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 PLATE I.
 
 ANCIENT PAGAN 
 
 MODERN CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM 
 
 THOMAS INMAN, M.D., 
 
 OTHOR OF "ANCIENT FAITHS EMBODIED IN ANCIENT NAMI 
 
 REVISED AND ENLARGED. 
 
 WITH AN ESSAY ON BAAL WORSHIP, ON THE ASSYRIAN 
 SACRED "GROVE," AND OTHER ALLIED SYMBOLS. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN NEWTON, M.R.C.S.E., ETC. 
 
 /<wrtl) Cbitton. 
 
 WITH TWO HUNDBED ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 J. W. BOUTON, 706 BEOADWAY. 
 
 1884.
 
 PKEFACE TO FIEST EDITION. 
 
 THE woodcuts in the present volume originally appeared in a 
 large work, in two thick volumes, entitled Ancient Faiths 
 embodied in Ancient Names. It has been suggested to me 
 by many, that a collection of these Figures, and their explana- 
 tion, are more likely to be generally examined than a very 
 voluminous book. The one is, as it were, an alphabet; 
 the other, an essay. The one opens the eyes; the other 
 gives them opportunities to use their vision. The one 
 teaches to read; the other affords means for practice. As the 
 larger work endeavours to demonstrate the existence of a 
 state of things almost unknown to the British public, so it is 
 necessary to furnish overwhelming proof that the allegations 
 and accusations made against certain nations of antiquity, 
 and some doctrines of Christianity, are substantially true. 
 Consequently, the number of witnesses is greater than is 
 absolutely necessary to prove the point. 
 
 12, RODNEY STREET, LIVERPOOL, 
 July, 1869. 
 
 2038731
 
 PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE demand which has sprung up for this work has induced 
 the Author to make it more complete than it was originally. 
 But it could not be made perfect without being expanded 
 into a volume whose size would be incompatible with cheap- 
 ness. When every Figure would supply a text for a long 
 discourse, a close attention is required lest a description 
 should be developed into a dissertation. 
 
 In this work, the Author is obliged to confine himself to 
 the explanation of symbols, and cannot launch out into 
 ancient and modern faiths, except in so far as they are 
 typified by the use of certain conventional signs. 
 
 A great many who peruse a book like this for the first 
 time, and find how strange were the ideas which for some 
 thousands of years permeated the religious opinions of the 
 civilised world, might naturally consider that the Author is a 
 mere visionary one who is possessed of a hobby that he 
 rides to death. Such a notion is strengthened by finding 
 that there is scarcely any subject treated of except the one 
 which associates religion, a matter of the highest aim to 
 man, with ideas of the most intensely earthly kind. But 
 a thoughtful reader will readily discern that an essay on 
 Symbolism must be confined to visible emblems. By no
 
 fair means can an author who makes the crucifix his text 
 introduce the subject of the Confessional, the Eucharist, or 
 Extreme Unction. Nor can one, who knows that Buddha 
 and Jesus alike inaugurated a faith which was unmarked by 
 visible symbolism, bring into an interpretation of emblems a 
 comparison between the preaching of two such distinguished 
 men. In like manner, the Author is obliged to pass over 
 the difference between Judaism, Christianity as propounded 
 by the son of Mary, and that which passes current for 
 Christianity in Rome and most countries of Europe. 
 
 All these points, and many more, have been somewhat 
 fully discussed in the Author's larger work, so often referred 
 to in this, and to that he must refer the curious. The 
 following pages are simply a chapter taken from a book, 
 complete perhaps in itself, but only as a brick may be 
 perfect, without giving to an individual any idea of the size, 
 style, or architecture of the house from which it has been 
 taken. If readers will regard these pages as a beam in 
 a building, the Author will be content. 
 
 8, VYVYAN TERRACE, 
 
 CLIFTON, BRISTOL, 
 
 August, 1874.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IT may, we think, be taken for granted, that nothing is, 
 or has ever been, adopted into the service of Religion, 
 without a definite purpose. If it be supposed that a religion 
 is built upon the foundation of a distinct revelation from the 
 Almighty, as the Hebrew is said to be, there is a full belief 
 that every emblem, rite, ceremony, dress, symbol, etc., has 
 a special signification. Many earnest Christians, indeed, see 
 in Judaic ordinances a reference to Jesus of Nazareth. I 
 have, for example, heard a pious man assert that "leprosy" 
 was only another word for " sin " ; but he was greatly 
 staggered in this belief when I pointed out to him that if 
 a person's whole body was affected he was no longer unclean 
 (Lev. xiii. 13), which seemed on the proposed hypothesis to 
 demonstrate that when a sinner was as black as hell he 
 was the equal of a saint. According to such an interpreter, 
 the paschal lamb is a type of Jesus, and consequently all 
 whom his blood sprinkles are blocks of wood, lintels, and 
 side-posts (Exod. xii. 22, 23). By the same style of meta- 
 phorical reasoning, Jesus was typified by the "scape-goat," 
 and the proof is clear, for one was driven away into the 
 wilderness, and the other voluntarily went there one to 
 be destroyed, the other to be tempted by the devil ! Hence 
 we infer that there is nothing repugnant to the minds of the 
 pious in an examination respecting the use of symbols, and 
 into that which is shadowed forth by them. What has 
 been done for Judaism may be attempted for other forms of 
 religion.
 
 As the Hebrews and Christians believe their religion 
 to be God-given, so other nations, having a different 
 theology, regard their own peculiar tenets. Though we may, 
 with that unreasoning prejudice and blind bigotry which are 
 common to the Briton and the Spaniard, and pre-eminently 
 so to the mass of Irish and Scotchmen amongst ourselves, 
 and to the Carlists in the peninsula, disbelieve a heathen 
 pretension to a divine revelation, we cannot doubt that the 
 symbols, etc., of Paganism have a meaning, and that it is as 
 lawful to scrutinise the mysteries which they enfold as it is 
 to speculate upon the Urim and Thummim of the Jews. 
 Yet, even this freedom has, by some, been denied ; for there 
 are a few amongst us who adhere rigidly to the precept 
 addressed to the followers of Moses, viz., " Take heed that 
 thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these 
 nations serve their gods ? " (Deut. xii. 30.) The intention 
 of the prohibition thus enunciated is well marked in the 
 following words, 1 which indicate that the writer believed that 
 the adoption of heathen gods would follow inquiry respecting 
 them. It is not now-a-days feared that we may become 
 Mahometans if we read the Koran, or Buddhists if we study 
 the Dhammapada ; but there are priests who fear that an 
 inquiry into ecclesiastical matters may make their followers 
 Papists, Protestants, Wesleyans, Baptists, Unitarians, or 
 some other religion which the Presbytery object to. The 
 dislike of inquiry ever attends those who profess a religion 
 which is believed or known to be weak. 
 
 The philosopher of the present day, being freed from the 
 shackles once riveted around him by a dominant hierarchy, 
 may regard the precept in Deuteronomy in another light. 
 Seeing that the same symbolism is common to many forms of 
 religion, professed in countries widely apart both as regards 
 time and space, he thinks that the danger of inquiry into 
 
 1 " even so will I do likewise."
 
 faiths is not the adoption of foreign, but the relinquishment 
 of present methods of religious belief. When we see the 
 same ideas promulgated as divine truth, on the ancient banks 
 of the Ganges, and the modern shores of the Mediterranean, 
 we are constrained to admit that they have something com- 
 mon in their source. They may be the result of celestial 
 revelation, or they may all alike emanate from human 
 ingenuity. As men invent new forms of religion now, there 
 is a presumption that others may have done so formerly. As 
 all men are essentially human, so we may believe that their 
 inventions will be characterised by the virtues and the fail- 
 ings of humanity. Again, experience tells us that similarity 
 in thought involves similarity in action. Two sportsmen, 
 seeing a hare run off from between them, will fire at it 
 so simultaneously that each is unaware that the other shot. 
 So a resemblance in religious belief will eventuate in the 
 selection of analogous symbolism. 
 
 We search into emblems with an intention different from 
 that with which we inquire into ordinary language. The 
 last tells us of the relationship of nations upon Earth, the 
 first of the probable connections of mankind with Heaven. 
 The devout Christian believes that all who venerate the Cross 
 may hope for a happy eternity, without ever dreaming that 
 the sign of his faith is as ancient as Homeric Troy, and was 
 used by the Phoenicians probably before the Jews had any 
 existence as a people; whilst an equally pious Mahometan 
 regards the Crescent as the passport to the realms of bliss, 
 without a thought that the symbol was in use long before the 
 Prophet of Allah was born, and amongst those nations which 
 it was the Prophet's mission to convert or to destroy. 
 Letters and words mark the ordinary current of man's 
 thought, whilst religious symbols show the nature of his 
 aspirations. But all have this in common, viz., that they 
 may be misunderstood. Many a Brahmin has uttered
 
 prayers in a language to him unintelligible ; and many 
 a Christian uses words in his devotions of which he never 
 seeks to know the meaning. " Om manee pani," " Om 
 manee padme houm," "Amen" and "Ave Maria purissima" 
 may fairly be placed in the same category. In like manner, 
 the signification of an emblem may be unknown. The 
 antiquary finds in Lycian coins, and in Aztec ruins, figures 
 for which he can frame no meaning ; whilst the ordinary 
 church-goer also sees, in his place of worship, designs of 
 which none can give him a rational explanation. Again, we 
 find that a language may find professed interpreters, whose 
 system of exposition is wholly wrong ; and the same may be 
 said of symbols. I have seen, for example, three distinctly 
 different interpretations given to one Assyrian inscription, 
 and have heard as many opposite explanations of a particu- 
 lar figure, all of which have been incorrect. 
 
 In the interpretation of unknown languages and symbols, 
 the observer gladly allows that much may be wrong ; but this 
 does not prevent him believing that some may be right. In 
 giving his judgment, he will examine as closely as he can 
 into the system adopted by each inquirer, the amount of 
 materials at his disposal, and, generally, the acumen which 
 has been brought to the task. Perhaps, in an investigation 
 such as we describe, the most important ingredient is care in 
 collation and comparison. But a scholar can only collate 
 satisfactorily when he has sufficient means, and these 
 demand much time and research. The labour requires more 
 time than ordinary working folk can command, and more 
 patience than those who have leisure are generally disposed 
 to give. Unquestionably, we have as yet had few attempts in 
 England to classify and explain ancient and modern symbols. 
 It is perhaps not strictly true that there has been so much a 
 laxity in the research, of which we here speak, as a dread of 
 making public the results of inquiry. Investigators, as a
 
 rule, have a respect for their own prejudices, and dislike 
 to make known to others a knowledge which has brought 
 pain to their own minds. Like the Brahmin of the story, 
 they will destroy a fine microscope rather than permit their 
 co-religionists to know that they drink living creatures in 
 their water, or eat mites in their fruit. The motto of such 
 people is, "If truth is disagreeable, cling to error." 
 
 The following attempts to explain much of ancient and 
 modern symbolism can only be regarded as tentative. The 
 various devices contained herein seem to me to support the 
 views which I have been led to form from other sources, by a 
 careful inquiry into the signification of ancient names, and 
 the examination of ancient faiths. The figures were ori- 
 ginally intended as corroborative of evidence drawn from 
 numerous ancient and modern writings; and the idea of 
 collecting them, and, as it were, making them speak for 
 themselves, has been an after-thought. In the following 
 pages I have simply reprinted the figures, etc., which appear 
 in Ancient Faiths embodied in Ancient Names (second 
 edition). I make no attempt to exhaust the subject. There 
 are hundreds of emblems which find herein no place ; and 
 there are explanations of symbols current to which I make 
 no reference, for they are simply exoteric. 
 
 For the benefit of many of my readers, I must explain 
 the meaning of the last word italicised. In most, if not in 
 all, forms of religion, there are tenets not generally imparted 
 to the vulgar, and only given to a select few under the seal 
 of secrecy. A similar reticence exists in common life. 
 There are secrets kept from children, for example, that are 
 commonly known to all parents ; there are arcana, familiar 
 to doctors, of which patients have no idea. For example, 
 when a lad innocently asks the family surgeon, or his parent, 
 where the last new baby came from, he is put off with 
 a reply, wide of the mark, yet sufficient for him. When I
 
 put such a question to the maids in the kitchen, to which 
 place for a time I was relegated, the first answer was that the 
 baby came from the parsley bed. On hearing this, I went 
 into the garden, and, finding the bed had been unmoved, 
 came back and reproached my informant for falsehood. 
 Another then took up the word, and said it was the carrot 
 bed which the baby came from. As a roar of laughter 
 followed this remark, I felt that I was being cheated, and 
 asked no more questions. Then I could not, now I can, 
 understand the esoteric sense of the sayings. They had 
 to the servants two distinct significations. The only one 
 which I could then comprehend was exoteric; that which 
 was known to my elders was the esoteric meaning. In 
 what is called "religion" there has been a similar distinc- 
 tion. We see this, not only in the "mysteries" of Greece 
 and Rome, but amongst the Jews; Esdras stating the follow- 
 ing as a command from God, " Some things shalt thou pub- 
 lish, and some things shalt thou show secretly to the wise " 
 (2 Esdras xv. 26). 
 
 When there exist two distinct explanations, or state- 
 ments, about the signification of an emblem, the one 
 "esoteric," true, and known only to the few, the other 
 " exoteric/' incorrect, and known to the many, it is clear 
 that a time may come when the first may be lost, and 
 the last alone remain. As an illustration, we can point to 
 the original and correct pronunciation of the word nim, 
 commonly pronounced Jehovah. Known only to a select 
 few, it became lost when these died without imparting it ; 
 yet what is considered to be the incorrect method of pro- 
 nouncing the word survives until to-day.* 
 
 * It is supposed by some that Jahveh is the proper pronunciation of this 
 word, but as the first letter may represent i, ja, ya, or e, arid the third u, v, 
 or o, whilst the second and fourth are the soft A, one may read the word Jhuh. 
 analogous to the Ju in Jupiter ; Jehu, the name of a king of Israel ; Yahu as 
 it is read on Assyrian inscriptions ; JeJio, as in Jehoshaphat ; Ehoh, analogous to
 
 xiii 
 
 We may fairly assume that, when two such meanings 
 exist, they are not identical, and that the one most com- 
 monly received is not the correct one. But when one alone 
 is known to exist, it becomes a question whether another 
 should be sought. If, it may be asked, the common people 
 are contented with a fable, believing it true, why seek to 
 enlighten them upon its hidden meaning ? To show the 
 bearing of this subject, let us notice what has always struck 
 me as remarkable. The second commandment declares to 
 the Jews, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, 
 or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under 
 the earth ; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them," etc. 
 (Exod. xx. 4). Yet we find, in Numbers xxi., that Jehovah 
 ordered Moses to frame a brazen serpent, whose power was 
 so miraculous that those who only looked at it were cured of 
 the evils inflicted by thanatoid snakes. 
 
 Then again, in the temple of the God who is reported 
 to have thus spoken, and who is also said to have declared 
 that He would dwell in the house that Solomon made 
 for Him, an ark, or box, was worshipped, and over it 
 Cherubim were seen. These were likenesses of something, 
 and the first was worshipped. We find it described as 
 being so sacred that death once followed a profane touching 
 of it (2 Sam. vi. 6, 7), and no fewer than 50,070 people were 
 done to death at Bethshemesh because somebody had ven- 
 tured to look inside the box, and had tried to search into 
 the mystery contained therein (1 Sam. vi. 19). It is curious 
 
 the Evoe or Euoe associated with Bacchus ; and Jdho, analogous to the J. A. O. 
 of the Gnostics. The Greek "Fathers" give the word as if equivalent to yave, 
 yaoh, yeho, and iao. 
 
 But the question is not how the word may be pronounced, but how it was 
 expressed in sound when used in religion by the Hebrew and other Semitic 
 nations, amongst whom it was a sacred secret, or ineffable name, not lightly 
 to be " taken in vain."
 
 xiv 
 
 that the Philistines, who must have touched the box to put 
 their strange offerings beside it (see 1 Sam. vi. 8), were not 
 particularly bothered. They were "profane"; and priests 
 only invent stories, which are applicable to the arcana which 
 they use in worship, to blind the eyes of and give a holy 
 horror to the people whom they govern. How David wor- 
 shipped the ark as being the representative of God we see in 
 2 Sam. vi. 14, 16, 17, 21. 
 
 The ark of the covenant was indeed regarded by the Jews 
 much as a saint's toe-nail, a crucifix, an image of the Virgin, 
 a bit of wood, or a rusty old nail is by the Roman Catholics. 
 So flagrant an apparent breach of the second commandment 
 was covered for the common Hebrews by the assertion that 
 the mysterious box was a token of God's covenant with His 
 people ; but that this statement was " exoteric," we feel sure, 
 when we find a similar ark existing and used in " the myste- 
 ries " of Egypt and Greece, amongst people who probably 
 never heard of Jews, and could by no chance know what 
 passed in the Hebrew temple. 
 
 When become dissatisfied with a statement, which is 
 evidently intended to be a blind, some individuals naturally 
 endeavour to ascertain what is behind the curtain. In this 
 they resemble the brave boy, who rushes upon a sheet and 
 turnip lantern, which has imposed upon his companions and 
 passed for a ghost. What is a bugbear to the many is often 
 a contemptible reptile to the few. Yet there are a great 
 number who would rather run from a phantom night after 
 night than grapple with it once, and would dissuade others 
 from being bold enough to encounter it. Nevertheless, even 
 the former rejoice when the cheat is exposed. 
 
 As when, by some courageous hand, that which has been 
 mistaken by hundreds for a spectre has been demonstrated to 
 be a crafty man, no one would endeavour to demonstrate the 
 reality of ghosts by referring to the many scores of men
 
 of all ranks who had been duped by the apparition thus 
 detected ; so, in like manner, when the falsehood of an 
 exoteric story is exhibited, it is no argument in its favour 
 that the vulgar in thousands and many a wise man have 
 believed it. Speaking metaphorically, we have many such 
 ghosts amongst ourselves ; phantoms, which pass for power- 
 ful giants, but are in reality perfect shams. Such we may 
 describe by comparing them to the apocryphal vampires. It 
 is to me a melancholy thing to contemplate the manner 
 in which mankind have, in every age and nation, made for 
 themselves bugbears, and then have felt fear at them. We 
 deride the African, who manufactures a Fetish, and then 
 trembles at its power, but the learned know perfectly well 
 that men made the devil, whom the pious fear, just as a 
 negro dreads Mumbo Jumbo. 
 
 In the fictitious narratives which passed for truth in the 
 dark ages of Christianity, there were accounts of individuals 
 who died and were buried, and who, after a brief repose in 
 the tomb, rose again. Some imagined that the resusci- 
 tated being was the identical one who had been interred. 
 Others believed that some evil spirit had appropriated the 
 body, and restored to it apparent vitality. Whatever the fiction 
 was, the statement remained unchallenged, that some dead 
 folk returned to earth, having the same guise as when they 
 quitted it. We believe that a similar occurrence has taken 
 place in religion. Heathendom died, and was buried ; yet, 
 after a brief interval, it rose again from its tomb. But, 
 unlike the vampire, its garb was changed, and it was 
 not recognised. It moved through Christendom in a seduc- 
 tive dress. If it were a devil, yet its clothing was that of a 
 sheep ; if a wolf, it wore broadcloth. If it ravened, the 
 victims were not pitied. Heathenism, by which I mean the 
 manners, morals and rites prevalent in pagan times or 
 countries, like a resuscitated vampire, once bore rule through-
 
 out Christendom, in which term is included all those parts 
 where Christian baptism is used by all the people, or the 
 vast majority. In most parts it still reigns supreme. 
 
 When vampires were discovered by the acumen of any 
 observer, they were, we are told, ignominiously killed, by a 
 stake being driven through the body ; but experience showed 
 them to have such tenacity of life that they rose again, 
 and again, notwithstanding renewed impalement, and were 
 not ultimately laid to rest till wholly burnt. In like manner, 
 the regenerated Heathendom, which dominates over the fol- 
 lowers of Jesus of Nazareth, has risen again and again, after 
 being transfixed. Still cherished by the many, it is 
 denounced by the few. Amongst other accusers, I raise my 
 voice against the Paganism which exists so extensively 
 in ecclesiastical Christianity, and will do my utmost to 
 expose the imposture. 
 
 In a vampire story, told in Thalaba, by Southey, the 
 resuscitated being takes the form of a dearly beloved maiden, 
 and the hero is obliged to kill her with his own hand. He 
 does so ; but, whilst he strikes the form of the loved one, he 
 feels sure that he slays only a demon. In like manner, 
 when I endeavour to destroy the current Heathenism, which 
 has assumed the garb of Christianity, I do not attack real 
 religion. Few would accuse a workman of malignancy who 
 cleanses from filth the surface of a noble statue. There 
 may be some who are too nice to touch a nasty subject; 
 yet even they will rejoice when some one else removes 
 the dirt. Such a scavenger is much wanted. 
 
 If I were to assert, as a general proposition, that religion 
 does not require any symbolism, I should probably win 
 assent from every true Scotch Presbyterian, every Wesleyan, 
 and every Independent. Yet I should be opposed by every 
 Papist, and by most Anglican Churchmen. But why ? Is 
 it not because their ecclesiastics have adopted symbolism into
 
 their churches and into their ritual ? They have broken the 
 second commandment of Jehovah, and refuse to see anything 
 wrong in their practice or gross in their imagery. But they 
 adopt Jehovah rather than Elohim, and break the command- 
 ments, said to be given upon Sinai, in good company. 
 
 The reader of the following pages will probably feel more 
 interest therein if he has some clue whereby he may guide 
 himself through their labyrinth. 
 
 From the earliest known times there seems to have been 
 in every civilised nation the idea of an unseen power. In 
 the speculations of thoughtful minds a necessity is recog- 
 nised for the existence of a Being who made all things who 
 is at times beneficent, sending rain and warmth, and who at 
 others sends storm, plague, famine, and war. After the 
 crude idea has taken possession of the thoughts, there has 
 been a desire to know something more of this Creator, and 
 an examination into the works of Nature has been made 
 with the view to ascertain the will and designs of the 
 Supreme. In every country this great ONE has been sup- 
 posed to inhabit the heaven above us, and consequently all 
 celestial phenomena have been noticed carefully. But the 
 mind soon got weary of contemplating about an essence, and, 
 contenting itself with the belief that there was a POWER, 
 began to investigate the nature of His ministers. These, 
 amongst the Aryans, were the sun, fire, storm, wind, the 
 sky, the day, night, etc. An intoxicating drink, too, was 
 regarded as an emanation from the Supreme. With this 
 form of belief men lived as they had done ere it existed, and 
 in their relations with each other may be compared to such 
 high class animals as elephants. Men can live peaceably 
 together without religion, just as do the bisons, buffaloes, 
 antelopes, and even wolves. The assumption that some 
 form of faith is absolutely a necessity for man is only 
 b
 
 founded on the fancies of some religious fanatics who know 
 little of the world.* 
 
 But as there is variety in the workings of the human 
 mind, so there were differences in the way wherein the 
 religious idea was carried out. Some regarded the sun and 
 
 * Whilst these sheets were passing through the press, there appeared a work, 
 published anonymously, hut reported to be by one of the most esteemed theologians 
 who ever sat upon an episcopal bench. It is entitled Supernatural Religion. 
 London : Longmans, 1874. From it we quote the following, vol. ii., p. 489: 
 
 " We gain infinitely more than we lose in abandoning belief in the reality of 
 Divine Revelation. Whilst we retain pure and unimpaired the treasure of Christian 
 Morality, we relinquish nothing but the debasing elements added to it by human 
 superstition. We are no longer bound to believe a theology which outrages reason 
 and moral sense. We are freed from base anthropomorphic views of God and His 
 government of the universe ; and from Jewish Mythology we rise to higher con- 
 ceptions of an infinitely wise and beneficent Being, hidden from our finite minds, 
 it is true, in the impenetrable glory of Divinity, but whose Laws of wondrous 
 comprehensiveness and perfection we ever perceive in operation around us. We are 
 no longer disturbed by visions of fitful interference with the order of Nature, but we 
 recognise that the Being who regulates the universe is without variableness or 
 shadow of turning. It is singular how little there is in the supposed Revelation of 
 alleged information, however incredible, regarding that which is beyond the limits of 
 human thought, but that little is of a character which reason declares to be the 
 wildest delusion. Let no man whose belief in the reality of a Divine Revelation 
 may be destroyed by such an inquiry complain that he has lost a precious posses- 
 sion, and that nothing is left but a blank. The Revelation not being a reality, that 
 which he has lost was but an illusion, and that which is left is the Truth. If he be 
 content with illusions, he will speedily be consoled ; if he be a lover only of truth, 
 instead of a blank, he will recognise that the reality before him is full of great 
 
 " If we know less than we have supposed of man's destiny, we may at least 
 rejoice that we are no longer compelled to believe that which is unworthy. The 
 limits of thought once attained, we may well be unmoved in the assurance that 
 all that we do know of the regulation of the universe being so perfect and wise, all 
 that we do not know must be equally so. Here enters the true and noble Faith 
 which is the child of reason. If we have believed a system, the details of which 
 must at one time or another have shocked the mind of every intelligent man, and 
 believed it simply because it was supposed to be revealed, we may equally believe in 
 the wisdom and goodness of what is not revealed. The mere act of communication 
 to us is nothing: Faith in the perfect ordering of all things is independent of 
 Revelation. 
 
 " The argument so often employed by Theologians that Divine Revelation is 
 necessary for man, and that certain views contained in that Revelation are required 
 by our moral consciousness, is purely imaginary, and derived from the Revelation 
 which it seeks to maintain. The only thing absolutely necessary for man is Truth 
 and to that, and that alone, must our moral consciousness adapt itself."
 
 xix 
 
 moon, the constellations and the planets, as ministers of the 
 unseen ONE, and, reasoning from what was known to what 
 was unknown, argued thus : " Throughout nature there 
 seems to be a dualism. In the sky there are a sun and moon ; 
 there are also sun and earth, earth and sea. In every set of 
 animals there are males and females." An inquiry into the 
 influence of the sun brought out the facts that by themselves 
 its beams were destructive ; they were only beneficent when 
 the earth was moist with rain. As the rain from heaven, 
 then, caused things on earth to grow, it was natural that the 
 main source of light and heat should be regarded as a male, 
 and the earth as a female. As a male, the sun was supposed 
 to have the emblems of virility, and a spouse whom he 
 impregnated, and who thereby became fertile. 
 
 In examining ancient Jewish, Phoenician, and other 
 Shemitic cognomens, I found that they consisted of a divine 
 name and some attribute of the deity, and that the last was 
 generally referrible equally to THE SUPREME, to the Sun, as 
 a god, and to the masculine emblem. If the deity was a 
 female, the name of her votary contained a reference to the 
 moon and the beauties or functions of women. The higher 
 ideas of the Creator were held only by a few, the many 
 adopted a lower and more debased view. In this manner 
 the sun became a chief god and the moon his partner, and 
 the former being supposed to be male and the latter female, 
 both became associated with the ideas which all have of 
 terrestrial animals. Consequently the solar deity was asso- 
 ciated in symbolism with masculine and the moon with 
 feminine emblems. 
 
 An inquiry into antiquity, as represented by Babylonians, 
 Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Greeks, Etrus- 
 cans, Romans, and others, and into modern faiths still cur- 
 rent, as represented in the peninsula of India, in the 
 Lebanon, and elsewhere, shows that ideas of sex have been
 
 very generally associated with that of creation. God has 
 been described as a king, or as a queen, or as both united. 
 As monarch, he is supposed to be man, or woman, or both. 
 As man differs from woman in certain peculiarities, these 
 very means of distinction have been incorporated into the 
 worship of god and goddess. Rival sects have been ranged 
 in ancient times under the symbol of the "]" and the O> as 
 in later times they are under the cross and the crescent. 
 The worship of God the Father has repeatedly clashed with 
 that of God the Mother, and the votaries of each respectively 
 have worn badges characteristic of the sex of their deity. 
 An illustration of this is to be seen amongst ourselves ; one 
 sect of Christians adoring chiefly the Trinity, another reve- 
 rencing the Virgin. There is a well-known picture, indeed, 
 of Mary worshipping her infant ; and to the former is given 
 the title Mater Creatoris, " the mother of the Creator." Our 
 sexual sections are as well marked as those in ancient Jeru- 
 salem, which swore by Jehovah and Ashtoreth respectively. 
 The idea of sexuality in religion is quite compatible with 
 a ritual and practice of an elaborate character, and a depth of 
 piety which prefers starvation to impurity, or, as the Bible 
 has it, to uncleanness. To eat "with the blood" was 
 amongst the Hebrews a crime worthy of death ; to eat with 
 unwashed hands was a dreadful offence in the eyes of the 
 Pharisees of Jerusalem ; and in the recent famine in Bengal, 
 we have seen that individuals would rather die of absolute 
 hunger, and allow their children to perish too, than eat 
 bread or rice which may have been touched by profane 
 hands, or drink milk that had been expressed by British 
 milkmaids from cows' udders. Yet these same Hindoos, the 
 very particular sect of the Brahmins, have amongst them- 
 selves a form of worship which to our ideas is incompatible 
 with real religion. The folks referred to adore the Creator, 
 and respect their ceremonial law even more deeply, than did
 
 the Hebrews after the time of the Babylonish captivity ; but 
 they have a secret cult in which and in the most matter-of- 
 fact way they pay a very practical homage to one or 
 other of the parts which is thought by the worshipper to be 
 a mundane emblem of the Creator. 
 
 The curious will find in Essays on the Religion of the 
 Hindus, by H. H. Wilson, in the Dabistan, translated by 
 Shea and Troyer (Allen and Co., London), 3 vols., 8vo., and 
 in Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of London 
 (Triibner and Co.), vols. 1 and 2, much information on the 
 method of conducting the worship referred to. The first 
 named author thinks it advisable to leave the Brahminic 
 "rubric" for the "Sakti Sodhana," for the most part under 
 the veil of the original Sanscrit, and I am not disposed wholly 
 to withdraw it. 
 
 But Christians are not pure ; some of my readers may 
 have seen a work written by an Italian lady of high birth, 
 who was in early life forced into a nunnery, and who left it 
 as soon as she had a chance. In her account she tells 
 us how the women in the monastery were seduced by reve- 
 rend Fathers, who were at one time the instruments of vice, 
 at another the guides to penitence. Their practice was 
 to instruct their victims that whatever was said or done must 
 be accompanied by a pious sentence. Thus, "I love you 
 dearly" was a profane expression; but "I desire your 
 company in the name of Jesus," and " I embrace in you the 
 Holy Virgin," were orthodox. In like manner, the Hindus 
 have prayers prescribed for their use, when the parts are to 
 be purified prior to proceeding to extremities, when they are 
 introduced to each other, in the agitation which follows, and 
 when the ceremony is completed. Everything is done, as 
 Ritualists would say, decently and in order ; and a pious 
 orgie, sanctified by prayers, cannot be worse than the 
 penance ordained by some "confessors" to those faithful
 
 damsels whose minds are plastic enough to believe that 
 a priest is an embodiment of the Holy Ghost, and that they 
 become assimilated to the Blessed Virgin when they are over- 
 shadowed by the power of the Highest (Luke i. 35). 
 
 There being, then, in "religion" a strong sensual 
 element, ingenuity has been exercised to a wonderful extent 
 in the contrivance of designs, nearly or remotely significant 
 of this idea, or rather union of the conceptions to which we 
 have referred. Jupiter is a Proteus in form ; now a man, 
 now a bull, now a swan, now an androgyne. Juno, or her 
 equivalent, is sometimes a woman, occasionally a lioness, and 
 at times a cow. All conceivable attributes of man and 
 woman were symbolised ; and gods were called by the names 
 of power, love, anger, desire, revenge, fortune, etc. Every- 
 thing in creation that resembled in any way the presumed 
 Creator, whether in name, in character, or in shape, was 
 supposed to represent the deity. Hence a palm tree was a 
 religious emblem, because it is long, erect, and round ; an 
 oak, for it is hard and firm ; a fig-tree, because its leaves 
 resemble the male triad. The ivy was sacred from a similar 
 cause. A myrtle was also a type, but of the female, because 
 its leaf is a close representation of the vesica piscis. 
 Everything, indeed, which in any way resembles the charac- 
 teristic organs of man and woman, became symbolic of the 
 one or the other deity, Jupiter or Juno, Jehovah or 
 Astarte, the Father or the Virgin. Sometimes, but very 
 rarely, the parts in question were depicted au naturel, and 
 the means by which creation is effected became the mundane 
 emblem of the Almighty ; and two huge phalli were seen 
 before a temple, as we now see towers or spires before our 
 churches, and minarets before mosques. (Lucian, Dea 
 Syria.) 
 
 Generally, however, it was considered the most correct plan 
 to represent the organs by some conventional form, understood
 
 by the initiated, but not by the unlearned. Whatever was 
 upright, and longer than broad, became symbolic of the 
 father; whilst that which was hollow, cavernous, oval, or 
 circular, symbolised the mother. A sword, spear, arrow, / 
 dart, battering ram, spade, ship's prow, anything indeed 
 intended to pierce into something else was emblematic of the ; 
 male ; whilst the female was symbolised as a door, a hole, a 
 sheath, a target, a shield, a field, anything indeed which was [ 
 to be entered. The Hebrew names sufficiently indicate the 
 plan upon which the sexes were distinguished ; the one 
 is a " 13T zachar, a perforator or digger, and the other ! " I ^P 3 
 nekebah, a hole or trench, i. e. male and female. 
 
 These symbols were not necessarily those of religious 
 belief. They might indicate war, heroism, prowess, royalty, 
 command, etc., or be nothing more than they really were. 
 They only symbolised the Creator when they were adopted 
 into religion. Again, there was a still farther refinement ; 
 and advantage was taken of the fact, that one symbol was 
 tripliform, the other single ; one of one shape, and the other 
 different. Consequently, a triangle, or three things, arranged 
 so that one should stand above the two, became emblematic 
 of the Father, whilst an unit symbolised the Mother. 
 
 These last three sentences deserve close attention, for 
 some individuals have, in somewhat of a senseless fashion, 
 objected, that a person who can see in a tortoise an emblem 
 of the male, and in a horse-shoe an effigy of the female 
 organ, must be quite too fantastical to deserve notice. But 
 to me, as to other inquirers, these things are simply what 
 they appear to be when they are seen in common life. Yet 
 when the former creature occupies a large space in mytho- 
 logy ; when the Hindoo places it as the being upon which the 
 world stands, and the Greeks represent one Venus as resting 
 upon a tortoise and another on a goat; and when one knows 
 that in days gone by, in which people were less refined, the
 
 was displayed where the horse-shoe is now, and that 
 some curiously mysterious attributes were assigned to the 
 part in question ; we cannot refuse to see the thing signified 
 in the sign. 
 
