Universal Love of Flowers—Indifference to Flowers—Excessive Love of Flowers leading to Adoration—Myths and Legends connected with Flowers, the Flos Adonis, Narcissus, Myrtle, Silene inflata, Clover—The Hundred-leaved Rose—The Worship of the Lily Species—Signification of the Lotos—Hermaphroditic Character of the Lotos—The Indian Mutiny of 1857, part played by the Lotos during its Instigation.
“Why?â€asked a writer some years ago, “why is it that every eye kindles with delight at the sight of beautiful flowers? that in all lands, and amidst all nations, the love of flowers appears to prevail to so great an extent, that no home is considered complete without them—no festival duly honoured unless they decorate the place where it is observed? They are strewn in the path of the bride; they are laid on the bier of the dead; the merry-maker selects from the floral tribes the emblem of his joy; and the mourner the insignia of his grief. Everywhere and under all circumstances, flowers are eagerly sought after and affectionately cherished; and when the living and growing are not to be obtained, then is their place filled by some substitute or other, according to the circumstances or taste of the wearer; but whether that substitute be a wreath of gorgeous gems for the brow of royalty, or a bunch of coloured cambric for the adornment of a servant girl, it is usually wrought into the form of flowers.
“This taste depends not on wealth or on education, but is given, if not to all individuals, yet to some of every class. From the infant’s first gleam of intelligence, a flower will suffice to still its cries; and even in old age the mind which has not been perverted from its natural instincts, can find a calm and soothing pleasure in the contemplation of these gems of creation.â€
A man, reputed wise, was once asked in a garden: “do you like flowers?†“No,†said he; “I seldom find time to descend to the little things.†“This man,†said an American writer, “betrayed a descent, in his speech, to the pithole of ignorance. Flowers, sweet flowers! he that lovesthem not should be classed with the man that hath not music in his soul, as a dangerous member of the community.â€
Instead ofnot likingornot caring, leaving out,not lovingflowers, the general tendency with humanity has been to run to an opposite extreme and render them not merely estimation, care or love, but veneration and worship.
The adoration of flowers is one of the most ancient systems of worship with which we are acquainted. It can be traced back for ages amongst the Hindus, who believing that the human soul is a spark or emanation from the Great Supreme, held that this essence can only be renovated in man by a communion with his works; it is found amongst the Chinese, it occupied a most important position in the mysteries of Egyptian idolatry, it figures prominently on the past and present monuments of Mexico, and to some extent prevailed in Europe. Naturally enough, it arose in the warmer regions of the earth, where the vegetable productions of the tropics are so much more gorgeous in their colouring and noble in their growth, and in those regions it still lingers, after having been swept away in other lands before the advance of education and a more intellectual religion.
It would be interesting did space allow to enumerate some of the myths and legends connected with flowers, but as we have another object in view these must be allowed to pass with a mere cursory allusion. There is the Flos Adonis which perpetuates the memory of Venus’s favourite, Adonis, the son of Myrrha, who was herself said to be turned into a tree called myrrh. Adonis had often been warned by Venus not to hunt wild beasts; but disregarding her advice, he was at last killed by a wild boar and was then changed by his mistress into this flower. There was Narcissus, too, destroying himself in trying to grasp his form when reflected in the water by whose margin he was reclining. Then we have Myrtillus and the Myrtle. The father of Hippodamia declared that no one should marry his daughter who could not conquer him in a chariot race; and one of the lovers of the young lady bribed Myrtillus, who was an attendant of Œnomaüs, to take out the linchpin from his master’s chariot, by which means the master was killed; and Myrtillus, repenting when he saw him dead, cast himself into the sea, and was afterwards changed by Mercury into the myrtle.
A bladder campion (Silene inflata) is another curiosity. Ancient writers say that it was formerly a youth named Campion, whom Minerva employed to catch flies for her owls to eat during the day, when their eyes did not serve them to catch food for themselves; but Campion indulging himself with a nap when he ought to have been busy at his task, the angry goddess changed him into this flower, which still retains in its form the bladders in which Campion kept his flies, and droops its head at night when owls fly abroad and have their eyes about them.
The common clover which was much used in ancient Greek festivals, was regarded by the Germans as sacred, chiefly in its four leaved variety. There is indeed, in the vicinity of Altenburg, a superstition that if a farmer takes home with him a handful of clover taken from each of the four corners of his neighbour’s field it will go well with his cattle during the whole year; but the normal belief is that the four-leaved clover, on account of its cross form, is endowed with magical virtues. The general form of the superstition is that one who carries it about with him will be successful at play, and will be able to detect the proximity of evil spirits. In Bohemia it is said that if the maiden manages to put it into the shoe of her lover without knowledge when he is going on any journey, he will be sure to return to her faithfully and safely. In the Tyrol the lover puts it under the pillow to dream of the beloved. On Christmas Eve, especially, one who has it may see witches. Plucked with a gloved hand and taken into the house of a lunatic without anyone else perceiving it, it is said to cure madness. In Ireland also it is deemed sacred and has been immortalized in Lover’s beautiful song as a safeguard against every imaginable kind of sorrow and misfortune.
It was a belief among the Jews, according to Zoroaster says Howitt, that every flower is appropriated to a particular angel, and that the hundred-leaved rose is consecrated to an archangel of the highest order. The same author relates that the Persian fire-worshippers believe that Abraham was thrown into a furnace by Nimrod, and the flames forthwith turned into a bed of roses.
In contradistinction to this in sentiment is the belief of the Turk, who holds that this lovely flower springs fromthe perspiration of Mohammed, and, in accordance with this creed, they never tread upon it or suffer one to lie upon the ground.
“Of shrub or flower worship, the most important in the east and south has been that of the lily species. The lily of October—the saffron—was very sacred to the Karnean, or horned Apollo—that is, the sun—for horns usually stand for rays of glory, as in the case of the horned Moses of our poets, artists and ecclesiastics, who make him like an Apis of Egypt, because of the text which says, ‘his face shone’ when he came down from the mountain. All lilies have more or less to do with the female or fecundating energies, and so even in Europe we have many stories of the crocus species, because it is said ‘of their irradiating light, having peculiar looking bells, three-headed and crested capillaments, three cells, and reddish seeds,’ &c.
“The Lotus is the seat of most deities, but notably so of the creator Brahma, who, thus enthroned, is called theKamÄl-a-yoni, or the great androgynous god. The lotus is the womb of all creation. It is said to originate from the great fertiliser, water, alone; and dropping its great leaves on this fertiliser as on a bed, it springs upwards with a slender, elegant stalk, and spreads forth in a lovely flower. Even the grave and mighty Vishnoo delights in the lotus, which is one of the four emblems he holds in his fourfold arms. It is Venus’ sacred flower.
“The flower is shaped like a boat, is a representation of divinity, and is shown as springing from the navel of the great god resting on his milky sea. It always signifies fecundation. Inman, under the head Nabhi, navel, says—‘The germ is “Meroo†(the highest pinnacle of the earth), the petals and filaments are the mountains which encircle Meroo, a type of the Yoni,’ and Sanscrit formons veneris. Amongst fourteen kinds of fruit and flowers which must be presented to ‘Ananta’ (Sanskrit, eternity), the lotus is the only indispensable one, as he (Ananta) is then worshipped in the form of a mighty serpent with seven heads.
“Hindoo and other writers often tell us that the lotus originated the idea of the triangle, which is ‘the first of perfect figures, for two lines are an imperfection,’ and the lotus also gives us a circle on a triangle which is full of cells and seed, and so is more perfect still. Siva is, asOrientals know, ‘the god of the triangle,’ and hence, in his palace inKailasawe are told the most precious object ‘on his table of nine precious stones is the padma (lotus), carrying in its bosom the triangle, as origin and source of all things;’ and that from ‘this triangle issues the Lingam, the eternal god who makes in it his eternal dwelling;’ which, however, is not quite correct on the part of M. Guigniant, whom Mr. Barlow quotes. The lotus is an inverted triangle, and is therefore the female sign; the pyramid or triangle on base is Siva, or theRay of Light, the sun-god.
