THE

MYTHOS OF THE

ARK

BY

A U TH O R O F

T RE E A ND

KE

WO RSH I P

SE R PE NT

am

,
"

?)

B ck th r ugh th du k
Of g
C t m pl ti tum n r vi ew
T m rk
f r m it i f c y th w l d
Pe p l e d g i f r m t h t m ) t i
h ri e
Th t r ted th t p f A m t
a

e s,

on e

as

es

a n

on

P UBLISHED

on

n an

ou

s e r ons s

"

THO MA S
MOUN T P L E A S A N T R A MS G A T E
BY

Pr ic e Sixp e n c e

S C O T T,
.

57

MYTHOS

THE

OF THE ARK
.

is r e c ord e d in the H ebrew scriptures t h at once

upon a ti m e so m ewhere about 2 4 0 0 y e ars before
the C hristian era the C reator of the world was so
incensed at the wickedness of m en that he deter m ined
to destroy the whole world and that to e ffect this
destruction he sent a deluge on the earth which
covered the tops of the highest m ountains so that all
living things perished excepting only N oah his wife
and his three sons and their wives with pairs or
sevens of all the various kinds of ani m als which
N oah was co mm anded to take with hi m into an ark
or oat ing house which G od had co mm anded hi m to
build These were shut up in the ark for several
m onths when the ood having abated the ark
grounded on the top of a high m ountain and its
inhabitants released fro m their te m porary i m prison
m ent replenished the earth with a n e w race of living
creatures
e have said the H ebrew scriptur es record th is
narrative and E nglish m en are taught to believe that
these scriptures are the infallible word of G od s o
the clergy of alm ost all deno m inations declare them
to be I t is evident that such an event had it really
happen ed could never have beco m e a legiti m ate part
of histo ry I t relates al together to ti m es that are pre
historic ti m es of which oral tradi tion alone coul d te ll
B ut in the Je wish h istory no traces of t his tradition

The Myt/J o: qf tb e r k

are to be found till aft er the B abylonish captivity

that is for the 2 0 00 years imm ediat e ly foll owi n g the
event T he patriarch s kne w nothing of the F lood ;
M oses see m s equally in the dark concerning it 3 N oah
is never so m uch as na m ed in Jewish history til l a
com paratively m odern period of its ann als T he book
of G enesis though plac e d at the h ead of the Jewis h
B ible is one of the m ost recent instead of being one
of the earliest of its records S uch at least are the
conclusions of m odern scholars and those who are
fam iliar with the writings of C olenso D avidson
K alisch and others know well how irresistible is the
eviden c e o n whi ch thes e conclusions are bas e d
G eological research es have long de m onstrated the
i m possibility of such a ood as that of which the
book of G enesis speaks having ever taken pla c e
Y e t our clergy are bo und by the conditions of the ir
o f c e to teach the m en and wo m en of E ngland to
regard this narrative as a record of actual fac t to
b e lieve that the world was destroyed by a deluge as
the book of G enesis state s an d that the record of this
event has been penned under the inuen ce of a special
inspiration fro m G od
N ow the purp ose of this pa m phlet will be to show
that th is story of the F lood is a m ere m at ter of ancient
tradition and ancient tradition is only an other m ode
of expressing ancient fable B ut the fables of anti
q u ity had for the m ost part a religious or phi los o
hi
c al
or m yt hological im port
A s the ancient
p
Egyptians exp r essed the ir wisdo m through hiero
glyphic inscriptions so all the ancient priesth ood
veiled the ir knowl ed ge in so m e apologue or fable
As m oral teaching even in our own day is often ex
pressed by parable so the phil osophi c wisdo m of the
an cient world found utterance in fables
h ere
m odem s would write an essay the teachers of the
ancient world told a story ; and possibly fro m this
habit the latte r p hrase has c o m e to have so equi vocal
,

My tb o: of the

772 3

Ark

a signi cation and the sa m e word is m ade to stand

at once for a narrative and a falsehood B y way of
co mm encing our investigation the reader s attention
is cal led to the following traditio n s of the ood
,

