diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:32:21 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:32:21 -0700 |
| commit | cd162133cef955518e0dcbd00910a758cd58c6c8 (patch) | |
| tree | 6898bc68db7e8e2eea95d361738fadcc061891ae /old/astrl10h.htm | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old/astrl10h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/astrl10h.htm | 3382 |
1 files changed, 3382 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/astrl10h.htm b/old/astrl10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2e2cf9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/astrl10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3382 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Astral Worship, by J. H. Hill</TITLE> +<META HTTP-EQUIV="content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8"> +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +<!-- The following is known as the Caio hack to hide "IMG {float:left}" from Netscape 4 which does not always process it correctly --> +/*/*/ +IMG {float:left} +/**/ +BR.left {clear:left} +P {text-indent: 3% } +.smallcaps {font-variant: small-caps} +</STYLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY BGCOLOR="#F8F8D1"> +<H1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Astral Worship, by J. H. Hill</H1> + +<pre> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Astral Worship + +Author: J. H. Hill + +Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8855] +[This file was first posted on August 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: utf-8 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ASTRAL WORSHIP *** + + + + +E-text prepared by David Deley + + + +</PRE> +<CENTER><H1>Astral Worship</H1></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>BY</H4></CENTER> +<CENTER><H3>J. H. Hill, M. D.</H3></CENTER> +<BR><BR> +<CENTER>“Now, what I want is—facts.”—<i>Boz.</i></CENTER> +<BR><BR> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<CENTER> +<TABLE> +<TR><TH COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CONTENTS.</TH></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#INTRODUCTION">5</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#GEOCENTRIC">THE GEOCENTRIC SYSTEM OF NATURE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#GEOCENTRIC">13</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#earth">The Earth</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#earth">13</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#firmament">The Firmament</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#firmament">13</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#planets">The Planets</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#planets">14</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#constellations">The Constellations</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#constellations">15</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#zodiac">The Zodiac</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#zodiac">15</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#NUMBERS">THE SACRED NUMBERS 7 AND 12</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#NUMBERS">17</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CYCLE">THE TWELVE THOUSAND YEAR CYCLE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CYCLE">18</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#TRIAD">THE ANCIENT TRIAD</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#TRIAD">19</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#SOL">GOD SOL</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#SOL">22</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#COSMOGONY">THE ANCIENT COSMOGONY</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#COSMOGONY">30</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#FALL">FALL AND REDEMPTION OF MAN</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#FALL">31</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#INCARNATIONS">INCARNATIONS OF GOD SOL</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#INCARNATIONS">33</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#LABORS">FABLE OF THE TWELVE LABORS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#LABORS">36</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#ANNIVERSARIES">ANNIVERSARIES OF SOLAR WORSHIP</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#ANNIVERSARIES">40</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#nativity">The Nativity</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#nativity">40</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#epiphany">Epiphany or Twelfth Day</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#epiphany">41</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#lent">Lent or Lenten Season</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#lent">42</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#passion">Passion Week</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#passion">44</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#plays">Passion Plays</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#plays">45</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#resurrection">Resurrection and Easter Festival</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#resurrection">46</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#annunciation">Annunciation</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#annunciation">48</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#ascension">Ascension</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#ascension">49</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#assumption">Assumption</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#assumption">49</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#supper">The Lord's Supper</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#supper">50</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#transubstantiation">Transubstantiation</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#transubstantiation">50</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#crucifixion">Autumnal Crucifixion</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#crucifixion">51</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#michaelmas">Michaelmas</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#michaelmas">56</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#TIME">PERSONIFICATIONS OF THE DIVISIONS OF TIME</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#TIME">57</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#hours">The Hours</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#hours">57</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#days">The Days</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#days">57</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#months">The Months</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#months">58</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#seasons">The Seasons</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#seasons">60</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#incdays">Half Year of Increasing Days</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#incdays">63</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#decdays">Half Year of Decreasing Days</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#decdays">63</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#lastq">Last Quarter of the Year</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#lastq">64</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#ZODIACAL">ZODIACAL SYMBOLS OF SOLAR WORSHIP</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#ZODIACAL">64</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#sphinx">The Sphinx</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#sphinx">65</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#dragon">The Dragon</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#dragon">66</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#bull">The Bull</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#bull">67</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#ram">The Ram</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#ram">68</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#lamb">The Lamb</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#lamb">68</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#fish">The Fish</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#fish">71</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CROSS">SIGNS OF THE CROSS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CROSS">72</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#PUNISHMENTS">FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#PUNISHMENTS">74</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#oriental">The Oriental System</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#oriental">75</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#occidental">The Occidental System</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#occidental">75</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left> <A HREF="#judgment">The Second or General Judgment</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#judgment">77</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#JEWISH">JEWISH, OR ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#JEWISH">79</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#PROPHECIES">THE PROPHECIES</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#PROPHECIES">83</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#ROMAN">ROMAN OR MODERN CHRISTIANITY</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#ROMAN">88</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#FREEMASONRY">FREEMASONRY AND DRUIDISM</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#FREEMASONRY">109</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#SABBATH">THE SABBATH</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#SABBATH">117</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#FRAUDS">PIOUS FRAUDS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#FRAUDS">121</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CONCLUSION">CONCLUSION</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CONCLUSION">125</A></TD></TR> +</TABLE> +</CENTER> +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=INTRODUCTION>INTRODUCTION.</A></H2></CENTER> + +<p>In an article, entitled "Then and Now," published in +the December number, 1890, of "The Arena," its<!-- original said "it", corrected to "its" --> author, +a distinguished Unitarian D.D. of Boston, Mass., says. +"Astronomy has shattered the fallacies of Astrology;" +and people have found out that the stars are minding their +own business instead of meddling with theirs." Now, +while it is true that modern Astronomy has superseded +the ancient system, and people have ceased to believe that +the stars are intervening in mundane affairs, nothing +could be further from the truth than the assertion that +"Astronomy has shattered the fallacies of Astrology; +and those of our readers who will accord to this work an +unprejudiced perusal can hardly fail to be convinced that +a large majority of the people of Christendom are dominated +as much by these fallacies as were our Pagan ancestry—the +only difference being a change of name. The +dogmatic element of religion, which was anciently designated +as Astrology, is now known as Theology. + +<P>All the evidences bearing upon the subject indicate +<!-- Page 6 --> +that the founders of the primary form of religion were a +sect of philosophers, known as Magi, or wise men, of the +Aryan race of Central Asia, who, having lived ages before +any conceptions of the supernatural had obtained in the +world, and speculating relative to the "beginnings of +things," were necessarily confined to the contemplation +and study of nature, the elements of which they believed +to be self-existent and endless in duration; but, being +wholly without knowledge of her inherent forces, they +explained her manifold processes by conceiving the idea +that she was animated by a great and inherent soul or +spirit, emanations from which impressed all her parts +with life and motion. Thus, endowing man, and other +animals, with souls emanating alike from the imaginary +great soul of nature, they believed, and taught, that immediately +after death all souls were absorbed into their +source, where, as "the dewdrop slips into the shining +sea," all personal identity was forever lost. Hence we see +that although recognizing the soul as immortal, considering +it, not as an entity existing independent of matter, but +as the spirit of matter itself, the primary religion was the +exponent of the purest form of Materialism. + +<P>Being the Astronomers of their day, and mistaking +the apparent for the real, the ancient Magi constructed +that erroneous system of nature known as the Geocentric, +<!-- Page 7 --> +and, in conformity thereto, composed a collection of Astronomical +Allegories, in which the emanations from the +imaginary great soul of nature, by which they believed +all materialities we're impressed with life and motion, were +personified and made to play their respective parts. Basing +the religion they instituted upon their system of Allegorical +Astronomy, and making its personifications the +objects of worship, they thus originated the anthropomorphic +or man-like Gods, and, claiming to have composed +them under the inspiration of these self same divinities, +they designated them as sacred records, or Scriptures, +and taught the ignorant masses that they were literal histories, +and their personifications real personages, who, +having once lived upon earth, and; for the good of mankind, +performed the wondrous works imputed to them, +were then in heaven whence they came. + +<P>Thus we see that the primary religion, which is popularly +known as Paganism, was founded in the worship +of personified nature; that, according special homage to +the imaginary genii of the stars, and inculcating supreme +adoration to the divinity supposed to reside in the sun, it +was anciently known by the general name of Astrolatry, +and by the more specific one of solar worship; and that its +founders, arrogating to themselves the title of Astrologers, +gave to its dogmatic element the name of Astrology. + +<!-- Page 8 --> +<P>In studying the primitive forms of religion it will be +found that none of them taught anything relative to a +future life, for the simple reason that their founders had +no conceptions of such a state. Hence it follows that the +laws they enacted were intended solely for the regulation +of their social relations, and, to secure their observance, +they were embodied into their sacred records and made +part of their religion. One form of that most ancient +worship was known as Sabaism, or Sabism. Another +form of the same religion was the Ancient Judaism, as +portrayed in the Old Testament, and more especially in +the Pentateuch, or first five books; in the Decalogue of +which the only promise made for the observance of one of +the Commandments is length of days on earth; and, in a +general summing up of the blessings and curses to be +enjoyed or suffered, for the observance or violation of the +laws, as recorded in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, it +will be seen they are all of a temporal character only. At +the beginning of the Christian era there were still in existence +a sect of Jews known as Sadducees, who were strict +adherents to the primitive form of worship, and their belief +relative to the state of the dead we find recorded in +Ecclesiastes xii., 7, which reads: "Then shall the dust return +to earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God +who gave it." + +<!-- Page 9 --> +<P>For ages the doctrine of soul absorption, immediately +after death, constituted the belief of mankind; but ultimately +recognizing the fact that the temporal punishments +of the existing laws were wholly inadequate to the +prevention of crime, and conceiving the idea that the +ignorant and vicious masses could be governed with a +surer hand by appealing to the sentiments of hope and +fear in relation to the rewards and punishments of an +imaginary future life, the ancient Astrologers resolved to +remodel the dogmatic elements of religion so as to include +that doctrine. But realizing the necessity, of suppressing +the belief in the absorption of all souls, immediately +after death, they ceased to teach it, and ultimately it +was embodied in that secret and unwritten system known +as the Esoteric philosophy, in which the Astrologers +formulated their own private belief, and which for many +centuries was kept from the knowledge of the uninitiated +by their successors in the priestly office. As they were +the sole custodians of the Scriptures, they made do change +in their verbiage, but, adding the doctrine of future rewards +and punishments to that written and openly taught +system of faith known as the Exoteric creed, they made it +the more impressive by instituting a system of imposing +rites and ceremonies, which they designated as Mysteries, +into which they initiated the neophytes, and in which were +<!-- Page 10 --> +portrayed, in the most vivid manner, the rewards and +punishments of the imaginary future life, which they +taught were the awards of the Gods for the observance or +violation of the laws. These teachings were inculcated in +the lesser degrees only, but those who were found worthy +of so great a distinction were also inducted into the higher +degrees, in which was imparted the knowledge of the +Esoteric philosophy. In both the lesser and higher degrees +the initiates received instruction in an oral manner +only; and all were bound by the most fearful oaths not to +reveal the secrets imparted to them. + +<P>Thus were the votaries of the ancient Astral worship +divided into two distinct classes, the Esoterics, or Gnostics; +and the Exoterics, or Agnostics; the former comprising +those who knew that the Gods were mythical and +the scriptures allegorical; and the latter, those who were +taught that the Gods were real, and the scriptures historical; +or, in other words, it was philosophy for the cultured +few, and religion for the ignorant multitude. The initiates +into the secrets of these two systems recognized +them as the two Gospels; and Paul must have had reference +to them in his Epistle to the Galatians ii., 2, where he +distinguishes the Gospel which he preached on ordinary +occasions from that Gospel which he preached "privately +to them which were of reputation." + +<!-- Page 11 --> +<P>Such was the system of Astrolatry, which, originating +in the Orient, and becoming, after being remodelled +in Egypt, the prototype of all Occidental forms of worship, +was recognized, successively, as the state religion of +the Grecian and Roman Empires; and we propose to describe +the erroneous system of nature upon which it was +based, and to develop the origins of its cycles, dogmas, +ordinances, anniversaries, personifications and symbols, +with the view to proving that it was the very same system +which was ultimately perpetuated under the name of +Christianity. We also propose to present the origins and +abridged histories of its two forms, the Jewish, or ancient, +and the Roman, or modern; and to give an account of the +conflict between the votaries of the latter, and the adherents +to the established form of worship, which culminated +in the fourth century in the substitution of Christianity +as the state religion of the Roman Empire. We furthermore +propose to show the changes to which the creed and +scriptures were subjected during the Middle Ages, and at +the Reformation in the sixteenth century, through which +they assumed the phases as now taught in the theologies, +respectively of Catholicism and Orthodox Protestantism. +We also present an article relative to Freemasonry and +Druidism, for the purpose of showing that, primarily, they +were but different forms of the ancient Astrolatry. We +<!-- page 12 --> +also devote a few pages to the subjects of the Sabbath, and +to that of "Pious Frauds." + +<P><FONT SIZE=-1>Note.—For the matter published in this work, we are +principally indebted to the writings of Robert Taylor, an erudite +but recusant minister of the church of England, who flourished +about seventy years ago, and who, being too honest to +continue to preach what, after thorough investigation, he did +not believe, began to give expression to his doubts by writing +and lecturing. Not being able to cope with his arguments, the +clergy, under the charge of the impossible crime of blasphemy, +had him imprisoned for more than two years, during which +time he wrote his great work entitled "The Diegesis," which +should be read by all persons who are investigating the claim +of the Christian religion to Divine authenticity.</FONT> + +<!-- page 13 --> +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=GEOCENTRIC>THE GEOCENTRIC SYSTEM OF NATURE.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>In constructing their system of nature, the ancient +Astronomers constituted it of the Earth, the Firmament, +the Planets, the Constellations and the Zodiac, and we +will refer to them in the order named. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=earth>The Earth.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Believing that the earth was the only world, that it +was a vast circular plane, and that it was the fixed and +immovable center around which revolved the celestial +luminaries, the ancient Astronomers, in conformity to the +requirement of the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, +as inculcated in the Egyptian Version of the +Exoteric Creed, divided it into an upper and an under, +or nether world, which they connected by a sinuous and +tenebrious passage. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=firmament>The Firmament.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The azure dome, called the firmament in the book of +Genesis, was believed to be a solid transparency, which +<!-- Page 14 --> +we find described, in the fourth chapter and sixth verse, +of that collection of Astronomical Allegories, called the +Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation, "as a sea of glass like +unto crystal." It was represented as being supported by +four pillars, resting upon the earth, one at each of the cardinal +points, which were designated as "the pillars of +heaven." Conceiving the idea that there were windows +in the firmament, the ancient Astronomers called them +"the windows of heaven" and taught that they were +opened when it rained, and closed when it ceased to rain. +Hence it is evident that the ancient Astronomers did not +refer to these pillars and windows in a figurative sense, +but as real appurtenances to a solid firmament, as will be +seen by reference to Gen. vii. 11, and viii. 2, Job xxvi. 11, +and Malachi iii. 10. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=planets>The Planets.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Believing that the stars were but mere flambeaux, +suspended beneath the firmament, and revolving round +the earth, for the sole purpose of giving it light and heat; +and observing that seven of these, answering to the Sun, +Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, had +perceptible movements, in relation to the other luminaries, +the ancient astronomers designated them as planets +or wandering stars. + +<!-- page 15 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=constellations>The Constellations.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Perceiving that the other celestial luminaries maintained +the same relation to each other, and designating +them as fixed stars, the ancient astronomers grouped +those visible to them into forty-eight Constellations; and +giving names to these, they also attached names to the +stars of larger magnitude, which was done for the purpose +of locating and distinguishing them with greater +ease. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=zodiac>The Zodiac.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P><IMG SRC="plate1.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=281 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="The Zodiac"><!-- frontispiece --> +Through twelve of these Constellations, mostly contained +within a belt of 16 degrees in width, and within +which the planets appeared to revolve, the ancient astronomers +inscribed a central line representing the Ecliptic, or +apparent orbit of the sun, which they divided into 360 +degrees; and quartering these to denote the seasons, they +named the cardinal points the Summer and Winter Solstices, +and the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes; the +former referring to the longest and shortest days of the +year; and the latter to the two periods when the days and +nights are equal. An abbreviatory sign having been attached +to each of these constellations, the great celestial +belt containing them was called "the wheel of the signs," +<!-- page 16 --> +or "a wheel in the middle of a wheel," as designated by +that old Astrologer, Ezekiel the Prophet, in chap. i. and +16th verse. But for the reason that, with only one exception, +the forms of living things, either real or mythical, +were given to them, this belt, ultimately, wad designated +as the Zodiac; or Circle of living Creatures, see Ezekiel, +chap. i. Constituting the essential feature of the ancient +Astronomy, we present, in our frontispiece, a diagram of +the Zodiac, as anciently represented, to which, as well as +to Burritts' Celestial Atlas, our readers will be necessitated +to make frequent reference. + +<P>Recent researches among the ruins of ancient cities +have developed the fact that several centuries before the +beginning of our era the astronomers had invented the +telescope, and discovered the true or heliocentric system +of nature; but for the reason that religion had been based +upon the false, or geocentric system, it was deemed prudent +not to teach it to the masses. Hence, hiding it away +among the other secrets of the Esoteric philosophy, the +knowledge of it was lost during the Middle Ages; and +when rediscovered, the hierarchy of the Church of Rome, +upon the plea that it was contrary to the teachings of +Scripture, resorted to inquisitorial tortures to suppress +its promulgation; but, in spite of all their efforts, it has +been universally accepted; and, in this otherwise enlightened +<!-- Page 17 --> +age, we have presented to us the anomaly of a religion +based upon a false system of Astronomy, while its +votaries believe in the true system. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=NUMBERS>THE SACRED NUMBERS 7 AND 12.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>In reference to the planets, and the signs of the +Zodiac, the numbers seven and twelve were recognized +as sacred by the ancient Astrologers, and dedications +were made to them in all kinds and sorts of forms. In +the allegories, the genii of the planets were designated +as spirits or messengers to the Supreme Deity, imaginarily +enthroned above the firmament, which we find described +in Revelations iv. 5, as "Seven lamps of fire burning +before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God;" +and which were represented by lights burning in seven +branched candlesticks set before the altars in the temples; +the central light for the Sun; the Moon, Mercury and +Venus on one side; and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn on the +other. The seven branched candlesticks seen in all +Catholic churches, and in some Protestant ones, are intended +to represent the same planetary system. + +<P>Among the numerous dedications to the genii of the +planets we mention the seven days of the week, the seven +<!-- Page 18 --> +stories of the tower of Babylon, the seven gates of Thebes, +the seven piped flute of Pan, the seven stringed lyre of +Apollo, the seven books of fate, the book of seven seals, +the seven castes into which the Egyptians and East Indians +were divided, and the jubilee of seven times seven +years. Among the dedications to the twelve signs we +mention the twelve months of the year, the grand cycle +of 12,000 years, the twelve altars of James, the twelve +labors of Hercules, the twelve divisions of the Egyptian +Labyrinth, the twelve shields of Mars, the twelve precious +stones, ranged in threes to denote the seasons, in the +breastplate of High Priest, the twelve foundations of the +Sacred City, referred to in the Book of Revelation, the +twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel, and the +twelve Disciples. In the Book of Revelation alone the +number 7 is repeated twenty-four times, and the number +12 fourteen times. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=CYCLE>THE TWELVE THOUSAND YEAR CYCLE.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>In determining the duration of the period within +which were to occur the events taught in the doctrines of +the Exoteric Creed, the ancient Astrologers dedicated +a thousand years to each of the signs of the Zodiac, and +<!-- Page 19 --> +thus inaugurating the cycle of twelve thousand years, +taught that, at its conclusion, the heaven and the earth, +which they believed to be composed of the indestructible +elements of fire, air, earth and water, would, through the +agency of the first of these, be reduced to chaos, as a +preliminary to the reorganization of a new heaven and a +new earth at the beginning of the succeeding cycle. Such +was the origin of the grand cycle of the ancient Astrolatry, +and it must be borne in mind that its authors made its +conclusion to correspond in time and circumstance to the +doctrines relating to the finale of the plan of redemption. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=TRIAD>THE ANCIENT TRIAD.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>After conceiving the idea of a primeval chaos, constituted +of four indestructible elements of which fire was +the leading one, the Oriental astrologers began to indulge +in speculations relative to the agencies which were engaged +in its organization. Having no knowledge of the +forces inherent in nature, they imputed this work to three +intelligences, which, embodying the All in All, they personified +by the figure of a man with three heads, and to +this trinity gave the names of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. +Such a figure, carved in stone, may be seen in the island +<!-- Page 20 --> +Cave of Elephanta, near Bombay, India, and is popularly +believed to represent the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer; +but, in determining their true signification, we +must be governed by the ancient teachings that "All +things were made by one god-head with three names, and +this God is all things." Hence the conclusion is irresistible +that the first person represents neither the creator +nor organizer of chaos, but chaos itself; the second person, +its organizer and governor; and the third person, the +agent in nature which impresses all her parts with life and +motion; the latter being the imaginary great soul or +spirit inculcated in the Esoteric philosophy. In support +of this opinion it will be found that the Egyptian Triad of +Father, Son and Spirit is virtually the same we have assigned +to its Oriental prototype. Thus we see that to +the ancient Astrolatry Christendom is indebted for the +Trinity of<BR><BR> + + "God the Father, God the Son,<BR> + God the Spirit—three in one." + +<P>But, having ascribed supreme intelligence or reason +to its second person, under the name of the Logos, or +Word, and designating its third person as the Holy Ghost, +the ancient Triad was usually formulated as the Father, +the Word and the Holy Ghost, as may be seen by reference +to the text in the allegories which we find recorded +<!-- Page 21 --> +in I John v. 7, which reads that "There are three that +bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the +Holy Ghost, and these three are one." + +<P>Considered in some forms of Astrolatry as too +sacred to attach a name to the triune Deity, he was called +"the One," and we find him thus designated in the 4th +chapter of Revelation, where, like Zeus and Jupiter, of the +Grecian and Roman mythologies, he is represented as +seated above the firmament, upon a throne from which +"proceeded lightnings and thunderings," and to whom +all, the subordinate divinities were made to pay homage. +As the hurler of thunderbolts he was called "the Thunderer," +and as the opener of the windows of heaven, +when it rained, he was designated "Jupiter Pluvius." +Such was the ancient Triad made to say of himself, in an +inscription found in the ruins of the temple at Sais in +Egypt, "I am all that has been, all that is, and all that +shall be, and no mortal has lifted yet the veil that covers +me;" and such was the Triunity referred to as the God +Universe by Pliny, the Roman philosopher and naturalist, +who, flourishing in the first century of the Christian era, +wrote that he is "An infinite God which has never been +created, and which shall never come to an end. To look +for something else beyond it is useless labor for man and +out of his reach. Behold that truly sacred Being, eternal +<!-- Page 22 --> +and immense, which includes within itself everything; it +is All in All, or rather itself is All. It is the work of +nature, and itself is nature." + +<P>Thus we see that, although inculcating<!-- [SIC] --> homage to a +multitude of subordinate divinities, the ancient Astrolatry +was only an apparent Polytheism; its enlightened votaries, +recognizing the dogma of the unity of God, were in +reality Monotheists, paying supreme adoration to the +mythical genius of the Sun, to whom we will now direct +attention. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=SOL>GOD SOL.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>In determining the characteristics of the supreme +divinity of astral worship, it must be borne in mind that +its founders taught that he was evolved or engendered by +the Father, or first person in the sacred Triad, from his +pure substance, which as we have shown was constituted +of chaos or the primeval fire into which they supposed all +things were reduced through the agency of that element +at the conclusion of 12,000 year cycles. Hence, designating +that mythical being as the only begotten of the +Father, they personified him as God the Son, or second +person in the sacred Triad; and recognizing the Sun as the +<!-- Page 23 --> +ruling star, very appropriately made him the presiding +genius of that luminary, under the title of God Sol. According +homage to light as his chief attribute, he is referred +to in the allegories as "The true Light, which lighteth +every man that cometh into the world," John i., 9; and, +although designated as the only begotten of the Father, +his co-existence with him, under the title of the Logos or +Word, is shown in the text which reads, "In the beginning +was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the +Word was God," John i., 1. + +<P>Personifying the principles of Good and Evil in God +Sol, the ancient Astrologers consecrated the six divisions +of the 12,000 year cycle, corresponding to the reproductive +months of Spring and Summer, to him as Lord of +Good, and symbolizing him by the constellation of the +Zodiac in which the Vernal Equinox successively occurred, +as explained hereafter, they dedicated the six divisions +of that cycle, corresponding to the destructive +months of Autumn and Winter, to him as Lord of Evil, +and as such, symbolizing him by the serpent, marked the +beginning of his reign by the constellation "Serpens," +placed in conjunction with the Autumnal Equinox. +Personifying in him the opposing principles of Good and +Evil, he was to the ancients both God and Devil, or the +varied God, who, in relation to the seasons, was described +<!-- Page 24 --> +as beautiful in Spring, powerful in Summer, beneficent in +Autumn and terrible in Winter. Thus under various +names, intended to represent God Sol in relation to the +diversified seasons, we find recorded in the Scriptures, or +solar fables, numerous portrayals of imaginary conflicts, +in which the Evil principle, triumphing during Autumn +and Winter, is conquered at the Vernal Equinox by the +Good principle, who, bringing back equal days and nights, +restores the harmony of nature. + +<BR CLASS=left> +<P><IMG SRC="plate2.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=483 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="Hercules and Draco"><!-- Pages 25 & 26 --> +The eternal enmity between the principles of Good +and Evil, as manifested in the diversity of the seasons, +we find portrayed in the Constellations Hercules and +Draco, placed in the northern heavens, in which the heel +of the former, representing one of the most ancient of the +imaginary incarnations of God Sol, to which we will refer +hereafter, is resting upon the head of the latter, as referred +to in Genesis iii., 15, which makes God Sol, or the +Lord God, say to the serpent, "I will put enmity between +thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; +it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." +The woman alluded to in this text is the Virgo of the +Zodiac, as will be made apparent hereafter. + +<P>Of all the divinities of the ancient mythology God +Sol was the only one distinguished by the exalted title of +Lord or Lord God, for the reason that he was made the +<!-- Page 27 --> +organizer of chaos and governor of heaven and earth. +Hence, having constituted him the lord of light and darkness, +as well as good and evil, the ancient astrologers in +composing the solar fables made him say of himself, "I +form the light and create darkness; I make peace and +create evil, I the Lord do all these things," Isaiah xlv., 7. +"Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not +done it?" Amos iii., 6. Besides the title of Lord or +Lord God, the solar divinity is also designated in the +allegories as the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, +the Invincible, the Mighty God, etc. + +<BR CLASS=left> +<P><IMG SRC="plate3.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=331 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="Bootes, Canes Venatici, and Virgo"><!-- Pages 28 & 29 --> +Subjecting the mythical genius of the sun, in his apparent +annual revolution round the earth, to the four +stages of human life from infancy to old age, the ancient +Magi fixed the natal day of the young God Sol at the winter +solstice, the Virgo of the Zodiac was made his mother, +and the constellation in conjunction with her, which is +now known as Bootes, but anciently called Arcturus, his +foster father. He is represented as holding in leash two +hunting dogs and driving Ursa Major, or the Great Bear, +around the north pole, thus showing that the original +occupation of the celestial foster father of the young God +Sol was that of a bear driver, and that his sons, referred to +in job xxxviii., 32, are the dogs Asterion and Chara. It +will be observed that Virgo is represented in our illustration +<!-- Page 30 --> +with a child in her arms, for the reason that she is so +represented in the ancient Zodiacs, and the fact will be +readily conceded that she is the only Virgin who could +give birth to a child and be a virgin still. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=COSMOGONY>THE ANCIENT COSMOGONY.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>Speculating relative to the order in which chaos had +been organized, the ancient Astrologers constructed a +Cosmogony, which divided the labors of God the Son, or +second person in the Trinity, into six periods of a thousand +years each; and which, answering to the six divisions +of the 12,000 year cycle corresponding to the reproductive +months of Spring and Summer, taught that in the first +period he made the earth; in the second, the firmament; +in the third, vegetation; in the fourth, the Sun and +Moon and "the stars also;" in the fifth, the animals, fishes, +birds, etc., and in the sixth, Man. + +<P>That vegetation was made before the Sun was not an +inconsistent idea to the originators of the ancient Cosmogony. +They imagined that the heat and light, emanating +from the elementary fire, were sufficient to stimulate its +growth, after which God the Son gathered it together and +made the Celestial luminaries. In the solar fables this +<!-- Page 31 --> +imaginary element is called the fire-ether, or sacred fire of +the stars. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=FALL>FALL AND REDEMPTION OF MAN.