Part 10
It is for you, reader, to judge if such facts are worthy your consideration, and of the truthfulness of my assertion that a knowledge of the history of the primitive dwellers in these "Lands of the West" will help to raise the veil that has covered during so many centuries the origin of the first traditions of mankind. Although in the first annual report of the executive committee of the "Archæological institute of America," we read that: "The study of American archæology relates indeed to the monuments of a race that never attained to a high degree of civilization and that has left no trustworthy records of continuous history. It was a race whose intelligence was for the most part of a low order, whose sentiments and emotions were confined within a narrow range, and whose imagination was never quickened to find expression of itself in poetic or artistic forms of beauty. From what it was or what it did, nothing is to be learned that has any direct bearing on the progress of civilization." With all due respect for the learning of the gentlemen who have attached their names to so astounding an assertion, I beg to differ from their opinion expressed so emphatically. I differ because I have seen and photographed the constructions left by the mighty races that have preceded us on this continent. They have not. Because I have studied for years, _in situ_, these monuments that attest to the high civilization of their builders. They have not. Because I have learned the language in which they have consigned part at least of their history in inscriptions carved on stones, and read some of said inscriptions. They have not. Indeed, on this continent, not far from New Orleans, exist the relics of past generations which are as interesting, if not more so, as those of Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and Italy; as deserving the attention of all students of archæology, of history, of ethnology, and philology. It is time yet to save from utter destruction the last records of ancient American history, that are crumbling every day more and more, and are being destroyed by the hand of ignorance and cupidity. A few years more, and all intelligible traces of them will have disappeared. Will nothing be done in this country to preserve what remains of the ancient American civilization? of that civilization which seems to have been the fountain-head at which the philosophers of all nations, in the remotest antiquity, have come to acquire knowledge and drink inspiration from the learning and wisdom of the Maya sages.
Americans have established in Athens schools for the study of Greek Archæology; in Alexandria, for the decipherment of the inscriptions carved on the walls of the temples, on the obelisks, and in the papyri found in the tombs in Egypt; is it not time that students in United States should direct their attention to the ancient history of the continent on which they live? It is not altogether lost, and the tongue in which it is written is not a dead language. Maya is one of the oldest forms of speech, cöeval, if not anterior to Sanscrit. The names Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc., etc., of the letters of the Greek alphabet, form a curious epic poem in that language. There are many interesting inscriptions in it that only await decipherment to illumine the past records of the race in America. Many of these precious documents exist in the City of New York. They will reveal the history of the mighty nations that have dwelt on this "Western Continent;" they will tell us of the origin of many of our primitive traditions. Why then not found in Yucatan, in the midst of the ruins of the temples and colleges of the learned priesthood of Mayax, a school where students of American archæology can learn with their language, what the Maya sages knew of man's origin, of his intellectual development, of the past of their people, of the colonists they sent to other parts of the world, where they carried the arts, sciences, and religion of the mother country and its civilization from which our own is descended?
After twelve years of incessant labors and great hardships, unaided by any government or scientific society, having to encounter opposition, and surmount countless difficulties placed maliciously in our way by those whose duty it should have been to afford us all protection, robbed of our finds by the Mexican government which has even refused to indemnify us for the money expended in making these discoveries, Mrs. Le Plongeon and myself, after saving from destruction many important documents and relics, have at last found a key that will unlock the door of that chamber of mysteries. Shall it be allowed to remain closed much longer? We have lifted, in part at least, the veil that has hung so long over the history of mankind in America in remote ages. Shall it be allowed to fall again? Will no efforts be made by American students, by men of wealth and leisure in the United States, to remove it altogether?
INDEX.
----
A
_Aac_, his history, 78-79. -- protecting genius of, 90. -- offer of marriage by, 83.
_Abel_, murder of, 74. -- meaning of the name of, 85.
_Adam_, a myth, 1.
_Adrian_, Emperor, 27.
