The Worship Of The Virgin Mother
The worship of the "Virgin," the "Queen of Heaven," the "Great Goddess,"
the "Mother of God," &c., which has become one of the grand features of
the Christian religion--the Council of Ephesus (A. D. 431) having
declared Mary "Mother of God," her assumption being declared in 813, and
her Immaculate Conception by the Pope and Council in 1851[326:1]--was
almost universal, for ages before the birth of Jesus, and "the pure
years before the virgin now adored was born."[326:2]
In India, they have worshiped, for ages, Devi, Maha-Devi--"The One
Great Goddess"[326:3]--and have temples erected in honor of her.[326:4]
Gonzales states that among the Indians he found a temple "Pariturae
Virginis"--of the Virgin about to bring forth.[326:5]
Maya, the mother of Buddha, and Devaki the mother of Crishna, were
worshiped as virgins,[326:6] and represented with the infant Saviours
in their arms, just as the virgin of the Christians is represented at
the present day. Maya was so pure that it was impossible for God, man,
or Asura to view her with carnal desire. Fig. No. 16 is a
representation of the Virgin Devaki, with, the infant Saviour Crishna,
taken from Moor's "Hindu Pantheon."[327:1] "No person could bear to gaze
upon Devaki, because of the light that invested her." "The gods,
invisible to mortals, celebrated her praise continually from the time
that Vishnu was contained in her person."[327:2]
"Crishna and his mother are almost always represented black,"[327:3]
and the word "Crishna" means "the black."
The Chinese, who have had several avatars, or virgin-born gods,
among them, have also worshiped a Virgin Mother from time immemorial.
Sir Charles Francis Davis, in his "History of China," tells us that the
Chinese at Canton worshiped an idol, to which they gave the name of "The
Virgin."[327:4]
The Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his "Heathen Religion," tells us that:
"Upon the altars of the Chinese temples were placed, behind a
screen, an image of Shin-moo, or the 'Holy Mother,'
sitting with a child in her arms, in an alcove, with rays of
glory around her head, and tapers constantly burning before
her."[327:5]
Shin-moo is called the "Mother Goddess," and the "Virgin." Her child,
who was exposed in his infancy, was brought up by poor fishermen. He
became a great man, and performed wonderful miracles. In wealthy houses
the sacred image of the "Mother Goddess" is carefully kept in a recess
behind an altar, veiled with a silken screen.[327:6]
The Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, in his "Travels," speaking of the Chinese people,
says:
"Though otherwise very reasonable men, they have always showed
themselves bigoted heathens. . . . They have everywhere built
splendid temples, chiefly in honor of Ma-tsoo-po, the
'Queen of Heaven.'"[327:7]
Isis, mother of the Egyptian Saviour, Horus, was worshiped as a
virgin. Nothing is more common on the religious monuments of Egypt than
the infant Horus seated in the lap of his virgin mother. She is styled
"Our Lady," the "Queen of Heaven," "Star of the Sea," "Governess,"
"Mother of God," "Intercessor," "Immaculate Virgin," &c.;[328:1] all of
which epithets were in after years applied to the Virgin Mother
worshiped by the Christians.[328:2]
"The most common representation of Horus is being nursed on the knee of
Isis, or suckled at her breast."[328:3] In Monumental Christianity
(Fig. 92), is to be seen a representation of "Isis and Horus." The
infant Saviour is sitting on his mother's knee, while she gazes into his
face. A cross is on the back of the seat. The author, Rev. J. P. Lundy,
says, in speaking of it:
"Is this Egyptian mother, too, meditating her son's conflict,
suffering, and triumph, as she holds him before her and gazes
into his face? And is this CROSS meant to convey the idea of
life through suffering, and conflict with Typho or Evil?"
In some statues and basso-relievos, when Isis appears alone, she is
entirely veiled from head to foot, in common with nearly every other
goddess, as a symbol of a mother's chastity. No mortal man hath ever
lifted her veil.
Isis was also represented standing on the crescent moon, with twelve
stars surrounding her head.[328:4] In almost every Roman Catholic
Church on the continent of Europe may be seen pictures and statues of
Mary, the "Queen of Heaven," standing on the crescent moon, and her
head surrounded with twelve stars.
