Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 132

This is seen in Fig. No. 39, taken from an ancient medal, which represents the serpent with rays of glory surrounding his head.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. No. 38]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. No. 39]

The Ophites, who venerated the serpent as an emblem of Christ Jesus, are said to have maintained that the serpent of Genesis--who brought _wisdom_ into the world--was Christ Jesus. The brazen serpent was called the WORD by the Chaldee paraphrast. The Word, or Logos, was _Divine Wisdom_, which was crucified; thus we have the cross, or Linga, or Phallus, with the serpent upon it. Besides considering the serpent as the emblem of Christ Jesus, or of the Logos, the Ophites are said to have revered it as the cause of all the arts of civilized life. In Chapter XII. we saw that several ill.u.s.trious females were believed to have been selected and impregnated by the Holy Ghost. In some cases, a serpent was supposed to be the form which it a.s.sumed. This was the incarnation of the Logos.

The serpent was held in great veneration by the ancients, who, as we have seen, considered it as the symbol of the beneficent Deity, and an emblem of eternity. As such it has been variously expressed on ancient sculptures and medals in various parts of the globe.

Although generally, it did not always, symbolize the G.o.d _Sun_, or the power of which the Sun is an emblem; but, invested with various meanings, it entered widely into the primitive mythologies. As Mr.

Squire observes:

"It typified wisdom, power, duration, the _good_ and _evil_ principles, life, reproduction--in short, in Egypt, Syria, Greece, India, China, Scandinavia, America, everywhere on the globe, it has been a prominent emblem."[491:1]

The serpent was the symbol of Vishnu, the preserving G.o.d, the Saviour, the _Sun_.[491:2] It was an emblem of the _Sun_-G.o.d Buddha, the Angel-Messiah.[491:3] The Egyptian _Sun_-G.o.d Osiris, the Saviour, is a.s.sociated with the snake.[491:4] The Persian Mithra, the Mediator, Redeemer, and Saviour, was symbolized by the serpent.[491:5] The Phenicians represented their beneficent _Sun_-G.o.d Agathodemon, by a serpent.[491:6] The serpent was, among the Greeks and Romans, the emblem of a _beneficent genius_. Antipator of Sidon, calls the G.o.d Ammon, the "Renowned Serpent."[491:7] The Grecian Hercules--the Sun-G.o.d--was symbolized as a serpent; and so was aesculapius and Apollo. The Hebrews, who, as we have seen in Chapter XI., wors.h.i.+ped the G.o.d Sol, represented him in the form of a serpent. This is the _seraph_--spoken of above--as set up by Moses (Num. xxi. 3) and wors.h.i.+ped by the children of Israel.

SE RA PH is the singular of seraphim, meaning _Semilice_--_splendor_, _fire_, _light_--emblematic of the fiery disk of the Sun, and which, under the name of _Nehush-tan_, "Serpent-dragon," was broken up by the reforming Hezekiah.

The princ.i.p.al G.o.d of the _Aztecs_ was _Tonac_-atlcoatl, which means the _Serpent Sun_.[491:8]

The Mexican virgin-born Lord and Saviour, Quetzalcoatle, was represented in the form of a serpent. In fact, his name signifies "_Feathered Serpent_." Quetzalcoatle was a personification of the _Sun_.[491:9]

Under the aspect of the _active principle_, we may rationally connect the _Serpent_ and the _Sun_, as corresponding symbols of the _reproductive_ or _creative power_. Figure No. 40 is a symbolical sign, representing the disk of the _Sun_ encircled by the serpent _Uraeus_, meaning the "KING SUN," or "ROYAL SUN," as it often surmounts the persons of Egyptian monarchs, confirmed by the _emblem of_ LIFE depending from the serpent's neck.[492:1]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. No. 40]

The mysteries of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, in _Egypt_; Atys and Cybele, in _Phrygia_; Ceres and Proserpine, at _Eleusis_; of Venus and Adonis, in _Phenicia_; of Bona Dea and Priapus, in _Rome_, are all susceptible of one explanation. They all set forth and ill.u.s.trated, by solemn and impressive rites, and _mystical symbols_, the grand phenomenon of _nature_, especially as connected with the creation of things and the perpetuation of life. In all, it is worthy of remark, the SERPENT was more or less conspicuously introduced, and always as symbolical of the invigorating or active energy of nature, the SUN.