_Ah-ac-chapat_, seven-headed serpent, its meaning, 67.
_Akkadian language_, 33.
_Alom_, the creator, 56.
_Alexander the Great_, 29.
_Amautas_, 47,
_Angrand_, quoted, 108.
_Arch_, triangular, 37.
_Architects_, foundation of society of, 3.
_Ardvi çoura anahita_ (goddess), 28.
_Asp_, badge of royalty, why, 119. -- figure of Central America, 120.
_Atlantis_, submerged, 41. -- record of submersion of, in Egypt and Mayax, 91. -- figured as a black man, 92. -- its destruction, 11,500 years ago, 106.
_Aum_, figured as an equilateral triangle, 60.
_Auvergne_, (Guy of) burned alive, 3.
B
_Bacon_, Roger, quoted, 50.
_Balche_, nectar, amrita, beverage of the gods, 94.
_Bâli_, murdered, 77.
_Bearded men_ in Mayax, 71.
_Benoit_ (Pope), renews bull of excommunication, 6.
_Berosus_, on the creation of the world according to the Chaldees, 110.
_Bird deity_ at Kioto, Japan, 107.
_Birch_, Samuel, quoted, 26.
_Bitol_, creator, 56.
_Black_ populations in America, 87.
_Bottles_, Chinese, found in the tombs of Egypt, in the ruins of Hissarlik, 57.
_Brahmins_, 29-32.
_Brothers_ (in India), 29.
_Bruce_, Robert, gives protection to the Knights Templars, 3.
_Building Associations_, Roman, 14.
_Burnouf_, Emile, 57.
C
_Cabiri_ (mysteries), 18.
_Camazotz_, god of bats, 44.
_Can_, king of Mayax, 45. -- his family, 77. -- royal titles of, 83. -- deified, and represented with a mastodon's head, 93. -- members of his family worshiped in Japan, 95.
_Cay_, high pontiff, 19, 45.
_Chamber_ of Police of Paris, prohibit Freemasonry, 6.
_Charles_ I., King, 4.
_Chichen-Itza_, the city of serpents, 108.
_Christians_, first, 1.
_Church_ of Rome opposes Freemasonry, 5. -- accuses M.·. of heresy, burns them alive, 12. -- persecutes Chaldean magicians and Egyptian priests, 14.
_Cibola_, seven cities of, 48.
_Cilician_ pirates, 27.
_Circular_ buildings in Yucatan, their use, 64.
_Clement_ V. (Pope), abolishes the order of Knights Templars, 3. -- entices Jacques de Molay to Paris, 2. -- death of, 4.
_Clement_ XII. (Pope), excommunicates all Freemasons, 6. -- persecutes them, 7.
_Clement_ of Alexandria, quoted, 25.
_Cogolludo_, quoted, 124.
_Coh_, murdered by his brother, 80. -- who was, 78. -- analysis of remains of, 84. -- statue of, robbed by Mexican Government, 87.
_Colebrook_, H. T., quoted, 54, 72.
_Collegia_ of Romans, 2, 13.
_Coleraine_, Lord, founded a lodge in Gibraltar and another in Madrid, 6.
_Communications_ between Egypt and India and China, 57.
_Conceptions_ concerning a Triune God, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58.
_Confucius_, 56. -- quoted, 144.
_Coronado_, quoted, 148.
_Creation_ of the world, myth found in Chichen-Itza, 72. -- myth of, in various countries, 109. -- its origin traced to Mayax, 111. -- portrayed on East façade of Palace at Chichen-Itza, 112. -- tableau of, explained, 114.
_Cromwell_, 4.
_Cross_, as sacred symbol of water deities among all nations, of the life to come, and eternity, 128. -- as symbol in Bacchic and Eleusinian mysteries, 129. -- symbol of the, in America, 129. -- god of rain, 130. -- southern, 132.
_Crown_ of lower Egypt, the same as that worn by kings in Mayax, 118.
_Customs_, many similar in India, Mayax, and Egypt, 97.