“Another reason why the lotus is in all lands so sacred is its androgynous or hermaphrodite character, a feature imperative in the case of all the great gods of man, though this is not very clear if we dive deeply below the surface, either in the case of the Jewish Elohim or the lotus. Brahma, the creator, whilst sitting on the lotus, as all great gods do, desired, says the ‘Hindoo Inspired Word,’ to create the universe, and for this purpose, became androgynous, or a breathing-spirit (Ruach?)—prakriti or nature; when creation at once commenced and progressed, much as we have it in the genesis of most faiths. The details of this mystic plant have much exercised all Asiatic and Egyptian minds. In its circular stamina it shows two equilateral triangles placed across each other, which Sanskritists call theshristi-chakra, also sixteen petals called theshoodasa; and this, it is held, is a revelation from the deity as to the proper age for the representative woman or prakriti, in the Sakti ceremonies. These triangles, with apex upwards and downwards, arethe chapelor magic diagram which the pious are told to ponder over, for it has many significations and possesses numerous spells; and hence we see it venerated in all early ages, and still an important article of Freemasonry. The spells go by the name of thedevi-chakrams, or godesses of circles, no doubt having a solar signification.
“ThePadmaandKamalataorGranter-of-Desires, or ‘Consummator-of-our-Wishes,’ are all terms applied to the lotus. It is the symbol of Venus or Lakshmi, or of her incarnation—Krishna’s wife, Padha, who is commonly a nude Venus or Sakti. It is also called ‘love’s creeper,’ the throne and ark of the gods, and the water-born one. One author writes, that from far Thibet to Ceylon, and over everyeastern land and islet, the holy Padma is only a little less sacred than the Queen of Heaven—Juno (I Oni) herself. It is as mysterious as the Yoni—is, like it, the flower of concealment, of night and of silence, and that mysteriousness of generation and reproduction; it is described as a sort of incomprehensible dualism which veils the Almighty One and his mysteries from our minds. Linnæus tells us it is theNelumbo, but R. Payne Knight is clearer when he writes to this effect. The flowers of the lotus contain a seed vessel shaped like an invertedcone or bell, which are very holy symbols with all peoples, and representative male and female. This inverted bell is punctuated on the top with little cavities or cells in which the seeds grow as in a matrix fed by the parent plant till they arrive at such a size as to break open ‘the ark boat of life.’ They then emerge and float away, taking root wherever they find ground, and throwing down long tentacles or tendrills in quest of it. The idea is expressed by Brahma in his address to the angels, as given in theLinga-Pooran, beginning: ‘When I sprang into existence, I beheld the mighty NarÄyana reposing on the abyss of waters;’ which reminds us of the Jewish Elohim-god who it is said generated all things ‘by brooding o’er the deep.’â€[18]
Those who remember the Indian mutiny of the year 1867 and the long tale of horrors which overwhelmed the British dominions with grief, dismay and indignation, will be interested by the information that the conspiracy was first manifested by the circulation of symbols in the forms of cakes and lotus flowers. Commenting upon this, a writer in “Household Words,†of September, 1857, said, after he had given a description and historical account of the flower: I fear I may have indulged in too long an excursion into the realms of botany to suit the reader, who merely wishes to know why the Indian rebels choose lotus flowers as symbols of cospiracy. I am sure I am as innocent of the knowledge as of the rebellion, but I will try to help my readers to a guess. Four-fifths of the human species worship a God-woman; and the vestiges of this worship are found in the most ancient monuments, documents and traditions, stretching backwards into the past eternity frommillenium to millenium, towards an epoch beyond the records of the Deluge, and almost coeval with the loss of Eden. The Tentyrian planisphere of the ancient Egyptians represents the virgin and child rising out of a lotus flower. The Egyptian hieroglyphics depict the goddess Asteria, or Justice, issuing out of a lotus, and seating herself upon the centre of the beam of Libra, or the Scales. Pictorial delineations of the judgment of the dead, represent Osiris as Ameuti, swathed in the white garments of the grave, girt with a red girdle, and seated upon a chequered throne of white and black spots, or good and evil. Before him are the vase of nectar, the table of ambrosia, the great serpent, and the lotus of knowledge—the emblems of Paradise. There are Egyptian altar-pieces upon which the lotus figures as the tree of life. The Hindu priests say that the lotus rising out of the lakes is the type of the world issuing out of the ocean of time.
Travellers who have observed the worship of the Hindus and Parsees, tell us that they give religious honours to the lotus. The Budhist priests cultivate it in precious vases, and place it in their temples. The Chinese poets celebrate the sacred bean of India, out of which their god Amida and her child arose, in the middle of a lake. We can be at no loss to imagine the appearance of the Budhist pagodas, for our Gothic cathedrals are just those pagodas imitated in stone. Their pillars copy the trunks of the palm-trees and the effects of the creeping plants of the pagodas; their heaven piercing spires are the golden spathes of palm flowers, and the stained glass reproduces, feebly, the many brilliances of the tropical skies. Every pious Buddist, giving himself up to devout meditations, repeats as often as he can, the words “On ma ni bat mo Klom.†When many worshippers are kneeling and repeating the sound, the effect is like counter-bass or the humming of bees; and profound sighs mingle with the repetitions. The Mongolian priests say these words are endowed with mysterious and supernatural powers; they increase the virtues of the faithful; they bring them nearer to divine protection, and they exempt them from the pains of the future life. When the priests are asked to explain the words, they say volumes would be required to tell all their meanings. Klaproth, however, says that the formula is nothing but a corruption of four Hinduwords, “Om man’i padma houm,†signifying “Oh! precious lotus!†Without pretending that the volume of the Hindu fakirs on the signification of the lotus, might not throw more light upon the use of it as a symbol of conspiracy, there are hints enough in the facts I have stated to warrant the conclusion that it serves as a sign of a great and general rising on behalf of Budhism. The flower was circulated to rally the votaries of the goddess of the lotus.
Importance of the Lotos—Varieties of Lotos—Statements by Herodotus, Homer, Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Athenæus and others—The Arborescent Lotos—The Sacred Lotos of the Nile—The Indian Lotos—Nepaulese Adoration of the Lotos—Shing-moo, the Chinese Holy Mother—Lakshmi—The Queens of Beauty—The Loves of Krishna and Radha.
TheLotos is a flower of such importance and prominence in the subject before us, and especially in connection with the ancient worship of the East—notably of that of aphalliccharacter, that we naturally look carefully about us for the best descriptive information we can find respecting it. A writer (M. C. Cooke, M.A.) in the “Popular Science Review†for July, 1871, says:—“The history of sacred plants is always an interesting and instructive study; more so when it extends into a remote antiquity, and is associated with such great and advanced nations as those of Egypt and India. Much has been written and speculated concerning the Lotos of old authors; and great confusion has existed in many minds on account of the desire to make all allusions and descriptions to harmonise with one ideal plant—the classic Lotos. We must clearly intimate that it is impossible to combine all the fragments of history and description applied to some plant or plants, known by the name of Lotos—and met with in the pages of Herodotus, Homer, Theophrastus, and others—into one harmonising whole, and apply them to a single mythical plant. It is manifest, from the authors themselves, that more than one Lotos is spoken of, and it was never intended to convey the notion that, like immortal Jove, the Lotos was one and indivisible. Starting, then, with the conviction that the one name has been applied to more than one or two very distinct and different plants, we shall have less difficulty than were we to attempt the futile task of reconciling all remarks about the Lotos to a single plant.â€
“In the first instance, it is perfectly clear that the Lotos of Homer, which Ulysses discovered, and which is alluded to in the ninth book of the ‘Odyssey,’ is quitedistinct from any of the rest. It is the fruit of this tree to which interest attaches, and not to the flower as in some others—this is the arborescent Lotos.
