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Page 4
For the purpose of guiding men in their relations towards these gods,
there existed a large body of men whose office it was to understand the
divinities, their natures and attributes, and direct men in their
religious duties. This body of men acted as mediums between the gods and
the people, and not only were they held in high esteem as priests, but
frequently they attained great power in the State. Often this priestly
incorporation had greater influence and control than the civil power;
nor is this to be wondered at, when we remember that they were supposed
to be in direct communication with the holy gods, in whose hands were
the destinies of men.
The sun, the giver and vivifier of all life, was the primary god of
antiquity, being worshipped by Assyrians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, and
Hebrews under the name of Baal or Bell, and by other nations under other
names. The priests of Baal always held a high position in the State. As
the sun was his image or symbol in heaven, so fire was his symbol on
earth, and hence all offerings made to Baal were burned or made to pass
through the fire, or were presented before the sun. Wherever, in the
worship of any nation, we find the fire element, we may at once suspect
that there we have a survival of ancient sun-worship.
The moon was regarded as a female deity, consort of the sun or Baal, and
was worshipped by the Jews under the name of Ashtoreth, or Astarte. Her
worship was of the most sensual description. The worship of sun and moon
formed one system, the priests of the one being also priests of the
other.
Apart from the priestly incorporation of which we have spoken, there was
another class of men who assumed knowledge of supernatural phenomena.
These were known as astrologers or star-gazers, wizards, magicians,
witches, sooth-sayers. By the practice of certain arts and repetition of
certain formula, these pretended to divine and foretell events both of a
public and private nature. They were believed in by the mass of people,
and were consulted on all sorts of matters. By both the civil and
ecclesiastical authorities their practices and pretensions were
sometimes condemned, and themselves forbidden to exercise their peculiar
gifts, but nevertheless the people continued to believe in them and
consult them. Their pretensions were considerable, extending even to
raising and consulting the spirits of the dead.
This leads me to notice the ancient belief concerning the souls of the
departed. By almost all nations, Jews and Gentiles, there was a
prevailing belief that at death the souls of good men were taken
possession of by good spirits and carried to Paradise, but the souls of
wicked men were left to wander in the space between the earth and moon,
or consigned to Hades, or Unseen World. These wandering spirits were in
the habit of haunting the living, especially their relations, so that
the living were surrounded on every side by the spirits of their wicked
ancestors, who were always at hand tempting them to evil. However, there
were means by which these ghosts might be exorcised. A formula for
expelling wicked spirits is given by Ovid in Book V. of the Fasti:--
"In the dread silence of midnight, upon the eighth day of May, the
votary rises from his couch barefooted, and snapping his fingers as a
sure preventative against meeting any ghost during his subsequent
operations, thrice washing his hands in spring water, he places nine
black beans in his mouth, and walks out. These he throws behind him one
by one, carefully guarding against the least glance backwards, and at
each cast he says, 'With these beans I ransom myself and mine.' The
spirits of his ancestors follow him and gather the beans as they fall.
Then, performing another ablution as he enters his house, he clashes
cymbals of brass, or rather some household utensil of that metal,
entreating the spirits to quit his roof. He then repeats nine times
these words, 'Avaunt ye ancestral manes.' After this he looks behind,
and is free for one year."
Some nations in addition to a personal formula for laying the ghosts of
departed relatives, had a national ritual for ghost-laying, a public
feast in honour of departed spirits. Such a feast is still held in
China, and also in Burmah. In 1875 the following placard was posted
throughout the district of Rangoon, proclaiming a feast of forty-nine
days by order of the Emperor of China:--
"There will this year be scarcity of rice and plenty of sickness. Evil
spirits will descend to examine and inquire into the sickness. If people
do not believe this, many will die in September and October. Should any
people call on you at midnight, do not answer; it is not a human being
that calls, but an evil spirit. Do not be wicked, but be good."
But I do not propose to write a treatise on Pagan theology, nor do I
propose to trace in historical detail the progress through which
Christian and Pagan beliefs have in process of time become assimilated,
when I have occasion, I may notice these things. I intend, as I said at
the beginning, to deal with superstition, no matter from what source it
may have arisen, recognising superstition to be as already
defined--beliefs and practices founded upon erroneous ideas of God and
the laws of nature. In many things, I believe, we are yet too
superstitious, and our popular theology, instead of aiding to destroy
these erroneous beliefs, aids them in maintaining their vitality.
Orthodox Christians believe in a general and also in a special
providence; the ancients, on the other hand, believed that all events
were under the control and direction of separate and special divinities,
so that when praying for certain results, they addressed the divinity
having control over that phenomenon or circumstance by which they were
affected, and when their desires were gratified, they expressed their
thankfulness by offerings to that divinity. If their desires were not
granted, they regarded that circumstance as a token of displeasure on
the part of that divinity, and besought the aid of their priests and
sooth-sayers to discover the reason of his anger, and offered sacrifices
and peace offerings. Now, orthodox Christians in the same circumstances
pray to God for special and personal blessings, and when they are
granted, they feel grateful, and sometimes express their gratitude. A
common method of expressing this gratitude is by giving something to the
church. Thus we find in our church records entries like the following:--
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