_Cushing_, Frank, quoted, 47, 148.
_Cyril_, (Bishop) murderer of Hypathia, persecuted the worshipers of Isis and Osiris, 16.
D
_Damascius_, quoted, 53.
_Danaus'_ Daughters, 18.
_Daniel_, prophet, quoted, 30, 45.
_Degrees_ (3) in Freemasonry, among the Jesuits, and the Egyptian priests, 12.
_Deluge_, tradition of, common to all nations where the name Maya is found, 90. -- what the Egyptians said of, 91. -- relation of, in Troano M.S. and mural inscriptions, 92.
_Democritus_, 54.
_Druids_, 2.
E
_Egyptian_ civilization, birthplace of, 113.
_Emperors_, Roman, persecuted the Chaldean magicians and Egyptian priests to death, 15.
_Ephoroi_, 19, 22.
_Epoptai_, 23.
_Essenes_, 1.
_Eubulus_, quoted, 27, 46.
_Eumolpus_, initiated to Egyptian sacred mysteries instituted those of Eleusis, 18.
_Eusebius_, quoted, 57, 72, 99.
_Eusoph_, equilateral triangle, 60.
F
_Fanton_, (Dr.) opinion of, 17, 33.
_Fergusson_, James, quoted, 99, 122, 123.
_Fernando_, VI., of Spain, makes Freemasonry high treason, 6.
_Fi-Fangpao_, 57.
_Findel_, J. G., opinion of, 10.
_Four_, number, its meaning, 105.
_Francis_ of Lorraine (Duke) initiated, protects masons, founds lodges, 7.
_Fratricide_, account of the same in Genesis, Ramayana, papyri of Egypt, inscriptions of Mayax, 84.
_Freemasonry_, various opinions concerning origin of, 1, 2. -- persecuted, 5, 6. -- established in France and Spain, 6. -- in Ireland, Italy, America, Lisbon, 7. -- in Germany, 8. -- origin of, traced to America, 22.
_Frederick_ II. of Prussia, initiated, assumes the title of G.·. M.·. Universal, frames a constitution, 8, 9.
G
_Ganesha_, god of letters, its representation, its worship, 96. -- origin of its elephant head, 97.
_Garcilasso de la Vega_, quoted, 46.
_George_ I. ascends the throne, 5.
_George_ (Bishop), persecutes the worshipers of Isis and Osiris, 16.
_Gods_, twelve, of Egyptians, Greeks, Mayas, Japanese, Chinese, 96.
_Grand Master_, degree of, created, 4.
_Grand Lodge_, first established in London, 5, 32.
_Gregory_ of Nazianze, quoted, 31.
_Gucumatz_, winged serpent, the creator, 112.
H
_Hach-mac_, 45.
_Henoch_, book of, quoted, 16, 21, 24, 25, 37, 44.
_Herodotus_, quoted, 15. -- concerning the Thesmophoria, 18, 60. -- quoted, 74, 134.
_Hermippus_, 28.
_Hermetic_ books, relation of creation in modern, 111.
_Hierophantes_, 19, 32.
_Hiu-chin_, quoted, 55.
_House_, dark, 43.
_House_ of spears, 43. -- ice, 43. -- tiger, 44. -- fiery, 44. -- of bats, 44.
_Hunhun Appu_, 44.
I
_Illuminati_, incorporated into Freemasonry, 9.
_Initiations_ into Egyptian mysteries, but little known, 16. -- into Eleusinian mysteries, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24.
_Inquisition_ persecutes Masons, 5.
_Isis_, meaning of the name, 87. -- her title, her totem, 88. -- believed to be a fabulous being, 89.
J
_James_ II., 4.
_Japanese_, offspring of the twelve gods, 95.
_Jerome_, Saint, 31.
_John the Baptist_, St., selected patron of the M.·. Order, 5.
_Juan Gaston_ of Medicis, (Duke) persecutes Masons, 7.
