THE MYTHOS OF THE ARK .

BY

J . W . L A KE ,

A U TH O R O F T RE E A ND SE R PE NT WO RSH I P .
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"

P UBLISHED THO MA S
BY S C O T T,
MOUN T P L E A S A N T R A MS G A T E ,
.

Pr ic e Sixp e n c e .
 57 4
THE MYTHOS OF THE ARK .

is r e c ord e d in the H ebrew scriptures t h at once

I
T
upon a ti m e so m ewhere about 2 4 0 0 y e ars before
,

the C hristian era the C reator of the world was so

,

incensed at the wickedness of m en that he deter m ined

,

to destroy the whole world and that to e ffect this

,

destruction he sent a deluge on the earth which

covered the tops of the highest m ountains so that all ,

living things perished excepting only N oah his wife , ,

and his three sons and their wives with pairs or ,

sevens of all the various kinds of ani m als which

N oah was co mm anded to take with hi m into an ark ,

or float ing house which G od had co mm anded hi m to

,

build These were shut up in the ark for several

.

m onths when the flood having abated the ark

, , ,

grounded on the top of a high m ountain and its ,

inhabitants released fro m their te m porary i m prison

,

m ent replenished the earth with a n e w race of living

,

creatures
W
.

e have said the H ebrew scriptur es record th is

narrative and E nglish m en are taught to believe that

these scriptures are the infallible word of G od— s o
,

the clergy of alm ost all deno m inations declare them

to be I t is evident that such an event had it really
.
,

happen ed could never have beco m e a legiti m ate part

,

of histo ry I t relates al together to ti m es that are pre

.

historic ti m es of which oral tradi tion alone coul d te ll

, .

B ut in the Je wish h istory no traces of t his tradition

4 The Myt/J o: qf tb e flr k .

are to be found till aft er the B abylonish captivity ,

that is for the 2 0 00 years imm ediat e ly foll owi n g the

,

event T he patriarch s kne w nothing of the F lood ;

.

M oses see m s equally in the dark concerning it 3 N oah

is never so m uch as na m ed in Jewish history til l a ,

com paratively m odern period of its ann als T he book .

of G enesis though plac e d at the h ead of the Jewis h

,

B ible is one of the m ost recent instead of being one

,

of the earliest of its records S uch at least are the .

conclusions of m odern scholars and those who are ,

fam iliar with the writings of C olenso D avidson , ,

K alisch and others know well how irresistible is the

, ,

eviden c e o n whi ch thes e conclusions are bas e d .

G eological research es have long de m onstrated the

i m possibility of such a flood as that of which the
book of G enesis speaks having ever taken pla c e
,
.

Y e t our clergy are bo und by the conditions of the ir

o ffi c e to teach the m en and wo m en of E ngland to
regard this narrative as a record of actual fac t to ,

b e lieve that the world was destroyed by a deluge as

the book of G enesis state s an d that the record of this
,

event has been penned under the influen ce of a special

inspiration fro m G od .

N ow the purp ose of this pa m phlet will be to show

that th is story of the F lood is a m ere m at ter of ancient
tradition and ancient tradition is only an other m ode
,

of expressing ancient fable B ut the fables of anti .

q u ity had for the m ost part a religious or phi los o ,

p hi c al,or m yt hological im port A s the ancient .

Egyptians exp r essed the ir wisdo m through hiero

glyphic inscriptions so all the ancient priesth ood
,

veiled the ir knowl ed ge in so m e apologue or fable .

As m oral teaching even in our own day is often ex

pressed by parable so the phil osophi c wisdo m of the
W
,

an cient world found utterance in fables h ere .

m odem s would write an essay the teachers of the ,

ancient world told a story ; and possibly fro m this

habit the latte r p hrase has c o m e to have so equi vocal
 772 3 My tb o: of the Ark .
5
a signifi cation and the sa m e word is m ade to stand
,

at once for a narrative and a falsehood B y way of .

’
co mm encing our investigation the reader s attention ,

is cal led to the following traditio n s of the flood .

TRAD ITI O NS O F THE FLOOD .

All the ancient religions m any of which were long

,

an te rior to Judais m had in their records s im ilar

,

stories concerning a deluge to that which the book of ,

G enesis contains All the writers of barbarian

.

” “
hi stories says Josephus the Je w ish historian m ake
, , ,

m ention of this flood and this ark a m ong wh o m is ,

B erosus the C haldean .

”

T he works of B erosus who wrote probably in th e

,

age of Alexander the G reat i e about 2 4 0 years before

,
. .
,

the c hristian era are lost save detached portions of

, ,

the m which are preserved in the writ ings of the

early fathers and the account of the D eluge is one of
,

these T hose who lived before the F lood are r e

.

presented as a race of giants all of who m save one , , ,

”
beca m e exceedingly i m pious and depraved B ut .
,
“
says B erosus there was one a m ong the giants that
,

reverenced the gods and was m ore wise and prudent

than all the rest H is n am e was N oa he dwelt in
.

S yr ia and his three sons S e m J ape t C he m and th eir

, , , ,

wives the great T id e a P andora N oela and N oe gla

, , , .

T his m an fearin g destru ction which he foresaw fro m

, ,

the stars would co m e to pass began in the 78 th year ,

before the inundation to bu ild a ship covered l ike an

ark ; at length the o c ean b u r st its boundaries and
the rain fel l violently fro m heaven for m any days ,

so that the m ountains were ov e rflow e d and the whole

hu m an race buried in the waters save N oa and his ,
”
fam ily .

A nother Assyr ian tradition relates that the represent ,

ative of the tenth generation after the first m an was ,

Xis u thru s a pious and wise m onar c h

, The god .
6 My ra). of t/y e A rk .

C hr onos ( S aturn or B elus)revealed to h i m that con

t in u rains comm encing on a certain day the 1 5th
al , ,

of the m onth D ae siu s woul d cause a general deluge by ,

which m ankind would be destroyed O n the co mm and .

of the deity Xis u thru s bu ilt an i mm ense ship about

,

three— quarters of a m ile long and a quarter of a m ile

broad ascended it with his fa m ily his friends and
, , ,

eve ry species of quadrupeds birds and reptiles after , , ,

having loaded it with every possible provision and

sailed towards A rm enia hen the rain cleared . W ,

he sent out birds to satisfy hi m self about the condition

of the earth T hey returned twice but the second.
,

ti m e they had m ud on their feet and the third ti m e ,

they were sent ou t they returned to hi m n o m ore .

X is u thr u s who h ad by this ti m e grounded in som e

,

A rm enian m ountain left the ship acco m panied o nl y , ,

by his wife his daughters and the pilot ; they erected

, ,

an altar and o ff ered sac ri fi c e to the gods and were

soon rais e d to heaven for their exe m plary piety .

T he others n ow left the ship with m any lam entations ,

but they heard th e voice of X is u thru s ad m onishing

the m to persevere in the fear of the gods T hey .

settled again in B abylon fro m whence they started , ,

and beca m e the ancestors of a new popu lation f "

Th e H indoo records contain a si m ilar and probably
a m ore ancient traditi o n o f the flood in which the ,

good king Saty avr ata takes the place occupied by

N oah in the H ebrew record T he G reeks had an .

exactly si m ilar story of which D eucalion was the

hero ; while so m e coins which were struck at
A pa m ea na m ed also xt r og a boat in th e reign of
, , ,

the Em peror Se ptim iu s S everus A D 1 93 represent ,

. .
,

a chest or ark floating on the waves and containing ,

a m an and a wo m an O n the ark a bir d is perched .

K al is ch Hi s to ri c al C om m en ta ry
the B k of G e e i on oo n s s .

B t t he he t he
u t radi ti a f t he fl d m y b e f u d i
n on s o oo a o n n
Co le the Pe tate u ch Hu gh Miller T e tim y f
ns o on n .
’
s
‘
s on o
the Ro c ks Har dwi c k s Chr is t d ther M ter & &
,
’
-
’
an o as s,
’
c .
, c .
 7796 My tl w: of ib e A rt .
7

and another is seen approaching holding a twig with

its feet T he sam e hu m an pair is figured on the dry
.

land with uplif ted hands and on several of these

,

m edals the na m e ( )is clearly visible

*
N O N 0 .

The Egyptian tradition of the flood was recorded ,

Josephus asserts by M anetho but the greater part of , ,

the works of that historian have perished and this

account is not extant \ve shall see however when we .
, ,

co m e to speak of the m ythological m eaning of the

flood that the Egyptians had a very si m ilar m y t hos xi
,
‘

T raditions of the Flood exist also in the S candinavian ,

C eltic ancient B ritish M ex ican and the various m y

, , ,

thologie s of the new world and the question natural ly

W
,

suggests itself hat relation do these traditions bear

,

to the H ebrew story which our clergy declare has

been given by the special revelation of G od ? I t used
to be thought a sufficient answer to say that all the
G entile traditions were copies and perversions of
the H ebrew record the prior antiquity of this record
W
,

being of course assu m ed e know n ow however .

, ,

that the H ebre w account is of com paratively m odern

date T he Jews them selves having no knowledge of
.

such an event as the D eluge till after the period of the

national captivity in B abylon .

I t is c kn owledged t h at the Bi b le rec o rd s re ferr in g to the

a -

tim e pre vi o u s t o A b raham an d w h i ch w ere t r an s m i tt e d t o

,

lat er ge n er at i o n s b y t he de s ce n d an t s of t he an ce s to r of t he
H eb re w r a ce in s om e i n s ta n ce s adm i t of an allego ri c al in t er
,

re tati on T h u s e v en the n am e of No ah m ay po s s ibly hav e

.

n ch o s e n f o r the p u rpo s e o f re f err in g to t he tim e of t he

Floo d I t is w ell kn own t h at t he w o r d Noah is d eri v ed

.

fr om the A ry an roo t n a or n ach whi ch m e an s wat er

‘ ‘ ’ ’
,

f rom w h‘i ch t he In d i an ‘n au s the La tin ‘n avi s an d t he ’ ’

G erm an n a che n an d n as s ar e d eri v e d —T he H id d en W

, ,
’ ’
isd om
of C hr is t p 1 0 by E r n es t D e B u ns en
, .
, .

T he n u t ( in G erm an n u s s
, w as a n au s or l it tle s h i p
‘
,

a ty pe o f t he ar k in w h i ch t he in f an t d e i t y lay hi d d en — L es le y
,

O r igi n a nd D e sti n y p 3 08 ,
. .

1 Se e t he legen d of O s ir i s an d T yph on
'
T yph on was the .
 s Tb e My tb o: of t/y e A rk .

D r D onaldson ( C hristian O rthodoxy p 2 2 1 ) says , .

,

the traditions of B abylonian arch aeology preserved to ,

us in the fragm ents of B erosus exhibit a re m arkable ,

correspondence with those whic h are incorporated in

the B ook of G enesis I t m ight of course be a question.

whether the Jews during their captivity borrowed

the ten generations between A dam and N oah fro m
the ten generations whic h connect A loru s and
X is u thr u s or whether they conversely furnis h ed the
,

B abylonians with the m aterials of their own cos

m ogon y I n the absence of all evidence in favour
.

of the supposition that the Jews had any such cos

m ogon y before the exile and with positive evidence ,

of the fact that they borr owed m any of their ideas

fro m the heathen nations am ong who m they sojo urned ,

at the ti m e i mm ediately preceding the for m atio n of

their present collection of s acred books it would be ,

m ore reasonable to conclude that the B abylonian

traditions were the source of the Jewish ith . W
regard to the D eluge at any rate every candid ia , ,

q u irer m ust ad m it that even if we had no other ex

planation to offer respecting N oah the fact that the ,

ark is represente d as floating to the m ountains of

A rm enia points to the local inundation which devas
,

tate d B abylonia and which the B abylonians li m ited

”
to their own country .

D r S am uel D avidson in his I ntroduction to th e

.
,

O ld T estam ent V ol page 1 8 8 says

,
A uthentic
.
,

E gyptian history ignores the existence of a e n e ral '

o

flood to which there is no allusion in the an n als fro m

,

the epoch of M enes the founder of the kingdo m of ,

Egypt B C 3 4 63 till its conquest under D arius

,
. .
,

O c hu s B C 3 4 0 whereas the period of the N oachian

,
. .
,

D eluge is said to be about 2 3 4 8 B C A t the latter . .

tim e when the whole hu m an race is suppos e d to hav e

been reduced to a single fa m ily the E gyptian people ,

m ust have attained to a flour ishing and civiliz ed

s tate ; indeed they were civili zed and settled before
,
 773 6 My tb o: qf ib e Ark .
9

M enes united th e m into one great e m pire ,

towards 4 0 0 0 B C the uninterrupted existence of

. .
,

their annals fro m M enes til l O c hu s as well as the ,

absence of all reference to a general flood proves the ,

”
non o ccurrence of such a disaster .

’
T he story of N oah s ark having no proper place in
legiti m ate history m ust thus be relegated to the real m s
,

of m ythologic fable T he fables of the ancient world

.

were however the m eans of concealing so m e secret

, ,

wisdo m and the ark of N oah form s no exception t o

,

thi s rule .

TH E MYTH O L O G Y O F T HE A R K .

Lo ng before the Jews were acquainted with the

story of the flood they were accusto m ed to the use of
,

an ark in their religious worship T his ark of the .

covenant being an obl ong box of the sa m e propor

t ion at e di m ensions with the ship or ar k of N oah ,

Josephus call s it the ark of G od I t was the m ost .

sacred sy m bol of the Je wish worship and in it were ,

kept the tables of the law T o this day the ark of .

the covenant is used in the Je wish synagogues for the

purpose of containing the rolls of the Jewish law A .

s im ilar ark however to that of the Jews was we

, , ,

know in use a m ong the ancient Egyptians

,
A sculp .

tu re exists representing R am ase s acco m panied

by his priests and high officers and the sacred bull ,

A pis and in this sculpture w e see that an ark of the

sam e si ze and shape as the Jewish ark was carried
’ ”
along upon m en s shoulders in the sacred procession
—S/m rpe s Egyptian My thology T his was doubtless the
.

’
.

ark of O siris A si m ilar sacred chest was also carried

.

in procession by the priests of I sis in the m ysteries of

that goddess as related by A puleius and those who
, ,

are fam iliar with the legend of O siris well know that
this sacred chest or ark contained the phallic e m ble m s
of fecundity A ship or boat also form ed one of the
.

sacred sy m bols of this goddess who was herself the ,

10 Tb c My tb o: qf tb e A r k .

re pre sentative of the great m other— the m aternal or

prolific principle of nature .

T he goddesses of the ancient worships are now well

known to m ythological students to have been the pro
t oty pes of the V irgin M ary or m other of G od who is , ,

so highly reverenced in the Ro m an C atholic chur ches .

*

T hey were si mply pe rs o n ific ation s of the m ate rnal

principle .T he m oon had the s am e sign ification
and as the sun for the m ost part was the sy m bol of
, ,

the gods so the goddesses were sy m boli zed by the

,

m oon . T he bull was in like m anner th e ancient

sy m bol of fertility of the sun at the S pring equinox
, ,

and the cow was for this reason sacred to I sis and the ,

sym bol u nder which she was o ften worshipped A n .

tique sta tuette s are sti ll in exi stence which pict ure
’
this goddess with a cow s head and nursing the inf ant ,

god H orus which statuettes with a hu m an face

, , ,

wou ld serve for the virgin and child of C atholic wor

ship T he m oon was the sym bol of all these ancient
.

goddesses b u t only the crescent m oon was u sed for

,

this purpose A nd this crescent m oon which form s

.
,

an arc of a circle was also the sym bol of a boat or

,

The G erm an m ari o latr y o f the m i ddl e age s is to a la rge

d egree t r a c ea b le t o the s e p r e vi o u s he at he n c u s t om s ( the w or
s h i p o f t he s t o rm go dde s s Fre i a H o ld a t r an s f or m ed in to Fre i a
, ,

the od d e s s o f l v e o f am o r o u s n es s o f reju v e n e s cen ce an d of

o , , ,

f ert ity ) T here ar e a n u m b er o f h igh ly c o lou red h ym n s to

'

.
-

t he V irgin t he im agery o f w hi ch is alm os t lit erally tak en

,

fr om s im ila r Fre i a s on gs fragm e n tar y pi eces of whi ch l att er

,

h av e c o m e d own to u s in ch il d re n s rh ym e s Man y of thes e ’

.

h y m n s w ou ld b e per f ec tl y un in t e lli gi b le if w e did n ot kn o w

the p oe ti c al s u rr ou n din gs o f t he Pagan godde s s Fr e ia the .
,

q u ee n o f t he he a v e n s t he s o rr o win g m o t her o f Balder ( t ha t

,

go d o f pe ac e w ho m e t his dea th t hr ou gh t he t ra i t o r
w as t ran s f u s ed in t o the Ma te r D o le r os a t he m ot her of G od , ,
’

o f t he R o m a n ch u rch b u t in t h is t ran s fu s i on s he
. re tain ed
m u ch o f her o r ig i n al ch ar a c t er — Fr om a n i n te res tin g a r ticl e
”
.

on Fre ia H o ld a the T eu to n ic godd ess of lo ve in the

, C om hill ,
Magazine f o r Ma y 1 8 72
”
.

Se e the legen d o f the D ea th of O s ir is .

 The My tk o: qf the A r k . 1 I

ship I n a word the ship or ark of N oah — the bull

.
,

or cow— the crescent m oon and the goddesses I sis or ,

D iana or Juno or C eres or V enus 0 r F reia were

, , , , ,

sym bols possessin g a co mm on significan ce viz the ,

.
,

fertil e p ri nciple of nature I n accordance with th is .

view we find that an egg was also a sy m bol of the

,

ark— a sym bol of the ger m of ani m ated nat u re .

I n the pictures of the V irgi n M ary in C atholic

countries she is often represented with a crescent
m oon this crescent being really the sy mbol of the
,

ship or ark and denoting the secret m ythos which the

ark of N oah enshrines
,

ith this thought in our

. W
m ind we have only to read again the scripture nar
,

rat iv e of the flood to see in the pairs or sevens — m a le

and f em a le of all the various form s of ani m ated life
,

in the m ani fest design of this selection— that the ark

contain e d th e fertile principle of nature and in this ,

sense was one and the sa m e sy m bol with th e ark or

chest of O siris T his reverence of the fertile or
.

generative principle was the foundation of all the

ancient worship and it has struck its roots so deeply
,

into the religion of all subsequent ti m es that we have ,

not to look far to find evidences of it in the religious

thought and custo m s of ou r own day O ur churches .

are built in the form of the ark — an oblong square *

an d the principal portion of the m bears the na m e

” ‘
nave a word derived fro m the L at in navis a ship
, , ,

that word being in its turn derived fro m the G reek ,

N an s whence our word nautical

,
T he early C hris .

tians were called nantai or sailors — R id dle s Chr istian

”
,
.
’

A n tiq u itie s B ut the word navel has also a sim ilar

.

derivation the E nglish word being associated with

,

the G reek m u g T he Latin u m bilicus being an evi

.

dent derivation fro m the G re ek O n ea Xog Jacob .

B ryant has so m e very curious re m arks with regard to

this latter word H e says the term O MPH I was of
.

The chan c el is a se p arate an d d is tin c t b uil d in g a ppe n ded

1 2 Tb e My tb or qf the A r k .

great antiquity and denote d an orac ul ar influence

,
.

T he true rendering was the oracle of H a m or C ha m , ,

or the su n or O s iris T he m ountains whence these

,
.

oracles were delivered cam e to be deno m inated H ar

al o m pi wh ich al om pi was changed by the G reeks
-
,
-

into O lym pus T his word they associated wit h

.

Om phalos a navel and so they said of the sacre d

, ,

oracle of D elphi that it was the u mbilicus or nave l of

the world and they applied this ter m to al l other
,

sacred m ountains whence divine oracles were delivered .

I t is im portant to notice here the connection between

the term navel as associate d w ith the word whic h
,

designates a ship with the act of birth or generation

, ,

and with a divine word or oracle .

U nder the word N oah the sa m e author says The , ,

his tory of the patriarch was recorded by the ancients

throughout their whole theology but it has bee n ,

obsc u red by their describing hi m under so m any

different titles and such a variety of characters T hey .

represented hi m as T hoth H erm es Janus M enes , , , ,

O siris Z e u th Atlas D e ucalion I nachus P ro m etheus

, , , , , ,

S aturn D ion u s u s & c & c A m ong the people of the

, ,
.
, .

E ast the true n a m e of the patriarch was preserved .

”
T hey called hi m Noas “ “
N aus and so m eti m es ,
”
,
“ ”
contracted N ous B ut N ous is the G reek term
.

for m ind and B ryant proceeds to quote A naxagoras

, ,

who identifies the Eastern N oah with the G reek P ro

m e the u s Pr om e the ia he says w as the m ind and
.
, , ,

P ro m etheus was said to renew m ankind by n e w

form ing their minds .

N oah or Noas was thus in all probabil ity the

etym ological p arent of the G reek word m g n e w , ,

h e ha ving been patria rch or father of the new world .

T his connection of the ideas of life and m ind has

bee fully sh own in m y pam phlet on T he My tho
“

W
n

logical M eaning of T ree and S erpent orship the ,

”

serpent being on one hand the sym bol of the gen e

re tive powe r and on the other hand the sym bo l of
,
 f the A r k
The My tho: o . I
3
the Logos or D ivine wisdom The ark is si m ply .

another form of the sym bolism through which the

old N ature worship found expression .

’
T o the uninitiated N oah s ark would see m to have
not the sm allest relation to the V irgin M ary and yet ,

by an overwhel m ing am ount of evidence we shall

show the m to be closely associate d — to be sy mb olical ,

of the sam e m yt hos —the cres c ent m oon being the

,

navi cular sym bol that unite s the m .

M D id ro n in his C hristian I conography has an

.
”

engr aving of the H indoo god des s M aya her head sur ,

rounded by a glory pressing her breasts fro m which

, ,

copious s t ream s of m ilk flo w by which all living ,

cr e atu res are suppo rted and in her lap are represented ,

th e various ani m als strongly re m inding one of the

,

groups which form the cont ents of the toy arks in

co mm on u se tod ay I n a word M aya as the goddess
.
,

m other of N ature is the e mble m of the ark since ,

all existing beings m ay b e said to have be en born

fro m her she being but a sy mbol of the fertiliz ing
,

properties of N atur e I t is ti m e however for us to

.
, ,

consider the curious light which etym ology throws

upon the word ark and though etym o logy m ay so m e
,

ti m es m islead us yet the study of wo rds and language

,

is the study which of all others t hrows greatest light

on the ideas which prevailed in the ancient world an d
on the origin and growth of religious dogm a *
.

The thi gs w h i ch w e c all wo r d s ar e o rga i c thin gs l i k e

n n

an im als an d v ege t ab l e s T he y h av e r oots an d b r

. che s an .

T he y gr o w an d d ec ay T he y h a v e fi x ed law s t o g o v ern t he i r
.

e xi s t e ce lik e all o ther b e i gs T hey d o n ot le ap f ro m o u r

n ,
n .

m o u th s hel ter s k elt er as t he t oad s an d je w els d r o pped f rom

-

the m o u t h o f t he cru e l m o t her in t he fa ir y t ale T he y are

We are n o t t he ir v olu tary ar ea
.

n ot ac c i d e n tall y creat e d . n

to rs T he y b ree d in u s an d i s s u e f rom u s n o t o n l y f ro m o u r
.
,

li p s b u t f r om o u r b rain s b y law s as regula r a d perm an e t

,
n n

as t h os e w h i ch g o v ern t he c o n cep ti on an d b i r t h o f b r o od s o f
fi s he s b ir d s o r s erpe n ts
, ,
Lan gu age t here fo re m u s t b e a
.

d epa r tm en t o f atu r al his to ry

n Ne w e x pre s s i on s or i d i o m s
.

appea r u po n the f ac e of h u m an soc i e t y ju s t as n e w s pe c i es

1 4 The My tho: qf the A r k .

Ou r E nglish word ark

is derived fro m the G ree k
signifyi n g a beginn ing in order of ti m e an
ap n
x , ,

entrance into bein g fi rs t or chief in point of au tho ,

rity T he word in this sense is in com m on use

. .

T he G reek r u lers were ca ll ed Archons our chief ,

bishops are call e d ark or arch bishops The scien ce -

.

of antiquity is called ark e ology T he chief builder -

.

the one who supplies the ideas — is call ed the archi

te c t . S o the lunette or crescent is cal led the arc of
a circle and this gives its nam e to the circula r arch
,
.

T he G reek word for the ship of N oah was Kib otu s .

O ur word ark however has evident relation to the , ,

G reek a pxn and serves us as a pla in guidan ce to the

,

m ythical m eanin g of the whole story of the flood .

T he G reeks called AR G os their m ost an cient city ,

and the m ythological prototype of all sea going ships

was the A R G O T hey considered the gods of .

A RCad ia the m ost ancient deities T hey called .

their m ost ancient and sacred religious cere m onies

O RG s ( opy l a ) fro m which the C hristians got the ir
,
‘ ’
opprobrious ter m orgies for all sorts of heathen
cere m onies especially when they were practised in
,

se c r es y T he R o m an word for any m ystery w as

.

A RCan u m for any religious teaching O R A Cu lu m ,

that is an arkite thing— kn owledge shut up and con

ce ale d fro m public view T he old Egyptian word .

A R K signifies upon the m onu m ents says B unsen , ,

conclusion shuttin g up an d in C optic it signifies to

, ,

gu ard F ro m this sense we have the word am a

.
,

citadel an d in th is ci tadel were kept for safety

,

an d v ari e tie s f anim a l an d v ege t ble h v e u c ce si vely

o s a s a s s
m de t he ir ppe r
a ce u p the u rf e f th ea rt h d in
a a an on s ac o e an
th w te r
e a f the A n d w rd s
s o d lan gu age pe ris h
sea . d o an s an
are p e e v e d i the hi t ry f l i te r tu re prec i e ly li k e t h os e
r s r n s o o a s
f il f rm f e t i c t pl ts d a im als whi ch w e tu d y i
os s o s o x n an an n s n

the ge l gi c l depo its f the p t

o o a L e le y o L s
g u ag o as .
”
-
s n an e as a
T es t of R ac e in Ma n s O r igin a n d “ ’
D es tin y .
”

A r k in San s c ri s ign ifi e s the t su n . V er n on Harco u r ts

’

Doc tr ine of D e l uge , p 4 95

”
. .
 The My tho: f the Ark
o . I
5
ancient histories and writings h ence term ed archives ,
”

—
.

Lesley .

T he ark had thus various m eanings I t sym bolised .

N oah the great father of the n e w world of which he

, ,

was at once the parent and first m an and who was in ,

ancient ti m e worshipped as a god *

I t sym bolised .
,

fro m the nature of its contents the fert ile prin ciple ,

of N atur e and thus was one and the sa m e with the

,

virgin goddesses of P aganis m with M aia of I ndia , ,

I sis of Egypt D iana V enus and A starte of Syria

, , , ,

C eres of G reece and Juno of R o m e who in turn , ,

were all sy mbo ls of the H oly S pir it t e of D eity in ,

. .
,

its feminine aspect T he episod e of Juno on the to p .

of M ount I da is but another version of the ark resting

on the peak of A rarat T he ark too was the sym bol .
, ,

of sal vation it was the place of safety by which its

occupants were saved fro m the devastations of the
del u ge I t was the secret receptacle where divin e or
.

creative wisdo m was enshrined and so the ark of the ,

Jews contained the tables of the law or in later ti m es ,

the roll of S cripture while the ark of Egypt r e pr e , ,

senting the grosser id ea of D i v ine wisdo m v iz crea ,

.
,

tive power contained the sym bols of procreation I t

, .

is a little singul ar in this connection that the Jews

were ordered to put into the ark of the covenant
’
A aron s rod that budded and that consequently ,

sym bolised fertil ity 3 and here the idea of the N ature
worship was preserved though redee m ed fro m the ,

grossness that m ar ked it in the S yrian and E gyptian

religions .

T his too i m plies a relation to have existed between

, ,

the ark of N oah and the ark of the covenant or testi

m ony d T he Jewish ark of the covenant was al m ost
‘

an exact fa c si mile of the sacred ark of the Egyptians .

F aber in his O rigin of P aga n I dolatry says the

,
“ ”
,

S e
e H a rc o ur t s
“
D oc t rin e of the D elu ge
’
.
”

1 The an c i en t m e an i n g o f this w o rd is in s tr i c t k eep in g

'

wi th the pr ec ed in g rem ar ks .
 1 6 The My tho: f
o the Ark .

sacred ark was a necessary ins tru m ent in th e due

celebration of the E leus inian Mysteries I t was borne .

in sol e m n procession on the b ack of an ass because .

an ass was dee m ed a sym bol of typhon or the ocean ,

whic h susta ined upon its waters the ark of the

deluge and its contents a c co rding to C le m ens Alexan
, ,

d r in u s were certain conical pyr am ids cakes fo rm ed

, ,

so as to exhibit the se m blance of navels po m egranates , ,

and the sym bol of the fe m ale principle spoken of in

”
the O ld T esta m ent as the ashera F or the specific .

m eaning of these sym bols the rea der is referred to m y

tract on the Mythology of T ree and Se rpent or
”
“
W
ship . F aber goes on to show that the sa cred ark
was but a sym bol of the earth or world T he ark .

w as in fact a m iniature world and containing as it ,

did the ger m of all ani m ated things it was regarded ,

as the great m other whence all things sprung T hus .

the ark earth and goddess were represented by

, ,

co mm on sy m bols T he lotus or lily the e g the

.
, ,

ship the cow and the navicular or cres c ent shap e d

, ,

m oon had in the anci e nt m yt hology the sam e typical

significan ce and all had refe rence to the m yth of the
,

deluge T he ark of N oah was thus sy m bo lical of the

.

earth or world B ut according to Josephus the Je wish

.

T ab e rnacle had a m ystical m eaning and sym bolised ,

the world No w the ark of the covenant was r e

.
,

garded as a m iniature tabern acle I t was even a m ong .

,

the Jews held to be the especial abode of the god o f ,

-

the sourc e of life — its contents being in early ti m es

,

e m ble m atic of physical as in m odern tim es they are ,

e m ble m atic of m oral or spiritual life ,

.

