diff options
Diffstat (limited to '1561-h/1561-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | 1561-h/1561-h.htm | 10750 |
1 files changed, 10750 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/1561-h/1561-h.htm b/1561-h/1561-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a380741 --- /dev/null +++ b/1561-h/1561-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10750 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning, by Edward Carpenter</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Pagan & Christian Creeds, by Edward Carpenter</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Pagan & Christian Creeds<br /> + Their Origin and Meaning</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward Carpenter</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December, 1998 [eBook #1561]<br /> +[Most recently updated: November 26, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Charles Keller and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAGAN & CHRISTIAN CREEDS ***</div> + +<h1>Pagan & Christian Creeds:<br /> +Their Origin and Meaning</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Edward Carpenter</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p> +“The different religions being lame attempts to represent under various guises +this one root-fact of the central universal life, men have at all times clung +to the religious creeds and rituals and ceremonials as symbolising in some rude +way the redemption and fulfilment of their own most intimate natures—and +this whether consciously understanding the interpretations, or whether (as most +often) only doing so in an unconscious or quite subconscious way.” +</p> +<p> +The Drama of Love and Death, p. 96. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00"><b>PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN CREEDS: THEIR ORIGIN AND MEANING</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">I. INTRODUCTORY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">II. SOLAR MYTHS AND CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">III. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ZODIAC</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">IV. TOTEM-SACRAMENTS AND EUCHARISTS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">V. FOOD AND VEGETATION MAGIC</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">VI. MAGICIANS, KINGS AND GODS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">VII. RITES OF EXPIATION AND REDEMPTION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">VIII. PAGAN INITIATIONS AND THE SECOND BIRTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">IX. MYTH OF THE GOLDEN AGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">X. THE SAVIOUR-GOD AND THE VIRGIN-MOTHER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">XI. RITUAL DANCING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">XII. THE SEX-TABOO</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">XIII. THE GENESIS OF CHRISTIANITY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">XIV. THE MEANING OF IT ALL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">XV. THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">XVI. THE EXODUS OF CHRISTIANITY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">XVII. CONCLUSION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">APPENDIX</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a> +PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN CREEDS:<br/> +THEIR ORIGIN AND MEANING +</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a> +I.<br/> +INTRODUCTORY +</h2> + <p> + The subject of Religious Origins is a fascinating one, as the great + multitude of books upon it, published in late years, tends to show. Indeed + the great difficulty to-day in dealing with the subject, lies in the very + mass of the material to hand—and that not only on account of the + labor involved in sorting the material, but because the abundance itself + of facts opens up temptation to a student in this department of + Anthropology (as happens also in other branches of general Science) to + rush in too hastily with what seems a plausible theory. The more facts, + statistics, and so forth, there are available in any investigation, the + easier it is to pick out a considerable number which will fit a given + theory. The other facts being neglected or ignored, the views put forward + enjoy for a time a great vogue. Then inevitably, and at a later time, new + or neglected facts alter the outlook, and a new perspective is + established. + </p> + <p> + There is also in these matters of Science (though many scientific men + would doubtless deny this) a great deal of “Fashion”. Such has been + notoriously the case in Political Economy, Medicine, Geology, and even in + such definite studies as Physics and Chemistry. In a comparatively recent + science, like that with which we are now concerned, one would naturally + expect variations. A hundred and fifty years ago, and since the time of + Rousseau, the “Noble Savage” was extremely popular; and he lingers still + in the story books of our children. Then the reaction from this extreme + view set in, and of late years it has been the popular cue (largely, it + must be said, among “armchair” travelers and explorers) to represent the + religious rites and customs of primitive folk as a senseless mass of + superstitions, and the early man as quite devoid of decent feeling and + intelligence. Again, when the study of religious origins first began in + modern times to be seriously taken up—say in the earlier part of + last century—there was a great boom in Sungods. Every divinity in + the Pantheon was an impersonation of the Sun—unless indeed (if + feminine) of the Moon. Apollo was a sungod, of course; Hercules was a + sungod; Samson was a sungod; Indra and Krishna, and even Christ, the same. + C. F. Dupuis in France (Origine de tous les Cultes, 1795), F. Nork in + Germany (Biblische Mythologie, 1842), Richard Taylor in England (The + Devil’s Pulpit, (1) 1830), were among the first in modern times to put + forward this view. A little later the PHALLIC explanation of everything + came into fashion. The deities were all polite names for the organs and + powers of procreation. R. P. Knight (Ancient Art and Mythology, 1818) and + Dr. Thomas Inman (Ancient Faiths and Ancient Names, 1868) popularized this + idea in England; so did Nork in Germany. Then again there was a period of + what is sometimes called Euhemerism—the theory that the gods and + goddesses had actually once been men and women, historical characters + round whom a halo of romance and remoteness had gathered. Later still, a + school has arisen which thinks little of sungods, and pays more attention + to Earth and Nature spirits, to gnomes and demons and vegetation-sprites, + and to the processes of Magic by which these (so it was supposed) could be + enlisted in man’s service if friendly, or exorcised if hostile. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) This extraordinary book, though carelessly composed and +containing many unproven statements, was on the whole on the right +lines. But it raised a storm of opposition—the more so because its +author was a clergyman! He was ejected from the ministry, of course, and +was sent to prison twice. +</p> + <p> + It is easy to see of course that there is some truth in ALL these + explanations; but naturally each school for the time being makes the most + of its own contention. Mr. J. M. Robertson (Pagan Christs and Christianity + and Mythology), who has done such fine work in this field, (1) relies + chiefly on the solar and astronomical origins, though he does not + altogether deny the others; Dr. Frazer, on the other hand—whose + great work, The Golden Bough, is a monumental collection of primitive + customs, and will be an inexhaustible quarry for all future students—is + apparently very little concerned with theories about the Sun and the + stars, but concentrates his attention on the collection of innumerable + details (2) of rites, chiefly magical, connected with food and vegetation. + Still later writers, like S. Reinach, Jane Harrison and E. A. Crowley, + being mainly occupied with customs of very primitive peoples, like the + Pelasgian Greeks or the Australian aborigines, have confined themselves + (necessarily) even more to Magic and Witchcraft. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) If only he did not waste so much time, and so needlessly, in +slaughtering opponents! +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) To such a degree, indeed, that sometimes the connecting clue +of the argument seems to be lost. +</p> + <p> + Meanwhile the Christian Church from these speculations has kept itself + severely apart—as of course representing a unique and divine + revelation little concerned or interested in such heathenisms; and + moreover (in this country at any rate) has managed to persuade the general + public of its own divine uniqueness to such a degree that few people, even + nowadays, realize that it has sprung from just the same root as Paganism, + and that it shares by far the most part of its doctrines and rites with + the latter. Till quite lately it was thought (in Britain) that only + secularists and unfashionable people took any interest in sungods; and + while it was true that learned professors might point to a belief in Magic + as one of the first sources of Religion, it was easy in reply to say that + this obviously had nothing to do with Christianity! The Secularists, too, + rather spoilt their case by assuming, in their wrath against the Church, + that all priests since the beginning of the world have been frauds and + charlatans, and that all the rites of religion were merely devil’s devices + invented by them for the purpose of preying upon the superstitions of the + ignorant, to their own enrichment. They (the Secularists) overleaped + themselves by grossly exaggerating a thing that no doubt is partially + true. + </p> + <p> + Thus the subject of religious origins is somewhat complex, and yields many + aspects for consideration. It is only, I think, by keeping a broad course + and admitting contributions to the truth from various sides, that valuable + results can be obtained. It is absurd to suppose that in this or any other + science neat systems can be found which will cover all the facts. Nature + and History do not deal in such things, or supply them for a sop to Man’s + vanity. + </p> + <p> + It is clear that there have been three main lines, so far, along which + human speculation and study have run. One connecting religious rites and + observations with the movements of the Sun and the planets in the sky, and + leading to the invention of and belief in Olympian and remote gods + dwelling in heaven and ruling the Earth from a distance; the second + connecting religion with the changes of the season, on the Earth and with + such practical things as the growth of vegetation and food, and leading to + or mingled with a vague belief in earth-spirits and magical methods of + influencing such spirits; and the third connecting religion with man’s own + body and the tremendous force of sex residing in it—emblem of + undying life and all fertility and power. It is clear also—and all + investigation confirms it—that the second-mentioned phase of + religion arose on the whole BEFORE the first-mentioned—that is, that + men naturally thought about the very practical questions of food and + vegetation, and the magical or other methods of encouraging the same, + before they worried themselves about the heavenly bodies and the laws of + THEIR movements, or about the sinister or favorable influences the stars + might exert. And again it is extremely probable that the third-mentioned + aspect—that which connected religion with the procreative desires + and phenomena of human physiology—really came FIRST. These desires + and physiological phenomena must have loomed large on the primitive mind + long before the changes of the seasons or of the sky had been at all + definitely observed or considered. Thus we find it probable that, in order + to understand the sequence of the actual and historical phases of + religious worship, we must approximately reverse the order above-given in + which they have been STUDIED, and conclude that in general the Phallic + cults came first, the cult of Magic and the propitiation of + earth-divinities and spirits came second, and only last came the belief in + definite God-figures residing in heaven. + </p> + <p> + At the base of the whole process by which divinities and demons were + created, and rites for their propitiation and placation established, lay + Fear—fear stimulating the imagination to fantastic activity. Primus + in orbe deos fecit Timor. And fear, as we shall see, only became a mental + stimulus at the time of, or after, the evolution of self-consciousness. + Before that time, in the period of SIMPLE consciousness, when the human + mind resembled that of the animals, fear indeed existed, but its nature + was more that of a mechanical protective instinct. There being no figure + or image of SELF in the animal mind, there were correspondingly no figures + or images of beings who might threaten or destroy that self. So it was + that the imaginative power of fear began with Self-consciousness, and from + that imaginative power was unrolled the whole panorama of the gods and + rites and creeds of Religion down the centuries. + </p> + <p> + The immense force and domination of Fear in the first self-conscious + stages of the human mind is a thing which can hardly be exaggerated, and + which is even difficult for some of us moderns to realize. But naturally + as soon as Man began to think about himself—a frail phantom and waif + in the midst of tremendous forces of whose nature and mode of operation he + was entirely ignorant—he was BESET with terrors; dangers loomed upon + him on all sides. Even to-day it is noticed by doctors that one of the + chief obstacles to the cure of illness among some black or native races is + sheer superstitious terror; and Thanatomania is the recognized word for a + state of mind (“obsession of death”) which will often cause a savage to + perish from a mere scratch hardly to be called a wound. The natural + defence against this state of mind was the creation of an enormous number + of taboos—such as we find among all races and on every conceivable + subject—and these taboos constituted practically a great body of + warnings which regulated the lives and thoughts of the community, and + ultimately, after they had been weeded out and to some degree simplified, + hardened down into very stringent Customs and Laws. Such taboos naturally + in the beginning tended to include the avoidance not only of acts which + might reasonably be considered dangerous, like touching a corpse, but also + things much more remote and fanciful in their relation to danger, like + merely looking at a mother-in-law, or passing a lightning-struck tree; and + (what is especially to be noticed) they tended to include acts which + offered any special PLEASURE or temptation—like sex or marriage or + the enjoyment of a meal. Taboos surrounded these things too, and the + psychological connection is easy to divine: but I shall deal with this + general subject later. + </p> + <p> + It may be guessed that so complex a system of regulations made life + anything but easy to early peoples; but, preposterous and unreasonable as + some of the taboos were, they undoubtedly had the effect of compelling the + growth of self-control. Fear does not seem a very worthy motive, but in + the beginning it curbed the violence of the purely animal passions, and + introduced order and restraint among them. Simultaneously it became + itself, through the gradual increase of knowledge and observation, + transmuted and etherealized into something more like wonder and awe and + (when the gods rose above the horizon) into reverence. Anyhow we seem to + perceive that from the early beginnings (in the Stone Age) of + self-consciousness in Man there has been a gradual development—from + crass superstition, senseless and accidental, to rudimentary observation, + and so to belief in Magic; thence to Animism and personification of + nature-powers in more or less human form, as earth-divinities or sky-gods + or embodiments of the tribe; and to placation of these powers by rites + like Sacrifice and the Eucharist, which in their turn became the + foundation of Morality. Graphic representations made for the encouragement + of fertility—as on the walls of Bushmen’s rock-dwellings or the + ceilings of the caverns of Altamira—became the nurse of pictorial + Art; observations of plants or of the weather or the stars, carried on by + tribal medicine-men for purposes of witchcraft or prophecy, supplied some + of the material of Science; and humanity emerged by faltering and + hesitating steps on the borderland of those finer perceptions and + reasonings which are supposed to be characteristic of Civilization. + </p> + <p> + The process of the evolution of religious rites and ceremonies has in its + main outlines been the same all over the world, as the reader will + presently see—and this whether in connection with the numerous + creeds of Paganism or the supposedly unique case of Christianity; and now + the continuity and close intermixture of these great streams can no longer + be denied—nor IS it indeed denied by those who have really studied + the subject. It is seen that religious evolution through the ages has been + practically One thing—that there has been in fact a World-religion, + though with various phases and branches. + </p> + <p> + And so in the present day a new problem arises, namely how to account for + the appearance of this great Phenomenon, with its orderly phases of + evolution, and its own spontaneous (1) growths in all corners of the globe—this + phenomenon which has had such a strange sway over the hearts of men, which + has attracted them with so weird a charm, which has drawn out their + devotion, love and tenderness, which has consoled them in sorrow and + affliction, and yet which has stained their history with such horrible + sacrifices and persecutions and cruelties. What has been the instigating + cause of it? + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For the question of spontaneity see chap. x and elsewhere. +</p> + <p> + The answer which I propose to this question, and which is developed to + some extent in the following chapters, is a psychological one. It is that + the phenomenon proceeds from, and is a necessary accompaniment of, the + growth of human Consciousness itself—its growth, namely, through the + three great stages of its unfoldment. These stages are (1) that of the + simple or animal consciousness, (2) that of SELF-consciousness, and (3) + that of a third stage of consciousness which has not as yet been + effectively named, but whose indications and precursive signs we here and + there perceive in the rites and prophecies and mysteries of the early + religions, and in the poetry and art and literature generally of the later + civilizations. Though I do not expect or wish to catch Nature and History + in the careful net of a phrase, yet I think that in the sequence from the + above-mentioned first stage to the second, and then again in the sequence + from the second to the third, there will be found a helpful explanation of + the rites and aspirations of human religion. It is this idea, illustrated + by details of ceremonial and so forth, which forms the main thesis of the + present book. In this sequence of growth, Christianity enters as an + episode, but no more than an episode. It does not amount to a disruption + or dislocation of evolution. If it did, or if it stood as an unique or + unclassifiable phenomenon (as some of its votaries contend), this would + seem to be a misfortune—as it would obviously rob us of at any rate + one promise of progress in the future. And the promise of something better + than Paganism and better than Christianity is very precious. It is surely + time that it should be fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + The tracing, therefore, of the part that human self-consciousness has + played, psychologically, in the evolution of religion, runs like a thread + through the following chapters, and seeks illustration in a variety of + details. The idea has been repeated under different aspects; sometimes, + possibly, it has been repeated too often; but different aspects in such a + case do help, as in a stereoscope, to give solidity to the thing seen. + Though the worship of Sun-gods and divine figures in the sky came + comparatively late in religious evolution, 1 have put this subject early + in the book (chapters ii and iii), partly because (as I have already + explained) it was the phase first studied in modern times, and therefore + is the one most familiar to present-day readers, and partly because its + astronomical data give great definiteness and “proveability” to it, in + rebuttal to the common accusation that the whole study of religious + origins is too vague and uncertain to have much value. Going backwards in + Time, the two next chapters (iv and v) deal with Totem-sacraments and + Magic, perhaps the earliest forms of religion. And these four lead on (in + chapters vi to xi) to the consideration of rites and creeds common to + Paganism and Christianity. XII and xiii deal especially with the evolution + of Christianity itself; xiv and xv explain the inner Meaning of the whole + process from the beginning; and xvi and xvii look to the Future. + </p> + <p> + The appendix on the doctrines of the Upanishads may, I hope, serve to give + an idea, intimate even though inadequate, of the third Stage—that + which follows on the stage of self-consciousness; and to portray the + mental attitudes which are characteristic of that stage. Here in this + third stage, it would seem, one comes upon the real FACTS of the inner + life—in contradistinction to the fancies and figments of the second + stage; and so one reaches the final point of conjunction between Science + and Religion. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a> +II.<br/> +SOLAR MYTHS AND CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS +</h2> + <p> + To the ordinary public—notwithstanding the immense amount of work + which has of late been done on this subject—the connection between + Paganism and Christianity still seems rather remote. Indeed the common + notion is that Christianity was really a miraculous interposition into and + dislocation of the old order of the world; and that the pagan gods (as in + Milton’s Hymn on the Nativity) fled away in dismay before the sign of the + Cross, and at the sound of the name of Jesus. Doubtless this was a view + much encouraged by the early Church itself—if only to enhance its + own authority and importance; yet, as is well known to every student, it + is quite misleading and contrary to fact. The main Christian doctrines and + festivals, besides a great mass of affiliated legend and ceremonial, are + really quite directly derived from, and related to, preceding Nature + worships; and it has only been by a good deal of deliberate mystification + and falsification that this derivation has been kept out of sight. + </p> + <p> + In these Nature-worships there may be discerned three fairly independent + streams of religious or quasi-religious enthusiasm: (1) that connected + with the phenomena of the heavens, the movements of the Sun, planets and + stars, and the awe and wonderment they excited; (2) that connected with + the seasons and the very important matter of the growth of vegetation and + food on the Earth; and (3) that connected with the mysteries of Sex and + reproduction. It is obvious that these three streams would mingle and + interfuse with each other a good deal; but as far as they were separable + the first would tend to create Solar heroes and Sun-myths; the second + Vegetation-gods and personifications of Nature and the earth-life; while + the third would throw its glamour over the other two and contribute to the + projection of deities or demons worshipped with all sorts of sexual and + phallic rites. All three systems of course have their special rites and + times and ceremonies; but, as, I say, the rites and ceremonies of one + system would rarely be found pure and unmixed with those belonging to the + two others. The whole subject is a very large one; but for reasons given + in the Introduction I shall in this and the following chapter—while + not ignoring phases (2) and (3)—lay most stress on phase (1) of the + question before us. + </p> + <p> + At the time of the life or recorded appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, and + for some centuries before, the Mediterranean and neighboring world had + been the scene of a vast number of pagan creeds and rituals. There were + Temples without end dedicated to gods like Apollo or Dionysus among the + Greeks, Hercules among the Romans, Mithra among the Persians, Adonis and + Attis in Syria and Phrygia, Osiris and Isis and Horus in Egypt, Baal and + Astarte among the Babylonians and Carthaginians, and so forth. Societies, + large or small, united believers and the devout in the service or + ceremonials connected with their respective deities, and in the creeds + which they confessed concerning these deities. And an extraordinarily + interesting fact, for us, is that notwithstanding great geographical + distances and racial differences between the adherents of these various + cults, as well as differences in the details of their services, the + general outlines of their creeds and ceremonials were—if not + identical—so markedly similar as we find them. + </p> + <p> + I cannot of course go at length into these different cults, but I may say + roughly that of all or nearly all the deities above-mentioned it was said + and believed that: + </p> + <p> + (1) They were born on or very near our Christmas Day. + </p> + <p> + (2) They were born of a Virgin-Mother. + </p> + <p> + (3) And in a Cave or Underground Chamber. + </p> + <p> + (4) They led a life of toil for Mankind. + </p> + <p> + (5) And were called by the names of Light-bringer, Healer, Mediator, + Savior, Deliverer. + </p> + <p> + (6) They were however vanquished by the Powers of Darkness. + </p> + <p> + (7) And descended into Hell or the Underworld. + </p> + <p> + (8) They rose again from the dead, and became the pioneers of mankind to + the Heavenly world. + </p> + <p> + (9) They founded Communions of Saints, and Churches into which disciples + were received by Baptism. + </p> + <p> + (10) And they were commemorated by Eucharistic meals. + </p> + <p> + Let me give a few brief examples. + </p> + <p> + Mithra was born in a cave, and on the 25th December. (1) He was born of a + Virgin. (2) He traveled far and wide as a teacher and illuminator of men. + He slew the Bull (symbol of the gross Earth which the sunlight + fructifies). His great festivals were the winter solstice and the Spring + equinox (Christmas and Easter). He had twelve companions or disciples (the + twelve months). He was buried in a tomb, from which however he rose again; + and his resurrection was celebrated yearly with great rejoicings. He was + called Savior and Mediator, and sometimes figured as a Lamb; and + sacramental feasts in remembrance of him were held by his followers. This + legend is apparently partly astronomical and partly vegetational; and the + same may be said of the following about Osiris. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The birthfeast of Mithra was held in Rome on the 8th day +before the Kalends of January, being also the day of the Circassian +games, which were sacred to the Sun. (See F. Nork, Der Mystagog, +Leipzig.) +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) This at any rate was reported by his later disciples (see +Robertson’s Pagan Christs, p. 338). +</p> + <p> + Osiris was born (Plutarch tells us) on the 361st day of the year, say the + 27th December. He too, like Mithra and Dionysus, was a great traveler. As + King of Egypt he taught men civil arts, and “tamed them by music and + gentleness, not by force of arms”; (1) he was the discoverer of corn and + wine. But he was betrayed by Typhon, the power of darkness, and slain and + dismembered. “This happened,” says Plutarch, “on the 17th of the month + Athyr, when the sun enters into the Scorpion” (the sign of the Zodiac + which indicates the oncoming of Winter). His body was placed in a box, but + afterwards, on the 19th, came again to life, and, as in the cults of + Mithra, Dionysus, Adonis and others, so in the cult of Osiris, an image + placed in a coffin was brought out before the worshipers and saluted with + glad cries of “Osiris is risen.” (1) “His sufferings, his death and his + resurrection were enacted year by year in a great mystery-play at Abydos.” + (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Plutarch on Isis and Osiris. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Ancient Art and Ritual, by Jane E. Harrison, chap. i. +</p> + <p> + The two following legends have more distinctly the character of Vegetation + myths. + </p> + <p> + Adonis or Tammuz, the Syrian god of vegetation, was a very beautiful + youth, born of a Virgin (Nature), and so beautiful that Venus and + Proserpine (the goddesses of the Upper and Underworlds) both fell in love + with him. To reconcile their claims it was agreed that he should spend + half the year (summer) in the upper world, and the winter half with + Proserpine below. He was killed by a boar (Typhon) in the autumn. And + every year the maidens “wept for Adonis” (see Ezekiel viii. 14). In the + spring a festival of his resurrection was held—the women set out to + seek him, and having found the supposed corpse placed it (a wooden image) + in a coffin or hollow tree, and performed wild rites and lamentations, + followed by even wilder rejoicings over his supposed resurrection. At + Aphaca in the North of Syria, and halfway between Byblus and Baalbec, + there was a famous grove and temple of Astarte, near which was a wild + romantic gorge full of trees, the birthplace of a certain river Adonis—the + water rushing from a Cavern, under lofty cliffs. Here (it was said) every + year the youth Adonis was again wounded to death, and the river ran red + with his blood, (1) while the scarlet anemone bloomed among the cedars and + walnuts. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) A discoloration caused by red earth washed by rain from the +mountains, and which has been observed by modern travelers. For the +whole story of Adonis and of Attis see Frazer’s Golden Bough, part iv. +</p> + <p> + The story of Attis is very similar. He was a fair young shepherd or + herdsman of Phrygia, beloved by Cybele (or Demeter), the Mother of the + gods. He was born of a Virgin—Nana—who conceived by putting a + ripe almond or pomegranate in her bosom. He died, either killed by a boar, + the symbol of winter, like Adonis, or self-castrated (like his own + priests); and he bled to death at the foot of a pine tree (the pine and + pine-cone being symbols of fertility). The sacrifice of his blood renewed + the fertility of the earth, and in the ritual celebration of his death and + resurrection his image was fastened to the trunk of a pine-tree (compare + the Crucifixion). But I shall return to this legend presently. The worship + of Attis became very widespread and much honored, and was ultimately + incorporated with the established religion at Rome somewhere about the + commencement of our Era. + </p> + <p> + The following two legends (dealing with Hercules and with Krishna) have + rather more of the character of the solar, and less of the vegetational + myth about them. Both heroes were regarded as great benefactors of + humanity; but the former more on the material plane, and the latter on the + spiritual. + </p> + <p> + Hercules or Heracles was, like other Sun-gods and benefactors of mankind, + a great Traveler. He was known in many lands, and everywhere he was + invoked as Saviour. He was miraculously conceived from a divine Father; + even in the cradle he strangled two serpents sent to destroy him. His many + labors for the good of the world were ultimately epitomized into twelve, + symbolized by the signs of the Zodiac. He slew the Nemxan Lion and the + Hydra (offspring of Typhon) and the Boar. He overcame the Cretan Bull, and + cleaned out the Stables of Augeas; he conquered Death and, descending into + Hades, brought Cerberus thence and ascended into Heaven. On all sides he + was followed by the gratitude and the prayers of mortals. + </p> + <p> + As to Krishna, the Indian god, the points of agreement with the general + divine career indicated above are too salient to be overlooked, and too + numerous to be fully recorded. He also was born of a Virgin (Devaki) and + in a Cave, (1) and his birth announced by a Star. It was sought to destroy + him, and for that purpose a massacre of infants was ordered. Everywhere he + performed miracles, raising the dead, healing lepers, and the deaf and the + blind, and championing the poor and oppressed. He had a beloved disciple, + Arjuna, (cf. John) before whom he was transfigured. (2) His death is + differently related—as being shot by an arrow, or crucified on a + tree. He descended into hell; and rose again from the dead, ascending into + heaven in the sight of many people. He will return at the last day to be + the judge of the quick and the dead. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Cox’s Myths of the Aryan Nations, p. 107. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Bhagavat Gita, ch. xi. +</p> + <p> + Such are some of the legends concerning the pagan and pre-Christian + deities—only briefly sketched now, in order that we may get + something like a true perspective of the whole subject; but to most of + them, and more in detail, I shall return as the argument proceeds. + </p> + <p> + What we chiefly notice so far are two points; on the one hand the general + similarity of these stories with that of Jesus Christ; on the other their + analogy with the yearly phenomena of Nature as illustrated by the course + of the Sun in heaven and the changes of Vegetation on the earth. + </p> + <p> + (1) The similarity of these ancient pagan legends and beliefs with + Christian traditions was indeed so great that it excited the attention and + the undisguised wrath of the early Christian fathers. They felt no doubt + about the similarity, but not knowing how to explain it fell back upon the + innocent theory that the Devil—in order to confound the Christians—had, + CENTURIES BEFORE, caused the pagans to adopt certain beliefs and + practices! (Very crafty, we may say, of the Devil, but also very innocent + of the Fathers to believe it!) Justin Martyr for instance describes (1) + the institution of the Lord’s Supper as narrated in the Gospels, and then + goes on to say: “Which the wicked devils have IMITATED in the mysteries of + Mithra, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of + water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who + is being initiated you either know or can learn.” Tertullian also says (2) + that “the devil by the mysteries of his idols imitates even the main part + of the divine mysteries.”... “He baptizes his worshippers in water and + makes them believe that this purifies them from their crimes.”... “Mithra + sets his mark on the forehead of his soldiers; he celebrates the oblation + of bread; he offers an image of the resurrection, and presents at once the + crown and the sword; he limits his chief priest to a single marriage; he + even has his virgins and ascetics.” (3) Cortez, too, it will be remembered + complained that the Devil had positively taught to the Mexicans the same + things which God had taught to Christendom. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) I Apol. c. 66. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) De Praescriptione Hereticorum, c. 40; De Bapt. c. 3; De +Corona, c. 15. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) For reference to both these examples see J. M. Robertson’s +Pagan Christs, pp. 321, 322. +</p> + <p> + Justin Martyr again, in the Dialogue with Trypho says that the Birth in + the Stable was the prototype (!) of the birth of Mithra in the Cave of + Zoroastrianism; and boasts that Christ was born when the Sun takes its + birth in the Augean Stable, (1) coming as a second Hercules to cleanse a + foul world; and St. Augustine says “we hold this (Christmas) day holy, not + like the pagans because of the birth of the Sun, but because of the birth + of him who made it.” There are plenty of other instances in the Early + Fathers of their indignant ascription of these similarities to the work of + devils; but we need not dwell over them. There is no need for US to be + indignant. On the contrary we can now see that these animadversions of the + Christian writers are the evidence of how and to what extent in the spread + of Christianity over the world it had become fused with the Pagan cults + previously existing. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The Zodiacal sign of Capricornus, iii. +</p> + <p> + It was not till the year A.D. 530 or so—five centuries after the + supposed birth of Christ—that a Scythian Monk, Dionysius Exiguus, an + abbot and astronomer of Rome, was commissioned to fix the day and the year + of that birth. A nice problem, considering the historical science of the + period! For year he assigned the date which we now adopt, (2) and for day + and month he adopted the 25th December—a date which had been in + popular use since about 350 B.C., and the very date, within a day or two, + of the supposed birth of the previous Sungods. (3) From that fact alone we + may fairly conclude that by the year 530 or earlier the existing + Nature-worships had become largely fused into Christianity. In fact the + dates of the main pagan religious festivals had by that time become so + popular that Christianity was OBLIGED to accommodate itself to them. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) As, for instance, the festival of John the Baptist in June +took the place of the pagan midsummer festival of water and bathing; +the Assumption of the Virgin in August the place of that of Diana in the +same month; and the festival of All Souls early in November, that of the +world-wide pagan feasts of the dead and their ghosts at the same season. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Encycl. Brit. art. “Chronology.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) “There is however a difficulty in accepting the 25th December +as the real date of the Nativity, December being the height of the rainy +season in Judaea, when neither flocks nor shepherds could have been at +night in the fields of Bethlehem” (!). Encycl. Brit. art. “Christmas +Day.” According to Hastings’s Encyclopaedia, art. “Christmas,” “Usener +says that the Feast of the Nativity was held originally on the 6th +January (the Epiphany), but in 353-4 the Pope Liberius displaced it to +the 25th December... but there is no evidence of a Feast of the Nativity +taking place at all, before the fourth century A.D.” It was not till 534 +A.D. that Christmas Day and Epiphany were reckoned by the law-courts as +dies non. +</p> + <p> + This brings us to the second point mentioned a few pages back—the + analogy between the Christian festivals and the yearly phenomena of Nature + in the Sun and the Vegetation. + </p> + <p> + Let us take Christmas Day first. Mithra, as we have seen, was reported to + have been born on the 25th December (which in the Julian Calendar was + reckoned as the day of the Winter Solstice AND of the Nativity of the + Sun); Plutarch says (Isis and Osiris, c. 12) that Osiris was born on the + 361st day of the year, when a Voice rang out proclaiming the Lord of All. + Horus, he says, was born on the 362nd day. Apollo on the same. + </p> + <p> + Why was all this? Why did the Druids at Yule Tide light roaring fires? Why + was the cock supposed to crow all Christmas Eve (“The bird of dawning + singeth all night long”)? Why was Apollo born with only one hair (the + young Sun with only one feeble ray)? Why did Samson (name derived from + Shemesh, the sun) lose all his strength when he lost his hair? Why were so + many of these gods—Mithra, Apollo, Krishna, Jesus, and others, born + in caves or underground chambers? (1) Why, at the Easter Eve festival of + the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem is a light brought from the grave and + communicated to the candles of thousands who wait outside, and who rush + forth rejoicing to carry the new glory over the world? (2) Why indeed? + except that older than all history and all written records has been the + fear and wonderment of the children of men over the failure of the Sun’s + strength in Autumn—the decay of their God; and the anxiety lest by + any means he should not revive or reappear? + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) This same legend of gods (or idols) being born in caves has, +curiously enough, been reported from Mexico, Guatemala, the Antilles, +and other places in Central America. See C. F. P. von Martius, +Etknographie Amerika, etc. (Leipzig, 1867), vol. i, p. 758. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Compare the Aztec ceremonial of lighting a holy fire and +communicating it to the multitude from the wounded breast of a human +victim, celebrated every 52 years at the end of one cycle and the +beginning of another—the constellation of the Pleiades being in the +Zenith (Prescott’s Conquest of Mexico, Bk. I, ch. 4). +</p> + <p> + Think for a moment of a time far back when there were absolutely NO + Almanacs or Calendars, either nicely printed or otherwise, when all that + timid mortals could see was that their great source of Light and Warmth + was daily failing, daily sinking lower in the sky. As everyone now knows + there are about three weeks at the fag end of the year when the days are + at their shortest and there is very little change. What was happening? + Evidently the god had fallen upon evil times. Typhon, the prince of + darkness, had betrayed him; Delilah, the queen of Night, had shorn his + hair; the dreadful Boar had wounded him; Hercules was struggling with + Death itself; he had fallen under the influence of those malign + constellations—the Serpent and the Scorpion. Would the god grow + weaker and weaker, and finally succumb, or would he conquer after all? We + can imagine the anxiety with which those early men and women watched for + the first indication of a lengthening day; and the universal joy when the + Priest (the representative of primitive science) having made some simple + observations, announced from the Temple steps that the day WAS lengthening—that + the Sun was really born again to a new and glorious career. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) It was such things as these which doubtless gave the +Priesthood its power. +</p> + <p> + Let us look at the elementary science of those days a little closer. How + without Almanacs or Calendars could the day, or probable day, of the Sun’s + rebirth be fixed? Go out next Christmas Evening, and at midnight you will + see the brightest of the fixed stars, Sirius, blazing in the southern sky—not + however due south from you, but somewhat to the left of the Meridian line. + Some three thousand years ago (owing to the Precession of the Equinoxes) + that star at the winter solstice did not stand at midnight where you now + see it, but almost exactly ON the meridian line. The coming of Sirius + therefore to the meridian at midnight became the sign and assurance of the + Sun having reached the very lowest point of his course, and therefore of + having arrived at the moment of his re-birth. Where then was the Sun at + that moment? Obviously in the underworld beneath our feet. Whatever views + the ancients may have had about the shape of the earth, it was evident to + the mass of people that the Sungod, after illuminating the world during + the day, plunged down in the West, and remained there during the hours of + darkness in some cavern under the earth. Here he rested and after bathing + in the great ocean renewed his garments before reappearing in the East + next morning. + </p> + <p> + But in this long night of his greatest winter weakness, when all the world + was hoping and praying for the renewal of his strength, it is evident that + the new birth would come—if it came at all—at midnight. This + then was the sacred hour when in the underworld (the Stable or the Cave or + whatever it might be called) the child was born who was destined to be the + Savior of men. At that moment Sirius stood on the southern meridian (and + in more southern lands than ours this would be more nearly overhead); and + that star—there is little doubt—is the Star in the East + mentioned in the Gospels. + </p> + <p> + To the right, as the supposed observer looks at Sirius on the midnight of + Christmas Eve, stands the magnificent Orion, the mighty hunter. There are + three stars in his belt which, as is well known, lie in a straight line + pointing to Sirius. They are not so bright as Sirius, but they are + sufficiently bright to attract attention. A long tradition gives them the + name of the Three Kings. Dupuis (1) says: “Orion a trois belles etoiles + vers le milieu, qui sont de seconde grandeur et posees en ligne droite, + l’une pres de l’autre, le peuple les appelle les trois rois. On donne aux + trois rois Magis les noms de Magalat, Galgalat, Saraim; et Athos, Satos, + Paratoras. Les Catholiques les appellent Gaspard, Melchior, et Balthasar.” + The last-mentioned group of names comes in the Catholic Calendar in + connection with the feast of the Epiphany (6th January); and the name + “Trois Rois” is commonly to-day given to these stars by the French and + Swiss peasants. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Charles F. Dupuis (Origine de Tous les Cultes, Paris, 1822) +was one of the earliest modern writers on these subjects. +</p> + <p> + Immediately after Midnight then, on the 25th December, the Beloved Son (or + Sun-god) is born. If we go back in thought to the period, some three + thousand years ago, when at that moment of the heavenly birth Sirius, + coming from the East, did actually stand on the Meridian, we shall come + into touch with another curious astronomical coincidence. For at the same + moment we shall see the Zodiacal constellation of the Virgin in the act of + rising, and becoming visible in the East divided through the middle by the + line of the horizon. + </p> + <p> + The constellation Virgo is a Y-shaped group, of which [gr a], the star at + the foot, is the well-known Spica, a star of the first magnitude. The + other principal stars, [gr g] at the centre, and [gr b] and [gr e] at the + extremities, are of the second magnitude. The whole resembles more a cup + than the human figure; but when we remember the symbolic meaning of the + cup, that seems to be an obvious explanation of the name Virgo, which the + constellation has borne since the earliest times. (The three stars [gr b], + [gr g] and [gr a], lie very nearly on the Ecliptic, that is, the Sun’s + path—a fact to which we shall return presently.) + </p> + <p> + At the moment then when Sirius, the star from the East, by coming to the + Meridian at midnight signalled the Sun’s new birth, the Virgin was seen + just rising on the Eastern sky—the horizon line passing through her + centre. And many people think that this astronomical fact is the + explanation of the very widespread legend of the Virgin-birth. I do not + think that it is the sole explanation—for indeed in all or nearly + all these cases the acceptance of a myth seems to depend not upon a single + argument but upon the convergence of a number of meanings and reasons in + the same symbol. But certainly the fact mentioned above is curious, and + its importance is accentuated by the following considerations. + </p> + <p> + In the Temple of Denderah in Egypt, and on the inside of the dome, there + is or WAS an elaborate circular representation of the Northern hemisphere + of the sky and the Zodiac. (1) Here Virgo the constellation is + represented, as in our star-maps, by a woman with a spike of corn in her + hand (Spica). But on the margin close by there is an annotating and + explicatory figure—a figure of Isis with the infant Horus in her + arms, and quite resembling in style the Christian Madonna and Child, + except that she is sitting and the child is on her knee. This seems to + show that—whatever other nations may have done in associating Virgo + with Demeter, Ceres, Diana (2) etc.—the Egyptians made no doubt of + the constellation’s connection with Isis and Horus. But it is well known + as a matter of history that the worship of Isis and Horus descended in the + early Christian centuries to Alexandria, where it took the form of the + worship of the Virgin Mary and the infant Savior, and so passed into the + European ceremonial. We have therefore the Virgin Mary connected by linear + succession and descent with that remote Zodiacal cluster in the sky! Also + it may be mentioned that on the Arabian and Persian globes of Abenezra and + Abuazar a Virgin and Child are figured in connection with the same + constellation. (3) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Carefully described and mapped by Dupuis, see op. cit. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) For the harvest-festival of Diana, the Virgin, and her +parallelism with the Virgin Mary, see The Golden Bough, vol. i, 14 and +ii, 121. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See F. Nork, Der Mystagog (Leipzig, 1838). +</p> + <p> + A curious confirmation of the same astronomical connection is afforded by + the Roman Catholic Calendar. For if this be consulted it will be found + that the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin is placed on the 15th + August, while the festival of the Birth of the Virgin is dated the 8th + September. I have already pointed out that the stars, [gr a], [gr b] and + [gr g] of Virgo are almost exactly on the Ecliptic, or Sun’s path through + the sky; and a brief reference to the Zodiacal signs and the star-maps + will show that the Sun each year enters the sign of Virgo about the + first-mentioned date, and leaves it about the second date. At the present + day the Zodiacal signs (owing to precession) have shifted some distance + from the constellations of the same name. But at the time when the Zodiac + was constituted and these names were given, the first date obviously would + signalize the actual disappearance of the cluster Virgo in the Sun’s rays—i. + e. the Assumption of the Virgin into the glory of the God—while the + second date would signalize the reappearance of the constellation or the + Birth of the Virgin. The Church of Notre Dame at Paris is supposed to be + on the original site of a Temple of Isis; and it is said (but I have not + been able to verify this myself) that one of the side entrances—that, + namely, on the left in entering from the North (cloister) side—is + figured with the signs of the Zodiac EXCEPT that the sign Virgo is + replaced by the figure of the Madonna and Child. + </p> + <p> + So strange is the scripture of the sky! Innumerable legends and customs + connect the rebirth of the Sun with a Virgin parturition. Dr. J. G. Frazer + in his Part IV of The Golden Bough (1) says: “If we may trust the evidence + of an obscure scholiast the Greeks (in the worship of Mithras at Rome) + used to celebrate the birth of the luminary by a midnight service, coming + out of the inner shrines and crying, ‘The Virgin has brought forth! The + light is waxing!’ ([gr ‘H parhenos tetoken, auzei pws].)” In Elie Reclus’ + little book Primitive Folk (2) it is said of the Esquimaux that “On the + longest night of the year two angakout (priests), of whom one is disguised + as a WOMAN, go from hut to hut extinguishing all the lights, rekindling + them from a vestal flame, and crying out, ‘From the new sun cometh a new + light!’” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Book II, ch. vi. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) In the Contemporary Science Series, I. 92. +</p> + <p> + All this above-written on the Solar or Astronomical origins of the myths + does not of course imply that the Vegetational origins must be denied or + ignored. These latter were doubtless the earliest, but there is no reason—as + said in the Introduction (ch. i)—why the two elements should not to + some extent have run side by side, or been fused with each other. In fact + it is quite clear that they must have done so; and to separate them out + too rigidly, or treat them as antagonistic, is a mistake. The Cave or + Underworld in which the New Year is born is not only the place of the + Sun’s winter retirement, but also the hidden chamber beneath the Earth to + which the dying Vegetation goes, and from which it re-arises in Spring. + The amours of Adonis with Venus and Proserpine, the lovely goddesses of + the upper and under worlds, or of Attis with Cybele, the blooming + Earth-mother, are obvious vegetation-symbols; but they do not exclude the + interpretation that Adonis (Adonai) may also figure as a Sun-god. The + Zodiacal constellations of Aries and Taurus (to which I shall return + presently) rule in heaven just when the Lamb and the Bull are in evidence + on the earth; and the yearly sacrifice of those two animals and of the + growing Corn for the good of mankind runs parallel with the drama of the + sky, as it affects not only the said constellations but also Virgo (the + Earth-mother who bears the sheaf of corn in her hand). + </p> + <p> + I shall therefore continue (in the next chapter) to point out these + astronomical references—which are full of significance and poetry; + but with a recommendation at the same time to the reader not to forget the + poetry and significance of the terrestrial interpretations. + </p> + <p> + Between Christmas Day and Easter there are several minor festivals or holy + days—such as the 28th December (the Massacre of the Innocents), the + 6th January (the Epiphany), the 2nd February (Candlemas (1) Day), the + period of Lent (German Lenz, the Spring), the Annunciation of the Blessed + Virgin, and so forth—which have been commonly celebrated in the + pagan cults before Christianity, and in which elements of Star and Nature + worship can be traced; but to dwell on all these would take too long; so + let us pass at once to the period of Easter itself. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) This festival of the Purification of the Virgin corresponds +with the old Roman festival of Juno Februata (i. e. purified) which was +held in the last month (February) of the Roman year, and which included +a candle procession of Ceres, searching for Proserpine. (F. Nork, Der +Mystagog.) +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a> +III.<br/> +THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ZODIAC +</h2> + <p> + The Vernal Equinox has all over the ancient world, and from the earliest + times, been a period of rejoicing and of festivals in honor of the Sungod. + It is needless to labor a point which is so well known. Everyone + understands and appreciates the joy of finding that the long darkness is + giving way, that the Sun is growing in strength, and that the days are + winning a victory over the nights. The birds and flowers reappear, and the + promise of Spring is in the air. But it may be worth while to give an + elementary explanation of the ASTRONOMICAL meaning of this period, because + this is not always understood, and yet it is very important in its bearing + on the rites and creeds of the early religions. The priests who were, as I + have said, the early students and inquirers, had worked out this + astronomical side, and in that way were able to fix dates and to frame for + the benefit of the populace myths and legends, which were in a certain + sense explanations of the order of Nature, and a kind of “popular + science.” + </p> + <p> + The Equator, as everyone knows, is an imaginary line or circle girdling + the Earth half-way between the North and South poles. If you imagine a + transparent Earth with a light at its very centre, and also imagine the + SHADOW of this equatorial line to be thrown on the vast concave of the + Sky, this shadow would in astronomical parlance coincide with the Equator + of the Sky—forming an imaginary circle half-way between the North + and South celestial poles. + </p> + <p> + The Equator, then, may be pictured as cutting across the sky either by day + or by night, and always at the same elevation—that is, as seen from + any one place. But the Ecliptic (the other important great circle of the + heavens) can only be thought of as a line traversing the constellations as + they are seen at NIGHT. It is in fact the Sun’s path among the fixed + stars. For (really owing to the Earth’s motion in its orbit) the Sun + appears to move round the heavens once a year—travelling, always to + the left, from constellation to constellation. The exact path of the sun + is called the Ecliptic; and the band of sky on either side of the Ecliptic + which may be supposed to include the said constellations is called the + Zodiac. How then—it will of course be asked—seeing that the + Sun and the Stars can never be seen together—were the Priests ABLE + to map out the path of the former among the latter? Into that question we + need not go. Sufficient to say that they succeeded; and their success—even + with the very primitive instruments they had—shows that their + astronomical knowledge and acuteness of reasoning were of no mean order. + </p> + <p> + To return to our Vernal Equinox. Let us suppose that the Equator and + Ecliptic of the sky, at the Spring season, are represented by two lines + Eq. and Ecl. crossing each other at the point P. The Sun, represented by + the small circle, is moving slowly and in its annual course along the + Ecliptic to the left. When it reaches the point P (the dotted circle) it + stands on the Equator of the sky, and then for a day or two, being neither + North nor South, it shines on the two terrestrial hemispheres alike, and + day and night are equal. BEFORE that time, when the sun is low down in the + heavens, night has the advantage, and the days are short; AFTERWARDS, when + the Sun has travelled more to the left, the days triumph over the nights. + It will be seen then that this point P where the Sun’s path crosses the + Equator is a very critical point. It is the astronomical location of the + triumph of the Sungod and of the arrival of Spring. + </p> + <p> + How was this location defined? Among what stars was the Sun moving at that + critical moment? (For of course it was understood, or supposed, that the + Sun was deeply influenced by the constellation through which it was, or + appeared to be, moving.) It seems then that at the period when these + questions were occupying men’s minds—say about three thousand years + ago—the point where the Ecliptic crossed the Equator was, as a + matter of fact, in the region of the constellation Aries or the he-Lamb. + The triumph of the Sungod was therefore, and quite naturally, ascribed to + the influence of Aries. THE LAMB BECAME THE SYMBOL OF THE RISEN SAVIOR, + AND OF HIS PASSAGE FROM THE UNDERWORLD INTO THE HEIGHT OF HEAVEN. At first + such an explanation sounds hazardous; but a thousand texts and references + confirm it; and it is only by the accumulation of evidence in these cases + that the student becomes convinced of a theory’s correctness. It must also + be remembered (what I have mentioned before) that these myths and legends + were commonly adopted not only for one strict reason but because they + represented in a general way the convergence of various symbols and + inferences. + </p> + <p> + Let me enumerate a few points with regard to the Vernal Equinox. In the + Bible the festival is called the Passover, and its supposed institution by + Moses is related in Exodus, ch. xii. In every house a he-lamb was to be + slain, and its blood to be sprinkled on the doorposts of the house. Then + the Lord would pass over and not smite that house. The Hebrew word is + pasach, to pass. (1) The lamb slain was called the Paschal Lamb. But what + was that lamb? Evidently not an earthly lamb—(though certainly the + earthly lambs on the hillsides WERE just then ready to be killed and + eaten)—but the heavenly Lamb, which was slain or sacrificed when the + Lord “passed over” the equator and obliterated the constellation Aries. + This was the Lamb of God which was slain each year, and “Slain since the + foundation of the world.” This period of the Passover (about the 25th + March) was to be (2) the beginning of a new year. The sacrifice of the + Lamb, and its blood, were to be the promise of redemption. The door-frames + of the houses—symbols of the entrance into a new life—were to + be sprinkled with blood. (3) Later, the imagery of the saving power of the + blood of the Lamb became more popular, more highly colored. (See St. + Paul’s epistles, and the early Fathers.) And we have the expression + “washed in the blood of the Lamb” adopted into the Christian Church. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) It is said that pasach sometimes means not so much to pass +over, as to hover over and so protect. Possibly both meanings enter in +here. See Isaiah xxxi. 5. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Exodus xii. i. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) It is even said (see The Golden Bough, vol. iii, 185) that +the doorways of houses and temples in Peru were at the Spring festival +daubed with blood of the first-born children—commuted afterwards to the +blood of the sacred animal, the Llama. And as to Mexico, Sahagun, the +great Spanish missionary, tells us that it was a custom of the people +there to “smear the outside of their houses and doors with blood drawn +from their own ears and ankles, in order to propitiate the god of +Harvest” (Kingsborough’s Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi, p. 235). +</p> + <p> + In order fully to understand this extraordinary expression and its origin + we must turn for a moment to the worship both of Mithra, the Persian + Sungod, and of Attis the Syrian god, as throwing great light on the + Christian cult and ceremonies. It must be remembered that in the early + centuries of our era the Mithra-cult was spread over the whole Western + world. It has left many monuments of itself here in Britain. At Rome the + worship was extremely popular, and it may almost be said to have been a + matter of chance whether Mithraism should overwhelm Christianity, or + whether the younger religion by adopting many of the rites of the older + one should establish itself (as it did) in the face of the latter. + </p> + <p> + Now we have already mentioned that in the Mithra cult the slaying of a + Bull by the Sungod occupies the same sort of place as the slaving of the + Lamb in the Christian cult. It took place at the Vernal Equinox and the + blood of the Bull acquired in men’s minds a magic virtue. Mithraism was a + greatly older religion than Christianity; but its genesis was similar. In + fact, owing to the Precession of the Equinoxes, the crossing-place of the + Ecliptic and Equator was different at the time of the establishment of + Mithra-worship from what it was in the Christian period; and the Sun + instead of standing in the He-lamb, or Aries, at the Vernal Equinox stood, + about two thousand years earlier (as indicated by the dotted line in the + diagram), in this very constellation of the Bull. (1) The bull therefore + became the symbol of the triumphant God, and the sacrifice of the bull a + holy mystery. (Nor must we overlook here the agricultural appropriateness + of the bull as the emblem of Spring-plowings and of service to man.) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) With regard to this point, see an article in the Nineteenth +Century for September 1900, by E. W. Maunder of the Greenwich +Observatory on “The Oldest Picture Book” (the Zodiac). Mr. Maunder +calculates that the Vernal Equinox was in the centre of the Sign of +the Bull 5,000 years ago. (It would therefore be in the centre of Aries +2,845 years ago—allowing 2,155 years for the time occupied in passing +from one Sign to another.) At the earlier period the Summer solstice was +in the centre of Leo, the Autumnal equinox in the centre of Scorpio, and +the Winter solstice in the centre of Aquarius—corresponding roughly, +Mr. Maunder points out, to the positions of the four “Royal Stars,” +Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares and Fomalhaut. +</p> + <p> + The sacrifice of the Bull became the image of redemption. In a certain + well-known Mithra-sculpture or group, the Sungod is represented as + plunging his dagger into a bull, while a scorpion, a serpent, and other + animals are sucking the latter’s blood. From one point of view this may be + taken as symbolic of the Sun fertilizing the gross Earth by plunging his + rays into it and so drawing forth its blood for the sustenance of all + creatures; while from another more astronomical aspect it symbolizes the + conquest of the Sun over winter in the moment of “passing over” the sign + of the Bull, and the depletion of the generative power of the Bull by the + Scorpion—which of course is the autumnal sign of the Zodiac and + herald of winter. One such Mithraic group was found at Ostia, where there + was a large subterranean Temple “to the invincible god Mithras.” + </p> + <p> + In the worship of Attis there were (as I have already indicated) many + points of resemblance to the Christian cult. On the 22nd March (the Vernal + Equinox) a pinetree was cut in the woods and brought into the Temple of + Cybele. It was treated almost as a divinity, was decked with violets, and + the effigy of a young man tied to the stem (cf. the Crucifixion). The 24th + was called the “Day of Blood”; the High Priest first drew blood from his + own arms; and then the others gashed and slashed themselves, and spattered + the altar and the sacred tree with blood; while novices made themselves + eunuchs “for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.” The effigy was afterwards laid + in a tomb. But when night fell, says Dr. Frazer, (1) sorrow was turned to + joy. A light was brought, and the tomb was found to be empty. The next + day, the 25th, was the festival of the Resurrection; and ended in carnival + and license (the Hilaria). Further, says Dr. Frazer, these mysteries “seem + to have included a sacramental meal and a baptism of blood.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Adonis, Attis and Osiris, Part IV of The Golden Bough, by +J. G. Frazer, p. 229. +</p> + <p> + “In the baptism the devotee, crowned with gold and wreathed with fillets, + descended into a pit, the mouth of which was covered with a wooden + grating. A bull, adorned with garlands of flowers, its forehead glittering + with gold leaf, was then driven on to the grating and there stabbed to + death with a consecrated spear. Its hot reeking blood poured in torrents + through the apertures, and was received with devout eagerness by the + worshiper on every part of his person and garments, till he emerged from + the pit, drenched, dripping, and scarlet from head to foot, to receive the + homage, nay the adoration, of his fellows—as one who had been born + again to eternal life and had washed away his sins in the blood of the + bull.” (1) And Frazer continuing says: “That the bath of blood derived + from slaughter of the bull (tauro-bolium) was believed to regenerate the + devotee for eternity is proved by an inscription found at Rome, which + records that a certain Sextilius Agesilaus Aedesius, who dedicated an + altar to Attis and the mother of the gods (Cybele) was taurobolio + criobolio que in aeternum renatus.” (2) “In the procedure of the + Taurobolia and Criobolia,” says Mr. J. M. Robertson, (3) “which grew very + popular in the Roman world, we have the literal and original meaning of + the phrase ‘washed in the blood of the lamb’ (4); the doctrine being that + resurrection and eternal life were secured by drenching or sprinkling with + the actual blood of a sacrificial bull or ram.” (5) For the POPULARITY of + the rite we may quote Franz Cumont, who says:—“Cette douche sacree + (taurobolium) pareit avoir ete administree en Cappadoce dans un grand + nombre de sanctuaires, et en particulier dans ceux de Ma la grande + divinite indigene, et dans ceux: de Anahita.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See vol. i, pp. 334 ff. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Adonis, Attis and Osiris, p. 229. References to Prudentius, +and to Firmicus Maternus, De errore 28. 8. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) That is, “By the slaughter of the bull and the slaughter of +the ram born again into eternity.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) Pagan Christs, p. 315. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (5) Mysteres de Mithra, Bruxelles, 1902, p. 153. +</p> + <p> + Whether Mr. Robertson is right in ascribing to the priests (as he appears + to do) so materialistic a view of the potency of the actual blood is, I + should say, doubtful. I do not myself see that there is any reason for + supposing that the priests of Mithra or Attis regarded baptism by blood + very differently from the way in which the Christian Church has generally + regarded baptism by water—namely, as a SYMBOL of some inner + regeneration. There may certainly have been a little more of the MAGICAL + view and a little less of the symbolic, in the older religions; but the + difference was probably on the whole more one of degree than of essential + disparity. But however that may be, we cannot but be struck by the + extraordinary analogy between the tombstone inscriptions of that period + “born again into eternity by the blood of the Bull or the Ram,” and the + corresponding texts in our graveyards to-day. F. Cumont in his elaborate + work, Textes et Monuments relatifs aux Mysteres de Mithra (2 vols., + Brussels, 1899) gives a great number of texts and epitaphs of the same + character as that above-quoted, and they are well worth studying by those + interested in the subject. Cumont, it may be noted (vol. i, p. 305), + thinks that the story of Mithra and the slaying of the Bull must have + originated among some pastoral people to whom the bull was the source of + all life. The Bull in heaven—the symbol of the triumphant Sungod—and + the earthly bull, sacrificed for the good of humanity were one and the + same; the god, in fact, SACRIFICED HIMSELF OR HIS REPRESENTATIVE. And + Mithra was the hero who first won this conception of divinity for mankind—though + of course it is in essence quite similar to the conception put forward by + the Christian Church. + </p> + <p> + As illustrating the belief that the Baptism by Blood was accompanied by a + real regeneration of the devotee, Frazer quotes an ancient writer (1) who + says that for some time after the ceremony the fiction of a new birth was + kept up by dieting the devotee on MILK, like a new-born babe. And it is + interesting in that connection to find that even in the present day a diet + of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT MILK for six or eight weeks is by many doctors + recommended as the only means of getting rid of deep-seated illnesses and + enabling a patient’s organism to make a completely new start in life. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Sallustius philosophus. See Adonis, Attis and Osiris, note, +p. 229. +</p> + <p> + “At Rome,” he further says (p. 230), “the new birth and the remission of + sins by the shedding of bull’s blood appear to have been carried out above + all at the sanctuary of the Phrygian Goddess (Cybele) on the Vatican Hill, + at or near the spot where the great basilica of St. Peter’s now stands; + for many inscriptions relating to the rites were found when the church was + being enlarged in 1608 or 1609. From the Vatican as a centre,” he + continues, “this barbarous system of superstition seems to have spread to + other parts of the Roman empire. Inscriptions found in Gaul and Germany + prove that provincial sanctuaries modelled their ritual on that of the + Vatican.” + </p> + <p> + It would appear then that at Rome in the quiet early days of the Christian + Church, the rites and ceremonials of Mithra and Cybele, probably much + intermingled and blended, were exceedingly popular. Both religions had + been recognized by the Roman State, and the Christians, persecuted and + despised as they were, found it hard to make any headway against them—the + more so perhaps because the Christian doctrines appeared in many respects + to be merely faint replicas and copies of the older creeds. Robertson + maintains (1) that a he-lamb was sacrificed in the Mithraic mysteries, and + he quotes Porphyry as saying (2) that “a place near the equinoctial circle + was assigned to Mithra as an appropriate seat; and on this account he + bears the sword of the Ram (Aries) which is a sign of Mars (Ares).” + Similarly among the early Christians, it is said, a ram or lamb was + sacrificed in the Paschal mystery. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Pagan Christs, p. 336. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) De Antro, xxiv. +</p> + <p> + Many people think that the association of the Lamb-god with the Cross + arose from the fact that the constellation Aries at that time WAS on the + heavenly cross (the crossways of the Ecliptic and Equator-see diagram, ch. + iii), and in the very place through which the Sungod had to pass just + before his final triumph. And it is curious to find that Justin Martyr in + his Dialogue with Trypho (1) (a Jew) alludes to an old Jewish practice of + roasting a Lamb on spits arranged in the form of a Cross. “The lamb,” he + says, meaning apparently the Paschal lamb, “is roasted and dressed up in + the form of a cross. For one spit is transfixed right through the lower + parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the + legs (forelegs) of the lamb.