TRAD ITI

O NS

All

FLOOD

O F THE

the ancient religions m any of which were long

an te rior to Judais m had in their records s im ilar
stories concerning a deluge to that which the book of
G enesis contains
All the writers of barbarian

hi stories says Josephus the Je w ish historian m ake

m ention of this ood and this ark a m ong wh o m is
B erosus the C haldean
T he works of B erosus who wrote probably in th e
age of Alexander the G reat i e about 2 4 0 years before
the c hristian era are lost save detached portions of
the m which are preserved in the writ ings of the
early fathers and the account of the D eluge is one of
these T hose who lived before the F lood are r e
presented as a race of giants all of who m save one

beca m e exceedingly i m pious and depraved

B ut

says B erosus there was one a m ong the giants that

reverenced the gods and was m ore wise and prudent
than all the rest H is n am e was N oa he dwelt in
S yr ia and his three sons S e m J ape t C he m and th eir
wives the great T id e a P andora N oela and N oe gla
T his m an fearin g destru ction which he foresaw fro m
the stars would co m e to pass began in the 78 th year
before the inundation to bu ild a ship covered l ike an
ark ; at length the o c ean b u r st its boundaries and
the rain fel l violently fro m heaven for m any days
so that the m ountains were ov e row e d and the whole
hu m an race buried in the waters save N oa and his

fam ily
A nother Assyr ian tradition relates that the represent
ative of the tenth generation after the first m an was
Xis u thru s a pious and wise m onar c h
The god
,

My ra). of

A rk

t/y e

C hr onos ( S aturn or B elus)revealed to h i m that con

rains comm encing on a certain day the 1 5th

of the m onth D ae siu s woul d cause a general deluge by
which m ankind would be destroyed O n the co mm and
of the deity Xis u thru s bu ilt an i mm ense ship about
three
quarters of a m ile long and a quarter of a m ile
broad ascended it with his fa m ily his friends and
eve ry species of quadrupeds birds and reptiles after
having loaded it with every possible provision and
sailed towards A rm enia
hen the rain cleared
he sent out birds to satisfy hi m self about the condition
of the earth T hey returned twice but the second
ti m e they had m ud on their feet and the third ti m e
they were sent ou t they returned to hi m n o m ore
X is u thr u s who h ad by this ti m e grounded in som e
A rm enian m ountain left the ship acco m panied o nl y
by his wife his daughters and the pilot ; they erected
an altar and o ff ered sac ri c e to the gods and were
soon rais e d to heaven for their exe m plary piety
T he others n ow left the ship with m any lam entations
but they heard th e voice of X is u thru s ad m onishing
the m to persevere in the fear of the gods T hey
settled again in B abylon fro m whence they started
and beca m e the ancestors of a new popu lation f "
Th e H indoo records contain a si m ilar and probably
a m ore ancient traditi o n o f the ood in which the
good king Saty avr ata takes the place occupied by
N oah in the H ebrew record T he G reeks had an
exactly si m ilar story of which D eucalion was the
hero ; while so m e coins which were struck at
A pa m ea na m ed also xt r og a boat in th e reign of
the Em peror Se ptim iu s S everus A D 1 93
represent
a chest or ark oating on the waves and containing
a m an and a wo m an O n the ark a bir d is perched
t in u

al

Hi s to ri c al C om m en ta ry

the B k of G e e i
B t t he he t he
t radi ti
f t he d m y b e f u d i
Co le
the Pe tate u ch Hu gh Miller T e tim y f
the Ro c ks Har dwi c k s Chr is t d ther M ter & &
K al is ch

ns o

on

on s

oo

oo

an

on

as

s,

s s

on

7796

My tl w: of

ib e

A rt

and another is seen approaching holding a twig with

its feet T he sam e hu m an pair is gured on the dry
land with uplif ted hands and on several of these
*
N
0
N
O
m edals the na m e
( )is clearly visible
The Egyptian tradition of the ood was recorded
Josephus asserts by M anetho but the greater part of
the works of that historian have perished and this
account is not extant \ve shall see however when we
co m e to speak of the m ythological m eaning of the
ood that the Egyptians had a very si m ilar m y t hos xi
T raditions of the Flood exist also in the S candinavian
C eltic ancient B ritish M ex ican and the various m y
thologie s of the new world and the question natural ly
suggests itself
hat relation do these traditions bear
to the H ebrew story which our clergy declare has
been given by the special revelation of G od ? I t used
to be thought a sufcient answer to say that all the
G entile traditions were copies and perversions of
the H ebrew record the prior antiquity of this record
being of course assu m ed
however
e know n ow
that the H ebre w account is of com paratively m odern
date T he Jews them selves having no knowledge of
such an event as the D eluge till after the period of the
national captivity in B abylon
.

