The hierophant

Front matter

ask'-

GLEANINGS FROM THE PAST.

BEING AN EXPOSITION OF

Index

INTRODUCTION".

Object of the book, page 13 — Universality of star worship, 15 — Basis of all religions and secret societies. 16 — Similarity of Jewish and heathen worship, 18 — Antiquity and supposed origin of Egypt, 19 — Origin of the Priesthood, 22 — Origin of Lent, 25 — Jesus of Nazareth, 26.

Chapter I

The religious element in man, p. 28 — Age of thought, 31 — The Bible, 34 — Destruction of ancient and modern literature, 37 — Reasons for running counter to the opinions of the age, 39.

CHAPTER n.

Introduction of religious forms, 43 — Planet worship, 45 — Saturn, Jupiter, Brahm, 45 — Dives and Lazarus, 47 — Sun travel, 50 — Zodiac, 52 — War in heaven, 53 — Moses and the Jews, 54 — Jewish sects, 55 — Canonization of Saints, 57 — Symbol language, 58 — Phallum worship, 63 — Correspondence, 65.

CHAPTER in.

Common origin of all religions, 67 — The talent of the world anciently absorbed by astronomy and astrology, 70 — Origin of unlucky days and seasons, 71 — "War in heaven, 72 — Devil born, 73 — Hell discovered, 74 — Bottomless pit, 74 — Lake of fire, 75 — Devil slain, 77 — The Old Serpent, 80 — Origin of plays and secret societies, 84 — Oriental style, 85 — Witchcraft, 87.

CHAPTER TV.

Amours of the gods, 89 — Trinity of evils, 90 — Constellations, 96 — Baal worship, 98 — Indian star worship, 99 — Ceremonies of Indians and Hebrews identical, 102 — Jonah among our western Indians, 102 — Devil in China, 105-^ The Cross among the Aztecs, 106. 5

V]

INDEX.

CHAPTER V.

Osiris, Isis and Typhon, 10 7 — Pyramids, 111 — System of gradual Divinities, 118 — Difference between Moses and the Egyptians, 119 — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob always pagans, 120.

CHAPTER YI.

Circumcision, 125 — Circle, 126— Druids, 126— Celtic temples, 127— Hall of Odin, 128— Masonry, 123— Names of God, 130— Trinity, 132— Creation, 137.

CHAPTER VII.

Origin of Man, 142 — Garden of Eden and the fall, 144 — Mysteries in the Bible, 1.5.1 — Oriental style, 152 — Most ancient names of God, 156.

CHAPTER VIII.

Cherubim, 161 — Satan to be restored, 166 — Jacob's blessing, 168 — Joseph's coat, 168 — Mistakes in Jewish encampment, 1 7 4 — White throne, 177.

CHAPTER IX.

David's intrigues, 180— Samson, 182— Baalim. 186— Phseton, 187 — Change of the names of the Patriarchs, 189 — Abraham sacrificing Isaac, 190.

CHAPTER X.

Serpent symbol, 191— The two Sauls, 195— The Devil, 202.

CHAPTER XI.

Fallen spirits. 203 — War in heaven, 213 — The Apocalypse, 215 — The mystical number seven, 215 — The perfect number twelve, 218 — Seven churches, 219 — The two Covenants, 221 — Theology of the Magi, 224 — The Woman clothed with the Sun, 225.

CHAPTER XIL The Sun and Moon stand still, 227 — Elijah translated, 228— Jonah and the whale, 230— Christmas, 231— Epiphany, 232 — Phallim worship, 232 — Assumption, 234— Nativity, 234.

Preface

' ; He who will not reason is a bigot; lie who dare not is a slave; he who cannot is a fool."