We have seen (in Chapter XX.) that in early Christian art Christ Jesus also was represented as a _crucified Lamb_. This crucified lamb is "the Lamb of G.o.d taking away the sins of the world, and slain from the foundation of the world."[492:2] In other words, the crucified lamb typifies the _crucified Sun_, for the lamb was another symbol of the Sun, as we shall presently see.

We find, then, that the stories of the crucifixions of the different so-called SAVIOURS of mankind _all melt into ONE_, and that they are _allegorical_, for "_Saviour_" was only a t.i.tle of the _Sun_,[492:3] and his being put to death on the cross, signifies no more than the restriction of the power of the Sun in the winter quarter. With Justin Martyr, then, we can say:

"There exists not a people, whether Greek or barbarian, or any other race of men, by whatsoever appellation or manners they may be distinguished, however ignorant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell under the tents, or wander about in crowded wagons, among whom prayers are not offered up in the name of A CRUCIFIED SAVIOUR[493:1] to the Father and creator of all things."[493:2]

9. "_And many women were there beholding afar off._"[493:3] The tender mother who had watched over him at his birth, and the fair maidens whom he has loved, will never forsake him. They yet remain with him, and while their tears drop on his feet, which they kiss, their voices cheer him in his last hour. In these we have the _Dawn_, who bore him, and the fair and beautiful lights which flush the Eastern sky as the Sun sinks or dies in the West.[493:4] Their tears are the tears of dew, such as Eos weeps at the death of her child.

All the Sun-G.o.ds forsake their homes and virgin mothers, and wander through different countries doing marvellous things. Finally, at the end of their career, the mother, from whom they were parted long ago, is by their side to cheer them in their last hours.[493:5]

The ever-faithful women were to be found at the last scene in the life of _Buddha_. Kasyapa having found the departed master's feet soiled and wet, asked Nanda the cause of it. "He was told that a weeping woman had embraced Gautama's feet shortly before his death, and that her tears had fallen on his feet and left the marks on them."[493:6]

In his last hours, _dipous_ (the Sun) has been cheered by the presence of Antigone.[493:7]

At the death of _Hercules_, Iole (_the fair-haired Dawn_) stands by his side, cheering him to the last. With her gentle hands she sought to soothe his pain, and with pitying words to cheer him in his woe. Then once more the face of Hercules flushed with a deep joy, and he said:

"Ah, Iole, brightest of maidens, thy voice shall cheer me as I sink down in the sleep of death. I saw and loved thee in the bright _morning time_, and now again thou hast come, _in the evening_, fair as the soft clouds which gather around the _dying Sun_."

The _black mists_ were spreading over the sky, but still Hercules sought to gaze on the fair face of Iole, and to comfort her in her sorrow.

"Weep not, Iole," he said, "my toil is done, and now is the time for rest. I shall see thee again in the bright land which is never trodden by the feet of night."

The same story is related in the legend of _Apollo_. The Dawn, from whom he parted in the early part of his career, comes to his side at _eventide_, and again meets him when his journey on earth has well nigh come to an end.[494:1]

When the Lord _Prometheus_ was crucified on Mt. Caucasus, his especially professed friend, Ocea.n.u.s, the fisherman, as his name, Petraeus, indicates,[494:2] being unable to prevail on him to make his peace with Jupiter, by throwing the cause of human redemption out of his hands,[494:3] "forsook him and fled." None remained to be witnesses of his dying agonies, but the chorus of ever amiable and ever-faithful women, which also bewailed and lamented him, but were unable to subdue his inflexible philanthropy.[494:4]

10. "_There was darkness all over the land._"[494:5] In the same manner ends the tale of the long toil and sorrows of other Sun-G.o.ds. The last scene exhibits a manifest return to the spirit of the solar myth. He must not die the common death of all men, for no disease or corruption can touch the body of the brilliant Sun. After a long struggle against the dark clouds who are arrayed against him, he is finally overcome, and dies. Blacker and blacker grow the evening shades, and finally "there is darkness on the face of the earth," and the din of its thunder clashes through the air.[494:6]

It is the picture of a sunset in wild confusion, of a sunset more awful, yet not more sad, than that which is seen in the last hours of many other _Sun_-G.o.ds.[494:7] It is the picture of the loneliness of the _Sun_, who sinks slowly down, with the ghastly hues of death upon his face, while none is nigh to cheer him save the ever-faithful women.