Dr. Inman, in his "Pagan and Christian Symbolism," gives a figure of the
Virgin Mary, with her infant, standing on the crescent moon. In
speaking of this figure, he says:
"In it the Virgin is seen as the 'Queen of Heaven,' nursing
her infant, and identified with the crescent moon. . . . Than
this, nothing could more completely identify the Christian
mother and child, with Isis and Horus."[328:5]
This crescent moon is the symbol of Isis and Juno, and is the Yoni
of the Hindoos.[328:6]
The priests of Isis yearly dedicated to her a new ship (emblematic of
the YONI), laden with the first fruits of spring. Strange as it may
seem, the carrying in procession of ships, in which the Virgin Mary
takes the place of the heathen goddesses, has not yet wholly gone out of
use.[328:7]
Isis is also represented, with the infant Saviour in her arms, enclosed
in a framework of the flowers of the Egyptian bean, or lotus.[328:8]
The Virgin Mary is very often represented in this manner, as those who
have studied mediaeval art, well know.
Dr. Inman, describing a painting of the Virgin Mary, which is to be
seen in the South Kensington Museum, and which is enclosed in a
framework of flowers, says:
"It represents the Virgin and Child precisely as she used to
be represented in Egypt, in India, in Assyria, Babylonia,
Phoenicia, and Etruria."[329:1]
The lotus and poppy were sacred among all Eastern nations, and were
consecrated to the various virgins worshiped by them. These virgins are
represented holding this plant in their hands, just as the Virgin,
adored by the Christians, is represented at the present day.[329:2] Mr.
Squire, speaking of this plant, says:
"It is well known that the 'Nymphe'--lotus or water-lily--is
held sacred throughout the East, and the various sects of that
quarter of the globe represented their deities either
decorated with its flowers, holding it as a sceptre, or seated
on a lotus throne or pedestal. Lacshmi, the beautiful Hindoo
goddess, is associated with the lotus. The Egyptian Isis is
often called the 'Lotus-crowned,' in the ancient
invocations. The Mexican goddess Corieotl, is often
represented with a water-plant resembling the lotus in her
hand."[329:3]
In Egyptian and Hindoo mythology, the offspring of the virgin is made to
bruise the head of the serpent, but the Romanists have given this office
to the mother. Mary is often seen represented standing on the serpent.
Fig. 17 alludes to this, and to her immaculate conception, which, as
we have seen, was declared by the Pope and council in 1851. The notion
of the divinity of Mary was broached by some at the Council of Nice, and
they were thence named Marianites.
The Christian Father Epiphanius accounts for the fact of the Egyptians
worshiping a virgin and child, by declaring that the prophecy--"Behold,
a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son"--must have been revealed
to them.[329:4]
In an ancient Christian work, called the "Chronicle of Alexandria,"
occurs the following:
"Watch how Egypt has constructed the childbirth of a virgin,
and the birth of her son, who was exposed in a crib to the
adoration of the people."[330:1]
We have another Egyptian Virgin Mother in Neith or Nout, mother of
"Osiris the Saviour." She was known as the "Great Mother," and yet
"Immaculate Virgin."[330:2] M. Beauregard speaks of
"The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin (Mary), who can
henceforth, as well as the Egyptian Minerva, the mysterious
Neith, boast of having come from herself, and of having given
birth to god."[330:3]
What is known in Christian countries as "Candlemas day," or the
Purification of the Virgin Mary, is of Egyptian origin. The feast of
Candlemas was kept by the ancient Egyptians in honor of the goddess
Neith, and on the very day that is marked on our Christian almanacs as
"Candlemas day."[330:4]
The ancient Chaldees believed in a celestial virgin, who had purity of
body, loveliness of person, and tenderness of affection; and who was one
to whom the erring sinner could appeal with more chance of success than
to a stern father. She was portrayed as a mother, although a virgin,
with a child in her arms.[330:5]
The ancient Babylonians and Assyrians worshiped a goddess mother, and
son, who was represented in pictures and in images as an infant in his
mother's arms (see Fig. No. 18). Her name was Mylitta, the divine son
was Tammuz, the Saviour, whom we have seen rose from the dead. He was
invested with all his father's attributes and glory, and identified with
him. He was worshiped as mediator.[330:6]
There was a temple at Paphos, in Cyprus, dedicated to the Virgin
Mylitta, and was the most celebrated one in Grecian times.[330:7]
The ancient Etruscans worshiped a Virgin Mother and Son, who was
represented in pictures and images in the arms of his mother. This was
the goddess Nutria, to be seen in Fig. No. 19. On the arm of the
mother is an inscription in Etruscan letters. This goddess was also
worshiped in Italy. Long before the Christian era temples and statues
were erected in memory of her. "To the Great Goddess Nutria," is an
inscription which has been found among the ruins of a temple dedicated
to her. No doubt the Roman Church would have claimed her for a Madonna,
but most unluckily for them, she has the name "Nutria," in Etruscan
letters on her arm, after the Etruscan practice.