Without making any pretence to literary talent. I have in the following pages attempted to gather and arrange the fragmentary remains of a world-wide system of worship and belief which has been perpetuated under different names in the various systems of religion, and continues to give laws to the modern christian as well as the pagan world. The contents of the work were originally compiled and arranged in the form of a series of lectures. While thus arranging them I had not the remotest idea that I should ever give them to the world in this form. I did not feel it to be necessary or proper to state my authorities in all cases in my lectures, and I find after the time that has elapsed that I have forgotten even the titles of some of them, or where I obtained them. Most of my gleanings were themselves translations or quotations from older works. But the reader will observe that my strongest proofs and illustrations consist of a comparison of ancient astronomy, as known to all learned men. and our Bible. Not being very ambitious for the honor of originality, and not very conscientious in my propensity to poach on every literary field to which I can gain access, and believing also in the propriety of using the ideas thus acquired for the benefit of humanity, I shall content myself in giving my authorities as far as I can remember them. 7

Vlll

PREFACE.

The writers to whom I am most indebted are the Philosopher Dupuis, Professor Fellows, 0. G. Squier, Robert Taylor, Nott and Gliddon, Higgins' Anacalypsis, O'Brien's Pound Towers of Ireland, Mrs. Child's Progress of Religious Ideas, Prof. Rhodes, Ovid, Homer, Virgil, and fragments from older writings, Hebrew Bible, Greek Testament, English Bible, Catholic and Protestant creeds, forms and ceremonies ; and last, though not least, ancient and modern astronomy as perpetuated and taught in the various standard works on that subject. Beside these some authors on whom I have levied contributions are named in connection with the quotations. From the nature of the subject, we are necessarily dependent upon various kinds of testimony, and the results of many years of investigation, in various parts of the world and in different ages. I do not claim infallibility for my authorities or my own deductions, and have purposely omitted many strong proofs and arguments simply because they are in dispute among the literati of the different schools. Among these are the zodiacs of Dendera aud Esne, and the arguments based upon the supposed antiquity of the sphinxes of Egypt, and their astronomical signification. I have delivered the substance of this volume in several lectures in some of our principal cities, illustrating them with enlarged maps of the heavens, and the interest excited in thinking minds, and numerous solicitations to publish, have led me to make the experiment. Although most of the isolated facts are familiar to the literary world, yet I have found but a few, even of the educated, who were aware of the relation they hold to the stupendous whole of human worship.

The work has been compiled, from first to last, amid the cares of a business that has required my almost constant attention, and has not allowed me a sufficiency of

PREFACE.

ix time to give it a thorough, revision ; consequently it may be deficient in consecutivencss, grammatical accuracy, and harmony in the arrangement, together with an apparently needless repetition in some cases, that may expose it to the shafts of ridicule from the penny-a-liners, or whoever may from long habit prefer socxd to sexse. To all such, together with critics of every grade, I merely say, " strike, but hear me."

If my views are correct, and my authorities reliable, the world ought to be in possession of them, and not leave them merely to grace the shelves of an Astor library or swell the number of old and rare books of the antiquarian, and every Mend of truth ought to assist in their diffusion.

The symbolical science of which I treat is an abstruse and complicated one. I have therefore confined myself to a superficial dissertation on the subject, because its basis is so little known and understood by the masses, depending as it does upon astronomical rules of interpretation, that a more profound expose would be too perplexing and not so well convey the necessary information. If there is a repetition of some facts, or arguments, my excuse, if one is needed, will be found in the necessity I have felt of enforcing important ideas by repeating them in their varied relations to the main question, or perhaps in my want of the judgment and skill necessary to render it more unobjectionable in style.

In attempting to show that ancient Masonry and external religion were one, I may unintentionally arouse the prejudice of some of the catechumens or tyros of the lodges, but the adepts or masters of the science will appreciate my motives, and readily perceive that I am not actuated by any feelings of hostility to the fraternity, and do

X

PREFACE.

not attempt to expose the secrets of the craft, or arouse the prejudice of the community against them. On the contrary, I concede to Masons a greater antiquity than most of them dare to claim for themselves, and if I do lift the veil from some of their mysteries, it is only the veil that ignorance has allowed to remain, while the mysteries of which I discourse are as much mine and yours, as they are his who has clambered the highest on Jacob's ladder toward the masonic heaven. I have never read an expose, real or pretended, of modern masonry. I know but little about the mode of constituting or opening a lodge, 'but have purposely kept my mind free from bias, for or against it in its modern garb, that I might without prejudice pursue my investigations in the field that I have chosen for my present labors.