F aber shows that a sacred ark w as reverenced in all

the ancient religions T his ark was often represented .

in the fo rm of a boat or ship as well as by an oblong ,

box or ches t E very writer h e says who t rea ts of

.
, ,

I nd ian m ythology notices the argha or sacred ark of

the god S iva or I sa T he whole tenor of the D ruidical
.

superstition sh ows that an ark or ch es t or cell or , , ,

 51 6 M t/y os
17 y qf tb s Ark . 1
7

bo at or cav e rn was n o le ss i m port an t in the C e lti c

, ,

m ys te ri e s t han in tho s e of G r ee c e E gypt I taly , , ,

P hoen ici a B abyl on an d H in d ost an

,
T he S p an is h
,
.

aut hors who discuss the early hist ory an d m yt ho l ogy o f

the M e xican s t e ll u s t hat the ir gr e at go d M e zitli ( or ,

V itzlip u tzli was carri e d in a s acre d ark on the shou l

d e rs of his pri e sts duri n g the ir progr e ss in qu e st of a
s e ttl e m e n t an d that aft e rw ards w he n the y fi n ally
, ,

s e ttl e d in an y pl ac e the s am e ar k c on t ai n i n g the i m ag e

of the d e ity was s o l e m n ly d e p o sit e d in his te m pl e .

J ac ob B ry an t in the pr e fac e to his A n alysis of the

,

A n ci e n t M yt hol ogy s ays “

U p on e n quiry w e shall
, ,

fin d t hat the D e luge w as the gr an d e p o c ha of e v e ry

”
an ci e n t ki n gd om an d his w ork g oe s t o s ho w t hat
,

thi s tr aditi on o f the d e stru cti o n o f the w orld by a

fl ood an d the sal v ati on of a si n gl e fam ily in a ship o r
,

ar k w as the m yt ho s t hat lay at the fou n d ati on of

,

all the an ci e n t r e ligi ous sys t em s H e n c e in all the .

,

old w ors hips the t ops of m o u n t ai n s w e r e e st e e m e d

s acr e d pl ac e s The altar d er iv e s its n am e fr om the

L ati n altu s —a high pl ac e The altar was also as
.

”
.
, ,

we s hall s hortly s e e the e quiv al e n t of the ark an d it

, ,

w as als o the m ou n tain on w hich the ar k r e s te d

A L T O R the m o u n t ai n
-
Vari o us te rm s s ays F ab e r .
, ,

are e m pl oy e d by the G r ee ks to d e scrib e t his m y s te r i

o u s ark an d t he y s e v e r ally acc ordin g t o t he ir lit e ral

, ,

im p ort c on v e y t o u s the id ea of a chest a b oat a

, , ,

c offin or a n avicul ar ark such as that in w hic h D e u c a

, ,

li on an d P yrr ha w e r e pr e s e rv e d at the tim e of the

d e luge The E gyptian s an d H e br e ws how e v e r styl e d
.
, ,

the ar k T e b ah * Bar is 1 A rgo an d B ut o o r a c offi n

, ,
r
, , .

The H e br e ws us e d the w ord TBH ( T e b a) t o d e sign ate

the ark of N o ah an d AR N ( Ar on )t o d e signat e the ar k
,

A s A p am ea w as c all e d the c i ty of the Bo at or A rk , so

Theb e s in E gypt w as in lik e m an n e r t he c ity of the A r k or
Coffi n b e c au se of t he Ro y al gr ave s the re
,

1 Fr om whi ch ou r w or d b ar k or b ar q u e— a shi p
.

’ ‘
.

B
 77 Myt/J o: qf tb e A rk
‘

1 8 16 .

of the c o v en an t This l atte r w as i n trust e d t o the s ole

.
*

u ardi an s hip o f a cl ass of pri e sts the s on s or d e sc e n d

g
an ts of A a r o n — the s o n s o r pri e sts o f th e ar k — showi n g
t hu s that in al l probability A ar on w as a m ythol ogic al
T he w o rd TBH s ays L e sle y
”
an d n o t a r e al p e rs on .
, ,
“ ”
M an s O rigi n an d D e sti n y p age
’
is an Egy p ,

ti an w ord m ean i n g a v as e or pot G e s en iu s s ays in

,
.

his dicti on ary t hat its H e br e w e ty m o l ogy is qui te

,

u n k n own I n the C optic it m e an s a c av e rn a b o at a

.
, ,

che st or a s arc ophagu s or c offin ”

L e sl e y als o shows .

by a m ultitud e o f curi ous an d strikin g id e as that in ,

e arly ti m e s archit e ctur e w as cl o s e ly ass oci at e d with

r e ligi on — sym b olis e d the e arly r e ligi on in st on e That

re ligi on had its origi n f or the m ost p ar t in the , ,

arkit e m yt ho s in the ship or ho us e or c he st on the

, , , ,

m o u n t ai n t op c on tai n i n g the g e rm s of r e n e w e d l ife

, .

T hus on e of the m o st c om m on fo rm s o f r e ligi o us

arc hit e ctur e was in E gypt the pyram id o r tru n c at e d

co n e an d in G re e c e the p e di m e n t— a w ord sy n on y
,

m o us w ith pyr am id — wit h a cr o ss or u rn at the top .

( fig . A s how e v e r Ar arat was d o ubl e pe ak e d an d

, , ,

the ar k was in t he curre n t tr aditi on fabl e d t o re st

, ,

be tw e e n the p eaks t his pe di m e n t or pyram id was ,

s om e ti m e s split in t wo an d the u rn o r a m o r ar k , , ,

plac e d b e twe en the m ( fig .

Fig 1 . . Fig 2. .

I t w uld s o prob abl e that the Je ws had the ar k of the

e em
c o v e n an t c e n t u ri e s b e fo r e the y kn e w an yt hin g c on c e rn in g the

a r k o f N o ah A s m on othe is t s t he y s tood in gre at m eas ure

.

al oo f from t he o ld w orld m yt ho l o gi e s The ri t e s an d c e re .

m on i e s of t he s e ho we v e r o cc as i on all y c re pt in am on g the m
, , ,
an d w e re ad o pted in the ir r e li gi o u s wo rs hi p V e ry m u c h of .

t he J e w1 s h ri t u al w as borr ow e d ab o u t the e r a of S ol om on from

 The Mfi l m “

f
o the A rk . 1 9

The al t ar of ou r C atholic churche s, with the s acr e d

c he st w hich c on t ai n s the c o n s e cr at e d ho st , is thu s

s ym b olic al of the m ou n t ain with the ar k The che st .

in qu e sti o n c orr e sp o n di n g with the ar k o r s acr e d che st

o f the J e wish an d Egypti an Worship B ut the c o m .

m u n i o n t abl e o f P rot e st an t w o rship is the an al ogu e o f

-

the C atholi c alt ar, is , in short , the TBH or T e b ah, or

ar k . The r e ar e two s acr e d pl ac e s in e v e ry hous e , the
tabl e at whic h m e als are t ak e n , the alt ar , as it w er e ,
o f the ho us e hold , an d the circl e r ou n d the fir e sid e -
.

T o sit at on e s t abl e is t o e n t e r the v e ry s an ctu ary of

’

d om e stic fri en ds hip Just n ow the r e is a hot disput e

.

am o n g the C hurch of E n gl an d cl e rgy as t o the pr op e r

d e sign ati o n of the pi e c e of church fur n itur e fr om which

the s acram e n ts ar e dis p e n s e d S om e cl ai m it to b e
.

“ ” ”
o n ly a t abl e , ot he rs d e clari n g it t o b e an alt ar
n e i t he r p arty app ar e n tly disc e r n i n g t hat the two
t hin gs hav e , as c hurch sym b ols , the s am e m ean i n g,
an d hav e d e sc e n d e d fr om the o ld arkit e w ors hip T he .

cup on the tabl e, the che st on the altar, the u rn on

the p e dim e n t , ar e on e an d the s am e s y mb ol , an d re pre
s e n t the ark ou the m ou n t ain S om e tim e b ack the
.

writ e r visit e d the s om e what n ot orious churc h of S t

Al b an s , H olb or n — a church in which the r e is a pr ofus e
r e producti o n of what is c all e d m e di aev al sym b olism ,
bu t which in r e ality is a sym b olis m d e rive d fr o m thes e
”
old w o rships H er e the t able is b ol dl y ass erte d to
“
.

” ’
b e an alt ar T he writ e r s att e n ti on was arr e ste d by
.

the fact t hat ar o u n d the arch divi d in g the c han c e l

fr om the c hurch, an d on the wall imm e di ate ly ab o v e
the tabl e or alt ar the d e c or ati on was the w e ll k n o wn
.
w at e r sym b ol of the Egypti an s N WW
in dic ativ e of
the turbul e n t w av e s that surr ou n d e d the m o u n t o f
s afe ty an d the ar k of r e st .

t he Egy pti s
an d the ark had b ee n bo rrowe d at a m u ch
,
an

e ar l i e r pe ri o d F
The r ee m as ons at the pre s e n t d ay u se m an
. y
y
ri te s an d s m bo ls of whose an c ien t m e an in g the are wholl y y
2 0 f
Tb a My tb o: o the d rk .

Whv e a e s e en that the

d e sign ate d by a ark was
w ord which had the m ean in g of a s e pul c h r e or t o b
m *
.

I t was the t om b o f N oah an d o f the re m nan t o f the ,

old w o rld life t hat it c on ta in e d an d t he s e w he n t he ,

fl o o d subsid e d w e re b orn as i t w e r e i n to n e w lif e

,
.

So the ark was the sym b ol of r e surr e cti on or r e g en e r a

ti on an d in thi s s e n s e allusio n is m ad e to it in the
b ap t is m al s e r vice of the C hurch o f E n gl an d —in the
,

pray e r w hich asks that the re cipi e n t m ay b e s av e d

from the w av e s of this troubl e s om e w orld an d b e ,
.

”
r e c e iv e d i n t o the ark of Christ s Chu r ch I n the old
’
.

m yt hol o gy J an us was a r e pr e s e n t ati o n of N o ah He .

was re pr e s e n t ed with two fac e s as o n e t hat l o ok e d ,

up on t wo w orlds an d on the r e v e rs e of his c o i ns w as

,

a d o v e circl e d wi t h an o liv e bran c h He was r e pr e .

” ”
s e n t e d s ays B ryan t as a j ust m an an d a prophe t
, ,
.

T he re was a traditi on that he rais e d the first te m pl e

to heav e n an d he w as r e gard e d as on e o f the ca bir i or
, ,

the e ight o rigin al d e iti e s o f the ark He is r e pre s en t e d .

w ith a k e y an d is te rm e d the d e ity of the d oor o r

,

p ass ag e hen c e in r e fe ren c e to him e v e ry d oo r am on g

, ,

1*
In l y Chr is t ian t im e s the altar w as in s om e s e n se a
e ar

t o m b The s e p u l c hr e o f a sain t be c am e his shr in e —that i s

. .
,

a c he s t o r b ox c o n t ain in g s ac re d re li c s S om e tim es c hu r che s.

as w e ll as alt ars w e re e re c te d o v e r the grav e s of the d e ad an d ,

f o r t he s am e reas on the v au lt s b e n ea th c hu rc he s w e re w on t to
b e u se d as c e m e t e r i e s I n the s e c on d C o un c il o f N i c e 3 law
.

w as p ass e d whi c h m ad e b is ho ps su bje c t to d e p r i vati on if the y

c o n s e crat e d a chu rch wi thou t re li c s—tha t is re m ain s o f a ,

s ai n t E n lan d w as at on e t im e s ore ly p uzzl e d t o fi n d re li cs

fas t e n ou gg f or all he r n e w altars ( Soa m e s A n glo Saxon
.

Chu r c h , an d thi s le d to the ir frau d u l e n t fab r i cation .

T he alt ar o f a s ai n t w as in s om e s e n s e the to m b o f the s ain t ,

an d t he c hi e f altar i s in t hi s s e n se re gard e d as the to m b o f

‘

the go d w ho is wors hi ppe d The i d e as o f d e at h an d re su rr e c

.

t ion ar e c l os e ly ass oc ia te d wi th the m ass se r vi ce pe rform e d on

Cat holi c altar s an d wi th the c om m un i on s e rvi ce of the Lo rd s
,
’

tabl e or Te bah or ark in Pr o te s tan t c hu rche s

, , .

T he w ord m y s te ry appli e d to t he pagan ce l e b rati on o f

”
“

ar ki te worshi p is s t i ll appli e d to the m as s an d c om m un i on

se rvi c e s of C hris tian w ors hi p .

 The My tho: of the A r k . 2 1

t he Lati n s call e d J an n a an d the fi r st m on th o f

was ,

t he y ear was call e d J an u ary as b e i n g an o p e nin g of a

,

n e w e ra . In this s ens e the ar k had the m e an i n g of

the r e s u rre cti on an d he r e its sym bo l was an e gg
,
.

A n e gg was a co m m on sym b o l in the m yt ho logy of

the an ci e n t w o rld A bull butti n g an e gg wit h his
.

horn s an d thus br eaki n g the s he ll an d lib e rati n g the

,

i m prison e d life was the sym b o l of the O p e n i n g y ear

,

at the ti m e w he n the y e ar had its c om m e n c e m e n t in

the S pri n g o r s eas on in w hich the e arth s fe r t ility

’

, ,

w hich had be en d e str oye d by T yphon or A hrim an , ,

o r wi n t e r was r en e we d by O sir is or O rm u s d or the

, , ,

S pri n g s u n V irgil allud e s to t hi s id e a : C an didus

.

au r at is aperit q u u m c orn ib u s an n um T aur u s T his ”

.

is the m e an in g of the P asch or Eas te r e ggs 3 t he y are

sym bo ls o f r e surre cti on or r e n e w e d life an d in t his ,

s e n s e w e re us e d in the r e ligio us ri te s o f G r e e c e I n di a , ,

an d E gypt .

“ ” “
The e gg s ays J acob B ry an t
, as it c on t ai n e d ,

t he pri n cipl e s of l ife w as t hought n o i m prop e r e m

,

bl e m o f the ark in which w e re pr e s e rv e d the rudi

,

m e n ts o f the futur e w orld H e n c e in the D ion u sian

.

an d in ot he r m ys ter i e s o n e p ar t of the n o ctur n al

”
ce re m on y c on siste d in the c on s e crati on o f an egg .

T his e gg he as s e rts on the author ity o f P orp hyry

, , ,

was sym b oli cal o f the w orld an d w as call e d the m u n ,

dan e e gg or e gg which e n cl o s e d the wo rld

,
.

The author o f the T wo B abyl on s s ays : F r om

E gypt the s e sacre d e ggs can b e di sti n ctly trac e d t o t he
b an ks o f the E up hrate s T he cl assic p oe ts ar e fu ll o f
.

the fabl e of t he m ystic e gg o f t he B abyl on i an s an d ,

its tal e is thus t o ld by H ygi n us the E gypti an the ,

l e arn e d k ee p e r o f the P al ati n e library at R o m e in the

t i m e of A ugustus A n e gg of w on dr ous siz e is s aid
to hav e fall e n from heav e n i n t o the riv e r E uphr at e s ,

o u t o f which c am e V e n us w ho afte rwards was c all e d

,

the S yri an g o dd e ss Astart e H e n c e the e gg

, .

be c am e on e of the symb o ls of As tar te or Eas te r an d , ,

2 2 The My tho: of the A rk .

a cc ordin gly at C yp rus on e of the cho s e n s eats of the

,

w or ship of Ve n us or As tar t e an egg was re pre s en te d ,

of hu ge siz e The o ccult m ean i n g of this m yst ic egg

.

o f A st art e f or it had a tw ofo ld sign ific an ce )had re fe r

(
e n ce t o the ark dur in g the ti m e of the fl o o d in whic h ,

the who l e hum an r ac e w er e s hu t up as a chick is

e n cl o se d in t he e gg b e for e it is hatched The appli .

cati on of the w o rd e gg t o the ark c om e s thus

T he H e bre w n am e f or an eg is B EITZ T his in g .

C hald ee an d P hoen ici an b e com e s B EITH which is also ,

the t e rm f or ho us e as B e th e 1 ho us e of G o d
,
The -
,
.

e
gg w as t h us t he hous e or ark in whi ch the p r in cipl e
”
o f life was e n cl o s e d .

T he egg t hus sym b oliz e d a t o m b an d a re surre ction

— d e st ructi on an d creati on Not a fe w of t he an ci e n t .

n ati o n s says D r O liv er ( Signs a nd Sy m bols

,
.
) bl e n de d ,

t he crea ti on an d the d e lug e s o in ti m at e ly t hat the

sam e m yt ho s applie s t o e ither e v en t The b oo k of .

G e n e s is t e lls us that in the six hu n dr e dth y ear o f

’
N oah s life in the se c on d m on th an d the s e v e n te e n th
, ,

d ay of the m o n t h the fl o od be gan an d N oah e n t e r e d

, ,
”
the ark . P lut arc h in his tre atis e D e [ s id e et 0 3 in
, ,

s ays that O siris t o av oid the fury of T yp hon w e n t

, ,

in to his ark an d that it happe n e d on the s e v e n t e e n th

,

d ay of the m on t h A thy r when the su n was in S c orpi o , .

T he Egypti an s he t e lls us k e pt tw o fe stiv als at o pp o

, ,

si te p ar ts of the y ear v iz the sprin g an d autu mn al

, .
,

e qui n ox the sprin g fe stiv al b e i n g t he r e sur r e cti o n

,

an d the autu m n fe s t iv al the d e ath o f O sir is

; an d he
says that on the s e v e n tee n th d ay o f the s e c on d m on th
after the autu m n al e qu in o x O siris w as shut up in his

c o ffi n or ar k an d this ag re e s with t he v e ry d ate at

,

which N oah was said to hav e e n t e re d his ark the ,

civil y e ar o f the J e ws b egi n n i n g with the autu m na l

e qu in ox The ti m e of N oah s lib e rati on fro m the ark
’

was t he co mm en c e m e n t of the nat u r al y ear the ti m e ,

whe n O sir is was fable d to e n te r n ot the ar k but t he , ,

m oo n ( I sis ) an d t o br in g b ack the earth s fe rt ility

,
’
.
 The My tho: of the A rk . 2
3

The i n t e rv al duri n g which O siris was in the ar k sy m

b o lize d the W i n t e r o r s e as o n o f the e art h s ste rility
’
.

The l e ge n d of O siris b e i n g sl ai n by Typ hon is thus

the fo u n d ati on l e g e n d of the old n atur e w orship It .

is the su n l o si n g i t s p ow e r— the e arth d e priv e d of its

fe rtility—the d e ath of O s iri s , or n atur e , or Or m u s d ,
sl ai n by Ahrim an ; an d the op e ni n g spri n g tim e was
the gre at r e surr e cti on fe stiv al , w he n N oah l e ave s the
ar k , or O siris quits his t o m b , or t he e gg gi v e s u p its

i m pris on e d life , or the e arth s fe rtility is r e store d , or

’

’
the su n s p o w e r r e gai n e d . Easte r D ay , as n ow k e pt
in c on n e cti on wit h the ass e rt e d r e surr e cti on o f J e sus ,
is si m ply the ad aptati on of a fe stiv al of the an ci e n t
r e ligi on t o t he pu rp o s e s o f a n e w fait h I t t ak e s its
.

n am e fr om the S ax on g o dd e ss Eo s tr e , w ho is t he s am e

with the S yri an Astart e an d the Egypti an I sis The .

sto ry of the fl o o d has , ho w e v e r , a r e l ati on to an othe r

— ”
m ythol ogic al id e a the N e r os , or succ e ssi on of age s
o r cycl e s , or the r e n e wal of w orlds In the H i n d oo
.

m yt ho l ogy this id ea fi n ds e xpr e ssi on in the K al i Yu g,

or gre at y e ar or ag e of B r ahm , at the e xpir at i on of

whic h the old w orld is d e stroy e d an d a n e w w orld

pro duc ed J os e phus , howe v e r, sp e aks of a gr e at yea r
.

c om p o se d of six hu n dr e d ordin ary y ears ; this c on sti

”
t u te d the an ci en t cycl e o f the N e ro s . G od , he s ays,
affo rd e d the p atri arc hs a l on g e r t e rm o f life on acc o un t

o f t he ir virtu e an d the g oo d u se t he y m ad e of the ir

wisd om in astron om ic al disc ov e ri e s , w hich t he y w ould

n ot hav e had the m e an s of fo r e t e lli n g u n l e ss t he y had
liv e d six hu n dr e d y ears ; f or the gr eat y e ar is c om
”
le t e d in t hat i n t e rv al G o dfr e y H iggi n s in hi s
p .
,

C e ltic D ruids , sho ws that the an ci e n ts t ho ught that

six hu n dr e d y e ars c on stitut e d a s oli lu n ar p eri od, or
-

a p e ri o d in w hich the su n an d m oon w o uld ag ai n

su st ai n e x actly the s am e r e l ati on s to e ach othe r .

T hus if at an y ti m e the re was a n e w or full m oon , at

the s am e m om e n t six hu n dre d y e ar s he n c e the r e .

w o uld b e n ew or full m o on again W ith e ach of .

 2 4 The My thor qf the A rk .

thes e p e ri o ds the an cie n ts he ld that the r e was a n e w

age an d a n e w w o rld . The Av atar s of the H in d oo
m y thol ogy an d the g o ld e n ir o n br ass & c ag e s o f
, , , ,
.
,

t he Ro m an m ytho l ogy ,
ar e illus t rati on s of this
thought ; an d in the c e le brate d li n e s of V irgil pr e ,

di c t i n g the c om m e n c e m en t of a n e w cycle an d the

re tu rn o f the g o ld e n age ,
the id e a fi n ds v e ry pl ain
e
x pre ssi on
J am re d i t e t vi rg o r e d e u n t s at u rn i a re gn a ,

J am n o va p roge n i es c oelo d e m itt itu r alto

”
.

T he gre at s e ri e s of r e v olvi n g ag e s b e gi n s an e w .

Now to o r e tur ns the virgi n A stre a r e turn s the

,
*

r e ign of S aturn n ow a n e w pr oge n y from high he av e n

,
”
d e sc e n ds " The durati on of an age was 60 0 y ear s ,

an d t he n m en l o ok e d f o r w on d e rful c han g e s t o c o m e .

I t w as in the s e c on d m on t h o f the 60 0 th y e ar of his

age t hat N o ah e n t e r e d i n t o the ar k an d it w as o n ,

the first d ay of the first m on t h o f the 6 0 1 st y ear or ,

the fir st d ay o f the first y ear o f a n e w age t hat N oah ,

is sa id to hav e l e ft the ar k an d to hav e c o mm e n c e d

the in augur ati o n of a n e w w o rld .

S aturn was the G r e e k Chr on osj t he G o d o f T im e .

J ac ob B ry an t s ays he was the s am e with Jan us an d

N oah T he as s o ci ati on o f a n e w r ul e of j ustic e of
.
,

age o f virt u e succ ee di n g an a e of wick e d n e ss

g
,

an d t his u n d e r the r ul e o f a virgi n g o dd e ss id e n tifi e s ,

the pr e dicti o n of V ir gil wi t h the m yt ho s o f t he ark .

The z o d i ac al e m bl e m s sho w the astr on om ic al e x

pl an ati on o f whic h the m y t hos is c ap abl e T aurus .

or t he B u ll w as the sig n in w hic h t he s u n was ,

an d u n d e r w hic h the s u n was w o rs hipp e d at the

spri n g e quin ox . H en c e O siris w as re pre s e n ted by
A s trea in the m yt hology o f the an c ie n t s w as the godde ss
, ,

o f ju s t i c e
. She re sid e d o n t he e art h d u rin g t he re i gn o f
S atu rn in the go lde n age bu t shocked at the im pi e ty an d
,

wi cke d n e ss o f m e n in t he su cc e e din g age s s he re t urn e d to

,

hea v e n an d b e c am e on e o f t he s i gn s o f t he zo dia c
, .

1 H e n c e ou r w o r d c hr on e si g n ify in g an o ld w om an an d
'

, ,

sa tu rnal ia as appli e d to w ild an d li c e n tiou s orgie s .

 The My tho: o
f the A rk . 2
5
the B ull Apis an d I sis r epr e s e n t e d as a w om an
,
’
with a c o w s he ad The B ull Apis was m ark e d on
.

the s ho uld e r wit h a cr e sc e n t sym b olisi n g the m o o n or

’
ar k . T he vir gi n I sis wit h a c o w s head n ursi n g
, ,

H orus was the pr ot otyp e of all the vir gin g o dd e ss e s

, ,

m othe rs o f G o d an d qu e e n s o f he av e n o f t he o ld
,

c l assic m yt ho l ogy A t Ephe sus she was r e pre s e n t e d

.

in gr ot e squ e t hough hu m an form with a m ultitud e of ,

b reasts . H e re s he b ore the n am e D i an a an d r e pre ,

s e n t e d in a crud e w ay t he prin cipl e o f m ate rn ity .

G r e e k ar t r e pr e s e n te d the Egypti an I sis as a b eaut iful

w om an n ursi n g the i n fan t H orus 3 an d M r S harp e in
, ,
”
his H ist ory of Egypt t e lls us t hat whe n the w o rs hip
,

o f I sis w as i n t e rdict e d at R om e an d t hat of C hristi an ity

,

e st ablis he d in its pl ac e the p ai n t e rs w ho hit he rt o had

, ,

o t t he ir livi n g by p ai n ti n g pictur e s of I sis an d

g
H orus still c on t i n u e d t o p ain t the s am e pictur e s of
,

the V irgi n an d C hild c alli n g the m n ow M ary an d the

,

I n fan t J e sus The old m yt hol ogic al t ai n t still c on

.

ti n ne s an d I hav e b e fo re m e w hil e writi n g a b e auti

,

f ully c ol o ur e d pictur e of the V irgi n M ary acc om p an i e d ,

with a l arge lu n e tt e or curv e d m oon or ship sy m b ol , ,

t hus s ho wi n g how C hristi an art still a ss oci ate s wit h

its p ai n ti n gs as Christian fe stiv als c on tin u e in the ir
,

usage s— the bu n s of G oo d F riday ( the c ak e s that

w e r e offe r e d to A starte )an d the e ggs o f E ast e r —the
s ym b ols of the w o rld s m o st an ci en t m ytho l o gi e s
’
.

T HE A R K I N ITS C O NN E CTIO N WITH T HE AN C I E NT

MYSTE R IES .

The st o ry of the A rk an d D e luge is the st ory of

t he d e structi o n o f an o ld w o rld an d the cr e ati on o f a
n e w w o rld . The lib e r ati o n of its o cc u p an t is t he r e
fo r e to the e xis t i n g age the c re ati on of the firs t m an ,

an e v en t c om m o n t o all n ati on s an d the p o i n t t o w hic h,

all tr adi t i on m ust c on v e rg e T he n am e ar k ( a pxn)

.

s ign ifi e s fi rst r e e m i n e n t an d m o st an ci en t an d in
p
-
, , ,
2 6 The My thor of the A r k .

t his s en s e m i n gle s with ou r co mm o n sp ee c h t o— d ay .

I t is w e ll kn ow n that all the an ci e n t r e ligi on s c on

siste d of two p ar ts—o n e a syste m o f ce re m on i e s an d
sacrific e s op e n an d co m m on to the m ass e s o f the p e opl e ,

t he tea chin gs of w hic h w e r e e x o t e ric or public an d ,

an ot he r p or t i on whic h was k e pt c are fully c on c ea l e d

from the public e y e in w hi ch a high p hil o s o phy an d
,

a pur e m or ality w e r e t aught an d w hic h fr om the ,

s e cre cy an d m yste ry in which its pr oc e e din gs w ere

s hr o ude d was te rm e d e s ot er ic or hidd e n T o t he se
r e ligi ous r ite s — m yst e r i e s as t he y w e r e te rm e d—o n ly
.

a s e l e ct f e w w e r e ad mitt e d an d t he s e o n ly aft e r a
,

l en gthen e d prob ati on an d p assin g thr ough a s e ri e s of

sy m b o lical an d i n iti at or y r it e s in which the can di ,

d at e s w e r e surr o u n de d b y a v ari e ty o f t e rr o rs an d
difficulti e s an d w e r e b e s e t by i m agi n ary d an g e rs an d
,

p erils s o t hat t he ir c our ag e of b o dy an d m in d w ere

,

put to a m os t s e v e re t e st
W
.

e hav e s e e n t hat the ar k sign ifi e d a c o ffi n or a

s e pulchr e T he En glish w ord b oat is d e riv e d fr o m

.

the G r ee k xIBm og or an ark 3 or the C o ptic b en t a

-
, ,

c offin or s e pulchr e Am on g the C e ltic B rit o n s the

.

ar k o f A e d d on was c on side r e d as his t e m pl e or ,

san ctuar y o r r e stin g pl ac e ; this the y w ere w o n t t o

,

st yl e his b e dd whi ch w ord lik e the C optic b e ut

, , ,

d en ot e s a c o ffi n or s e pulchr e T he w o rd is us e d in .

this s e n se t o d ay in Wal e s in the shri n e w hich s o

-

m an y t o u ris ts visit an d w hich is c alle d i n diffe r e n tly

,

Be thge le rt or Be ddge l e rt m ean i n g the gr av e of G ele rt

,
.

I n the B o o k o f G e n e sis t he sam e w ord is us e d t o

d e sign at e the ar k of the c o v e n an t an d the soros or
c offin within w hi ch the d e ad b ody of J os e p h was
d e p o sited T his w ord w as A RN ( aron ) an d it liv es
.
,

in ou r m idst to d ay in the w ord u r n a v as e c on tain ,

in g the as he s o f the d e ad .

The ark was thus at on ce the c offin or the s hip of

the he r o g ods I n the m yst e r i e s of I sis an d O si ris
.
,

P lutar ch re la te s t hat the i m ag e o f a d ead m an was

 Ta "
My tho: of the A rk . 2
7

carr i e d ab out in an ark or sm all b oat o f a lu n e tte

fo rm whi ch s e rve d him as a c o ffin T his p e rs on was
,
.