 Again, inasmuch as what we may call the most prominent 
 part of the tripliform organ was naturally changeable in 
 character, being at one time soft, small, and pendent, and at 
 another hard, large, and upright, those animals that resem- 
 bled it in these respects became symbolical. Two serpents, 
 therefore, one Indian, and the other Egyptian, both of which 
 are able to distend their heads and necks, and to raise them 
 up erect, were emblematic, and each in its respective country 
 typified the father, the great Creator. In like manner, 
 another portion of the triad was regarded as similar in shape 
 and size to the common hen's egg. As the celebrated physi- 
 ologist, Haller, remarked, " Omne vivum ex ovo," every 
 living thing comes from an egg ; so more ancient biologists 
 recognised that the dual part of the tripliform organ was as 
 essential to the creation of a new being as the central pillar. 
 Hence an egg and a serpent became a characteristic of " the 
 Father," El, Ab, Ach, Baal, Asher, Melech, Adonai, Jahu, 
 etc. When to this was added a half moon, as in certain 
 Tyrian coins, the trinity and unity were symbolised, and 
 a faith expressed like the one held in modern Rome, that the 
 mother of creation is co-equal with the father; the one 
 seduces by her charms, and the other makes them fructify. 
 
 To the Englishman, who, as a rule, avoids talking upon 
 the subject which forms the basis of many an ancient 
 religion, it may seem incredible that any individual, or set of 
 writers, could have exercised their ingenuity in finding 
 circumlocutory euphemisms for things which, though 
 natural, are rarely named. Yet the wonder ceases when we 
 find, in the writings of our lively neighbours, the French, a 
 host of words intended to describe the parts referred to,
 
 which correspond wholly with the pictorial emblems adopted 
 by the Greeks and others. 
 
 As English writers have, as a rule, systematically avoided 
 making any distinct reference to the sexual ideas embodied 
 in ancient Paganism, so they have, by their silence, encou- 
 raged the formation of a school of theology which has no 
 solid foundation, except a very animal one. As each indi- 
 vidual finds out this for himself, it becomes a question with 
 him how far the information shall be imparted to others. So 
 rarely has the determination to accuse the vampire been 
 taken, that we can point to very few English books to which 
 to refer our readers. We do not know one such that is 
 easily accessible ; It. Payne Knight's work, and the addition 
 thereto, having been privately printed, is not often to be 
 found in the market. To give a list of the foreign works 
 which the author has consulted, prior to and during the 
 composition of his book on Ancient Faiths, would be almost 
 equivalent to giving a catalogue of part of his library. He 
 may, however, indicate the name of one work which is 
 unusually valuable for reference, viz., Histoire abregee des 
 Di/erens Cultes, par J. A. Dulaure, 2 vols., small 8vo., 
 Paris, 1825. Though out of print, copies can generally be 
 procured through second-hand booksellers. Another work, 
 Eecherches sur les Mysteres de Paganisme, by St. Croix, is 
 equally valuable, but it is very difficult to procure a copy. 
 
 The ancient Jews formed no exception to the general law 
 of reverence for the male emblem of the Creator; and 
 though we would, from their pretensions to be the chosen 
 people of God, gladly find them exempt from what we 
 consider to be impurities, we are constrained to believe that, 
 even in the worship of Jehovah, more respect was given to 
 the symbol than we, living in modern times, think that it 
 deserves. In their Scriptures we read of Noah, whose infirm 
 temper seems to have been on a par with his weakness for
 
 wine, cursing one of his three sons because, whilst drunk, he 
 had negligently exposed his person, and the young man had 
 thought the sight an amusing one. Ham had no reverence 
 for the symbol of the Creator, but Shem and Japhet had, 
 and covered it with a veil as respectfully as if it had been the 
 ineffable framer of the world (Gen. ix. 21-27). As our feel- 
 ings of propriety induce us to think that the father was a 
 far greater sinner than the son, we rejoice to know that the 
 causeless curse never fell, and that Ham, in the lands of 
 Canaan, Assyria, and Babylonia, and subsequently in Car- 
 thaginian Spain, were the masters of those Hebrews, whose 
 V/.t' 3 main force, in old times, lay in impotent scoldings, such as 
 Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Caliban. 
 
 One of the best proofs of the strong sexual element 
 which existed in the religion of the Jews is the fact that 
 Elohim, one of the names of the Creator amongst the 
 Hebrews, is represented, Gen. xvii. 10-14, as making cir- 
 cumcision a sign of his covenant with the seed of Abraham ; 
 and in order to ascertain whether a man was to be regarded 
 as being in the covenant, God is supposed to have looked at 
 the state of the virile organ, or as the Scripture has it of 
 the hill of the foreskin. We find, indeed, that Jehovah was 
 quite as particular, and examined a male quite as closely as 
 Elohim : for when Moses and Zipporah were on their way 
 from Midian to Egypt, Exod. iv. 24, Jehovah having looked 
 at the "trinity" of Moses' son, and having found it as per- 
 fect as when the lad was born, sought to slay him, and would 
 have done so unless the mother had mutilated the organ 
 according to the sacred pattern. Again, we find in Josh. v. 2, 
 and in the following verses, that Jehovah insisted upon all 
 the Hebrew males having their virile member in the covenant 
 condition ere they went to attack the Canaanites. We cannot 
 suppose that any scribe could dwell so much as almost every 
 scriptural writer does upon the subject of circumcision, had
 
 not the masculine emblem been held in religious veneration 
 amongst the Jewish nation. 
 
 But the David who leaped and danced, obscenely as we 
 should say, before the ark an emblem of the female 
 creator who purchased his wife from her royal father by 
 mutilating a hundred Philistines, and presenting the foreskins 
 which he had cut off therefrom " in full tale " to the king 
 (1 Sam. xviii. 27, 2 Sam. iii. 14), who was once the captain 
 of a monarch who thought it a shame beyond endurance to 
 be abused, tortured, or slain by men whose persons were in 
 a natural condition (1 Sam. xxxi. 4), and who imagined 
 that he, although a stripling, could conquer a giant, because 
 the one had a sanctified and the other a natural member is 
 the man whom we know as the author of Psalms with which 
 Christians still refresh their minds and comfort their souls. 
 The king who, even in his old age, was supposed to think so 
 much of women that his courtiers sought a lovely damsel as 
 a comfort for his dying bed, is believed to have been the 
 author of the noble nineteenth Psalm, and a number of 
 others full of holy aspirations. It is clear, then, that sexual 
 ideas on religion are not incompatible with a desire to be 
 holy. The two were co-existent in Palestine ; they are 
 equally so in Bengal. 
 
 We next find that Abraham, the cherished man of God, 
 the honoured patriarch of the Jews, makes his servant lay 
 his hand upon the master's member, whilst he takes an 
 oath to do his bidding, precisely like a more modern 
 Palestinian might do ; and Jacob does the same with Joseph. 
 See Gen. xxiv. 3, and xlvii. 29. 
 
 As it is not generally known that the expression, " under 
 my thigh," is a euphemism for the words, " upon the symbol 
 of the Creator," I may point to two or three other passages 
 in which the thigh (translated in the authorised version 
 loins) is used periphrastically : Genesis .xxxv. 2, xlvi. 26;
 
 Exod. i. 5. See Ginsburg, in Kitto's Biblical Cyclopaedia, 
 vol. 3, p. 348, s. v. OATH. 
 
 I have on two occasions read, although I failed to make 
 a note of it, that an Arab, during the Franco-Egyptian war, 
 when accused by General Kleber of treachery, not only 
 vehemently denied it, but when he saw himself still dis- 
 trusted, he uncovered himself before the whole military staff, 
 and swore upon his trinity that he was guiltless. In the 
 Lebanon, once in each year, every female considers it her 
 duty to salute with her lips the reverenced organ of the Old 
 Sheik. 
 
 Again we learn, from Deut. xxiii. 1, that any unsanctified 
 mutilation of this part positively entailed expulsion from the 
 congregation of the Lord. Even a priest of the house of 
 Aaron could not minister, as such, if his masculinity had 
 been in any way impaired (Lev. xxi. 20) ; and report says 
 that, in our Christian times, Popes have to be privately 
 perfect ; see also Deut. xxv. 11, 12. Moreover, the inquirer 
 finds that the Jewish Scriptures teem with promises of 
 abundant offspring to those who were the favourites of 
 Jehovah ; and Solomon, the most glorious of their monarchs, 
 is described as if he were a Hercules amongst the daughters 
 of Thespius. Nothing can indicate the licentiousness of the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem more clearly than the writings of 
 Ezekiel. 2 If, then, in Hebrew law and practice, we find 
 such a strong infusion of the sexual element, we cannot be 
 surprised if it should be found elsewhere, and gradually 
 influence Christianity. 
 
 We must next notice the fact, that what we call impurity 
 in religious tenets does not necessarily involve indecency in 
 practice. The ancient Romans, in the time of the early 
 kings, seem to have been as proper as early Christian 
 maidens. It is true that, in the declining days of the empire 
 
 2 See Ezekiel xxii. 1-30, and compare Jerem. v. 7, 8.
 
 city, exhibitions that called forth the fierce denunciations 
 of the fathers of the Church took place ; but we find very 
 similar occurrences in modern Christian capitals. In Spartan 
 days, chastity and honesty were not virtues, but drunkenness 
 was a vice. In Christian England, drunkenness is general, 
 and we cannot pride ourselves upon universal honesty and 
 chastity. It is not the national belief, but the national 
 practice, which evidences a people's worth. Spain and Ire- 
 land, called respectively " Catholic " and " the land of 
 saints," cannot boast of equality with " infidel " France and 
 "free-thinking" Prussia. England will be as earnest, as 
 upright, and as civilised, when she has abandoned the 
 heathen elements in her religion, as when she hugs them as 
 if necessary to her spiritual welfare. Attachment to the 
 good parts of religion is wholly distinct from a close embrace 
 of the bad ones ; and we believe he deserves best of his 
 country who endeavours to remove every possible source of 
 discord. None can doubt the value of the order, "Do to 
 others as you would wish others to do to you." If all unite 
 to carry this out, small differences of opinion may at once 
 be sunk. How worthless are many of the dogmas that 
 people now fight about, the following pages will show. 
 
 In our larger work we have endeavoured to show that 
 there may be a deep sense of religion, a feeling of personal 
 responsibility, so keen as to influence every act of life, with- 
 out there being a single symbol used. The earnest Sakya 
 Muni, or Buddha, never used anything as a sacred emblem ; 
 nor did Jesus, who followed him, and perhaps unconsciously 
 propagated the Indian's doctrine. When the Apostles were 
 sent out to teach and preach, they were not told to carry out 
 any form of ark or crucifix. To them the doctrine of the 
 Trinity was unknown, and not one of them had any parti-
 
 cular reverence .for her whom we call the Virgin Mary, who, 
 if she was ' virgo intacta ' when Jesus was born, was cer- 
 tainly different when she bore his brothers. Paul and Peter, 
 though said to be the fathers of the Koman Church, never 
 used or recommended the faithful to procure for themselves 
 " a cross " as an aid to memory. The early Christians 
 recognised each other by their deeds, and never had, like 
 the Jews, to prove that they were in covenant with God, by 
 putting a mutilated part of their body into full view. We, 
 with the Society of Friends, prefer primitive to modern 
 Christianity. 
 
 In the following pages the author has felt himself obliged 
 to make use of words which are probably only known to 
 those who are more or less " scholars." He has to treat of 
 parts of the human body, and acts which occur habitually in 
 the world, which in modern times are never referred to in 
 polite society, but which, in the period when the Old Testa- 
 ment was written, were spoken of as freely as we now talk of 
 our hands and feet. In those days, everything which was 
 common was spoken of without shame, and that which 
 occurred throughout creation, and was seen by every one, 
 was as much the subject of conversation as eating and 
 drinking is now. The Hebrew writers were extremely coarse 
 in their diction, and although this has been softened down 
 by subsequent redactors, much which is in our modern 
 judgment improper still remains. For example, where we 
 simply indicate the sex, the Jewish historians used the word 
 which was given to the symbol by which male and female 
 are known ; for example, in Gen. i. 27, and v. 2, and in a 
 host of other places, the masculine and feminine are spoken 
 of as zachar and nekebah, which is best translated as 
 ' borers " and " bored." Another equally vulgar way of 
 describing men is to be found in 1 Kings xiv. 10. But
 
 these observations would not serve us much in symbolism 
 did we not know that they were associated with certain 
 euphemisms by which when one thing is said another is 
 intended ; for an illustration let us take Isaiah vii. 20, and 
 ask what is meant by the phrase, " the hair of the feet " ? 
 It is certain that the feet are never hairy, and consequently 
 can never be shaved. Again, when we find in Gen. xlix. 10, 
 "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver 
 from between his feet," and compare this with Deut. xxviii. 
 57, and 2 Kings xviii. 27, where the words are, in the 
 original, "the water of their feet," it is clear that symbolic 
 language is used to express something which, if put into the 
 vernacular, would be objectionable to ears polite. Again, in 
 Genesis xxiv. 2 and xlvii. 29, and in Heb. xi. 21, it is well 
 known to scholars that the word " thigh " and " staff" are 
 euphemisms to express 'that part which represents the male. 
 In Deut. xxiii. 1, we have evidence, as in the last three verses 
 quoted, of the sanctity of the part referred to, but the lan- 
 guage is less refined. Now-a-days our ears are not attuned to 
 the rough music which pleased our ancestors, and we have to 
 use veiled language to express certain matters. In the 
 following pages, the words which I select are drawn from the 
 Latin, Greek, Sanscrit, Shemitic, or Egyptian. Hea, Anu, 
 and Asher replace the parts referred to in Deut. xxiii. 1 ; 
 Osiris, Asher, Linga, Mahadeva, Siva, Priapus, Phallus, etc., 
 represent the Hebrew zachar ; whilst Isis, Parvati, Yoni, 
 Sacti, Astarte, Ishtar, etc., replace the Jewish nekebah. The 
 junction of these parts is spoken of as Ashtoreth, Baalim,. 
 Elohim, the trinity and unity, the androgyne deity, the arba, 
 or mystic four, and the like. 
 
 I will only add, that what I refer to has long been known 
 to almost every scholar except English ones. Of these a few 
 are learned ; but for a long period they have systematically 
 refrained from speaking plainly, and have written in such a
 
 xxxii 
 
 manner as to be guilty not only of suppressio veri but of 
 suggestio falsi. 
 
 After reading thus far, I can imagine many a person 
 saying with astonishment, ''Are these things so?" and 
 following up his thoughts by wondering what style of per- 
 sons they were, or are, who could introduce into religion such 
 matters as those of which we have treated. 
 
 In reply, I can only say that I have nothing extenuated, 
 and set down nought in malice. But the first clause of the 
 assertion requires modification, for in this volume there are 
 many things omitted which I have referred to at length in 
 my larger work. In that I have shown, not only that 
 religious fornication existed in ancient Babylon, but that 
 there is reason to believe that it existed also in Palestine. 
 The word ^1P> Kadesh, which signifies "pure, bright, 
 young, to be holy, or to be consecrated," is also the root from 
 which are formed the words Kadeshah and Kadeshim, which 
 are used in the Hebrew writings, and are translated in our 
 authorised version "whore" and "sodomite." See Deut. 
 xxiii. 17. 
 
 Athanasius tells us something of this as regards the 
 Phoenicians, for he says, (Oratio Contr. Gent., part i., p. 24.) 
 "Formerly, it is certain that Phoenician women prostituted 
 themselves before their idols, offering their bodies to their 
 gods in the place of first fruits, being persuaded that they 
 pleased the goddess by that means, and made her propitious 
 to them." 
 
 Strabo mentions a similar occurrence at Comana, in 
 Pontus, book xiii., c. iii. p. 36 and notices that an enor- 
 mous number of women were consecrated to the use of 
 worshippers in the temple of Venus at Corinth. 
 
 Such women exist in India, and the priests of certain 
 temples do everything in their power to select the loveliest 
 of the sex, and to educate them so highly as to be attractive.
 
 The customs which existed in other places seem to have 
 been known in Jerusalem, as we find in 1 Kings xiv. 24., 
 xv. 12, that Kadeshim were common in Judea, and in 
 2 Kings xxiii. 7, we discover that these "consecrated ones" 
 were located "by the temple," and were associated with 
 women whose business was " to make hangings for the 
 grove." What these tissues were and what use was made 
 of them will be seen in Ezekiel xvi. 1 6. 
 
 Even David, when dancing before the ark, shamelessly 
 exposed himself. Solomon erected two pillars in the porch 
 of his temple, and called them Jachin and Boaz, and 
 added pomegranate ornaments. We have seen how Abra- 
 ham and Jacob ordered their inferiors to swear by putting 
 the hand upon " the thigh " ; and we have read of the 
 atrocities which occurred in Jerusalem in the time of 
 Ezekiel. Yet the Jews are still spoken of as God's chosen 
 people, and the Psalmist as a man after God's own heart. 
 
 But without going so far back, let us inquire into the 
 conduct of the sensual Turks, and of the general run of the 
 inhabitants of Hindostan. From everything that I can 
 learn and I have repeatedly conversed with those who have 
 known the Turks and Hindoos familiarly these are in every 
 position in life as morally good as common Christians are. 
 
 My readers must not now assert that I am either a 
 partisan or a special pleader when I say this ; they must 
 consider that I am making the comparison as man by man. 
 I do not, as missionaries do, compare the most vicious 
 Mahomedan and Brahmin with the most exemplary Christian ; 
 nor do I, on the other hand, compare the best Ottoman and 
 Indian with Christian criminals ; but I take the whole in a 
 mass, and assert that there is as large a per centage of good 
 folks in India and Turkey as there is in Spain and France, 
 England or America. 
 
 The grossest form of worship is compatible with general
 
 purity of morals. The story of Lucretia is told of a Pagan 
 woman, whilst those of Er and Onan, Tamar and Judah relate 
 to Hebrews. David, who seduced Bathsheba, and killed her 
 husband, was not execrated by " God's people," nor was he 
 consequently driven from his throne as Tarquin was by the 
 Romans. 
 
 In prowess and learning, the Babylonians, with their 
 religious prostitution, were superior to the " chosen people." 
 Of the wealth and enterprise of the Phoenicians, Ancient 
 History tells us abundance. 
 
 There are probably no three cities in ancient or modern 
 times which contain so muny vicious individuals as London, 
 Paris, and New York. Yet there are none which history 
 tells us of that were more powerful. No Babylonian army 
 equalled in might or numbers the army of the Northern 
 United States. Nineveh never wielded armies equal to 
 those of the French Napoleon and the German William, 
 and Rome never had an empire equal to that which is 
 headed by London. 
 
 The existence of personal vice does not ruin a nation in 
 its collective capacity. Nor does the most 'sensual form of 
 religion stunt the prosperity of a people, so long as the latter 
 do not bow their necks to a priesthood. 
 
 The greatest curse to a nation is not a bad religion, but a 
 form of faith which prevents manly inquiry. I know of no 
 nation of old that was priest-ridden which did not fall under 
 the swords of those who did not care for hierarchs. 
 
 The greatest danger is to be feared from those ecclesias- 
 tics who wink at vice, and encourage it as a means whereby 
 they can gain power over their votaries. So long as every 
 man does to other men as he would that they should do to 
 him, and allows no one to interfere between him and his 
 Maker, all will go well with the world.
 
 WHILST the following sheets were going through the press, 
 my friend Mr. Newton, who has not only assisted me in a 
 variety of ways, but who has taken a great deal of interest in 
 the subject of symbolism, gave me to understand that there 
 were some matters in which he differed very strongly from 
 me in opinion. One of these was as to the correct interpre- 
 tation of the so-called Assyrian grove; another was the 
 signification of one of Lajard's gems, Plate iv., Fig. 3 ; and 
 the most conspicuous of o'ur divergencies was respecting the 
 fundamental, or basic idea, which prompted the use in 
 religion of those organs of reproduction which have, from 
 time immemorial, been venerated in Hindostan, and, as far as 
 we can learn, in Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Tyre, 
 Sidon, Carthage, Jerusalem, Etruria, Greece, and Eome, as 
 well as in countries called uncivilised. I feel quite disposed 
 to acquiesce in the opinions which my old friend has formed 
 respecting the Assyrian grove, but I am not equally ready to 
 assent to his other opinions. 
 
 Where two individuals are working earnestly for the 
 elucidation of truth, there ought, in my opinion, to be not 
 only a tolerance of disagreement, but an honest effort to 
 submit the subject to a jury of thoughtful readers. 
 
 As I should not feel satisfied to allow any other person 
 to express my opinions in his words, it seemed to me only 
 fair to Mr. Newton to give him the facility of enunciating 
 his views in his own language. It was intended, originally, 
 that my friend's observations upon the " grove " should be 
 followed by a dissertation upon other relics of antiquity 
 notably upon that known as Stonehenge but circumstances 
 have prevented this design being carried into execution. 
 
 When two individuals who have much in common go
 
 over the same ground, it is natural, indeed almost necessary, 
 that they should dwell upon identical topics. Hence it will 
 be found that there are points which are referred to by us 
 both, although possibly in differing relationship. 
 
 As my own part of the following remarks were printed 
 long before I saw Mr. Newton's manuscript, I hope to be 
 pardoned for allowing them to stand. The bulk of the 
 volume will not be increased to the extent of a full page. 
 
 If I were to be asked the reason why I differ from Mr. 
 Newton in his exalted idea about the adoption of certain 
 bodily organs as types, tokens, or emblems of an unseen and 
 an inscrutable Creator, my answer would be drawn from the 
 observations made upon every known order of priesthood, 
 from the most remote antiquity to the present time. No 
 matter what the creed, whether Ancient or Modern, the main 
 object of its exponents and supporters is to gain over the 
 minds of the populace. This has never yet been done, and 
 probably never will be attempted, by educating the mind of 
 the multitude to think. 
 
 In Great Britain we find three sets of hierarchs opposed 
 to each other, and all equally, by every means in their power, 
 prohibit independent inquiry. 
 
 A young .Romanist convert, as we have recently seen, is 
 discouraged from persevering in the study of history and 
 logic ; a Presbyterian is persecuted, as far as the law of the 
 land permits, if he should engage in an honest study of the 
 Bible, of the God which it presents for our worship, and of 
 the laws that it enforces. A bishop of the Church of 
 England is visited by the puny and spiteful efforts of 
 some of his nominal equals if he ventures to treat Jewish 
 writings as other critics study the tomes of Livy or of 
 Herodotus. 
 
 One set of men have banded together to elect a god on 
 earth, and endeavour to coerce their fellow-mortals to believe
 
 that a selection by a few old cardinals can make the one 
 whom they choose to honour "infallible." 
 
 Another set of men, who profess to eschew the idea of 
 infallibility in a Pope, assume that they possess the quality 
 themselves, and endeavour to blot out from the communion 
 of the faithful those who differ from them " on points which 
 God hath left at large." 
 
 Surely, when with all our modern learning, thought, and 
 scientific enquiry, hierarchs still set their faces against an 
 advance in knowledge, and quell, if possible, every endeavour 
 to search after truth, we are not far wrong when we assert, 
 that the first priests of barbarism had no exalted views of 
 such an abstract subject as life, in the higher and highest 
 senses, if indeed in any sense of the word. 
 
 Another small point of difference between my friend and 
 me is, whether there has been at any time a figured represen- 
 tation of a kakodoemon except since the beginning of 
 Christianity and if, by way of stretching a point, we call 
 Typhon Satan or the Devil by this name, as being opposed 
 to the Agathodcemon, whether we are justified in providing 
 this evil genius with wings. As far as I can judge from 
 Chaldean and Assyrian sculptures, wings were given to the 
 lesser deities as our artists assign them to modern angels. 
 The Babylonian Apollyon, by whatever name he went, was 
 winged but so were all the good gods. The Egyptians 
 seem to have assigned wings only to the favourable divinities. 
 The Jews had in their mythology a set of fiery flying 
 serpents, but we must notice that their cherubim and sera- 
 phim were all winged, some with no less than three pairs 
 much as Hindoo gods have four heads and six, or any other 
 number of arms. 
 
 Mr. Newton assumes that the dragon mentioned in Rev. 
 xii. was a winged creature, but it is clear from the context, 
 especially from verses 14 and 15, that he had no pinions, for
 
 he was unable to follow the woman to whom two aerial oars 
 had been given. 
 
 The dragon, as we know it, is, I believe, a mediaeval 
 creation ; such a creature is only spoken of in the Bible in 
 the book of Revelation, and the author of that strange pro- 
 duction drew his inspiration on this point from the Iliad, 
 where a dragon is described as of huge size, coiled like a 
 snake, of blood-red colour, shot with changeful hues, and 
 having three heads. Homer, Liddell, and Scott add used 
 Spoixoov and o$<r indifferently for a serpent. So does the author 
 of Rev. in ch. xx. 2. I have been unable to discover any 
 gnostic gem with anything like a modem dragon on it. 
 
 Holding these views, I cannot entertain the proposition 
 that the winged creatures in the very remarkable gem already 
 referred to are evil genii. 
 
 In a question of this kind the mind is perhaps uncon- 
 sciously biassed by comparing one antiquarian idea with 
 another. A searcher amongst Etruscan vases will see not 
 only that the angel of death is winged, but that Cupid, Eros, 
 or by whatever other name " desire " or love goes, frequently 
 hovers over the bridal or otherwise voluptuous couch, and 
 attends beauty at her toilet. The Greeks also gave to Eros 
 a pair of wings, intended, it is fancied, to represent the 
 flutterings of the heart, produced when lovers meet or even 
 think of each other. Such a subordinate deity would be in 
 place amongst so many sexual emblems as Plate iv. Fig. 3 
 contains, whilst a koakd&mon would be a " spoil sport," and 
 would make the erected serpents drop rather than remain in 
 their glory. 
 
 These matters are apparently of small importance, but 
 when one is studying the signification of symbolical lan- 
 guage, he has to pay as close an attention, and extend the 
 net of observation over as wide a sea as a scholar does when 
 endeavouring to decipher some language written in long-
 
 forgotten characters, and some divergence of opinion between 
 independent observers sharpens the intellect more than it 
 tries the temper.
 
 PAGAN AND CHEISTIAN SYMBOLISM. 
 
 PLATE I. 
 
 This is taken from a photograph of a small bronze image 
 in the Mayer collection of the Free Museum, in Liverpool. 
 The figure stands about nine inches high, and represents 
 Isis, Horus, and the fish. It is an apt illustration of an 
 ancient custom, still prevalent amongst certain Christians, 
 of reverencing a woman, said to be a virgin, giving suck to 
 her child, and of the association of Isis, Venus, and Mary 
 with the fish. Friday, for example, is, with the Romanists, 
 both " fish day," and " dies Veneris." Fish are known to 
 be extraordinarily prolific. There was a belief that animals, 
 noted for any peculiarity, imparted their virtues to those who 
 ate them ; consequently, tigers' flesh was supposed to give 
 courage, and snails to give sexual power. The use of fish 
 in connubial feasts is still common. Those who consider it 
 pious or proper to eat fish on Venus' day, or Friday, pro- 
 claim themselves, unconsciously, adherents to those heathen 
 ideas which deified parts about which no one now likes to 
 talk. The fish has in one respect affinity with the mandrake. 
 
 Since the first publication of this work, a friend has sug- 
 gested to me another reason, besides its fertility, for the fish 
 being emblematic of woman. From his extensive experience as 
 a surgeon, and especially among the lower order of courtesans, 
 he has repeatedly noticed during the hot months of the year 
 that the parts which he had to examine have a very strong 
 odour of fish. My own observations in the same department 
 lead me to endorse his assertion. Consequently, I think 
 that in warm climates, where the utmost cleanliness can
 
 2 
 
 scarcely keep a female free from odour, scent, as well as 
 other attributes, has had to do with the selection of the fish 
 as an emblem of woman. 
 
 Still further, I have been informed by another friend 
 that in Yorkshire, and I understand in other counties of 
 England, the double entente connected with the fish is so 
 marked that it is somewhat difficult to render it into decent 
 phraseology. It will suffice to say that in the county men- 
 tioned, Lais or Phryne would be spoken of as "a choice bit 
 of fish," and that a man who bore on his features the stamp 
 which is imprinted by excessive indulgence, would be said to 
 have indulged too much in " a fish diet." I do not suppose 
 that in the Yorkshire Ridings the folks are unusually well 
 acquainted with mythology, yet it is curious to find amongst 
 their inhabitants a connection between Venus and the Fish, 
 precisely similar to that which has obtained in the most 
 remote ages and in far distant climes. 
 
 It is clear from all these facts that the fish is a symbol 
 not only of woman, but of the yoni. 
 
 PLATE II. 
 
 Is supposed to represent Cannes, Dagon, or some other fish 
 god. It is copied from Lajard, Sur le Culte de Venus, 
 pi. xxii., 1, la, and is thus described, " Statuette inedite, de 
 gres houiller ou micace, d'un brun verdatre. Elle porte par 
 devant, sur une bande perpendiculaire, un legende en carac- 
 teres Syriaques tres anciens (Cabinet de M. Lambert, 
 a Lyon)." I can find no clue to the signification of the 
 inscription. It would seem paradoxical to say that there is 
 something in common between the bull-headed deity and 
 Cannes. It is so, nevertheless. One indicates, par excel- 
 lence, physical, and the other sexual, power. That Cannes 
 may, for the Assyrians, represent a man who played a part 
 with them similar to that of Penn among the Indians of 
 Pennsylvania, I do not deny ; but, when we find a similar 
 fish-god in Philistia and Hindostan, and know that Crishna
 
 PLATE II. 
 
 U >t-U>^\ / 
 
 CKJ 
 
 E$ 
 hi 
 
 P 
 
 Jyif 
 
 1 111 
 
 i .' \ 1
 
 PLATE III
 
 8 
 
 once appeared as a fish, the explanation does not suffice. 
 It is curious that Jesus of Nazareth should be called l%Qvs, 
 or " a fish "; but this only proves that the religion of Christ 
 has been adulterated by Paganism. 
 
 PLATE III. 
 
 Figs. 1 and 4 are illustrations of the antelope as a 
 religious emblem amongst the Assyrians. The first is from 
 Layard's Nineveh, and in it we see carried in one hand a 
 triply branched lotus ; the second, showing the regard for the 
 spotted antelope, and for "the branch," is from Bonomi's 
 Nineveh and its Palaces. 
 
 Fig. 2 illustrates Bacchus, with a mystic branch in one 
 hand, and a cup in the other ; his robe is covered with spots 
 arranged in threes. The branch is emblematic of the arbor 
 vita, or tree of life, and its powers of sprouting. Such a 
 symbol is, by outsiders, figured on the houses of newly 
 married couples amongst the Jews of Morocco, and seems to 
 indicate the desire of friends that the man will show that he 
 is vigorous, and able to have many sprouts from the tree of 
 life. It will be noticed that on the fillet round the god's 
 head are arranged many crosses. From Hislop's Two 
 Babylons, and Smith's Dictionary, p. 208. 
 
 Figs. 3 and 5 are intended to show the prevalence of the 
 use of spots on priestly dresses ; they are copied from 
 Hislop's Two Babylons, and Wilkinson, vol. vi., pi. 33, and 
 vol. iv., pp. 341, 353. For an explanation of the significa- 
 tion of spots, see Plate iv., Fig. 6, infra. 
 
 PLATE IV. 
 
 Fig. 1 represents an Assyrian priest worshipping by 
 presentation of the thumb, which had a peculiar signifi- 
 cation. Sometimes the forefinger is pointed instead, and in 
 both cases the male is symbolised. It is taken from a plate 
 illustrating a paper by E. C. Kavenshaw, Esq., in Journal 
 of Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xvi., p. 114. Amongst the
 
 Hebrews, and probably all the Shemitic tribes, bohen, the 
 thumb, and ezba, the finger, were euphemisms. They are 
 so in some parts of Europe to the present day.* The hand 
 thus presented to the grove resembles a part of the Buddhist 
 cross, and the shank of a key, whose signification is described 
 in a subsequent page. 
 
 Fig. 2 is a Buddhist emblem ; the two fishes forming the 
 circle represent the mystic yoni, the sacti of Mahadeva, while 
 the triad above them represents the mystic trinity, the triune 
 father, Siva, Bel, or Asher, united with Anu and Hea. 
 From Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xviii., p. 392, 
 plate ii. 
 
 Fig. 3 is a very remarkable production. It originally 
 belonged to Mons. Lajard, and is described by him in his 
 second Memoire, entitled Recherches sur le Culte, ks Sym- 
 boles, les Attribute, et les Monumens Figures de Venus 
 (Paris, 1837), in pages 32, et seq., and figured in plate i., 
 fig. 1. The real age of the gem and its origin are not 
 known, but the subject leads that author to believe it to be 
 of late Babylonian workmanship. The stone is a white 
 agate, shaped like a cone, and the cutting is on its lower 
 face. The shape of this gem indicates its dedication to 
 Venus. The central figures represent the androgyne deity, 
 Baalim, Astaroth, Elohim, Jupiter genetrix, or the bearded 
 Venus Mylitta. On the left side of the cutting we notice an 
 erect serpent, whose rayed head makes us recognise the 
 solar emblem, and its mundane representative, mentula 
 arrecta ; on a spot opposite to the centre of the male's body 
 we find a lozenge, symbolic of the yoni, whilst opposite to 
 his feet is the amphora, whose mystic signification may 
 
 * A friend ha informed me, for example, that he happened, whilst at Pesth, 
 to look at a gorgeously dressed and handsome young woman. To his astonishment 
 she pointed her thumh precisely in the manner adopted by the Assyrian priests ; 
 this surprised the yonng man still farther, and being, as it were, fascinated, he 
 continued to gaze. The damsel then grasped the thumb by the other hand ; thus 
 indicating her profession. My friend, who was wholly inexperienced in the ways of 
 the world, only understood what was meant when he saw my explanation of Fig. 1.
 
 PLATE IV 
 
 f]
 
 readily be recognised ; it is meant for Ouranos, or the Sun 
 fructifying Terra, or the earth, by pouring from himself into 
 her. The three stars over the head of the figure, and the 
 inverted triangle on its head, are representations of the 
 mythological four, equivalent to the Egyptian symbol of 
 life (figs. 31, 32). Opposite to the female are the moon, 
 and another serpent, which may be recognised by physiologists 
 as symbolic of tensio clitoridis. In a part corresponding to 
 the diamond, on the left side, is a six-rayed wheel, emblem- 
 atic, apparently, of the sun. At the female's feet is placed a 
 cup, which is intended to represent the passive element in 
 creation. As such it is analogous to the crescent moon, and 
 is associated in the Roman church with the round wafer, the 
 symbol of the sun ; the wafer and cup thus being synony- 
 mous with the sun and moon in conjunction. It will be 
 observed that each serpent in the plate is apparently 
 attacked by what we suppose is a dragon. There is some 
 difficulty in understanding the exact idea intended to be 
 conveyed by these ; my own opinion is that they symbolise 
 Satan, the old serpent that tempted Eve, viz., fierce lust, 
 Eros, Cupid, or desire, which, both in the male and female, 
 brings about the arrectation which the serpents figure. It 
 is not to be passed by without notice, that the snake which 
 represents the male has the tail so curved as to suggest 
 the idea of the second and third elements of the trinity. 
 Monsieur Lajard takes the dragons to indicate the bad prin- 
 ciple in nature, i. e., darkness, night, Ahriman, etc. On the 
 pyramidal portion of the gem the four sides are ornamented 
 by figures three represent animals remarkable for their 
 salacity, and the fourth represents Bel and Ishtar in con- 
 junction, in a fashion which can be more easily imagined 
 than described in the mother tongue. The learned will 
 find the position assumed in Lucretius, De Rerum Naturd, 
 book iv., lines 1256, seq. 
 