“The second Lotos may be designated as the Sacred Lotos, or Lotos of the Nile. It is the one which figures so conspicuously on the monuments, enters so largely into the decoration, and seems to have been interwoven with the religious faith of the Ancient Egyptians. This Lotos is mentioned by Herodotus, Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, and Athenæus as an herbaceous plant of aquatic habits, and from their combined description, it seems evident that some kind of water-lily is intended. Herodotus says:—‘When the river is full, and the plains are inundated, there grow in the water numbers of lilies which the Egyptians call Lotos.’ Theophrastus says:—‘The Lotos, so called, grows chiefly in the plains when the country is inundated. The flower is white, the petals are narrow, as those of the lily, and numerous, as of a very double flower. When the sun sets they cover the seed-vessel, and as soon as the sun rises the flowers open, and appear above the water; and this is repeated until the seed-vessel is ripe and the petals fall off. It is said that in the Euphrates both the seed-vessel and the petals sink down into the water from the evening until midnight to a great depth, so that the hand cannot reach them; at daybreak they emerge, and as day comes on they rise above the water; at sunrise the flowers open, and when fully expanded they rise up still higher, and present the appearance of a very double flower.’ Dioscorides says:—‘The Lotos which grows in Egypt, in the water of the inundated plains, has a stem like that of the Egyptian bean. The flower is small and white like the lily, which is said to expand at sunrise, and to close at sunset. It is also said that the seed-vessel is then entirely hid in the water, and that at sunrise it emerges again.’ Athenæus states that they grow in the lakes in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, and blossom in the heat of summer. He also mentions a rose-coloured and a blue variety. ‘I know that in that fine city they have a crown called AntinÅ“an, made of the plant which is there named Lotos, which plant grows in the lakes in the heat of summer, and there are two colours of it; one of them is the colour of a rose, of which the AntinÅ“an crown is made; the other is called Lotinos, and has a blue flower.’â€
After quoting a number of other descriptions from these authors, the writer proceeds:—“From these descriptions it is evident that the Sacred Lotos of the Nile, the Egyptian Lotos of the ancients, was a species of Nymphœa, common in the waters of that river. Plants, and animals also, submit so much to external circumstances, that the lapse of centuries may eradicate them from spots on which they were at one time common. It by no means follows that the same plants will be found flourishing in the Nile now, that were common under the Pharaohs; but, when the French invaded Egypt in 1798, Savigny brought home from the Delta a blue Nymphœa, which was figured in the ‘Annales du Museum,’ corresponding very closely in habit to the conventional Lotos so common on the Egyptian monuments.
“It seems to be very probable that the Lotos-flower in the hands of the guests at Egyptian banquets, and those presented as offerings to the deities, were fragrant. The manner in which they are held strengthens this probability, as there is no other reason why they should be brought into such close proximity with the nose.
“There is still a third Lotos mentioned by Dioscorides, Theocritus, and Homer, which may be some species of Medicago or of the modern genus Lotos. It is herbaceous, sometimes wild, and sometimes cultivated; but always written about as though constituting herbage, and is on one occasion cropt by the horses of Achilles. We shall not pause to identify this plant, but proceed at once to the last plant it is our design to deal with.
“The Kyamos, or Indian Lotos. This can scarcely claim to be one of the kinds of Lotos mentioned by the ancients, since it is distinctly alluded to by them as the Egyptian bean, or Kyamos. This plant among the Hindus has a sacred character, equal to that of the Lotus among the Egyptians. It was doubtless Asiatic in its origin, but at one time was plentiful in Egypt, whence it has now totally vanished. It is represented on the Egyptian monuments, but far less common than the Sacred Lotos. Some authors declare this to be the veritable ‘Sacred Lotos of Egypt,’ a title to which it has no claim. Herodotus, after describing the Lotos, adds—‘There are likewise other lilies, like roses (and these, too, grew in the Nile) whose fructification is produced in a separate seed-vessel, springinglike a sucker from the root, in appearance exactly resembling a wasp’s nest and containing a number of esculent seeds, about the size of olive-berries. These are also eaten when tender and dry.
“Theophrastus describing this plant, says:—‘It is produced in marshes and in stagnant waters; the length of the stem, at the longest, four cubits, and the thickness of a finger, like the smooth jointless reed. The inner texture of the stem is perforated throughout like a honey-comb, and upon the top of it is a poppy-like seed-vessel, in circumference and appearance like a wasp’s nest. In each of the cells there is a bean projecting a little above the surface of the seed-vessel, which usually contains about thirty of these beans or seeds. The flower is twice the size of a poppy, of the colour of a full-blown rose, and elevated above the water; about each flower are produced large leaves of the size of a Thessalian hat, having the same kind of stem as the flower-stem. In each bean when broken may be seen the embryo plant, out of which the leaf grows. So much for the fruit. The root is thicker than the thickest reed, and cellular like the stem; and those who live about the marshes eat it as food, either raw, or boiled, or roasted. These plants are produced spontaneously, but they are cultivated in beds. To make these bean-beds, the beans are sown in the mud, being previously mixed up carefully with chaff, so that they may remain without injury till they take root, after which the plant is safe. The root is strong, and not unlike that of the reed; the stem is also similar, except that it is full of prickles, and therefore the crocodiles, which do not see very well, avoid the plant, for fear of running the prickles into their eyes.â€
Major Drury observes that the mode of sowing the seeds, is by first enclosing them in balls of clay, and then throwing them into the water. Sir James Smith says that in process of time the receptacle separates from the stalk, and, laden with ripe oval nuts, floats down the water. The nuts vegetating, it becomes a cornucopœia of young sprouting plants, which at length break loose from their confinement, and take root in the mud.
After comparing these and other accounts, the author of the paper urges that there is no room for doubt that this is the plant which was known to the ancients as the Kyamos or Egyptian bean, the Tamara of modern India.
“The beans and flower stalks of this plant abound in spiral tubes, which are extracted with great care by gently breaking the stems and drawing apart the ends; with these filaments are prepared those wicks which are burnt by the Hindoos in the lamps placed before the shrines of their gods. In India, as well as in China and Ceylon, the flowers are held to be specially sacred.â€
Sir William Jones says:—“The Thibetans embellish their temples and altars with it, and a native of Nepaul made prostration before it on entering my study, where the fine plant and beautiful flowers lay for examination.â€
“Thunberg affirms that the Japanese regard the plant as pleasing to the gods, the images of their idols being often represented sitting on its large leaves. In China, the Shing-moo or Holy Mother is generally represented with a flower of it in her hand, and few temples are without some representation of the plant.