The Egyptian Isis was also worshiped in Italy, many centuries before
the Christian era, and all images of her, with the infant Horus in her
arms, have been adopted, as we shall presently see, by the Christians,
even though they represent her and her child as black as an Ethiopian,
in the same manner as we have seen that Devaki and Crishna were
represented.
The children of Israel, who, as we have seen in a previous chapter, were
idolaters of the worst kind--worshiping the sun, moon and stars, and
offering human sacrifices to their god, Moloch--were also worshipers of
a Virgin Mother, whom they styled the "Queen of Heaven."
Jeremiah, who appeared in Jerusalem about the year 625 B. C., and who
was one of the prophets and reformers, rebukes the Israelites for their
idolatry and worship of the "Queen of Heaven," whereupon they answer him
as follows:
"As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us, in the name of
the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly
do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn
incense unto the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink
offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our
kings, and our princes, in the city of Judah, and in the
streets of Jerusalem: for then we had plenty of victuals, and
were well, and saw no evil.
"But since we left off to burn incense to the Queen of
Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have
wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by
the famine. And when we burned incense to the Queen of
Heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make
her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto
her, without our men?"[332:1]
The "cakes" which were offered to the "Queen of Heaven" by the
Israelites were marked with a cross, or other symbol of sun
worship.[332:2] The ancient Egyptians also put a cross on their "sacred
cakes."[332:3] Some of the early Christians offered "sacred cakes" to
the Virgin Mary centuries after.[332:4]
The ancient Persians worshiped the Virgin and Child. On the monuments of
Mithra, the Saviour, the Mediating and Redeeming God of the Persians,
the Virgin Mother of this god is to be seen suckling her infant.[332:5]
The ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped the Virgin Mother and Child for
centuries before the Christian era. One of these was Myrrha,[332:6]
the mother of Bacchus, the Saviour, who was represented with the
infant in her arms. She had the title of "Queen of Heaven."[332:7] At
many a Christian shrine the infant Saviour Bacchus may be seen
reposing in the arms of his deified mother. The names are changed--the
ideas remain as before.[332:8]
The Rev. Dr. Stuckley writes:
"Diodorus says Bacchus was born of Jupiter, the Supreme God,
and Ceres (Myrrha). Both Ceres and Proserpine were called
Virgo (Virgin). The story of this woman being deserted by a
man, and espoused by a god, has somewhat so exceedingly like
that passage, Matt. i. 19, 20, of the blessed Virgin's
history, that we should wonder at it, did we not see the
parallelism infinite between the sacred and the profane
history before us.
"There are many similitudes between the Virgin (Mary) and the
mother of Bacchus (also called Mary--see note 6 below)--in all
the old fables. Mary, or Miriam, St. Jerome interprets Myrrha
Maris. Orpheus calls the mother of Bacchus a Sea Goddess
(and the mother of Jesus is called 'Mary, Star of the
Sea.'")[332:9]
Thus we see that the reverend and learned Dr. Stuckley has clearly made
out that the story of Mary, the "Queen of Heaven," the "Star of the
Sea," the mother of the Lord, with her translation to heaven, &c., was
an old story long before Jesus of Nazareth was born. After this
Stuckley observes that the Pagan "Queen of Heaven" has upon her head a
crown of twelve stars. This, as we have observed above, is the case of
the Christian "Queen of Heaven" in almost every Romish church on the
continent of Europe.
The goddess Cybele was another. She was equally called the "Queen of
Heaven" and the "Mother of God." As devotees now collect alms in the
name of the Virgin Mary, so did they in ancient times in the name of
Cybele. The Galli now used in the churches of Italy, were anciently
used in the worship of Cybele (called Galliambus, and sang by her
priests). "Our Lady Day," or the day of the Blessed Virgin of the Roman
Church, was heretofore dedicated to Cybele.[333:1]
Minerva, who was distinguished by the title of "Virgin Queen,"[333:2]
was extensively worshiped in ancient Greece. Among the innumerable
temples of Greece, the most beautiful was the Parthenon, meaning, the
Temple of the Virgin Goddess. It was a magnificent Doric edifice,
dedicated to Minerva, the presiding deity of Athens.
