Part 15

Not only were the three principal signs—the bull, the ram, and the goat—held in great veneration by the Egyptians, but all the zodiacal signs were worshipped in various degrees; indeed, each figure of the zodiac can be easily assigned to one of the principal gods of Egypt, as they were known prior to B.C. 2188. The ram was Amen, the Egyptian Jupiter, called Zeus Amen (Ζευς Αμην) by the Greeks and _Jupiter Ammon_ by the Romans, who was represented with a ram’s head and horns. The bull was Apis, or Serapis, worshipped as a living bull, the incarnation of the principal deity at the vernal equinox. The twins were the Greek Castor and Pollux, who were worshipped by the Egyptians under similar names. The crab was Anubis, the Egyptian Mercury. The lion was Osiris, Ra, or Phthah, according to the district and age, the sun-god at the height of his power at the summer solstitial point, June 24th. The virgin was Isis, the beloved of Osiris. The balances were included with the scorpion, the two being worshipped as Set-Typhon, Tum, or Sekru, according to the district and age, the sun-god at the autumnal equinox, suffering defeat at the hands of the powers of darkness. The centaur-archer was the Egyptian Hercules. The goat was Pan, or Mendes. The water-bearer was Horus, the avenger of his father’s defeat, born December 21st, and a conqueror on March 21st; also Mises, the Egyptian Bacchus, who, being the sign of the sun-god’s birth, leads the twelve signs out of the land of bondage, and institutes the feast of commemoration at the sign of the lamb, whose horns he wears; and also Harmachis. The fishes are Oannes, the Egyptian saviour-fish, who, when that sign was at the winter solstitial point, saved the world as the new-born sun.

These twelve signs of the zodiac were, in fact, the twelve principal gods of all races; the seven summer signs, including the two equinoxial signs, being the seven specially sacred gods, inhabiting the upper temple of the most high god, which was the vault of the summer heavens, supported by the two pillars of the equinoxes or covenants. Almost every race had temples divided into upper and lower courts or rooms, the upper one being the residence of their chief gods; and these temples were originally meant to represent the universe, having an upper hemisphere, governed by the good principle, and a lower hemisphere, governed by the bad principle, this idea being frequently further represented by a closed ark or chest, representing the lower or dark hemisphere, upon which sat the chief deity, representing the good principle of the upper hemisphere. The Egyptians, according to Plutarch, enclosed the body of Osiris in an ark every year at the autumnal equinox, when the sun was in _Scorpio_, which was a rite emblematical of the annual death of the sun-god of summer; and the Jews, it will be remembered, suffered defeat at the hands of the Philistines, immediately after they had taken the ark out of Shiloh, where it had been deposited, the word Shiloh being the name of a tiny group of stars in the sign _Scorpio_. The movable temple of the Hebrews, or tabernacle, as described in Exodus, is the best example we have of this representation of the universe, being described in such minute detail as to betray its meaning to the dullest mind. It was divided into two portions—the lower or outer portion, and the upper or inner portion, the holy of holies, where dwelt the Hebrew chief tribal god, Yahouh, or Yah, sitting upon the ark of the covenant, representing the winter part of the heavens between the two covenants or equinoxes. On each side of Yah was a cherub, or monster with four faces (or, according to some, with four bodies)—one like a bull, another like a man, a third like an eagle, and the last like a lion, as we find fully described by Ezekiel (chap. i.). In my “Popular Faith Unveiled” (pp. 131, 174, and 247) I have attributed these heads (or bodies) to the four zodiacal signs of ascension after the vernal equinox, that like a bull to _Taurus_, that like a man to _Gemini_, that like an eagle to _Cancer_, and that like a lion to _Leo_; but, according to Sir W. Drummond, in his “Œdipus Judaicus,” they correspond with the signs at the four quarters of the sphere—viz., the man to _Aquarius_, the ox to _Taurus_, the lion to _Leo_, and the eagle to _Scorpio_, this calculation being based on the supposition that the cherubim were first introduced during the period prior to B.C. 2188, when _Taurus_ was the vernal equinoxial point, while mine supposes _Aries_ to have been the chief zodiacal sign. Which calculation is right the reader must decide for himself, after carefully studying the reasons given for both conclusions. Clement of Alexandria, in his “Stromata,” says of these cherubim: “Each of them has six wings, whether they typify the two bears, as some will have it, or, which is better, the two hemispheres.... Both have twelve wings, and thus through the circle of the zodiac, and of self-marrying time, they typify the world perceived by the senses.” The table in the temple was symbolical of the earth, as we learn from Clement of Alexandria again, when he says: “The table, as I think, signifies the image of the earth; it is sustained by four feet, answering to the summer, autumn, spring, and winter.” The shew-bread was placed on the table in front of Yah, and was divided into twelve pieces, typical of the twelve signs, as we find stated in Ex. xxv. 22 and 30 (literally translated): “And I will hang [or be deposited] there, set [or sitting] before thee; and I will talk to thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, which are upon the ark of the testimony ... and thou shalt set shew-bread always upon the table in front of me.” The candlesticks, with three branches on each side and one in the centre, having seven lamps burning on them, represented the seven summer signs, including both the equinoxial ones. Josephus tells us that the candlesticks were divided into seventy parts, answering to the seventy decans of the seven signs. The veil of the temple was of blue, purple, and scarlet, and represented the atmospheric vault of heaven tinged, as it frequently is, by the sun’s rays. The pomegranates represented the fixed stars. The dress of the high priest was ornamented with 566 bells, corresponding with the days of the sidereal year, with two bright emeralds and twelve precious stones, which, according to Clement of Alexandria, represented the sun and moon and the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Sufficient has been said to leave no doubt as to the real meaning of the tabernacle and its appurtenances, and, I think, to establish the truth of what I have previously stated—viz., that the ancient religions were of astronomical origin and abounding in symbolical rites and ceremonies. It only remains for me now to repeat what I have maintained before in other essays—that the Christian religion of to-day, although modified by time and circumstances, having been considerably manipulated so as to be brought within touch of modern requirements, is nothing more or less than a rehash of the Egyptian, Persian, Hindu, and Phœnician mythologies—an old worn-out faith, in fact, dressed in gaudy and attractive garments.

INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS

IN EUROPE.

No scientific student or observer of nature will have failed to notice that all phenomena around him are ever in a condition of progressive change, ever advancing from the simple to the complex, and ever conforming to specific laws. Just as the world in which we live has gradually developed from a condition of nebulous vapour to its present complex form, and just as man has evolved from a simple molecule of protoplasm by wonderful and manifold stages to his present commanding position, so have civilisation, trade, politics, arts, literature, and science all been slowly and gradually evolved from the primitive mind of prehistoric man. A continual change has ever been going on from the simple to the complex, from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous, from the imperfect to the more perfect. This continual progress has been in operation during all time, and will proceed in the future as of old, leaving the present day far behind in its march, as the present day has left behind it the past.

In considering the evolution of reform, or progress of civilisation, we are necessarily limited to a comparatively late period in man’s history, for many thousands of years had passed away, during which time man had gradually established himself as a social animal, before any trustworthy records appeared to throw light in future ages upon the primitive condition and habits of the human family. From the patient and persevering studies of scientific men, we are now in possession of a number of facts which lead us to the conclusion that primitive man first lived the life of a wild beast, inhabiting caves, and devoting all his energies to battling with the ferocious monsters around him. From this condition he developed into a more civilised being, becoming an agriculturalist, afterwards a manufacturer of stuffs and hardware, and still later a member of an organised state. These changes probably occupied hundreds of thousands of years, compared to which enormous lapse of time the period embraced between the Egypto-Greek or classic era and the present moment is a mere speck on the face of time. We are now tolerably well acquainted with the civilisation of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, which had existed for many centuries before the time of Aristotle, and which some four or five centuries before our era had commenced its entry upon the wide field of scientific development which followed the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. These civilisations, which for centuries had been bound up with the vain superstitions connected with the legion of divinities of Olympus, of Memphis, and of Thebes, were gradually casting off the yoke of ignorance, and becoming more acquainted with the majesty of the operations of nature. Philosophers began to publicly declaim against the Olympian absurdities, and to ridicule the notion of miracles or prodigies; traditions began to be doubted and were fast being cast aside; Zeus and his court were ceasing to command respect; and the priests were often publicly insulted. The Ionian gods of Homer, as well as the Doric of Hesiod, appeared likely to be quickly committed to the darkness of oblivion. Powerful and influential resistance was, of course, opposed to the wave of progress and reason; the philosophers were branded as Atheists and their followers persecuted rigorously; Euripides was declared a heretic, and Æschylus narrowly escaped being stoned to death for blasphemy. So great was the opposition offered to the movement that the philosophers would undoubtedly have been silenced for some time to come had it not been for the sudden military expedition against the Persians. Alexander, with his 38,000 Macedonian soldiers, having crossed the Hellespont, B.C. 334, proceeded to subjugate the imperious monarch of Persia, and, after successfully conquering Asia Minor and Syria, completely defeated the Persian army led by King Darius, and took possession of the great city of Babylon.