“According to Chinese mythology, Shing-moo bore a son, while she was a virgin, by eating the seeds of this plant, which lay upon her clothes on the bank of a river where she was bathing. In the course of time she returned to the same place, and was there delivered of a boy. The infant was afterwards found and educated by a poor fisherman, and in process of time became a great man and performed miracles. When Shing-moo is represented standing, she generally holds a flower in her hand; when she is sitting, she is usually placed upon one of its leaves.â€[19]
The Lotos (Lotus) is held in the highest veneration in India, inclusive of Thibet and Nepaul. Amongst the Brahmans and enthusiastic Hindoos, no object in nature is looked on with more superstition; and their books abound in mystical allusions to this lovely aquatic. Being esteemed the most beautiful of vegetables, it not unappropriately furnishes a name for the Hindoo queen of beauty, and Kamal or Kamala is a name of Lakshmi: as is Padma or Pedma, another Sanscrit appellation for both. Under the form of Kamala, Lakshmi is usually represented with a Lotos in her hand, and in most pictures and statues of her consort Vishnu, he is furnished with the Pedma, or Lotusbud, in one of his four hands, as a distinguishing attribute. Accordingly, as it is represented in different stages of efflorescence, it varies, in the eyes of mystics, its emblematical allusions. As an aquatic, the Lotos is a symbol also of Vishnu, he being a personification of water or humidity, and he is often represented seated on it. Brahma the creative power, is also sometimes seated on the Lotos, and is borne on its calyx in the whimsical representation of the renovation of the world, when this mystical plant issued out of the navel of Vishnu from the bottom of the sea where he was reposing on the serpent Lesha.
Lakshmi, as we have just noticed, is the sakti or consort of Vishnu, the preservative power of the deity. The extensive sect of Vaishnava, or worshippers of Vishnu, esteem Lakshmi as mother of the world, and then call her Ada Maya; and such Vaishnavas as are saktas, that is, adorers of the supremacy of the female energy, worship her extensively as the type of the Eternal Being, and endow her with suitable attributes. She is represented by the poets and painters as of perfect beauty. Hindoo females are commonly named after her: and there are few in the long catalogue of their deities whose various names and functions are so frequently alluded to in conversation and writing, either on theogony, mythology, poetry or philosophy. Her terrestrial manifestations have been frequent, and her origin various. As Rhemba, the sea born goddess, she arose out of the fourteen gems from the ocean when churned by the good and evil beings for the amrita or beverage of immortality. She then assumes the character of Venus Marina, or Aphrodites of the Greeks, who, as Hesiod and Homer sing, arose from the sea, ascended to Olympus, and captivated all the gods. The production of Rhemba, Sri, or Lakshmi is thus described in the thirty-sixth section of the first book of Ramayana. “The gods, the asuras and the gandharvas, again agitating the sea, after a long time appeared the great goddess, inhabiting the lotus; clothed with superlative beauty, in the first bloom of youth, covered with ornaments, and bearing every auspicious sign; adorned with a crown, with bracelets on her arms, her jetty locks flowing in ringlets, and her body—which resembled burnished gold—adorned with ornaments of pearl. Thus was produced the goddess Padma or Sri, adored by the whole universe,Padma by name. She took up her abode in the bosom of Padma-nabha, even of Heri,†that is, of Vishnu, of whom these are names. Sri, as this deity is often called, distinguished her more particularly as the goddess of fortune, the word meaningprosperity; but it is not given exclusively to Lakshmi. Other of her names are derived from the lotus, which is the emblem of female beauty, and especially applicable to this goddess. In images and pictures of her, which are very common in India, Lakshmi is generally represented as a mere woman; sometimes, however, four-armed; often holding a kamal or lotus, in an easy and elegant attitude, and always very handsome. With her lord, Vishnu, she is frequently seen on the serpent Sesha; he reposing, she in respectful attendance, while a lotus springing from Vishnu’s navel to the surface of the sea (for this scene is subaqueous) bears in its expanded calyx, Brahma, the creator of the world, about to perform the work of renovation. Sometimes she is seated with her lord on Garuda, or Superva, clearing the air, of which Vishnu is a personification. In Vishnu’s most splendid avatara, or incarnation of Krishna, she became manifested as Rukmein, or Radha, the most adored of the amorous deities, and mother of the god of love; here again corresponding with our popular Venus, the mother of Cupid. In the avatara of Rama, Lakshmi was his faithful spouse, in the form of Sita; in that of Narsingha she was Narsinhi, or Nrisinhi; when Varaha, Varahi; and as the Sakti of Narayana she is by her own sectaries called Narayni; and in most of the many incarnations of Vishnu she appears to have descended with him, frequently under his own celestial name: as his consort generally she is called Vaishnavi.
Lakshmi and Bhavani are both considered queens of beauty, and their characters are said to “melt into each other.†Lakshmi being commonly seen with a Kamal or Lotos, the emblem of female beauty, in her hand, she is called Kamala: the word is by some—by Sir W. Jones, indeed, in his earlier lucubrations on Hindu mythology, spelled Kemel. In his profound and spirited hymn to Narayana, which every inquirer into its subject would do well to consult with attention, that deity, a personification of the Spirit of Brahme, as “he heavenly pensive on the Lotus lay,†said to Brahma, “Go; bid all the worlds exist!†and the Lotus is thus apostrophised:—
“Hail, primal blossom! hail, empyreal gem!Kemel, or Pedma, or whate’er high nameDelight thee; say, what four-formed Godhead came,With graceful stole, and bearing diadem,Forth from thy verdant stem?—Full-gifted Brahma.â€[20]
The following extract from the “Loves of Krishna and Radha†shews the deep poetic sentiment associated with flowers, and especially with the Lotos. Krishna, afflicted by the jealous anger of Radha, exclaims—
“Grant me but a sight of thee, O lovely Radhica! for my passion torments me. I am not the terrible Mahesa: a garland of water-lilies, with subtile threads, decks my shoulders—not serpents with twisted folds: the blue petals of the Lotos glitter on my neck—not the azure gleam of poison: powdered sandal wood is sprinkled on my limbs—not pale ashes. O god of love! mistake me not for Mahadeva; wound me not again; approach me not in anger; hold not in thy hand the shaft barbed with an amra flower. My heart is already pierced by arrows from Radha’s eyes, black and keen as those of an antelope; yet mine eyes are not gratified by her presence. Her’s are full of shafts; her eyebrows are bows, and the tips of her ears are silken strings: thus armed by Ananga, the god of desire, she marches, herself a goddess, to ensure his triumph over the vanquished remorse. I meditate on her delightful embrace: on the vanishing glances darted from the fragrant Lotos of her mouth: on her nectar-dropping speech; on her lips, ruddy as the berries of the Bimba.â€
Radha, half pacified, thus tenderly reproaches him—
“Alas! alas! Go, Madhava—depart, Kesavi; speak not the language of guile: follow her, O Lotus-eyed god—follow her, who dispels thy care. Look at his eyes, half-opened, red with waking through the pleasurable night—yet smiling still with affection for my rival. Thy teeth, O cerulean youth! are as azure as thy complexion, from the kisses which thou hast imprinted on the beautiful eyes of thy darling, graced with dark blue powder; and thy limbs, marked with punctures in love’s warfare, exhibit a letter of conquest, written in polished sapphire with liquid gold.That broad bosom, stained by the bright Lotos of her foot, displays a vesture of ruddy leaves over the tree of thy heart, which trembles within it. The pressure of her lips on thine wound me to the soul. Ah! how canst thou assert that we are one, since our sensations differ thus widely?—Thy soul, O dark-limbed god! shows its blackness externally; even thy childish heart was malignant, and thou gavest death to the nurse who would have given thee milk.â€
Krishna is thus farther described in the same poem—