c kn owledged t h at the Bi b le rec o rd s re ferr in g to the

tim e pre vi o u s t o A b raham an d w h i ch w ere t r an s m i tt e d t o
lat er ge n er at i o n s b y t he de s ce n d an t s of t he an ce s to r of t he
H eb re w r a ce in s om e i n s ta n ce s adm i t of an allego ri c al in t er
re tati on T h u s e v en the n am e of No ah m ay po s s ibly hav e
n ch o s e n f o r the p u rpo s e o f re f err in g to t he tim e of t he
I t is w ell kn own t h at t he w o r d Noah is d eri v ed
Floo d

fr om the A ry an roo t n a or n ach whi ch m e an s wat er

f rom w hi ch t he In d i an n au s the La tin n avi s an d t he
G erm an n a che n an d n as s ar e d eri v e d T he H id d en W
isd om
of C hr is t p 1 0 by E r n es t D e B u ns en

T he n u t ( in G erm an n u s s
w as a n au s or l it tle s h i p
a ty pe o f t he ar k
in w h i ch t he in f an t d e i t y lay hi d d en L es le y
O r igi n a nd D e sti n y p 3 08
T yph on was the
1 Se e t he legen d of O s ir i s an d T yph on
I t is

'

Tb e

My tb o: of

A rk

t/y e

D r D onaldson ( C hristian O rthodoxy p 2 2 1 ) says

the traditions of B abylonian arch aeology preserved to
us in the fragm ents of B erosus exhibit a re m arkable
correspondence with those whic h are incorporated in
the B ook of G enesis I t m ight of course be a question
whether the Jews during their captivity borrowed
the ten generations between A dam and N oah fro m
the ten generations whic h connect A loru s and
X is u thr u s or whether they conversely furnis h ed the
B abylonians with the m aterials of their own cos
I n the absence of all evidence in favour
m ogon y
of the supposition that the Jews had any such cos
m ogon y before the exile and with positive evidence
of the fact that they borr owed m any of their ideas
fro m the heathen nations am ong who m they sojo urned
at the ti m e i mm ediately preceding the for m atio n of
their present collection of s acred books it would be
m ore reasonable to conclude that the B abylonian
traditions were the source of the Jewish
ith
regard to the D eluge at any rate every candid ia
q u irer m ust ad m it that even if we had no other ex
planation to offer respecting N oah the fact that the
ark is represente d as oating to the m ountains of
A rm enia points to the local inundation which devas
tate d B abylonia and which the B abylonians li m ited

to their own country

D r S am uel D avidson in his I ntroduction to th e
O ld T estam ent V ol
page 1 8 8 says
A uthentic
E gyptian history ignores the existence of a e n e ral
ood to which there is no allusion in the an n als fro m
the epoch of M enes the founder of the kingdo m of
Egypt B C 3 4 63 till its conquest under D arius
O c hu s B C 3 4 0 whereas the period of the N oachian
D eluge is said to be about 2 3 4 8 B C A t the latter
tim e when the whole hu m an race is suppos e d to hav e
been reduced to a single fa m ily the E gyptian people
m ust have attained to a our ishing and civiliz ed
s tate ; indeed they were civili zed and settled before
.

'

My tb o: qf

773 6

Ark

ib e

M enes united th e m into one great e m pire

towards 4 0 0 0 B C the uninterrupted existence of
their annals fro m M enes til l O c hu s as well as the
absence of all reference to a general ood proves the

non o ccurrence of such a disaster

T he story of N oah s ark having no proper place in
legiti m ate history m ust thus be relegated to the real m s
of m ythologic fable T he fables of the ancient world
were however the m eans of concealing so m e secret
wisdo m and the ark of N oah form s no exception t o
thi s rule
,