K
_Khan_, titles of kings in Asia, origin of it, 83.
_Kings_, three, 60.
_Kneph_, name of the creator, 53.
_Knights of Christ_, order of, founded, 3.
_Knights Templars_, take refuge in Scotland and Portugal, 3. -- refuse to recognize the authority of J. M. Larmenio, 12. -- received their symbols from Christians initiated into Egyptian mysteries, 12.
_Krause_, quoted, 13.
_Kronos_, king of the "Lands of the West," 53.
L
_La_, meaning of the word, 54.
_Lab-mac_, title of high priest among the Mayas, 30.
_Landa_ (Bishop), quoted, 64, 68, 70, 124.
_Larmenio_, Johan Marcus--appointed Grand Master of the K. Templars, 3.
_Leibnitz_, initiated into Freemasonry, 15.
_Leopard skin_ as a symbol, 86.
_Lopi_, quoted, 55.
M
_Ma_, the world, 33.
_Macrobius_, his meaning of the triangular arch, 63.
_Magi_, 30, 32.
_Maha-atma_, the great soul, 55.
_Maha-atmas_, the brothers, 29, 45.
_Manco Capac_, founder of the Inca empire, 47.
_Marriage_, custom among the Mayas, 78.
_Maria_, Virgin, goddess Maïa-Isis anthropomorphised, 131.
_Mastodon_, worship of, 93. -- explanation of tableau representing the worship of, 94.
_Maya_, name found in various countries, 71. -- challenges Bâli, 76. -- empire figured as a serpent, 116. -- empire figured as a tree, 125. -- empire the land of the deer in the middle of the earth, 126. -- according to the Chinese represented as a tree, 127.
_Mayax_, description of the country of, 69.
_Matthew_, Henry, 51.
_Mathusalath_, 37.
_Memnon_, King of Ethiopia, 57.
_Menes_, wise men of the Mayas, 71.
_Mithra_, mysteries of, 27.
_Moo_, who she was, 78. -- history of conspiracy, against, 81. -- rejects the love of Aac, 82.
_Molay_, Jacques de, enticed to Paris and arrested, 2. -- burnt alive, 3. -- appoints his successor, 3.
_Moses_, 51.
_Mystai_, the initiated, 19.
N
_Nahuatls_, 48.
_Names_, various, of Cain explained, 89.
_Niroukta_, 54.
_Niza_, 148.
_Number_ 3, origin of its symbolization, 136. --5, origin of its symbolization, 141, 142. --7, origin of its symbolization, 143, 149.
O
_Oblong Square_, its meaning, 34. -- its origin as symbol, 62. -- forms the ground plan of temples and palaces, 62.
_Oliva_, Annello, Fath., 47.
_Origenes_, quoted, 28.
_Orpheus_, initiated into Egyptian sacred mysteries founds the orphic, 18, 53, 60, 135.
_Orphic Mysteries_, 72.
_Osiris_, 34, 49. -- murder of, 74. -- culture hero, 74. -- his history, 75. -- meaning of the name, 87. -- believed to be a mythical being, 89.
_Ouranos_, 53.
P
_Pachacamac_, 56.
_Pallas_, 28.
_Parsis_, 28.
_Payne_, Thomas, 2.
_Pentagon_, as a symbol, its meaning, 63.
_Pentateuch_, not written by Moses, 51.
_Petroma_, 19.
_Phillippe-le-bel_, causes the arrest of J. de Molay, 2. -- death of, 4.
_Philip V. of Spain_, persecutes masons, 6.
_Philostratus_, quoted, 29, 57.
_Phoenes_, 53.
_Pianchi_, King of Ethiopia, initiated, 26.
_Plato_, quoted, 41, 53. -- relation of submersion of Atlantis correct, 92.
_Plates_ from Troano M.S., explanation of, 117 (note), 126 (note), 137 (note), 139 (note).
_Plutarch_, quoted, 27, 32, 63, 74, 90, 93.