 Fig. 4 is also copied from Lajard, plate i., fig. 10. It is 
 the reverse of a bronze coin of Vespasian, struck in the
 
 6 
 
 island of Cyprus, and represents the conical stone, under 
 whose form Venus was worshipped at Paphos, of which 
 Tacitus remarks, Hist, ii., c. 3, " the statue bears no resem- 
 blance to the human form, but is round, broad at one end 
 and gradually tapering at the other, like a goal. The reason 
 of this is not ascertained." It is remarkable that a male 
 emblem should be said to represent Venus, but the stone 
 was an aerolite, like that which fell at Ephesus, and was 
 said to represent Diana. It is clear that when a meteoric 
 stone falls, the chief priests of the district can say that it 
 is to be taken as a representative of their divinity. 
 
 My very ingenious friend, Mr. Newton, suggests that the 
 Venus in question was androgyne ; that the cone is a male 
 emblem, within a door, gateway, or delta, thus resembling 
 the Assyrian grove. It is certain that the serpents, the two 
 stars, and the two candelabra, or altars with flame, favour his 
 idea. 
 
 Fig. 5 represents the position of the hands assumed by 
 Jewish priests when they give the benediction to their flock. 
 It will be recognised that each hand separately indicates the 
 trinity, whilst the junction of the two indicates the unit. 
 The whole is symbolic of the mystic Arba the four, i. e., 
 the trinity and unity. One of my informants told me that, 
 being a " cohen " or priest, he had often administered the 
 blessing, and, whilst showing to me this method of bene- 
 diction, placed his joined hands so that his nose entered the 
 central aperture. On his doing so, I remarked " bene nasa- 
 tus" and the expression did more to convince him of the 
 probability of my views than anything else. 
 
 Fig. 6, modified in one form or another, is the position 
 assumed by the hand and fingers, when Roman and Angli- 
 can bishops or other hierarchs give benediction to their 
 people. A similar disposition is to be met with in Indian 
 mythology, when the Creator doubles himself into male and 
 female, so as to be in a position to originate new beings. 
 Whilst the right hand in Plate VII. symbolises the male,
 
 PLATE V. 

 
 the left hand represents the mystic feminine circle. In 
 another plate, which is to be found in Moor's Hindu Pan- 
 theon, there is a similar figure, but draped fully, and in that 
 the dress worn by the celestial spouse is covered with groups 
 of spots arranged in triads and groups of four. With regard 
 to the signification of spots, we may notice that they indi- 
 cated, either by their shape or by their name, the emblem of 
 womankind. A story of Indra, the Hindoo god of the sky, 
 confirms this. He is usually represented as bearing a robe 
 covered with eyes ; but the legend runs that, like David, he 
 became enamoured of the wife of another man, who was very 
 beautiful and seen by chance, but her spouse was one whose 
 austere piety made him almost equal to Brahma. The evil 
 design of Indra was both frustrated and punished. The 
 woman escaped, but the god became covered with marks that 
 recalled his offence to mind, for they were pictures of the 
 yoni. These, by the strong intercession of Brahma with the 
 Rishi, were changed by the latter into eyes. This story 
 enables us to recognise clearly the hidden symbolism of 
 the Hindoo and Egyptian eye, the oval representing the 
 female, and the circle the male lodged therein i.e., the 
 androgyne creator. 
 
 PLATE V. 
 
 Is a copy of a mediaeval Virgin and Child, as painted in 
 Delia Robbia ware in the South Kensington Museum, a copy 
 of which was given to me by my friend, Mr. Newton, to 
 whose kindness I am indebted for many illustrations of 
 ancient Christian art. It represents the Virgin and Child 
 precisely as she used to be represented in Egypt, in India, 
 in Assyria, Babylonia, Phoenicia, and Etruria ; the accident 
 of dress being of no mythological consequence. In the 
 framework around the group, we recognise the triformed 
 leaf, emblematic of Asher ; the grapes, typical of Dionysus ; 
 the wheat ears, symbolic of Ceres, I'abricot fendu, the mark 
 of womankind, and the pomegranate rimmon, which charac-
 
 8 
 
 terises the teeming mother. The living group, moreover, 
 are placed in an archway, delta, or door, which is symbolic 
 of the female, like the vesica piscis, the oval or the circle. 
 This door is, moreover, surmounted by what appear to be 
 snails, whose supposed virtue we have spoken of under Plate 
 i. This identification of Mary with the Sacti is strong ; 
 by-and-by we shall see that it is as complete as it is possible 
 to be made. 
 
 PLATE VI. 
 
 Is a copy of figures given in Bryant's Ancient Mythology, 
 plates xiii., xxviii., third edition, 1807. The first two illus- 
 trate the story of Palemon and Cetus, introducing the 
 dolphin. That fish is symbolic of the female, in conse- 
 quence of the assonance in Greek between its name and that 
 of the womb, delphis and delphus. The tree symbolises the 
 arbor vitce, the life-giving sprout ; and the ark is a symbol of 
 the womb. The third figure, where a man rests upon a rock 
 and dolphin, and toys with a mother and child, is equally 
 suggestive. The male is repeatedly characterised as a rock, 
 hermes, menhir, tolmen, or upright stone, the female by the 
 dolphin, or fish. The result of the junction of these 
 elements appears in the child, whom both parents welcome. 
 The fourth figure represents two emblems of the male 
 creator, a man and trident, and two of the female, a dolphin 
 and ship. The two last figures represent a coin of Apamea, 
 representing Noah and the ark, called Cibotus. Bryant 
 labours to prove that the group commemorates the story 
 told in the Bible respecting the flood, but there is strong 
 doubt whether the story was not of Babylonian origin. The 
 city referred to was in Phrygia, and the coin appears to have 
 been struck by Philip of Macedon. The inscription round 
 the head is ATT. K. IOVA *IAIIIIIOC. ATT. ; on the 
 reverse, EIIMA. VP. AA. EHANAP. OTB. APXI AIIA- 
 ME&N. See Ancient Faiths, second edition, Vol. n., pp. 
 123, and 385 - 392.
 
 PLATE VI
 
 PLATE VII. 
 
 RIGHT SIDE WA 
 
 (THE SAOTI) 
 
 (BRAMAH VAIVARTTA PURANU. PROFESSOR WILSON.) 
 
 ARDANARI-ISWARA.
 
 PLATE VIII.
 
 9 
 
 PLATE VII. 
 
 Is a copy of an original drawing made by a learned Hindoo 
 pundit for Wm. Simpson, Esq., of London, whilst he was 
 in India studying its mythology. It represents Brahma 
 supreme, who in the act of creation made himself double, 
 i.e., male and female. In the original the central part 
 of the figure is occupied by the triad and the unit, but 
 far too grossly shown for reproduction here. They are 
 replaced by the crux ansata. The reader will notice the 
 triad and the serpent in the male hand, whilst in the female 
 is to be seen a germinating seed, indicative of the relative 
 duties of father and mother. The whole stands upon a 
 lotus, the symbol of androgyneity. The technical word for 
 this incarnation is " Arddha Nari." 
 
 PLATE VIII. 
 
 Is Devi, the same as Parvati, or Bhavani. It is copied from 
 Moor's Pantheon, plate xxx. The goddess represents the 
 feminine element in the universe. Her forehead is marked 
 by one of the symbols of the four creators, the triad, and 
 the unit. Her dress is covered with symbolic spots, and one 
 foot peculiarly placed is marked by a circle having a dot 
 in the interior. The two bear the same signification as the 
 Egyptian eye. I am not able to define the symbolic import 
 of the articles held in the lower hands. Moor considers that 
 they represent scrolls of paper, but this I doubt. The raised 
 hands bear the unopened lotus flower, and the goddess sits 
 upon another. 
 
 PLATE IX. 
 
 Consists of six figures, copied from Maurice's Indian Anti- 
 quities, vol. vi., p. 273, and two from Bryant's Mythology, 
 vol. ii., third edition, pp. 203 and 409. All are symbolic of 
 the idea of the male triad : a central figure, erect, and rising 
 above the other two. In one an altar and fire indicate, 
 mystically, the linga ; in another, the same is pourtrayed as
 
 10 
 
 a man, as Madaheva always is ; in another, there is a tree 
 stump and serpent, to indicate the same idea. The two 
 appendages of the linga are variously described; in two 
 instances as serpents, in other two as tree and concha, and 
 snake and shell. The two last seem to embody the idea 
 that the right " egg " of the male germinates boys, whilst 
 the left produces girls ; a theory common amongst ancient 
 physiologists. The figure of the tree encircled by the ser- 
 pent, and supported by two stones resembling "tolmen," is 
 very significant. The whole of these figures seem to point 
 unmistakably to the origin of the very common belief that 
 the male Creator is triune. In Assyrian theology the central 
 figure is Bel, Baal, or Asher ; the one on the right Anu, 
 that on the left Hea. See Ancient Faiths, second edition, 
 Vol. i., pp. 83-85.* 
 
 There are some authors who have treated of tree and 
 serpent worship, and of its prevalence in ancient times, 
 without having, so far as I can see, any idea of that which 
 the two things typify. The tree of knowledge, the tree 
 of life, the serpent that tempted Eve, and still tempts man 
 by his subtlety, are so many figures of speech which the wise 
 understand, but which to the vulgar are simply trees and 
 snakes. In a fine old bas-relief over the door of the Cathe- 
 dral at Berne, we see an ancient representation of the last 
 judgment. An angel is dividing the sheep from the goats, 
 and devils are drawing men and women to perdition, by fixing 
 hooks or pincers on the portions of the body whence their 
 
 * For those who have not an opportunity of consulting the work referred to, 
 I may observe that the Assyrian godhead consisted of four persons, three being 
 male and one female. The principal god was Asher, the upright one, the equiva- 
 lent of the Hindoo Mahadeva, the great holy one, and of the more modern Priapus. 
 He was associated with Anu, lord of solids and of the lower world, equivalent to 
 the " testis," or egg on the right side. Hea was lord of waters, and represented 
 the left " stone." The three formed the trinity or triad. The female was named 
 Ishtar or Astarte, and was equivalent to the female organ, the yoni or vulva the 
 KTefe of the Greeks. The male god in Egypt was Osiris, the female Isis, and these 
 names are frequently used as being euphemistic, and preferable to the names which 
 are in vulgar use to describe the male and female parts.
 
 PLATE IX.
 
 PLATE X.
 
 11 
 
 sins sprung. One fat priest, nude as our risen bodies must 
 be, is being savagely pulled to hell by the part symbolised 
 by tree and serpent, whilst she whom he has adored and 
 vainly sought to disgrace, is rising to take her place amongst 
 the blest. It is not those of the sex of Eve alone that are 
 inveigled to destruction by the serpent. 
 
 PLATE X. 
 
 Contains pagan symbols of the trinity or linga, with or 
 without the unity or yoni. 
 
 Fig. 1 represents a symbol frequently met with in ancient 
 architecture, etc. It represents the male and female ele- 
 ments, the pillar and the half moon. 
 
 Fig. 2 represents the mystic letters said to have been 
 placed on the portal of the oracle of Delphi. By some it is 
 proposed to read the two letters as signifying "he or she is;" 
 by others the letters are taken to be symbolic of the triad 
 and the unit. If they be, the pillar is a very unusual form 
 for the yoni. An ingenious friend of mine regards the 
 upright portion as a " slit," but I cannot wholly agree with 
 him, for in Fig. 1 the pillar cannot be looked upon as an 
 aperture. 
 
 Fig. 3 is a Hindoo sectarial mark, copied from Moor's 
 Hindu Pantheon, and is one out of many indicating the 
 union of the male and female. 
 
 Fig. 4 is emblematic of the virgin and child. It 
 identifies the two with the crescent. It is singular that 
 some designers should unite the moon with the solar symbol, 
 and others with the virgin. We believe that the first indi- 
 cate ideas like that associated with Baalim, and Ashtaroth in 
 the plural, the second that of Astarte or Venus in the 
 singular. Or, as we may otherwise express it, the married 
 and the immaculate virgin. 
 
 Fig. 5 is copied from Sharpe's Egyptian Mythology, 
 p. 15. It represents one of the Egyptian trinities, and 
 is highly symbolic, not only indicating the triad, here
 
 12 
 
 Osiris, Isis, and Nepthys, but its union with the female 
 element. The central god Osiris is himself triune, as he 
 bears the horns symbolic of the goddess Athor and the 
 feathers of the god Ba. 
 
 Fig. 6 is a Hindoo sectarial mark, from Moor's Hindu 
 Pantheon. The lozenge indicates the yoni. For this asser- 
 tion we not only have evidence in Babylonian gems, copied by 
 Lajard, but in Indian and Etruscan designs. We find, for 
 example, in vol. v., plate xlv., of Antiquites Etrusques, etc., 
 par. F. A. David (Paris, 1785), a draped female, wearing on 
 her breast a half moon and mural crown, holding her hands 
 over the middle spot of the body, so as to form a " lozenge" 
 with the forefingers and thumbs. The triad in this figure is 
 very distinct; and we may add that a trinity expressed by 
 three balls or three circles is to be met with in the remotest 
 times and in most distant countries. 
 
 Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are copied from Cabrera's account of 
 an ancient city discovered near Palenque, in Guatemala, 
 Spanish America (London, 1822). Although they appear to 
 have a sexual design, yet I doubt whether the similarity is 
 not accidental. After a close examination of the plates 
 given by Cabrera, I am inclined to think that nothing of the 
 ling-yoni element prevailed in the mind of the ancient 
 American sculptors. All the males are carefully draped in 
 appropriate girdles, although in some a grotesque or other 
 ornament, such as a human or bestial head, a flower, etc., is 
 attached to the apron or "fall" of the girdle, resembling the 
 sporran of the Highlander and the codpiece of mediaeval 
 knights and others. I may, however, mention some very 
 remarkable sculptures copied ; one is a tree, whose trunk is 
 surrounded by a serpent, and whose fruit is shaped like 
 the vesica piscis ; in another is seen a youth wholly 
 unclothed, save by a cap and gaiters, who kneels before a 
 similar tree, being threatened before and behind by some 
 fierce animal. This figure is peculiar, differing from all the 
 rest in having an European rather than an American head
 
 18 
 
 and face. Indeed, the features, etc., remind me of the late 
 Mr. Cobden, and the cap is such as yachting sailors usually 
 wear. There is also another remarkable group, consisting 
 apparently of a man and woman standing before a cross, 
 proportioned like the conventional one in use amongst 
 Christians. Everything indicates American ideas, and there 
 are ornaments or designs wholly unlike any that I have seen 
 elsewhere. The man appears to offer to the cross a gro- 
 tesque human figure, with a head not much unlike Punch, 
 with a turned-up nose, and a short pipe shaped like a fig in 
 his mouth. The body is well formed, but the arms and 
 thighs are rounded off like "flippers" or "fins." Resting 
 at the top of the cross is a bird, like a game cock, orna- 
 mented by a necklace. The male in this and the other 
 sculptures is beardless, and that women are depicted, can 
 only be guessed at by the inferior size of some of the 
 figures. It would be unprofitable to carry the description 
 farther. 
 
 Figs. 11, 12 are from vol. i., plates xix. and xxiii. of a 
 remarkably interesting work, Recherches sur V origine, V esprit, 
 et les progres des Arts de la Grece, said to be written 
 by D'Harcanville, published at London, 1785. The first 
 represents a serpent, coiled so as to symbolise the male triad, 
 and the crescent, the emblem of the yoni. 
 
 Fig. 12 accompanies the bull on certain coins, and sym- 
 bolises the sexual elements, le baton et V anneau. They 
 were used, as the horse-shoe is now, as a charm against 
 bad luck, or vicious demons or fairies. 
 
 Fig. 13 is, like figure 5, from Sharpe's Egyptian Mytho- 
 logy, p. 14, and is said to represent Isis, Nepthys, and 
 Osiris ; it is one of the many Mizraite triads. The Christian 
 trinity is of Egyptian origin, and is as surely a pagan doctrine 
 as the belief in heaven and hell, the existence of a devil, of 
 archangels, angels, spirits and saints, martyrs and virgins, 
 intercessors in heaven, gods and demigods, and other forms 
 of faith which deface the greater part of modern religions.
 
 14 
 
 Figure 14 is a symbol frequently seen in Greek churches, 
 but appears to be of pre-christian origin.* The cross 
 we have elsewhere described as being a compound male 
 emblem, whilst the crescent symbolises the female element 
 in creation. 
 
 Figure 15 is from D'Harcanville, Op. Git., vol. i., plate 
 xxiii. It resembles Figure 11, supra, and enables us by the 
 introduction of the sun and moon to verify the deduction 
 drawn from the arrangement of the serpent's coils. If the 
 snake's body, instead of being curved above the 8 like 
 tail, were straight, it would simply indicate the linga and 
 the sun ; the bend in its neck, however, indicates the yoni 
 and the moon. 
 
 Figure 16 is copied from plate xvi., fig. 2, of Recueil de 
 Pierres Antiques Graves, folio, by J. M. Raponi (Home, 
 1786). The gem represents a sacrifice to Priapus, indicated 
 by the rock, pillar, figure, and branches given in our plate. 
 A nude male sacrifices a goat ; a draped female holds a kid 
 ready for immolation ; a second man, nude, plays the double 
 pipe, and a second woman, draped, bears a vessel on her 
 head, probably containing wine for a libation. 
 
 Figure 17 is from vol. i. Recherches, etc., plate xxii. In 
 this medal the triad is formed by a man and two coiled 
 serpents on the one side of the medal, whilst on the reverse 
 are seen a tree, surrounded by a snake, situated between two 
 rounded stones, with a dog and a conch shell below. See 
 supra, Plate ix., Fig. 6. 
 
 PLATE XI. 
 
 With two exceptions, Figs. 4 and 9, exhibits Christian 
 emblems of the trinity or linga, and the unity or yoni, alone 
 or combined ; the whole being copied from Pugin's Glossary 
 of Ecclesiastical Ornament (London, 1869). 
 
 Fig. 1 is copied from Pugin, plate xvii., and indicates a 
 
 There is an able essay on this subject in No. 267 of the Edinburgh Review 
 which almost exhausts the subject but is too long for quotation here.
 
 15 
 
 double union of the trinity with the unity, here represented 
 as a ring, V anneau. 
 
 Figs. 2, 3, are from Pugin, plate xiv. In figure 2, the 
 two covered balls at the base of each limb of the cross are 
 extremely significant, and if the artist had not mystified 
 the free end, the most obtuse worshipper must have recog- 
 nised the symbol. We may add here that in the two forms 
 of the Maltese cross, the position of the lingam is reversed, 
 and the egg-shaped bodies, with their cover, are at the free 
 end of each limb, whilst the natural end of the organ is left 
 unchanged. See figs. 35 and 36. This form of cross is 
 Etruscan. Fig. 3 is essentially the same as the preceding, 
 and both may be compared with Fig. 4. The balls in this 
 cross are uncovered, and the free end of each limb of the 
 cross is but slightly modified. 
 
 Fig. 4 is copied in a conventional form from plate xxxv., 
 fig. 4, of Two Essays on the Worship of Priapus (London, 
 1865). It is thus described (page 147) : " The object was 
 
 found at St. Agati di Goti, near Naples It is a crux 
 
 cmsata formed by four phalli, with a circle of female organs 
 round the centre ; and appears by the look to have been 
 intended for suspension. As this cross is of gold, it had no 
 doubt been made for some personage of rank, possibly an 
 ecclesiastic." We see here very distinctly the design of the 
 egg- and sistrum-shaped bodies. When we have such an 
 unmistakable bi-sexual cross before our eyes, it is impossible 
 to ignore the signification of Figs. 2 and 3, and Plate xii., 
 Figs. 4 and 7. 
 
 Figs. 5, 6 are from Pugin, plates xiv. and xv., and repre- 
 sent the trinity with the unity, the triune god and the virgin 
 united in one. 
 
 Fig. 7 represents the central lozenge and one limb of 
 a cross, figured plate xiv. of Pugin. In this instance the 
 Maltese cross is united with the symbol of the virgin, being 
 essentially the same as Fig. 9, infra. It is a modified form 
 of the crux ansata.
 
 16 
 
 Fig. 8 is a compound trinity, being the finial of each 
 limb of an ornamental cross. Pugin, plate xv. 
 
 Fig. 9 is a well-known Egyptian symbol, borne in the 
 hand of almost every divinity. It is a cross, with one limb 
 made to represent the female element in creation. The 
 name that it technically bears is crux ansata, or " the cross 
 with a handle." A reference to Fig. 4 serves to verify the 
 idea which it involves. 
 
 Fig. 10 is from Pugin, plate xxxv. In this figure 
 the cross is made by the intersection of two ovals, each 
 a vesica piscis, an emblem of the yoni. Within each limb a 
 symbol of the trinity is seen, each of which is associated 
 with the central ring. 
 
 Fig. 11 is from Pugin, plate xix., and represents the arbor 
 vitte, the branch, or tree of life, as a triad, with which the 
 ring is united. 
 
 It has been said by some critics that the figures above 
 referred to are mere architectural fancies, which never had 
 pretensions to embody a mystery; and that any designer 
 would pitch upon such a style of ornamentation although 
 profoundly ignorant of the doctrine of the trinity and unity- 
 But this assumption is not borne out by fact ; the ornaments 
 on Buddhist topes have nothing in common with those of 
 Christian churches ; whilst in the ruined temple of the 
 sun at Marttand, India, the trefoil emblem of the trinity is 
 common. Grecian temples were profusely ornamented there- 
 with, and so are innumerable Etruscan sculptures, but they do 
 not represent the trinity and unity. It has been reserved for 
 Christian art to crowd our churches with the emblems of 
 Bel and Astarte, Baalim and Ashtoreth, linga and yoni, 
 and to elevate the phallus to the position of the supreme 
 deity, and assign to him a virgin as a companion, who 
 can cajole him by her blandishment, weary him by wail- 
 ing, or induce him to change his mind by her interces- 
 sions. Christianity certainly requires to be purged of its 
 heathenisms.
 
 PLATE XII
 
 17 
 
 PLATE XII. 
 
 Contains both pagan and Christian emblems. 
 
 Fig. 1 is from Pugin, plate xviii., and is a very common 
 finial representing the trinity. Its shape is too significant to 
 require an explanation; yet with such emblems our Christian 
 churches abound, that the Trinity may never be absent from 
 the minds of man or woman ! 
 
 Fig. 2 is from Pugin, plate xxi. It is a combination 
 of ideas concealing the union patent in Fig. 4, Plate xi., supra. 
 
 Fig. 3 is from Moor's Hindu Pantheon. It is an orna- 
 ment borne by Devi, and symbolises the union of the triad 
 with the unit. 
 
 Fig. 4 is from Pugin, plate xxxii. It is a double 
 cross made up of the male and female emblems. It is 
 a conventionalised form of Fig. 4, Plate xi., supra. Such 
 eight-rayed figures, made like stars, seem to have been very 
 ancient, and to have been designed to indicate the junction of 
 male and female. 
 
 Fig. 5 is from Pugin, plate xvii., and represents the 
 trinity and the unity. 
 
 Fig. 6 is a Buddhist emblem from Birmah, Journal 
 of Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xviii., p. 392, plate i., fig. 
 52. It represents the short sword, le bracquemard, a male 
 symbol. 
 
 Fig. 7. is from Pugin, plate xvii. See Plate xi., Fig. 3, 
 supra. 
 
 Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 are Buddhist (see Fig. 6, supra), 
 and symbolise the triad. 
 
 Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 are from Pugin, and simply 
 represent the trinity. 
 
 Figs. 18 and 19 are common Grecian emblems. The 
 first is associated with Neptune and water, the second with 
 Bacchus. With the one we see dolphins, emblems of the 
 womb, the name of the two being assonant in Greek ; with 
 the other, the saying, sine Baccho et Cerere friget Venus, 
 must be coupled. 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 PLATE XIII. 
 
 Consists of various emblems of the triad and the unit, drawn 
 almost exclusively from Grecian, Etruscan, Roman, and 
 Indian gems, figures, coins, or sculptures, Maffei's Gemme 
 Antiche Figurate, Raponi's Recueil, and Moor's Hindu Pan- 
 theon, being the chief authorities. 
 
 PLATE XIV. 
 
 Is a copy of a small Hindoo statuette in the Mayer Collec- 
 tion in the Free Museum, Liverpool. It probably repre- 
 sents Parvati, the Hindoo virgin, and her child. The right 
 hand of the figure makes the symbol of the yoni with the 
 forefinger and thumb, the rest of the fingers typifying the 
 triad. In the palm and on the navel is a lozenge, 
 emblematic of woman. The child, perhaps Crishna, equi- 
 valent to the Egyptian Horus and the Christian Jesus, 
 bears in its hand one of the many emblems of the Hnga, and 
 stands upon a lotus. The monkey introduced into the group 
 plays the same part as the cat, cow, lioness, and ape in the 
 Egyptian mythology, being emblematic of that desire which 
 eventuates in the production of offspring. 
 
 PLATE XV. 
 
 Fig. 1, the cupola, is well known in modern Europe ; it is 
 equally so in Hindostan, where it is sometimes accompanied 
 by pillars of a peculiar shape. In one such compound the 
 design is that of a cupola, supported by closely placed pillars, 
 each of which has a " capital," resembling " the glans " of 
 physiologists ; in the centre there is a door, wherein a nude 
 female stands, resembling in all respects Figure 61, except in 
 dress and the presence of the child. This was copied 
 by the late Mr. Sellon, from a Buddhist Dagopa in the 
 Jumnar Cave, Bombay Presidency, a tracing of his sketch 
 having been given to me by William Simpson, Esq., London. 
 
 The same emblem may be found amongst the ancient 
 Italians. Whilst I was staying in Malta during the carnival
 
 PLATE XIII 
 
 A WA 
 
 IU H y/ (jt\ 
 
 {-^.J
 
 PLATE XIV.
 
 PLATE XV.
 
 PLATE XVI.
 
 19 
 
 time in 1872, 1 saw in all directions men and women selling 
 cakes shaped like the yoni shown in Fig. 1. These sweet- 
 meats had no special name, but they came in and went out 
 with the carnival. 
 
 Fig. 2 represents Venus standing on a tortoise, whose 
 symbolic import will be seen by referring to Fig. 74, infra. 
 It is copied from Lajard, Sur le Culte de Venus, plate iiia., 
 fig. 5, and is stated by him to be a drawing of an Etruscan 
 candelabrum, existing in the Royal Museum at Berlin. In 
 his account of Greece, Pausanias mentions that he saw one 
 figure of Venus standing on a tortoise, and another upon 
 a ram, but he declines to give the reason of the conjunction. 
 
 PLATE XVI. 
 
 Is a representation of Siva, taken from Moor's Hindu Pan- 
 theon, plate xiii. Siva is supposed to be the oldest of the 
 Indian deities, and to have been worshipped by the abori- 
 gines of Hindostan, before the Aryans invaded that country. 
 It is thought that the Vedic religion opposed this degrading 
 conception at the first, but was powerless to eradicate it. 
 Though he is yet the most popular of all the gods, Siva is 
 venerated, I understand, chiefly by the vulgar. Though he 
 personifies the male principle, there is not anything indecent 
 in pictorial representations of him. In one of his hands 
 is seen the trident, one of the emblems of the masculine 
 triad ; whilst in another is to be seen an oval sistrum-shaped 
 loop, a symbol of the feminine unit. On his forehead he 
 bears an eye, symbolic of the Omniscient, the sun, and the 
 union of the sexes. 
 
 As it has been doubted by some readers, whether I am 
 justified in regarding the sistrum as a female emblem, I 
 append here a quotation from Socrates' Ecclesiastical History, 
 Bonn's translation, p. 281, seq. In Rome, in the early time 
 of Theodosius, "when a woman was. detected in adultery 
 . . . they shut her up in a narrow brothel, and obliged 
 her to prostitute herself in a most disgusting manner ; causing
 
 little bells to be rung at the time ... As soon as the 
 emperor was apprised of this indecent usage, he would by no 
 means tolerate it; but having ordered the__Sisr^ (for so 
 these places of penal prostitution were denominated) to be 
 pulled down," &c. One can as easily see why a female 
 emblem should mark a brothel in Rome as a male symbol 
 did at Pompeii.
 
 Figure 1. 
 
 This Figure represents Assyrian priests offering in the 
 presence of what is supposed to be Baal or the representa- 
 tive of the sun god and of the grove. The first is typified by 
 the eye, with wings and a tail, which make it symbolic of 
 the male triad and the female unit. The eye, with the 
 central pupil, is in itself emblematic of the same. The 
 grove represents mystically le verger de Cypris. On the 
 right stands the king ; on the left are two priests, the fore- 
 most clothed with a fish's skin, the head forming the mitre, 
 thus showing the origin of modern Christian bishops' pecu- 
 liar head-dress. Arranged about the figures are, the sun ; 
 a bird, perhaps the sacred dove, whose note, coa or coo, has, 
 in the Shemitic, some resemblance to an invitation to 
 amorous gratification ; in Latin coi, coite ; the oval, symbol 
 of the yoni ; the basket, or bag, emblematic of the scrotum, 
 and apparently the lotus. The trinity and unity are carried 
 by the second priest. 
 
 Figure 2 is copied from an ancient copper vase, covered 
 with Egyptian hieroglyphic characters, found at Cairo, and
 
 22 
 
 figured in a book entitled Explication des divers monumens 
 singuliers, qui out rapport a la religion des plus anciens 
 
 Figure 2. 
 
 ?, par le R. P. Dom & Paris, 1789. The group 
 
 of figures represents Isis and Horus in an unusual attitude. 
 They are enclosed in a framework of the flowers of the 
 Egyptian bean, or of the lotus. This framework may be 
 compared to the Assyrian " grove," and another in which the 
 Virgin Mary stands. The bell was of old a symbol of 
 virginity, for Eastern maidens wore them until marriage 
 (see Isa. iii. 16). The origin of this custom was the desire 
 that every maiden should have at her marriage, or sale, that 
 which is spoken of in the Pentateuch as " the token of 
 virginity." It was supposed that this membrane, technically 
 called " the hymen," might be broken by too long a stride in 
 walking or running, or by clambering over a stile or wall. 
 To prevent such a catastrophe, a light chain or cord was 
 worn, under or over the dress, at the level of the knees 
 or just above. Its length only permitted a short step and a 
 mincing gait. Slight bells were used as a sort of ornament, 
 and when the bearer was walking their tinkling was a sort of 
 proclamation that the lady who bore them was in the market 
 as a virgin. After "the flower" had been plucked, the bells
 
 were no longer of use. They were analogous to the virgin 
 snood worn on the head of Scotch maidens. Isis bears the 
 horns of a cow, because that animal is equally noted for its 
 propensity to seek the male and its care to preserve the 
 offspring. As the bull with a human head, so a human 
 being with cow's horns, was made to represent a deity. The 
 solar orb between the horns, and the serpent round the body, 
 indicate the union with the male ; an incongruous conjunc- 
 tion with the emblem of the sacred Virgin, nevertheless a 
 very common one. In some of the coins pictured by B. P. 
 Knight, in Worship of Priapus, etc., a cow caressing her 
 sucking calf replaces Isis and Horus, just as a bull on other 
 coins replaces Dionysus. The group is described in full in 
 Ancient Faiths, second edition, Vol. I., pp. 63, 54. 
 
 Figure 3. 
 
 Figure 4
 
 Figures 3, 4, are taken from Ginsburg's Kabbalah, and 
 illustrate that in the arrangement of " potencies " two unite, 
 like parents, to form a third. Sometimes we see also how 
 three such male attributes as splendour, firmness, and 
 solidity join with beauty to form the mystic arba, the trinity 
 and unity. 
 
 Figure 6. 
 
 Figures 5, 6, are copies from figures found in Carthage 
 and in Scotland, from Forbes Leslie's Early Races of 
 Scotland, vol. i., plate vi., p. 46 (London, 1866). This 
 book is one to which the reader's attention should be directed. 
 The amount of valuable information which it contains is very 
 large, and it is classified in a philosophical, and, we may 
 add, attractive manner. The figures represent the arbor 
 vita. 
 
 Figure 7 is from Bonomi, page 292, Nineveh and its 
 Palaces (London, 1865). It apparently represents the 
 mystic yoni, door, or delta ; and it may be regarded as 
 an earlier form of the framework in Plate iv. It will be
 
 25 
 
 remarked, by those learned in symbols, that the outline 
 of the hands of the priests who are nearest to the figure 
 
 Figure 7. 
 
 is a suggestive one, being analogous to the figure of a key 
 and its shank, whilst those who stand behind these 
 officers present the pine cone and bag, symbolic of 
 Anu, Hea, and their residence. It is to be noticed, and 
 once for all let us assert our belief, that every detail in 
 a sculpture relating to religion has a signification ; that the 
 first right hand figure carries a peculiarly shaped staff; and 
 that the winged symbol above the yoni consists of a male 
 archer in a winged circle, analagous to the symbolic bow, 
 arrow, and target. The bow was an emblem amongst the 
 Romans, and arcum tendere was equivalent to arrigere. In 
 the Golden Ass of Apuleius we find the metaphor used in 
 his account of his dealings with amorous frolicsome Fotis, 
 " Ubi primam sagittam saevi cupidinis in ima proecordia mea 
 delapsam excepi, arcum meum et ipse vigore tetendi." 
 
 Again, we find in Petronius 
 
 Astra igitur mea mens arcum dum tendit in ilia. 
 Ex imo ad summum viva sagitta volat. 
 
 Figures 8 to 14 are representations of the goddess 
 mother, the virgin and child, Ishtar or Astarte, Mylitta, 
 Ceres, Rhea, Venus, Sacti, Mary, Yoni, Juno, Mama Ocello,
 
 26 
 
 etc. Fig. 8 is a copy of the deified woman or celestial 
 mother, from Idalium, in Cyprus. Fig. 9 is from Egypt, 
 
 Figure 8. 
 
 Figure 9. 
 
 and is remarkable for the cow's horns (for whose signification 
 see Vol. i., p. 54, Ancient Faiths, second edition), which 
 here replace the lunar crescent, in conjunction with the sun, 
 the two being symbolic of hermaphroditism, whilst above is a 
 seat or throne, emblematic of royalty. The two figures are 
 copied from Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii., p. 447, in an 
 essay by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, wherein other illustrations of 
 the celestial virgin are given. Fig. 10 is a copy of plate 59, 
 Moor's Hindu Pantheon, wherein it is entitled, " Crishna 
 nursed by Devaki, from a highly finished picture." In the 
 account of Crishna' s birth and early history, as given by 
 Moor (Op. Cit., pp. 197, et seq.), there is as strong a 
 resemblance to the story of Christ as the picture here 
 described has to papal paintings of Mary and Jesus. Fig. 
 11 is an enlarged representation of Devaki. Fig. 12 is 
 copied from Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii.,
 
 27 
 
 p. 899. Fig. 13 is a figure of the mother and child found 
 in ancient Etruria at Volaterrae ; it is depicted in Fabretti's 
 
 Fignre 10. 
 