11. "_He descended into h.e.l.l._"[494:8] This is the _Sun's_ descent into the _lower regions_. It enters the sign Capricornus, or the Goat, and the astronomical winter begins. The days have reached their shortest span, and the _Sun_ has reached his extreme southern limit. The winter solstice reigns, and the Sun seems to stand still in his southern course. For three days and three nights he remains in h.e.l.l--the lower regions.[495:1] In this respect _Christ_ Jesus is like other Sun-G.o.ds.[495:2]

In the ancient sagas of Iceland, the hero who is the Sun personified, descends into a tomb, where he fights a vampire. After a desperate struggle, the hero overcomes, and rises to the surface of the earth.

"This, too, represents the Sun in the northern realms, descending into the tomb of winter, and there overcoming the power of darkness."[495:3]

12. _He rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven._ Resurrections from the dead, and ascensions into heaven, are generally acknowledged to be _solar_ features, as the history of many solar heroes agree in this particular.

At the _winter solstice_ the ancients wept and mourned for _Tammuz_, the fair Adonis, and other Sun-G.o.ds, done to death by the boar, or crucified--slain by the thorn of winter--and on the _third day_ they rejoiced at the resurrection of their "Lord of Light."[495:4]

With her usual policy, the Church endeavored to give a Christian significance to the rites which they borrowed from heathenism, and in this case, the mourning for Tammuz, the fair Adonis, became the mourning for Christ Jesus, and joy at the rising of the natural Sun became joy at the rising of the "Sun of Righteousness"--at the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the grave.

This festival of the Resurrection was generally held by the ancients on the 25th of March, when the awakening of _Spring_ may be said to be the result of the return of the Sun from the lower or far-off regions to which he had departed. At the equinox--say, the vernal--at _Easter_, the Sun has been below the equator, and suddenly rises above it. It has been, as it were, dead to us, but now it exhibits a resurrection.[496:1]

The Saviour rises triumphant over the powers of darkness, to life and immortality, on the 25th of March, when the Sun rises in Aries.

Throughout all the ancient world, _the resurrection of the G.o.d Sol_, under different names, was celebrated on March 25th, with great rejoicings.[496:2]

In the words of the Rev. Geo. W. c.o.x:

"The wailing of the Hebrew women at the death of Tammuz, the crucifixion and resurrection of Osiris, the adoration of the Babylonian Mylitta, the Sacti ministers of Hindu temples, the cross and crescent of Isis, the rites of the Jewish altar of Baal-Peor, wholly preclude all doubt of the real nature of the great _festivals_ and _mysteries_ of Phenicians, Jews, a.s.syrians, Egyptians, and Hindus."[496:3]

All this was _Sun_ and Nature wors.h.i.+p, symbolized by the _Linga_ and _Yoni_. As Mr. Bonwick says:

"The philosophic theist who reflects upon the story, known from the walls of China, across Asia and Europe, to the plateau of Mexico, cannot resist the impression that no _materialistic_ theory of it can be satisfactory."[496:4]

_Allegory_ alone explains it.

"The Church, at an early date, selected the heathen festivals of _Sun wors.h.i.+p_ for its own, ordering the _birth at Christmas_, a fixed time, and the _resurrection at Easter_, a varying time, as in all Pagan religions; since, though the Sun rose directly after the vernal equinox, the festival, to be correct in a _heathen_ point of view, had to be a.s.sociated with the new moon."[496:5]

The Christian, then, may well say:

"When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of winter, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven (_i. e._, bring on the reign of summer), to all believers."

13. _Christ Jesus is Creator of all things._ We have seen (in Chapter XXVI.) that it was not G.o.d the Father, who was supposed by the ancients to have been the _Creator_ of the world, but G.o.d the Son, the Redeemer and Saviour of Mankind. Now, this Redeemer and Saviour was, as we have seen, the Sun, and Prof. Max Muller tells us that in the _Vedic_ mythology, the Sun is not the bright Deva only, "who performs his daily task in the sky, but he is supposed to perform much greater work. He is looked upon, in fact, as the _Ruler_, as the _Establisher_, as the _Creator of the world_."[496:6]

Having been invoked as the "Life-bringer," the Sun is also called--in the Rig-Veda--"the Breath or Life of all that move and rest;" and lastly he becomes "_The Maker of all things_," by whom all the worlds have been brought together.[497:1]

There is a prayer in the _Vedas_, called _Gayatree_, which consists of three measured lines, and is considered the holiest and most efficacious of all their religious forms. Sir William Jones translates it thus:

"Let us adore the supremacy of that spiritual Sun, the G.o.dhead, who illuminates all, who re-creates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return; whom we invoke to direct our undertakings aright in our progress toward his holy seat."

With Seneca (a Roman philosopher, born at Cordova, Spain, 61 B. C.) then, we can say: