into Greece by Metampus,  where the triumph of Osiris was celebrated with secret  rites, and from thence the Bacchanals drew their original ;  and from the feasts instituted by Isis came the orgies of  Bacchus.    DRUID AND HEBREW FAITHS   It seems not at all improbable that the deities wor-  shipped by the ancient Britons and the Irish, were no  other then the Phallic deities of the ancient Syrians and  Greeks, and also the Baal of the Hebrews. Dionysius  Periegites, who lived in the time of Augustus Csesar,  states that the rites of Bacchus were celebrated in the  British Isles ; while Strabo, who lived in the time of  Augustus and Tiberius, asserts that a much earlier writer  described the worship of the Cabiri to have come originally     3 «    Phallic Worship    from Phoenicia. Higgins, in his History of the Druids,  says, the supreme god above the rest was called Seodhoc  and Baal. The name of Baal is found both in Wales,  Gaul, and Germany, and is the same as the Hebrew Baal.   The same god, according to O’Brien, was the chief deity  of the Irish, in whose honour the round towers were  erected, which structures the ancient Irish themselves  designated Bail-toir, or the towers of Baal. In Numbers,  xxii, will be found a mention of a similar pillar consecrated  to Baal. Many of the same customs and superstitions  that existed among the Druids and ancient Irish, will  likewise be found among the Israelites. On the first  day of May, the Irish made great fires in honour of Baal,  likewise offering him sacrifices. A similar account is  given of a custom of the Druids by Toland, in an account  of the festival of the fires ; he says : — “ on May-day eve  the Druids made prodigious fires on these earns, which  being everyone in sight of some other, could not but  afford a glorious show over a whole nation.” These  fires are said to be lit even to the present day by the  Aboriginal Irish, on the first of May, called by them  Bealtine, or the day of Belan’s fire, the same name as  given them in the Highlands of Scotland.   A similar practice to this will be noticed as mentioned in  the II Book of Kings, where the Canaanites in their worship  of Baal, are said to have passed their children through the  fire of Baal, which seems to have been a common practice,  as Ahaz, King of Israel, is blamed for having done the  same thing. Higgins in his Anacalypsis y says this super-  stitious custom still continues, and that on “ particular  days great fires are lighted, and the fathers taking the  children in their arms, jump or run through them, and  thus pass their children through them ; they also light     Phallic Worship    39    two fires at a little distance from each other, and drive  their cattle between them.” It will be found on reference  to Deuteronomy, that this very practice is specially for-  bidden. In the rites of Numa, we have also the sacred  fire of the Irish ; of St. Bridget, of Moses, of Mithra,  and of India, accompanied with an establishment of  nuns or vestal virgins. A sacred fire is said to have been  kept burning by the nuns of Kildare, which was established  by St. Bridget. This fire was never blown with the  mouth, that it might not be polluted, but only with  bellows ; this fire was similar to that of the Jews, kept  burning only with peeled wood, and never blown with  the mouth. Hyde describes a similar fire which was kept  burning in the same way by the ancient Persians, who  kept their sacred fire fed with a certain tree called Hawm  Mogorum ; and Colonel Vallancey says the sacred fire  of the Irish was fed with the wood of the tree called  Hawm. Ware, the Romish priest, relates that at Kildare,  the glorious Bridget was rendered illustrious by many  miracles, amongst which was the sacred fire, which had  been kept burning by nuns ever since the time of the  Virgin.   The earliest sacred places of the Jews were evidently  sacred stones, or stone circles, succeeded in time by  temples. These early rude stones, emblems of the  Creator, were erected by the Israelites, which in no way  differed from the erections of the Gentiles. It will be  found that the Jews to commemorate a great victory,  or to bear witness of the Lord, were all signified by stones :  thus, Joshua erected a stone to bear witness ; Jacob  put up a stone to make a place sacred ; Abel set up the  same for a place of worship ; Samuel erected a stone as  a boundary, which was to be the token of an agreement     40    Phallic Worship    made in the name of God. Even Maundrel in his travels  names several that he saw in Palestine. It is curious that  where a pillar was erected there, sometime after, a temple  was put up in the same manner that the Round Towers  of Ireland were, — always near a church, but never formed  part of it. We find many instances in the Scriptures of the  erection of a number of stones among the early Israelites,  which would lead us to conclude that it was not at all  unlikely that the early places of worship among them, were  similar to the temples found in various parts of Great  Britain and Ireland. It is written in Exodus xxiv. 4,  that Moses rose up early in the morning, and builded  an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to  the twelve tribes of Israel, were erected. It is also  given out that when the children of Israel should pass  over the Jordan, unto the land which the Lord giveth  them, they should set up great stones, and plaster them  with plaster, and also the words of the law were to be  written thereon. In many other places stones were  ordered to be set up in the name of the Lord, and repeated  instances are given that the stones should be twelve  in number and unhewn.   Stone temples seem to have been erected in all countries  of the world, and even in America, where, among the  early American races are to be found customs, superstitions,  and religious objects of veneration, similar to the  Phoenicians. An American writer says : — “ There is  sufficient evidence that the religious customs of the  Mexicans, Peruvians and other American races, are  nearly identical with those of the ancient Phoenicians. . . .  We moreover discover that many of their religious terms  have, etymologically, the same origin.” Payne Knight,  in his Worship of Priapus, devotes much of his work to     Phallic Worship    4i    show that the temples erected at Stonehenge and other  places, were of a Phoenician origin, which was simply  a temple of the god Bacchus.    STONEHENGE A TEMPLE OF BACCHUS   Of all the nations of antiquity the Persians were the  most simple and direct in the worship of the Creator.  