“His azure breast glittered with pearls of unblemished lustre, like the full bed of the cerulean Yamuna, interspersed with curls of white foam. From his graceful waist flowed a pale yellow robe, which resembled the golden dust of the water-lily scattered over its blue petals. His passion was inflamed by the glances of her eyes, which played like a pair of water birds with azure plumage, that sport near a full-blown Lotos on a pool, in a season of dew. Bright earrings, like two suns, displayed, in full expansion, the flowers of his cheeks and lips, which glistened with the liquid radiance of smiles. His locks, interwoven with blossoms, were like a cloud variegated with moonbeams, and on his forehead shone a circle of odorous oils, extracted from the sandal of Malaya—like the moon just appearing on the dusky horizon, while his whole body seemed in a flame from the blaze of unnumbered gems.â€
With respect to the mention above of theblueLotos, Moor notes:—“Written in the north of India; the Lotos in the southern parts, Bengal and the Dekhan, having only white and red flowers. Hence the Hindu poets feign that the Lotus was dyed red by the blood of Siva, that flowed from the wound made by the arrow of Kama.â€
And with respect to the expression, “the bright Lotos of her foot,†he says:—“Hindustani women dye the soles of their feet, and nails, of a bright red. Redha, in her frenzied jealousy, fancies she sees a print of her rival’s foot on Krishna’s breast; observing, perhaps, the indelible impression of the foot of Brighu, received on his breast by Vishnu.â€
“The Indians commonly represent the mystery of their physiological religion by the emblem of aNymphÅ“a, orLotos, floating like a boat on the boundless ocean; where thewhole plant signifies both the earth and the two principles of its fecundation: the germ is bothMéruand theLinga; thepetalsandfilamentsare the mountains which encircle Méru, and are also a type of the Yoni; the leaves of the calyx are the four vast regions to the cardinal points of Méru, and the leaves of the plant are thedwipasor isles round the land ofJambu. Another of their emblems is calledArgha, which means acupordish, or any other vessel, in whichfruitandflowersare offered to the deities, and whichoughtalways to beshaped like a boat, though we now see arghas of many different forms, oval, circular or square; and hence it is that Iswara has the title ofArghanatha, or the lord of the boat-shaped vessel: a rim round theargharepresents the mysterious Yoni, and the navel of Vishnu is commonly denoted by a convexity in the centre, while the contents of the vessel are symbols of thelinga. Thisargha, as a type of theadhara-sacti, orpower of conception, excited and vivified by thelinga, orPhallus, we cannot but suppose to be one and the same with the ship Argo, which was built, according to Orpheus, by Juno and Pallas, and according to Appolonius, by Pallas and Argus at the instance of Juno: the Yoni, as it is usually pronounced, nearly resembles the name of the principal Hetruscan goddess, and the Sanscrit phraseArghanathaIswara seems accurately rendered by Plutarch, when he asserts Osiris was commander of the Argo. We cannot yet affirm that the words phala, or fruit, and phulla, or a flower, have ever the sense of Phallus; but fruit and flowers are the chief oblations in theargha, and triphala is a name sometimes given, especially in the West of India, to the trifula, or trident of Mahadeva. It can be shown that the Jupiter Triphylius of the PauchÅ“an Islands was no other than Siva holding a triphala, who is represented also with three eyes to denote a triple energy, as Vishnu and Prithivi are severally typified by an equilateral triangle, (which likewise gives an idea of capacity) and conjointly, when their powers are supposed to be combined, by two such equal triangles intersecting each other.â€[21]
Story of the Fire-God and his secret—Growth of Fire-Worship—Fire an essential in Hindu Worship—The Chaldeans—The Persians—The Hebrews—Fire in Hindu Ceremonies—Duties of Hindu Life—The Serpent and Fire—Phallo-Pythic Solar Shrines—Fire and Phallic Worship—Leaping through Fire—Fire-treading in Scotland—Fire-leaping in Russia—The Medes as Fire Worshippers—The Sabines—Fire and the Ancient Christians—The Roman Church and Fire—The Jews—Temple of Vesta—Fire Worship in Ireland—Phallo-Fire Worship of Greeks and Romans.
TheRev. W. Gill in his “Myths and Songs from the South Pacific†supplies us with a story particularly suitable for notice here, called the “Fire God’s Secret.†The story tells us that originally fire was unknown to the inhabitants of the world, who of necessity ate raw food. That in the nether-world (Avaiki) lived four mighty ones: Manike, god of fire; the Sun-god RÄ; Ru, supporter of the heavens; and lastly, his wife Buataranga, guardian of the road to the invisible world. To Ru Buataranga was born a famous son MÄni. At an early age MÄni was appointed one of the guardians of this upper world where mortals live. Like the rest of the inhabitants of the world, he subsisted on uncooked food. The mother Buataranga, occasionally visited her son; but always ate her food apart, out of a basket brought with her from nether-land. One day, when she was asleep, MÄni peeped into her basket and discovered cooked food. Upon tasting it he was decidedly of opinion that it was a great improvement upon the raw diet to which he was accustomed. This food came from nether-world; it was evident that the secret of fire was there. To nether-world, the home of his parents he would descend to gain this knowledge, so that ever after he might enjoy the luxury of cooked food.
The story goes on to say that when Buataranga set out, next day, on her journey to nether-world, MÄni followed her, unbeknown to her. He then saw his mother standingopposite a black rock which she addressed in these words: “Buataranga, descend thou bodily through this chasm. The rainbow-like must be obeyed. As two dark clouds parting at dawn, Open, open up my road to nether-world, ye fierce ones!â€
At these words the rock divided, and Buataranga descended. MÄni carefully treasured up these words; and started off to see the god Tane, the owner of some wonderful pigeons. He begged Tane to lend him one, but as the one Tane lent him did not please him, he returned it, as he did also another and a better one. The only bird that would content him was a certain red pigeon, which was specially prized by its owner and was made a great pet of. Tane at first objected to part with the bird and only did so upon MÄni’s faithfully promising to restore it uninjured. Off went MÄni with the bird to the place where his mother had descended. Pronouncing the magic words, the rock opened, and MÄni descended. The guardian demons of the chasm, enraged at finding themselves imposed upon by a stranger, tried to seize the pigeon, intending to devour it. They only succeeded in getting possession of the tail, which the pigeon went on without. (They say that MÄni had transformed himself into a small dragon-fly and was perched upon the pigeon’s back.)
Arrived at nether-land, MÄni sought for the home of his mother, which was the first house he saw. The pigeon alighted on an oven-house opposite to an open shed where Buataranga was beating out cloth. She stopped her work to gaze at the bird, which she guessed to be a visitor from the upper world as none of the pigeons in the shades were red. She said to the bird:—“Are you not come from daylight?†The pigeon nodded assent; “Are you not my son MÄni?†Again the pigeon nodded. At this Buataranga entered her dwelling and the bird flew to a bread-fruit tree. MÄni resumed his proper form, and went to embrace his mother, who inquired how he had descended to nether-world and the object of his visit. MÄni answered that he had come to learn the secret of fire. Buataranga said, “This secret rests with the fire-god Manike. When I wish to cook I ask your father Ru to beg a lighted stick from Manike.†MÄni inquired where the fire-god lived. His mother pointedout the direction, and said it was called Are-ava,house-of-banyan-sticks. She warned her son to be careful, “for,†she said, “the fire is a terrible fellow, and of a very irritable temper.â€
MÄni walked up boldly towards the house of the fire-god. Manike, who happened to be busy cooking an oven of food, stopped at his work and demanded what the stranger wanted. MÄni replied, “A fire brand.†The fire brand was given. MÄni carried it to a stream running past the bread fruit tree and there extinguished it. He now returned to Manike and obtained a second fire brand, which he also extinguished in the stream. The third time a lighted stick was demanded of the fire-god he was beside himself with rage. Raking the ashes of the oven, he gave the daring MÄni some of them on a piece of dry wood. These live coals were thrown into the stream as the former lighted sticks had been.