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Ch. xl. +</p> + <p> + To-day in Morocco at the festival of Eid-el-Kebir, corresponding to the + Christian Easter, the Mohammedans sacrifice a young ram and hurry it still + bleeding to the precincts of the Mosque, while at the same time every + household slays a lamb, as in the Biblical institution, for its family + feast. + </p> + <p> + But it will perhaps be said, “You are going too fast and proving too much. + In the anxiety to show that the Lamb-god and the sacrifice of the Lamb + were honored by the devotees of Mithra and Cybele in the Rome of the + Christian era, you are forgetting that the sacrifice of the Bull and the + baptism in bull’s blood were the salient features of the Persian and + Phrygian ceremonials, some centuries earlier. How can you reconcile the + existence side by side of divinities belonging to such different periods, + or ascribe them both to an astronomical origin?” The answer is simple + enough. As I have explained before, the Precession of the Equinoxes caused + the Sun, at its moment of triumph over the powers of darkness, to stand at + one period in the constellation of the Bull, and at a period some two + thousand years later in the constellation of the Ram. It was perfectly + natural therefore that a change in the sacred symbols should, in the + course of time, take place; yet perfectly natural also that these symbols, + having once been consecrated and adopted, should continue to be honored + and clung to long after the time of their astronomical appropriateness had + passed, and so to be found side by side in later centuries. The devotee of + Mithra or Attis on the Vatican Hill at Rome in the year 200 A.D. probably + had as little notion or comprehension of the real origin of the sacred + Bull or Ram which he adored, as the Christian in St. Peter’s to-day has of + the origin of the Lamb-god whose vicegerent on earth is the Pope. + </p> + <p> + It is indeed easy to imagine that the change from the worship of the Bull + to the worship of the Lamb which undoubtedly took place among various + peoples as time went on, was only a ritual change initiated by the priests + in order to put on record and harmonize with the astronomical alteration. + Anyhow it is curious that while Mithra in the early times was specially + associated with the bull, his association with the lamb belonged more to + the Roman period. Somewhat the same happened in the case of Attis. In the + Bible we read of the indignation of Moses at the setting up by the + Israelites of a Golden Calf, AFTER the sacrifice of the ram-lamb had been + instituted—as if indeed the rebellious people were returning to the + earlier cult of Apis which they ought to have left behind them in Egypt. + In Egypt itself, too, we find the worship of Apis, as time went on, + yielding place to that of the Ram-headed god Amun, or Jupiter Ammon. (1) + So that both from the Bible and from Egyptian history we may conclude that + the worship of the Lamb or Ram succeeded to the worship of the Bull. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Tacitus (Hist. v. 4) speaks of ram-sacrifice by the Jews in +honor of Jupiter Ammon. See also Herodotus (ii. 42) on the same in +Egypt. +</p> + <p> + Finally it has been pointed out, and there may be some real connection in + the coincidence, that in the quite early years of Christianity the FISH + came in as an accepted symbol of Jesus Christ. Considering that after the + domination of Taurus and Aries, the Fish (Pisces) comes next in succession + as the Zodiacal sign for the Vernal Equinox, and is now the constellation + in which the Sun stands at that period, it seems not impossible that the + astronomical change has been the cause of the adoption of this new symbol. + </p> + <p> + Anyhow, and allowing for possible errors or exaggerations, it becomes + clear that the travels of the Sun through the belt of constellations which + forms the Zodiac must have had, from earliest times, a profound influence + on the generation of religious myths and legends. To say that it was the + only influence would certainly be a mistake. Other causes undoubtedly + contributed. But it was a main and important influence. The origins of the + Zodiac are obscure; we do not know with any certainty the reasons why the + various names were given to its component sections, nor can we measure the + exact antiquity of these names; but—pre-supposing the names of the + signs as once given—it is not difficult to imagine the growth of + legends connected with the Sun’s course among them. + </p> + <p> + Of all the ancient divinities perhaps Hercules is the one whose role as a + Sungod is most generally admitted. The helper of gods and men, a mighty + Traveller, and invoked everywhere as the Saviour, his labors for the good + of the world became ultimately defined and systematized as twelve and + corresponding in number to the signs of the Zodiac. It is true that this + systematization only took place at a late period, probably in Alexandria; + also that the identification of some of the Labors with the actual signs + as we have them at present is not always clear. But considering the wide + prevalence of the Hercules myth over the ancient world and the very + various astronomical systems it must have been connected with in its + origin, this lack of exact correspondence is hardly to be wondered at. + </p> + <p> + The Labors of Hercules which chiefly interest us are: (1) The capture of + the Bull, (2) the slaughter of the Lion, (3) the destruction of the Hydra, + (4) of the Boar, (5) the cleansing of the stables of Augeas, (6) the + descent into Hades and the taming of Cerberus. The first of these is in + line with the Mithraic conquest of the Bull; the Lion is of course one of + the most prominent constellations of the Zodiac, and its conquest is + obviously the work of a Saviour of mankind; while the last four labors + connect themselves very naturally with the Solar conflict in winter + against the powers of darkness. The Boar (4) we have seen already as the + image of Typhon, the prince of darkness; the Hydra (3) was said to be the + offspring of Typhon; the descent into Hades (6)—generally associated + with Hercules’ struggle with and victory over Death—links on to the + descent of the Sun into the underworld, and its long and doubtful strife + with the forces of winter; and the cleansing of the stables of Augeas (5) + has the same signification. It appears in fact that the stables of Augeas + was another name for the sign of Capricorn through which the Sun passes at + the Winter solstice (1)—the stable of course being an underground + chamber—and the myth was that there, in this lowest tract and + backwater of the Ecliptic all the malarious and evil influences of the sky + were collected, and the Sungod came to wash them away (December was the + height of the rainy season in Judaea) and cleanse the year towards its + rebirth. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See diagram of Zodiac. +</p> + <p> + It should not be forgotten too that even as a child in the cradle Hercules + slew two serpents sent for his destruction—the serpent and the + scorpion as autumnal constellations figuring always as enemies of the + Sungod—to which may be compared the power given to his disciples by + Jesus (1) “to tread on serpents and scorpions.” Hercules also as a Sungod + compares curiously with Samson (mentioned above, ii), but we need not + dwell on all the elaborate analogies that have been traced (2) between + these two heroes. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Luke x. 19. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Doane’s Bible Myths, ch. viii, (New York, 1882.) +</p> + <p> + The Jesus-story, it will now be seen, has a great number of + correspondences with the stories of former Sungods and with the actual + career of the Sun through the heavens—so many indeed that they + cannot well be attributed to mere coincidence or even to the blasphemous + wiles of the Devil! Let us enumerate some of these. There are (1) the + birth from a Virgin mother; (2) the birth in a stable (cave or underground + chamber); and (3) on the 25th December (just after the winter solstice). + There is (4) the Star in the East (Sirius) and (5) the arrival of the Magi + (the “Three Kings”); there is (6) the threatened Massacre of the + Innocents, and the consequent flight into a distant country (told also of + Krishna and other Sungods). There are the Church festivals of (7) + Candlemas (2nd February), with processions of candles to symbolize the + growing light; of (8) Lent, or the arrival of Spring; of (9) Easter Day + (normally on the 25th March) to celebrate the crossing of the Equator by + the Sun; and (10) simultaneously the outburst of lights at the Holy + Sepulchre at Jerusalem. There is (11) the Crucifixion and death of the + Lamb-God, on Good Friday, three days before Easter; there are (12) the + nailing to a tree, (13) the empty grave, (14) the glad Resurrection (as in + the cases of Osiris, Attis and others); there are (15) the twelve + disciples (the Zodiacal signs); and (16) the betrayal by one of the + twelve. Then later there is (17) Midsummer Day, the 24th June, dedicated + to the Nativity of John the Baptist, and corresponding to Christmas Day; + there are the festivals of (18) the Assumption of the Virgin (15th August) + and of (19) the Nativity of the Virgin (8th September), corresponding to + the movement of the god through Virgo; there is the conflict of Christ and + his disciples with the autumnal asterisms, (20) the Serpent and the + Scorpion; and finally there is the curious fact that the Church (21) + dedicates the very day of the winter solstice (when any one may very + naturally doubt the rebirth of the Sun) to St. Thomas, who doubted the + truth of the Resurrection! + </p> + <p> + These are some of, and by no means all, the coincidences in question. But + they are sufficient, I think, to prove—even allowing for possible + margins of error—the truth of our general contention. To go into the + parallelism of the careers of Krishna, the Indian Sungod, and Jesus would + take too long; because indeed the correspondence is so extraordinarily + close and elaborate. (1) I propose, however, at the close of this chapter, + to dwell now for a moment on the Christian festival of the Eucharist, + partly on account of its connection with the derivation from the + astronomical rites and Nature-celebrations already alluded to, and partly + on account of the light which the festival generally, whether Christian or + Pagan, throws on the origins of Religious Magic—a subject I shall + have to deal with in the next chapter. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Robertson’s Christianity and Mythology, Part II, pp. +129-302; also Doane’s Bible Myths, ch. xxviii, p. 278. +</p> + <p> + I have already (Ch. II) mentioned the Eucharistic rite held in + commemoration of Mithra, and the indignant ascription of this by Justin + Martyr to the wiles of the Devil. Justin Martyr clearly had no doubt about + the resemblance of the Mithraic to the Christian ceremony. A Sacramental + meal, as mentioned a few pages back, seems to have been held by the + worshipers of Attis (1) in commemoration of their god; and the ‘mysteries’ + of the Pagan cults generally appear to have included rites—sometimes + half-savage, sometimes more aesthetic—in which a dismembered animal + was eaten, or bread and wine (the spirits of the Corn and the Vine) were + consumed, as representing the body of the god whom his devotees desired to + honor. But the best example of this practice is afforded by the rites of + Dionysus, to which I will devote a few lines. Dionysus, like other Sun or + Nature deities, was born of a Virgin (Semele or Demeter) untainted by any + earthly husband; and born on the 25th. December. He was nurtured in a + Cave, and even at that early age was identified with the Ram or Lamb, into + whose form he was for the time being changed. At times also he was + worshiped in the form of a Bull. (2) He travelled far and wide; and + brought the great gift of wine to mankind. (3) He was called Liberator, + and Saviour. His grave “was shown at Delphi in the inmost shrine of the + temple of Apollo. Secret offerings were brought thither, while the women + who were celebrating the feast woke up the new-born god.... Festivals of + this kind in celebration of the extinction and resurrection of the deity + were held (by women and girls only) amid the mountains at night, every + third year, about the time of the shortest day. The rites, intended to + express the excess of grief and joy at the death and reappearance of the + god, were wild even to savagery, and the women who performed them were + hence known by the expressive names of Bacchae, Maenads, and Thyiades. + They wandered through woods and mountains, their flying locks crowned with + ivy or snakes, brandishing wands and torches, to the hollow sounds of the + drum, or the shrill notes of the flute, with wild dances and insane cries + and jubilation.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Frazer’s Golden Bough, Part IV, p. 229. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) The Golden Bough, Part II, Book II, p. 164. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) “I am the TRUE Vine,” says the Jesus of the fourth gospel, +perhaps with an implicit and hostile reference to the cult of +Dionysus—in which Robertson suggests (Christianity and Mythology, p. +357) there was a ritual miracle of turning water into wine. +</p> + <p> + Oxen, goats, even fawns and roes from the forest were killed, torn to + pieces, and eaten raw. This in imitation of the treatment of Dionysus by + the Titans, (1)—who it was supposed had torn the god in pieces when + a child. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See art. Dionysus. Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, +Nettleship and Sandys 3rd edn., London, 1898). +</p> + <p> + Dupuis, one of the earliest writers (at the beginning of last century) on + this subject, says, describing the mystic rites of Dionysus (1): “The + sacred doors of the Temple in which the initiation took place were opened + only once a year, and no stranger might ever enter. Night lent to these + august mysteries a veil which was forbidden to be drawn aside—for + whoever it might be. (2) It was the sole occasion for the representation + of the passion of Bacchus (Dionysus) dead, descended into hell, and + rearisen—in imitation of the representation of the sufferings of + Osiris which, according to Herodotus, were commemorated at Sais in Egypt. + It was in that place that the partition took place of the body of the god, + (3) which was then eaten—the ceremony, in fact, of which our + Eucharist is only a reflection; whereas in the mysteries of Bacchus actual + raw flesh was distributed, which each of those present had to consume in + commemoration of the death of Bacchus dismembered by the Titans, and whose + passion, in Chios and Tenedos, was renewed each year by the sacrifice of a + man who represented the god. (4) Possibly it is this last fact which made + people believe that the Christians (whose hoc est corpus meum and sharing + of an Eucharistic meal were no more than a shadow of a more ancient rite) + did really sacrifice a child and devour its limbs.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Charles F. Dupuis, “Traite des Mysteres,” ch. i. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Pausan, Corinth, ch. 37. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Clem, Prot. Eur. Bacch. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) See Porphyry, De Abstinentia, lii, Section 56. +</p> + <p> + That Eucharistic rites were very very ancient is plain from the + Totem-sacraments of savages; and to this subject we shall now turn. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a> +IV.<br/> +TOTEM-SACRAMENTS AND EUCHARISTS +</h2> + + <p> + Much has been written on the origin of the Totem-system—the system, + that is, of naming a tribe or a portion of a tribe (say a CLAN) after some + ANIMAL—or sometimes—also after some plant or tree or + Nature-element, like fire or rain or thunder; but at best the subject is a + difficult one for us moderns to understand. A careful study has been made + of it by Salamon Reinach in his Cultes, Mythes et Religions, (1) where he + formulates his conclusions in twelve statements or definitions; but even + so—though his suggestions are helpful—he throws very little + light on the real origin of the system. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See English translation of certain chapters (published by +David Nutt in 1912) entitled Cults, Myths and Religions, pp. 1-25. The +French original is in three large volumes. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) The same may be said of the formulated statement of the +subject in Morris Jastrow’s Handbooks of the History of Religion, vol. +iv. +</p> + <p> + There are three main difficulties. The first is to understand why + primitive Man should name his Tribe after an animal or object of nature at + all; the second, to understand on what principle he selected the + particular name (a lion, a crocodile, a lady bird, a certain tree); the + third, why he should make of the said totem a divinity, and pay honor and + worship to it. It may be worth while to pause for a moment over these. + </p> + <p> + (1) The fact that the Tribe was one of the early things for which Man + found it necessary to have a name is interesting, because it shows how + early the solidarity and psychological actuality of the tribe was + recognized; and as to the selection of a name from some animal or concrete + object of Nature, that was inevitable, for the simple reason that there + was nothing else for the savage to choose from. Plainly to call his tribe + “The Wayfarers” or “The Pioneers” or the “Pacifists” or the “Invincibles,” + or by any of the thousand and one names which modern associations adopt, + would have been impossible, since such abstract terms had little or no + existence in his mind. And again to name it after an animal was the most + obvious thing to do, simply because the animals were by far the most + important features or accompaniments of his own life. As I am dealing in + this book largely with certain psychological conditions of human + evolution, it has to be pointed out that to primitive man the animal was + the nearest and most closely related of all objects. Being of the same + order of consciousness as himself, the animal appealed to him very closely + as his mate and equal. He made with regard to it little or no distinction + from himself. We see this very clearly in the case of children, who of + course represent the savage mind, and who regard animals simply as their + mates and equals, and come quickly into rapport with them, not + differentiating themselves from them. + </p> + <p> + (2) As to the particular animal or other object selected in order to give + a name to the Tribe, this would no doubt be largely accidental. Any + unusual incident might superstitiously precipitate a name. We can hardly + imagine the Tribe scratching its congregated head in the deliberate effort + to think out a suitable emblem for itself. That is not the way in which + nicknames are invented in a school or anywhere else to-day. At the same + time the heraldic appeal of a certain object of nature, animate or + inanimate, would be deeply and widely felt. The strength of the lion, the + fleetness of the deer, the food-value of a bear, the flight of a bird, the + awful jaws of a crocodile, might easily mesmerize a whole tribe. Reinach + points out, with great justice, that many tribes placed themselves under + the protection of animals which were supposed (rightly or wrongly) to act + as guides and augurs, foretelling the future. “Diodorus,” he says, + “distinctly states that the hawk, in Egypt, was venerated because it + foretold the future.” (Birds generally act as and Samoa the kangaroo, the + crow and the owl premonish their fellow clansmen of events to come. At one + time the Samoan warriors went so far as to rear owls for their prophetic + qualities in war. (The jackal, or ‘pathfinder’—whose tracks + sometimes lead to the remains of a food-animal slain by a lion, and many + birds and insects, have a value of this kind.) “The use of animal totems + for purposes of augury is, in all likelihood, of great antiquity. Men must + soon have realized that the senses of animals were acuter than their own; + nor is it surprising that they should have expected their totems—that + is to say, their natural allies—to forewarn them both of unsuspected + dangers and of those provisions of nature, WELLS especially, which animals + seem to scent by instinct.” (1) And again, beyond all this, I have little + doubt that there are subconscious affinities which unite certain tribes to + certain animals or plants, affinities whose origin we cannot now trace, + though they are very real—the same affinities that we recognize as + existing between individual PERSONS and certain objects of nature. W. H. + Hudson—himself in many respects having this deep and primitive + relation to nature—speaks in a very interesting and autobiographical + volume (2) of the extraordinary fascination exercised upon him as a boy, + not only by a snake, but by certain trees, and especially by a particular + flowering-plant “not more than a foot in height, with downy soft pale + green leaves, and clusters of reddish blossoms, something like valerian.” + ... “One of my sacred flowers,” he calls it, and insists on the + “inexplicable attraction” which it had for him. In various ways of this + kind one can perceive how particular totems came to be selected by + particular peoples. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Reinach, Eng. trans., op. cit., pp. 20, 21. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Far away and Long ago (1918) chs. xvi and xvii. +</p> + <p> + (3) As to the tendency to divinize these totems, this arises no doubt + partly out of question (2). The animal or other object admired on account + of its strength or swiftness, or adopted as guardian of the tribe because + of its keen sight or prophetic quality, or infinitely prized on account of + its food-value, or felt for any other reason to have a peculiar relation + and affinity to the tribe, is by that fact SET APART. It becomes taboo. It + must not be killed—except under necessity and by sanction of the + whole tribe—nor injured; and all dealings with it must be fenced + round with regulations. It is out of this taboo or system of taboos that, + according to Reinach, religion arose. “I propose (he says) to define + religion as: A SUM OF SCRUPLES (TABOOS) WHICH IMPEDE THE FREE EXERCISE OF + OUR FACULTIES.” (1) Obviously this definition is gravely deficient, simply + because it is purely negative, and leaves out of account the positive + aspect of the subject. In Man, the positive content of religion is the + instinctive sense—whether conscious or subconscious—of an + inner unity and continuity with the world around. This is the stuff out of + which religion is made. The scruples or taboos which “impede the freedom” + of this relation are the negative forces which give outline and form to + the relation. These are the things which generate the RITES AND + CEREMONIALS of religion; and as far as Reinach means by religion MERELY + rites and ceremonies he is correct; but clearly he only covers half the + subject. The tendency to divinize the totem is at least as much dependent + on the positive sense of unity with it, as on the negative scruples which + limit the relation in each particular case. But I shall return to this + subject presently, and more than once, with the view of clarifying it. + Just now it will be best to illustrate the nature of Totems generally, and + in some detail. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Orpheus by S. Reinach, p. 3. +</p> + <p> + As would be gathered from what I have just said, there is found among all + the more primitive peoples, and in all parts of the world, an immense + variety of totem-names. The Dinkas, for instance, are a rather intelligent + well-grown people inhabiting the upper reaches of the Nile in the vicinity + of the great swamps. According to Dr. Seligman their clans have for totems + the lion, the elephant, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, the fox, and the + hyena, as well as certain birds which infest and damage the corn, some + plants and trees, and such things as rain, fire, etc. “Each clan speaks of + its totem as its ancestor, and refrains (as a rule) from injuring or + eating it.” (1) The members of the Crocodile clan call themselves + “brothers of the crocodile.” The tribes of Bechuana-land have a very + similar list of totem-names—the buffalo, the fish, the porcupine, + the wild vine, etc. They too have a Crocodile clan, but they call the + crocodile their FATHER! The tribes of Australia much the same again, with + the differences suitable to their country; and the Red Indians of North + America the same. Garcilasso, della Vega, the Spanish historian, son of an + Inca princess by one of the Spanish conquerors of Peru and author of the + well-known book Commentarias Reales, says in that book (i, 57), speaking + of the pre-Inca period, “An Indian (of Peru) was not considered honorable + unless he was descended from a fountain, river or lake, or even from the + sea, or from a wild animal, as a bear, lion, tiger, eagle, or the bird + they call cuntur (condor), or some other bird of prey.” (2) According to + Lewis Morgan, the North American Indians of various tribes had for totems + the wolf, bear, beaver, turtle, deer, snipe, heron, hawk, crane, loon, + turkey, muskrat; pike, catfish, carp; buffalo, elk, reindeer, eagle, hare, + rabbit, snake; reed-grass, sand, rock, and tobacco-plant. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See The Golden Bough, vol. iv, p. 31. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Andrew Lang, Custom and Myth, p. 104, also Myth, Ritual +and Religion, vol. i, pp. 71, 76, etc. +</p> + <p> + So we might go on rather indefinitely. I need hardly say that in more + modern and civilized life, relics of the totem system are still to be + found in the forms of the heraldic creatures adopted for their crests by + different families, and in the bears, lions, eagles, the sun, moon and + stars and so forth, which still adorn the flags and are flaunted as the + insignia of the various nations. The names may not have been ORIGINALLY + adopted from any definite belief in blood-relationship with the animal or + other object in question; but when, as Robertson says (Pagan Christs, p. + 104), a “savage learned that he was ‘a Bear’ and that his father and + grandfather and forefathers were so before him, it was really impossible, + after ages in which totem-names thus passed current, that he should fail + to assume that his folk were DESCENDED from a bear.” + </p> + <p> + As a rule, as may be imagined, the savage tribesman will on no account EAT + his tribal totem-animal. Such would naturally be deemed a kind of + sacrilege. Also it must be remarked that some totems are hardly suitable + for eating. Yet it is important to observe that occasionally, and guarding + the ceremony with great precautions, it has been an almost universal + custom for the tribal elders to call a feast at which an animal (either + the totem or some other) IS killed and commonly eaten—and this in + order that the tribesmen may absorb some virtue belonging to it, and may + confirm their identity with the tribe and with each other. The eating of + the bear or other animal, the sprinkling with its blood, and the general + ritual in which the participants shared its flesh, or dressed and + disguised themselves in its skin, or otherwise identified themselves with + it, was to them a symbol of their community of life with each other, and a + means of their renewal and salvation in the holy emblem. And this custom, + as the reader will perceive, became the origin of the Eucharists and Holy + Communions of the later religions. + </p> + <p> + Professor Robertson-Smith’s celebrated Camel affords an instance of this. + (1) It appears that St. Nilus (fifth century) has left a detailed account + of the occasional sacrifice in his time of a spotless white camel among + the Arabs of the Sinai region, which closely resembles a totemic + communion-feast. The uncooked blood and flesh of the animal had to be + entirely consumed by the faithful before daybreak. “The slaughter of the + victim, the sacramental drinking of the blood, and devouring in wild haste + of the pieces of still quivering flesh, recall the details of the + Dionysiac and other festivals.” (2) Robertson-Smith himself says:—“The + plain meaning is that the victim was devoured before its life had left the + still warm blood and flesh... and that thus in the most literal way, all + those who shared in the ceremony absorbed part of the victim’s life into + themselves. One sees how much more forcibly than any ordinary meal such a + rite expresses the establishment or confirmation of a bond of common life + between the worshipers, and also, since the blood is shed upon the altar + itself, between the worshipers and their god. In this sacrifice, then, the + significant factors are two: the conveyance of the living blood to the + godhead, and the absorption of the living flesh and blood into the flesh + and blood of the worshippers. Each of these is effected in the simplest + and most direct manner, so that the meaning of the ritual is perfectly + transparent.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See his Religion of the Semites, p. 320. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) They also recall the rites of the Passover—though in this +latter the blood was no longer drunk, nor the flesh eaten raw. +</p> + <p> + It seems strange, of course, that men should eat their totems; and it must + not by any means be supposed that this practice is (or was) universal; but + it undoubtedly obtains in some cases. As Miss Harrison says (Themis, p. + 123); “you do not as a rule eat your relations,” and as a rule the eating + of a totem is tabu and forbidden, but (Miss Harrison continues) “at + certain times and under certain restrictions a man not only may, but MUST, + eat of his totem, though only sparingly, as of a thing sacrosanct.” The + ceremonial carried out in a communal way by the tribe not only identifies + the tribe with the totem (animal), but is held, according to early magical + ideas, and when the animal is desired for food, to favor its manipulation. + The human tribe partakes of the mana or life-force of the animal, and is + strengthened; the animal tribe is sympathetically renewed by the + ceremonial and multiplies exceedingly. The slaughter of the sacred animal + and (often) the simultaneous outpouring of human blood seals the compact + and confirms the magic. This is well illustrated by a ceremony of the + ‘Emu’ tribe referred to by Dr. Frazer:— + </p> + <p> + “In order to multiply Emus which are an important article of food, the men + of the Emu totem in the Arunta tribe proceed as follows: They clear a + small spot of level ground, and opening veins in their arms they let the + blood stream out until the surface of the ground for a space of about + three square yards is soaked with it. When the blood has dried and caked, + it forms a hard and fairly impermeable surface, on which they paint the + sacred design of the emu totem, especially the parts of the bird which + they like best to eat, namely, the fat and the eggs. Round this painting + the men sit and sing. Afterwards performers wearing long head-dresses to + represent the long neck and small head of the emu, mimic the appearance of + the bird as it stands aimlessly peering about in all directions.” (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The Golden Bough i, 85—with reference to Spencer and +Gillen’s Native Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 179, 189. +</p> + <p> + Thus blood sacrifice comes in; and—(whether this has ever actually + happened in the case of the Central Australians I know not)—we can + easily imagine a member of the Emu tribe, and disguised as an actual emu, + having been ceremonially slaughtered as a firstfruits and promise of the + expected and prayed-for emu-crop; just as the same certainly HAS happened + in the case of men wearing beast-masks of Bulls or Rams or Bears being + sacrificed in propitiation of Bull-gods, Ram-gods or Bear-gods or simply + in pursuance of some kind of magic to favor the multiplication of these + food-animals. + </p> + <p> + “In the light of totemistic ways of thinking we see plainly enough the + relation of man to food-animals. You need or at least desire flesh food, + yet you shrink from slaughtering ‘your brother the ox’; you desire his + mana, yet you respect his tabu, for in you and him alike runs the common + life-blood. On your own individual responsibility you would never kill + him; but for the common weal, on great occasions, and in a fashion + conducted with scrupulous care, it is expedient that he die for his + people, and that they feast upon his flesh.” (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Themis, p. 140. +</p> + <p> + In her little book Ancient Art and Ritual (1) Jane Harrison describes the + dedication of a holy Bull, as conducted in Greece at Elis, and at Magnesia + and other cities. “There at the annual fair year by year the stewards of + the city bought a Bull ‘the finest that could be got,’ and at the new moon + of the month at the beginning of seed-time (? April) Bull was led in + procession at the head of which went the chief priest and priestess of the + city. With them went a herald and sacrificer, and two bands of youths and + maidens. So holy was the Bull that nothing unlucky might come near him. + The herald pronounced aloud a prayer for ‘the safety of the city and the + land, and the citizens, and the women and children, for peace and wealth, + and for the bringing forth of grain and all other fruits, and of cattle.’ + All this longing for fertility, for food and children, focuses round the + holy Bull, whose holiness is his strength and fruitfulness.” The Bull is + sacrificed. The flesh is divided in solemn feast among those who take part + in the procession. “The holy flesh is not offered to a god, it is eaten—to + every man his portion—by each and every citizen, that he may get his + share of the strength of the Bull, of the luck of the State.” But at + Athens the Bouphonia, as it was called, was followed by a curious + ceremony. “The hide was stuffed with straw and sewed up, and next the + stuffed animal was set on its feet and yoked to a plough as though it were + ploughing. The Death is followed by a Resurrection. Now this is all + important. We are accustomed to think of sacrifice as the death, the + giving up, the renouncing of something. But SACRIFICE does not mean + ‘death’ at all. It means MAKING HOLY, sanctifying; and holiness was to + primitive man just special strength and life. What they wanted from the + Bull was just that special life and strength which all the year long they + had put into him, and nourished and fostered. That life was in his blood. + They could not eat that flesh nor drink that blood unless they killed him. + So he must die. But it was not to give him up to the gods that they killed + him, not to ‘sacrifice’ him in our sense, but to have him, keep him, eat + him, live BY him and through him, by his grace.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Home University Library, p. 87. +</p> + <p> + We have already had to deal with instances of the ceremonial eating of the + sacred he-Lamb or Ram, immolated in the Spring season of the year, and + partaken of in a kind of communal feast—not without reference (at + any rate in later times) to a supposed Lamb-god. Among the Ainos in the + North of Japan, as also among the Gilyaks in Eastern Siberia, the Bear is + the great food-animal, and is worshipped as the supreme giver of health + and strength. There also a similar ritual of sacrifice occurs. A perfect + Bear is caught and caged. He is fed up and even pampered to the day of his + death. “Fish, brandy and other delicacies are offered to him. Some of the + people prostrate themselves before him; his coming into a house brings a + blessing, and if he sniffs at the food that brings a blessing too.” Then + he is led out and slain. A great feast takes place, the flesh is divided, + cupfuls of the blood are drunk by the men; the tribe is united and + strengthened, and the Bear-god blesses the ceremony—the ideal Bear + that has given its life for the people. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Art and Ritual, pp. 92-98; The Golden Bough, ii, 375 +seq.; Themis, pp. 140, 141; etc. +</p> + <p> + That the eating of the flesh of an animal or a man conveys to you some of + the qualities, the life-force, the mana, of that animal or man, is an idea + which one often meets with among primitive folk. Hence the common tendency + to eat enemy warriors slain in battle against your tribe. By doing so you + absorb some of their valor and strength. Even the enemy scalps which an + Apache Indian might hang from his belt were something magical to add to + the Apache’s power. As Gilbert Murray says, (1) “you devoured the holy + animal to get its mana, its swiftness, its strength, its great endurance, + just as the savage now will eat his enemy’s brain or heart or hands to get + some particular quality residing there.” Even—as he explains on the + earlier page—mere CONTACT was often considered sufficient—“we + have holy pillars whose holiness consists in the fact that they have been + touched by the blood of a bull.” And in this connection we may note that + nearly all the Christian Churches have a great belief in the virtue + imparted by the mere ‘laying on of hands.’ + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Four Stages of Greek Religion, p. 36. +</p> + <p> + In quite a different connection—we read (1) that among the Spartans + a warrior-boy would often beg for the love of the elder warrior whom he + admired (i. e. the contact with his body) in order to obtain in that way a + portion of the latter’s courage and prowess. That through the mediation of + the lips one’s spirit may be united to the spirit of another person is an + idea not unfamiliar to the modern mind; while the exchange of blood, + clothes, locks of hair, etc., by lovers is a custom known all over the + world. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Aelian VII, iii, 12: [gr autoi goun (oi paides) deontai twn +erastwn] [gr eispnein autois]. See also E. Bethe on “Die Dorische +Knabenliebe” in the Rheinisches Museum, vol. 26, iii, 461. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Crawley’s Mystic Rose, pp. 238, 242. +</p> + <p> + To suppose that by eating another you absorb his or her soul is somewhat + naive certainly. Perhaps it IS more native, more primitive. Yet there may + be SOME truth even in that idea. Certainly the food that one eats has a + psychological effect, and the flesh-eaters among the human race have a + different temperament as a rule from the fruit and vegetable eaters, while + among the animals (though other causes may come in here) the Carnivora are + decidedly more cruel and less gentle than the Herbivora. + </p> + <p> + To return to the rites of Dionysus, Gilbert Murray, speaking of Orphism—a + great wave of religious reform which swept over Greece and South Italy in + the sixth century B.C.—says: (1) “A curious relic of primitive + superstition and cruelty remained firmly imbedded in Orphism, a doctrine + irrational and unintelligible, and for that very reason wrapped in the + deepest and most sacred mystery: a belief in the SACRIFICE OF DIONYSUS + HIMSELF, AND THE PURIFICATION OF MAN BY HIS BLOOD. It seems possible that + the savage Thracians, in the fury of their worship on the mountains, when + they were possessed by the god and became ‘wild beasts,’ actually tore + with their teeth and hands any hares, goats, fawns or the like that they + came across.... The Orphic congregations of later times, in their most + holy gatherings, solemnly partook of the blood of a bull, which was by a + mystery the blood of Dionysus-Zagreus himself, the Bull of God, slain in + sacrifice for the purification of man.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Notes to his translation of the Bacch[ae] of Euripides. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) For a description of this orgy see Theocritus, Idyll xxvi; +also for explanations of it, Lang’s Myth, Ritual and Religion, vol. ii, +pp, 241-260, on Dionysus. The Encyclop[ae]dia Brit., article “Orpheus,” +says:—“Orpheus, in the manner of his death, was considered to personate +the god Dionysus, and was thus representative of the god torn to pieces +every year—a ceremony enacted by the Bacchae in the earliest times with +a human victim, and afterwards with a bull, to represent the bull-formed +god. A distinct feature of this ritual was [gr wmofagia] (eating the +flesh of the victim raw), whereby the communicants imagined that they +consumed and assimilated the god represented by the victim, and thus +became filled with the divine ecstasy.” Compare also the Hindu doctrine +of Praj[pati, the dismembered Lord of Creation. +</p> + <p> + Such instances of early communal feasts, which fulfilled the double part + of confirming on the one hand the solidarity of the tribe, and on the + other of bringing the tribe, by the shedding of the blood of a divine + Victim into close relationship with the very source of its life, are + plentiful to find. “The sacramental rite,” says Professor Robertson-Smith, + (1) “is also an atoning rite, which brings the community again into + harmony with its alienated god—atonement being simply an act of + communion designed to wipe out all memory of previous estrangement.” With + this subject I shall deal more specially in chapter vii below. Meanwhile + as instances of early Eucharists we may mention the following cases, + remembering always that as the blood is regarded as the Life, the drinking + or partaking of, or sprinkling with, blood is always an acknowledgment of + the common life; and that the juice of the grape being regarded as the + blood of the Vine, wine in the later ceremonials quite easily and + naturally takes the place of the blood in the early sacrifices. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Religion of the Semites, p. 302. +</p> + <p> + Thus P. Andrada La Crozius, a French missionary, and one of the first + Christians who went to Nepaul and Thibet, says in his History of India: + “Their Grand Lama celebrates a species of sacrifice with BREAD and WINE, + in which, after taking a small quantity himself, he distributes the rest + among the Lamas present at this ceremony.” (1) “The old Egyptians + celebrated the resurrection of Osiris by a sacrament, eating the sacred + cake or wafer after it had been consecrated by the priest, and thereby + becoming veritable flesh of his flesh.” (2) As is well known, the eating + of bread or dough sacramentally (sometimes mixed with blood or seed) as an + emblem of community of life with the divinity, is an extremely ancient + practice or ritual. Dr. Frazer (3) says of the Aztecs, that “twice a year, + in May and December, an image of the great god Huitzilopochtli was made of + dough, then broken in pieces and solemnly eaten by his worshipers.” And + Lord Kingsborough in his Mexican Antiquities (vol. vi, p. 220) gives a + record of a “most Holy Supper” in which these people ate the flesh of + their god. It was a cake made of certain seeds, “and having made it, they + blessed it in their manner, and broke it into pieces, which the high + priest put into certain very clean vessels, and took a thorn of maguey + which resembles a very thick needle, with which he took up with the utmost + reverence single morsels, which he put into the mouth of each individual + in the manner of a communion.” Acostas (4) confirms this and similar + accounts. The Peruvians partook of a sacrament consisting of a pudding of + coarsely ground maize, of which a portion had been smeared on the idol. + The priest sprinkled it with the blood of the victim before distributing + it to the people. Priest and people then all took their shares in turn, + “with great care that no particle should be allowed to fall to the ground—this + being looked upon as a great sin.” (5) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Doane’s Bible Myths, p. 306. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) From The Great Law, of religious origins: by W. Williamson +(1899), p. 177. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) The Golden Bough, vol. ii, p. 79. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) Natural and Moral History of the Indies. London (1604). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (5) See Markham’s Rites and laws of the Incas, p. 27. +</p> + <p> + Moving from Peru to China (instead of ‘from China to Peru’) we find that + “the Chinese pour wine (a very general substitute for blood) on a straw + image of Confucius, and then all present drink of it, and taste the + sacrificial victim, in order to participate in the grace of Confucius.” + (Here again the Corn and Wine are blended in one rite.) And of Tartary + Father Grueber thus testifies: “This only I do affirm, that the devil so + mimics the Catholic Church there, that although no European or Christian + has ever been there, still in all essential things they agree so + completely with the Roman Church, as even to celebrate the Host with bread + and wine: with my own eyes I have seen it.” (1) These few instances are + sufficient to show the extraordinarily wide diffusion of Totem-sacraments + and Eucharistic rites all over the world. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For these two quotations see Jevons’ Introduction to the +History of Religion, pp. 148 and 219. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a> +V.<br/> +FOOD AND VEGETATION MAGIC +</h2> + <p> + I have wandered, in pursuit of Totems and the Eucharist, some way from the + astronomical thread of Chapters II and III, and now it would appear that + in order to understand religious origins we must wander still farther. The + chapters mentioned were largely occupied with Sungods and astronomical + phenomena, but now we have to consider an earlier period when there were + no definite forms of gods, and when none but the vaguest astronomical + knowledge existed. Sometimes in historical matters it is best and safest + to move thus backwards in Time, from the things recent and fairly well + known to things more ancient and less known. In this way we approach more + securely to some understanding of the dim and remote past. + </p> + <p> + It is clear that before any definite speculations on heaven-dwelling gods + or divine beings had arisen in the human mind—or any clear theories + of how the sun and moon and stars might be connected with the changes of + the seasons on the earth—there were still certain obvious things + which appealed to everybody, learned or unlearned alike. One of these was + the return of Vegetation, bringing with it the fruits or the promise of + the fruits of the earth, for human food, and also bringing with it + increase of animal life, for food in another form; and the other was the + return of Light and Warmth, making life easier in all ways. Food + delivering from the fear of starvation; Light and Warmth delivering from + the fear of danger and of cold. These were three glorious things which + returned together and brought salvation and renewed life to man. The + period of their return was ‘Spring,’ and though Spring and its benefits + might fade away in time, still there was always the HOPE of its return—though + even so it may have been a long time in human evolution before man + discovered that it really did always return, and (with certain allowances) + at equal intervals of time. + </p> + <p> + Long then before any Sun or Star gods could be called in, the return of + the Vegetation must have enthralled man’s attention, and filled him with + hope and joy. Yet since its return was somewhat variable and uncertain the + question, What could man do to assist that return? naturally became a + pressing one. It is now generally held that the use of Magic—sympathetic + magic—arose in this way. Sympathetic magic seems to have been + generated by a belief that your own actions cause a similar response in + things and persons around you. Yet this belief did not rest on any + philosophy or argument, but was purely instinctive and sometimes of the + nature of a mere corporeal reaction. Every schoolboy knows how in watching + a comrade’s high jump at the Sports he often finds himself lifting a knee + at the moment ‘to help him over’; at football matches quarrels sometimes + arise among the spectators by reason of an ill-placed kick coming from a + too enthusiastic on-looker, behind one; undergraduates running on the + tow-path beside their College boat in the races will hurry even faster + than the boat in order to increase its speed; there is in each case an + automatic bodily response increased by one’s own desire. A person ACTS the + part which he desires to be successful. He thinks to transfer his energy + in that way. Again, if by chance one witnesses a painful accident, a + crushed foot or what-not, it commonly happens that one feels a pain in the + same part oneself—a sympathetic pain. What more natural than to + suppose that the pain really is transferred from the one person to the + other? and how easy the inference that by tormenting a wretched scape-goat + or crucifying a human victim in some cases the sufferings of people may be + relieved or their sins atoned for? + </p> + <p> + Simaetha, it will be remembered, in the second Idyll of Theocritus, curses + her faithless lover Delphis, and as she melts his waxen image she prays + that HE TOO MAY MELT. All this is of the nature of Magic, and is + independent of and generally more primitive than Theology or Philosophy. + Yet it interests us because it points to a firm instinct in early man—to + which I have already alluded—the instinct of his unity and + continuity with the rest of creation, and of a common life so close that + his lightest actions may cause a far-reaching reaction in the world + outside. + </p> + <p> + Man, then, independently of any belief in gods, may assist the arrival of + Spring by magic ceremonies. If you want the Vegetation to appear you must + have rain; and the rain-maker in almost all primitive tribes has been a + MOST important personage. Generally he based his rites on quite fanciful + associations, as when the rain-maker among the Mandans wore a raven’s skin + on his head (bird of the storm) or painted his shield with red zigzags of + lightning (1); but partly, no doubt, he had observed actual facts, or had + had the knowledge of them transmitted to him—as, for instance that + when rain is impending loud noises will bring about its speedy downfall, a + fact we moderns have had occasion to notice on battlefields. He had + observed perhaps that in a storm a specially loud clap of thunder is + generally followed by a greatly increased downpour of rain. He had even + noticed (a thing which I have often verified in the vicinity of Sheffield) + that the copious smoke of fires will generate rain-clouds—and so + quite naturally he concluded that it was his smoking SACRIFICES which had + that desirable effect. So far he was on the track of elementary Science. + And so he made “bull-roarers” to imitate the sound of wind and the blessed + rain-bringing thunder, or clashed great bronze cymbals together with the + same object. Bull-voices and thunder-drums and the clashing of cymbals + were used in this connection by the Greeks, and are mentioned by Aeschylus + (2); but the bull-roarer, in the form of a rhombus of wood whirled at the + end of a string, seems to be known, or to have been known, all over the + world. It is described with some care by Mr. Andrew Lang in his Custom and + Myth (pp. 29-44), where he says “it is found always as a sacred instrument + employed in religious mysteries, in New Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, + ancient Greece, and Africa.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Catlin’s North American Indians, Letter 19. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Themis, p. 61. +</p> + <p> + Sometimes, of course, the rain-maker was successful; but of the inner + causes of rain he knew next to nothing; he was more ignorant even than we + are! His main idea was a more specially ‘magical’ one—namely, that + the sound itself would appeal to the SPIRITS of rain and thunder and cause + them to give a response. For of course the thunder (in Hebrew Bath-Kol, + “the daughter of the Voice”) was everywhere regarded as the manifestation + of a spirit. (1) To make sounds like thunder would therefore naturally + call the attention of such a spirit; or he, the rain-maker, might make + sounds like rain. He made gourd-rattles (known in ever so many parts of + the world) in which he rattled dried seeds or small pebbles with a most + beguiling and rain-like insistence; or sometimes, like the priests of Baal + in the Bible, (2) he would cut himself with knives till the blood fell + upon the ground in great drops suggestive of an oncoming thunder-shower. + “In Mexico the rain god was propitiated with sacrifices of children. If + the children wept and shed abundant tears, they who carried them rejoiced, + being convinced that rain would also be abundant.” (3) Sometimes he, the + rain-maker, would WHISTLE for the wind, or, like the Omaha Indians, flap + his blankets for the same purpose. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See A. Lang, op. cit.: “The muttering of the thunder is said +to be his voice calling to the rain to fall and make the grass grow up +green.” Such are the very words of Umbara, the minstrel of the Tribe +(Australian). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) I Kings xviii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Quoted from Sahagun II, 2, 3 by A. Lang in Myth, Ritual and +Religion, vol. ii, p. 102. +</p> + <p> + In the ancient myth of Demeter and Persephone—which has been adopted + by so many peoples under so many forms—Demeter the Earth-mother + loses her daughter Persephone (who represents of course the Vegetation), + carried down into the underworld by the evil powers of Darkness and + Winter. And in Greece there was a yearly ceremonial and ritual of magic + for the purpose of restoring the lost one and bringing her back to the + world again. Women carried certain charms, “fir-cones and snakes and + unnamable objects made of paste, to ensure fertility; there was a + sacrifice of pigs, who were thrown into a deep cleft of the earth, and + their remains afterwards collected and scattered as a charm over the + fields.” (1) Fir-cones and snakes from their very forms were emblems of + male fertility; snakes, too, from their habit of gliding out of their own + skins with renewed brightness and color were suggestive of resurrection + and re-vivification; pigs and sows by their exceeding fruitfulness would + in their hour of sacrifice remind old mother Earth of what was expected + from her! Moreover, no doubt it had been observed that the scattering of + dead flesh over the ground or mixed with the seed, did bless the ground to + a greater fertility; and so by a strange mixture of primitive observation + with a certain child-like belief that by means of symbols and suggestions + Nature could be appealed to and induced to answer to the desires and needs + for her children this sort of ceremonial Magic arose. It was not exactly + Science, and it was not exactly Religion; but it was a naive, and perhaps + not altogether mistaken, sense of the bond between Nature and Man. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Gilbert Murray’s Four Stages of Greek Religion, p. 29. +</p> + <p> + For we can perceive that earliest man was not yet consciously + differentiated from Nature. Not only do we see that the tribal life was so + strong that the individual seldom regarded himself as different or + separate or opposed to the rest of the tribe; but that something of the + same kind was true with regard to his relation to the Animals and to + Nature at large. This outer world was part of himself, was also himself. + His sub-conscious sense of unity was so great that it largely dominated + his life. That brain-cleverness and brain-activity which causes modern man + to perceive such a gulf between him and the animals, or between himself + and Nature, did not exist in the early man. Hence it was no difficulty to + him to believe that he was a Bear or an Emu. Sub-consciously he was wiser + than we are. He knew that he was a bear or an emu, or any other such + animal as his totem-creed led him to fix his mind upon. Hence we find that + a familiarity and common consent existed between primitive man and many of + his companion animals such as has been lost or much attenuated in modern + times. Elisee Reclus in his very interesting paper La Grande Famille (1) + gives support to the idea that the so-called domestication of animals did + not originally arise from any forcible subjugation of them by man, but + from a natural amity with them which grew up in the beginning from common + interests, pursuits and affections. Thus the chetah of India (and probably + the puma of Brazil) from far-back times took to hunting in the company of + his two-legged and bow-and-arrow-armed friend, with whom he divided the + spoil. W. H. Hudson (2) declares that the Puma, wild and fierce though it + is, and capable of killing the largest game, will never even to-day attack + man, but when maltreated by the latter submits to the outrage, + unresisting, with mournful cries and every sign of grief. The Llama, + though domesticated in a sense, has never allowed the domination of the + whip or the bit, but may still be seen walking by the side of the + Brazilian peasant and carrying his burdens in a kind of proud + companionship. The mutual relations of Women and the Cow, or of Man and + the Horse (3) (also the Elephant) reach so far into the past that their + origin cannot be traced. The Swallow still loves to make its home under + the cottage eaves and still is welcomed by the inmates as the bringer of + good fortune. Elisee Reclus assures us that the Dinka man on the Nile + calls to certain snakes by name and shares with them the milk of his cows. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Published originally in Le Magazine International, January +1896. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See The Naturalist in La Plata, ch. ii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) “It is certain that the primitive Indo-European reared droves +of tame or half-tame horses for generations, if not centuries, before +it ever occurred to him to ride or drive them” (F. B. Jevons, Introd. to +Hist. Religion, p. 119). +</p> + <p> + And so with Nature. The communal sense, or subconscious perception, which + made primitive men feel their unity with other members of their tribe, and + their obvious kinship with the animals around them, brought them also so + close to general Nature that they looked upon the trees, the vegetation, + the rain, the warmth of the sun, as part of their bodies, part of + themselves. Conscious differentiation had not yet set in. To cause rain or + thunder you had to make rain- or thunder-like noises; to encourage + Vegetation and the crops to leap out of the ground, you had to leap and + dance. “In Swabia and among the Transylvanian Saxons it is a common custom + (says Dr. Frazer) for a man who has some hemp to leap high in the field in + the belief that this will make the hemp grow tall.” (1) Native May-pole + dances and Jacks in the Green have hardly yet died out—even in this + most civilized England. The bower of green boughs, the music of pipes, the + leaping and the twirling, were all an encouragement to the arrival of + Spring, and an expression of Sympathetic Magic. When you felt full of life + and energy and virility in yourself you naturally leapt and danced, so why + should you not sympathetically do this for the energizing of the crops? In + every country of the world the vernal season and the resurrection of the + Sun has been greeted with dances and the sound of music. But if you wanted + success in hunting or in warfare then you danced before-hand mimic dances + suggesting the successful hunt or battle. It was no more than our children + do to-day, and it all was, and is, part of a natural-magic tendency in + human thought. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See The Golden Bough, i, 139 seq. Also Art and Ritual, p. 31. +</p> + <p> + Let me pause here for a moment. It is difficult for us with our academical + and somewhat school-boardy minds to enter into all this, and to understand + the sense of (unconscious or sub-conscious) identification with the world + around which characterized the primitive man—or to look upon Nature + with his eyes. A Tree, a Snake, a Bull, an Ear of Corn. WE know so well + from our botany and natural history books what these things are. Why + should our minds dwell on them any longer or harbor a doubt as to our + perfect comprehension of them? + </p> + <p> + And yet (one cannot help asking the question): Has any one of us really + ever SEEN a Tree? I certainly do not think that I have—except most + superficially. That very penetrating observer and naturalist, Henry D. + Thoreau, tells us that he would often make an appointment to visit a + certain tree, miles away—but what or whom he saw when he got there, + he does not say. Walt Whitman, also a keen observer, speaks of a + tulip-tree near which he sometimes sat—“the Apollo of the woods—tall + and graceful, yet robust and sinewy, inimitable in hang of foliage and + throwing-out of limb; as if the beauteous, vital, leafy creature could + walk, if it only would”; and mentions that in a dream-trance he actually + once saw his “favorite trees step out and promenade up, down and around + VERY CURIOUSLY.” (1) Once the present writer seemed to have a partial + vision of a tree. It was a beech, standing somewhat isolated, and still + leafless in quite early Spring. Suddenly I was aware of its + skyward-reaching arms and up-turned finger-tips, as if some vivid life (or + electricity) was streaming through them far into the spaces of heaven, and + of its roots plunged in the earth and drawing the same energies from + below. The day was quite still and there was no movement in the branches, + but in that moment the tree was no longer a separate or separable + organism, but a vast being ramifying far into space, sharing and uniting + the life of Earth and Sky, and full of a most amazing activity. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Specimen Days, 1882-3 Edition, p. iii. +</p> + <p> + The reader of this will probably have had some similar experiences. + Perhaps he will have seen a full-foliaged Lombardy poplar swaying in half + a gale in June—the wind and the sun streaming over every little twig + and leaf, the tree throwing out its branches in a kind of ecstasy and + bathing them in the passionately boisterous caresses of its two visitants; + or he will have heard the deep glad murmur of some huge sycamore with + ripening seed clusters when after weeks of drought the steady warm rain + brings relief to its thirst; and he will have known that these creatures + are but likenesses of himself, intimately and deeply-related to him in + their love and hunger longing, and, like himself too, unfathomed and + unfathomable. + </p> + <p> + It would be absurd to credit early man with conscious speculations like + these, belonging more properly to the twentieth century; yet it is + incontrovertible, I think, that in SOME ways the primitive peoples, with + their swift subconscious intuitions and their minds unclouded by mere book + knowledge, perceived truths to which we moderns are blind. Like the + animals they arrived at their perceptions without (individual) brain + effort; they knew things without thinking. When they did THINK of course + they went wrong. Their budding science easily went astray. Religion with + them had as yet taken no definite shape; science was equally protoplasmic; + and all they had was a queer jumble of the two in the form of Magic. When + at a later time Science gradually defined its outlook and its + observations, and Religion, from being a vague subconscious feeling, took + clear shape in the form of gods and creeds, then mankind gradually emerged + into the stage of evolution IN WHICH WE NOW ARE. OUR scientific laws and + doctrines are of course only temporary formulae, and so also are the gods + and the creeds of our own and other religions; but these things, with + their set and angular outlines, have served in the past and will serve in + the future as stepping-stones towards another kind of knowledge of which + at present we only dream, and will lead us on to a renewed power of + perception which again will not be the laborious product of thought but a + direct and instantaneous intuition like that of the animals—and the + angels. + </p> + <p> + To return to our Tree. Though primitive man did not speculate in modern + style on these things, I yet have no reasonable doubt that he felt (and + FEELS, in those cases where we can still trace the workings of his mind) + his essential relationship to the creatures of the forest more intimately, + if less analytically, than we do to-day. If the animals with all their + wonderful gifts are (as we readily admit) a veritable part of Nature—so + that they live and move and have their being more or less submerged in the + spirit of the great world around them—then Man, when he first began + to differentiate himself from them, must for a long time have remained in + this SUBconscious unity, becoming only distinctly CONSCIOUS of it when he + was already beginning to lose it. That early dawn of distinct + consciousness corresponded to the period of belief in Magic. In that first + mystic illumination almost every object was invested with a halo of + mystery or terror or adoration. Things were either tabu, in which case + they were dangerous, and often not to be touched or even looked upon—or + they were overflowing with magic grace and influence, in which case they + were holy, and any rite which released their influence was also holy. + William Blake, that modern prophetic child, beheld a Tree full of angels; + the Central Australian native believes bushes to be the abode of spirits + which leap into the bodies of passing women and are the cause of the + conception of children; Moses saw in the desert a bush (perhaps the + mimosa) like a flame of fire, with Jehovah dwelling in the midst of it, + and he put off his shoes for he felt that the place was holy; Osiris was + at times regarded as a Tree-spirit (1); and in inscriptions is referred to + as “the solitary one in the acacia”—which reminds us curiously of + the “burning bush.” The same is true of others of the gods; in the old + Norse mythology Ygdrasil was the great branching World-Ash, abode of the + soul of the universe; the Peepul or Bo-tree in India is very sacred and + must on no account be cut down, seeing that gods and spirits dwell among + its branches. It is of the nature of an Aspen, and of little or no + practical use, (2) but so holy that the poorest peasant will not disturb + it. The Burmese believe the things of nature, but especially the trees, to + be the abode of spirits. “To the Burman of to-day, not less than to the + Greek of long ago, all nature is alive. The forest and the river and the + mountains are full of spirits, whom the Burmans call Nats. There are all + kinds of Nats, good and bad, great and little, male and female, now living + round about us. Some of them live in the trees, especially in the huge + figtree that shades half-an-acre without the village; or among the + fern-like fronds of the tamarind.” (3) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The Golden Bough, iv, 339. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Though the sap is said to contain caoutchouc. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) The Soul of a People, by H. Fielding (1902), p. 250. +</p> + <p> + There are also in India and elsewhere popular rites of MARRIAGE of women + (and men) to Trees; which suggest that trees were regarded as very near + akin to human beings! The Golden Bough (1) mentions many of these, + including the idea that some trees are male and others female. The + well-known Assyrian emblem of a Pine cone being presented by a priest to a + Palm-tree is supposed by E. B. Tylor to symbolize fertilization—the + Pine cone being masculine and the Palm feminine. The ceremony of the god + Krishna’s marriage to a Basil plant is still celebrated in India down to + the present day; and certain trees are clasped and hugged by pregnant + women—the idea no doubt being that they bestow fertility on those + who embrace them. In other cases apparently it is the trees which are + benefited, since it is said that men sometimes go naked into the Clove + plantations at night in order by a sort of sexual intercourse to fertilize + them. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Vol. i, p. 40, Vol. iii, pp. 24 sq. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Ibid., vol. ii, p. 98. +</p> + <p> + One might go on multiplying examples in this direction quite indefinitely. + There is no end to them. They all indicate—what was instinctively + felt by early man, and is perfectly obvious to all to-day who are not + blinded by “civilization” (and Herbert Spencer!) that the world outside us + is really most deeply akin to ourselves, that it is not dead and senseless + but intensely alive and instinct with feeling and intelligence resembling + our own. It is this perception, this conviction of our essential unity + with the whole of creation, which lay from the first at the base of all + Religion; yet at first, as I have said, was hardly a conscious perception. + Only later, when it gradually became more conscious, did it evolve itself + into the definite forms of the gods and the creeds—but of that + process I will speak more in detail presently. + </p> + <p> + The Tree therefore was a most intimate presence to the Man. It grew in the + very midst of his Garden of Eden. It had a magical virtue, which his + tentative science could only explain by chance analogies and + assimilations. Attractive and beloved and worshipped by reason of its many + gifts to mankind—its grateful shelter, its abounding fruits, its + timber, and other invaluable products—why should it not become the + natural emblem of the female, to whom through sex man’s worship is ever + drawn? If the Snake has an unmistakable resemblance to the male organ in + its active state, the foliage of the tree or bush is equally remindful of + the female. What more clear than that the conjunction of Tree and Serpent + is the fulfilment in nature of that sex-mystery which is so potent in the + life of man and the animals? and that the magic ritual most obviously + fitted to induce fertility in the tribe or the herds (or even the crops) + is to set up an image of the Tree and the Serpent combined, and for all + the tribe-folk in common to worship and pay it reverence. In the Bible + with more or less veiled sexual significance we have this combination in + the Eden-garden, and again in the brazen Serpent and Pole which Moses set + up in the wilderness (as a cure for the fiery serpents of lust); + illustrations of the same are said to be found in the temples of Egypt and + of South India, and even in the ancient temples of Central America. (1) In + the myth of Hercules the golden apples of the Hesperides garden are + guarded by a dragon. The Etruscans, the Persians and the Babylonians had + also legends of the Fall of man through a serpent tempting him to taste of + the fruit of a holy Tree. And De Gubernatis, (2) pointing out the phallic + meaning of these stories, says “the legends concerning the tree of golden + apples or figs which yields honey or ambrosia, guarded by dragons, in + which the life, the fortune, the glory, the strength and the riches of the + hero have their beginning, are numerous among every people of Aryan + origin: in India, Persia, Russia, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Greece and + Italy.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism, by Thomas +Inman (Trubner, 1874), p. 55. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Zoological Mythology, vol. ii, pp. 410 sq. +</p> + <p> + Thus we see the natural-magic tendency of the human mind asserting itself. + To some of us indeed this tendency is even greater in the case of the + Snake than in that of the Tree. W. H. Hudson, in Far Away and Long Ago, + speaks of “that sense of something supernatural in the serpent, which + appears to have been universal among peoples in a primitive state of + culture, and still survives in some barbarous or semi-barbarous + countries.” The fascination of the Snake—the fascination of its + mysteriously gliding movement, of its vivid energy, its glittering eye, + its intensity of life, combined with its fatal dart of Death—is a + thing felt even more by women than by men—and for a reason (from + what we have already said) not far to seek. It was the Woman who in the + story of the Fall was the first to listen to its suggestions. No wonder + that, as Professor Murray says, (1) the Greeks worshiped a gigantic snake + (Meilichios) the lord of Death and Life, with ceremonies of appeasement, + and sacrifices, long before they arrived at the worship of Zeus and the + Olympian gods. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Four Stages of Greek Religion, p. 29. +</p> + <p> + Or let us take the example of an Ear of Corn. Some people wonder—hearing + nowadays that the folk of old used to worship a Corn-spirit or Corn-god—wonder + that any human beings could have been so foolish. But probably the good + people who wonder thus have never REALLY LOOKED (with their town-dazed + eyes) at a growing spike of wheat. (1) Of all the wonderful things in + Nature I hardly know any that thrills one more with a sense of wizardry + than just this very thing—to observe, each year, this disclosure of + the Ear within the Blade—first a swelling of the sheath, then a + transparency and a whitey-green face within a hooded shroud, and then the + perfect spike of grain disengaging itself and spiring upward towards the + sky—“the resurrection of the wheat with pale visage appearing out of + the ground.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Even the thrice-learned Dr. Famell quotes apparently with +approval the scornful words of Hippolytus, who (he says) “speaks of the +Athenians imitating people at the Eleusinian mysteries and showing to +the epoptae (initiates) that great and marvelous mystery of perfect +revelation—in solemn silence—a CUT CORNSTALK ([gr teqerismenon] [gr +stacon]).”—Cults of the Greek States, vol. iii, p. 182. +</p> + <p> + If this spectacle amazes one to-day, what emotions must it not have + aroused in the breasts of the earlier folk, whose outlook on the world was + so much more direct than ours—more ‘animistic’ if you like! What + wonderment, what gratitude, what deliverance from fear (of starvation), + what certainty that this being who had been ruthlessly cut down and + sacrificed last year for human food had indeed arisen again as a savior of + men, what readiness to make some human sacrifice in return, both as an + acknowledgment of the debt, and as a gift of something which would no + doubt be graciously accepted!—(for was it not well known that where + blood had been spilt on the ground the future crop was so much more + generous?)—what readiness to adopt some magic ritual likely to + propitiate the unseen power—even though the outline and form of the + latter were vague and uncertain in the extreme! Dr. Frazer, speaking of + the Egyptian Osiris as one out of many corn-gods of the above character, + says (1): “The primitive conception of him as the corn-god comes clearly + out in the festival of his death and resurrection, which was celebrated + the month of Athyr. That festival appears to have been essentially a + festival of sowing, which properly fell at the time when the husbandman + actually committed the seed to the earth. On that occasion an effigy of + the corn-god, moulded of earth and corn, was buried with funeral rites in + the ground in order that, dying there, he might come to life again with + the new crops. The ceremony was in fact a charm to ensure the growth of + the corn by sympathetic magic, and we may conjecture that as such it was + practised in a simple form by every Egyptian farmer on his fields long + before it was adopted and transfigured by the priests in the stately + ritual of the temple.