They were the puritans of the heathen world, and not  only rejected all images of God and his agents, but also  temples and altars, according to Herodotus, whose  authority we prefer to any other, because he had an  opportunity of conversing with them before they had  adopted any foreign superstitions. As they worshipped  the ethereal fire without any medium of personification  or allegory, they thought it unworthy of the dignity of  the god to be represented by any definite form, or cir-  cumscribed to any particular place. The universe was  his temple, and the all-pervading element of fire his only  symbol. The Greeks appear originally to have held  similar opinions, for they were long without statues  and Pausanias speaks of a temple at Siciyon, built by  Adrastus — who lived in an age before the Trojan war —  which consisted of columns only, without wall or roof,  like the Celtic temples of our northern ancestors, or the  Phyrcetheia of the Persians, which were circles of stones  in the centre of which was kindled the sacred fire, the  symbol of the god. Homer frequently speaks of places  of worship consisting of an area and altar only, which were  probably enclosures like those of the Persians, with an     42    Phallic Worship    altar in the centre. The temples dedicated to the creator  Bacchus, which the Greek architects called hypathral ,  seem to have been anciently of this kind, whence probably  came the title (“ surround with columns ”) attributed  to that god in the Orphic litanies. The remains of one of  these are still extant at Puzznoli, near Naples, which the  inhabitants call the temple of Serapis ; but the ornaments  of grapes, vases, etc., found among the ruins, prove it  to have been of Bacchus. Serapis was indeed the same  deity worshipped under another form, being usually a  personification of the sun. The architecture is of the  Roman times ; but the ground plan is probably that of a  very ancient one, which this was made to replace — for  it exactly resembles that of a Celtic temple in Zeeland,  published in Stukeley’s Itinerary. The ranges of square  buildings which enclose it are not properly parts of the  temple, but apartments of the priests, places for victims  and sacred utensils, and chapels dedicated to the sub-  ordinate deities, introduced by a more complicated and  corrupt worship and probably unknown to the founder  of the original edifice. The portico, which runs parallel  with these buildings, encloses the temenss , or area of  sacred ground, which in the pyratheia of the Persians was  circular, but is here quadrangular, as in the Celtic temple  in Zeeland, and the Indian pagoda before described.  In the centre was the holy of holies, the seat of the god,  consisting of a circle of columns raised upon a basement,  without roof or walls, in the middle of which was probably  the sacred fire or some other symbol of the deity. The  square area in which it stood was sunk below the natural  level of the ground, and, like that of the Indian pagoda,  appears to have been occasionally floated with water;  the drains and conduits being still to be seen, as also several     Phallic Worship    43    fragments of sculpture representing waves, serpents, and  various aquatic animals, which once adorned the basement.  The Bacchus here worshipped, was, as we learn from the  Orphic hymn above cited, the sun in his character of  extinguisher of the fires which once pervaded the earth.  He is supposed to have done this by exhaling the waters  of the ocean and scattering them over the land, which was  thus supposed to have acquired its proper temperature  and fertility. For this reason the sacred fire, the essential  image of the god, was surrounded by the element which  was principally employed in giving effect to the beneficial  exertion* of the great attribute.   From a passage of Hecatasus, preserved by Diodorus  Siculus, it seems evident that Stonehenge and all the monu-  ments of the same kind found in the north, belong to the  same religion which appears at some remote period to  have prevailed over the whole northern hemisphere.  According to that ancient historian, the Hyperboreans  inhabited an island beyond Gaul , as large as Sicily , in which  Apollo was worshipped in a circular temple considerable for  its si^e and riches. Apollo, we know, in the language of  the Greeks of that age, can mean no other than the sun,  which according to Caesar was worshipped by the Germans,  when they knew of no other deities except fire and the  moon. The island can evidently be no other than Britain,  which at that time was only known to the Greeks by the  vague reports of the Phoenician mariners ; and so uncertain  and obscure that Herodotus, the most inquisitive and  credulous of historians, doubts of its existence. The  circular temple of the sun being noticed in such slight and  imperfect accounts, proves that it must have been some-  thing singular and important ; for if it had been an  inconsiderable structure, it would not have been mentioned     44    Phallic Worship    at all ; and if there had been many such in the country,  the historian would not have employed the singular  number.   Stonehenge has certainly been a circular temple, nearly  the same as that already described of the Bacchus at  Puzznoli, except that in the latter the nice execution and  beautiful symmetry of the parts are in every respect the  reverse of the rude but majestic simplicity of the former.  In the original design they differ but in the form of the  area. It may therefore be reasonably supposed that we  have still the ruins of the identical temple described by  Hecataeus, who, being an Asiatic Greek, might have  received his information from Phoenician merchants, who  had visited the interior parts of Britain when trading there  for tin. Anacrobius mentions a temple of the same kind  and form, upon Mount Zilmissus, in Thrace, dedicated  to the sun under the title of Bacchus Sebrazius. The  large obelisks of stone found in many parts of the north,  such as those at Rudstone, and near Boroughbridge, in  Yorkshire, belong to the same religion ; obelisks being,  as Pliny observes, sacred to the sun, whose rays they  represented both by their form and name . — Payne Knight* s  Worship of Priapus.    BUNS AND RELIGIOUS CAKES   Says Hyslop : — “ The hot cross-buns of Good Friday,  and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in  the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The buns known,  too, by that identical name, were used in the worship of the     Phallic Worship    45    Queen of Heaven, the goddess Easter (Ishtar or Astarte),  as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens,  1,500 years before the Christian era.” “ One species of  bread,” says Bryant, “ ‘ which used to be offered to the  gods, was of great antiquity, and called Bonn. 9 Diogenes  mentioned * they were made of flour and honey.’ ” It  appears that Jeremiah the Prophet was familiar with this  lecherous worship. He says : — “ The children gather  wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead  the dough to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven (Jer.  vii., 18). Hyslop does not add that the “ buns ” offered  to the Queen of Heaven, and in sacrifices to other deities,  were framed in the shape of the sexual organs, but that  they were so in ancient times we have abundance of  evidence.   Martial distinctly speaks of such things in two epigrams,  first, wherein the male organ is spoken of, second, wherein  the female part is commemorated ; the cakes being made  of the finest flour, and kept especially for the palate of the  fair one.   Captain Wilford (“ Asiatic Researches,” viii., p. 365)  says : — “ When the people of Syracuse were sacrificing to  goddesses, they offered cakes called mullot , shaped like the  female organ, and in some temples where the priestesses  were probably ventriloquists, they so far imposed on the  credulous multitude who came to adore the Vulva as to  make them believe that it spoke and gave oracles.”   