The Masculine Cross

us-Sex Worship-The Eastern Desire for Children-Sacred Prostitution-Hindu Law of Adoption

rinity, the practice of circumcision, and the use of the cross as a symbol, branches out in a great variety of di

praise which belonged to the Creator; they figured the living spirit in the cold bodily forms of stone and tree, and so worshipped it. As we read in early Jewish writings, their tribes, like all other early races, bowed before Ashar and Ashe'ra, as others had long before that period worshipped Belus and Uranus, Orus and Isis, Mahadeva, Siva, Sakti, and Parvati. Jupiter and Yuno, or Juno, or rather the first ideas of these, must have arisen in days long subsequent to this. All such steps in civilisation are very slow indeed, and here they had to penetrate the hearts of millions who could neither read nor write, nor yet follow the re

image, male and female, and consequently that the divine nature comprised the two sexes within itself, fulfils all the conditions requisite to constitute a catholic theologi

onal than such a creed as this was the primitive worship of sex, as represented by the male and female principles in nature. In no gross sense was the symbolism of such a system conceived, gross as its practice may have become, and as it would appear to the notions of modern conventionalism. For no religion is founded upon intentiona

heir adherence to this, even then, ancient mode of symbolising deity; and though after the entry into Canaan, the leaders and reformers of the Israelites strove to keep the people from exchanging the worship of their own divinity for that of the exclusively feminine principle worshipped by the Canaanites with unbridled licence under the name of Ashera, yet the indi

preciable by sense, who commenced the work of creation by creating the waters with a thought, as described in the Institutes of Manu. The waters, regarded as the source of all subsequent life, became identified with the feminine principle in nature-whence the origin

sun, and in their androgynous sculptures. Aryan, Scandinavian, and Semitic religions were alike pervaded by it, the male principle being represented by the sun, and the female by the moon, which was variously personified by the virgins, Ashtoreth or Astarte, Diana, and others, each of whom, except in the Scandinavian mythology, where the sexes are reversed, had the moon for her special symbol. Simila

degrading character, but the first idea was only to use for religious purposes that which seemed the most apt emblem of creation and regeneration. "Is it strange," asks a lady writer, "that they regarded with reverence the great mystery of human birth? Were they impure thu

ore or less, that is to say from the worship of that which was

llowing it to embrace only the masculine side of humanity, afterwards, as was perhaps only to be expected, the feminine was introduced. Then, as particularly ex

s under the mere cloak of religion. The Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy (four books relative to Starry Influences), speaking of the countries India, Ariana, Gedrosia, Parthia, Media, Persia, Babyl

rive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her." And this was not to be an act of revenge on the part of the injured man, but was to be the legal penalty duly enforced by the civil magistrate. It is very extr

King (Rameses II.) returning in triumph with captives, many of whom are undergoing the operation of castration, while in the corners of the scene are heaped up piles of the genital organs which have been cut off by the vict

ut it was customary in those times for the bridegroom to give a dowry instead of as at other times and in other places, to receive one, and David immediately raised the objection that this was out of his power as he was but a poor man. This was Saul's opportunity and his message was, "the King desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines." Of course this involved the slaughter of a hundred of the enemy, and Saul made sure in attempting such a task, David would fall before odds so terribly against hi

found in Genesis xxiv., 2, and xlvii., 29. In the former of these passages Abraham requires his elder servant to put his hand under his thigh and take an oath respecting the wife he would seek for his son Isaac. In the second passage, it is J

or Concha Veneris, which was therefore worn by devout persons of antiquity, as it still continues to be by pilgrims and many of the common women of Italy. The union of both was expressed by the hand, mentioned in Sir William Hamilton's letter, which, being a l

and them. Indeed, as Inman says, "the moderns, who have not been initiated in the sacred mysteries, and only know the emblems

se and the outlet of a river, while the figure reversed () represents the fringe with which the human Delta is overshadowed"-this Delta is simply another word for the part known as Concha, a shell. This Concha or Shank is one of the most important of the Eastern symbols, and is found repeated again and again in almost everything connected with the Hindu Pantheon. Plate vi. of Moor's elaborately illustrated work on the I

mpets. It comes specially into use when the priest performs his ceremonies before the Lingam; it is blown when he is about to an

t. Inman contends in spite of much opposition from his friends that this represents the mother who is still virgo intacta. He points out that in some thin

f children and the declaration of happiness of the man so blessed. One instance may be noted as recorded in Genesis xiii., 16, the promise to Abram: "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed a

ts for childless females." Some kindred belief seems to be held or suggested by the practices of the Mormon community, in which large numbers of women are united in marriage to one man. In Genesis xxx., Rachel seeing that she bore no children is described as envying her sister, and saying to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." Again 1 Samuel i., 10, 11: "And she (Hannah) was