TH E

MYTH O L O G Y

O F T HE A R K

Lo ng

before the Jews were acquainted with the

story of the ood they were accusto m ed to the use of
an ark in their religious worship T his ark of the
covenant being an obl ong box of the sa m e propor
t ion at e di m ensions with the ship or ar k of N oah
Josephus call s it the ark of G od I t was the m ost
sacred sy m bol of the Je wish worship and in it were
kept the tables of the law T o this day the ark of
the covenant is used in the Je wish synagogues for the
purpose of containing the rolls of the Jewish law A
s im ilar ark however to that of the Jews was we
know in use a m ong the ancient Egyptians
A sculp
tu re exists representing R am ase s
acco m panied
by his priests and high ofcers and the sacred bull
A pis and in this sculpture w e see that an ark of the
sam e si ze and shape as the Jewish ark was carried

along upon m en s shoulders in the sacred procession

S/m rpe s Egyptian My thology T his was doubtless the
ark of O siris A si m ilar sacred chest was also carried
in procession by the priests of I sis in the m ysteries of
that goddess as related by A puleius and those who
are fam iliar with the legend of O siris well know that
this sacred chest or ark contained the phallic e m ble m s
of fecundity A ship or boat also form ed one of the
sacred sy m bols of this goddess who was herself the
,

Tb c My tb o: qf tb e A r k

10

re pre sentative of the great m other the m aternal or

prolic principle of nature
T he goddesses of the ancient worships are now well
known to m ythological students to have been the pro
t oty pes of the V irgin M ary or m other of G od who is
so highly reverenced in the Ro m an C atholic chur ches
T hey were si mply pe rs o n ic ation s of the m ate rnal
principle
T he m oon had the s am e sign ication
and as the sun for the m ost part was the sy m bol of
the gods so the goddesses were sy m boli zed by the
m oon
T he bull was in like m anner th e ancient
sy m bol of fertility of the sun at the S pring equinox
and the cow was for this reason sacred to I sis and the
sym bol u nder which she was o ften worshipped A n
tique sta tuette s are sti ll in exi stence which pict ure
this goddess with a cow s head and nursing the inf ant
god H orus which statuettes with a hu m an face
wou ld serve for the virgin and child of C atholic wor
ship T he m oon was the sym bol of all these ancient
goddesses b u t only the crescent m oon was u sed for
this purpose A nd this crescent m oon which form s
an arc of a circle was also the sym bol of a boat or
The G erm an m ari o latr y o f the m i ddl e age s is to a la rge
d egree t r a c ea b le t o the s e p r e vi o u s he at he n c u s t om s ( the w or
s h i p o f t he s t o rm go dde s s Fre i a H o ld a t r an s f or m ed in to Fre i a
the od d e s s o f l v e o f am o r o u s n es s o f reju v e n e s cen ce an d of
f ert ity ) T here ar e a n u m b er o f h igh ly c o lou red h ym n s to
t he V irgin t he im agery o f w hi ch is alm os t lit erally tak en
fr om s im ila r Fre i a s on gs fragm e n tar y pi eces of whi ch l att er
h av e c o m e d own to u s in ch il d re n s rh ym e s Man y of thes e
h y m n s w ou ld b e per f ec tl y un in t e lli gi b le if w e did n ot kn o w
the p oe ti c al s u rr ou n din gs o f t he Pagan godde s s Fr e ia the
q u ee n o f t he he a v e n s t he s o rr o win g m o t her o f Balder ( t ha t
go d o f pe ac e w ho m e t his dea th t hr ou gh t he t ra i t o r
w as t ran s f u s ed in t o the Ma te r D o le r os a t he m ot her of G od
o f t he R o m a n ch u rch b u t in t h is t ran s fu s i on s he
re tain ed
m u ch o f her o r ig i n al ch ar a c t er Fr om a n i n te res tin g a r ticl e
on Fre ia H o ld a
the T eu to n ic godd ess of lo ve in the
C om hill
Magazine f o r Ma y 1 8 72
.