We can understand how such things were allowed in  licentious Rome, but we can scarcely comprehend how  they were tolerated in Christian Europe, as, to all innocent  surprise we find they were, from the second part of the  “ Remains of the Worship of Priapus ” : that in Saintonge,  in the neighbourhood of La Rochelle, small cakes baked in     46    Phallic Worship    the form of the Phallus are made as offerings at Easter,  carried and presented from house to house. Dulare  states that in his time the festival of Palm Sunday, in the  town of Saintes, was called le fete des pinnes — feast of the  privy members — and that during its continuance the  women and children carried in the procession a Phallus  made of bread, which they called a pinne, at the end of their  palm branches ; these pinnes were subsequently blessed  by priests, and carefully preserved by the women during  the year. Palm Sunday 1 Palm, it is to be remembered,  is a euphemism of the male organ, and it is curious to see  it united with the Phallus in Christendom. Dulare also  says that, in some of the earlier inedited French books on  cookery, receipts are given for making cakes of the  salacious form in question, which are broadly named. He  further tells us those cakes symbolized the male, in Lower  Limousin, and especially at B rives ; while the female  emblem was adopted at Clermont, in Auvergne, and other  places.    THE ARK AND GOOD FRIDAY   The ark of the covenant was a most sacred symbol in  the worship of the Jews, and like the sacred boat, or  ark of Osiris, contained the symbol of the principle of  life, or creative power. The symbol was preserved with  great veneration in a miniature tabernacle, which was  considered the special and sanctified abode of the god.  In size and manner of construction the ark of the Jews  and the sacred chest of Osiris of the Egyptians were     Phallic Worship    47   exactly alike, and were carried in processions in a similar  manner   The ark or chest of Osiris was attended by the priests,  and was borne on the shoulders of men by means of  staves. The ark when taken from the temple was placed  upon a table, or stand, made expressly for the purpose,  and was attended by a procession similar to that which  followed the Jewish ark. According to Faber, the ark  was a symbol of the earth or female principle, containing  the germ of all animated nature, and regarded as the  great mother whence all things sprung. Thus the ark,  earth, and goddess, were represented by common symbols,  and spoken of in the old Testament as the “ ashera.”   The sacred emblems carried in the ark of the Egyptians  were the Phallus, the Egg, and the Serpent ; the first  representing the sun, fire, and male or generative principle  — the Creator ; the second, the passive or female, the  germ of all animated things — the Preserver ; and the  last the Destroyer : the Three of the sacred Trinity.  The Hindu women, according to Payne Knight, still  carry the lingam, or consecrated symbol of the generative  attribute of the deity, in solemn procession between two  serpents ; and in a sacred casket, which held the Egg  and the Phallus in the mystic processions of the Greeks,  was also a Serpent.   “ The ark,” says Faber, “ was reverenced in all the  ancient religions.” It was often represented in the form of  a boat, or ship, as well as an oblong chest. The rites of  the Druids, with those of Phoenicia and Hindostan, show  that an ark, chest, cell, boat, or cavern, held an important  place in their mysteries. In the story of Osiris, like that  of the Siva, will be found the reason for the emblem being  carried in the sacred chest, and the explanation of one of     4 «    Phallic Worship    the mysteries of the Egyptian priests. It is said that  Osiris was tom to pieces by the wicked Typhon, who  after cutting up the body, distributed the parts over the  earth. Isis recovered the scattered limbs, and brought  them back to Egypt ; but, being unable to find the part  which distinguished his sex, she had an image made of  wood, which was enshrined in an ark, and ordered to  be solemnly carried about in the festivals she had instituted  in his honour, and celebrated with certain secret rites.   The Egg, which accompanied the Phallus in the ark was  a very common symbol of the ancient faiths, which was  considered as containing the generation of life. The  image of that which generated all things in itself. Jacob  Bryant says : — “ The Egg, as it contained the principles  of life was thought no improper emblem of the ark,  in which were preserved the future world. Hence in the  Dionysian and in other mysteries, one part of the nocturnal  ceremony consisted in the consecration of an egg.”  This egg was called the Mundane Egg.   The ark was likewise the symbol of salvation, the place  of safety, the secret receptacle of the divine wisdom.  Hence we find the ark of the Jews containing the tables  of the law ; we find too that the Jews were ordered to  place in the ark Aaron’s rod, which budded, conveying  the idea of symbolised fertility : showing that the ark  was considered as the receptacle of the life principle — as  an emblem of the Creator.   With the Egyptians Osiris was supposed to be buried in  the ark, which represented the disappearance of the deity.  His loss, or death, constituted the first part of the mysteries,  which consisted of lamentations for his decease. After the  third day from his death, a procession went down to the  seaside in the night, carrying the ark with them. During     Phallic Worship    49    the passage they poured drink offerings from the river, and  when the ceremony had been duly performed, they raised a  shout that Osiris had again risen — that the dead had been  restored to life. After this followed the second or joyful  part of the mysteries. The similarity of this custom with  the Good Friday celebrations of the death of Jesus, and the  rejoicings on account of his resurrection on Easter Sunday,  will be at once observed. It is further said that the missing  part of Osiris was eaten by a fish, which made the fish a  sacred symbol. Thus we have the Ark, Fish, and Good  Friday brought together, also the Egg, for the origin of  the Easter eggs is very ancient. A bull is represented as  breaking an egg with his horn, which signified the  liberating of imprisoned life at the opening or spring of  the year, 'which had been destroyed by Typhon. The  opening of the year at that time commenced in the spring,  pot according to our present reckoning ; thus, the Egg  was a symbol of the resurrection of life at the spring, or  our Easter time. The author of the “ Worship of the  Generative Powers,” describes the origin of the hot cross-  bun at Easter, which is a further parallelism of the Christian  and Pagan festivals. The author also draws a further  conclusion — that the cakes or buns have in reality a  Phallic origin, for in France and other parts, the Easter  cakes were called after the membrun virile. The writer  says : — “ In the primitive Teutonic mythology, there  was a female deity named in old German, Ostara, and in  Anglo-Saxon, Eastre or Eostre ; but all we know of her  is the simple statement of our father of history, Bede,  that her festival was celebrated by the ancient Saxons in  the month of April, from which circumstance that month  was named by the Anglo-Saxons, Easter-mona or Eoster-  mona, and that the name of the goddess had been frequently     50    Phallic Worship    given to the Paschal time, with which it was identical. The  name of this goddess was given to the same month by  the old Germans and by the Franks, so that she must have  been one of the most highly honoured of the Teutonic  deities, and her festival must have been a very important  one and deeply implanted in the popular feelings, or the  Church would not have sought to identify it with one of  the greatest Christian festivals of the year. It is under-  stood that the Romans considered this month as dedicated  to Venus, no doubt because it was that in which the  productive powers of nature began to be visibly developed.  