MÄni correctly thought that a fire brand would be of little use unless he could obtain the secret of fire. The brand would eventually go out;but how to reproduce the fire?His object therefore was to pick a quarrel with the fire-god, and compel him by sheer violence to yield up the invaluable secret, as yet known to none but himself. On the other hand, the fire-god, confident in his own prodigious strength, resolved to destroy this insolent intruder into his secret. MÄni for the fourth time demanded fire of the enraged god. Manike ordered him away, under pain of being tossed into the air; for MÄni was small of stature. But the visitor said he should enjoy nothing better than a trial of strength with the fire-god. Manike entered his dwelling to put on his war-girdle; but on returning found that MÄni had swelled himself to an enormous size. Nothing daunted at this, Manike boldly seized him with both hands and hurled him to the height of a cocoa-nut tree. MÄni contrived in falling to make himself so light that he was in no degree hurt by his adventure. Manike, maddened that his adversary should yet breathe, excited his full strength, and next time hurled him far higher than the highest cocoa-nut tree that ever grew. Yet MÄni was uninjured by his fall, whilst the fire-god lay panting for breath.
It was now MÄni’s turn. Seizing the fire-god he threw him up to a dizzy height and caught him again like a ball with his hands. Without allowing Manike to touch theground, he threw him a second time into the air, and caught him in his hands. Assured that this was but a preparation for a final toss which would seal his fate, the panting and thoroughly exhausted Manike entreated MÄni to stop and to spare his life. Whatever he desired should be his.
The fire-god, now in miserable plight, was allowed to breathe awhile. MÄni said, “Only on one condition will I spare you—tell me the secret of fire.Where is it hidden? How is it produced?Manike gladly promised to tell him all he knew, and led him inside his wonderful dwelling. In one corner there was a quantity of fine cocoa-nut fibre; in another, bundles of fire-yielding sticks—theau, the oronga, the tauinu, and particularly the aoa or banyan tree. These sticks were all dry and ready for use. In the middle of the room were two smaller sticks by themselves. One of these the fire-god gave to MÄni, desiring him to hold it firmly, while he himself plied the other most vigorously. And thus runs the Fire-god’s Song:—
“Grant, oh grant me thy hidden fire,Thou banyan tree!Perform an incantation;Utter a prayer to (the spirit of)The banyan tree!Kindle a fire for ManikeOf the dust of the banyan tree.â€
By the time the song was completed, MÄni, to his great joy, perceived a faint smoke arising out of the fine dust produced by the friction of one stick upon another. As they persevered in their work the smoke increased; and, favoured with the fire-god’s breath, a slight flame arose, when the fine cocoa-nut fibre was called into requisition to catch and increase the flame. Manike now called to his aid the different bundles of sticks and speedily got up a blazing fire, to the astonishment of MÄni.
The grand secret of fire was secured. The story tells us that the victor then in order to be revenged for his trouble and his tossing into the air, set fire to his adversary’s abode, that in a short time all the nether-world was in flames, which consumed the fire-god and all he possessed.
MÄni then picked up the two fire-sticks and hastened to the bread-fruit tree, where the red pigeon awaited his return. His first care was to restore the tail of the bird so as toavoid the anger of Tane. There was no time to be lost, for the flames were rapidly spreading. “He re-entered the pigeon, which carried his fire-stalks one in each claw, and flew to the lower entrance of the chasm. Once more pronouncing the words he learnt from Buataranga, the rocks parted, and he safely got back to this upper world. MÄni now resumed his original human form, and hastened to carry back the pet bird of Tane. Passing through the main valley of Keia, he found that the flames had preceded him, and had found an aperture at Teava, since closed up. The king’s Rangi and Mokoiro trembled for their land; for it seemed as if everything would be destroyed by the devouring flames. To save Mangaia from utter destruction, they excited themselves to the utmost, and finally succeeded in putting out the fire. Rangi thenceforth adopted the new name of Matamea, or Watery-eyes, to commemorate his sufferings; and Mokoiro was ever after called Anai, or Smoke.â€
“The inhabitants of Mangaia availed themselves of the conflagration to get fire and to cook food. But after a time the fire went out, and as they were not in possession of the secret, they could not get new fire.
“But MÄni was never without fire in his dwelling; a circumstance that excited the surprise of all. Many were the inquiries as to the cause. At length he took compassion on the inhabitants of the world, and told them the wonderful secret—that fire lies hidden in the hibiscus, the urtica argenta, the ‘tauinu’ and the banyan. This hidden fire might be elicited by the use of fire sticks which he produced. Finally, he desired them to chant the fire-god’s song, to give efficacy to the use of the fire-sticks.â€
“From that memorable day all the dwellers in this upper world used fire-sticks with success, and enjoyed the luxuries of light and cooked food.
“To the present time this primitive method of obtaining fire is still in vogue; cotton, however, being substituted for fine cocoa-nut fibre as tinder. It was formerly supposed that only the four kinds of wood found in the fire-god’s dwelling would yield fire.
“‘Aoa’ means banyan-tree; for intensity and rhythm the word is lengthed into ‘aoaoaoa.’ The banyan was sacred to the fire-god.
“The spot where the flames are said to have burstthrough, named Te-oao orthe banyan-tree, was sacred till Christianity induced the owner to convert the waste land into a couple of taro patches.â€[22]
“Light, then fire, the sun, and the ‘whole host of heaven’ seem successively, and at last collectively, to have become objects of worship to the Arian race; but first of all light, which was to them pre-eminently the object of adoration in Northern India previous to the period of the collection or composition of the hymns of the earliest Hindu Veda, or, in round numbers, thirty-five centuries ago.
“According to Herodotus, the Persians venerated fire as a divinity, and Pliny explains that the magic of Persia might apparently have been learned from the practices of the Britons. There is abundant evidence to show that our heathen ancestors worshipped the sun and moon. It might, therefore, reasonably be inferred that in Britain, as in other countries, fire would be substituted as typical of the great luminary—of its light and its heat—and became an object of adoration, when the sun was obscured or invisible in seasons set apart for celebrating the religious rites of a Sabian worship. But we are not dependent on inference, however rational, for a knowledge of the fact that fire was an object of adoration to our heathen ancestors, even so late as the eleventh century; for in the laws of Cnut fire appears as one of the objects the worship of which is forbidden.â€
“Fire seems to have always had the firmest hold upon the wonderment and then the adoration of the infant mind. To the present moment it is an essential part of all Hindoo worship and ceremonies. From his cradle to his grave, when the Hindoo is folded in the god’s embrace, the ancient races around me seek for it, use it, offer sacrifices to it, and adore it.â€
The Chaldeans had a high veneration for fire, which they accounted a divinity; and in the province of Babylon there was a city consecrated to this usage, which was called the city of Ur, or of Fire.
The Persians also adored God under the image or representation of fire, because it is fire that gives motion to everything in nature. They had temples which they called“Pyræa,†fire temples set apart solely for the preservation of the sacred fire. They are said to have in that empire fires still subsisting which have burnt many thousand years.
The worship of the goddess Vesta and of fire, was brought into Italy by Æneas and the other Trojans who landed there; but the Phrygians themselves had received it from the eastern nations. Fire was held in religious veneration among the Gauls; and similar sentiments and practices have prevailed in several countries of America.
The Hebrews kept up the holy fire in the temple. This holy fire descended from heaven, first upon the altar in the tabernacle at the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and afterwards it descended anew on the altar in the temple of Solomon, at the consecration of that temple. And there it was constantly maintained by the priest day and night, without suffering it ever to go out; and with this all the sacrifices were offered that required fire. This fire, according to some of the Jewish writers, was extinguished in the days of Manasseh; but the more general opinion among them is, that it continued till the destruction of the temple by the Chaldeans; after that it was never more restored; but instead of it, they had only common fire in the second temple.