O s iris an d this i n te rm en t t he y vi e w e d as the di s

,

app earan c e o f the D e ity an d the l am e n t ati on s o cc a

,

s io n e d by his b e i n g d e ad or l o st co n stitut e d the first

p art of the Myst e ri e s A fte rw ards o n the third d ay

.
,

subse qu e n t to his e n cl o sure withi n the ark a proc e s ,

si on w e n t d o wn to the s e a at n ight the pri e sts b ear ,

in g the s acr e d ark I n to this the y p oure d wate r

.

fro m the riv e r an d when t his rite had b e e n d u ly pe r

,

form e d t he y rais e d a sho ut of joy e xcl ai m i n g that

, ,

the l ost O sir is had b e e n fo u n d t hat the d ead O siris ,

had b e e n r e st or e d t o life t hat he who had d e s ce n d e d

,

i n to H ad e s had r e tur n e d fr om H ad e s The e xul ta .

ti on s in w hich the y n ow in dulge d c on stitut e d the

s e c on d o r j oyful p art o f the m yst e ri e s H e n c e o rigi
W
.

n at e d t ho s e w atc hw ords us e d by the My s tae :

“
e

hav e fo un d him le t u s r ej o ic e t og e the r ”

,
The .

an ci e n t M yste ri e s had t he ir c e l e br ati on s pr ohibit e d

by law by t he Em p er or T heod osius in the 4 th c e n tury .

S till the m yst e ri e s of D i an a w e re c e l e brat e d in the

m id dl e age s in m an y p arts o f E ur op e an d the ,

m yst e ri e s t he m s e lv e s sti ll liv e in ou r m idst t od ay in

the r it e s an d i n iti ati on s of the F r ee m as on s The .

fi ee m ason s l odge is a t e m ple or t ab e rn acl e or ar k

’

, , ,

an d the ar k its e lf for the F r e e m as on s lik e the J e ws

( ,

The w om en w e e in g f or T am m u z or A d o n i s the su n god

o f S yri a all u d e d t o B E z e k i e l an d t he se arc h o f t he d is c on
,

, y ,

s ol ate C e re s in the Gre ci an Myst e r i e s f or he r l o s t d au gh

, ,
”

te r Pro s e rp in e c arri e d o ff by P l u t o in to the in f e rn al re gi on s

, ,

ar e m o d ific at i o n s o f t he s am e m yt ho s T he re ad e r wi ll b e
.

s tru ck wi th the s im i l ar i t y o f thi s m ou rn i n g an d re joi c in g t o

the G ood Fri d ay c e l e brat i o n o f the d e at h o f J e s u s an d the ,

rejo i c in g on ac c ou n t of his re sur re c ti on on Eas te r S un day .

The s chol ars of C hri s t s H os p i t al in the ir E as t e r v i s i t s to the

’
,

Man si on H ou se have or had (f or the wr i t e r is s p ea k in g his

,

o w n e x p eri e n c e thi rt y y e ar s s in c e ) a p i e c e o f p ap e r p in n e d

u pon the ir c oat s abo u t thr e e in c he s lon g b y on e in ch br oad

, ,

ha v in g prin t e d u p on i t in blac k l e tte r t he l e gen d He is ,

“

ris en l ”
 The My thor o
f the A rk .

an d E gypti an s u se an ark in the ir ,

is but a
m in i atur e re pre s en tati on of the l o dge ( L o dge is .

d e r iv e d from the S an scrit l oga sign ifyin g the w orld ) ,

.

D r O live r who has wr itte n v e ry l earn e dly c o n ce rn i n g

,

the rite s an d sym b ols of M as on ry c alls the an ci e n t ,

”
P agan is m spuri ous M as on r y whe re as the p alp able
fac t is that Mas onr y is spur i o us P agan is m — is a
,

m od e rn i m i tat i on o f t he an ci en t m yst e ri e s Dr O liv e r .

”
says Maso n ry w as re veal e d t o A d am in P aradis e
, ,

an d c e rt ain ly its rite s c arr y t he ir a llusi o n s b ack t o a

pe ri od m uch m o re re m o te t han the buildin g of S ol o

m on s T e m pl e
’
.

Re pro du ci n g the an ci e n t re ligi on we sur e ly e xp e ct

to fin d in F r e e m as o nr y t he r e pr o ducti on o f the an ci e n t
m ytho s t o fin d t he re fo r e m an y allusi on s to the ar k
,
.

’
I n M r M ack e y s i n t e r e sti n g l e xic on o f F re e m as onry ,

he t e lls us t hat the F r e e m as on s call the m s e lve s

”
“
N oac hi te s or obs e rv e rs of the c om m an d m e n ts o f
,

N oah ,
an d cl aim that whe n m an ki n d b eg an t o
wan d e r on ce m o re from p aths o f purity the pr in cipl es ,

of N oah w e re sti ll pe rp e tu at e d by t hat p orti on o f

t he ra ce w hom the F r e e m as on s r eg ard as t he ir im
m e di ate an c e sto rs The s e v e n pr e c e pts viz t o r e
. .
,

n o u n c e all id o ls to w ors hip the on ly G o d t o c o mm it

, ,

The N oachi te s w e re a c l ass o f pe opl e w ho w e re n ot Je ws bu t

w ho w e re s ai d t o b e t he s o n s o f N o a h b e c au s e t he y o b se r ve d ,

t he s e v e n m o ral p re c e pts c all e d t he c o m m an dm e n ts o f N o ah

Who
.

T he T alm u d re co gnis e s t he s e pe o pl e as p i o u s m e n “
.

e v e r re c e i v e s t he s e v e n c o m m an dm e n ts s ay s t he oral law ,
”
,

w hi c h the Talm u d re c ords an d is c ar e fu l to obs e rve the m he

, ,

is on e of the p iou s o f the n ati on s of t he w orld an d has a share

in t he w orld to c om e ”— H lc ho th Me lac him c h 8 1 0 A gain
'

. z ,
.
, .
,
“
w e ar e bo u n d say s a T alm u d is t t o l o ve as b re thr e n all t ho se
,
”
,

w ho o bs e r ve t he N o a c hid es w hate v e r t he ir re li gi o u s o p in i on s
m ay ot he r w is e b e We ar e boun d to isi t the ir sick to b
.
,

v ,

t he ir d ead to ass is t the ir poo r li ke t hos e o f I srae l

, MC 8 .
” ‘

o ld Pa ths The y we re probably the v i rt uou s heathe n w ho

.
, ,

c e l e brat in g t he m ys te ri e s or re c e i v in g the s ac ram en ts o f the ir

r e li gi on vir tua ll y ran k e d as the tru e d e s c e n dan ts o f N o ah to

w hom un der the v ar io u s n am es of O sir is Bacchus A d on is , , .

& c the m y s te r i es r e la te d
.
, .
 T he My tho: of the A r k . 2
9

no m urd e r , to
bstai n from i n c e st from st ealin g to
a , ,

b e j us t a n d t o e at n o fl e sh with the bl oo d in it w e r e
, ,

said to form the c on stitu t i on of the an ci e n t bre thr en .

M ore ov e r the acm e o f m as on ic sci e n c e b ears the

,

ti t l e o f r oy al arch d e gre e T his w o rd arc h is m e r e ly .

pr on o u n c e d s oft t he w o rd ar k an d arch ar e t he
ap
x ,

s am e as s e e n in c om p osi t i on arch deac on an d arch or ,

-

ar k an g e l
-
A cc ordin gly w e fin d t his Royal Ar ch d e gr ee
.

has s e cr e t r e fe re n c e t o the s hip m yt ho s f or in S c ot ,

l an d the r oy al arc h m as o n s b ear the titl e o f Royal A r lc

Mar iners ”
. I n the M ast e rs o r t hird d e gr e e of m as on ry
w e hav e the d e ath of O siri s or N o ah c e l e brat e d by ,
‘

the d e at h o f H ir am A b ifl the c hi e f build e r or ,

archit e ct of the te m pl e M r M ack e y s ays t hat F r e e

.

m as o n s t ak e the n am e H iram it e s t o i n dic at e the ir

d e sc e n t fr om H iram an d t his t e rm is m or e p articul arly
,

us e d in the S c otch d e gr e e of P atri arch N oachit e t o dis ,

t in gu ish m as te r m as on s fr om the bre thr e n o f that

-

de gre e who pr ofe ss t o d e sc e n d im m e di at e ly an d with ,

ou t c on n e c t i on wit h t e m pl e m as on ry from the s ons ,

of N oah S o m e l e arn e d write rs he adds e m brac e

.
, ,

all m as o n s u n d e r the te rm N oac hite s .

Be fore the fi n al in iti ati o n i n to the Is id ian or

O sirian m yste ri e s s om e v e ry t e rr ibl e ord eals hav e to
,

b e p ass e d ; a st at e of d arkn e s s b e s e ts the aspiran t in ,

which te rribl e s ou n ds ar e he ard an d acro ss w hich ap

p alli n g visi on s fl as h T he r e ad e r will fin d a v e ry.

’
vivid d e lin e ati on of t he s e te rr ors in M oore s Epicur ean ,

in w hich t he c e r e m on i e s of ini tiati on ar e v e ry fully

d e scrib e d I t is t he s e which ar e i mit ate d in the
.

c e re m on i e s w hic h the F re em as on un d e rg oe s b e for e his

ad m issi on t o t he d e gr e e o f m as te r mas on M r M ack e y -
.

s ays in the m as t e r m as on s d e gre e which is the per

,
-
’

f e c tion of sy m b olic or an ci e n t cr aft m as on ry the ,

pure st of truths are u n ve il e d am id the m ost awf ul

c e rem on i e s N o n e but he who has visit e d the hol y
.

of holi e s an d tr av e ll e d t he r oad of p e r il can hav e an

y
co n ce pti o n o f the m yste rie s u n fold e d in this d e gre e .
3 0 The My tho: qf the A r k .

I n the l an gu ag e of the l e ar n e d an d z eal ous H utchi n s on ,

the m as t e r m as on r e pr e s e n ts a m an s av e d fro m the
-

”
grav e of i n iquity an d rais e d t o the fai th of s alvati on .

I t te stifi e s o u r faith in the r e surr e cti on of the b ody ,

an d w hil e it i n culc at e s a pr actica l l e ss on of prud en c e
an d u n s hak e n fid e lity , it in spir e s t he m o st c he e ri n g

hop e o f t hat fi n al r e w ard which b e l on gs alon e to the

“ ”
j ust m ad e p e rfe ct .

D r O liv e r in his e xp o siti on of m as on ic sign s an d

,
”
sym b ols s ays ( an d he is he r e illustrati n g m as o n ic
, ,

practic e s the i n iti at ory r ite s of t his d e gr e e by the

,

an ci e n t us ag e s
) an e xtr aordin ary c e r e m on y r e fe rri n g
,

t o the D e lug e was us e d in the i n iti ati o n s w hic h s ho ws

,

how m yst e ri o usly t hat e v e n t w as pr e s e rv e d an d tr an s

m itte d T he vi o le n t d e ath of s om e u n happy i n dividu al
.

w as he r e c e l e brat e d w ho s e b o dy the y affe ct e d to hav e

,

l o st an d m uch tim e an d m an y c e r e m on i e s w e re e x
,

p e n d e d in the s e arch e v e n the aspiran t him s e lf was

,

m ade figurativ e ly t o d ie an d t o d e sc e n d i n to the in ,

fern al r e gi on s for the purp os e of asce rt ai n in g the fate

o f him w ho s e dis app e ar an c e the y c eas e d n ot t o d e pl or e .

T hi s p art of the c e r em on y was p e rform e d in d ar kn e ss ,

an d w as acc om p an i e d with l oud l am e n t ati on s the ,

b o dy b e i n g at l e n gth fo u n d the aspir an t was p ass e d ,

thr ou gh the r eg e n e rati n g m e dium an d was s aid to b e

r aised
f rom the d ead and born again T his was the .

co mm en c e m e n t o f joy an d glad n ess fi'E This c e re m on y

b ears e vide n t refe r e n c e t o the d e sc en t of N oah in t o
the d arkn e ss o f the ark w hic h was his e m bl e m atic al
”
c offin .

D r O liv e r did n ot wri t e to en light en the ge n e ral

public but m ast e r m as on s who k n o w the m ys te ri o us
,
-

dark n e ss thr ough which the y hav e to p ass b e fore

e n t eri n g o n the m aste r s de gr ee an d the p e culi ar ri t e s
’

atte nd i n g t he ir i n iti ati o n i n t o it fin d the m cl early ,

e x pl ain e d by t he s e an ci e n t us ag e s an d fabl e s .

The m aste r m as on s d e gre e e m b o di e s the st o ry o f the

’
-

Se e the l e ge n d of the d ea th of O s iris be fore ref e rre d to .

 T he My thos of the A r k .
3 1

a ss assi n ati on of H iram the archit e ct or m ast er bu ild e r

,

o f S ol om on s t e m pl e who traditi on r e l at e s , was

’
, ,

m urd e r e d by thr ee of the fe ll o w crafts m en or lab o ur e rs -

f or r e fusi n g to d e liv e r up the s e cr e t p assword t hat

w as e n tru s t e d on ly t o m ast e r m as on s I n the i n iti a -
.

t or" rit e s o f this d e gre e the i n cid e n ts of t his ass assi n a

r

ti on ar e r e he ars e d The l odg e is hu n g with bl ack an d

.

b e c om e s a s e pulchral v ault di m ly lit with t ap e rs in

the m iddl e of whic h is pl ac e d a c ofli n 3 the br othe r
ab out t o b e ad m itt e d is sudd en ly s m itt e n o n the for e
he ad an d falls as if d e ad is the n in s om e l o dg e s pl ac e d
,

in the c offi n or pastos * an d c o v e r e d with a pal" .

The br e t hr en t he n st an d r ou n d in an attitud e d e mot

in g s orr o w an d r e v e n g e T he c e r e m on i e s t hen go on
.

t o d e scrib e the r aisi n g of H iram by S ol om on in whic h ,

the br o the r is r e st or e d t o life an d his i n iti ati on aft e r

a l e ctur e on life d e at h an d i m m o rt ality is c om pl e t e
, , ,
.

I n a w ord w e hav e in t his m as on ic d e gr e e a r e p e titi on

,

of the tr aditi on of the d eath an d r e surr e cti on of O siris ,

A d on is & c an d of the e n tran c e o f N oah in t o the ark

,
.
,

W
an d his e gr e ss fr om it .

hil e in the an ci en t r e ligi on s a crud e p olyt he is m

was t aught to the p e opl e at lar ge the i n iti at e d w e r e , _

i ns truct e d in the gre at d o ctri n e s of the u n ity of G od ,

t he im m o rt ality of the s oul an d the syst e m of futur e ,

pu n ishm e n t an d r e w ard The i n iti at e d ho we v e r ar e.

, ,

a s e l e ct f e w
_
an d to the s e the highe r an d s e cr e t
,

d o ctrin e s w e r e r e v e al e d A s the s e i n itiati on s are r e

.

pr o duc e d in m as on ry by the v ari ous d e gre e s which

a r e t he r e in c on fe rr e d an d the m e an i n g o f which is
,

k e pt s e cr e t fr om all but the i n iti at e d s o t he y ar e t o b e ,

s e e n in the c om m u n i on s ervic e s of the Christi an church ,

e sp e ci ally in t hat of the church o f S c otl an d whe re it is ,

C l e m e n t of A le xan d r ia sa ys that in the old m y st erie s , ,

those who had u n d ergon e the highe r in i tiat i on of which the

m as te r s d e gre e i s a c op y w e re w on t t o s ay the b e tte r t o
’

, ,

v e i l the ir m e anin g fr om t he u n in i t iate d I hav e d e s c e n d e d in to ,

t he b e d cham b e r I have sl e pt the sle e p of de ath

, .
3 2 The My tho: f
o the A rk .

c e l ebrate d on ly at l on g i n t e rv als half—a y ear it m ay

,
-

be . T he c e l e brati on t he n tak e s the c har ac t e r o f a

g en e r al holid ay s o that the o cc asi on of its ob s e rv
an c e fr om
,
the l arg e gathe ri n gs of p e o pl e that ar e
br o u ght t oge the r has b e e n n am e d the holy fair
,
.

Fab e r who o f all authors has giv e n t his subj e ct

,

the m o st e l ab o rate i n v e stigati on s ays the p hil o s op hy

, ,

i n culc at e d in t he s e m yst e ri e s t aug ht t hat m att e r w as

e te r n al but t hat it w as li abl e t o e n dl e ss c han g e s an d
,

m odific ati on s ; that o v e r i t a D e m iurgic I n te llig e n c e

pre sid e d who w he n a w orld w as pro duc e d ou t o f
, ,

c hao s m an if e ste d him s e lf at the c om m e n c e m e n t o f

,

that w orld as the gre at u n iv e rs a l fat he r of b oth m e n

an d anim al s that duri n g t he e xist e n c e of the w o rld
e v e r y t hi n g in it w as u n d e rgo i n g p e r p e tu al c han g e 3

t hat at the e n d of a c er tai n great app oi n t e d p e ri od

the w orld w as d e st in e d t o b e r e duc e d t o its prim e v al
m at e ri al chao s that the agen t o f its diss oluti on was a
,

fl o o d e ithe r o f w at e r o r of fir e ; that at t his tim e all

its in habitan ts p e ris he d an d the gr e at fathe r fr om
whos e s oul the s oul of e v e ry m an p r o c e e d e d an d i n to ,

w hos e s o ul all s o uls m ust b e re s o lv e d was l e ft in the

,

s o lit ary m aj e sty of abstr act e d m e di t at i on t hat du rin g ,

the pr e v al e n c e o f the D e lug e an d t he r e ig n of chaos

he fl oate d up on the su rfac e of the m ighty d ee p r e p os
in g in the b o s om of his c on s o rt the gr e at m o the r ,

who t he n ass um e d the fo rm o f a s hip but who was

.

lik e wis e r e pr e s en t e d by the l ot o s or the e gg or the

, ,

s e rp e n t o r the n avicul ar l e af or the lu n ar cre sce n t 3

, ,

that the t wo p o w e rs of n ature m al e an d fe m ale or

, ,

the gr eat cr eativ e fathe r an d the gr e at cr e at iv e m o t he r

, ,

we re then re d u c e d to the ir sim ple st prin cipl e s an d

sail e d o v e r the fac e of the illim itable o c e an in the
form of a ship an d m ast .

A t the cl os e of the divi n e y e ar the d e lug e subsid e d ,

an d the gr e at fathe r awak e n i n g fr o m his d e at hlik e

s l e e p an d bur sti n g fo rt h from t he w om b o f the gr e at

,

m othe r wit hin w hich he had bee n c o n fin e d create d a

'

,
 The My tho: of the A rk .
33

n ew w o rld ou t of the
chaotic wre ck of the o ld w orld .

That a n e w r ace of m ortals an d of an im als was

pro duc e d an d t hat e v e ry thi n g that had o ccurr e d
,

duri n g the e xiste n c e o f the pre c e di n g w orld r e curr e d

a g ai n in the n e w o n e The m ys t e ri e s in short .
, ,

tr eate d t hro ughout of a gran d an d t ot al re ge n e rati on 3

a n e w b irt h w hich r e la te d t o the old w orld the gr e at ,

d em iurgic p ar e n t an d to e v e ry i n dividu al m an
.

,
.

H e n c e the g old e n figure of a s e rp e n t as a sym b o l

,

o f im m or t ali t y was pl ace d in the b o s om of the in .

itiate d an d he n c e fr om the e arli e s t ag e s the m al e

, ,

an d fe m al e pri n cipl e of fe cu n dity w e r e d e e m e d s acr e d

sym b o ls of the gr e at fathe r an d the gre at m othe r an d ,

w e r e i n troduc e d in t o the orgi e s ( or ar g o r ark c e r e

m on i e s "
I n the cl assic m y t hol ogy Ju n o was r e pr e
s e n t e d susta i n in g a lun e tt e up on he r head an d st an d
in g on a l arg e r lu n e tt e the cre sc e n t b e i n g d e picte d as t o
,

app ear fl oat i n g o n the surfac e o f the s ea pr e c is e ly ,

aft e r the fas hi on o f the m o d e rn life b oat -

.

T he E gypti an s had t w o y early fe stiv als in the o n e ,

o f w hich t he y c e l e br at e d t he e n tr an c e o f O siris t he ,

s u n i n t o the m o on I sis an d in the o t he r his e n tr an c e

, , , ,

i n t o t hat ark in w hich he was e n cl o s e d by T yp hon ,

a n d t hus s e t afl o at up on O c ean us or the N il e B ut .

acc ordin g t o P lutarc h t his ark was its e lf a n avicul ar

m oon a T he acc ou n t w hich D iod or u s giv e s is e x ac tly

L

to t he s am e purp os e He te lls us t hat I sis e n cl o s e d

.

O siris wi thin a w ood en c ow duri n g the turbul e n t r e ig n

o f Typ hon or the all pr e v ail i n g o c ean
,
-
O siri s was .

ee Milm an s H is tor y of C hr is ti a n ity boo k c hap 1

* S ’
. .
,

A pu le iu s Met a m orphoses an d se e als o B u c han an s Chr is tia n

’
,

R ese a r che s f or an acc o u n t o f thi s w o rs hi p e xis t i n g in a d e

'

gen e rate an d li c en ti ous form am on g the H in d oo s of t he p re s en t

(I
Th s t
e e e rm s sim pl y im pl y the con jun c ti on of the su n an d
m oo n , or , as we say n ow , t he n ew m oon of t he sprin g an d

a u tu m n aluin ox The fir s t t ook plac e in the si gn of Taur u s

eq .

o r t he B u ll 3 he n c e the w ors hi p o f t he B u ll an d t he r e pres e n t ,

at i on o f I s is as a co w the la tte r in t he sign S c orp i o the e m ,

ble m of T yphon or the des tr oye r .

C
34 The My tho: of the A rk .

the n in d ifle re n tly s aid to e n te r i n t o the m oo n , i n to an

'

ark , an d i n t o a c o w d e dic ate d t o t he m o o n The .

m oo n , t he r e fo re , an d the c ow d e dicate d t o the m o on ,

w e re alike sy m b ols or hi e r oglyphics o f the ship of
O si ris — the o n e astron om ically t he ot he r physic all y
,
.

T he sacr e d c ow w as in E gypt d e dic at e d t o t he m oo n ,

an d was c all e d T e b a , h w hic h lite rally sig n ifi e s an ark ,
’

a n d s he w as p alpably the s am e as the ar k i n t o w hich

—
O siris was d r iv e n by T yphon ( Father s Pay Id ol , v ol
’
. . .

3 , p ag e

TH E A R K C O N SID ER ED AS A T YPE O F B PT SMAL A I

R EG EN ER ATI O N .

B aptis m as a sym b ol o f re ge n e rati on w as a religi o

ri t e in c om m on u s e in the an ci e n t r e ligi o n s J ohn .

t he B aptist we ar e t old pre ce d e d J e sus an d b aptis m

, , ,

by i m m e rsion in w ate r was the in i t iat ory r ite by

w hic h a dm issi o n i n to the Ess e n i an c om m u n i ty co u ld
al o n e b e obtai n e d Te rtu llian in his treatise De
.
,
“
”
Baptism o says that in E gypt dis cipl e s w ere ad m itte d
,

i n t o the r e ligi on of I sis an d M i t hra by m e an s of

B aptis m This the y thin k s e ts t he m fr e e fro m the i r
.

e rj uri e s an d acc om plis he s t he ir r e g e n e r ati on The

p
.

e rs ians d e r iv e d the pr actice o f B ap t is m fr o m I n dia

,
’
the cradl e o f the w or ld s an ci e n t fait hs The u se of .

w ate r the age n t of m at e rial cl ea n si n g as a sym b o l of

, ,

m or al purificatio n is so n a tu ral t hat e ve ry r e ligi on o f

an t iq u i ty m ight hav e ad opt e d it on e n t ire ly in d e e n
p
d e n t gr o u nds B ut c ouple d with b ap t is m we fin d the
.

id ea n ot on ly o f pu ri ficatio n but als o of r eg en e rat i o n

, ,

o r n e w b ir thfi an d t his id ea c on n e cts the rit e wit h the

The b e s w as the chie f c ity of Egypt the c i ty where the ,

Bu ll A pis was worshi ppe d an d b u rie d .

T B aptism al re en e ration is a q u e s tion that at the p re s e n t

m om e t d i vi d e s t e E s ta blis he d C hu r ch i n to t wo hos t il e
n
par
t i e s T he H igh Chu rc h p ar ty howe ve r w ho adv ocate thi s
.
, ,

d o c t ri n e hav e all t he au thori ty of an t i q ui t y in t he ir fav o ur

, .

T hi s was the an cien t sign i fican ce of the baptism al ri te ; b ut

thi s f u r n i shes n o e vi den ce of its b e ing : tr ue d oc trin e
“
.
 7796 My tb o: f
o tb e A rk .
35

fu n d am e n tal id e a o f the ark an d fl ood o f a r eg en e rate ,

or n e w— b orn w orld an d of a re g en e rat e or n ew b o rn

,
-

m an in the p e rs on o f N oah w hich d o ctri n e s form e d

,

t he b asis of the an ci e n t w o rs hip .

A s w at e r had on c e purifi e d t he w orld from s in an d , ,

d e s troyi n g the old had pro duc e d a w orld alt oge the r
,

n ew s o i m m e rsi on in w ate r w as the typical ri te f or

the purifi c a t i o n an d n e w birt h o f the s o ul A s in the .

an ci e n t m yst e ri es t hos e w ho w e r e i n iti at e d w e r e m ade

,

to un d e rg o a figur at iv e d eath s o on the c om pl e ti on of

,

the ri te s t he y w e re s aid to hav e b ee n n e w b orn To .

t his d ay the disti n cti ve titl e of the B r ahm i n in Hin

”
d ostan is twic e b or n an d a B rahm i n who l o s e s
,

c ast e by trav e lli n g can on ly r e c ov e r it by b e i n g born

again e it he r fr om a g old e n w om an or a g old e n co w as
, ,

sym b ols of the gr eat m othe r An ot he r m ode of

.

re ge n erati on prac t ise d in I n di a an d trac e s o f which

,

ar e still fo u n d t hr o ugho ut E ur op e e sp e ci all y in I re

,

lan d is by squ e e zi n g the i n dividu al t hr ough a s m all

,

hole in a r o ck . T he r e is an o rific e of t his d e scripti on

n ear the fam ous E l e p han t a c av e rn t e m pl e an d an othe r ,

in the islan d of B om b ay T his latt e r place a n atural

.
,

cre vic e on the sid e of the M al ab ar hill c om m u n icati n g ,

wi t h a cav e rn b e l ow w hich O p e n s t owards the s ea is

, ,

still us e d by the H i n d oos as a m o d e of gain i n g p u r i

fication fr om the ir si n s whic h t he y say is e ff e c te d
, , ,

b y t he ir g oi n g in at the o pe n i n g b e l o w an d e m e rgi n g
from the o rific e ab o v e T his o rifice is d e em e d sy m
.

b olic as the d o or of eac h m it hraitic cav e rn an d t he

,

d oo r in the fl oati n g m oon t hrough w hich t he an ci e n ts

fabl ed all s ouls w e re b orn an d the d oor in the sid e o f
,

the ar k t hrough whic h N oah an d his co m p an i on s

e m e rg e d to a n e w life in a n e w w orld .

That a c on n e cti on was he ld t o e x ist b e twe en the

ri te o f b aptis m an d the tr aditi on of the D eluge is
a m ply e vid e n c e d by t he w ay in which the e arl ie st

C hristian writ e rs c onn e c t the two t ogethe r— an ass oci

a ti o n w hich is still to b e fo u n d in the C hu rch o f
3 6 771 6 Mfi lm: of tb e Ark .

E n gl an d b aptis m al s e rvic e The wri t e r of the s e c on d

.

e pistl e of P e t e r allud e s to the d e structi o n o f t he w o rld

by w ate r o n acc ou n t of its wick e d n e ss an d to its the n ,

“
p en di n g d e struc t i on by fir e an d s ays n e v e rthe l e ss , ,

w e acc ordi n g t o his pr om is e l o o k f or a n e w he av e n

, ,
”
an d a n e w e art h w he r e i n dw e ll e t h righte ous n e ss
,
.

Te rtullian writi n g ab out the cl o s e of the s e c on d c e n

t ury s ays D c Baptism o A s aft e r the w at ers o f the
,
“
,

fl ood w he re by the an ci en t i n iqui ty was purg e d aw ay

,

aft e r the baptism if I m ay s o sp e ak of t he w o rld the

, , ,

d ov e s e n t from the ar k a n n o u n c e d t o the e art h t hat

the wr at h o f he av e n was p acifi e d ; s o by t he s am e
di sp ositi on o f spiritu al e fle c ts the d o v e of the H o ly
'

S pirit s en t fort h fr om he av e n whe re the c hurc h is a

spiri t u al ark fl i e s d ow n t o ou r e arth t hat is t o ou r
, ,

fl e sh e m e rgi n g from the l av e r aft e r o ur form e r st ate

,

o f s in an d bri n gs the p eac e o f G o d

,
B ut the w o rld .

ag ain r e l aps e s i n t o d e li n qu e n cy an d in t his e vil t o o ,

”
b aptis m m ay b e c om p are d to t he D e lug e .

O rige n w ho wrot e a c e n tury l ate r s ays in a hom ily

, , ,

on t he H e br e w st ory o f the F l o o d as at t he F l oo d ,

N o ah was t old to m ak e an ark an d t o i n tr oduc e to it ,

n ot on ly his s on s an d r e lativ e s but als o an i m als o f ,

e v e ry s ort s o ou r N oah J e sus C hrist at the biddi n g

, , ,

of his F athe r m ad e an ar k an d d e n s in it f or the

,

r e c e pti on o f v ari ou s an i m als T hus p e opl e who ar e .

s av e d in the c hurch are c om p ar e d wi th t ho s e w he t he r ,

”
m e n or b e as ts w ho w e r e s av e d in the ark
,
an d t he n ,

he goe s o n to ass e rt that t he r e are d e gr ee s am o n g

t he m but that the l ow e r p ass t hr o ug h asc e n din g
,

s tage s till the y c om e to that w hich is o ccupi e d by

the s on s o r r e l ativ e s o f ou r tru e N oah or R e st
“ ”
.