When the Pagan festival was adopted by the Church, it  became a moveable feast, instead of being fixed to the  month of April. Among other objects offered to the  goddess at this time were cakes, made no doubt of fine  flour, but of their form we are ignorant. The Christians  when they seized upon the Easter festival, gave them the  form of a bun, which indeed was at that time the ordinary  form of bread ; and to protect themselves and those who  ate them from any enchantment — or other evil influences  which might arise from their former heathen character —  they marked them with the Christian symbol — the cross.  Hence we derived the cakes we still eat at Easter under  the name of hot cross-buns, and the superstitious feelings  attached to them ; for multitudes of people still believe  that if they failed to eat a hot cross-bun on Good Friday,  they would be unlucky all the rest of the year.”     Phallic Worship    5 *   ARCHITECTURAL PILLARS DEVISED FROM THE  LOTUS   The earliest capital seems to have been the bell or  seed vessel, simply copied without alteration, except a  little expansion at the bottom to give it stability. The  leaves of some other plant were then added to it, and  varied in different capitals according to the different  meanings intended to be signified by the accessory symbols.  The Greeks decorated it in the same manner, with the  foliage of various plants, sometimes of the acanthus and  sometimes of the aquatic kind, which are, however,  generally so transformed by excessive attention to elegance,  that it is difficult to distinguish them. The most usual  seems to be the Egyptian acacia, which was probably  adopted as a mystic symbol for the same reasons as the  olive, it being equally remarkable for its powers of  reproduction. Theophrastus mentions a large wood of  it in the “ Thebaid,” where the olive will not grow, so  that we reasonably suppose it to have been employed by  the Egyptians in the same symbolical sense. From  them the Greeks seem to have borrowed it about the  time of the Macedonian conquest, it not occurring in any  of their buildings of a much earlier date ; and as for the  story of the Corinthian architect, who is said to have  invented this kind of capital from observing a thorn  growing round a basket, it deserved no credit, being fully  contradicted by the buildings still remaining in Upper  Egypt.   The Doric column, which appears to have been the  only one known to the very ancient Greeks, was equally  derived from the Nelumbo ; its capital being the same  •eed-vessel pressed flat, as it appears when withered and     Phallic Worship    5 Z   dry — the only state probably in which it had been seen in  Europe. The flutes in the shaft were made to hold  spears and staves, whence a spear-holder is spoken of in  the “ Odyssey ” as part of a column. The triglyphs and  blocks of the cornice were also derived from utility,  they having been intended to represent the projecting  ends of the beams and rafters which formed the roof.   The Ionic capital has no bell, but volutes formed in  imitation of sea-shells, which have the same symbolical  meaning. To them is frequently added the ornament which  architects call a honeysuckle, but which seems to be  meant for the young petals of the same flower viewed  horizontally, before they are opened or expanded. Another  ornament is also introduced in this capital, which they  call eggs and anchors, but which is, in fact, composed of  eggs and spear-heads, the symbols of female generation  and male destructive power, or in the language of  mythology, of Venus and Mars . — Payne Knight .    BELLS IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP   Stripped, however, of all this splendour and magnifi-  cence it was probably nothing more than a symbolical  instrument, signifying originally the motion of the  elements, like the sistrum of Isis, the cymbals of Cybele,  the bells of Bacchus, etc., whence Jupiter is said to have  overcome the Titans with his aegis, as Isis drove away  Typhon with her sistrum, and the ringing of the bells  and clatter of metals were almost universally employed  as a means of consecration, and a charm against the     Phallic Worship    53    destroying and inert powers. Even the Jews welcomed  the new moon with such noises, which the simplicity of  the early ages employed almost everywhere to relieve  her during eclipses, supposed then to be morbid affections  brought on by the influence of an adverse power. The  title Priapus y by which the generative attribute is dis-  tinguished, seems to be merely a corruption of Briapuos  (clamorous) ; the beta and pi being commutable letters,  and epithets of similar meaning, being continually applied  both to Jupiter and Bacchus by the poets. Many  Priapic figures, too, still extant, have bells attached to  them, as the symbolical statues and temples of the Hindus  are ; and to wear them was a part of the worship of  Bacchus among the Greeks : whence we sometimes find  them of extremely small size, evidently meant to be worn  as amulets with the phalli, lunulas, etc. The chief priests  of the Egyptians and also the high priests of the Jews,  hung them as sacred emblems to their sacerdotal garments ;  and the Brahmins still continue to ring a small bell at the  interval of their prayers, ablutions, and other acts of  devotion ; which custom is still preserved in the Roman  Catholic Church at the elevation of the host. The  Lacedaemonians beat upon a brass vessel or pan, on the  death of their kings, and we still retain the custom of  tolling a bell on such occasions, though the reason of it  is not generally known, any more than that of other  remnants of ancient ceremonies still existing . 1 It will  be observed that the bells used by the Christians very  probably came direct from the Buddhists. And from the  same source are derived the beads and rosaries of the  Roman Catholics, which have been used by the Buddhist   1 The above description is from Payne Knight's "Symbolical  Language of ancient Art and Mythology."     Phallic Worship    54   monks for over 2,000 years. Tinkling bells were  suspended before the shrine of Jupiter Ammon, and  during the service the gods were invited to descend upon  the altars by the ringing of bells ; they were likewise  sacred to Siva. Bells were used at the worship of Bacchus,  and were worn on the garments of the Bacchantes, much  in the same manner as they are used at our carnivals and  masquerades.    HINDU PHALLICISM   The following curious fable is given by Sir William  Jones, as one of the stories of the Hindus for the origin of  Phallic devotion : — “ Certain devotees in a remote time had  acquired great renown and respect, but the purity of the  art was wanting, nor did their motives and secret thoughts  correspond with their professions and exterior conduct.  They affected poverty, but were attached to the things of  this world, and the princes and nobles were constantly  sending their offerings. They seemed to sequester them-  selves from this world ; they lived retired from the towns ;  but their dwellings were commodious, and their women  numerous and handsome. But nothing can be hid from  their gods, and Sheevah resolved to put them to shame.  He desired Prakeety (nature) to accompany him ; and  assumed the appearance of a Pandaram of a graceful  form. Prakeety was herself a damsel of matchless worth.  She went before the devotees who were assembled with  their disciples, awaiting the rising of the sun, to perform  their ablutions and religious ceremonies. As she advanced     Phallic Worship    55    the refreshing breeze moved her flowing robe, showed  the exquisite shape which it seemed intended to conceal.  