out her, and her life a scene of prolonged shame and misery. And so, in certain parts of the world, arose sex worship, the idea being that by the worship of the organs of generation the misfortune of barrenness might be avoided. The priests were not slow to avail themselves of a ready means of adding to their reputation and influence and increasing their revenues, and women, who for some cause or another h

on, therefore, of the necessary organs was intimately associated with the divine blessing or curse, and the impotent man then would as naturally go to the priest to be cured of his infirmity as we of to-day go to the physician. We have evidence that m

pleasure, or an evidence of his being bewitched by a malignant demon, it is natural to believe that the priest would act partly as a man of sense, though chiefly as a minister of God. He would go thro

return home until she had paid the debt which the law prescribed as due from her to the state; the result of this was that those who were the happy possessors of personal charms seldom were detained very long, while the plain-featured and unattractive ones were sometimes several years before they could obtain their release. We are told that the wealthier women, too proud to associate with the lower class, though obliged to undergo the same ordeal, would drive to the appointed place in covered carriages with a considerable retinue of servants, there making as much display as possible of their rank and wealth in order to overawe the commoner class of men, and drive them to females of humbler rank; they sat in their carriages while crowds of poorer people sat within the holy enclosure with wreaths of string about their heads. The scene was at once strange and animated; numbers of both sexes were coming and

, and built temples to her honour in several places, especially in Acilisene. They dedicated there to her service male and female slaves, and in this, Strabo says, there was nothing remarkable, but that it was surprising that persons of the highest rank in the nation consecrated their virgin daughters to the goddess. It was customary for these women, after being prostituted a long time at the temple of Anaitis, to be disposed of in marriage, no one disdaining a connection with such a person. He mentions what Herodotus says about the Lydian women, all of whom, he adds, prostituted themselves. But they treated their paramo

ch was very much like that of Venus and Adonis, was attended with excesses that indicate a very abandoned state of things. It is known that when the pilgrims were on their way to the fêtes of Isis at Bubastis, the females indulged in the most indecent dance

she would fail to fulfil her mission lies at the basis of the early betrothals and marriages which appear so repulsive and absurd to European ideas. There is a further desire, however, than that of simply having children, especially in India; the desire is for male children, and where these fail, it is common for a man to adopt a son, and in this his motive is a religious one. According to prevalent superstition, it is held that the future beatitude of the Hindu

agola is represented as desiring admission to a region of bliss, but repulsed by the guards who watch the abode of progenitors, because he had no male issue. The "Laws of Manu" illustrate this by the speci

excess, whence the different sorts of sons enumerated by different authorities, all resolving themselves, with Manu, into twelve, that is the legally begotten, and therefore not to be separately accounted:-all formerly, in their turn and order, capable of succession, for the double purpose of obsequies, and of inheritance. Failing a son, a Hindu's obsequies may be performed by his widow; or in default of her, by a whole brother or other heirs; but according to the conception belonging

ure in India. In nearly every part of that vast empire are to be seen reproductions of the emblem in an infinite variety of form, and so totally free from the most remotely indecent character are they, that strangers are as a rule totally ignorant of their meaning. We have even known, w

ts numerous sculptured figures, having been once one undistinguished mass of granite, which excavated, chiselled, and polished, produced the cavern and forms that are still contemplated with so much surprise and admiration. The magnitude of the cones, too, further preclude the idea of subsequent introduction, and together with gigantic statues of Siva and his consort, more frequent and more colossal than those of any other deity, necessarily coeval with the excavation, indicate

are distinct sects which worship either the Lingam or the Yoni; the first being apparently the

the ritual. It is offered in honour of deceased ancestors, but not merely in honour of them, but for their comfort; as the Manes, as well as the gods connected with them, enjoy, like the gods of the Greeks, the incense of such offerings, which are also of an expiatory nature, similar, it is said, to the masses of the

ions of cattle, land, gold, silver, or other things, according to his ability, should be made by him; or if he be too weak, by another person in his name. His head should be sprinkled with water drawn from the Ganges, and smeared with c

arel, they advance into the stream. They then ask the deceased's brother-in-law, or some other person able to give the proper answer, "Shall we present water?" If the deceased were a hundred years old, the answer must be simply, "do so:" but if he were not so aged, the reply is "do so, but do not repeat the oblation." Upon this they all shift the sacerdotal string to the right shoulder, and looking towards the south, and being clad in a single garment wit

et clothes for other apparel; they then sip water without swallowing it, and sitting down on soft turf, alleviate their

human state, unsolid like the stem of a plan

ards of deeds done in its own former person, reverts to it

Gods themselves pass away: how should not

levated, must ultimately fall; all compound bodies mus

tears and rheum shed by their kinsmen: then do not w

nor eat flesh-meat, nor any food seasoned with fictitious salt; they must use a plate made of leaves of any tree but the plantain, or else take their food from the hands of some other persons; they must not handle a knife or any other implement made of iron; nor sleep upon a bedstead; nor adorn their persons; but remain squalid, and refrain from perfumes and other gratifications: they mus