Juno was called the "Virgin Queen of Heaven."[333:3] She was
represented, like Isis and Mary, standing on the crescent
moon,[333:4] and was considered the special protectress of women, from
the cradle to the grave, just as Mary is considered at the present day.
Diana, who had the title of "Mother," was nevertheless famed for her
virginal purity.[333:5] She was represented, like Isis and Mary,
with stars surrounding her head.[333:6]
The ancient Muscovites worshiped a sacred group, composed of a woman
with a male child in her lap, and another standing by her. They had
likewise another idol, called the golden heifer, which, says Mr.
Knight, "seems to have been the animal symbol of the same
personage."[333:7] Here we have the Virgin and infant Saviour, with the
companion (John the Baptist), and "The Lamb that taketh away the sins
of the world," among the ancient Muscovites before the time of Christ
Jesus. This goddess had also the title of "Queen of Heaven."[334:1]
The ancient Germans worshiped a virgin goddess under the the name of
Hertha, or Ostara, who was fecundated by the active spirit, i. e.,
the "Holy Spirit."[334:2] She was represented in images as a woman with
a child in her arms. This image was common in their consecrated forests,
and was held peculiarly sacred.[334:3] The Christian celebration called
Easter derived its name from this goddess.
The ancient Scandinavians worshiped a virgin goddess called Disa. Mr.
R. Payne Knight tells us that:
"This goddess is delineated on the sacred drums of the
Laplanders, accompanied by a child, similar to the Horus
of the Egyptians, who so often appears in the lap of Isis on
the religious monuments of that people."[334:4]
The ancient Scandinavians also worshiped the goddess Frigga. She was
mother of "Baldur the Good," his father being Odin, the supreme god of
the northern nations. It was she who was addressed, as Mary is at the
present day, in order to obtain happy marriages and easy childbirths.
The Eddas style her the most favorable of the goddesses.[334:5]
In Gaul, the ancient Druids worshiped the Virgo-Paritura as the
"Mother of God," and a festival was annually celebrated in honor of this
virgin.[334:6]
In the year 1747 a monument was found at Oxford, England, of pagan
origin, on which is exhibited a female nursing an infant.[334:7] Thus we
see that the Virgin and Child were worshiped, in pagan times, from China
to Britain, and, if we turn to the New World, we shall find the same
thing there; for, in the words of Dr. Inman, "even in Mexico the 'Mother
and Child' were worshiped."[334:8]
This mother, who had the title of "Virgin," and "Queen of
Heaven,"[334:9] was Chimalman, or Sochiquetzal, and the infant was
Quetzalcoatle, the crucified Saviour. Lord Kingsborough says:
"She who represented 'Our Lady' (among the ancient Mexicans)
had her hair tied up in the manner in which the Indian women
tie and fasten their hair, and in the knot behind was
inserted a small cross, by which it was intended to show
that she was the Most Holy."[335:1]
The Mexicans had pictures of this "Heavenly Goddess" on long pieces of
leather, which they rolled up.[335:2]
The annunciation to the Virgin Chimalman, that she should become the
mother of the Saviour Quetzalcoatle, was the subject of a Mexican
hieroglyphic, and is remarkable in more than one respect. She appears to
be receiving a bunch of flowers from the embassador or angel,[335:3]
which brings to mind the lotus, the sacred plant of the East, which is
placed in the hands of the Pagan and Christian virgins.
The 25th of March, which was celebrated throughout the ancient Grecian
and Roman world, in honor of "the Mother of the Gods," was appointed to
the honor of the Christian "Mother of God," and is now celebrated in
Catholic countries, and called "Lady day."[335:4] The festival of the
conception of the "Blessed Virgin Mary" is also held on the very day
that the festival of the miraculous conception of the "Blessed Virgin
Juno" was held among the pagans,[335:5] which, says the author of the
"Perennial Calendar," "is a remarkable coincidence."[335:6] It is not
such a very "remarkable coincidence" after all, when we find that, even
as early as the time of St. Gregory, Bishop of Neo-Caesarea, who
flourished about A. D. 240-250, Pagan festivals were changed into
Christian holidays. This saint was commended by his namesake of Nyssa
for changing the Pagan festivals into Christian holidays, the better to
draw the heathens to the religion of Christ.[335:7]
The month of May, which was dedicated to the heathen Virgin Mothers,
is also the month of Mary, the Christian Virgin.