With eyes cast down, though sometimes opening with a  timid but tender look, she approached them, and with a  low enchanting voice desired to be admitted to the sacrifice.  The devotees gazed on her with astonishment. The  sun appeared, but the purifications were forgotten ;  the things of the Poo j ah (worship) lay neglected ; nor  was any worship thought of but that of her. Quitting the  gravity of their manners, they gathered round her as  flies round the lamp at night — attracted by its splendour,  but consumed by its flame. They asked from whence  she came ; whither she was going. ‘ Be not offended  with us for approaching thee, forgive us our importunities.  But thou art incapable of anger, thou who art made to  convey bliss ; to thee, who mayest kill by indifference,  indignation and resentment are unknown. But whoever  thou mayest be, whatever motive or accident might have  brought thee amongst us, admit us into the number of  thy slaves ; let us at least have the comfort to behold  thee.’ Here the words faltered on the lip, and the soul  seemed ready to take its flight ; the vow was forgotten,  and the policy of years destroyed.   “ Whilst the devotees were lost in their passions, and  absent from their homes, Sheevah entered their village  with a musical instrument in his hand, playing and singing  like some of those who solicit charity. At the sound of his  voice, the women immediately quitted their occupation ;  they ran to see from whom it came. He was as beautiful  as Krishen on the plains of Matra. Some dropped their  jewels without turning to look for them ; others let  fall their garments without perceiving that they discovered  those abodes of pleasure which jealousy as well as decency     Phallic Worship    56   had ordered to be concealed. All pressed forward with  their offerings, all wished to speak, all wished to be taken  notice of, and bringing flowers and scattering them before  him, said — ‘ Askest thou alms ! thou who are made to  govern hearts. Thou whose countenance is as fresh as  the morning, whose voice is the voice of pleasure, and  they breath like that of Vassant (Spring) in the opening of  the rose I Stay with us and we will serve thee ; nor  will we trouble thy repose, but only be zealous how to  please thee/ The Pandaram continued to play, and sung  the loves of Kama (God of Love), of Krishen and the  Gopia, and smiling the gentle smiles of fond desire. . . .   “ But the desire of repose succeeds the waste of pleasure.  Sleep closed the eyes and lulled the senses. In the  morning the Pandaram was gone. When they awoke  they looked round with astonishment, and again cast  their eyes on the ground. Some directed to those who  had formerly been remarked for their scrupulous manners,  but their faces were covered with their veils. After  sitting awhile in silence they arose and went back to their  houses, with slow and troubled steps. The devotees  returned about the same time from their wanderings after  Prakeety. The days that followed were days of embarrass-  ment and shame. If the women had failed in their  modesty, the devotees had broken their vows. They  were vexed at their weakness, they were sorry for what  they had done ; yet the tender sigh sometimes broke  forth, and the eyes often turned to where the men first  saw the maid — the women, the Pandaram.   “But the women began to perceive that what the  devotees foretold came not to pass. Their disciples,  in consequence, neglected to attend them, and the offerings  from the princes and nobles became less frequent than     Phallic Worship    57    before. They then performed various penances ; they  sought for secret places among the woods unfrequented  by man ; and having at last shut their eyes from the  things of this world, retired within themselves in deep  meditation, that Sheevah was the author of their  misfortunes. Their understanding being imperfect,  instead of bowing the head with humility, they were  inflamed with anger ; instead of contrition for their  hypocrisy, they sought for vengeance. They performed  new sacrifices and incantations, which were only allowed  to have effect in the end, to show the extreme folly of  man in not submitting to the will of heaven.   “ Their incantations produced a tiger, whose mouth  was like a cavern and his voice like thunder among the  mountains. They sent him against Sheevah, who with  Prakeety was amusing himself in the vale. He smiled  at their weakness, and killing the tiger at one blow with  his club, he covered himself with his skin. Seeing them-  selves frustrated in this attempt, the devotees had recourse  to another, and sent serpents against him of the most  deadly kind ; but on approaching him they became  harmless, and he twisted them round his neck. They  then sent their curses and imprecations against him, but  they all recoiled upon themselves. Not yet disheartened  by all these disappointments, they collected all their  prayers, their penances, their charities, and other good  works, the most acceptable sacrifices ; and demanding  in return only vengeance against Sheevah, they sent a  fire to destroy his genital parts. Sheevah, incensed at  this attempt, turned the fire with indignation against the  human race ; and mankind would soon have been  destroyed, had not Vishnu, alarmed at the danger,  implored him to suspend his wrath. At his entreaties     JS    Phallic Worship    Sheevah relented ; but it was ordained that in his temples  those parts should be worshipped \ which the false doctrines  had impiously attempted to destroy.”    THE CROSS AND ROSARY   The key which is still worn with the Priapic hand, as an  amulet, by the women of Italy appears to have been an  emblem of the equivocal use of the name, as the language  of that country implies. Of the same kind, too, appears to  have been the cross in the form of the letter tau> attached  to a circle, which many of the figures of Egyptian deities,  both male and female, carry in their left hand ; and by the  Syrians, Phoenicians and other inhabitants of Asia,  representing the planet Venus, worshipped by them as the  emblem or image of that goddess. The cross in this  form is sometimes observable on coins, and several of  them were found in a temple of Serapis, demolished at the  general destruction of those edifices by the Emperor  Theodosius, and were said by the Christian antiquaries  of that time to signify the future life. In solemn sacrifices,  all the Lapland idols were marked with it from the blood  of the victims ; and it occurs on many Runic ornaments  found in Sweden and Denmark, which are of an age  long anterior to the approach of Christianity to those  countries, and probably to its appearance in the world.  On some of the early coins of the Phoenicians, we find it  attached to a chaplet of beads placed in a circle, so as to  form a complete rosary, such as the Lamas of Thibet  and China, the Hindus, and the Roman Catholics now  tell over while they pray.     Phallic Worship    59    BEADS   Beads were anciently used to reckon time, and a circle,  being a line without termination, was the natural emblem  of its perpetual continuity ; whence we often find circles  of beads upon the heads of deities, and enclosing the  sacred symbols upon coins and other monuments.  