 Italian Glossary, plate xxvi., figure 349. It is described as 
 a marble statue, now in the Guarnacci Museum. The 
 letters, which are Etruscan, and read from right to left, may 
 be thus rendered into the ordinary Latin characters from 
 left to right, MI : GANA : L ARTHIAS Z ANL : VELKINEI : 
 ME - SE. ; the translation I take to be, " the votive offering 
 of Larthias (a female) of Zanal, ( = Zancle = Messana in 
 Sicily), (wife) of Velcinius, in the sixth month." It is 
 uncertain whether we are to regard the statue as an effigy of 
 the celestial mother and child, or as the representation 
 of some devout lady who has been spared during her preg- 
 nancy, her parturition, or from some disease affecting herself
 
 and child. Analogy would lead us to infer that the Queen of 
 Heaven is intended. Figure 14 is copied from Hislop's Two 
 Babylons ; it represents Indranee, the wife of Indra or 
 Indur, and is to be found in Indur Subba, the south front of 
 the Caves of Ellora, Asiatic Researches, vol. vi., p. 393. 
 
 Figure 11. 
 
 Figure 12. 
 
 Indra is equivalent to Jupiter Tonans, and is represented as 
 seated on an elephant ; " the waterspout is the trunk of this 
 elephant, and the iris is his bow, which it is not auspicious 
 to point out," Moor's Pantheon, p. 260. He is represented 
 very much as if he were a satyr, Moor's Pantheon, p. 264 ; 
 but his wife is always spoken of as personified chastity and 
 propriety. Indranee is seated on a lioness, which replaces 
 the cow of Isis, the former resembling the latter in her 
 feminine and maternal instincts. 
 
 Figures 15, 16, are copies of Diana of the Ephesians ; 
 the first is from Hislop, who quotes Kitto's Illustrated
 
 29 
 
 Commentary, vol. v., p. 250; the second from Higgins' 
 Anacalypsis, who quotes Montfau^on, plate 47. I remember 
 to have seen a figure similar to these in the Royal Museum 
 
 Figure 13. 
 
 Figure 14. 
 
 at Naples. The tower upon the head represents virginity 
 (see Ancient Faiths, second edition, Vol. i., p. 144) ; the 
 position of the hand forms a cross with the body: the 
 numerous breasts indicate abundance ; the black colour of 
 Figure 16 indicates the ordinary tint of the feminine lanugo, 
 the almost universal colour of the hair of the Orientals 
 being black about the yoni as well as on the head ; or, 
 as some mythologists imagine, " Night," who is said to be 
 one of the mothers of creation. (See Ancient Faiths, 
 second edition, Vol. n., p. 382.) The emblems upon the
 
 30 
 
 body indicate the attributes or symbols of the male and 
 female creators. 
 
 Figure 15. 
 
 Figure 16. 
 
 Figure 17 is a complicated sign of the yoni, delta, 
 or door of life. It is copied from Bonomi's Palaces of 
 Nineveh, p. 809.
 
 31 
 
 Figure 17. 
 
 Figure 18 signifies the same thing ; the priests adoring 
 it present the pine cone and basket, symbolic of Anu, Hea, 
 
 and their residence. Compare the object of the Assyrian 
 priest's adoration with that adored by a Christian divine, in a 
 subsequent figure. (See Ancient Faiths, second edition, 
 Vol. i., p. 83, et seq., and Vol. n., p. 648.) 
 
 Figure 19 is copied from Lajard (Op. Cit.), plate xxii., 
 fig. 5. It is the impression of an ancient gem, and repre- 
 sents a man clothed with a fish, the head being the mitre ; 
 priests thus clothed, often bearing in their hand the mystic
 
 bag, are common in Mesopotamian sculptures; two such 
 are figured on Figs. 63, 64, infra. In almost every instance it 
 
 Figure 19. 
 
 will be recognised that the fish's head is represented as 
 of the same form as the modern bishop's mitre. 
 
 Figure 20 represents two equilateral triangles, infolded so 
 
 v 
 
 Figure 20. 
 
 as to make a six-rayed star, the idea embodied being the 
 androgyne nature of the deity, the pyramid with its apex
 
 83 
 
 upwards signifying the male, that with the apex downwards 
 the female. The line at the central junction is not always 
 seen, but the shape of the three parallel bars reappears 
 in Hindoo frontlet signs in conjunction with a delta or door, 
 shaped like the' "grove" in Fig. 17; thus showing that the 
 lines serve also to indicate the masculine triad. The two 
 triangles are also understood as representing fire, which 
 mounts upwards, and water, which flows downwards. Fire 
 again is an emblem of the sun, and water of the passive or 
 yielding element in nature. Fire also typifies Eros or Cupid. 
 Hymen is always represented carrying a torch. It is also 
 symbolic of love; e.g., Southey writes 
 
 " But love is indestructible, 
 Its holy flame for ever burneth ; 
 From heaven it came, 
 To heaven returneth." 
 
 And again, Scott writes 
 
 " It is not phantasy's hot fire 
 Whose wishes, soon as granted, fly," &c. 
 
 Figures 21, 22, are other indications of the same funda- 
 mental idea. The first represents Nebo, the Nahbi, or the 
 
 Figure 21. Figure 22. 
 
 navel, characterised by a ring with a central mound. The 
 second represents the circular and upright stone so common 
 in Oriental villages. The two indicate the male and female ; 
 and a medical friend resident in India has told me, that he 
 has seen women mount upon the lower stone and seat them- 
 selves reverently upon the upright one, having first adjusted 
 their dress so as to prevent it interfering with their perfect
 
 84 
 
 contact with the miniature obelise. During the sitting, 
 a short prayer seemed flitting over the worshippers' lips, but 
 the whole affair was soon over. 
 
 Whilst upon this subject, it is right to call attention 
 to the fact that animate as well as inorganic representatives 
 of the Creator have been used by women with the same 
 definite purpose. The dominant idea is that contact with 
 the emblem, a mundane representative of the deity, of itself 
 gives a blessing. Just as many Hindoo females seek a 
 benefaction by placing their own yoni upon the consecrated 
 linga, so a few regard intercourse with certain high priests of 
 the Maharajah sect as incarnations of Vishnu, and pay for 
 the privilege of being spouses of the god. In Egypt, where 
 the goat was a sacred animal, there were some religious 
 women who sought good luck by uniting themselves there- 
 with. We have heard of British professors of religion 
 endeavouring to persuade their penitents to procure purity by 
 what others would call defilement and disgrace. And the 
 "cord of St. Francis" replaces the stone "linga." Some- 
 times with this " cord " the rod is associated ; and those who 
 have read the trial of Father Gerard, for his seduction of 
 Miss Cadiere under a saintly guise, will know that Christian- 
 ity does not always go hand in hand with propriety. 
 
 With the Hindoo custom compare that which was done 
 by Liber on the grave of Prosumnus (Arnobius adversus 
 Oentes, translated by Bryce and Campbell, T. and T. Clark, 
 Edinburgh, pp. 252, 253), which is far too gross to be 
 described here ; and as regards the sanctity of a stone whose 
 top had been anointed with oil, see first sentence of para- 
 graph 39, ibid, page 31. The whole book will well repay 
 perusal. 
 
 Figures 23, 24, are discs, circles, aureoles, and wheels, to 
 represent the sun. Sometimes the emblem of this luminary 
 is associated with rays, as in Plate iii., Fig. 3, and in 
 another Figure elsewhere. Occasionally, as in some of the 
 ancient temples in Egypt discovered in 1854, the sun's rays
 
 85 
 
 are represented by lines terminating in hands. Sometimes 
 one or more of these contain objects as if they were gifts 
 sent by the god ; amongst other objects, the crux ansata is 
 shown conspicuously. In a remarkable plate in the Transac- 
 tions of the Royal Society of Literature (second series, 
 vol. i., p. 140), the sun is identified with the serpent ; its 
 rays terminate in hands, some holding the handled cross or 
 tau, and before it a queen, apparently, worships. She is 
 offering what seems to be a lighted tobacco pipe, the bowl 
 being of the same shape as that commonly used in Turkey ; 
 from this a wavy pyramid of flame rises. Behind her, two 
 female slaves elevate the sistrum ; whilst before her, and 
 apparently between herself and her husband, are two altars 
 
 Figure 23. 
 
 Figure 24. 
 
 occupied by round cakes and one crescent-shaped emblem. 
 The aureole was used in ancient days by Babylonian artists or 
 sculptors, when they wished to represent a being, apparently 
 human, as a god. The same plan has been adopted by the 
 moderns, who have varied the symbol by representing it now 
 as a golden disc, now as a terrestrial orb, again as a rayed 
 sphere. A writer, when describing a god as a man, can say 
 that the object he sketches is divine ; but a painter thinks 
 too much of his art to put on any of his designs, " this 
 woman is a goddess," or "this creature is a god"; he 
 therefore adds an aureole round the head of his subject, and 
 thus converts a very ordinary man, woman, or child into a
 
 36 
 
 deity to be reverenced ; modern artists thus proving them- 
 selves to be far more skilful in depicting the Almighty than 
 the carpenters and goldsmiths of the time of Isaiah (xl. 18, 
 19, xli. 6, 7, xliv. 9-19), who used no such contrivance. 
 
 Figure 24 is another representation of the solar disc, in 
 which it is marked with a cross. This probably originated 
 in the wheel of a chariot having four spokes, and the 
 sun being likened to a charioteer. The chariots of the sun 
 are referred to in 2 Kings xxiii. 11 as idolatrous emblems. 
 Of these the wheel was symbolic. The identification of this 
 emblem with the sun is very easy, for it has repeatedly been 
 found in Mesopotamian gems in conjunction with the moon. 
 In a very remarkable one figured in Rawlinson's Ancient 
 Monarchies, vol. ii., p. 249, the cross is contrived as five 
 circles. It is remarkable that in many papal pictures the 
 wafer and the cup are depicted precisely as the sun and 
 moon in conjunction. See Pugin's Architectural Glossary, 
 plate iv., fig. 5. 
 
 Figures 25, 26, 27, are simply varieties of the solar 
 
 Figure 26. 
 
 Figure 27. 
 
 wheel, intended to represent the idea of the sun and moon, 
 the mystic triad and unit, the "arba," or four. In Figure
 
 37 
 
 26, the mural ornament is introduced, that being symbolic of 
 feminine virginity. For explanation of Figure 27, see 
 Figures 35, 36. 
 
 Figure 28 is copied from Lajard, Op. Cit., plate xiv. F. 
 That author states that he has taken it from a drawing of an 
 Egyptian stele, made by M. E. Prisse (Monum. Egypt., 
 plate xxxvii.), and that the original is in the British 
 
 Figure 28. 
 
 Museum. There is an imperfect copy of it in Rawlinson's 
 Herodotus, vol. ii. The original is too indelicate to be 
 represented fully. Isis, the central figure, is wholly nude, 
 with the exception of her head-dress, and neck and breast 
 ornaments. In one hand she holds two blades of corn 
 apparently, whilst in the other she has three lotus flowers, 
 two being egg-shaped, but the central one fully expanded ; 
 with these, which evidently symbolise the mystic triad, 
 is associated a circle emblematic of the yoni, thus indicating 
 the fourfold creator. Isis stands upon a lioness ; on one 
 side of her stands a clothed male figure, holding in one hand 
 the crux ansata, and in the other an upright spear. On the 
 opposite side is a male figure wholly nude, like the goddess, 
 save his head-dress and collar, the ends of which are 
 arranged so as to form a cross. His hand points to a 
 lum ; behind him is a covert reference to the triad,
 
 whilst in front Osiris offers undisguised homage to Isis. The 
 head-dress of th.e goddess appears to be a modified form of 
 
 Figure 32. 
 
 Figure 81. 
 
 the crescent moon inverted. It is not exclusively Egyptian,
 
 as it has been found in conjunction with other emblems on 
 an Assyrian obelise of Phallic form. 
 
 Figures 29, 30, 31, 32, represent the various triangles 
 and their union, which have been adopted in worship. 
 Figure 29 is said to represent fire, which amongst the ancient 
 Persians was depicted as a cone, whilst the figure inverted 
 represents water. 
 
 Figure 33 is an ancient Hindoo emblem, called Sri 
 
 sw 
 
 lantra. The circle represents the world, in which the living 
 exist ; the triangle pointing upwards shows the male creator ; 
 and the triangle with the apex downwards the female ; dis- 
 tinct, yet united. These have a world within themselves, in 
 which the male is uppermost. In the central circle the image 
 to be worshipped is placed. When used, the figure is placed 
 on the ground, with Brahma to the east, and Laksmi to the
 
 A 
 
 40 
 
 west. Then a relic of any saint, or image of Buddha, like a 
 modern papal crucifix, is added, and the shrine for worship is 
 complete. It has now been adopted in Christian churches 
 and Freemasons' lodges. 
 
 It will be noticed that the male emblem points to the 
 rising sun, and the female triangle points to the setting sun, 
 when the earth seems to receive the god into her couch. 
 
 Figure 34 is a very ancient Hindoo emblem, whose real 
 signification I am unable to divine. It is used in calcula- 
 tion ; it forms the basis of some game, and 
 it is a sign of vast import in sacti worship. 
 A coin, bearing this figure upon it, and 
 having a central cavity with the Etruscan 
 letters SUPEN placed one between each two 
 of the angles, was found in a fictile urn, 
 Figure 34. a t VolaterrsB, and is depicted in Fabretti's 
 L'alian Glossary, plate xxvi., fig. 858, bis a. As the coin is 
 round, the reader will see that these letters may be read as 
 Supen, Upens, Pensu, Ensup, or Nsupe. A search through 
 Fabretti's Lexicon affords no clue to any meaning except for 
 the third. There seems, indeed, strong reason to believe 
 that pensu was the Etruscan form of the Pali panca, the 
 Sanscrit pdnch, the Bengalli pdnch, and the Greek penta, 
 i. e. y five. Five, certainly, would be an" appropriate word for 
 the' pentangle. It is almost impossible to avoid speculating 
 upon the value of this fragment of archaeological evidence in 
 support of the idea that the Greeks, Aryans, and Etruscans 
 had something in common ; but into the question it would 
 be unprofitable to enter here. 
 
 But, although declining to enter upon this wide field of 
 inquiry, I would notice that whilst searching Fabretti's 
 Glossary my eye fell upon the figure of an equilateral 
 triangle with the apex upwards, depicted plate xliii., fig. 
 2440 ter. The triangle is of brass, and was found in the 
 territory of the Falisci. It bears a rude representation of 
 the outlines of the soles of two human feet, in this respect
 
 41 
 
 resembling a Buddhist emblem ; and there is on its edge an 
 inscription which may be rendered thus in Roman letters, 
 KAVI : TERTINEL POSTIKNU, which probably signifies 
 " Gavia, the wife of Tertius, offered it." The occurrence of 
 two Hindoo symbols in ancient Italy is very remarkable. 
 It must, however, be noticed that similar symbols have been 
 found on ancient sculptured stones in Ireland and Scotland. 
 There may be no emblematic ideas whatever conveyed by the 
 design ; but when the marks appear on Gnostic gems, they 
 are supposed to indicate death, i. e., the impressions left 
 by the feet of the individual as he springs from earth to 
 heaven. 
 
 Figures 35, 36, are Maltese crosses. In a large book of 
 
 Figure 35. 
 
 Figure 36. 
 
 Etrurian antiquities, which came casually under my notice 
 about twenty years ago, when I was endeavouring to master 
 the language, theology, etc., of the Etruscans, but whose 
 name, and other particulars of which, I cannot now remem- 
 ber ; I found depicted two crosses, made up of four mas- 
 culine triads, each asher being erect, and united to its 
 fellows by the gland, forming a central diamond, emblem of 
 the yoni. In one instance, the limbs of the cross were of 
 equal length ; in the other, one asher was three times as 
 long as the others. A somewhat similar cross, but one 
 united with the circle, was found some time ago near Naples. 
 It is made of gold, and has apparently been used as an 
 amulet and suspended to the neck. It is figured in plate 35 
 of An Essay on the Worship of the Generative Powers
 
 42 
 
 during the Middle Ages (London, privately printed, 1865). 
 It may be thus described : the centre of the circle is 
 occupied by four oblate spheres arranged like a square ; from 
 the salient curves of each of these springs a yoni (shaped as 
 in Figure 59), with the point outwards, thus forming a 
 cross, each ray of which is an egg and fig. At each junction 
 of the ovoids a yoni is inserted with the apex inwards, whilst 
 from the broad end arise four ashers, which project beyond 
 the shield, each terminating in a few golden bead-like drops. 
 The whole is a graphic natural representation of the intimate 
 union of the male and female, sun and moon, cross and 
 circle, Ouranos and Ge. The same idea is embodied in 
 Figure 27, p. 36, but in that the mystery is deeply veiled, in 
 that the long arms of the cross represent the sun, or male, 
 indicated by the triad ; the short ones, the moon, or the 
 female (see Plate xi. Fig. 4). 
 
 The Maltese cross, a Phoenician emblem, was discovered 
 cut on a rock in the island from which it takes its name. 
 Though cruciform, it had nothing Christian about it ; for, 
 like the Etruscan ones referred to above, it consisted of four 
 lingas united together by the heads, the "eggs" being at the 
 outside. It was an easy thing for an unscrupulous priest- 
 hood to represent this " invention " of the cross as a miracle, 
 and to make it presentable to the eyes of the faithful by 
 leaving the outlines of Anu and Hea incomplete. Some- 
 times this cross is figured as four triangles meeting at the 
 points, which has the same meaning. Generally, however, 
 the Church (as may be seen by a reference to Pugin's 
 Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament) adopts the use of crosses 
 where the inferior members of the trinity are more or less 
 central, as in our Plate xi., Figs. 2, 3, and as in the Figures 
 40, 41, 42, infra. When once a person knows the true 
 origin of the doctrine of the Trinity one which is far too 
 improper to have been adopted by the writers of the New 
 Testament it is impossible not to recognise in the signs 
 which are symbolic of it the thing which is signified.
 
 43 
 
 It may readily be supposed that those who have know- 
 ledge of the heathenish origin of many of the cherished 
 doctrines of the so-called Christian church, cannot remain 
 enthusiastic members of her communion ; and it is equally 
 easy for the enlightened philosopher to understand why such 
 persons are detested and abused by the ignorant, and 
 charged with being freethinkers, sceptics, or atheists. 
 Sciolism is ever intolerant, and theological hatred is gene- 
 rally to be measured by the mental incapacity of those who 
 indulge in the luxury. But no amount of abuse can reduce 
 the intrinsic value of facts. Nor will the most fiery persecu- 
 tion demonstrate that the religion of Christ, as it appears in 
 our churches and cathedrals, especially if they are papal, is 
 not tainted by a mass of paganism of disgusting origin. 
 
 Figure 37 is copied from the Journal of the Royal 
 
 37. 
 
 Asiatic Society, vol. xviii., p 393, plate 4. It is a Buddhist 
 emblem, and represents the same idea under different 
 aspects. Each limb of the cross represents the fascinum at 
 right angles with the body, and presented towards a barley- 
 corn, one of the symbols of the yoni. Each limb is marked 
 by the same female emblem, and terminates with the triad
 
 44 
 
 triangle ; beyond this again is seen the conjunction of the 
 sun and moon. The whole therefore represents the mystic 
 arba, the creative four, by some called Thor's hammer. 
 Copies of a cross similar to this have been recently found by 
 Dr. Schliemann in a very ancient city, buried under the 
 remains of two others, which he identifies as the Troy of 
 Homer's Iliad. 
 
 Figures 38 to 42 are developments of the triad triangle, 
 or trinity. If the horizontal limb on the free end of the arm 
 
 ++ 
 
 Figure 38. 
 
 Figure 
 
 Figure 41. 
 
 Figure 42. 
 
 Figure 40. 
 
 were to be prolonged to twice its length, the most obtuse 
 would recognise Asher, and the inferior or lower members 
 of the "triune." 
 
 Figure 43 is by Egyptologists called the ' symbol of life.' 
 It is also called the ' handled cross,' or crux 
 ansata. It represents the male triad and 
 Figure 43. the female unit, under a decent form. 
 There are few symbols more commonly met with in Egyp- 
 
 Figure 44. 
 
 Figure 45. 
 
 tian art than this. In some remarkable sculptures, where
 
 45 
 
 the sun's rays are represented as terminating in hands, the 
 offerings which these bring are many a crux ansata, 
 emblematic of the truth that a fruitful union is a gift from 
 the deity. 
 
 Figures 44, 45, are ancient designs, in which the male 
 and female elements are more disguised than is usual. In 
 Fig. 44 the woman is indicated by the dolphin. 
 
 Figures 46, 47, _ are representatives of 
 
 the ancient male J L *\^ ^ & ^> adopted by mo- 
 
 derns to symbolise v J if the Trinity. 
 
 Figure 46. Figure 47. 
 
 Figures 48, 49, represent the trefoil which was used by 
 
 Figure 49. 
 
 Figure 48. 
 
 the ancient Hindoos as emblematic of the celestial triad, and 
 adopted by modern Christians. It will be seen that from 
 one stem arise three curiously-shaped segments, each of 
 which is supposed to resemble the male scrotum, " purse," 
 " bag," or " basket." 
 
 Figure 50 is copied from Lajard, Culte de Venus, plate i., 
 fig. .2. He states that it is from a gem cylinder in the 
 British Museum. It represents a male and female figure 
 dancing before the mystic palm-tree, into whose signification 
 we need not enter beyond saying that it is a symbol of 
 Asher. Opposite to a particular part of the figures is to be
 
 46 
 
 seen a diamond, or oval, and a fleur de lys, or symbolic 
 triad. This gem is peculiarly valuable, as it illustrates in a 
 
 Figure 50. 
 
 graphic manner the meaning of the emblems in question, 
 and how " the lilies of France " had a Pagan origin. 
 
 Fignre 59. 
 
 Figure 60.
 
 47 
 
 Figures 51 to 60 are various representations of the union 
 of the four, the arba, the androgyne, or the linga-yoni. 
 
 Figure 61. In modern Christian art this 
 symbol is called vesica piscis, and is sometimes 
 surrounded with rays. It commonly serves as 
 a sort of framework in which female saints are 
 placed, who are generally the representatives of 
 the older Juno, Ceres, Diana, Venus, or other 
 impersonations of the feminine element in crea- 
 tion. We should not feel obliged to demon- Figure 61. 
 strate the truth of this assertion if decency permitted us to 
 reproduce here designs which naughty youths so frequently 
 chalk upon walls to the disgust of the proper part of the 
 community. We must, therefore, have resort to a religious 
 book, and in a subsequent figure demonstrate the meaning 
 of the symbol unequivocally. 
 
 Figure 62 represents one of the forms assumed by the 
 
 sistrum of Isis. 
 
 Figure 62. 
 
 Sometimes the instrument is oval, and
 
 48 
 
 occasionally it terminates below in a horizontal line, instead 
 of in an acute angle. The inquirer can very readily recog- 
 nise in the emblem the symbol of the female creator. If there 
 should be any doubt in his mind, he will be satisfied after a 
 reference to Maffei's Gemme Antiche Figurate (Rome, 1707), 
 vol. ii., plate 61, wherein Diana of the Ephesians is depicted 
 as having a body of the exact shape of the sistrum figured in 
 Payne Knight's work on the remains of the worship of 
 Priapus, etc. The bars across the sistrum show that it 
 denotes a pure virgin (see Ancient Faiths, second edition, 
 Vol. ii., pp. 743-746). On its handle is seen the figure of 
 a cat a sacred animal amongst the Egyptians, for the same 
 reason that Isis was figured sometimes as a cow viz., for its 
 salacity and its love for its offspring. 
 
 Figure 64.
 
 49 
 
 Figures 63 to 66 are all drawn from Assyrian sources. 
 
 Figure 65. 
 
 The central figure, which is probably the 
 biblical " grove," represents the delta, or 
 female "door." To it the attendant 
 genii offer the pine cone and basket. 
 The signification of these is explained 
 subsequently. I was unable at first to 
 quote any authority to demonstrate that 
 the pine cone was a distinct masculine 
 symbol, but now the reader may be 
 referred to Maffei, Gemme Antiche Figu- 
 rate (Rome, 1708), where, in vol. iii., 
 plate 8, he will see a Venus Tirsigera. The goddess is 
 nude, and carries in her hand the tripliform arrow, emblem 
 of the male triad, whilst in the other she bears a thyrsus, 
 terminating in a pine or fir cone. Now this cone and stem 
 are carried in the Bacchic festivities, and can be readily 
 recognised as virga cum ovo. Sometimes the thyrsus is 
 replaced by ivy leaves, which, like the fig, are symbolic of 
 the triple creator. Occasionally the thyrsus was a lance or 
 pike, round which vine leaves and berries were clustered ; 
 Bacchus cum vino being the companion of Venus cum cerere. 
 But a stronger confirmation of my views may be found in a 
 remarkable group (see Fig. 124 infra). This is entitled Sacri- 
 fizio di Priapo, and represents a female offering to Priapus. 
 The figure of the god stands upon a pillar of three stones, 
 D
 
 50 
 
 and it bears a thyrsus from which depend two ribbons. The 
 devotee is accompanied by a boy, who carries a pine- or fir- 
 cone in his hand, and a basket on his head, in which may be 
 recognised a male effigy. In Figure 64 the position of the 
 advanced hand of each of the priests nearest to the grove is 
 very suggestive to the physiologist. It resembles one limb 
 of the Buddhist cross, Fig. 37, supra. The finger or thumb 
 when thus pointed are figurative of Asher, in a horizontal 
 position, with Anu or Hea hanging from one end. Figure 65 
 is explained similarly. It is to be noticed that a door is 
 adopted amongst modern Hindoos as an emblem of the sacti 
 (see Figs. 152, 153, infra). 
 
 My friend Mr. Newton, who has taken great interest in 
 the subject of symbolism, regards these "groves" as not 
 being simply emblems of the yoni, but of the union of that 
 part with the lingam, or mystic palm tree. As his ideas are 
 extremely ingenious, and his theory perfect, I have requested 
 him to introduce them at the end of this work. 
 
 Figures 67, 68, 69, are fancy sketches intended to repre- 
 
 Fifiure 67 
 
 Figure 
 
 Figure 69. 
 
 sent the " sacred shields " spoken of in Jewish and other 
 history. The last is drawn from memory, and represents a
 
 51 
 
 Templar's shield. According to the method in which the 
 shield is viewed, it appears like the os tincce or the navel. 
 Figures 70, 71, represent the shape of the sistrum of 
 
 Figure 70. Figure 71. 
 
 Isis, the fruit of the fig, and the yoni. When a garment of 
 this shape is made and worn, it becomes the " pallium " 
 donned alike by the male and female individuals consecrated 
 to Roman worship. 
 
 King, in his Ancient Gnostics, remarks : " The circle of 
 the sun is the navel, which marks the natural position of the 
 womb the navel being considered in the microcosm as 
 corresponding to the sun in the universe, an idea more fully 
 exemplified in the famous hallucination of the Greek ancho- 
 rites touching the mystical 'Light of Tabor,' which was 
 revealed to the devotee after a fast of many days, all the time 
 staring fixedly upon the region of the navel, whence at 
 length this light streamed as from a focus." Pages 153, 154. 
 
 Figures 72, 73, represent an ancient Christian bishop, 
 and a modern nun wearing the emblem of the female sex. 
 In the former, said (in Old England Pictorially Illustrated, 
 by Knight) to be a drawing of St. Augustine, the amount of 
 symbolism is great. The " nimbus " and the tonsure are 
 solar emblems ; the pallium, the feminine sign, is studded 
 with phallic crosses; its lower end is the ancient T, the 
 mark of the masculine triad; the right hand has the fore- 
 finger extended, like the Assyrian priests whilst doing 
 homage to the grove, and within it is the fruit, tappuach, 
 which is said to have tempted Eve. When a male dons 
 the pallium in worship, he becomes the representative of the 
 trinity in the unity, the arba, or mystic four. See Ancient 
 Faiths, second edition, Vol. n., pp. 915-918. 
 
 I take this opportunity to quote here a pregnant page of 
 King's Gnostics and their Remains, (Bell & Daldy, London,
 
 52 
 
 1864). " To this period belongs a beautiful sard in my 
 collection representing Serapis, . . . whilst before him 
 stands Isis, holding in one hand the sistrum, in the other 
 
 Figure 72. 
 
 Figure 73. 
 
 a wheatsheaf, with the legend ... ' Immaculate is 
 our lady Isis,' the very terms applied afterwards to that 
 personage who succeeded to her form (the ' Black Virgins,' 
 so highly reverenced in certain French Cathedrals during the 
 middle ages, proved, when examined critically, basalt figures 
 of Isis), her symbols, rites, and ceremonies. . . . Her 
 devotees carried into the new priesthood the former badges of 
 their profession, the obligation to celibacy, the tonsure, and 
 the surplice, omitting, unfortunately, the frequent ablutions 
 prescribed by the ancient creed. The sacred image still 
 moves in procession as when Juvenal laughed at it, vi. 530, 
 'Escorted by the tonsured surpliced train.' Her proper 
 title, Domina, the exact translation of Sanscrit Isi, survives 
 with slight change in the modern Madonna, Mater Domina.
 
 53 
 
 By a singular permutation the flower borne by each, the 
 lotus ancient emblem of the sun and fecundity now 
 re-named the lily, is interpreted as significant of the opposing 
 quality. The tinkling sistrum ... is replaced by . . 
 the bell, taken from Buddhist usages. . . , The erect 
 oval symbol of the Female Principle of Nature became the 
 Vesica Piscis, and the Crux Ansata, testifying the union of 
 the male and female in the most obvious manner, is trans- 
 formed into the orb surmounted by the cross, as an ensign of 
 royalty." Pp. 71, 72. 
 
 Figure 74 is a well known Christian emblem, called " a 
 foul anchor." The anchor, as a symbol, is of great antiquity. 
 It may be seen on an old Etruscan coin in the British 
 Museum, depicted in Veterum Populorum et Regum Nummi, 
 etc. (London, 1814), plate ii., fig. 1. On the reverse there 
 is a chariot wheel. The foul anchor represents the crescent 
 
 Figure 74. 
 
 moon, the yoni, ark, navis, or boat; in this is placed the 
 mast, round which the serpent, the emblem of life in the 
 "verge," entwines itself. The cross beam completes the 
 mystic four, symbolic alike of the sun and of androgeneity. 
 The whole is a covert emblem of that union which results in 
 fecundity. It is said by Christians to be the anchor of 
 the soul, sure and steadfast. This it certainly cannot be, 
 for a foul anchor will not hold the ground. 
 
 Figures 75 to 79 are Asiatic and Egyptian emblems 
 in use amongst ourselves, and receive their explanation 
 similarly to preceding ones. 
 
 Figure 75. Figure 76. Figure 77. Figure 78.
 
 54 
 
 Figure 79. 
 
 Figure 80 is copied from Godfrey Higgins' Anacalypsis, 
 vol. ii., fig. 27. It is drawn from Montfau9on, vol. ii., 
 pi. cxxxii., fig. 6. In his text, Higgins refers to two similar 
 
 Figure 
 
 groups, one which exists in the Egyptian temple of Ipsam-
 
 bul in Nubia, and is described by Wilson, On Buddhists and 
 Jeynes, p. 127, another, found in a cave temple in the south 
 of India, described by Col. Tod, in his History of Raj- 
 pootanah. The group is not explained by Montfaugon. It 
 is apparently Greek, and combines the story of Hercules with 
 the seductiveness of Circe. The tree and serpent are 
 common emblems, and have even been found in Indian 
 temples in central America, grouped as in the woodcut. 
 
 Figure 81 is copied from Lajard, Culte de Venus, plate 
 xix., fig. 11. The origin of this, which 
 is a silver statuette in that author's pos- 
 session, is unknown. The female repre- 
 sents Venus bearing in one hand an 
 apple ; her arm rests upon what seems to 
 be a representative of the mystic triad 
 (the two additions to the upright stem 
 not being seen in a front view) round 
 which a dolphin (8eA$/j, 'dolphin,' for 
 8sA<f>o$ 'womb') is entwined, from whose 
 mouth comes the stream of life. The 
 apple plays a strange part in Greek and 
 Hebrew mythology. The story of " the 
 apple of discord," awarded by Paris to 
 Venus, seems to indicate that where beauty contends against 
 majesty and wisdom for the love of youth, it is sure to win 
 the day. We learn from Arnobius that a certain Nana con- 
 ceived a son by an apple (Op. Cit., p. 236), although in 
 another place the prolific fruit is said to have been a pome- 
 granate. Mythologically, that writer sees no difficulty in the 
 story, for those who affirm that rocks and hard stones have 
 brought forth. In the Song of Solomon, apples and the tree 
 that bears them are often referred to ; and we have in 
 Ch. ii. 5 the curious expression, " Comfort me with apples, 
 for I am sick of love." We are familiar with the account of 
 Eve being tempted by the same fruit. Critics imagine that 
 as the apple in Palestine is not good eating, the quince 
 
 Figure si.
 
 56 
 
 is meant ; if so, we know that a leaf of that tree is to 
 be seen in every amorous picture found in Pompeii, the 
 plant having been supposed to increase virile power. Others 
 imagine that the citron is intended, whose shape makes it an 
 emblem of the testis. However this may be decided, it is 
 tolerably clear, from all the tales and pictures in which a 
 fruit like the apple figures, that the emblem symbolised a 
 desire for an intimate union between the sexes. The reader 
 will doubtless remember how, in Genesis xxx, Leah is 
 represented as purchasing her husband's company for a night 
 by means of mandrakes, the result being the birth of 
 Issachar ; and in the well-known story of the Creation we find 
 that the apple gives birth to desire, as shown in the recogni- 
 tion for the first time of the respective nudity of the couple, 
 which was followed immediately, or as soon as it was possible 
 afterwards, by sexual intercourse and the conception of Cain. 
 Figure 82 is from Lajard (Op. Git.}, plate xivfe, fig. 3. 
 
 Figure 82. 
 
 The gem is of unknown origin, but is apparently Babylo- 
 nish ; it represents the male and female in conjunction : 
 each appears to be holding the symbol of the triad in much 
 respect, whilst the curious cross suggests a new reading 
 to an ancient symbol. 
 
 I have of late heard it asserted, by a man of considerable 
 learning, though of a very narrow mind in everything which
 
 57 
 
 bears upon religious subjects, that there is no proof that the 
 sun was commonly regarded as a male, or the moon as a 
 female ; and he based his strange assertion solely upon the 
 ground that in German and some other languages the sun was 
 represented by a feminine, and the moon by a masculine 
 noun. The argument is of no value, for crajSurroj, %oipoj, 
 ju-u^oj, and other Greek and Latin names of the yoni, are 
 masculine nouns, and Virga and Mentula, the Roman words 
 for the Linga, are feminine. In Hindostan, the sun is 
 always represented as a God; the moon is occasionally a 
 male, and sometimes a female deity. In ancient Gaulish 
 and Scandinavian figures, the sun was always a male, and 
 the moon a female. Their identification will be seen in 
 Figure 113 as their conjunction is in the one before us 
 in the position of the individuals, and in the fleur-de-lys and 
 oval symbol. 
 