Having, however, resided in this, my native city, nearly half a century, I could hardly fail to come in contact with the institution in some of its phases, learn something of its history and moral bearing, and become the confident in some measure of one or more of its leading men. I am fully aware that its leaders cannot divulge its secrets, properly so called, yet there are so many symbols in use, and so much of their machinery that cannot be hidden from those who understand its ancestry, that I have almost been compelled to witness enough of modern Masonry to confirm me. even if I had any doubts, and satisfy me that I have the key that unlocks their ancient mysteries. "While I had no desire to penetrate into, or at least none to expose their modern secrets, I was anxious to know at one time whether there remained any of the" spirit of the olden time or knowledge of the past among them. That desire was gratified in various ways, and to my entire satisfaction.

PREFACE.

xi

My conclusions in the matter are that the masses of Masons know but little about the science itself, and are only to be considered in the light of members of a benevolent society. But on the contrary there are men among them who desire to elevate the lodges to, and make them transcend their ancient splendor.

My conclusions in the whole matter are that Masonry and ancient Religion once kept house together; that Materialism and Superstition quarrelled in the serving up of the dishes ; that superstition established a nursery for all the weaklings (who could not digest the strong meat of the God-spel) decried knowledge, and proclaimed that Ignorance was the mother of Devotion. The war having thus commenced, Materialism ran to the other extreme, rejected all truth that could not be made tangible to the merely animal senses, and was well nigh lost in the mazes of the blankest Atheism. In this separation Materialism took the head and Superstition the. heart, and each commenced house-keeping independently of the other.

Materialism represented the male principle, adopted a symbol of initiation that forever forbids, from its form and nature, the entrance of females into the congregation, and became the father of that prolific progeny, that in the form of secret societies has overspread the entire Globe. Superstition exalted the affectional in man above his reason, inscribed love upon her banner and drew around her the confiding and loving in every age, and she continues to this day the loving mother of the Pagan, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant churches.

Since their separation these two ante-deluvians have kept the world in a constant turmoil with their feuds, and unnumbered hecatombs of martyrs have faUen victims to xii

PREFACE.

their rivalries. Both these hoary sinners must be converted from the error of their ways; and be re-united. Keligion, beneath the influence of increasing light must be purged of her superstition and consequent party hate while Materialism, or rather scienca born again from the chaos of thought, shall be reclaimed from its wanderings, and metamorphosed into that leading power in nature that symbolizes the fatherhood of God, and leads the van in that holy trinity of forces, which in the form of wisdom, strength and beauty, shall yet perfect the race, tear down the partition walls of sectarianism, abolish caste, and inaugurate the era of the universal brotherhood of man.

I have already exceeded by several pages the amount of matter promised in the present work, and I am compelled to leave unpublished quite a number of pages already prepared. I send it forth in the hope of at least inciting inquiry. If I succeed in this, and the patronage of the work justifies the attempt I shall probably publish another volume, or an appendix to this.

Introduction

The object of this little work is to draw aside the veil that bigotry has thrown over the past ; to show how and where the false teachings and mummeries oft-times called religion had their origin; to lead the studious mind by pleasing paths to those ancient fields the Fathers wandered through ; there to pluck the same kind of fruit on which they feasted, and scent the fragrant perfumes that were wafted to them from amid the ambrosial bowers where science held her court; to give the hidden sense to those hieroglyphs that eastern sages carved upon their temples, obelisks and tombs, and explain the meaning of terms and phrases — keys to their mysteries, the real sense of which has given place to false interpretations and conclusions, all of which are based upon those ancient symbols, which were so beautiful in their inception, but have been perverted by the ignorance of succeeding ages. Our object, then, is to read the history of the past, as we find it recorded in hieroglyphs, engraved upon pyramids, tombs, temples, triumphal arches, and statuary ; explain it as we have it handed down to us in feasts and 13

INTRODUCTION.

fasts, in forms and ceremonies, names and symbols, and the various fragments of the arts and sciences that have reached our time, notwithstanding the mad fury of superstitious zealots. All authorities admit that the first, the earliest organized religions, of which we have any record, were pagan; and that in the pagan church were sown the seeds of a better religion.