Perforated beads are also frequently found in tombs, both  in the northern and southern parts of Europe and Asia,  whence are fragments of the chaplets of consecration  buried with the deceased. The simple diadem, or fillet,  worn round the head as a mark of sovereignty, had a  similar meaning, and was originally confined to the statues  of deities and deified personages, as we find it upon the  most ancient coins. Chryses, the priest of Apollo, in  the “ Iliad,” brings the diadem, or sacred fillet, of the  god upon his sceptre, as the most imposing and invocable  emblem of sanctity ; but no mention is made of its being  worn by kings in either of the Homeric poems, nor of any  other ensign of temporal power and command, except the  royal staff or sceptre.    THE LOTUS   The double sex typified by the Argha and its contents is  by the Hindus represented by the “ Mymphcea ” or  Lotus, floating like a boat on the boundless ocean, where  the whole plant signifies both the earth and the two  principles of its fecundation. The germ is both Meru and  the Linga ; the petals and filaments are the mountains     6o    Phallic Worship    which encircle Meru, and are also a type of the Yoni;  the leaves of the calyx are the four vast regions to the  cardinal points of Meru ; and the leaves of the plant are  the Dwipas or isles round the land of Jambu. As this  plant or lily was probably the most celebrated of all the  vegetable creation among the mystics of the ancient world,  and is to be found in thousands of the most beautiful and  sacred paintings of the Christians of this day — I detain  my reader with a few observations respecting it. This is  the more necessary as it appears that the priests have now  lost the meaning of it ; at least this is the case with everyone  of whom I have made enquiry ; but it is like many other  very odd things, probably understood in the Vatican,  or the crypt of St. Peter’s. Maurice says that among the  different plants which ornament our globe, there is not  one which has received so much honour from man as  the Lotus or Lily, in whose consecrated bosom Brahma  was born, and Osiris delighted to float. This is the  sublime, the hallowed symbol that eternally occurs in  oriental mythology, and in truth not without reason, for it  is itself a lovely prodigy. Throughout all the northern  hemispheres it was everywhere held in profound  veneration, and from Savary we learn that the veneration  is yet continued among the modern Egyptians. And  we find that it still continues to receive the respect if  not the adoration of a great part of the Christian world,  unconscious, perhaps, of the original reason of this  conduct. Higgins’s Anacalypsis.   The following is an account given of it by Payne  Knight, in his curious dissertation on Phallic Worship : —  “ The Lotus is the Nelumbo of Linnaeus. This plant  grows in the water, among its broad leaves puts forth  a flower, in the centre of which is formed the seed vessel.     Phallic Worship    6x   shaped like a bell or inverted cone, and perforated on the  top with little cavities or cells, in which the seeds grow.  The orifices of these cells being too small to let the seeds  drop out when ripe, they shoot forth into new plants in  the places where they are formed : the bulb of the vessel  serving as a matrix to nourish them, until they acquire  such a degree of magnitude as to burst it open and release  themselves, after which, like other aquatic weeds, they  take root wherever the current deposits them. This  plant, therefore, being thus productive of itself, and  vegetating from its own matrix, without being fostered  in the earth, was naturally adopted as the symbol of the  productive power of the waters, upon which the active  spirit of the Creator operated in giving life and vegetation,  to matter. We accordingly find it employed in every  part of the northern hemisphere, where the symbolical  religion, improperly called idolatry , does or ever did prevail.  The sacred images of ihe Tartars, Japanese, and Indians  are almost placed upon it, of which numerous instances  occur in the publications of Kcempfer, Sonnerat, etc.  The Brahma of India is represented as sitting upon his  Lotus throne, and the figure upon the Isaaic table holds the  stem of this plant surmounted by the seed vessel in one  hand, and the Cross representing the male organs of  generation in the other ; thus signifying the universal  power, both active and passive, attributed to that goddess.”   Nimrod says : — “ The Lotus is a well-known allegory,  of which the expansive calyx represents the ship of the  gods floating on the surface of the water ; and the erect  flower arising out of it, the mast thereof. The one was  the galley or cockboat, and the other the mast of cockayne ;  but as the ship was Isis or Magna Mater, the female  principle, and the mast in it the male deity, these parts of     62    Phallic Worship    the flower came to have certain other significations, which  seem to have been as well known at Samosata as at Benares.  This plant was also used in the sacred offices of the Jewish  religion. In the ornaments of the temple of Solomon,  the Lotus or lily is often seen.”   The figure of Isis is frequently represented holding the  stem of the plant in one hand, and the cross and circle  in the other. Columns and capitals resembling the  plant are still existing among the ruins of Thebes, in  Egypt, and the island of Philce. The Chinese goddess,  Pussa, is represented sitting upon the Lotus, called in  that country Lin, with many arms, having symbols  signifying the various operations of nature, while similar  attributes are expressed in the Scandinavian goddess  Isa or Disa.   The Lotus is also a prominent symbol in Hindu and  Egyptian cosmogony. This plant appears to have the  same tendency with the Sphinx, of marking the connection  between that which produces and that which is produced.  The Egyptian Ceres (Virgo) bears in her hand the blue  Lotus, which plant is acknowledged to be the emblem of  celestial love so frequently seen mounted on the back of  Leo in the ancient remains. The following is a translation  of the Purana relating to the cosmogony of the Hindus,  and will be found interesting as showing the importance  attached to the Lotus in the worship of the ancients : —  “ We find Brahma emerging from the Lotus. The whole  universe was dark and covered with water. On this  primeval water did Bhagavat (God), in a masculine  form, repose for the space of one Calpho (a thousand  years) ; after which period the intention of creating  other beings for his own wise purposes became pre-  dominant in the mind of the Great Creator . In the first     Phallic Worship    65   place, by his sovereign will was produced the flower  of the Lotus, afterwards, by the same will, was brought  to light the form of Brahma from the said flower ; Brahma,  emerging from the cup of the Lotus, looked round on all  the four sides, and beheld from the eyes of his four heads  an immeasurable expanse of water. Observing the whole  world thus involved in darkness and submerged in water,  he was stricken with prodigious amazement, and began  to consider with himself, ‘ Who is it that produced me ? *  * whence came I ? 9 ' and where ami?’   “ Brahma, thus kept two hundred years in contem-  plation, prayers, and devotions, and having pondered in  his mind that without connection of male and female an  abundant generation could not be effected — again entered  into profound meditation on the power of the Supreme,  when, on a sudden by the omnipotence of God, was  produced from his right side Swayambhuvah Menu , a man  of perfect beauty ; and from the Brahma’s left side a  woman named Satarupa. The prayer of Brahma runs  thus : — ■* O Bhagavat 1 since thou broughtest me from  nonentity into existence for a particular purpose,  accomplish by thy benevolence that purpose.’ In a  short time a small white boar appeared, which soon  grew to the size of an elephant. He now felt God in all,  and that all is from Him, and all in Him. At length the  power of the Omnipotent had assumed the body of Vara.  He began to use the instinct of that animal. Having  divided the water, he saw the earth a mighty barren  stratum. He then took up the mighty ponderous globe  (freed from the water) and spread the earth like a carpet  on the face of the water ; Brahma, contemplating the  whole earth, performed due reverence, and rejoicing  exceedingly, began to consider the means of peopling     6 4    Phallic Worship    the renovated world.” Pyag, now Allahabad, was the  first land said to have appeared, but with the Brahmins  it is a disputed point, for many affirm that Cast or Benares  was the sacred ground.    MERU   The learned Higgins, an English judge, who for some  years spent ten hours a day in antiquarian studies, says  that Moriah, of Isaiah and Abraham, is the Meru of the  Hindus, and the Olympus of the Greeks. Solomon  built high places for Ashtoreth, Astarte, or Venus, which  because mounts of Venus, mons veneris — Meru and Mount  Calvary — each a slightly skull-shaped mount, that might  be represented by a bare head. The Bible translators  perpetuate the same idea in the word “ calvaria.” Prof.  Stanley denies that “ Mount Calvary ” took its name  from its being the place of the crucifixion of Jesus.  Looking elsewhere and in earlier times for the bare calvaria,  we find among Oriental women, the Mount of Venus,  mons veneris > through motives of neatness or religious  sentiment, deprived of all hirsute appendage. We see  Mount Calvary imitated in the shaved poll of the head of  a priest. The priests of China, says Mr. J. M. Peebles,  continue to shave the head. To make a place holy,  among the Hindus, Tartars, and people of Thibet, it  was necessary to have a mount Meru, also a Linga-Yoni,  or Arba.     Phallic Worship 65   LINGAM IN THE TEMPLE OF ELORA   This marvellous work of excavation by the slow process  of the chisel, was visited by Capt. Seeley, who afterwards  published a volume describing the temple and its vast  statues. The beauty of its architectural ornaments, the  innumerable statues or emblems, all hewn out of solid  rock, dispute with the Pyramids for the first place among  the works undertaken to display power and embody  feeling. The stupendous temple is detached from the  neighbouring mountain by a spacious area all round, and  is nearly 250 feet deep and 150 feet broad, reaching to the  height of 100 feet and in length about 145 feet. It has  well-formed doorways, windows, staircases, upper floors,  containing fine large rooms of a smooth and polished  surface, regularly divided by rows of pillars ; the whole  bulk of this immense block of isolated excavation being  upwards of 500 feet in circumference, and having beyond  its areas three handsome figure galleries or verandas  supported by regular pillars. Outside the temple are  two large obelisks or phalli standing, “ of quadrangular  form, eleven feet square, prettily and variously carved, and  are estimated at forty-one feet high ; the shaft above the  pedestal is seven feet two inches, being larger at the base  than Cleopatra’s Needle.”   In one of the smaller temples was an image of Lingam,  “ covered with oil and red ochre, and flowers were daily  strewed on its circular top. This Lingam is larger than  usual, occupying with the altar, a great part of the room.  In most Ling rooms a sufficient space is left for the votaries  to walk round whilst making the usual invocations to the  deity (Maha Deo). This deity is much frequented by  female votaries, who take especial care to keep it clean   E     66    Phallic Worship    washed, and often perfume it with oderiferous oils and  flowers, whilst the attendant Brahmins sweep the apartment  and attend the five oil lights and bell ringing.” This oil  vessel resembled the Yoni (circular frame), into which the  light itself was placed. No symbol was more venerated  or more frequently met with than the altar and Ling, Siva,  or Maha Deo. “ Barren women constantly resort to it to  supplicate for children,” says Seeley. The mysteries  attended upon them is not described, but doubtless they  were of a very similar character to those described by the  author of the “ Worship of the Generative Powers of  the Western Nations,” showing again the similarity of  the custom with those practised by the Catholics in France.  The writer says : — “ Women sought a remedy for barren-  ness by kissing the end of the Phallus ; sometimes they  appear to have placed a part of their body, naked, against  the image of the saint, or to have sat upon it. This latter  trait was perhaps too bold an adoption of the indecencies  of Pagan worship to last long, or to be practised openly ;  but it appears to have been innocently represented by  lying upon the body of the saint, or sitting upon a stone,  understood to represent him without the presence of the  energetic member. In a corner in the church of the  village of St. Fiacre, near Monceaux, in France, there is a  stone called the chair of St. Fiacre, which confers fecundity  upon women who sit upon it ; but it is necessary nothing  should intervene between their bare skin and the stone.  In the church of Orcival in Auvergne, there was a pillar  which barren women kissed for the same purpose and  which had perhaps replaced some less equivocal object.”   The principal object of worship at Elora is the stone, so  frequently spoken of ; “ the Lingam,” says Seeley, and he  apologises for using the word so often, but asks to be     Phallic Worship    67    excused, “ is an emblem not generally known, but as  frequently met with as the Cross in Catholic worship.”  It is the god Siva, a symbol of his generative character,  the base of which is usually inserted in the Yoni. The  stone is of a conical shape, often black stone, covered  with flowers (the Bella and Asuca shrubs). The flowers  hang pendant from the crown of the Ling stone to the  spout of the Argha or Yoni (mystical matrix) ; the same  as the Phallus of the Greeks. Five lamps are commonly  used in the worship at the symbol, or one lamp with five  wicks. The Lotus is often seen on the top of the Ling.    VENUS-URANIA. — THE MOTHER GODDESS   The characteristic attribute of the passive generative  power was expressed in symbolical writing, by different  enigmatical representations of the most distinguished  characteristic of the female sex : such as the shell or  Concha Veneris , the fig-leaf, barley corn, and the letter  Delta, all of which occur very frequently upon coins and  other ancient monuments in this sense. The same  attribute personified as the goddess of Love, or desire,  is usually represented under the voluptuous form of a  beautiful woman, frequently distinguished by one of these  symbols, and called Venus, Kypris, or Aphrodite, names  of rather uncertain mythology. She is said to be the  daughter of Jupiter and Dione, that is of the male and  female personifications of the all-pervading Spirit of the  Universe ; Dione being the female Dis or Zeus, and there-  fore associated with him in the most ancient oracular     68    Phallic Worship    temple of Greece at Dodona. No other genealogy appears  to have been known in the Homeric times ; though a  different one is employed to account for the name of  Aphrodite in the “ Theogony ” attributed to Hesiod.   