A n d in c om m e n ti n g up on the fou rt ee n th c hapt e r o f

Ez eki e l O rigen has the s e r e marks which the re ad e r
,

w ould d o w e ll to c on sid e r in c on n e cti on with w hat; has

be e n said of the typic al c e re m on i e s of the m ast e r s ’

d e gr e e in Mas on ry I o n c e he ard a J e w say Noe

“
, ,

D an i el an d J ob are i n tr oduc e d b e caus e e ach o f them

,
 77
36 ’
My tb o: of tb e A rk .
3 7

saw thre e p eri ods on e of joy on e o f s orr o w an d

, , ,

ag ai n on e o f joy C on sid e r No e b efore the D e luge

.

w hen the w orld was in its bl oom ; the s am e Noe

aft e rwards pr e s e rv e d in the ark ( whic h in an o the r

pl ac e he s ays w as shap e d lik e a pyram id—the pyra

,

mid was the t om b of O siris )am idst the wr e ck of the

w hol e e arth C on sid e r how aft e r the D e lug e he we n t
.
, ,

forth an d pl an t e d a vi n e y ard an d be cam e as it w e re , ,

”
the au thor o f a s e c o n d w orld .

En ough has n ow b e en s aid to i n dic ate t hat N oah

w as a m ytho l ogical fan cy n ot an actu al hist oric al
p e rs on ag e T he n am e sign ifie s r e st—s afe ty— sa lv a
,

t i on D r D on alds on has s om e curi o us r e m arks in

. .

this dire cti on He s ays : A n ap o stl e has t old us

.
“

that the ark of N oah is a typ e of b aptism ( 1 P e te r

iii 2 0
.
,
an d it w as by b aptis m t hat the m y s tae

w e r e ad mi t te d t o the privil e g e s o f i n iti ati on It .

c o uld n ot the re fo re b e an accid e n t that thos e who

w e re re c e iv e d i n t o that shad owy c hurch of he at he n ism
w e r e e xpre ssly taught to c on sid e r an d sp eak of the m
s e lv e s as havi n g jus t e sc ap e d from the w av e s of a
”
sto rm y s e a an d as havin g fou n d s he lte r an d p e ac e
,
.

A n d t he n he g oe s on t o s ho w t hat S o lom o n the ,

“ ”
m an o f p e ac e d e dic ate d his te m pl e on the s e v e n
,

t e e n th d ay of the s e v e n t h m on th t he d ay on w hic h ,
”
N oah the m an of p eace or r es t e m e rge d fr om the
, ,

ar k an d e r e c t e d his alta r T he d ov e wi t h t he o liv e

.

bran ch is to this d ay a sy m b o l in s e p arably ass oci at e d

with the ark 3 but the d ov e is als o the bird s acre d t o
V e n us as the sym b ol of the gr e at m othe r whil e t he ,

P e ac o ck the sym bo l of the rai n b ow (an o the r arki te

, ,

e m bl e m t he first arch or ar k o f the c o v e n an t ) w as

, ,

the bird s acr e d t o Ju n o the qu e e n of he av e n an d , ,

t he gr e at m o the r of the g ods am on g the R om an s .

T he ark has als o a m e an i n g o f an othe r c harac t e r .

A s in an othe r cl ass of s ol ar m yths the C r o ss sy m b ol ,

ize d t he P hallus an d the L og os an d as the cre at iv e ac t ,

cam e als o t o i m ply the id ea o f cr eative wisd om s o the ,

 3 8 Tb s My tb or f
o the A rk .

ar k , as the sym b ol of the ren o vati on of the physic al

world c am e to sign ify als o its i n t e ll e ctu al an d m oral
,

re ge r
‘ “
ation A n d s o the ark c am e to sy m b oliz e
.

D ivi n e m sd om or the L og o s an d was in this highe r

, ,

s e n s e the sym b o l o f s alv ati on the e m ble m of the ,

C hrist .I t b e ars this highe r m e an i n g o f D ivi n e

wisdom as us e d in the J e wish sy n agogu e an d it is ,

e m pl oy e d in t his highe r se n s e in t he ri t e s o f m o d e rn
’
F re em as on ry A s the c offi n b e l on gs t o the M aste rs
.

d e gre e s o the ark is the sym b o l o f the Royal Ar ch or

,

A r k d e gr e e In the syn ag ogu e it co n t ai n s the s acr e d

.

b o oks t he w ord or wisd om of G o d an d in the F re e

, ,

m as on s l odg e it c on t ai n s the b ook o f the c o n stituti on s

’

of the s o ci e ty— the s e cr e t or s acre d wisd o m i e t he ,

. .
,

L ogo s ”
In the an ci e n t w orld N oah w as o ft e n
.

w o rs hipp e d as G od f “ in the s am e w ay as J e sus in his ,

characte r o f C hrist is w orshipp e d as G od at the pre

,

s en t d ay T he re ar e tim e s whe n a distin cti on is m ad e

.
,

an d N oah an d C hrist r e gard e d as sub ordi n ate t o G o d ,

but at o the r ti m e s the c haract e rs ar e m e rg e d i n t o o n e ,

an d t he n t he y w e r e r e g ard e d as G o d I n the he athen .

te m pl e s the ark was thought t o c on t ain the G od

t o b e the divi n e dw e lli n g pl ac e —
,

an d it w as on the ark
, ,

b e twe e n the che rubim t hat c ov e r e d it that in the ,

Je wish t em pl e G od was tho ught to b e e sp e ci ally

pre s en t I n C atholic an d R itu alistic n ay e v e n in the
.
,

m aj ority of P r o t e sta n t c hurc he s it is on the alt ar or ,

c om m u n i o n t abl e — the substitute s f or the ark o f J e w

ish an d he athe n w o rs hip— that G od is he ld t o b e
actu ally pr e s e n t t od ay T he s e ar e pl ac e d in the
.

ce n tral an d m o st s acr e d p o rti on s o f the c hurche s the ,

chan ce l b e i n g to C at holics an d P rot e st an ts the ho ly of

holi e s o f C hristi an w ors hip I n F re e m as on ry the
.

Roy al A rc h or A rk ( a px)d egre e c on stitut e s the su m m it

o f m as o n ic sci en c e H e re the fuln e ss of the s e cre t
.

wis d om is i m p arte d an d to t his d e gr e e as t o the

, ,

V e r n on H ar c o ur t o n the Wors hip o f N oah in the E ast

, .

See Doc tri n e of the D e l uge .

 Tb s Ma
rik : f a o f lie A rk . 39

c omm un i on r it e of churches on ly a s e l e ct fe w ar e ,

ad m itte d T he s e con stitute as it w e re the e s ot e ric

b rothe rho o d—the fully i n iti ate d In the an ci e n t m y s
.
, ,

te r ie s o f Is is an d O siris in Egypt an d of C e re s an d ,

Bacchu s in G r ee c e , the candidat e aft er Wit n e ssi n g ,

the t e rribl e c e l e br ati on of the d eat h o f the go d w as ,

at l e n gth led ou t o f the d arkn e ss an d te rro rs i n t o a

cham b e r whe r e am id a fl oo d of d azzli n g light he w as
, ,

p e rm itt e d t o gaz e on a b e autiful an d r espl e n d e n t

st at u e of the godd e ss C e re s or I sis In this sc e n e o f .

c e l e sti al spl e n d o ur the s e cre t d o ctri n e w as r e v e al e d ,

“ ”
an d he who ha d b e fo re b een c all e d a m y stes or ,
”
n o vic e w as n ow t e rm e d an
, epoptes or e y e wit n e ss ,
.

A pul e ius who in the s e co n d c e n tury u n d e rw e n t

,

in iti atio n i n t o the m yst e ri e s o f I sis has writ te n a ,

l e n gthe n e d acc o u n t o f the pr o c e e din g an d i t s pr e

p aratory rit e s In on e of the s e the pri e st tells him
.
,
“
The g at e s of the s had es be l ow an d the c ar e o f ou r
life b e i n g in the han ds of the g odd e ss the c e r e m on y ,

of i n iti ati on i n t o he r m yst e ri e s is as it w e r e t o su ffe r

d e ath wi th the pre car i ous chan c e o f r e suscit ati o n

, .

W he re fore the g odd e s s in the wisd o m o f her divi n ity , ,

hath b e e n accus tom e d t o s e l e ct as p e rs on s t o w ho m

the se cr e t s of her religi on c an wit h pro pri e ty b e
in trust e d t hos e who s tan d i n g as it w e r e in the
, ,

utm os t li m it of the c ourse of life the y have c om

l
p e te d m ay t hrough her pr ovid e n ce b e in a m an n e r
,

born again an d co m m e n c e the c ar e e r of a n ew e xist

—
,

Apu leiu s Metamorph

’
.

Apul e ius aft e r alludi n g to the pl e dg e o f s ecre sy

,

whic h bi n ds him proc e e ds to t e ll as m uc h as he d ar e

,

c on c e rn i n g the fi n al pr o c e ss “
L ist en he s ays t o
“
.
,
”
,

what I s hall r e l at e I appro ache d the ab o d e of .

d eath with m y fo ot I pr e ss e d the thre shold of Pr o

,

St P ul a the r Ne w Te s tam e n t wr i te rs re p e ate dl y

an d o
draw i llu s tr at ions from the r i te s e m ploye d in the m y s te ri e s
the n e w b i rt h the d eath u n to s in an d t he lif e un t o ri ght e ou s
,

n e ss t he p e rfe c t m an
,
&c & c ,
.
, .
4 0 T17: My tb o: the A rk .

s er pin e s p al ace —I was tran spo rte d thr o ugh the

’

e l e m en ts an d c o n duc te d b ack A t m id n ight I

s aw the bright lig ht of the s u n shin i n g I stood in
t he pre s en c e of t he g o ds —the go ds of heav e n an d
.

o f the shad e s b e l o w — ay sto od n ear an d w ors hipp e d

,

.
, ,

A n d n o w hav e I onl y t o ld t he e such thi n gs t hat

he ari n g tho u n e c e ssar ily can st n ot u n d e rstan d an d ,

b e i n g b ey o n d the c om p rehe n si on of the profan e f I

”
c an e n u n ci ate wit ho ut c omm itt in g a cr im e .

T he Roy al Ar c h or A rk d e gre e is vir tu all y a c o py

o f t his fi n al r ite o f i n itiati o n I t is he r e that the .

M as on ic ho ly o f ho li e s is o pe n to the n e wly ad m itt e d

bro t he r or c om panion as he is n ow c all ed T he
,
.

actu al visi on of t he godd e ss is how e v e r he r e r e pl ac e d

by the re ve l at i on of the m o st s acre d an d in e fiab le

n am e o f G o d This the l e gen d of the rit e r e lat e s
.
, ,

was disc ov e r e d in the ruins o f S o l o m o n s T e m pl e by

’

s o m e m aste r m as on s c om i n g accid e n tally up on the

p e r fe ct r e m ai n s of an arch Re m o vin g the k eyst o n e .
,

t he y c ast l ots w ho s houl d g o d o wn T he m as on o n .

w hom the lot fe ll be in g le t d o wn by a ro p e brought ,

up a scroll w hic h pr ov e d t o b e the l ost b oo k of t he

,

law . C om i n g to an othe r ar ch the y o p e n ed it an d , ,

he r e fo un d a w hite m arbl e pe d e st al on w hic h was a ,

pl at e of gold an d on this pl ate w e re i n scrib e d d o ubl e

,

tri an gl e s in w hich w as e n grave n the l on g l o st sac re d

,

w ord of the Maste r M as on — the gran d om n ific Royal

A rch w o rd T his c on siste d in the tripl e n am e o f
G o d J A O BU L—
.

, O N— to o sac re d to b e sp ok e n in on e
-

C om pare wi th this Paul s l e tte r to the Chur ch at Cor in th

’
,
a c i t y w he re t he s e m y s te ri e s we re pe r i o d i c all y he ld How .

be i t we s pe ak wis d om am on g t he m that ar e pe rfe c t ( i n i t iate d )

We speak the wis dom of G od in a m y ste ry e ve n the
.

hi dd e n (s e c re t ) wis d om Ey e hath n ot s e e n n or ear

.

hear d n e i the r ha ve e n te re d in to the heart o f m an t he t hin g s

,

w hi ch G od hath p re pare d f o r the m that l o ve him The .

n a tu ral m an rec e i v e t h n o t t he thin gs o f t he sp ir i t o f G od f or

,

the y ar e foo lishn e ss to him : n e i the r c an he k n o w the m for ,

the y are s p ir i tuall y d isc e rn ed .

”
 771 a My tb o: y tb a Ark .
4 r

br eath so thr e e Mas on s hav e to r e pe at it t akin g

, ,

eac h a syll abl e .

J A 0 or J A H w as the H e b re w n am e of G o d whic h ,

the J e ws w e r e fo rbidd en to pr on o u n c e w hich the

B ook of Ex odus r el at e s was re v e al e d t o M os e s an d ,

which rabbi n ical traditi on re lat e s m ight on ly b e

utte re d by the H igh P ri e st in the H oly o f H o li e s on .

the gr ea t d ay o f at o n e m e n t an d t hen am id the s o u n d

,

o f cym b als an d tru m p e ts whic h pre v e n te d the p e opl e

,

fr om hearin g it The J ews b e li e v e d t hat this n am e

.

p oss e sse d u n b o u n de d p ow e rs He who pr on o u n ce s

.

it the y say shak e s the he av e n s an d ear th an d

, , ,

in spir e s the v e ry an g els w it h ast on ishm e n t an d

t e rr or ”
. T he y de clar e t hat a s ov e re ign p owe r at
t ac he s to this n am e t hat it g o v e r n s the w orld by its
”
p ow e r The Rabbi n s c all it S he m ham phor e s h
.
“
,

t he u n utt e r abl e n am e an d say t hat D avid fo u n d it

,

e n gr av e d on a st on e w hil e he was diggi n g the f ou n d a

ti on s of the e art h (Mackey s Lexicon )— N on e dar e d

.
’
.

t o e n te r the t e m pl e o f S e r apis w ho did n ot b ear

on his br e ast or for e he ad t he n am e J ao or J ha ho - -
,

a n am e alm o st e quiv al e n t in s ou n d to t hat o f the

H ebr e w J e ho v ah an d pr ob ably of id e n tical im

,

p ort an d n o n am e “ as u t t e re d in Egypt with m or e

,

re v er e n c e than t his of J ao In the hym n w hich the.

hi e r ophan t or gu ardi an of the s an ctu ary su n g to the

in itiate d t his was t he first e xpl an at i on giv e n o f the
n at ur e of the D e ity
“
He is on e an d by him s e lf an d
.
,
'

to him al on e d o al l thi n gs ow e t he ir e xist e n c e ( From .

the Germ an of Schiller q u oted in Tim e an d F

,

B ul or Bel was the n am e o f G od am on g the P he n i

e i au s an d sign ifi e s l o rd o r m ast e r
,
O n w as the n am e .

u n d e r w hich the s u n was w ors hipp e d in Egypt so ,

the city ON w as c all e d by the G r e e k H e li op olis .

J os ep h s wife w as a d au ght e r o f P otip he rah a p ri e st

’

of O n Thus Dag on sig n ifi e s the fis h god Mr B rown

.
-
.
,
”
in his r e c e n tly publis he d li t tl e b o ok Pos e id on a ,
-
,

d e i ty alli e d to the Latin N e ptun e says wi th r eg ar d ,

4 2 rte t /J o: of the A r k .

t o the w or d O n or A u n : I ts Egypti an s en s e is the

e n lighte n e r t eac he r or in structo r o f which the s u n ,
, , ,

”
is the n atural ty pe T he S e mitic r oo t an signifie s
.
, ,

p rimarily l abo u r o r e n e rgy e spe cially pr o cr eative ,

o w r H e n c e th e A n n is t he great e n lighten er or
p e .

teac he r an d also the pr o c reato r o f all fr o m who m all

, ,

s p r i n g or ar e d es ce n d e d acc o rdin g t o the sayi n g , ,

”
‘O
m nia e x ovo al l thin gs fro m the e gg can au n
’
.
, , ,

The wo rd A u n t ran s p os e d is the e quiv al e n t o f N oah ,

an d Mr B r o w n t rac e s an id e n tity of c har acte r be tw ee n

the A nn an d the B abyl on i an fish go d O an n e s w ho m ,

he al s o id e n tifi e s with N oah as t he e n lighte n er as ,

we ll as the pro c re ato r of the w o rld I t is t his tripl e .

n am e of d e i t y J A O BUL O N in v o lvin g the fu ll

,
- -

d e sc r ipti on o f his attribut e s — the p hil o s op hy o f t he ,

creati on an d go v e rn m e n t of the w o rld the e xiste n ce ,

o f on e s o le an d suprem e G od the cre ato r o f all ,

thi n gs the fat he r o f all m e n the all wis e the all

, ,
-
,

good the e te rn al who was an d is an d is t o b e

, , , , ,

that c on sti t u te s the gr an d s e cr e t o r sac red wis d om

e n shr i n e d in the Ro y al A rc h D e gr e e The fear o f .

the L ord
” “
s ays a H e bre w w rite r is the b egi n n in g
, ,

of W
”
isd om I t w as in the s e n s e of the ir t ea chi n g the
.

tr u e law of lif e an d u n v e ilin g the p ro vid e n ti al g o v e r

,

nan c e o f the u n iv e rs e t hat the m ys te r i e s o f P ag an is m ,

we r e the s hr i n e of se cr e t wisd om This k n o wl e dg e .

that G od is on e t hat the s oul is i m m ort al t hat t he

, ,

pr actic e o f r ight e ous n e ss is its t ru e s alvati on is the ,

se c re t wisd o m o f w hic h F r e e m as o n ry b oasts an d t his ,

wis dom is a p orti o n o f t he M ytho s o f the A rk .

”
Go dfre y H iggi n s A n ac alyps is v o l i p age , . .
,

she ws t hat the H e br e w rim is r e pre s e n te d by the G r ee k

”
apxn an d t hat it has the m e an in g o f
, wisd om as we ll
”
as in g t hat in fac t the accr e dite d authori ty
,

Thewor d ar ch in the se n s e o f wi sd om has p ass e d in to

the fam i liar lan gu age o f d ai l y lif e
.

W e ca ll a s hre wd pe r s o n .

an d m o re v u lgarl y sa
”
an an c i e n t
“ ”
arc h “
, y eh is an ol d on e , ,
 43

of the J e ws the J e rus al e m T argu m r e n d e rs the fi rs t .

“
v e rs e o f G e n e sis t hus B y wi s d om G od cr e ate d t he .

world —a r e n d e rin g which the acc ou n t of wisd om

,
”
,

give n in the e ight h c hap ter o f the bo ok o f P r ov e rbs

am ply justifi e s Thr ou gho ut all the east N oah was
.

he ld in r e v e ren c e as a divi n e lawgiv e r an d Ve rn on ,

“ ”
H arc o u rt ass e rts ( D octri n e of t he D e lug e ) N oah
was on e an d the s am e as shown b y e t ym ol ogic al ,

ide n ti t y of n am e with t he gr eat tradi ti on al lawgiv e rs

,

or p atri arc hs of t he G en t il e w orld M e n u in I n di a , ,

Min e s in G re e c e M e n e s in Egypt an d N u m a in R om e
, ,
.

T he ar k als o was o n e with the m oon an d w hil e in the ,

an ci e n t r e ligi on s t he s u n sym b o lis e d divi n e p o we r the ,

m o o n sy m b o lis e d the spi ri t or wisd o m of G od B o th .

reat m ot he r of n at ur e B u t Athe n a an d P all as in

gre e ce an d Nei
.

W
*

0 e d
W
,

Min erva am on g
‘

- _
e re
d orh f afid t hus i t is t hat—
'

t e t e was
_

dd éss e ik e t he m t he
'
'

no on

a so . ge n ius of the ar k is the r oot of

oab , the ,

the G r e e k w o rd vou g sign if yi n g w isd om w hil e t he

, ,

m oon t he in t e rm e di at e an d c on n e ctin g sym b ol has a

, ,

s i m ilar s e n s e Men in the G re e k is t he m oon an d

.
,

fr om this c om e s the L ati n m ans the m in d an d m ensis , , ,

a m on t h Menes an d Minns the wi s e l egislato rs of

,
” ”
,

an t iquity ar e alli e d t o t he s am e r o o t T he m oon w as .

the gre at m e asur e r o f tim e o f w e e ks an d m on t hs , ,

w he n c e the w ord m e n surati on an d as t he pri e st e ss e s ,

w ho gav e the divin e o racl e s in a fit o f fr e n zy o r m ad

n e s s w e r e supp o s e d t o b e u n d e r the i n fl u en c e of t he

m o o n w e hav e t he w ords m an i ac an d lu n atic d e n oti n g

,

Ou r s e at s of l e arn in g are ca ll e d to this d ay Alm a Mate r ” “

by those who have be e n e du cate d in the m .

44 Tb s My tb a: qf tb e A rk .

an in s an e p e rs on a p ers on of dis ord ere d m i n d ; m ore

,

o v e r t he Lati n m ensa a t abl e ,

carr i e s us agai n i n t o
,

cl os e r e l ati on with the altar or ark The t e rm m an e s .

,

as appli e d t o the d ea d an d t o the i n fe rn al g o ds t o the ,

gho s ts o r spirits o f t he d e ad in had e s is in t he s am e ,

”
” ”
con n e cti on wit h m e n s an d m ee n an d m en es .

I t r e l ate s to the p e opl e in the ark or t om b an d is ,

thus c on n e ct e d wi t h b oth m oon an d ark T he c re sc en t .

m o on w as the u n ive rs al e m bl em o f the go dd e ss es o f

an tiquity o f who m the ar k wi th t he g e rm s of life
,

withi n i t w as a sym b o l als o M ythol ogically the re .

,

for e the y hav e o n e an d the s am e sign ifi can c e an d

, ,

thus t he picture of the virgin by A lb ert D ur e r r e pre

s e n ti n g a b eautiful w om an with the cre sc e n t sym b ol ,

is a picture t hat r e pr e s e n ts n ot the m othe r o f J e sus ,

but t he b eautiful w om an t hat w as w orshipp e d in the

an ci e n t w orld an d of who m the m oon an d the ark
,

we re sym b ols T his cr e sc e n t is t o d ay the w e ll k n ow n

.
-

sy m b o l o f the M ahom e t an faith a fai th w hich spru n g

up am on g the s e lf s am e Ar abi an trib e s o f id olatc rs who
-
, ,

m akin g c ak e s ‘ w he r e wi th t o c e l e br at e the w o rs hip o f the

qu e e n o f heav e n gav e to the c o rrup t C hristi an c hur ch
,

of the fou r t h c e n tur y the id e a of m akin g the m o t he r o f

C hrist a godd e ss u n d e r the titl e o f t he V irgi n M ary s "

Had sp ac e p e rm it te d it w ould hav e b ee n pos
sibl e l arge ly to hav e e xt e n d e d the e vid e n c e w hich
has he r e b ee n addu ce d in pr oof of the m y tho
l ogical id e n ti t y o f N oah s ark wi th the m oon an d
’

godd e ss w o rs hip of an tiquity an d with the cultus o f ,

t he V irgi n M ary in m o d e rn tim e s I t has how e v er .

, r

b e en fully show n that the st ory of the A r k an d F l oo d ,

Se e J e re m i ah 18 .

I I n t i m e o f d e e pes t tr ou bl e an d affli c t i on praye r s are

' '

o flere d in t he Ro m i s h C hu r ch t o t he B l e ss e d V ir ln —t he

g e n iu s or g dd e ss o f t he a k o f salvat ion Mr is lop

o r .
,
“
T he Tw o Baby l ons p 4 0 1 giv e s a p raye r o ffe re d by the
,
”
.
,

A c hbis ho p o f T u r in in 1 8 55 o n acc o un t o f t he ravage s o f the

r ,

vin e dise as e w hi ch w e r e s pre adin g rui n thr o u h t he c oun try

, ,

addre ss ed c on j o in tl y to N o ah an d the Bl e ss e d
 T/J c
'

My tb o: of the A rk .
4 5
giv e n in the B ook of G e n e sis is s im ply a traditi on or ,

l e gen d fou n d e d o n an an ci e n t m ytho l ogic al fan cy or

fabl e an d is n ot w hat E n glis hm e n ar e taught to r egard
,

it as b e i n g a sup e rn atural r e v e l ati on from the e te rn al

,

G od on ly an d sp e ci ally giv e n t o the J e wis h pe opl e

W
.
,

e hav e s e e n t hat it co n s t itut e d the m yt ho s whic h

w as u n fo ld e d in the an ci e n t m yst e ri e s w he r e the ,

hidi n g of N oah in the ark typifi e d p hysica l d e ath an d ,

in a spi r itu al s e n s e d eat h t o all the p as si on s an d vic e s

o f hu m an n ature while his r e l eas e fr o m the ark typi
fied the r es urr e cti on from the d e ad an d the n e w birth
o f the s o ul T he origi n al m e an i n g of all b e i n g a
.

sym b olic r e pre s e n t ati on of t he d e ath of the s u n go d in -

‘
A u tu m n f his s oj our n in t he to m b duri n g t he s t e ril e
an d s t o rm y m on t hs of wi n t e r his r e surr e cti o n t o life ,

an d fe rt ili t y an d joy an d gl ad n e ss in the bright an d

happy fe stiv al o f t he o p e n i n g spri n g O ur G o o d .

F rid ay m ourn i n gs f or the d e ath of J e sus an d ou r ,

Easte r rej o ici n gs for his r e surr e cti on ar e P agan c e l e ,

b ration s ad apt e d t o C hris t i an pu rpos e s f “ The d e at h

o f J e sus o r C hr ist w as si m ply t he d e ath o f a g oo d , ,

m an was a d e at h t hat k n e w n o r e sto rati o n t o hum an

,

life f or r e surr e cti on of t his ki n d is n ot acc ord e d t o

,

ou r hu m an n atur e d T he spirit of a m an d oe s n ot
d ie at all an d t he re for e fi n di n g c on ti n u e d life n ee ds
, ,

T he P agan godd e ss “
Fre ya from whi ch ou r Fri d ay take s ,
”

i ts n am e an d from w ho s e w ors hip ou r G oo d Fri d ay d e ri v e s i ts

,
-

c u s to m o f cro ss bu n s i s sim pl y a form o f A s tarte or V e n u s o r

,

I si s The cross m ar ke d on t he c ak e s i s t he Gre c i an x n ot

.
,

the c ross of Chr is ti an re ve re n c e T I t has the signi fic an c e of .

fe rt i li ty The c ak e s off e e d to As tar te we re ca lle d b ou n

. r ,

whe n c e ou r w ord b u n from the Gre e k B s an ox The ox , oo ,

.

w as s ac re d t o I si s The T au rib olia or b apt is m a l ri te s in b ul

.

l o ck s bloo d we re s acre d t o the E le u s in i an godd e ss O u r to wn

’
.

o f O x ford w as on c e the s i t e o f a t e m pl e d e dic at e d to I s is It .

n o w s tan d s o n t he b an ks of t he ri v e r I s i s on the s po t whe re , ,

d u r in g t he Ro m an ru l e a te m pl e o f I s is s tood Th e ox sac re d
, .

to I s i s n ow app e ar s in the n a m e an d al s o in the arm s o f t he

c i ty The Bu ll w as a prom i n e n t fe atu re in the che rub im tha t
.

o v e rshad o we d t he J e w i sh ar k f the co ve n an t .

" Con su lt E n gli sh Lif e o f J es us b y T S co tt Esq n ew , .

, .
,

e di tion pp 3 1 6 3 19
, .
-
.
46 Tb e My tb o: of tb e A rk .

n o re su rr e cti on The i d ea of a dyin g G o d w as a Pa

.

g an id ea a n d is,
a h ug e fall acy w hen u n d e rst o o d in a

lite ral s e n s e tho ugh it be co m e s a subli m e truth w hen

,

its e s o te ric or hidde n m e an i n g is p e r ce iv e d I t is .

t aught ho we v e r in its gro ss e st an d c rud e st an d fals est

, ,

s e n s e to En glish m i n ds t od ay an d o u r G ood Frid ay ,

-

ce l e brat i o n s to m ou r n the crucifixi on o f J e sus as the

d e at ho f a god lie op en to the r e proof whic hXe n op han e s ,

B C 52 0 g av e to the E gyp t i an p ri e sts

. .
,
H o ldi n g him s e lf .

e n lig hte n e d vi e ws as t o the on e n e ss an d spiritu ality

an d e te r n i t y o f G o d he qu e s t i o n e d the pri e sts co n

,

c e rn i n g the m e an i n g of the m o urn i n gs in w hic h the y

i n dulg e d at the c e l e b rati on o f the d e at h of O siris an d ,

was n atural ly puzzl e d at t he ir gri e f f or t he su ffe ri n gs

o f on e t he y call e d a
g od H e c o uld n o t u n d e rst an d
.

ho w O siris c o uld have two n atur e s o n e hu m an an d ,

“
o n e divin e an d he ar gu e d wi t h t he m
,
t hat if t hey
thought him a m an t he y s hould n ot w orship him ,

w hil e if t he y thought him a god the y s hould c ease t o

t alk of his su fle r in gs —( Sharpe s H istory of Egypt )
” ‘ ’
. .