_Pompeius_, 27.
_Popol-vuh_, initiations described in, 42, 56. -- creation of the world in, 111.
_Porphyrius_, quoted, 27, 28. -- his explanation of the image of the creator, 72.
_Poseidon_, 53.
_Pradjapati_, 55.
_Preston_, J. G., 4.
_Price_, Henry, first American Grand-master, 7.
_Primander_, most ancient Egyptian book, also Supreme Intelligence, 110.
_Proclus_, quoted, 53, 60.
_Proposal of marriage_, mode of, in Mayax and Japan, 83.
_Puttman_, B., first Grand-master in Germany, 8.
_Pythagoras_, 1. -- his narrow escape when initiated, 25, 54. -- God number and harmony, according to, 60. -- on number four, 106.
Q
_Qaholom_, name of the creator, 56.
_Quichua language_, 47.
R
_Ra_, meaning of the name, 54.
_Rab-mag_, name of the chief of the Magi, 30.
_Ramsay_, Michael Andrew, 2. -- origin of Freemasonry according to, 11.
_Rooms in temples_, their shape symbolical, 63.
_Rosicrucians_, their incorporation into Freemasonry, 9.
S
_Salisbury_, Stephen, 84.
_Sanctuary at Uxmal_, description of, 35.
_Schliemann_, Henry, quoted, 57.
_Set_, meaning of the name, 89. -- becomes the evil principle, 89. -- enemy of the sun, 89. -- his protecting genius, 90. -- his emblem, 90.
_Serpent_, 98. -- origin of its worship unknown, 100. -- when considered an evil genius, 100. -- image of the creator, 100-109. -- traces of its worship all over the world, 101. -- origin of its worship according to the Maya priests, 109. -- symbol of the country in Mayax and in Egypt, 116. -- worshiped still in India, 121. -- title of the Kings of Mayax, 121 -- origin of, and tree worship in America, 123.
_Solon_, 41.
_Soul_, Maya belief in immortality of the, 124.
_Sougriva_, causes the death of Bâli, 77. -- meaning of the name, 90.
_Strabo_, quoted, 31.
_Strathmore_, Lord, Grandmaster, 8.
_Symbols_, masonic, identical in the temples of Egypt, Chaldea, India, and Central America, 11 -- masonic, in Uxmal, 65, their meaning, 66, 67. -- found under the base of Cleopatra's needle, 17. -- of worship, the same in Mayax, Egypt, and Peru, 94, 105.
_Symbolization_ of number three, 136. -- of number five, 142. -- of number seven, 149.
T
_Tao-tse_, 55.
_Tau_, meaning of mystic, 132. -- complex form of, its origin, 132
_Temple_ of mysteries at Uxmal, 36.
_Temptation_, origin of temptation of the woman in the garden, 82, 83.
_Thales_, initiated to Egyptian sacred mysteries, 18.
_Theon_, of Smyrna, quoted, 24.
_Theophilus_ (Bishop), persecutes the worshipers of Isis and Osiris, 16.
_Thesmophoria_, mysteries of Ceres, 134.
_Thompson_, Charles O., certificate of chemical analysis, 84, 85.
_Thoth_, god of letters in Egypt, his description of the creation, 110.
_Tiahuanuco_, explanation of sculptures on Monolith-gate, at, 102.
_Ti-Hoang_, king of the country in the middle of the land, 96.
_Tien-Hoang_, his twelve children, 96.
_Tree worship_ in America, 123, 124. -- by the Phoenicians, Druids, Scandinavians, the inhabitants of Delos, Samos, Athens, Dodona, Arcadia, Canaan, India, Ceylon, 123. -- -- Egypt, Assyria, 124. -- relationship between the serpent and tree worship, 124. -- sacred, among the Mayas, 124.
_Triangle_ as a symbol, 60. -- its meaning among the Mayas, 61. -- its meaning among the Egyptians, 63.