Now that we have seen that the worship of the Virgin and Child was
universal for ages before the Christian era, we shall say a few words on
the subject of pictures and images of the Madonna--so called.
The most ancient pictures and statues in Italy and other parts of
Europe, of what are supposed to be representations of the Virgin Mary
and the infant Jesus, are black. The infant god, in the arms of his
black mother, his eyes and drapery white, is himself perfectly
black.[335:8]
Godfrey Higgins, on whose authority we have stated the above, informs us
that, at the time of his writing--1825-1835--images and paintings of
this kind were to be seen at the cathedral of Moulins; the famous chapel
of "the Virgin" at Loretto; the church of the Annunciation, the church
of St. Lazaro, and the church of St. Stephens, at Genoa; St. Francis,
at Pisa; the church at Brixen, in the Tyrol; the church at Padua;
the church of St. Theodore, at Munich--in the two last of which the
white of the eyes and teeth, and the studied redness of the lips, are
very observable.[336:1]
"The Bambino[336:2] at Rome is black," says Dr. Inman, "and so are
the Virgin and Child at Loretto."[336:3] Many more are to be seen in
Rome, and in innumerable other places; in fact, says Mr. Higgins,
"There is scarcely an old church in Italy where some remains
of the worship of the black Virgin, and black child, are
not met with;" and that "pictures in great numbers are to be
met with, where the white of the eyes, and of the teeth, and
the lips a little tinged with red, like the black figures in
the museum of the Indian company."[336:4]
Fig. No. 20 is a copy of the image of the Virgin of Loretto. Dr. Conyers
Middleton, speaking of it, says:
"The mention of Loretto puts me in mind of the surprise that I
was in at the first sight of the Holy Image, for its face is
as black as a negro's. But I soon recollected, that this very
circumstance of its complexion made it but resemble the more
exactly the old idols of Paganism."[336:5]
The reason assigned by the Christian priests for the images being black,
is that they are made so by smoke and incense, but, we may ask, if they
became black by smoke, why is it that the white drapery, white
teeth, and the white of the eyes have not changed in color? Why are
the lips of a bright red color? Why, we may also ask, are the black
images crowned and adorned with jewels, just as the images of the Hindoo
and Egyptian virgins are represented?
When we find that the Virgin Devaki, and the Virgin Isis were
represented just as these so-called ancient Christian idols represent
Mary, we are led to the conclusion that they are Pagan idols adopted by
the Christians.
We may say, in the words of Mr. Lundy, "what jewels are doing on the
neck of this poor and lowly maid, it is not easy to say."[337:1] The
crown is also foreign to early representations of the Madonna and
Child, but not so to Devaki and Crishna,[337:2] and Isis and Horus. The
coronation of the Virgin Mary is unknown to primitive Christian art,
but is common in Pagan art.[337:3] "It may be well," says Mr. Lundy, "to
compare some of the oldest Hindoo representations of the subject with
the Romish, and see how complete the resemblance is;"[337:4] and Dr.
Inman says that, "the head-dress, as put on the head of the Virgin Mary,
is of Grecian, Egyptian, and Indian origin."[337:5]
The whole secret of the fact of these early representations of the
Virgin Mary and Jesus--so-called--being black, crowned, and covered
with jewels, is that they are of pre-Christian origin; they are Isis
and Horus, and perhaps, in some cases, Devaki and Crishna, baptized
anew.
The Egyptian "Queen of Heaven" was worshiped in Europe for centuries
before and after the Christian Era.[337:6] Temples and statues were also
erected in honor of Isis, one of which was at Bologna, in Italy.