A knowledge of these religions has been handed down to us in the form of myths, legends, riddles and parables; and these, as interpreted by most of the moderns, were merely childish stories, destitute of either truth or plausibility, and giving evidence of a most feeble intellect on the part of the authors; but, rescued from the misrepresentations of learned ignorance, and understood according to their real meaning, they rise up before us in beauty and grandeur, and exhibit to us a system of worship and belief, intricate most certainly, and requiring ages to complete it, yet eminently worthy of the giant minds and vigorous intellects that during many generations were engaged in perfecting it. Heathen mythology is a stupendous, or, if you please, a childish lie to the uninitiated : but to those who are admitted into the secret, they teach a lesson that we can hardly afford to remain ignorant of, or allow to be lost beneath the obli ■

INTRODUCTION.

vious waves of old time. The earliest Bible writers were Egyptians in feeling and religion, and until they were snugly settled on lands that other hands had cultivated, the tribes were ever anxious to return; and even in their own land the religion of the Egyptians prevailed over the worship of Jehovah. The forms, ceremonies and symbols of the Egyptians were transferred to Jerusalem, and adopted in gross, in the temple worship.

To understand a large proportion of the Bible we must become Egyptianized, or baptized into the spirit of their institutions. Their religion was purely astronomical and agricultural; and their creed, confession of faith, and Bible, were written on the skies, and remain there for our inspection. The Baal worship of the nations in and around Judea was the same system, modified to suit the peculiar condition of the people. These writings in the skies, the oldest remaining on record, were transferred, in allegory or parables, to the parchment rolls that in early times constituted the Jewish Bible. They are the lexicons that we must resort to, if we would interpret the dead language of ancient science in which the Bible was written. They are the mystic keys that alone will unlock the secret chambers of imagery that abound in that book.

INTRODUCTION.

They constitute a vast library, containing the text books of the ancient writers, from which they gathered the materials of their strange stories. Looking up into the blue vault of heaven, the uncultivated eye sees nought but a confused and promiscuous sprinkling of the starry hosts, without system or harmony; but, viewed as ancient science arranged them, in their various divisions or constellations, they are seen to wheel into line, and pursue their daily and yearly course with the utmost order and regularity. This arrangement of the stars into constellations, forms the basis of all religions, as it also does the Masonic and many other mystical and secret societies that have during so many ages excited the curiosity and wonder of the world. Even a superficial knowledge of the meaning of this arrangement of the starry hosts opens up to the scientific and theological student a hitherto almost untrodden field for investigation — a field rich with the hidden treasures of the past, that interested speculators in human credulity and ignorance have buried there, and who are constantly on the watch to prevent any search in that quarter. We have often heard how witches, and ghosts, and goblins damned, have ever watched over hidden treasures, seeking to destroy the hapless wight who dared to

INTRODUCTION.

disturb their resting place : in like manner, when we seek to disentomb these treasures of past ages, the vast array of theological demons and witches are conjured up to hinder our researches, and we are threatened with the fate of the whole brood of those who peep and mutter, including Balaam and his Ass, and the Witch of Endor, backed up by the Almighty's wrath if we do not desist. Not that the conservators of the public morals object to our investigations if pursued in an orthodox manner, and directed to orthodox objects. If ^ve inquire about the difference between foreknowledge and foreordination, all is well; if we discuss the question, whether a finite creature can commit an infinite sin, and whether, having committed it, he is not justlyexposed to the infinite wrath of offended Deity, and the effects of that wrath most superlatively intensified through the assistance rendered by his majesty the Devil, then we are hailed as coworkers with God ; and if we are ever calculating how much money will save a son], or support a missionary, we are considered the salt of the earth ; but if we assert our manhood, and demand a reason for the requirements of the church or society, we are branded as infidels, and the thunders of the Vatican are hurled at our defenceless heads.

INTRODUCTION.

Historians are amazed at the conformity in many respects, between the practices of the Hebrews and those of nations given over to the grossest idolatry. Most of the learned, in order to account for such a similitude of usages, say that false religions only copied and mimicked the true. Other learned men, however, and among the rest, Sir J ohn Marsham, in his Rule of Times, being very sensible how much unknown to, and separated from other nations the Hebrews were ; how much disliked by those that knew them, and of course how little fit they were to serve them as models ; and finding, moreover, from a multitude of evident proofs, that the sacrifices, the ceremonial, and the very objects themselves of idolatry, were prior themselves to Moses and the Scriptures, they have maintained that the laws and the ceremonies of the Hebrews were an imitation of the customs of Egypt and the neighboring nations, but adapted to the worship of one God. Josephus says in his writings, that Abraham taught the Egyptians their astronomy; therefore, as their religion was based on that science, or rather was identical with it, and the Hebrews the same (Josephus being the judge), the two religions were the same and had a common origin.

According to Nott and Gliddon (Types of

INTRODUCTION.

Mankind) the Egyptian kingdom was in its glory 5,500 years ago. This fact is proved by their monuments, which are known to be of the earliest antiquity, and are covered with figures, among which those of the crab and the wild goat, of the balance and the scorpion, of the ram and the bull, of the lion, the virgin, and the other signs of the zodiac are frequently found. The religions of the race, according to most authors, had their origin in Egypt, along the banks of the Nile. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that they seem to have been in possession of the most perfect system of symbols, and the various notions that have obtained a lodgement among the sects in regard to God, Heaven, Hell, etc., had their origin in the various phenomena of nature as manifested there. f

The earlier history of Egypt is enshrouded in doubt, and we have no certain knowledge of the earliest process by which she commenced her stupendous system of symbol worship that has since penetrated the remotest climes and given laws and creeds to every sect under heaven. We will begin our story, however, in traditionary style, in treating of the settlement of Egypt, and we shall soon find ourselves with a firm footing among the necessities of their condition, by which we can easily account for

INTRODUCTION.

the habits and customs, and forms and ceremonies that grew out of these necessities. We will suppose then, and early history will bear us out in the supposition, that Ham and some of his descendants emigrated to and settled on the banks of the Nile, and colonized the whole of lower Egypt. They first attempted to cultivate the earth according to the order of the year and in the manner of other countries, but no sooner were they ready to cut down their harvest in the driest season of the year, and without the least appearance of rain, than the river swelled to their great amazement — it flowed on a sudden over its banks, and took from them the provision which they thought themselves already sure of. The waters continued to rise, i sweeping away their cattle and even some of the inhabitants themselves.

The inundation lasted ten or eleven weeks, and according to tradition caused them to quit lower and retire to upper Egypt. They there founded the city of Thebes, originally called Ammon-No (Ammon's abode). But many finding it inconvenient to remove from lower Egypt, which, after the retiring of the waters, was throughout the remaining part of the year like a beautiful garden and a delightful place to dwell in, endeavored to fortify themselves against

I

INTRODUCTION , 21

the return of the waters. But they wanted the means of knowing exactly the time when it would be necessary for them to prepare for the inundation. The flowing of the river beyond its banks happened some days sooner or later, when the sun was under the stars of the Lion. Xear the stars of cancer, though pretty far south from the band of the zodiac, they saw in the morning one of the most brilliant, if not the largest, star of the whole heaven, ascending the horizon. The Egyptians pitched upon the rising of this magnificent star as the infallible sign of the sun's passing under the stars of Leo, and the beginning of the inundation. That star became the public mark on which every one was to keep a watchful eye, not to miss the instant of retiring to the higher ground. As it was seen but a little time above the horizon ere the sun made it disappear, it seemed to show itself to the Egyptians merely to warn them of the overflowing which soon followed. They gave this star two names. It warned them of danger, whereupon they called it Thaaut or Tayaut, the dog; they called it also the barker, the monitor, in Egyptian Anubis ; in Phoenician Hannobeach, the people called it the Xile Star, or barely the Nile.