The part played by fire in the life of a Hindoo is a remarkable one, and shews the immense extent to which this form of worship has prevailed and still prevails in some countries. In the man’s earliest days—in his childhood—at the ceremony called the investiture of the thread, fire is kindled from the droppings of the sacred cow, sprinkled with holy water and blessed. Then are brought to it various offerings of grain, butter, &c., by the worshippers who are supplicating blessings, the officiating priest all the while reading passages from the sacred books. The child’s father and mother pray to Agni (Fire) that its past sins may be forgiven, having been done in ignorance; then they declare him to be of an age to know good and evil—he is between seven and nine. The sacred thread is then, after being duly washed and held over the fire, placed around the child’s neck, constituting him a Brahm Achari—one sworn to practise the laws and behests of Brahm or Almighty God. Dubois, in MÅ“urs des Indes, says—“A pious father will then sayprivately to his child, ‘Remember, my son, there is but one God, the Sovereign Master and Principle of all things, and every Brahman is bound to worship him in secret.’â€
A fortnight afterwards, a kind of confirmation ceremony takes place, again before the fire, in which the parents promise that they will see that he gets married and leads a good life.
Marriage is the principal feature in a Hindoo’s life, and this, as most people know, takes place very early and is attended with many important ceremonies.
Here, again, fire is conspicuous as an object of worship, the ceremony before it—the God Agni—being the last and most serious of all. With clothes tied together, bride and bridegroom parade round about the deity casting to him their offerings which now “symbolise,†says Forlong, “the sacrifice of all their virgin modesty to the god, as the emblem of sexual fire.†The final oath of mutual love and faith is then taken in an address to the fire, and the pair, who are mere boy and girl, are duly married.
A little further on when the period arrives for cohabitation, the fourth ceremony is then gone through, fire again being adored and sacrifice offered.
In the final scene, when death has taken possession of the body, fire is again called into requisition; it is carried before the corpse by the nearest relatives, and ultimately reduces the inanimate form to its original dust and ashes.
Forlong says—“Fire enters into every duty of a Hindoo’s life. Before partaking of his morning meal he utters incantations to Agni, offers to him portions of that meal; and in like manner, before he wears a new cloth or garment, he must take some threads or parts of it and offer these to the same deity.â€
“It is from the rubbing together of the wood of trees, notably of the three Banian figs—Peepal, Bar, and Gooler, the favourite woods for Phallic images, that holy fire is drawn from heaven, and before all these species do women crave their desires from God.â€
“Cave and fire rites are not yet extirpated from Jerusalem, nor, indeed, from any nation of the earth. Christians still rush for sacred fire to the holy cave at the birth of Sol, and men and women strive, in secret nooks, to pass naked through holy fire.â€
“Syrians, as well as all other nations, connected the Serpent with Fire. Thus the Jews had their fire altars, on which the holy flame must be ever burning and never go out; and they carried about a serpent on a pole as their healer. So also the writer of the Acts of the Apostles speaks of the Christian Holy Ghost as having serpent-like ‘cloven tongues of fire,’ which the margin of orthodox Bibles very properly connects with Isaiah’s Seraphim.â€
Forlong says:—“I began my study of British ruins about eight years ago (from 1882), during a two-year-furlough, attracted to it at first by my friend the late Sir James Simpson—President of the Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh—at that time writing and debating much on these matters; and I came then to the same conclusion as I hold to-day; viz.: that the ruins of Armorika, those of Stonehenge, Abury, and various others, known popularly as ‘Druid Circles,’ are, or originally were, Phallo-Pythic—Solar shrines, or places where all the first five elemental faiths more or less flourished; the first (Tree) very little, and the last (Sun) very abundantly; and if so, then we see the cause why European writers so pugnaciously hold out, some for Sun, some for Fire; one that they are mere places for sacrifices or burial, or for assembly of rulers, clans, &c.; whilst a few outlying writers hint that the large stones are Lingams, or mere groups of such stones as that of Kerloaz—the Newton stone, &c. Colonel Forbes Leslie, in his ‘Ancient Races of Scotland,’ has very nearly told us the truth, his long residence and travels in Asia having enabled him almost to pierce the cloud, though he seems at first not to have fully appreciated the ever very close connection between Sun, Fire, Serpent and Lingam faiths, which I believe he does now.â€
“The European mind having once lost the old ideas of what these words meant, and from having still such objects as Sun, Fire, and Serpent before them, is always thinking of these visible objects, which I might almost say a true Sivaite never recognisesper se; for in fire the true Phallic worshipper sees no flame, and in the sun no far-out resplendent orb as we know, standing apart, as it were, in space, and to which we all gravitate; he sees simply a source of fertility, without which the Serpent has no power or passion, and in whose absence the animal and vegetable world must cease to exist. The fire here, then, is not thatwhich the real Sivaite sees or cooks by, but Hot orHoly Fire, or the ‘Holy Spirit,’ or the fire of passion, which to a certain small extent, and in certain symbolic forms and positions, he recognises in flame, as when raised on a tower, coming out of an obelisk, or rising in a column or pillar over an ark, or smouldering in the secret adytum; for the first impresses him with the Arkite, the second with the Phallic and Arkite, and the third with the purely feminine idea; in all, he merely sees representative male and female energies which are excited and fructified by the Sun, Apollo, or the Sun-Serpent, as in his old coin, where fertility fed by fire feeds the shell. In a column, be it wood, stone, or fire, he sees the Sun-stone, such as the Mudros of PhÅ“nicia, the Mindir of Ireland, and obelisk of Egypt; and in the cist, shell, or Akros, the womb, Yoni, or sun-box; in all, the column or Palas, and its Caput-oline.â€
“Leaping or walking through the fire, so frequently mentioned in Jewish writings in connection with Molek, is still quite common in the less civilised parts of India, being usually done in fulfilment of a vow for blessings desired, or believed to have been conferred by the deity upon the Nazarite or Vower. I have known of it being gone through for recovery from a severe illness, and for success in an expedition or project which the Nazarite had much at heart.â€
Some say fire should be trod because Drupadi, the mythical wife of the Pandoos, did this, after defilement through the touch of Kichaka, and because Sita proved her purity by fire. Where the British Government can prevent this rite, flowers are thrown into the fire-pit, which seems as if the fire were looked upon as a female energy. Fire-treading is commonly accomplished by digging a deepish narrow pit, and filling it with firewood, and then when the flames are scorching hot, leaping over it; usually the rite begins by first walking closely round the fire, slowly at first, then faster and faster, with occasional leaps into and out of it in the wildest excitement. Mr. Stokes, of the Madras Civil Service, thus describes the rite as it came officially to notice in April, 1873.
In a level place before the village deity, who was Drupadi Ama (Mother D.), a fire-pit, in size 27 by 7½ feet by 9 inches deep, was excavated east and west, and the goddess set up at the west end. Six Babool or Acacia trees(this being a fiercely burning wood) were cut and thrown in; thirteen persons trod this fire, and one died from the effects. They followed each other, some with tabors, others ringing a bell, and each, after passing through the fire, went into a pit filled with water, called the “milk pit.†All merely wore a waist cloth, and had their bodies daubed over with sandal. The one who died, fell into the fire, and had to be pulled out. The fire was lit at noon, and “walking it†took place at two p.m., when it had become very bright and hot. The Poojore, or priest of the temple, said it was his duty to walk annually through the fire, and that he had done so for seven or eight years. It was the mother of the dead man who had vowed that if her son recovered from an attack of jaundice she would tread the fire, but the old woman being blind, her son fulfilled the vow. Some said that the dead man himself had vowed thus to the Goddess Drupadi: “Mother, if I recover, I shall tread on your fire.†Death is rarely the result of this practice, but Mr. Stokes adds that a few years ago, a mother and her infant died from the effects.