I t has b e e n s ho wn that this m y t ho s o f d ea th an d

r e surr e cti o n e l e v ate d fr o m a p hysical t o a m oral
,

at m o sp he r e un d e rs d ,
as re l at in g t o t he n e w bi rt h
or r e g e n e rat e spirit of m an to t he hum an an d g o dlik e ,

pri n cipl e s that un ite in his n atur e to t he struggl e o f ,

t he quick e n e d s o ul t o l e av e t he t hr ald o m o f t he
b od y an d t o fin d the fre e d om o f t he spirit to ri se
, ,

from the d e ath of s in t o the life o f rig ht e ous n e s s was

t he s e cre t wisd om w hich the an c i e n t m yst e ri e s e n
shri n ed In t his s e n se the m y tho s o f t he ar k has
.

p ass e d from the an ci e n t m yste ri e s t o the b aptis m al

an d c om m u n i on s e rvic e s of t he C hristi an c hurc h
s e rvic es w hich e v e ry stud e n t of e arly C hristian his to ry
k n o w s w e re c opi e s o f heathe n us ag e s an d ri te s e . W
hav e t hus tra ce d the A rki t e m ys t e ry an d s ho w n it to
'

b e o n e an d t he sam e with the s e cre t rit e s o f F r e e m as on s

as pr ac t is e d in the ir l o dg e s at t he pr e s e n t d a In a
y .

wo rd we hav e in the sto ry of the ar k w he n it is pro

, ,

pe rly c o m prehe n d ed the ge rm an d de ve l o pm e n t of

,
 7 176 Mythos of the A r k .
47

m an s re ligi ous n atur e T he st ory of the str u ggle s of

’
.

hu m an ity to fin d ou t G o d the r e c ord of the c eas e l e ss ,

strivi n gs o f the hu m an s oul aft e r the life of virtue

an d g oo d n e ss which al on e can e n titl e it t o i m m o rt ality .

I n u n fo ldi n g the m yt ho l ogy of the ark it has b e c om e ,

n e c e ss ary t o u n fold t he hidd en m e an i n g of M as o n ry to ,

s he w t he s e cre t wisd om whic h it profe ss e s to e n shri n e .

P ractic ally this is u n k n o wn to m as on s the m s e lv e s

, ,

t he ir r it e s lik e the r i te s of an tiqu at e d c hurche s hav e

, ,

be c om e f or the m ost p art e m pty an d m e an i ngl e ss

fo rm s the l e cture s d e liv e re d in t he l odge s put ofte n ,

a s e c on d ary m ean i n g i n t o t he s e rit e s s o t hat t he y n ow ,

on ly s e rv e as a crud e illustr ati on f or a f e w t r it e m ora l

m axi m s an d Fr eem as on ry as it e xists in E n gl an d is

,

si m ply a b en e fit ass o ci at i on f or the w e althy cl ass e s ,

or an o rd e r o f g o o d fe ll o ws hip an d it has a s littl e to ,

d o with s ecr et wisdom as a l o dg e of F or e st e rs or O dd

'

fe ll ows I ts sign s an d p ass w ords ar e its on ly r e al

.

s e cr e ts an d t he s e n on e bu t the m em b e rs of the m as on ic
brothe rho o d ought to wis h t o k n o w T he y are how .
,
(e ve r
,
trivial m att e rs of n o m o r e gen e ral c on c e rn than
t he p r iv at e m ar ks which ho us e s of busi n e ss e m pl oy .

Fr e em as on ry in its tru e m ean in g is a church n ot a ,

b e n e fit s oci e ty I ts w ors hip is the gran d re ligi on o f

.

n atur e S piritu al P an the is m the r e ligi on of which

, ,

N oah M e n u M en e s B uddha S ocrate s C hrist an d

, , , , , ,

P aul an d the gre at an d g o od an d wis e of e v e ry age

, , , ,

an d of e v e ry l an d ar e an d hav e b e en the pr e ac he r s It .

is the o pp on e n t o f all n arr ow an d e xclusiv e th e o l ogical

faiths an d tho ugh it is its e lf in its o rg an is ati on a
,

s e ct y e t its platfo rm is on e on w hic h m e n of e v e ry

,

fai t h an d o f e v e ry clim e m ay m ee t I t is the old .

ar k it e r e ligi on e xisti n g in ou r m idst in alm ost t he

purity o f its an c i e n t form ; an d if a livi n g so ul w e re

put i n t o it t o d ay if F r e e m as on s kn e w that the ir
-
,

syst e m was a re ligi on an d n ot a m or e s oci al club , ,

they w ould i n augur at e a r e ligi ou s r e fo rm ati on an d lay

the fo un d ati on st on e s o f a un iv e rs a l church T hat ‘
.

which of old N oah was fabl e d to have f ou n d in the

’
4 8 The Mfi l m: o
f the A rk .

ark whe n the d e luge was d e stroy in g all thi n gs e lse ,

r e st p e ac e s alv ati on the e n lighte n e d d e vo te e o f the

, , ,

o ld w o rld r e ligi o n s t he w o rs hipp e r o f I sis an d O s ir is

, ,

of C e r e s an d B acchus o f the P e rsi an M i t hr as an d the ,

Syri an A d on is fo u n d in t he i nn e rm ost r e c e ss e s of the

t e m pl e aft e r he had b o rn e the p en an c e s an d p r iv ati ons
o f the i n i ti ato ry ri te s 3 so the J e w fo u n d t his p ea c e on

the day of at o n e m e n t w hen the v e il w as up lifte d from ,

t he ho ly o f holi e s an d t he A r k of G o d w as s e en an d the
, ,

C hris t i an r eac he s an ark of r e st an d fi n ds a r e fuge

from the il ls o f lif e an ass uran c e of the s alv ati o n his
,

s o ul s e e ks w he n he k n e e ls b e fore t he alt ar at whic h

,

m ass is c e le brat e d or si t s at the s acr e d tabl e ar o u n d

,

whic h the bre t hr e n of the churc h as s em bl e A n d .

thus in l ik e m an n e r the F re e m as on has a sacre d shr in e ,

a r o u n d w hic h al l his ho p e s an d aspirati on s c en t r e ,

a n d in the r e v e l at i o n which is m ad e t o him in t he

Royal Arc h d e gre e of the sacr e d n am e by w hic h the

p owe r an d at t ribu t e s an d l ov e an d wisd om of the
«
, , ,

G reat A rchite ct an d fram e r an d up ho ld e r of the u n i

, ,

v e rs e ar e d e scribe d 3 of the p at h o f duty he hi m s e lf is to

pursu e o f the v ir tu e s he s hould prac t is e the hope s he
, ,

s hould che rish an d the trust he s ho uld display he

’
fin ds an oasis in life s d e s e rt an ar k o f safe ty am i d the ,

b o ist e rous wav e s of its tr o ubl e an d its strife f or he re ,

as in t he ho li e st s an ctu ary o f t he c hurc h the t ru e w o rd ,

o f life is or o ught t o b e s o u n d e d in his ears the t r u e

, , ,

guid an ce is or o ught to b e fo u n d the divi n e m yste ry

, , ,

is o r o ught to b e u n ve il e d an d the purp o s e s o f Pr o

, ,

vid on ce m ad e cl ear H e r e at l as t the t e m pl e o f truth is

.
,

t o his tho ught reac he d of truth t hat quick en s the an ge l

, ,

n atur e of t he m an an d t hat t hr oug h a life o f l o v e an d

,

virtu e an d pu rity on e ar th c on ducts him to the life

, ,

that is e ve rl astin g H e re he thin ks sal vati on is attai n e d

.
,

t he hav en o f safe ty reac he d A n d s o he fe e ls t hat .

H e re he can bathe his weary sou l

l n se as o f hea v en l y rest ,

A n d n t a wave o f tr o u bl e ro ll
o

Across his pe ace fu l breas t .

 49 /

T he foll owin g e xtr ac t from a l etter from T L S T R A NG E . .

,

E s q Mal v e rn l ate a J u d ge o f the H i gh Cou rt o f Mad ras

.
, , ,

t o a fri e n d who had forw ar d e d him a c o p y o f the

,
My tho s
o f t he Ark an d in se rte d n o w w i th his k i n d p e rm i ss i o n ,

strik i n gly c orro b orate s w hat has b e en s ai d in p age s 4 0 4 1 , .

I hav e re ad a g ood p orti o n of Mr L ak e s My tho s .

’

o f the A rk an d s e e that i t i s fu ll o f i n te re st i n g m atte r ,

e s p e c i all y on the s u bj e ct o f Mas on ry T wo R oy al A rc h .

Mas on s in m y p art of In di a at a c on si d erabl e i n te rv al o f

.
,

ti m e got ad mi ss i on i n to the S hr i n e s o f H in d u T e m pl e s
, ,

throu gh the u se of the s ac re d word A U M ( pron o u n c e d , ,

O m e ) the ir hi dd e n n am e fo r G od O n e of the m to ld m e .

that he s aw w i thi n the s hri n e d i s tin c t m ason i c sy m b ol s ,

i n te rm i xed wi th H i n d u i d ol atrou s on e s an d that t he y u s e ,

the v e ry s am e c e re m oni al s as the Mas on s d o w he n pr on ou n c

in g the s ai d se c re t n am e of A u m H e further to ld m e that .

t he Mas on s hav e two m ore word s e xpr e s s i v e o f t he n am e

o f G o d adj o i n e d to thi s H i n d u o n e on e b e i n g d e ri v e d fr om
, ,

the J e w s an d on e fro m the E gy pti an s I s e e Mr L ak e .

gi v e s thi s tri pl e w or d as J A O B U L O N d e ri v in g i t fr om
-
,

J ewi sh P hoen i c i an an d E gy pti an s ourc e s n ow i t i s c le ar

, ,

from w hat I m e n ti on as to In di a that A u m i s on e of the ,

three w ord s T aki n g Mr L ake to b e well i n form e d on the

. .

su bje c t I shou ld i d en tify the l as t word of the thre e he gi v e s

.

wi th the I n d i an A u m an d n ot the E gypti an 0 u the re b e in g

, ,

a p o s i ti v e n e ce ss i ty f or b rin i n g in t he I n d i an word T he
g .

s u bj e c t i s m ost i n teres tin g as showi n g the c o n tac t of n ati on s

at s om e v e ry re m o te p e ri o d I d o u bt n ot the c l o se al l i an c e
,

b e twe e n the E gy p tian My ste ri es an d Mas on ry an d be twee n

the fo rm e r an d t he My tho s of t he Ark
"

I n a s u b se qu e n t l e tte r t o the au thor Mr S tran ge s ay s , .

, ,

I have wri tte n to m y fri e n d to fu rn i s h m e wi th s u c h in

form ation as he m ight b e at l i berty to gi v e m e re s p e c tin g
the T riu n e n am e for G od w hi c h y o u hav e in y o ur , Mytho s
of the A r k I di d n ot v e n ture to p u t the w ord b e fore him
.
"

b u t as ke d him w he ther he m i g ht tell m e in what ord e r , ,

as to n ati on al i ty t he t hre e n am e s o f G o d c om p o s in
,
g it
s tan d T hi s he has d on e an d i t c ertainly s u pp orts y ou It
. .

i s thu s ,

l st . 2nd . 3 rd .

Je wi sh . A ssyri an or I n dian an d
B ab y l o n i an E gypti an
.

J ao of c o urs e was fi rs t Phce ni c ian then J e wi s h ; Bu l fi rs t

, ,
5 0

Chald ean an d the n P hoe n i c i an an d the l as t w ord , if A u m an d

,

O n ar e to b e i d e n ti fi e d , fi rs t In d i an the n gypti an B ut I E .

fe e l a g oo d d e al o f d o u bt on thi s l atter s u bj e c t i t s trik e s m e ,

that i f the gy pti an s had re c e i ve d thi s as a s e c re t n am e for

E
G od , an d p asse d i t o n to t he Mason s , the y c oul d n ot have
have gi ve n i t the p u bl i c i ty w hic h the y hav e gi ve n to O n .

My fri en d howe ve r wi th the au thor of Pos e id -on an d the

,

au thor o f The B ook of G od the A p o c al yp se of A d am , ,

O an n e s all i de n ti fy O n wi t h A u m
N ote by the A u thor ,

Mr Mack ay ( Le xi c on of Fre e m as on ry p
. al so ,

i d en ti fi e s the In dian A u m w i th the E gy pti an O n he s ay s , ,

T he E gypt i an s g av e t o the G od O n t he s am e attr i b u te s

‘ ’

that the H e b rew s b e s towe d o n J e ho vah the w ord in G ree k ,

si gnifi e s B E I NG or E X I ST E NC E the s am e as the n am e J eho vah

,

in H e b re w T H E H I ND O O S U SE D T H E WO R D A UM on A U N
”
, .

G od fre y H i ggin s (A n ac alyp si s v ol 1 p i d en ti fi e s

, ,

O M or A U M the n ot to b e s p oke n w ord wi th the E gy pt i an

O n an d the H e b re w J e ho v ah an d he add s thi s i s what i s , ,

m e an t by the fo u rth c om m an d m e n t, whi c h we ren d e r Tho u ,

shalt n ot tak e the n am e of the L ord thy G od (b u t w hi c h ,

o u ght to b e J e hov ah thy G od )in v ai n

”
.

Mr H i ggi n s al s o s ays that as a p io u s J e w will n ot

.
“
,

u tte r the w or d J e hov ah s o a p i o u s H i n d o o w il l n ot u tte r the

,

w ord O m The l e tte rs whi c h re p re sen t i t in i ts tri li te ral

.
-

form A U M s tan d the fi rs t for the Cre ator the s e c on d for

. .
, ,

the Pre se r ve r an d the thir d for t he D e s troy e r

”
, .

D r O l i ve r in his S i gn s an d Sy m b ols s ays “ the chi e f

.
‘
, _
’

v ari eti e s of the s acre d N am e am on g an ci en t n ati on s were

J ah an d B u l or B aal an d O N or O M
”
.
, ,

In d i a w as the so u rc e from whi ch all the re li gi on s of the

an c i e n t w orld s p ran g T here the m y tho s of the ark took i t s
.

ri se an d thu s i t i s that Fre e m as on ry re prod u c i n g m u ch of

,

the an c i e n t E gypti an c e re m o n i e s r e p ro d u c e s al s o m u ch
,

that had i ts b irth in the H in d oo te m pl e s of a re m ote an ti

I t i s e asy to c on c e i ve how the H i n doo A U M or O M . .

,

m ay have b e c om e c han ge d i n to the E ti an O N whe n ,

Mas on i c wri te rs te ll u s that in m an y 0 the Roy al Arc h

Chapte rs the w ord O N i s c orrup te d in to LU N .
 A N E SSA Y
O N THE

MYTHOLOG ICA L SIG NIFICA NCE

OF

TREE AND SERPENT W

ORSHIP .

“
M ak e the e a fi ery se rpe n , t an d se t
p on a pol e
it u .
"

SA YI NG o r J xa ov aa , I N T H E BO O K o r NU MBERS
v ‘

W
The y worshippe d se rpe n ts oid of r e as on .

Bo o x o r ISDO M.

PU B LISHED BY T HO MA S S C O T T ,

MO UNT PLEA SANT, RA MSG A TE .

1 8 70 .

Pr ice Sixpen ce .
 TREE A ND SERPENT WORSHIP .

FE W m on ths ago u n d e r the s an cti on an d as sist

,

an c e o f the I n di an C ou n c i l Mr F e rg u ss on p u b li s he d
,

a c o stly v olu m e o f e n gr av i ngs an d pho t ograp hs w i th ,

e xpl an at ory e ss ays illustrat i n g the m ythol og i c al sculp

tur e s ad orn i n g s om e an c i e n t re m ain s of Bu dd hi s t arc hi

t e c t u re n o w e xis t i n g in C e n tral In di a the Top e s or
,

fu n e ral m ou n ds of S an chi an d A m rav at i d at i n g ab o ut

,

the first an d fourth c e n t u r i e s of the C hr i st i an e ra .

Al thou gh Mr Fe rgu s s on s re s e arche s w e re in the first

’

in stan c e c on duct e d in the i n t e re sts o f archi te cture an d

,

art e t the r e p e at e d app ear an c e in t he s e d e c or at iv e

, y
sculptu re s (whi c h lik e the p ai n t i n gs o f E gy pt r e pr e
, ,

s en t e d sc e n e s from the d ai ly l i fe an d c u st om ary u s age s

of the p e ri od to w hi c h t he y b e l on g e d
) of the tre e or

the s e rp e n t p ortray e d as o bj e cts of p opul ar ado rat i on

, ,

le d him o n to the st u dy o f the m yt ho l og i c al s i gn ific an c e

of the s e e m bl e m s . H en c e the Spl en d i d v ol u m e whi c h
he has r e c e n tly p ubl i she d an d w hi c h he e n t i t l e s Tr e e
,

an d S e r p e n t W ors hi p o r I ll u s trat i on s of Mythol ogy

,
.

an d A r t in In d i a in the first an d four th c e n t uri e s aft e r

C hr i s t
.
”

In a n ot i c e o f an e arli e r w ork o f Mr Fergu ss on s

’

“ ”
( P i c tur e s q u e I ll u strat i on s of An c i e n t A r c hi te c ture
)
whic h app eare d in the J o urn al of S acre d L i t erature
f or the y e ar 1 8 62 allusi on i s m ad e to an e n grav i n g of
,

o n e o f the scul ptur e d p an e ls o f the g at e w ay of the

S an chi m on u m e n t on w hi ch is re pres en t e d the w or

,

s hi p o f a Tre e Thi s is s e en pl ac e d on an altar b e

.
,
“

f or e w hi c h d e v ot e e s ar e pro strat i n g the m s e lv e s in

pray e r whil e an ge ls wi t h cro w n s of gl ory are float in g in
, , ,
4 Tr ee a nd Ser pen t W / ip or mr .

the air a b ov e I t is j ust such a sc e n e as a fe rvid i m agin

.

ati on m i g ht pictur e to its e lf b e fo r e the hi gh alt ar of a

R om an B asil i c a an d suc h as C hristi an p ai n t e rs who

W
,

l o v e the p oetry of the ir art are w on t to re pre s en t e .

hav e on ly to substitut e the C ross f or the Tre e an d the ,

”
re s e m bl an c e w ou ld b e c om pl e t e .

Struck by this si m ili tud e Mr Fe rguss on has d e v ote d ,

a p ort i on of his re c e n t v olu m e to s he w i n g the l arge u s e

whi c h has b e e n m ad e o f Tree an d S e rp e n t sy m b ol
al m o s t e v e ry r e ligi ous syst e m w hi c h the w orld has

k n o w n n ot e xc e p t in g the H ebre w an d C hrist i an He

,
.

als o p oi n ts ou t the pr e v al e n c e o f S e rp e n t wo rs hi p am on g

the H in d oo s an d the s e m i civ i l i s e d trib e s o f A fr i c a at

-

the pr e s e n t d ay It is the d e fe ct of M r Fe rgu s s on s

.
’

b ook that w hi l e it c alls atten ti on to s om e v e ry c u ri ous

,

an d v e ry st artli n g facts it d oe s n ot offe r an y su ffici e n t

,

or s atisfact ory e xpl an at i on of t he m I f the w ors hi p of .

the S e r pe n t or Tr ee was in an ci e n t ti m e s s o u n i v e rs al ,

it is e vide n t that the re m ust hav e b ee n s om e su fficie n t

r e as on for the pract i ce Mr Fergu s s on s absti n e n c e from
.
’

sp e cul at i on i s the m ore prov oki n g w hen it is re m e m

b ere d that the re c e n t i n v e st igation s of st u de n ts in c om
arativ e m yt hol ogy hav e by n o m ean s fai l e d in o btai n
p
in g light up on the subj e c t B ut thou gh g i vi n g us .
,

l ittl e of his o wn thought he d oe s n ot fail to utilise the

,

l ab ou rs o f othe rs .

“ ”
The w ors hip of the s e rp e n t he q u ote s from M r ,

B athurst D e an e s ad m i rabl e w ork pub li s he d e arly in

’

,
“
the pre s e n t c e n tury m ay b e trac e d in al m ost e v e ry
,

re l igion through an cien t A si a E urop e A fr i c a an d , , ,

A m eric a an d i ts pre v al e n c e is o n ly to b e acc ou n te d f or

,

on the s u pp o sit i on t hat a c orrupt e d trad i ti on o f the

S e rp e n t in P arad i s e had b e en han d e d down from ge n e

”
r ation to gen e rati on an d t hat c on s e q u e n tly all the
, , ,

s erp en t sym bolism s fou n d in the he athe n m y thol ogi e s

w e re distorte d c opie s o f thi s n arrative e c an acc e pt . W
Mr D e an e s c oll e cti on of facts t hough we fe e l ours elv e s
’

o bl ige d to re pudi ate his t heorie s M r D ean e wrote his .

 T r ee an d Serp en t W / ip
or e r .
5
b ook at a t im e w he n i t w as the cust om to assu m e the
B ook of G e n e sis to b e the old e st l i terature in the w orl d .

The fall acy o f t hi s ass e rti on ho w e v e r i s n o w too w e ll , ,

k n o w n to n ee d e xp o sure T he re l ig i on s of Egypt an d
.

o f I n d i a d at e fr o m a p e r i o d l on g an t e ri o r to the i n f an cy

o f the J e wis h n at i on an d in the an c i e n t H i n d o o t he o

,

l ogy as n ow in the m o d e r n H i n d oo re l igi on the s e r

, ,

p e n t w as o n e o f the m o st fre q u e n t sy m b ols H ow .

” ‘
gre at an d how ge n e r al s ay s Mr Mauri c e in his H i s
, ,
“
t o ry of H i n d o s t an v ol i p 6 8
,
’
was the v en e rat i on
. .
, .
,

o f t he s e rp e n t in an c i e n t t i m e s t hr ougho ut H in d oo s tan ,

is e v i d e n t in e v e ry p ag e of the ir m y t hol og i c hist o ry in ,

w hi c h alm ost e v e ry fab u l ous p ers on age o f n ot e i s r e pre

”
s en te d as grasp i n g or as e n v i ron e d w i th a s e rp en t .

I n t his t he o l ogy the s e rp en t tho ugh m or e or l e ss ass o ,

c iat e d w i t h B r ahm a an d w ith Vi s hn u w as y e t e sp e c i ally ,

the sy m b o l o f the t e rri fi c S iva the d e stroyin g y e t r e ,

ge n e rat in g m e m b e r o f the H i n d oo Tri m urt i or Tri n i ty .

T he H i n d oo p hi l o s ophy disc e rn e d t hat d eath w as

cl os e ly ass oc i at e d w ith re pr oducti on s o i t m ad e the ,

g o d o f d e s t r u c t i on t o h av e a b e n e fic en t as w e ll as an

e v i l c har ac t e r . H e n c e the s erp en t has c om e in t he

m ytho l ogi c al syste m s of ot he r n at ion s to b ear a d o ubl e
s i gn i ficati on to b e s om e t i m e s the sy m b ol of b e n efic en c e
,

an d he al i n g as in the s e rp e n t o f E s c u lapiu s an d s o m e
, ,

t i m e s the sy m b ol of m al e v ol e n c e an d d e stru ct i on as in the ,

P e rs i an Ahri m an or the D e vil of C hri s t i an the ol ogy *

, .

I n the s e rp en t w ors hi p o f an c i e n t t i m e s the s erp en t

was r e gard e d as the sy m b ol of a b e n e fic en t G od It .

re pre s e n te d w i s d o m re pr oduct i on e tern i ty l ife ge n era

, , , ,

t i on & c Thus the gre at cre atin g sp i ri t o f the Egypti an

, .

ly H i d t l y
l n the e ar n oo he o o Hi d
g , an d in the li g i
n oo r e on

o f t he p s t
re en Siv
d ay , t rrific
a, t he e d stru c ti is
go d o f e on ,
i s rp t t t r p s t s
wor s h pp ed , an d t he e e n ha is sy b l
e r e en him a m o
t t is
ha hono u r ed P si A i
The
. er an vi l
hr m an an d t he D e of
d r t l y
m o e n he o og are d is ti gui s d f
n he g d
r om t he oo an d b e n e fi
c t d it y
en e ,
c t
an d ar e d st d
on e m n e b i g w rs ipp d
in e a of e n o h e .

s rp t
The e e n , as a sy b l S i v
m o of w v r p s t d r pr
a, ho e er, e re en e e o
d u c ti r t r t
on a he d s tru c t iv ss l if
han e en e — e n ot e a h
d t .
6 T r ee and Serp en t W / ip ar s p .

m ytho l ogy , the pri m ordi al Cn e ph, w as sy m b ol i s e d

*
by a s e rp e n t The n am e
. C n e ph, J ac ob B ry an t
d e r i v e s fro m C an O ph the s e rp e n t o f the s u n the gr eat
,

or c hi e f o r r oy al s e rp e n t The s e rp e n t o c cupi e s a v e ry
.

prom i n e n t pl ac e in t he c e l e brat e d Egypti an sy m b o l of

Di vi n e Pro v i d e n c e whi ch i s fou n d ad orn i n g the p ortic o
,

o f e v e ry Egypt i an t e m pl e viz a w i n ge d gl ob e with

,
.
,

s e rp e n t s issu i n g from it H e re the s e rp e n t re pre s e n te d

.

the c r e ativ e w i sd o m o f G od t hat pr i n c i pl e of w i s ,

d om issui n g from the F athe r (the gl ob e ) by whi c h the ,

World was m ad e —the w i n gs in t hi s sy m b ol s i gn ifi e d

,
~

W
W
the d iv i n e o m n i pre s e n c e the p e rv ad i n g e n e rgy o f G o d
, ,

W W %
the H oly S pir i t it: gr
W
.

W
E
om w e re c l o s e y an i s p r bly ss c i t d
n e a a a o a e ,
3 3

rl i e st c on c e p e ea

t i on 0 t e d i v i n e w isd om aro s e from the w on d e r e x

cite d in the m i n ds of m en as they c on t e m pl ate d the
myst e ri o u s p ow e r w i th w hi c h an i m als an d pl an ts are
in v e ste d of re produc i n g the ir sp e ci e s
,
H e n c e the .

e arl i e st w ors hip was n atur e w orshi p an d the p e rv ad i n g ,

t hought of this w ors hi p c e n te re d aro un d the s e won de r

ful ge n e rativ e or product i v e p o w e rs .

“ ”
I t is re m ark abl e s ays D e an Mi l m an in his H is
,

t ory o f C hrist i an i ty how w i d e ly al m o st u n i v e rs ally

,
’
,

e x t e n d e d t hr ougho ut the e arly w orld app e ars the ih ,

s titu tion o f a s ol e m n p e ri o d o f m o ur n i n g ab ou t the

autu m n al an d of r ej o ic i n g ab out the v e r n al e q u in ox

, .

The susp en si on o r app aren t e xti n c ti on of the gre at

v i v i fyi n g p o w e r of n at u re O sir i s or Iacchus the de sti
,

tu tion o f C e re s I s i s o r the e arth of he r husb an d or

, , , ,

her b e aut i ful d au ght e r tor n in pi e c e s or c arri e d away ,

i n t o the i r real m s by the m alig n an t p o w e rs o f dark n e ss ,

t he i r re app e aran c e in all the i r bright an d fert i l i si n g

age n cy t he s e d i ffe re n t for m s w e r e the gr e at an n u al fast
,
”
an d f e stiv al o f the e arly heathe n w ors hi p .

An al y sis of the an c i e n t m yt hol o gy .

 T r ee d Serpen t
an W/p or t 3 1 .
7
G oe the giv e s utteran c e to a ve ry sim il ar idea . He
s e X3
‘
The U tilit ari an s s u sp e ct y ou of an in te n ti on of
ro bb i n g the m of the ir G o d , if y o u o bj ect to the ir ador
in g Him who g av e horn s to the ox w he re w i t h to d e
fe n d its e l f, but I hu m bly b eg to b e allo w e d to ad ore
Him whos e cre ativ e w e alth p e r m itt e d him to create ,
aft e r m an y thou s an d pl an ts , a pl an t in whi ch all the

r e st are c on tai n e d , an d to produc e , afte r m an y tho u s an d

sp e c i e s of ani m als , a b e in g whi c h c on t ai n s the m all,
v iz
.
,
m an .

I t is custom ary to adore Him who giv e s the c attl e

its food an d m eat an d drin k acc ord in g to i ts wan ts ;
but I ad ore Him w ho gav e the w orld s u c h aston i shin g
p ow ers of production that thou gh but the m i ll i on th
,

p art of them b e e xe rte d the world is s o crowde d w i t h

,

b e i n gs that wars an d p e stil e n c e de luge s an d c on flagra

, ,
”
ti on s can n ot pre v ail agai n st t he m
,
.

The thou ght that c om m an d e d the ad m irati on an d

r e v e re n c e of G oe the was the tho u ght that prom pt e d
the e arli e st ide a o f wo rship T he H in d oo V e d as the
.
,

o ld e st re ligio us b ooks whi ch the w orld p oss e ss e s b ear ,

am pl e t e st i m on y to the fact t hat n ature w o rs hi p the ,

w ors hi p that s e e s G od in surro un d i n g o bj e cts in the ,

w on d e rful p ow e rs an d prop e rt i e s that the s e m anife st ,

w as the b as is o f the ear l i e st re l igion s of which hu m an

re c ords te ll O f thi s n at u re w ors hi p we shall show the
.

Tre e an d the S erp en t to hav e b ee n the chie f an d sp e c i al

sy m bols an d thes e we re re v e re n ce d b e c ause they we re
,

c on c e iv e d of as b e in g typ i c al of the re pro d uct iv e

p owe rs of v ege table an d an im al lif e The choi c e of the .

T ree for thi s purp o s e s ee m s to b e v e ry n at u ral an d ap

propriate ; why the se rp en t should hav e b ee n cho s en
d o e s n ot s o clearly app e ar . W
e hav e ho w e v e r ab u n , ,

dan t t e sti m on y that the s e rp e n t whe n use d as a re li,

giou s sym bo l was m ad e to bear thi s s i gn ific ati on

,
that
in the e arli e r m ytho l ogi e s it typifi e d the r e productiv e
e n e rgy o f an i m al lif e an d that late r on , as the s e m y tho
,
8 Tr ee an d Serp en t W bip or s .

l ogi e s be c am e m ore re c on dite an d as re ligi ous sp e c u l a

,

t i on assu m e d a m ore p hil os op hic charac te r the se rp e n t ,

b e c am e the sym b ol of cre ativ e pow e r an d of D ivin e

w isd om Thus M r Fe rgu ss on throughout his b ook
. .

sp e aks of Tre e w orship as b e i n g the s i ste r re ligi on to

S e rp en t w orship an d he e n d eav ours to sho w that whil e
,

in I n d i a the two are r e p e at e d l y fo u n d toge the r y e t by , ,

a sp e c i e s o f m yt hol ogic al s e l e cti on the A ryan rac e s ,

of the W e ste r n w orld hav e al m o st in v ar i ably pre

f e rre d the Tre e sy m bo l be fore the S e rp e n t sy m b ol an d ,

that c on s e qu en tly in the m ythol ogi e s of n orthe rn

E ur ope w e fin d re p e ate d e vid e n c es of T re e w ors hi p an d
but f ew i n dic ation s of S erpe n t w ors hip, m ore ov e r the
S e rp en t in thes e m ythol ogi e s has an e vil sign ific an c e an d
o ccupie s a de grad e d p os i tion Ye t E ur op e tak e s its
.

n am e from the s e rp e n t s i gn i fi e s the gr e at or chi e f se r

,

p en t w hi le ih t his c o u n try the r e m ai n s o f a gr e at s e r

,

p en t t em pl e are still to b e s ee n at A bu ry in W iltshire

-
.

The w ord Abury i s v i rtu all y the n am e E urop e tran s

p os e d an d it als o s ign ifi e s the gre at s erp e n t
, .

D r Stu k ely in a l ett er to M r G ale of S tam ford

.
, .
,

d at e d Jun e 2 5th 1 73 0 w hi ch I fin d q u ot e d by D r
, , .

O liv e r in his l e cture on M as on ic S ign s an d Sym b ols ,

”
an d als o by the l e arn e d aut hor of the B o ok o f G od ,
“
s ays The stu pen d o us t em pl e at A bury in W iltshire
, , ,

is a picture of D e ity — m os t partic u larly of w hat the y

’

an ci e n tly c all e d the F athe r an d the W ord who creat e d

all thi n gs This figure y ou will fin d on the top o f all

.

the ob e l i sks A s n ake proc e e d i n g fro m a circ l e is a

.

proc e ss i on of the Son (or D ivi n e W isdo m ) from the

gre at First C aus e ”
.

The Re v B athurst D e an e to whos e work on Se r

.
,

p e n t W orship allusi on has already b e en m ade s ays , ,

Fr om a circl e o f u pright st on e s e re cte d at e qu al dis ,

tan c e s pro c e e de d two av e n u e s in a w avy c o urs e in

, ,

o p p o sit e dir e ct i on s
; the s e w e re the fore an d hi n d e r
’
p arts o f the s e rp en t s b ody p assi n g fro m w e st to e ast .

W i thin this great c ircl e w e re fo ur othe rs c on side rably

 T r ee an d Serp en t W/p on 21 .
9

s m all e r 3 the head of the s erp e n t w as for m ed of two

c on c e n tri c ov als an d re st e d on an e m i n e n c e w hi ch i s
,

the s o u the rn pr om on t ory of the Hac k pe n * ( S e rp e n t s

’

”
he ad ) hills .

Mr J ac ob Bryan t in his An alysis of the An ci en t

. ,

” ”
Mythol ogy s ays that the w ord ,
A b whi c h in ,

H e bre w m e an s F at he r has als o the s am e m e an in g as ,

” ”
the Egypti an O b or A ub an d s ign ifi e s a Ser , ,

p e n t — thu s e tym ol og i c ally u n i tin g the two ideas .

The fact t hat in c on n e ct i on wi t h the D r u i d i c al

,

re l igi on s e rp e n t w ors hi p e stabl i she d i t s e l f in this c ou n

,

try an d has l e ft a v i v i d m e m ori al o f i ts pre s e n c e in the

,

A bury ru i n s s e rv e s as a s u ffic i e n t w i t n e ss of its pre

,

v al e n c e in the an ci en t world O ur obj e c t ho w e v e r is .

, ,

to asc e rt ai n its m e an i n g The s e r pe n t w as in all the .

,

old w o rshi ps the sy m b ol of the D e i ty ; if t he r e for e w e

, , ,

dis c ov e r the hi d d e n s ign i fi c an c e w hi c h att ache d to this

sym b ol we shall b e abl e to thro w c on s i de rabl e l i ght
,

up on the e arly form s of r e l igi o us t hought an d p oss e ss i n g ,

the first l i n k w e s hall fin d i t a gr eat he lp t ow ards c om

,

pre he n d i n g the subs e qu en t d e v e l op m en t of re l ig ious

d o c tr i n e .

r rtherly hologie s of the m o e no

Eu rop e an n ation s the Tre e i s m u c h m ore c on sp i cu ous

,

as a r e l i g i ou s sy m b o l than is the S e rp e n t A T r e e of .

K n owl e dge an d a T re e of L i fe ar e her e c on tin u ally m e t

w i th as s acre d sym b o ls w hil e the s e rp en t as an o bj e ct ,

o f dir e ct w ors hi p is f ar l e ss fre q u e n t From an arti cle .

on S acre d Tre e s in the J o u rn al of S acre d L i te ra

,
’
~

ture f or 1 8 6 2 we m ak e the f oll owin g q u o tati on s in

,
’

From Pe n he ad an d Hag the old English word

“ “
,
”
, ,
”

f or s e rpe n t An ac al yp si s by Go dfre y
.
,
”
10 T r ee an d Serp en t W hip
or s .

su pp ort of the pr ev al e n c e of Tree sy m b olis m or Tree

wo rs hip in t he an c i e n t r e l i gi ous sys te m s .

The fact of a c e rtai n Tr e e of L i fe b e i n g i n troduc e d

at the c o m m e n c e m e n t o f the s acre d r e c or d s by o n e w ho

had b e e n c are fu lly e duc at e d in all the l e ar n i n g of the

Egypt i an s w o uld l e ad on e to s u pp os e that the Egyptian s
,
‘
the m s e lv e s p o ss e ss e d a k n ow l ed ge of suc h a Tr e e f O n
the s acre d m o n u m e n ts of the an c i e n t E gypti an s we d o
fin d a Tre e havi n g a r e l at i on t o the l i fe in P arad i s e an d ,

fu rn i shi n g there i n the re q ui re d supp ort of i m m ortal i ty .

T he m on u m e n ts of the an c i e n t A s sy rian si als o sho w a

s acre d Tre e sy m b ol i c al of the divi n e i n fl u en c e o f the
,
”
lif e givin g D e i ty
-
.

T he m o st g e n e rally r e c e iv e d sy m b ol of life is a tr e e ,

as als o the m o st appr opr i at e an d as w e r e c og n is e tw o

d i ffer e n t form s of l i fe —a sp i ri tu al l i fe the li fe of the
,

s oul an d a p hysic al life :the l ife of the b ody— s o the s e

, ,

m ay b e r e pr e s en t e d e i ther by tw o tre e s as s om e tim e s ,

fou n d the Tre the

”
in r e fe re n c e to u n iv e rs al life by on e tr e e al on e ,
.

A s a sy m b olic al tre e of u n iv e rs al life the ash ,

Yggd ras ill the m u n d an e tre e o f the S c an di n avi an

’
,

m y thol ogy cl aim s the pre e m i n e n c e -

I t is d e scrib e d
.

in the E d d as as the gre at e st an d b e st of tre e s I ts .

tripl e root r e ache s to the m ythic r egi on s o f the frost

gian ts an d the ZEs ir an d p e n e trate s the n e bul o us
,
'

n iflhe im its m aj e stic st e m ov e rto ps the he av e n s an d ,

its bran che s fill the world I t is sprin kl e d with the .

pure st wat er whe n c e is the d ew that falls in the dal e s

, ,

an d its l i fe g i vi n g e n e rgy is diff u s e d t hr oughout al l

-

n atur e . This tre e is e viden tly a sym b ol of that in s c ru ‘

tabl e p ow e r which is the life o f all thi n gs— thus repre

s e n tin g u n de r an arb ore sc en t form the m ost an cie n t
, ,

Ther e ar e re ason s f or be li e vin g that the e arl y chapte rs of

the Boo k o f G e n e s i s w e re bo rr o w e d from a C hald e an rathe r than
fr om an E ti an so ur c e .

1 Fo r a i e x po si t i o n o f t he s ym b o l i c al m e an in g o f the
’

A ssyri an Tr e e s e e Dr In m an s “ An c i en t Fai ths e m bo d ie d

,
’
,
in An c i e n t N am e s
”
.
 Tr ee an d
‘
a pen t
‘
W / ip
on r . 1
3
the ory of N at u r e an al ogous tin g the C hristm as Tre e
,

I n d i an Parvati the god d e ss of Sproof of the Egy pti an

,

in the Egyp ti an I s i s an d in the figmm the fact t hat in,

w i th in t he m us e u m s of I taly c all e d Egypt had the ,

0

E p he s i an s a v ar i e ty o f the I n d i an E b awis oft en sub

,
*

“
T he s acr e d tr ee of the an ci e n t Briti s h
the oak — the tr e e s acre d to D ru i d i c al wors hrp by the
A

o ak in P al e sti n e w as r e gard e d as the e m bl e m « g l an d

D i vi n e c ov e n an t ( Thi s how e v e r had an othe r sy nin g
”
.
, ,

am on g the e arly J e ws w hi c h cl o s e ly all ie s the tre e w i t h

,

the pre v al e n t N ature w ors hi p of the an c i en ts) “

It .

is als o w orthy of re m ark t hat the s am e H ebre w w ord

a la h w hi c h s i g n i fi e s an oa k m ean s als o an oa th an d
, , ,

the r oo t of thi s w ord is a l m ighty or stron g the ori gi n , ,

”
o f the n am e of D e ity in m an y o f the an c i e n t l an gu ag e s .

Am on g the G reeks the oak of D od on a was the s e at o f

the ol d e st H e ll e n i c oracl e an d the pri e sts s e n t forth ,

the i r d e cre e s on its l e av e s .

The figure of N u tpi or N e ith the go d d e ss of D i vi n e ,

lif e w as re pre s e n t e d on the s epulc hral m on u m e n ts of

,

the E gypt i an s as s eate d am on g the bran c he s of the

‘
Tre e of Life in the p arad i s e of O s i ri s an d repr e
’
,

s en t e d the godde ss di sp e n s in g the divi n e s u st e n an c e

the i m m ort al s oul .

H om the s acr e d tr e e of the P e rs i an s

’
The ,
is ,

sp ok en of in the Z en d av e sta as the \V ord of L i fe ”

,

as the author of s alv at i on an d as the an n ou n c e r o f it ,

as the Tr e e o f L i fe an d as the s ou rc e of the l i vi n g wat e r

“
The pl an t H om whe n c on s e c rat e d i s re
‘ ’
o f lif e .
, ,

garde d as the m ys ti cal b ody of G od an d w he n par ,

t ak e n of as a s acram en t i s r e c e i ve d as the v er i tabl e

”
foo d o f e te rn al l i fe .

‘
T he Hom whe n thus c on s e cr at e d w as supp o s e d
,
’
,

to giv e l i fe an d whe n p art ak e n of by the w orshi pp e rs

,

was regard e d in the s am e l ight as C hr i st i an s hav e s i n c e

regarde d the ir Eu c harist v i z as the substan c e of G od , .

Thi s fi gu re w as an im age of the go dd e ss Mu ltim am m i a or ,

the m an y bre as t e d Se e Mon tfau c on s pl ate s

’
-
.
 1 4 T r ee an d Serp en t W hip or s .

sy m b ols tre e s e rpe n t cross p hallus l ogos an d m em ra

, , , , , , ,

w er e in c ours e of t i m e regarde d as sy m b ol i c al of C hrist ,

an d e v e n tu ally l ost t he m s e lv e s in C hr isti an i ty

W
.

e hav e c all e d att e n t i o n to the f act t hat an an ci en t

B uddhist sculpt u re re pre s en ts an ac t of adorati on of a

c har act e r id en t i c al wit h the re ligio us c ere m on i al of the
R om an C athol i c C hurch e xc e pt t hat a tr e e was us e d ,

in the pl ac e of a cr oss as the c e n tral s y m b ol of the rite .

T he cro ss an d the tr ee howe v e r ar e sy n on y m ous sy m

, ,

b ols In C hr i st i an lit erature we v e ry often fin d the cross

.

spok en of as a tre e as though the t e rm s we re in te r

,

c han ge abl e as i n de ed they ar e Thus in the l 0 th

, , ,
.

c hapte r of the Acts of the A po stl e s P e te r sp e aki n g o f , ,

“ ”
Je sus s ay s w hom they sl e w an d han g e d on a tr ee
, ,

( em Ethos ) U n de r this word D r P ark hurst in his

.
,

L e xic on has the fo ll owi n g r e m arks I n R e v e l ati on s .

E u hov m g goi ng
“
the Tr e e of L ife
,
de n ot e s C hrist as
b ei n g the au thor o f e te rn al l i fe ; whil e in the foll owi n g
qu o tati on from H ym n s An ci e n t an d Mo d e rn the ,
’

cross an d the tre e are e vid e n tly in the c o m m on l an gu age

of C hr i sti an w ors hi p i n t e rc han ge abl e t e r m s .

Chris t b y c owar d han d s b e traye d ,

C hri s t f or u s a c apt i ve m ade ,

C hri s t u p on the b i tte r tr ee ,

S lain f or m an b e prai se to The e

, .
”

A gain ,

Se e H
i s han d s fe e t ar e f as te n e d
an d ,

So he m ak e s H i s pe opl e fre e .

Not a w o u n d w he n c e bl oo d i s flowin g ,

Bu t a fo un t of gr ac e shall b e
Y e a the v e r y n ail s w hi c h n ai l H im ,

N ail u s al s o t o the Tre e .

T he foll ow in g has b e en sub m i tte d to m y n otic e in this

‘
c on n e c ti on I t is from the H ym n al N ot e d by the
.
’

R e v R Ro p e r an d c om p l ai n t w as m ad e to the Bi s hop
. .
,

o f E x e t e r c on c e r n i n g i t in J u n e 1 8 57 I t i s q u e st i on .

abl e how e v e r w he t he r it w o uld b e m ad e a m att e r o f

, ,

c om plain t n ow
 T r ee an d Serp en t W/p en 91 . I
5
F i thf u l c ss 1 b v all th rs
a ro a o e o e ,

On d
e an ly bl tr on no e ee
N on e in foliage n on e in bl ossom
, ,

N on e in frui t thy pe e r m ay b e
S we e te s t wood an d s we e te st ir on
S we e te st we ight is hu n g on thee .

Be n d thy bo u ghs 0 Tr e e o f Gl ory

Thy re l ax in g s in e w s b e n d ,

For a whil e the an c i e n t v ou r

'

That th b irth b e stow e su sp en d ;

An d the in g of H e av e n l y b e au t y
O n thy b os om ge n tl y te n d
”
.

The or igin of thi s stran ge c om p ou n d of heat hen is m an d

C hr i s t i an i ty i s to b e foun d in a hy m n written in the
s i xth c en tury by F ortu n atus Bi shop o f P oi t i e rs From , .

the c on clud i n g porti on of thi s t he foll ow i n g li n e s ar e

tak en of w hi ch the v ers e s j ust q u ot e d ar e a l i te ral
,

tran sl ati on .

C ru x fid e lis in t e r om n e s ar b or u n a n obilis
, ,

S i lv a t al e m n u lla p ro fe rt fron d e flor e ge rm in e , ,

D ul c e f e r ru m d ul c e li gn um d u l c e p on d u s su s t in e n t
, , .

“
Fl e c t e r am os arb or alta t e n s a l axa vi sc era ,

E t ri gor le n t e sc at ill e q u e m d e di t n at i vi t as ,

E t s u p e rn i m em bra re gi s t e n d e m i t i s t ip i t e .

Thus it is that the Tre e of L ife b e c om e s the C ross the ,

”
w oo d whe n c e s alv ati on c om e th .

I t i s n ow w e ll — k n o w n to the l earn e d that the C ross

is a pr e C hr i st i an sy m b ol N ot in de e d t i ll the third
-
.
, ,

c e n tury of the C hr i st i an era was the figu re of a C r oss

us e d as a sy m bo l in C hr isti an worshi p i t was t he n ,

us e d in b apt i sm f or purp o s e s of e x orc is m the s ign of ,

the cr o ss b e i n g sup pos e d to po ss e ss gre at e ffic ac y

ag ai n st all s orts of e v i ls an d p art i c u l arly agai n st the
,

m ac hin ati on s of e v i l spiri ts (Se e M o s he i m ) Not till .

”
n e arly the s i xth c e n tury w as the fi
c ru c a r the cross ,

o f the cruc i fix i on e m pl oy e d
, H i the rto from the .
,

thi rd c en t u ry the cr oss u s e d was the P agan sym b ol

, ,

an d it w as e m pl oy e d in the s en s e att ac he d to i t in the

old P ag an fai ths v i z , d e l i v e ran c e fr o m e vi l an d e t e rn al

,
.

li fe Thi s cr oss was b u t the Tre e sy m b ol in an othe r

.

form , though afte r the s ixth c en tury i t m e rge d in t o the

 1 6 T r ee an d Serp en t W hip or s .

C ross of C alv ary N e v e rthe l e ss to this hour the m ean

.
.

in g of the C ro ss in C hrist i an us age re tai n s v e ry m uch

of its old s i gn ific an c e an d w hi l e on G ood F ri d ay it is
,

re gard e d as the d ol or o us sym bo l of su ff e ri n g an d d eath ,

o n Easte r d ay it b e c om e s the sym b o l of re surre cti on

-

an d joy —the e m bl e m of e t e rn al lif e in ot he r w ords ,

w hil e on G oo d F riday the C ross has its prop e r C hr isti an

sign i fic an c e o n E ast e r d ay it i n herits all the pl e as i n g
,
-

as s o c i ati o n s t hat b e l o n g e d to its p agan pr oto typ e T he .

an c i e n t cro ss was the s am e wit h the s i gn ta u whi ch ,

Ez e kie l in his visi on s aw stam p e d as a m ark o f s al va

ti on on the fore heads of the fai thfu l J e w s ( Ez e k chap . .

The p as s ag e whi c h in the En glish tran sl ati on is

“ ”
re n de re d s e t a m ark is t hus giv e n in the v u l gate
, ,

E t s ign s Thau ( cro ss a cro ss )sup e r fron te s v iro ru m

.

ge m e n tiu m
”
.This than or tau T was the s i gn
” “

o f e t e rn al life an d u n d e r the n am e of the c ru x ans a ta

, ,

was pl ac e d in the han d of all the E gypti an g ods as a

sy m bo l of the ir divin ity I t was in fact the Phallus .

an d Y on i c o m b i n ed the l atte r b e in g signi fi e d by the

,

sup e radde d rin g I n the S am aritan form

. this tau
‘
sym bol was stam p e d on all the H ebre w c oi n s an d in ,

t his form i t c on sti tute d the fam ous ham m e r of Thor ,

x the N ors e sy m bo l of divin ity S o acc ordin g to .

,

Lon gf e ll ow Kin g O l af when k ee pin g C hr istm as at

, ,

D ron the im ,
drin k in g horn the s ign
O e r his ,

He m ad e of the cro ss di vin e ,

As he dran k an d m u tte re d his pray e rs

Bu t the Be rse rks e ve rm or e ,

Mad e the si gn of the ham m e r of Thor

Ov er the irs ”
.

B ut the s e sym b ols , says M r B arin g G o uld in his ,

In thi s form w e s ee the

 T r ee and Serp en t W hip or s . 1
7
”
Myths of the M iddl e Age s were the sam e an d he , ,

qu ot e s the foll owi n g st ory in proof .

O n e of the S agas d e scri bin g the s acrific e at Lad e ,

at w hi c h K in g H ak on A the ls to n s f o st e r so n w as pr e
’
, ,

se n t re l ate s : Now w he n the first gobl e t was filled

‘
,

Earl Sigur d sp ok e s o m e w ords ov e r i t an d bl e ss e d it ,

in O d i n s n am e an d d ran k to the k in g ou t o f the

’

horn an d the k in g t he n to ok i t an d m ad e the s ign o f ,

the cro ss o v e r it Then s ai d K aar e of G r ey tin g W hat

.
,

d oe s the k i n g m ean by do in g so 2 will he n ot s acrifice ?

B ut Earl Si gurd repli e d the k in g is doin g what all of
, ,

y ou d o who trust in yo ur p owe r an d stre n gth f or he is ,

bl e ss i n g the fu ll gobl e t in the n am e of Thor by m ak in g ,

”
the s i gn o f his ham m er o v e r i t b e fore he dr i n k s i t .

The D r u ids w e re accu sto m e d to c on v e rt the s acre d

oak in t o the for m of a cr o ss (an d thus to m ak e the tre e
,

an d cr o ss sy m b ols i d en t i cal )by cutt in g o ff all the b oughs

,

an d fixin g the t wo l arg er on e s in t o the st e m at r i ght

.

an gl e s to i t t hus the form of a cr o ss was pro d u c e d an d

, ,

o v e r this w as in s cr i b e d
“
Than ( déog) In the arti c le .

on S acre d Tree s b e fore allude d to there occurs the

”
,

foll o w in g p aragraph
“
T he Bu dd hi sts hav e the ir sacre d tre e s I n C eyl on .

the re is the boga ha or go d s tre e C ap t ain W il ford

’ ’
.
,

in an ar tic le in the 1 0 th v olu m e of the As i ati c Re s e arche s ,

“ ”
says that the tr ee of l ife an d k n owl edge or the ,

J a m b u tre e is re pre s e n te d in the shap e of a Man iche an

,

cro ss pl ac e d on a c alvary I t i s call e d the divi n e

.

‘ ’
tre e the tre e of the god s
,
’
When the tre e is re pr e
.

s e n t e d as a tr u n k witho ut bran che s i t is the n s ai d to

b e the s eat of the S upre m e O n e *
Whe n two arm s .

w e re add e d as in the C hris ti an cro ss than the Trim urti ,

( I n d i an trin i ty Br”ahm a V ishn u an d Si v a) w e re s ai d

, , , ,

to b e s e at e d the re .

The P ha ll u s w as o fte n worshi ppe d un d e r the f orm of a .

O
c oni c al s ton e t he be li sk an d the r am i d ar e s m bo ls of a Py y
sim il ar charac t er . T y
he had the s am e m e an in g as the Tr ee
s te m Wi thou t bran che s, an d s m bo lise d the Great athe r, Go d
y F .

B
 1 8 T r ee an d Serpen t W hip or r .

The p arall e l which this offe rs to the practic e o f the

B r itis h D ru i ds is v e ry r e m ark abl e , as is als o the re s em
bl an c e of the l att e r form to the C hrist i an cross .

The tree an d cross are he re fou n d to b e virtu ally the

s am e sy m b ols , i m plyi n g the e l e m en t of p hysic al life ,
w hic h was typic al o f the C reator in the e arly n ature
w orshi p . W e s hall n ow pr oc e e d to s how the ir i d e n tity

as sym b ols of the highe r i n t ell e ctu al life of the s oul .

The tre e o f life is ofte n us e d as a fig u r e in the d e v o

tion al lite rature of the J e ws , havin g, ho w e v e r, n o re l a
t i on to the tr ee of whi ch the B ook of Ge n e sis sp eaks .

Thus , in the B ook of P rov e rbs , wisdom (of w hich b e it

r e m e m b e re d the s e rp e n t was the u niv e rs al sym b ol ), is
“
de scrib e d as a tree of life to the m which lay hold
”
up on her .

‘
M r G odfre y H iggin s in his An ac al ypsis , s ays that ’

”
ou r E n gl i sh w ord b ook has the d e ri vation from the
The L ati n w ord
”
n am e of the heathe n god B acchus.

liber , w hic h signifi e s a b ook , whe n c e ou r w ord l i brary,

o r c o ll e cti on of b ooks , is d e riv e d , was als o o n e of the

n am e s o f t hi s god B acchus . From liber is al s o de riv e d

”
ou r w ord lib e rty, s i gn i fy in g in its higher s en s e the
free dom which kn owl e d ge c on f ers 3 the fre e dom whi ch
was gi v e n to slav e s , an d the g en eral lib erty or lic e n c e
whi ch was all ow e d at the fe st i v al or org i e s of B acchus ,
m ay , in c on n e ct i on wi th the othe r m ean i n g that the
n am e liber b ears , hav e origi n at e d the custo m for m e rly

obs e rv e d in t hi s c ou n try of c on fe rr i n g l i b e rty , or sc our

in g fre e d om or e x e m pti on from pu n i shm e n t to the

“ ”
l e arn e d u n de r the titl e b en e fit of the cl e rgy . B ut
liber s i gn ifi e s als o the b ark or i n n e r rin d of a tree, on
which b ooks we re origi n ally wri t te n . Thus we hav e
o n e n am e s i gn if y i n g a tr e e , a god , an d a b ook . I t is
o w i n g to t hi s c on n e ct i on o f a tre e with a b ook t hat w e

Spe ak o f the l eav e s of a b ook as we d o of the l eav e s of

a tre e, an d the s i m il arity i s pr e s e rv e d in the Latin , w he n

we sp e ak o f the foli os of a b ook an d of the foliag e of a

tree Agai n , the w ord edition us e d with referen c e to
.
 T r ee an d Serp en t W / ip or t s . 1
9
b ooks deriv e d from the L atin ed o I e at alli e s the id ea
, , ,

o f b ooks w i th the fr ui t of the tr e e ; t hus the tr e e of

k n ow l e dge b e c o m e s the b ook of wis d om an d as w e ,

hav e a tr ee of l ife so w e hav e als o the c on c epti on of a

,

b ook of li fe an d the tre e spok en of in the Re v e l ati on s

, ,

w ho s e l eav e s w er e to b e for the heal i n g of the n ati on s ,

is s i m ply a sy m b ol for the B ook of L i fe ”

.

I n the m ythol ogi e s of the e ast e rn as distin g u ishe d

from the w e stern w orld the s e rp e n t he ld a m ore c on
s pic u ou s pl ac e w as the hi ghe r sy m b o l as dr aw n fr om
,

the an i m al c reat i on Th e tr e e m ost c om m on ly s y m

.

b olis e d p hys i c al l i fe whil e the s erpe n t had the ad de d

,

m e an in g of sp i ri t u al life .

I n al m o s t all the e m bl e m atic al gr oups o f the I n

” “
d i an s we m e e t s ay s G o d frey H iggin s w i th the s er
, , ,

p en t ih s om e shape or ot he r W hen i t has i ts t ail in .

its m out h n o d oubt i t is the e m bl e m of e t e rn i ty B ut .

tho ugh i t is ad m i rabl e f or t his purp o s e that is but a

s m all p art of i t s m e an in g I t i s wo rthy of obs erv at i on
.

that i t i s fo u n d in v e ry n e arly the old e st of the Bu d d

hi st m on u m e n ts 3 an d the s e rp e n t m o st p art i cularly
chos e n in I n d i a an d o fte n fo u n d in Egy pt w here i t i s
, ,

n ot a n at i v e ,
is the c obra or n aga or hoo d e d sn ak e
, , .

T hi s Bu dd hi st fore ign e r in Egyp t suffic i en t ly she w s that

the Bu ddhi st w orshi p c am e t o Egypt b e for e the in v en
t i on of hi e rogly phi cs I t is al w ays fo u n d in c on n e c
.

t i on w i th the lin ga as the e m bl em of the c reat i v e

p ow e r — .
”
( A n a c a lyps is v ol i p , e p ass n ow
. . . W
t o c on s i d e r s e rp e n t w orshi p as i t e x i st e d am on g the an
c i e n t H e bre w s I n the hi st oric al an d pre phetic b ooks
.

of the O ld T e st am en t w e hav e re p e at e d e v i d e n c e t hat

pri or to the B abyl on ish c aptivity the H ebre w w orship
w as a m i xtur e of P agani s m an d J u d ais m an d t hat ,

J ehov ah w as ofte n w orshi pp e d in c on n e ct i on w i th the

he athe n d e i t i e s .

” “
I t i s r e m ark abl e s ays D r S D avids on that the
,
.
,

fu n dam en tal d octri n e o f M os ai s m v i z t hat the re i s but , .

,

on e G od —the cr e at or an d pr e s e rv e r of all in vis i bl e , ,

2 0 T r ee a nd Serp en t W hip
or r .

t
e e rn a l o m n ip o,
t en t ho ly an d just,
— was all al o n g in
,

ad e q u at e ly appr e he n d e d t ill the c apti vity A fe w .

c ho ic e spirits gras p e d it w ith su ffi ci en t distin ctn e ss an d ,

ad he r e d to it whi l e t o the m ass of the p eopl e J e hov ah

,

w as n o m ore than a sup e ri or G od b e sid e ot he r d e iti e s .

P olythe i s m had d e e ply p e n e trat ed the vulgar m in d ,

an d though the n ati on fr e qu en tly s ought J e hov ah w ith

c on vict i on s of s in an d re pe n t an c e such c on v e rsion s , ,

c all e d forth by e xte rn al c i rcu m stan c e s we re tran si en t ,

in the ir e ff e cts A m anifold idol atry p artly of Z abian

.
,

an d p artly o f E gypt i an o rigi n had its altars in all the ,

citi e s of the l an d in the str e ets o f J e rus al em an d in

, ,

the v e ry te m pl e of J e hovah i m m ed i ate ly b e fore the e xil e ,

as w e l e arn from J e r e m iah ( c haps v i i xliv ) The re . .

, .

is n o e vi d en c e to show that the c e re m on i al law was

obs e rv e d by the J e ws wit h an yt hi n g lik e r egul arity or

strictn e ss The great fe asts the m s e lv e s suc h as the

.
,

P ass ov e r the F e ast of Tab ern acl e s & c were all ow e d

, ,
.
,

to fall in t o d e su e tud e as the his t or i c al bo oks att e st I f

,
.

the e xt er n als o f r e l igi on w e re n egl ige n tly att en d e d to

”—
,

re ligi on its e lf m ust hav e b een s i ckly ( I n tr od u c tion .

to the Old T es tam en t v ol i p , . .

,
.

That duri n g the re ign s of the J e wis h kin gs s erp en t

w ors hip prev ail e d am on g the H e bre w p e o p l e is e vi
d en e s d by the fact re c orde d o f H eze kiah ( 2 K i n gs xviii .

“
3 ) t hat he r e m ov e d the high p lace s an d brak e the ,

Se e als o The Worshi p of Baalim in I srae l hy Dr H O ort

“ ”
, . .
,

t ran sl ate d b y the Bis hop of N at al On p age 4 6 the B isho p .

su ppl ies the foll owi n g n ot e wi th re fere n c e t o the i d ol or A sh

A s a—(s e e 1 K in gs
,

e r a e e c te d b y Maac ha t he m o the r o f K in
r

l 3 )—the pr o e r trans l at i on of whi o shou ld b e

, ,

xv She
A s a s m othe r m ade on the A shera s om e thin g d e t e s tabl e “ I t
.
, , ,
’
, .

s ee m s pl ai n that the Ashera w as in re al i t y a phall u s li ke the

Lin a o f t he H i n d oos—the m al e s ym b o l e m pl o y e d as a si gn
,

o f tg e f e rt iliz i n g an d l i fe gi v in g po we r o f the Su n
l -
I t w as .

e xhi b i t e d in v ar i o u s f or m s s o m e t im e s in ru d e re p re s e n t ati on s of
,

t he organ i t s e lf b u t u s u all y in a m ore re fin e d form as the

We forbe ar for
, ,

trun k of a tre e d e ad or liv in g a p ill ar & c

, , .
, .
”
,

o bvi o u s re as ons fur the r q u ot ati on an d re fe r the s t u de n t to

, ,

t he w ork i t s e lf .
 Tr ee a nd Serpe n t Wor s h ip . 2 I

i m ages and c u t down the grov e s ( A shera) and brake

, ,

i n p i eces the bra zen serpent that Mos es had m ade for
u nto those days the ch i ldren of I srael did b u rn i ncense
to i t and he call e d i t N
,

We have here the m ost pos it i ve ev i dence of the

ex i stence of serpent worsh i p a m ong the H ebrew people
as late as the days of H e zeki ah T he i m age was an .

effigy of a s e rpent set on a p ol e assoc i ated that i s w i t h ,

a phall i c e mble m T he story of M oses hav in g erect ed

.

th i s effigy i n the w i lderness so m e 8 0 0 years prev i o u sly

i s s i m ply a legend fra m e d i n later ages to expla in and ,

i n so m e degree to exc u se the pract i ce of th i s i dola try ,

the B ook of Nu m b ers 3 in which th i s i nc i dent is r e ,

corded be i n g not only m odern in date b u t u n his to ri

, ,

c al i n character T he s e r pent on a pole i s v i rt u ally

.

the serpent on a tree I t i s D i v i ne w i sdo m on the

.

sym bol of prod u ct i ve life and form s one of the m ost ,

express i ve and m ost rec ondi te of all t he s y m b

a nc i ent world .

The cru de i deas of Nat u re worsh i p fo u nd a refined

e xpress i on i n the anc i ent ph i losoph i cal syste m s both

o f Ind i a and G reec e T he fec und princi pl e of Nat u re

.

becam e as the i dea of a Div i ne pe rsonal i ty gre w u p

, ,

the creat i ve energy of Go d ; and th i s creat i ve energy

was sy mbol i sed in the ph i losophy of Pla to by the
Di v i ne w i sdo m or Word of G od By this was m eant .

the operat i ng power of G o d and by m eans of th i s

—
, , ,

( a so m eth i ng d i sti nct fro m the Di v i ne essence som e

t hing e m ana ti ng fro m t he Di v i ne essenc e )— it was
tho u ght that G od m ade the world Pla to s ch i ef .
’

G od— the eternal and s e lf ex i stent Father— li ke the -

Hi ndoo B rah m a was conce i ved of as p u re sp i r i t ; that

which co m es in to contact w i th m atter— the m aker
,

I n a n ote on th i s w or d in t he Old T e s t am e n t H i stor y

”

y Dr W Sm i t h t he wr ite r say s
,

e di te d b . . As h to reth is p er
, ,

h aps the pro per n am e o f the godde ss w hil e Ashera i s the ,

n a m e o f t he im ag e or sy m b o l o f t he g o dd e ss Ther e was pe r .

ha p s a c cti b tw
on ne on e een th i s sy m bo l or im a ge a n d the sa r ed c
s y m bo lic t th p r ee , e re r es en ta tion o
f c cc
whi h o u r s s o f r eq u en tly in
A s sy r i c lpt
an s u u r es .
 T r ee an d Serp en t Wor s h ip
“
2 2 .

and form er of the world—was conce i ved of as an em an

at i on fr o m t he eternal F ather the D e m i u rgos or Logos , ,

the word or w i sdo m of G od G od i t was tho u ght not .

, ,

d irectly b u t by hi s w i sdom h i s firs t born and only

, ,
-

begotten S on m ade t he world That wh i ch i n the

,
.

pop u lar worsh i p was sy m boli sed by the serp e nt P la to , ,

i n h i s ph ilosophy sym bol i sed by the concept i on of the

,

L ogos the word or w i sdo m of G od

,
.

A bo u t two cent u ri es before the C hr isti an era the

stream s of H eb re w and G reci an tho u ght m et and
m ingled at A lexandri a and i n the presence of the ,

refined spec u lat i ons of P lato concern ing de i ty the ‘

,

J ews grew asha m ed of those early traditi ons wh i ch

the i r l i terat u re contai ned wh i ch represented God i n ,

the grossness of a h um an form so they im ag i ned a ,

person i fica t i on of the Di vin e wi sdo m called S ophia ”

,

and sa i d that G od m ade the w orld by this SOphia or

w isdo m and that he appeared to Abraha m and Noah
,

by h i s angel or word— both term s hav ing the i dent i cal

m ean in g of the L ogos * The fa m ou s brazen serpent .

called Ne hu shtan i s call ed in the T arg u ms Mem ra , ,

or the Word and J u st i n Mar ty r d evi dently per pe trat

,
'
«

i ng a l i ttle p i o u s fra u d cha n ges t he sym bol wh i le h e ,

“
reta in s the m ean in g H e says that when the Israe li tes .

i n the desert were set u pon and des troyed b y ven o m o u s

beasts v i pers asps and all sorts of serpe n t s M oses
, , , , ,

by parti c u lar in sp irati on fro m G od m ad e th e s i gn of ,

the cross and plac e d i t by the H oly T abernac le an d

, ,
“
d eclared that i f the people wou ld look u pon that
‘ ”
cross an d bel i eve they sho uld be s aved
’
S o the .

tree or tau or cross w i th a se rpent u pon i t represen ted

, , , , ,

Phil o J u d aau s, in c m m e ti g u p m b ei g m de i the o n n on an n a n

im o f G od sa s ,
y N m ort al t h i g c ou ld h a e b ee f m ed
, o n v n or
t e s im ilit u d e f the Su prem e Father f th u iv er e b t
d De i ty w h i the Word f
on o o e n s , u
O ly aft e r t he p a tt e r
n f t he e c n o s on ,
o s o
t he Su p em e Be i g it i fitt i g th t the rati l soul f
sh ld b e ar b e f re i t the ty p f the Divi e W
r n s n a on a o
m an ou o ord f e o n , o
w hic h the hum a m i d i t he im iht d n d form n s s u e an .

1 A p l gy i
' ‘ ’
o o , .
 Tr e e an d S erp en t Wor s h ip 2
.
3
i n the m yth i cal i deas wh i ch preva iled in Ju st in M ar
tyr s ti m e Di vine w i sdo m or the L ogos cru c ified for
’
, , ,

s i nce the death of C hri st the cross wh i ch i n t he , ,

heathen rel i gi on s was only u sed as the sy m bo l of l i fe ,

cam e al so when i t had be en i ntrod u c ed into C hrist i an

,

worsh i p to be u sed as the sym bol of death S t ill even

,
.
,

to thi s day th i s latter s i gnificat i on i s invariably the

,

minor one and the cross as used i n C hri stian worshi p

, , ,

i s the sy m bol of eternal 1i fe — of s alvat i on rather than ,

of destru ction Thi s si gn i ficance i t wo u ld never have

.

had had i t not inheri t e d the assoc i ati ons w hi ch had

,

belonged to i t in the anc i ent fai ths wh ere i t was i den ,

t i cal wi th the Tree the Li nga and the Phall u s

, , .

I t m ay see m a start ling i dea to m any to speak of

”
S erpent worsh i p as prevailing a m ong the early
C hr i sti ans Y e t h istory bears am ple testi m ony to the
.

fact O f the n u m erou s sects i nto wh i c h the C hr i s t i ans

.

of the second cent u ry were div i ded one of the m ost ,

s i ngu lar was th e s e ct of the O ph it es or S e rpent i n

”
,

i ans These s u peradded to the doctri nes of the Egyp

.

t i an G nostics t he no t i on that the S erpent of G en e s i s

by wh i ch E ve was te m pted was e i ther C hrist Him self ,

or the ZE on S ophi a or Lo gos concealed u nd e r th e

“ ” “ ”
,

form of that reptile whence th e y kept a n u mber of ,

serpents and pa i d the m a ki nd of worshi p M oshe i m

,
.

tel ls u s that this se c t arose b e fore the C hri sti an era

. ,

b u t that after that peri od so m e of i ts m e mbers beca m e

Chri st i an and th u s t here were two sects of O phi t e s
, ,

one J ew i sh the other C hri sti an M D idr on g i v e s the

,
. .

‘
foll o wi ng acco unt of thi s sect C hri sti an I conography , ,
’

p 1 90
The O ph i tes another gnosti c sect cons i dered the
, ,

god of the J ews not onl y to be a m ost w i ck e d b u t an

u nint e lligent be i ng They gave a strange interpretat i on
.

of the fall of m an thr o u gh the te m ptat i on of th e ser

pent A ccord ing to the i r acco unt J ald ab aoth the
.
,

w i cked de m i god adored by the J ews u nder the na m e

-
,

of J ehovah was jealo u s of m an and w ished to prevent

, ,
2 Tr ee an d S erpe n t Wor s h ip
4 .

the progres s of knowledge b u t the serpent the agent ,

of su p e ri or w i sdo m ca m e to teach m an what co u rse he

,

o u ght to p u rs u e and by what m eans he m i ght rega i n

,

the knowledge of good and ev i l : the O ph i t es co u se

q u ently adored the serpent and c u rsed the tru e G od ,

J ehovah I t seem s probable that the part here assi gn ed

.

to th e serpent was pro m pted by c e rta i n re m i n i scences

of the P hen i c i an and E gypt i an rel igi ons i n wh i ch the ,
”
serpent was reverenced as a b e n e fic e n t be i ng Dr .

“ ”
O l i ver i n his S ig n s and S y m bols says the O ph i tes
, , ,

declar e d that the serpent wh i ch th e y worsh i pped was

J es u s C hri st T h i s serpent they kept in a cage and
.
,

at certai n t i m es th e y ope ned the cage door and called ,

the s e rpent : the ani m al then ca m e o u t and m o u n ti ng , ,

the table tw i ned i t s e lf abo u t so m e loaves of bread thi s

, ,

bre ad th e y broke and d i stri b u ted to the co m pany who ,

all k i ssed the serpent in t u rn T hi s th e y called .

the i r e u chari st ”
H e re then we have another proof
.
, ,

of the i d e nt ificat i on of the serpent w i t h the L ogos or

D i vi ne W
ord i n the m y thologi cal syste m s of the
,

gnosti c Chri st i ans The serpent however was the

.
, ,

spec i al e mble m of fec u nd i ty or reprod u c ti on — o f the ,

prod u cti v e powers of n at u re H ence the L ogos i s also .

sa i d to b e the creator and prod u c e r of all things By .

h i m were all th i ngs m ad e and w i tho u t h i m was not ,

anyth i ng m ade that was m ade ”

The s e rpent i s so m e .

t i m es sa i d to be the sy m bol of des i re or love C le m ent .

of Al e xandri a ad m i ts that the s i n of A da m lay i n in

d u lge n c e of th i s character ( S tro m a iii pp 552 56 6 .
, .
-
,

P otter) and M ilton in h i s Paradi se Los t attr ib u t e s

,
‘
,
’

carnal and lasc i v i o u s e ff e cts to the fr ui t of the forb i d

den tree M any m odern scholars have felt co m pell e d
.

to take thi s v i ew of the story of the F all am ong others ,

m ay be c i ted D r D onaldson the learned a u thor of the ,

Book of J ashar pp 59 62 and also an anonym o u s

, .
-
,

tract ( D e arb orib u s sc i ent i se e t vit ae) p u bli shed i n G er ,

m any in 1 8 4 9 b u t attri b u te d by Engli sh scholars to

W
the late A rc hb ishOp hate ly —See D on alds on s Chris t
,
’
.

ia n Or thod oxy pp 2 1 5 ,
. .
 Tr ee an d S erp en t Wor s h ip . 2
5
M r Hi ggi ns says (An acalyps i s vol i page
. In ,
. .
“

G enes i s there are no fall e n angels A ll these cam e .

i nto the M osai c reli gi on on the ret u rn fro m B abylon .

The destroyer or s e rpent of G enes i s i s corr e ctly the

r en ova tor or
pr es er ver I n G enes i s there i s a tre e of
.

kno w ledge and a tre e of l if e *

T h i s tree of l i fe ev i .

d en tly prov e s the m ean i ng of the m ythos to be that

A dam wo u ld di e at so m e t i m e — that he wo u ld w e ar ,

o u t u nl e ss he a t e of the fr ui t of t hat tree The s e r .

pent by pers u ad ing E ve to taste of the frui t of the

,

tr e e of kno wledg e & c ta u ght h e r what i s m e ant by

,
.
,

be i ng naked and th u s by i nd u c i ng procrea ti on was

, ,

the preserver of the spec i e s The plai n l i t eral m e an .

in g of the words shows very d i stin ctly that t h i s was

one of the m ean i ngs I n t hi s tr ad it i on we have the
.

ori g i n of the O ph i tes or O ri e ntal e m blem at i cal ser

pent worsh i ppers to acco u nt for who m o u r anti q u ari ans
,

have been so m u ch p e rplexed T hey worsh i pped the .

savi o u r reg e nerator b u t not the dev i l i n o u r m eaning

,

of the word ”
M r Mackay i n h i s P rogress of the
.
,

I ntell e ct says The wom en of S yri a still e m ploy the

”
, ,

serpent as a char m against barrenness

In m an y o fthe fo m s i r n wh i ch this m y th s i f u d i the o s o n n
an c i en t m h l gi
o o the e s, Tr ee f K owledge
o n d t he ,
”
an

Tr ee of e e ar on e .

1 Th e f o ll o wg p g ph h c h pp e e d the
in ara ra ,
w i a ar in
‘
D aily
e ve e t he th t i
N w s in N o m b r las , s w s ti c
a a s m ilar m y s al signi
ti tt c he
fic an c e s ll a a the e e t
s to A cu i u
s rp n sy m b ol ro s .

p i ctu e A e u t ee e h t e d e f e the u t
r o f rab lif has j s b n x ib i b or Co r
of A ie t t ti
s s z a C on s an a in A l r a e i A t ive ed
na n am Be n
.

w as accu e d ti g hi f e c u tt g
s of m u a n s wi b y in o ff
he e
r n os an d u ppe e the the
r lip in a fit o f j alo u s y The m o r of .

v i cti
m sa i d th t c e he
a to u r c utd
r s on in law , she had on s l e a- -

m u ch v e e t e d
n ra ut h d gi ve he
Marab o , who a ch n r as a arm for
he d u gh te
r a p .
’
ppe d u p he p e v e
r, a s er en t s he ad wra in m l a s,
w hi ch w as to b e p c ed t he f d
la in the hu d tu
ol s of sb an s rb an ’
.

The w om an a ppe e d the p u c p e e t p v e th t

al t o b li r s n t o ro a by
thi e th d he u d h ve cu e d the
s m o s wo l a r hi pi c i
m an of s su s ons ,
an d s e ve A t ce t
ral r ab s a on the he d ge
o o k o ff ir a ar an d triu m
phan tly s w he e d the e t h e ive f c e
sam alism an , w il a n at o fi r of
Co r , W
the u t th u t e i g c u te d c e d
i o b n on s l ,
the u dge
all ou t to j ,
2 6 Tr ee an d S e rp e n t W/p ar s 91 .

The R ev P P erc i val, speaki ng of the Hi ndoo wor

. .

sh i p of the s e rp e n t (L and of the V eda pp says ,

.
,

the fig u re of a serpent i s occas i onally sc u lpt u red on a

Li nga th u s i nvest i ng the block of stone w i th a do u bly
,
”
sacred character and he g i ves an engrav in g of a
,

Hi ndoo pay ing h i s devot i ons before s u ch a sym bol

placed on an altar b eneath a tree ev i dently erected by ,

the way s i de l i ke the crosses wh i ch are set u p i n

,

C atholi c co u ntri es T he Linga i n I ndi a was re pre

.

sented by a con i cal stone an d i t possessed the sa m e ,

m ythologi c al m ean i ng as the pole or phall u s or tree i n , , ,

the western world The serpent on the l i nga wh i ch.

,

the Hi ndoo to thi s day regards as the sacred sy m bol of

reprod u ct i on or regenerati on is th u s i den t i cal i n i ts ,

s i gn ificance w i th the serpent on the pole or cross ,

wh i c h the I srael i tes of old worsh i pped , and wh i ch was

a s i gn of li fe and salvat i on to the m M any of the .

r e ad e rs of the i nterest i ng ser i es of pam phle ts i ss u ed

u nder the able and i ndefat igable ed i torsh i p of M r
S c ott have been m u ch perplexed to u nderstand the
,

m eani ng of the fam i l iar sy m bol wh i ch he has adopted

as a m onogra m and wh i ch i n the u se he m akes of i t
, , ,

has a m ytholog i cal m ean i ng d iffe r i ng very w i dely fro m ,

the conv e nt i onal sense wh i ch ord i nari ly attaches to i t .

I t i s i n fact the sy m bol of the m ythos w e have ju st

, ,

explai ned .

“
T he B razen S erpent , says M r Hi gg ins was c alled
”
,

A oy og or the Word by the C haldee P araphrast and

, , ,

for th i s they u s ed the C haldee word Me m ra T h u s .

the cross or l i nga or ph all u s w i th the serpent u pon

, , ,

i t was called by the letters wh i ch convey the i dea of

word or vo i ce l i ng u a or langu age H ence ca m e the
, .

Phallu s the e m ble m of the genera tive power in I ndi a

, ,

to be called the Linga (A nacalypsi s , vol i p

‘
,
’
. . .

We have th u s the serpent as a m ytholog i cal sy m bol

i dent ified i n its m ean in g w i th the L ogos w i th the theo ,

‘
Y es I h av e als o a s er pe n t s he ad ; it giv es s tre n gth to t he
’

m an an d fi d elity to the w om an
’
.
 Tr ee an d S erp e n t Wor s h ip . 2
7
logi cal C hr i st w i th the C ross the Tree and the P hal
, , ,

l u s w i th the latter however not i n i ts p u rely l iteral

, ,

m eaning b u t when regarded as be i ng the ph i losoph i cal

,

e m ble m of creat ive or reprod u ct ive power of eternal ,

and perpet u ated l i fe .

That the C ross when u sed as a reli g i o u s sym bol in

,

pre C hr i st i an t im es had a P hall i c s i gn i ficat i on i s very

-
,

ably and clearly shown i n an art i cle on pre C hri st i an -

C rosses i n the J an u ary n u mber of the E d inb u rgh

R ev i ew fro m wh i ch the follow in g extracts are m ade
,
“
I n the de m ol it i on of the fa m o u s S erapeu m or ,

T e m ple of S erap i s at A lexandri a the tree ta u was

, ,
-

fo u nd and was placed there says M r K i ng G nost i cs and,

the ir G e m s )as the sy m bol of eternal l ife T hi s cross

’
.

see m s to be the Egypt i an Ta u that anc i ent sy m bol ,

of the generat i ve power and therefore transferred i nto

,

the B acch i c m yst e r ies S u ch a cross was fo u nd on the

.

wall of a ho u se of P o m pe ii i n ju xtapos i ti on w i th a
P hall u s both sy mbols e m body ing the sa m e i dea
,
”
.

F arther on the wri ter th u s s u m s u p h i s arg u m ent

,

We have end e avo u red i n the first place to de m on

, ,

strate the u n i versal i ty of the sy m bol and secondly , , ,

that u nder every vari ety of c i rc u m stance as w ell in ,

every age as by every peopl e fro m the dawn of sec u lar ,

h i story t o the present ho ur i t has been held by all i n ,

the sam e s u persti t i o u s venerat i on be e n hono u red w i t h ,

the sa m e di stingui sh i ng ri tes and always has expressed ,

the s am e doctr ine or m ystery The lang u age of d efin .

ition var i es b u t the d e fin i t i on i tself i s s u bstan t i ally the

,

sa m e i n every case I n Egypt A ssyri a and B rita in

.
, , ,

i t was e mble m a ti cal of creat ive power and etern i ty ; i n

I nd ia C h in a and S cand i nav i a of heaven and im m or
, , ,

tal i ty i n the two A m eri cas of reju venescence and

freedo m fro m phys i cal s u ffering wh ile i n both he m i ,

spheres it was the co mm on sy m bol of the res ur rect i on,

”
or the s ign of the l i fe to co m e .

T he sy m bol i s m of the world s anc i ent fa i ths i s st i ll ’

perpet u ated i n the rites of F ree m as onry tho u gh ve ry ,

2 8 T r ee a n d S e rp e n t Wor s h ip .

few m asons are at all aware of the ir r eal si gni fican c e a ,

secondary or esot e r i c se n se be i ng generally assi gned to

, ,

the m S o D r O l i ver on e of the fe w m en who have

.
,

r eally m ade the sc i ence of M asonry the i r st u dy says , ,

i n a lect u re d el i vered to the brethren of h i s order ,

You are not i gnorant t hat the serpent has an estab

lis he d place a m ong o u r e mble m s altho u gh i ts tr u e ,

allegor i cal s i gni ficance i s not g i ven i n o u r acc u sto m ed

di sq ui s i t i ons tho u gh co mm only i ntrodu ced i nto

all the gro u ps of e m ble m ati cal charact e rs i ts ori gi n ,

and s ec ret referen c e are not sa t i sfactorily acco u nted for

i n the M ason i c l e ctu res The serpent he adds was
”
.
“
, ,

a sym bol al m ost c o equ al wi th the i nst i t u t i on of

-

M asonry on t h i s globe by the first created m an and ”

, ,

afte r asse rt i ng that the absol u te worsh i p of the S erpen t

becam e an i nst i t u ti on prevalent thro u gho u t the whole
world he conti n u es
,
T hey were u n i versal e m ble m s
of life and he al th rece i ved the appellat i on of the bene
,

fic e n t d ae m on ( a y a Oo and were v i si ble re pre

s e n tative s of the god of crea t i on and prov i dence S till .

m ore re m arkable i s i t that there was always attached

to the serpent an u nd e fined i dea of so m e restorat i on to
the Di v i ne favo u r wh i ch was expec ted to be aeco m
—
,
”
she d by a grat ui to u s s ac rifi c e
( O l i ver s Lectu res
’

p li .

on S i gns and
In so m e for m s of the m ythos of the T e m ptat i on the ,

wo m an not the serpent i s r e pres e nted as the te m p ter

, ,
.

I n the H am i ltoni an collect i on of Etru scan po t tery ,

there are freq u en t repres e ntat i ons of the T re e and S er

pen t which at first s ight might be taken as i ll u strati ons
of the story of the Fall S everal e ngrav i ngs fro m these
.

are gi v e n by the au thor of Ti m e and Fa i th i n his ,

’

interest i ng vol u m e s O ne represents a tre e laden wi th

.

frui t aro u nd the ste m of wh i ch a serpent i s tw i n ing

,

on th e left stands a wo m an in the act of pl u ck in g the

fr u i t and p resent ing i t to a m an The s u pe ri or s ta tu re
.

and d i gn i ty of the wo m an in this p i ct u re i m plyi ng her ,

s u per i or ra n k m ark ing her in fact as a g oddess 3 on

,
 Tr ee an d S erp e n t W hip
or r . 2 9

the ri ght of the tree H erc ul es i s seen retu rnin g fro m

T artarus bri ngi ng w i th him the thr ee headed dog C er -

be ru s the guardi an of the gates of hell—a token that ev i l

,

has now been s u bdu ed and even death i tself conq u ered
, .

The s u bject therefore i s that of a restorat i on rather

, ,

than a fall and th e o ffe ri ng of the wo m an i s the fr ui t

,

not of a forb i dden tr ee b u t the fr u i t of the tree of li fe ,

of health and im m ortal i ty the qu alit i es of wh i ch are

, ,

ind icated by the serpent co iled aro u nd the tru nk Mr . .

G odfrey Hi ggins g i v e s a figur e fro m S pence s Polym e tis ’

in wh i ch we have fro m the ge m s of An c i e nt G reece

, ,

another vers i on of the M osai c m ythos Th i s i s a tree .

,

w i th a serpent co iled ro u nd i t th i s serpent i s r e pre

sented wh i speri ng i nto the ear of a m an who i s in ,

d u c e d th e reby to pl u ck the frui t Mr Hi gg i ns says .

,
“
This i s the serpent Hev a te m pt in g A da m " E ve i s ’

”
here the serpent T he H ebre w word H a na trans
.
,

lat e d in the a u thori sed vers i on E ve si gni fies a

”
,
”
gi ver of life and the sa m e word H a va i n the C hal
, ,

dean lang u age si gn i fies a s erp en t .

U nd e r the word E va Jacob B ryant i n h i s Analys i s , ,

of the A nci ent Mythology has the following C le ,

’

m ens Al e xandri n u s says (and Epiphan iu s says the

sa m e ) that th i s te r m s i gnified a serpent if pro ,

n ou n c e d w i th a proper asp irate S o m e th i nk .

that the invocat i on E va E va (u sed i n the cel e brat i on

of the B acchi c m ysteri es )relate d to the great m o ther of
m ank ind who was dece i ved by a serpent b u t I sho u ld
th in k that E va was the sa m e as E ph E pha O pha , , ,
wh i ch the G reeks rendered on O phi s and by i t ( 13 , ,
.

”
noted a serpent .

’
O ne of the Targu m s says that a serpent and not ,

E ve his w i fe te m pted A dam B ut the O ph i tes r e

, ,
.

garded the s e rpent not as a tem pter b u t as a redee m er

or sav i o u r hence says G odfrey Higg ins the real object
, , ,

of the ir worsh i p was the princ i ple of fec u nd ity wh i c h

E ve represente d and E ve or the serpent had the
, , ,

sam e s ign i ficati on as of old had I si s C eres , A starte , ,

 Tr ee and S e rp en t Wor s h ip
3 0 .

the types of Natu re s fr ui tf u lness or as the V irg i n

’
,
“ ”
M ary the m other of G od has am ong o ur m odern
, ,

devotees .

S o i t was co mm on i n anci ent t i m es in order to gi ve a

, ,

m i rac u lo u s character to the b i rths of great or learned

m en ; to assert that they were s e rpent born ; that they -

had spr u ng fro m the e m braces of a serp ent whi ch here ,

was m ade a sym bol of the Di vin e S p ir i t A b irth of th i s .

k ind was cla i m ed for C e crops the firs t k ing or fo u nder ,

of A thens who i t was sa i d was ha lf m an and half

, , ,
-

serpent S o Pythagoras was fabled to have spru ng

.

fro m the e mbraces of his m other w i th the god A pollo

— the pyt hon or s e rpent of the s u n S o the .

m other of Alexander the G reat O lym p i as declared , , ,

d u ring her pregnancy that she was w i th child by a ,

dragon— the m e an i ng be i ng s i m ply to cla i m a d i v ine

character m an if este d e i ther by s u peri or strength or
,

w isdo m for the ch i ld so d i sti ng u ished S o the story of .

C ad m u s sowi ng serpents teeth and prod u c ing ar m ed ’

m en ad m i ts of a s im ilar explanat i on I t i s a fable .

“ ”
i m plyi ng that knowledge is power C adm u s w as .

sa i d to have i ntr od u ced letters b u t he was also con ,

n e c te d w i th the O ph i t es or S erpent worsh i ppe rs an d , ,

at his death was i t i s relate d changed i nto a serpent

, , ,

of stone Bryant says That the pr i ests of the O phit es

.
,

we re very l e arned and that those who had been in

,

s tr u cted by the m w e re called serpents and long aft er

”
,

the s u pers t i ti on i n i ts grosser for m had passed a way

the form s of s peech whi c h i t ori g inate d re m a i ned and ,

th u s we have t he Ne w T esta m en t recordi ng that J es u s

gave u tt e ranc e to the m ax im B e ye w ise as serpen t s
“ ”
, .

The stone p i llar that form ed so consp i c u o u s an orna

m ent in t h e fr on t of Egypt i an te m ples and whi ch had ,

the sam e m e an i ng as the sto ne p i llar or lin ga of the

Hi ndoos was c alled an obel i sk a co m pos i te wo rd si g
, ,

n if in
y g god and serpent O beli sks ori gi nally serpent
.
,

sym bols in the na m e they still b ear te st ify to the pre

, ,

valence of the wors h i p i n wh i ch they fo und the ir

 Tr ee an d S erp ent Wor s h ip I
.

3
ori gin . A p illar or obelis k sti ll stands i n the sign i
fic an tly shaped enclos ure i n front of S t P eter s at R o m e
’

presenting on a hu ge scale an exact f ac sim ile of the -

well kn own Hindoo A rgha or type of the re prod u c

-
,

t i ve power of nat u re .

The seraphi m and cheru b i m of the J ew i sh m ythology

have also the m eani ng of fiery serpents Thi s has been .

po in ted o u t by the learn ed and in geni o u s a u thor of the

B ook of G od who q u otes F aber as follows : I t i s
,
’

the m ystery of o ur holy langu age says R abb i B echa i , ,

that a serpent i s call ed a seraph as an angel i s called a ,

seraph ”
. And i n accordance w i th thi s s u pposed m y s
te ry F aber adds i t has b e en i m agi ned that S atan
, ,

te m pted Eve u nder the form of one of those respl e ndent

winged serpents whi ch are d e no m inated seraph i m
( F aber s
’
P ag I d ol i 4 4 8
) T he word.cher u b also G od
frey Hi ggi ns asserts has the m eanin g of serpent—S ee
. .
,

Pa r k hu H e br e w L exic on
’
rs t s .

We have b een speaki ng of the serpent i n i ts connec

t i on w i th the m ore anc i ent of the world s m y t holog ical ’

syste m s and i n these we have i nvari ably seen i t r e

,

garded as a d i v in e an d b e n e fic e n t sy m bol I n m ore .

m odern m yt hologi es and espec i ally i n the C hri sti an

,

theologi cal syste m s the serpen t occ u p i es a very di f

,

f e r en t pos it i on and here i t i s regarded as possess ing an

,

ev i l and m ale fic en t character I t i s the sym bol of .

destr u ct i on rath e r than of l i fe I t b e com es that old .

serpent the devil ”

Th i s change of charact e r m arks an
i m portant change or r e form a ti on wh i ch took place i n
the fai ths of the anc i ent w orld abo u t 60 0 y e ars be fore
the t i m e of C hrist I t ori g inated i n the d u al syste m
.

of the anc i ent P ersi ans i n the reform at i on e ffected i n

that fai th by th e tradit i onal Z oroaste r H ere the ori gi n .

of evi l was ascri bed to the m alevolence of an ev il god ,

and this evil god Ahri m an was sy m boliz e d by a ser
, ,

pent When we cons i der the i nst i nct i ve horror w i th

.

wh i ch this rept ile i s i nvar i ably regarded i t i s a legiti ,

m at e m atter of s u rpri se that i t sho u ld ever have been

3 2 T r ee and Serpen t W/p
ar s 2 1 .

m ade an obje c t of worshi p as the sy m b ol of the wi se

and benefi c ent G od T hat thi s was done however is
.
, ,

a fac t which is not n ow to be q u est i oned the proofs ,

that rema in to u s are absol u te ly overwhelm i ng I t .

woul d seem however th at the advan c in g intel li gen c e

, ,

of man kin d revolted agai nst a worsh i p th at i n i ts literal

sense was so di sg u st ing and in the refo r mat i on that was
,

e ffec te d the serpent was degraded b y b e ing m ade the

sy mbol of an ev il and m al ignant power of a power that ,

was ever oppos ing an d do in g battle w i th the go od and

b e n e fice n t G od Th us Orm uzd and A hr i man were re
.

p r esente d i n c ontin u al stri fe and all the gods of the ,

late r pagan m y thologi es as soon as the pagan s y s tems

felt the in flu en ce of thi s c hange of tho u ght m ade the ir
gods to batt le w ith some m al ignant dragon so m e m e n ,

stro u s serpent U nde r the i nflu en ce of this reform the

.

J ews who t il l the day s of H eze k iah had b u rnt in c ense

,

to a serpent e ffi gy i n the streets of J erusale m n ow ,

afte r the ir ret u rn fro m capt i v i t y em bodied the story of ,

the Fall into the ir l i terat ur e wh i c h story they ev i dentl y ,

c op i ed from the Persi an m y t hos Th is m y thos is th u s .

q u oted fr om the Z end A vesta b y K ali s c h

-
,
“
The fi rst c o u ple the parents of the h u man ra ce
, ,

Mes hia and Mes hian e li ved ori gi nall y i n p u ri ty and

,

in no c en c e Pe r pet u al happ iness was prom ised to the m

.

b y O r m u zd the c reator of every good gift if the y per

, ,

severed i n the ir v ir tu e B u t an e vil demon ( D ev)was

.

sent to them b y A hrim an the representa t i ve of ever y ,

th ing noxi o u s and s infu l He appeared u nexpec tedl y .

in the form of a serp ent and gave the m the fr ui t of a,

won d erf u l tree H om whi c h i mpar ted im morta li t y and

, , ,

had the powe r of r esto ring t he dead to life Th u s ev il .

i n clin a ti ons e nt e r ed the ir he ar ts all the ir moral ex c el

len c e was destro y ed A hri man h i m s elf appea red under
.

the form of the sa me reptile and c om p le te d the work ,

of sed u ct ion T h e y ac k nowledged him ins tead of Or

.

m u zd as the Creator of eve ry t hing go od and the co n

se q u en c e was that they forfe i ted for ever the etern al
 T r ee an d Serpen t W / ig on J ) .
3
a
J

happ i ness for wh i c h th e y we r e destined ( Se e Cole ns o .

”

(m Pen ta te u c h v ol i v) ,
. Th i s my thos p re sents u s w ith
.

perhaps t he e arlie st known i nstan c e of t he serpent

appeari ng in an evil c h ara c t e r i n the m ythologi cal
sy s t ems of the an c i ents The J ews d u r ing the ir res i
.

den c e in B ab ylon c ame in c onta ct w i t h the p u r e r i de as

that m ark ed the refo r med Pe rs ian fai th an d on t he ,

c on q u e st of the Chaldeans b y th e Pe rs ians and the

deli veran c e of the J ews th e ir wri t e r s spok e of Cy ru s
, ,

the Pe rs ian monarc h as be ing the Mess iah o r Christ of

,

J ehovah th u s o wn ing w i t h him a c los e fellowsh i p of

, , ,

faith I mme di ately afte r wa r ds we fin d them re edi t in g

.
-

th e ir litera t u r e an d p re fac ing their own boo k of e a r ly

t radi t i ons ( G enes i s)wi t h the my t hs of the Pe r s ian c os
m ogon y .

The bon a fid e J e wis h l i te rat u r e sh e ws t h at no k no w

ledge of t hese m y ths ex isted amon g t he J ews t il l the
c omparat i vely late p e ri od of the ir ret u rn from B aby lon .

I t has been we ll r em ar k ed i n th i s m att e r th at the “

J ews went i nto capt iv i t y a n at i on of i dol at ers and ,

c ame o u t from i t a band of p u ri tans Thi s est i mat e of

”
.

the serp e nt as an ev il pri n ci p le p e r v ad e s the Ne w

T estam e nt wher e i t be c omes in the B oo k of R ev e la
,

t i on i den t i cal w i t h the d e v i l .

The re ligi on of J e s u s was a mo r al refor m I t c o u n .

s e lle d personal p i et y wi t ho u t r e fe r e n c e to m y t ho logi c al

W
,

i deas I t s i mp ly i gnored m y t hology

. he n ho w .
,

ev e r Chris tian i t y be c ame afte r t he de ath of J esu s

, , ,

form ulated i nto a r e li gi o u s sy ste m the st r eam of m y th ,

ology min gle d w i th i t O n e of the most i mpo r tan t of

.

the e ar ly h e re s i es w as th at int r odu c e d in the t h ir d c en

tu ry b y Mani wh ich u nd e r the name of Man i ch ae i sm
, , ,

m ixe d u p the re li gi on of Chri st w i t h a fo r m of Pe rs i an

B u ddhis m T h is p lac e d the D ev i l as an e v i l p r i n c ip le
.

i n st r ong and ma r k e d ant agon ism to Chr i st as t he r e

p r e sentat i ve of the good god an d al tho u gh t hi s sy s t e m
, ,

as a whole was fin ally r eje c t e d i t y et large ly t inged

, ,

the theology of the great Ch r is ti an Fath e r A u gu st ine and ,

C
34 Tr ee and Serpen t W/ "

or e 3 111)

i t t inges stil l m or e the E vangel i cal Christ i an ity of ou r “ ”

own da y The earli er se c t of the O phite s was ev i den tl y

.

an attempt to m ak e Chris t ian it y harm onio u s w i th the

more an c i ent m y thologi cal sy stems i n whi c h the ser
pent was the A gatho d aemon the em b lem of the good -
,

god In the m y thologi es of G r e e c e and R ome and

.
,

Phoen i c ia wh i c h b e i ng d e ri vat i v e s from the m o r e an

, ,

c ient rel igi ons of Egy pt and I ndia a r e c omparati vel y ,

m odern we fin d the serpent s y m b ol i n a trans i t i onal

,

state I n the earl i er m y ths i t i s an obje c t of reve r en c e

.

or worsh i p T hro u gh Ce cr ops i t was the great Father of

.

the G re c ian peop le I t sy mbol is e d A pollo as i n Egypt .

it sy mboli sed C n eph I t spo k e the ora c l e s at t he .

vari o us shrines or insp ired the pri este ss to del i ver

,

the m The modern vers i on of th i s m y th represents

.

the Python as a m alignant se r pent wh i c h perse c u ted

the mother of A pollo and wh i c h the god wh e n b orn , , ,

attac k ed and killed b u t the name of A pollo s fest i val ’

the Py th i a and the name also of A pollo s pri estess

,
’

shew that the n ame Python on c e had a very different

s ign ifi can c e B ryant sa y s th at ori gi nall y A pollo and
.

the Python we r e the same and the na m e Tri pos of , ,

the p lac e when c e the ora c les were deli ve r ed was a vari ,

ti on for To r op u s or Tor O ph is ; the serpent hil l o r

- -
,
-

te mple whe r e the y were bo t h worsh i pped be ing on e

and the same de it y of A n c i ent My tho .

logy 1 ,
’
I n thi s c onne c t i on i t will be i nte r est i ng
to noti c e an etym ology deri ved from the root O phis a
Se rpent v iz O ps power r u l e domini on — O pu le u s
,

, , ,
.
,

wea lthy— O p us wo r k —when c e ou r words opt i on op u

, ,

, ,

lent O pe rat ive and i n the Gr eek ovrr on a i I see when c e

, , , , ,

o u r word opt ic s and i ts de ri v at ive — the serp e nt re pre

sent ing w isdom power fores ight and be ing the ty pe , , ,

of the dem iu rgos or c reat i ve o r generative power b y , ,

whic h all th ings we r e m ad e an d ri c hes an d wealt h ,

a cc u m u lated A ga in i n the c lass i ca l m y tho logies

.
, ,

Plu to the god of t he lowe r regi ons is b y so m e m y tho

, ,

logis ts regarded as the same wi th Pl u t u s the god of ,

 ‘
T r ee an d Serpen t W hip
or s .
35
ri c hes wh ile in the Chri st ian theology the D ev i l and
,

the Se r pent are c onvert ible te r ms Th u s i n the .

l ate r fo r ms of clas si c al m y thos we have A pollo sl aying

the Py thon H e rc ules des tro yi ng the H y dr a the Con
s tan tin e medal of the C r oss s u r mo u nt in g a S e r pent ; the

n at i onal lege nd th at t ill lat e ly had its symbol on o ur

o wn go ld c o i n of St G eo rge and the D ragon and i n ’
.
,

the m ythologi c al c orr u p ti ons of t he rel i gi on of J es u s

wh i c h mak e u p the pop u lar Chr istiani ty we have Him ,

van q uish i ng t he D ev il and the O ld Se r pent c ast into ,

’

the bottom le ss p i t and c h ai ned fo r a tho u sand y ears * .

The use of the T r ee as the m ythologic a l sy mbol of ,

’

eternal li fe has lon g s u r vi ved the employ ment of the

,

Sevp e n t for a s i m ilar p u r pose and in the Christi an

’

legends of the m i ddle ages the T ree of L i fe was re

pe ate d ly i dent ified as the prophet i c s y m b ol somet im es
of Christ and some ti mes of the Cross Fr om a c op i o u s .

essa y on thi s s ubje c t p ubl i shed i n G e rman b y D r , , .

Pi p e r a t ransl at i on of wh i c h i s gi ven in the J ou rnal

,

of S ac red L iterat ure fo r J an u ary 1 8 64 an d c on t in u ed

’

in s u bse q u ent n u mbers we borrow the fo llowing ex

tra c ts W
e d ire c t att e nti on first of all to two
,

, ,

rep r esentat i ons extern al to the Ch u rc h Th ese appear .

to be ta k en from t he Tree of Paradise d The one o cc u rs ‘

i n a faith an d r it u al o u ts i de of r evelat i on—we refe r

to the adorati on pai d to a Tree of L i fe i n the rel igi on ’

of Z oroaster The sac re d writin gs of the Pers ians sp eak

.

of the tree H om wh i c h i s c all e d the H ead of the T rees ;

,

i t i s regarded as t he Tree of I mmortal ity the jui c e of ,

wh ic h w ill c onfer l ife on m an at the res u rre c t i on .

B es i des th i s there i s a des c ri pt i on of a Tree of L i fe

,
'

The lege n d of . t
St Pa r ic k , w ho in r od u c e d the Christ i an t
r t r
e ligi o n in o I e l an d, b an i s hin
g the s n ak e s an d re i l e s , m ay t
hav e b e e n b u t a figu r a iv e w ay of say in g ha t ty t t p '

t
s u ppl an e d the old r
e ligion , o f w hi c h Se r pe n w o s hip was a t r
c on s pi c u ou s f e a u e t r .

t r
1 The s o y in G e n e s i s is , as is n ow we ll k n ow n , the c opy ,
’

n ot the ori gin al .

3 6 T r ee an d Serpen t W/ p ar s 3 1 .

i n a J ew ish work wri tten before the Chr isti an era the ,

B oo k of E no c h .
’

The legend of the c ross on wh i c h Christ s u ff ere d,

hav i ng be e n made fr om the wood of the tree of k now
l e dge appears in the m i ddle ages i n several forms one
,
’

wh i c h was c u rre nt i n t he th irteen th cent u ry relates ,

“
th at Eve along w i th the fo rb i dden fr ui t bro k e off a
bran c h from t he t r e e of k nowledge wh ic h she in her
‘
,
’

d i strac t i on of sp i ri t b r ou gh t w i t h her from Parad i se .

S t u c k i nto the gro un d b y he r i t grew to a great tree , ,

u nder wh i c h A be l was ki lled at a late r t ime i t was ,

u sed i n the b uil d ing of the most hol y pla ce in the

te mpl e of Solomon and finall y i t yi elded the b ea m s
,

o u t of whi c h the c ro ss was made ”

A no ther legend .

c onta ined in an old Fren ch poe m b y the pri est H erman

of V al e n c i e nnes sa y s that after the fall of A dam
,
“
, ,

G od roo t ed o u t the tree of k nowledge and cast i t ov er

the wal l of Paradise A t ho u sand y ears afte r i t was
.
,

fo u nd b y A bra ham who planted i t i n h is garden

, ,

on wh ic h a vo i c e from heaven anno u n c ed to him that

th i s was t he tree on the wood of whi c h the R edee m er
sho u ld be c ru ci fied ”
The Tree of Knowledge and the
.

C r oss of Christ h ave be e n asso c i ated from the earli est

pe r i ods of Chri s tiani ty I n the G ospel of N i c odem us
.

aft e r Christ has v is i ted H ades ; the perso n ifi cat i on of

H ades add re ss ing Satan sa y s Behold and see that the , ,

dead on e has gone from m e what therefore tho u hast

ga i ned th ro u gh the T r ee of Kn owledge tho u has t ,
’

lost thro u gh the T ree of the C r o s s ”

So St A u g u st i ne .

i n a se rmon on E ve and Mar y sa y s As we ha ve

‘ “
,
’
,

been made d e ad b y a t r e e so h ave we been m ade al i ve ,

by a t r ee A t re e d is c overed to u s o u r nak edness and

.
,

a tre e has c ove re d u s w i th the leaves of merc y & c ”

, .

S im il ar i l lu stra t ions c o u ld b e c i t ed i n great n u m bers .

T hose addu c ed howe v e r serve to show how early an d

, ,

ho w c ont in u o u sl y the T re e and Cross sy mbol have been

u nited an d tho u gh to the lat t er s ymbol there attac hes
,

a spec ia l s i gn i fican c e d e r i ved fr om an a ct u al h isto ri c al

,
 T r ee an d Serpen t W nip
or t
-
.
3 7
even t the death of J es us y et to th is has be en s u per
,

a dded the s ignifi can c e whi c h at ta ch ed to the T ree

sy mbol i n the an c i ent wo rsh ips and th u s in Chri st i an
, ,

u s age the Cross i s m ore oft e n made the sy mbol of the

,

r es urre c ti on
W
.

e see t hen a c ha in of grad u al and progress i ve

development li nk ing the m odern do c tri ne of the Cross
as t he mean s of li fe and sa lva t i on w i th t he Tree and ,

S e r p e nt w orsh i p of the earl y wo r ld The Li fe gi v in g .

-

C r oss is b u t a r ep r od u c ti on of the sym bol of t he life

giv ing Tr e e The T r e e of l i fe th e B oo k of lif e the
.
, ,

\V ord of li fe the Ag athod aemon the Serpent of E s c u la

, ,

p ius the Soph i a the L ogos and the Christ are seen
, ,

to b e b u t n at ur al and progr e ssi ve evol u t i ons from the

pri m i ti ve i deas of worsh i p an d are not sp e c i al r e vela
,

t i ons from G od to man A s t he Ch u rc h of R ome the

.
,

m o t her of all o u r m odern c h ur c hes adop t ed the gre at ,

m ass of Pagan c eremon i al i n her worship so i n her ,

theologi c al fan c i e s s he embodied m u c h mo r e than was

wor th reta i n i ng in the an c i ent m ythologi cal tho u gh t ,

ex c ept for ast u te p u r poses of s u perst i t i on R eli gi on .

has t h u s been a grad u al growth and not a spasmod i c

revelati on an d the do c t rin e s c on c e r n ing wh i c h
,

ch urc hes n ow d iffe r w i th s u c h Ch r i sti an b i tterness and

strife are for the most part m ere Pagan fan c i es Th is
, .

Tree and Serpent worsh ip shews u s plai nl y to o ur

se lves and mak es i t ev i dent bey ond the power of c on
,

tradic tion that all o u r modern Chri st ian do c trine has

,

i ts roots i n Pagan tho u ght and has no t b een gi ven,

b y s u pernat u ral revelat i on to m an The old n at u re .

worsh i p whi c h de ified the fert il e propert i es of nat u re

was the earli est worsh i p of wh i c h a re c ord remai ns .

I n this worshi p G od was emphat icall y ‘the Creato r ,

’

and the su n and moon the T r ee and the Serpent were

,

the sy mbols u nde r wh i ch H e was ado r ed The first .

c hapter of G enes is whi c h relates the story of E ve s

,
’

te mpta t i on and of A dam s fal l i s a plain and u n m is

’
,

tak able r epro d u c tion of one of the m yths or legends of

3 8 T r ee an d Serpen t W hip or s .

th is an c i ent fa i th I t i s a c op y of a tradi t i on or rather

.
,

of a poe t i c all e gory that belonged to the earl ier wo r ld

, .

B u t on thi s narrat i ve all the do c trinal sy stems of ou r

modern c h u rc h es depend — it is the c ommon f ou n d a
t i on on wh i c h the y have all been b uilt The fall of .

m an i s the only bas is on wh i c h the do c tri ne of the

a t onement c an rest I f there was no fall the atone
.
,

m ent i s a man ifest s u per flu ity and i t c ou ld n ot then ,

have been the m i ss ion of J es u s of Naza r eth to have

m ade one O u r k nowledge of the T r ee and S erpent
.
‘

worsh i p of the an c i e nt heathen wo r ld p r ov e s that the

J ew ish na rr at i ve of A dam and E ve an d the fo rb i dden ,

fr uit is b u t an old heathen fan c y a fable and no t a

, ,

fa c t and be ing so there i s b u t one op ini on at wh i c h

, , ,

reasonab le men c an arri ve w i th regard to the do c trine

of the atonement wh i c h rests so ex c l u s i vel y u pon i t ,

and wh i c h apart from i t has no poss ible bas i s .

S urel y i n the presen c e of these fa c ts the ho u r i s ri pe

for a n ew reformati on O u r c h u r ches are gi v ing to the
.

people the stones of foss il ised and obsole te fabl e s i n

pla c e of that liv i ng bread of sp i ri t u al tr u th for want ,

of wh i c h the m u lt i t u de are fam ish i ng I t is full t i me .

for a c hange to c ome 3 t o u se th e w i se words of

L ess ing i t is t i m e to gi v e u p what the c h u r c hes c all
,

Chri sti ani ty , and to gi ve the R EL I G I O N or C n arsr a

tri al .

TURN B ULL A ND S PEARS ,

PB DIT ERS , E DIN B URG H .
The f ollowin g Pam phlets an d Paper s m ay be had on
a d d r es s in g a le tte r en c losin g the pr ic e in p os tage

s ta m ps to Mr T H OMA S S C O T T , Mou n t P leas an t,

R am s ga te .

A L A Y S ERMON FOR THE BENEFI T OF C LERG Y Pric 6 d e

E TERNAL P UNISHMENT An Ex m i n t i o n of th Doc tri n h l d by th C l rgy
.
, .

a a e es e e e
of th C h rch of E n gl n d B y P Pric 6d
.

”
e u AN C N S a R E SRYT E R G LI A U e
L ETTER AND S PIRIT B y C G M N OF THE C HU CH or E NGLAND P ri c 6 d
. . .

'

a LE R I A R e
SCIENCE N TH EOLOGY B y R ICHARD D AVIES H ANSON E q C hi f J ti e
. . .

A D s e u s c
of S o th A tr li P ric 4 d
.
, ,
u u s a a. e
A FE WW ORDS ON THE TRINIT Y th H ol y Spi ri t d the D iv in i t y d I car
.

e an an u
n tion f J Pri c 6 d
, ,
a o e su s e
TH E Z ULUS AND THE M N OF SCI ENC E or th G o p l H rm o n i t ; Wh i ch e
. .

E e s e a s s ar
th M o t D n g ro ? or G w ll H rm o n y of t he R rr cti o n E x ,
'
e s a e u s re s e s a esu e
m i n d P r I d 1 1 Pric 6 d c h P rt
,

a e a s an e ea a
rn tl y r q t d to give An w r
. . . .
, .

QU STIONS WHICH THE O HO x

E To RT Do are e a es e u es e s e s
TH OUGHTS ON R ELIGION AND THE BI B LE B y a LA Y MAN d M A of Tri n an
D bl n Pri c 6d
. . .

u i e
T HE O P INIONS o P ROFESSOR D F S TRAUSS Pric 6 d
. .

r A v ID e
A F w S ELF C ONTRADICTIONS or THE BI LE Pric I fr e b y po t
. . .

E -
B e s e s
ENGLISH LIFE OF J ESUS or H i t or c l d C rit i c l An l y i of th G osp l :;
.
, .

s i a an a a s s e e s
c om pl t i n Six P t co n t i n i n g bo t 500 p ges Pr ice 7 6d fr b y
e e
,

ar s , a a u a 3 ee
po t
. . .
,

A GA NST H ERO M AKING IN R ELIGION B y Prof or FRANCIS W N EWMAN

s .

I -
ess
P ri c 6d
. . .

e
R ITUA ISM IN TH E CH URC H OF E NG LAND B y P YT A NG LI NU
.

“ "
L R ESR ER CA S
Pr c 6 d
. .

i e
THE R ELIGIOUS W E KN ESS o P ROTESTANTISM B y Prof or F RAN CIS W
.

A r e ss
N EWMAN Pric 7d po t fr
. .

e s ee.
T HE D IFFICUL TIES AND D O G M N S wh ic h tt n d th S t d y of th
.
,

ISC V RA E E T a e e u e
Scri pt r B y th R g ht R F RANCIS H ARE D D form rl y L rd
u es e i ev e o
B i h op of C h i c h t r P i c 6d
. . .
,

s es e r e
TH E C HRONOLOGICAL W EAKNESS P RO P HETIC I NTER P RETATION B y a
. .

or
BENEFICED C LERGYMAN N T H E C HURCH O E NGLAN D Pric I 1 d
.

O E e s
po t fr
. .

s ee
O N THE D M ORALITY OF THE N EW T ESTAMENT B y P rof or
.

rv EEE cr E e ss
F RANCIS W N EWMAN Pri c 6 d
.

e
T HE C HURCH AND ITS R EFORM A R prin t P ic I
. . .

”
e r e s
T HE C HURCH OF E NGLAND C ATECHISM E M N B y J Mr BENTHAM
. . .

”
XA I ER ER E
A R pri n t Pri c i
.
,
E q s e e s
O RIGINAL S IN Pric 6d
. . .

e
R EDE MPTION I M P UTATION S O N F O G V E NESS OF S NS AN D G RAC E
. .

UR STI TUT I R I L
P ric 6 d
, , , , .

e
B ASIS OF A N EW R EFORMATION P ri c 9d
.

e
M IRACLES N P RO P HECIES Pric 6 d
. .

A D e
Pric 6 d
. .

BA B LON B y th R P S D
Y B D e ev ESPR E Z , e
T HE S LING AND THE STONE Fo r S ri of S rm o n pr ch d b y the R
. . . . . . .

"
u e es e s ea e ev
t of H l gh T d c t r P ric 6 e c h
. .

C HARLES V O [ mb YS EY , n cn en ea au a as e e 8. a
S ri of Tw n ty Fo r S rm on
, .

e es e -
u e s.
T HE N C N AND A TH NASIAN C REEDS a P ort io n of S p c h b y B i h op
I E E A : 9. ee s
C LAY TON P ri c 6d e
TH OUGHTS ON A F REE AND C OMPREHENS IV E C HRIST ANITY B y Prof or F
. .

I e ss
W N EWMAN Pric 6 d
. .

e
TH E C HURCH th P i ll r d Gro n d of th T th Pric 6 d
. . .

: e a an u e ru e
M ODERN O RTHODO X Y N M ODERN L Pr i c 6 d
. .

M A D I R E RA LI S e
E RRORS D ISCRE P ANCIES AND C ONTRA ICTIONS OF THE G OS P E L R ECORDS
. .

D
w i th p c i l r f r n c t o th i l b l C o n t d i c t i o n b t w n t he
, ,

s e a e e e e e rr ec on c r a e ra s e ee
S yn opt i c d th Fo rth G o p l Pr i c I S
s an e u s e e
T H E G OS P EL OF THE KINGDO M BY A BENEFICE C LERGYMAN or THE
.

D
C HURC H OF E NGLAN D Pric ea
.

. e .
 L is t o
f Pu blic a tions —C on tin u e d .

‘
T H E M EANING N T H E A E B y th A th or of The P ilgri m d th O G
”
e u
“
an e
S h ri n Pri c 6d
.

"
e e
RE ASONS FOR T H E P REV L E NCE or D AMONG T H E W ORKI NG CL ASS ES
. .

A I SR E L I E T
TH E C HURC H ENGLAND Pric 6d
.

By C I a N N ER G Y A or or e
B y W R H N G REG P ric 6 d
. .

T RUT H E
ver su s N D I EI C A T IO AT RO E e
J AMES AND P AU L A Tr c t b y E m r P rof F W NEWMAN Pric 6d
. . . .

“ "
a e e
LAW AND TH E C RE E DS Pri c 6 d
. . . . . . .

e
G ENESIS C RITIC LLY ANALY ED d c o n t in o l y rr n g d ; wi th I t d
. .

A S an u u s a a e n ro u c
t ory R m rk B y E D V ANSITTART N EA L E M A d M R I Pric I
,

e a s an e s
B y R J OHN O P ri c 6 d
. . .
. , . . . .

AC N O N
EUT A T I O THE D H OE IA R O LA R C Y e v. X LEE e
T H E BIGOT AND TH E SCE PTI B y E m r P rof or F W N EWMAN P ric 6 d
. . .

C e e ss e
THE V ERY R E V EREND H ENRY A LE D n of
. . . . .
.

A L E TT E R To BD O R D, ea
C n t rb r y
. .
,
a e u .

C HURCH C URSING N A THEISM B y th R THOMAS P K HM N ALA A D e ev IR A

R c tor of C ft W rri n gt o n Pric I
. . . .
,

ER & c e ro a e s
P RACTICA L R EMARKS ON T H L ORD S P RAY E R B y L AY MAN W i th
.
, , . .

“ ’ "
E a
Ann ot t i on b y D i gn i t ry of th C h rc h of E n gl n d P ri c 6 d
. .

T HE ANALOG Y OF N ATURE AND R EL I GION—G OOD AND E V IL By

a s a a e u a . e .

a
C LERGYMAN THE C HURCH OF E NGLAND P ric 6d
.

or e
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R EA ON S vers u s I
B y G AMAL I EL BROWN Pri ce
. . . . .

A N AP P EAL THE P REACHERS AL L TH E C

To OR R E RD S.
B y M ONCUR E D C ONWA Y P ri ce 6 d
.

TH E V C ASE
O T SE Y . . . .

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A
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O N H C AUSES OF A THEISM By F W N EWMAN W ith P rtrait Pri ce 6d

. . . . .
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A W O MAN S L ETTER Pri ce 3 d
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A N E P I SODE IN THE H ISTORY

. .

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P rtr i t Pri ce 6 d
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TH E D VERGENCE C ALV NISM P ROM P AU INE D OCT IN ES B y P r f F W NE WM N
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I OP I L R o A
TH E D OC RINE I MMORT LITY IN I TS B E ARING ON E DUCATION By P R E S B YTER AI
. . . .

T OP A
Pri ce 6 d
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T H E J UDGMENT O THE C OMMITTEE OF C OUNCIL I N TH E C ASE P M V

.

P S O R. O YSE Y. on
b y J D L A T OUCHE V i c r f St k e y S l p P ri ce 3 d a o o sa a o
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.
. .
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T HE C OLL P SE OF H F AITH E d ited b y R W G C ARROL L A M Dubl i P ri
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Pri ce 6d
. . .
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A L ECT RE ON R ATIONALISM By R C HARLES V

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P ri ce 6 d
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P LEAS FOR F RE E I N QU IRY P rt I d II B y M Tri C l C m 6d
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THE S CHOOL ROOM By E DWA D M N -
Pri ce I 6d R AII LA
' '
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Pri ce 6d
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N OT ES ON BIS H O P M AGE E S PLEADIN G S FOR C HRIST By B rri t r Pri ce 6d

.

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B y E DWA D M AI T LAN D W ith P rtr it
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A D IA L OGUE WA Y P C H L R EL I GIOU S M ORAL N PH I LOSO P HI C
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S A
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ON T H E R ELATIONS P T HE ISM TO P AN THE I SM d 0 B an on e

F W N EWM N Pri ce 6d
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A
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M AND SOCIA L J UST I CE By TH OMAS B GR O C BASTARD Pri ce 3 d
. . . .
.
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SC P R T ICIS L R
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N S RANG E P rice S ix p en ce
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L M U I SD E T
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J E SUS N w Ed iti By TH OMAS S COTT Pri c 4 a PM
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SP I RI TUAL P ANTHEISM By I H 1 Pri c 6d
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