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>Religion having been based upon the worship of personified +nature, it is evident that its founders fabricated +its dogmatic element from their conceptions of her destructive +and reproductive processes as manifested in the +rotation and diversity of the seasons. The apparent retreat +of the sun from the earth, in winter, and his return in +the spring, suggesting the idea of a figurative death and +resurrection of the genius of that luminary, they applied +these phenomena of the year to man, and composed the +allegories relative to his fall and redemption, as inculcated +in the Exoteric Creed. In the allegory relating to the fall, +it was taught that, after making the first human pair, the +Lord of Good or the Lord God placed them in a beautiful +garden—corresponding to the seasons of fruits and flowers +or months of Spring and Summer, with the injunction, +under a, penalty, not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. +When the Lord of Evil, or Devil, symbolized by the serpent +and represented by the constellation "Serpens" +placed in conjunction with the Autumnal Equinox, meeting +<!-- Page 32 --> +them on the confines of his dominion, and tempting +the woman, and she the man, they ate of the forbidden +fruit; thus, falling from their first estate, and committing +the original sin, they involved the whole human race in the +consequences of their disobedience. Then the Lord God, +pronouncing a curse against the serpent, clothed the man +and woman with skins to protect them against the inclemency +of his, dominion as Lord of Evil, and drove them +from the garden; after which they were necessitated to +earn their bread by tilling the ground. + +<P>In, reference to the plan of redemption, the ancient +Astrologers divided the 6,000 years appropriated to man, +as the duration of his race on earth, into ten equal cycles, +and taught that at the conclusion of each God Sol, as +Lord of Good, would manifest himself in the flesh, to destroy +his works as Lord of Evil, and through suffering +and death make an atonement for sin. Thus having originated +the doctrines of original sin, incarnation and vicarious +atonement, as parts of the plan of redemption, and +making its finale correspond, in point of time, to the conclusion +of the 12,000 year cycle, their successors in the +priestly office ultimately inculcated the additional dogmas +of the general judgment and future rewards and punishments, +as we have shown in our introduction. + +<P>Having based the fables of the fall and redemption of +<!-- Page 33 --> +man upon the idea that he was impelled, without his +volition, to pass from the dominion of God to that of the +Devil, or in other words, upon his subjection to the inexorable +necessity which makes the inclement seasons +of Autumn and Winter succeed the beneficent ones of +Spring and Summer, its authors composed the original +of the text which, found in Romans viii., 20, reads that +"The creature was made subject to vanity (Evil), not willingly, +but by reason of him who hath subjected the same +in hope." + +<P>But for the popular teaching in favor of its being +literal history, no one could read the account of the fall of +man, as recorded in the third chapter of Genesis, without +recognizing it as simply an allegory; or fail to realize, the +force of the argument of no fall, no redemption, and if no +redemption, no God to reward or Devil to punish; no hell +to suffer, or heaven to enjoy. The fact is that these are +but antithetical ideas which came in together, and must +survive or perish together. They cannot be separated +without destroying the whole theological fabric. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=INCARNATIONS>INCARNATIONS OF GOD SOL.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>Believing that God Sol was necessitated to remain at +his post to direct the course of the sun, the ancient astrologers +<!-- Page 34 --> +conceived the idea of teaching that, attended by a +retinue of subordinate genii, he descended to earth +through the medium of incarnations at the end of 600 year +cycles, to perform the work of man's redemption and, +having made Virgo of the Zodiac the mother of the Solar +divinity, they taught in their allegorical Astronomy, or +scriptures, that his incarnations were born of a Virgin. +Hence we find that God Sol, usually designated by the +title of the Word, "was made flesh, and dwelt among us." +John i., 14. + +<P>In a discourse upon this text delivered by Tillotson, +Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1680, published in +the fourth volume of Woodhouse's edition of his Grace's +sermons, in the year 1744, concerning the Incarnation of +our blessed Saviour, he explains the necessity of incarnation +by saying that "There was likewise a great inclination +in mankind to the worship of a visible Deity, so God was +pleased to appear in our nature, that they, who were so +fond of a visible Deity, might have one, even a true and +natural image of God the Father, the express image of +his person." It only requires a little reflection to appreciate +the Prelate's covert irony and want of faith. + +<P>Having ascribed to the imaginary incarnations of +God Sol the characteristics of heaven-descending, virgin-born, +earth-walking, wonder-working, dying, resuscitated +<!-- Page 35 --> +and ascending sons of God, the ancient Astrologers +attached to them the several titles of Saviour, Redeemer, +Avatar, Divine-Helper, Shiloh, Messiah, Christ; and, in +reference to their foster-father, that of Son of Man. +Teaching that they continued to make intercession for sin, +after their ascension to the right hand of the Father, they +were also called Intercessors, Mediators or Advocates +with the Father. From teaching their appearance every +600 years originated the Egyptian legend of the Phoenix, +a bird said to descend from the sun at these intervals, and, +after being consumed upon the altar in the temple of On, +or city of the sun—called Heliopolis by the Greeks—would +rise from its ashes and ascend to its source. According +to the civil laws of Egypt, manhood was not +attained until the age of thirty years. Hence the earthly +mission of incarnate Saviours was made to begin at that +age; and for the reason that, relating to the apparent transit +of the sun through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, it +was completed during the period of one year. + +<P>To impress the ignorant masses with the belief that +the scriptures were literal histories, and the incarnate +Saviours real personages, the ancient Astrologers caused +tombs to be erected in which it was claimed they were +buried. Such sepulchres were erected to Hercules at +Cadiz, to Apollo at Delphi, and to other Saviours at many +<!-- Page 36 --> +other places, to which their respective votaries were induced +to perform pilgrimages. In Egypt the pyramids +were built, partly for astronomical purposes, and partly +as tombs for Saviours, claimed to have been kings, who +had once ruled over the country; and why should we not +recognize that magnificent structure known as the Church +of the Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem, as but another of +those tombs of Saviours in which no Saviour was ever entombed? + +<P>Thus we have shown that it was God Sol, the only +begotten of the Father, or second person in the sacred +Triad, to whom supreme adoration was inculcated in all +forms of the ancient Astrolatry; and that its cultured +votaries, understanding that the doctrines pertaining to +the fall and redemption of man were evolved from the +figurative death and resurrection of the solar divinity, +recognized the doctrine of incarnation as a priestly invention +intended only for the ignorant masses. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=LABORS>FABLE OF THE TWELVE LABORS.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P><IMG SRC="plate4.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=226 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="Orion the Hunter and Taurus the Bull"><!-- Pages 38 & 39 --> +The authors of the original solar fables, having lived +in that remote age in which physical prowess was recognized +as the highest attribute of humanity, conceived the +<!-- Page 37 --> +idea that God Sol, while passing through his apparent +orbit, had to fight his way with the animals of the Zodiac, +and with others in conjunction with them. Hence, designating +him as the Mighty Hunter, and calling his exploits +the twelve labors, they made the incarnate Saviours +the heroes of similar ones on earth, which they taught +were performed for the good of mankind; and that, after +fulfilling their earthly mission, they were exhaled to +heaven through the agency of fire. When these fables +were composed the Summer Solstice was in the sign of +Leo, and making the twelve labors begin in it, the first +consisted in the killing of a lion, and the second, in rescuing +a virgin (Virgo) by the destruction of a Hydra, the +constellation in conjunction with her. Upon one of the +Assyrian marbles on exhibition in the British Museum +these two labors are represented as having been performed +by a saviour by the name of Nimroud. In the constellations +of Taurus, the bull of the Zodiac, and of Orion, originally +known as Horns, in conjunction therewith, we +have groupings of stars representing the latter as one of +the mighty hunters of the ancient Astrolatry, supporting +on his left arm the shield of the lion's skin, the trophy of +the first labor, and holding a club in his uplifted right +hand, is engaged in performing the tenth labor by a conflict +with the former. + +<!-- Page 40 --> +<P>The fable of the twelve labors constituted the sacred +records or scriptures of the older forms of Astrolatry, one +version of which, written with the cuneiform character +upon twelve tablets of burnt clay, exhumed from the ruins +of an Assyrian city, and now on exhibition in the British +Museum, is ascribed to Nimroud, the prototype of the +Grecian Hercules, and of Nimrod, the Mighty Hunter of +the Old Testament. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=ANNIVERSARIES>ANNIVERSARIES OF SOLAR WORSHIP.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=nativity>The Nativity.</A></H3></CENTER> + +Applying the anniversaries inculcated in the worship +of God Sol to his imaginary incarnations, the founders of +the ancient Astrolatry made them refer to the several +stages of human existence from infancy to mature age. +Hence, comparing the first day of infantile life to the +shortest day of the year, it would naturally be expected +that they would have placed the anniversary of the Nativity +exactly at the Winter solstice; but, having conceived +the idea that the sun stood still for the space of three days +at each of the cardinal points, and making it represent the +figurative death of the genius of that luminary, they fixed +the date for its observance three days later, or on the 25th +<!-- Page 41 --> +of December. The Gnostic adherents to the ancient +solar worship, or those who were conversant with the +teachings of the Esoteric philosophy, knowing that the +dramatis personæ of the fable of incarnation were pictured +with stars upon the azure vault, recognized the +woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her +feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," referred +to in Revelations xii. 1, as the Virgo of the Zodiac; they +also knew that she was the true queen of heaven and +mother of God; and that the infant, anciently represented +in her arms, and with whom, in their day, she arose on the +Eastern horizon at midnight on the 24th of December, +was the same of whom the people were taught to sing at +Christmas "Unto us a child is born this day." + +<P>With the knowledge of these facts we can readily see +that this is the Virgin and child which constituted the +originals of those exquisite paintings, by the old masters, +known as the Madonna and Child. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=epiphany>Epiphany or Twelfth Day.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In reference to the twelve signs through which the +sun makes his apparent annual revolution, the twelfth +day after Christmas, answering to the 6th of January, was +observed by the votaries of the ancient Astrolatry as the +anniversary of the Epiphany or Twelfth Day. In the +<!-- Page 42 --> +solar fables, it was taught that a star appeared in the +heavens on that day to manifest the birthplace of the +infant Saviour to the Magi or Wise Men of the East, who +came to pay him homage, and to present him with the +gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, as related in Matthew ii. 11. + +<P>The reason for presenting these gifts is explained by +the facts that of the seven metals dedicated to the genii of +the planets, gold was the one consecrated to God Sol; and +frankincense and myrrh were the gums burned in censers +in his worship. + +<P>In reading the account of the Magi's visit to the infant +Saviour, we have but to exercise our thinking faculties to +realize that it is allegory instead of literal history. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=lent>Lent or Lenten Season.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In the ancient solar fables it was taught that the persecutions +to which the incarnate Saviours were subjected +while passing through the dominion of God Sol as Lord of +Evil, raged with greatest fury during the forty days +preceding the festival of Easter, which period, beginning +when the days were perceptibly lengthening, was called +Lent, or the Lenten season. It was during this season +that the votaries of the ancient religion were taught to +<!-- Page 43 --> +manifest their sympathy for the Saviour in his imaginary +conflict with the Devil by abstaining from all festivities, +and by fasting and prayer; and, as that was the season +in which the flocks and herds were poor in flesh, while the +seas and rivers abounded with fish in good condition, the +ancient priests, making a virtue of necessity, enjoined a +diet principally of fish, and for that reason placed the constellation +Pisces at the point in the Zodiac in which the +Lenten season anciently began; which, without regard to +the day of the week, was always observed on the 15th day +of February, the name of that month having been derived +from the Februa, or feast of purification and expiation of +the old Roman calendar. + +<P>At the council of Nice the Lenten season was made +to begin on the fourth day of the week, and in reference to +the ancient custom of the more devout sprinkling ashes +upon their heads at the feast of the Februa, it is called Ash +Wednesday. + +<P>Hence we see that all years in which Ash Wednesday +does not come on the 15th of February, the Lenten +season must necessarily contain a greater or lesser number +than the original assignment of forty days. + +<!-- Page 44 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=passion>Passion Week.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The last seven days of Lent is called Passion Week, in +reference to the apparent passage of the sun across the +Celestial equator at the Vernal Equinox or 21st of +March; the ancient astrologers having conceived the idea +that the sun stood still for the space of three days at each +of the cardinal points, and making it represent the figurative +death of the genius of that luminary, it was observed +as the anniversary of the Vernal crucifixion or passion of +the incarnate Saviours; and in commemoration of their +imaginary sufferings and death it was the custom to expose +in the temples during the last three days of Passion +Week figures representing their dead bodies, over which +the votaries of solar worship, especially the women, made +great lamentation. It was in reference to one of these +images, laid out in the temple at Jerusalem, to which the +jealous Jehovah, considering it a great abomination in his +own house, is made to direct the attention of Ezekiel, the +prophet, who, looking, beheld "Women weeping for Tammuz" +as recorded in the eighth chapter. This divinity +was the Phoenician prototype of the Grecian Adonis, to +whom the women of Judea preferred to pay homage. + +<P>It was during the last three days of Passion Week +that the votaries of solar worship performed their severest +<!-- Page 45 --> +penance. Besides fasting and prayer, the more devout +flagellated and slashed themselves and others with knives +and thongs, and carried heavy crosses up steep acclivities. +In all ultra-Catholic countries the priests, in imitation of +the ancient custom, expose in the churches figures representing +the dead Saviour, over which the laity, especially +the women, weep and mourn; and the more devout +men cut and slash themselves, and each other, with +knives and thongs; and, in imitation of the imaginary +tramp of Jesus with his cross up Calvary's rugged side, +bear heavy crosses up steep acclivities. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=plays>Passion Plays.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Anciently dramas representing the passion of incarnate +saviours, called Passion plays, were enacted upon the +stage. The most celebrated of these divine tragedies, +known as Prometheus Bound, and composed by the +Greek poet Æschylus, was played at Athens 500 years +before the beginning of the Christian era. To show that +this sin-atoning saviour was not chained to a rock, while +vultures preyed upon his vitals, as popularly taught, but +was nailed to a tree; we quote front Potter's translation of +the play, that passage which, readily recognized as the +original of a Christian song, reads as follows: +<!-- page 46 --> +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> + "Lo, streaming from the fatal tree,<BR> + His all atoning blood:<BR> + Is this the infinite? 'Tis he—<BR> + Prometheus and a God.<BR> + Well might the sun in darkness hide,<BR> + And veil his glories in,<BR> + When God the great Prometheus died<BR> + For man, the creature's sin." + +<P>The veiling of the sun, as represented in these plays, +having reference to the imaginary sympathy expressed by +God Sol for the sufferings of his incarnate son, was shown +upon the stage by shading the lights. The monks of the +Middle Ages enacted plays representing the passion of the +Christian Saviour, and the Bavarian peasantry, perpetuating +this custom, perform the play every tenth year. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=resurrection>Resurrection and Easter Festival.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In conformity to the ancient teachings, the incarnate +saviours, considered as figuratively dead for the space of +three days at the Vernal Equinox, or 21st of March, were +raised to newness of life after the expiration of that time. +Hence, the 25th of March, without regard to the day of +the week, was celebrated as the anniversary of the Vernal +resurrection. On the morning of this day it was the +custom of the astrologers to say to the mourners assembled +in the temples, "Be of good cheer, sacred band of initiates; +<!-- Page 47 --> +your God has risen from the dead, his pains and his +sufferings shall be your salvation." Another form of +this admonition, quoted from an ancient poem in reference +to the Phoenician Tammuz, reads as follows: +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> + "Trust ye saints, your God restored,<BR> + Trust ye in your risen Lord,<BR> + For the pains which he endured,<BR> + Your salvation hath procured." + +<P>Then would begin the festivities of Easter, which +corrupted from Eostre, and derived from the Teutonic +mythology, was one of the many names given to the goddess +of Spring. In the observance of this festival the +temples were adorned with floral offerings; the Hilaries +sang their joyful lays; the fires upon the pyres, or the fire-altars, +were extinguished and rekindled with new fire, or +sacred fire of the stars, which the Astrologers taught was +brought down from heaven by the winged genius Perseus, +the constellation which, anciently, was in conjunction +with the Vernal Equinox; Paschal candles, lit from +the new fire, were distributed to the faithful and the Paschal +feast, Easter feast, or the feast of the passover, was +eaten in commemoration of the passion of the incarnate +saviours, or, in other words, of the passage of the sun +across the celestial equator. +<!-- page 48 --> +In ultra-Catholic countries the descent of the sacred +fire is represented by some secretly arranged pyrotechny, +and the credulous laity, believing they have witnessed a +miraculous display, eagerly solicit Paschal candles lit +from it; and in imitation of the ancient festivities in honor +of the return of spring, all Catholic churches, and most of +Protestant ones, are adorned with flowers, the bells ring +out their merriest peals, and "Gloria in Excelsis" and +other jubilant songs, similar to the lays of the ancient Hilaries, +are sung. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=annunciation>Annunciation.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The anniversary of the Nativity having been placed +on the 25th of December, according to the course of nature, +the 25th of March was anciently celebrated as the +anniversary of the annunciation, and is still observed on +that day, and the duty of saluting the Virgin (Virgo) and +announcing her conception by the Holy Ghost or third +person in the Trinity was assigned to the genius of Spring. +In the Chaldean version of the Gospel story the name of +Gabriel was given to this personification, and in the Christian +version of that story he is made to perform the same +office; see Luke i. 26-35. + +<!-- Page 49 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=ascension>Ascension.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Celebrating the anniversary of the ascension forty +days after Easter, it was anciently observed on the 4th of +May, and it was taught that the incarnate saviours ascended +bodily into heaven, in a golden chariot drawn by +four horses caparisoned with gilded trappings, all glittering +like fire in the fervid sunlight. Hence when we read +in II. Kings ii. 11, that "There appeared a chariot of fire +and horses of fire, . . . and Elijah went up by a +whirlwind into heaven," we must accept this text as descriptive +of the imaginary ascension of one of the incarnate +saviours of ancient Judaism. + + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=assumption>Assumption.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>When the Summer solstice was in the sign of Cancer, +the sun was in that of Virgo in the month of August, and +the anniversary of the Assumption was observed on the +15th of that month, and is so observed at the present +time. The fact that the anniversary of the Ascension precedes +that of the Assumption explains why Jesus is made +to say to his mother (Virgo) soon after his resurrection, +"Touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my Father." +John xx. 17. + +<!-- page 50 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=supper>The Lord's Supper.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In the ancient solar worship the so-called ordinance +of the Lord's Supper was observed just before the anniversary +of the autumnal crucifixion; and consisting of bread +and wine, in reference to the maturing of the crops and +completion of the vintage, was, like the modern festival of +the hardest home, a season of thankfulness to the Lord +(God Sol) as the giver of all good gifts. Hence being +observed but once a year, it was in reality not an ordinance +but an anniversary; and the fact that Christians +partake of these emblems so frequently during the year +indicates that the original signification of the Lord's Supper +has been lost. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=transubstantiation>Transubstantiation,</A></H3></CENTER> +or the conversion of the bread and wine into the veritable +blood and body of Christ, is a doctrine of the Catholic +church which was derived from the ritual of the ancient +solar worship. + +<P>In the 26th chapter of Matthew we have an account +of the Lord administering the last supper to his Disciples +on the eve of the autumnal crucifixion, and in verse 27 +it reads that "he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave +it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it." The compilers of +the modern version of the Gospel story must surely have +<!-- page 51 --> +inadvertently copied this text as it read in the ancient +versions of that old, old story, which, when observed in +remembrance of "Our Lord and Saviour Bacchus," was +called the Bacchanalia, or feast, of Bacchus. At these +orgies the participants give thanks for the wine by not +only drinking all of one cup, but many more; in fact they +kept on drinking until they fell under the table. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=crucifixion>Autumnal Crucifixion.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P> +<IMG SRC="plate5.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=383 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="Savior as a vigorous young man"><!-- Pages 52 & 53 --> +<IMG SRC="plate6.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=383 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="The vanquished Savior"><!-- Pages 54 & 55 --> +<BR CLASS=left> +The beneficent seasons of Spring and Summer coming +to an end at the Autumnal Equinox, the 22d of September +was made the anniversary of the Autumnal Crucifixion. +The vernal resurrection and Autumnal Crucifixion, +representing the alternate triumph of the personified +principles of Good and Evil, as manifested in the diversity +of the seasons; we find appropriately expressed in +two religious pictures. In the one, the Saviour, appealing +as a vigorous young man, surrounded by a brilliant halo, +representing the rays of the all-conquering Sun of Spring, +is rising triumphantly from the tomb, before whom the +demon of Winter, or Devil, is seen retreating in the background. +In the other, the vanquished Saviour, represented +by the figure of a lean and haggard man, with a crown of +thorns upon his head, around which appears a faint halo +of the Sun's declining rays, and above which is placarded +<!-- Page 56 --> +the letters I. N. R. I., the initial letters of Latin words, +signifying the life to come, or the eternal life, is suspended +upon the cross, at the foot of which his mother Mary +(Virgo) is represented as kneeling in a mourning attitude, +and by her side is seen a serpent and a skull, the emblems +of Evil and of Death. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=michaelmas>Michaelmas.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In the calendar of the ancient Astral Worship, the +fourth day after the Autumnal Equinox was dedicated to +the genius of Autumn. In the Chaldean allegories the +name of Michael was given to this personification, and +called Michaelmas, or feast of Michael. In the Catholic +calendar this anniversary is placed an the 29th of September, +instead of the 26th of that month, while that +of St. Matthew, the Christian genius of Autumn, which +should be placed on the 26th of that month, is observed +on the 21st. + +<P>Thus we have shown that the anniversaries of the +ancient Astral Worship were all fixed, and from church +history we learn that they were so observed by the Christians +until the Council of Nice in the year 325, when the +Bishops assembled at that celebrated convocation, desiring +to have the festival of Easter celebrated on Sunday, +which had been made the Sabbath by the edict of Constantine, +<!-- Page 57 --> +in the year 321, ordered that it should be observed +on the Sunday of the full moon, which comes on or next +after the Vernal Equinox. Hence, converting it into a +movable festival, its allied feasts and fast days were also +made movable. + +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=TIME>PERSONIFICATIONS OF THE DIVISIONS OF TIME.</A></H2></CENTER> +<p>In the ancient solar fables the several divisions of +time were personified and made to pay homage to the +Triune Deity, supposed to be enthroned above the firmament. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=hours>The Hours.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The genii of the hours were designated as Elders, and +we find them described in the 4th chapter of Revelation +as sitting round about the throne upon four and twenty +seats, clothed in white raiment, and crowns of gold upon +their heads. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=days>The Days.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Each day of the year was appropriately personified, +and these genii of the days constitute the saints of the +Christian calendar. Of these we will refer to but one. +<!-- Page 58 --> +According to the ancient belief that the sun stood still +for the space of three days at each of the cardinal points, +the 24th of June was made the first of the decreasing days; +and dedicating it to St. John the Baptist, he is made to say +in reference to his opposite, (the genius of the 25th of +December, and first of the increasing days,) "He must increase, +but I must decrease." This text, found in John +iii. 30, simply means that the days of the one must increase +in length, while the days of the other must decrease. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=months>The Months.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The fable of the twelve labors having been superseded +by others, in which the genii of the twelve signs of the +Zodiac, corresponding to the months, were designated +as angels, and made to minister to God Sol while making +his apparent annual revolution; but, when constituted the +attendants of the incarnate saviours during their imaginary +earth life, they were personified as men and called +Disciples. Of these genii of the months we will refer only +to the first and the last. The first month, dedicated to the +genius known in the mythology as Janus, and from which +was derived the name January, was portrayed with two +faces, the one of an old man looking mournfully backward +over the old year, and the other of a young man looking +joyfully forward to the new year. This personification, +<!-- Page 59 --> +made the opener of the year, and represented as holding +a pair of cross-keys, was called "The carrier of the keys +of the kingdom of heaven." Hence, the Popes of Rome, +claiming apostolic succession from Peter, the Janus of the +Christian twelve, wear cross-keys as the insignia of their +office. Sometimes a crosier, or shepherd's crook, is substituted +for one of the keys, in reference to his arrogated +office of the leader of the sheep! The authority for the +assumption that the Popes are Peter's successors is found +in Matthew xvi. 18, 19; but its fallacy becomes apparent +when we bear in mind that the scriptures are but collections +of astronomical allegories, and that the Peter +referred to in the text was not a man, but the mythical +genius of the month of January. + +<P>In reference to the last month, we find that the +authors of the ancient solar fables, ever doubting whether +God Sol, after inaugurating Winter by his supposed retreat +from the earth, would return to revivify nature with +his life-giving rays, gave to the genius of the twelfth +month the title of the Doubter. In the Christian calendar +this personification is known as Thomas, and a more +specific dedication of the shortest day of the year having +been made to him, the 21st day of December is called St. +Thomas day. + +<!-- Page 60 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=seasons>The Seasons.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>When the cardinal points were in the constellations +Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio, the astrologers, objecting +to the signification of the latter, substituted the +constellation in conjunction therewith, which is known +as Aquila (Ak-we-la) or Flying Eagle. In the allegorical +astronomy of that remote period these genii of the seasons +were designated as beasts, and as such we find them +referred to in Revelation iv. 7, which reads as follows: +"And the first beast was like a lion (Leo), and the second +beast like a calf (Taurus, the bull calf), and the third +beast had a face as a man, (Aquarius, the waterman) and +the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (Aquila)." In the +first chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet, the genii of the seasons +are referred to in the same manner. + +<P><IMG SRC="plate7.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=281 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="Aquila, Serpens, Scorpio"><!-- Pages 61 & 62 --> +These genii of the seasons, standing, imaginarily, at +the four corners of the heavens, were called corner-keepers, +and making them witnesses to God Sol in his apparent +annual revolution, the founders of the Astral Worship +designated them as Archangels, Evangelists, God-Spellers +or Gospel-Bearers, and claiming inspiration from +them, composed four different histories of the birth and +earth-life of the incarnate saviour, to each of which they +attached a name, and called these records the Gospel +<!-- Page 63 --> +story. In its Chaldean version, the names of Gabriel, +Michael, Raphael and Uriel were given them; but while +the first two of these are mentioned in the Christian Gospel +story, its authors gave to the Evangelists the names +of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Thus knowing the +true signification of the Disciples and Evangelists, the +very pertinent question presents itself: If they are not +the genii of the months and the seasons, why are there +just twelve of the one and four of the other? +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=incdays>Half Year of Increasing Days.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In the ancient astrolatry, the half year of increasing +days, extending from the Winter to the Summer Solstice, +was personified by the composite figure representing the +constellations of Taurus and Aquarius, which, constituted +of the winged body of a bull and the head and beard +of a man, was called the Cherubim. This personification +we find portrayed upon the Assyrian marbles on exhibition +in the British Museum. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=decdays>Half Year of Decreasing Days.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The half year of decreasing days, extending from the +Summer to the Winter Solstice, was personified by the +figure, which, representing the constellations of Leo and +Aquila, and composed of the winged body and limbs of a +lion, with the head of an eagle, was called the Seraphim. +<!-- Page 64 --> +These last two personifications constituted the Archangels +of the ancient Astral Worship. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=lastq>Last Quarter of the Year.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The last quarter of the year was personified in the +ancient allegories as a decrepit old man, who, stung by +a Scorpion (Scorpio), and fatally wounded by an arrow +from the quiver of an archer (Saggitarius) dies at the +Winter Solstice; and, after lying in the grave for the space +of three days, is brought to life again. Such was the personification +referred to in the Christian Gospel-story as +having been raised from the grave by the mandate, "Come +forth, Lazarus." Thus have we shown that the elders +and the saints; the angels, and the Archangels; the Cherubim +and Seraphim; and also poor old Lazarus, are but +personifications of the several divisions of time. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=ZODIACAL>ZODIACAL SYMBOLS OF SOLAR WORSHIP.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>Having shown that the founders of the ancient astrolatry +accorded homage to God Sol as Lord of Evil, under +the symbol of the serpent, and marked the beginning of +his reign, as such, by the constellation "Serpens" placed in +conjunction with the Autumnal Equinox; we will now +<!-- Page 65 --> +direct attention to the symbols under which he was worshipped +as Lord of Good, which, corresponding to the +form of the constellation in which occurred the Vernal +Equinox, and which was changed to correspond to the +form of the succeeding constellation as that Cardinal +point passed into it, by that process, known in Astronomy, +as the precession of the Equinoxes, its explanation becomes +essential to a correct understanding of our subject. + +<P>After long observation, aided by the telescope, of +which they were undoubtedly the original inventors, the +ancient Astrologers discovered that the Sun, in making +his apparent annual revolution, did not return to the same +point in the heavens, but fell behind that of the preceding +year, at the, rate of 50¼ seconds of a degree annually. At +this rate of precession, which modern, calculation has confirmed, +it requires 71 2-3 years for the Cardinal points to +pass through one degree on the Ecliptic, and 2150 years +through thirty degrees, or one sign of the Zodiac. The +knowledge of this process affording an exact chronology, +we are enabled, not only to determine the origin of these +symbols, but to approximate, very nearly, to the respective +dates of their adoption. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=sphinx>The Sphinx.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>From the teachings of Astronomy we learn that the +Summer Solstice is now occupying the point between the +<!-- Page 66 --> +signs of Taurus and Gemini, from which we know that +that Cardinal point has passed through three whole signs +since it was between the signs of Leo and Virgo, and we +have but to multiply 2,150 by 3 to determine that it has +been about 6,450 years ago. Hence, the tourist to the +Nile valley, when viewing, near the base of old Cheops, +the great Egyptian pyramid, a colossal head and bust of +a woman, carved in stone, and learns that it is attached +to a body, in the form of a lion in a crouching attitude 146 +feet long, hidden beneath the shifting sands of the Libyan +desert; if possessed of the knowledge of the precession +of the Equinoxes, he will be enabled to solve the +riddle of the Sphinx by recognizing in that grotesque +monument the mid-summer symbol of solar worship, +when the Summer Solstice was between the signs of Leo +and Virgo. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=dragon>The Dragon.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>When the Summer Solstice was between the signs +of Leo and Virgo, the Winter Solstice was between those +of Aquarius and Pisces, and the figure composed of the +body of a man with the tail of a fish became the mid-winter +symbol of solar worship. Such was the form of this +symbol to which the ancient Phoenicians paid homage +to the Lord under the name of Dagon. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=bull>The Bull.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>At the same time the Summer Solstice entered the +sign of Leo, the Vernal Equinox entered that of Taurus, +and the bull becoming the spring symbol of solar worship—the +Lord was designated in the ancient allegories as the +bull of God which taketh away the sin of the world; which, +shorn of its allegorical sense, signifies the sun in Taurus, +or sun of spring, which taketh away the evil of Winter. +Such is the purport of hieroglyphical inscriptions upon +papyrus rolls found in Egypt, and engraved upon obelisks +erected in the Nile valley, one of which has been recently +brought to the City of New York and set up in Central +Park. In the East Indies this symbol was represented by +the figure of a bull with the solar disk between his horns; +and the Egyptians, who were of Hindoo origin, perpetuating +it in their "Apis," it was reproduced in the golden calf +of the ancient Israelites. The Assyrians represented this +symbol by the figure of a winged bull with the face and +beard of a man; the Phoenicians, in their "Baal," by the +figure of a man with a bull's head and horns; and the +small silver bull's heads with golden horns, recently discovered +by Dr. Schliemann in the ruins of Mycenae, were +jewels worn by the women of that ancient city, when the +Vernal Equinox was in the sign of Taurus. + +<!-- Page 68 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=ram>The Ram.