 Figure 83 may be found in Fabretti's Corpus Inscrip- 
 tionum Italicarum (Turin, 1867), plate xxv., fig. 303 f. The 
 
 Figure 83. 
 
 coins which bear the figures are of brass, and were found at 
 Volateme. In one the double head is associated with a 
 dolphin and crescent moon on the reverse, and the letters 
 VELATHHI, in Etruscan. A similar inscription exists on the 
 one containing the club. The club, formed as in Figure 83, 
 occurs frequently on Etruscan coins. For example, two 
 clubs are joined with four balls on a Tudertine coin, having 
 on the reverse a hand apparently gauntleted for fighting, and
 
 58 
 
 four balls arranged in a square. On other coins are to 
 be seen a bee, a trident, a spear head, and other tripli- 
 form figures, associated with three balls in a triangle ; some- 
 times two, and sometimes one. The double head with 
 two balls is seen on a Telamonian coin, having on the 
 reverse what appears to be a leg with the foot turned 
 upwards. In a coin of Populonia the club is associated with 
 a spear and two balls, whilst on the reverse is a single head. 
 I must notice, too, that on other coins a hammer and pincers, 
 or tongs, appear, as if the idea was to show that a maker, 
 fabricator, or heavy hitter was intended to be symbolised. 
 What that was is further indicated by other coins, on which a 
 head appears thrusting out the tongue. At Cortona two 
 statuettes of silver have been found, representing a double- 
 faced individual. A lion's head for a cap, a collar, and 
 buskins are the sole articles of dress worn. One face 
 appears to be feminine, and the other masculine, but neither 
 is bearded. The pectorals and the general form indicate 
 the male, but the usual marks of sex are absent. On these 
 have been found Etruscan inscriptions (1) v. CVINTI AKNTIAS 
 
 CULPIANSI ALPAN TUBCE J (2) V. OVINTE AENTIAS SELANSE TEZ 
 
 ALPAN TUBCE. Which may be rendered (1) "V. Quintus of 
 Aruntia, to Culpian pleasing, a gift " ; (2) " V. Quintus of 
 Aruntia to Vulcan pleasing gave a gift," evidently showing 
 that they were ex voto offerings. 
 
 Figure 84. The figure here represented is, under one 
 
 form or another, extremely com- / x """~^\ 7~~~*\ 
 
 mon amongst the sculptured f ) ( i 
 
 stones in Scotland. Four varie- V__^_ \^_^/ 
 
 ties may be seen in plate 48 of Figure 84. 
 
 Col. Forbes Leslie's Early Races of Scotland. In plate 49 
 it is associated with a serpent, apparently the cobra. The 
 design is spoken of as " the spectacle ornament," and it is 
 very commonly associated with another figure closely resem- 
 bling the letter Z It is very natural for the inquirer to 
 associate the twin circles with the sun and earth, or the sun
 
 59 
 
 and moon. On one Scottish monument the circles represent 
 wheels, and they probably indicate the solar chariot. As 
 yet I have only been able to meet with the Z and " spectacle 
 ornament " once out of Scotland ; it is figured on apparently 
 a Gnostic gem (The Gnostics and their Remains, by C. W. 
 King, London, 1864, plate ii., fig. 5). In that we see in a 
 serpent cartouche two Z figures, each having the down 
 stroke crossed by a horizontal line, both ends terminating 
 in a circle ; besides them is a six -rayed star, each ray termi- 
 nating in a circle, precisely resembling the star in Plate in., 
 Fig. 3, supra. I can offer no satisfactory explanation of the 
 emblem. 
 
 Figures 85, 86, represent a Yorkshire and an Indian 
 
 Figure 85. 
 
 Figure 86. 
 
 stone circle. The first is copied from Descriptions of 
 Cairns, Cromlechs, Kistvaens, and other Celtic, Druidical,
 
 or Scythian Monuments in the Dekkan, by Col. Meadows 
 Taylor, Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xxiv. 
 The mound exists at Twizell, Yorkshire, and the centre of the 
 circle indicates an ancient tomb, very similar to those found 
 by Taylor in the Dekkan ; this contained only one single 
 urn, but many of the Indian ones contained, besides the 
 skeleton of the great man buried therein, skeletons of other 
 individuals who had been slaughtered over his tomb, and 
 buried above the kistvaen containing his bones ; in one 
 instance two bodies and three heads were found in the 
 principal grave, and twenty other skeletons above and beside 
 it. A perusal of this very interesting paper will well repay 
 the study bestowed upon it. Figure 86 is copied from Forbes 
 Leslie's book mentioned above, plate 59. It represents a 
 modern stone circle in the Dekkan, of very recent con- 
 struction. The dots upon the stones represent dabs of red 
 paint, which again represent blood. The circles are similar 
 to some which have been found in Palestine, and give evidence 
 of the presence of the same religious ideas existing in 
 ancient England and Hindostan, as well as in modern India. 
 The name of the god worshipped in these recent shrines is 
 Vetal, or Betal. It is worth mentioning, in passing, that 
 there is a celebrated monolith in Scotland called the Newton 
 Stone, on which are inscribed, evidently with a graving tool, 
 an inscription in the Ogham, and another in some ancient 
 Aryan character (see Moore's Ancient Pillar Stones of 
 Scotland). 
 
 Figure 87.
 
 61 
 
 Figure 87 indicates the solar wheel, emblem of the 
 chariot of Apollo. This sign is a very common one upon 
 ancient coins ; sometimes the rays or spokes are four, at 
 others they are more numerous. Occasionally the tire of 
 the wheel is absent, and amongst the Etruscans the nave is 
 omitted. The solar cross is very common in Ireland, and 
 amongst the Romanists generally as a head dress for male 
 saints. 
 
 Figure 88 is copied from Hyslop, who gives it on the 
 
 Figure 88. 
 
 authority of Col. Hamilton Smith, who copied it from the 
 original collection made by the artists of the French Insti- 
 tute of Cairo. It is said to represent Osiris, but this is 
 doubtful. There is much that is intensely mystical about 
 the figure. The whip, or flagellum, placed over the tail, and 
 the head passing through the yoni, the circular spots with 
 their central dot, the horns with solar disc, and two curiously 
 shaped feathers (?), the calf reclining upon a plinth, wherein 
 a division into three is conspicuous, all have a meaning in 
 reference to the mystic four. 
 
 I have long had a doubt respecting the symbolic mean- 
 ing of the scourge. Some inquirers have asserted that it is 
 simply an emblem of power or superiority, inasmuch as he 
 who can castigate must be in a higher position than the one 
 who is punished. But of this view I can find no proof. On
 
 62 
 
 the other hand, any one who is familiar with the effect upon 
 the male produced by flagellation, and who notices that the 
 representations of Osiris and the scourge show evidence that 
 the deity is in the same condition as one who has been 
 subjected to the rod, will be disposed to believe that the 
 flagellum is an indication or symbol of the god who gives to 
 man the power to reproduce his like, or who can restore the 
 faculty after it has faded. It is not for a moment to be 
 supposed that a deity who was to be worshipped would be 
 depicted as a task-master, whose hands are more familiar 
 with punishment than blessing. 
 
 Figure 89 is taken from Lajard's Cidte de Venus, plate i., 
 
 4? 
 
 ft^C ' - 
 
 fig. 14, and is an enlarged impression of a gem. A similar 
 figure is to be found in Payne Knight's work On the 
 Worship of Priapus. In both instances the female is fringed 
 with male emblems. In the one before us a fish, apparently 
 a dolphin, is borne in one hand. In the other the woman is 
 bearded. These are representations of Ashtaroth the andro- 
 gyne deity in which the female predominates. 
 
 Fig. 90 represents an ancient Italian form of the Indian 
 Ling Yoni. It is copied from a part of the Frontispiece of 
 Faber's Dissertation on the Cabiri, where it is stated that 
 the plate is a copy of a picture of a nymphoeum found when 
 excavating a foundation for the Barbarini Palace at Rome. 
 It deserves notice, because the round mound of masonry 
 surmounted by the short pillars is precisely similar to 
 similar erections found in Hindostan on the East and
 
 63 
 
 America on the West, as well as in various parts of Europe. 
 The oval in the pediment and the solitary pillar have the 
 same meaning as the Caaba and hole the upright stone 
 and pit revered at Mecca long before Mahomet's time the 
 tree serves to identify the pillar, and vice versa. Apertures 
 were common in ancient sepulchral monuments, alike in 
 
 Figure 90. 
 
 Hindostan and England ; one perforated stone is preserved as 
 a relic in the precincts of an old church in modern Rome. 
 The aperture is blackish with the grease of many hands, 
 which have been put therein whilst their owners took a 
 sacred oath. We have already remarked how ancient Abra- 
 ham and a modern Arab have sworn by the Linga ; it is 
 therefore by no means remarkable that some of a different 
 form of faith should swear by the Yoni. 
 
 Figure 91 is stated by Higgins, Anacalypsis, p. 217, to 
 be a mark on the breast of an Egyptian mummy in the 
 
 Figure 91.
 
 64 
 
 Museum of University College, London. It is essentially 
 the same symbol as the crux ansata, and is emblematic of 
 the male triad and the female unit. 
 
 Figure 92 is simply introduced to show that the papal 
 tiara has not about it anything particularly Christian, a 
 
 Figure 92. 
 
 similar head-dress having been worn by gods or angels 
 in ancient Assyria, where it appeared crowned by an emblem 
 of "the trinity." We may mention, in passing, that as the 
 Romanists adopted the mitre and the tiara from " the cursed 
 brood of Ham," so they adopted the episcopalian crook from 
 the augurs of Etruria, and the artistic form with which 
 they clothe their angels from the painters and urn-makers of 
 Magna Grecia and Central Italy. 
 
 Figure 93 is the Mithraic lion. It may be seen in 
 Hyde's Religion of the Ancient Persians, second edition, 
 plate i. It may also be seen in vol. ii., plates 10 and 11, of 
 Maffei's Gemme Antiche Figurate (Rome, 1707). In plate 
 10 the Mithraic lion has seven stars above it, around which 
 are placed respectively, words written in Greek, Etruscan
 
 65 
 
 and Phoenician characters, ZEDCH. TELKAN. TELKON. 
 TELKON. QIDEKH. UNEULK. LNKELLP., apparently 
 showing that the emblem was adopted by the Gnostics. It 
 would be unprofitable to dwell upon the meaning of these 
 letters. After puzzling over them, I fancy that "Bad 
 spirits, pity us," " Just one, I call on thee," may be made
 
 66 
 
 out by considering the words to be very bad Greek, and the 
 letters to be much transposed. 
 
 Figure 94 is copied by Higgins, Anacalypsis, on the 
 authority of Dubois, who states, vol. iii., p. 33, that it was 
 found on a stone in a church in France, where it had 
 been kept religiously for six hundred years. Dubois regards 
 it as wholly astrological, and as having no reference to 
 the story told in Genesis. It is unprofitable to speculate on 
 the draped figures as representatives of Adam and Eve. 
 We have introduced it to show how such tales are inter- 
 mingled with Sabeanism. 
 
 Figure 95 is a copy of a gem figured by Layard (Nineveh 
 and Babylon, p. 156), and represents Harpocrates seated on 
 a lotus, adoring the mundane representative of the 
 mother of creation. I have not yet met with any 
 ancient gem or sculpture which seems to identify 
 the yoni so completely with various goddesses. 
 Compare this with Figure 138, infra, wherein the Figure 95. 
 emblem is even more strikingly identified with woman, and 
 with the virgin Mary. Those who are familiar with the 
 rude designs too often chalked on hoardings, will see that 
 learned ancients and boorish moderns represent certain ideas 
 in precisely similar fashion, and will understand the mystic 
 meaning of Q an ^ ~\ I have elsewhere called attention to 
 the idea that a sight of the yoni is a source of health, and 
 a charm against evil spirits ; however grotesque the idea may 
 be, it has existed in all ages, and in civilised and savage 
 nations alike. A rude image of a woman who shamelessly 
 exhibits herself has been found over the doors of churches in 
 Ireland, and at Servatos, in Spain, where she is standing on 
 one side of the doorway, and an equally conspicuous man on 
 the other. The same has been found in Mexico, Peru, and 
 in North America. Nor must we forget how Baubo cured 
 the intense grief of Ceres by exposing herself in a strange 
 fashion to the distressed goddess. Arnobius, Op. Cit., 
 pp. 249, 250.
 
 67 
 
 As I have already noticed modern notions on the 
 influence produced by the exhibition of the yoni on those 
 who are suffering, the legend referred to may be shortly 
 described. The goddess, in the story, was miserable in 
 consequence of her daughter, Proserpine, having been stolen 
 away by Pluto. In her agony, snatching two Etna-lighted 
 torches, she wanders round the earth in search of the lost 
 one, and in due course visits Eleusis. Baubo receives her 
 hospitably; but nothing that the hostess does induces the 
 guest to depose her grief for a moment. In despair the 
 mortal bethinks her of a scheme, shaves off what is called 
 in Isaiah "the hair of the feet" and then exposes herself to 
 the goddess. Ceres fixes her eyes upon the denuded spot, is 
 pleased with the strange form of consolation, consents to 
 take food and is restored to comfort. 
 
 Figure 96 is copied from plate 22, fig. 3, of Lajard's 
 Culte de Venus. He states that it is an impression of 
 
 Figure 96. 
 
 a cornelian cylinder, in the collection of the late Sir William 
 Ouseley, and is supposed to represent Cannes, or Bel and 
 two fish gods, the authors of fecundity. It is thought 
 that Dagon of 'the Philistines resembled the two figures 
 supporting the central one. 
 
 Figure 97 is a side view of plate 1. The idol represents 
 a female. Dagon, the fish god, male above, piscine below, was
 
 one of the many symbols of an androgyne creator. In the 
 first of the Avatars of Vishnu, he is represented as emerging 
 from the mouth of a fish, and being a fish himself; the 
 
 Figure 97. 
 
 legend being that he was to be the saviour of the world in 
 a deluge which was to follow. See Moor's Hindu Pantheon, 
 and Coleman's Mythology of the Hindus. 
 
 Figure 98 is a fancy sketch of the fleur-de-lys, the lily of 
 . France. It symbolises the male triad, whilst the ring 
 Vy around it represents the female. The identification 
 fe? of this emblem of the trinity with the tripliform Maha- 
 Fig. 98. d evaj an( j O f the ring with his sacti, may be seen in 
 the next figure. 
 
 Figure 99, which we have already given on page 46, 
 is one of great value to the inquirer into the signification of 
 certain symbols. It has been reintroduced here to show the 
 identification of the eye, fish, or oval shape, with the yoni, 
 and of the fleur-de-lys with the lingam, which is recognised 
 by the respective positions of the emblems in front of parti-
 
 69 
 
 cular parts of the mystic animals, who both, on their 
 part, adore the symbolic palm tree, with its pistil and 
 stamens. The rayed branches of the upper part of the tree, 
 
 Figure 
 
 and the nearness to it of the crescent moon, seem to indicate 
 that the palm was a solar as well as a sexual emblem. 
 
 The great similarity of the palm tree to the ancient 
 round towers in Ireland and elsewhere will naturally strike 
 the observer. He will perhaps remember also that on certain 
 occasions dancing, feasting, and debauchery were practised 
 about a round tower in Wicklow, such as were practised round 
 the English may-pole, the modern substitute of the mystic 
 palm tree. We have now humanised our practice, but 
 we have not purified our land of all its veiled symbols. 
 
 In some parts, where probably the palm tree does not 
 flourish, the pine takes its place as an emblem. It was 
 sacred to the mother of the gods, whose names, Rhcea, 
 Ceres, Cybele, are paraphrastic of the yoni. We learn from 
 Arnobius, Op. Git., p. 239, that on fixed days that tree was 
 introduced into the sanctuary of that august personage, being 
 decorated by fleeces and violets. It does not require any 
 recondite knowledge to understand the signification of the 
 entrance of the pine into the temple of the divine mother, 
 nor what the tree when buried in the midst of a fleece 
 depicts. Those who have heard of the origin of the Spanish
 
 70 
 
 Koyal Order of the Golden Fleece know that the word is an 
 euphemism for the lanugo of the Romans. Parsley round a 
 carrot root is a modern symbol, and the violet is as good an 
 emblem of the lingam as the modern pistol. 
 
 It has long been known that the ancient custom of erect- 
 ing a may-pole, surrounding it with wreaths of flowers, and 
 then dancing round it in wild orgy, was a relic of the ancient 
 custom of reverencing the symbol of creation, invigorated by 
 the returning spring time, without whose powers the flocks 
 and herds would fail to increase. It will not fail to attract 
 the notice of my readers, that a pine cone is constantly 
 being offered to the sacred "grove" by the priests of 
 Assyria. 
 
 Figures 100, 101, represent the Buddhist cross and one 
 of its arms. The first shows the union of four phalli. The 
 
 Figure 100. Figure 101. 
 
 single one being a conventional form of a well-known organ. 
 This form of cross does not essentially differ from the 
 Maltese cross. In the latter, Asher stands perpendicularly 
 to Anu and Hea ; in the former it is at right angles to them. 
 " The pistol " is a well-known name amongst our soldiery, 
 and four such joined together by the muzzle would form the 
 Buddhist cross. Compare Figure 37, ante. 
 
 Figures 102, 103, 104, indicate the union of the four 
 creators, the trinity and the unity. Not having at hand any 
 copy of an ancient key, I have used a modern one ; but this 
 makes no essential difference in the symbol. 
 
 wO 
 
 Figure 102. Figure 103. Figure 104.
 
 71 
 
 Figures 105, 106, are copied from Lajard, Sur le Culte 
 de Venus, plate ii. They represent ornaments held in the 
 hands of a great female figure, sculptured in bas relief on a 
 rock at Yazili Kaia, near to Boghaz Keni, in Anatolia, and 
 described by M. C. Texier in 1834. The goddess is crowned 
 with a tower, to indicate virginity ; in her right hand she 
 holds a staff, shown in Figure 106 ; in the other, that given 
 in Figure 105, she stands upon a lioness, and is attended 
 by an antelope. Figure 105 is a complicated emblem of the 
 'four.' 
 
 Figure 105. Figure 106. 
 
 Figures 107, 108, 109, are copied from Moor's Hindu 
 Pantheon, plate Ixxxiii. They represent the lingam and the 
 
 Figure 107.
 
 72 
 
 Figure 108. 
 
 Figure 109.
 
 78 
 
 yoni, which amongst the Indians are regarded as holy 
 emblems, much in the same way as a crucifix is esteemed by 
 certain modern Christians. In worship, ghee, or oil, or 
 water, is poured over the pillar, and allowed to run off by the 
 spout. Sometimes the pillar is adorned by a necklace, and 
 is associated with the serpent emblem. In Lucian's account 
 of Alexander, the false prophet, which we have condensed in 
 Ancient Faiths, second edition, there is a reference to one of 
 his dupes, who was a distinguished Roman officer, but so very 
 superstitious, or, as he would say of himself, so deeply 
 imbued with religion, that at the sight of a stone he would 
 fall prostrate and adore it for a considerable time, offering 
 prayers and vows thereto. This may by some be thought 
 quite as reasonable as the practice once enforced in Christian 
 Rome, which obliged all persons in the street to kneel in 
 reverence when an ugly black doll, called " the bambino," or 
 a bit of bread, over which some cabalistic words had been 
 muttered, was being carried in procession past them. Arno- 
 bius, Op. Cit., p. 31, says, " I worshipped images produced 
 from the furnace, gods made on anvils and by hammers, 
 the bones of elephants, paintings, wreaths on aged trees ; 
 whenever I espied an anointed stone, and one bedaubed with 
 olive oil, as if some person resided in it, I worshipped it, 
 I addressed myself to it, and begged blessings from a 
 senseless stock." Compare Gen. xxviii. 18, wherein we find 
 that Jacob set up a stone and anointed it with oil, and 
 called the place Bethel, and Is. xxvii. 19, xl. 20, xliv. 10-20. 
 I copy the following remarks from a paper by Mr. 
 Sellon, in Memoirs of the London Anthropological Society, 
 for 1863-4. Speaking of Hindostan, he remarks, " As 
 every village has its temple so every temple has its Lingam, 
 and these parochial Lingams are usually from two to three 
 feet in height, and rather broad at the base. Here the 
 village girls, who are anxious for lovers or husbands, repair 
 early in the morning. They make a lustration by sprinkling 
 the god with water brought from the Ganges ; they deck the
 
 74 
 
 Linga with garlands of the sweet-smelling bilwa flower ; 
 they perform the mudra, or gesticulation with the fingers, 
 and, reciting the prescribed mantras, or incantations, they 
 rub themselves against the emblem, and entreat the deity to 
 make them fruitful mothers of pulee-puUum (i.e., child 
 fruit). 
 
 " This is the celebrated Linga puja, during the perform- 
 ance of which the panchaty, or five lamps, must be lighted, 
 and the gantha, or bell, be frequently rung to scare away the 
 evil demons. The mala, or rosary of a hundred and eight 
 round beads, is also used in this puja." 
 
 See also Moor's Hindu Pantheon, plate xxii, pp. 68, 69, 
 70. Again, in the Dabistan, a work written in the Persian 
 language, by a travelled Mahometan, about A. D. 1660, and 
 translated by David Shea, for the Oriental Translation Fund 
 of Great Britain and Ireland (3 vols., 8vo., Allen and Co., 
 Leadenhall Street, London), we read, vol. ii., pp. 148-160, 
 " The belief of the Saktian is that Siva, that is, Mahadeva, 
 who with little exception is the highest of deities and the 
 greatest of the spirits, has a spouse whom they call Maya 
 
 Sakti With them the power of Mahadeva's 
 
 wife, who is Bhavani, surpasses that of the husband. The 
 zealous of this sect worship the Siva Linga, although other 
 Hindoos also venerate it. Linga is called the virile organ, 
 and they say, on behalf of this worship, that as men and all 
 living beings derive their existence from it, adoration is duly 
 bestowed upon it. As the linga of Mahadeva, so do they 
 venerate the bhaga, that is, the female organ. A man very 
 familiar with them gave the information that, according to 
 their belief, the high altar, or principal place in a mosque of 
 the Mussulmans, is an emblem of the bhaga. Another man 
 among them said that as the just-named place emblems the 
 bhaga, the minar or turret of the mosque represents the 
 linga." The author then goes on to describe the practices 
 of the sect, which may be summed up in the words the 
 most absolute freedom of love.
 
 75 
 
 Apropos of the Mahometan minaret and Christian church 
 towers and spires, I may mention that Lucian describes the 
 magnificent temple of the Syrian goddess as having two vast 
 phalli before its main entrance, and how at certain seasons 
 men ascended to their summit, and remained there some 
 days, so as to utter from thence the prayers of the faithful. 
 
 Figures 110, 111, both from Moor, plate Ixxxvi., are 
 forms of the argha, or sacred sacrificial cup, bowl, or basin, 
 which represent the yoni, and some other things besides. 
 See Moor, Hindu Pantheon, pp. 393, 394. 
 
 Figure 111. 
 
 Figure 112. Copied from Rawlinson's Ancient Monar- 
 
 Figure 112.
 
 76 
 
 chies, vol. i., p. 176, symbolises Ishtar, the Assyrian repre- 
 sentative of Devi, Parvati, Isis, Astarte, Venus, and Mary. 
 The virgin and child are to be found everywhere, even in 
 ancient Mexico. 
 
 Figure 113 is copied from Lajard, Sur le Culte de Venus, 
 
 Figure 113. 
 
 plate xix., fig. 6, and represents the male and female as the 
 sun and moon, thus identifying the symbolic sex of those 
 luminaries. The legend in the Pehlevi characters has not 
 been interpreted. 
 
 Figure 114 is taken from a mediaeval woodcut, lent to me 
 by my friend, Mr. John Newton, to whom I am indebted for 
 the sight of, and the privilege to copy, many other figures. 
 In it the virgin Mary is seen as the Queen of Heaven, 
 nursing her infant, and identified with the crescent moon, the 
 emblem of virginity. Being before the sun, she almost eclipses 
 its light. Than this, nothing could more completely identify 
 the Christian mother and child with Isis and Horus, Ishtar, 
 Venus, Juno, and a host of other pagan goddesses, who have 
 been called ' Queen of Heaven,' ' Queen of the Universe,' 
 ' Mother of God,' ' Spouse of God,' the ' Celestial Virgin,' the 
 ' Heavenly Peace Maker,' etc. 
 
 Figures 115, 116, are common devices in papal churches 
 and pagan symbolism. They are intended to indicate the 
 sun and moon in conjunction, the union of the triad with
 
 77 
 
 the unit. I may notice, in passing, that Mr. Newton has 
 showed to me some mediaeval woodcuts, in which the young 
 
 Figure 114. 
 
 unmarried women in a mixed assemblage were indicated by 
 wearing upon their foreheads a crescent moon. 
 
 Figure 115. 
 
 Figure 116.
 
 78 
 
 Figure 117 is a Buddhist symbol, or rather a copy of 
 
 Figure 117. 
 
 Maityna Bodhisatwa, from the monastery of Gopach, in the 
 valley of Nepaul. It is taken from Journal of Royal Asiatic 
 Society, vol. xviii., p. 894. The horse-shoe, like the vesica 
 piscis of the Roman church, indicates the yoni ; the last, 
 taken from some cow, mare, or donkey, being used in eastern 
 parts where we now use- their shoes, to keep off the evil eye. 
 It is remarkable that some nations should use the female 
 organ, or an effigy thereof, as a charm against ill luck, whilst 
 others adopt the male symbol. In Ireland, as we have 
 previously remarked, a female shamelessly exhibiting her- 
 self, and called Shelah-na-gig, was to be seen in stone over 
 the door of certain churches, within the last century. 
 
 From the resemblance in the shape of the horse-shoe to. 
 the " grove " of the Assyrian worshippers, and from the man 
 standing within it as the symbolic pine tree stands in the 
 Mesopotamian, " Asherah," I think we may fairly conclude
 
 79 
 
 that the Indian, like the Shemitic emblem, typifies the union 
 of the sexes the androgyne creator. 
 
 That some Buddhists have mingled sexuality with their 
 ideas of religion, may be seen in plate ii. of Emil Schlagin- 
 tweit's Atlas of Buddhism in Tibet, wherein VAJARSATTVA, 
 " The God above all," is represented as a male and female 
 conjoined. Rays, as of the sun, pass from the group ; and 
 all are enclosed in an ornate oval, or horse-shoe, like that in 
 this figure. Few, however, but the initiated would recognise 
 the nature of the group at first sight. 
 
 I may also notice, in passing, that the goddess DOLJANG 
 (A.D. 617-98) has the stigmata in her hands and feet, like 
 those assigned to Jesus of Nazareth and Francis of Assisi. 
 
 Figure 118 is a copy of the medal issued to pilgrims at 
 the shrine of the virgin at Loretto. It was lent to me by 
 
 Figure 118. 
 
 Mr. Newton, but the engraver has omitted to make the face 
 of the mother and child black, as the most ancient and 
 renowned ones usually are. 
 
 Instead of the explanation given in Ancient Faiths, 
 Vol. ii., p. 262, of the adoption of a black skin for Mary and 
 her son, D'Harcanville suggests that it represents night, the 
 period during which the feminine creator is most propitious 
 or attentive to her duties. It is unnecessary to contest the
 
 80 
 
 point, for almost every symbol has more interpretations 
 given to it than one. I have sought in vain for even a 
 plausible reason for the blackness of sacred virgins and 
 children, in certain papal shrines, which is compatible with 
 decency and Christianity. It is clear that the matter will 
 not bear the light. 
 
 Figure 119 is from Lajard, Op. Cit., plate iii., fig. 8. 
 It represents the sun, moon, and a star, probably Venus. 
 
 Figure 119. 
 
 The legend is in PhoBnician, and may be read LNBRB. 
 Levy, in Siegel und Gemmen, Breslau, 1869, reads the 
 legend ymi^, LKBEBO, but does not attempt to explain it. 
 Figure 120 is also from Lajard, plate i., fig. 8. It repre- 
 sents an act of worship before the symbols of the male and 
 
 Fignre 120. 
 
 female creators, arranged in three pairs. Above are the 
 heavenly symbols of the sun and moon. Below are the male
 
 81 
 
 palm tree, and the barred HTSK, identical in meaning with the 
 sistrum, i. e., virgo intacta. Next come the male emblem, 
 the cone, and the female symbol, the lozenge or yoni. 
 
 Figure 121 represents also a worshipper before the barred 
 female symbol, surmounted by the seven-rayed star, emblem 
 
 Figure 121. 
 
 of the male potency, and of the sun or the heavens. It will 
 be noticed and the matter is significant that the hand 
 which is raised in adoration is exactly opposite the conjunc- 
 tion of the two. Compare this with Fig. 95, where the 
 female alone is the object of reverence. 
 
 Lajard and others state that homage, such as is here 
 depicted, is' actually paid in some parts of Palestine and 
 India to the living symbol ; the worshipper on bended knees 
 offering to it, la bouche inferieure, with or without a silent 
 prayer, his food before he eats it. A corresponding homage 
 is paid by female devotees to the masculine emblem of any 
 very peculiarly holy fakir, one of whose peculiarities is, that 
 no amount of excitement stimulates the organ into what may 
 be called creative energy. It has long been a problem how 
 such a state of apathy is brought about, but modern observa- 
 tion has proved that it is by the habitual use of weights. 
 Such homage is depicted in Picart's Religious Ceremonies
 
 82 
 
 of att the People in the World, original French edition, 
 plate 71. 
 
 Figure 122 is copied from Bryant's Ancient Mythology, 
 third edition, vol. iii., p. 193. That author states that he 
 
 Figure 122. 
 
 copied it from Spanheim, but gives no other reference. It 
 is apparently from a Greek medal, and has the word 
 CAMIilN as an inscription. It is said to represent Juno, 
 Sami, or Selenitis, with the sacred peplum. The figure is 
 remarkable for showing the identity of the moon, the 
 lozenge, and the female. It is doubtful whether the attitude 
 of the goddess is intended to represent the cross. 
 
 As in religious Symbolism every detail has a signification, 
 we naturally speculate upon the meaning of the beads which 
 fringe the lower part of the diamond-shaped garment. We 
 have noticed in a previous article that the Linga when
 
 83 
 
 worshipped was sometimes adorned with beads, which were 
 the fruit of a tree sacred to Mahadeva ; in the original of 
 fig. 4, plate xi. supra, the four arms of the cross have a series 
 of beads depending from them. On a very ancient coin of 
 Citium, a rosary of beads, with a cross, has been found 
 arranged round a horse-shoe form ; and beads are common 
 ornaments on Hindoo Divinities. They may only be used 
 for decoration and without religious signification; if they 
 have the last, I have not been able to discover it. 
 
 Figure 123 is a composition taken from Bryant, vol. iv., 
 p. 286. The rock, the water, the crescent moon as an ark, 
 
 Figure 123. 
 
 and the dove hovering over it, are all symbolical ; but 
 though the author of it is right in his grouping, it is clear 
 that he is not aware of its full signification. The reader 
 will readily gather their true meaning from our articles upon 
 the ARK and WATER, and from our remarks upon the DOVE 
 in Ancient Faiths, second edition.
 
 84 
 
 Figure 124 is copied from Maffei's Gemme Antiche 
 Figurate, vol. 3, plate xl. In the original, the figure upon 
 
 Figure 124. 
 
 the pillar is very conspicuously phallic, and the whole com- 
 position indicates what was associated with the worship of 
 Priapus. This so-called god was regarded much in the 
 same light as St. Cosmo and St. Damian were at Isernia, 
 and St. Foutin in Christian France. And it is not at all 
 surprising that a church, which has deified or made saints of 
 a spear and cloak, under the names Longinus and Amphi- 
 bolus, should also adopt the " god of the gardens," and 
 consecrate him as an object for Christian worship, and give 
 him an appropriate name and emblem. But the patron saint 
 of Lampsacus was not really a deity, only a sort of saint, 
 whose business it was to attend to certain parts. The idea of 
 guardian angels was once common, see Matt, xviii. 10, where
 
 85 
 
 we read, that each child has a guardian in heaven, who looks 
 after his infantile charge. As the pagan Hymen and Lucina 
 attended upon weddings and parturitions, so the Christian 
 Cosmo and Damian attended to spouses, and assisted in 
 making them fruitful. To the last two were offered, by 
 sterile wives, wax effigies of the part left out from the nude 
 figure in our plate. To the heathen saint, we see a female 
 votary offer quince leaves, equivalent to la feuille de sage, 
 egg-shaped bread, apparently a cake; also an ass's head; 
 whilst her attendant offers a pine cone. This amongst the 
 Greeks was sacred to Cybele, as it was in Assyria to Astarte 
 or Ishtar, the name given there to ' the mother of all saints.' 
 The basket contains apples and phalli, which may 
 have been made of pastry. See Martial's Epigrams, b. xiv. 
 69. This gem is valuable, inasmuch as it assists us to under- 
 stand the signification of the pine cone offered to the 'grove,' 
 the equivalent of le Verger de Cypris. The pillar and its 
 base are curiously significant, and demonstrate how com- 
 pletely an artist can appear innocent, whilst to the initiated 
 he unveils a mystery. 
 
 Figures 125, 126, 127, are various contrivances for indi- 
 cating decently that which it was generally thought religious 
 to conceal, la bequille, ou les instrumens. 
 
 Figure 125. Figure 126. Figure 127. 
 
 Figure 128 represents the same subject; the cuts are 
 grouped so as to show how the knobbed stick, le baton, 
 becomes converted either into a bent rod, la verge, or a 
 priestly crook, le baton pastoral. There is no doubt that 
 the episcopal crozier is a presentable effigy of a very private 
 and once highly venerated portion of the human frame,
 
 86 
 
 which was used in long by-gone days by Etruscan augurs, 
 when they mapped out the sky, prior to noticing the flight of 
 
 Figure 128. 
 
 birds. Perhaps we ought to be grateful to Popery for having 
 consecrated to Christ what was so long used in that which 
 divines call the service of the devil. 
 
 Figures 129, 130, 181, are, like the preceding four, 
 copied from various antique gems ; Fig. 129 represents 
 
 Figure 129. 
 
 Figure 130. 
 
 Figure 131. 
 
 a steering oar, le timon, and is usually held in the hand 
 of good fortune, or as moderns would say " Saint Luck," or 
 bonnes fortunes ; Fig. 130 is emblematic of Cupid, or Saint 
 Desire ; it is synonymous with le dard, or la pique ; Fig. 
 131 is a form less common in gems ; it represents the 
 hammer, le marteau qui frappe V enclume et forge les enfans. 
 The ancients had as many pictorial euphemisms as our- 
 selves, and when these are understood they enable us to 
 comprehend many a legend otherwise dim ; e. g., when 
 Fortuna, or luck, always depicted as a woman, has for her 
 characteristic le timon, and for her motto the proverb, "For-
 
 87 
 
 tune favours the bold," we readily understand the double 
 entente. The steering oar indicates power, knowledge, 
 skill, and bravery in him who wields it; without such a 
 guide, few boats would attain a prosperous haven. 
 
 Figure 132 is copied from plate xxix. of Pugin's Glossary 
 of Ecclesiastical Ornament (Lond., 1868). The plate repre- 
 
 Fignre 132. 
 
 sents "a pattern for diapering," and is, I presume, 
 thoroughly orthodox. It consists of the double triangle, see 
 Figures 20, 30, 31, 32, pp. 32, 38, the emblems of Siva and 
 Parvati, the male and female ; of Rimmon the pomegranate,
 
 88 
 
 the emblem of the womb, which is seen to be full of seed 
 through the "vesica piscis," la fente, or la porte de la vie. 
 There are also two new moons, emblems of Venus, or la 
 nature, introduced. The crown above the pomegranate 
 represents the triad, and the number four; whilst in the 
 original the group which we copy is surrounded by various 
 forms of the triad, all of which are as characteristic of man 
 as Kimmon is of woman. There are also circles enclosing 
 the triad, analogous to other symbols common in Hindo- 
 stan. 
 
 Figure 133 is copied from Moor's Hindu Pantheon, pi. ix., 
 fig. 3. It represents Bhavhani, Maia, Devi, Lakshmi, or 
 
 Figure 133. 
 
 Kamala, one of the many forms given to female nature. 
 She bears in one hand the lotus, emblem of self-fructifica- 
 tion, in other similar figures an effigy of the phallus is 
 placed, whilst in the other she holds her infant Krishna, 
 Crishna, or Vishnu. Such groups are as common in India
 
 89 
 
 as in Italy, in pagan temples as in Christian churches. 
 The idea of the mother and child is pictured in every ancient 
 country of whose art any remains exist. 
 
 Figure 134 is taken from plate xxiv., fig. 1, of Moor's 
 Hindu Pantheon. It represents a subject often depicted by 
 
 Figure 134. 
 
 the Hindoos and the Greeks, viz., androgynism, the union 
 of the male and female creators. The technical word is 
 Arddha-Nari. The male on the right side bears the emblems
 
 90 
 
 of Siva or Mahadeva, the female on the left those of Parvati 
 or Sacti. The bull and lioness are emblematic of the mas- 
 culine and feminine powers. The mark on the temple 
 indicates the union of the two ; an aureole is seen around 
 the head, as in modern pictures of saints. In this drawing 
 the Ganges rises from the male, the idea being that the 
 stream from Mahadeva is as copious and fertilising as that 
 mighty river. The metaphor here depicted is common in 
 the East, and is precisely the same as that quoted in Num. 
 xxiv. 7, and also from some lost Hebrew book in John vii. 
 38. It will be noticed, that the Hindoos express androgyneity 
 quite as conspicuously, but generally much less indelicately, 
 than the Grecian artists. 
 
 Figure 135 is a common Egyptian emblem, said to 
 signify eternity, but in truth it has another meaning. The 
 
 Figure 135. 
 
 serpent and the ring indicate I' andouille and V anneau. 
 The tail of the animal, which the mouth appears to swallow, 
 is la queue dans la louche. The symbol resembles the crux 
 ansata in its signification, and imports that life upon the 
 earth is rendered perpetual by means of the union of the 
 sexes. A ring, or circle, is one of the symbols of Venus, 
 who carries indifferently this, or the triad emblem of the 
 male. See Maffei's Oemme, vol. iii., page 1, plate viii. 
 
 Figure 136 is the vesica piscis, or fish's bladder; the 
 
 Figure 136.
 
 emblem of woman and of the virgin, as may be seen in the 
 two following woodcuts. 
 
 Figures 137, 138, are copied from an ancient Rosary 
 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, printed at Venice, 1524, with a 
 
 Figure 137. 
 
 license from the Inquisition ; the book being lent to me by 
 my friend, Mr. Newton. The first represents the same part 
 as the Assyrian "grove." It may appropriately be called 
 the Holy Yoni. The book in question contains numerous 
 figures, all resembling closely the Mesopotamian emblem of 
 Ishtar. The presence of the woman therein identifies the 
 two as symbolic of Isis, or la nature; and a man bowing 
 down in adoration thereof shows the same idea as is depicted 
 in Assyrian sculptures, where males oifer to the goddess 
 symbols of themselves. Compare Figs. 63, 64, 65, 66, 
 pp. 48 seq.
 
 92 
 
 If I had been able to search through the once cele- 
 brated Alexandrian library, it is doubtful whether I 
 could have found any pictorial representation more illus- 
 trative of the relationship of certain symbolic forms to 
 each other than is Figure 138. A circle of angelic heads, 
 
 Figure 138. 
 
 forming a sort of sun, having luminous rays outside, and a 
 dove, the emblem of Venus, dart a spear (la pique) down 
 upon the earth (la terre), or the virgin. This being received, 
 fertility follows. In Grecian story, Ouranos and Ge, or 
 heaven and earth, were the parents of creation ; and Jupiter 
 came from heaven to impregnate Alcmena. The same 
 mythos prevailed throughout all civilised nations. Christian- 
 ity adopted the idea, merely altering the names of the 
 respective parents, and attributed the regeneration of the 
 world to "holy breath" and Mary. Every individual, indeed, 
 extraordinarily conspicuous for wisdom, power, goodness,
 
 93 
 
 etc., is said to have been begotten on a woman by a celestial 
 father. Within the vesica piscis, artists usually represent 
 the virgin herself, with or without the child ; in the figure 
 before us the child takes her place. It is difficult to believe 
 that the ecclesiastics who sanctioned the publication of such 
 a print could have been as ignorant as modern ritualists. It 
 is equally difficult to believe that the latter, if they knew the 
 real meaning of the symbols commonly used by the Roman 
 church, would adopt them. 
 
 The last two figures, symbolic of adoration before divine 
 sexual emblems, afford me the opportunity to give a descrip- 
 tion of a similar worship existent in Hindostan at the present 
 time. My authority is H. H. Wilson, in Essays on the 
 Religion of the Hindoos, Triibner and Co., London. " The 
 worshippers," he remarks, vol. i., p. 240, " of the Sakti, the 
 power or energy of the divine nature in action, are exceedingly 
 numerous amongst all classes of Hindoos about three- 
 fourths are of this sect, while only a fifth are Vaishnavas and 
 a sixteenth Saivas. This active energy is personified, and the 
 form with which it is invested depends upon the bias of the 
 individuals. The most favourite form is that of Parvati, 
 Bhavani, or Durga, the wife of Siva, or Mahadeva." 
 
 " The worship of the female principle, as distinct from the 
 divinity, appears to have originated in the literal interpretation 
 of the metaphorical language of the Vedas, in which the u-itt 
 or purpose to create the universe is represented as originating 
 from the creator, and consistent with him as his bride." " The 
 Sama-veda, for example, says, the creator felt not delight being 
 alone ; he wished another, and caused his own self to fall in 
 twain, and thus became husband and wife. He approached 
 her, and thus were human beings produced." A sentiment or 
 statement which we may notice in passing is very similar to 
 that propounded in Genesis, ch. i. 27, and v. 1, 2, respecting 
 Elohim viz., that he created man and woman in his own 
 image, i.e., as male and female, bisexual but united an 
 androgyne.
 
 94 
 
 " This female principle goes by innumerable cognomens, 
 inasmuch as every goddess, every nymph, and all women are 
 identified with it. She the principle personified is the 
 mother of all, as Mahadeva, the male principle, is the father 
 of all." 
 
 " The homage rendered to the Sakti may be done before an 
 image of any goddess Prakriti, Lakshmi, Bhavani, Durga, 
 Maya, Parvati, or Devi -just in the same way as Romanists 
 may pray to a local Mary, or any other. But in accordance 
 with the weakness of human nature, there are many who 
 consider it right to pay their devotions to the thing itself 
 rather than to an abstraction. In this form of worship six 
 elements are required, flesh, fish, wine, women, gesticu- 
 lations and mantras which consist of various unmeaning 
 monosyllabic combinations of letters of great imaginary 
 
 " The ceremonies are mostly gone through in a mixed 
 society, the Sakti being personified by a naked female, to 
 whom meat and wine are offered and then distributed 
 amongst the company. These eat and drink alternately with 
 gesticulations and mantras and when the religious part of 
 the business is over, the males and females rush together and 
 indulge in a wild orgy. This ceremony is entitled the Sri 
 Chakra or Purnabhisheka, the Ring or Full Initiation." 
 
 In a note apparently by the editor, Dr. Rost, a full 
 account is given in Sanscrit of the Sakti Sodhana, as they 
 are prescribed in the Devi Rahasya, a section of the Rudra 
 Ydmala, so as to prove to his readers that the Sri Chakra is 
 performed under a religious prescription. 
 
 We learn that the woman should be an actress, dancing 
 girl, a courtesan, washerwoman, barber's wife, flower-girl, 
 milk-maid, or a female devotee. The ceremony is to take 
 place at midnight with eight, nine, or eleven couples. At 
 first there are sundry mantras said, then the female is 
 disrobed, but richly ornamented, and is placed on the left 
 of a circle (Chakra) described for the purpose, and after
 
 95 
 
 sundry gesticulations, mantras, and formulas she is purified 
 by being sprinkled over with wine. If a novice, the girl has 
 the radical mantra whispered thrice in her ear. Feasting 
 then follows, lest Venus should languish in the absence of 
 Ceres and Bacchus, and now, when the veins are full of rich 
 blood, the actors are urged to do what desire dictates, but 
 never to be so carried away by their zeal as to neglect the 
 holy mantras appropriate to every act and to every stage 
 thereof.* 
 
 It is natural that such a religion should be popular, 
 especially amongst the young of both sexes. 
 
 Figures 139 to 153 are copied from Moor's Hindu 
 Pantheon ; they are sectarial marks in India, and are usually 
 
 o 
 
 Fig. 139. 
 
 Fig. 140. 
 
 Fig. 141. 
 
 V 
 
 Fig. 142. 
 
 Fig. 143. 
 
 Fig. 144. 
 
 W 
 
 Fig. 145. 
 
 Fig. 146. 
 
 Fig. 147. 
 
 Fig. 148. 
 
 Fig. 152. Fig. 153. 
 
 traced on the forehead. Many resemble what are known as 
 "mason's marks," i. e., designs found on tooled stones, 
 
 * The above quotations from Wilson's work are selections from his and his 
 Editor's account. In the original the observations extend over eighteen pages, and 
 are too long to be given in their entirety : the parts omitted are of no consequence.
 
 96 
 
 in various ancient edifices, like our own, " trade marks." 
 They are introduced here to illustrate the various designs 
 employed to indicate the union of the "trinity" with the 
 "unity," and the numerous forms representative of "la 
 nature." A priori, it appears absurd to suppose that the 
 eye could ever have been symbolical of anything but sight ; 
 but the mythos of Indra, given in Ancient Faiths, second 
 edition, Vol. n., p. 649, and p. 7 supra, proves that it has 
 another and a hidden meaning. These figures are alike 
 emblematic of the "trinity," "the virgin," and the "four." 
 
 Figure 154 is from Pugin, plate v., figure 3. It is the 
 outline of a pectoral ornament worn by some Roman eccle- 
 
 Figure 154. 
 
 siastic in Italy, A. D. 1400 ; it represents the Egyptian crux 
 ansata under another form, the "J" signifying the triad, the 
 O the unit. 
 
 Figures 155, 156, are different forms of the sistrum, one 
 of the emblems of Isis. In the latter, the triple bars have 
 one signification, which will readily suggest itself to those 
 who know the meaning of the triad. In the former, the 
 emblem of the trinity, which we have been obliged to con- 
 ventionalise, is shown in a distinct manner. The cross bars 
 indicate that Isis is a virgin. The cat at the top of the 
 instrument indicates " desire," Cupid, or Eros. Fig. 155 
 is copied from plate ix., E. P. Knight's Worship of Priapus. 
 
 Figure 157 represents the cup and wafer, to be found 
 in the hands of many effigies of papal bishops ; they 
 are alike symbolic of the sun and moon, and of the 
 elements in the Eucharist. See Pugin, plate iv., figs. 
 5,6.
 
 97 
 
 Figure 158 is copied from Lajard, plate xv., tig. 6. It
 
 represents a temple in a conventional form ; whilst below, 
 Ceres appears seated within a horse-shoe shaped ornament. 
 
 Figure 156. 
 
 Figur 
 
 This, amongst other symbols, tends to show what we have so 
 frequently before observed, that the female in creation is 
 
 Figure 158. 
 
 characterised by a great variety of designs, of which the 
 succeeding woodcuts give us additional evidence. 
 
 Figure 159 represents the various forms symbolic of 
 Juno, Isis, Parvati, Ishtar, Mary, or woman, or the 
 virgin. 
 
 Figure 159. 
 
 Figures 160, 161, 162, are copied from Audsley's Chris- 
 tian Symbolism (London, 1868). They are ornaments worn 
 by the Virgin Mary, and represent her as the crescent moon,
 
 99 
 
 conjoined with the cross (in Fig. 160), with the collar 
 
 Figure 160. 
 
 Figure 162. 
 
 Figure 161. 
 
 of Isis (in Fig. 161), and with the double triangle (in 
 Fig. 162). 
 
 Figure 163 represents a tortoise. When one sees a 
 
 Figure 163. 
 
 resemblance between this creature's head and neck and the 
 linga, one can understand why both in India and in Greece the 
 animal should be regarded as sacred to the goddess personi- 
 fying the female creator, and why in Hindoo myths it is 
 said to support the world. 
 
 In the British Museum there are three Assyrian obelises, 
 all of which represent, in the most conspicuous way, the 
 phallus, one of which has been apparently circumcised. The 
 body is occupied with an inscription recording the sale of land, 
 and also a figure of the reigning king, whilst upon the part 
 known as the glans penis are a number of symbols, which 
 are intended apparently to designate the generative powers 
 in creation. The male is indicated by a serpent, a spear 
 head, a hare, a tiara, a cock, and a tortoise. The female
 
 100 
 
 appears under precisely the same form as is seen on the head 
 of the Egyptian Isis, Fig. 28. The tortoise is to this day a 
 masculine emblem in Japan. See Figs. 174, 175. 
 
 But there is no necessity for the animal itself always 
 to be depicted, inasmuch as I have discovered that both in 
 Assyrian and Greek art the tortoise is pourtrayed under the 
 
 figure 
 
 which resembles somewhat the markings upon 
 
 the segments into which the shell is divided. In symbolism 
 it is a very common thing for a part to stand for the whole ; 
 thus an egg is made to do duty for the triad ; and a man 
 is sometimes represented by a spade. A woman is in like 
 manner represented by a comb, or a mirror; and a golden 
 fleece typifies in the first place the " grove," which it over- 
 shadows, and the female who possesses both. 
 
 It has been stated on page 19 supra, that Pausanias 
 mentions having seen at some place in Greece one figure of 
 Venus standing on a tortoise, and another upon a ram, 
 but he leaves to the ingenious to discover why the association 
 takes place. 
 
 It was this intimation which led me to identify the 
 tortoise as a male symbol. Any person who has ever 
 watched this creature in repose, and seen the action of the 
 head and neck when the quadruped is excited, will recognise 
 why the animal is dear to the goddess of amorous delight, 
 and that which it may remind her of. In like manner, those 
 who are familiar with the ram will know that it is remarkable 
 for persistent and excessive vigour. Like the cat, whose 
 salacity caused it to be honoured in Egypt, the ram was in 
 that country also sacred, as the bull was in Assyria and 
 Hindostan. 
 
 In fact, everything which in shape, habits, or sound 
 could remind mankind of the creators and of the first part of 
 creation was regarded with reverence. Thus tall stones or 
 natural pinnacles of rock, the palm, pine, and oak trees, the 
 fig tree and the ivy, with their tripliform leaves, the
 
 101 
 
 mandrake, with its strange human form, the thumb 
 and finger, symbolised Bel, Baal, Asher, or Mahadeva. In 
 like manner a hole in the ground, a crevice in a rock, a deep 
 cave, the myrtle from the shape of its leaf, the fish from its 
 scent, the dolphin and the mullet from their names, the 
 dove from its note, and any umbrageous retreat surrounded 
 with thick bushes, were symbolic of woman. 
 
 So also the sword and sheath, the arrow and target, the 
 spear and shield, the plough and furrow, the spade and 
 trench, the pillar by a well, the thumb thrust between the 
 two fore-fingers or grasped by the hand, and a host of other 
 things were typical of the union which brings about the 
 formation of a new being. 
 
 I cannot help regarding the sexual element as the key 
 which opens almost every lock of symbolism, and however 
 much we may dislike the idea that modern religionists have 
 adopted emblems of an obscene worship, we cannot deny the 
 fact that it is so, and we may hope that with a knowledge of 
 their impurity we shall cease to have a faith based upon a 
 trinity and virgin a lingam and a yoni. Some may cling 
 still to such a doctrine, but to me it is simply horrible 
 blasphemous and heathenish. 
 
 Figures 164, 165, represent a pagan and Christian cross 
 and trinity. The first is copied from R. P. Knight (plate x., 
 
 I 
 
 Figure 164. Figure 165. 
 
 fig. 1), and represents a figure found on an ancient coin of 
 Apollonia. The second may be seen in any of our churches 
 to-day. 
 
 Figure 166 is from an old papal book lent to me by Mr. 
 Newton, Missale Romanum, illustrated by a monk (Venice,
 
 102 
 
 1509). It represents a confessor of the Roman church, who 
 wears the crux ansata, the Egyptian symbol of life, the 
 
 Figure 166. 
 
 emblem of the four creators, in the place of the usual 
 pallium. It is remarkable that a Christian church should 
 have adopted so many pagan symbols as Rome has done. 
 Figure 167 is copied from a small bronze figure in 
 
 Figure 167.
 
 103 
 
 the Mayer collection in the Free Museum, Liverpool. It 
 represents the feminine creator holding a well marked lingam 
 in her hand, and is thus emblematic of the four, or the 
 trinity and the virgin. 
 
 Figure 168 represents two Egyptian deities in worship 
 before an emblem of the male, which closely resembles 
 an Irish round tower. 
 
 Figure 168. 
 
 Figure 169 represents the modern pallium worn by 
 iioman priests. It represents the ancient sistrum of Isis, 
 and the yoni of the Hindoos. It is symbolic of the celestial 
 virgin, and the unit in the creative four. When donned 
 by a Christian priest, he resembles the pagan male wor- 
 shippers, who wore a female dress when they ministered 
 before the altar or shrine of a goddess. Possibly the 
 Hebrew ephod was of this form and nature. 
 
 Figure 
 
 Figure 170. 
 
 Figure 170 is a copy of an ancient pallium, worn by 
 papal ecclesiastics three or four centuries ago. It is the old 
 Egyptian symbol described above. Its common name is 
 crux ansata, or the cross with a handle.
 
 104 
 
 Figure 171 is the albe worn by Roman and other 
 ecclesiastics when officiating at mass, etc. It is simply 
 
 Figure 171. 
 
 a copy of the chemise ordinarily worn by women as an under 
 garment. 
 
 Figure 172 represents the chasuble worn by papal hier- 
 archs. It is copied from Pugin's Glossary, etc. Its form is 
 that of the vesica piscis, one of the most common emblems 
 of the yoni. It is adorned by the triad. When worn by 
 the priest, he forms the male element, and with the chasuble 
 completes the sacred four. When worshipping the ancient 
 goddesses, whom Mary has displaced, the officiating ministers 
 clothed themselves in feminine attire. Hence the use of the 
 chemise, etc. Even the tonsured head, adopted from the 
 priests of the Egyptian Isis, represents " V anneau; " so that 
 on head, shoulders, breast and body, we may see on Christian 
 priests the relics of the worship of Venus, and the adoration 
 of woman ! How horrible all this would sound if, instead of 
 using veiled language, we had employed vulgar words. The
 
 105 
 
 idea of a man adorning himself, when ministering before God 
 and the people, with the effigies of those parts which nature 
 
 Figure 172. 
 
 as well as civilisation teaches us to conceal, would be simply 
 disgusting, but when all is said to be mysterious and con- 
 nected with hidden signification, almost everybody tolerates 
 and many eulogise or admire it !
 
 107 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE ASSYKIAN "GROVE" AND OTHER EMBLEMS, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN NEWTON, M. E. C. S. 
 
 The study of sacred symbols is as yet in its infancy. It 
 has hitherto been almost ignored by sacerdotal historians ; 
 and thus a rich mine of knowledge on the most interesting 
 of all subjects the history of the Religious Idea in man 
 remains comparatively unexplored. The topic has a two-fold 
 interest, for it equally applies to the present and the past. 
 As nothing on earth is more conservative than religion, we 
 have still a world of symbolism existing amongst us which is 
 far older than our sects and books, our creeds and articles, 
 a relic of a forgotten, pre-historic past. Untold ages before 
 writing was invented, it is believed that men attempted 
 to express their ideas in visible forms. Yet how can a 
 savage, who is unable to count his fingers up to five, and has 
 no idea of abstract number, apart from things, whose habits 
 and thoughts are of the earth, earthy, form a conception of 
 the high and holy One who inhabiteth eternity? Even 
 under the highest forms of ancient civilisation, abundant 
 proofs exist that the imagination of men, brooding over 
 the idea of the Unseen and the Infinite, were bounded by 
 the things which were presented in their daily experience, 
 and which most moved their passions, hopes and fears. 
 Through these, then, they attempted to embody such reli- 
 gious ideas as they felt. They could not teach others with- 
 out visible symbols to assist their conceptions ; and emblems 
 were rather crutches for the halting than wings to help the 
 healthy to soar. Mankind in all ages has clung to the 
 visible and tangible. The people care little for the abstract
 
 108 
 
 and unseen. The Israelites preferred a calf of gold to the 
 invisible Jehovah ; and sensuous forms of worship still fasci- 
 nate the multitude. 
 
 Whilst studying a collection of symbols, gathered from 
 many climes and ages, such as this volume presents, I feel 
 sure that every intelligent student will have asked himself 
 more than once Is there not some key which unlocks these 
 enigmas, some grand idea which runs through them all, 
 connecting them like a string of beads ? I believe that there 
 is, and that it is not far to seek. What do men desire and 
 long for most ? Life. " Skin for skin ; all that a man 
 hath will he give for his life," is a saying as true now as in 
 the days of Job. " Give me back my youth, and I will give 
 you all I possess," was said by the aged Voltaire to his 
 physician. And our poet laureate has sung, 
 
 'T is Life, whereof our nerves are scant, 
 O life, not death, for which we pant ; 
 More life, and fuller, that I want. 
 
 But we must add, as necessarily contained in the idea of 
 Life in its highest sense, those things which make Life 
 desirable. 
 
 This fulness of life has been the summum bonum, the 
 highest good, which mankind has sighed for in every age 
 and clime. For this the alchemists toiled, not to advance 
 chemistry, but to discover the Elixir of Life and the Philo- 
 sopher's Stone. But what nature refused to science, the 
 gods, it was believed, would surely give to the pious ! and 
 the glorious prize referred to has been promised by every 
 religion. " I am come that they might have Life, and that 
 they might have it more abundantly." Life is the reward 
 which has been promised under every system, including that 
 of the founder of Christianity. A Tree of Life stood in the 
 midst of that Paradise which is described in the book of 
 Genesis ; and when the first human couple disobeyed their 
 Maker's command, they were punished by being cut off from
 
 109 
 
 the perennial fount of vitality, lest they should eat its fruit 
 and thus live for ever ; and in a second Paradise, which is 
 promised to the blessed by the author of the book of Revela- 
 tion, a tree of life shall stand once more " for the healing of 
 the nations." To the good man is promised, in the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, long life, prosperity, and a numerous offspring. 
 " Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."* Ps. ciii. 5. 
 
 In the wondrous theology of Ancient Egypt, which at 
 length is open to us, the " Ritual of the Dead " celebrates 
 the mystical reconstruction of the body of the deceased, 
 whose parts are to be reunited, as those of Osiris were by 
 Isis; the trials are recorded through which the deceased 
 passes, and by which all remaining stains of corruption are 
 wiped away; and the record ends when the defunct is born 
 again glorious, like that Sun which typified the Egyptian 
 resurrection, t 
 
 In the ancient mythology of India, it is recounted that 
 of old the gods in council united together to procure, by one 
 supreme effort, the Amrita cup of immortality, which, after 
 the success of their scheme, they partake of with their 
 worshippers. Even for the Buddhist, his cold, atheistical 
 creed promises a Nirvana, an escape from the horrors of 
 metempsychosis, a haven of eternal calm, where " there 
 shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither 
 shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed 
 away; " " there the weary be at rest." Rev. xxi. 4, Job iii. 17. 
 
 This idea of tranquillity is in striking contrast to the 
 heaven promised by the religion of the north of Europe, 
 which was the one most congenial to a people whose delight 
 was in conquest and battle. Those who had led a life of 
 heroism, or perished bravely in fight, ascended to Valhalla ; 
 and the eternal manhood which awaited them there was to 
 
 * St. Paul points out (Eph. vi. 2) that to only one of the ten commandments is a 
 promise added. And what is the promise ? " That thy days may be long." 
 (Exod. xx. 12.) See also Psalm cxxxiii. 3, " the blessing, even life for evermore." 
 
 f Apuleius, who had been initiated into the mysteries of Isis, informs us that 
 long life was the reward promised to her votaries. (Metam. cap. xi.)
 
 110 
 
 be passed in scenes that were rapture to the imagination of a 
 Dane or a Saxon. Every day in that abode of bliss was to 
 be spent in furious conflict, in the struggle of armies and 
 the cleaving of shields ; but at evening the conflict was to 
 cease ; every wound to be suddenly healed. Then the con- 
 tending warriors were to sit down to a banquet, where, 
 attended by lovely maidens, they could feast on the exhaust- 
 less flesh of the boar Saehrimnir, and drink huge draughts of 
 mead from the skulls of those enemies who had not attained 
 to the glories of Valhalla. 
 
 The paradise promised to the faithful by Mahomet is full 
 of sensuous delights. The Arabian prophet dwells with 
 rapture on its gardens and palaces, its rivers and bowers. 
 Seventy-two houris, or black-eyed girls, rejoicing in beauty 
 and ever-blooming youth, will be created for the use of the 
 meanest believer ; a moment of pleasure will be prolonged 
 to a thousand years, and his powers will be increased a 
 hundred-fold to render him worthy of his felicity. 
 
 Thus we see that in all these great historical faiths the 
 prize held out to the true believer has this in common, viz., 
 Life, overflowing, ever-renewed, with the addition of those 
 things which make life desirable for men ; whether they are 
 sensuous pleasures, or those which, under the loftier ideal of 
 Christianity, are summed up in Life, both temporal and 
 eternal, in the light of God. 
 
 Such being the case, we might anticipate that the 
 symbols of every religion would reproduce, in some shape or 
 other, the ideal which is common to all. The earliest and 
 rudest faiths were content with gross and simple emblems of 
 life. In the later and more refined forms of worship, the 
 ruder types were highly conventionalised, and replaced 
 by a more intricate and less obvious symbolism. 
 
 We proceed now to investigate the more primitive 
 emblems. The origin of life is, even to us, with all our 
 lights, as great a mystery as it was to the ancients. To the 
 primitive races of mankind the formation of a new being
 
 Ill 
 
 appeared to be a constant miracle, and men very naturally 
 used as tokens of life, and even worshipped, those objects 
 or organs by which the miracle appeared to be wrought. 
 Thus, the glorious sun, that " god of this world," the source 
 of life and light to our earth, was early adored, and an effigy 
 thereof used as a symbol. Mankind watched with rapture 
 its rays gain strength daily in the Spring, until the golden 
 glories of Midsummer had arrived, when the earth was 
 bathed during the longest days in his beams, which ripened 
 the fruits that his returning course had started into life. 
 When the sun once more began its course downwards to the 
 Winter solstice, his votaries sorrowed, for he seemed to 
 sicken and grow paler at the advent of December, when his 
 rays scarcely reached the earth, and all nature, benumbed 
 and cold, sunk into a death-like sleep. Hence feasts and 
 fasts were instituted to mark the commencement of the 
 various phases of the solar year, which have continued from 
 the earliest known period, under various names, to our own 
 times. 
 
 The daily disappearance and the subsequent rise of 
 the sun, appeared to many of the ancients as a true resur- 
 rection ; thus, while the east came to be regarded as the 
 source of light and warmth, happiness and glory, the west 
 was associated with darkness and chill, decay and death. 
 This led to the common custom of burying the dead so as to 
 face the east when they rose again, and of building temples 
 and shrines with an opening towards the east. To effect 
 this, Vitruvius, two thousand years ago, gave precise rules, 
 which are still followed by Christian architects. 
 
 Sun-worship was spread all over the ancient world. It 
 mingled with other faiths and assumed many forms.* Of the 
 elements, fire was naturally chosen as its earthly symbol. 
 A sacred fire, at first miraculously kindled, and subsequently 
 
 * We may point out that, according to all the Gospels, Christ expired towards 
 suDHet, and the sun became eclipsed as he was dying. He rose again exactly at day- 
 break.
 
 112 
 
 kept up by the sedulous care of priests or priestesses, formed 
 an important part of the religions of Judea, Babylonia, 
 Persia, Greece and Home, and the superstition lingers 
 amongst us still. So late as the advent of the Reformation, 
 a sacred fire was kept ever burning on a shrine at Kildare, 
 in Ireland, and attended by virgins of high rank, called 
 " inghean au dagha," or daughters of fire. Every year is 
 the ceremony repeated at Jerusalem of the miraculous kin- 
 dling of the Holy Fire at the reputed sepulchre, and men and 
 women crowd to light tapers at the sacred flame, which they 
 pass through with a naked body. Indeed, solar myths 
 form no unimportant part of ancient mythology. Thus 
 the death of nature in the winter time, through the with- 
 drawal of the sun, was supposed to be caused by the mourn- 
 ing of the earth-goddess over the sickness and disappearance 
 into the realms of darkness of her husband and mate, the 
 sun. 
 
 Mr. Fox Talbot has lately given the translation of an 
 Egyptian poem, more than three thousand years old, and 
 having for its subject the descent of Ishtar into Hades. To 
 this region of darkness and death the goddess goes in search 
 of her beloved Osiris, or Tammuz. This Ishtar is identical 
 with the Assyrian female in the celestial quartette, the later 
 Phoenician Astarte, " The Queen of Heaven with crescent 
 horns," the moon-goddess, also with the Greek Aphrodite 
 and Roman Venus ; and the Egyptian legend reappears in 
 the west as the mourning of Venus for the loss of Adonis. 
 
 Again, the fable of Ceres mourning the death of her 
 daughter Proserpine is another sun-myth. The Roman 
 Ceres was the Greek A^TTJP, or yrj M^p, Mother Earth, 
 who through the winter time wanders inconsolable. Per- 
 sephone, her daughter, is the vegetable world, whose seeds 
 or roots lie concealed underground in the darkness of 
 winter. These, when Spring comes with its brightness, 
 bud forth and dwell in the realms of light during a part of 
 the year, and provide ample nourishment for men and
 
 113 
 
 animals with their fruits. The sun, being the active fructi- 
 fying cause in nature, was generally regarded as male. Thus, 
 in the Jewish scriptures, he is compared to " a bridegroom 
 coming out of his chamber" (Ps. xix. 5), i.e., as a man full 
 of generative, procreative vigour. The moon and the earth, 
 being receptive only, were naturally regarded as female. 
 
 At the vernal equinox, the ancients celebrated the bridal 
 of the sun and the earth. Yet, inasmuch as the orbs of heaven 
 and the face of nature remain the same from year to year, and 
 perpetually renew light and life, themselves remaining fresh 
 in vigour and unharmed by age, the ancients conceived the 
 bride and mate of the sun-god as continuing ever virgin. 
 Again, as the ancient month was always reckoned by the 
 interval between one new moon and the next, an interval 
 which also marks a certain recurring event in women, 
 that ceases at once on the occurrence of pregnancy, the 
 lunar crescent became a symbol of virginity, and as such 
 adorns the brow of the Greek Artemis and Koman Diana. 
 This was used as a talisman at a very remote period, and 
 was fixed over the doors of the early lake-dwellers in Switzer- 
 land, like the horse-shoe is to modern side-posts. With the 
 sun and moon were often associated the five visible planets, 
 forming a sacred seven, a figure which is continually crop- 
 ping up in religious emblems. 
 
 So much for the great cosmic symbols of Life. But the 
 primitive races of mankind found others nearer home, and 
 still more suggestive the generative parts in the two sexes, 
 by the union of which all animated life, and mankind, the 
 most interesting of all to human beings, appeared to be 
 created. This reverence for, or worship of, the organs of 
 generation, has been traced to a very early period in the 
 history of the human race. In a bone-cave recently exca- 
 vated near Venice, and beneath its ten feet of stalagmite, 
 were found bones of animals, flint implements, a bone 
 needle, and a phallus in baked clay. And if we turn to 
 those savage tribes who still reproduce for us the pre- 
 H
 
 114 
 
 historic past, this form of religious symbolism meets us 
 everywhere. In Dahomey, beyond the Ashantees, it is, 
 according to Captain Burton, most uncomfortably prominent. 
 In every street of their settlements are priapic figures. The 
 " Tree of Life " is anointed with palm oil, which drips into 
 a pot or shard placed below it, and the would-be mother of 
 children prays before the image that the great god Legba 
 would make her fertile. 
 
 Burton tells us that he peeped into an Egba temple 
 or lodge, and found it a building with three courts, of which 
 the innermost was a sort of holy of holies. Its doors had 
 carvings on them of a leopard, a fish, a serpent, and a land 
 tortoise. The first two of these are female symbols, the two 
 latter emblems of the male. There were also two rude 
 figures representing their god Obatala, the deity of life, who 
 is worshipped under two forms, a male and a female. Oppo- 
 site to these was the male symbol or phallus, conjoined 
 in coitu with the female emblem. Du Chaillu met with 
 some tribes in Africa who adore the female only. His guide, 
 he informs us, carried a hideous little image of wood with 
 him, and at every meal he would take the little fetish out of 
 his pocket, and pour a libation over its feet before he would 
 drink himself. 
 
 We know that a similar superstition prevailed in Ireland 
 long after the advent of Christianity. There a female, 
 pointing to her symbol, was placed over the portal of many 
 a church as a protector from evil spirits ; and the elaborate 
 though rude manner in which these figures were sculptured 
 shows that they were considered as objects of great import- 
 ance. It was the universal practice among the Arabs of 
 Northern Africa to stick up over the door of their house or 
 tent the genital parts of a cow, mare, or female camel, as a 
 talisman to avert the influence of the evil eye. The figure of 
 this organ being less definite than that of the male, it has 
 assumed in symbolism very various forms. The commonest 
 substitution for the part itself has been a horse-shoe, which
 
 115 
 
 is to this day fastened over many of the doors of stables and 
 shippons in the country, and, was formerly supposed to pro- 
 tect the cattle from witchcraft. From a lively story by 
 Beroalde de Verville, we learn that in France a sight of the 
 female organ was believed, as late as the sixteenth century, 
 to be a powerful charm in curing any disease in, and for 
 prolonging the life of, the fortunate beholder. 
 
 As civilisation advanced, the gross symbols of creative 
 power were cast aside, and priestly ingenuity was taxed to 
 the utmost in inventing a crowd of less obvious emblems, 
 which should represent the ancient ideas in a decorous 
 manner. The old belief was retained, but in a mysterious or 
 sublimated form. As symbols of the male, or active element 
 in creation, the sun, light, fire, a torch, the phallus or 
 linga, an erect serpent, a tall straight tree, especially the 
 palm and the fir or pine, were adopted. Equally useful 
 for symbolism were a tall upright stone (menhir), a cone, a 
 pyramid, a thumb or finger pointed straight, a mast, a rod, 
 a trident, a narrow bottle or amphora, a bow, an arrow, a 
 lance, a horse, a bull, a lion, and many other animals conspicu- 
 ous for masculine power. As symbols of the female, the 
 passive though fruitful element in creation, the crescent 
 moon, the earth, darkness, water, and its emblem a triangle 
 with the apex downwards, " the yoni," a shallow vessel or 
 cup for pouring fluid into (cratera), a ring or oval, a lozenge, 
 any narrow cleft, either natural or artificial, an arch or door- 
 way, were employed. In the same category of symbols 
 came a ship or boat, the female date-palm bearing fruit, a 
 cow with her calf by her side, the fish, fruits having many 
 seeds, such as the pomegranate, a shell (concha), a cavern, 
 a garden, a fountain, a bower, a rose, a fig, and other things 
 of suggestive form, etc. 
 
 These two great classes of conventional symbols were 
 often represented in conjunction with each other, and 
 thus symbolised in the highest degree the great source of 
 life, ever originating, ever renewed. The Egyptian temple
 
 116 
 
 at Denderah has lately been explored by M. Mariette. In a 
 niche of the Holy of Holies he discovered the sacred secret. 
 This was simply a GOLDEN SISTRUM (see ante, pp. 44 and 
 70), an emblem formed by uniting the female oval with the 
 male sacred Tau T ; and thus identical in meaning with the 
 coarse emblem seen by Captain Burton in the African idol 
 temple. A similar emblem is the linga standing in the 
 centre of a yoni, the adoration of which is to this day 
 characteristic of the leading dogma of Hindu religion. 
 There is scarcely a temple in India which has not its lingam ; 
 and in numerous instances this symbol is the only form 
 under which the great god Siva is worshipped. (See ante, 
 pp. 72, 73.) 
 
 The linga is generally a tall, polished, cylindrical, black 
 stone, apparently inserted into another stone formed like an 
 elongated saucer, though in reality the whole is sculptured 
 out of one block of basalt. The outline of the frame, which 
 reminds us of a Jew's harp (the conventional form of the 
 female member), is termed argha or yoni. The former, or 
 round perpendicular stone, the type of the virile organ, is 
 the linga. The entire symbol, to which the name lingyoni 
 is given, is also occasionally called lingam. This representa- 
 tive of the union of the sexes typifies the divine sacti, or 
 productive energy, in union with the procreative, generative 
 power seen throughout nature. The earth was the primitive 
 pudendum, or yoni, which is fecundated by the solar heat, 
 the sun, the primitive linga, to whose vivifying rays man and 
 animals, plants and the fruits of the earth, owe their being 
 and continued existence. These " lingas " vary in size from 
 the tiny amulets worn about the neck, to the great monoliths 
 of the temples. Thus the lingam is an emblem of the 
 Creator, the fountain of all life, who is represented in Hindu 
 mythology as uniting in Himself the two sexes. 
 
 Another symbol, the caduceus, older than Greek and 
 Roman art, in which it is associated with Esculapius and 
 Hermes, the gods of health and fertility, has precisely the
 
 117 
 
 same signification as the sistrum and the lingam. This is 
 made clear enough in the following extract from a letter by 
 Dr. C. E. Balfour, published in Fergusson's Tree 
 and Serpent Worship, 1873. " I have only once 
 seen living snakes in the form of the Esculapian 
 rod. It was at Ahmednuggar, in 1841, on a clear 
 moonlight night. They dropped into the garden Fi - 173 - 
 from the thatched roof of my house, and stood erect. They 
 were all cobras, and no one could have seen them without at 
 once recognising that they were in congress. Natives of 
 India consider that it is most fortunate to witness serpents 
 so engaged, and believe that if a person can throw a cloth at 
 the pair so as to touch them with it, the material becomes 
 a representative form of Lakshmi,* of the highest virtue, 
 and is preserved as such." The serpent, which casts its 
 skin and seems to renew its youth every year, has been 
 used from remotest times as a living symbol of generative 
 energy, and of immortality ; indeed, in the most ancient 
 Eastern languages, the name for the serpent also signifies 
 life, t It has been usually worshipped as the Agathodcemon, 
 the god of good fortune, life, and health; though in the 
 Hebrew scriptures, and elsewhere, we meet with a good and 
 a bad serpent Oriental dualism. The Kakodoemon, how- 
 ever, is usually represented as winged the Dragon, as in 
 the following example. 
 
 In the remarkable Babylonian seal, Plate iv., Fig. 3, the 
 deity is represented as uniting in himself the male and the 
 female. On each side is a serpent, as the emblem of the life 
 flowing from the Creator; that on the male side, having 
 round his head the solar glory, is compared to the sun-god, 
 as the active principle in creation ; that on the female side, 
 over whose head is the lunar crescent, to the moon- and 
 earth-goddess, the passive principle in creation. Both are 
 
 * The consort, or life-giving energy of Vishnu. 
 
 f As in French, the name for the male organ and for life is the same in 
 sound, though not in spelling or gender.
 
 118 
 
 attacked by a winged dragon, the kakodoemon, or the evil 
 principle. This is according to the ancient Chaldean doctrine 
 of two creations of living beings, the ODC good and the other 
 malign. The Chinese still think chat an eclipse is caused 
 by the efforts of a fnrions dragon to destroy the sun and 
 moon ; and Apollo, the sun-god, destroying the serpent 
 Python, has reappeared on our coin as St. George killing the 
 dragon. Even Apollyon appears in old paintings with huge 
 wings, like those of a bat. 
 
 Having thus explained what appears to be the key to 
 a wide range of religious symbolism, and shown its appli- 
 cation in many cases, we shall further apply it to unlock the 
 . famous object of Assyrian worship. Soon after the dis- 
 coveries of Botta and Layard were published, it was conjec- 
 tured that this strange object, so continually represented as 
 being adored, might be the asherah of the Hebrew scrip- 
 tures, translated "grove" in the English version. How 
 far the view was correct we shall now proceed to examine. 
 
 The religion of the East at a very remote period appears 
 to have been the worship' of one God, under several names. 
 The most primitive was El, II, or Al, = the strong, the 
 mighty one ; or its plural Elohim, as expressing His many 
 powers and manifestations. Another name was Baal or 
 Bel, the lord, which also had a plural form, Baalim. The 
 first word is continually used in the Hebrew scriptures, and 
 applied both to the true God and the gods of the nations. 
 Baal is only once thus applied, Hosea ii. 16; yet Balaam, 
 inspired by God, prophesies from the high places of Baal. 
 This name, though so appropriate to the Almighty, became 
 abhorrent to the Jews when it was so frequently associated 
 with idolatry, and a new cognomen, or " the Supreme," 
 was adopted by them, viz., Jehovah, = the Eternal, the 
 Ever-Living One, the Creator ; see Exod. iii. 14. " Baal " 
 was the supreme god of all the great Syro-Phoenician 
 nations, with the insignificant exception of the Jews ; and 
 when the latter migrated into Canaan they were surrounded
 
 119 
 
 on all sides by his worshippers. Towns, temples, men, 
 including even a son of Saul, of David and of Jonathan, viz., 
 Eshbaal, Meribbaal, and Beelida, were called after him. As 
 the sun-god, Baal-Hammon, Song of Sol. viii. 11 ; 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 5 ; he was worshipped on high places, Num. xxii. 41 ; 
 and an image of the sun appeared over his altars, 2 Chron. 
 xxxiv. 4. As the generative and productive power, he was 
 worshipped under the form of the phallus, Baal-Peor ; and 
 youths and maidens, even of high birth, prostituted them- 
 selves in his honour or service; Num. xxv.; 2 Kings xxiii. 7. 
 As the creator, he was represented to be of either or of both 
 sexes ; and Arnobius tells us that his worshippers invoked 
 him thus : 
 
 " Hear us, Baal ! whether thou be a god or a goddess." 
 Though he is of the masculine gender in the Hebrew, 
 ty??, the lord, yet Baal is called y BaaX, = the lady, in the 
 Septuagint ; Hos. ii. 8 ; Zeph. i. 4 ; and in the New Testa- 
 ment, Romans xi. 4. At the licentious worship of this 
 androgyne, or two-sexed god, the men on certain occasions 
 wore female garments, whilst the women appeared in male 
 attire, brandishing weapons. Each of this god's names had 
 a female counterpart; and the feminine form of Baal was 
 Beltis, Ishtar, and Ashtarte. As he was the sun-god, she 
 was the moon-goddess. Now, whilst the masculine name 
 (as Bel or Bal, Baal, Baalim,) appears nearly one hundred 
 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, the feminine equivalent 
 is only found three times in the singular Ashtoreth, and six 
 times in the plural Ashtaroth ; always in association with 
 Baal-worship. Knowing, as we do, the immense diffusion of 
 her worship amongst the Babylonians, Assyrians, and 
 Phosnicians, this appears strange. There is a word of the 
 feminine gender occurring in the Hebrew twenty-four times, 
 viz., 1T&*, Asherah or AsJiarah; plural, nri PK, Asharoth ; 
 translated in the Septuagint and Latin vulgate, a tree, or 
 " grove," in which they have been followed by most modern 
 versions, including the English. This supplies the void, for
 
 120 
 
 Asharah may be regarded as another name for the goddess 
 Ashtoreth, as is plainly seen by the following passages: 
 " They forsook Jehovah and served Baal and Ashtoreth ; " 
 Judges ii. 13 ; whilst in the following chapter we read, 
 " They forgot Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and 
 the Asharoth ; " iii. 7. What, then, was the Asharah ? It 
 was of wood, and of large size ; the Jews were ordered to 
 cut it down ; Exod. xxxiv. 13, etc. ; and Gideon offered a 
 bullock as a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the Asherah. 
 Occasionally it was of stone. It was carved or graven as 
 an image ; 2 Kings xxi. 7. It often stood close to the altar 
 of Baal; Judges vi. 25 and 30 ; 1 Kings xvi. 32, 33; 
 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3. Usually on high places and under 
 shady trees ; 1 Kings xiv. 23 ; Jer. xvii. 2 ; but one was 
 erected in the temple of Jehovah by Manasseh ; 2 Bangs 
 xxi. 7. It had priests ; 1 Kings xviii. 19 ; and its worship 
 was as popular as that of Baal; for whilst the priests of 
 " the Baal " were four hundred and fifty, those of " the 
 Asherah " were four hundred, who ate at the table of Queen 
 Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon. It was some- 
 times surrounded with hangings, and was worshipped by 
 both sexes with licentious rites ; 2 Kings xxiii. 7 ; Ezek. 
 xvi. 16. As Baal was associated with sun-worship, so was 
 the Asherah with that of the moon ; 2 Kings xxi. 3 ; 
 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4. 
 
 Besides these Asheroth, female emblems of Baal, there 
 were Asherim, D ^?, male emblems of Baal, " symbolising 
 his generative power" (Fiirst, Hebrew Lexicon), which are 
 mentioned sixteen times in the Hebrew scriptures. It is 
 only found in the plural, and must have been a multiple 
 representation of the singular, Asher, " IBV , which means 
 " to be firm, strong, straight, prosperous, happy," * and 
 cognate with the Phosnician "^ (Osir), " husband," " lord," 
 
 * The lupanars at Pompeii were distinguished by a sign over the street door, 
 representing the erect phallus, painted or carred, and baring the words underneath. 
 " Hie habitat felicitas."
 
 121 
 
 an epithet of Baal. Doubtless this was also identical with 
 the Egyptian Osiris, = the sun, = the phallus. He was 
 said to have suffered death like the sun ; and Plutarch 
 tells us that Isis, unable to discover all the remains of her 
 husband, consecrated the phallus as his representative. Thus 
 " the Asharim " were male symbols used in Baal-worship, 
 and sometimes consisted of multiple phalli, of which the 
 branch carried by an Assyrian priest, in Plate iii. Fig. 4, is a 
 conventional form. They were then counterparts of the 
 " multimammia " of Greek and Roman worship.* This is 
 confirmed by a curious passage, 1 Kings xv. 13 (repeated 
 2 Chron. xv. 16). We learn (xiv. 23) that the Jews, under 
 Rehoboam, son of Solomon, having lapsed into idolatry, had 
 "built them high places, images, and Asharim ("groves," 
 A. V.) on every high hill, and under every green tree ; and 
 that there were also consecrated ones (" sodomites," A. V.) 
 in the land." But Asa, his brother, on succeeding to the 
 throne, swept away all these things, and (xv. 13) deposed 
 the queen mother, Maachah, because she had made a miphlet- 
 zeth to an Asherah ("an idol in a grove," A. V.) nifJl 31 ?, 
 miphletzeth, is rendered by the Vulgate "simulacrum Priapi." 
 The word is derived from fi*,palatz, "to be broken," "terri- 
 fied," or the cognate B^S, phalash, palash, " to break or go 
 through," "to open up a way; " a word or root found in the 
 Hebrew, Phoenician, Syriac, and Ethiopic. Doubtless the 
 Greek $aAXoj, phallus, was hence derived, since it has no 
 independent meaning in Greek ; and Herodotus and Dio- 
 dorus expressly assert that the chief gods of Greece and their 
 mysteries, especially the Dionysiac or Bacchic revels, in 
 which the phallus was carried in procession, were derived 
 from the east. Compare also the Latin pales, English 
 pale, pole, = M.&ypole. A similar word, with a corres- 
 ponding meaning, exists in the Sanscrit. Thus, then, 
 according to the Hebrew scriptures, there were two chief 
 
 See Figs. 15, 16.
 
 122 
 
 symbols used in the worship of Baal, one male, the other 
 female. 
 
 We can now look upon the very symbols themselves, 
 which were so used perhaps the most remarkable in exist- 
 ence. It is well known that the Chaldeans, from whom all 
 other nations derived their religion, astronomy, and science, 
 gave the name of Bel or Baal to their chief god. In the 
 most ancient inscription yet deciphered, written in the Baby- 
 lonian and Arcadian languages, a king rules by " the favour 
 of Bel." Another name for Baal is Assur, or Asher, from 
 whom Assyria is named. In the cuneiform inscriptions of 
 Sennacherib, the great king of Assyria, Nineveh is called 
 " the city of Bel," and " the city beloved by Ishtar." 
 In another inscription he says of the king of Egypt : 
 " the terror of Ashur and Ishtar overcame him and he fled." 
 Assurbanipal thus commences his annals: "The great 
 warrior, the delight of Assur and Ishtar, the royal offspring 
 am I." In a cuneiform inscription of Nebobelzitri, we read : 
 "Nineveh the city, the delight of Ishtar, wife of Bel." 
 Again, " Beltis, the consort of Bel." " Assur and Beltis, the 
 gods of Assyria." Thus we see that Baal and Bel were 
 identical with Assur, and Ashur. Doubtless, then, " Asherah " 
 is the last name with the feminine termination (as Ish = 
 man, Ishah = woman), and is identical with Ishtar, Ashteroth, 
 Astarteand Beltis. The Septuagint has rendered "Asherah " 
 by " Astarte," in 2 Chron. xv. 16, and the Vulgate by 
 "Astaroth," in Judges iii. 7. Herodotus described (B.C. 450) 
 the great temple of Belus at Babylon, and its seven stages 
 dedicated to the sun, moon, and planets, on the top of which 
 was the shrine. This contained no statue, but there was a 
 golden couch, upon which a chosen female lay, and was 
 nightly visited by the god. Now, therefore, that the palaces 
 of the Assyrian kings, and their " chambers of imagery," 
 have been by great good fortune laid open to us, we might 
 expect to discover the long-lost symbolism of Baal-worship. 
 And so we have.
 
 123 
 
 To commence with the simplest. The D'TB'K (Asherim) 
 is seen as the mystic palm-tree, the tree of life, Fig. 99 ; the 
 phallic pillar putting forth branches like flames, Fig. 65 ; and 
 the tree with seven phalloid branches, so common on Assy- 
 rian and Babylonian seals, Plate xvii., Fig. 4. See also the 
 remarkable Syrian medals, Plate xvii , Fig. 2, on which is 
 represented Baal as the sun-god, holding the bow, and 
 surrounded by phalli. 
 
 Or, least conventional of all, the simple phallus, of 
 which there are two remarkable specimens in the British 
 Museum. Each of these is about two and a half feet 
 high, and once guarded the bounds of an estate. Among 
 the Greeks and Romans, boundaries were also marked 
 by a phallic statue of Hermes, the god of fertility. 
 These Assyrian emblems have doubtless often been honoured 
 with rural sacrifice. Themselves the most expressive sym- 
 bol of life, they are also covered with its conventional 
 emblems. A back view of oneis given, Figure 174. The 
 body is mainly occupied with a full length portrait of the great 
 king. For as the Assyrians represented the Deity, the source 
 of all life, by the phallus, so the monarch was the god of this 
 lower world, the incarnation of God on earth. He was the 
 source of life to the empire, and as such was addressed " 
 king, live for ever " (Dan. v. 10). He, like the gods, never dies. 
 " Le Roi est mort ; Vive le Roi" The ensigns of royalty 
 were also those of the creator-god. Accordingly, his gar- 
 ments and crown are embroidered with that sacred emblem, 
 the Asherah. He bears the strung-bow and arrows, emblems 
 of virile power, borne afterwards by the sun-god Apollo, and 
 the western son of Venus. An erect serpent occupies the 
 other side, and ends with forky tongue near the orifice. The 
 glans is covered with symbols. On the summit is a triad of 
 sun emblems ; beneath are three altars, over two of which are 
 the glans-shaped caps, covered with bulls' horns, always 
 worn by the Assyrian guardian angels, and intense emblems 
 of the male potency. For in ancient symbolism, a part of
 
 125 
 
 a symbol stands for the whole ; as here, the horns represent 
 the bull, and the glans the phallus. Above the third altar 
 is a tortoise, whose protruded head and neck reminded the 
 initiated of the phallus ; and the altars are covered with a 
 pattern drawn from the tortoise scales. We have, besides, 
 a vase with a rod inserted, emblem of sexual union, and a 
 cock, with wings and plumage ruffled, running after a hen in 
 amorous heat. The glans only of the other is copied. 
 
 Figure 175. 
 
 Fig. 175. At the top are the sun-symbols, as before. 
 Beneath is the horse-shoe-like head-dress of Isis, and there 
 are two altars marked with the tortoise-emblem in front. 
 Over both rises the erect serpent, and upon one lies the head 
 of an arrow or a dart, both male symbols. The miphletzeth 
 which Queen Maachah placed in or near the Asherah, pro- 
 bably resembled these Assyrian phalli, or the Asherim.
 
 126 
 
 And now we come to the Asherah, a much more complex 
 and difficult symbol than any other which we have named. 
 This object has long puzzled antiquarians, and though it 
 is continually recurring in the sculptures from Nineveh, it 
 has not yet been fully explained. In Fig. 176 we see it 
 
 Figure 176. 
 
 worshipped by human figures, with eagles' heads and wings, 
 who present to it the pine-cone, = the testis, and the basket, 
 =the scrotum (?), intense emblems of the male creator. In 
 
 Figure 177. 
 
 Fig. 177 it is adored by the king and his son or successor,
 
 127 
 
 with their attendant genii. The kings present towards it a 
 well-known symbol of life and good fortune, the fist with the 
 forefinger extended, or " the phallic hand." Here, then, 
 we have evidently the Asherah, or Ashtaroth- symbol, the 
 female Baal, the life-producer, " the door " whence life issues 
 to the world. As such the goddess is here symbolised as an 
 arched door-way. In the Phoanician alphabet, the fourth 
 letter, daleth, nf\ = a door, has the shape of a tent-door, as 
 on the Moabite stone, A, and also in the Greek AeAra But 
 another form, perhaps as ancient, is Q, which, when placed 
 in its proper position, would be Q, the very form of the 
 Asherah.* In the plural, this word stands for the labia 
 pudendi, '?03 'n 1 ?;? 13D *6 *3 } because it shut not up the 
 doors of the womb," Job iii. 10. t We infer from Numbers 
 xxv. 6-8, that in the rites of Baal-peor, the Kadeshoth, or 
 women devoted to the god, offered themselves to his wor- 
 shippers each in a peculiar bower or small arched tent, called 
 a qubbah, n ?i?.. The part also through which Phinehas drove 
 his spear (see Num. xxv. 8), the woman's vulva, is also called 
 qobbali, n3 P, the one word being derived from the other, 
 according to Onkelos, Aquila, and others. Qubbah means, 
 according to Fiirst, Heb. Lex., " something hollow and 
 arched, an arched tent, like the Arabic El. Kubba, whence 
 the Spanish Al-cova, and our Alcove." In the Latin also, 
 the word fornix, a vault, an arch, meant a brothel, and from 
 it was derived fornicatio. Qubbah is translated by the LXX. 
 xapvoj, kaminos, "an oven or arched furnace" (Liddell and 
 Scott) ; but it meant also the female parts. See Herodotus 
 v. 92 (7). Thus, then, the Alcove was itself a symbol of 
 woman, as though a place of entrance and emergence, and 
 whence new life issues to the world. And when the male 
 
 * The first letter, Aleph, = an ox, is, even on the Moahite stone, written thus, <, 
 and has become the modern A. In the earlier hieroglyph it must have been thus V- 
 The Egyptian hieroglyph for ten is n Compare the Greek AeVa and Latin Decem, 
 
 f The first of the Orphic Hymns is addressed to the goddess Artemisias IIpo0vpai'<x, 
 (Prothuraia) or the Door-keeper, who presided over childbirths, like the Roman 
 Diana Lucina.
 
 128 
 
 worshipper of Baal entered to the kadeshah, the living 
 embodiment of the goddess, the analogy to the Asherah 
 became complete, as we shall now show. 
 
 The central object in the Assyrian " grove " is a male 
 date-palm, which was well known as an emblem of Baal, 
 the sun, the phallus, and life. This remarkable tree, 
 1*?$, m., Tamar, in Phoenician and Hebrew, the phoenix 
 (o Qoivit;) in Greek, was formerly abundant in Palestine and 
 the neighbouring regions. The word Phoenicia (Acts xi. 19, 
 xv. 3) is derived from <$ov, phoinix, as the country of 
 palms ; like the " Idumeae palmee " of Virgil. Palmyra, the 
 city of the sun, was called in the Hebrew Tamar (1 Kings 
 ix. 18). In Vespasian's famous coin, " Jtulaa capta," 
 Judaea is represented as a female sitting under a palm-tree. 
 The tree can at once be identified by its tall, straight, 
 branchless stem, of equal thickness throughout, crowned at 
 the top with a cluster of long, curved, feather-like branches, 
 and by its singularly wrinkled bark. All these characteristics 
 are readily recognised in the highly conventional forms of the 
 religious emblem, even in the ornament on the king's robe, 
 fig. 174. The date-palm is dioecious, the female trees, which 
 are sometimes used as emblems, being always distinguished 
 by the clusters of date fruit. " Thy stature is like to a palm- 
 tree, thy breasts to clusters " (Cant. vii. 7). " The righteous 
 shall flourish like the palm-tree " (Ps. xcii. 12), fruitful and 
 ever green. " They are upright as the palm-tree, but speak 
 not " (Jer. x. 3-5). The prophet is evidently describing the 
 making of an Asherah. There was a Canaanite city called 
 Baal-Tamar, = Baal, the palm-tree, designated so, it is pro- 
 bable, from the worship of Baal there "under the form of a 
 priapus-column," says Fiirst, Heb. Lex. The real form was 
 doubtless an " Asherim," a modified palm-tree, as we have 
 already shown. Palm-branches have been used in all ages 
 as emblems of life, peace, and victory. They were strewn 
 before Christ. Palm-Sunday, the feast of palms, is still 
 kept. Even within the present century, on this festival, in
 
 PLATE XVII.
 
 129 
 
 many towns of France, women and children carried in pro- 
 cession at the end of their palm-branches a phallus made of 
 bread, which they called, undisguisedly, " la pine," whence 
 the festival was called " La Fete des Pinnes." The " pine " 
 having been blest by the priest, the women carefully pre- 
 served it during the following year as an amulet. (Dulaure, 
 Hist, des differens Cultes.) 
 
 Again, the Greek name for the palm-tree, phoenix, was 
 also the name of that mythical Egyptian bird, sacred to 
 Osiris, and a symbol of the resurrection. With some early 
 Christian writers, Christ was "the Phoenix." The date-palm 
 is figured as a tree of life on an Egyptian sepulchral tablet, 
 older than the Exodus, now preserved in the museum at 
 Berlin. Two arms issue from the top of the tree ; one of 
 which presents a tray of dates to the deceased, whilst the 
 other gives him water, " the water of life." The tree of 
 life is represented by a date-palm on some of the earliest 
 Christian mosaics at Rome. Something very like the Assy- 
 rian Asherah, or sacred emblem, was sculptured on the great 
 doors of Solomon's temple, by Hiram, the Tyrian (1 Kings 
 vii. 13-21). We read " he carved upon them carvings of 
 cherubims and palm-trees and open flowers, and spread gold 
 upon the cherubims and palm-trees " (1 Kings vi. 32-35). 
 He also erected two phallic pillars in front of the Temple, 
 Jachin and Boaz, = It stands In strength. No wonder 
 Solomon fell to worship Astarte, Chemosh, and Milcom. 
 
 Although to our modern ideas the mystical tree, symbol 
 of life and immortality, seems out of place in Judaism, 
 yet no sooner did the Jews possess a national coinage 
 under the Maccabees than the palm-tree reappears, alway s 
 with seven branches (like the golden candlestick, Ex. xxv.), 
 as on the shekel represented Plate xvii., Fig. 4. The Assyrian 
 tree has always the same number, and the tufts of foliage 
 (symbolising the entire female tree) which deck the margins 
 of the mystic Q apt emblems of fertility have also 
 invariably seven branches. This may remind us of the 
 i
 
 130 
 
 seven visible spheres that move around our earth " in mystic 
 dance," and of Balak's offering, upon seven altars, seven bulls 
 and seven rams (Num. xxiii. 1 ; Rev. ii. 1) The mystic 
 door is also barred, like the Egyptian sistrum carried by the 
 priestesses of Isis, to represent the inviolable purity and 
 eternal perfection which were associated with the idea of 
 divinity. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, took the place 
 in Christendom of " the great goddess," the dogmas which 
 propounded her immaculate conception and perpetual vir- 
 ginity followed as a matter of course. 
 
 Thus, then, we explain the greatest symbol in Eastern 
 worship, it is the "Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden," 
 which has remained so long a mystery. To Dr. Inman 
 belongs the distinguished merit of having first broken ground 
 in the right direction. In his Ancient Faiths, vol. 1, 1868, 
 he identified the Assyrian " Asherah " with the female " door 
 of life," and pointed out its analogy to the barred sistrum. 
 We have seen that it is really much more complex, being 
 precisely analogous in meaning to the famous crux ansata 
 (Fig. 170), the central mystery of Egyptian worship ; to the 
 lingam or lingyoni of India (Fig. 109), the great emblem of 
 Siva- worship ; and to the caduceus of Greece and Rome. 
 As represented on the Assyrian sculptures, it is always 
 substantially the same. Probably this stereotyped form was 
 the result of a gradual refinement upon some rude primitive 
 type, perhaps as coarse as that seen by Captain Burton in 
 the African idol-temple. 
 
 To exhibit all the strange developments and modifications 
 which this idea has assumed in the religious symbolism of 
 Eastern and Western nations would require a large volume. 
 But the subject is so rich in varied interest that we cannot 
 conclude without taking a glance at it. First, the simple Q, 
 barred, is reproduced with a contraction towards the base, as 
 in the Indian " yoni," and the Egyptian sistrum, used in the 
 worship of Isis. Second, within the Q was represented the 
 goddess herself, as revealed within her own symbol. This
 
 PLATE XVIII. 
 
 nmmra btatemartt mrgt0 pfaltmum
 
 131 
 
 is illustrated in Plate xvii., Fig. 5, where Demeter or Ceres is 
 thus depicted, with her cornucopia, from a bronze coin of 
 Damascus. Thirdly, but much more commonly, the goddess 
 holds in her hands emblems of the male potency in creation, 
 and thus completes the symbol. As in the coin figured Plate 
 xvii., Fig. 8, the goddess, standing within the Q, the portico 
 of her temple, holds in her right hand the cross, that most 
 ancient emblem of the male and of life. In the beautiful 
 Greek coin of Sidon next figured, the goddess evidently 
 Astarte, the moon-goddess, the Queen of Heaven stands 
 on a ship, the mystic Argha or Ark, holding in one hand a 
 crozier, in the other the cross. (Plate xvii., Fig. 7.) 
 
 Under Christianity, the Virgin Mary, who, as Queen of 
 Heaven, stands on the crescent moon, is pictured beneath 
 the mystic doorway, with (the God as) a male child in her 
 arms. See Plate xviii., copied from the woodcut title to the 
 Psalter of the Blessed Virgin, printed at Czenna, in old 
 Prussia, 1492. Like Isis, she is the mother and yet the 
 spouse of God, " clothed with the sun, and having the moon 
 under her feet " (Kev. xii. 1). The upper half of the picture 
 is very like the Assyrian scenes. On either side is a king, 
 Frederick III. and his son the Emperor Maximilian, at their 
 devotions. The alcove is of roses, an emblem of virginity. 
 The famous Mediaeval " Romaunt de la Rose " turns upon 
 this. Among the many titles given to " the Virgin " in 
 Mediaeval times, we find Santa Maria della Rosa, that flower 
 being consecrated to her. Hence it is often represented in 
 her hand. Dante writes :- 
 
 " Here is the Rose, 
 Wherein the Word Divine was made incarnate." 
 
 In Plate xviii., the Virgin goddess is seated with the God-child 
 in a bower, exactly the shape of the Assyrian, composed of 
 fruits highly significant of sex, as has already been explained. 
 In some Hindoo pictures, the child is naked, having the
 
 132 
 
 member erect, and also making the phallic hand, with the 
 right forefinger erected. (Plate xiv., Fig. 14.) 
 
 In other conventional forms we have male symbols only 
 within the female Q. This is a very numerous class. In 
 the Fig. 3, Plate xvii., we see the fir-tree or pine take the place 
 of the palm-tree, and in Fig. 6, Plate xvii., the cone. On this 
 remarkable medal of Cyprus is a representation of the temple 
 of Venus at Paphos, famous even in the days of Homer. 
 (Odyss. viii. 362.) The worship of that divinity is said to 
 have been imported into Cyprus from the East. The goddess 
 united both sexes in her own person, and was served by 
 castrated priests. We see here, within the innermost sanc- 
 tum of the temple, a cone as emblem of the male ; and the 
 meaning is further pointed by the sun-emblem above, inserted 
 within the crescent moon. 
 
 Let us next examine how the cone came to be used 
 as a masculine emblem. If we turn to Figs. 174 and 175, it 
 will be seen that the " glans " was particularly honoured as 
 the head of the phallus; it was also the part dedicated to 
 God by effusion. of blood in the rite of circumcision. Thip 
 " acorn " is conical or dome-shaped, and thus a part being 
 taken for the whole the cone or pyramid was used as a 
 conventional symbol of the male creator. Placed on a stem 
 it is frequently represented as worshipped 
 on Assyrian bas_reliefs. See Fig. 177. It 
 was also a symbol of fire, the sun, and life ; 
 as such it formed a fitting monument for 
 the Egyptian kings. Our word pyramid is 
 from the Greek irupotpis, puramis, itself 
 derived from xup, pur, fire, and nvpof , puros, 
 wheat, because pyramid-shaped cakes of 
 wheat and honey were used in the Bacchic 
 rites. It played an important part in sun- 
 worship. The emperor Heliogabalus (who, as his name 
 implies, had been a priest of Baal, the sun-god, in Syria,) 
 established the Syrian worship at Rome. He himself drove 
 
 Fig. 177.
 
 133 
 
 the golden chariot of the sun, drawn by six white horses, 
 through the streets of Rome to a splendid new temple on 
 the Palatine mount, the god being represented by a conical 
 black stone, said to have fallen from heaven ; and which the 
 emperor removed from a temple of the sun, at Emesa, in 
 Syria. At a subsequent period, an image of the moon- 
 goddess, or Astarte, was brought by his orders from a cele- 
 brated fane at Carthage to Rome, and there solemnly 
 married with licentious rites to the sun-god, amidst general 
 rejoicing.* 
 
 A curious parallel to these mystic nuptials of the Assyrian 
 god and goddess may be found in some of the religious 
 ceremonies of the modern Hindoos. Fergusson tells us that 
 "the most extraordinary buildings connected with Hindu 
 temples are the vast pillared colonnades or choultries. By far 
 their most important application is when used as nuptial 
 halls, in which the mystic union of a male and female 
 divinity is celebrated once a year." 
 
 Again, in Indian mythology, the pyramid plays an 
 important part. It belongs to Siva, = the sun, = fire, = the 
 phallus, = life. By one complex symbol, very common 
 on ancient Hindoo monuments in China 
 and Thibet, the universe was thus repre- 
 sented. Notice the upward gradation. Earth 
 + water = this globe. The creator-god, 
 whose emblem, flame, mounts upwards, is 
 the author and representative of all life upon 
 it ; he is the connecting link, united by the 
 crescent moon with heaven. The arrow- or 
 spear-head inserted within the crescent is an 
 emblem of Siva ; like the lingam it typified 
 the divine source of life, and also the doctrine Fig. 178. 
 that perfect wisdom was to be found only in the combination 
 
 * In Astrology, the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus was considered the most 
 fortunate of all ; such as kings and princes should be born under.
 
 134 
 
 of the male and female principles in nature. It decorates 
 the roofs of the Buddhist monasteries in Thibet, and like 
 the sacred lotus flower and the linga, both of which became 
 emblems of Buddha, was derived from older faiths. Other 
 interpretations may suggest themselves. This will enable us 
 to understand the remarkable sculptures of the second or 
 third century, from the Amravati Tope, Plate xix., which 
 present so many points in common with the religious symbols 
 of the Chaldeans. In Fig. 2 we see a congregation of males 
 and females, the sexes being separated, worshipping a linga, 
 or stone conical pillar, on the front of which is sculptured 
 the sacred tree, with branches like flames ; three symbols of 
 life in one. It rises from a throne, on the seat of which are 
 placed the two emblems of earth and water. In the other 
 figure, the sacred tree takes the place of the linga, rising 
 above the throne, as if from the trisul or trident, male 
 emblems of Siva. Winged figures, Garudas, attend it above, 
 floating over the heads of the worshippers. An intrusion of 
 the newer faith is also to be recognised, as the feet of 
 Buddha are sculptured before the throne. 
 
 In the mysteries of Mithra, the symbols in Fig. 178 were 
 also employed. They represented the elements to which the 
 soul ought to be successively united in passing through the 
 new birth. 
 
 We will add but two more 
 emblems, culled from mediae- 
 val heraldry, Figs. 179 and 180, 
 in both of which the Asherah, 
 the "grove" of Baal-worship, 
 will be at once recognised ; the 
 arrow and the cross, symbols 
 of the male creator, taking the 
 
 place of the mystic palm- "" J > Fig< m 
 
 tree. 
 
 In all these, from the 
 
 Fig. 179.
 
 PLATE XIX.
 
 135 
 
 rudest to the most complex, we are thus able to trace a 
 common idea, viz., a feeling after God, as the Life and Light 
 of the Universe, and an attempt to express a common hope in 
 visible forms.
 
 137 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abraham, xxviii., 63. 
 
 Abricot fendu, 7. 
 
 Abuse does not c-hange facts, 43. 
 
 Acorn, 132. 
 
 Adam and Eve, 66. 
 
 Adonis, 112. 
 
 Adultery, how punished, 19. 
 
 Aerolite, 6, 133. 
 