“On the 29th of June, men, and even babes, had to be passed through the fire. ‘On this night,’ says Dr. Moresin, ‘did the Highlanders run about on the mountains and high grounds with lighted torches, like the Cicilian women of old, in search of Proserpine,’ and Scotch farmers then used to go round their corn-fields with blazing torches, as was the custom at the Cerealia. The ancient Roman Kalendar states, among other matter, that fires are made on the 23rd; ‘Boys dress in girls’ clothes; waters are swum in during the night. Water is fetched in vessels and hung up for purposes of divination; fern is esteemed by the vulgar because of the seed...; girls gather thistles, and place a hundred crosses by the same;’ for has not the thistle a cap like the lotus, and is it not a trefoil?
“In the ‘Englishwoman in Russia,’ p. 223, a writer says that ‘on midsummer eve a custom still (1855) exists in Russia, among the lower classes, that could only be derived from a very remote antiquity, and is perhaps a remnant of the worship of Baal. A party of peasant women and girls assemble in some retired unfrequented spot, and light a large fire, over which they leap in succession. If by chance one of the other sex should be found near the place, or shouldhave seen them in the act of performing the rite, it is at the imminent hazard of his life, for the women would not scruple to sacrifice him for his temerity.’ The writer was assured that such instances had often been known. Thus this ‘Fire-dance’ is a very serious matter, and one which under the circumstances, we can learn very little about: from its secret practice here by women it is clearly connected with Agni, the Procreator or Fertiliser. Our ancestors were inveterate fire-worshippers, especially at the four great solar festivals. They thought no cattle safe unless passed through the May Day and Midsummer Beltine fires, and no person would suffer a fire within their parish which had not been then kindled afresh from the Tin-Egin, or sacred fire produced by friction.â€
The Medes were undoubtedly worshippers of Fire, “as the most subtle, ethereal, incomprehensible, and powerful agent. They were averse to all temples or personification of the material things, or of Ormazd. Like our Parsee fellow-subjects, they never allowed their hearth-fires to be extinguished, nor would they even blow out any ordinary fire or candle; in the Magian days, he who did so forfeited his life.â€
“We still see the remains—some very perfect—of the lone Fire-towers, which Greeks calledPuraitheia, amidst the lofty hills of Armenia, Azerbijan, Koordistan and Looristan, some of which were Dakmas, or ‘Towers of Silence,’ having gratings for roofs, through which the bones fell when the body was destroyed. The Fire-God was calledAt-Ar.â€
The Sabines were, perhaps, more nearly related to our ancestors than is generally thought; at least we may believe so from the Sabine and Gælic languages having more affinity even than the Welsh and Irish, and from other evidence. Dr. Leatham, in his work onDescriptive Ethnology, says that ‘much of the blood of the Romans was Keltic, and so is much of the Latin language,’ and a study of the movements of ancient peoples will show how this is so. Like the Skyths, these old Sabines were devoted to all the worship of Sivaites, and particularly of Mars’ symbol, the Quiris or Spear, after which we still call their greatest fête Quirinalia, and their Mount Zion, the Quirinal. The worship of theQuirishas not yet ceased in high Asia, nor, I believe, in America. It was prominent on the summits of all the Skythian bonfire piles and mounds at which these Aryanfathers worshipped, and is connected with most rites. We also see it on numerous sculpturings which have been unearthed from the ruins of the Skuti, or Kelts of Ireland and Scotland—much to the perplexity of local antiquaries. Hue, in his ‘Travels in Tartary,’ gives us these Phalli as existing all over the immense extent of country he traversed, including Northern China, Mongolia, Thibet. Spears are, however, too valuable to be left sticking in ‘theseObos,’ as he calls them, and therefore ‘dried branches of trees’ are substituted in very good imitation of spears.
“We have abundant proof that Fire was never neglected by ancient Christians, either on tomb or altar. In a letter from Rome, we find that in front of the Cubiculum, or square tomb of Cornelius the martyr, is a short pillar supporting an ever-burning lamp of oil; and when this custom of never-dying flame—alike common to all faiths—was revived in the third century A.C., we read that the Popes used to send to kings and queens a few drops of the oil from this lamp of the tomb of Cornelius. (See Cor.—Ill. Lon. News, 3-72.) Nor need we be astonished at this, seeing that Vesta’s shrine still flourished and received Papal attention, and that in every corner of the world Fire-faith existed. To this day none may neglect the rites of this faith in Syria—cradle of the God, as the poor Turkish Bey of Antioch and his son found to their cost, when, after the earthquake of April 3rd, 1872, they and their officers kindly, reverently and wisely buried the Christian dead, but without the fire-symbols and bell-ringing (which they failed to understand), thereby greatly offending a powerful sect of Antioch, called the Dusars, who, still clearly worshipping Baal and Astaroth, rose upon the poor Turks and smote them hip and thigh.â€
“In the county of Kildare, Ireland, ‘everlasting fire’ was preserved by ‘holy virgins—calledIngheaw Andagha, ordaughters of fire,’ down to the time of the Reformation. These were often the first ladies of the land, and never other than those of gentle birth.â€
“No blessing can be asked or granted from the altar of any Catholic Church until the candles are lighted. If a woman when pregnant desires to be blessed by the Christian Church, she is instructed ‘to wait on her knees, at the door of the church, with a lighted taper in her hand,’ nor canany cross be blessed until three tapers are lighted by the ‘man of God,’ had placed at its base. See PicartII., 117, where he gives some graphic plates of Christian Phallo-solar-fire rites.
“In Goodwin’sCivil and Ecclesiastical Rites, under the head ofFeasts of the Expiation, which we have reason to believe was at one time a period of human sacrifice, we have the great Winter-Christmas Saturnalia, or Juvenalia Festival of Lights and Fires described, when not only the temples of Jews and Christians, but every house had to be carefully lighted. Jews taught that the lights must be held in the left hand, and the holder must ‘walk between two commandments,’ which seems to denote the climatic or solar turn of the year. This old writer tells us that it was ‘woman’s peculiar province to light their lamps;’ and that ‘there are certain prayers appropriated to this festival, and among the restone in praise of God, who hath ordained the lighting up of lamps upon Solemn Days.’ Here we see a close resemblance between the faith of the Jew and the Islami, whose wives are enjoined personally to see to the lighting of the household lamps on Venus’ Eve. Jerusalem, we know, acknowledges the God of Agni to the present hour, by annually giving out that holy Fire descends from heaven at a stated season into the dark Adyta of the Sacred Shrine; all old fires must be extinguished at this the season of Sol’s renewed vigour, so when the priest emerges from the adytum with the new fire in his hand (and Christian priests have often done this, if they do not do so still), crowds of every hue and creed rush towards him, light their tapers, and bear away the new fire to their homes.â€
Referring to the Temple of Vesta mentioned by Davies, Forlong says—“Now, what was this Temple of Vesta? In its rites and surroundings, its duties social and political, it was one with the temples still existing in Asia devoted to Phallic and Fire-worship combined, or perhaps I should say a temple to Phallic worship only, but the cult in the dawn of brighter faiths was somewhat hid away by the priests in the darkest recesses of their temples, and not well-known by many of the worshippers, and scarcely at all by European writers even of the middle ages. Any student of Delphic lore and of Eastern travel, however, will recogniseat once in Delphi’s Oracle and Vesta’s Temple, ‘The Old Faith’ and its priestess worshippers, although the writer in Smith’s Dictionary of Antiquities does not appear to do so. He describes Vesta’s as merely a Fire-temple, and says that there were six Vestales or Virgin Priestesses to watch the eternal Fire which blazed everlastingly on the altar of the goddess. On the Pope has descended the name of their superior as ‘Pontifex Maximus.’ If by any negligence or misfortune the Fire went out, the Pontifex Maximus scourged the erring vestal virgin, for had not she—a woman—permitted the procreative energy of the god to forsake mankind?â€