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>By deducting 2,150 years from 6,450, we determine +that about 4,300 years; ago the Vernal Equinox entered the +sign of Aries, and the spring symbol of solar worship, +changing from the bull to the ram, was represented by +ram-headed figures, two of which, found in Egypt, are on +exhibition in the British Museum. Then the text which +read the bull of God, was changed to the Ram of God +which taketh away the sins of the world. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=lamb>The Lamb.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P><IMG SRC="plate8.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=291 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="The Lamb of God"><!-- Pages 69 & 70 --> +Ultimately attaching a meek and lowly disposition +to the imaginary incarnations of the mythical genius of +the sun, the symbol of the ram was changed to that of the +lamb, and the text in the allegories, which read the Ram of +God, was changed to read "The Lamb of God which +taketh away the sin of the World," John i, 29. The explanation +we have given relative to the Zodiacal Symbols +of solar worship makes the assurance doubly sure that the +originals of the New Testament were composed when the +Vernal Equinox was in the sign of Aries, as will be +shown hereafter. Having adopted the symbol of the +lamb, it was represented by several forms of what is +known as Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God, one of which was +in the form of a bleeding lamb with a vase attached into +<!-- Page 71 --> +which blood is flowing, which originated in reference to +the shedding of blood as a vicarious atonement for sin. +But the most comprehensive form of this symbol in its +astronomical signification, was represented by the +figure of a lamb in a standing attitude, supporting the +circle of the Zodiac, divided into quarters to denote the +seasons. At each of the cardinal points there was a small +cross, and the lamb held in its uplifted fore-foot a larger +cross, the long arm of which was made to cut the celestial +equator at the angle of 23½ degrees, the true angle of +obliquity of the Ecliptic. This symbol is still retained in +the Catholic Church. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=fish>The Fish.</A></H3></CENTER> +By deducting 2,150 years from 4,300 we determine +that about 2,150 years ago the Vernal Equinox entered +the sign of Pisces; and although the original version of the +New Testament was founded upon the symbol of the lamb, +it is a historical fact that for centuries after the beginning +of our era, the Christians paid homage to the Lord under +the symbol of the fish; but ultimately going into desuetude, +the lamb was retained as the distinguishing symbol +of the Christian religion until the year 680, at which date +another was substituted, as will be shown under our next +heading. + +<!-- Page 72 --> +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=CROSS>SIGNS OP THE CROSS.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>Among the numerous symbols of solar worship, besides +those we have already referred to, there are three +to which we will direct attention. Two of these were of +astronomical signification: the one adopted when the +Spring Equinox was in the sign of Taurus and shaped like +the letter T, was the model after which the ancient temples +were built; and the other, shaped like the letter X, in reference +to the angle of 23½ degrees made by the crossing +of the Ecliptic and the Celestial equator, is known as St. +Andrew's Cross. The third, and most important of all the +symbols of solar worship, in its relation to the Christian +religion, which, having no astronomical signification, +originated in Egypt, in reference to the annual inundation +of the river Nile. To mark the height to which the water +should rise to secure an abundant harvest, posts were +planted upon its banks to which cross beams were attached +thus ┼. If the water should rise to the designated +height, it was called "the waters of life," or "river +of life;" and, ultimately, this form of the cross was adopted +as the symbol of the life to come, or eternal life; and the +ancient astrologers had it engraved upon stone, encircled +with a hieroglyphical inscription to that effect, one of +which was discovered in the ruins of the temple erected +<!-- Page 73 --> +at Alexandria, and dedicated to "our Lord and Saviour +Serapis." + +<P>But, if the water failed to rise to the required height, +and the horrors of starvation becoming the inevitable result, +it was the custom of the people to nail to these crosses +symbolical personifications of the Demon of Famine. To +indicate the sterility of the domain over which he reigned, +he was represented by the figure of a lean and haggard +man, with a crown of thorns upon his head; a reed cut +from the river's bank was placed in his hands, as his unreal +sceptre; and, considering the inhabitants of Judea as the +most slavish and mean-spirited race in their knowledge, +they placarded this figure with the inscription: "This is +the King of the Jews." Thus, to the ancient Egyptians, +this sign of the cross was blessed or accursed as it was +represented with, or without, this figure suspended +upon it. + +<P>When the Roman, or modern, form of Christianity +was instituted, the hieroglyphical inscription signifying +the life to come or eternal life was substituted by a placard +nailed to the cross with the letters I. N. R. I. inscribed +upon it, which are the initials of the Latin words conveying +the same meaning. But if we would learn how the +figure of a man came to be suspended upon this form of +the cross, we must refer to Mediaeval History, which +<!-- Page 74 --> +teaches that in the year 680, under the Pontificate of Agathon, +and during the reign of Constantine Pogonat, at the +sixth council of the church, and third at Constantinople, it +was ordered in Canon 82 that "Instead of a lamb, the figure +of a man nailed to a cross should be the distinguishing +symbol of the Christian religion." Now, as this figure +is represented by that of a lean and haggard man, with a +crown of thorns upon his head, does it not look as if the +old Egyptian Demon of Famine was the model after +which it was constructed? +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=PUNISHMENTS>FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>In the ancient Astrolatry, two different systems of +future rewards and punishments were inculcated; the +Oriental or East Indian, and the Occidental or Egyptian; +the former, ignoring the resurrection of the body, taught +but one judgment immediately after death, and the latter +inculcated an individual judgment immediately after +death, the resurrection of the body, and a general judgment +at the end of the world, or conclusion of the 12,000 +year cycle. + +<!-- Page 75 --> +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=oriental>The Oriental System.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>Considering perfect happiness to consist in absolute +rest, the Oriental astrologers conceived a state of eternal +and unconscious repose, equivalent to soul absorption, +to which they gave the name of Nirvana, into which they +taught that, by the awards of the gods, the souls of the +righteous, or those who had lived what they called "the +contemplative life," would be permitted to enter immediately +after death. But, for the souls of sinners, they invented +a system of expiatory punishments which, known +as the Metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, taught +that they would be compelled to successively animate the +bodies of beasts, birds, fishes, etc., for a thousand years +before being permitted to enter the Nirvana. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=occidental>The Occidental System.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>In concocting the doctrine of the first judgment the +Egyptian astrologers, ignoring the Nirvana, inculcated +the future sentient existence of the soul; and, while retaining +the Metempsychotial expiations of the Oriental system, +taught that its rewards, and principal punishments, +would be enjoyed or suffered in the under or nether +world, the existence of which they had conceived in constructing +their system of nature. This imaginary region, +known to the Egyptians as the Amenti, to the Greeks as +<!-- Page 76 --> +Hades, and to the Hebrews as Sheol, was divided by an +impassable gulf into the two states of happiness and +misery which were designated in the Grecian mythology +as the Elysium, or Elysian Fields, and the Tartarus. In +the lower part of the latter was located the Phlegethon, +or lake of fire and brimstone, the smoke from which ascended +into an upper apartment. + +<P>In this system it was taught that the souls of the +two extremes of society, constituted of the righteous +and the great sinners, would be consigned immediately +after the first judgment, the one to the Elysium, and the +other to the Phlegethon, where they were to remain until +the second or general judgment; while the souls of less +venial sinners, constituting the greater mass of mankind, +before being permitted to enter the Elysium would be +compelled to suffer the expiatory punishments of the +Metempsychosis, or in the upper region, or "smoky row" +of the Tartarus. Such was the Egyptian purgatory, and +its denizens constituted "the spirits in prison" referred to +in I. Peter iii. 19, from which the astrologers claimed to +have the power to release, provided their surviving friends +paid liberally for their propitiatory offices; and, from this +assumption, the clergy of the Catholic church derived the +idea of saying masses for the repose of the soul. These +doctrines were carried by Pythagoras from Egypt to +<!-- Page 77 --> +Greece about 550 years before the beginning of our era; +and passing from thence to Rome, the Greek and Latin +poets vied with each other in portraying Hades and the +joys and terrors of its two states. + +<CENTER><H3><A NAME=judgment>The Second or General Judgment.</A></H3></CENTER> +<P>The Egyptian Astrologers, recognizing the soul as +a material entity, and conceiving the idea that in the +future life it would require a material organization for its +perfect action, taught that at the general judgment it +would be re-united to its resurrected body. In conformity +to this belief, Job is made to say in chapter xix. 25, 26, +"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand +at the latter day upon the earth; and though worms destroy +this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." The +higher class Egyptians, however, fearing that their existence +would continue to be of the same shadowy and intangible +character after the second judgment, as they believed +it would be in the Amenti, if worms were allowed to +destroy their bodies, hoped to preserve them until that +time by the process of embalming. + +<P>The imaginary events to occur in connection with +the second judgment, which, constituting the finale of the +plan of redemption, and inculcated in what are known as +the doctrines of Second Adventism, were to be inaugurated +<!-- Page 78 --> +by an archangel sounding a trumpet summoning +the quick and the dead to appear before the bar of the +gods to receive their final awards. At the second judgment, +designated in the allegories as "the last day," "day +of judgment," "great and terrible day of the Lord," etc., +it was taught that the tenth and last saviour would make +his second advent by descending upon the clouds, and +after the final awards, the elect being caught up "to meet +the Lord in the air" (I. Thes. iv. 17), the heaven and the +earth would be reduced to chaos through the agency of +fire. In reference to that grand catastrophe we find it +recorded in II. Peter iii. 10, that "the heavens shall pass +away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with +fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein +shall be burned up." + +<P>After the organization of a new heaven and a new earth +it was taught that upon the latter would descend a beautiful +city, with pearly gates and golden streets, called the +City of God, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven +or New Jerusalem, in which the host of the redeemed +would, with their Lord and Saviour, enjoy the Millennium, +or thousand years of happiness unalloyed with evil; +and such was the Kingdom for the speedy coming of +which the votaries of Astral worship were taught to pray +in what is known as the Lord's Prayer. + +<!-- Page 79 --> +<P>According to the teachings of the Allegories, there were +to be no sun, moon or stars during the Millennium, their +authors having arranged it so that the light of those luminaries +would not be needed, as we find recorded in Rev. +xxi. 23, and xxii. 5: "The city had no need of the +sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of +God did lighten it," and "there shall be no night there; +and they need no candle, neither the light of the sun; for +the Lord God giveth them light." It must be remembered, +when reading the fanciful ideas relative to the City +of God, that they were composed by men who, living in +a very ignorant age, gave free rein to fervid imaginations. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=JEWISH>JEWISH OR ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>It is our purpose to present the evidences showing +that a system of Astral worship, which we designate as +Jewish Christianity, was in existence more than two +centuries and a half before the institution of its +modern form. In verification of this assertion we must +find the initial point of our inquiry in ancient history, +which teaches that in the division of the Grecian Empire +among his generals, after the death of Alexander the +Great, who died 332 years before the beginning of our era, +<!-- Page 80 --> +the governorship of Egypt and adjacent provinces was secured +by Ptolemy Lagus, or Soter, who, having subsequently +suppressed a revolt in Judea, removed from that +country a large body of its inhabitants to people the new +city of Alexandria, which had been laid out by order of +and named after the great Conqueror. + +<P>The Egyptian version of the Gospel story, being +more appropriate to the Nile Valley than to the region +from whence they came, the Greek colonists of Alexandria +adopted it, but preferring to pay homage to Serapis, +one of the ninth incarnations of God Sol, which they +imported from Pontus, a Greek province of Asia Minor, +they erected to his worship that celebrated temple known +as the Grand Serapium; and, transferring the culture and +refinement of Greece to the new city, it became, under the +Ptolemian dynasty, a great seat of learning; the arts and +sciences flourished, an immense library was collected, the +various forms of Astral worship were represented and +schools for the dissemination of the several phases of Grecian +philosophy and Oriental Gnosticism were founded. + +<P>Such being the environment of the Jewish residents +of Alexandria, they soon acquired the vernacular and +adopted the religion of the Greeks, who, having ever attached +to their incarnate saviours the title signifying the +Christ, or the anointed, were known as Christians. Encouraged +<!-- Page 81 --> +by the liberal policy of Philadelphus, the second +Ptolemy, a body of their learned men, who had been educated +in the Greek schools, founded a college for the education +of their own people, which institution was ultimately +known as the University of Alexandria. Under +the auspices of Philadelphus the professors of that institution +rendered their Hebrew sacred records into the Greek +language, which translation is known as the Septuagint, or +Alexandrian version of the Old Testament. + +<P>Having acquired from the Egyptian astrologers the +arts of healing, thaumaturgy and necromancy, and teaching +them in their school, the professors of the Jewish +college of Alexandria assumed the title of Essenes, or +Therapeutae, the Egyptian and Greek words signifying +Doctors, Healers or Wonder Workers. Possessed of the +sad and gloomy characteristics of their race, they adopted +the "Contemplative Life," or asceticism of the Oriental +Gnosticism, from which they derived the name of Ascetics. +Founding a church for the propagation of their +peculiar tenets, those who were set apart for the ministry +assumed the title of Ecclesiastics. Inculcating rigid temperance +and self-denial among their people, they were +known as Enchratites, Nazarites or Abstainers; and the +more devout among them retiring to monasteries, or to +the solitude of caves and other secluded places, were also +<!-- Page 82 --> +designated as Monks, Cenobites, Friars, Eremites, Hermits +or Solitaries. + +<P>The time having arrived, according to the cyclic +teachings of Astral worship, for the manifestation of the +tenth and last incarnation of God Sol, or, in other words, +to, give a new name to the mythical genius of the sun, the +professors of the Jewish school of Alexandria is resolved to +inaugurate their own form of worship. While retaining the +same title under which they had paid homage to Serapis +and known as Christians, Essenes or Therapeutae, they +substituted for their Christ the name of the Grecian Bacchus, +which, composed of the letters ΙΗΣ, signifies Yes, +Ies or Jes. In composing their version of the Gospel +story, having, like their race, no inventive genius, they appropriated +that of Serapis as its basis and laid its scene in +the land of their ancestry, but inconsistently retained the +sign of the cross and the phraseology connected there +with, which, having special reference to the Nile River and +its annual inundation, had no application whatever to the +sterile land of Judea. Selecting what they conceived to +be the best from other versions of the Gospel story, and assuming +the title of Eclectics, they designated their system +as the Eclectic Philosophy. In proof of the eclectic character +of the Gospel and Epistles of ancient Christianity, we +refer to the Asceticism inculcated therein, which, derived +<!-- Page 83 --> +from the Oriental Gnosticism, we find perpetuated in the +scriptures of modern Christianity; we also refer to the miracle +of converting water into wine, taken from the Gospel +story of Bacchus, and to the statements that the Saviour +was the son of a carpenter and was hung between two +thieves, copied from the story of Christna, the Eighth, +Avatar of the East Indian astrolatry. Thus we see that, +although the scene of the Gospel story of ancient Christianity +was laid in the land of Judea, its authors having +adopted a Greek version of that story as its basis, given a +Greek title and name to their Messiah, perpetuated a +Greek name for their sect and quoted exclusively from the +Septuagint, or Greek version of the Old Testament, the +facts show conclusively that it was not Jews of Judea, but +Hellenized Jews of Alexandria, who were the real authors +of the ancient Christianity. + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=PROPHECIES>THE PROPHECIES.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>The clergy having ever claimed that the prophecies +are Divine revelations of events yet to occur, and having +incessantly agitated society by preaching their speedy fulfillment, +we propose to expose the fallacy of their teachings +by showing that these scriptures are not the records +of future events, Divinely reavealed, but that they originated +with the founders of Astral worship, who predicated +<!-- Page 84 --> +them upon predetermined events of their own concoction, +relative to the general judgment, and setting up of the +kingdom of heaven, which were to occur as the finale of +the plan of redemption and from which were derived the +doctrines of second adventism; and, in determining the +exact time when then were to occur, we have but to prove +that it was coincident with the conclusion of the last half +of the grand cycle of 12,000 years, which, as we have +shown, was dedicated to man as the duration of his race +on earth. + +<P>As evidence that the founders of the Jewish or ancient +Christianity believed, like the votaries of other forms +of Astral worship, that the prophecies were soon to be fulfilled, +we find that the New Testament, of the original version +of which they were the authors, is replete with such +texts as "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," +Matt. iv. 17; "There be some standing here which shall +not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His +kingdom," Matt. xxi. 28; "The time is fulfilled, and the +Kingdom of God is at hand," Mark i. 15. That the original +version of the New Testament was composed when the +Vernal Equinox was in the sign of Aries we are assured by +reason of the fact that it inculcates homage to the Lord +under the symbol of the Lamb; and that it was during the +last, or 30th degree of that sign, can readily be proven by +<!