The Christian Fathers held the theory of a flat earth, a plurality of heavens-though differing as to the numberand a crystalline vault. Some of them, as Hilary and Theodosius, believed that angels carried the stars on their shoulders; others, that angels rolled them in front of them or drew them behind. They conceived a heaven of glass, consisting of eight or ten layers. The belief of the Middle Ages was a combination of the system of Ptolemy and the Fathers. It placed in the centre of the earth the infernal regions; outside the earth in a circle was the ocean; then came a layer of air, then fire. Enveloping these were the seven layers of the seven planets, outside which was the firmament of the fixed stars; then came the ninth heaven, then the tenth or crystalline heaven, and the eleventh, the heaven of the Cherubim and Seraphim; and, beyond and above all, the throne on which sat "The Father" as Jupiter Olympus. The Venerable Bede and his followers believed in an egg-shaped earth of land and water, then air, ether, fiery space, firmament, the heaven of the angels, and the heaven of the Trinity. We have seen that so late as 1815 a venerable "Prince of the Church" told Humboldt that a large aërolite lately fallen, which was covered with a vitrified crust, must be a fragment of the crystalline sky! The various heavens were represented in Plato's meadows, in the doors in the cave of Mithra, and by the Christian John in his ecstatic passage through the spheres in the Apocalypse or Revelation, where the different planets are represented by precious stones. Equally vague notions were held regarding Elysium, or Paradise. By some it was thought to be in the clouds; by others in the moon; by others, again, in some far-off isles. Everything there was lovely and beautiful, and all was enjoyment, with music, dancing, and singing. The Mohammedan Paradise had the additional luxury of all women existing there for men's pleasure. The heaven of ancient Assyria was created by the god Merodach, after his fearful conflict with Tiamat and her demons, who reigned over chaos; and when he "prepared the twin mansions of the great gods, appointing the signs of the zodiac over it...... Founded the mansion of the god of the Ferry Boat [the sun]...... established the mansion of Bel and Ea along with himself ...........illuminated the moon-god, that he might be Porter of the night." The Heaven, or Elysium, of the Egyptians was a sort of celestial Egypt, with a celestial Nile, lakes, and islands; a gate led down from it into Hades. It was the garden of perfect bliss, where souls were ever fed by Osiris himself. It was the "residence of the souls who have found favour in the eyes of the great god." The Heaven, "Celestial Garden," or "Aden"-from which the word "Eden" was derived-of ancient Chaldæa and the Hindus was the starry heavens. It was the resting-place of heroes and gods. The good ones were represented in cuneiform inscriptions as reclining on couches, drinking pure liquors, and feeding on rich food. The angels of Heaven were "divinely-chosen messengers," "vicars of God," and "messiahs." The virgin-born Krishna, or Christna, and Buddha were incarnations of Vishnu, and went under the titles of "Angel-Messiah," "Avatar," and "Christ." The ignorant cartographers of the Middle Ages frequently mixed up angels with the heroes of mythology; immortal virgins with Venus and Andromeda; the saints with the Great Bear, the Hydra, and the Scorpion. In a medieval plate are to be seen, in the heavens of Jupiter and Saturn, the words: "Seraphini, Dominationes, Potestates, Archangeli, Virtutis, Coelorum, Principatus, Throni, Cherubini." In the Liber Floridus, in the Ghent Library, there is an old illuminated plate, called "Astrologia secundum Bedum," in which a serpent is placed where the earth ought to have been, in the centre, with the name Great Bear on it; and the Twins (Gemini) are represented by a man and woman; Andromeda is represented in a chasuble, and Venus as a nun. 66 VII. THE GODS OF THE ANCIENT AKKADIANS, BABYLONIANS, Israelites—The Vedic Gods—The GoDS OF HINDU- IT was in the ancient countries, lying between the two great valleys of the Nile on the west, and the Euphrates and Tigris on the east, that the civilization of the world may be said to have commenced. It is difficult to decide which had the precedence with regard to age-the Akkadians or the Egyptians. However, both were dominated by astronomer priests, who mapped out the ancient zodiac, and both were acquainted with cuneiform writing; a library containing some thousands of clay tablets was formed by King Sargon I. at Nineveh (B.C. 4,000), some of which have been lately discovered among the ruins of that city, giving accounts of a creation, a flood, a conflict between the sun-god and the demon Tiamat, and the descent of Ishtar into Hades, etc. The destruction of this ancient library with the fall of the city has been an irreparable loss to the world and to literature. With the Eastern Semites of Akkadia originated the Sabbath, the Penitential Psalms-or the confessions of a troubled soul, the Twelve Adventurers of Gilgames, Gisdubar, or Izdubar, the solar god who, while passing through the zodiacal signs, slayed the lion (leo), wooed the virgin (virgo) Ishtar, sickened and wasted at the close of his journey through the winter period, to be born again at the winter solstice, and renewed his "glory" at his "ascension" at the spring equinox. These legends spread westward to Phoenicia (ancient Canaan) and Greece, where Gilgames became Hercules with his twelve struggles or labours. THE GODS OF THE ANCIENTS. 