This war engrossed the attention of all classes at home, so that the philosophers were enabled to prosecute their studies unmolested. It also in many other ways was a means of furthering the scientific efforts of that and of future ages. For the first time the Macedonians beheld the ebbing and flowing of the tides; they discovered and examined the Chaldean astronomical instruments, and learnt their calculations, extending over several thousand years; and they observed the Chaldean division of the zodiac into twelve portions, and of the day and night into twelve hours each. The particulars of these they sent home to Aristotle. What a field was here opened out for Greek speculation! The Chaldeans had detected the precession of the equinoxes, and were well acquainted with the causes of eclipses; they printed from a revolving roller, on which they had engraved cuneiform letters; they possessed magnifying instruments; and were, in fact, the tail-end of a mighty and advanced Accadian civilisation which had been in existence for thousands of years. Not satisfied with these achievements, the conquering Alexander next subdued the ancient monarchy of Egypt, learnt the great feat of the Pharaohs—viz., the circumnavigation of Africa by the Cape of Good Hope and the pillars of Hercules, and founded the celebrated city of Alexandria. He died at Babylon B.C. 323, after which his huge empire was divided among his generals; his half brother, Ptolemy Soter, who had been governor of Egypt during Alexander’s lifetime, taking possession of that country, and establishing his seat of government at the new city of Alexandria.

This period marks the commencement of European civilisation. Owing to the excellent government adopted by Ptolemy, large numbers of Arabians, Jews, and Greeks were induced to take up their residence at Alexandria, which quickly became the centre of learning and first commercial city of the whole known world, and the resort of people of all nationalities. The celebrated museum, which was commenced by Ptolemy Soter and completed by his successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, contained a library, which grew so largely that 400,000 volumes were soon acquired by it, and a daughter library, containing 300,000 volumes, built at the Serapion, or Temple of Serapis. Books were freely bought, transcribers engaged, apartments set aside, at the king’s expense, for the residence of Greek philosophers and students, and four faculties established, for literature, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, including natural history. There were also in connection with the university botanical and zoological gardens, an astronomical observatory, with spheres, globes, parallactic rules, etc., and an anatomical theatre for the dissection of dead bodies. It was here that Euclid produced his celebrated geometrical demonstrations, which are at this day used in our schools. Here also Archimedes proclaimed his method for the determination of specific gravities, and invented the theory of the lever. Here Eratosthenes daily taught that the earth was a globe, and determined the interval between the tropics. The earth was described as possessing imaginary poles, axis, equator, arctic and antarctic circles, equinoxial points, solstices, climate, etc. Hipparchus taught the precession of the equinoxes, catalogued the stars, and adopted lines of latitude and longitude in describing the situations of places. Thus science progressed under the wise and beneficent rule of the Ptolemies.

But a dark cloud was already looming in the distance, which was destined to develop into a fierce storm, the effect of whose fury was felt for centuries afterwards. Julius Cæsar, in B.C. 30, defeated Cleopatra, then Queen of Egypt, and added that country to the Roman dominions, the museum and larger library being entirely destroyed during the siege of Alexandria. From this time learning and science began to decline. Numerous religious sects arose around Alexandria, the old mythologies were revived, and the priests once more gained influence. The temples of Jupiter Ammon and Apollo in Egypt, of Adonis and Ies in Phœnicia, of Dionysos in Greece, and of Bacchus in Rome, were again filled to overflowing, and miracles were performed in abundance. In the short space of about fifty years all the work of the Ptolemies appeared to have been undone, and the world once more given up to darkness, superstition, and ignorance, the popular frenzy being kept up by a number of ascetic monks, called Therapeutæ, who inhabited the hills around Alexandria, the desert and rocky plains of Arabia Petræa, and the barren hills of Syria, and travelled about the country, preaching in the open air to the ignorant and credulous multitudes. Matters progressed favourably for the revivalists for a short time; but there had shortly before occurred a circumstance which proved to be, for us, the most important event in the world’s history, and which considerably modified the Therapeut programme.