-- Page 85 --> +appealing to history and to astronomy, the former of which +teaches that the Jews were removed from Judea to Alexandria +twenty-five years before the accession to the throne +of Philadelphus, the Second Ptolemy, to whom we have +referred in our preceding article, and who, after reigning +thirty-nine years, died 246 years before the beginning of +our era. By reference to the Celestial atlas we will find +that the Vernal Equinox will pass out of the sign of Pisces +into that of Aquarius, or in the year 1900, and we +have but to deduct that period of time from 2150, the +number of years required for the cardinal points to pass +through one whole sign, to determine that the Spring +Equinox passed out of the sign of Aries into that of Pisces +250 years before the beginning of our era, or about 2,100 +years ago. Now, from the projections of the astrological +science, we are assured that the last half of the grand cycle +of 12,000 years, which was allotted to man as the duration +of his race on earth, was made to begin at a time corresponding +to the Autumnal Equinox, when that cardinal +point was passing out of the sign of Virgo, and that of necessity +it had to come to an end at a time corresponding +to the Vernal Equinox, when that cardinal point was passing +out of the sign of Aries; from which we know why, at +the last judgment, the office of trumpeter was assigned to +the Archangel Gabriel, the genius of Spring, and why it +<!-- Page 86 --> +was a ram's horn with which he was to "toot the crack o' +doom" + +<P>When the time arrived for the fulfillment of the prophecies +we can well imagine that, fearing the wrath of the +Lamb, there were weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth +among the terror-stricken sinners, while those who believed +they had made their calling and election sure were +looking with feverish expectancy for the second advent of +their Lord and Saviour; and, doubtless, clothed with their +ascension robes, they watched and waited, with ears alert, +to hear the sound of Gabriel's trumpet, summoning the +quick, and the dead to the general judgment. But not a +blast from the archangel's ram's horn was heard reverberating +along the skies, no Lord appeared descending +upon the clouds to meet the elect in the air, and, in the last +act of the fearful drama of "judgment day," the curtain refused +to be rung down upon a burning world. + +<P>With the non-fulfillment of the prophecies, the more +enlightened elements of society began to scoff at the +priests, who were temporarily demoralized, but true to +their deceptive instincts, soon rallying with the plea of a +mistake having been made in the calculations based upon +the prophecies, they undoubtedly concocted scripture to +meet that very emergency, for, to the taunts of the scoffers +who, in reference to the second advent of the Lord, enquired +<!-- Page 87 --> +"Where is the sign of His coming? for, since the +fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from +the beginning of creation," they answered that "The Lord +is not slack concerning His promise," but "as a thief in the +night" he would soon come and all things be fulfilled. See +II. Peter, chapter iii. + +<P>Following up the history of this interesting subject, +we find that the founders of modern Christianity, to which +we will refer in our next article, in composing their version +of the New Testament from that of the Jewish, or ancient +Christians, made no change in its verbiage relative to the +prophecies; but when Constantine I., Emperor of Rome, +became the patron of the church, her hierarchy, tired of +figuring upon them, secured a long respite from that troublesome +subject by claiming to have made other calculations, +which put off the time of fulfillment to the year 1000; +and from history we learn when the time arrived the whole +of Christendom was fearfully agitated upon the subject: +Since then every generation has been vexed with the fallacies +of second adventism; and the facts of the case justify +the charge that the clergy, by teaching that the prophecies +refer to events yet to occur, are perpetuating a +most stupendous fraud upon Christendom, and an earnest +and efficient protest should be inaugurated against the +further agitation of the monstrous delusion of second adventism, +<!-- Page 88 --> +which is frightening thousands of weak-minded +people into insanity and causing a vast amount of social +distress. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=ROMAN>ROMAN OR MODERN CHRISTIANITY.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>Having presented the evidences that the Jewish, or +ancient Christianity, originated at the University of Alexandria, +under Greek rule, we now propose to show that its +modern form emanated from the same source, under Roman +rule; but, before entering upon this investigation, it +is important to become conversant with the sentiments +manifested towards religion by the cultured element of +Roman society in that enlightened era, which, designated +as the golden age of literature, was adorned by such distinguished +orators, philosophers, historians, poets and +naturalists as Cicero, Tacitus, Pliny, Horace and Virgil. +In reference to this subject, Gibbon, in his history of The +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. I., chapter 2, +says: "The various modes of worship which prevailed in +the Roman world were all considered by the people as +equally true, by the philosophers as equally false and by +the magistrate as equally useful. Both the interests of the +priests and the credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. +<!-- Page 89 --> +In their writings and conversation the philosophers +of antiquity asserted the independent dignity of reason, +but they resigned their actions to the commands of +law and custom. Viewing with a smile of pity and indulgence +the various errors of the vulgar, they diligently +practiced the ceremonies of their fathers, devoutly frequented +the temples of the gods, and sometimes condescending +to act a part on the theatre of superstition, they +concealed the sentiments of an atheist under the sacerdotal +robe. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely inclined +to wrangle about their respective modes of faith or of worship. +It was indifferent to them what shape the folly of +the multitude might choose to assume, and they approached +with the same inward contempt and the same +external reverence to the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian +or the Capitoline Jupiter." Upon the same subject +Mosheim, in his church history, Book I., chapter 1, says +that "The wiser part of mankind, about the time of +Christ's birth, looked upon the whole system of religion as +a just object of contempt and ridicule." + +<P>In determining why such adverse sentiments were +entertained towards religion by "the wiser part of mankind," +about the time referred to in the foregoing quotations, +it will be found to have been owing to the extensive +spread of the Esoteric philosophy, which taught, as previously +<!-- Page 90 --> +stated, that the gods were mythical and the scriptures +allegorical. While attainable only through initiation, +it was necessarily confined to a limited number, but, ultimately +getting beyond the control of the priests and vast +numbers acquiring the knowledge of its secrets without +initiation, it became evident that it was but a question of +time when there would be no respectable element left to +sustain religion. At this juncture our attention is directed +to the University of Alexandria, which, at that time, was +in a flourishing condition. Having ceased to be an exclusively +Jewish school, students from all parts of the +Roman Empire, without regard to nationality, were attending +it, and its professors were drawn from the ranks +of both Jewish and Gentile scholars. Realizing the hopelessness +of reviving the ancient faith among the enlightened +clement of society, and the impossibility of proselyting +them to a new form of superstition, these professors +resolved to institute a system of worship exclusively for +the Jews and the lower and neglected classes of Gentiles, +including the slaves and criminals. To that end they rewrote +the scriptures of the Jewish or ancient Christianity, +which had been preserved among the secret archives of +the University. Retaining their teachings relative to the +finale of the plan of redemption, and its monasticism; also +the land of Judea as the scene of its version of the Gospel +<!-- Page 91 --> +story, and the name of its saviour, to which they added the +Latin terminal "us," thus making it Iesus or Jesus, they +perpetuated the Greek name of Bacchus—the same that +was ultimately perverted into the monogram which, consisting +of the Roman letters I. H. S., is found in all Catholic +churches, and in some Protestant ones, is falsely supposed +to stand for Jesus Hominum Salvator, or Jesus, +Saviour of Men. Conforming their version of the Gospel +story to the lowly condition of its expected votaries, they +attached to the saviour the characteristics of poverty, and +made it teach that he was born in a manger, that his disciples +were but humble fishermen and that the poor would +be the only elect in the kingdom of heaven. Dropping +the name of Essenes or Therapeutae, and retaining that of +Christian, they incorporated a thread of real history corresponding +to the reign of Augustus, and arbitrarily made +the Christian era begin at that time. Having thus completed +their scheme, they prudently destroyed the original +from which they compiled their scriptures, and sending +out missionaries to all parts of the Empire commissioned +them to preach salvation only to the Gentile rabblement +and to the Jews. + +<P>That the sacred records of the ancient Essenes or +Therapeutae constituted the basis of the scriptures of +modern Christianity we have the authority of Eusebius, +<!-- Page 92 --> +the church historian of the fourth century, from whom we +learn nearly all that is reliable of its history during the first +three centuries. In his Ecclesiastical History, Book II. +chapter 17, he makes the important admission that "Those +ancient Therapeutae were Christians, and that their writtings +are our Gospels and Epistles." As further evidence +that modern Christianity is but a survival of the Eclectic +philosophy of the ancient Therapeutae, we have another +important admission by the same historian, who, in quoting +from an apology addressed to the Roman Emperor, +Marcus Antoninus, in the year 171, by Melito, Bishop of +Sardis, in Lydia, a province of Asia Minor, makes that +apologist say, in reference to certain grievances to which +the Christians were subjected, that "the philosophy which +we profess truly flourished aforetime among the barbarous +nations; but having blossomed again in the great reign of +thy ancestor, Augustus, it proved to be, above all things, +ominous of good fortune to thy kingdom." Thus we have +indubitable evidence that it was the Eclectic philosophy of +the Jewish, or ancient Christianity, which "blossomed +again," in its modern form, during the reign of Augustus. + +<P>From the testimony of Philo, as referred to by Eusebius, +and from the writings of Josephus, the Jewish +historian, we learn that, at the beginning of our era, the +descendants of the ancient Essenes were still observing +<!-- Page 93 --> +the practices and customs of monasticism. But as Josephus +refers to them only as descendants of the ancient Essenes, +and makes no mention of Christ or Christians—except +in one paragraph which has been conceded by the +best authorities to be an interpolation it is evident that, +at that time, they had no connection with the University of +Alexandria, and nothing whatever to do with the institution +of modern Christianity. It is also apparent that the +Jews of Judea had no hand in its organization, for, if they +had instituted it, they would not have attached to the Messiah +the Greek title signifying the Christ, but, writing their +version of the Gospel story in their own dialect, would +have used the Hebrew word signifying the Shiloh (see +Gen. xlix. 10); and furthermore, having conceived the +idea that he would manifest himself as a great temporal +prince, who would re-establish the throne of David, and +deliver them from the oppression of foreign rulers, they +would not have attached to him the humble characteristics +of the Christ of the new Testament. Again, if they had +been the authors of modern Christianity, it would have +been a most surprising inconsistency for them to turn +right about and reject its conceptions of a savior, especially +when that rejection resulted in the dire persecutions +to which their race has ever been subjected by the Christians. +<!-- Page 94 --> +But the Gentile riffraff, attracted by the gracious +promises of enjoying in the world to come the felicities +denied them in this, eagerly attached themselves to the +new sect, which rapidly increased in numbers, and its +votaries, glorying in the opprobrious epithet of Ebionites, +or needy ones, made themselves so obnoxious by their aggression +and turbulent dispositions that, barely tolerated +by the Government and condemned by the cultured adherents +to the established religion, many of them, courting +the crown of martyrdom, suffered death at the hands +of the civil authorities; and thus was engendered that +spirit of hatred against their fancied oppressors which +only awaited the opportunity to manifest itself in deeds of +rapine and-bloodshed. + +<P>The fanacticism<!-- [SIC] --> which prevailed among the earlier +Christians was the direct result of their dense ignorance, +and to this sole cause we may ascribe all the trouble which +the Roman Government had with them, and to become +convinced of this fact we have but to study church history. +In reference to this subject Mosheim, in his Ecclesiastical +History; Vol. 4, part 2, chap. 1, says: "It is certain +that the greatest part both of the bishops and presbyters +were men entirely destitute of learning and education. +Besides, that savage and illiterate party, who looked upon +all sorts of erudition, particularly that of a philosophical +<!-- Page 95 --> +kind, as pernicious, and even destructive of true piety +and religion, increased both in number and authority. +The ascetics, monks and hermits augmented the strength +of this barbarous faction, and not only the women, but +also all who took solemn looks, sordid garments, and a +love of solitude, for real piety, were vehemently prepossessed +in their favor." In almost any history of England +we will find it recorded that, even in the ninth century, +King Alfred lamented that there was at that time not +a priest in his dominions who understood Latin; and even +for some centuries after the bishops and prelates of the +whole Christian community were marksmen, i. e., they +supplied by the sign of the cross the inability to write +their own names. If the bishops and priests were so +supremely ignorant what can he said in reference to the +literary attainments of the laity? + +<P>The Christians were alternately persecuted and tolerated +by the Roman Emperors until the first quarter of the +fourth century, when certain events occurred through +which the Church of Rome became the recipient of Imperial +Patronage. Constantine I., called the Great, having +made himself sole Emperor by destroying all other +claimants to the throne, applied to Sopater, one of the +priests of the established religion, for absolution, and was +informed that his crimes were of such an atrocious character +<!-- page 96 --> +that there was no absolution for him. Believing +that the Phlegethon, or lake of fire and brimstone, awaited +him in the future life, unless he could obtain absolution, he +became very much distressed when one of his courtiers, +learning the cause and referring him to the Church of +Rome, he at once applied to her Bishop, Silvester, who, +readily granting the desired absolution, he added another +victim to his butcher bill by ordering the death of the +honest priest who had refused to grant him absolution. +The Christian sect having become a powerful and dangerous +faction, Constantine conceived the idea of strengthening +his usurped and precarious position by attaching +it to his interest, and to that end he professed himself a +convert to its tenets, and, taking the Church of Rome +under his especial patronage, elevated her Bishop to the +rank of a prince of the Empire and gave him one of his +palaces for a residence. + +<P>The Christian hierarchy, knowing that it would be a +potent means of confirming the faith of the laity in the +Gospel story as a literal history to have a tomb of the +Saviour to which pilgrimages could be made, and appealing +to Constantine to provide one, he sent his mother, +Helena, to Judea to find the place and, of course, discovering +what she went to look for, he had erected, +under her supervision, over the designated spot, that +<!-- Page 97 --> +splendid edifice which, known as the church of the Holy +Sepulchre, remains to this day. Helena, good at finding +lost things, also claimed to have discovered the veritable +cross upon which the Saviour had been crucified; and her +son, worthy of such a mother, claimed, as recorded by +Eusebius, that he had seen with his own eyes the trophy of +a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, bearing the +inscription: "In Hoc Signo Vinces," signifying "Under +this sign, conquer." Those were times of remarkable +and supernatural occurrences. + +<P>At the time Constantine became the patron of Christianity +the bishops and presbyters of the several churches, +seemingly ignorant of the teachings of the Esoteric philosophy +relative to the origin of the Trinity, were divided +into two factions in discussing the relation between the +Father and the Son. One party, headed by Athanasius, +a presbyter of Alexandria, and afterwards bishop of that +see, advocated the ancient belief that the three persons +in the godhead of Father, Son and Holy Ghost is but one +God, that Christ is consubstantial or co-eternal with the +Father, and that he became man to perform his mission +of redemption. Such, in brief, is what is known as the +Athanasian or Trinitarian Creed. The other party, +headed, by Arius, another presbyter of Alexandria, advocated +the belief in one God alone and that Christ, having +<!-- page 98 --> +no existence until begotten of the Father, is not consubstantial +or co-eternal with him. Such, in substance, constitutes +what is known to the Trinitarian or Orthodox +Christians as the Arian or Unitarian heresy. Could +stronger evidence be adduced that this controversy was +the result of ignorantly making a distinction where there +is no difference, for whether Trinitarian or Unitarian the +mythical genius of the sun is the God to whom they all +paid supreme adoration, although the Christians of to-day +would deny it most emphatically. + +<P>The faction, advocating the Trinitarian creed having +converted the Emperor to their belief, and influencing +him to enforce it as a fundamental doctrine of the Christian +theology, he, in the year 325, summoned, at his own +expense, a general council of bishops and priests to meet +at Nice, in Bithynia, a province of Asia Minor. When +they had assembled he appeared among them, clad in gorgeous +attire, with a jewel-studded diadem upon his royal +brow, and, seated upon a gilded chair, presided over their +deliberations. A minority of them, holding "most contumaciously" +to the Arian heresy, and refusing to change +their views at the bidding of the Emperor, he banished +them from their respective bishoprics, while the majority +adopted the Trinitarian creed, and appealing to Constantine +to suppress the writings of Arius he issued an edict +<!-- Page 99 --> +for that purpose, which we present as follows: "Moreover +we thought that if there can be found extant any +work or book compiled by Arius the same should be +burned to ashes, so that not only his damnable doctrine +may thereby be wholly rooted out, but also that no relic +thereof may remain unto posterity. This we also straightway +command and charge, that if any man be found to +hide or conceal any book made by Arius, and not immediately +bring forth such book, and deliver it up to be +burned, that the said offender for so doing shall die the +death. For as soon as he is taken our pleasure is that his +head shall be stricken off from his shoulders." Rather a +blood-thirsty, edict to be issued by the "puissant, the +mighty and noble Emperor," and a very inconsistent one, +considering that he soon afterwards readopted the Unitarian +faith and restored the banished bishops to their respective +sees; but, regardless of his action, the Church of +Rome sustained the Trinitarian creed and enforced the +dogma of the supreme divinity of Christ. + +<P>Thus we see that the history of Christianity, in the +first half of the fourth century, cannot be written without +incorporating considerable from the life of Constantine, +whose ensanguined record before his pretended conversion +marks him as the most brutal tyrant that ever disgraced +the imperial purple; but the appalling crimes he +<!-- Page 100 --> +perpetrated afterwards, among which were the scalding +his inoffending wife to death in a bath of boiling water, +and the murdering, without cause, of six members of his +family, one of which was his own son, justify what a +learned writer said of him, that "The most unfortunate +event that ever befell the human race was the adoption +of Christianity by the crimson-handed cut-throat in the +possession of unlimited power," and yet Constantine was +canonized by the Eastern church. + +<P>During the first three centuries, when Christianity +was but a weak sect, her bishops addressed numerous +apologies to the Roman Emperors, in which they claimed +tolerance from the government on the ground that their +form of worship was virtually the same as the established +religion. But after Constantine's pretended conversion +its hierarchy began to labor for the recognition of Christianity +as the state religion, and to give to their demand +some show of consistency they insisted that their scriptures +were really historical, and that there was no resemblance +whatever between the two forms of worship; while +theirs was of Divine authenticity the Pagans was purely a +human institution. + +<P>For centuries after the convocation of the council of +Nice the peace and harmony of the several churches were +disturbed by the rancorous discussion of the same old +<!-- Page 101 --> +questions of Trintarianism and Unitarianism, the Western +church adhering to the former while a majority of the +Eastern congregations maintained their faith in the latter; +but ultimately the Trinitarian party, gaining the ascendency, +and persecuting the adherents of the Unitarian +faith, the greater part of them retired into northern Arabia +where they founded numerous monasteries; and from history +we learn that, having impressed their Unitarian faith +upon the populace of that country, it was ultimately incorporated +into the Koran, the sacred book of Mohammedanism; +and, while becoming votaries of that form of +worship, still retained the belief that Christ was but one +of the prophets. + +<P>The cultured adherents to the established form of +worship, becoming alarmed at the growing power and influence +of the Christians and at the prospect of such an +ignorant and vicious rabble obtaining control of the government, +regardless of their pledge to keep the Gnosis +secret, publicly announced that the Gods were mythical +and the scriptures allegorical, and engaged in a heated +controversy with the Christians upon the subjects. The +character of their discussions is well, although supposititiously, +expressed by Gerald Massey, in his work entitled, +"The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ;" page 179, +American edition, where he makes the Gnostics say to the +<!-- Page 102 --> +Christians, "You poor ignorant idiots; you have mistaken +the mysteries of old for modern history, and accepted +literally all that was only meant mystically." To +which the Christians responded, "You spawn of Satan, +you are making the mystery by converting our accomplished +facts into your miserable fables; you are dissipating +and dispersing into thin air our only bit of solid foothold +in the world, stained with the red drops of Calvary. +You are giving a satanic interpretation of the word of +revelation and falsifying the oracles of God. You are +converting the solid facts of our history into your newfangled +allegories;" to which the Gnostics replied, "Nay, +it is you who have taken the allegories of Mythology for +historical facts." + +<P>But it was impossible to stem the rising tide; the +lessons which the priesthood had taught the ignorant +masses had been too well learned. They were sure that +their scriptures were historical; that Jesus Christ was +truly the incarnate saviour who had died and rose again +for the salvation of the elect, and that being the elect it +would be pre-eminently just and proper that the old Pagan +form of worship should be abrogated and theirs recognized +as the state religion. Thus the conflict raged +until the year 381, when, under the reign of the Emperor +Theodosius the Great, this demand having been formally +<!-- Page 103 --> +made, and the Senate, fearing the tumult a refusal would +excite, with a show of fair dealing ordered the presentation, +before that body, of the respective merits of the two +forms of worship. In that memorable discussion, which +lasted a whole week, Symmachus, a senator, advocated +the old system, and Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, the new, +which resulting, as a foregone conclusion, in the triumph +of Christianity, a decree to that effect was promulgated. + +<P>Then the long deferred opportunity having arrived, +the vengeful bishops, hounding on a no less vengeful +laity, ruthlessly murdered the priests of the old religion, +and, appropriating its emoluments to their own use, they +seized upon its temples, and demolishing some, converted +others into churches. With iconoclastic hands they destroyed +some of the statues representing the ancient divinities, +or after mutilation exposed others in public places +to the derision of the populace. Subjecting the adherents +to the older form of worship, whom they designated +as infidels, to the most diabolical indignities and persecutions, +they destroyed their works of art, burned their libraries, +suppressed their schools of learning, and either killed +or exiled their professors. Among the atrocious acts +perpetrated by these fiends in human shape none was +more barbarous than the one committed in Alexandria, in +the year 415, when Hypatia, the beautiful and accomplished +<!-- Page 104 --> +daughter of Theon, who had succeeded her father +as professor of mathematics and philosophy in the Alexandrian +University, while on her way to deliver a lecture, +was, by order of Bishop Cyril, dragged from her chariot +and murdered in a most revolting manner. + +<P>One of the successors of Theodosius justified himself +in decreeing the spoliation of the old religion upon +the grounds that "It was unbecoming a Christian government +to supply the infidels with the means of persevering +in their errors." Another one of the Emperors, more +zealous than his predecessors, decreed the death penalty +against all persons discovered practicing any of the rites +and ceremonies of the old religion. Thus the onslaught of +Christian savagery obliterated the civilization of Greece +and Rome, and inaugurated that long reign of intellectual +night known as the Dark Ages, which, materially aiding +in effecting the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, +made it possible to erect upon its ruins that Italian +Oligarchy, which, since then, has ruled the greater part of +Christendom. + +<P>The dogmatic element of the ancient astrolatry, as incorporated +into the Christian creed, underwent no material +change until the inauguration of the dark ages, when +the bishops of the several churches, in the delirium of metaphysical +speculation, concocted the previously unheard +<!-- Page 105 --> +of doctrine of pre-existence of spirit, in conformity to +which God was declared to be purely a spiritual deity, +who, existing before matter, created the universe of nothing. +Being the sole custodians of the scriptures; and +changing the six periods of a thousand years each to the +six days of creation, they altered Gen. i, 1, to read, "In +the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," +which in the original read: "In the beginning, when the +Gods (Elohim or Alehim) had made (shaped or formed) +this heaven and this earth." These radical changes necessitating +others, they made two distinct and independent +beings of the principles of Good and Evil personified +in the God Sol; the former they embodied in Jesus the +Christ and the latter in the Christian Devil, thus supplanting +old Pluto; the presiding genius of the under world. + +<P>Rejecting the ancient doctrines relative to the soul, +and teaching that, having proceeded from a purely spiritual +deity, it would exist eternally as an independent +spiritual entity, they substituted for the ancient system of +limited rewards and punishments the one inculcating their +endless duration. These changes in the creed, which +were confirmed at the general council of Constantinople, +in the year 553, necessitating further alterations of the +scriptures, the righteous were promised "eternal life" in +the Paradise of God beyond the stars; and, While consigning +<!-- Page 106 --> +great sinners to "everlasting punishment" in the +Tartarian fires of the under world, the less venial were to +expiate their crimes in the same old Purgatory. Thus, +having invented an endless heaven and an endless hell for +purely spiritual souls, and neglecting to expunge the doctrines +of the resurrection of the body, the setting up of the +kingdom of heaven upon a reorganized earth and other +materialistic teachings of the ancient religion, they made +of the creed and scriptures such a conglomeration of +"things new and old" that, without the Astrological key, +it would be impossible to determine what they originally +taught. + +<P>At the Reformation in the 16th century Luther and +his coadjutors, while projecting into the Protestant creed +all the cardinal tenets of Catholicism, excepting that of +Purgatory, made no change in the verbiage of the scriptures. +Thus retaining the awful doctrine of endless hell, +the reformers constructed a creed which they intended +for the government of Protestants for all time; but, +doing what had never been done before in the history +of the world, they gave the scriptures to the laity, and, +whether or not they secured the right of private judgment +or individual interpretation, it has been taken all the +same; and thus opening the door to investigation, it must +ultimately result not only in the abrogation of hell, but +<!-- Page 107 --> +in the relegation to the limbo of oblivion of the whole +dogmatic element of religion. + +<P>As a fitting conclusion to this article, we again direct +the attention of our readers to the subject of the primary +source of religious dogmas. Prior to the establishment +of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire, +the philosophers who wrote against it invariably made the +charge that its theology was derived from the ancient Paganism. +After its establishment as the state religion of +the Empire, the hierarchy of the church, knowing that +this charge was unanswerable, instigated the Emperor +Theodosius I. to promulgate an edict decreeing the destruction +of all books antagonistic to Christianity. This +edict, directed more particularly against the writings of +Celsus, was carried out so effectually that we know nothing +of what he wrote, only as quoted by Origen, the distinguished +church father of the third century, who attempted +to answer in eight books what Celsus had written +in one, entitled "The True Discourse." In one of his +quotations from Celsus' work he makes that philosopher +say "that the Christian religion contains nothing but what +Christians held in common with heathens, nothing that +was new or truly great." See Bellamy's translation, +chapter 4. During the earlier centuries the Christians +were divided into numerous sects, entertaining very divergent +<!-- Page 108 --> +views, and each faction, holding all others to be +heretical, charged them with having derived their doctrines +from the Pagan religion. Upon this subject we +find that Epiphanius, a celebrated church father of the 4th +century, freely admits that all that differed from his own +were derived from the heathen mythology. Such was the +position of all orthodox writers during the Middle Ages, +and since the Reformation the Protestant clergy have uniformly +made the same charge against the Catholic; a few +quotations from their writings we present for the edification +of our readers. + +<P>Jean Daille, a French Protestant minister of the 17th +century, in his treatise entitled La Religion Catholique +Romaine Institute par Nama Pompile, demonstrates that +"the Papists took their idolatrous worship of images, as +well as all their ceremonies, from the old heathen religion." +Bishop Stillingfleet of the English church and a +writer of considerable eminence in the 17th century, said, +in reference to the complaisant spirit of the early church +towards the Pagans, that "it was attended by very bad +consequences, since Christianity became at last, by that +means, nothing else but reformed Paganism, as to its divine +worship." See Stillingfleet's defense of the charge +of idolatry against the Romanists, vol. 5, page 459. +M. Turrentin, of Geneva, Switzerland, a learned Protestant +<!-- Page 109 --> +writer of the 17th century, in one of his orations describing +the state of Christianity in the 4th century, says +"that it was not so much the Empire that was brought +over to the faith, as the faith that was brought over to the +Empire; not the Pagans who were converted to Christianity, +but the Christians who were converted to Paganism." +Thus, having shown that the Catholics derived +all their cardinal tenets from the Pagan mythology, the +Protestants must surely have obtained theirs from the +Catholics, for they teach all of them except that of Purgatory. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=FREEMASONRY>FREEMASONRY AND DRUIDISM.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P><IMG SRC="plate9.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=429 BORDER=1 HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 ALT="The Masonic Arms"><!-- Pages 110 & 111 --> +The rites and ceremonies of Astral worship, under +the name of Druidism, were primarily observed in consecrated +groves by all peoples; which custom was retained +by the Scandinavian and Germanic races, and by +the inhabitants of Gaul and the British Islands; while the +East Indians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Grecians, Romans, +and other adjacent nations, ultimately observed their religious +services in temples; and we propose to show that +the modern societies of Freemasonry, and ancient order +of Druids, are but perpetuations of the grove and temple +<!-- Page 112 --> +forms of the ancient astrolatry. In determining the fact +that Freemasonry finds its prototype in the temple worship +of ancient Egypt, we have but to study the Masonic +arms, as illustrated in Fellows' chart, in which are pictured, +as its objects of adoration, the sun and moon, the +seven stars, known as Pleiades in the sign of Taurus; +the blazing star Sirius, or Dog-star, worshipped by the +Egyptians under the name of Anubis, and whose rising +forewarned those people of the rising of the Nile River; +the seven signs of the Zodiac from Aries to Libra, inclusive, +through which the sun was supposed to pass in making +his apparent annual revolution, and which constitutes +the Royal arch from which was derived the name of one of +its higher degrees; and its armorial bearings, consisting of +pictures of the Lion, the Bull, the Waterman, and the +Flying Eagle, which representing the signs at the cardinal +points, constituted the genii of the seasons. Besides these, +we have the checkered flooring or mosaic<!-- [SIC] --> work, representing +the earth and its variegated face, which was introduced +when temple worship succeeded its grove form; +the two columns representing the imaginary pillars of +heaven resting upon the earth at Equinoctial points, and +supporting the Royal arch; also the letter "G" standing +for Geometry, the knowledge of which was of great importance +to the natives of Egypt in establishing the boundaries +<!-- Page 113 --> +of their lands removed by the inundations of the +Nile, the square and compass, being the instruments +through which the old landmarks were restored, and +which ultimately became the symbols of justice. The +cornucopia, or horn of plenty, denoted the sun in the sign +of Capricorn, and indicated the season when the harvest +was gathered and provisions laid up for Winter use; the +cenotaph or mock coffin with the sign of the cross upon +its lid, referred to the sun's crossing of the celestial equator +at the Autumnal Equinox, and to the figurative death +of the genius of that luminary in the lower hemisphere; +whose resurrection at the Vernal Equinox is typified by +the sprig of acacia sprouting near the head of the coffin. +The serpent, issuing from the small vessel to the left, represented +the symbol of the Lord of Evil under whose +dominion was placed the seasons of Autumn and Winter; +and the figure of a box at the right hand, represented +the sacred ark in which, anciently, the symbols of solar +worship were deposited; but which is now used by the +masons as a receptacle for their papers. + +<P>After, the promulgation, in the fifth century, of the +edict by one of the Emperors of Rome, decreeing the +death penalty against all persons discovered practicing +any of the rites and ceremonies of the ancient religion, a +body of its cultured adherents, determining to observe +<!-- Page 114 --> +them secretly, banded themselves together into a society +for that purpose. With the view to masking their real +object, they took advantage of the fact that the square and +compass, the plumbline, etc., were symbols of speculative +masonry in the temple form of Astral worship, they publicly +claimed to be only a trades-union for the prosecution +of the arts of architecture and operative masonry; but, +among themselves, were known as Free and Accepted +Masons or Freemasons. In imitation of the ancient mysteries +they instituted lower and higher degrees; in the +former they taught the Exoteric creed, and in the latter +the Esoteric philosophy, as explained in our introduction. +Inculcating supreme adoration to the solar divinity the +candidates for initiation were made to personate that +mythical being and subjected to the ceremonies representing +his figurative death and resurrection, were required +to take fearful oaths not to reveal the secrets of the +order. To enable them to recognize each other, and to +render aid to a brother in emergencies, they adopted a +system of grips, signs and calls; and to guard against the +intrusion of their Christian enemies they stationed watchmen +outside of their lodges to give timely warning of their +approach. Thus was instituted the original Grand Lodge +of Freemasonry, from which charters were issued for the +organization of subordinate lodges in all the principal +cities throughout the Roman Empire. + +<!