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The Golden Bough, iv, p. 330. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See ch. xv. +</p> + <p> + The magic in this case was of a gentle description; the clay image of + Osiris sprouting all over with the young green blade was pathetically + poetic; but, as has been suggested, bloodthirsty ceremonies were also + common enough. Human sacrifices, it is said, had at one time been offered + at the grave of Osiris. We hear that the Indians in Ecuador used to + sacrifice men’s hearts and pour out human blood on their fields when they + sowed them; the Pawnee Indians used a human victim the same, allowing his + blood to drop on the seed-corn. It is said that in Mexico girls were + sacrificed, and that the Mexicans would sometimes GRIND their (male) + victim, like corn, between two stones. (“I’ll grind his bones to make me + bread.”) Among the Khonds of East India—who were particularly given + to this kind of ritual—the very TEARS of the sufferer were an + incitement to more cruelties, for tears of course were magic for Rain. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The Golden Bough, vol. vii, “The Corn-Spirit,” pp. 236 sq. +</p> + <p> + And so on. We have referred to the Bull many times, both in his + astronomical aspect as pioneer of the Spring-Sun, and in his more direct + role as plougher of the fields, and provider of food from his own body. + “The tremendous mana of the wild bull,” says Gilbert Murray, “occupies + almost half the stage of pre-Olympic ritual.” (1) Even to us there is + something mesmeric and overwhelming in the sense of this animal’s glory of + strength and fury and sexual power. No wonder the primitives worshiped + him, or that they devised rituals which should convey his power and + vitality by mere contact, or that in sacramental feasts they ate his flesh + and drank his blood as a magic symbol and means of salvation. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Four Stages, p. 34. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a> +VI.<br/> +MAGICIANS, KINGS AND GODS +</h2> + <p> + It is perhaps necessary, at the commencement of this chapter, to say a few + more words about the nature and origin of the belief in Magic. Magic + represented on one side, and clearly enough, the beginnings of Religion—i.e. + the instinctive sense of Man’s inner continuity with the world around him, + TAKING SHAPE: a fanciful shape it is true, but with very real reaction on + his practical life and feelings. (1) On the other side it represented the + beginnings of Science. It was his first attempt not merely to FEEL but to + UNDERSTAND the mystery of things. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For an excellent account of the relation of Magic to Religion +see W. McDougall, Social Psychology (1908), pp. 317-320. +</p> + <p> + Inevitably these first efforts to understand were very puerile, very + superficial. As E. B. Tylor says (1) of primitive folk in general, “they + mistook an imaginary for a real connection.” And he instances the case of + the inhabitants of the City of Ephesus, who laid down a rope, seven + furlongs in length, from the City to the temple of Artemis, in order to + place the former under the protection of the latter! WE should lay down a + telephone wire, and consider that we established a much more efficient + connection; but in the beginning, and quite naturally, men, like children, + rely on surface associations. Among the Dyaks of Borneo (2) when the men + are away fighting, the WOMEN must use a sort of telepathic magic in order + to safeguard them—that is, they must themselves rise early and keep + awake all day (lest darkness and sleep should give advantage to the + enemy); they must not OIL their hair (lest their husbands should make any + SLIPS); they must eat sparingly and put aside rice at every meal (so that + the men may not want for food). And so on. Similar superstitions are + common. But they gradually lead to a little thought, and then to a little + more, and so to the discovery of actual and provable influences. Perhaps + one day the cord connecting the temple with Ephesus was drawn TIGHT and it + was found that messages could be, by tapping, transmitted along it. That + way lay the discovery of a fact. In an age which worshiped fertility, + whether in mankind or animals, TWINS were ever counted especially blest, + and were credited with a magic power. (The Constellation of the Twins was + thought peculiarly lucky.) Perhaps after a time it was discovered that + twins sometimes run in families, and in such cases really do bring + fertility with them. In cattle it is known nowadays that there are more + twins of the female sex than of the male sex. (3) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Primitive Culture, vol. i, p. 106. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See The Golden Bough, i, 127. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Evolution of Sex, by Geddes and Thomson (1901), p. 41, +note. +</p> + <p> + Observations of this kind were naturally made by the ablest members of the + tribe—who were in all probability the medicine-men and wizards—and + brought in consequence power into their hands. The road to power in fact—and + especially was this the case in societies which had not yet developed + wealth and property—lay through Magic. As far as magic represented + early superstition and religion it laid hold of the <i>hearts</i> of men—their + hopes and fears; as far as it represented science and the beginnings of + actual knowledge, it inspired their minds with a sense of power, and gave + form to their lives and customs. We have no reason to suppose that the + early magicians and medicine-men were peculiarly wicked or bent on mere + self-aggrandizement—any more than we have to think the same of the + average country vicar or country doctor of to-day. They were merely men a + trifle wiser or more instructed than their flocks. But though probably in + most cases their original intentions were decent enough, they were not + proof against the temptations which the possession of power always brings, + and as time went on they became liable to trade more and more upon this + power for their own advancement. In the matter of Religion the history of + the Christian priesthood through the centuries shows sufficiently to what + misuse such power can be put; and in the matter of Science it is a warning + to us of the dangers attending the formation of a scientific priesthood, + such as we see growing up around us to-day. In both cases—whether + Science or Religion—vanity, personal ambition, lust of domination + and a hundred other vices, unless corrected by a real devotion to the + public good, may easily bring as many evils in their train as those they + profess to cure. + </p> + <p> + The Medicine-man, or Wizard, or Magician, or Priest, slowly but + necessarily gathered power into his hands, and there is much evidence to + show that in the case of many tribes at any rate, it was HE who became + ultimate chief and leader and laid the foundations of Kingship. The + Basileus was always a sacred personality, and often united in himself as + head of the clan the offices of chief in warfare and leader in priestly + rites—like Agamemnon in Homer, or Saul or David in the Bible. As a + magician he had influence over the fertility of the earth and, like the + blameless king in the Odyssey, under his sway + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “the dark earth beareth in season<br/> + Barley and wheat, and the trees are laden with fruitage, and alway<br/> + Yean unfailing the flocks, and the sea gives fish in abundance.” (1) +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Odyssey xix, 109 sq. Translation by H. B. Cotterill. +</p> + <p> + As a magician too he was trusted for success in warfare; and Schoolcraft, + in a passage quoted by Andrew Lang, (1) says of the Dacotah Indians “the + war-chief who leads the party to war is always one of these medicine-men.” + This connection, however, by which the magician is transformed into the + king has been abundantly studied, and need not be further dwelt upon here. + </p> + <p> + And what of the transformation of the king into a god—or of the + Magician or Priest directly into the same? Perhaps in order to appreciate + this, one must make a further digression. + </p> + <p> + For the early peoples there were, as it would appear, two main objects in + life: (1) to promote fertility in cattle and crops, for food; and (2) to + placate or ward off Death; and it seemed very obvious—even before + any distinct figures of gods, or any idea of prayer, had arisen—to + attain these objects by magic ritual. The rites of Baptism, of Initiation + (or Confirmation) and the many ceremonies of a Second Birth, which we + associate with fully-formed religions, did belong also to the age of + Magic; and they all implied a belief in some kind of re-incarnation—in + a life going forward continually and being renewed in birth again and + again. It is curious that we find such a belief among the lowest savages + even to-day. Dr. Frazer, speaking of the Central Australian tribes, says + the belief is firmly rooted among them “that the human soul undergoes an + endless series of re-incarnations—the living men and women of one + generation being nothing but the spirits of their ancestors come to life + again, and destined themselves to be reborn in the persons of their + descendants. During the interval between two re-incarnations the souls + live in their nanja spots, or local totem-centres, which are always + natural objects such as trees or rocks. Each totem-clan has a number of + such totem-centres scattered over the country. There the souls of the dead + men and women of the totem, but no others, congregate, and are born again + in human form when a favorable opportunity presents itself.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Myth, Ritual and Religion, vol. i, p. 113. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) The Golden Bough, vol. i, p. 96. +</p> + <p> + And what the early people believed of the human spirit, they believed of + the corn-spirits and the tree and vegetation spirits also. At the great + Spring-ritual among the primitive Greeks “the tribe and the growing earth + were renovated together: the earth arises afresh from her dead seeds, the + tribe from its dead ancestors.” And the whole process projects itself in + the idea of a spirit of the year, who “in the first stage is living, then + dies with each year, and thirdly rises again from the dead, raising the + whole dead world with him. The Greeks called him in this stage ‘The Third + One’ (Tritos Soter) or ‘the Saviour’; and the renovation ceremonies were + accompanied by a casting-off of the old year, the old garments, and + everything that is polluted by the infection of death.” (1) Thus the + multiplication of the crops and the renovation of the tribe, and at the + same time the evasion and placation of death, were all assured by similar + rites and befitting ceremonial magic. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Gilbert Murray, Four Stages, p. 46. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) It is interesting to find, with regard to the renovation of +the tribe, that among the Central Australians the foreskins or male +members of those who died were deposited in the above-mentioned nanja +spots—the idea evidently being that like the seeds of the corn the +seeds of the human crop must be carefully and ceremonially preserved for +their re-incarnation. +</p> + <p> + In all these cases, and many others that I have not mentioned—of the + magical worship of Bulls and Bears and Rams and Cats and Emus and + Kangaroos, of Trees and Snakes, of Sun and Moon and Stars, and the spirit + of the Corn in its yearly and miraculous resurrection out of the ground—there + is still the same idea or moving inspiration, the sense mentioned in the + foregoing chapter, the feeling (hardly yet conscious of its own meaning) + of intimate relationship and unity with all this outer world, the + instinctive conviction that the world can be swayed by the spirit of Man, + if the man can only find the right ritual, the right word, the right + spell, wherewith to move it. An aura of emotion surrounded everything—of + terror, of tabu, of fascination, of desire. The world, to these people, + was transparent with presences related to themselves; and though hunger + and sex may have been the dominant and overwhelmingly practical needs of + their life, yet their outlook on the world was essentially poetic and + imaginative. + </p> + <p> + Moreover it will be seen that in this age of magic and the belief in + spirits, though there was an intense sense of every thing being alive, the + gods, in the more modern sense of the world, hardly existed (1)—that + is, there was no very clear vision, to these people, of supra-mundane + beings, sitting apart and ordaining the affairs of earth, as it were from + a distance. Doubtless this conception was slowly evolving, but it was only + incipient. For the time being—though there might be orders and + degrees of spirits (and of gods)—every such being was only conceived + of, and could only be conceived of, as actually a part of Nature, dwelling + in and interlaced with some phenomenon of Earth and Sky, and having no + separate existence. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For a discussion of the evolution of RELIGION out of MAGIC, +see Westermarck’s Origin of Moral Ideas, ch. 47. +</p> + <p> + How was it then, it will be asked, that the belief in separate and + separable gods and goddesses—each with his or her well-marked + outline and character and function, like the divinities of Greece, or of + India, or of the Egyptian or Christian religions, ultimately arose? To + this question Jane Harrison (in her Themis and other books) gives an + ingenious answer, which as it chimes in with my own speculations (in the + Art of Creation and elsewhere) I am inclined to adopt. It is that the + figures of the supranatural gods arose from a process in the human mind + similar to that which the photographer adopts when by photographing a + number of faces on the same plate, and so superposing their images on one + another, he produces a so-called “composite” photograph or image. Thus, in + the photographic sphere, the portraits of a lot of members of the same + family superposed upon one another may produce a composite image or ideal + of that family type, or the portraits of a number of Aztecs or of a number + of Apache Indians the ideals respectively of the Aztec or of the Apache + types. And so in the mental sphere of each member of a tribe the many + images of the well-known Warriors or Priests or wise and gracious Women of + that tribe did inevitably combine at last to composite figures of gods and + goddesses—on whom the enthusiasm and adoration of the tribe was + concentrated. (1) Miss Harrison has ingeniously suggested how the leading + figures in the magic rituals of the past—being the figures on which + all eyes would be concentrated; and whose importance would be imprinted on + every mind—lent themselves to this process. The suffering Victim, + bound and scourged and crucified, recurring year after year as the + centre-figure of a thousand ritual processions, would at last be + dramatized and idealized in the great race-consciousness into the form of + a Suffering God—a Jesus Christ or a Dionysus or Osiris—dismembered + or crucified for the salvation of mankind. The Priest or Medicine-Man—or + rather the succession of Priests or Medicine-Men—whose figures would + recur again and again as leaders and ordainers of the ceremonies, would be + glorified at last into the composite-image of a God in whom were + concentrated all magic powers. “Recent researches,” says Gilbert Murray, + “have shown us in abundance the early Greek medicine-chiefs making thunder + and lightning and rain.” Here is the germ of a Zeus or a Jupiter. The + particular medicine-man may fail; that does not so much matter; he is only + the individual representative of the glorified and composite being who + exists in the mind of the tribe (just as a present-day King may be + unworthy, but is surrounded all the same by the agelong glamour of + Royalty). “The real [gr qeos], tremendous, infallible, is somewhere far + away, hidden in clouds perhaps, on the summit of some inaccessible + mountain. If the mountain is once climbed the god will move to the upper + sky. The medicine-chief meanwhile stays on earth, still influential. He + has some connection with the great god more intimate than that of other + men... he knows the rules for approaching him and making prayers to him.” + (2) Thus did the Medicine-man, or Priest, or Magician (for these are but + three names for one figure) represent one step in the evolution of the + god. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See The Art of Creation, ch. viii, “The Gods as Apparitions +of the Race-Life.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) The Four Stages, p. 140. +</p> + <p> + And farther back still in the evolutionary process we may trace (as in + chapter iv above) the divinization or deification of four-footed animals + and birds and snakes and trees and the like, from the personification of + the collective emotion of the tribe towards these creatures. For people + whose chief food was bear-meat, for instance, whose totem was a bear, and + who believed themselves descended from an ursine ancestor, there would + grow up in the tribal mind an image surrounded by a halo of emotions—emotions + of hungry desire, of reverence, fear, gratitude and so forth—an + image of a <i>divine Bear</i> in whom they lived and moved and had their being. + For another tribe or group in whose yearly ritual a Bull or a Lamb or a + Kangaroo played a leading part there would in the same way spring up the + image of a holy bull, a divine lamb, or a sacred kangaroo. Another group + again might come to worship a Serpent as its presiding genius, or a + particular kind of Tree, simply because these objects were and had been + for centuries prominent factors in its yearly and seasonal Magic. As + Reinach and others suggest, it was the Taboo (bred by Fear) which by first + forbidding contact with the totem-animal or priest or magician-chief + gradually invested him with Awe and Divinity. + </p> + <p> + According to this theory the god—the full-grown god in human shape, + dwelling apart and beyond the earth—did not come first, but was a + late and more finished product of evolution. He grew up by degrees and out + of the preceding animal-worships and totem-systems. And this theory is + much supported and corroborated by the fact that in a vast number of early + cults the gods are represented by human figures with animal heads. The + Egyptian religion was full of such divinities—the jackal-headed + Anubis, the ram-headed Ammon, the bull-fronted Osiris, or Muth, queen of + darkness, clad in a vulture’s skin; Minos and the Minotaur in Crete; in + Greece, Athena with an owl’s head, or Herakles masked in the hide and jaws + of a monstrous lion. What could be more obvious than that, following on + the tribal worship of any totem-animal, the priest or medicine-man or + actual king in leading the magic ritual should don the skin and head of + that animal, and wear the same as a kind of mask—this partly in + order to appear to the people as the true representative of the totem, and + partly also in order to obtain from the skin the magic virtues and mana of + the beast, which he could then duly impart to the crowd? Zeus, it must be + remembered, wears the aegis, or goat-skin—said to be the hide of the + goat Amaltheia who suckled him in his infancy; there are a number of + legends which connected the Arcadian Artemis with the worship of the bear, + Apollo with the wolf, and so forth. And, most curious as showing + similarity of rites between the Old and New Worlds, there are found plenty + of examples of the wearing of beast-masks in religious processions among + the native tribes of both North and South America. In the Atlas of Spix + and Martius (who travelled together in the Amazonian forests about 1820) + there is an understanding and characteristic picture of the men (and some + women) of the tribe of the Tecunas moving in procession through the woods + mostly naked, except for wearing animal heads and masks—the masks + representing Cranes of various kinds, Ducks, the Opossum, the Jaguar, the + Parrot, etc., probably symbolic of their respective clans. + </p> + <p> + By some such process as this, it may fairly be supposed, the forms of the + Gods were slowly exhaled from the actual figures of men and women, of + youths and girls, who year after year took part in the ancient rituals. + Just as the Queen of the May or Father Christmas with us are idealized + forms derived from the many happy maidens or white-bearded old men who + took leading parts in the May or December mummings and thus gained their + apotheosis in our literature and tradition—so doubtless Zeus with + his thunderbolts and arrows of lightning is the idealization into Heaven + of the Priestly rain-maker and storm-controller; Ares the god of War, the + similar idealization of the leading warrior in the ritual war-dance + preceding an attack on a neighboring tribe; and Mercury of the + foot-running Messenger whose swiftness in those days (devoid of steam or + electricity) was so precious a tribal possession. + </p> + <p> + And here it must be remembered that this explanation of the genesis of the + gods only applies to the SHAPES and FIGURES of the various deities. It + does not apply to the genesis of the widespread belief in spirits or a + Great Spirit generally; that, as I think will become clear, has quite + another source. Some people have jeered at the ‘animistic’ or + ‘anthropomorphic’ tendency of primitive man in his contemplation of the + forces of Nature or his imaginations of religion and the gods. With a kind + of superior pity they speak of “the poor Indian whose untutored mind sees + God in clouds and hears him in the wind.” But I must confess that to me + the “poor Indian” seems on the whole to show more good sense than his + critics, and to have aimed his rude arrows at the philosophic mark more + successfully than a vast number of his learned and scientific successors. + A consideration of what we have said above would show that early people + felt their unity with Nature so deeply and intimately that—like the + animals themselves—they did not think consciously or theorize about + it. It was just their life to be—like the beasts of the field and + the trees of the forest—a part of the whole flux of things, + non-differentiated so to speak. What more natural or indeed more logically + correct than for them to assume (when they first began to think or + differentiate themselves) that these other creatures, these birds, beasts + and plants, and even the sun and moon, were of the same blood as + themselves, their first cousins, so to speak, and having the same interior + nature? What more reasonable (if indeed they credited THEMSELVES with + having some kind of soul or spirit) than to credit these other creatures + with a similar soul or spirit? Im Thurn, speaking of the Guiana Indians, + says that for them “the whole world swarms with beings.” Surely this could + not be taken to indicate an untutored mind—unless indeed a mind + untutored in the nonsense of the Schools—but rather a very directly + perceptive mind. And again what more reasonable (seeing that these people + themselves were in the animal stage of evolution) than that they should + pay great reverence to some ideal animal—first cousin or ancestor—who + played an important part in their tribal existence, and make of this + animal a totem emblem and a symbol of their common life? + </p> + <p> + And, further still, what more natural than that when the tribe passed to + some degree beyond the animal stage and began to realize a life more + intelligent and emotional—more specially human in fact—than + that of the beasts of the field, that it should then in its rituals and + ceremonies throw off the beast-mask and pay reverence to the interior and + more human spirit. Rising to a more enlightened consciousness of its own + intimate quality, and still deeply penetrated with the sense of its + kinship to external nature, it would inevitably and perfectly logically + credit the latter with an inner life and intelligence, more distinctly + human than before. Its religion in fact would become MORE + ‘anthropomorphic’ instead of less so; and one sees that this is a process + that is inevitable; and inevitable notwithstanding a certain parenthesis + in the process, due to obvious elements in our ‘Civilization’ and to the + temporary and fallacious domination of a leaden-eyed so-called ‘Science.’ + According to this view the true evolution of Religion and Man’s outlook on + the world has proceeded not by the denial by man of his unity with the + world, but by his seeing and understanding that unity more deeply. And the + more deeply he understands himself the more certainly he will recognize in + the external world a Being or beings resembling himself. + </p> + <p> + W. H. Hudson—whose mind is certainly not of a quality to be jeered + at—speaks of Animism as “the projection of ourselves into nature: + the sense and apprehension of an intelligence like our own, but more + powerful, in all visible things”; and continues, “old as I am this same + primitive faculty which manifested itself in my early boyhood, still + persists, and in those early years was so powerful that I am almost afraid + to say how deeply I was moved by it.” (1) Nor will it be quite forgotten + that Shelley once said:— + </p> +<p class="poem"> + The moveless pillar of a mountain’s weight<br/> + Is active living spirit. Every grain<br/> + Is sentient both in unity and part,<br/> + And the minutest atom comprehends<br/> + A world of loves and hatreds. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Far Away and Long Ago, ch. xiii, p. 225. +</p> + <p> + The tendency to animism and later to anthropomorphism is I say inevitable, + and perfectly logical. But the great value of the work done by some of + those investigators whom I have quoted has been to show that among quite + primitive people (whose interior life and ‘soul-sense’ was only very + feeble) their projections of intelligence into Nature were correspondingly + feeble. The reflections of themselves projected into the world beyond + could not reach the stature of eternal ‘gods,’ but were rather of the + quality of ephemeral phantoms and ghosts; and the ceremonials and creeds + of that period are consequently more properly described as Magic than as + Religion. There have indeed been great controversies as to whether there + has or has not been, in the course of religious evolution, a <i>pre</i>-animistic + stage. Probably of course human evolution in this matter must have been + perfectly continuous from stages presenting the very feeblest or an + absolutely deficient animistic sense to the very highest manifestations of + anthropomorphism; but as there is a good deal of evidence to show that + <i>animals</i> (notably dogs and horses) see ghosts, the inquiry ought certainly + to be enlarged so far as to include the pre-human species. Anyhow it must + be remembered that the question is one of <i>consciousness</i>—that is, of + how far and to what degree consciousness of self has been developed in the + animal or the primitive man or the civilized man, and therefore how far + and to what degree the animal or human creature has credited the outside + world with a similar consciousness. It is not a question of whether there + <i>is</i> an inner life and <i>sub</i>-consciousness common to all these creatures of + the earth and sky, because that, I take it, is a fact beyond question; + they all emerge or have emerged from the same matrix, and are rooted in + identity; but it is a question of how far they are <i>aware</i> of this, and how + far by separation (which is the genius of evolution) each individual + creature has become conscious of the interior nature both of itself and of + the other creatures <i>and</i> of the great whole which includes them all. + </p> + <p> + Finally, and to avoid misunderstanding, let me say that Anthropomorphism, + in man’s conception of the gods, is itself of course only a stage and + destined to pass away. In so far, that is, as the term indicates a belief + in divine beings corresponding to our PRESENT conception of ourselves—that + is as separate personalities having each a separate and limited character + and function, and animated by the separatist motives of ambition, + possession, power, vainglory, superiority, patronage, self-greed, + self-satisfaction, etc.—in so far as anthropomorphism is the + expression of that kind of belief it is of course destined, with the + illusion from which it springs, to pass away. When man arrives at the + final consciousness in which the idea of such a self, superior or inferior + or in any way antagonistic to others, ceases to operate, then he will + return to his first and primal condition, and will cease to need ANY + special religion or gods, knowing himself and all his fellows to be divine + and the origin and perfect fruition of all. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a> +VII.<br/> +RITES OF EXPIATION AND REDEMPTION +</h2> + <p> + There is a passage in Richard Jefferies’ imperishably beautiful book The + Story of my Heart—a passage well known to all lovers of that + prose-poet—in which he figures himself standing “in front of the + Royal Exchange where the wide pavement reaches out like a promontory,” and + pondering on the vast crowd and the mystery of life. “Is there any theory, + philosophy, or creed,” he says, “is there any system of culture, any + formulated method, able to meet and satisfy each separate item of this + agitated pool of human life? By which they may be guided, by which they + may hope, by which look forward? Not a mere illusion of the craving heart—something + real, as real as the solid walls of fact against which, like seaweed, they + are dashed; something to give each separate personality sunshine and a + flower in its own existence now; something to shape this million-handed + labor to an end and outcome that will leave more sunshine and more flowers + to those who must succeed? Something real now, and not in the spirit-land; + in this hour now, as I stand and the sun burns.... Full well aware that + all has failed, yet, side by side with the sadness of that knowledge, + there lives on in me an unquenchable belief, thought burning like the sun, + that there is yet something to be found.... It must be dragged forth by + the might of thought from the immense forces of the universe.” + </p> + <p> + In answer to this passage we may say “No,—a thousand times No! there + is no theory, philosophy, creed, system or formulated method which will + meet or ever satisfy the demand of each separate item of the human + whirlpool.” And happy are we to know there is no such thing! How terrible + if one of these bloodless ‘systems’ which strew the history of religion + and philosophy and the political and social paths of human endeavor HAD + been found absolutely correct and universally applicable—so that + every human being would be compelled to pass through its machine-like maw, + every personality to be crushed under its Juggernath wheels! No, thank + Heaven! there is no theory or creed or system; and yet there is something—as + Jefferies prophetically felt and with a great longing desired—that + CAN satisfy; and that, the root of all religion, has been hinted at in the + last chapter. It is the CONSCIOUSNESS of the world-life burning, blazing, + deep down within us: it is the Soul’s intuition of its roots in + Omnipresence and Eternity. + </p> + <p> + The gods and the creeds of the past, as shown in the last chapter—whatever + they may have been, animistic or anthropomorphic or transcendental, + whether grossly brutish or serenely ideal and abstract—are + essentially projections of the human mind; and no doubt those who are + anxious to discredit the religious impulse generally will catch at this, + saying “Yes, they are mere forms and phantoms of the mind, ephemeral + dreams, projected on the background of Nature, and having no real + substance or solid value. The history of Religion (they will say) is a + history of delusion and illusion; why waste time over it? These divine + grizzly Bears or Aesculapian Snakes, these cat-faced Pashts, this Isis, + queen of heaven, and Astarte and Baal and Indra and Agni and Kali and + Demeter and the Virgin Mary and Apollo and Jesus Christ and Satan and the + Holy Ghost, are only shadows cast outwards onto a screen; the constitution + of the human mind makes them all tend to be anthropomorphic; but that is + all; they each and all inevitably pass away. Why waste time over them?” + </p> + <p> + And this is in a sense a perfectly fair way of looking at the matter. + These gods and creeds ARE only projections of the human mind. But all the + same it misses, does this view, the essential fact. It misses the fact + that there is no shadow without a fire, that the very existence of a + shadow argues a light somewhere (though we may not directly see it) as + well as the existence of a solid form which intercepts that light. Deep, + deep in the human mind there is that burning blazing light of the + world-consciousness—so deep indeed that the vast majority of + individuals are hardly aware of its existence. Their gaze turned outwards + is held and riveted by the gigantic figures and processions passing across + their sky; they are unaware that the latter are only shadows—silhouettes + of the forms inhabiting their own minds. (1) The vast majority of people + have never observed their own minds; their own mental forms. They have + only observed the reflections cast by these. Thus it may be said, in this + matter, that there are three degrees of reality. There are the mere + shadows—the least real and most evanescent; there are the actual + mental outlines of humanity (and of the individual), much more real, but + themselves also of course slowly changing; and most real of all, and + permanent, there is the light “which lighteth every man that cometh into + the world”—the glorious light of the world-consciousness. Of this + last it may be said that it never changes. Every thing is known to it—even + the very IMPEDIMENTS to its shining. But as it is from the impediments to + the shining of a light that shadows are cast, so we now may understand + that the things of this world and of humanity, though real in their + degree, have chiefly a kind of negative value; they are opaquenesses, + clouds, materialisms, ignorances, and the inner light falling upon them + gradually reveals their negative character and gradually dissolves them + away till they are lost in the extreme and eternal Splendor. I think + Jefferies, when he asked that question with which I have begun this + chapter, was in some sense subconsciously, if not quite consciously, aware + of the answer. His frequent references to the burning blazing sun + throughout The Story of the Heart seem to be an indication of his real + deep-down attitude of mind. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See, in the same connection, Plato’s allegory of the Cave, +Republic, Book vii. +</p> + <p> + The shadow-figures of the creeds and theogonies pass away truly like + ephemeral dreams; but to say that time spent in their study is wasted, is + a mistake, for they have value as being indications of things much more + real than themselves, namely, of the stages of evolution of the human + mind. The fact that a certain god-figure, however grotesque and queer, or + a certain creed, however childish, cruel, and illogical, held sway for a + considerable time over the hearts of men in any corner or continent of the + world is good evidence that it represented a real formative urge at the + time in the hearts of those good people, and a definite stage in their + evolution and the evolution of humanity. Certainly it was destined to pass + away, but it was a step, and a necessary step in the great process; and + certainly it was opaque and brutish, but it is through the opaque things + of the world, and not through the transparent, that we become aware of the + light. + </p> + <p> + It may be worth while to give instances of how some early rituals and + creeds, in themselves apparently barbarous or preposterous, were really + the indications of important moral and social conceptions evolving in the + heart of man. Let us take, first, the religious customs connected with the + ideas of Sacrifice and of Sin, of which such innumerable examples are now + to be found in the modern books on Anthropology. If we assume, as I have + done more than once, that the earliest state of Man was one in which he + did not consciously separate himself from the world, animate and + inanimate, which surrounded him, then (as I have also said) it was + perfectly natural for him to take some animal which bulked large on his + horizon—some food-animal for instance—and to pay respect to it + as the benefactor of his tribe, its far-back ancestor and totem-symbol; + or, seeing the boundless blessing of the cornfields, to believe in some + kind of spirit of the corn (not exactly a god but rather a magical ghost) + which, reincarnated every year, sprang up to save mankind from famine. But + then no sooner had he done this than he was bound to perceive that in + cutting down the corn or in eating his totem-bear or kangaroo he was + slaying his own best self and benefactor. In that instant the + consciousness of DISUNITY, the sense of sin in some undefined yet no less + disturbing and alarming form would come in. If, before, his ritual magic + had been concentrated on the simple purpose of multiplying the animal or, + vegetable forms of his food, now in addition his magical endeavor would be + turned to averting the just wrath of the spirits who animated these forms—just + indeed, for the rudest savage would perceive the wrong done and the + probability of its retribution. Clearly the wrong done could only be + expiated by an equivalent sacrifice of some kind on the part of the man, + or the tribe—that is by the offering to the totem-animal or to the + corn-spirit of some victim whom these nature powers in their turn could + feed upon and assimilate. In this way the nature-powers would be appeased, + the sense of unity would be restored, and the first At-one-ment effected. + </p> + <p> + It is hardly necessary to recite in any detail the cruel and hideous + sacrifices which have been perpetrated in this sense all over the world, + sometimes in appeasement of a wrong committed or supposed to have been + committed by the tribe or some member of it, sometimes in placation or for + the averting of death, or defeat, or plague, sometimes merely in + fulfilment of some long-standing custom of forgotten origin—the + flayings and floggings and burnings and crucifixions of victims without + end, carried out in all deliberation and solemnity of established ritual. + I have mentioned some cases connected with the sowing of the corn. The + Bible is full of such things, from the intended sacrifice of Isaac by his + father Abraham, to the actual crucifixion of Jesus by the Jews. The + first-born sons were claimed by a god who called himself “jealous” and + were only to be redeemed by a substitute. (1) Of the Canaanites it was + said that “even their daughters they have BURNT in the fire to their + gods”; (2) and of the King of Moab, that when he saw his army in danger of + defeat, “he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead and + offered him for a burnt-offering on the wall!” (3) Dr. Frazer (4) mentions + the similar case of the Carthaginians (about B.C. 300) sacrificing two + hundred children of good family as a propitiation to Baal and to save + their beloved city from the assaults of the Sicilian tyrant Agathocles. + And even so we hear that on that occasion three hundred more young folk + VOLUNTEERED to die for the fatherland. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Exodus xxxiv. 20. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Deut. xii. 31. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) 2 Kings iii. 27. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) The Golden Bough, vol. “The Dying God,” p. 167. +</p> + <p> + The awful sacrifices made by the Aztecs in Mexico to their gods + Huitzilopochtli, Texcatlipoca, and others are described in much detail by + Sahagun, the Spanish missionary of the sixteenth century. The victims were + mostly prisoners of war or young children; they were numbered by + thousands. In one case Sahagun describes the huge Idol or figure of the + god as largely plated with gold and holding his hands palm upward and in a + downward sloping position over a cauldron or furnace placed below. The + children, who had previously been borne in triumphal state on litters over + the crowd and decorated with every ornamental device of feathers and + flowers and wings, were placed one by one on the vast hands and ROLLED + DOWN into the flames—as if the god were himself offering them. (1) + As the procession approached the temple, the members of it wept and danced + and sang, and here again the abundance of tears was taken for a good + augury of rain. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) It is curious to find that exactly the same story (of the +sloping hands and the children rolled down into the flames) is related +concerning the above-mentioned Baal image at Carthage (see Diodorus +Siculus, xx. 14; also Baring Gould’s Religious Belief, vol. i, p. 375). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) “A los ninos que mataban, componianlos en muchos atavios para +llevarlos al sacrificio, y llevabos en unas literas sobre los hombros, +estas literas iban adornadas con plumages y con flores: iban tanendo, +cantando y bailando delante de ellos... Cuando Ileviban los ninos a +matar, si llevaban y echaban muchos lagrimas, alegrabansi los que los +llevaban porque tomaban pronostico de que habian de tener muchas aguas +en aquel ano.” Sahagun, Historia Nueva Espana, Bk. II, ch. i. +</p> + <p> + Bernal Diaz describes how he saw one of these monstrous figures—that + of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, all inlaid with gold and precious + stones; and beside it were “braziers, wherein burned the hearts of three + Indians, torn from their bodies that very day, and the smoke of them and + the savor of incense were the sacrifice.” + </p> + <p> + Sahagun again (in Book II, ch. 5) gives a long account of the sacrifice of + a perfect youth at Easter-time—which date Sahagun connects with the + Christian festival of the Resurrection. For a whole year the youth had + been held in honor and adored by the people as the very image of the god + (Tetzcatlipoca) to whom he was to be sacrificed. Every luxury and + fulfilment of his last wish (including such four courtesans as he desired) + had been granted him. At the last and on the fatal day, leaving his + companions and his worshipers behind, be slowly ascended the Temple + staircase; stripping on each step the ornaments from his body; and + breaking and casting away his flutes and other musical instruments; till, + reaching the summit, he was stretched, curved on his back, and belly + upwards, over the altar stone, while the priest with obsidian knife cut + his breast open and, snatching the heart out, held it up, yet beating, as + an offering to the Sun. In the meantime, and while the heart still lived, + his successor for the next year was chosen. + </p> + <p> + In Book II, ch. 7 of the same work Sahagun describes the similar offering + of a woman to a goddess. In both cases (he explains) of young man or young + woman, the victims were richly adorned in the guise of the god or goddess + to whom they were offered, and at the same time great largesse of food was + distributed to all who needed. (Here we see the connection in the general + mind between the gift of food (by the gods) and the sacrifice of precious + blood (by the people).) More than once Sahagun mentions that the victims + in these Mexican ceremonials not infrequently offered THEMSELVES as a + voluntary sacrifice; and Prescott says (1) that the offering of one’s life + to the gods was “sometimes voluntarily embraced, as a most glorious death + opening a sure passage into Paradise.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Conquest of Mexico, Bk. I, ch. 3. +</p> + <p> + Dr. Frazer describes (1) the far-back Babylonian festival of the Sacaea in + which “a prisoner, condemned to death, was dressed in the king’s robes, + seated on the king’s throne, allowed to issue whatever commands he + pleased, to eat, drink and enjoy himself, and even to lie with the king’s + concubines.” But at the end of the five days he was stripped of his royal + robes, scourged, and hanged or impaled. It is certainly astonishing to + find customs so similar prevailing among peoples so far removed in space + and time as the Aztecs of the sixteenth century A.D. and the Babylonians + perhaps of the sixteenth century B.C. But we know that this subject of the + yearly sacrifice of a victim attired as a king or god is one that Dr. + Frazer has especially made his own, and for further information on it his + classic work should be consulted. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Golden Bough, “The Dying God,” p. 114. (See also S. Reinach, +Cults, Myths and Religion, p. 94) on the martyrdom of St. Dasius. +</p> + <p> + Andrew Lang also, with regard to the Aztecs, quotes largely from Sahagun, + and summarizes his conclusions in the following passage: “The general + theory of worship was the adoration of a deity, first by innumerable human + sacrifices, next by the special sacrifice of a MAN for the male gods, of a + WOMAN for each goddess. (1) The latter victims were regarded as the living + images or incarnations of the divinities in, each case; for no system of + worship carried farther the identification of the god with the sacrifice + (? victim), and of both with the officiating priest. The connection was emphasized + by the priests wearing the newly-flayed skins of the victims—just as + in Greece, Egypt and Assyria, the fawn-skin or bull-hide or goat-skin or + fish-skin of the victims is worn by the celebrants. Finally, an image of + the god was made out of paste, and this was divided into morsels and eaten + in a hideous sacrament by those who communicated.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Compare the festival of Thargelia at Athens, originally +connected with the ripening of the crops. A procession was formed and +the first fruits of the year offered to Apollo, Artemis and the Horae. +It was an expiatory feast, to purify the State from all guilt and avert +the wrath of the god (the Sun). A man and a woman, as representing +the male and female population, were led about with a garland of figs +(fertility) round their necks, to the sound of flutes and singing. They +were then scourged, sacrificed, and their bodies burned by the seashore. +(Nettleship and Sandys.) +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) A Lang, Myth, Ritual and Religion, vol. ii, p. 97. +</p> + <p> + Revolting as this whole picture is, it represents as we know a mere + thumbnail sketch of the awful practices of human sacrifice all over the + world. We hold up our hands in horror at the thought of Huitzilopochtli + dropping children from his fingers into the flames, but we have to + remember that our own most Christian Saint Augustine was content to + describe unbaptized infants as crawling for ever about the floor of Hell! + What sort of god, we may ask, did Augustine worship? The Being who could + condemn children to such a fate was certainly no better than the Mexican + Idol. + </p> + <p> + And yet Augustine was a great and noble man, with some by no means + unworthy conceptions of the greatness of his God. In the same way the + Aztecs were in many respects a refined and artistic people, and their + religion was not all superstition and bloodshed. Prescott says of them (1) + that they believed in a supreme Creator and Lord “omnipresent, knowing all + thoughts, giving all gifts, without whom Man is as nothing—invisible, + incorporeal, one God, of perfect perfection and purity, under whose wings + we find repose and a sure defence.” How can we reconcile St. Augustine + with his own devilish creed, or the religious belief of the Aztecs with + their unspeakable cruelties? Perhaps we can only reconcile them by + remembering out of what deeps of barbarism and what nightmares of haunting + Fear, man has slowly emerged—and is even now only slowly emerging; + by remembering also that the ancient ceremonies and rituals of Magic and + Fear remained on and were cultivated by the multitude in each nation long + after the bolder and nobler spirits had attained to breathe a purer air; + by remembering that even to the present day in each individual the Old and + the New are for a long period thus intricately intertangled. It is hard to + believe that the practice of human and animal sacrifice (with whatever + revolting details) should have been cultivated by nine-tenths of the human + race over the globe out of sheer perversity and without some reason which + at any rate to the perpetrators themselves appeared commanding and + convincing. To-day (1918) we are witnessing in the Great European War a + carnival of human slaughter which in magnitude and barbarity eclipses in + one stroke all the accumulated ceremonial sacrifices of historical ages; + and when we ask the why and wherefore of this horrid spectacle we are + told, apparently in all sincerity, and by both the parties engaged, of the + noble objects and commanding moralities which inspire and compel it. We + can hardly, in this last case, disbelieve altogether in the genuineness of + the plea, so why should we do so in the former case? In both cases we + perceive that underneath the surface pretexts and moralities Fear is and + was the great urging and commanding force. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Conquest of Mexico, Bk. I, ch. 3. +</p> + <p> + The truth is that Sin and Sacrifice represent—if you once allow for + the overwhelming sway of fear—perfectly reasonable views of human + conduct, adopted instinctively by mankind since the earliest times. If in + a moment of danger or an access of selfish greed you deserted your brother + tribesman or took a mean advantage of him, you ‘sinned’ against him; and + naturally you expiated the sin by an equivalent sacrifice of some kind + made to the one you had wronged. Such an idea and such a practice were the + very foundation of social life and human morality, and must have sprung up + as soon as ever, in the course of evolution, man became CAPABLE of + differentiating himself from his fellows and regarding his own conduct as + that of a ‘separate self.’ It was in the very conception of a separate + self that ‘sin’ and disunity first began; and it was by ‘sacrifice’ that + unity and harmony were restored, appeasement and atonement effected. + </p> + <p> + But in those earliest times, as I have already indicated more than once, + man felt himself intimately related not only to his brother tribesman, but + to the animals and to general Nature. It was not so much that he THOUGHT + thus as that he never thought OTHERWISE! He FELT subconsciously that he + was a part of all this outer world. And so he adopted for his totems or + presiding spirits every possible animal, as we have seen, and all sorts of + nature-phenomena, such as rain and fire and water and clouds, and sun, + moon and stars—which WE consider quite senseless and inanimate. + Towards these apparently senseless things therefore he felt the same + compunction as I have described him feeling towards his brother tribesmen. + He could sin against them too. He could sin against his totem-animal by + eating it; he could sin against his ‘brother the ox’ by consuming its + strength in the labor of the plough; he could sin against the corn by + cutting it down and grinding it into flour, or against the precious and + beautiful pine-tree by laying his axe to its roots and converting it into + mere timber for his house. Further still, no doubt he could sin against + elemental nature. This might be more difficult to be certain of, but when + the signs of elemental displeasure were not to be mistaken—when the + rain withheld itself for months, or the storms and lightning dealt death + and destruction, when the crops failed or evil plagues afflicted mankind—then + there could be little uncertainty that he had sinned; and Fear, which had + haunted him like a demon from the first day when he became conscious of + his separation from his fellows and from Nature, stood over him and urged + to dreadful propitiations. + </p> + <p> + In all these cases some sacrifice in reparation was the obvious thing. We + have seen that to atone for the cutting-down of the corn a human victim + would often be slaughtered. The corn-spirit clearly approved of this, for + wherever the blood and remains of the victim were strewn the corn always + sprang up more plentifully. The tribe or human group made reparation thus + to the corn; the corn-spirit signified approval. The ‘sin’ was expiated + and harmony restored. Sometimes the sacrifice was voluntarily offered by a + tribesman; sometimes it was enforced, by lot or otherwise; sometimes the + victim was a slave, or a captive enemy; sometimes even an animal. All that + did not so much matter. The main thing was that the formal expiation had + been carried out, and the wrath of the spirits averted. + </p> + <p> + It is known that tribes whose chief food-animal was the bear felt it + necessary to kill and eat a bear occasionally; but they could not do this + without a sense of guilt, and some fear of vengeance from the great + Bear-spirit. So they ate the slain bear at a communal feast in which the + tribesmen shared the guilt and celebrated their community with their totem + and with each other. And since they could not make any reparation directly + to the slain animal itself AFTER its death, they made their reparation + BEFORE, bringing all sorts of presents and food to it for a long anterior + period, and paying every kind of worship and respect to it. The same with + the bull and the ox. At the festival of the Bouphonia, in some of the + cities of Greece as I have already mentioned, the actual bull sacrificed + was the handsomest and most carefully nurtured that could be obtained; it + was crowned with flowers and led in procession with every mark of + reverence and worship. And when—as I have already pointed out—at + the great Spring festival, instead of a bull or a goat or a ram, a HUMAN + victim was immolated, it was a custom (which can be traced very widely + over the world) to feed and indulge and honor the victim to the last + degree for a WHOLE YEAR before the final ceremony, arraying him often as a + king and placing a crown upon his head, by way of acknowledgment of the + noble and necessary work he was doing for the general good. + </p> + <p> + What a touching and beautiful ceremony was that—belonging especially + to the North of Syria, and lands where the pine is so beneficent and + beloved a tree—the mourning ceremony of the death and burial of + Attis! when a pine-tree, felled by the axe, was hollowed out, and in the + hollow an image (often itself carved out of pinewood) of the young Attis + was placed. Could any symbolism express more tenderly the idea that the + glorious youth—who represented Spring, too soon slain by the rude + tusk of Winter—was himself the very human soul of the pine-tree? (1) + At some earlier period, no doubt, a real youth had been sacrificed and his + body bound within the pine; but now it was deemed sufficient for the + maidens to sing their wild songs of lamentation; and for the priests and + male enthusiasts to cut and gash themselves with knives, or to sacrifice + (as they did) to the Earth-mother the precious blood offering of their + virile organs—symbols of fertility in return for the promised and + expected renewal of Nature and the crops in the coming Spring. For the + ceremony, as we have already seen, did not end with death and lamentation, + but led on, perfectly naturally, after a day or two to a festival of + resurrection, when it was discovered—just as in the case of Osiris—that + the pine-tree coffin was empty, and the immortal life had flown. How + strange the similarity and parallelism of all these things to the story of + Jesus in the Gospels—the sacrifice of a life made in order to bring + salvation to men and expiation of sins, the crowning of the victim, and + arraying in royal attire, the scourging and the mockery, the binding or + nailing to a tree, the tears of Mary, and the resurrection and the empty + coffin!—or how not at all strange when we consider in what numerous + forms and among how many peoples, this same parable and ritual had as a + matter of fact been celebrated, and how it had ultimately come down to + bring its message of redemption into a somewhat obscure Syrian city, in + the special shape with which we are familiar. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Julius Firmicus, who says (De Errore, c. 28): “in sacris +Phrygiis, quae Matris deum dicunt, per annos singulos arbor pinea +caeditur, et in media arbore simulacrum uvenis subligatur. In Isiacis +sacris de pinea arbore caeditur truncus; hujus trunci media pars +subtiliter excavatur, illis de segminibus factum idolum Osiridis +sepelitur. In Prosperpinae sacris caesa arbor in effigiem virginis +formaraque componitur, et cum intra civitatem fuerit illata, quadraginta +noctibus piangitur, quadragesima vero nocte comburitur.” +</p> + <p> + Though the parable or legend in its special Christian form bears with it + the consciousness of the presence of beings whom we may call gods, it is + important to remember that in many or most of its earlier forms, though it + dealt in ‘spirits’—the spirit of the corn, or the spirit of the + Spring, or the spirits of the rain and the thunder, or the spirits of + totem-animals—it had not yet quite risen to the idea of gods. It had + not risen to the conception of eternal deities sitting apart and governing + the world in solemn conclave—as from the slopes of Olympus or the + recesses of the Christian Heaven. It belonged, in fact, in its inception, + to the age of Magic. The creed of Sin and Sacrifice, or of Guilt and + Expiation—whatever we like to call it—was evolved perfectly + naturally out of the human mind when brought face to face with Life and + Nature) at some early stage of its self-consciousness. It was essentially + the result of man’s deep, original and instinctive sense of solidarity + with Nature, now denied and belied and to some degree broken up by the + growth and conscious insistence of the self-regarding impulses. It was the + consciousness of disharmony and disunity, causing men to feel all the more + poignantly the desire and the need of reconciliation. It was a realization + of union made clear by its very loss. It assumed of course, in a + subconscious way as I have already indicated, that the external world was + the HABITAT of a mind or minds similar to man’s own; but THAT being + granted, it is evident that the particular theories current in this or + that place about the nature of the world—the theories, as we should + say, of science or theology—did not alter the general outlines of + the creed; they only colored its details and gave its ritual different + dramatic settings. The mental attitudes, for instance, of Abraham + sacrificing the ram, or of the Siberian angakout slaughtering a + totem-bear, or of a modern and pious Christian contemplating the Saviour + on the Cross are really almost exactly the same. I mention this because in + tracing the origins or the evolution of religions it is important to + distinguish clearly what is essential and universal from that which is + merely local and temporary. Some people, no doubt, would be shocked at the + comparisons just made; but surely it is much more inspiriting and + encouraging to think that whatever progress HAS been made in the religious + outlook of the world has come about through the gradual mental growth and + consent of the peoples, rather than through some unique and miraculous + event of a rather arbitrary and unexplained character—which indeed + might never be repeated, and concerning which it would perhaps be impious + to suggest that it SHOULD be repeated. + </p> + <p> + The consciousness then of Sin (or of alienation from the life of the + whole), and of restoration or redemption through Sacrifice, seems to have + disclosed itself in the human race in very far-back times, and to have + symbolized itself in some most ancient rituals; and if we are shocked + sometimes at the barbarities which accompanied those rituals, yet we must + allow that these barbarities show how intensely the early people felt the + solemnity and importance of the whole matter; and we must allow too that + the barbarities did sear and burn themselves into rude and ignorant minds + with the sense of the NEED of Sacrifice, and with a result perhaps which + could not have been compassed in any other way. + </p> + <p> + For after all we see now that sacrifice is of the very essence of social + life. “It is expedient that ONE man should die for the people”; and not + only that one man should actually die, but (what is far more important) + that each man should be ready and WILLING to die in that cause, when the + occasion and the need arises. Taken in its larger meanings and + implications Sacrifice, as conceived in the ancient world, was a perfectly + reasonable thing. It SHOULD pervade modern life more than it does. All we + have or enjoy flows from, or is implicated with, pain and suffering in + others, and—if there is any justice in Nature or Humanity—it + demands an equivalent readiness to suffer on our part. If Christianity has + any real essence, that essence is perhaps expressed in some such ritual or + practice of Sacrifice, and we see that the dim beginnings of this idea + date from the far-back customs of savages coming down from a time anterior + to all recorded history. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a> +VIII.<br/> +PAGAN INITIATIONS AND THE SECOND BIRTH +</h2> + <p> + We have suggested in the last chapter how the conceptions of Sin and + Sacrifice coming down to us from an extremely remote past, and embodied + among the various peoples of the world sometimes in crude and bloodthirsty + rites, sometimes in symbols and rituals of a gentler and more gracious + character, descended at last into Christianity and became a part of its + creed and of the creed of the modern world. On the whole perhaps we may + trace a slow amelioration in this process and may flatter ourselves that + the Christian centuries exhibit a more philosophical understanding of what + Sin is, and a more humane conception of what Sacrifice SHOULD be, than the + centuries preceding. But I fear that any very decided statement or + sweeping generalization to that effect would be—to say the least—rash. + Perhaps there IS a very slow amelioration; but the briefest glance at the + history of the Christian churches—the horrible rancours and revenges + of the clergy and the sects against each other in the fourth and fifth + centuries A.D., the heresy-hunting crusades at Beziers and other places + and the massacres of the Albigenses in the twelfth and thirteenth + centuries, the witch-findings and burnings of the sixteenth and + seventeenth, the hideous science-urged and bishop-blessed warfare of the + twentieth—horrors fully as great as any we can charge to the account + of the Aztecs or the Babylonians—must give us pause. Nor must we + forget that if there is by chance a substantial amelioration in our modern + outlook with regard to these matters the same had begun already before the + advent of Christianity and can by no means be ascribed to any miraculous + influence of that religion. Abraham was prompted to slay a ram as a + substitute for his son, long before the Christians were thought of; the + rather savage Artemis of the old Greek rites was (according to Pausanias) + (1) honored by the yearly sacrifice of a perfect boy and girl, but later + it was deemed sufficient to draw a knife across their throats as a symbol, + with the result of spilling only a few drops of their blood, or to flog + the boys (with the same result) upon her altar. Among the Khonds in old + days many victims (meriahs) were sacrificed to the gods, “but in time the + man was replaced by a horse, the horse by a bull, the bull by a ram, the + ram by a kid, the kid by fowls, and the fowls by many flowers.” (2) At one + time, according to the Yajur-Veda, there was a festival at which one + hundred and twenty-five victims, men and women, boys and girls, were + sacrificed; “but reform supervened, and now the victims were bound as + before to the stake, but afterwards amid litanies to the immolated (god) + Narayana, the sacrificing priest brandished a knife and—severed the + bonds of the captives.” (3) At the Athenian festival of the Thargelia, to + which I referred in the last chapter, it appears that the victims, in + later times, instead of being slain, were tossed from a height into the + sea, and after being rescued were then simply banished; while at Leucatas + a similar festival the fall of the victim was graciously broken by tying + feathers and even living birds to his body. (4) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) vii. 19, and iii. 8, 16. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Primitive Folk, by Elie Reclus (Contemp. Science Series), p. +330. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Ibid. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) Muller’s Dorians Book II, ch. ii, par. 10. +</p> + <p> + With the lapse of time and the general progress of mankind, we may, I + think, perceive some such slow ameliorations in the matter of the + brutality and superstition of the old religions. How far any later + ameliorations were due to the direct influence of Christianity might be a + difficult question; but what I think we can clearly see—and what + especially interests us here—is that in respect to its main + religious ideas, and the matter underlying them (exclusive of the MANNER + of their treatment, which necessarily has varied among different peoples) + Christianity is of one piece with the earlier pagan creeds and is for the + most part a re-statement and renewed expression of world-wide doctrines + whose first genesis is lost in the haze of the past, beyond all recorded + history. + </p> + <p> + I have illustrated this view with regard to the doctrine of Sin and + Sacrifice. Let us take two or three other illustrations. Let us take the + doctrine of Re-birth or Regeneration. The first few verses of St. John’s + Gospel are occupied with the subject of salvation through rebirth or + regeneration. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of + God.”... “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter + into the kingdom of God.” Our Baptismal Service begins by saying that + “forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin; and that our Saviour + Christ saith, None can enter into the kingdom of God except he be + regenerate and born anew of water and the Holy Ghost”; therefore it is + desirable that this child should be baptized, “received into Christ’s Holy + Church, and be made a lively member of the same.” That, is to say, there + is one birth, after the flesh, but a second birth is necessary, a birth + after the Spirit and into the Church of Christ. Our Confirmation Service + is simply a service repeating and confirming these views, at an age + (fourteen to sixteen or so) when the boy or girl is capable of + understanding what is being done. + </p> + <p> + But our Baptismal and Confirmation ceremonies combined are clearly the + exact correspondence and parallel of the old pagan ceremonies of + Initiation, which are or have been observed in almost every primitive + tribe over the world. “The rite of the second birth,” says Jane Harrison, + (1) “is widespread, universal, over half the savage world. With the savage + to be twice-born is the rule. By his first birth he comes into the world; + by his second he is born into his tribe. At his first birth he belongs to + his mother and the women-folk; at his second he becomes a full-fledged man + and passes into the society of the warriors of his tribe.”... “These rites + are very various, but they all point to one moral, that the former things + are passed away and that the new-born man has entered upon a new life. + Simplest of all, and most instructive, is the rite practised by the Kikuyu + tribe of British East Africa, who require that every boy, just before + circumcision, must be born again. The mother stands up with the boy + crouching at her feet; she pretends to go through all the labour pains, + and the boy on being reborn cries like a babe and is washed.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Ancient Art and Ritual, p. 104. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See also Themis, p. 21. +</p> + <p> + Let us pause for a moment. An Initiate is of course one who “enters in.” + He enters into the Tribe; he enters into the revelation of certain + Mysteries; he becomes an associate of a certain Totem, a certain God; a + member of a new Society, or Church—a church of Mithra, or Dionysus + or Christ. To do any of these things he must be born again; he must die to + the old life; he must pass through ceremonials which symbolize the change. + One of these ceremonials is washing. As the new-born babe is washed, so + must the new-born initiate be washed; and as by primitive man (and not + without reason) BLOOD was considered the most vital and regenerative of + fluids, the very elixir of life, so in earliest times it was common to + wash the initiate with blood. If the initiate had to be born anew, it + would seem reasonable to suppose that he must first die. So, not + unfrequently, he was wounded, or scourged, and baptized with his own + blood, or, in cases, one of the candidates was really killed and his blood + used as a substitute for the blood of the others. No doubt HUMAN sacrifice + attended the earliest initiations. But later it was sufficient to be + half-drowned in the blood of a Bull as in the Mithra cult, (1) or ‘washed + in the blood of the Lamb’ as in the Christian phraseology. Finally, with a + growing sense of decency and aesthetic perception among the various + peoples, washing with pure water came in the initiation-ceremonies to take + the place of blood; and our baptismal service has reduced the ceremony to + a mere sprinkling with water. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See ch. iii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) For the virtue supposed to reside in blood see Westermarck’s +Moral Ideas, Ch. 46. +</p> + <p> + To continue the quotation from Miss Harrison: “More often the new birth is + stimulated, or imagined, as a death and a resurrection, either of the boys + themselves or of some one else in their presence. Thus at initiation among + some tribes of South-east Australia, when the boys are assembled an old + man dressed in stringy bark-fibre lies down in a grave. He is covered up + lightly with sticks and earth, and the grave is smoothed over. The buried + man holds in his hand a small bush which seems to be growing from the + ground, and other bushes are stuck in the ground round about. The novices + are then brought to the edge of the grave and a song is sung. Gradually, + as the song goes on, the bush held by the buried man begins to quiver. It + moves more and more, and bit by bit the man himself starts up from the + grave.” + </p> + <p> + Strange in our own Baptismal Service and just before the actual + christening we read these words, “Then shall the Priest say: O merciful + God, grant that old Adam in this child may be so BURIED that the new man + may be raised up in him: grant that all carnal affections may die in him, + and that all things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow in him!” Can + we doubt that the Australian medicine-man, standing at the graveside of + the re-arisen old black-fellow, pointed the same moral to the young + initiates as the priest does to-day to those assembled before him in + church—for indeed we know that among savage tribes initiations have + always been before all things the occasions of moral and social teaching? + Can we doubt that he said, in substance if not in actual words: “As this + man has arisen from the grave, so you must also arise from your old + childish life of amusement and self-gratification and, ENTER INTO the life + of the tribe, the life of the Spirit of the tribe.” “In totemistic + societies,” to quote Miss Harrison again, “and in the animal secret + societies that seem to grow out of them, the novice is born again as THE + SACRED ANIMAL. Thus among the Carrier Indians (1) when a man wants to + become a Lulem or ‘Bear,’ however cold the season he tears off his + clothes, puts on a bear-skin and dashes into the woods, where he will stay + for three or four days. Every night his fellow-villagers will go out in + search parties to find him. They cry out Yi! Kelulem (come on, Bear), and + he answers with angry growls. Usually they fail to find him, but he comes + back at last himself. He is met, and conducted to the ceremonial lodge, + and there in company with the rest of the Bears dances solemnly his first + appearance. Disappearance and reappearance is as common a rite in + initiation as stimulated killing and resurrection, and has the same + object. Both are rites of transition, of passing from one to another.” In + the Christian ceremonies the boy or girl puts away childish things and + puts on the new man, but instead of putting on a bear-skin he puts on + Christ. There is not so much difference as may appear on the surface. To + be identified with your Totem is to be identified with the sacred being + who watches over your tribe, who has given his life for your tribe; it is + to be born again, to be washed not only with water but with the Holy + Spirit of all your fellows. To be baptized into Christ ought to mean to be + regenerated in the Holy Spirit of all humanity; and no doubt in cases it + does mean this, but too often unfortunately it has only amounted to a + pretence of religious sanction given to the meanest and bitterest quarrels + of the Churches and the States. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Golden Bough, Section 2, III, p. 438. +</p> + <p> + This idea of a New Birth at initiation explains the prevalent pagan custom + of subjecting the initiates to serious ordeals, often painful and even + dangerous. If one is to be born again, obviously one must be ready to face + death; the one thing cannot be without the other. One must be able to + endure pain, like the Red Indian braves; to go long periods fasting and + without food or drink, like the choupan among the Western Inoits—who, + wanders for whole nights over the ice-fields under the moon, scantily + clothed and braving the intense cold; to overcome the very fear of death + and danger, like the Australian novices who, at first terrified by the + sound of the bull-roarer and threats of fire and the knife, learn finally + to cast their fears away. (1) By so doing one puts off the old childish + things, and qualifies oneself by firmness and courage to become a worthy + member of the society into which one is called. (2) The rules of social + life are taught—the duty to one’s tribe, and to oneself, + truth-speaking, defence of women and children, the care of cattle, the + meaning of sex and marriage, and even the mysteries of such religious + ideas and rudimentary science as the tribe possesses. And by so doing one + really enters into a new life. Things of the spiritual world begin to + dawn. Julius Firmicus, in describing the mysteries of the resurrection of + Osiris, (3) says that when the worshipers had satiated themselves with + lamentations over the death of the god then the priest would go round + anointing them with oil and whispering, “Be of good cheer, O Neophytes of + the new-arisen God, for to us too from our pains shall come salvation.” + (4) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) According to accounts of the Wiradthuri tribe of Western +Australia, in their initiations, the lads were frightened by a large +fire being lighted near them, and hearing the awful sound of the +bull-roarers, while they were told that Dhuramoolan was about to burn +them; the legend being that Dhuramoolan, a powerful being, whose voice +sounded like thunder, would take the boys into the bush and instruct +them in all the laws, traditions and customs of the community. So he +pretended that he always killed the boys, cut them up, and burnt them to +ashes, after which he moulded the ashes into human shape, and restored +them to life as new beings. (See R. H. Matthews, “The Wiradthuri +tribes,” Journal Anthrop. Inst., vol. xxv, 1896, pp. 297 sq.) +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Catlin’s North-American Indians, vol. i, for initiations +and ordeals among the Mandans. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) De Errore, c. 22. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) [gr Qarreite, mustai ton qeou seswsmenou,] +[gr Estai gar hmin ek ponwn swthria.] +</p> + <p> + It would seem that at some very early time in the history of tribal and + priestly initiations an attempt was made to impress upon the neophytes the + existence and over-shadowing presence of spiritual and ghostly beings. + Perhaps the pains endured in the various ordeals, the long fastings, the + silences in the depth of the forests or on the mountains or among the + ice-floes, helped to rouse the visionary faculty. The developments of this + faculty among the black and colored peoples—East-Indian, Burmese, + African, American-Indian, etc.—are well known. Miss Alice Fletcher, + who lived among the Omaha Indians for thirty years, gives a most + interesting account (1) of the general philosophy of that people and their + rites of initiation. “The Omahas regard all animate and inanimate forms, + all phenomena, as pervaded by a common life, which was continuous with and + similar to the will-power they were conscious of in themselves. This + mysterious power in all things they called Wakonda, and through it all + things were related to man and to each other. In the idea of the + continuity of life a relation was maintained between the seen and the + unseen, the dead and the living, and also between the fragment of anything + and its entirety.” (2) Thus an Omaha novice might at any time seek to + obtain Wakonda by what was called THE RITE OF THE VISION. He would go out + alone, fast, chant incantations, and finally fall into a trance (much + resembling what in modern times has been called COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS) in + which he would perceive the inner relations of all things and the + solidarity of the least object with the rest of the universe. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Summarized in Themis, pp. 68-71. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) A. C. Fletcher, The Significance of the Scalp-lock, Journal +of Anthropological Studies, xxvii (1897-8), p. 436. +</p> + <p> + Another rite in connection with initiation, and common all over the pagan + world—in Greece, America, Africa, Australia, New Mexico, etc.—was + the daubing of the novice all over with clay or chalk or even dung, and + then after a while removing the same. (1) The novice must have looked a + sufficiently ugly and uncomfortable object in this state; but later, when + he was thoroughly WASHED, the ceremony must have afforded a thrilling + illustration of the idea of a new birth, and one which would dwell in the + minds of the spectators. When the daubing was done as not infrequently + happened with white clay or gypsum, and the ritual took place at night, it + can easily be imagined that the figures of young men and boys moving about + in the darkness would lend support to the idea that they were spirits + belonging to some intermediate world—who had already passed through + death and were now waiting for their second birth on earth (or into the + tribe) which would be signalized by their thorough and ceremonial washing. + It will be remembered that Herodotus (viii) gives a circumstantial account + of how the Phocians in a battle with the Thessalians smeared six hundred + of their bravest warriors with white clay so that, looking like + supernatural beings, and falling upon the Thessalians by night, they + terrified the latter and put them to instant flight. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See A. Lang’s Myth, Ritual and Religion, i, 274 sq. +</p> + <p> + Such then—though only very scantily described—were some of the + rites of Initiation and Second Birth celebrated in the old Pagan world. + The subject is far too large for adequate treatment within the present + limits; but even so we cannot but be struck by the appropriateness in many + cases of the teaching thus given to the young, the concreteness of the + illustrations, the effectiveness of the symbols used, the dramatic + character of the rites, the strong enforcement of lessons on the nature + and duties of the life into which the candidates were about to enter. + Christianity followed on, and inherited these traditions, but one feels + that in its ceremonies of Baptism and Confirmation, which of course + correspond to the Pagan Initiations, it falls short of the latter. Its + ceremonies (certainly as we have them to-day in Protestant countries) are + of a very milk-and-watery character; all allusion to and teaching on the + immensely important subject of Sex is omitted, the details of social and + industrial morality are passed by, and instruction is limited to a few + rather commonplace lessons in general morality and religion. + </p> + <p> + It may be appropriate here, before leaving the subject of the Second + Birth, to inquire how it has come about that this doctrine—so remote + and metaphysical as it might appear—has been taken up and embodied + in their creeds and rituals by quite PRIMITIVE people all over the world, + to such a degree indeed that it has ultimately been adopted and built into + the foundations of the latter and more intellectual religions, like + Hinduism, Mithraism, and the Egyptian and Christian cults. I think the + answer to this question must be found in the now-familiar fact that the + earliest peoples felt themselves so much a part of Nature and the animal + and vegetable world around them that (whenever they thought about these + matters at all) they never for a moment doubted that the things which were + happening all round them in the external world were also happening within + themselves. They saw the Sun, overclouded and nigh to death in winter, + come to its birth again each year; they saw the Vegetation shoot forth + anew in spring—the revival of the spirit of the Earth; the endless + breeding of the Animals, the strange transformations of Worms and Insects; + the obviously new life taken on by boys and girls at puberty; the same at + a later age when the novice was transformed into the medicine-man—the + choupan into the angakok among the Esquimaux, the Dacotah youth into the + wakan among the Red Indians; and they felt in their sub-conscious way the + same everlasting forces of rebirth and transformation working within + themselves. In some of the Greek Mysteries the newly admitted Initiates + were fed for some time after on milk only “as though we were being born + again.” (See Sallustius, quoted by Gilbert Murray.) When sub-conscious + knowledge began to glimmer into direct consciousness one of the first + aspects (and no doubt one of the truest) under which people saw life was + just thus: as a series of rebirths and transformations. (1) The most + modern science, I need hardly say, in biology as well as in chemistry and + the field of inorganic Nature, supports that view. The savage in earliest + times FELT the truth of some things which we to-day are only beginning + intellectually to perceive and analyze. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The fervent and widespread belief in animal metamorphoses +among early peoples is well known. +</p> + <p> + Christianity adopted and absorbed—as it was bound to do—this + world-wide doctrine of the second birth. Passing over its physiological + and biological applications, it gave to it a fine spiritual significance—or + rather it insisted especially on its spiritual significance, which (as we + have seen) had been widely recognized before. Only—as I suppose must + happen with all local religions—it narrowed the application and + outlook of the doctrine down to a special case—“As in Adam all die, + so in CHRIST shall all be made alive.” The Universal Spirit which can give + rebirth and salvation to EVERY child of man to whom it comes, was offered + only under a very special form—that of Jesus Christ. (1) In this + respect it was no better than the religions which preceded it. In some + respects—that is, where it was especially fanatical, blinkered, and + hostile to other sects—it was WORSE. But to those who perceive that + the Great Spirit may bring new birth and salvation to some under the form + of Osiris, equally well as to others under the form of Jesus, or again to + some under the form of a Siberian totem-Bear equally as to others under + the form of Osiris, these questionings and narrowings fall away as of no + importance. We in this latter day can see the main thing, namely that + Christianity was and is just one phase of a world-old religion, slowly + perhaps expanding its scope, but whose chief attitudes and orientations + have been the same through the centuries. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The same happened with regard to another great Pagan doctrine +(to which I have just alluded), the doctrine of transformations and +metamorphoses; and whereas the pagans believed in these things, as the +common and possible heritage of EVERY man, the Christians only allowed +themselves to entertain the idea in the special and unique instance of +the Transfiguration of Christ. +</p> + <p> + Many other illustrations might be taken of the truth of this view, but I + will confine myself to two or three more. There is the instance of the + Eucharist and its exceedingly widespread celebration (under very various + forms) among the pagans all over the world—as well as among + Christians. I have already said enough on this subject, and need not delay + over it. By partaking of the sacramental meal, even in its wildest and + crudest shapes, as in the mysteries of Dionysus, one was identified with + and united to the god; in its milder and more spiritual aspects as in the + Mithraic, Egyptian, Hindu and Christian cults, one passed behind the veil + of maya and this ever-changing world, and entered into the region of + divine peace and power. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Baring Gould in his Orig. Relig. Belief, I. 401, +says:—“Among the ancient Hindus Soma was a chief deity; he is called +the Giver of Life and Health.... He became incarnate among men, was +taken by them and slain, and brayed in a mortar (a god of corn and wine +apparently). But he rose in flame to heaven to be ‘the Benefactor of the +World’ and the ‘Mediator between God and Man!’ Through communion with +him in his sacrifice, man (who partook of this god) has an assurance of +immortality, for by that sacrament he obtains union with his divinity.” +</p> + <p> + Or again the doctrine of the Saviour. That also is one on which I need not + add much to what has been said already. The number of pagan deities + (mostly virgin-born and done to death in some way or other in their + efforts to save mankind) is so great (1) as to be difficult to keep + account of. The god Krishna in India, the god Indra in Nepaul and Thibet, + spilt their blood for the salvation of men; Buddha said, according to Max + Muller, (2) “Let all the sins that were in the world fall on me, that the + world may be delivered”; the Chinese Tien, the Holy One—“one with + God and existing with him from all eternity”—died to save the world; + the Egyptian Osiris was called Saviour, so was Horus; so was the Persian + Mithras; so was the Greek Hercules who overcame Death though his body was + consumed in the burning garment of mortality, out of which he rose into + heaven. So also was the Phrygian Attis called Saviour, and the Syrian + Tammuz or Adonis likewise—both of whom, as we have seen, were nailed + or tied to a tree, and afterwards rose again from their biers, or coffins. + Prometheus, the greatest and earliest benefactor of the human race, was + NAILED BY THE HANDS and feet, and with arms extended, to the rocks of + Mount Caucasus. Bacchus or Dionysus, born of the virgin Semele to be the + Liberator of mankind (Dionysus Eleutherios as he was called), was torn to + pieces, not unlike Osiris. Even in far Mexico Quetzalcoatl, the Saviour, + was born of a virgin, was tempted, and fasted forty days, was done to + death, and his second coming looked for so eagerly that (as is well known) + when Cortes appeared, the Mexicans, poor things, greeted HIM as the + returning god! (3) In Peru and among the American Indians, North and South + of the Equator, similar legends are, or were, to be found. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See for a considerable list Doane’s Bible Myths, ch. xx. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Hist. Sanskrit Literature, p. 80. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Kingsborough, Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi. +</p> + <p> + Briefly sketched as all this is, it is enough to prove quite abundantly + that the doctrine of the Saviour is world-wide and world-old, and that + Christianity merely appropriated the same and (as the other cults did) + gave it a special color. Probably the wide range of this doctrine would + have been far better and more generally known, had not the Christian + Church, all through, made the greatest of efforts and taken the greatest + precautions to extinguish and snuff out all evidence of pagan claims on + the subject. There is much to show that the early Church took this line + with regard to pre-Christian saviours; (1) and in later times the same + policy is remarkably illustrated by the treatment in the sixteenth century + of the writings of Sahagun the Spanish missionary—to whose work I + have already referred. Sahagun was a wonderfully broad-minded and fine man + who, while he did not conceal the barbarities of the Aztec religion, was + truthful enough to point out redeeming traits in the manners and customs + of the people and some resemblances to Christian doctrine and practice. + This infuriated the bigoted Catholics of the newly formed Mexican Church. + They purloined the manuscripts of Sahagun’s Historia and scattered and hid + them about the country, and it was only after infinite labor and an appeal + to the Spanish Court that he got them together again. Finally, at the age + of eighty, having translated them into Spanish (from the original Mexican) + he sent them in two big volumes home to Spain for safety; but there almost + immediately THEY DISAPPEARED, and could not be found! It was only after + TWO CENTURIES that they ultimately turned up (1790) in a Convent at Tolosa + in Navarre. Lord Kingsborough published them in England in 1830. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Tertullian’s Apologia, c. 16; Ad Nationes, c. xii. +</p> + <p> + I have thus dwelt upon several of the main doctrines of Christianity—namely, + those of Sin and Sacrifice, the Eucharist, the Saviour, the Second Birth, + and Transfiguration—as showing that they are by no means unique in + our religion, but were common to nearly all the religions of the ancient + world. The list might be much further extended, but there is no need to + delay over a subject which is now very generally understood. I will, + however, devote a page or two to one instance, which I think is very + remarkable, and full of deep suggestion. + </p> + <p> + There is no doctrine in Christianity which is more reverenced by the + adherents of that religion, or held in higher estimation, than that God + sacrificed his only Son for the salvation of the world; also that since + the Son was not only of like nature but of the SAME nature with the + Father, and equal to him as being the second Person of the Divine Trinity, + the sacrifice amounted to an immolation of Himself for the good of + mankind. The doctrine is so mystical, so remote, and in a sense so absurd + and impossible, that it has been a favorite mark through the centuries for + the ridicule of the scoffers and enemies of the Church; and here, it might + easily be thought, is a belief which—whether it be considered + glorious or whether contemptible—is at any rate unique, and peculiar + to that Church. + </p> + <p> + And yet the extraordinary fact is that a similar belief ranges all through + the ancient religions, and can be traced back to the earliest times. The + word host which is used in the Catholic Mass for the bread and wine on the + Altar, supposed to be the transubstantiated body and blood of Christ, is + from the Latin Hostia which the dictionary interprets as “an animal slain + in sacrifice, a sin-offering.” It takes us far far back to the Totem stage + of folk-life, when the tribe, as I have already explained, crowned a + victim-bull or bear or other animal with flowers, and honoring it with + every offering of food and worship, sacrificed the victim to the Totem + spirit of the tribe, and consumed it in an Eucharistic feast—the + medicine-man or priest who conducted the ritual wearing a skin of the same + beast as a sign that he represented the Totem-divinity, taking part in the + sacrifice of ‘himself to himself.’ It reminds us of the Khonds of Bengal + sacrificing their meriahs crowned and decorated as gods and goddesses; of + the Aztecs doing the same; of Quetzalcoatl pricking his elbows and fingers + so as to draw blood, which he offered on his own altar; or of Odin hanging + by his own desire upon a tree. “I know I was hanged upon a tree shaken by + the winds for nine long nights. I was transfixed by a spear; I was moved + to Odin, myself to myself.” And so on. The instances are endless. “I am + the oblation,” says the Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, (1) “I am the + sacrifice, I the ancestral offering.” “In the truly orthodox conception of + sacrifice,” says Elie Reclus, (2) “the consecrated offering, be it man, + woman or virgin, lamb or heifer, cock or dove, represents THE DEITY + HIMSELF.... Brahma is the ‘imperishable sacrifice’; Indra, Soma, Hari and + the other gods, became incarnate in animals to the sole end that they + might be immolated. Perusha, the Universal Being, caused himself to be + slain by the Immortals, and from his substance were born the birds of the + air, wild and domestic animals, the offerings of butter and curds. The + world, declared the Rishis, is a series of sacrifices disclosing other + sacrifices. To stop them would be to suspend the life of Nature. The god + Siva, to whom the Tipperahs of Bengal are supposed to have sacrificed as + many as a thousand human victims a year, said to the Brahamins: ‘It is I + that am the actual offering; it is I that you butcher upon my altars.’” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Ch. ix, v. 16. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Primitive Folk, ch. vi. +</p> + <p> + It was in allusion to this doctrine that R. W. Emerson, paraphrasing the + Katha-Upanishad, wrote that immortal verse of his:— + </p> +<p class="poem"> +If the red slayer thinks he slays,<br/> + Or the slain thinks he is slain,<br/> +They know not well the subtle ways<br/> + I take, and pass, and turn again. +</p> + <p> + I say it is an astonishing thing to think and realize that this profound + and mystic doctrine of the eternal sacrifice of Himself, ordained by the + Great Spirit for the creation and salvation of the world—a doctrine + which has attracted and fascinated many of the great thinkers and nobler + minds of Europe, which has also inspired the religious teachings of the + Indian sages and to a less philosophical degree the writings of the + Christian Saints—should have been seized in its general outline and + essence by rude and primitive people before the dawn of history, and + embodied in their rites and ceremonials. What is the explanation of this + fact? + </p> + <p> + It is very puzzling. The whole subject is puzzling. The world-wide + adoption of similar creeds and rituals (and, we may add, legends and fairy + tales) among early peoples, and in far-sundered places and times is so + remarkable that it has given the students of these subjects ‘furiously to + think’ (1)—yet for the most part without great success in the way of + finding a solution. The supposition that (1) the creed, rite or legend in + question has sprung up, so to speak, accidentally, in one place, and then + has travelled (owing to some inherent plausibility) over the rest of the + world, is of course one that commends itself readily at first; but on + closer examination the practical difficulties it presents are certainly + very great. These include the migrations of customs and myths in quite + early ages of the earth across trackless oceans and continents, and + between races and peoples absolutely incapable of understanding each + other. And if to avoid these difficulties it is assumed that the present + human race all proceeds from one original stock which radiating from one + centre—say in South-Eastern Asia (2)—overspread the world, + carrying its rites and customs with it, why, then we are compelled to face + the difficulty of supposing this radiation to have taken place at an + enormous time ago (the continents being then all more or less conjoined) + and at a period when it is doubtful if any religious rites and customs at + all existed; not to mention the further difficulty of supposing all the + four or five hundred languages now existing to be descended from one + common source. The far tradition of the Island of Atlantis seems to afford + a possible explanation of the community of rites and customs between the + Old and New World, and this without assuming in any way that Atlantis (if + it existed) was the original and SOLE cradle of the human race. (3) Anyhow + it is clear that these origins of human culture must be of extreme + antiquity, and that it would not be wise to be put off the track of the + investigation of a possible common source merely by that fact of + antiquity. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See A. Lang’s Myth, Ritual and Religion, vol. ii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Hastings, Encycl. Religion and Ethics, art. “Ethnology.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) E. J. Payne, History of the New World called America (vol. i, +p. 93) says: “It is certain that Europe and America once formed a single +continent,” but inroads of the sea “left a vast island or peninsula +stretching from Iceland to the Azores—which gradually disappeared.” +Also he speaks (i. 93) of the “Miocene Bridge” between Siberia and the +New World. +</p> + <p> + A second supposition, however, is (2) that the natural psychological + evolution of the human mind has in the various times and climes led folk + of the most diverse surroundings and heredity—and perhaps even + sprung from separate anthropoid stocks—to develop their social and + religious ideas along the same general lines—and that even to the + extent of exhibiting at times a remarkable similarity in minute details. + This is a theory which commends itself greatly to a deeper and more + philosophical consideration; but it brings us up point-blank against + another most difficult question (which we have already raised), namely, + how to account for extremely rude and primitive peoples in the far past, + and on the very borderland of the animal life, having been SUSCEPTIBLE to + the germs of great religious ideas (such as we have mentioned) and having + been instinctively—though not of course by any process of conscious + reasoning—moved to express them in symbols and rites and + ceremonials, and (later no doubt) in myths and legends, which satisfied + their FEELINGS and sense of fitness—though they may not have known + WHY—and afterwards were capable of being taken up and embodied in + the great philosophical religions. + </p> + <p> + This difficulty almost compels us to a view of human knowledge which has + found supporters among some able thinkers—the view, namely, that a + vast store of knowledge is already contained in the subconscious mind of + man (and the animals) and only needs the provocation of outer experience + to bring it to the surface; and that in the second stage of human + psychology this process of crude and piecemeal externalization is taking + place, in preparation for the final or third stage in which the knowledge + will be re-absorbed and become direct and intuitional on a high and + harmonious plane—something like the present intuition of the animals + as we perceive it on the animal plane. However this general subject is one + on which I shall touch again, and I do not propose to dwell on it at any + length now. + </p> + <p> + There is a third alternative theory (3)—a combination of (1) and (2)—namely, + that if one accepts (2) and the idea that at any given stage of human + development there is a PREDISPOSITION to certain symbols and rites + belonging to that stage, then it is much more easy to accept theory (1) as + an important factor in the spread of such symbols and rites; for clearly, + then, the smallest germ of a custom or practice, transported from one + country or people to another at the right time, would be sufficient to + wake the development or growth in question and stimulate it into activity. + It will be seen, therefore, that the important point towards the solution + of this whole puzzling question is the discussion, of theory (2)—and + to this theory, as illustrated by the world-wide myth of the Golden Age, I + will now turn. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a> +IX.<br/> +MYTH OF THE GOLDEN AGE +</h2> + <p> + The tradition of a “Golden Age” is widespread over the world, and it is + not necessary to go at any length into the story of the Garden of Eden and + the other legends which in almost every country illustrate this tradition. + Without indulging in sentiment on the subject we may hold it not unlikely + that the tradition is justified by the remembrance, among the people of + every race, of a pre-civilization period of comparative harmony and + happiness when two things, which to-day we perceive to be the prolific + causes of discord and misery, were absent or only weakly developed—namely, + PROPERTY and SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For a fuller working out of this, see Civilisation: its Cause +and Cure, by E. Carpenter, ch. i. +</p> + <p> + During the first century B.C. there was a great spread of Messianic Ideas + over the Roman world, and Virgil’s 4th Eclogue, commonly called the + Messianic Eclogue, reflects very clearly this state of the public mind. + The expected babe in the poem was to be the son of Octavian (Augustus) the + first Roman emperor, and a messianic halo surrounded it in Virgil’s verse. + Unfortunately it turned out to be a GIRL! However there is little doubt + that Virgil did—in that very sad age of the world, an age of “misery + and massacre,” and in common with thousands of others—look for the + coming of a great ‘redeemer.’ It was only a few years earlier—about + B.C. 70—that the great revolt of the shamefully maltreated Roman + slaves occurred, and that in revenge six thousand prisoners from + Spartacus’ army were nailed on crosses all the way from Rome to Capua (150 + miles). But long before this Hesiod had recorded a past Golden Age when + life had been gracious in communal fraternity and joyful in peace, when + human beings and animals spoke the same language, when death had followed + on sleep, without old age or disease, and after death men had moved as + good daimones or genii over the lands. Pindar, three hundred years after + Hesiod, had confirmed the existence of the Islands of the Blest, where the + good led a blameless, tearless, life. Plato the same, (1) with further + references to the fabled island of Atlantis; the Egyptians believed in a + former golden age under the god R[a^] to which they looked back with + regret and envy; the Persians had a garden of Eden similar to that of the + Hebrews; the Greeks a garden of the Hesperides, in which dwelt the serpent + whose head was ultimately crushed beneath the heel of Hercules; and so on. + The references to a supposed far-back state of peace and happiness are + indeed numerous. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See arts. by Margaret Scholes, Socialist Review, Nov. and +Dec. 1912. +</p> + <p> + So much so that latterly, and partly to explain their prevalence, a theory + has been advanced which may be worth while mentioning. It is called the + “Theory of intra-uterine Blessedness,” and, remote as it may at first + appear, it certainly has some claim for attention. The theory is that in + the minds of mature people there still remain certain vague memories of + their pre-natal days in the maternal womb—memories of a life which, + though full of growing vigor and vitality, was yet at that time one of + absolute harmony with the surroundings, and of perfect peace and + contentment, spent within the body of the mother—the embryo indeed + standing in the same relation to the mother as St. Paul says WE stand to + God, “IN whom we live and move and have our being”; and that these vague + memories of the intra-uterine life in the individual are referred back by + the mature mind to a past age in the life of the RACE. Though it would not + be easy at present to positively confirm this theory, yet one may say that + it is neither improbable nor unworthy of consideration; also that it bears + a certain likeness to the former ones about the Eden-gardens, etc. The + well-known parallelism of the Individual history with the Race-history, + the “recapitulation” by the embryo of the development of the race, does in + fact afford an additional argument for its favorable reception. + </p> + <p> + These considerations, and what we have said so often in the foregoing + chapters about the unity of the Animals (and Early Man) with Nature, and + their instinctive and age-long adjustment to the conditions of the world + around them, bring us up hard and fast against the following conclusions, + which I think we shall find difficult to avoid. + </p> + <p> + We all recognize the extraordinary grace and beauty, in their different + ways, of the (wild) animals; and not only their beauty but the extreme + fitness of their actions and habits to their surroundings—their + subtle and penetrating Intelligence in fact. Only we do not generally use + the word “Intelligence.” We use another word (Instinct)—and rightly + perhaps, because their actions are plainly not the result of definite + self-conscious reasoning, such as we use, carried out by each individual; + but are (as has been abundantly proved by Samuel Butler and others) the + systematic expression of experiences gathered up and sorted out and handed + down from generation to generation in the bosom of the race—an + Intelligence in fact, or Insight, of larger subtler scope than the other, + and belonging to the tribal or racial Being rather than to the isolated + individual—a super-consciousness in fact, ramifying afar in space + and time. + </p> + <p> + But if we allow (as we must) this unity and perfection of nature, and this + somewhat cosmic character of the mind, to exist among the Animals, we can + hardly refuse to believe that there must have been a period when Man, too, + hardly as yet differentiated from them, did himself possess these same + qualities—perhaps even in greater degree than the animals—of + grace and beauty of body, perfection of movement and action, instinctive + perception and knowledge (of course in limited spheres); and a period when + he possessed above all a sense of unity with his fellows and with + surrounding Nature which became the ground of a common consciousness + between himself and his tribe, similar to that which Maeterlinck, in the + case of the Bees, calls the Spirit of the Hive. (1) It would be difficult, + nay impossible, to suppose that human beings on their first appearance + formed an entire exception in the process of evolution, or that they were + completely lacking in the very graces and faculties which we so admire in + the animals—only of course we see that (LIKE the animals) they would + not be SELF-conscious in these matters, and what perception they had of + their relations to each other or to the world around them would be largely + inarticulate and SUB-conscious—though none the less real for that. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See The Life of the Bee by Maurice Maeterlinck; and for +numerous similar cases among other animals, P. Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid: a +factor in Evolution. +</p> + <p> + Let us then grant this preliminary assumption—and it clearly is not + a large or hazardous one—and what follows? It follows—since + to-day discord is the rule, and Man has certainly lost the grace, both + physical and mental, of the animals—that at some period a break must + have occurred in the evolution-process, a discontinuity—similar + perhaps to that which occurs in the life of a child at the moment when it + is born into the world. Humanity took a new departure; but a departure + which for the moment was signalized as a LOSS—the loss of its former + harmony and self-adjustment. And the cause or accompaniment of this change + was the growth of Self-consciousness. Into the general consciousness of + the tribe (in relation to its environment) which in fact had constituted + the mentality of the animals and of man up to this stage, there now was + intruded another kind of consciousness, a consciousness centering round + each little individual self and concerned almost entirely with the + interests of the latter. Here was evidently a threat to the continuance of + the former happy conditions. It was like the appearance of innumerable + little ulcers in a human body—a menace which if continued would + inevitably lead to the break-up of the body. It meant loss of tribal + harmony and nature-adjustment. It meant instead of unity a myriad + conflicting centres; it meant alienation from the spirit of the tribe, the + separation of man from man, discord, recrimination, and the fatal + unfolding of the sense of sin. The process symbolized itself in the legend + of the Fall. Man ate of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. + Sometimes people wonder why knowledge of any kind—and especially the + knowledge of good and evil—should have brought a curse. But the + reason is obvious. Into, the placid and harmonious life of the animal and + human tribes fulfilling their days in obedience to the slow evolutions and + age-long mandates of nature, Self-consciousness broke with its + inconvenient and impossible query: “How do these arrangements suit ME? Are + they good for me, are they evil for me? I want to know. I WILL KNOW!” + Evidently knowledge (such knowledge as we understand by the word) only + began, and could only begin, by queries relating to the little local self. + There was no other way for it to begin. Knowledge and self-consciousness + were born, as twins, together. Knowledge therefore meant Sin (1); for + self-consciousness meant sin (and it means sin to-day). Sin is Separation. + That is probably (though disputed) the etymology of the word—that + which sunders. (2) The essence of sin is one’s separation from the whole + (the tribe or the god) of which one is a part. And knowledge—which + separates subject from object, and in its inception is necessarily + occupied with the ‘good and evil’ of the little local self, is the great + engine of this separation. (Mark! I say nothing AGAINST this association + of Self-consciousness with ‘Sin’ (so-called) and ‘Knowledge’ (so-called). + The growth of all three together is an absolutely necessary part of human + evolution, and to rail against it would be absurd. But we may as well open + our eyes and see the fact straight instead of blinking it.) The + culmination of the process and the fulfilment of the ‘curse’ we may watch + to-day in the towering expansion of the self-conscious individualized + Intellect—science as the handmaid of human Greed devastating the + habitable world and destroying its unworthy civilization. And the process + must go on—necessarily must go on—until Self-consciousness, + ceasing its vain quest (vain in both senses) for the separate domination + of life, surrenders itself back again into the arms of the + Mother-consciousness from which it originally sprang—surrenders + itself back, not to be merged in nonentity, but to be affiliated in loving + dependence on and harmony with the cosmic life. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Compare also other myths, like Cupid and Psyche, Lohengrin +etc., in which a fatal curiosity leads to tragedy. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) German Sunde, sin, and sonder, separated; Dutch zonde, sin; +Latin sons, guilty. Not unlikely that the German root Suhn, expiation, +is connected; Suhn-bock, a scape-goat. +</p> + <p> + All this I have dealt with in far more detail in Civilization: its Cause + and Cure, and in The Art of Creation; but I have only repeated the outline + of it as above, because some such outline is necessary for the proper + ordering and understanding of the points which follow. + </p> + <p> + We are not concerned now with the ultimate effects of the ‘Fall’ of Man or + with the present-day fulfilment of the Eden-curse. What we want to + understand is how the ‘Fall’ into self-consciousness led to that great + panorama of Ritual and Religion which we have very briefly described and + summarized in the preceding chapters of this book. We want for the present + to fix our attention on the COMMENCEMENT of that process by which man + lapsed away from his living community with Nature and his fellows into the + desert of discord and toil, while the angels of the flaming sword closed + the gates of Paradise behind him. + </p> + <p> + It is evident I think that in that ‘golden’ stage when man was simply the + crown and perfection of the animals—and it is hardly possible to + refuse the belief in such a stage—he possessed in reality all the + essentials of Religion. (1) It is not necessary to sentimentalize over + him; he was probably raw and crude in his lusts of hunger and of sex; he + was certainly ignorant and superstitious; he loved fighting with and + persecuting ‘enemies’ (which things of course all religions to-day—except + perhaps the Buddhist—love to do); he was dominated often by + unreasoning Fear, and was consequently cruel. Yet he was full of that + Faith which the animals have to such an admirable degree—unhesitating + faith in the inner promptings of his OWN nature; he had the joy which + comes of abounding vitality, springing up like a fountain whose outlet is + free and unhindered; he rejoiced in an untroubled and unbroken sense of + unity with his Tribe, and in elaborate social and friendly institutions + within its borders; he had a marvelous sense-acuteness towards Nature and + a gift in that direction verging towards “second-sight”; strengthened by a + conviction—which had never become CONSCIOUS because it had never + been QUESTIONED—of his own personal relation to the things outside + him, the Earth, the Sky, the Vegetation, the Animals. Of such a Man we get + glimpses in the far past—though indeed only glimpses, for the simple + reason that all our knowledge of him comes through civilized channels; and + wherever civilization has touched these early peoples it has already + withered and corrupted them, even before it has had the sense to properly + observe them. It is sufficient, however, just to mention peoples like some + of the early Pacific Islanders, the Zulus and Kafirs of South Africa, the + Fans of the Congo Region (of whom Winwood Reade (2) speaks so highly), + some of the Malaysian and Himalayan tribes, the primitive Chinese, and + even the evidence with regard to the neolithic peoples of Europe, (3) in + order to show what I mean. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See S. Reinach, Cults, Myths, etc., introduction: “The +primitive life of humanity, in so far as it is not purely animal, is +religious. Religion is the parent stem which has thrown off, one by one, +art, agriculture, law, morality, politics, etc.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Savage Africa, ch. xxxvii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid, ch. iii. +</p> + <p> + Perhaps one of the best ideas of the gulf of difference between the + semi-civilized and the quite primal man is given by A. R. Wallace in his + Life (Vol. i, p. 288): “A most unexpected sensation of surprise and + delight was my first meeting and living with man in a state of nature with + absolute uncontaminated savages! This was on the Uaupes river.... They + were all going about their own work or pleasure, which had nothing to do + with the white men or their ways; they walked with the free step of the + independent forest-dweller... original and self-sustaining as the wild + animals of the forests, absolutely independent of civilization... living + their own lives in their own way, as they had done for countless + generations before America was discovered. Indeed the true denizen of the + Amazonian forests, like the forest itself, is unique and not to be + forgotten.” Elsewhere (3) Wallace speaks of the quiet, good-natured, + inoffensive character of these copper-colored peoples, and of their + quickness of hand and skill, and continues: “their figures are generally + superb; and I have never felt so much pleasure in gazing at the finest + statue as at these living illustrations of the beauty of the human form.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Travels on the Amazon (1853), ch. xvii. +</p> + <p> + Though some of the peoples just mentioned may be said to belong to + different grades or stages of human evolution and physically some no doubt + were far superior to others, yet they mostly exhibit this simple grace of + the bodily and mental organism, as well as that closeness of tribal + solidarity of which I have spoken. The immense antiquity, of the clan + organization, as shown by investigations into early marriage, points to + the latter conclusion. Travellers among Bushmen, Hottentots, Fuegians, + Esquimaux, Papuans and other peoples—peoples who have been pushed + aside into unfavorable areas by the invasion of more warlike and + better-equipped races, and who have suffered physically in consequence—confirm + this. Kropotkin, speaking of the Hottentots, quotes the German author P. + Kolben who travelled among them in 1275 or so. “He knew the Hottentots + well and did not pass by their defects in silence, but could not praise + their tribal morality highly enough. Their word is sacred, he wrote, they + know nothing of the corruption and faithless arts of Europe. They live in + great tranquillity and are seldom at war with their neighbors, and are all + kindness and goodwill to one another.” (1) Kropotkin further says: “Let me + remark that when Kolben says ‘they are certainly the most friendly, the + most liberal and the most benevolent people to one another that ever + appeared on the earth’ he wrote a sentence which has continually appeared + since in the description of savages. When first meeting with primitive + races, the Europeans usually make a caricature of their life; but when an + intelligent man has stayed among them for a longer time he generally + describes them as the ‘kindest’ or the ‘gentlest’ race on the earth. These + very same words have been applied to the Ostyaks, the Samoyedes, the + Eskimos, the Dyaks, the Aleuts, the Papuans, and so on, by the highest + authorities. I also remember having read them applied to the Tunguses, the + Tchuktchis, the Sioux, and several others. The very frequency of that high + commendation already speaks volumes in itself.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) P. Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, p. 90. W. J. Solias also speaks in +terms of the highest praise of the Bushmen—“their energy, patience, +courage, loyalty, affection, good manners and artistic sense” (Ancient +Hunters, 1915, p. 425). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Ibid, p. 91. +</p> + <p> + Many of the tribes, like the Aleuts, Eskimos, Dyaks, Papuans, Fuegians, + etc., are themselves in the Neolithic stage of culture—though for + the reason given above probably degenerated physically from the standard + of their neolithic ancestors; and so the conclusion is forced upon one + that there must have been an IMMENSE PERIOD, (1) prior to the first + beginnings of ‘civilization,’ in which the human tribes in general led a + peaceful and friendly life on the earth, comparatively little broken up by + dissensions, in close contact with Nature and in that degree of sympathy + with and understanding of the Animals which led to the establishment of + the Totem system. Though it would be absurd to credit these tribes with + any great degree of comfort and well-being according to our modern + standards, yet we may well suppose that the memory of this long period + lingered on for generations and generations and was ultimately idealized + into the Golden Age, in contrast to the succeeding period of everlasting + warfare, rancor and strife, which came in with the growth of Property with + its greeds and jealousies, and the accentuation of Self-consciousness with + all its vanities and ambitions. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See for estimates of periods ch. xiv; also, for the +peacefulness of these early peoples, Havelock Ellis on “The Origin of +War,” where he says “We do not find the WEAPONS of warfare or the WOUNDS +of warfare among these Palaeolithic remains ... it was with civilization +that the art of killing developed, i. e. within the last 10,000 or +12,000 years when Neolithic men (who became our ancestors) were just +arriving.” +</p> + <p> + I say that each tribe at this early stage of development had within it the + ESSENTIALS of what we call Religion—namely a bedrock sense of its + community with Nature, and of the Common life among its members—a + sense so intimate and fundamental that it was hardly aware of itself (any + more than the fish is aware of the sea in which it lives), but yet was + really the matrix of tribal thought and the spring of tribal action. It + was this sense of unity which was destined by the growth of + SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS to come to light and evidence in the shape of all + manner of rituals and ceremonials; and by the growth of the IMAGINATIVE + INTELLECT to embody itself in the figures and forms of all manner of + deities. + </p> + <p> + Let us examine into this a little more closely. A lark soaring in the eye + of the sun, and singing rapt between its “heaven and home” realizes no + doubt in actual fact all that those two words mean to us; yet its + realization is quite subconscious. It does not define its own experience: + it FEELS but it does not THINK. In order to come to the stage of THINKING + it would perhaps be necessary that the lark should be exiled from the + earth and the sky, and confined in a cage. Early Man FELT the great truths + and realities of Life—often I believe more purely than we do—but + he could not give form to his experience. THAT stage came when he began to + lose touch with these realities; and it showed itself in rites and + ceremonials. The inbreak of self-consciousness brought OUT the facts of + his inner life into ritualistic and afterwards into intellectual forms. + </p> + <p> + Let me give examples. For a long time the Tribe is all in all; the + individual is completely subject to the ‘Spirit of the Hive’; he does not + even THINK of contravening it. Then the day comes when self-interest, as + apart from the Tribe, becomes sufficiently strong to drive him against + some tribal custom. He breaks the tabu; he eats the forbidden apple; he + sins against the tribe, and is cast out. Suddenly he finds himself an + exile, lonely, condemned and deserted. A horrible sense of distress seizes + him—something of which he had no experience before. He tries to + think about it all, to understand the situation, but is dazed and cannot + arrive at any conclusion. His one NECESSITY is Reconciliation, Atonement. + He finds he cannot LIVE outside of and alienated from his tribe. He makes + a Sacrifice, an offering to his fellows, as a seal of sincerity—an + offering of his own bodily suffering or precious blood, or the blood of + some food-animal, or some valuable gift or other—if only he may be + allowed to return. The offering is accepted. The ritual is performed; and + he is received back. I have already spoken of this perfectly natural + evolution of the twin-ideas of Sin and Sacrifice, so I need not enlarge + upon the subject. But two things we may note here: (1) that the ritual, + being so concrete (and often severe), graves itself on the minds of those + concerned, and expresses the feelings of the tribe, with an intensity and + sharpness of outline which no words could rival, and (2) that such rituals + may have, and probably did, come into use even while language itself was + in an infantile condition and incapable of dealing with the psychological + situation except by symbols. They, the rituals, were the first effort of + the primitive mind to get beyond, subconscious feeling and emerge into a + world of forms and definite thought. + </p> + <p> + Let us carry the particular instance, given above, a stage farther, even + to the confines of abstract Thought and Philosophy. I have spoken of “The + Spirit of the Hive” as if the term were applicable to the Human as well as + to the Bee tribe. The individual bee obviously has never THOUGHT about + that ‘Spirit,’ nor mentally understood what Maeterlinck means by it; and + yet in terms of actual experience it is an intense reality to the bee + (ordaining for instance on some fateful day the slaughter of all the + drones), controlling bee-movements and bee-morality generally. The + individual tribesman similarly steeped in the age-long human life of his + fellows has never thought of the Tribe as an ordaining being or Spirit, + separate from himself—TILL that day when he is exiled and outcast + from it. THEN he sees himself and the tribe as two opposing beings, + himself of course an Intelligence or Spirit in his own limited degree, the + Tribe as a much greater Intelligence or Spirit, standing against and over + him. From that day the conception of a god arises on him. It may be only a + totem-god—a divine Grizzly-Bear or what not—but still a god or + supernatural Presence, embodied in the life of the tribe. This is what Sin + has taught him. (1) This is what Fear, founded on self-consciousness, has + revealed to him. The revelation may be true, or it may be fallacious (I do + not prejudge it); but there it is—the beginning of that long series + of human evolutions which we call Religion. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) It is to be noted, in that charming idyll of the Eden garden, +that it is only AFTER eating of the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve +perceive the Lord God walking in the garden, and converse with him +(Genesis iii. 8). +</p> + <p> + (For when the human mind has reached that stage of consciousness in which + each man realizes his own ‘self’ as a rational and consistent being, + “looking before and after,” then, as I have said already, the mind + projects on the background of Nature similarly rational Presences which we + may call ‘Gods’; and at that stage ‘Religion’ begins. Before that, when + the mind is quite unformed and dream-like, and consists chiefly of broken + and scattered rays, and when distinct self-consciousness is hardly yet + developed, then the presences imagined in Nature are merely flickering and + intermittent phantoms, and their propitiation and placation comes more + properly under, the head of ‘Magic.’) + </p> + <p> + So much for the genesis of the religious ideas of Sin and Sacrifice, and + the rites connected with these ideas—their genesis through the + in-break of self-consciousness upon the corporate SUB-consciousness of the + life of the Community. But an exactly similar process may be observed in + the case of the other religious ideas. + </p> + <p> + I spoke of the doctrine of the SECOND BIRTH, and the rites connected with + it both in Paganism and in Christianity. There is much to show that among + quite primitive peoples there is less of shrinking from death and more of + certainty about a continued life after death than we generally find among + more intellectual and civilized folk. It is, or has been, quite, common + among many tribes for the old and decrepit, who are becoming a burden to + their fellows, to offer themselves for happy dispatch, and to take willing + part in the ceremonial preparations for their own extinction; and this + readiness is encouraged by their na[i:]ve and untroubled belief in a + speedy transference to “happy hunting-grounds” beyond the grave. The truth + is that when, as in such cases, the tribal life is very whole and unbroken—each + individual identifying himself completely with the tribe—the idea of + the individual’s being dropped out at death, and left behind by the tribe, + hardly arises. The individual is the tribe, has no other existence. The + tribe goes on, living a life which is eternal, and only changes its + hunting-grounds; and the individual, identified with the tribe, feels in + some subconscious way the same about himself. + </p> + <p> + But when one member has broken faith with the tribe, when he has sinned + against it and become an outcast—ah! then the terrors of death and + extinction loom large upon him. “The wages of sin is death.” There comes a + period in the evolution of tribal life when the primitive bonds are + loosening, when the tendency towards SELF-will and SELF-determination (so + necessary of course in the long run for the evolution of humanity) becomes + a real danger to the tribe, and a terror to the wise men and elders of the + community. It is seen that the children inherit this tendency—even + from their infancy. They are no longer mere animals, easily herded; it + seems that they are born in sin—or at least in ignorance and neglect + of their tribal life and calling. The only cure is that they MUST BE BORN + AGAIN. They must deliberately and of set purpose be adopted into the + tribe, and be made to realize, even severely, in their own persons what is + happening. They must go through the initiations necessary to impress this + upon them. Thus a whole series of solemn rites spring up, different no + doubt in every locality, but all having the same object and purpose. (And + one can understand how the necessity of such initiations and second birth + may easily have been itself felt in every race, at some stage of its + evolution—and THAT quite as a spontaneous growth, and independently + of any contagion of example caught from other races.) + </p> + <p> + The same may be said about the world-wide practice of the Eucharist. No + more effective method exists for impressing on the members of a body their + community of life with each other, and causing them to forget their + jangling self-interests, than to hold a feast in common. It is a method + which has been honored in all ages as well as to-day. But when the flesh + partaken of at the feast is that of the Totem—the guardian and + presiding genius of the tribe—or perhaps of one of its chief + food-animals—then clearly the feast takes on a holy and solemn + character. It becomes a sacrament of unity—of the unity of all with + the tribe, and with each other. Self-interests and self-consciousness are + for the time submerged, and the common life asserts itself; but here again + we see that a custom like this would not come into being as a deliberate + rite UNTIL self-consciousness and the divisions consequent thereon had + grown to be an obvious evil. The herd-animals (cows, sheep, and so forth) + do not have Eucharists, simply because they are sensible enough to feed + along the same pastures without quarrelling over the richest tufts of + grass. + </p> + <p> + When the flesh partaken of (either actually or symbolically) is not that + of a divinized animal, but the flesh of a human-formed god—as in the + mysteries of Dionysus or Osiris or Christ—then we are led to suspect + (and of course this theory is widely held and supported) that the rites + date from a very far-back period when a human being, as representative of + the tribe, was actually slain, dismembered and partly devoured; though as + time went on, the rite gradually became glossed over and mitigated into a + love-communion through the sharing of bread and wine. + </p> + <p> + It is curious anyhow that the dismemberment or division into fragments of + the body of a god (as in the case of Dionysus, Osiris, Attis, Praj[a’]pati + and others) should be so frequent a tenet of the old religions, and so + commonly associated with a love-feast of reconciliation and resurrection. + It may be fairly interpreted as a symbol of Nature-dismemberment in Winter + and resurrection in Spring; but we must also not forget that it may (and + indeed must) have stood as an allegory of TRIBAL dismemberment and + reconciliation—the tribe, conceived of as a divinity, having thus + suffered and died through the inbreak of sin and the self-motive, and + risen again into wholeness by the redemption of love and sacrifice. + Whatever view the rank and file of the tribe may have taken of the matter, + I think it is incontestable that the more thoughtful regarded these rites + as full of mystic and spiritual meaning. It is of the nature, as I have + said before, of these early symbols and ceremonies that they held so many + meanings in solution; and it is this fact which gave them a poetic or + creative quality, and their great hold upon the public mind. + </p> + <p> + I use the word “tribe” in many places here as a matter of convenience; not + forgetting however that in some cases “clan” might be more appropriate, as + referring to a section of a tribe; or “people” or “folk” as referring to + unions of SEVERAL tribes. It is impossible of course to follow out all the + gradations of organization from tribal up to national life; but it may be + remembered that while animal totems prevail as a rule in the earlier + stages, human-formed gods become more conspicuous in the later + developments. All through, the practice of the Eucharist goes on, in + varying forms adapting itself to the surrounding conditions; and where in + the later societies a religion like Mithraism or Christianity includes + people of very various race, the Rite loses quite naturally its tribal + significance and becomes a celebration of allegiance to a particular god—of + unity within a special Church, in fact. Ultimately it may become—as + for a brief moment in the history of the early Christians it seemed likely + to do—a celebration of allegiance to all Humanity, irrespective of + race or creed or color of skin or of mind: though unfortunately that day + seems still far distant and remains yet unrealized. It must not be + overlooked, however, that the religion of the Persian B[a^]b, first + promulgated in 1845 to 1850—and a subject I shall deal with + presently—had as a matter of fact this all embracing and universal + scope. + </p> + <p> + To return to the Golden Age or Garden of Eden. Our conclusion seems to be + that there really was such a period of comparative harmony in human life—to + which later generations were justified in looking back, and looking back + with regret. It corresponded in the psychology of human Evolution to stage + One. The second stage was that of the Fall; and so one is inevitably led + to the conjecture and the hope that a third stage will redeem the earth + and its inhabitants to a condition of comparative blessedness. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a> +X.<br/> +THE SAVIOUR-GOD AND THE VIRGIN-MOTHER +</h2> + <p> + From the consideration of the world-wide belief in a past Golden Age, and + the world-wide practice of the Eucharist, in the sense indicated in the + last chapter, to that of the equally widespread belief in a human-divine + Saviour, is a brief and easy step. Some thirty years ago, dealing with + this subject, (1) I wrote as follows:—“The true Self of man consists + in his organic relation with the whole body of his fellows; and when the + man abandons his true Self he abandons also his true relation to his + fellows. The mass-Man must rule in each unit-man, else the unit-man will + drop off and die. But when the outer man tries to separate himself from + the inner, the unit-man from the mass-Man, then the reign of individuality + begins—a false and impossible individuality of course, but the only + means of coming to the consciousness of the true individuality.” And + further, “Thus this divinity in each creature, being that which + constitutes it and causes it to cohere together, was conceived of as that + creature’s saviour, healer—healer of wounds of body and wounds of + heart—the Man within the man, whom it was not only possible to know, + but whom to know and be united with was the alone salvation. This, I take + it, was the law of health—and of holiness—as accepted at some + elder time of human history, and by us seen as through a glass darkly.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Civilisation: its Cause and Cure, ch. i. +</p> + <p> + I think it is impossible not to see—however much in our pride of + Civilization (!) we like to jeer at the pettinesses of tribal life—that + these elder people perceived as a matter of fact and direct consciousness + the redeeming presence (within each unit-member of the group) of the + larger life to which he belonged. This larger life was a reality—“a + Presence to be felt and known”; and whether he called it by the name of a + Totem-animal, or by the name of a Nature-divinity, or by the name of some + gracious human-limbed God—some Hercules, Mithra, Attis, Orpheus, or + what-not—or even by the great name of Humanity itself, it was still + in any case the Saviour, the living incarnate Being by the realization of + whose presence the little mortal could be lifted out of exile and error + and death and suffering into splendor and life eternal. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible, I think, not to see that the myriad worship of + “Saviours” all over the world, from China to Peru, can only be ascribed to + the natural working of some such law of human and tribal psychology—from + earliest times and in all races the same—springing up quite + spontaneously and independently, and (so far) unaffected by the mere + contagion of local tradition. To suppose that the Devil, long before the + advent of Christianity, put the idea into the heads of all these earlier + folk, is really to pay TOO great a compliment both to the power and the + ingenuity of his Satanic Majesty—though the ingenuity with which the + early Church DID itself suppress all information about these pre-Christian + Saviours almost rivals that which it credited to Satan! And on the other + hand to suppose this marvellous and universal consent of belief to have + sprung by mere contagion from one accidental source would seem equally + far-fetched and unlikely. + </p> + <p> + But almost more remarkable than the world-encircling belief in + human-divine Saviours is the equally widespread legend of their birth from + Virgin-mothers. There is hardly a god—as we have already had + occasion to see—whose worship as a benefactor of mankind attained + popularity in any of the four continents, Europe, Asia, Africa and America—who + was not reported to have been born from a Virgin, or at least from a + mother who owed the Child not to any earthly father, but to an + impregnation from Heaven. And this seems at first sight all the more + astonishing because the belief in the possibility of such a thing is so + entirely out of the line of our modern thought. So that while it would + seem not unnatural that such a legend should have, sprung up spontaneously + in some odd benighted corner of the world, we find it very difficult to + understand how in that case it should have spread so rapidly in every + direction, or—if it did not spread—how we are to account for + its SPONTANEOUS appearance in all these widely sundered regions. + </p> + <p> + I think here, and for the understanding of this problem, we are thrown + back upon a very early age of human evolution—the age of Magic. + Before any settled science or philosophy or religion existed, there were + still certain Things—and consequently also certain Words—which + had a tremendous influence on the human mind, which in fact affected it + deeply. Such a word, for instance, is ‘Thunder’; to hear thunder, to + imitate it, even to mention it, are sure ways of rousing superstitious + attention and imagination. Such another word is ‘Serpent,’ another ‘Tree,’ + and so forth. There is no one who is insensible to the reverberation of + these and other such words and images (1); and among them, standing + prominently out, are the two ‘Mother’ and ‘Virgin.’ The word Mother + touches the deepest springs of human feeling. As the earliest word learnt + and clung to by the child, it twines itself with the heart-strings of the + man even to his latest day. Nor must we forget that in a primitive state + of society (the Matriarchate) that influence was probably even greater + than now; for the father of the child being (often as not) UNKNOWN the + attachment to the mother was all the more intense and undivided. The word + Mother had a magic about it which has remained even until to-day. But if + that word rooted itself deep in the heart of the Child, the other word + ‘virgin’ had an obvious magic for the full grown and sexually mature Man—a + magic which it, too, has never lost. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Nor is it difficult to see how out of the discreet use of +such words and images, combined with elementary forms like the square, +the triangle and the circle, and elementary numbers like 3, 4, 5, etc., +quite a science, so to speak, of Magic arose. +</p> + <p> + There is ample evidence that one of the very earliest objects of human + worship was the Earth itself, conceived of as the fertile Mother of all + things. Gaia or Ge (the earth) had temples and altars in almost all the + cities of Greece. Rhea or Cybele, sprung from the Earth, was “mother of + all the gods.” Demeter (“earth mother”) was honored far and wide as the + gracious patroness of the crops and vegetation. Ceres, of course, the + same. Maia in the Indian mythology and Isis in the Egyptian are forms of + Nature and the Earth-spirit, represented as female; and so forth. The + Earth, in these ancient cults, was the mystic source of all life, and to + it, as a propitiation, life of all kinds was sacrificed. (There are + strange accounts of a huge fire being made, with an altar to Cybele in the + midst, and of deer and fawns and wild animals, and birds and sheep and + corn and fruits being thrown pell-mell into the flames. (1)) It was, in a + way, the most natural, as it seems to have been the earliest and most + spontaneous of cults—the worship of the Earth-mother, the + all-producing eternal source of life, and on account of her never-failing + ever-renewed fertility conceived of as an immortal Virgin. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Pausanias iv. 32. 6; and Lucian, De Syria Dea, 49. +</p> + <p> + But when the Saviour-legend sprang up—as indeed I think it must have + sprung up, in tribe after tribe and people after people, independently—then, + whether it sprang from the divinization of some actual man who showed the + way of light and deliverance to his fellows “sitting in darkness,” or + whether from the personification of the tribe itself as a god, in either + case the question of the hero’s parentage was bound to arise. If the + ‘saviour’ was plainly a personification of the tribe, it was obviously + impossible to suppose him the son of a mortal mother. In that case—and + if the tribe was generally traced in the legends to some primeval Animal + or Mountain or thing of Nature—it was probably easy to think of him + (the saviour) as, born out of Nature’s womb, descended perhaps from that + pure Virgin of the World who is the Earth and Nature, who rules the skies + at night, and stands in the changing phases of the Moon, and is worshiped + (as we have seen) in the great constellation Virgo. If, on the other hand, + he was the divinization of some actual man, more or less known either + personally or by tradition to his fellows, then in all probability the + name of his mortal mother would be recognized and accepted; but as to his + father, that side of parentage being, as we have said, generally very + uncertain, it would be easy to suppose some heavenly Annunciation, the + midnight visit of a God, and what is usually termed a Virgin-birth. + </p> + <p> + There are two elements to be remembered here, as conspiring to this + conclusion. One is the condition of affairs in a remote matriarchial + period, when descent was reckoned always through the maternal line, and + the fatherhood in each generation was obscure or unknown or commonly left + out of account; and the other is the fact—so strange and difficult + for us to realize—that among some very primitive peoples, like the + Australian aborigines, the necessity for a woman to have intercourse with + a male, in order to bring about conception and child-birth, was actually + not recognized. Scientific observation had not always got as far as that, + and the matter was still under the domain of Magic! (1) A Virgin-Mother + was therefore a quite imaginable (not to say ‘conceivable’) thing; and + indeed a very beautiful and fascinating thing, combining in one image the + potent magic of two very wonderful words. It does not seem impossible that + considerations of this kind led to the adoption of the doctrine or legend + of the virgin-mother and the heavenly father among so many races and in so + many localities—even without any contagion of tradition among them. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Probably the long period (nine months) elapsing between +cohabitation and childbirth confused early speculation on the subject. +Then clearly cohabitation was NOT always followed by childbirth. And, +more important still, the number of virgins of a mature age in primitive +societies was so very minute that the fact of their childlessness +attracted no attention—whereas in OUR societies the sterility of the +whole class is patent to everyone. +</p> + <p> + Anyhow, and as a matter of fact, the world-wide dissemination of the + legend is most remarkable. Zeus, Father of the gods, visited Semele, it + will be remembered, in the form of a thunderstorm; and she gave birth to + the great saviour and deliverer Dionysus. Zeus, again, impregnated Danae + in a shower of gold; and the child was Perseus, who slew the Gorgons (the + powers of darkness) and saved Andromeda (the human soul (1)). Devaki, the + radiant Virgin of the Hindu mythology, became the wife of the god Vishnu + and bore Krishna, the beloved hero and prototype of Christ. With regard to + Buddha St. Jerome says (2) “It is handed down among the Gymnosophists, of + India that Buddha, the founder of their system, was brought forth by a + Virgin from her side.” The Egyptian Isis, with the child Horus, on her + knee, was honored centuries before the Christian era, and worshiped under + the names of “Our Lady,” “Queen of Heaven,” “Star of the Sea,” “Mother of + God,” and so forth. Before her, Neith, the Virgin of the World, whose + figure bends from the sky over the earthly plains and the children of men, + was acclaimed as mother of the great god Osiris. The saviour Mithra, too, + was born of a Virgin, as we have had occasion to notice before; and on the + Mithrais monuments the mother suckling her child is a not uncommon figure. + (3) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For this interpretation of the word Andromeda see The Perfect +Way by Edward Maitland, preface to First Edition, 1881. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Contra Jovian, Book I; and quoted by Rhys Davids in his +Buddhisim. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Doane’s Bible Myths, p. 332, and Dupuis’ Origins of +Religious Beliefs. +</p> + <p> + The old Teutonic goddess Hertha (the Earth) was a Virgin, but was + impregnated by the heavenly Spirit (the Sky); and her image with a child + in her arms was to be seen in the sacred groves of Germany. (1) The + Scandinavian Frigga, in much the same way, being caught in the embraces of + Odin, the All-father, conceived and bore a son, the blessed Balder, healer + and saviour of mankind. Quetzalcoatl, the (crucified) saviour of the + Aztecs, was the son of Chimalman, the Virgin Queen of Heaven. (2) Even the + Chinese had a mother-goddess and virgin with child in her arms (3); and + the ancient Etruscans the same. (4) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) R. P. Knight’s Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 21. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Kingsborough’s Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi, p. 176, +where it is said “an ambassador was sent from heaven on an embassy to a +Virgin of Tulan, called Chimalman... announcing that it was the will +of the God that she should conceive a son; and having delivered her the +message he rose and left the house; and as soon as he had left it +she conceived a son, without connection with man, who was called +Quetzalcoat, who they say is the god of air.” Further, it is explained +that Quetzalcoatl sacrificed himself, drawing forth his own blood with +thorns; and that the word Quetzalcoatlotopitzin means “our well-beloved +son.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Doane, p. 327. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) See Inman’s Pagan and Christian Symbolism, p. 27. +</p> + <p> + Finally, we have the curiously large number of BLACK virgin mothers who + are or have been worshiped. Not only cases like Devaki the Indian goddess, + or Isis the Egyptian, who would naturally appear black-skinned or dark; + but the large number of images and paintings of the same kind, yet extant—especially + in the Italian churches—and passing for representations of Mary and + the infant Jesus. Such are the well-known image in the chapel at Loretto, + and images and paintings besides in the churches at Genoa, Pisa, Padua, + Munich and other places. It is difficult not to regard these as very old + Pagan or pre-Christian relics which lingered on into Christian times and + were baptized anew—as indeed we know many relics and images actually + were—into the service of the Church. “Great is Diana of the + Ephesians”; and there is I believe more than one black figure extant of + this Diana, who, though of course a virgin, is represented with + innumerable breasts (1)—not unlike some of the archaic statues of + Artemis and Isis. At Paris, far on into Christian times there was, it is + said, on the site of the present Cathedral of Notre Dame, a Temple + dedicated to ‘our Lady’ Isis; and images belonging to the earlier shrine + would in all probability be preserved with altered name in the later. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See illustration, p. 30, in Inman’s Pagan and Christian +Symbolism. +</p> + <p> + All this illustrates not only the wide diffusion of the doctrine of the + Virgin-mother, but its extreme antiquity. The subject is obscure, and + worthy of more consideration than has yet been accorded it; and I do not + feel able to add anything to the tentative explanations given a page or + two back, except perhaps to suppose that the vision of the Perfect Man + hovered dimly over the mind of the human race on its first emergence from + the purely animal stage; and that a quite natural speculation with regard + to such a being was that he would be born from a Perfect Woman—who + according to early ideas would necessarily be the Virgin Earth itself, + mother of all things. Anyhow it was a wonderful Intuition, slumbering as + it would seem in the breast of early man, that the Great Earth after + giving birth to all living creatures would at last bring forth a Child who + should become the Saviour of the human race. + </p> + <p> + There is of course the further theory, entertained by some, that + virgin-parturition—a kind of Parthenogenesis—has as a matter + of fact occasionally occurred among mortal women, and even still does + occur. I should be the last to deny the POSSIBILITY of this (or of + anything else in Nature), but, seeing the immense difficulties in the way + of PROOF of any such asserted case, and the absence so far of any + thoroughly attested and verified instance, it would, I think, be advisable + to leave this theory out of account at present. + </p> + <p> + But whether any of the EXPLANATIONS spoken of are right or wrong, and + whatever explanation we adopt, there remains the FACT of the universality + over the world of this legend—affording another instance of the + practical solidarity and continuity of the Pagan Creeds with Christianity. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a> +XI.<br/> +RITUAL DANCING +</h2> + <p> + It is unnecessary to labor the conclusion of the last two or three + chapters, namely that Christianity grew out of the former Pagan Creeds and + is in its general outlook and origins continuous and of one piece with + them. I have not attempted to bring together ALL the evidence in favor of + this contention, as such work would be too vast, but more illustrations of + its truth will doubtless occur to readers, or will emerge as we proceed. + </p> + <p> + I think we may take it as proved (1) that from the earliest ages, and + before History, a great body of religious belief and ritual—first + appearing among very primitive and unformed folk, whom we should call + ‘savages’—has come slowly down, broadening and differentiating + itself on the way into a great variety of forms, but embodying always + certain main ideas which became in time the accepted doctrines of the + later Churches—the Indian, the Egyptian, the Mithraic, the + Christian, and so forth. What these ideas in their general outline have + been we can perhaps best judge from our “Apostles’ Creed,” as it is + recited every Sunday in our churches. + </p> + <p> + “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in + Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, + born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, + dead and buried. He descended into Hell; the third day he rose again from + the dead, He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God + the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the + dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic Church; the communion + of Saints; the Forgiveness of sins; the Resurrection of the body, and the + life everlasting. Amen.” + </p> + <p> + Here we have the All-Father and Creator, descending from the Sky in the + form of a spirit to impregnate the earthly Virgin-mother, who thus gives + birth to a Saviour-hero. The latter is slain by the powers of Evil, is + buried and descends into the lower world, but arises again as God into + heaven and becomes the leader and judge of mankind. We have the + confirmation of the Church (or, in earlier times, of the Tribe) by means + of a Eucharist or Communion which binds together all the members, living + or dead, and restores errant individuals through the Sacrifice of the hero + and the Forgiveness of their sins; and we have the belief in a bodily + Resurrection and continued life of the members within the fold of the + Church (or Tribe), itself regarded as eternal. + </p> + <p> + One has only, instead of the word ‘Jesus,’ to read Dionysus or Krishna or + Hercules or Osiris or Attis, and instead of ‘Mary’ to insert Semele or + Devaki or Alcmene or Neith or Nana, and for Pontius Pilate to use the name + of any terrestrial tyrant who comes into the corresponding story, and lo! + the creed fits in all particulars into the rites and worship of a pagan + god. I need not enlarge upon a thesis which is self-evident from all that + has gone before. I do not say, of course, that ALL the religious beliefs + of Paganism are included and summarized in our Apostles’ Creed, for—as + I shall have occasion to note in the next chapter—I think some very + important religious elements are there OMITTED; but I do think that all + the beliefs which ARE summarized in the said creed had already been fully + represented and elaborately expressed in the non-Christian religions and + rituals of Paganism. + </p> + <p> + Further (2) I think we may safely say that there is no certain proof that + the body of beliefs just mentioned sprang from any one particular centre + far back and radiated thence by dissemination and mental contagion over + the rest of the world; but the evidence rather shows that these beliefs + were, for the most part, the SPONTANEOUS outgrowths (in various + localities) of the human mind at certain stages of its evolution; that + they appeared, in the different races and peoples, at different periods + according to the degree of evolution, and were largely independent of + intercourse and contagion, though of course, in cases, considerably + influenced by it; and that one great and all-important occasion and + provocative of these beliefs was actually the RISE OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS—that + is, the coming of the mind to a more or less distinct awareness of itself + and of its own operation, and the consequent development and growth of + Individualism, and of the Self-centred attitude in human thought and + action. + </p> + <p> + In the third place (3) I think we may see—and this is the special + subject of the present chapter—that at a very early period, when + humanity was hardly capable of systematic expression in what we call + Philosophy or Science, it could not well rise to an ordered and literary + expression of its beliefs, such as we find in the later religions and the + ‘Churches’ (Babylonian, Jewish, East Indian, Christian, or what-not), and + yet that it FELT these beliefs very intensely and was urged, almost + compelled, to their utterance in some form or other. And so it came about + that people expressed themselves in a vast mass of ritual and myth—customs, + ceremonies, legends, stories—which on account of their popular and + concrete form were handed down for generations, and some of which linger + on still in the midst of our modern civilization. These rituals and + legends were, many of them, absurd enough, rambling and childish in + character, and preposterous in conception, yet they gave the expression + needed; and some of them of course, as we have seen, were full of meaning + and suggestion. + </p> + <p> + A critical and commercial Civilization, such as ours, in which + (notwithstanding much TALK about Art) the artistic sense is greatly + lacking, or at any rate but little diffused, does not as a rule understand + that poetic RITES, in the evolution of peoples, came naturally before + anything like ordered poems or philosophy or systematized VIEWS about life + and religion—such as WE love to wallow in! Things were FELT before + they were spoken. The loading of diseases into disease-boats, of sins onto + scape-goats, the propitiation of the forces of nature by victims, human or + animal, sacrifices, ceremonies of re-birth, eucharistic feasts, sexual + communions, orgiastic celebrations of the common life, and a host of other + things—all SAID plainly enough what was meant, but not in WORDS. + Partly no doubt it was that at some early time words were more difficult + of command and less flexible in use than actions (and at all times are + they not less expressive?). Partly it was that mankind was in the + child-stage. The Child delights in ritual, in symbol, in expression + through material objects and actions: + </p> +<p class="poem"> +See, at his feet some little plan or chart,<br/> +Some fragment from his dream of human life,<br/> +Shaped by himself with newly learned art;<br/> + A wedding or a festival,<br/> + A mourning or a funeral;<br/> + And this hath now his heart. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + And primitive man in the child-stage felt a positive joy in ritual + celebrations, and indulged in expressions which we but little understand; + for these had then his heart. + </p> + <p> + One of the most pregnant of these expressions was DANCING. Children dance + instinctively. They dance with rage; they dance with joy, with sheer + vitality; they dance with pain, or sometimes with savage glee at the + suffering of others; they delight in mimic combats, or in animal plays and + disguises. There are such things as Courting-dances, when the mature male + and female go through a ritual together—not only in civilized + ball-rooms and the back-parlors of inns, but in the farmyards where the + rooster pays his addresses to the hen, or the yearling bull to the cow—with + quite recognized formalities; there are elaborate ceremonials performed by + the Australian bower-birds and many other animals. All these things—at + any rate in children and animals—come before speech; and anyhow we + may say that LOVE-RITES, even in mature and civilized man, hardly ADMIT of + speech. Words only vulgarize love and blunt its edge. + </p> + <p> + So Dance to the savage and the early man was not merely an amusement or a + gymnastic exercise (as the books often try to make out), but it was also a + serious and intimate part of life, an expression of religion and the + relation of man to non-human Powers. Imagine a young dancer—and the + admitted age for ritual dancing was commonly from about eighteen to thirty—coming + forward on the dancing-ground or platform for the INVOCATION OF RAIN. We + have unfortunately no kinematic records, but it is not impossible or very + difficult to imagine the various gestures and movements which might be + considered appropriate to such a rite in different localities or among + different peoples. A modern student of Dalcroze Eurhythmics would find the + problem easy. After a time a certain ritual dance (for rain) would become + stereotyped and generally adopted. Or imagine a young Greek leading an + invocation to Apollo to STAY SOME PLAGUE which was ravaging the country. + He might as well be accompanied by a small body of co-dancers; but he + would be the leader and chief representative. Or it might be a WAR-DANCE—as + a more or less magical preparation for the raid or foray. We are familiar + enough with accounts of war-dances among American Indians. C. O. Muller in + his History and Antiquities of the Doric Race (1) gives the following + account of the Pyrrhic dance among the Greeks, which was danced in full + armor:—“Plato says that it imitated all the attitudes of defence, by + avoiding a thrust or a cast, retreating, springing up, and crouching-as + also the opposite movements of attack with arrows and lances, and also of + every kind of thrust. So strong was the attachment to this dance at Sparta + that, long after it had in the other Greek states degenerated into a + Bacchanalian revel, it was still danced by the Spartans as a warlike + exercise, and boys of fifteen were instructed in it.” Of the Hunting-dance + I have already given instances. (2) It always had the character of Magic + about it, by which the game or quarry might presumably be influenced; and + it can easily be understood that if the Hunt was not successful the blame + might well be attributed to some neglect of the usual ritual mimes or + movements—no laughing matter for the leader of the dance. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Book IV, ch. 6, Section 7. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See also Winwood Reade’s Savage Africa, ch. xviii, in which +he speaks of the “gorilla dance,” before hunting gorillas, as a +“religious festival.” +</p> + <p> + Or there were dances belonging to the ceremonies of Initiation—dances + both by the initiators and the initiated. Jane E. Harrison in Themis (p. + 24) says, “Instruction among savage peoples is always imparted in more or + less mimetic dances. At initiation you learn certain dances which confer + on you definite social status. When a man is too old to dance, he hands + over his dance to another and a younger, and he then among some tribes + ceases to exist socially.... The dances taught to boys at initiation are + frequently if not always ARMED dances. These are not necessarily warlike. + The accoutrement of spear and shield was in part decorative, in part a + provision for making the necessary hubbub.” (Here Miss Harrison reproduces + a photograph of an Initiation dance among the Akikuyu of British East + Africa.) The Initiation-dances blend insensibly and naturally with the + Mystery and Religion dances, for indeed initiation was for the most part + an instruction in the mysteries and social rites of the Tribe. They were + the expression of things which would be hard even for us, and which for + rude folk would be impossible, to put into definite words. Hence arose the + expression—whose meaning has been much discussed by the learned—“to + dance out ([gr ezorceisqai]) a mystery.” (1) Lucian, in a much-quoted + passage, (2) observes: “You cannot find a single ancient mystery in which + there is not dancing ... and this much all men know, that most people say + of the revealers of the mysteries that they ‘dance them out.’” Andrew + Lang, commenting on this passage, (3) continues: “Clement of Alexandria + uses the same term when speaking of his own ‘appalling revelations.’ So + closely connected are mysteries with dancing among savages that when Mr. + Orpen asked Qing, the Bushman hunter, about some doctrines in which Qing + was not initiated, he said: ‘Only the initiated men of that dance know + these things.’ To ‘dance’ this or that means to be acquainted with this or + that myth, which is represented in a dance or ballet d’action. So widely + distributed is the practice that Acosta in an interesting passage mentions + it as familiar to the people of Peru before and after the Spanish + conquest.” (And we may say that when the ‘mysteries’ are of a sexual + nature it can easily be understood that to ‘dance them out’ is the only + way of explaining them!) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Meaning apparently either simply to represent, or, sometimes +to DIVULGE, a mystery. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) [gr peri ‘Orchsews], Ch. xv. 277. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Myth, Ritual and Religion, i, 272. +</p> + <p> + Thus we begin to appreciate the serious nature and the importance of the + dance among primitive folk. To dub a youth “a good dancer” is to pay him a + great compliment. Among the well-known inscriptions on the rocks in the + island of Thera in the Aegean sea there are many which record in deeply + graven letters the friendship and devotion to each other of Spartan + warrior-comrades; it seems strange at first to find how often such an + epithet of praise occurs as Bathycles DANCES WELL, Eumelos is a PERFECT + DANCER ([gr aristos orcestas]). One hardly in general expects one warrior + to praise another for his dancing! But when one realizes what is really + meant—namely the fitness of the loved comrade to lead in religious + and magical rituals—then indeed the compliment takes on a new + complexion. Religious dances, in dedication to a god, have of course been + honored in every country. Muller, in the work just cited, (1) describes a + lively dance called the hyporchema which, accompanied by songs, was used + in the worship of Apollo. “In this, besides the chorus of singers who + usually danced around THE BLAZING ALTAR, several persons were appointed to + accompany the action of the poem with an appropriate pantomimic display.” + It was probably some similar dance which is recorded in Exodus, ch. xxxii, + when Aaron made the Israelites a golden Calf (image of the Egyptian Apis). + There was an altar and a fire and burnt offerings for sacrifice, and the + people dancing around. Whether in the Apollo ritual the dancers were naked + I cannot say, but in the affair of the golden Calf they evidently were, + for it will be remembered that it was just this which upset Moses’ + equanimity so badly—“when he SAW THAT THE PEOPLE WERE NAKED”—and + led to the breaking of the two tables of stone and the slaughter of some + thousands of folk. It will be remembered also that David on a sacrificial + occasion danced naked before the Lord. (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Book II, ch. viii, Section 14. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) 2 Sam. vi. +</p> + <p> + It may seem strange that dances in honor of a god should be held naked; + but there is abundant evidence that this was frequently the case, and it + leads to an interesting speculation. Many of these rituals undoubtedly + owed their sanctity and solemnity to their extreme antiquity. They came + down in fact from very far back times when the average man or woman—as + in some of the Central African tribes to-day—wore simply nothing at + all; and like all religious ceremonies they tended to preserve their forms + long after surrounding customs and conditions had altered. Consequently + nakedness lingered on in sacrificial and other rites into periods when in + ordinary life it had come to be abandoned or thought indecent and + shameful. This comes out very clearly in both instances above—quoted + from the Bible. For in Exodus xxxii. 25 it is said that “Aaron had made + them (the dancers) naked UNTO THEIR SHAME among their enemies (READ + opponents),” and in 2 Sam. vi. 20 we are told that Michal came out and + sarcastically rebuked the “glorious king of Israel” for “shamelessly + uncovering himself, like a vain fellow” (for which rebuke, I am sorry to + say, David took a mean revenge on Michal). In both cases evidently custom + had so far changed that to a considerable section of the population these + naked exhibitions had become indecent, though as parts of an acknowledged + ritual they were still retained and supported by others. The same + conclusion may be derived from the commands recorded in Exodus xx. 26 and + xxviii. 42, that the priests be not “uncovered” before the altar—commands + which would hardly have been needed had not the practice been in vogue. + </p> + <p> + Then there were dances (partly magical or religious) performed at rustic + and agricultural festivals, like the Epilenios, celebrated in Greece at + the gathering of the grapes. (1) Of such a dance we get a glimpse in the + Bible (Judges xxi. 20) when the elders advised the children of Benjamin to + go out and lie in wait in the vineyards, at the time of the yearly feast; + and “when the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then + come ye out of the vineyards and catch you every man a wife from the + daughters of Shiloh”—a touching example apparently of early + so-called ‘marriage by capture’! Or there were dances, also partly or + originally religious, of a quite orgiastic and Bacchanalian character, + like the Bryallicha performed in Sparta by men and women in hideous masks, + or the Deimalea by Sileni and Satyrs waltzing in a circle; or the Bibasis + carried out by both men and women—a quite gymnastic exercise in + which the performers took a special pride in striking their own buttocks + with their heels! or others wilder still, which it would perhaps not be + convenient to describe. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) [gr Epilhnioi umnoi]: hymns sung over the winepress +(Dictionary). +</p> + <p> + We must see how important a part Dancing played in that great panorama of + Ritual and Religion (spoken of in the last chapter) which, having + originally been led up to by the ‘Fall of Man,’ has ever since the dawn of + history gradually overspread the world with its strange procession of + demons and deities, and its symbolic representations of human destiny. + When it is remembered that ritual dancing was the matrix out of which the + Drama sprang, and further that the drama in its inception (as still to-day + in India) was an affair of religion and was acted in, or in connection + with, the Temples, it becomes easier to understand how all this mass of + ceremonial sacrifices, expiations, initiations, Sun and Nature festivals, + eucharistic and orgiastic communions and celebrations, mystery-plays, + dramatic representations, myths and legends, etc., which I have touched + upon in the preceding chapters—together with all the emotions, the + desires, the fears, the yearnings and the wonderment which they + represented—have practically sprung from the same root: a root deep + and necessary in the psychology of Man. Presently I hope to show that they + will all practically converge again in the end to one meaning, and prepare + the way for one great Synthesis to come—an evolution also necessary + and inevitable in human psychology. + </p> + <p> + In that truly inspired Ode from which I quoted a few pages back, occur + those well-known words whose repetition now will, on account of their + beauty, I am sure be excused:— + </p> +<p class="poem"> +Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:<br/> +The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,<br/> + Hath had elsewhere its setting,<br/> + And cometh from afar;<br/> + Not in entire forgetfulness,<br/> + And not in utter nakedness,<br/> +But trailing clouds of glory do we come<br/> + From God, who is our home:<br/> +Heaven lies about us in our infancy!<br/> +Shades of the prison-house begin to close<br/> + Upon the growing Boy,<br/> +But He beholds the light and whence it flows<br/> + He sees it in his joy;<br/> +The youth who daily farther from the east<br/> + Must travel, still is Nature’s Priest,<br/> + And by the vision splendid<br/> + Is on his way attended;<br/> +At length the man perceives it die away<br/> +And fade into the light of common day. +</p> + <p> + Wordsworth—though he had not the inestimable advantage of a + nineteenth-century education and the inheritance of the Darwinian + philosophy—does nevertheless put the matter of the Genius of the + Child in a way which (with the alteration of a few conventional terms) we + scientific moderns are quite inclined to accept. We all admit now that the + Child does not come into the world with a mental tabula rasa of entire + forgetfulness but on the contrary as the possessor of vast stores of + sub-conscious memory, derived from its ancestral inheritances; we all + admit that a certain grace and intuitive insight and even prophetic + quality, in the child-nature, are due to the harmonization of these racial + inheritances in the infant, even before it is born; and that after birth + the impact of the outer world serves rather to break up and disintegrate + this harmony than to confirm and strengthen it. Some psychologists indeed + nowadays go so far as to maintain that the child is not only ‘Father of + the man,’ but superior to the man, (1) and that Boyhood and Youth and + Maturity are attained to not by any addition but by a process of loss and + subtraction. It will be seen that the last ten lines of the above + quotation rather favor this view. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) “Man in the course of his life falls away more and more from +the specifically HUMAN type of his early years, but the Ape in the +course of his short life goes very much farther along the road of +degradation and premature senility.” (Man and Woman, by Havelock Ellis, +p. 24). +</p> + <p> + But my object in making the quotation was not to insist on the truth of + its application to the individual Child, but rather to point out the + remarkable way in which it illustrates what I have said about the + Childhood of the Race. In fact, if the quotation be read over again with + this interpretation (which I do not say Wordsworth intended) that the + ‘birth’ spoken of is the birth or evolution of the distinctively + self-conscious Man from the Animals and the animal-natured, + unself-conscious human beings of a preceding age, then the parable unfolds + itself perfectly naturally and convincingly. THAT birth certainly was + sleep and a forgetting; the grace and intuition and instinctive perfection + of the animals was lost. But the forgetfulness was not entire; the memory + lingered long of an age of harmony, of an Eden-garden left behind. And + trailing clouds of this remembrance the first tribal men, on the edge of + but not yet WITHIN the civilization-period, appear in the dawn of History. + </p> + <p> + As I have said before, the period of the dawn of Self-consciousness was + also the period of the dawn of the practical and inquiring Intellect; it + was the period of the babyhood of both; and so we perceive among these + early people (as we also do among children) that while in the main the + heart and the intuitions were right, the intellect was for a long period + futile and rambling to a degree. As soon as the mind left the ancient + bases of instinct and sub-conscious racial experience it fell into a + hopeless bog, out of which it only slowly climbed by means of the + painfully-gathered stepping-stones of logic and what we call Science. + “Heaven lies about us in our infancy.” Wordsworth perceived that wonderful + world of inner experience and glory out of which the child emerges; and + some even of us may perceive that similar world in which the untampered + animals STILL dwell, and OUT of which self-regarding Man in the history of + the race was long ago driven. But a curse went with the exile. As the + Brain grew, the Heart withered. The inherited instincts and racially + accumulated wisdom, on which the first men thrived and by means of which + they achieved a kind of temporary Paradise, were broken up; delusions and + disease and dissension set in. Cain turned upon his brother and slew him; + and the shades of the prison-house began to close. The growing Boy, + however, (by whom we may understand the early tribes of Mankind) had yet a + radiance of Light and joy in his life; and the Youth—though + travelling daily farther from the East—still remained Nature’s + priest, and by the vision splendid was on his way attended: but + </p> +<p class="poem"> + At length the Man perceived it die away.<br/> + And fade into the light of common day. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + What a strangely apt picture in a few words (if we like to take it so) of + the long pilgrimage of the Human Race, its early and pathetic clinging to + the tradition of the Eden-garden, its careless and vigorous boyhood, its + meditative youth, with consciousness of sin and endless expiatory ritual + in Nature’s bosom, its fleeting visions of salvation, and finally its + complete disillusionment and despair in the world-slaughter and unbelief + of the twentieth century! + </p> + <p> + Leaving Wordsworth, however, and coming back to our main line of thought, + we may point out that while early peoples were intellectually mere babies—with + their endless yarns about heroes on horseback leaping over wide rivers or + clouds of monks flying for hundreds of miles through the air, and their + utter failure to understand the general concatenations of cause and effect—yet + practically and in their instinct of life and destiny they were, as I have + already said, by no means fools; certainly not such fools as many of the + arm-chair students of these things delight to represent them. For just as, + a few years ago, we modern civilizees studying outlying nations, the + Chinese for instance, rejoiced (in our vanity) to pick out every quaint + peculiarity and absurdity and monstrosity of a supposed topsyturvydom, and + failed entirely to see the real picture of a great and eminently sensible + people; so in the case of primitive men we have been, and even still are, + far too prone to catalogue their cruelties and obscenities and idiotic + superstitions, and to miss the sane and balanced setting of their actual + lives. + </p> + <p> + Mr. R. R. Marett, who has a good practical acquaintance with his subject, + had in the Hibbert Journal for October 1918 an article on “The Primitive + Medicine Man” in which he shows that the latter is as a rule anything but + a fool and a knave—although like ‘medicals’ in all ages he + hocuspocuses his patients occasionally! He instances the medicine-man’s + excellent management, in most cases, of childbirth, or of wounds and + fractures, or his primeval skill in trepanning or trephining—all of + which operations, he admits, may be accompanied with grotesque and + superstitious ceremonies, yet show real perception and ability. We all + know—though I think the article does not mention the matter—what + a considerable list there is of drugs and herbs which the modern art of + healing owes to the ancient medicine-man, and it may be again mentioned + that one of the most up-to-date treatments—the use of a prolonged + and exclusive diet of MILK as a means of giving the organism a new start + in severe cases—has really come down to us through the ages from + this early source. (1) The real medicine-man, Mr. Marett says, is largely + a ‘faith-healer’ and ‘soul-doctor’; he believes in his vocation, and + undergoes much for the sake of it: “The main point is to grasp that by his + special initiation and the rigid taboos which he practises—not to + speak of occasional remarkable gifts, say of trance and ecstasy, which he + may inherit by nature and have improved by art—he HAS access to a + wonder-working power.... And the great need of primitive folk is for this + healer of souls.” Our author further insists on the enormous play and + influence of Fear in the savage mind—a point we have touched on + already—and gives instances of Thanatomania, or cases where, after a + quite slight and superficial wound, the patient becomes so depressed that + he, quite needlessly, persists in dying! Such cases, obviously, can only + be countered by Faith, or something (whatever it may be) which restores + courage, hope and energy to the mind. Nor need I point out that the + situation is exactly the same among a vast number of ‘patients’ to-day. As + to the value, in his degree, of the medicine-man many modern observers and + students quite agree with the above. (2) Also as the present chapter is on + Ritual Dancing it may not be out of place to call attention to the + supposed healing of sick people in Ceylon and other places by + Devil-dancing—the enormous output of energy and noise in the ritual + possibly having the effect of reanimating the patient (if it does not kill + him), or of expelling the disease from his organism. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Milk (“fast-milk” or vrata) was, says Mr. Hewitt, the only +diet in the Soma-sacrifice. See Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times +(preface). The Soma itself was a fermented drink prepared with ceremony +from the milky and semen-like sap of certain plants, and much used in +sacrificial offerings. (See Monier-Williams. Sanskrit Dictionary.) +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Winwood Reade (Savage Africa), Salamon Reinach (Cults, +Myths and Religions), and others. +</p> + <p> + With regard to the practical intelligence of primitive peoples, derived + from their close contact with life and nature, Bishop Colenso’s + experiences among the Zulus may appropriately be remembered. When + expounding the Bible to these supposedly backward ‘niggers’ he was met at + all points by practical interrogations and arguments which he was + perfectly unable to answer—especially over the recorded passage of + the Red Sea by the Israelites in a single night. From the statistics given + in the Sacred Book these naughty savages proved to him absolutely + conclusively that the numbers of fugitives were such that even supposing + them to have marched—men, women and children—FIVE ABREAST and + in close order, they would have formed a column 100 miles long, and this + not including the baggage, sheep and cattle! Of course the feat was + absolutely impossible. They could not have passed the Red Sea in a night + or a week of nights. + </p> + <p> + But the sequel is still more amusing and instructive. Colenso, in his + innocent sincerity, took the side of the Zulus, and feeling sure the + Church at home would be quite glad to have its views with regard to the + accuracy of Bible statistics corrected, wrote a book embodying the + amendments needed. Modest as his criticisms were, they raised a STORM of + protest and angry denunciation, which even led to his deposition for the + time being from his bishopric! While at the same time an avalanche of + books to oppose his heresy poured forth from the press. Lately I had the + curiosity to look through the British Museum catalogue and found that in + refutation of Colenso’s Pentateuch Examined some 140 (a hundred and forty) + volumes were at that time published! To-day, I need hardly say, all these + arm-chair critics and their works have sunk into utter obscurity, but the + arguments of the Zulus and their Bishop still stand unmoved and immovable. + </p> + <p> + This is a case of searching intelligence shown by ‘savages,’ an + intelligence founded on intimate knowledge of the needs of actual life. I + think we may say that a similarly instinctive intelligence (sub-conscious + if you like) has guided the tribes of men on the whole in their long + passage through the Red Sea of the centuries, from those first days of + which I speak even down to the present age, and has in some strange, even + if fitful, way kept them along the path of that final emancipation towards + which Humanity is inevitably moving. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a> +XII.<br/> +THE SEX-TABOO +</h2> + <p> + In the course of the last few chapters I have spoken more than once of the + solidarity and continuity of Christianity, in its essential doctrines, + with the Pagan rites. There is, however, one notable exception to this + statement. I refer of course to Christianity’s treatment of Sex. It is + certainly very remarkable that while the Pagan cults generally made a + great deal of all sorts of sex-rites, laid much stress upon them, and + introduced them in what we consider an unblushing and shameless way into + the instincts connected with it. I say ‘the Christian Church,’ on the + whole took quite the opposite line—ignored sex, condemned it, and + did much despite to the perfectly natural instincts connected with it. I + say ‘the Christian Church,’ because there is nothing to show that Jesus + himself (if we admit his figure as historical) adopted any such extreme or + doctrinaire attitude; and the quite early Christian teachers (with the + chief exception of Paul) do not exhibit this bias to any great degree. In + fact, as is well known, strong currents of pagan usage and belief ran + through the Christian assemblies of the first three or four centuries. + “The Christian art of this period remained delightfully pagan. In the + catacombs we see the Saviour as a beardless youth, like a young Greek god; + sometimes represented, like Hermes the guardian of the flocks, bearing a + ram or lamb round his neck; sometimes as Orpheus tuning his lute among the + wild animals.” (1) The followers of Jesus were at times even accused—whether + rightly or wrongly I know not—of celebrating sexual mysteries at + their love-feasts. But as the Church through the centuries grew in power + and scope—with its monks and their mutilations and asceticisms, and + its celibate clergy, and its absolute refusal to recognize the sexual + meaning of its own acclaimed symbols (like the Cross, the three fingers of + Benediction, the Fleur de Lys and so forth)—it more and more + consistently defined itself as anti-sexual in its outlook, and stood out + in that way in marked contrast to the earlier Nature-religions. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Angels’ Wings, by E. Carpenter, p. 104. +</p> + <p> + It may be said of course that this anti-sexual tendency can be traced in + other of the pre-Christian Churches, especially the later ones, like the + Buddhist, the Egyptian, and so forth; and this is perfectly true; but it + would seem that in many ways the Christian Church marked the culmination + of the tendency; and the fact that other cults participated in the taboo + makes us all the more ready and anxious to inquire into its real cause. + </p> + <p> + To go into a disquisition on the Sex-rites of the various pre-Christian + religions would be ‘a large order’—larger than I could attempt to + fill; but the general facts in this connection are fairly patent. We know, + of course, from the Bible that the Syrians in Palestine were given to + sexual worships. There were erect images (phallic) and “groves” (sexual + symbols) on every high hill and under every green tree; (1) and these same + images and the rites connected with them crept into the Jewish Temple and + were popular enough to maintain their footing there for a long period from + King Rehoboam onwards, notwithstanding the efforts of Josiah (2) and other + reformers to extirpate them. Moreover there were girls and men + (hierodouloi) regularly attached during this period to the Jewish Temple + as to the heathen Temples, for the rendering of sexual services, which + were recognized in many cases as part of the ritual. Women were persuaded + that it was an honor and a privilege to be fertilized by a ‘holy man’ (a + priest or other man connected with the rites), and children resulting from + such unions were often called “Children of God”—an appellation which + no doubt sometimes led to a legend of miraculous birth! Girls who took + their place as hierodouloi in the Temple or Temple-precincts were expected + to surrender themselves to men-worshipers in the Temple, much in the same + way, probably, as Herodotus describes in the temple of the Babylonian + Venus Mylitta, where every native woman, once in her life, was supposed to + sit in the Temple and have intercourse with some stranger. (3) Indeed the + Syrian and Jewish rites dated largely from Babylonia. “The Hebrews + entering Syria,” says Richard Burton (4) “found it religionized by Assyria + and Babylonia, when the Accadian Ishtar had passed West, and had become + Ashtoreth, Ashtaroth, or Ashirah, the Anaitis of Armenia, the Phoenician + Astarte, and the Greek Aphrodite, the great Moon-goddess who is queen of + Heaven and Love.” The word translated “grove” as above, in our Bible, is + in fact Asherah, which connects it pretty clearly with the Babylonian + Queen of Heaven. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) 1 Kings xiv. 22-24. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) 2 Kings xxiii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Herodotus i. 199; also a reference to this custom in the +apocryphal Baruch, vi. 42, 43. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) The Thousand Nights and a Night (1886 edn.), vol. x, p. 229. +</p> + <p> + In India again, in connection with the Hindu Temples and their rites, we + have exactly the same institution of girls attached to the Temple service—the + Nautch-girls—whose functions in past times were certainly sexual, + and whose dances in honor of the god are, even down to the present day, + decidedly amatory in character. Then we have the very numerous lingams + (conventional representations of the male organ) to be seen, scores and + scores of them, in the arcades and cloisters of the Hindu Temples—to + which women of all classes, especially those who wish to become mothers, + resort, anointing them copiously with oil, and signalizing their respect + and devotion to them in a very practical way. As to the lingam as + representing the male organ, in some form or other—as upright stone + or pillar or obelisk or slender round tower—it occurs all over the + world, notably in Ireland, and forms such a memorial of the adoration paid + by early folk to the great emblem and instrument of human fertility, as + cannot be mistaken. The pillars set up by Solomon in front of his temple + were obviously from their names—Jachin and Boaz (1)—meant to + be emblems of this kind; and the fact that they were crowned with + pomegranates—the universally accepted symbol of the female—confirms + and clinches this interpretation. The obelisks before the Egyptians’ + temples were signs of the same character. The well-known T-shaped cross + was in use in pagan lands long before Christianity, as a representation of + the male member, and also at the same time of the ‘tree’ on which the god + (Attis or Adonis or Krishna or whoever it might be) was crucified; and the + same symbol combined with the oval (or yoni) formed THE Crux Ansata {Ankh} + of the old Egyptian ritual—a figure which is to-day sold in Cairo as + a potent charm, and confessedly indicates the conjunction of the two sexes + in one design. (2) MacLennan in The Fortnightly Review (Oct. 1869) quotes + with approval the words of Sanchoniathon, as saying that “men first + worship plants, next the heavenly bodies, supposed to be animals, then + ‘pillars’ (emblems of the Procreator), and last, the anthropomorphic + gods.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) “He shall establish” and “In it is strength” are in the Bible +the marginal interpretations of these two words. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) The connection between the production of fire by means of the +fire-drill and the generation of life by sex-intercourse is a very +obvious one, and lends itself to magical ideas. J. E. Hewitt in his +Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times (1894) says (vol. i, p. 8) that +“Magha, the mother-goddess worshipped in Asia Minor, was originally the +socket-block from which fire was generated by the fire-drill.” Hence we +have, he says, the Magi of Persia, and the Maghadas of Indian History, +also the word “Magic.” +</p> + <p> + It is not necessary to enlarge on this subject. The facts of the + connection of sexual rites with religious services nearly everywhere in + the early world are, as I say, sufficiently patent to every inquirer. But + it IS necessary to try to understand the rationale of this connection. To + dispatch all such cases under the mere term “religious prostitution” is no + explanation. The term suggests, of course, that the plea of religion was + used simply as an excuse and a cover for sexual familiarities; but though + this kind of explanation commends itself, no doubt, to the modern man—whose + religion is as commercial as his sex-relationships are—and though in + CASES no doubt it was a true explanation—yet it is obvious that + among people who took religion seriously, as a matter of life and death + and who did not need hypocritical excuses or covers for sex-relationships, + it cannot be accepted as in general the RIGHT explanation. No, the real + explanation is—and I will return to this presently—that sexual + relationships are so deep and intimate a part of human nature that from + the first it has been simply impossible to keep them OUT of religion—it + being of course the object of religion to bring the whole human being into + some intelligible relation with the physical, moral, and if you like + supernatural order of the great world around him. Sex was felt from the + first to be part, and a foundational part, of the great order of the world + and of human nature; and therefore to separate it from Religion was + unthinkable and a kind of contradiction in terms. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For further development of this subject see ch. xv. +</p> + <p> + If that is true—it will be asked—how was it that that divorce + DID take place—that the taboo did arise? How was it that the Jews, + under the influence of Josiah and the Hebrew prophets, turned their faces + away from sex and strenuously opposed the Syrian cults? How was it that + this reaction extended into Christianity and became even more definite in + the Christian Church—that monks went by thousands into the deserts + of the Thebaid, and that the early Fathers and Christian apologists could + not find terms foul enough to hurl at Woman as the symbol (to them) of + nothing but sex-corruption and delusion? How was it that this contempt of + the body and degradation of sex-things went on far into the Middle Ages of + Europe, and ultimately created an organized system of hypocrisy, and + concealment and suppression of sex-instincts, which, acting as cover to a + vile commercial Prostitution and as a breeding ground for horrible + Disease, has lasted on even to the edge of the present day? + </p> + <p> + This is a fair question, and one which demands an answer. There must have + been a reason, and a deep-rooted one, for this remarkable reaction and + volte-face which has characterized Christianity, and, perhaps to a lesser + degree, other both earlier and later cults like those of the Buddhists, + the Egyptians, the Aztecs, (1) and so forth. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For the Aztecs, see Acosta, vol. ii, p. 324 (London, 1604). +</p> + <p> + It may be said—and this is a fair answer on the SURFACE of the + problem—that the main reason WAS something in the nature of a + reaction. The excesses and corruptions of sex in Syria had evidently + become pretty bad, and that very fact may have led to a pendulum-swing of + the Jewish Church in the opposite direction; and again in the same way the + general laxity of morals in the decay of the Roman empire may have + confirmed the Church of early Christendom in its determination to keep + along the great high road of asceticism. The Christian followed on the + Jewish and Egyptian Churches, and in this way a great tradition of sexual + continence and anti-pagan morality came right down the centuries even into + modern times. + </p> + <p> + This seems so far a reasonable theory; but I think we shall go farther and + get nearer the heart of the problem if we revert to the general clue which + I have followed already more than once—the clue of the necessary + evolution of human Consciousnss. In the first or animal stage of human + evolution, Sex was (as among the animals) a perfectly necessary, + instinctive and unself-conscious activity. It was harmonious with itself, + natural, and unproductive of evil. But when the second stage set in, in + which man became preponderantly <i>self</i>-conscious, he inevitably set about + deflecting sex-activities to his own private pleasure and advantage; he + employed his budding intellect in scheming the derailment of passion and + desire from tribal needs and Nature’s uses to the poor details of his own + gratification. If the first stage of harmonious sex-instinct and activity + may be held as characteristic of the Golden Age, the second stage must be + taken to represent the Fall of man and his expulsion from Paradise in the + Garden of Eden story. The pleasure and glory of Sex having been turned to + self-purposes, Sex itself became the great Sin. A sense of guilt + overspread man’s thoughts on the subject. “He knew that he was naked,” and + he fled from the voice and face of the Lord. From that moment one of the + main objects of his life (in its inner and newer activities) came to be + the <i>denial</i> of Sex. Sex was conceived of as the great Antagonist, the old + Serpent lying ever in wait to betray him; and there arrived a moment in + the history of every race, and of every representative religion, when the + sexual rites and ceremonies of the older time lost their naive and + quasi-innocent character and became afflicted with a sense of guilt and + indecency. This extraordinarily interesting and dramatic moment in human + evolution was of course that in which self-consciousness grew powerful + enough to penetrate to the centre of human vitality, the <i>sanctum</i> of man’s + inner life, his sexual instinct, and to deal it a terrific blow—a + blow from which it has never yet recovered, and from which indeed it will + not recover, until the very nature of man’s inner life is changed. + </p> + <p> + It may be said that it was very foolish of Man to deny and to try to expel + a perfectly natural and sensible thing, a necessary and indispensable part + of his own nature. And that, as far as I can see, is perfectly true. But + sometimes it is unavoidable, it would seem, to do foolish things—if + only to convince oneself of one’s own foolishness. On the other hand, this + policy on the part of Man was certainly very wise—wiser than he knew—for + in attempting to drive out Sex (which of course he could not do) he + entered into a conflict which was bound to end in the expulsion of + SOMETHING; and that something was the domination, within himself, of + self-consciousness, the very thing which makes and ever has made sex + detestable. Man did not succeed in driving the snake out of the Garden, + but he drove himself out, taking the real old serpent of self-greed and + self-gratification with him. When some day he returns to Paradise this + latter will have died in his bosom and been cast away, but he will find + the good Snake there as of old, full of healing and friendliness, among + the branches of the Tree of Life. + </p> + <p> + Besides it is evident from other considerations that this moment of the + denial of sex HAD to come. When one thinks of the enormous power of this + passion, and its age-long, hold upon the human race, one realizes that + once liberated from the instinctive bonds of nature, and backed by a + self-conscious and self-seeking human intelligence it was on the way to + become a fearful curse. + </p> +<p class="poem"> + A monstrous Eft was of old the Lord and Master of Earth;<br/> + For him did his high sun flame, and his river billowing ran. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + And this may have been all very well and appropriate in the carboniferous + Epoch, but WE in the end of Time have no desire to fall under any such + preposterous domination, or to return to the primal swamps from which + organic nature has so slowly and painfully emerged. + </p> + <p> + I say it was the entry of self-consciousness into the sphere of Sex, and + the consequent use of the latter for private ends, which poisoned this + great race-power at its root. For above all, Sex, as representing through + Childbirth the life of the Race (or of the Tribe, or, if you like, of + Humanity at large) should be sacred and guarded from merely selfish aims, + and therefore to use it only for such aims is indeed a desecration. And + even if—as some maintain and I think rightly (1)—sex is not + MERELY for child-birth and physical procreation, but for mutual vitalizing + and invigoration, it still subserves union and not egotism; and to use it + egotistically is to commit the sin of Separation indeed. It is to cast + away and corrupt the very bond of life and fellowship. The ancient peoples + at any rate threw an illumination of religious (that is, of communal and + public) value over sex-acts, and to a great extent made them into matters + either of Temple-ritual and the worship of the gods, or of communal and + pandemic celebration, as in the Saturnalia and other similar festivals. We + have certainly no right to regard these celebrations—of either kind—as + insincere. They were, at any rate in their inception, genuinely religious + or genuinely social and festal; and from either point of view they were + far better than the secrecy of private indulgence which characterizes our + modern world in these matters. The thorough and shameless commercialism of + Sex has alas! been reserved for what is called “Christian civilization,” + and with it (perhaps as a necessary consequence) Prostitution and Syphilis + have grown into appalling evils, accompanied by a gigantic degradation of + social standards, and upgrowth of petty Philistinism and niaiserie. Love, + in fact, having in this modern world-movement been denied, and its natural + manifestations affected with a sense of guilt and of sin, has really + languished and ceased to play its natural part in life; and a vast number + of people—both men and women, finding themselves barred or derailed + from the main object of existence, have turned their energies to + ‘business’ or ‘money-making’ or ‘social advancement’ or something equally + futile, as the only poor substitute and pis aller open to them. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Havelock Ellis, The Objects of Marriage, a pamphlet +published by the “British Society for the Study of Sex-psychology.” +</p> + <p> + Why (again we ask) did Christianity make this apparently great mistake? + And again we must reply: Perhaps the mistake was not so great as it + appears to be. Perhaps this was another case of the necessity of learning + by loss. Love had to be denied, in the form of sex, in order that it might + thus the better learn its own true values and needs. Sex had to be + rejected, or defiled with the sense of guilt and self-seeking, in order + that having cast out its defilement it might return one day, transformed + in the embrace of love. The whole process has had a deep and strange + world-significance. It has led to an immensely long period of suppression—suppression + of two great instincts—the physical instinct of sex and the + emotional instinct of love. Two things which should naturally be conjoined + have been separated; and both have suffered. And we know from the Freudian + teachings what suppressions in the root-instincts necessarily mean. We + know that they inevitably terminate in diseases and distortions of proper + action, either in the body or in the mind, or in both; and that these + evils can only be cured by the liberation of the said instincts again to + their proper expression and harmonious functioning in the whole organism. + No wonder then that, with this agelong suppression (necessary in a sense + though it may have been) which marks the Christian dispensation, there + should have been associated endless Sickness and Crime and sordid Poverty, + the Crucifixion of animals in the name of Science and of human workers in + the name of Wealth, and wars and horrors innumerable! Hercules writhing in + the Nessus-shirt or Prometheus nailed to the rocks are only as figures of + a toy miniature compared with this vision of the great and divine Spirit + of Man caught in the clutches of those dread Diseases which through the + centuries have been eating into his very heart and vitals. + </p> + <p> + It would not be fair to pile on the Christian Church the blame for all + this. It had, no doubt, its part to play in the whole great scheme, + namely, to accentuate the self-motive; and it played the part very + thoroughly and successfully. For it must be remembered (what I have again + and again insisted on) that in the pagan cults it was always the salvation + of the CLAN, the TRIBE, the people that was the main consideration; the + advantage of the individual took only a very secondary part. But in + Christendom—after the communal enthusiasms of apostolic days and of + the medieval and monastic brotherhoods and sisterhoods had died down—religion + occupied itself more and more with each man or woman’s INDIVIDUAL + salvation, regardless of what might happen to the community; till, with + the rise of Protestantism and Puritanism, this tendency reached such an + extreme that, as some one has said, each man was absorbed in polishing up + his own little soul in a corner to himself, in entire disregard to the + damnation which might come to his neighbor. Religion, and Morality too, + under the commercial regime became, as was natural, perfectly selfish. It + was always: “Am <i>I</i> saved? Am <i>I</i> doing the right thing? Am <i>I</i> + winning the favor of God and man? Will my claims to salvation be allowed? + Did <i>I</i> make a good bargain in allowing Jesus to be crucified for + me?” The poison of a diseased self-consciousness entered into the whole + human system. + </p> + <p> + As I say, one must not blame the Christians too much for all this—partly + because, AFTER the communal periods which I have just mentioned, + Christianity was evidently deeply influenced by the rise of COMMERCIALISM, + to which during the last two centuries it has so carefully and piously + adapted itself; and partly because—if our view is anywhere near + right—this microbial injection of self-consciousness was just the + necessary work which (in conjunction with commercialism) it HAD to + perform. But though one does not blame Christianity one cannot blind + oneself to its defects—the defects necessarily arising from the part + it had to play. When one compares a healthy Pagan ritual—say of + Apollo or Dionysus—including its rude and crude sacrifices if you + like, but also including its whole-hearted spontaneity and dedication to + the common life and welfare—with the morbid self-introspection of + the Christian and the eternally recurring question “What shall I do to be + saved?”—the comparison is not favorable to the latter. There is (at + any rate in modern days) a mawkish milk-and-wateriness about the Christian + attitude, and also a painful self-consciousness, which is not pleasant; + and though Nietzsche’s blonde beast is a sufficiently disagreeable animal, + one almost thinks that it were better to be THAT than to go about with + one’s head meekly hanging on one side, and talking always of altruism and + self-sacrifice, while in reality one’s heart was entirely occupied with + the question of one’s own salvation. There is besides a lamentable want of + grit and substance about the Christian doctrines and ceremonials. Somehow + under the sex-taboo they became spiritualized and etherealized out of all + human use. Study the initiation-rites of any savage tribe—with their + strict discipline of the young braves in fortitude, and the overcoming of + pain and fear; with their very detailed lessons in the arts of war and + life and the duties of the grown man to his tribe; and with their quite + practical instruction in matters of Sex; and then read our little + Baptismal and Confirmation services, which ought to correspond thereto. + How thin and attenuated and weak the latter appear! Or compare the Holy + Communion, as celebrated in the sentimental atmosphere of a Protestant + Church, with an ancient Eucharistic feast of real jollity and community of + life under the acknowledged presence of the god; or the Roman Catholic + service of the Mass, including its genuflexions and mock oblations and + droning ritual sing-song, with the actual sacrifice in early days of an + animal-god-victim on a blazing altar; and I think my meaning will be + clear. We do not want, of course, to return to all the crudities and + barbarities of the past; but also we do not want to become attenuated and + spiritualized out of all mundane sense and recognition, and to live in an + otherworld Paradise void of application to earthly affairs. + </p> + <p> + The sex-taboo in Christianity was apparently, as I have said, an effort of + the human soul to wrest itself free from the entanglement of physical lust—which + lust, though normal and appropriate and in a way gracious among the + animals, had through the domination of self-consciousness become diseased + and morbid or monstrous in Man. The work thus done has probably been of + the greatest value to the human race; but, just as in other cases it has + sometimes happened that the effort to do a certain work has resulted in + the end in an unbalanced exaggeration so here. We are beginning to see now + the harmful side of the repression of sex, and are tentatively finding our + way back again to a more pagan attitude. And as this return-movement is + taking place at a time when, from many obvious signs, the self-conscious, + grasping, commercial conception of life is preparing to go on the wane, + and the sense of solidarity to re-establish itself, there is really good + hope that our return-journey may prove in some degree successful. + </p> + <p> + Man progresses generally, not both legs at once like a sparrow, but by + putting one leg forward first, and then the other. There was this + advantage in the Christian taboo of sex that by discouraging the physical + and sensual side of love it did for the time being allow the spiritual + side to come forward. But, as I have just now indicated, there is a limit + to that process. We cannot always keep one leg first in walking, and we do + not want, in life, always to put the spiritual first, nor always the + material and sensual. The two sides in the long run have to keep pace with + each other. + </p> + <p> + And it may be that a great number of the very curious and seemingly + senseless taboos that we find among the primitive peoples can be partly + explained in this way: that is, that by ruling out certain directions of + activity they enabled people to concentrate more effectually, for the time + being, on other directions. To primitive folk the great world, whose ways + are puzzling enough in all conscience to us, must have been simply + bewildering in its dangers and complications. It was an amazement of Fear + and Ignorance. Thunderbolts might come at any moment out of the blue sky, + or a demon out of an old tree trunk, or a devastating plague out of a bad + smell—or apparently even out of nothing at all! Under those + circumstances it was perhaps wise, wherever there was the smallest + SUSPICION of danger or ill-luck, to create a hard and fast TABOO—just + as we tell our children ON NO ACCOUNT to walk under a ladder (thereby + creating a superstition in their minds), partly because it would take too + long to explain all about the real dangers of paint-pots and other things, + and partly because for the children themselves it seems simpler to have a + fixed and inviolable law than to argue over every case that occurs. The + priests and elders among early folk no doubt took the line of FORBIDDAL of + activities, as safer and simpler, even if carried sometimes too far, than + the opposite, of easy permission and encouragement. Taboos multiplied—many + of them quite senseless—but perhaps in this perilous maze of the + world, of which I have spoken, it really WAS simpler to cut out a large + part of the labyrinth, as forbidden ground, thus rendering it easier for + the people to find their way in those portions of the labyrinth which + remained. If you read in Deuteronomy (ch. xiv) the list of birds and + beasts and fishes permitted for food among the Israelites, or tabooed, you + will find the list on the whole reasonable, but you will be struck by some + curious exceptions (according to our ideas), which are probably to be + explained by the necessity of making the rules simple enough to be + comprehended by everybody—even if they included the forbiddal of + some quite eatable animals. + </p> + <p> + At some early period, in Babylonia or Assyria, a very stringent taboo on + the Sabbath arose, which, taken up in turn by the Jewish and Christian + Churches, has ruled the Western World for three thousand years or more, + and still survives in a quite senseless form among some of our rural + populations, who will see their corn rot in the fields rather than save it + on a Sunday. (1) It is quite likely that this taboo in its first beginning + was due not to any need of a weekly rest-day (a need which could never be + felt among nomad savages, but would only occur in some kind of industrial + and stationary civilization), but to some superstitious fear, connected + with such things as the changes of the Moon, and the probable ILL-LUCK of + any enterprise undertaken on the seventh day, or any day of Moon-change. + It is probable, however, that as time went on and Society became more + complex, the advantages of a weekly REST-DAY (or market-day) became more + obvious and that the priests and legislators deliberately turned the taboo + to a social use. (2) The learned modern Ethnologists, however, will + generally have none of this latter idea. As a rule they delight in + representing early peoples as totally destitute of common sense (which is + supposed to be a monopoly of us moderns!); and if the Sabbath-arrangement + has had any value or use they insist on ascribing this to pure accident, + and not to the application of any sane argument or reason. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For other absurd Sunday taboos see Westermarck on The Moral +Ideas, vol. ii, p. 289. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) For a tracing of this taboo from useless superstition to +practical utility see Hastings’s Encycl. Religion and Ethics, art. “The +Sabbath.” +</p> + <p> + It is true indeed that a taboo—in order to be a proper taboo—must + not rest in the general mind on argument or reason. It may have had good + sense in the past or even an underlying good sense in the present, but its + foundation must rest on something beyond. It must be an absolute fiat—something + of the nature of a Mystery (1) or of Religion or Magic-and not to be + disputed. This gives it its blood-curdling quality. The rustic does not + know what would happen to him if he garnered his corn on Sunday, nor does + the diner-out in polite society know what would happen if he spooned up + his food with his knife—but they both are stricken with a sort of + paralysis at the very suggestion of infringing these taboos. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Westermarck, Ibid., ii. 586. +</p> + <p> + Marriage-customs have always been a fertile field for the generation of + taboos. It seems doubtful whether anything like absolute promiscuity ever + prevailed among the human race, but there is much to show that wide choice + and intercourse were common among primitive folk and that the tendency of + later marriage custom has been on the whole to LIMIT this range of choice. + At some early period the forbiddal of marriage between those who bore the + same totem-name took place. Thus in Australia “no man of the Emu stock + might marry an Emu woman; no Blacksnake might marry a Blacksnake woman, + and so forth.” (1) Among the Kamilaroi and the Arunta of S. Australia the + tribe was divided into classes or clans, sometimes four, sometimes eight, + and a man of one particular clan was only marriageable with a woman of + another particular clan—say (1) with (3) or (2) with (4), and so on. + (2) Customs with a similar tendency, but different in detail, seem to have + prevailed among native tribes in Central Africa and N. America. And the + regulations in all this matter have been so (apparently) entirely + arbitrary in the various cases that it would almost appear as if the bar + of kinship through the Totem had been the EXCUSE, originating perhaps in + some superstition, but that the real and more abiding object was simply + limitation. And this perhaps was a wise line to take. A taboo on + promiscuity had to be created, and for this purpose any current prejudice + could be made use of. (3) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Myth, Ritual and Religion, i, p. 66. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Australia. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) The author of The Mystic Rose seems to take this view. See +p. 214 of that book. +</p> + <p> + With us moderns the whole matter has taken a different complexion. When we + consider the enormous amount of suffering and disease, both of mind and + body, arising from the sex-suppression of which I have just spoken, + especially among women, we see that mere unreasoning taboos—which + possibly had their place and use in the past—can be tolerated no + longer. We are bound to turn the searchlight of reason and science on a + number of superstitions which still linger in the dark and musty places of + the Churches and the Law courts. Modern inquiry has shown conclusively not + only the foundational importance of sex in the evolution of each human + being, but also the very great VARIETY of spontaneous manifestations in + different individuals and the vital necessity that these should be + recognized, if society is ever to expand into a rational human form. It is + not my object here to sketch the future of marriage and sex-relations + generally—a subject which is now being dealt with very effectively + from many sides; but only to insist on our using our good sense in the + whole matter, and refusing any longer to be bound by senseless + pre-judgments. + </p> + <p> + Something of the same kind may be said with regard to Nakedness, which in + modern Civilization has become the object of a very serious and indeed + harmful taboo; both of speech and act. As someone has said, it became in + the end of the nineteenth century almost a crime to mention by name any + portion of the human body within a radius of about twenty inches from its + centre (!) and as a matter of fact a few dress-reformers of that period + were actually brought into court and treated as criminals for going about + with legs bare up to the knees, and shoulders and chest uncovered! Public + follies such as these have been responsible for much of the bodily and + mental disease and suppression just mentioned, and the sooner they are + sent to limbo the better. No sensible person would advocate promiscuous + nakedness any more than promiscuous sex-relationship; nor is it likely + that aged and deformed people would at any time wish to expose themselves. + But surely there is enough good sense and appreciation of grace and + fitness in the average human mind for it to be able to liberate the body + from senseless concealment, and give it its due expression. The Greeks of + old, having on the whole clean bodies, treated them with respect and + distinction. The young men appeared quite naked in the palaestra, and even + the girls of Sparta ran races publicly in the same condition; (1) and some + day when our bodies (and minds too) have become clean we shall return to + similar institutions. But that will not be just yet. As long as the + defilement of this commercial civilization is on us we shall prefer our + dirt and concealment. The powers that be will protest against change. + Heinrich Scham, in his charming little pamphlet Nackende Menschen, (2) + describes the consternation of the commercial people at such ideas: + </p> + <p> + “‘What will become of us,’ cried the tailors, ‘if you go naked?’ + </p> + <p> + “And all the lot of them, hat, cravat, shirt, and shoemakers joined in the + chorus. + </p> + <p> + “‘AND WHERE SHALL I CARRY MY MONEY?’ cried one who had just been made a + director.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Theocritus, Idyll xviii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Published at Leipzig about 1893. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a> +XIII.<br/> +THE GENESIS OF CHRISTIANITY +</h2> + <p> + Referring back to the existence of something resembling a great + World-religion which has come down the centuries, continually expanding + and branching in the process, we have now to consider the genesis of that + special brand or branch of it which we call Christianity. Each religion or + cult, pagan or Christian, has had, as we have seen, a vast amount in + common with the general World-religion; yet each has had its own special + characteristics. What have been the main characteristics of the Christian + branch, as differentiating it from the other branches? + </p> + <p> + We saw in the last chapter that a certain ascetic attitude towards Sex was + one of the most salient marks of the Christian Church; and that whereas + most of the pagan cults (though occasionally favoring frightful + austerities and cruel sacrifices) did on the whole rejoice in pleasure and + the world of the senses, Christianity—following largely on Judaism—displayed + a tendency towards renunciation of the world and the flesh, and a + withdrawal into the inner and more spiritual regions of the mind. The same + tendency may be traced in the Egyptian and Phrygian cults of that period. + It will be remembered how Juvenal (Sat. VI, 510-40) chaffs the priests of + Cybele at Rome for making themselves “eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s + sake,” or the rich Roman lady for plunging in the wintry Tiber for a + propitiation to Isis. No doubt among the later pagans “the long + intolerable tyranny of the senses over the soul” had become a very serious + matter. But Christianity represented perhaps the most powerful reaction + against this; and this reaction had, as indicated in the last chapter, the + enormously valuable result that (for the time) it disentangled love from + sex and established Love, pure and undefiled, as ruler of the world. “God + is Love.” But, as also indicated, the divorce between the two elements of + human nature, carried to an extreme, led in time to a crippling of both + elements and the development of a certain morbidity and self-consciousness + which, it cannot be denied, is painfully marked among some sections of + Christians—especially those of the altruistic and ‘philanthropic’ + type. + </p> + <p> + Another characteristic of Christianity which is also very fine in its way + but has its limits of utility, has been its insistence on “morality.” Some + modern writers indeed have gone so far—forgetting, I suppose, the + Stoics—as to claim that Christianity’s chief mark is its high + morality, and that the pagans generally were quite wanting in the moral + sense! This, of course, is a profound mistake. I should say that, in the + true sense of the word, the early and tribal peoples have been much more + ‘moral’ as a rule—that is, ready as individuals to pay respect to + the needs of the community—than the later and more civilized + societies. But the mistake arises from the different interpretations of + the word; for whereas all the pagan religions insisted very strongly on + the just-mentioned kind of morality, which we should call <i>civic duty to + one’s neighbor</i>, the Christian made morality to consist more especially in + a man’s <i>duty to God</i>. It became with them a private affair between a man’s + self and God, rather than a public affair; and thus led in the end to a + very obnoxious and quite pharisaic kind of morality, whose chief + inspiration was not the helping of one’s fellow-man but the saving of + one’s own soul. + </p> + <p> + There may perhaps be other salient points of differentiation between + Christianity and the preceding pagan religions; but for the present we may + recognize these two—(a) the tendency towards a renunciation of the + world, and the consequent cultivation of a purely spiritual love and (b) + the insistence on a morality whose inspiration was a private sense of duty + to God rather than a public sense of duty to one’s neighbor and to society + generally. It may be interesting to trace the causes which led to this + differentiation. + </p> + <p> + Three centuries before our era the conquests of Alexander had had the + effect of spreading the Greek thought and culture over most of the known + world. A vast number of small bodies of worshipers of local deities, with + their various rituals and religious customs, had thus been broken up, or + at least brought into contact with each other and partially modified and + hellenized. The orbit of a more general conception of life and religion + was already being traced. By the time of the founding of the first + Christian Church the immense conquests of Rome had greatly extended and + established the process. The Mediterranean had become a great Roman lake. + Merchant ships and routes of traffic crossed it in all directions; + tourists visited its shores. The known world had become one. The + numberless peoples, tribes, nations, societies within the girdle of the + Empire, with their various languages, creeds, customs, religions, + philosophies, were profoundly influencing each other. (1) A great fusion + was taking place; and it was becoming inevitable that the next great + religious movement would have a world-wide character. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For an enlargement on this theme see Glover’s Conflict of +Religions in the early Roman Empire; also S. J. Case, Evolution of +Early Christianity (University of Chicago, 1914). The Adonis worship, for +instance (a resurrection-cult), “was still thriving in Syria and Cyprus +when Paul preached there,” and the worship of Isis and Serapis had +already reached then, Rome and Naples. +</p> + <p> + It was probable that this new religion would combine many elements from + the preceding rituals in one cult. In connection with the fine temples and + elaborate services of Isis and Cybele and Mithra there was growing up a + powerful priesthood; Franz Cumont (1) speaks of “the learned priests of + the Asiatic cults” as building up, on the foundations of old fetichism and + superstition, a complete religious philosophy—just as the Brahmins + had built the monism of the Vedanta on the “monstrous idolatries of + Hinduism.” And it was likely that a similar process would evolve the new + religion expected. Toutain again calls attention to the patronage accorded + to all these cults by the Roman Emperors, as favoring a new combination + and synthesis:—“Hadrien, Commode, Septime Sévère, Julia Domna, + Elagabal, Alexandre Sévère, en particulier ont contribué personnellement a + la popularité et au succes des cultes qui se celebraient en l’honneur de + Serapis et d’Isis, des divinités syriennes et de Mithra.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Cumont, Religions Orientales dans le Paganisme Romain +(Paris, 1906), p. 253. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Cultes paiens dans l’Empire Romain (2 vols., 1911), vol. ii, +p. 263. +</p> + <p> + It was also probable that this new Religion would show (as indicated in + the last chapter) a reaction against mere sex-indulgence; and, as regards + its standard of Morality generally, that, among so many conflicting + peoples with their various civic and local customs, it could not well + identify itself with any ONE of these but would evolve an inner + inspiration of its own which in its best form would be love of the + neighbor, regardless of the race, creed or customs of the neighbor, and + whose sanction would not reside in any of the external authorities thus + conflicting with each other, but in the sense of the soul’s direct + responsibility to God. + </p> + <p> + So much for what we might expect a priori as to the influence of the + surroundings on the general form of the new Religion. And what about the + kind of creed or creeds which that religion would favor? Here again we + must see that the influence of the surroundings compelled a certain + result. Those doctrines which we have described in the preceding chapters—doctrines + of Sin and Sacrifice, a Savior, the Eucharist, the Trinity, the + Virgin-birth, and so forth—were in their various forms seething, so + to speak, all around. It was impossible for any new religious synthesis to + escape them; all it could do would be to appropriate them, and to give + them perhaps a color of its own. Thus it is into the midst of this + germinating mass that we must imagine the various pagan cults, like + fertilizing streams, descending. To trace all these streams would of + course be an impossible task; but it may be of use, as an example of the + process, to take the case of some particular belief. Let us take the + belief in the coming of a Savior-god; and this will be the more suitable + as it is a belief which has in the past been commonly held to be + distinctive of Christianity. Of course we know now that it is not in any + sense distinctive, but that the long tradition of the Savior comes down + from the remotest times, and perhaps from every country of the world. (1) + The Messianic prophecies of the Jews and the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah + emptied themselves into the Christian teachings, and infected them to some + degree with a Judaic tinge. The “Messiah” means of course the Anointed + One. The Hebrew word occurs some 40 times in the Old Testament; and each + time in the Septuagint or Greek translation (made mainly in the third + century BEFORE our era) the word is translated [gr cristos], or Christos, + which again means Anointed. Thus we see that the idea or the word “The + Christ” was in vogue in Alexandria as far back certainly as 280 B.C., or + nearly three centuries before Jesus. And what the word “The Anointed” + strictly speaking means, and from what the expression is probably derived, + will appear later. In The Book of Enoch, written not later than B.C. 170, + (2) the Christ is spoken of as already existing in heaven, and about to + come as judge of all men, and is definitely called “the Son of Man.” The + Book of Revelations is FULL of passages from Enoch; so are the Epistles of + Paul; so too the Gospels. The Book of Enoch believes in a Golden Age that + is to come; it has Dantesque visions of Heaven and Hell, and of Angels + good and evil, and it speaks of a “garden of Righteousness” with the “Tree + of Wisdom” in its midst. Everywhere, says Prof. Drews, in the first + century B.C., there was the longing for a coming Savior. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Even to-day, the Arabian lands are always vibrating with +prophecies of a coming Mahdi. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Edition by R. H. Charles (1893). +</p> + <p> + But the Savior-god, as we also know, was a familiar figure in Egypt. The + great Osiris was the Savior of the world, both in his life and death: in + his life through the noble works he wrought for the benefit of mankind, + and in his death through his betrayal by the powers of darkness and his + resurrection from the tomb and ascent into heaven. (1) The Egyptian + doctrines descended through Alexandria into Christianity—and though + they did not influence the latter deeply until about 300 A.D., yet they + then succeeded in reaching the Christian Churches, giving a color to their + teachings with regard to the Savior, and persuading them to accept and + honor the Egyptian worship of Isis in the Christian form of the Virgin + Mary. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See ch. ii. +</p> + <p> + Again, another great stream of influence descended from Persia in the form + of the cult of Mithra. Mithra, as we have seen, (1) stood as a great + Mediator between God and man. With his baptisms and eucharists, and his + twelve disciples, and his birth in a cave, and so forth, he seemed to the + early Fathers an invention of the devil and a most dangerous mockery on + Christianity—and all the more so because his worship was becoming so + exceedingly popular. The cult seems to have reached Rome about B.C. 70. It + spread far and wide through the Empire. It extended to Great Britain, and + numerous remains of Mithraic monuments and sculptures in this country—at + York, Chester and other places—testify to its wide acceptance even + here. At Rome the vogue of Mithraism became so great that in the third + century A. D., it was quite doubtful (2) whether it OR Christianity would + triumph; the Emperor Aurelian in 273 founded a cult of the Invincible Sun + in connection with Mithraism; (3) and as St. Jerome tells us in his + letters, (4) the latter cult had at a later time to be suppressed in Rome + and Alexandria by PHYSICAL FORCE, so powerful was it. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Ch. ii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Cumont, op. cit., who says, p. 171:—“Jamais, pas meme a +l’epoque des invasions mussulmanes, l’Europe ne sembla plus pres +de devenir asiatique qu’au moment ou Diocletien reconnaissait +officiellement en Mithra, le protecteur de l’empire reconstitue.” See +also Cumont’s Mysteres de Mithra, preface. The Roman Army, in fact, +stuck to Mithra throughout, as against Christianity; and so did the +Roman nobility. (See S. Augustine’s Confessions, Book VIII, ch. 2.) +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Cumont indeed says that the identification of Mithra with the +Sun (the emblem of imperial power) formed one reason why Mithraism was +NOT persecuted at that time. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) Epist. cvii, ad Laetam. See Robertson’s Pagan Christs, p. +350. +</p> + <p> + Nor was force the only method employed. IMITATION is not only the + sincerest flattery, but it is often the most subtle and effective way of + defeating a rival. The priests of the rising Christian Church were, like + the priests of ALL religions, not wanting in craft; and at this moment + when the question of a World-religion was in the balance, it was an + obvious policy for them to throw into their own scale as many elements as + possible of the popular Pagan cults. Mithraism had been flourishing for + 600 years; and it is, to say the least, CURIOUS that the Mithraic + doctrines and legends which I have just mentioned should all have been + adopted (quite unintentionally of course!) into Christianity; and still + more so that some others from the same source, like the legend of the + Shepherds at the Nativity and the doctrine of the Resurrection and + Ascension, which are NOT mentioned at all in the original draft of the + earliest Gospel (St. Mark), should have made their appearance, in the + Christian writings at a later time, when Mithraism was making great + forward strides. History shows that as a Church progresses and expands it + generally feels compelled to enlarge and fortify its own foundations by + inserting material which was not there at first. I shall shortly give + another illustration of this; at present I will merely point out that the + Christian writers, as time went on, not only introduced new doctrines, + legends, miracles and so forth—most of which we can trace to + antecedent pagan sources—but that they took especial pains to + destroy the pagan records and so obliterate the evidence of their own + dishonesty. We learn from Porphyry (1) that there were several elaborate + treatises setting forth the religion of Mithra; and J. M. Robertson adds + (Pagan Christs, p. 325): “everyone of these has been destroyed by the care + of the Church, and it is remarkable that even the treatise of Firmicus is + mutilated at a passage (v.) where he seems to be accusing Christians of + following Mithraic usages.” While again Professor Murray says, “The + polemic literature of Christianity is loud and triumphant; the books of + the Pagans have been DESTROYED.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) De Abstinentia, ii. 56; iv. 16. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Four Stages, p. 180. We have probably an instance of this +destruction in the total disappearance of Celsus’ lively attack +on Christianity (180 A.D.), of which, however, portions have been +fortunately preserved in Origen’s rather prolix refutation of the same. +</p> + <p> + Returning to the doctrine of the Savior, I have already in preceding + chapters given so many instances of belief in such a deity among the + pagans—whether he be called Krishna or Mithra or Osiris or Horus or + Apollo or Hercules—that it is not necessary to dwell on the subject + any further in order to persuade the reader that the doctrine was ‘in the + air’ at the time of the advent of Christianity. Even Dionysus, then a + prominent figure in the ‘Mysteries,’ was called Eleutherios, The + Deliverer. But it may be of interest to trace the same doctrine among the + PRE-CHRISTIAN sects of Gnostics. The Gnostics, says Professor Murray, (1) + “are still commonly thought of as a body of CHRISTIAN heretics. In reality + there were Gnostic sects scattered over the Hellenistic world BEFORE + Christianity as well as after. They must have been established in Antioch + and probably in Tarsus well before the days of Paul or Apollos. Their + Savior, like the Jewish Messiah, was established in men’s minds before the + Savior of the Christians. ‘If we look close,’ says Professor Bousset, ‘the + result emerges with great clearness that the figure of the Redeemer as + such did not wait for Christianity to force its way into the religion of + Gnosis, but was already present there under various forms.’” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Four Stages, p. 143. +</p> + <p> + This Gnostic Redeemer, continues Professor Murray, “is descended by a + fairly clear genealogy from the ‘Tritos Soter’ (‘third Savior’) (1) of + early Greece, contaminated with similar figures, like Attis and Adonis + from Asia Minor, Osiris from Egypt, and the special Jewish conception of + the Messiah of the Chosen people. He has various names, which the name of + Jesus or ‘Christos,’ ‘the Anointed,’ tends gradually to supersede. Above + all, he is in some sense Man, or ‘the second Man’ or ‘the Son of Man’... + He is the real, the ultimate, the perfect and eternal Man, of whom all + bodily men are feeble copies.” (2) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) There seems to be some doubt about the exact meaning of this +expression. Even Zeus himself was sometimes called ‘Soter,’ and at +feasts, it is said, the THIRD goblet was always drunk in his honor. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See also The Gnostic Story of Jesus Christ, by Gilbert T. +Sadler (C. W. Daniel, 1919). +</p> + <p> + This passage brings vividly before the mind the process of which I have + spoken, namely, the fusion and mutual interchange of ideas on the subject + of the Savior during the period anterior to our era. Also it exemplifies + to us through what an abstract sphere of Gnostic religious speculation the + doctrine had to travel before reaching its expression in Christianity. (1) + This exalted and high philosophical conception passed on and came out + again to some degree in the Fourth Gospel and the Pauline Epistles + (especially I Cor. xv); but I need hardly say it was not maintained. The + enthusiasm of the little scattered Christian bodies—with their + communism of practice with regard to THIS world and their intensity of + faith with regard to the next—began to wane in the second and third + centuries A.D. As the Church (with capital initial) grew, so was it less + and less occupied with real religious feeling, and more and more with its + battles against persecution from outside, and its quarrels and dissensions + concerning heresies within its own borders. And when at the Council of + Nicaea (325 A.D.) it endeavored to establish an official creed, the strife + and bitterness only increased. “There is no wild beast,” said the Emperor + Julian, “like an angry theologian.” Where the fourth Evangelist had + preached the gospel of Love, and Paul had announced redemption by an inner + and spiritual identification with Christ, “As in Adam all die, so in + Christ shall all be made alive”; and whereas some at any rate of the Pagan + cults had taught a glorious salvation by the new birth of a divine being + within each man: “Be of good cheer, O initiates in the mystery of the + liberated god; For to you too out of all your labors and sorrows shall + come Liberation”—the Nicene creed had nothing to propound except + some extremely futile speculations about the relation to each other of the + Father and the Son, and the relation of BOTH to the Holy Ghost, and of all + THREE to the Virgin Mary—speculations which only served for the + renewal of shameful strife and animosities—riots and bloodshed and + murder—within the Church, and the mockery of the heathen without. + And as far as it dealt with the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the + Lord it did not differ from the score of preceding pagan creeds, except in + the thorough materialism and lack of poetry in statement which it + exhibits. After the Council of Nicaea, in fact, the Judaic tinge in the + doctrines of the Church becomes more apparent, and more and more its + Scheme of Salvation through Christ takes the character of a rather sordid + and huckstering bargain by which Man gets the better of God by persuading + the latter to sacrifice his own Son for the redemption of the world! With + the exception of a few episodes like the formation during the Middle Ages + of the noble brotherhoods and sisterhoods of Frairs and Nuns, dedicated to + the help and healing of suffering humanity, and the appearance of a few + real lovers of mankind (and the animals) like St. Francis—(and these + manifestations can hardly be claimed by the Church, which pretty + consistently opposed them)—it may be said that after about the + fourth century the real spirit and light of early Christian enthusiasm + died away. The incursions of barbarian tribes from the North and East, and + later of Moors and Arabs from the South, familiarized the European peoples + with the ideas of bloodshed and violence; gross and material conceptions + of life were in the ascendant; and a romantic and aspiring Christianity + gave place to a worldly and vulgar Churchianity. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) When travelling in India I found that the Gnanis or Wise Men +there quite commonly maintained that Jesus (judging from his teaching) +must have been initiated at some time in the esoteric doctrines of the +Vedanta. +</p> + <p> + I have in these two or three pages dealt only—and that very briefly—with + the entry of the pagan doctrine of the Savior into the Christian field, + showing its transformation there and how Christianity could not well + escape having a doctrine of a Savior, or avoid giving a color of its own + to that doctrine. To follow out the same course with other doctrines, like + those which I have mentioned above, would obviously be an endless task—which + must be left to each student or reader to pursue according to his + opportunity and capacity. It is clear anyhow, that all these elements of + the pagan religions—pouring down into the vast reservoir, or rather + whirlpool, of the Roman Empire, and mixing among all these numerous + brotherhoods, societies, collegia, mystery-clubs, and groups which were at + that time looking out intently for some new revelation or inspiration—did + more or less automatically act and react upon each other, and by the + general conditions prevailing were modified, till they ultimately combined + and took united shape in the movement which we call Christianity, but + which only—as I have said—narrowly escaped being called + Mithraism—so nearly related and closely allied were these cults with + each other. + </p> + <p> + At this point it will naturally be asked: “And where in this scheme of the + Genesis of Christianity is the chief figure and accredited leader of the + movement—namely Jesus Christ himself—for to all appearance in + the account here given of the matter he is practically non-existent or a + negligible quantity?” And the question is a very pertinent one, and very + difficult to answer. “Where is the founder of the Religion?”—or to + put it in another form: “Is it necessary to suppose a human and visible + Founder at all?” A few years ago such a mere question would have been + accounted rank blasphemy, and would only—if passed over—have + been ignored on account of its supposed absurdity. To-day, however, owing + to the enormous amount of work which has been done of late on the subject + of Christian origins, the question takes on quite a different complexion. + And from Strauss onwards a growingly influential and learned body of + critics is inclined to regard the whole story of the Gospels as LEGENDARY. + Arthur Drews, for instance, a professor at Karlsruhe, in his celebrated + book The Christ-Myth, (1) places David F. Strauss as first in the myth + field—though he allows that Dupuis in L’origine de tous les cultes + (1795) had given the clue to the whole idea. He then mentions Bruno Bauer + (1877) as contending that Jesus was a pure invention of Mark’s, and John + M. Robertson as having in his Christianity and Mythology (1900) given the + first thoroughly reasoned exposition of the legendary theory; also Emilio + Bossi in Italy, who wrote Jesu Christo non e mai esistito, and similar + authors in Holland, Poland, and other countries, including W. Benjamin + Smith, the American author of The Pre-christian Jesus (1906), and P. + Jensen in Das Gilgamesch Epos in den Welt-literatur (1906), who makes the + Jesus-story a variant of the Babylonian epic, 2000 B.C. A pretty strong + list! (2) “But,” continues Drews, “ordinary historians still ignore all + this.” Finally, he dismisses Jesus as “a figure swimming obscurely in the + mists of tradition.” Nevertheless I need hardly remark that, large and + learned as the body of opinion here represented is, a still larger (but + less learned) body fights desperately for the actual HISTORICITY of Jesus, + and some even still for the old view of him as a quite unique and + miraculous revelation of Godhood on earth. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Die Christus-mythe: verbesserte und erweitezte Ausgabe, Jena, +1910. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) To which we may also add Schweitzer’s Quest of the historical +Jesus (1910). +</p> + <p> + At first, no doubt, the LEGENDARY theory seems a little TOO far-fetched. + There is a fashion in all these things, and it MAY be that there is a + fashion even here. But when you reflect how rapidly legends grow up even + in these days of exact Science and an omniscient Press; how the figure of + Shakespeare, dead only 300 years, is almost completely lost in the mist of + Time, and even the authenticity of his works has become a subject of + controversy; when you find that William Tell, supposed to have lived some + 300 years again before Shakespeare, and whose deeds in minutest detail + have been recited and honored all over Europe, is almost certainly a pure + invention, and never existed; when you remember—as mentioned earlier + in this book (1)—that it was more than five hundred years after the + supposed birth of Jesus before any serious effort was made to establish + the date of that birth—and that then a purely mythical date was + chosen: the 25th December, the day of the SUN’S new birth after the winter + solstice, and the time of the supposed birth of Apollo, Bacchus, and the + other Sungods; when, moreover, you think for a moment what the state of + historical criticism must have been, and the general standard of + credibility, 1,900 years ago, in a country like Syria, and among an + ignorant population, where any story circulating from lip to lip was + assured of credence if sufficiently marvelous or imaginative;—why, + then the legendary theory does not seem so improbable. There is no doubt + that after the destruction of Jerusalem (in A.D. 70), little groups of + believers in a redeeming ‘Christ’ were formed there and in other places, + just as there had certainly existed, in the first century B.C., groups of + Gnostics, Therapeutae, Essenes and others whose teachings were very + SIMILAR to the Christian, and there was now a demand from many of these + groups for ‘writings’ and ‘histories’ which should hearten and confirm the + young and growing Churches. The Gospels and Epistles, of which there are + still extant a great abundance, both apocryphal and canonical, met this + demand; but how far their records of the person of Jesus of Nazareth are + reliable history, or how far they are merely imaginative pictures of the + kind of man the Saviour might be expected to be, (2) is a question which, + as I have already said, is a difficult one for skilled critics to answer, + and one on which I certainly have no intention of giving a positive + verdict. Personally I must say I think the ‘legendary’ solution quite + likely, and in some ways more satisfactory than the opposite one—for + the simple reason that it seems much more encouraging to suppose that the + story of Jesus, (gracious and beautiful as it is) is a myth which + gradually formed itself in the conscience of mankind, and thus points the + way of humanity’s future evolution, than to suppose it to be the mere + record of an unique and miraculous interposition of Providence, which + depended entirely on the powers above, and could hardly be expected to + occur again. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Ch. II. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) One of Celsus’ accusations against the Christians was that +their Gospels had been written “several times over” (see Origen, Contra +Celsum, ii. 26, 27). +</p> + <p> + However, the question is not what we desire, but what we can prove to be + the actual fact. And certainly the difficulties in the way of regarding + the Gospel story (or stories, for there is not one consistent story) as + TRUE are enormous. If anyone will read, for instance, in the four Gospels, + the events of the night preceding the crucifixion and reckon the time + which they would necessarily have taken to enact—the Last Supper, + the agony in the Garden, the betrayal by Judas, the haling before Caiaphas + and the Sanhedrin, and then before Pilate in the Hall of judgment (though + courts for the trial of malefactors do not GENERALLY sit in the middle of + the night); then—in Luke—the interposed visit to Herod, and + the RETURN to Pilate; Pilate’s speeches and washing of hands before the + crowd; then the scourging and the mocking and the arraying of Jesus in + purple robe as a king; then the preparation of a Cross and the long and + painful journey to Golgotha; and finally the Crucifixion at sunrise;—he + will see—as has often been pointed out—that the whole story is + physically impossible. As a record of actual events the story is + impossible; but as a record or series of notes derived from the witnessing + of a “mystery-play”—and such plays with VERY SIMILAR incidents were + common enough in antiquity in connection with cults of a dying Savior, it + very likely IS true (one can see the very dramatic character of the + incidents: the washing of hands, the threefold denial by Peter, the purple + robe and crown of thorns, and so forth); and as such it is now accepted by + many well-qualified authorities. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Dr. Frazer in The Golden Bough (vol. ix, “The Scapegoat,” p. +400) speaks of the frequency in antiquity of a Mystery-play relating +to a God-man who gives his life and blood for the people; and he +puts forward tentatively and by no means dogmatically the following +note:—“Such a drama, if we are right, was the original story of Esther +and Mordecai, or (to give their older names) Ishtar and Marduk. It was +played in Babylonia, and from Babylonia the returning Captives brought +it to Judaea, where it was acted, rather as an historical than a +mythical piece, by players who, having to die in grim earnest on a +cross or gallows, were naturally drawn from the gaol rather than the +green-room. A chain of causes, which because we cannot follow them +might—in the loose language of common life—be called an accident, +determined that the part of the dying god in this annual play should +be thrust upon Jesus of Nazareth, whom the enemies he had made in high +places by his outspoken strictures were resolved to put out of the way.” +See also vol. iv, “The Dying God,” in the same book. +</p> + <p> + There are many other difficulties. The raising of Lazarus, already dead + three days, the turning of water into wine (a miracle attributed to + Bacchus, of old), the feeding of the five thousand, and others of the + marvels are, to say the least, not easy of digestion. The “Sermon on the + Mount” which, with the “Lord’s Prayer” embedded in it, forms the great and + accepted repository of ‘Christian’ teaching and piety, is well known to be + a collection of sayings from pre-christian writings, including the Psalms, + Isaiah, Ecclesiasticus, the Secrets of Enoch, the Shemonehesreh (a book of + Hebrew prayers), and others; and the fact that this collection was really + made AFTER the time of Jesus, and could not have originated from him, is + clear from the stress which it lays on “persecutions” and “false prophets”—things + which were certainly not a source of trouble at the time Jesus is supposed + to be speaking, though they were at a later time—as well as from the + occurrence of the word “Gentiles,” which being here used apparently in + contra-distinction to “Christians” could not well be appropriate at a time + when no recognized Christian bodies as yet existed. + </p> + <p> + But the most remarkable point in this connection is the absolute silence + of the Gospel of Mark on the subject of the Resurrection and Ascension—that + is, of the ORIGINAL Gospel, for it is now allowed on all hands that the + twelve verses Mark xvi. 9 to the end, are a later insertion. Considering + the nature of this event, astounding indeed, if physically true, and + unique in the history of the world, it is strange that this Gospel—the + earliest written of the four Gospels, and nearest in time to the actual + evidence—makes no mention of it. The next Gospel in point of time—that + of Matthew—mentions the matter rather briefly and timidly, and + reports the story that the body had been STOLEN from the sepulchre. Luke + enlarges considerably and gives a whole long chapter to the resurrection + and ascension; while the Fourth Gospel, written fully twenty years later + still—say about A. D. 120—gives two chapters and a GREAT + VARIETY OF DETAILS! + </p> + <p> + This increase of detail, however, as one gets farther and farther from the + actual event is just what one always finds, as I have said before, in + legendary traditions. A very interesting example of this has lately come + to light in the case of the traditions concerning the life and death of + the Persian Bab. The Bab, as most of my readers will know, was the Founder + of a great religious movement which now numbers (or numbered before the + Great War) some millions of adherents, chiefly Mahommedans, Christians, + Jews and Parsees. The period of his missionary activity was from 1845 to + 1850. His Gospel was singularly like that of Jesus—a gospel of love + to mankind—only (as might be expected from the difference of date) + with an even wider and more deliberate inclusion of all classes, creeds + and races, sinners and saints; and the incidents and entourage of his + ministry were also singularly similar. He was born at Shiraz in 1820, and + growing up a promising boy and youth, fell at the age of 21 under the + influence of a certain Seyyid Kazim, leader of a heterodox sect, and a + kind of fore-runner or John the Baptist to the Bab. The result was a + period of mental trouble (like the “temptation in the wilderness”), after + which the youth returned to Shiraz and at the age of twenty-five began his + own mission. His real name was Mirza Ali Muhammad, but he called himself + thenceforth The Bab, i.e. the Gate (“I am the Way”); and gradually there + gathered round him disciples, drawn by the fascination of his personality + and the devotion of his character. But with the rapid increase of his + following great jealousy and hatred were excited among the Mullahs, the + upholders of a fanatical and narrow-minded Mahommedanism and quite + corresponding to the Scribes and Pharisees of the New Testament. By them + he was denounced to the Turkish Government. He was arrested on a charge of + causing political disturbance, and was condemned to death. Among his + disciples was one favorite, (1) who was absolutely devoted to his Master + and refused to leave him at the last. So together they were suspended over + the city wall (at Tabriz) and simultaneously shot. This was on the 8th + July, 1850. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Mirza Muhammad Ali; and one should note the similarity of +the two names. +</p> + <p> + In November 1850—or between that date and October 1851, a book + appeared, written by one of the B[a^]b’s earliest and most enthusiastic + disciples—a merchant of Kashan—and giving in quite simple and + unpretending form a record of the above events. There is in it no account + of miracles or of great pretensions to godhood and the like. It is just a + plain history of the life and death of a beloved teacher. It was cordially + received and circulated far and wide; and we have no reason for doubting + its essential veracity. And even if proved now to be inaccurate in one or + two details, this would not invalidate the moral of the rest of the story—which + is as follows: + </p> + <p> + After the death of the Bab a great persecution took place (in 1852); there + were many Babi martyrs, and for some years the general followers were + scattered. But in time they gathered themselves together again; successors + to the original prophet were appointed—though not without + dissensions—and a Babi church, chiefly at Acca or Acre in Syria, + began to be formed. It was during this period that a great number of + legends grew up—legends of miraculous babyhood and boyhood, legends + of miracles performed by the mature Bab, and so forth; and when the + newly-forming Church came to look into the matter it concluded (quite + naturally!) that such a simple history as I have outlined above would + never do for the foundation of its plans, now grown somewhat ambitious. So + a new Gospel was framed, called the Tarikh-i-Jadid (“The new History” or + “The new Way”), embodying and including a lot of legendary matter, and + issued with the authority of “the Church.” This was in 1881-2; and + comparing this with the original record (called The point of Kaf) we get a + luminous view of the growth of fable in those thirty brief years which had + elapsed since the Bab’s death. Meanwhile it became very necessary of + course to withdraw from circulation as far as possible all copies of the + original record, lest they should give the lie to the later ‘Gospel’; and + this apparently was done very effectively—so effectively indeed that + Professor Edward Browne (to whom the world owes so much on account of his + labors in connection with Babism), after arduous search, came at one time + to the conclusion that the original was no longer extant. Most + fortunately, however, the well-known Comte de Gobineau had in the course + of his studies on Eastern Religions acquired a copy of The point of Kaf; + and this, after his death, was found among his literary treasures and + identified (as was most fitting) by Professor Browne himself. + </p> + <p> + Such in brief is the history of the early Babi Church (1)—a Church + which has grown up and expanded greatly within the memory of many yet + living. Much might be written about it, but the chief point at present is + for us to note the well-verified and interesting example it gives of the + rapid growth in Syria of a religious legend and the reasons which + contributed to this growth—and to be warned how much more rapidly + similar legends probably grew up in the same land in the middle of the + First Century, A.D. The story of the Bab is also interesting to us + because, while this mass of legend was formed around it, there is no + possible doubt about the actual existence of a historical nucleus in the + person of Mirza Ali Muhammad. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For literature, see Edward G. Browne’s Traveller’s Narrative +on the Episode of the Bab (1891), and his New History of the Bab +translated from the Persian of the Tarikh-i-Jadid (Cambridge, 1893). +Also Sermons and Essays by Herbert Rix (Williams and Norgate, 1907), pp. +295-325, “The Persian Bab.” +</p> + <p> + On the whole, one is sometimes inclined to doubt whether any great + movement ever makes itself felt in the world, without dating first from + some powerful personality or group of personalities, ROUND which the + idealizing and myth-making genius of mankind tends to crystallize. But one + must not even here be too certain. Something of the Apostle Paul we know, + and something of ‘John’ the Evangelist and writer of the Epistle I John; + and that the ‘Christian’ doctrines dated largely from the preaching and + teaching of these two we cannot doubt; but Paul never saw Jesus (except + “in the Spirit”), nor does he ever mention the man personally, or any + incident of his actual life (the “crucified Christ” being always an ideal + figure); and ‘John’ who wrote the Gospel was certainly not the same as the + disciple who “lay in Jesus’ bosom”—though an intercalated verse, the + last but one in the Gospel, asserts the identity. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) It is obvious, in fact, that the WHOLE of the last chapter of +St. John is a later insertion, and again that the two last verses of +that chapter are later than the chapter itself! +</p> + <p> + There may have been a historic Jesus—and if so, to get a reliable + outline of his life would indeed be a treasure; but at present it would + seem there is no sign of that. If the historicity of Jesus, in any degree, + could be proved, it would give us reason for supposing—what I have + personally always been inclined to believe—that there was also a + historical nucleus for such personages as Osiris, Mithra, Krishna, + Hercules, Apollo and the rest. The question, in fact, narrows itself down + to this, Have there been in the course of human evolution certain, so to + speak, NODAL points or periods at which the psychologic currents ran + together and condensed themselves for a new start; and has each such node + or point of condensation been marked by the appearance of an actual and + heroic man (or woman) who supplied a necessary impetus for the new + departure, and gave his name to the resulting movement? OR is it + sufficient to suppose the automatic formation of such nodes or + starting-points without the intervention of any special hero or genius, + and to imagine that in each case the myth-making tendency of mankind + CREATED a legendary and inspiring figure and worshiped the same for a long + period afterwards as a god? + </p> + <p> + As I have said before, this is a question which, interesting as it is, is + not really very important. The main thing being that the prophetic and + creative spirit of mankind HAS from time to time evolved those figures as + idealizations of its “heart’s desire” and placed a halo round their heads. + The long procession of them becomes a REAL piece of History—the + history of the evolution of the human heart, and of human consciousness. + But with the psychology of the whole subject I shall deal in the next + chapter. + </p> + <p> + I may here, however, dwell for a moment on two other points which belong + properly to this chapter. I have already mentioned the great reliance + placed by the advocates of a unique ‘revelation’ on the high morality + taught in the Gospels and the New Testament generally. There is no need of + course to challenge that morality or to depreciate it unduly; but the + argument assumes that it is so greatly superior to anything of the kind + that had been taught before that we are compelled to suppose something + like a revelation to explain its appearance—whereas of course anyone + familiar with the writings of antiquity, among the Greeks or Romans or + Egyptians or Hindus or later Jews, knows perfectly well that the reported + sayings of Jesus and the Apostles may be paralleled abundantly from these + sources. I have illustrated this already from the Sermon on the Mount. If + anyone will glance at the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs—a + Jewish book composed about 120 B. C.—he will see that it is full of + moral precepts, and especially precepts of love and forgiveness, so ardent + and so noble that it hardly suffers in any way when compared with the New + Testament teaching, and that consequently no special miracle is required + to explain the appearance of the latter. + </p> + <p> + The twelve Patriarchs in question are the twelve sons of Jacob, and the + book consists of their supposed deathbed scenes, in which each patriarch + in turn recites his own (more or less imaginary) life and deeds and gives + pious counsel to his children and successors. It is composed in a fine and + poetic style, and is full of lofty thought, remindful in scores of + passages of the Gospels—words and all—the coincidences being + too striking to be accidental. It evidently had a deep influence on the + authors of the Gospels, as well as on St. Paul. It affirms a belief in the + coming of a Messiah, and in salvation for the Gentiles. The following are + some quotations from it: (1) Testament of Zebulun (p. 116): “My children, + I bid you keep the commands of the Lord, and show mercy to your + neighbours, and have compassion towards all, not towards men only, but + also towards beasts.” Dan (p. 127): “Love the Lord through all your life, + and one another with a true heart.” Joseph (p. 173): “I was sick, and the + Lord visited me; in prison, and my God showed favor unto me.” Benjamin (p. + 209): “For as the sun is not defiled by shining on dung and mire, but + rather drieth up both and driveth away the evil smell, so also the pure + mind, encompassed by the defilements of earth, rather cleanseth them and + is not itself defiled.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The references being to the Edition by R. H. Charles (1907). +</p> + <p> + I think these quotations are sufficient to prove the high standard of this + book, which was written in the Second Century B. C., and FROM which the + New Testament authors copiously borrowed. + </p> + <p> + The other point has to do with my statement at the beginning of this + chapter that two of the main ‘characteristics’ of Christianity were its + insistence on (a) a tendency towards renunciation of the world, and a + consequent cultivation of a purely spiritual love, and (b) on a morality + whose inspiration was a private sense of duty to God rather than a public + sense of duty to one’s neighbor and to society generally. I think, + however, that the last-mentioned characteristic ought to be viewed in + relation to a third, namely, (c) the extraordinarily DEMOCRATIC tendency + of the new Religion. (1) Celsus (A.D. 200) jeered at the early Christians + for their extreme democracy: “It is only the simpletons, the ignoble, the + senseless—slaves and womenfolk and children—whom they wish to + persuade (to join their churches) or CAN persuade”—“wool-dressers + and cobblers and fullers, the most uneducated and vulgar persons,” and + “whosoever is a sinner, or unintelligent or a fool, in a word, whoever is + god-forsaken ([gr kakodaimwn]), him the Kingdom of God will receive.” (2) + Thus Celsus, the accomplished, clever, philosophic and withal humorous + critic, laughed at the new religionists, and prophesied their speedy + extinction. Nevertheless he was mistaken. There is little doubt that just + the inclusion of women and weaklings and outcasts did contribute LARGELY + to the spread of Christianity (and Mithraism). It brought hope and a sense + of human dignity to the despised and rejected of the earth. Of the immense + numbers of lesser officials who carried on the vast organization of the + Roman Empire, most perhaps, were taken from the ranks of the freedmen and + quondam slaves, drawn from a great variety of races and already familiar + with pagan cults of all kinds—Egyptian, Syrian, Chaldean, Iranian, + and so forth. (3) This fact helped to give to Christianity—under the + fine tolerance of the Empire—its democratic character and also its + willingness to accept all. The rude and menial masses, who had hitherto + been almost beneath the notice of Greek and Roman culture, flocked in; and + though this was doubtless, as time went on, a source of weakness to the + Church, and a cause of dissension and superstition, yet it was in the + inevitable line of human evolution, and had a psychological basis which I + must now endeavor to explain. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) It is important to note, however, that this same democratic +tendency was very marked in Mithraism. “Il est certain,” says Cumont, +“qu’il a fait ses premieres conquetes dans les classes inferieures de +la societe et c’est l’a un fait considerable; le mithracisme est reste +longtemps la religion des humbles.” Mysteres de Mithra, p. 68. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Glover’s Conflict of Religions in the early Roman Empire, +ch. viii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Toutain, Cultes paiens, vol. ii, conclusion. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a> +XIV.<br/> +THE MEANING OF IT ALL +</h2> + <p> + The general drift and meaning of the present book must now, I think, from + many hints scattered in the course of it, be growing clear. But it will be + well perhaps in this chapter, at the risk of some repetition, to bring the + whole argument together. And the argument is that since the dawn of + humanity on the earth—many hundreds of thousands or perhaps a + million years ago—there has been a slow psychologic evolution, a + gradual development or refinement of Consciousness, which at a certain + stage has spontaneously given birth in the human race to the phenomena of + religious belief and religious ritual—these phenomena (whether in + the race at large or in any branch of it) always following, step by step, + a certain order depending on the degrees of psychologic evolution + concerned; and that it is this general fact which accounts for the strange + similarities of belief and ritual which have been observed all over the + world and in places far remote from each other, and which have been + briefly noted in the preceding chapters. + </p> + <p> + And the main stages of this psychologic evolution—those at any rate + with which we are here concerned—are Three: the stage of Simple + Consciousness, the stage of Self-consciousness, and a third Stage which + for want of a better word we may term the stage of Universal + Consciousness. Of course these three stages may at some future time be + analyzed into lesser degrees, with useful result—but at present I + only desire to draw attention to them in the rough, so to speak, to show + that it is from them and from their passage one into another that there + has flowed by a perfectly natural logic and concatenation the strange + panorama of humanity’s religious evolution—its superstitions and + magic and sacrifices and dancings and ritual generally, and later its + incantations and prophecies, and services of speech and verse, and + paintings and forms of art and figures of the gods. A wonderful Panorama + indeed, or poem of the Centuries, or, if you like, World-symphony with + three great leading motives! + </p> + <p> + And first we have the stage of Simple Consciousness. For hundreds of + centuries (we cannot doubt) Man possessed a degree of consciousness not + radically different from that of the higher Animals, though probably more + quick and varied. He saw, he heard, he felt, he noted. He acted or + reacted, quickly or slowly, in response to these impressions. But the + consciousness of himSELF, as a being separate from his impressions, as + separate from his surroundings, had not yet arisen or taken hold on him. + He was an instinctive part, of Nature. And in this respect he was very + near to the Animals. Self-consciousness in the animals, in a germinal form + is there, no doubt, but EMBEDDED, so to speak, in the general world + consciousness. It is on this account that the animals have such a + marvellously acute perception and instinct, being embedded in Nature. And + primitive Man had the same. Also we must, as I have said before, allow + that man in that stage must have had the same sort of grace and perfection + of form and movement as we admire in the (wild) animals now. It would be + quite unreasonable to suppose that he, the crown in the same sense of + creation, was from the beginning a lame and ill-made abortion. For a long + period the tribes of men, like the tribes of the higher animals, must have + been (on the whole, and allowing for occasional privations and sufferings + and conflicts) well adapted to their surroundings and harmonious with the + earth and with each other. There must have been a period resembling a + Golden Age—some condition at any rate which, compared with + subsequent miseries, merited the epithet ‘golden.’ + </p> + <p> + It was during this period apparently that the system of Totems arose. The + tribes felt their relationship to their winged and fourfooted mates + (including also other objects of nature) so deeply and intensely that they + adopted the latter as their emblems. The pre-civilization Man fairly + worshipped, the animals and was proud to be called after them. Of course + we moderns find this strange. We, whose conceptions of these beautiful + creatures are mostly derived from a broken-down cab-horse, or a melancholy + milk-rummaged cow in a sooty field, or a diseased and despondent lion or + eagle at the Zoo, have never even seen or loved them and have only + wondered with our true commercial instinct what profit we could extract + from them. But they, the primitives, loved and admired the animals; they + domesticated many of them by the force of a natural friendship, (1) and + accorded them a kind of divinity. This was the age of tribal solidarity + and of a latent sense of solidarity with Nature. And the point of it all + is (with regard to the subject we have in hand) that this was also the age + from which by a natural evolution the sense of Religion came to mankind. + If Religion in man is the sense of ties binding his inner self to the + powers of the universe around him, then it is evident I think that + primitive man as I have described him possessed the REALITY of this sense—though + so far buried and subconscious that he was hardly aware of it. It was only + later, and with the coming of the Second Stage, that this sense began to + rise distinctly into consciousness. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See ch. iv. Tylor in his Primitive Culture (vol. i, p. 460, +edn. 1903) says: “The sense of an absolute psychical distinction between +man and beast, so prevalent in the civilized world, is hardly to be +found among the lower races.” +</p> + <p> + Let us pass then to the Second Stage. There is a moment in the evolution + of a child—somewhere perhaps about the age of three (1)—when + the simple almost animal-like consciousness of the babe is troubled by a + new element—SELF-consciousness. The change is so marked, so + definite, that (in the depth of the infant’s eyes) you can almost SEE it + take place. So in the evolution of the human race there has been a period—also + marked and definite, though extending intermittent over a vast interval of + time—when on men in general there dawned the consciousness of + THEMSELVES, of their own thoughts and actions. The old simple acceptance + of sensations and experiences gave place to REFLECTION. The question + arose: “How do these sensations and experiences affect ME? What can <i>I</i> + do to modify them, to encourage the pleasurable, to avoid or inhibit the + painful, and so on?” From that moment a new motive was added to life. The + mind revolved round a new centre. It began to spin like a little eddy + round its own axis. It studied ITSELF first and became deeply concerned + about its own pleasures and pains, losing touch the while with the larger + life which once dominated it—the life of Nature, the life of the + Tribe. The old unity of the spirit, the old solidarity, were broken up. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Bucke’s Cosmic Consciousness (Philadelphia, 1901), pp. 1 +and 39; also W. McDougall’s Social Psychology (1908), p. 146—where the +same age is tentatively suggested. +</p> + <p> + I have touched on this subject before, but it is so important that the + reader must excuse repetition. There came an inevitable severance, an + inevitable period of strife. The magic mirror of the soul, reflecting + nature as heretofore in calm and simple grace, was suddenly cracked + across. The new self-conscious man (not all at once but gradually) became + alienated from his tribe. He lapsed into strife with his fellows. + Ambition, vanity, greed, the love of domination, the desire for property + and possessions, set in. The influences of fellowship and solidarity grew + feebler. He became alienated from his great Mother. His instincts were + less and less sure—and that in proportion as brain-activity and + self-regarding calculation took their place. Love and mutual help were + less compelling in proportion as the demands of self-interest grew louder + and more insistent. Ultimately the crisis came. Cain murdered his brother + and became an outcast. The Garden of Eden and the Golden Age closed their + gates behind him. He entered upon a period of suffering—a period of + labor and toil and sorrow such as he had never before known, and such as + the animals certainly have never known. And in that distressful state, in + that doleful valley of his long pilgrimage, he still remains to-day. + </p> + <p> + Thus has the canker of self-consciousness done its work. It would be + foolish and useless to rail against the process, or to blame any one for + it. It had to be. Through this dismal vale of self-seeking mankind had to + pass—if only in order at last to find the True Self which was (and + still remains) its goal. The pilgrimage will not last for ever. Indeed + there are signs that the recent Great War and the following Events mark + the lowest point of descent and the beginning of the human soul’s return + to sanity and ascent towards the heavenly Kingdom. No doubt Man will + arrive again SOME day at the grace, composure and leisurely beauty of life + which the animals realized long ago, though he seems a precious long time + about it; and when all this nightmare of Greed and Vanity and Self-conceit + and Cruelty and Lust of oppression and domination, which marks the present + period, is past—and it WILL pass—then Humanity will come again + to its Golden Age and to that Paradise of redemption and peace which has + for so long been prophesied. + </p> + <p> + But we are dealing with the origins of Religion; and what I want the + reader to see is that it was just this breaking up of the old psychologic + unity and continuity of man with his surroundings which led to the whole + panorama of the rituals and creeds. Man, centering round himself, + necessarily became an exile from the great Whole. He committed the sin (if + it was a sin) of Separation. Anyhow Nemesis was swift. The sense of + loneliness and the sense of guilt came on him. The realization of himself + as a separate conscious being necessarily led to his attributing a similar + consciousness of some kind to the great Life around him. Action and + reaction are equal and opposite. Whatever he may have felt before, it + became clear to him now that beings more or less like himself—though + doubtless vaster and more powerful—moved behind the veil of the + visible world. From that moment the belief in Magic and Demons and Gods + arose or slowly developed itself; and in the midst of this turmoil of + perilous and conflicting powers, he perceived himself an alien and an + exile, stricken with Fear, stricken with the sense of Sin. If before, he + had experienced fear—in the kind of automatic way of + self-preservation in which the animals feel it—he now, with fevered + self-regard and excited imagination, experienced it in double or treble + degree. And if, before, he had been aware that fortune and chance were not + always friendly and propitious to his designs, he now perceived or thought + he perceived in every adverse happening the deliberate persecution of the + powers, and an accusation of guilt directed against him for some neglect + or deficiency in his relation to them. Hence by a perfectly logical and + natural sequence there arose the belief in other-world or supernatural + powers, whether purely fortuitous and magical or more distinctly rational + and personal; there arose the sense of Sin, or of offence against these + powers; there arose a complex ritual of Expiation—whether by + personal sacrifice and suffering or by the sacrifice of victims. There + arose too a whole catalogue of ceremonies—ceremonies of Initiation, + by which the novice should learn to keep within the good grace of the + Powers, and under the blessing of his Tribe and the protection of its + Totem; ceremonies of Eucharistic meals which should restore the lost + sanctity of the common life and remove the sense of guilt and isolation; + ceremonies of Marriage and rules and rites of sex-connection, fitted to + curb the terrific and demonic violence of passions which else indeed might + easily rend the community asunder. And so on. It is easy to see that + granted an early stage of simple unreflecting nature-consciousness, and + granting this broken into and, after a time, shattered by the arrival of + SELF-consciousness there would necessarily follow in spontaneous yet + logical order a whole series of religious institutions and beliefs, which + phantasmal and unreal as they may appear to us, were by no means unreal to + our ancestors. It is easy also to see that as the psychological process + was necessarily of similar general character in every branch of the human + race and all over the world, so the religious evolutions—the creeds + and rituals—took on much the same complexion everywhere; and, though + they differed in details according to climate and other influences, ran on + such remarkably parallel lines as we have noted. + </p> + <p> + Finally, to make the whole matter clear, let me repeat that this event, + the inbreak of Self-consciousness, took place, or BEGAN to take place, an + enormous time ago, perhaps in the beginning of the Neolithic Age. I dwell + on the word “began” because I think it is probable that in its beginnings, + and for a long period after, this newborn consciousness had an infantile + and very innocent character, quite different from its later and more + aggressive forms—just as we see self-consciousness in a little child + has a charm and a grace which it loses later in a boastful or grasping + boyhood and manhood. So we may understand that though self-consciousness + may have begun to appear in the human race at this very early time (and + more or less contemporaneously with the invention of very rude tools and + unformed language), there probably did elapse a very long period—perhaps + the whole of the Neolithic Age—before the evils of this second stage + of human evolution came to a head. Max Muller has pointed out that among + the words which are common to the various branches of Aryan language, and + which therefore belong to the very early period before the separation of + these branches, there are not found the words denoting war and conflict + and the weapons and instruments of strife—a fact which suggests a + long continuance of peaceful habit among mankind AFTER the first formation + and use of language. + </p> + <p> + That the birth of language and the birth of self-consciousness were + APPROXIMATELY simultaneous is a probable theory, and one favored by many + thinkers; (1) but the slow beginnings of both must have been so very + protracted that it is perhaps useless to attempt any very exact + determination. Late researches seem to show that language began in what + might be called TRIBAL expressions of mood and feeling (holophrases like + “go-hunting-kill-bear”) without reference to individual personalities and + relationships; and that it was only at a later stage that words like “I” + and “Thou” came into use, and the holophrases broke up into “parts of + speech” and took on a definite grammatical structure. (2) If true, these + facts point clearly to a long foreground of rude communal language, + something like though greatly superior to that of the animals, preceding + or preparing the evolution of Self-consciousness proper, in the forms of + “I” and “Thou” and the grammar of personal actions and relations. “They + show that the plural and all other forms of number in grammar arise not by + multiplication of an original ‘I,’ but by selection and gradual EXCLUSION + from an original collective ‘we.’” (3) According to this view the birth of + self-consciousness in the human family, or in any particular race or + section of the human family, must have been equally slow and hesitating; + and it would be easy to imagine, as just said, that there may have been a + very long and ‘golden’ period at its beginning, before the new + consciousness took on its maturer and harsher forms. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Dr. Bucke (Cosmic Consciousness) insists on their +simultaneity, but places both events excessively far back, as we +should think, i.e. 200,000 or 300,000 years ago. Possibly he does not +differentiate sufficiently between the rude language of the holophrase +and the much later growth of formed and grammatical speech. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See A. E. Crawley’s Idea of the Soul, ch. ii; Jane Harrison’s +Themis, pp. 473-5; and E. J. Payne’s History of the New World called +America, vol. ii, pp. 115 sq., where the beginning of self-consciousness +is associated with the break-up of the holophrase. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) Themis, p. 471. +</p> + <p> + All estimates of the Time involved in these evolutions of early man are + notoriously most divergent and most difficult to be sure of; but if we + take 500,000 years ago for the first appearance of veritable Man (homo + primigenius), (2) and (following Professor W. J. Sollas) (3) 30,000 or + 40,000 years ago for the first tool-using men (homo sapiens) of the + Chellean Age (palaeolithic), 15,000 for the rock-paintings and + inscriptions of the Aurignacian and Magdalenian peoples, and 5,000 years + ago for the first actual historical records that have come down to us, we + may perhaps get something like a proportion between the different periods. + That is to say, half a million years for the purely animal man in his + different forms and grades of evolution. Then somewhere towards the end of + palaeolithic or commencement of neolithic times Self-consciousness dimly + beginning and, after some 10,000 years of slow germination and + pre-historic culture, culminating in the actual historic period and the + dawn of civilization 40 or 50 centuries ago, and to-day (we hope), + reaching the climax which precedes or foretells its abatement and + transformation. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Though Dr. Arthur Keith, Ancient Types of Man (1911), pp. 93 +and 102, puts the figure at more like a million. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Ancient Hunters (1915); also Hastings’s Encycl. art. +“Ethnology”; and Havelock Ellis, “The Origin of War,” in The Philosophy +of Conflict and other Essays. +</p> + <p> + No doubt many geologists and anthropologists would favor periods greatly + LONGER than those here mentioned; but possibly there would be some + agreement as to the RATIO to each other of the times concerned: that is, + the said authorities would probably allow for a VERY long animal-man + (1)-period corresponding to the first stage; for a much shorter + aggressively ‘self conscious’ period, corresponding to the Second Stage—perhaps + lasting only one thirtieth or fiftieth of the time of the first period; + and then—if they looked forward at all to a third stage—would + be inclined for obvious reasons to attribute to that again a very extended + duration. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) I use the phrase ‘animal-man’ here, not with any flavor of +contempt or reprobation, as the dear Victorians would have used it, but +with a sense of genuine respect and admiration such as one feels towards +the animals themselves. +</p> + <p> + However, all this is very speculative. To return to the difficulty about + Language and the consideration of those early times when words adequate to + the expression of religious or magical ideas simply did not exist, it is + clear that the only available, or at any rate the CHIEF means of + expression, in those times, must have consisted in gestures, in attitudes, + in ceremonial ACTIONS—in a more or less elaborate ritual, in fact. + (1) Such ideas as Adoration, Thanksgiving, confession of Guilt, placation + of Wrath, Expiation, Sacrifice, Celebration of Community, sacramental + Atonement, and a score of others could at that time be expressed by + appropriate rites—and as a matter of fact are often so expressed + even now—MORE readily and directly than by language. ‘Dancing’—when + that word came to be invented—did not mean a mere flinging about of + the limbs in recreation, but any expressive movements of the body which + might be used to convey the feelings of the dancer or of the audience whom + he represented. And so the ‘religious dance’ became a most important part + of ritual. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See ch. ix and xi. +</p> + <p> + So much for the second stage of Consciousness. Let us now pass on to the + Third Stage. It is evident that the process of disruption and dissolution—disruption + both of the human mind, and of society round about it, due to the action + of the Second Stage—could not go on indefinitely. There are hundreds + of thousands of people at the present moment who are dying of mental or + bodily disease—their nervous systems broken down by troubles + connected with excessive self-consciousness—selfish fears and + worries and restlessness. Society at large is perishing both in industry + and in warfare through the domination in its organism of the self-motives + of greed and vanity and ambition. This cannot go on for ever. Things must + either continue in the same strain, in which case it is evident that we + are approaching a crisis of utter dissolution, OR a new element must enter + in, a new inspiration of life, and we (as individuals) and the society of + which we form a part, must make a fresh start. What is that new and + necessary element of regeneration? + </p> + <p> + It is evident that it must be a new birth—the entry into a further + stage of consciousness which must supersede the present one. Through some + such crisis as we have spoken of, through the extreme of suffering, the + mind of Man, AS AT PRESENT CONSTITUTED, has to die. (1) Self-consciousness + has to die, and be buried, and rise again in a new form. Probably nothing + but the extreme of suffering can bring this about. (2) And what is this + new form in which consciousness has to rearise? Obviously, since the + miseries of the world during countless centuries have dated from that + fatal attempt to make the little personal SELF the centre of effort and + activity, and since that attempt has inevitably led to disunity and + discord and death, both within the mind itself and within the body of + society, there is nothing left but the return to a Consciousness which + shall have Unity as its foundation-principle, and which shall proceed from + the direct SENSE AND PERCEPTION of such an unity throughout creation. The + simple mind of Early Man and the Animals was of that character—a + consciousness, so to speak, continuous through nature, and though running + to points of illumination and foci of special activity in individuals, yet + at no point essentially broken or imprisoned in separate compartments. + (And it is this CONTINUITY of the primitive mind which enables us, as I + have already explained, to understand the mysterious workings of instinct + and intuition.) To some such unity-consciousness we have to return; but + clearly it will be—it is not—of the simple inchoate character + of the First Stage, for it has been enriched, deepened, and greatly + extended by the experience of the Second Stage. It is in fact, a new order + of mentality—the consciousness of the Third Stage. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) “The mind must be restrained in the heart till it comes to an +end,” says the Maitrayana-Brahmana-Upanishad. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) One may remember in this connection the tapas of the Hindu +yogi, or the ordeals of initiates into the pagan Mysteries generally. +</p> + <p> + In order to understand the operation and qualities of this Third + Consciousness, it may be of assistance just now to consider in what more + or less rudimentary way or ways it figured in the pagan rituals and in + Christianity. We have seen the rude Siberyaks in North-Eastern Asia or the + ‘Grizzly’ tribes of North American Indians in the neighborhood of Mount + Shasta paying their respects and adoration to a captive bear—at once + the food-animal, and the divinity of the Tribe. A tribesman had slain a + bear—and, be it said, had slain it not in a public hunt with all due + ceremonies observed, but privately for his own satisfaction. He had + committed, therefore, a sin theoretically unpardonable; for had he not—to + gratify his personal desire for food—levelled a blow at the guardian + spirit of the Tribe? Had he not alienated himself from his fellows by + destroying its very symbol? There was only one way by which he could + regain the fellowship of his companions. He must make amends by some + public sacrifice, and instead of retaining the flesh of the animal for + himself he must share it with the whole tribe (or clan) in a common feast, + while at the same time, tensest prayers and thanks are offered to the + animal for the gift of his body for food. The Magic formula demanded + nothing less than this—else dread disaster would fall upon the man + who sinned, and upon the whole brotherhood. Here, and in a hundred similar + rites, we see the three phases of tribal psychology—the first, in + which the individual member simply remains within the compass of the + tribal mind, and only acts in harmony with it; the second, in which the + individual steps outside and to gratify his personal SELF performs an + action which alienates him from his fellows; and the third, in which, to + make amends and to prove his sincerity, he submits to some sacrifice, and + by a common feast or some such ceremony is received back again into the + unity of the fellowship. The body of the animal-divinity is consumed, and + the latter becomes, both in the spirit and in the flesh, the Savior of the + tribe. + </p> + <p> + In course of time, when the Totem or Guardian-spirit is no longer merely + an Animal, or animal-headed Genius, but a quite human-formed Divinity, + still the same general outline of ideas is preserved—only with + gathered intensity owing to the specially human interest of the drama. The + Divinity who gives his life for his flock is no longer just an ordinary + Bull or Lamb, but Adonis or Osiris or Dionysus or Jesus. He is betrayed by + one of his own followers, and suffers death, but rises again redeeming all + with himself in the one fellowship; and the corn and the wine and the wild + flesh which were his body, and which he gave for the sustenance of + mankind, are consumed in a holy supper of reconciliation. It is always the + return to unity which is the ritual of Salvation, and of which the symbol + is the Eucharist—the second birth, the formation of “a new creature + when old things are passed away.” For “Except a man be born again, he + cannot see the Kingdom of God”; and “the first man is of the earth, + earthly, but the second man is the Lord from heaven.” Like a strange + refrain, and from centuries before our era, comes down this belief in a + god who is imprisoned in each man, and whose liberation is a new birth and + the beginning of a new creature: “Rejoice, ye initiates in the mystery of + the liberated god”—rejoice in the thought of the hero who died as a + mortal in the coffin, but rises again as Lord of all! + </p> + <p> + Who then was this “Christos” for whom the world was waiting three + centuries before our era (and indeed centuries before that)? Who was this + “thrice Savior” whom the Greek Gnostics acclaimed? What was the meaning of + that “coming of the Son of Man” whom Daniel beheld in vision among the + clouds of heaven? or of the “perfect man” who, Paul declared, should + deliver us from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the + children of God? What was this salvation which time after time and times + again the pagan deities promised to their devotees, and which the + Eleusinian and other Mysteries represented in their religious dramas with + such convincing enthusiasm that even Pindar could say “Happy is he who has + seen them (the Mysteries) before he goes beneath the hollow earth: that + man knows the true end of life and its source divine”; and concerning + which Sophocles and Aeschylus were equally enthusiastic? (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Farnell’s Cults of the Greek States, vol. iii, p. 194; +also The Mysteries, Pagan and Christian, by S. Cheetham, D.D. (London, +1897). +</p> + <p> + Can we doubt, in the light of all that we have already said, what the + answer to these questions is? As with the first blossoming of + self-consciousness in the human mind came the dawn of an immense cycle of + experience—a cycle indeed of exile from Eden, of suffering and toil + and blind wanderings in the wilderness, yet a cycle absolutely necessary + and unavoidable—so now the redemption, the return, the restoration + has to come through another forward step, in the same domain. Abandoning + the quest and the glorification of the separate isolated self we have to + return to the cosmic universal life. It is the blossoming indeed of this + ‘new’ life in the deeps of our minds which is salvation, and which all the + expressions which I have just cited have indicated. It is this presence + which all down the ages has been hailed as Savior and Liberator: the + daybreak of a consciousness so much vaster, so much more glorious, than + all that has gone before that the little candle of the local self is + swallowed up in its rays. It is the return home, the return into direct + touch with Nature and Man—the liberation from the long exile of + separation, from the painful sense of isolation and the odious nightmare + of guilt and ‘sin.’ Can we doubt that this new birth—this third + stage of consciousness, if we like to call it so—has to come, that + it is indeed not merely a pious hope or a tentative theory, but a FACT + testified to already by a cloud of witnesses in the past—witnesses + shining in their own easily recognizable and authentic light, yet for the + most part isolated from each other among the arid and unfruitful wastes of + Civilization, like glow-worms in the dry grass of a summer night? + </p> + <p> + Since the first dim evolution of human self-consciousness an immense + period, as we have said—perhaps 30,000 years, perhaps even + more—has elapsed. Now, in the present day this period is reaching + its culmination, and though it will not terminate immediately, its end + is, so to speak, in sight. Meanwhile, during all the historical age + behind us—say for the last 4,000 or 5,000 years—evidence has + been coming in (partly in the religious rites recorded, partly in + oracles, poems and prophetic literature) of the onset of this further + illumination—“the light which never was on sea or land”—and + the cloud of witnesses, scattered at first, has in these later centuries + become so evident and so notable that we are tempted to believe in or to + anticipate a great and general new birth, as now not so very far off. (1) + (We should, however, do well to remember, in this connexion, that many a + time already in the history the Millennium has been prophesied, and yet + not arrived punctual to date, and to take to ourselves the words of + ‘Peter,’ who somewhat grievously disappointed at the long-delayed second + coming of the Lord Jesus in the clouds of heaven, wrote in his second + Epistle: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their + own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the + fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning + of the creation.” (2)) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For an amplification of all this theme, see Dr. Bucke’s +remarkable and epoch-making book, Cosmic Consciousness (first published +at Philadelphia, 1901). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) 2 Peter iii. 4; written probably about A.D. 150. +</p> + <p> + I say that all through the historical age behind us there has been + evidence—even though scattered—of salvation and the return of + the Cosmic life. Man has never been so completely submerged in the bitter + sea of self-centredness but what he has occasionally been able to dash the + spray from his eyes and glimpse the sun and the glorious light of heaven. + From how far back we cannot say, but from an immense antiquity come the + beautiful myths which indicate this. + </p> +<p class="poem"> +Cinderella, the cinder-maiden, sits unbeknown in her earthly hutch;<br/> +Gibed and jeered at she bewails her lonely fate;<br/> +Nevertheless youngest-born she surpasses her sisters and endues a garment of the sun and stars;<br/> +From a tiny spark she ascends and irradiates the universe, and is wedded to the prince of heaven. +</p> + <p> + How lovely this vision of the little maiden sitting unbeknown close to the + Hearth-fire of the universe—herself indeed just a little spark from + it; despised and rejected; rejected by the world, despised by her two + elder sisters (the body and the intellect); yet she, the soul, though + latest-born, by far the most beautiful of the three. And of the Prince of + Love who redeems and sets her free; and of her wedding garment the glory + and beauty of all nature and of the heavens! The parables of Jesus are + charming in their way, but they hardly reach this height of inspiration. + </p> + <p> + Or the world-old myth of Eros and Psyche. How strange that here again + there are three sisters (the three stages of human evolution), and the + latest-born the most beautiful of the three, and the jealousies and + persecutions heaped on the youngest by the others, and especially by + Aphrodite the goddess of mere sensual charm. And again the coming of the + unknown, the unseen Lover, on whom it is not permitted for mortals to + look; and the long, long tests and sufferings and trials which Psyche has + to undergo before Eros may really take her to his arms and translate her + to the heights of heaven. Can we not imagine how when these things were + represented in the Mysteries the world flocked to see them, and the poets + indeed said, “Happy are they that see and seeing can understand?” Can we + not understand how it was that the Amphictyonic decree of the second + century B.C. spoke of these same Mysteries as enforcing the lesson that + “the greatest of human blessings is fellowship and mutual trust”? + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a> +XV.<br/> +THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES +</h2> + <p> + Thus we come to a thing which we must not pass over, because it throws + great light on the meaning and interpretation of all these rites and + ceremonies of the great World-religion. I mean the subject of the Ancient + Mysteries. And to this I will give a few pages. + </p> + <p> + These Mysteries were probably survivals of the oldest religious rites of + the Greek races, and in their earlier forms consisted not so much in + worship of the gods of Heaven as of the divinities of Earth, and of Nature + and Death. Crude, no doubt, at first, they gradually became (especially in + their Eleusinian form) more refined and philosophical; the rites were + gradually thrown open, on certain conditions, not only to men generally, + but also to women, and even to slaves; and in the end they influenced + Christianity deeply. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Edwin Hatch, D.D., The Influence of Greek Ideas and +Usages on the Christian Church (London, 1890), pp. 283-5. +</p> + <p> + There were apparently three forms of teaching made use of in these rites: + these were [gr legomena], things SAID; [gr deiknumena], things SHOWN; and + [gr drwmena], things PERFORMED or ACTED. (1) I have given already some + instances of things said—texts whispered for consolation in the neophyte’s + ear, and so forth; of the THIRD group, things enacted, we have a fair + amount of evidence. There were ritual dramas or passion-plays, of which an + important one dealt with the descent of Kore or Proserpine into the + underworld, as in the Eleusinian representations, (2) and her redemption + and restoration to the upper world in Spring; another with the sufferings + of Psyche and her rescue by Eros, as described by Apuleius (3)—himself + an initiate in the cult of Isis. There is a parody by Lucian, which tells + of the birth of Apollo, the marriage of Coronis, and the coming of + Aesculapius as Savior; there was the dying and rising again of Dionysus + (chief divinity of the Orphic cult); and sometimes the mystery of the + birth of Dionysus as a holy child. (4) There was, every year at Eleusis, a + solemn and lengthy procession or pilgrimage made, symbolic of the long + pilgrimage of the human soul, its sufferings and deliverance. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Cheetham, op. cit., pp. 49-61 sq. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Farnell, op. cit., iii. 158 sq. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See The Golden Ass. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) Farnell, ii, 177. +</p> + <p> + “Almost always,” says Dr. Cheetham, “the suffering of a god—suffering + followed by triumph—seems to have been the subject of the sacred + drama.” Then occasionally to the Neophytes, after taking part in the + pilgrimage, and when their minds had been prepared by an ordeal of + darkness and fatigue and terrors, was accorded a revelation of Paradise, + and even a vision of Transfiguration—the form of the Hierophant + himself, or teacher of the Mysteries, being seen half-lost in a blaze of + light. (1) Finally, there was the eating of food and drinking of + barley-drink from the sacred chest (2)—a kind of Communion or + Eucharist. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Ibid., 179 sq. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Ibid., 186. Sacred chests, in which holy things were kept, +figure frequently in early rites and legends—as in the case of the ark +of the Jewish tabernacle, the ark or box carried in celebrations of the +mysteries of Bacchus (Theocritus, Idyll xxvi), the legend of Pandora’s +box which contained the seeds of all good and evil, the ark of Noah +which saved all living creatures from the flood, the Argo of the +argonauts, the moonshaped boat in which Isis floating over the waters +gathered together the severed limbs of Osiris, and so brought about his +resurrection, and the many chests or coffins out of which the various +gods (Adonis, Attis, Osiris, Jesus), having been laid there in death, +rose again for the redemption of the world. They all evidently refer to +the mystic womb of Nature and of Woman, and are symbols of salvation and +redemption (For a full discussion of this subject, see The Great Law of +religious origins, by W. Williamson, ch. iv.) +</p> + <p> + Apuleius in The Golden Ass gives an interesting account of his induction + into the mysteries of Isis: how, bidding farewell one evening to the + general congregation outside, and clothed in a new linen garment, he was + handed by the priest into the inner recesses of the temple itself; how he + “approached the confines of death, and having trod on the threshold of + Proserpine (the Underworld), returned therefrom, being borne through all + the elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with its brilliant light: + and I approached the presence of the Gods beneath and the Gods above, and + stood near and worshipped them.” During the night things happened which + must not be disclosed; but in the morning he came forth “consecrated by + being dressed in twelve stoles painted with the figures of animals.” (1) + He ascended a pulpit in the midst of the Temple, carrying in his right + hand a burning torch, while a chaplet encircled his head, from which + palm-leaves projected like rays of light. “Thus arrayed like the Sun, and + placed so as to resemble a statue, on a sudden the curtains being drawn + aside, I was exposed to the gaze of the multitude. After this I celebrated + the most joyful day of my initiation, as my natal day (day of the New + Birth) and there was a joyous banquet and mirthful conversation.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) An allusion no doubt to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, the +pathway of the Sun, as well as to the practice of the ancient priests of +wearing the skins of totem-animals in sign of their divinity. +</p> + <p> + One can hardly refuse to recognize in this account the description of some + kind of ceremony which was supposed to seal the illumination of a man and + his new birth into divinity—the animal origin, the circling of all + experience, the terrors of death, and the resurrection in the form of the + Sun, the symbol of all light and life. The very word “illumination” + carries the ideas of light and a new birth with it. Reitzenstein in his + very interesting book on the Greek Mysteries (1) speaks over and over + again of the illumination ([gr fwtismos]) which was held to attend + Initiation and Salvation. The doctrine of Salvation indeed ([gr swthria]) + was, as we have already seen, rife and widely current in the Second + Century B. C. It represented a real experience, and the man who shared + this experience became a [gr qeios] [gr anqrwpos] or divine man. (2) In + the Orphic Tablets the phrase “I am a child of earth and the starry + heaven, but my race is of heaven (alone)” occurs more than once. In one of + the longest of them the dead man is instructed “after he has passed the + waters (of Lethe) where the white Cypress and the House of Hades are” to + address these very words to the guardians of the Lake of Memory while he + asks for a drink of cold water from that Lake. In another the dead person + himself is thus addressed: “Hail, thou who hast endured the Suffering, + such as indeed thou hadst never suffered before; thou hast become god from + man!” (3) Ecstacy was the acme of the religious life; and, what is + especially interesting to us, Salvation or the divine nature was open to + all men—to all, that is, who should go through the necessary stages + of preparation for it. (4) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Die hellenistischen Mysterien-Religionen, by R. Reitzenstein, +Leipzig, 1910. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Reitzenstein, p. 12. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) These Tablets (so-called) are instructions to the dead as to +their passage into the other world, and have been found in the tombs, in +Italy and elsewhere, inscribed on very thin gold plates and buried with +the departed. See Manual of Greek Antiquities by Percy Gardner and F. +B. Jerome (1896); also Prolegomena to Greek Religion by Jane E. Harrison +(1908). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) Reitzenstein, pp. 15 and 18; also S. J. Case, Evolution of +Early Christianity, p. 301. +</p> + <p> + Reitzenstein contends (p. 26) that in the Mysteries, transfiguration ([gr + metamorfwsis]), salvation ([gr swthria]), and new birth ([gr + paliggenesia]) were often conjoined. He says (p. 31), that in the Egyptian + Osiris-cult, the Initiate acquires a nature “equal to God” ([gr isoqeos]), + the very same expression as that used of Christ Jesus in Philippians ii. + 6; he mentions Apollonius of Tyana and Sergius Paulus as instances of men + who by their contemporaries were considered to have attained this nature; + and he quotes Akhnaton (Pharaoh of Egypt in 1375 B.C.) as having said, + “Thou art in my heart; none other knows Thee, save thy son Akhnaton; Thou + hast initiated him into thy wisdom and into thy power.” He also quotes the + words of Hermes (Trismegistus)—“Come unto Me, even as children to + their mother’s bosom: Thou art I, and I am Thou; what is thine is mine, + and what is mine is thine; for indeed I am thine image ([gr eidwlon]),” + and refers to the dialogue between Hermes and Tat, in which they speak of + the great and mystic New Birth and Union with the All—with all + Elements, Plants and Animals, Time and Space. + </p> + <p> + “The Mysteries,” says Dr. Cheetham very candidly, “influenced Christianity + considerably and modified it in some important respects”; and Dr. Hatch, + as we have seen, not only supports this general view, but follows it out + in detail. (1) He points out that the membership of the Mystery-societies + was very numerous in the earliest times, A.D.; that their general aims + were good, including a sense of true religion, decent life, and + brotherhood; that cleanness from crime and confession were demanded from + the neophyte; that confession was followed by baptism ([gr kaqarsis]) and + THAT by sacrifice; that the term [gr fwtismos] (illumination) was adopted + by the Christian Church as the name for the new birth of baptism; that the + Christian usage of placing a seal on the forehead came from the same + source; that baptism itself after a time was called a mystery ([gr + musihriou]); that the sacred cakes and barley-drink of the Mysteries + became the milk and honey and bread and wine of the first Christian + Eucharists, and that the occasional sacrifice of a lamb on the Christian + altar (“whose mention is often suppressed”) probably originated in the + same way. Indeed, the conception of the communion-table AS an altar and + many other points of ritual gradually established themselves from these + sources as time went on. (2) It is hardly necessary to say more in proof + of the extent to which in these ancient representations “things said” and + “scenes enacted” forestalled the doctrines and ceremonials of + Christianity. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Hatch, op. cit., pp. 290 sq. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Dionysus Areop. (end of fifth century), who describes the +Christian rites generally in Mystery language (Hatch, 296). +</p> + <p> + “But what of the second group above-mentioned, the “things SHOWN”? It is + not so easy naturally to get exact information concerning these, but they + seem to have been specially holy objects, probably things connected with + very ancient rituals in the past—such as sacred stones, old and rude + images of the gods, magic nature-symbols, like that half-disclosed ear of + corn above-mentioned (Ch. V.). “In the Temple of Isis at Philae,” says Dr. + Cheetham, “the dead body of Osiris is represented with stalks of corn + springing from it, which a priest waters from a vessel. An inscription + says: ‘This is the form of him whom we may not name, Osiris of the + Mysteries who sprang from the returning waters’ (the Nile).” Above all, no + doubt, there were images of the phallus and the vulva, the great symbols + of human fertility. We have seen (Ch. XII) that the lingam and the yoni + are, even down to to-day, commonly retained and honored as holy objects in + the S. Indian Temples, and anointed with oil (some of them) for a very + practical reason. Sir J. G. Frazer, in his lately published volumes on The + Folk-lore of the Old Testament, has a chapter (in vol. ii) on the very + numerous sacred stones of various shapes and sizes found or spoken of in + Palestine and other parts of the world. Though uncertain as to the meaning + of these stones he mentions that they are “frequently, though not always, + UPRIGHT.” Anointing them with oil, he assures us, “is a widespread + practice, sometimes by women who wish to obtain children.” And he + concludes the chapter by saying: “The holy stone at Bethel was probably + one of those massive standing stones or rough pillars which the Hebrews + called masseboth, and which, as we have seen, were regular adjuncts of + Canaanite and early Israelitish sanctuaries.” We have already mentioned + the pillars Jachin and Boaz which stood before the Temple of Solomon, and + which had an acknowledged sexual significance; and so it seems probable + that a great number of these holy stones had a similar meaning. (1) + Following this clue it would appear likely that the lingam thus anointed + and worshipped in the Temples of India and elsewhere IS the original [gr + cristos] (2) adored by the human race from the very beginning, and that at + a later time, when the Priest and the King, as objects of worship, took + the place of the Lingam, THEY also were anointed with the chrism of + fertility. That the exhibition of these emblems should be part of the + original ‘Mystery’-rituals was perfectly natural—especially because, + as we have explained already (3) old customs often continued on in a quite + naive fashion in the rituals, when they had come to be thought indecent or + improper by a later public opinion; and (we may say) was perfectly in + order, because there is plenty of evidence to show that in SAVAGE + initiations, of which the Mysteries were the linear descendants, all these + things WERE explained to the novices, and their use actually taught. (4) + No doubt also there were some representations or dramatic incidents of a + fairly coarse character, as deriving from these ancient sources. (5) It + is, however, quaint to observe how the mere mention of such things has + caused an almost hysterical commotion among the critics of the Mysteries—from + the day of the early Christians who (in order to belaud their own + religion) were never tired of abusing the Pagans, onward to the present + day when modern scholars either on the one hand follow the early + Christians in representing the Mysteries as sinks of iniquity or on the + other (knowing this charge could not be substantiated except in the period + of their final decadence) take the line of ignoring the sexual interest + attaching to them as non-existent or at any rate unworthy of attention. + The good Archdeacon Cheetham, for instance, while writing an interesting + book on the Mysteries passes by this side of the subject ALMOST as if it + did not exist; while the learned Dr. Farnell, overcome apparently by the + weight of his learning, and unable to confront the alarming obstacle + presented by these sexual rites and aspects, hides himself behind the + rather non-committal remark (speaking of the Eleusinian rites) “we have no + right to imagine any part of this solemn ceremony as coarse or obscene.” + (6) As Nature, however, has been known (quite frequently) to be coarse or + obscene, and as the initiators of the Mysteries were probably neither + ‘good’ nor ‘learned,’ but were simply anxious to interpret Nature as best + they could, we cannot find fault with the latter for the way they handled + the problem, nor indeed well see how they could have handled it better. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) F. Nork, Der Mystagog, mentions that the Roman Penates were +commonly anointed with oil. J. Stuart Hay, in his Life of Elagabalus +(1911), says that “Elagabal was worshipped under the symbol of a great +black stone or meteorite, in the shape of a Phallus, which having fallen +from the heavens represented a true portion of the Godhead, much after +the style of those black stone images popularly venerated in Norway and +other parts of Europe.” +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) J. E. Hewitt, in his Ruling Races of Pre-historic Times (p. +64), gives a long list of pre-historic races who worshipped the lingam. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) See Ch. XI. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) See Ernest Crawley’s Mystic Rose, ch. xiii, pp. 310 and 313: +“In certain tribes of Central Africa both boys and girls after +initiation must as soon as possible have intercourse.” Initiation being +not merely preliminary to, but often ACTUALLY marriage. The same +among Kaffirs, Congo tribes, Senegalese, etc. Also among the Arunta of +Australia. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (5) Professor Diederichs has said that “in much ancient ritual it +was thought that mystic communion with the deity could be obtained +through the semblance of sex-intercourse—as in the Attis-Cybele +worship, and the Isis-ritual.” (Farnell.) Reitzenstein says (op. cit., +p. 20.) that the Initiates, like some of the Christian Nuns at a later +time, believed in union with God through receiving the seed. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (6) Farnell, op. cit., iii. 176. Messrs. Gardner and Jevons, in +their Manual of Greek Antiquities, above-quoted, compare the Eleusinian +Mysteries favorably with some of the others, like the Arcadian, the +Troezenian, the Aeginaean, and the very primitive Samothracian: +saying (p. 278) that of the last-mentioned “we know little, but safely +conjecture that in them the ideas of sex and procreation dominated EVEN +MORE than in those of Eleusis.” +</p> + <p> + After all it is pretty clear that the early peoples saw in Sex the great + cohesive force which kept (we will not say Humanity but at any rate) the + Tribe together, and sustained the race. In the stage of simple + Consciousness this must have been one of the first things that the budding + intellect perceived. Sex became one of the earliest divinities, and there + is abundant evidence that its organs and processes generally were invested + with a religious sense of awe and sanctity. It was in fact the symbol (or + rather the actuality) of the permanent undying life of the race, and as + such was sacred to the uses of the race. Whatever taboos may have, among + different peoples, guarded its operations, it was not essentially a thing + to be concealed, or ashamed of. Rather the contrary. For instance the + early Christian writer, Hippolytus, Bishop of Pontus (A.D. 200), in his + Refutation of all Heresies, Book V, says that the Samothracian Mysteries, + just mentioned, celebrate Adam as the primal or archetypal Man eternal in + the heavens; and he then continues: “Habitually there stand in the temple + of the Samothracians two images of naked men having both hands stretched + aloft towards heaven, and their pudenda turned upwards, as is also the + case with the statue of Mercury on Mt. Cyllene. And the aforesaid images + are figures of the primal man, and of that spiritual one that is born + again, in every respect of the same substance with that (first) man.” + </p> + <p> + This extract from Hippolytus occurs in the long discourse in which he + ‘exposes’ the heresy of the so-called Naassene doctrines and mysteries. + But the whole discourse should be read by those who wish to understand the + Gnostic philosophy of the period contemporary with and anterior to the + birth of Christianity. A translation of the discourse, carefully analyzed + and annotated, is given in G. R. S. Mead’s Thrice-greatest Hermes (1) + (vol. i); and Mead himself, speaking of it, says (p. 141): “The claim of + these Gnostics was practically that the good news of the Christ (the + Christos) was the consummation of the inner doctrine of the + Mystery-institutions of all the nations; the end of them all being the + revelation of the Mystery of Man.” Further, he explains that the Soul, in + these doctrines, was regarded as synonymous with the Cause of All; and + that its loves were twain—of Aphrodite (or Life), and of Persephone + (or Death and the other world). Also that Attis, abandoning his sex in the + worship of the Mother-Goddess (Dea Syria), ascends to Heaven—a new + man, Male-female, and the origin of all things: the hidden Mystery being + the Phallus itself, erected as Hermes in all roads and boundaries and + temples, the Conductor and Reconductor of Souls. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Reitzenstein, op. cit., quotes the discourse largely. The +Thrice-greatest Hermes may also be consulted for a translation of +Plutarch’s Isis and Osiris. +</p> + <p> + All this may sound strange, but one may fairly say that it represented in + its degree, and in that first ‘unfallen’ stage of human thought and + psychology, a true conception of the cosmic Life, and indeed a conception + quite sensible and admirable, until, of course, the Second Stage brought + corruption. No sooner was this great force of the cosmic life diverted + from its true uses of Generation and Regeneration (1) and appropriated by + the individual to his own private pleasure—no sooner was its + religious character as a tribal service (2), (often rendered within the + Temple precincts) lost sight of or degraded into a commercial transaction—than + every kind of evil fell upon mankind. Corruptio optimi pessima. It must be + remembered too that simultaneous with this sexual disruption occurred the + disruption of other human relations; and we cease to be surprised that + disease and selfish passions, greed, jealousy, slander, cruelty, and + wholesale murder, raged—and have raged ever since. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For the special meaning of these two terms, see The Drama of +Love and Death, by E. Carpenter, pp. 59-61. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Ernest Crawley in The Mystic Rose challenges this +identification of Religion with tribal interests; yet his arguments +are not very convincing. On p. 5 he admits that “there is a religious +meaning inherent in the primitive conception and practice of ALL human +relations”; and a large part of his ch. xii is taken up in showing that +even such institutions as the Saturnalia were religious in confirming +the sense of social union and leading to ‘extended identity.’ +</p> + <p> + But for the human soul—whatever its fate, and whatever the dangers + and disasters that threaten it—there is always redemption waiting. + As we saw in the last chapter, this corruption of Sex led (quite + naturally) to its denial and rejection; and its denial led to the + differentiation from it of Love. Humanity gained by the enthronement and + deification of Love, pure and undefiled, and (for the time being) exalted + beyond this mortal world, and free from all earthly contracts. But again + in the end, the divorce thus introduced between the physical and the + spiritual led to the crippling of both. Love relegated, so to speak, to + heaven as a purely philanthropical, pious and ‘spiritual’ affair, became + exceedingly DULL; and sex, remaining on earth, but deserted by the + redeeming presence, fell into mere “carnal curiosity and wretchedness of + unclean living.” Obviously for the human race there remains nothing, in + the final event, but the reconciliation of the physical and the spiritual, + and after many sufferings, the reunion of Eros and Psyche. + </p> + <p> + There is still, however, much to be said about the Third State of + Consciousness. Let us examine into it a little more closely. Clearly, + since it is a new state, and not merely an extension of a former one, one + cannot arrive at it by argument derived from the Second state, for all + conscious Thought such as we habitually use simply keeps us IN the Second + state. No animal or quite primitive man could possibly understand what we + mean by Self-consciousness till he had experienced it. Mere argument would + not enlighten him. And so no one in the Second state can quite realize the + Third state till he has experienced it. Still, explanations may help us to + perceive in what direction to look, and to recognize in some of our + experiences an approach to the condition sought. + </p> + <p> + Evidently it is a mental condition in some respects more similar to the + first than to the second stage. The second stage of human psychologic + evolution is an aberration, a divorce, a parenthesis. With its culmination + and dismissal the mind passes back into the simple state of union with the + Whole. (The state of Ekagrata in the Hindu philosophy: one-pointedness, + singleness of mind.) And the consciousness of the Whole, and of things + past and things to come and things far around—which consciousness + had been shut out by the concentration on the local self—begins to + return again. This is not to say, of course, that the excursus in the + second stage has been a loss and a defect. On the contrary, it means that + the Return is a bringing of all that has been gained during the period of + exile (all sorts of mental and technical knowledge and skill, emotional + developments, finesse and adaptability of mind) BACK into harmony with the + Whole. It means ultimately a great gain. The Man, perfected, comes back to + a vastly extended harmony. He enters again into a real understanding and + confidential relationship with his physical body and with the body of the + society in which he dwells—from both of which he has been sadly + divorced; and he takes up again the broken thread of the Cosmic Life. + </p> + <p> + Everyone has noticed the extraordinary consent sometimes observable among + the members of an animal community—how a flock of 500 birds (e. g. + starlings) will suddenly change its direction of flight—the light on + the wings shifting INSTANTANEOUSLY, as if the impulse to veer came to all + at the same identical moment; or how bees will swarm or otherwise act with + one accord, or migrating creatures (lemmings, deer, gossamer spiders, + winged ants) the same. Whatever explanation of these facts we favor—whether + the possession of swifter and finer means of external communication than + we can perceive, or whether a common and inner sensitivity to the genius + of the Tribe (the “Spirit of the Hive”) or to the promptings of great + Nature around—in any case these facts of animal life appear to throw + light on the possibilities of an accord and consent among the members of + emaciated humanity, such as we dream of now, and seem to bid us have good + hope for the future. + </p> + <p> + It is here, perhaps, that the ancient worship of the Lingam comes in. The + word itself is apparently connected with our word ‘link,’ and has + originally the same meaning. (1) It is the link between the generations. + Beginning with the worship of the physical Race-life, the course of + psychologic evolution has been first to the worship of the Tribe (or of + the Totem which represents the tribe); then to the worship of the + human-formed God of the tribe—the God who dies and rises again + eternally, as the tribe passes on eternal—though its members + perpetually perish; then to the conception of an undying Savior, and the + realization and distinct experience of some kind of Super-consciousness + which does certainly reside, more or less hidden, in the deeps of the + mind, and has been waiting through the ages for its disclosure and + recognition. Then again to the recognition that in the sacrifices, the + Slayer and the Slain are one—the strange and profoundly mystic + perception that the God and the Victim are in essence the same—the + dedication of ‘Himself to Himself’ (2) and simultaneously with this the + interpretation of the Eucharist as meaning, even for the individual, the + participation in Eternal Life—the continuing life of the Tribe, or + ultimately of Humanity. (3) The Tribal order rises to Humanity; love + ascends from the lingam to yogam, from physical union alone to the union + with the Whole—which of course includes physical and all other kinds + of union. No wonder that the good St. Paul, witnessing that extraordinary + whirlpool of beliefs and practices, new and old, there in the first + century A.D.—the unabashed adoration of sex side by side with the + transcendental devotions of the Vedic sages and the Gnostics—became + somewhat confused himself and even a little violent, scolding his + disciples (I Cor. x. 21) for their undiscriminating acceptance, as it + seemed to him, of things utterly alien and antagonistic. “Ye cannot drink + the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the + Lord’s table and the table of devils.” + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Sanskrit Dictionary. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See Ch. VIII. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) There are many indications in literature—in prophetic or +poetic form—of this awareness and distinct conviction of an eternal +life, reached through love and an inner sense of union with others and +with humanity at large; indications which bear the mark of absolute +genuineness and sincerity of feeling. See, for instance, Whitman’s poem, +“To the Garden the World” (Leaves of Grass, complete edition, p. 79). +But an eternal life of the third order; not, thank heaven! an eternity +of the meddling and muddling self-conscious Intellect! +</p> + <p> + Every careful reader has noticed the confusedness of Paul’s mind and + arguments. Even taking only those Epistles (Galatians, Romans and + Corinthians) which the critics assign to his pen, the thing is observable—and + some learned Germans even speak of TWO Pauls. (1) But also the thing is + quite natural. There can be little doubt that Paul of Tarsus, a Jew + brought up in the strictest sect of the Pharisees, did at some time fall + deeply under the influence of Greek thought, and quite possibly became an + initiate in the Mysteries. It would be difficult otherwise to account for + his constant use of the Mystery-language. Reitzenstein says (p. 59): “The + hellenistic religious literature MUST have been read by him; he uses its + terms, and is saturated with its thoughts (see Rom. vi. 1-14.” And this + conjoined with his Jewish experience gave him creative power. “A great + deal in his sentiment and thought may have REMAINED Jewish, but to his + Hellenism he was indebted for his love of freedom and his firm belief in + his apostleship.” He adopts terms (like [gr sarkikos], [gr yucikos] and + [gr pneumatikos]) (2) which were in use among the hellenistic sects of the + time; and he writes, as in Romans vi. 4, 5, about being “buried” with + Christ or “planted” in the likeness of his death, in words which might + well have been used (with change of the name) by a follower of Attis or + Osiris after witnessing the corresponding ‘mysteries’; certainly the + allusion to these ancient deities would have been understood by every + religionist of that day. These few points are sufficient to acentuate{sic} + the two elements in Paul, the Jewish and the Greek, and to explain (so + far) the seeming confusion in his utterances. Further it is interesting to + note—as showing the pagan influences in the N. T. writings—the + degree to which the Epistle to Philemon (ascribed to Paul) is FULL—short + as it is—of expressions like PRISONER of the Lord, FELLOW SOLDIER, + CAPTIVE or BONDMAN, (3) which were so common at the time as to be almost a + cant in Mithraism and the allied cults. In I Peter ii. 2 (4), we have the + verse “As newborn babes, desire ye the sincere MILK of the word, that ye + may grow thereby.” And again we may say that no one in that day could + mistake the reference herein contained to old initiation ceremonies and + the new birth (as described in Chapter VIII above), for indeed milk was + the well-known diet of the novice in the Isis mysteries, as well as (in + some savage tribes) of the Medicine-man when practising his calling. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) “Die Mysterien-anschauungen, die bei Paulus im Hintergrunde +stehen, drangen sich in dem sogenarmten Deuteropaulinismus machtig vor” +(Reitzenstein). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) Remindful of our Three Stages: the Animal, the +Self-conscious, and the Cosmic. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (3) [gr desmios, stratiwths, doulos]. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (4) See also I Cor. iii. 2. +</p> + <p> + And here too Democracy comes in—strangely foreboded from the first + in all this matter. (1) Not only does the Third Stage bring illumination, + intuitive understanding of processes in Nature and Humanity, sympathy with + the animals, artistic capacity, and so forth, but it necessarily brings a + new Order of Society. A preposterous—one may almost say a hideous—social + Age is surely drawing to its end, The debacle we are witnessing to-day all + over Europe (including the British Islands), the break-up of old + institutions, the generally materialistic outlook on life, the coming to + the surface of huge masses of diseased and fatuous populations, the scum + and dregs created by the past order, all point to the End of a + Dispensation. Protestantism and Commercialism, in the two fields of + religion and daily life have, as I have indicated before, been occupied in + concentrating the mind of each man solely on his OWN welfare, the + salvation of his OWN soul or body. These two forces have therefore been + disruptive to the last degree; they mark the culmination of the + Self-conscious Age—a culmination in War, Greed, Materialism, and the + general principle of Devil-take-the-hindmost—and the clearing of the + ground for the new order which is to come. So there is hope for the human + race. Its evolution is not all a mere formless craze and jumble. There is + an inner necessity by which Humanity unfolds from one degree or plane of + consciousness to another. And if there has been a great ‘Fall’ or Lapse + into conflict and disease and ‘sin’ and misery, occupying the major part + of the Historical period hitherto, we see that this period is only brief, + so to speak, in comparison with the whole curve of growth and expansion. + We see also that, as I have said before, the belief in a state of + salvation or deliverance has in the past ages never left itself quite + without a witness in the creeds and rituals and poems and prophecies of + mankind. Art, in some form or other, as an activity or inspiration dating + not from the conscious Intellect, but from deeper regions of sub-conscious + feeling and intuition, has continually come to us as a message from and an + evidence of the Third stage or state, and as a promise of its more + complete realization under other conditions. + </p> +<p class="poem"> + Through the long night-time where the Nations wander<br/> + From Eden past to Paradise to be,<br/> + Art’s sacred flowers, like fair stars shining yonder,<br/> + Alone illumine Life’s obscurity.<br/> +<br/> + O gracious Artists, out of your deep hearts<br/> + ’Tis some great Sun, I doubt, by men unguessed,<br/> + Whose rays come struggling thus, in slender darts,<br/> + To shadow what Is, till Time shall manifest.<br/> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See the germs of Democracy in the yoga teaching of the +Hindus, and in the Upanishads, the Bhagavat Gita, and other books. +</p> + <p> + With the Cosmic stage comes also necessarily the rehabilitation of the + WHOLE of Society in one fellowship (the true Democracy). Not the rule or + domination of one class or caste—as of the Intellectual, the Pious, + the Commercial or the Military—but the fusion or at least + consentaneous organization of ALL (as in the corresponding functions of + the human Body). Class rule has been the mark of that second period of + human evolution, and has inevitably given birth during that period to wars + and self-agrandizements of classes and sections, and their consequent + greeds and tyrannies over other classes and sections. It is not found in + the primitive human tribes and societies, and will not be found in the + final forms of human association. The liberated and emancipated Man passes + unconstrained and unconstraining through all grades and planes of human + fellowship, equal and undisturbed, and never leaving his true home and + abiding place in the heart of all. Equally necessarily with the + rehabilitation of Society as an entirety will follow the rehabilitation of + the entire physical body IN each member of Society. We have spoken already + of Nakedness: its meaning and likely extent of adoption (Ch. XII). The + idea that the head and the hands are the only seemly and presentable + members of the organism, and that the other members are unworthy and + indecent, is obviously as onesided and lopsided as that which honors + certain classes in the commonwealth and despises others. Why should the + head brag of its ascendancy and domination, and the heart be smothered up + and hidden? It will only be a life far more in the open air than that + which we lead at present, which will restore the balance and ultimately + bring us back to sanity and health. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a> +XVI.<br/> +THE EXODUS OF CHRISTIANITY +</h2> + <p> + We have dealt with the Genesis of Christianity; we now come to the Exodus. + For that Christianity can CONTINUE to hold the field of Religion in the + Western World is neither probable nor desirable. It is true, as I have + remarked already, that there is a certain trouble about defining what we + mean by “Christianity” similar to that about the word “Civilization.” If + we select out of the great mass of doctrines and rites favored by the + various Christian Churches just those which commend themselves to the most + modern and humane and rational human mind and choose to call that + resulting (but rather small) body of belief and practice ‘Christianity’ we + are, of course, entitled to do so, and to hope (as we do hope) that this + residuum will survive and go forward into the future. But this sort of + proceeding is hardly fair and certainly not logical. It enables + Christianity to pose as an angel of light while at the same time keeping + discreetly out of sight all its own abominations and deeds of darkness. + The Church—which began its career by destroying, distorting and + denying the pagan sources from which it sprang; whose bishops and other + ecclesiastics assassinated each other in their theological rancour “of + wild beasts,” which encouraged the wicked folly of the Crusades—especially + the Children’s Crusades—and the shameful murders of the Manicheans, + the Albigenses, and the Huguenots; which burned at the stake thousands and + thousands of poor ‘witches’ and ‘heretics’; which has hardly ever spoken a + generous word in favor or defence of the animals; which in modern times + has supported vivisection as against the latter, Capitalism and + Commercialism as against the poorer classes of mankind; and whose priests + in the forms of its various sects, Greek or Catholic, Lutheran or + Protestant, have in these last days rushed forth to urge the nations to + slaughter each other with every diabolical device of Science, and to + glorify the war-cry of Patriotism in defiance of the principle of + universal Brotherhood—such a Church can hardly claim to have + established the angelic character of its mission among mankind! And if it + be said—as it often IS SAID: “Oh! but you must go back to the + genuine article, and the Church’s real origin and one foundation in the + person and teaching of Jesus Christ,” then indeed you come back to the + point which this book, as above, enforces: namely, that as to the person + of Jesus, there is no CERTAINTY at all that he ever existed; and as to the + teaching credited to him, it is certain that that comes down from a period + long anterior to ‘Christianity’ and is part of what may justly be called a + very ancient World-religion. So, as in the case of ‘Civilization,’ we are + compelled to see that it is useless to apply the word to some ideal state + of affairs or doctrine (an ideal by no means the same in all people’s + minds, or in all localities and times), but that the only reasonable thing + to do is to apply it in each case to a HISTORICAL PERIOD. In the case of + Christianity the historical period has lasted nearly 2,000 years, and, as + I say, we can hardly expect or wish that it should last much longer. + </p> + <p> + The very thorough and careful investigation of religious origins which has + been made during late years by a great number of students and observers + undoubtedly tends to show that there has been something like a great + World-religion coming down the centuries from the remotest times and + gradually expanding and branching as it has come—that is to say that + the similarity (in ESSENCE though not always in external detail) between + the creeds and rituals of widely sundered tribes and peoples is so great + as to justify the view—advanced in the present volume—that + these creeds and rituals are the necessary outgrowths of human psychology, + slowly evolving, and that consequently they have a common origin and in + their various forms a common expression. Of this great World-religion, so + coming down, Christianity is undoubtedly a branch, and an important + branch. But there have been important branches before; and while it may be + true that Christianity emphasizes some points which may have been + overlooked or neglected in the Vedic teachings or in Buddhism, or in the + Persian and Egyptian and Syrian cults, or in Mahommedanism, and so forth, + it is also equally true that Christianity has itself overlooked or + neglected valuable points in these religions. It has, in fact, the defects + of its qualities. If the World-religion is like a great tree, one cannot + expect or desire that all its branches should be directed towards the same + point of the compass. + </p> + <p> + Reinach, whose studies of religious origins are always interesting and + characterized by a certain Gallic grace and nettete, though with a + somewhat Jewish non-perception of the mystic element in life, defines + Religion as a combination of animism and scruples. This is good in a way, + because it gives the two aspects of the subject: the inner, animism, + consisting of the sense of contact with more or less intelligent beings + moving in Nature; and the outer, consisting in scruples or taboos. The one + aspect shows the feeling which INSPIRES religion, the other, the checks + and limitations which DEFINE it and give birth to ritual. But like most + anthropologists he (Reinach) is a little TOO patronizing towards the “poor + Indian with untutored mind.” He is sorry for people so foolish as to be + animistic in their outlook, and he is always careful to point out that the + scruples and taboos were quite senseless in their origin, though + occasionally (by accident) they turned out useful. Yet—as I have + said before—Animism is a perfectly sensible, logical and NECESSARY + attitude of the human mind. It is a necessary attribute of man’s psychical + nature, by which he projects into the great World around him the image of + his own mind. When that mind is in a very primitive, inchoate, and + fragmentary condition, the images so projected are those of fragmentary + intelligences (‘spirits,’ gnomes, etc.—the age of magic); when the + mind rises to distinct consciousness of itself the reflections of it are + anthropomorphic ‘gods’; when finally it reaches the universal or cosmic + state it perceives the presence of a universal Being behind all phenomena—which + Being is indeed itself—“Himself to Himself.” If you like you may + call the whole process by the name of Animism. It is perfectly sensible + throughout. The only proviso is that you should also be sensible, and + distinguish the different stages in the process. + </p> + <p> + Jane Harrison makes considerable efforts to show that Religion is + primarily a reflection of the SOCIAL Conscience (see Themis, pp. 482-92)—that + is, that the sense in Man of a “Power that makes for righteousness” + outside (and also inside) him is derived from his feeling of continuity + with the Tribe and his instinctive obedience to its behests, confirmed by + ages of collective habit and experience. He cannot in fact sever the + navel-string which connects him with his tribal Mother, even though he + desires to do so. And no doubt this view of the origin of Religion is + perfectly correct. But it must be pointed out that it does not by any + means exclude the view that religion derives also from an Animism by which + man recognizes in general Nature his foster-mother and feels himself in + closest touch with HER. Which may have come first, the Social affiliation + or the Nature affiliation, I leave to the professors to determine. The + term Animism may, as far as I can see, be quite well applied to the social + affiliation, for the latter is evidently only a case in which the + individual projects his own degree of consciousness into the human group + around him instead of into the animals or the trees, but it is a case of + which the justice is so obvious that the modern man can intellectually + seize and understand it, and consequently he does not tar it with the + ‘animistic’ brush. + </p> + <p> + And Miss Harrison, it must be noticed, does, in other passages of the same + book (see Themis, pp. 68, 69), admit that Religion has its origin not only + from unity with the Tribe but from the sense of affiliation to Nature—the + sense of “a world of unseen power lying behind the visible universe, a + world which is the sphere, as will be seen, of magical activity and the + medium of mysticism. The mystical element, the oneness and continuousness + comes out very clearly in the notion of Wakonda among the Sioux + Indians.... The Omahas regarded all animate and inanimate forms, all + phenomena, as pervaded by a common life, which was continuous and similar + to the will-power they were conscious of in themselves. This mysterious + power in all things they called Wakonda, and through it all things were + related to man, and to each other. In the idea of the continuity of life, + a relation was maintained between the seen and the unseen, the dead and + the living, and also between the fragment of anything and its entirety.” + Thus our general position is confirmed, that Religion in its origin has + been INSPIRED by a deep instinctive conviction or actual sense of + continuity with a being or beings in the world around, while it has + derived its FORM and ritual by slow degrees from a vast number of taboos, + generated in the first instance chiefly by superstitious fears, but + gradually with the growth of reason and observation becoming simplified + and rationalized into forms of use. On the one side there has been the + positive impulse—of mere animal Desire and the animal urge of + self-expression; on the other there has been the negative force of Fear + based on ignorance—the latter continually carving, moulding and + shaping the former. According to this an organized study and + classification of taboos might yield some interesting results; because + indeed it would throw light on the earliest forms of both religion and + science. It would be seen that some taboos, like those of CONTACT (say + with a menstruous woman, or a mother-in-law, or a lightning-struck tree) + had an obvious basis of observation, justifiable but very crude; while + others, like the taboo against harming an enemy who had contracted + blood-friendship with one of your own tribe, or against giving decent + burial to a murderer, were equally rough and rude expressions or + indications of the growing moral sentiment of mankind. All the same there + would be left, in any case, a large residuum of taboos which could only be + judged as senseless, and the mere rubbish of the savage mind. + </p> + <p> + So much for the first origins of the World-religion; and I think enough + has been said in the various chapters of this book to show that the same + general process has obtained throughout. Man, like the animals, began with + this deep, subconscious sense of unity with surrounding Nature. When this + became (in Man) fairly conscious, it led to Magic and Totemism. More + conscious, and it branched, on the one hand, into figures of Gods and + definite forms of Creeds, on the other into elaborate Scientific Theories—the + latter based on a strong INTELLECTUAL belief in Unity, but fervently + denying any ‘anthropomorphic’ or ‘animistic’ SENSE of that unity. Finally, + it seems that we are now on the edge of a further stage when the theories + and the creeds, scientific and religious, are on the verge of collapsing, + but in such a way as to leave the sense and the perception of Unity—the + real content of the whole process—not only undestroyed, but + immensely heightened and illuminated. Meanwhile the taboos—of which + there remain some still, both religious and scientific—have been + gradually breaking up and merging themselves into a reasonable and humane + order of life and philosophy. + </p> + <p> + I have said that out of this World-religion Christianity really sprang. It + is evident that the time has arrived when it must either acknowledge its + source and frankly endeavor to affiliate itself to the same, or failing + that must perish. In the first case it will probably have to change its + name; in the second the question of its name ‘will interest it no more.’ + </p> + <p> + With regard to the first of these alternatives, I might venture—though + with indifference—to make a few suggestions. Why should we not have—instead + of a Holy Roman Church—a Holy HUMAN Church, rehabilitating the + ancient symbols and rituals, a Christianity (if you still desire to call + it so) frankly and gladly acknowledging its own sources? This seems a + reasonable and even feasible proposition. If such a church wished to + celebrate a Mass or Communion or Eucharist it would have a great variety + of rites and customs of that kind to select from; those that were not + appropriate for use in our times or were connected with the worship of + strange gods need not be rejected or condemned, but could still be + commented on and explained as approaches to the same idea—the idea + of dedication to the Common Life, and of reinvigoration in the partaking + of it. If the Church wished to celebrate the Crucifixion or betrayal of + its Founder, a hundred instances of such celebrations would be to hand, + and still the thought that has underlain such celebrations since the + beginning of the world could easily be disentangled and presented in + concrete form anew. In the light of such teaching expressions like “I know + that my Redeemer liveth” would be traced to their origin, and men would + understand that notwithstanding the mass of rubbish, cant and humbug which + has collected round them they really do mean something and represent the + age-long instinct of Humanity feeling its way towards a more extended + revelation, a new order of being, a third stage of consciousness and + illumination. In such a Church or religious organization EVERY quality of + human nature would have to be represented, every practice and custom + allowed for and its place accorded—the magical and astronomical + meanings, the rites connected with sun-worship, or with sex, or with the + worship of animals; the consecration of corn and wine and other products + of the ground, initiations, sacrifices, and so forth—all (if indeed + it claimed to be a World-religion) would have to be represented and + recognized. For they all have their long human origin and descent in and + through the pagan creeds, and they all have penetrated into and become + embodied to some degree in Christianity. Christianity therefore, as I say, + must either now come frankly forward and, acknowledging its parentage from + the great Order of the past, seek to rehabilitate THAT and carry mankind + one step forward in the path of evolution—or else it must perish. + There is no other alternative. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Comte in founding his philosophy of Positivism seems to have +had in view some such Holy Human Church, but he succeeded in making it +all so profoundly dull that it never flourished, The seed of Life was +not in it. +</p> + <p> + Let me give an instance of how a fragment of ancient ritual which has + survived from the far Past and is still celebrated, but with little + intelligence or understanding, in the Catholic Church of to-day, might be + adopted in such a Church as I have spoken of, interpreted, and made + eloquent of meaning to modern humanity. When I was in Ceylon nearly 30 + years ago I was fortunate enough to witness a night-festival in a Hindu + Temple—the great festival of Taipusam, which takes place every year + in January. Of course, it was full moon, and great was the blowing up of + trumpets in the huge courtyard of the Temple. The moon shone down above + from among the fronds of tall coco-palms, on a dense crowd of native + worshipers—men and a few women—the men for the most part clad + in little more than a loin-cloth, the women picturesque in their colored + saris and jewelled ear and nose rings. The images of Siva and two other + gods were carried in procession round and round the temple—three or + four times; nautch girls danced before the images, musicians, blowing + horns and huge shells, or piping on flageolets or beating tom-toms, + accompanied them. The crowd carrying torches or high crates with flaming + coco-nuts, walked or rather danced along on each side, elated and excited + with the sense of the present divinity, yet pleasantly free from any + abject awe. The whole thing indeed reminded one of some bas-relief of a + Bacchanalian procession carved on a Greek sarcophagus—and especially + so in its hilarity and suggestion of friendly intimacy with the god. There + were singing of hymns and the floating of the chief actors on a raft round + a sacred lake. And then came the final Act. Siva, or his image, very + weighty and borne on the shoulders of strong men, was carried into the + first chamber or hall of the Temple and placed on an altar with a curtain + hanging in front. The crowd followed with a rush; and then there was more + music, recital of hymns, and reading from sacred books. From where we + stood we could see the rite which was performed behind the curtain. Two + five-branched candlesticks were lighted; and the manner of their lighting + was as follows. Each branch ended in a little cup, and in the cups five + pieces of camphor were placed, all approximately equal in size. After + offerings had been made, of fruit, flowers and sandalwood, the five + camphors in each candlestick were lighted. As the camphor flames burned + out the music became more wild and exciting, and then at the moment of + their extinction the curtains were drawn aside and the congregation + outside suddenly beheld the god revealed and in a blaze of light. This + burning of camphor was, like other things in the service, emblematic. The + five lights represent the five senses. Just as camphor consumes itself and + leaves no residue behind, so should the five senses, being offered to the + god, consume themselves and disappear. When this is done, that happens in + the soul which was now figured in the ritual—the God is revealed in + the inner light. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For a more detailed account of this Temple-festival, see +Adam’s Peak to Elephanta by E. Carpenter, ch. vii. +</p> + <p> + We are familiar with this parting or rending of the veil. We hear of it in + the Jewish Temple, and in the Greek and Egyptian Mysteries. It had a + mystically religious, and also obviously sexual, signification. It occurs + here and there in the Roman Catholic ritual. In Spain, some ancient + Catholic ceremonials are kept up with a brilliance and splendor hardly + found elsewhere in Europe. In the Cathedral, at Seville the service of the + Passion, carried out on Good Friday with great solemnity and accompanied + with fine music, culminates on the Saturday morning—i.e. in the + interval between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection—in a spectacle + similar to that described in Ceylon. A rich velvet-black curtain hangs + before the High Altar. At the appropriate moment and as the very emotional + strains of voices and instruments reach their climax in the “Gloria in + Excelsis,” the curtain with a sudden burst of sound (thunder and the + ringing of all the bells) is rent asunder, and the crucified Jesus is seen + hanging there revealed in a halo of glory. + </p> + <p> + There is also held at Seville Cathedral and before the High Altar every + year, the very curious Dance of the Seises (sixes), performed now by 16 + instead of (as of old) by 12 boys, quaintly dressed. It seems to be a + survival of some very ancient ritual, probably astronomical, in which the + two sets of six represent the signs of the Zodiac, and is celebrated + during the festivals of Corpus Christi, the Immaculate Conception, and the + Carnival. + </p> + <p> + Numerous instances might of course be adduced of how a Church aspiring to + be a real Church of Humanity might adopt and re-create the rituals of the + past in the light of a modern inspiration. Indeed the difficulty would be + to limit the process, for EVERY ancient ritual, we can now see, has had a + meaning and a message, and it would be a real joy to disentangle these and + to expose the profound solidarity of humanity and aspiration from the very + dawn of civilization down to the present day. Nor would it be necessary to + imagine any Act of Uniformity or dead level of ceremonial in the matter. + Different groups might concentrate on different phases of religious + thought and practice. The only necessity would be that they should + approach the subject with a real love of Humanity in their hearts and a + real desire to come into touch with the deep inner life and mystic + growing-pains of the souls of men and women in all ages. In this direction + M. Loisy has done noble and excellent work; but the dead weight and + selfish blinkerdom of the Catholic organization has hampered him to that + degree that he has been unable to get justice done to his liberalizing + designs—or, perhaps, even to reveal the full extent of them. And the + same difficulty will remain. On the one hand no spiritual movement which + does not take up the attitude of a World-religion has now in this age, any + chance of success; on the other, all the existing Churches—whether + Roman Catholic, or Greek, or Protestant or Secularist—whether + Christian or Jewish or Persian or Hindu—will in all probability + adopt the same blind and blinkered and selfish attitude as that described + above, and so disqualify themselves for the great role of world-wide + emancipation, which some religion at some time will certainly have to + play. It is the same difficulty which is looming large in modern + World-politics, where the local selfishness and vainglorious “patriotisms” + of the Nations are sadly impeding and obstructing the development of that + sense of Internationalism and Brotherhood which is the clearly indicated + form of the future, and which alone can give each nation deliverance from + fear, and a promise of growth, and the confident assurance of power. + </p> + <p> + I say that Christianity must either frankly adopt this generous attitude + and confess itself a branch of the great World-religion, anxious only to + do honor to its source—or else it must perish and pass away. There + is no other alternative. The hour of its Exodus has come. It may be, of + course, that neither the Christian Church nor any branch of it, nor any + other religious organization, will step into the gap. It may be—but + I do not think this is likely—that the time of rites and ceremonies + and formal creeds is PAST, and churches of any kind will be no more needed + in the world: not likely, I say, because of the still far backwardness of + the human masses, and their considerable dependence yet on laws and forms + and rituals. Still, if it should prove that that age of dependence IS + really approaching its end, that would surely be a matter for + congratulation. It would mean that mankind was moving into a knowledge of + the REALITY which has underlain these outer shows—that it was coming + into the Third stage of its Consciousness. Having found this there would + be no need for it to dwell any longer in the land of superstitions and + formulae. It would have come to the place of which these latter are only + the outlying indications. + </p> + <p> + It may, therefore, happen—and this quite independently of the growth + of a World-cult such as I have described, though by no means in antagonism + to it—that a religious philosophy or Theosophy might develop and + spread, similar to the Gnonam of the Hindus or the Gnomsis of the + pre-Christian sects, which would become, first among individuals and + afterwards among large bodies over the world, the religion of—or + perhaps one should say the religious approach to the Third State. Books + like the Upanishads of the Vedic seers, and the Bhagavat Gita, though + garbled and obscured by priestly interferences and mystifications, do + undoubtedly represent and give expression to the highest utterance of + religious experience to be found anywhere in the world. They are indeed + the manuals of human entrance into the cosmic state. But as I say, and as + has happened in the case of other sacred books, a vast deal of rubbish has + accreted round their essential teachings, and has to be cleared away. To + go into a serious explication of the meaning of these books would be far + too large an affair, and would be foreign to the purpose of the present + volume; but I have in the Appendix below inserted two papers, (on “Rest” + and “The Nature of the Self”) containing the substance of lectures given + on the above books. These papers or lectures are couched in the very + simplest language, free from Sanskrit terms and the usual ‘jargon of the + Schools,’ and may, I hope, even on that account be of use in familiarizing + readers who are not specially STUDENTS with the ideas and mental attitudes + of the cosmic state. Non-differentiation (Advaita (1)) is the root + attitude of the mind inculcated. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The word means “not-two-ness.” Here we see a great subtlety +of definition. It is not to be “one” with others that is urged, but to +be “not two.” +</p> + <p> + We have seen that there has been an age of non-differentiation in the + <i>Past</i>—non-differentiation from other members of the Tribe, from the + Animals, from Nature and the Spirit or Spirits of nature; why should there + not arise a similar sense of non-differentiation in the <i>Future</i>—similar + but more extended more intelligent? Certainly this <i>will</i> arrive, in its own + appointed time. There will be a surpassing of the bounds of separation and + division. There will be a surpassing of all Taboos. We have seen the use + and function of Taboos in the early stages of Evolution and how progress + and growth have been very much a matter of their gradual extinction and + assimilation into the general body of rational thought and feeling. + Unreasoning and idiotic taboos still linger, but they grow weaker. A new + Morality will come which will shake itself free from them. The sense of + kinship with the animals (as in the old rituals) (1) will be restored; the + sense of kinship with all the races of mankind will grow and become + consolidated; the sense of the defilement and impurity of the human body + will (with the adoption of a generally clean and wholesome life) pass + away; and the body itself will come to be regarded more as a collection of + shrines in which the gods may be worshiped and less as a mere organ of + trivial self-gratifications; (2) there will be no form of Nature, or of + human life or of the lesser creatures, which will be barred from the + approach of Man or from the intimate and penetrating invasion of his + spirit; and as in certain ceremonies and after honorable toils and labors + a citizen is sometimes received into the community of his own city, so the + emancipated human being on the completion of his long long pilgrimage on + Earth will be presented with the Freedom of the Universe. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The record of the Roman Catholic Church has been sadly +callous and inhuman in this matter of the animals. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + (2) See The Art of Creation, by E. Carpenter. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a> +XVII.<br/> +CONCLUSION +</h2> + <p> + In conclusion there does not seem much to say, except to accentuate + certain points which may still appear doubtful or capable of being + understood. + </p> + <p> + The fact that the main argument of this volume is along the lines of + psychological evolution will no doubt commend it to some, while on the + other hand it will discredit the book to others whose eyes, being fixed on + purely MATERIAL causes, can see no impetus in History except through + these. But it must be remembered that there is not the least reason for + SEPARATING the two factors. The fact that psychologically man has evolved + from simple consciousness to self-consciousness, and is now in process of + evolution towards another and more extended kind of consciousness, does + not in the least bar the simultaneous appearance and influence of material + evolution. It is clear indeed that the two must largely go together, + acting and reacting on each other. Whatever the physical conditions of the + animal brain may be which connect themselves with simple (unreflected and + unreflecting) consciousness, it is evident that these conditions—in + animals and primitive man—lasted for an enormous period, before the + distinct consciousness of the individual and separate SELF arose. This + second order of consciousness seems to have germinated at or about the + same period as the discovery of the use of Tools (tools of stone, copper, + bronze, &c.), the adoption of picture-writing and the use of + reflective words (like “I” and “Thou”); and it led on to the appreciation + of gold and of iron with their ornamental and practical values, the + accumulation of Property, the establishment of slavery of various kinds, + the subjection of Women, the encouragement of luxury and self-indulgence, + the growth of crowded cities and the endless conflicts and wars so + resulting. We can see plainly that the incoming of the self-motive + exercised a direct stimulus on the pursuit of these material objects and + adaptations; and that the material adaptations in their turn did largely + accentuate the self-motive; but to insist that the real explanation of the + whole process is only to be found along one channel—the material OR + the psychical—is clearly quite unnecessary. Those who understand + that all matter is conscious in some degree, and that all consciousness + has a material form of some kind, will be the first to admit this. + </p> + <p> + The same remarks apply to the Third Stage. We can see that in modern times + the huge and unlimited powers of production by machinery, united with a + growing tendency towards intelligent Birth-control, are preparing the way + for an age of Communism and communal Plenty which will inevitably be + associated (partly as cause and partly as effect) with a new general phase + of consciousness, involving the mitigation of the struggle for existence, + the growth of intuitional and psychical perception, the spread of amity + and solidarity, the disappearance of War, and the realization (in degree) + of the Cosmic life. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the greatest difficulty or stumbling-block to the general + acceptance of the belief in a third (or ‘Golden-Age’) phase of human + evolution is the obstinate and obdurate pre-judgment that the passing of + Humanity out of the Second stage can only mean the entire ABANDONMENT OF + SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS; and this people say—and quite rightly—is + both impossible and undesirable. Throughout the preceding chapters I have + striven, wherever feasible, to counter this misunderstanding—but I + have little hope of success. The DETERMINATION of the world to + misunderstand or misinterpret anything a little new or unfamiliar is a + thing which perhaps only an author can duly appreciate. But while it is + clear that self-consciousness originally came into being through a process + of alienation and exile and fear which marked it with the Cain-like brand + of loneliness and apartness, it is equally clear that to think of that + apartness as an absolute and permanent separation is an illusion, since no + being can really continue to live divorced from the source of its life. + For a period in evolution the SELF took on this illusive form in + consciousness, as of an ignis fatuus—the form of a being sundered + from all other beings, atomic, lonely, without refuge, surrounded by + dangers and struggling, for itself alone and for its own salvation in the + midst of a hostile environment. Perhaps some such terrible imagination was + necessary at first, as it were to start Humanity on its new path. But it + had its compensation, for the sufferings and tortures, mental and bodily, + the privations, persecutions, accusations, hatreds, the wars and conflicts—so + endured by millions of individuals and whole races—have at length + stamped upon the human mind a sense of individual responsibility which + otherwise perhaps would never have emerged, and whose mark can now be + effaced; ultimately, too, these things have searched our inner nature to + its very depths and exposed its bed-rock foundation. They have convinced + us that this idea of ultimate separation is an illusion, and that in truth + we are all indefeasible and indestructible parts of one great Unity in + which “we live and move and have our being.” That being so, it is clear + that there remains in the end a self-consciousness which need by no means + be abandoned, which indeed only comes to its true fruition and + understanding when it recognizes its affiliation with the Whole, and + glories in an individuality which is an expression both of itself AND of + the whole. The human child at its mother’s knee probably comes first to + know it HAS a ‘self’ on some fateful day when having wandered afar it goes + lost among alien houses and streets or in the trackless fields. That + appalling experience—the sense of danger, of fear, of loneliness—is + never forgotten; it stamps some new sense of Being upon the childish mind, + but that sense, instead of being destroyed, becomes all the prouder and + more radiant in the hour of return to the mother’s arms. The return, the + salvation, for which humanity looks, is the return of the little + individual self to harmony and union with the great Self of the universe, + but by no means its extinction or abandonment—rather the finding of + its own true nature as never before. + </p> + <p> + There is another thing which may be said here: namely, that the + disentanglement, as above, of three main stages of psychological evolution + as great formative influences in the history of mankind, does not by any + means preclude the establishment of lesser stages within the boundaries of + these. In all probability subdivisions of all the three will come in time + to be recognized and allowed for. To take the Second stage only, it MAY + appear that Self-consciousness in its first development is characterized + by an accentuation of Timidity; in its second development by a more + deliberate pursuit of sensual Pleasure (lust, food, drink, &c.); in + its third by the pursuit of mental gratifications (vanities, ambitions, + enslavement of others); in its fourth by the pursuit of Property, as a + means of attaining these objects; in its fifth by the access of enmities, + jealousies, wars and so forth, consequent on all these things; and so on. + I have no intention at present of following out this line of thought, but + only wish to suggest its feasibility and the degree to which it may throw + light on the social evolutions of the Past. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) For an analysis of the nature of Self-consciousness see vol. +iii, p. 375 sq. of the three ponderous tomes by Wilhelm +Wundt—Grund-zuge der Physiologischen Psychologie—in which amid an +enormous mass of verbiage occasional gleams of useful suggestion are to +be found. +</p> + <p> + As a kind of rude general philosophy we may say that there are only two + main factors in life, namely, Love and Ignorance. And of these we may also + say that the two are not in the same plane: one is positive and + substantial, the other is negative and merely illusory. It may be thought + at first that Fear and Hatred and Cruelty, and the like, are very positive + things, but in the end we see that they are due merely to ABSENCE of + perception, to dulness of understanding. Or we may put the statement in a + rather less crude form, and say that there are only two factors in life: + (1) the sense of Unity with others (and with Nature)—which covers + Love, Faith, Courage, Truth, and so forth, and (2) Non-perception of the + same—which covers Enmity, Fear, Hatred, Self-pity, Cruelty, + Jealousy, Meanness and an endless similar list. The present world which we + see around us, with its idiotic wars, its senseless jealousies of nations + and classes, its fears and greeds and vanities and its futile endeavors—as + of people struggling in a swamp—to find one’s own salvation by + treading others underfoot, is a negative phenomenon. Ignorance, + non-perception, are at the root of it. But it is the blessed virtue of + Ignorance and of non-perception that they inevitably—if only slowly and + painfully—DESTROY THEMSELVES. All experience serves to dissipate + them. The world, as it is, carries’ the doom of its own transformation in + its bosom; and in proportion as that which is negative disappears the + positive element must establish itself more and more. + </p> + <p> + So we come back to that with which we began, (1) to Fear bred by + Ignorance. From that source has sprung the long catalogue of follies, + cruelties and sufferings which mark the records of the human race since + the dawn of history; and to the overcoming of this Fear we perforce must + look for our future deliverance, and for the discovery, even in the midst + of this world, of our true Home. The time is coming when the positive + constructive element must dominate. It is inevitable that Man must ever + build a state of society around him after the pattern and image of his own + interior state. The whole futile and idiotic structure of commerce and + industry in which we are now imprisoned springs from that falsehood of + individualistic self-seeking which marks the second stage of human + evolution. That stage is already tottering to its fall, destroyed by the + very flood of egotistic passions and interests, of vanities, greeds, and + cruelties, all warring with each other, which are the sure outcome and + culmination of its operation. With the restoration of the sentiment of the + Common Life, and the gradual growth of a mental attitude corresponding, + there will emerge from the flood something like a solid earth—something + on which it will be possible to build with good hope for the future. + Schemes of reconstruction are well enough in their way, but if there is no + ground of REAL HUMAN SOLIDARITY beneath, of what avail are they? + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See Introduction, Ch. I. +</p> + <p> + An industrial system which is no real industrial order, but only (on the + part of the employers) a devil’s device for securing private profit under + the guise of public utility, and (on the part of the employed) a dismal + and poor-spirited renunciation—for the sake of a bare living—of + all real interest in life and work: such a ‘system’ must infallibly pass + away. It cannot in the nature of things be permanent. The first condition + of social happiness and prosperity must be the sense of the Common Life. + This sense, which instinctively underlay the whole Tribal order of the far + past—which first came to consciousness in the worship of a thousand + pagan divinities, and in the rituals of countless sacrifices, initiations, + redemptions, love-feasts and communions, which inspired the dreams of the + Golden Age, and flashed out for a time in the Communism of the early + Christians and in their adorations of the risen Savior—must in the + end be the creative condition of a new order: it must provide the material + of which the Golden City waits to be built. The long travail of the + World-religion will not have been in vain, which assures this + consummation. What the signs and conditions of any general advance into + this new order of life and consciousness will be, we know not. It may be + that as to individuals the revelation of a new vision often comes quite + suddenly, and GENERALLY perhaps after a period of great suffering, so to + society at large a similar revelation will arrive—like “the + lightning which cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West”—with + unexpected swiftness. On the other hand it would perhaps be wise not to + count too much on any such sudden transformation. When we look abroad (and + at home) in this year of grace and hoped-for peace, 1919, and see the + spirits of rancour and revenge, the fears, the selfish blindness and the + ignorance, which still hold in their paralyzing grasp huge classes and + coteries in every country in the world, we see that the second stage of + human development is by no means yet at its full term, and that, as in + some vast chrysalis, for the liberation of the creature within still more + and more terrible struggles MAY be necessary. We can only pray that such + may not be the case. Anyhow, if we have followed the argument of this book + we can hardly doubt that the destruction (which is going on everywhere) of + the outer form of the present society marks the first stage of man’s final + liberation; and that, sooner or later, and in its own good time, that + further ‘divine event’ will surely be realized. + </p> + <p> + Nor need we fear that Humanity, when it has once entered into the great + Deliverance, will be again overpowered by evil. From Knowledge back to + Ignorance there is no complete return. The nations that have come to + enlightenment need entertain no dread of those others (however hostile + they appear) who are still plunging darkly in the troubled waters of + self-greed. The dastardly Fears which inspire all brutishness and cruelty + of warfare—whether of White against White or it may be of White + against Yellow or Black—may be dismissed for good and all by that + blest race which once shall have gained the shore—since from the + very nature of the case those who are on dry land can fear nothing and + need fear nothing from the unfortunates who are yet tossing in the welter + and turmoil of the waves. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Frazer, in the conclusion of his great work The Golden Bough, (1) bids + farewell to his readers with the following words: “The laws of Nature are + merely hypotheses devised to explain that ever-shifting phantasmagoria of + thought which we dignify with the high-sounding names of the World and the + Universe. In the last analysis magic, religion and science are nothing but + theories (of thought); and as Science has supplanted its predecessors so + it may hereafter itself be superseded by some more perfect hypothesis, + perhaps by some perfectly different way of looking at phenomena—of + registering the shadows on the screen—of which we in this generation + can form no idea.” I imagine Dr. Frazer is right in thinking that “a way + of looking at phenomena” different from the way of Science, may some day + prevail. But I think this change will come, not so much by the growth of + Science itself or the extension of its ‘hypotheses,’ as by a growth and + expansion of the human HEART and a change in its psychology and powers of + perception. Perhaps some of the preceding chapters will help to show how + much the outlook of humanity on the world has been guided through the + centuries by the slow evolution of its inner consciousness. Gradually, out + of an infinite mass of folly and delusion, the human soul has in this way + disentangled itself, and will in the future disentangle itself, to emerge + at length in the light of true FREEDOM. All the taboos, the insane + terrors, the fatuous forbiddals of this and that (with their consequent + heart-searchings and distress) may perhaps have been in their way + necessary, in order to rivet and define the meaning and the understanding + of that word. To-day these taboos and terrors still linger, many of them, + in the form of conventions of morality, uneasy strivings of conscience, + doubts and desperations of religion; but ultimately Man will emerge from + all these things, FREE—familiar, that is, with them all, making use + of all, allowing generously for the values of all, but hampered and bound + by NONE. He will realize the inner meaning of the creeds and rituals of + the ancient religions, and will hail with joy the fulfilment of their far + prophecy down the ages—finding after all the long-expected Saviour + of the world within his own breast, and Paradise in the disclosure there + of the everlasting peace of the soul. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) See “Balder,” vol. ii, pp. 306, 307. (“Farewell to Nemi.”) +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a> +APPENDIX +</h2> + <h3> + THE TEACHING OF THE UPANISHADS + </h3> + +<p class="center"> +BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF TWO LECTURES TO POPULAR AUDIENCES +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + I. REST<br/> + II. THE NATURE OF THE SELF<br/> +</p> + +<h3>I. REST</h3> + + <p> + To some, in the present whirlpool of life and affairs it may seem almost + an absurdity to talk about Rest. For long enough now rest has seemed a + thing far off and unattainable. With the posts knocking at our doors ten + or twelve times a day, with telegrams arriving every hour, and the + telephone bell constantly ringing; with motors rushing wildly about the + streets, and aeroplanes whizzing overhead, with work speeded up in every + direction, and the drive in the workshops becoming more intolerable every + day; with the pace of the walkers and the pace of the talkers from hour to + hour insanely increasing—what room, it may well be asked, is there + for Rest? And now the issues of war, redoubling the urgency of all + questions, are on us. + </p> + <p> + The problem is obviously a serious one. So urgent is it that I think one + may safely say the amount of insanity due to the pressure of daily life is + increasing; nursing-homes have sprung up for the special purpose of + treating such cases; and doctors are starting special courses of tuition + in the art—now becoming very important—of systematically doing + nothing! And yet it is difficult to see the outcome of it all. The clock + of what is called Progress is not easily turned backward. We should not + very readily agree nowadays to the abolition of telegrams or to a + regulation compelling express trains to stop at every station! We can’t + ALL go to Nursing Homes, or afford to enjoy a winter’s rest-cure in Egypt. + And, if not, is the speeding-up process to go on indefinitely, incapable + of being checked, and destined ultimately to land civilization in the + mad-house? + </p> + <p> + It is, I say, a serious and an urgent problem. And it is, I think, forcing + a certain answer on us—which I will now endeavor to explain. + </p> + <p> + If we cannot turn back and reverse this fatal onrush of modern life (and + it is evident that we cannot do so in any very brief time—though of + course ultimately we might succeed) then I think there are clearly only + two alternatives left—either to go forward to general dislocation + and madness, or—to learn to rest even in the very midst of the hurry + and the scurry. + </p> + <p> + To explain what I mean, let me use an illustration. The typhoons and + cyclones of the China Seas are some of the most formidable storms that + ships can encounter. Their paths in the past have been strewn with wrecks + and disaster. But now with increased knowledge much of their danger has + been averted. It is known that they are CIRCULAR in character, and that + though the wind on their outskirts often reaches a speed of 100 miles an + hour, in the centre of the storm there is a space of complete calm—not + a calm of the SEA certainly, but a complete absence of wind. The skilled + navigator, if he cannot escape the storm, steers right into the heart of + it, and rests there. Even in the midst of the clatter he finds a place of + quiet where he can trim his sails and adjust his future course. He knows + too from his position in what direction at every point around him the wind + is moving and where it will strike him when at last his ship emerges from + the charmed circle. + </p> + <p> + Is it not possible, we may ask, that in the very midst of the cyclone of + daily life we may find a similar resting-place? If we can, our case is by + no means hopeless. If we cannot, then indeed there is danger. + </p> + <p> + Looking back in History we seem to see that in old times people took life + much more leisurely than they do now. The elder generations gave more + scope in their customs and their religions for contentment and peace of + mind. We associate a certain quietism and passivity with the thought of + the Eastern peoples. But as civilization traveled Westward external + activity and the pace of life increased—less and less time was left + for meditation and repose—till with the rise of Western Europe and + America, the dominant note of life seems to have simply become one of + feverish and ceaseless activity—of activity merely for the sake of + activity, without any clear idea of its own purpose or object. + </p> + <p> + Such a prospect does not at first seem very hopeful; but on second + thoughts we see that we are not forced to draw any very pessimistic + conclusion from it. The direction of human evolution need not remain + always the same. The movement, in fact, of civilization from East to West + has now clearly completed itself. The globe has been circled, and we + cannot go any FARTHER to the West without coming round to the East again. + It is a commonplace to say that our psychology, our philosophy and our + religious sense are already taking on an Eastern color; nor is it + difficult to imagine that with the end of the present dispensation a new + era may perfectly naturally arrive in which the St. Vitus’ dance of + money-making and ambition will cease to be the chief end of existence. + </p> + <p> + In the history of nations as in the history of individuals there are + periods when the formative ideals of life (through some hidden influence) + change; and the mode of life and evolution in consequence changes also. I + remember when I was a boy wishing—like many other boys—to go + to sea. I wanted to join the Navy. It was not, I am sure, that I was so + very anxious to defend my country. No, there was a much simpler and more + prosaic motive than that. The ships of those days with their complex + rigging suggested a perfect paradise of CLIMBING, and I know that it was + the thought of THAT which influenced me. To be able to climb indefinitely + among those ropes and spars! How delightful! Of course I knew perfectly + well that I should not always have free access to the rigging; but then—some + day, no doubt, I should be an Admiral, and who then could prevent me? I + remember seeing myself in my mind’s eye, with cocked hat on my head and + spy-glass under my arm, roaming at my own sweet will up aloft, regardless + of the remonstrances which might reach me from below! Such was my childish + ideal. But a time came—needless to say—when I conceived a + different idea of the object of life. + </p> + <p> + It is said that John Tyndall, whose lectures on Science were so much + sought after in their time, being on one occasion in New York was accosted + after his discourse by a very successful American business man, who urged + him to devote his scientific knowledge and ability to commercial pursuits, + promising that if he did so, he, Tyndall, would easily make “a big pile.” + Tyndall very calmly replied, “Well, I myself thought of that once, but I + soon abandoned the idea, having come to the conclusion that I had NO TIME + TO WASTE IN MAKING MONEY.” The man of dollars nearly sank into the ground. + Such a conception of life had never entered his head before. But to + Tyndall no doubt it was obvious that if he chained himself to the + commercial ideal all the joy and glory of his days would be gone. + </p> + <p> + We sometimes hear of the awful doom of some of the Russian convicts in the + quarries and mines of Siberia, who are (or were) chained permanently to + their wheelbarrows. It is difficult to imagine a more dreadful fate: the + despair, the disgust, the deadly loathing of the accursed thing from which + there is no escape day or night—which is the companion not only of + the prisoner’s work but of his hours of rest—with which he has to + sleep, to feed, to take his recreation if he has any, and to fulfil all + the offices of nature. Could anything be more crushing? And yet, and + yet... is it not true that we, most of us, in our various ways are chained + to our wheelbarrows—is it not too often true that to these beggarly + things we have for the most part chained OURSELVES? + </p> + <p> + Let me be understood. Of course we all have (or ought to have) our work to + do. We have our living to get, our families to support, our trade, our + art, our profession to pursue. In that sense no doubt we are tied; but I + take it that these things are like the wheelbarrow which a man uses while + he is at work. It may irk him at times, but he sticks to it with a good + heart, and with a certain joy because it is the instrument of a noble + purpose. That is all right. But to be chained to it, not to be able to + leave it when the work of the day is done—that is indeed an ignoble + slavery. I would say, then, take care that even with these things, these + necessary arts of life, you preserve your independence, that even if to + some degree they may confine your body they do not enslave your mind. + </p> + <p> + For it is the freedom of the mind which counts. We are all no doubt caught + in the toils of the earth-life. One man is largely dominated by sensual + indulgence, another by ambition, another by the pursuit of money. Well, + these things are all right in themselves. Without the pleasures of the + senses we should be dull mokes indeed; without ambition much of the zest + and enterprise of life would be gone; gold, in the present order of + affairs, is a very useful servant. These things are right enough—but + to be CHAINED to them, to be unable to think of anything else—what a + fate! The subject reminds one of a not uncommon spectacle. It is a + glorious day; the sun is bright, small white clouds float in the + transparent blue—a day when you linger perforce on the road to enjoy + the scene. But suddenly here comes a man painfully running all hot and + dusty and mopping his head, and with no eye, clearly, for anything around + him. What is the matter? He is absorbed by one idea. He is running to + catch a train! And one cannot help wondering what EXCEEDINGLY important + business it must be for which all this glory and beauty is sacrificed, and + passed by as if it did not exist. + </p> + <p> + Further we must remember that in our foolishness we very commonly chain + ourselves, not only to things like sense-pleasures and ambitions which are + on the edge, so to speak, of being vices; but also to other things which + are accounted virtues, and which as far as I can see are just as bad, if + we once become enslaved to them. I have known people who were so + exceedingly ‘spiritual’ and ‘good’ that one really felt quite depressed in + their company; I have known others whose sense of duty, dear things, was + so strong that they seemed quite unable to REST, or even to allow their + friends to rest; and I have wondered whether, after all, worriting about + one’s duty might not be as bad—as deteriorating to oneself, as + distressing to one’s friends—as sinning a good solid sin. No, in + this respect virtues MAY be no better than vices; and to be chained to a + wheelbarrow made of alabaster is no way preferable to being chained to one + of wood. To sacrifice the immortal freedom of the mind in order to become + a prey to self-regarding cares and anxieties, self-estimating virtues and + vices, self-chaining duties and indulgences, is a mistake. And I warn you, + it is quite useless. For the destiny of Freedom is ultimately upon every + one, and if refusing it for a time you heap your life persistently upon + one object—however blameless in itself that object may be—Beware! + For one day—and when you least expect it—the gods will send a + thunderbolt upon you. One day the thing for which you have toiled and + spent laborious days and sleepless nights will lie broken before you—your + reputation will be ruined, your ambition will be dashed, your savings of + years will be lost—and for the moment you will be inclined to think + that your life has been in vain. But presently you will wake up and find + that something quite different has happened. You will find that the + thunderbolt which you thought was your ruin has been your salvation—that + it has broken the chain which bound you to your wheelbarrow, and that you + are free! ———— + </p> + <p> + I think you will now see what I mean by Rest. Rest is the loosing of the + chains which bind us to the whirligig of the world, it is the passing into + the centre of the Cyclone; it is the Stilling of Thought. For (with regard + to this last) it is Thought, it is the Attachment of the Mind, which binds + us to outer things. The outer things themselves are all right. It is only + through our thoughts that they make slaves of us. Obtain power over your + thoughts and you are free. You can then use the outer things or dismiss + them at your pleasure. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing new of course in all this. It has been known for ages; + and is part of the ancient philosophy of the world. + </p> + <p> + In the Katha Upanishad you will find these words (Max Muller’s + translation): “As rainwater that has fallen on a mountain ridge runs down + on all sides, thus does he who sees a difference between qualities run + after them on all sides.” This is the figure of the man who does NOT rest. + And it is a powerful likeness. The thunder shower descends on the mountain + top; torrents of water pour down the crags in every direction. Imagine the + state of mind of a man—however thirsty he may be—who endeavors + to pursue and intercept all these streams! + </p> + <p> + But then the Upanishad goes on: “As pure water poured into pure water + remains the same, thus, O Gautama, is the Self of a thinker who knows.” + What a perfect image of rest! Imagine a cistern before you with + transparent glass sides and filled with pure water. And then imagine some + one comes with a phial, also of pure water, and pours the contents gently + into the cistern. What will happen? Almost nothing. The pure water will + glide into the pure water—“remaining the same.” There will be no + dislocation, no discoloration (as might happen if MUDDY water were poured + in); there will be only perfect harmony. + </p> + <p> + I imagine here that the meaning is something like this. The cistern is the + great Reservoir of the Universe which contains the pure and perfect Spirit + of all life. Each one of us, and every mortal creature, represents a drop + from that reservoir—a drop indeed which is also pure and perfect + (though the phial in which it is contained may not always be so). When we, + each of us, descend into the world and meet the great Ocean of Life which + dwells there behind all mortal forms, it is like the little phial being + poured into the great reservoir. If the tiny canful which is our selves is + pure and unsoiled, then when it meets the world it will blend with the + Spirit which informs the world perfectly harmoniously, without distress or + dislocation. It will pass through and be at one with it. How can one + describe such a state of affairs? You will have the key to every person + that you meet, because indeed you are conscious that the real essence of + that person is the same as your own. You will have the solution of every + event which happens. For every event is (and is felt to be) the touch of + the great Spirit on yours. Can any description of Rest be more perfect + than that? Pure water poured into pure water.... There is no need to + hurry, for everything will come in its good time. There is no need to + leave your place, for all you desire is close at hand. + </p> + <p> + Here is another verse (from the Vagasaneyi-Samhita Upanishad) embodying + the same idea: “And he who beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in + all beings, he never turns away from It. When, to a man who understands, + the Self has become all things, what sorrow, what trouble, can there be to + him—having once beheld that Unity?”—What trouble, what sorrow, + indeed, when the universe has become transparent with the presences of all + we love, held firm in the One enfolding Presence? + </p> + <p> + But it will be said: “Our minds are NOT pure and transparent. More often + they are muddy and soiled—soiled, if not in their real essence, yet + by reason of the mortal phial in which they are contained.” And that alas! + is true. If you pour a phial of muddy water into that reservoir which we + described—what will you see? You will see a queer and ugly cloud + formed. And to how many of us, in our dealings with the world, does life + take on just such a form—of a queer and ugly cloud? + </p> + <p> + Now not so very long after those Upanishads were written there lived in + China that great Teacher, Lao-tze; and he too had considered these things. + And he wrote—in the Tao-Teh-King—“Who is there who can make + muddy water clear?” The question sounds like a conundrum. For a moment one + hesitates to answer it. Lao-tze, however, has an answer ready. He says: + “But if you LEAVE IT ALONE it will become clear of itself.” That muddy + water of the mind, muddied by all the foolish little thoughts which like a + sediment infest it—but if you leave it alone it will become clear of + itself. Sometimes walking along the common road after a shower you have + seen pools of water lying here and there, dirty and unsightly with the mud + stirred up by the hoofs of men and animals. And then returning some hours + afterwards along the same road—in the evening and after the + cessation of traffic—you have looked again, and lo! each pool has + cleared itself to a perfect calm, and has become a lovely mirror + reflecting the trees and the clouds and the sunset and the stars. + </p> + <p> + So this mirror of the mind. Leave it alone. Let the ugly sediment of + tiresome thoughts and anxieties, and of fussing over one’s + self-importances and duties, settle down—and presently you will look + on it, and see something there which you never knew or imagined before—something + more beautiful than you ever yet beheld—a reflection of the real and + eternal world such is only given to the mind that rests. + </p> + <p> + Do not recklessly spill the waters of your mind in this direction and in + that, lest you become like a spring lost and dissipated in the desert. + </p> + <p> + But draw them together into a little compass, and hold them still, so + still; + </p> + <p> + And let them become clear, so clear—so limpid, so mirror-like; + </p> + <p> + At last the mountains and the sky shall glass themselves in peaceful + beauty, + </p> + <p> + And the antelope shall descend to drink, and the lion to quench his + thirst, + </p> + <p> + And Love himself shall come and bend over, and catch his own likeness in + you. (1) + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) Towards Democracy, p. 373. +</p> + <p> + Yes, there is this priceless thing within us, but hoofing along the roads + in the mud we fail to find it; there is this region of calm, but the + cyclone of the world raging around guards us from entering it. Perhaps it + is best so—best that the access to it should not be made too easy. + One day, some time ago, in the course of conversation with Rabindranath + Tagore in London, I asked him what impressed him most in visiting the + great city. He said, “The restless incessant movement of everybody.” I + said, “Yes, they seem as if they were all rushing about looking for + something.” He replied, “It is because each person does not know of the + great treasure he has within himself.” ———— + </p> + <p> + How then are we to reach this treasure and make it our own? How are we to + attain to this Stilling of the Mind, which is the secret of all power and + possession? The thing is difficult, no doubt; yet as I tried to show at + the outset of this discourse, we Moderns MUST reach it; we have got to + attain to it—for the penalty of failure is and must be widespread + Madness. + </p> + <p> + The power to still the mind—to be ABLE, mark you, when you want, to + enter into the region of Rest, and to dismiss or command your Thoughts—is + a condition of Health; it is a condition of all Power and Energy. For all + health, whether of mind or body, resides in one’s relation to the central + Life within. If one cannot get into touch with THAT, then the life-forces + cannot flow down into the organism. Most, perhaps all, disease arises from + the disturbance of this connection. All mere hurry, all mere running after + external things (as of the man after the water-streams on the + mountain-top), inevitably breaks it. Let a pond be allowed calmly under + the influence of frost to crystallize, and most beautiful flowers and + spears of ice will be formed, but keep stirring the water all the time + with a stick or a pole and nothing will result but an ugly brash of + half-frozen stuff. The condition of the exercise of power and energy is + that it should proceed from a center of Rest within one. So convinced am I + of this, that whenever I find myself hurrying over my work, I pause and + say, “Now you are not producing anything good!” and I generally find that + that is true. It is curious, but I think very noticeable, that the places + where people hurry most—as for instance the City of London or Wall + Street, New York—are just the places where the work being done is of + LEAST importance (being mostly money-gambling); whereas if you go and look + at a ploughman ploughing—doing perhaps the most important of human + work—you find all his movements most deliberate and leisurely, as if + indeed he had infinite time at command; the truth being that in dealing + (like a ploughman) with the earth and the horses and the weather and the + things of Nature generally you can no more hurry than Nature herself + hurries. + </p> + <p> + Following this line of thought it might seem that one would arrive at a + hopeless paradox. If it be true that the less one hurries the better the + work resulting, then it might seem that by sitting still and merely + twirling one’s thumbs one would arrive at the very greatest activity and + efficiency! And indeed (if understood aright) there is a truth even in + this, which—like the other points I have mentioned—has been + known and taught long ages ago. Says that humorous old sage, Lao-tze, whom + I have already quoted: “By non-action there is nothing that cannot be + done.” At first this sounds like mere foolery or worse; but afterwards + thinking on it one sees there is a meaning hidden. There is a secret by + which Nature and the powers of the universal life will do all for you. The + Bhagavat Gita also says, “He who discovers inaction in action and action + in inaction is wise among mortals.” + </p> + <p> + It is worth while dwelling for a moment on these texts. We are all—as + I said earlier on—involved in work belonging to our place and + station; we are tied to some degree in the bonds of action. But that fact + need not imprison our inner minds. While acting even with keenness and + energy along the external and necessary path before us, it is perfectly + possible to hold the mind free and untied—so that the RESULT of our + action (which of course is not ours to command) shall remain indifferent + and incapable of unduly affecting us. Similarly, when it is our part to + remain externally INACTIVE, we may discover that underneath this apparent + inaction we may be taking part in the currents of a deeper life which are + moving on to a definite end, to an end or object which in a sense is ours + and in a sense is NOT ours. + </p> + <p> + The lighthouse beam flies over land and sea with incredible velocity, and + you think the light itself must be in swiftest movement; but when you + climb up thither you find the lamp absolutely stationary. It is only the + reflection that is moving. The rider on horseback may gallop to and fro + wherever he will, but it is hard to say that HE is acting. The horse + guided by the slightest indication of the man’s will performs an the + action that is needed. If we can get into right touch with the immense, + the incalculable powers of Nature, is there anything which we may not be + able to do? If a man worship the Self only as his true state,” says the + Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, “his work cannot fail, for whatever he desires, + that he obtains from the Self.” What a wonderful saying, and how + infallibly true! For obviously if you succeed in identifying your true + being with the great Self of the universe, then whatever you desire the + great Self will also desire, and therefore every power of Nature will be + at your service and will conspire to fulfil your need. + </p> + <p> + There are marvelous things here “well wrapped up”—difficult to + describe, yet not impossible to experience. And they all depend upon that + power of stilling Thought, that ability to pass unharmed and undismayed + through the grinning legions of the lower mind into the very heart of + Paradise. + </p> + <p> + The question inevitably arises, How can this power be obtained? And there + is only one answer—the same answer which has to be given for the + attainment of ANY power or faculty. There is no royal road. The only way + is (however imperfectly) to DO the thing in question, to practice it. If + you would learn to play cricket, the only way is to play cricket; if you + would be able to speak a language, the only way is to speak it. If you + would learn to swim, the only way is to practice swimming. Or would you + wish to be like the man who when his companions were bathing and bidding + him come and join them, said: “Yes, I am longing to join you, but I am not + going to be such a fool as to go into the water TILL I KNOW HOW TO SWIM!” + </p> + <p> + There is nothing but practice. If you want to obtain that priceless power + of commanding Thought—of using it or dismissing it (for the two + things go together) at will—there is no way but practice. And the + practice consists in two exercises: (a) that of concentration—in + holding the thought steadily for a time on one subject, or point of a + subject; and (b) that of effacement—in effacing any given thought + from the mind, and determining NOT to entertain it for such and such a + time. Both these exercises are difficult. Failure in practicing them is + certain—and may even extend over years. But the power equally + certainly grows WITH practice. And ultimately there may come a time when + the learner is not only able to efface from his mind any given thought + (however importunate), but may even succeed in effacing, during short + periods, ALL thought of any kind. When this stage is reached, the veil of + illusion which surrounds all mortal things is pierced, and the entrance to + the Paradise of Rest (and of universal power and knowledge) is found. + </p> + <p> + Of indirect or auxiliary methods of reaching this great conclusion, there + are more than one. I think of life in the open air, if not absolutely + necessary, at least most important. The gods—though sometimes out of + compassion they visit the interiors of houses—are not fond of such + places and the evil effluvium they find there, and avoid them as much as + they can. It is not merely a question of breathing oxygen instead of + carbonic acid. There is a presence and an influence in Nature and the Open + which expands the mind and causes brigand cares and worries to drop off—whereas + in confined places foolish and futile thoughts of all kinds swarm like + microbes and cloud and conceal the soul. Experto Crede. It is only + necessary to try this experiment in order to prove its truth. + </p> + <p> + Another thing which corresponds in some degree to living physically in the + open air, is the living mentally and emotionally in the atmosphere of + love. A large charity of mind, which refuses absolutely to shut itself in + little secluded places of prejudice, bigotry and contempt for others, and + which attains to a great and universal sympathy, helps, most obviously, to + open the way to that region of calm and freedom of which we have spoken, + while conversely all petty enmity, meanness and spite, conspire to + imprison the soul and make its deliverance more difficult. + </p> + <p> + It is not necessary to labor these points. As we said, the way to attain + is to sincerely TRY to attain, to consistently PRACTICE attainment. + Whoever does this will find that the way will open out by degrees, as of + one emerging from a vast and gloomy forest, till out of darkness the path + becomes clear. For whomsoever really TRIES there is no failure; for every + effort in that region is success, and every onward push, however small, + and however little result it may show, is really a move forward, and one + step nearer the light. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h3>II. THE NATURE OF THE SELF</h3> + + <p> + The true nature of the Self is a matter by no means easy to compass. We + have all probably at some time or other attempted to fathom the deeps of + personality, and been baffled. Some people say they can quite distinctly + remember a moment in early childhood, about the age of THREE (though the + exact period is of course only approximate) when self-consciousness—the + awareness of being a little separate Self—first dawned in the mind. + It was generally at some moment of childish tension—alone perhaps in + a garden, or lost from the mother’s protecting hand—that this + happened; and it was the beginning of a whole range of new experience. + Before some such period there is in childhood strictly speaking no + distinct self-consciousness. As Tennyson says (In Memoriam xliv): + </p> + +<p class="poem"> +The baby new to earth and sky,<br/> + What time his tender palm is prest<br/> + Against the circle of the breast,<br/> +Hath never thought that “This is I.” +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + It has consciousness truly, but no distinctive self-consciousness. It is + this absence or deficiency which explains many things which at first sight + seem obscure in the psychology of children and of animals. The baby (it + has often been noticed) experiences little or no sense of FEAR. It does + not know enough to be afraid; it has never formed any image of itself, as + of a thing which might be injured. It may shrink from actual pain or + discomfort, but it does not LOOK FORWARD—which is of the essence of + fear—to pain in the future. Fear and self-consciousness are closely + interlinked. Similarly with animals, we often wonder how a horse or a cow + can endure to stand out in a field all night, exposed to cold and rain, in + the lethargic patient way that they exhibit. It is not that they do not + FEEL the discomfort, but it is that they do not envisage THEMSELVES as + enduring this pain and suffering for all those coming hours; and as we + know with ourselves that nine-tenths of our miseries really consist in + looking forward to future miseries, so we understand that the absence or + at any rate slight prevalence of self-consciousness in animals enables + them to endure forms of distress which would drive us mad. + </p> + <p> + In time then the babe arrives at self-consciousness; and, as one might + expect, the growing boy or girl often becomes intensely aware of Self. His + or her self-consciousness is crude, no doubt, but it has very little + misgiving. If the question of the nature of the Self is propounded to the + boy as a problem he has no difficulty in solving it. He says “I know well + enough who I am: I am the boy with red hair what gave Jimmy Brown such a + jolly good licking last Monday week.” He knows well enough—or thinks + he knows—who he is. And at a later age, though his definition may + change and he may describe himself chiefly as a good cricketer or + successful in certain examinations, his method is practically the same. He + fixes his mind on a certain bundle of qualities and capacities which he is + supposed to possess, and calls that bundle Himself. And in a more + elaborate way we most of us, I imagine, do the same. + </p> + <p> + Presently, however, with more careful thought, we begin to see + difficulties in this view. I see that directly I think of myself as a + certain bundle of qualities—and for that matter it is of no account + whether the qualities are good or bad, or in what sort of charming + confusion they are mixed—I see at once that I am merely looking at a + bundle of qualities: and that the real “I,” the Self, is not that bundle, + but is the being INSPECTING the same—something beyond and behind, as + it were. So I now concentrate my thoughts upon that inner Something, in + order to find out what it really is. I imagine perhaps an inner being, of + ‘astral’ or ethereal nature, and possessing a new range of much finer and + more subtle qualities than the body—a being inhabiting the body and + perceiving through its senses, but quite capable of surviving the tenement + in which it dwells and I think of that as the Self. But no sooner have I + taken this step than I perceive that I am committing the same mistake as + before. I am only contemplating a new image or picture, and “I” still + remain beyond and behind that which I contemplate. No sooner do I turn my + attention on the subjective being than it becomes OBJECTIVE, and the real + subject retires into the background. And so on indefinitely. I am baffled; + and unable to say positively what the Self is. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile there are people who look upon the foregoing speculations about + an interior Self as merely unpractical. Being perhaps of a more + materialistic type of mind they fix their attention on the body. Frankly + they try to define the Self by the body and all that is connected + therewith—that is by the mental as well as corporeal qualities which + exhibit themselves in that connection; and they say, “At any rate the Self—whatever + it may be—is in some way limited by the body; each person studies + the interest of his body and of the feelings, emotions and mentality + directly associated with it, and you cannot get beyond that; it isn’t in + human nature to do so. The Self is limited by this corporeal phenomenon + and doubtless it perishes when the body perishes.” But here again the + conclusion, though specious at first, soon appears to be quite inadequate. + For though it is possibly true that a man, if left alone in a Robinson + Crusoe life on a desert island, might ultimately subside into a mere + gratification of his corporeal needs and of those mental needs which were + directly concerned with the body, yet we know that such a case would by no + means be representative. On the contrary we know that vast numbers of + people spend their lives in considering other people, and often so far as + to sacrifice their own bodily and mental comfort and well-being. The + mother spends her life thinking almost day and night about her babe and + the other children—spending all her thoughts and efforts on them. + You may call her selfish if you will, but her selfishness clearly extends + beyond her personal body and mind, and extends to the personalities of her + children around her; her “body”—if you insist on your definition—must + be held to include the bodies of all her children. And again, the husband + who is toiling for the support of the family, he is thinking and working + and toiling and suffering for a ‘self’ which includes his wife and + children. Do you mean that the whole family is his “body”? Or a man + belongs to some society, to a church or to a social league of some kind, + and his activities are largely ruled by the interests of this larger + group. Or he sacrifices his life—as many have been doing of late—with + extraordinary bravery and heroism for the sake of the nation to which he + belongs. Must we say then that the whole nation is really a part of the + man’s body? Or again, he gives his life and goes to the stake for his + religion. Whether his religion is right or wrong does not matter, the + point is that there is that in him which can carry him far beyond his + local self and the ordinary instincts of his physical organism, to + dedicate his life and powers to a something of far wider circumference and + scope. + </p> + <p> + Thus in the FIRST of these two examples of a search for the nature of the + Self we are led INWARDS from point to point, into interior and ever + subtler regions of our being, and still in the end are baffled; while in + the SECOND we are carried outwards into an ever wider and wider + circumference in our quest of the Ego, and still feel that we have failed + to reach its ultimate nature. We are driven in fact by these two arguments + to the conclusion that that which we are seeking is indeed something very + vast—something far extending around, yet also buried deep in the + hidden recesses of our minds. How far, how deep, we do not know. We can + only say that as far as the indications point the true self is profounder + and more far-reaching than anything we have yet fathomed. + </p> + <p> + In the ordinary commonplace life we shrink to ordinary commonplace selves, + but it is one of the blessings of great experiences, even though they are + tragic or painful, that they throw us out into that enormously greater + self to which we belong. Sometimes, in moments of inspiration, of intense + enthusiasm, of revelation, such as a man feels in the midst of a battle, + in moments of love and dedication to another person, and in moments of + religious ecstasy, an immense world is opened up to the astonished gaze of + the inner man, who sees disclosed a self stretched far beyond anything he + had ever imagined. We have all had experiences more or less of that kind. + I have known quite a few people, and most of you have known some, who at + some time, even if only once in their lives, have experienced such an + extraordinary lifting of the veil, an opening out of the back of their + minds as it were, and have had such a vision of the world, that they have + never afterwards forgotten it. They have seen into the heart of creation, + and have perceived their union with the rest of mankind. They have had + glimpses of a strange immortality belonging to them, a glimpse of their + belonging to a far greater being than they have ever imagined. Just once—and + a man has never forgotten it, and even if it has not recurred it has + colored all the rest of his life. + </p> + <p> + Now, this subject has been thought about—since the beginning of the + world, I was going to say—but it has been thought about since the + beginnings of history. Some three thousand years ago certain groups of—I + hardly like to call them philosophers—but, let us say, people who + were meditating and thinking upon these problems, were in the habit of + locating themselves in the forests of Northern India; and schools arose + there. In the case of each school some teacher went into the woods and + collected groups of disciples around him, who lived there in his company + and listened to his words. Such schools were formed in very considerable + numbers, and the doctrines of these teachers were gathered together, + generally by their disciples, in notes, which notes were brought together + into little pamphlets or tracts, forming the books which are called the + ‘Upanishads’ of the Indian sages. They contain some extraordinary words of + wisdom, some of which I want to bring before you. The conclusions arrived + at were not so much what we should call philosophy in the modern sense. + They were not so much the result of the analysis of the mind and the + following out of concatenations of strict argument; but they were flashes + of intuition and experience, and all through the ‘Upanishads’ you find + these extraordinary flashes embedded in the midst of a great deal of what + we should call a rather rubbishy kind of argument, and a good deal of + merely conventional Brahmanical talk of those days. But the people who + wrote and spoke thus had an intuition into the heart of things which I + make bold to say very few people in modern life have. These ‘Upanisihads,’ + however various their subject, practically agree on one point—in the + definition of the “self.” They agree in saying: that the self of each man + is continuous with and in a sense identical with the Self of the universe. + Now that seems an extraordinary conclusion, and one which almost staggers + the modern mind to conceive of. But that is the conclusion, that is the + thread which runs all through the ‘Upanishads’—the identity of the + self of each individual with the self of every other individual throughout + mankind, and even with the selves of the animals and other creatures. + </p> + <p> + Those who have read the Khandogya Upanishad remember how in that treatise + the father instructs his son Svetakeitu on this very subject—pointing + him out in succession the objects of Nature and on each occasion exhorting + him to realize his identity with the very essence of the object—“Tat + twam asi, THAT thou art.” He calls Svetaketu’s attention to a tree. What + is the ESSENCE of the tree? When they have rejected the external + characteristics—the leaves, the branches, etc.—and agreed that + the SAP is the essence, then the father says, “TAT TWAM ASI—THAT + thou art.” He gives his son a crystal of salt, and asks him what is the + essence of that. The son is puzzled. Clearly neither the form nor the + transparent quality are essential. The father says, “Put the crystal in + water.” Then when it is melted he says, “Where is the crystal?” The son + replies, “I do not know.” “Dip your finger in the bowl,” says the father, + “and taste.” Then Svetaketu dips here and there, and everywhere there is a + salt flavor. They agree that THAT is the essence of salt; and the father + says again, “TAt twam asi.” I am of course neither defending nor + criticizing the scientific attitude here adopted. I am only pointing out + that this psychological identification of the observer with the object + observed runs through the Upanishads, and is I think worthy of the deepest + consideration. + </p> + <p> + In the ‘Bhagavat Gita,’ which is a later book, the author speaks of “him + whose soul is purified, whose self is the Self of all creatures.” A phrase + like that challenges opposition. It is so bold, so sweeping, and so + immense, that we hesitate to give our adhesion to what it implies. But + what does it mean—“whose soul is purified”? I believe that it means + this, that with most of us our souls are anything but clean or purified, + they are by no means transparent, so that all the time we are continually + deceiving ourselves and making clouds between us and others. We are all + the time grasping things from other people, and, if not in words, are + mentally boasting ourselves against others, trying to think of our own + superiority to the rest of the people around us. Sometimes we try to run + our neighbors down a little, just to show that they are not quite equal to + our level. We try to snatch from others some things which belong to them, + or take credit to ourselves for things to which we are not fairly + entitled. But all the time we are acting so it is perfectly obvious that + we are weaving veils between ourselves and others. You cannot have + dealings with another person in a purely truthful way, and be continually + trying to cheat that person out of money, or out of his good name and + reputation. If you are doing that, however much in the background you may + be doing it, you are not looking the person fairly in the face—there + is a cloud between you all the time. So long as your soul is not purified + from all these really absurd and ridiculous little desires and + superiorities and self-satisfactions, which make up so much of our lives, + just so long as that happens you do not and you cannot see the truth. But + when it happens to a person, as it does happen in times of great and deep + and bitter experience; when it happens that all these trumpery little + objects of life are swept away; then occasionally, with astonishment, the + soul sees that. It is also the soul of the others around. Even if it does + not become aware of an absolute identity, it perceives that there is a + deep relationship and communion between itself and others, and it comes to + understand how it may really be true that to him whose soul is purified + the self is literally the Self of all creatures. + </p> + <p> + Ordinary men and those who go on more intellectual and less intuitional + lines will say that these ideas are really contrary to human nature and to + nature generally. Yet I think that those people who say this in the name + of Science are extremely unscientific, because a very superficial glance + at nature reveals that the very same thing is taking place throughout + nature. Consider the madrepores, corallines, or sponges. You find, for + instance, that constantly the little self of the coralline or sponge is + functioning at the end of a stem and casting forth its tentacles into the + water to gain food and to breathe the air out of the water. That little + animalcule there, which is living in that way, imagines no doubt that it + is working all for itself, and yet it is united down the stem at whose + extremity it stands, with the life of the whole madrepore or sponge to + which it belongs. There is the common life of the whole and the individual + life of each, and while the little creature at the end of the stem is + thinking (if it is conscious at all) that its whole energies are absorbed + in its own maintenance, it really is feeding the common life through the + stem to which it belongs, and in its turn it is being fed by that common + life. + </p> + <p> + You have only to look at an ordinary tree to see the same thing going on. + Each little leaf on a tree may very naturally have sufficient + consciousness to believe that it is an entirely separate being maintaining + itself in the sunlight and the air, withering away and dying when the + winter comes on—and there is an end of it. It probably does not + realize that all the time it is being supported by the sap which flows + from the trunk of the tree, and that in its turn it is feeding the tree, + too—that its self is the self of the whole tree. If the leaf could + really understand itself, it would see that its self was deeply, + intimately connected, practically one with the life of the whole tree. + Therefore, I say that this Indian view is not unscientific. On the + contrary, I am sure that it is thoroughly scientific. + </p> + <p> + Let us take another passage, out of the ‘Svetasvatara Upanishad,’ which, + speaking of the self says: “He is the one God, hidden in all creatures, + all pervading, the self within all, watching over all works, shadowing all + creatures, the witness, the perceiver, the only one free from qualities.” + </p> + <p> + And now we can return to the point where we left the argument at the + beginning of this discourse. We said, you remember, that the Self is + certainly no mere bundle of qualities—that the very nature of the + mind forbids us thinking that. For however fine and subtle any quality or + group of qualities may be, we are irresistibly compelled by the nature of + the mind itself to look for the Self, not in any quality or qualities, but + in the being that PERCEIVES those qualities. The passage I have just + quoted says that being is “The one God, hidden in all creatures, all + pervading, the self within all... the witness, the perceiver, the only one + free from qualities.” And the more you think about it the clearer I think + you will see that this passage is correct—that there can be only ONE + witness, ONE perceiver, and that is the one God hidden in all creatures, + “Sarva Sakshi,” the Universal Witness. + </p> + <p> + Have you ever had that curious feeling, not uncommon, especially in + moments of vivid experience and emotion, that there was at the back of + your mind a witness, watching everything that was going on, yet too deep + for your ordinary thought to grasp? Has it not occurred to you—in a + moment say of great danger when the mind was agitated to the last degree + by fears and anxieties—suddenly to become perfectly calm and + collected, to realize that NOTHING can harm you, that you are identified + with some great and universal being lifted far over this mortal world and + unaffected by its storms? Is it not obvious that the real Self MUST be + something of this nature, a being perceiving all, but itself remaining + unperceived? For indeed if it were perceived it would fall under the head + of some definable quality, and so becoming the object of thought would + cease to be the subject, would cease to be the Self. + </p> + <p> + The witness is and must be “free from qualities.” For since it is capable + of perceiving ALL qualities it must obviously not be itself imprisoned or + tied in any quality—it must either be entirely without quality, or + if it have the potentiality of quality in it, it must have the + potentiality of EVERY quality; but in either case it cannot be in bondage + to any quality, and in either case it would appear that there can be only + ONE such ultimate Witness in the universe. For if there were two or more + such Witnesses, then we should be compelled to suppose them distinguished + from one another by something, and that something could only be a + difference of qualities, which would be contrary to our conclusion that + such a Witness cannot be in bondage to any quality. + </p> + <p> + There is then I take it—as the text in question says—only one + Witness, one Self, throughout the universe. It is hidden in all living + things, men and animals and plants; it pervades all creation. In every + thing that has consciousness it is the Self; it watches over all + operations, it overshadows all creatures, it moves in the depths of our + hearts, the perceiver, the only being that is cognizant of all and yet + free from all. + </p> + <p> + Once you really appropriate this truth, and assimilate it in the depths of + your mind, a vast change (you can easily imagine) will take place within + you. The whole world will be transformed, and every thought and act of + which you are capable will take on a different color and complexion. + Indeed the revolution will be so vast that it would be quite impossible + for me within the limits of this discourse to describe it. I will, + however, occupy the rest of my time in dealing with some points and + conclusions, and some mental changes which will flow perfectly naturally + from this axiomatic change taking place at the very root of life. + </p> + <p> + “Free from qualities.” We generally pride ourselves a little on our + qualities. Some of us think a great deal of our good qualities, and some + of us are rather ashamed of our bad ones! I would say: “Do not trouble + very much about all that. What good qualities you have—well you may + be quite sure they do not really amount to much; and what bad qualities, + you may be sure they are not very important! Do not make too much fuss + about either. Do you see? The thing is that you, you yourself, are not ANY + of your qualities—you are the being that perceives them. The thing + to see to is that they should not confuse you, bamboozle you, and hide you + from the knowledge of yourself—that they should not be erected into + a screen, to hide you from others, or the others from you. If you cease + from running after qualities, then after a little time your soul will + become purified, and you will KNOW that your self is the Self of all + creatures; and when you can feel that you will know that the other things + do not much matter. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes people are so awfully good that their very goodness hides them + from other people. They really cannot be on a level with others, and they + feel that the others are far below them. Consequently their ‘selves’ are + blinded or hidden by their ‘goodness.’ It is a sad end to come to! And + sometimes it happens that very ‘bad’ people—just because they are so + bad—do not erect any screens or veils between themselves and others. + Indeed they are only too glad if others will recognize them, or if they + may be allowed to recognize others. And so, after all, they come nearer + the truth than the very good people. + </p> + <p> + “The Self is free from qualities.” That thing which is so deep, which + belongs to all, it either—as I have already said—has ALL + qualities, or it has none. You, to whom I am speaking now, your qualities, + good and bad, are all mine. I am perfectly willing to accept them. They + are all right enough and in place—if one can only find the places + for them. But I know that in most cases they have got so confused and + mixed up that they cause great conflict and pain in the souls that harbor + them. If you attain to knowing yourself to be other than and separate from + the qualities, then you will pass below and beyond them all. You will be + able to accept ALL your qualities and harmonize them, and your soul will + be at peace. You will be free from the domination of qualities then + because you will know that among all the multitudes of them there are none + of any importance! + </p> + <p> + If you should happen some day to reach that state of mind in connection + with which this revelation comes, then you will find the experience a most + extraordinary one. You will become conscious that there is no barrier in + your path; that the way is open in all directions; that all men and women + belong to you, are part of you. You will feel that there is a great open + immense world around, which you had never suspected before, which belongs + to you, and the riches of which are all yours, waiting for you. It may, of + course, take centuries and thousands of years to realize this thoroughly, + but there it is. You are just at the threshold, peeping in at the door. + What did Shakespeare say? “To thine own self be true, and it must follow + as the night the day, thou can’st not then be false to any man.” What a + profound bit of philosophy in three lines! I doubt if anywhere the basis + of all human life has been expressed more perfectly and tersely. + </p> + <p> + One of the Upanishads (the Maitrayana-Brahmana) says: “The happiness + belonging to a mind, which through deep inwardness (1) (or understanding) + has been washed clean and has entered into the Self, is a thing beyond the + power of words to describe: it can only be perceived by an inner faculty.” + Observe the conviction, the intensity with which this joy, this happiness + is described, which comes to those whose minds have been washed clean + (from all the silly trumpery sediment of self-thought) and have become + transparent, so that the great universal Being residing there in the + depths can be perceived. What sorrow indeed, what, grief, can come to such + an one who has seen this vision? It is truly a thing beyond the power of + words to describe: it can only be PERCEIVED—and that by an inner + faculty. The external apparatus of thought is of no use. Argument is of no + use. But experience and direct perception are possible; and probably all + the experiences of life and of mankind through the ages are gradually + deepening our powers of perception to that point where the vision will at + last rise upon the inward eye. + </p> +<p class="footnote"> + (1) The word in the Max Muller translation is “meditation.” But +that is, I think, a somewhat misleading word. It suggests to most people +the turning inward of the THINKING faculty to grope and delve in the +interior of the mind. This is just what should NOT be done. Meditation +in the proper sense should mean the inward deepening of FEELING and +consciousness till the region of the universal self is reached; but +THOUGHT should not interfere there. That should be turned on outward +things to mould them into expression of the inner consciousness. +</p> + <p> + Another text, from the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad (which I have already + quoted in the paper on “Rest”), says: “If a man worship the Self only as + his true state, his work cannot fail, for whatever he desires, that he + obtains from the Self.” Is that not magnificent? If you truly realize your + identity and union with the great Self who inspires and informs the world, + then obviously whatever you desire the great Self win desire, and the + whole world will conspire to bring it to you. “He maketh the winds his + angels, and the flaming fires his ministers.” (I need not say that I am + not asking you to try and identify yourself with the great Self universal + IN ORDER to get riches, “opulence,” and other things of that kind which + you desire; because in that quest you will probably not succeed. The Great + Self is not such a fool as to be taken in in that way. It may be true—and + it is true—that if ye seek FIRST the Kingdom of Heaven all these + things shall be added unto you; but you must seek it first, not second.) + </p> + <p> + Here is a passage from Towards Democracy: “As space spreads everywhere, + and all things move and change within it, but it moves not nor changes, + </p> + <p> + “So I am the space within the soul, of which the space without is but the + similitude and mental image; + </p> + <p> + “Comest thou to inhabit me, thou hast the entrance to all life—death + shall no longer divide thee from whom thou lovest. + </p> + <p> + “I am the Sun that shines upon all creatures from within—gazest thou + upon me, thou shalt be filled with joy eternal.” + </p> + <p> + Yes, this great sun is there, always shining, but most of the time it is + hidden from us by the clouds of which I have spoken, and we fail to see + it. We complain of being out in the cold; and in the cold, for the time + being, no doubt we are; but our return to the warmth and the light has now + become possible. + </p> + <p> + Thus at last the Ego, the mortal immortal self—disclosed at first in + darkness and fear and ignorance in the growing babe—FINDS ITS TRUE + IDENTITY. For a long period it is baffled in trying to understand what it + is. It goes through a vast experience. It is tormented by the sense of + separation and alienation—alienation from other people, and + persecution by all the great powers and forces of the universe; and it is + pursued by a sense of its own doom. Its doom truly is irrevocable. The + hour of fulfilment approaches, the veil lifts, and the soul beholds at + last ITS OWN TRUE BEING. + </p> + <p> + We are accustomed to think of the external world around us as a nasty + tiresome old thing of which all we can say for certain is that it works by + a “law of cussedness”—so that, whichever way we want to go, that way + seems always barred, and we only bump against blind walls without making + any progress. But that uncomfortable state of affairs arises from + ourselves. Once we have passed a certain barrier, which at present looks + so frowning and impossible, but which fades into nothing immediately we + have passed it—once we have found the open secret of identity—then + the way is indeed open in every direction. + </p> + <p> + The world in which we live—the world into which we are tumbled as + children at the first onset of self-consciousness—denies this great + fact of unity. It is a world in which the principle of separation rules. + Instead of a common life and union with each other, the contrary principle + (especially in the later civilizations) has been the one recognized—and + to such an extent that always there prevails the obsession of separation, + and the conviction that each person is an isolated unit. The whole of our + modern society has been founded on this delusive idea, WHICH IS FALSE. You + go into the markets, and every man’s hand is against the others—that + is the ruling principle. You go into the Law Courts where justice is, or + should be, administered, and you find that the principle which denies + unity is the one that prevails. The criminal (whose actions have really + been determined by the society around him) is cast out, disacknowledged, + and condemned to further isolation in a prison cell. ‘Property’ again is + the principle which rules and determines our modern civilization—namely + that which is proper to, or can be appropriated by, each person, as + AGAINST the others. + </p> + <p> + In the moral world the doom of separation comes to us in the shape of the + sense of sin. For sin is separation. Sin is actually (and that is its only + real meaning) the separation from others, and the non-acknowledgment of + unity. And so it has come about that during all this civilization-period + the sense of sin has ruled and ranged to such an extraordinary degree. + Society has been built on a false base, not true to fact or life—and + has had a dim uneasy consciousness of its falseness. Meanwhile at the + heart of it all—and within all the frantic external strife and + warfare—there is all the time this real great life brooding. The + kingdom of Heaven, as we said before, is still within. + </p> + <p> + The word Democracy indicates something of the kind—the rule of the + Demos, that is of the common life. The coming of that will transform, not + only our Markets and our Law Courts and our sense of Property, and other + institutions, into something really great and glorious instead of the + dismal masses of rubbish which they at present are; but it will transform + our sense of Morality. + </p> + <p> + Our Morality at present consists in the idea of self-goodness—one of + the most pernicious and disgusting ideas which has ever infested the human + brain. If any one should follow and assimilate what I have just said about + the true nature of the Self he will realize that it will never again be + possible for him to congratulate himself on his own goodness or morality + or superiority; for the moment he does so he will separate himself from + the universal life, and proclaim the sin of his own separation. I agree + that this conclusion is for some people a most sad and disheartening one—but + it cannot be helped! A man may truly be ‘good’ and ‘moral’ in some real + sense; but only on the condition that he is not aware of it. He can only + BE good when not thinking about the matter; to be conscious of one’s own + goodness is already to have fallen! + </p> + <p> + We began by thinking of the self as just a little local self; then we + extended it to the family, the cause, the nation—ever to a larger + and vaster being. At last there comes a time when we recognize—or + see that we SHALL have to recognize—an inner Equality between + ourselves and all others; not of course an external equality—for + that would be absurd and impossible—but an inner and profound and + universal Equality. And so we come again to the mystic root-conception of + Democracy. + </p> + <p> + And now it will be said: “But after all this talk you have not defined the + Self, or given us any intellectual outline of what you mean by the word.” + No—and I do not intend to. If I could, by any sort of copybook + definition, describe and show the boundaries of myself, I should obviously + lose all interest in the subject. Nothing more dull could be imagined. I + may be able to define and describe fairly exhaustively this inkpot on the + table; but for you or for me to give the limits and boundaries of + ourselves is, I am glad to say, impossible. That does not, however, mean + that we cannot FEEL and be CONSCIOUS of ourselves, and of our relations to + other selves, and to the great Whole. On the contrary I think it is clear + that the more vividly we feel our organic unity with the whole, the less + shall we be able to separate off the local self and enclose it within any + definition. I take it that we can and do become ever more vividly + conscious of our true Self, but that the mental statement of it always + does and probably always will lie beyond us. All life and all our action + and experience consist in the gradual manifestation of that which is + within us—of our inner being. In that sense—and reading its + handwriting on the outer world—we come to know the soul’s true + nature more and more intimately; we enter into the mind of that great + artist who beholds himself in his own creation. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAGAN & CHRISTIAN CREEDS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> + +</body> +</html> |