Mr. King tells us that the Emperor Hadrian zealously strove to reanimate
the forms of that old religion, whose spirit had long since passed away,
and it was under his patronage that the creed of the Pharaohs blazed up
for a moment with a bright but fictitious lustre.[337:7] To this period
belongs a beautiful sard, in Mr. King's collection, representing
Serapis[337:8] and Isis, with the legend: "Immaculate is Our Lady
Isis."[337:9]
Mr. King further tells us that:
"The 'Black Virgins' so highly reverenced in certain French
cathedrals during the long night of the middle ages, proved,
when at last examined critically, basalt figures of
Isis."[337:10]
And Mr. Bonwick says:
"We may be surprised that, as Europe has Black Madonnas,
Egypt had Black images and pictures of Isis. At the same
time it is a little odd that the Virgin Mary copies most
honored should not only be Black, but have a decided Isis
cast of feature."[338:1]
The shrine now known as that of the "Virgin in Amadon," in France, was
formerly an old Black Venus.[338:2]
"To this we may add," (says Dr. Inman), "that at the Abbey of
Einsiedelen, on Lake Zurich, the object of adoration is an old
black doll, dressed in gold brocade, and glittering with
jewels. She is called, apparently, the Virgin of the Swiss
Mountains. My friend, Mr. Newton, also tells me that he saw,
over a church door at Ivrea, in Italy, twenty-nine miles from
Turin, the fresco of a Black Virgin and child, the former
bearing a triple crown."[338:3]
This triple crown is to be seen on the heads of Pagan gods and
goddesses, especially those of the Hindoos.
Dr. Barlow says:
"The doctrine of the Mother of God was of Egyptian origin. It
was brought in along with the worship of the Madonna by Cyril
(Bishop of Alexandria, and the Cyril of Hypatia) and the monks
of Alexandria, in the fifth century. The earliest
representations of the Madonna have quite a Greco-Egyptian
character, and there can be little doubt that Isis nursing
Horus was the origin of them all."[338:4]
And Arthur Murphy tells us that:
"The superstition and religious ceremonies of the Egyptians
were diffused over Asia, Greece, and the rest of Europe.
Brotier says, that inscriptions of Isis and Serapis (Horus?)
have been frequently found in Germany. . . . The missionaries
who went in the eighth and ninth centuries to propagate the
Christian religion in those parts, saw many images and
statues of these gods."[338:5]
These "many images and statues of these gods" were evidently baptized
anew, given other names, and allowed to remain where they were.
In many parts of Italy are to be seen pictures of the Virgin with her
infant in her arms, inscribed with the words: "Deo Soli." This betrays
their Pagan origin.
FOOTNOTES:
[326:1] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 115, and Monumental
Christianity, pp. 206 and 226.
[326:2] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 159.
[326:3] See Williams' Hinduism.
[326:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 540.
[326:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.
[326:6] St. Jerome says: "It is handed down as a tradition among the
Gymnosophists of India, that Buddha, the founder of their system was
brought forth by a virgin from her side." (Contra Jovian, bk. i.
Quoted in Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 183.)
[327:1] Plate 59.
[327:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 218.
Of the Virgin Mary we read: "Her face was shining as snow, and its
brightness could hardly be borne. Her conversation was with the angels,
&c." (Nativity of Mary, Apoc.)
[327:3] See Ancient Faiths, i. 401.
[327:4] Davis' China, vol. ii. p. 95.
[327:5] The Heathen Relig., p. 60.
[327:6] Barrows: Travels in China, p. 467.
[327:7] Gutzlaff's Voyages, p. 154.
[328:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 141.
[328:2] See The Lily of Israel, p. 14.
[328:3] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 425.
[328:4] See Draper's Science and Religion, pp. 47, 48, and Higgins'
Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 804.
[328:5] Pagan and Christian Symbolism, p. 50.
[328:6] See Monumental Christianity, p. 307, and Dr. Inman's Ancient
Faiths.
[328:7] See Cox's Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 119, note.
[328:8] See Pagan and Christian Symbolism, pp. 13, 14.
[329:1] Pagan and Christian Symbolism, pp. 4, 5.
[329:2] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 45, 104, 105.
"We see, in pictures, that the Virgin and Child are associated in modern
times with the split apricot, the pomegranate, rimmon, and the Vine,
just as was the ancient Venus." (Dr. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p.
528.)
[329:3] Serpent Symbol, p. 39.
[329:4] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.
[330:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 143.
[330:2] Ibid. p. 115.
[330:3] Quoted in Ibid. p. 115.
[330:4] Ibid., and Kenrick's Egypt.
[330:5] Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 59.
[330:6] See Monumental Christianity, p. 211, and Ancient Faiths, vol.
ii. p. 350.
[330:7] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 213.
[332:1] Jeremiah, xliv. 16-22.
[332:2] See Colenso's Lectures, p. 297, and Bonwick's Egyptian Belief,
p. 148.
[332:3] See the Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 115, App., and
Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 148.
[332:4] See King's Gnostics, p. 91, and Monumental Christianity, p. 224.
[332:5] See Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Belief, p. 237.