 African and fetish, xv. 
 
 Agathodaemon, 117. 
 
 Ahriman, 5. 
 
 Al, 118. 
 
 Albe, 104. 
 
 Alcmena, 92. 
 
 Alcove, 127. 
 
 Aleph, 127. 
 
 Alexander false prophet, 73. 
 
 Alexandrian library, 92. 
 
 Allah, prophet of, ix. 
 
 Altar, 74. 
 
 and fire, 9. 
 
 Amphibolus, saint, a cloak, 84. 
 Amravati tope, 133. 
 Anacalypsis, Higgins', 54, 66. 
 Anatolia, 70. 
 Anchor, a symbol, 53. 
 Ancient faiths and names, xi., 130. 
 Androgyne, xxii., 9, 89, 93. 
 Angels, 84. 
 
 Animals live peaceably, xvii. 
 Antelope, 3, 71. 
 Anu and Hea, 4, 10, 50, 70. 
 Aphrodite, 112. 
 Apollo, 61. 
 ApoUyon, 118. 
 Appendix, 107. 
 Apple, 55. 
 Apuleius, 25. 
 Arabian paradise, 110. 
 
 Arab swearing, xxviii., 63.^-- 
 Arabs and yoni, 114. Jf"^ 
 Arba, the four, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 24, 
 
 51. 
 
 Arbor vita, 3, 8, 130. 
 Arcana, 11. 
 Architecture, 111. 
 Arddha-nari, 9, 89. 
 Argha, 75, 116. 
 Arita cup, 109. 
 -Ark, xiii., xiv., 8, 83. 
 Arnobius, 34, 55, 66, 69, 73, 119. 
 Arrectation, 4, 5. 
 Arrow, 49. 
 Art Christian, 16. 
 Artemis, 113. 
 Aryans, xvii., 19. 
 Asherah, 119 sq. t 126. 
 Asher, Anu and Hea, 4, 10, 41, 42, 
 
 50, 70, 120. 
 
 Aslitaroth, 4, 11, 62, 119. 
 Ass, 84. 
 
 the golden, 25. 
 Assur, 122. 
 Assurbanipal, 122. 
 Assyrian, 21, 31, 49. 99. 
 Astarte, 11, 25, 112, 129. 
 Athanasius, xxxii. 
 Atheists, 43. 
 Athor, 12. 
 Augurs, 86. 
 Aureole, 34, 35, 36. 
 Avatars, 68. 
 Aztec ruins, x. 
 
 Baal, 10, 119 sq. 
 Baalim, 4, 11, 118. 
 Baal-Peor, 119. 
 Baal-Tamar, 128.
 
 138 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Baby, where from, xi., xii. 
 Babylonia, 4, 12, 117. 
 Babylons, two, 3. 
 Bacchus, 3, 34, 49, 95. 
 
 festivities of, 49, 121. 
 Bag, 25, 45, 126. 
 Balaam, 118, 130. 
 Balak, 130. 
 Balfour, Dr., 116. 
 Bambino, 73. 
 Barberini palace, 63. 
 Barleycorn, 43. 
 Barred symbols, 80, 81. See Sis- 
 
 trum. 
 
 Basket, 49, 50, 84. 
 Bat, 118. 
 
 Bathsheba and Lucretia, xxxiv. 
 Baubo and Ceres, 66, 67. 
 Beads, 82, 83. 
 BEING, the Great, xvii. 
 Bel, 4, 5, 67, 118. 
 Bell and Sistrum, 53. 
 Bells, 20, 22. 
 Beltis, 122. 
 Belus' temple, 122. 
 Bene nasatus, 6. 
 Bengal and Palestine, xxvii. 
 
 famine in, xx. 
 Bequille, la, 85. 
 Berlin Museum, 129. 
 Berne Cathedral, 10. 
 Beroalde de VerviUe, 115. 
 Betal. a Hindoo god, 60. 
 Bethel, 73. 
 Bethshemesh, xiii. 
 Bhaga, 74. 
 
 Bhavani, 9, 74, 88, 94. 
 Bifrons, 57. 
 
 Bigotry, viii. " , 
 
 Bishop, ancient, 51, 52. 
 
 blessing, 6. 
 Bishop's Crook, 64. 
 Black divinities, 28, 29, 30, 52, 79, 
 
 80. 
 
 Blessing, 6, 7. 
 Boaz and Jachin, xxxiii., 129. 
 
 Bohen, 4. 
 
 Bonnes fortunes, 86. 
 
 Bonomi, 24. 
 
 Botta, 118. 
 
 Bouche inferieure, la, 81. 
 
 Boundary stones, 123. 
 
 Bow, 25. 
 
 Bowls, sacred, 75. 
 
 Box, or ark, xiii. 
 
 Boy, a brave, xiv. 
 
 Brahma, 7- 
 
 Brahmin, ix. 
 
 and microscope, xi. 
 Branch, 3, 16. 
 
 Bravery routs imposture, xiv. 
 Brazen serpent, xiii. 
 Breasts, multiple, 29, 30. 
 Breath, holy, 92. 
 British Museum, 123. 
 Brothels, called sistra, 20. 
 Bryant, 8, 9, 82. 
 Buddha and Jesus, xxix. 
 Buddhist bells, 53. 
 
 cross, 43. 
 
 grove, 78. 
 
 heaven, 109. 
 
 Buddhists and Jeynes, 55. 
 Bugbears, xiv. 
 Bull, xxiii. 
 Burton on Dahomey, 114, 116, 13C 
 
 Caaba, 63. 
 
 Cabiri, Faber's, 62. 
 
 Cabrera, 12. 
 
 CadiSre, Miss, 34. 
 
 Caduceus, 116. 
 
 Cairo, 21. 
 
 Cakes, round, 35. 
 
 Calf, golden, 108. 
 
 Candlestick, golden, 129. 
 
 Carrot, xii, 70. 
 
 Carthage, 24. 
 
 Cat, 18, 48, 96, 100. 
 
 Cave near Venice, 113. 
 
 Celestial "Virgin, 76, 113. 
 
 Celibacy of priests, 52.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 139 
 
 Central America, 55. 
 Ceres, 7, 25, 69, 112, 131. 
 
 and Bacchus, 95. 
 
 and Baubo, 66, 67. 
 Chaldeans, 122. 
 Chariot of sun, 36. 
 Chasuble, 104. 
 Chemosh, 129. 
 Cherubim, xiii. 
 
 Child and Virgin, 1, 11, 18, 26, 
 27, 28, 75, 181. 
 
 fruit, 74. 
 
 Children and secrets, xi. 
 Chinese and eclipse, 118. 
 Xolpos choiros, 57. 
 Choultries, 133. 
 Chrishna, 2, 26, 88. 
 Christendom, xv. 
 Christianity, vii. 
 
 and heathenism, 16, 102. 
 
 wants a scavenger, xvi. 
 Christians, xxviii. 
 
 their Virgin and Child, 1, 11, 18, 
 
 26, 27, 28, 75. 
 
 Churches, sexual ornaments in, 16. 
 on, 114 
 Cibotus, 8. 
 Circles, 34, 35, 36. 
 Circumcision, xxvi, 99, 132. 
 Citron, 56. 
 
 Classification of symbols, x. 
 Clitoris, 5. 
 Club on coin, 57. 
 Clusters, 128. 
 Cobden, 13. 
 Cock, 99, 125. 
 Cognomens, xix. 
 
 containing Baal, 119. 
 Cohen, 6. 
 
 Coins, x., 57, 58 129. 
 Coleman's Mythology, 68. 
 Collation of facts, x. 
 Comana, xxxii. 
 Comb, 100 ; see Kreis. 
 Combined symbols, 46. 
 Commandment, second, xiii. 
 
 Community of ideas, viii. , ix. 
 
 Comparisons, xxxi., xxxiv. 
 
 Cone and Venus, 6. 
 
 Coniculstone, 133. 
 
 Conjunction of sun and moon, 6. 
 
 Consecrated ones, xxxiii. 
 
 Conventional emblems, xxiii. 
 
 Cord of St. Francis, 34. 
 
 Corinth, xxxii. 
 
 Coronation orb, 53. 
 
 Cosmo, a saint, 84. 
 
 Creation, xx. 
 
 Creator, xvii., 6. 
 
 Crescent, ix., xx., 11,"35, 38, 69. 
 
 Crook of bishop, 64. 
 
 Cross, ix., xx., 14, 15, 36, 41, 42, 
 
 43, 53, 61, 70, 101. 
 and rosary, 83. 
 Crozier, episcopal, 64, 85. 
 Crux ansata, 9, 15, 35, 37, 44, 45, 
 
 53, 64, 102, 103. 
 Culte de Venus, 2, 4, 19, 45, 55, 
 
 62, 71. 
 
 Cup and Wafer, 96. 
 Cupid, 5, 96. 
 Cupola, 18. 
 Curse on a nation, xxxiv. 
 
 Ham, 64. 
 Cybele, 69, 85. 
 Cypris, le Verger de, 21. 
 Cyprus, 26, 132. 
 and Venus, 6. 
 Czenna, 131. 
 
 Q, 127, 129, 130, 132. 
 
 Dabistan, the, 74. 
 Dagon, 2, 67. 
 Dahomey, 114. 
 Damian, a saint, 84. 
 Dancing before a box, xiv. 
 Danes, 110. 
 Dard, le, 86. 
 Date palm, 128. 
 David and ark, xiv. 
 
 and Tarquin, xxxiv. 
 
 dances obscenely, xxvii.. xxxiii.
 
 140 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Death and feet marks, 41. 
 
 of the year, 111. 
 Deities, 4, 11, 62. 
 Dekkan, monuments in, 60. 
 Delphi, 11. 
 Delta, the, 8, 127. 
 Demeter, 112, 131. 
 Demon and Vampire, xvi. 
 Denderah, 116. 
 Desire, 5, 18. 
 Devi, 9, 94. 
 Devices symboli, xi. 
 Devil, vii. 
 
 a Fetish, xv. 
 Deuteronomy, viii. 
 D'Harcanville, 79. 
 Dhurga, 94. 
 Diana of Ephesians, 28, 30, 48. 
 
 Roman, 113. 
 Diet, fish, 2. 
 Digger and trench, xxiii. 
 Diodorus, 121. 
 Dionysus, 23. 
 
 revels, 121. 
 
 Dirty statue cleaned, xvi. 
 Discs, 34, 36. 
 Divine revelation, viii. 
 Doljang and Francis of Assisi, 79. 
 Dolphin, 8. 
 
 and womb, 55. 
 Door and yoni, 66, 49, 127. 
 Double deities, 4, 11, 62. 
 
 entente, 2, 87. 
 
 face, 58. 
 
 triangle, 87. 
 Dove, 83. 
 
 why sacred, 21. 
 Dragon, 117. 
 Dress, spotted, 3. 
 Drink, intoxicating, divine, xvix. 
 Drunkenness in England, xxix. 
 Dualism in nature, xix. 
 Dubois, 66. 
 Du Chaillu, 114. 
 Dulaure, xxv., 129. 
 
 Early races of Scotland, 58. 
 Earth and sun, xix. 
 
 mother, 112. 
 East, 111. 
 
 Ecclesiastical emblems, 10. 
 Eclipse, 118. 
 Edinburgh Review, 14. 
 Egba temples, 114. 
 Egg, xxiv. 
 Egypt, ark in, xiv. 
 
 ritual of the dead in, 109. 
 Egyptian crosses, 53. 
 
 trinity, 11-13. 
 El, 118. 
 
 Elixir of life, 108. 
 Elohim, 4, 93, 118. 
 Emblems and language, ix. 
 
 how selected, 100. 
 
 of Mary, 7, 8. 
 
 English writers, xxv., xxxi. 
 Enjoyment, 110. 
 Ephod, the, 103. 
 Epigrams of Martial, 85. 
 Equinox, 113. 
 Erection of serpents, xxiv. 
 Eros, 5, 96. 
 
 Error pleasauter than truth, xi. 
 Esculapius, 116. 
 Esdras, xii. 
 Esoteric, xii., xiv. 
 Etruscans, 58, 64. 
 Euphemisms, xxiv., xxvii., xxxi. 
 Eve, 10, 11, 66. 
 Exoteric, xi., xii. 
 Explanations, xi. 
 Eyes, 7. 
 Ezekiel and Jerusalem, xxviii. 
 
 Faber's Cabiri, 62. 
 Fables, xiii. 
 Fabretti, 27, 40, 57. 
 Facts, collation of, x. 
 Faith, a, not necessary, xvii. 
 Famine in Bengal, xx. 
 Fascinum, 43. 
 Feasts and fasts, 111.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 141 
 
 Feet and death, 41. 
 hair of, xxxi., 67, 114. 
 
 of Buddah, 134. 
 
 soles of, 40. 
 water of, xxxi. 
 Female and fish, 1, 2, 8, 68. 
 
 and male, xix., 56. 
 
 for Bel, 122. 
 
 symbols, 98, 115. 
 Fente, la, 18. 
 Ferguson, 117, 133. 
 Fete des Pinnes, 129. 
 Fetish, xv. 
 
 Feuille, la, de sage, 85. 
 Finger in worship, 3, 4, 50. 
 Fire and altar, 9. 
 
 and love, 33. 
 
 sacred, 111. 
 Fish, 1-4, 32, 68. 
 Five, names of, 40. 
 Flagellation, 61. 
 Flagellum, 37, 61. 
 Fleece, what, 69-70. 
 Fleur de lys, 46, 53, 68. 
 Flood, the, 8. 
 Flower, the, 22. 
 Forefinger and thumb, 3. 
 Foreskins and Philistines, xxvii. 
 Fornication, 127. 
 Fornix, 127. 
 Foul anchor, 53. 
 Foundation of religion, vii. 
 Four, the, 103. See ABBA. 
 Foutin, a French saint, 84. 
 Fox Talbot, 112. 
 France and yoni, 115. 
 Francis, St., cord of, 34, 79. 
 Free love, 74. 
 Freethinkers, 43. 
 Friday and fish, 1-4. 
 
 Ganges, ix., 73, 90. 
 Gardens, god of, 84. 
 Garudas, 134. 
 Gaulish figures, 57. 
 Ge, 92, 112. 
 
 Giant, uncircumcised, weak, xxvii. 
 
 Giants and shams, xv. 
 
 Ginsburg, 24. 
 
 Gerard, Father, 34. 
 
 Glans penis, 99. 
 
 Gnostics, 58, 65. 
 
 Goat, vii., 14. 
 
 and Venus, xxiii. 
 Goats and sheep, 10. 
 Goddesses, 47. 
 
 black, 79. 
 Gods, xvii. 
 
 Golden fleece, 70, 100. 
 Graven image, xiii. 
 GREAT BEING, the, xvii. 
 Greece, the ark in, xiv. 
 Greeks and Venus, xxiii. 
 Grove, the, 22, 49, 50, 70, 91, 100, 
 
 118 sq. 126. 
 Guardian angels, 84. 
 
 Hades, 112. 
 Hair of feet, xxxi., 67. 
 Ham, xxvi., 64. 
 Hammer of Thor, 44. 
 Hand, 6, 7, 25, 81. 
 Hare, ix., 99. 
 Harpocrates, 66. 
 Hatred, theological, 43. 
 Hea, Anu and Asher, 4, 10. 
 Heathendom, xv. 
 Heathenism, xv., xvi. 
 
 in Christianity, 43. 
 Heavenly peace maker, 76. 
 Hebrews, xxviii. 
 Heliogabalus, 132. 
 Hercules and Solomon, xxviii 
 Hermes, 116. 
 Herodotus, 121, 122, 127. 
 Higgins' Anacalypsis, 54. 
 Hindoos, xx., xxi., xxviii., 89. 
 Hindostan, x., xxiii., 73, 93. 
 Hiram, 129. 
 Hole and pillar, 63. 
 Holy breath, 92. 
 
 fire, 112.
 
 142 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Holy Virgin, xxi. 
 Homage to yoni, 81. 
 X X 1 V Horseshoe, 13, 78, 98, 134. 
 Horns and Isis, 1, 22, 23, 68. 
 Hosea, 118. 
 Houris, 110. 
 How to make impropriety proper, 
 
 xxi. 
 
 Hyde, 64. 
 Hymen, 22, 85. 
 Hyslop 61. 
 
 Jachin and Boaz, xxxiii., 129. 
 Jacob and pillar, 73. 
 
 swears by " thigh," xxvii., xxxiii. 
 Idumece palmce, 128. 
 i\&vs, ichthus, 2. 
 Jehovah, name of, xii., xiii. 
 Jerusalem, 112. 
 Jesus, vii., xxix., 3. 
 Jews, xxv., 3. 
 Jew's harp, 116. 
 II, 118. 
 
 Image, graven, xiii. 
 Images, Isaiah on, 73. 
 Immortality, 109. 
 Impaled vampires, xvi. 
 Improprieties made proper, xxi. 
 India, lingams in, 73. 
 
 mythology of, 109. 
 Indra, 7, 28. 
 Indranee, 28. 
 Inman, Dr., 130. 
 Inquiry forbidden by priests, viii. 
 Instrumens, les, 85. 
 Interpretation, x. 
 Invention of religion, ix. 
 Ipsambul, 54. 
 Ireland and Spain, 66. 
 
 and yoni, 114. 
 Isaiah on images, 73. 
 Isernia, 84. 
 Ishtar, 5, 25, 112. 
 Isis, 1, 10, 12, 22, 23, 37, 52, 91, 
 
 96, 97, 109, 125. 
 Issachar, 56. 
 
 Judaa capta, 128. 
 Judaism, vii. 
 Juno, xxii., 25. 
 Jupiter, xxii., 4. 
 Juvenal, 52. 
 Ivy leaves, 49. 
 
 Kabbalah, 23, 24. 
 Kadesh, xxxii., 128. 
 Kakodaemon, 117. 
 
 Ka/uuvos, 127. 
 
 Key, 4, 25, 70, 101. 
 
 Kildare, 112. 
 
 King, a God, xx., 123. 
 
 King's " Gnostics," 51, 58, 65. 
 
 Kistvaens, 60. 
 
 Kneeling in modern Rome, 73. 
 
 Knight, R, Payne, xxv., 23, 62. 
 
 Krishna, 88. See Chrishna. 
 
 Kreis, kteis, xxiv., 10, 81. 
 
 Labice pudendi, 127. 
 
 Lais and fish, 2. 
 
 Lajard, 2, 4, 5, 55. 
 
 Lake dwellings, 113. 
 
 Lakshmi, 94, 117. 
 
 Lampsacus and St. Foutin, 84. 
 
 Lamps in worship, 74. 
 
 Language and emblems, ix. 
 
 Lanugo, 70. 
 
 Laws made and broken, xiii. 
 
 Layard, 66, 118. 
 
 Leah, 56. 
 
 Lebanon, xxviii., 81. 
 
 Legba, 114. 
 
 Leprosy and sin, viii. 
 
 Leslie's Scotland, 24, 58. 
 
 Letters and Symbols, xi. 
 
 Liber and Prosumnus, 34. 
 
 Life, ideas of, 108 sq. 
 
 Light of Tabor, 51. 
 
 and life, 134 
 
 Likeness not to be made, xiii. 
 Lily, 46, 53, 68. 
 
 Linga, xxviii., 9, 10, 33, 34, 63, ( 
 73, 74, 116, 133.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 143 
 
 Ling Yoni, 33, 62, 71, 72, 116. . 
 
 Lingam, 116. 
 
 Lion Mithraic, 64, 65. 
 
 Lioness, 18. 
 
 Loins, what, xxvii. 
 
 Longinus, St., a spear, 84. 
 
 Loretto Virgin, 79. 
 
 Lotus, 3, 21, 53, 66, 88. 
 
 Love and fire, 33. 
 
 Lozenge and yoni, 12, 18, 81. 
 
 Lucian's dea Syria, 75. 
 
 Lucina, 85. 
 
 Luck and yoni, 78, 114. 
 
 Saint, 86. 
 
 Lucretia and Bathsheba, xxxiv. 
 Lucretius, 5. 
 Lustration for Linga, 73. 
 Lycian coins, 10. 
 
 Maacha, 121, 125. 
 
 Maccabees, 129. 
 
 Maffei, 49, 64, 84. 
 
 Mahadeva, 4, 10, 68, 74, 90, 94. 
 
 Maharajahs, sect of, 34. 
 
 Mahomet, 110. 
 
 Mahometans, ix. 
 
 Maia, 94. 
 
 Maidens, Scotch, 23. 
 
 Male and female, xix., 56. 
 
 symbols, 2-19, 115. 
 
 Venus, 62. 
 Malignancy, 16. 
 Malta cakes, 18, 19. 
 
 cross, 41, 42, 70. 
 Mama Ocello, 25. 
 Mandrakes, 56. 
 Mantras, 74, 95. 
 Mariette, 116. 
 Marriage of deities, 133. 
 Harteau, le, 86. 
 Martial's epigrams, 85. 
 Marttand, 16. 
 Mary, 1, 7, 8, 22, 25, 52, 76, 91, 
 
 104, 131. 
 Masonic appropriations, 40. 
 
 Masons' marks, 95. 
 
 Mater Creatoris, xx. 
 
 Maypole, 69, 70, 121. 
 
 Mecca, 63. 
 
 Men and animals, xvii. 
 
 Mexico, Virgin and Child in, 76. 
 
 Microscope and Brahmin, xi. 
 
 Milcom, 129. 
 
 Minarets and spires, xxii., 74. 
 
 Ministers of God, xvii. 
 
 Mirror, 100. 
 
 Miss Cadiere, 34. 
 
 Misunderstanding, ix. 
 
 Mithraic lion, 64, 65. 
 
 Mitre, 21, 31. 
 
 Modern nun, 51, 52. 
 
 Monkey, 18. 
 
 MontfauQon, 54. 
 
 Moon and Isis, 97. 
 
 and months, 113. 
 
 and sun, 6. 
 
 female, xix., 57, 76, 77. 
 Moore on pillar stones, 60. 
 Moor's Hindu Pantheon, 7, 9, 11, 
 12, 19, 26, 28, 68, 71, 76, 88, 
 89, 95. 
 
 Morocco Jews, 3. 
 Mosaics, Christian, 129. 
 Mother of God, 76. 
 UVYOS, muchos, 57. 
 Mudras, 74. 
 
 Multimammia, 28, 30, 121. 
 Mumbo Jumbo, xv. 
 Mutilation, sacred, xxvi., xxviii. 
 Mylitta, 4, 25. 
 Myrtle leaf, xxii. 
 Mysteries, 104, 105. 
 
 in religion, xii., xiv. 
 Myth and meaning, xii. 
 Mythology, Coleman's, 68. 
 
 Nabhi, 33. 
 
 Names of sexual parts, xi., 10, 57. 
 
 Nana, 55. 
 
 Naples museum, 29.
 
 144 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Narratives, fictitious, XT. 
 
 Paschal lamb, viii. 
 
 Nations and religions, viii. 
 
 Pausanias, 100. 
 
 Nature, la, 88, 91. 
 
 Penn, 2. 
 
 Navel, 32, 51. 
 
 Pentangle, 40. 
 
 Nebo, 33. 
 
 Persephone, 112. 
 
 Nepthys, 12, 13. 
 
 Personal vice, xxiv. 
 
 Newton, Mr., 6, 50, 76, 77, 107. 
 
 Pesth, 4. 
 
 Newton stone, the, 60. 
 
 Phallic emblems, 15, 16. 
 
 Niceties in symbolism, xxiv. 
 
 hand, 127. 
 
 Night and creation, 29. 
 
 towers, 75. 
 
 Nimbus and tonsure, 51. 
 
 Phallus, xxii., 16, 121. 
 
 Nirvana, 109. 
 
 found in ancient cave, 113. 
 
 Noah, xxv., xxvi., 8. 
 
 Phantoms, xiv. 
 
 Nouns and genders, 57. 
 
 Philistines and foreskins, xxvii. 
 
 Nun, modern, 51, 52. 
 
 Philosopher, viii. 
 
 Nuns and priests, xxi. 
 
 Philosopher's stone, 108. 
 
 Nymphseum, 62. 
 
 Phoenicia, 128. 
 
 
 Phoenicians, ix. 
 
 and T, xx., 96. 
 
 Phoenix, 129. 
 
 Cannes, 2, 67. 
 
 Phryne, 2. 
 
 Oath, how sworn, xxviii., 62, 63. 
 
 Picart, 81. 
 
 Obatala, 114. 
 
 Pillar, 73. 
 
 Obelises, 34, 99, 124, 125. 
 
 and hole, 63. 
 
 Officer, Roman, pious, 73. 
 
 phallic, 122 sq. 
 
 Ogham, 60. 
 
 Pine cone, 50, 84. 
 
 Orthodox love, xxi. 
 
 tree, 78. 
 
 improprieties, xxi. 
 
 and fleece, 69. 
 
 Osir, 120. 
 
 Pipe in worship, 35. 
 
 Osiris, 10, 12, 13, 61, 109, 112, 
 
 Pique, la, 86, 92. 
 
 121. 
 
 Pistol, 70. 
 
 Ouranos, 5, 42, 92. 
 
 Pluto, 67. 
 
 Ouseley, Sir W., 67. 
 
 Porte de la vie, 88. 
 
 
 POWER, the, xvii. 
 
 Palenque, 12, 13. 
 
 Prakriti, 94. 
 
 Palestine, 55. 
 
 Prayers, x. 
 
 and Bengal, xxvii. 
 
 Prejudices, xi. 
 
 Pallium, 102. 
 
 Priapus, 14, 23, 49, 84. 
 
 Palm Sunday, 128. 
 
 Priests, viii., xiv., xxi., 52, 91. 
 
 tree, 45, 69, 123 sq. 
 
 Profane, the, xiv. 
 
 Palmyra, 128. 
 
 Prophet of Allah, 9. 
 
 Paphian Venus, 6, 132. 
 
 Proserpine, 67, 112. 
 
 Paradise, 110. 
 
 Prostitution, xxxii., 19. 
 
 Paris and apple, 55. 
 
 Prosumnus and Liber, 34. 
 
 Parsley, xii, 70. 
 
 Psalter of Virgin, 131. 
 
 Part for whole, 100, 124. 
 
 Pudendum, 116. 
 
 Parvati, 90-94. 
 
 Pugin, 87, 96.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 145 
 
 Pyramid, 32, 33, 133. 
 
 Quartette, Assyrian, 112. 
 
 Qubbah, 127. 
 
 Queen of heaven, 76, 131. 
 
 Queue, la, 90. 
 
 Quince, 56, 84. 
 
 Ea, 12. 
 
 Bain, xix. 
 
 Bam, 100. 
 
 Bawlinson's Monarchies, 26. 
 
 Behoboam, 121. 
 
 Belies and ark, xiv. 
 
 Beligion, conservative, 107. 
 
 supernatural, xviii. 
 
 symbols in, vii., xvi., xvii. 
 
 unnecessary to man, xvii. 
 Beptile, mistaken, xiv. 
 Besearch in symbolism, x. 
 Besemblance, xi. 
 Eesurrection, 109. 
 Beticence of English authors, xxv., 
 
 xxxi. 
 
 Beview, Edinburgh, xiv. 
 Bhjea, 25, 69. 
 Bibbons and Thyrsus, 50. 
 Bimmon, 7. 
 Bishi, 7. 
 Bitual and symbolism, xvii. 
 
 of the dead, 109. 
 
 Eitualists and second command- 
 ment, xvii. 
 Bod, 34. 
 Boman Catholic priests, 52, 102. 
 
 priests of Isis, 52. 
 Bomance of Bose, 131. 
 Eomans, early, virtue of, xxviii. 
 Bosary, ancient, 83. 
 Bose, the, 131. 
 Bound towers, Irish, 69. 
 
 Sabeanism, 66. 
 <ra/3vTro? , sabuttos, 57. 
 Sacred fire, 111. 
 prostitution, xxxii, 
 
 shields, 50. 
 
 Sacrifice to Priapus, 49. 
 Sffihrimnir, 110. 
 St. Croix, xxv. 
 St. George, 118. 
 Saintly impropriety, 34. 
 Sakti, 4, 8, 25, 50, 90, 93 ; 116. 
 
 sodhana, xxi., 94. 
 Sakya muni, xxii. 
 Sami, 82. 
 
 Sanctified sins, xxi. 
 Savages and religion, 107. 
 Saxons, 110. 
 Scandinavian figures, 57. 
 Scavenger wanted, xvi. 
 Sceptics, 43. 
 Schliemann, Dr., 44. 
 Sciolism is intolerant, 43. 
 Scourge, 61. 
 Scrotum, 45. 
 Scythian burials, 60. 
 Seal, 117. 
 
 Second commandment, xiii. 
 Secrets and children, xi. 
 
 for the wise, xii. 
 Sectarial symbols, 95. 
 Sectarians, viii. 
 Sects, rival, xx. 
 Selenitis, 82. 
 Sellon, Mr., 18, 73. 
 Sennacherib, 122. 
 Sensuality, Jewish, xxv. 
 Septuagint, 119. 
 Serapis, 52. 
 Serpent, xiii., xxiv., 4, 5, 10, 13, 
 
 14, 35, 90, 123. 
 Serpents in coitu, 117. 
 Servatos, 66. 
 Seven, sacred, 113, 130. 
 Sex in religion, xx.-xxii . 
 Sexual Christianity, 16. 
 Shams, xv. 
 Sharpe, Mr., 11, 13. 
 Sheep and goats, 10. 
 Shelah na gig, 66, 78. 
 Shields, sacred, 50.
 
 146 
 
 Silence of English authors, xxv. 
 
 Simpson, Mr., 9. 
 
 Sin, vii. 
 
 Sinner, when a saint, vii. 
 
 Sins, how punished, 10, 11. 
 
 Sistra, 19, 20. 
 
 Sistrum, 51, 53, 81, 96, 97, 116, 
 
 130. 
 
 Siva, 4, 19, 74, 116, 130, 134. 
 Smith, Col. H., 61. 
 Snails, 1, 8. 
 Snakes, thanatoid, xiii. 
 Snood, the Virgin, 23. 
 Socrates' Ecclesiastical History, 19. 
 Sodomites, 121. 
 Solar symbols, 61. 
 Solomon, 129, 
 
 and Hercules, xxviii. 
 Solstice, 111. 
 Song of Solomon, 55. 
 Spain, curious church in, 66, 
 Spanish order of Golden Fleece, 
 
 70. 
 
 Spartans and Christians, xxk. 
 Spear, 99. 
 
 Spectacle ornament, 58. 
 Spectres, xiv. 
 
 Spires and minarets, xxii., 75. 
 Spots, 3, 7. 
 Spouse of God, 76. 
 sun, xix. 
 Spring, 111. 
 Sri-chakra, 94. 
 
 -jantra, 39. 
 
 Statue, a dirty, cleaned, xvi. 
 Statuette of Venus, 55. 
 Stigmata, 79. 
 Stone circles, 59. 
 Stories, xiv., xv., 115. 
 Strabo, xxxii. 
 Summary, 101. 
 Summer, 111. 
 Sun, xviii., xix., 6, 35, 36, 57, 76, 
 
 109 sq. 
 
 Supernatural religion xviii. 
 SUPBEMB, THE, xvii., xix. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Surgeons and secrets, xi. 
 
 Surplice, 52. 
 
 Swearing by sexual organ, 62, 63. 
 
 Switzerland, 113. 
 
 Symbolism, 82, 100, 107. 
 
 Symbols, vii.-xxxiv., 1-19, 5, 9, 
 
 114, 115, 123. 
 Syro Phoenicians, 118. 
 
 T. and 0., xx., 96. 
 Tabor, light of, 51. 
 Talbot, Fox, 112 
 Tamar, 128. 
 Tammuz, 112. 
 Tarquin and David, xxxiv. 
 Taylor, Col. Meadows, 60. 
 Templar's shield, 51. 
 Temple, 98. 
 
 door and yoni, 66 
 Terra, 5. 
 Terre, la, 92. 
 Thalaba, xvi. 
 Theodosius, 19. 
 Thespius, xxviii. 
 Thigh, meaning of, xxvii. 
 Things, when symbolic, xxiii. 
 Thor's hammer, 44. 
 Three heads, two bodies, 60. 
 Thumb, 3, 4. 
 Thyrsus, 49, 50. 
 Tiara, papal, 64, 99. 
 Timon, le, 86. 
 Tod's Eajpootanah, 55. 
 Token of virginity, 22. 
 Tombs in the Dekkan, 60. 
 Tonsure and Nimbus, 51. 
 Tortoise, xxiii., 19, 99, 100. 
 Towers, 69, 75. 
 Tree and serpent, 10, 55. 
 
 of life, 108 sq., 130, 133. 
 
 stump, 10. 
 
 Trefoil ornament, 16, 45. 
 Trench and digger, xxiii. 
 Triad or Trinity, xx., xxvi, 4, 5, 9, 
 
 16, 64, 101. 
 Triangles, xxiii., 32, 38, 39, 40, 87.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 147 
 
 Trident, 8. 
 
 Tripliform arrow, 49. 
 
 Trisul, 134. 
 
 Troy, ix. 
 
 Truth, test of, x., xi., xiv., xv. 
 
 Turks, xxxiii. 
 
 Turnip lantern, xiv. 
 
 Types, vii., xxii., xxiii. 
 
 Unintelligible prayer, x. 
 Unknown emblems, x. 
 Urim and Thummim, viii. 
 
 Vajarsvatta, 79. 
 
 Valhalla, 109. 
 
 Vampires, xv.-xvii. 
 
 Veiled language, 104. 
 
 Venice, 113. 
 
 Venus, 1, 4, 6, 11, 19, 25, 49, 55, 
 
 62, 88, 100, 112. 
 Verge, la, 85. 
 
 Verger de Cypris, le, 21, 85. 
 Vesica piscis, xxii., 8, 12, 16, 47, 53, 
 
 90, 91, 93. 
 Vespasian, 128. 
 
 Vetal or Betal, a Hindoo deity, 60. 
 Vine leaves, 49. 
 Violets and Cybele, 
 Virga, 49, 57. 
 Virgin, xx., xxi., 1-28, 52, 75, 77, 
 
 131. 
 
 black, 28, 29, 79, 80. 
 Virginity, 22, 71. 
 Virgo intacta, 81. 
 
 Vishnu, 68, 88. 
 Vitruvius, 111. 
 Vive le Eoi, 123. 
 Vulgate, 119. 
 
 Wafer and cup, 5, 96. 
 
 of life, 129. 
 Water of feet, xxxi. 
 West, 111. 
 Wheel, 5, 34, 61. 
 Whip in symbolism, 61. 
 Wicklow, feasts in, 69. 
 Wilderness, vii. 
 Wilson, H. H., on Hindoo religion, 
 
 55, 93. 
 Winter, 111. 
 
 Womb and dolphin, 8, 55. 
 Women in Hindostan and linga, 
 33, 81. 
 
 in worship, xxxii., 94. 
 
 naked on church doors, 66, 114. 
 Worship of images, 73. 
 sun, 111 sq. 
 
 Yazili Kaia, sculpture at, 71. 
 Yoni, 4, 7, 11-30, 62-73, 78. 91, 
 115. 
 
 on Irish churches, 114. 
 Yorkshire, fish in, 2. 
 
 stone circles in. 
 
 Z ornament, 58, 59. 
 Zipporah, xxvi. 
 
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