According to ancient records, it appears that a monk, of the ascetic order of Essenes, called Yahoshuah (Joshua) ben Pandira, was born in Syria, in the fourth year of the reign of Alexander Jannæus, or about B.C. 120; and, being educated in Egypt, under the supervision of Yahoshuah-ben Perachia, soon made himself specially obnoxious to the priests by his heterodox teaching. From the exceedingly scanty information to be obtained from the historical writers of the time, it appears that this young man had, in addition to his knowledge of Egyptian sorcery, a large acquaintance with the sublime and moral teachings of Confucius, for whose memory he appears to have had a profound respect. Observing the despicable manner in which the priests manipulated their sacred offices for their own advantage, robbing the poor and credulous people of their hard earnings and indulging in all kinds of immoralities, this young man boldly attacked these human parasites in the public places, calling them liars and hypocrites, preaching Socialistic and Communistic doctrines, and declaring that there was but one law necessary for man—viz., the golden rule of Confucius, “Do unto another,” etc. The wrath of the priests knew no bounds; a council was called to consider the matter, and the bold reformer was, it is said, sentenced to death for his noble efforts on behalf of suffering humanity. Whether or not this young man ever lived, or whether he was merely an ideal creation of the fanatical minds of these therapeut monks, suggested by necessity, it is impossible to say positively; for there are no really trustworthy records from which a safe conclusion can be deduced. It is, however, probable that such a man did actually exist, for it is not likely that, had he been but an idea, the fact of his having declared one law to be sufficient for man’s moral guidance would have been included among the fabulous performances afterwards attributed to him, as such a declaration was destructive of all priestcraft; besides which, we are told in the Babylonian Gemara to the Mishna that Yahoshua, “son of Pandira and Stada,” was stoned to death as a wizard in the city of Ludd, or Lydia, after which he was crucified on a tree on the eve of the Passover, about B.C. 70, which was the punishment generally inflicted on preachers of heresy and sedition. Whether he had an actual existence or was but an idea, it is an undisputed fact that his name has been, during the past eighteen hundred years, a household word, and that the whole face of European history has been moulded by the various sayings and doings fabulously attributed to him.

The reason of this is as follows. The therapeut monks of Alexandria, who flourished in the first and second centuries of our era, in attempting to revive the old mythological systems, and thus to deprive scientists and philosophers of their late rapidly-increasing power, were at a great disadvantage, owing to the length of time that had elapsed since the wonderful feats of the gods had been performed. They well understood the absolute necessity of keeping alive in the memories of the people the older miraculous events by the performance of fresh wonders in their own day; but the difficulty they had to encounter was in finding suitable individuals for the occasion. The Syrian Essene monk, who had infected a great number of the lower classes of society by his heretical and revolutionary teachings, which, at first sight, appeared likely to be damaging to the cause of the priesthood, was quickly requisitioned by these astute monks for the great purpose they had in view—viz., the reproduction on earth of the popular god Bacchus, the Greek Dionysos, and Phœnician Ies. They boldly declared that this man was, when on earth, an incarnate deity, and proceeded to attribute to him all the wonderful performances that had previously been imputed to the young sun-god Bacchus, such as miraculous birth from a virgin, resurrection from the grave three days after death, ascension to heaven, etc.; and, finally, gave him the Phœnician name of Bacchus, Ies, in its Greek form Iesous—Greek being, at that time, the prevailing language around Alexandria. The new religion gradually spread from Egypt over the European provinces of the Roman empire, and soon became such a great political power in the State that the incarnate fiend and Emperor Constantine, in A.D. 312, was induced to place himself at its head, and use its increasing influence to further his own wicked projects. The new Church, by this act, gained an enormous power; its priests became arrogant, the philosophers were even more persecuted than before, and learning was fast approaching its end. The only scientific work which the Church retained was the “Syntaxis” of Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer, which taught that the earth was the fixed centre of the universe, around which all other heavenly bodies rotated. It also treated of the precession of the equinoxes, the milky way, and the distances of the various bodies in the heavens from the earth; but, as the geocentric theory was clearly taught in conformity with the Bible records and the religious convictions of the people, this system was gradually adopted by all classes of society, and became the recognised authority on astronomy.

A furious and important controversy about this time broke out between Arius, the leader of those who retained the original belief in the manhood of Jesus, and Athanasius, the leader of the Christians, who declared him to be divine, which culminated in the celebrated Council of Nicea, A.D. 325, at which it was decided that he was actually god. From this moment not only Arians, but all others who refused to believe in the god Jesus, were savagely persecuted, until, at last, science and learning received their death-blow by the destruction of the Serapion, under the order of the Emperor Theodosius, and the murder of Hypatia at Alexandria. This philosopher was in the habit of lecturing on mathematics at the university, and was so popular that the jealousy of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, was aroused; she was seized by his fanatical followers as she was going to her lecture-room, stripped naked, dragged into a Christian church, and there brained by the club of Peter the Reader, in A.D. 414.