'

Se e

the legen d o f the D ea th

of

O s ir is

The My tk o: qf the A r k

1 I

ship I n a word the ship or ark of N oah the bull

or cow the crescent m oon and the goddesses I sis or
D iana or Juno or C eres or V enus 0 r F reia were
sym bols possessin g a co mm on signican ce viz the
fertil e p ri nciple of nature I n accordance with th is
view we nd that an egg was also a sy m bol of the
ark a sym bol of the ger m of ani m ated nat u re
I n the pictures of the V irgi n M ary in C atholic
countries she is often represented with a crescent
m oon this crescent being really the sy mbol of the
ship or ark and denoting the secret m ythos which the
ark of N oah enshrines
ith this thought in our
m ind we have only to read again the scripture nar
rat iv e of the ood to see in the pairs or sevens m a le
and f em a le of all the various form s of ani m ated life
in the m ani fest design of this selection that the ark
contain e d th e fertile principle of nature and in this
sense was one and the sa m e sy m bol with th e ark or
chest of O siris T his reverence of the fertile or
generative principle was the foundation of all the
ancient worship and it has struck its roots so deeply
into the religion of all subsequent ti m es that we have
not to look far to nd evidences of it in the religious
thought and custo m s of ou r own day O ur churches
are built in the form of the ark an oblong square
an d the principal portion of the m bears the na m e

nave a word derived fro m the L at in navis a ship

that word being in its turn derived fro m the G reek
N an s whence our word nautical
T he early C hris

tians were called nantai or sailors R id dle s Chr istian

B ut the word navel has also a sim ilar
A n tiq u itie s
derivation the E nglish word being associated with
the G reek m u g T he Latin u m bilicus being an evi
dent derivation fro m the G re ek O n ea Xog Jacob
B ryant has so m e very curious re m arks with regard to
this latter word H e says the term O MPH I was of
The chan c el is a se p arate an d d is tin c t b uil d in g a ppe n ded
.

Tb e My tb or qf the A r k

1 2

great antiquity and denote d an orac ul ar inuence

T he true rendering was the oracle of H a m or C ha m
or the su n or O s iris T he m ountains whence these
oracles were delivered cam e to be deno m inated H ar
al o m pi wh ich al om pi was changed by the G reeks
into O lym pus
T his word they associated wit h
Om phalos a navel and so they said of the sacre d
oracle of D elphi that it was the u mbilicus or nave l of
the world and they applied this ter m to al l other
sacred m ountains whence divine oracles were delivered
I t is im portant to notice here the connection between
the term navel as associate d w ith the word whic h
designates a ship with the act of birth or generation
and with a divine word or oracle
The
U nder the word N oah the sa m e author says
his tory of the patriarch was recorded by the ancients
throughout their whole theology but it has bee n
obsc u red by their describing hi m under so m any
different titles and such a variety of characters T hey
represented hi m as T hoth H erm es Janus M enes
O siris Z e u th Atlas D e ucalion I nachus P ro m etheus
S aturn D ion u s u s & c & c A m ong the people of the
E ast the true n a m e of the patriarch was preserved

T hey called hi m Noas

N aus and so m eti m es

contracted N ous
B ut N ous is the G reek term
for m ind and B ryant proceeds to quote A naxagoras
who identies the Eastern N oah with the G reek P ro
m e the u s
Pr om e the ia he says w as the m ind and
P ro m etheus was said to renew m ankind by n e w
form ing their minds
N oah or Noas was thus in all probabil ity the
etym ological p arent of the G reek word m g n e w
h e ha ving been patria rch or father of the new world
T his connection of the ideas of life and m ind has

n
bee fully sh own in m y pam phlet on T he My tho
logical M eaning of T ree and S erpent orship the
serpent being on one hand the sym bol of the gen e
re tive powe r and on the other hand the sym bo l of
.

The My tho: o
f the A r k

The ark is si m ply

the Logos or D ivine wisdom
another form of the sym bolism through which the
old N ature worship found expression
T o the uninitiated N oah s ark would see m to have
not the sm allest relation to the V irgin M ary and yet
by an overwhel m ing am ount of evidence we shall
show the m to be closely associate d to be sy mb olical
of the sam e m yt hos the cres c ent m oon being the
navi cular sym bol that unite s the m