sequies are expedited on the second or third day, the nearest kinsman o

be offered, he must sprinkle himself with water, meditating on Vishnu, surnamed the lotos-eyed, or revolving in his mind this verse, "Whether pure or defiled, or wherever he may have gone, he, who re-enters the being whose eyes are like the lotos, shall be pure externally and internally." Shifting the sacerdotal cord on his right shoulder, he takes up a brush of cusa grass and presents water together with tila and with blossoms, naming the deceased and the family from which he sprung, and saying "may this water for ablutions be acceptable to thee." Then saying "may this be right

tributes meal of sesamum, while the priests recite "May the demons and fierce giants that sit on this consecrated spot, be dispers

ing two blades of grass on the cushion, with their tips pointed to the north, he must pour the water from the argha thereon. The priests meantime recite:-"The waters in heaven, in the atmosphere, and on the earth, have been united [by their sweetness] with milk; may those silver waters, worthy of oblation, be auspicious, salutary, and exhilarating to us; and be happily offered: may this oblation be efficacious." He adds namah, and pours out the water, naming the deceased and saying, "may this argha be acceptable unto thee." Then oversetting the vessel, and arranging in due order the unboiled rice condiments, clarified butter, and the requisites, he scatters tila, while the priests recite "Thrice did Vishnu step, &c." He next offers the rice, clarified butter, water and condiments, while he touches the vessel with

t. When he has given them water to rinse their mouths, he may consider the deceased as fed through their intervention. The priests again recite the gayat

rds takes a cake or ball or food mixed with clarified butter, and presents it saying, "May this cake be acceptable to thee," and deals out the food with this prayer; "Ancestors, rejoice; take your respective shares, and be strong as bulls." Then walking round by the left to

unto the saddening [hot] season; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto the month of tapas [or dewy season]; salvation unto thee, O deceased, and unto that [season] which abounds with water; salvation

e sweet: may the rice be harmless;" and then pours water on it, naming the deceased and saying, "May this food and drink be acceptable unto thee." In the next place he strews grass over the funeral cake, and sprinkles water on it, reciting this prayer: "Waters! ye are the food of our progenitors; satisfy my parents, ye who convey nourishment, which is ambrosia, butter, milk, cattle, and distilled liquor." Lastly, he smells some of the food, and poises in his hand

ts a lamp in honour of the deceased; meditates on Heri with undiverted attention; casts the food, and other things used a

ng the tenth funeral cake, he makes ten libations of water from the palms of his hands; causes the hair of his head and body to be shaved, and his nails to be cut, and gives the barber the clothes which were worn at the funeral of the deceased, and adds some other remuneration. He then anoints his head and limbs, down to his feet, with oil of sesamum; rubs all his limbs with meal of ses

hting a fire, and blessing the attendant Brahmanas, the priest fills four vessels with water, and, putting his hand into the first, meditates the gayatri, before and after reciting the following prayers: 1.-May generous waters be auspicious to us, for gain and for refreshing draughts; may they approach towards us, that we ma

ri, and the four prayers above quoted; adding some others, and concludi

ates the gayatri and the four prayers above cited, interposing this: May Indra and Varuna [the regents of the sky and of the ocean] accept our oblations, and grant us happiness; may Indra and

hospitality. He then pours water into his hand, saying, "I give thee this bed with its furniture;" the priest replies, "give it." Upon this he sprinkles it with water; and taking up the cusa grass, tila, and water, delivers them to the priest, pouring the water into his hand, with a formal declaration of the gift and its purpose; and again delivers a bit of gold with cusa grass, &c., making a similar formal declaration, 1.-This day, I, being desirous of obtaining celestial bliss for such a one defunct, do give unto thee, such a one, a

deceased, or else a golden idol, or both. Afterwards he distributes other presents among Brahma

im, as it were, among the manes of departed ancestors. For this end, a sradha should regularly be offered to the deceased on the day after mourning expires; twelve other sradhas singly to the deceased in twelve successive months: similar obsequies at the end of the third fortnight, and also in the sixth month, and in the twelfth; and the oblation called Sapindana, on the first anniversary of his decease. In most provinces the periods for these s

s the vast importance attached to those obsequies, and enables us to understand the desire on the part of these Hindus to have children who will in a proper and acceptable manner carry out these proceedings. We have already quoted from

t was wanted in a more practical way than by the simple performance of certain ceremonies, and that where the failure to produce children was due to some fault on the part of the husband, means were at hand by which the woman soon found herself in the desired condition. It is rather singular that something very similar was found among the Jewish women in the time of Ezekiel, as we have found in India; the Indian woman sacrificed her virginity at the shrine of the Lingam, and in the 16th chapter of the prophet's book, verse 17, we read:-"Thou didst take also thy fair jewels of my gold, and didst make t

that he should leave offspring, either real or adopted, behind him, to carry out the obligations imposed by his religion, and that in order to attain in the possession of what is to

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