105 Their gods were Ana (lord of the sky); Ea, or Hea (of air and water); Davki (earth); Marduk, or Merodack, and Bel (the sun), son of Ea; Bilit, or Mylitta (Bel's wife), to whom every Babylonian woman had to offer her virginity; Sin (the moon); Ishtar, or Astarte (the evening star)—for Ishtar's sake men made themselves eunuchs, and women yielded to prostitution; Dagon (the fish-god) of the maritime portion of Babylonia, whence the worship of this god spread to the maritime portions of Canaan. Assur was the supreme god (the phallic god) of Assyria, and from him was derived the name of the country. Nergal was the god of death, and Hades. The gods of Assyria were winged bulls and lions, and from these winged figures were evolved the griffin-like effigies of Persia, the victories, cupids, and genii of classic Rome, and the winged angels of Christian paintings and statuary. Ancient astronomy and ghostland supplied the Heavenly messengers or angels, and Assyria supplied the wings. The Western Semites of Canaan, Syria, Phoenicia, Phrygia, and Asia Minor borrowed many of the traditions and ideas of the Easterns. Bel was transformed into Baal; Ishtar into Ashtoreth and Astarte; Assur into Moloch and Priapos. The legends of the sun-god, of the flood, and many others with which the later Christian Messiah (Jesus) was afterwards connected, as well as the Sabbath idea, as we have seen, found their way here. The gods of the Philistines were Dagon, androgynous man and fish, and Derketo, androgynous woman and fish. The latter was a local representative of Astarte (the modern Venus). Nearly all maritime countries had a fish-god. The Moabites (Hittites) had Chemosh for the sun-god, figured under the symbol of the sacred eagle. The Israelites (Hebrew tribes) had, for chief, tribal, or sungod, Jehovah, Yahuh, or Yeho, the provider of sexual pleasure; and the moon, the "Queen of Heaven." For the worship of this goddess Jeremiah (B.C. 625) rebuked the Jews (Jer. xliv. 16-22), and Micah also (Judges xviii. 31). The stars were worshipped under their respective names, or the names of their clusters. Baal, Moloch, El-Shadai, and Adonai were also worshipped, the two last being names for Yahuh. Elohim, plural of El, Eloh, or Alah, was a term used for the gods in general. The ancient religion of India was that of all the Aryan nations—the Vedic, the basis of which was ancestor and nature worship. The planetary gods were Surya, the sungod; Devas, the shining ones or stars, children of Dyaus, the sky or heavens; and Prithivi, the earth mother. Mahadeva was Priapos, the phallic god. From the Sanskrit Dyaus, the sky, and Pitar, father, are derived the Greek zeus, or zeu, and the Latin deus, and pater. Zeu-pater became Jupiter. The powers of nature were represented in Indra, the god of rain, and Agni, the god of fire and lightning. There were also gods of day, dawn, and wind. Out of the old Vedic faith was evolved Brahmanism, the chief god of which was Purusha, who generated the four castes. Alman was the spirit of the universe, from whom proceeded Brahman, the "Breath of Life." Brahmanism gradually became merged into Hinduism, the gods of which were Brahma, the creative spirit; Vishnu, the "Preserver" and "Saviour"; and Siva, the "Destroyer." Vishnu is the popular god of the Hindus. "As a fish he drew to a place of safety the ship in which seven patriarchs carried the seeds of all existing things from a great deluge; as a tortoise he supported the earth on his back; as a boar, a man-lion, and a dwarf, or the hero Rama, he strove with demons." The Brahmans are the Hindu priestly caste, and are regarded with great sanctity. Buddha (about B.C. 500) was also made an "Avatar" or "Messiah" of Vishnu; and took human form or became incarnate as Krishna or Christna, the Dark-skinned, called so because he represented the hidden sun at night; all the darkskinned children in the arms or on the knees of virgins, as, for instance, the "Bambino" at Rome, were originally images of Krishna with his mother Devaki. Buddhism was an offshoot from Brahmanism; while Brahmanism laid emphasis on ritual and caste, Buddhism placed it on personal character and self-purification. The latter is largely a sun myth. "Emerging from the womb of the Virgin Dawn, the hero ascends the sky to meet and. conquer the storm-spirit, after which his flaming wheel (the wheel of the law-the wheels of the chariot of truth and righteousness), which he (the mythic Buddha) set revolving on earth, "rolls victoriously on until the fires of sunset redden over his funeral pile. Supernaturally conceived, he |