The same necessity which rendered th

22 INTRODUCTION.

Egyptians astronomers made them also painters and writers. The inspection of the heavens had taught them at last how to regulate their tillage, so strangely crossed by that dispensation peculiar to Egypt. The custom of giving symbolical names to the objects that served them as rules, most naturally led them to delineate in a rude manner the figures of these symbols, in order to inform the nation of the work to be done, and of the annual events with regard to which it was dangerous to be mistaken. This service was performed by a number of persons appointed for that purpose, and maintained at the public expense, whose duty it was to study the revolutions and aspects of the heavenly bodies, and communicate the necessary information to the people.

Such was the origin of the sacerdotal order, or priesthood so ancient in Egypt, the chief functions of which always were the study of the heavens and the inspection of the motions of the air. Such is the origin of the famous tower, where that company was lodged, and where the characters of the several works and the symbols of the public regulations were carefully delineated; which symbols appeared in time very mysterious, when the meaning of them was forgotten. That tower, the structure of which

INTRODUCTION.

has caused so much, criticism, was at that time, without any affectation of mystery, called the Labarynth ; that is the tower, the palace. If we would in a reasonable manner unriddle some of the more common of the Egyptian symbols, we ought to consult the wants of the Egyptian colony. It is there that we are naturally to look for the meaning of the figures which were exposed to the eyes of the whole nation assembled. The warning given by the dog-star being their most important concern, the Egyptians from its rising anciently dated the beginning of their year, and the whole series of their feasts. Wherefore, instead of representing it under the form of a star, which might not be distinguished from another, they delineated it under the figure relative to its functions and name. They called it the star-dog ; the door-keeper ; the star which opens and shuts ; closing one year as it were, and opening another. When they desired to express the renewal of the year, they represented it under the form of a door-keeper, easy to be distinguished by the attribute of a key. Sometimes they gave it two heads, back to back, the one of an old man to mark the expiring year, and the other a young one to denote the new. We have here the origin of the idea made

INTRODUCTION.

use of by J esus when he gave to Peter the keys of the kingdom.

Jesus taught in parables, according to the custom of all the learned teachers of the olden time. The varied figurative expressions that apply, or are applied to the kingdom of heaven ' in the teachings of theologians had their origin in the astronomical notions, and in the agricultural and social condition of the most ancient nations. The Egyptians opened their year in accordance with the peculiarity of their country; but most nations, including the Hebrews, commenced their year at the vernal equinox ; and this, with the autumnal equinox, formed the two foundations on which rested the royal arch, or the months constituting the warm season, which to the ancients was the kingdom of heaven, the home of the gods, and was really the astronomical and agricultural heaven.

In all religious systems, in order to fullfil all righteousness, the founders must needs organize them in accordance with the method adopted in the earlier ages. Thus, as there were twelve domicils of the sun, there must be twelve teachers or leaders, and when one was lost another must be chosen to supply his place. When Levi was selected for the priesthood another tribe was divided to maintain the per

INTRODUCTION.

feet number; and when Judas fell another was chosen to fill his place. All the worship of the ancients, when performed systematically, consisted in imitating; the movements of the heavenly bodies and the action of the elements, and in celebrating- the labors of the sun, together with bloody^ sacrifices to appease a supposed angry God. Jesus was, no doubt, well acquainted with these customs of the ancients and conformed to them externally, when he commenced his career; for we find him acknowledging them in his baptism and forty clays fast, in which he imitated the passage of the sun through the constellation Aquarius, where John, Joannes or Janus, the baptizer, had his domicil and baptized the earth with his yearly rains. Having been baptized in Jordan he fasted forty days in the wilderness, in imitation of the passage of the sun from the constellation aquarius, through the fishes, to the mutton of March. During the forty days when the sun is among the fishes, the faithful Catholics, Episcopalians and Mahometans, abstain from meat and live upon the fishes during the season of Lent, as did the Jews and Pagans, and as did also Jesus to fullfil all righteousness, until the time that he abolished the first, or Jewish, to establish the second, or Christian, dispensation. A knowledge of the 2*