-- Page 115 --> +<P>Becoming cognizant of the true object of Freemasonry, +the Hierarchy of the Church of Rome resolved +to suppress the order, and to that end maintained such a +strict espionage upon its members that, no longer able +to assemble in their lodges, they determined to defend +themselves by an appeal to arms, and gathering together +in strongholds, for a long time successfully resisted the +armies of the church; but ultimately, being almost exterminated, +the residue disbanded, and we hear no more +of Freemasonry, as a secret order, until the conclusion +of the Dark Ages, when the Reformation, making it possible, +a form of the order, recognizing Christianity, was +revived among the Protestants; but the Church of Rome, +true to her traditions, has never ceased to hurl anathemas +against it and all other secret societies outside of her own +body. Thus, having made it apparent that Freemasonry, +as primarily instituted, was but a perpetuation of the +temple form of Astral worship, we can readily see that, +while some of its symbols are as old as the ancient Egyptian +religion, it did not, as a secret order, take its rise until +Christian persecution made it necessary. Hence it cannot +justly lay claim to a greater antiquity than the fifth +century of the Christian era. + +<P>According to Masonic annals a Grand Lodge was organized +at York, England, early in the tenth century, but, +<!-- Page 116 --> +like the lodges of Southern Europe, was suppressed by +the Church of Rome. In 1717 a Grand Lodge was organized +at London, England, and soon afterwards the old +Grand Lodge at York was revived, and its members took +the name of Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons, +from which emanated the charter of the Grand Lodge in +the United States, which was organized in Boston in 1733. +In 1813 the rivalry between the Grand Lodges of York +and London was compromised, and the supremacy of the +former was conceded. + +<P>From church history we learn that in the year 596 of +our era Pope Gregory I. dispatched Augustin, and forty +other monks of the order of St. Andrew, from Rome to +Britain, to convert the natives to Christianity; but, while +the Anglo-Saxons embraced the new faith, the Britons +rejected it, and, being persecuted by the Christians, retired +to the fastnesses of the country known as Wales, +where, for a long period, they maintained the observance +of the Druidical form of worship; and although that +country has long since become Christianized, the society +of the Ancient Order of Druids has existed with an uninterrupted +succession at Pout-y-prid, where the Arch-Druid +resides, and from, whence emanated the charter +of the Grand Lodge of the order in this country. In +reference to the Druidism on the continent, history records +<!-- Page 117 --> +the fact that when one of the reigning kings became +a convert to Christianity the whole of his subjects were +baptized into the Church of Rome by Imperial decree. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=SABBATH>THE SABBATH.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>In determining the origin of the seventh day Sabbath, +we must of necessity refer to that source of all religious +ordinances, the ancient astrolatry, the founders of +which, having taught that God Sol was engaged in the reorganization +of Chaos during the first six periods of the +twelve thousand year cycle, corresponding to the months +of Spring and Summer, they conceived the idea that he +ceased to exert his energies, or rested from his labors on +the seventh period, corresponding to the first of the Autumn +months. Hence, deriving the suggestion from the +apparent septenary rest in nature, they taught that God +ordained the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath or +rest day for man. + +<P>In conformity to this ordinance the founders of ancient +Judaism enforced the observance of the seventh day +Sabbath in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, +which, found in Gen. xx. 8-11,<A NAME="S1" HREF="#R1"><FONT SIZE=-1><SUP>1</SUP></FONT></A> +reads as follows, viz: "Remember +the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt +thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is +the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do +<!-- Page 118 --> +any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man +servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy +stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord +made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and +rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the +Sabbath day and hallowed it." Thus was the seventh +day of the week made the Sabbath of the Old Testament; +but the authors of the Jewish or ancient Christianity, looking +for the immediate fulfillment of the prophecies relative +to the second judgment, ignored its observance, as +may be seen by reference to Mark ii. 23, 27; John v. 2-18; +Romans xiv. 5; and Col. ii. 16; and the founders of +modern Christianity, perpetuating the belief in the speedy +fulfillment of those prophecies, made no change relative +to the Sabbath in their version of the New Testament. + +<P>After Constantine's pretended conversion to Christianity, +and the time for the fulfillment of the prophecies +had been put off to the year 10000, as previously stated, the +hierarchy of the church appealed to the Emperor to give +them a Sabbath, and although they knew that the seventh +day of the week was the Sabbath of the Old Testament, +and that Sunday was the first of the six working days, according +to the fourth commandment, their hatred to the +Jews for refusing to accept their Christ as the Saviour induced +them to have it placed on the first day of the week. +<!-- Page 119 --> +Hence that obliging potentate, in the year 321, promulgated +the memorable edict, which, found in that Digest +of Roman law known as the Justinian Code, Book III., +Title 12, Sec. 2 and 3, reads as follows, viz.: "Let all +judges and all people of the towns rest and all the various +trades be suspended on the venerable day of the Sun. +Those who live in the country, however, may freely and +without fault attend to the cultivation of their fields lest, +with the loss of favorable opportunity, the commodities +offered by Divine Providence shall be destroyed." Thus +we see that the primary movement towards enforcing the +observance of Sunday, or Lord's Day, as the Sabbath, did +not originate in a Divine command, but in the edict of an +earthly potentate. + +<P>This edict was ratified at the third council of Orleans, +in the year 538; and in order, "that the people might +not be prevented from attending church, and saying their +prayers," a resolution was adopted at the same time recommending +the observance of the day by all classes. +From merely "recommending," the Church of Rome soon +began to enforce the observance of the day; but, in spite +of all her efforts, it was not until the 12th century that +its observance had become so universal as to receive the +designation of "The Christian Sabbath." + +<P>Cognizant of the manner in which Sunday was made +<!-- Page 120 --> +the Sabbath, Luther issued for the government of the +Protestant communion the following mandate: "As for +the Sabbath, or Sunday, there is no necessity for keeping +it;" see Michelet's Life of Luther, Book IV., chapter 2. +Luther also said, as recorded in Table Talk, "If anywhere +the day (Sunday) is made holy for the mere day's sake; if +anywhere anyone sets up its observance upon a Jewish +foundation, then I order you to work on it, to dance on it, +to ride on it, to feast on it, and to do anything that shall +reprove this encroachment on the Christian spirit of liberty." +Melancthon, Luther's chief coadjutor in the work +of Reformation, denied, in the most emphatic language, +that Sunday was made the Sabbath by Divine ordainment; +and in reference thereto John Milton, in reply to the +Sunday Sabbatarians, makes the pertinent inquiry: "If, +on a plea of Divine command, you impose upon us the observance +of a particular day, how do you presume, without +the authority of a Divine command, to substitute +another in its place?" + +<P>During the reign of Elizabeth, Queen of England, a +sect of fanatics, known as Dissenters or Nonconformists, +basing their action upon the fallacious arguments derived +from the fourth commandment, and upon the plea that +the Saviour was raised from the dead on the first day of +the week, inaugurated what is known as the Puritan Sabbath, +<!-- page 121 --> +which having been transferred to our shores by the +voyagers in the Mayflower, and enforced by those statutory +enactments known as Blue Laws, caused the people +of New England to have a blue time of it while the +delusion lasted; and now a large body of Protestant clergy +perverting the teachings of scripture, and, ignoring the +authority of the Reformers, are disturbing the peace of society +by their efforts to enforce the code of sundry laws, +which were enacted through their connivance. Thus +have we shown that, originating with the Catholics and +adopted by the Protestants, the Sunday Sabbath is purely +and entirely a human institution, and, being such, we must +recognize all Sunday laws as grave encroachments upon +constitutional liberty; and it behooves the advocates of individual +rights to demand their immediate repeal; for unless +a vigilant watch is kept upon the conspirators who +secured their enactment, our fair land will soon be cursed +by a union of church and State, the tendency in that direction +having been indicated by the unprecedented opinion +recently handed down by one of the Justices of the +United States Supreme Court that this is a Christian +Government. +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=FRAUDS>PIOUS FRAUDS.</A></H2></CENTER> +<P>By claiming to be divinely appointed for the propagation +of a divinely authenticated religion, the priesthood +<!-- Page 122 --> +of all forms of worship have ever labored to deceive and +enslave the ignorant multitude; and in support of these +fallacious assumptions have resorted to all manner of +pious frauds, in reference to which we quote from both +Pagan and Christian sources with the view to showing +that the moderns have faithfully followed the ancient +example. Euripedes, an Athenian writer, who flourished +about 450 years before the beginning of our era, maintained +that, "in the early state of society, some wise men +insisted on the necessity of darkening truth with falsehood +and of persuading men that there is an immortal +deity who hears and sees and understands our actions, +whatever we may think of that matter ourselves." +Strabo, the famous geographer and historian of Greek +extraction, who flourished about the beginning of the +Christian era, wrote that "It is not possible for a philosopher +to conduct by reasoning a multitude of women and +the low vulgar, and thus to invite them to piety, holiness +and faith; but the philosopher must make use of superstition +and not omit the invention of fables and the performance +of wonders. For the lightning and the ægis +and the trident are but fables, and so all ancient theology. +But the founders of states adopted them as bugbears to +frighten the weak-minded." Varro, a learned Roman +scholar, who also flourished about the beginning of our +<!-- Page 123 --> +era, wrote that "There are many truths which it is useless +for the vulgar to know, and many falsehoods which it is +fit that the people should not know are falsehoods." + +<P>So much from Pagan authorities relative to the necessity +of deceiving the ignorant masses. We will now +present some Christian authorities upon the same subject; +and first from Christ himself, who in addressing his +disciples is made to say, in Mark iv, 11, 12, "Unto you it +is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but +unto them that are without all these things are done in +parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive; and +hearing they may hear and not understand." Paul, in his +fourteen Epistles, inculcates and avows the principle of +deceiving the common people. He speaks of having +been upbraided by his own converts with being crafty +and catching them with guile and of his known and wilful +lies abounding to the glory of God. See Romans iii. 7, +and II. Cor. xii. 16. If Christ and Paul were guilty of +deception, their followers had good excuse for the same +course of conduct. Upon this subject Beausobre, a very +learned ecclesiastical writer, who flourished about the beginning +of the 18th century, says: "We see in the history +which I have related a sort of hypocrisy that has +been, perhaps, but too common at all times; that churchmen +not only do not say what they think, but they do say +<!-- page 124 --> +the direct contrary of what they think. Philosophers in +their cabinets; out of them they are content with fables, +though they well know that they are fables." Historie +de Manichee, vol. 2, page 568. Bishop Synesius, the distinguished +author of religious literature and Christian +father of the 5th century, said: "I shall be a philosopher +only to myself, and I shall always be a bishop to the people." +Mosheim, the distinguished author of Ecclesiastical +History, Vol. I., page 120, says: "The authors who +have treated of the innocence and sanctity of the primitive +Christians have fallen into the error of supposing +them to have been unspotted models of piety and virtue, +and a gross error indeed it is, as the strongest testimonies +too evidently prove." The same author, in Vol. I., page. +198, says in the fourth century "it was an almost universally +adopted maxim that it was an act of virtue to deceive +and lie, when by such means the interest of the +church might be promoted." In his Ecclesiastical History, +Vol. II., page 11, he says that "as regards the fifth +century, the simplicity and ignorance of the generality in +those times furnished the most favorable occasion for the +exercise of fraud; and the impudence of impostors in contriving +false miracles was artfully proportioned to the +credulity of the vulgar; while the sagacious and the wise, +who perceived these cheats, were overawed into silence +<!-- page 125 --> +by the dangers that threatened their lives and fortunes if +they should expose the artifice." Thomas Burnet, D.D., +who flourished about the beginning of the 18th century, +in his treatise entitled De Statu Mortuorum, purposely +written in Latin that it might serve for the instruction of +the clergy only, and not come to the knowledge of the +laity, because, as he says, "too much light is hurtful for +weak eyes," not only justifies, but recommends the practice +of the most consummate hypocrisy, and that, too, on +the most awful of all subjects; and would have his, clergy +seriously preach and maintain the reality and eternity of +hell torments, even though they should believe nothing +of the sort themselves. See page 304. Hugo Grotius, +the eminent writer of Holland in the 17th century, says +in his 22d Epistle: "He that reads ecclesiastical history, +reads nothing but the roguery and folly of bishops, and +churchmen." In the language of Robert Taylor, from +whom we have taken most of the quotations under this +heading, we assert that "no man could quote higher +authorities," to prove "the roguery and folly of bishops +and churchmen." +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<BR CLASS=left> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME=CONCLUSION>CONCLUSION.</A></H2></CENTER> +Having presented the evidences in support of the apparently +untenable assertion that, notwithstanding the +<!-- Page 126 --> +numerous modes in which man has manifested his devotional +proclivities, the world has virtually had but the one +religion founded in the worship of personified nature, we +are necessitated to recognize the facts that the Christian +Scriptures like the sacred records of other forms of nature +worship are, but a collection of astronomical allegories; +that the gospel story is truly "the old, old story" which +had been told of a thousand other Saviours before it was +applied to the Christian Messiah; that Jesus is but one +of the many names given to imaginary incarnations of +the mythical genius of the sun; and that the Disciples and +Evangelists are but the genii of the months and the seasons. +Such being the facts, which cannot be successfully +refuted, we must believe that the Christian religion, instead +of being of Divine authenticity, as popularly +claimed, is purely and entirely of human origin, and that +all its teachings relative to a future state are but priestly +inventions, concocted for the purpose of enslaving the +ignorant masses. + +<P>When we think of the thousand millions of dollars +invested in church properties, and estimate the cost of +maintaining more than a hundred thousand priests and +ministers, in supporting foreign and domestic missions +and in publishing religious literature; besides the taxes +applied to the care of the religious insane, and realize the +<!-- Page 127 --> +fact that all of this vast sum of money is abstracted from +the resources of the people, we would not have to go outside +of our own country to appreciate the fact that religion +is the burden of all burdens to society; and when we contemplate +the great disturbance to the social relation, resulting +from sectarian strife, and the almost universal disposition +of Christians to persecute and ostracize those who +differ with them in opinion, we can readily subscribe to +the sentiment accredited to one of our revolutionary sires, +that "this would be a good world to live in if there was no +religion in it." + +If the clergy had been laboring as faithfully to impress +the observance of ethical principles as they have to +indoctrinate the people with the superstitions of religion, +we would not now be deploring the great demoralization +of society. It is a grave arraignment of the clericals to +charge them with being, indirectly, the cause of this lamentable +state of things; but it is a condition that might +have been expected, for, when entering the ministry, they +engaged themselves, not so much to teach ethics as to +propagate faith in the doctrines of their respective sects. +Thus hampered they cannot do the good to society their +better natures might desire. Hence the only hope for +improvement is for the people to wholly ignore the dogmatic +element of religion, and refusing to longer support +<!-- page 128 --> +it, demand that moral training shall be the grand essential +of education. If this course were adopted and persistently +followed, it would be but a question of time when +mankind would come into being with such a benign +heredity that crime would be almost impossible. + +<P>Then, since religion inculcates<!-- [SIC] --> a salvation that does +not save, let us rise superior to its false teachings and, +accepting science as the true saviour of mankind, find our +whole duty in the code of natural morality, the spirit of +which is embodied in that comprehensive precept known +as the golden rule, which, being the outgrowth of the +discovered necessities of association, without which society +could not exist, it necessarily constituted man's sole +rule and guide long before priest or temple; and founded +in the eternal principles of right, truth and justice must remain +as man's sole rule and guide when priest and church +are numbered among the things that were. Spirit of progress! +speed the day when all mankind, redeemed from +the bondage of superstition, will recognize the great truth +that nature, governed by her own inherent forces, is all +that has been, all that is and all that shall be; and that, +ceasing to indulge in the vain hope of a blissful immortality +in a paradise beyond the stars, will make a real paradise +of this old earth of ours. + +<BR CLASS=left><BR CLASS=left> +<HR> +<A NAME="R1" HREF="#S1">[1]</A> +(Editorial note: the original text erroneously attributed this quote to +Genesis 20:8-11; actually it is from Exodus 20:8-11.) +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<PRE> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ASTRAL WORSHIP *** + +This file should be named astrl10h.htm or astrl10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, astrl11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, astrl10ah.htm + + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +<a href="http://gutenberg.net">http://gutenberg.net</a> or +<a href="http://promo.net.pg">http://promo.net/pg</a> + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext05</a> or +<a href="ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04">ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext05</a> + +Or /etext05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html">http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html</a> + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +<a href="mailto:hart@pobox.com">Michael S. Hart [hart@pobox.com]</a> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* +</pre> + +</body> +</html> |