_Triangular Arches_, symbols of a Triune God, 62.
U
_Uati_, goddess, genius of lower Egypt, its symbols, 115.
_Uiracocha_, god, 56.
V
_Valmiki_, quoted, 75, 76.
_Villoison_, Dance de, quoted, 2.
W
_Wake_, Stanyland, quoted, 99.
_Wilford_, Captain, quoted, 33.
_William_ III., King of England, initiated into Freemasonry, 4.
_Winged circle_, symbol of, 124.
_Words of dismissal_, 21. -- their meaning, 22, 33.
_Worshipers of Isis and Osiris_ persecuted by Bishops George, Theophilus, Cyril, 16.
X
_Xibalba_, 42, 45, 48, 49.
Y
_Yaqui_ nation, 48.
_Yaxché_, sacred tree among the Mayas, 124. -- origin of the cruz-ansata, of the cone as symbol of the mystic Tau, 132.
Z
_Zend-avesta_, 28.
_Zoroaster_, institutes the mysteries of Mithra, 27, 28. -- his explanation of the triangular arch, 62.
_Zuñi_ Indians, 47, 48.
Notes
----
[1] From drawings and photographs made by the author, and engraved by the Moss Engraving Co., by the new process of Mr. John C. Moss.
[2] An interpretation of the Maya legend explanatory of the illustration may not be amiss, inasmuch as it shows that the serpent was the symbol of the country. Beginning at the top of the column, it reads as follows:
[Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] _Ahau_ _Eb_ _Kan_ _cib_ _Lamat_ _A-ha-u_ _Heb_ _Kanaan_ _cib_ _Lam-a-ti_ that is literally: He-water-Basin turn abundant fluid submerge the land.
Freely translated,
_The Master of the basin of water turns it: abundant fluid submerges the land._
A glance at the illustration will suffice to show that the interpretation is correct. In my work "The Monuments of Mayax," etc., I give a more complete explanation of it.
[3] [Illustration]
The legend reads commencing from the top of the left hand column--
[Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] _Can_ _Ahau_ _Cimen_ _eb_ for _heb_ _Ezanab_ _Kan_ the King dead forcing its earthquake has risen master of the basin way of water
(beginning again at the top of the second column) [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] _Can_ _oc_ _cib_ _ik_ _lamat_ _ix_ foot sank air--wind filled up crater--or bosom of the volcanoes
[Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] _uac_ _luumilob_ _umukan_ _can_ _kak-mul_ _Timanik_ six fertile lands umukan four volcano Timanik
Freely translated:
Can, the master of the basin of water, who was dead, forcing his way by means of the earthquake, has risen. Can's foot sank, the air having filled up the crater of the volcano. Six fertile lands have appeared in Umukan (Cuba) and four volcanoes in Timanik (one of the small Antilles.)
The Maya writers, as the author of the Troano, etc., sometimes represented the Earth under the figure of an old woman and called it _mam_--the grandmother. She is here represented holding in her left hand the sign of the smoke, and darting a javelin emblem of the volcanic energy, and in her right hand she holds the symbol of the "Land of the Scorpion" "_Zinaan_," the West India Islands of our days. The deer head represents the Maya Empire.
[4] The legend literally translated reads as follows:
[Symbol] [Symbol] [Symbol] that is: _PPeu_, _caban_ for _cabahaan_ has struck again--_bat_--ax.
Freely translated: _PPeu has struck again the tree with his ax_. PPeu was the name of one of the twelve ancient rulers who governed the country in times anterior to the great cataclysm during which the Atlantic island was submerged. Deified after his death he became one of the protecting genii of the land, whose effigies still adorn the east façade of the palace at Chichen Itza, where they are placed, between the eyes, over the trunks of the mastodon's head, and surrounded with an aureola.
[5] Symbol of the three sons of King Can--represented under the emblem of the three deer heads--_Uluumil ceh_, "the land of the deer," being one of the names of the country of the Mayas.