[332:6] It would seem more than chance that so many of the virgin
mothers and goddesses of antiquity should have the same name. The mother
of Bacchus was Myrrha: the mother of Mercury or Hermes was Myrrha or
Maia (See Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 186, and Inman's
Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 233); the mother of the Siamese
Saviour--Sommona Cadom--was called Maya Maria, i. e., "the Great
Mary;" the mother of Adonis was Myrrha (See Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 314,
and Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 253); the mother of Buddha was
Maya; now, all these names, whether Myrrha, Maia or Maria, are the same
as Mary, the name of the mother of the Christian Saviour. (See Inman's
Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 353 and 780. Also, Dunlap's Mysteries of
Adoni, p. 124.) The month of May was sacred to these goddesses, so
likewise is it sacred to the Virgin Mary at the present day. She was
also called Myrrha and Maria, as well as Mary. (See Anacalypsis, vol. i.
p. 304, and Son of the Man, p. 26.)
[332:7] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 303, 304.
[332:8] Prof. Wilder, in "Evolution," June, '77. Isis Unveiled, vol. ii.
[332:9] Stuckley: Pal. Sac. No. 1, p. 34, in Anacalypsis, i. p. 304.
[333:1] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 305.
[333:2] See Bell's Pantheon, and Knight: Ancient Art and Mytho., p. 175.
[333:3] See Roman Antiquities, p. 73. Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 82, and
Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 160.
[333:4] See Monumental Christianity, p. 308--Fig. 144.
[333:5] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., pp. 175, 176.
[333:6] See Montfaucon, vol. i. plate xcii.
[333:7] Knight's Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 147.
[334:1] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 109, 110.
[334:2] See Knight's Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 21.
[334:3] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 374, and Mallet: Northern
Antiquities.
[334:4] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 147.
[334:5] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.
[334:6] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 108, 109, 259. Dupuis:
Orig. Relig. Belief, p. 257. Celtic Druids, p. 163, and Taylor's
Diegesis, p. 184.
[334:7] See Celtic Druids, p. 163, and Dupuis, p. 237.
[334:8] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 100.
[334:9] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 33, and Mexican Antiquities, vol.
vi. p. 176.
[335:1] Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 176.
[335:2] Ibid.
[335:3] Ibid.
[335:4] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 304.
[335:5] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 82.
[335:6] Quoted in Ibid.
[335:7] See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 236.
[335:8] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 138.
[336:1] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 138.
[336:2] Bambino--a term in art, descriptive of the swaddled figure of
the infant Saviour.
[336:3] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 401.
[336:4] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 138.
[336:5] Letters from Rome, p. 84.
[337:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 208.
[337:2] See Ibid. p. 229, and Moore's Hindu Pantheon, Inman's Christian
and Pagan Symbolism, Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii., where the figures
of Crishna and Devaki may be seen, crowned, laden with jewels, and a ray
of glory surrounding their heads.
[337:3] Monumental Christianity, p. 227.
[337:4] Ibid.
[337:5] Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 767.
[337:6] In King's Gnostics and their Remains, p. 109, the author gives a
description of a procession, given during the second century by
Apuleius, in honor of Isis, the "Immaculate Lady."
[337:7] King's Gnostics, p. 71.
[337:8] "Serapis does not appear to be one of the native gods, or
monsters, who sprung from the fruitful soil of Egypt. The first of the
Ptolemies had been commanded, by a dream, to import the mysterious
stranger from the coast of Pontus, where he had been long adored by the
inhabitants of Sinope; but his attributes and his reign were so
imperfectly understood, that it became a subject of dispute, whether he
represented the bright orb of day, or the gloomy monarch of the
subterraneous regions." (Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 143.)
[337:9] Ibid.
[337:10] King's Gnostics, p. 71, note.
[338:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 141. "Black is the color of the
Egyptian Isis." (The Rosecrucians, p. 154.)
[338:2] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 159. In Montfaucon, vol. i. plate
xcv., may be seen a representation of a Black Venus.
[338:3] Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 264.
[338:4] Quoted in Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 142.
[338:5] Notes 3 and 4 to Tacitus' Manners of the Germans.
More
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Christ Crishna And Christ Jesus Compared
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The story of the resurrection of Christ Jesus is related by the four Gospel narrators, and is to the effect that, after being crucified, his body was wrapped in a linen cloth, laid in a tomb, and a "great stone" rolled to the door. The sepulchre w... The Second Coming Of Christ Jesus And The Millennium
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