The Genelullides or Genoidai were the original and  appropriate ministers or companions of Venus, who was  however, afterwards attended by the Graces, the proper  and original attendants of Juno ; but as both these  goddesses were occasionally united and represented in  one image, the personifications of their respective sub-  ordinate attributes were on other occasions added :  whence the symbolical statue of Venus at Paphos had a  beard, and other appearances of virility, which seems to  have been the most ancient mode of representing the  celestial as distinguished from the popular goddess of that  name — the one being a personification of a general  procreative power, and the other only of animal desire or  concupiscence. The refinement of Grecian art, however,  when advanced to maturity, contrived more elegant  modes of distinguishing them ; and, in a celebrated work  of Phidias, we find the former represented with her foot  upon a tortoise ; and in a no less celebrated one of Scopas,  the latter sitting upon a goat. The tortoise, being an  androgynous animal, was aptly chosen as a symbol of  the double power ; and the goat was equally appropriate  to what was meant to be expressed in the other.   The same attribute was on other occasions signified by a  dove or pigeon, by the sparrow, and perhaps by the  polypus, which often appears upon coins with the head  of the goddess, and which was accounted an aphrodisiac,  though it is likewise of the androgynous class. The fig  was a still more common symbol, the statue of Priapus  being made of the tree, and the fruit being carried with the     Phallic Worship    69   Phallus in the ancient processions in honour of Bacchus,  and still continuing among the common people of Italy  to be an emblem of what it anciently meant : whence  we often see portraits of persons of that country painted  with it in one hand, to signify their orthodox elevation to  the fair sex. Hence, also arose the Italian expression far la  fica , which was done by putting the thumb between the  middle and fore-fingers, as it appears in many Priapic orna-  ments extant ; or by putting the finger or thumb into the  corner of the mouth and drawing it down, of which there  is a representation in a small Priapic figure of exquisite  sculpture, engraved among the Antiquities of Herculaneum.    LIBERALITY AND SAMENESS OF THE  WORLD-RELIGIONS   The same liberal and humane spirit still prevails among  those nations whose religion is founded on the same  principles. “ The Siamese,” says a traveller of the  seventeenth century, “ shun disputes and believe that  almost all religions are good ” (“ Journal du Voyage de  Siam ”). When the ambassador of Louis XIV asked their  king, in his master’s name, to embrace Christianity, he  replied, “ that it was strange that the king of France  should interest himself so much in an affair which concerns  only God, whilst He, whom it did concern, seemed to  leave it wholly to our discretion. Had it been agreeable  to the Creator that all nations should have had the same  form of worship, would it not have been as easy to His  omnipotence to have created all men with the same send-     7 °    Phallic Worship    merits and dispositions, and to have inspired them with the  same notions of the True Religion, as to endow them with  such different tempers and inclinations ? Ought they  not rather to believe that the true God has as much pleasure  in being honoured by a variety of forms and ceremonies,  as in being praised and glorified by a number of different  creatures ? Or why should that beauty and variety,  so admirable in the natural order of things, be less  admirable or less worthy of the wisdom of God in the  supernatural ? ”   The Hindus profess exactly the same opinion. “ They  would readily admit the truth of the Gospel,” says a very  learned writer long resident among them, “ but they  contend that it is perfectly consistent with their Shastras.  The Deity, they say, has appeared innumerable times in  many parts of this world and in all worlds, for the salvation  of his creatures ; and we adore, they say, the same God, to  whom our several worships, though different in form, are  equally acceptable if they be sincere in substance.”   The Chinese sacrifice to the spirits of the air the  mountains and the rivers ; while the Emperor himself  sacrifices to the sovereign Lord of Heaven, to whom all  these spirits are subordinate, and from whom they are  derived. The sectaries of Fohi have, indeed, surcharged  this primitive elementary worship with some of the  allegorical fables of their neighbours ; but still as their  creed — like that of the Greeks and Romans — remains  undefined, it admits of no dogmatical theology, and of  course no persecution for opinion. Obscure and  sanguinary rites have, indeed, been wisely prescribed on  many occasions ; but still as actions and not as opinions.  Atheism is said to have been punished with death at  Athens ; but nevertheless it may be reasonably doubted     Phallic Worship    7i    whether the atheism, against which the citizens of that  republic expressed such fury, consisted in a denial of the  existence of the gods ; for Diagoras, who was obliged  to fly for this crime, was accused of revealing and calum-  niating the doctrines taught in the Mysteries ; and from  the opinions ascribed to Socrates, there is reason to believe  that his offence was of the same kind, though he had not  been initiated.   These were the only two martyrs to religion among the  ancient Greeks, such as were punished for actively violating  or insulting the Mysteries, the only part of their worship  which seems to have possessed any vitality ; for as to  the popular deities, they were publicly ridiculed and  censured with impunity by those who dared not utter a  word against the populace that worshipped them ; and  as to the forms and ceremonies of devotion, they were  held to be no otherwise important, then as they were  constituted a part of civil government of the state ; the  Phythian priestess having pronounced from the tripod,  that whoever performed the rites of his religion according to the  laws of his country , performed them in a manner pleasing to the  Deity . Hence the Romans made no alterations in the  religious institutions of any of the conquered countries ;  but allowed the inhabitants to be as absurd and extravagant  as they pleased, and to enforce their absurdities and  extravagances wherever they had any pre-existing laws  in their favour. An Egyptian magistrate would put  one of his fellow-subjects to death for killing a cat ora  monkey ; and though the religious fanaticism of the  Jews was too sanguinary and too violent to be left entirely  free from restraint, a chief of the synagogue could order  anyone of his congregation to be whipped for neglecting  or violating any part of the Mosaic Ritual.     7* Phallic Worship   The principle underlying the system of emanations  was, that all things were of one substance, from which they  were fashioned and into which they were again dissolved,  by the operation of one plastic spirit universally diffused  and expanded. The polytheist ot ancient Greece and  Rome candidly thought, like the modern Hindu, that all  rites of worship and forms of devotion were directed  to the same end, though in different modes and through  different channels. <c Even they who worship other gods , says  Krishna, the incarnate Deity, in an ancient Indian poem  ( 'Bhagavat-Gita ), c< worship me although they know it notP —  Payne Knight.   THE END.