M D id ro n in his C hristian I conography has an

engr aving of the H indoo god des s M aya her head sur
rounded by a glory pressing her breasts fro m which
copious s t ream s of m ilk o w by which all living
cr e atu res are suppo rted and in her lap are represented
th e various ani m als strongly re m inding one of the
groups which form the cont ents of the toy arks in
co mm on u se tod ay I n a word M aya as the goddess
m other of N ature is the e mble m of the ark since
all existing beings m ay b e said to have be en born
fro m her she being but a sy mbol of the fertiliz ing
properties of N atur e I t is ti m e however for us to
consider the curious light which etym ology throws
upon the word ark and though etym o logy m ay so m e
ti m es m islead us yet the study of wo rds and language
is the study which of all others t hrows greatest light
on the ideas which prevailed in the ancient world an d
*
on the origin and growth of religious dogm a
The thi gs w h i ch w e c all wo r d s ar e o rga i c thin gs l i k e
T he y h av e r oots an d b r
che s
an im als an d v ege t ab l e s
T he y h a v e x ed law s t o g o v ern t he i r
T he y gr o w an d d ec ay
e xi s t e ce lik e all o ther b e i gs T hey d o n ot le ap f ro m o u r
m o u th s hel ter s k elt er as t he t oad s an d je w els d r o pped f rom
T he y are
the m o u t h o f t he cru e l m o t her in t he fa ir y t ale
We are n o t t he ir v olu tary ar ea
n ot ac c i d e n tall y creat e d
to rs T he y b ree d in u s an d i s s u e f rom u s n o t o n l y f ro m o u r
li p s b u t f r om o u r b rain s b y law s as regula r a d perm an e t
as t h os e w h i ch g o v ern t he c o n cep ti on an d b i r t h o f b r o od s o f
Lan gu age t here fo re m u s t b e a
s he s b ir d s o r s erpe n ts
Ne w e x pre s s i on s or i d i o m s
d epa r tm en t o f
atu r al his to ry
appea r u po n the f ac e of h u m an soc i e t y ju s t as n e w s pe c i es
.

an

The My tho: qf the A r k

E nglish word ark

is derived fro m the G ree k

signifyi
an
n g a beginn ing in order of ti m e
ap n
x
entrance into bein g rs t or chief in point of au tho
rity T he word in this sense is in com m on use
T he G reek r u lers were ca ll ed Archons our chief
bishops are call e d ark or arch bishops The scien ce
of antiquity is called ark e ology T he chief builder
the one who supplies the ideas is call ed the archi
S o the lunette or crescent is cal led the arc of
te c t
a circle and this gives its nam e to the circula r arch
T he G reek word for the ship of N oah was Kib otu s
O ur word ark however has evident relation to the
G reek a pxn and serves us as a pla in guidan ce to the
m ythical m eanin g of the whole story of the ood
T he G reeks called AR G os their m ost an cient city
and the m ythological prototype of all sea going ships
was the A R G O
T hey considered the gods of
T hey called
A RCad ia the m ost ancient deities
their m ost ancient and sacred religious cere m onies
O RG s ( opy l a ) fro m which the C hristians got the ir

opprobrious ter m orgies for all sorts of heathen

cere m onies especially when they were practised in
se c r es y
T he R o m an word for any m ystery w as
A RCan u m
for any religious teaching O R A Cu lu m
that is an arkite thing kn owledge shut up and con
ce ale d fro m public view
T he old Egyptian word
A R K signies upon the m onu m ents says B unsen
conclusion shuttin g up an d in C optic it signies to
gu ard F ro m this sense we have the word am a
citadel an d in th is ci tadel were kept for safety
Ou

v ari e tie s f anim a l an d v ege t ble h v e u c ce si vely

m de t he ir ppe r
ce u p the u rf e f th ea rt h d in
th w te r
f the
A n d w rd s
d lan gu age pe ris h
d
p e e v e d i the hi t ry f l i te r tu re prec i e ly li k e t h os e
f il f rm f e t i c t pl ts d a im als whi ch w e tu d y i
the ge l gi c l depo its f the p t
L e le y o L
g u ag
an d

are

os s

r s

a an

s o

sea

o o

on

as

T es t of R ac e in
Ma n s O r igin a n d
A r k in San s c ri s ign i e s the

Doc tr ine of D e l uge , p 4 95

an

an

D es tin y
su n

an

an

ac

an

s o

an

e as a

V er n on Harco u

ts

The My tho:

the

Ark

ancient histories and writings h ence term ed archives

Lesley
T he ark had thus various m eanings I t sym bolised
N oah the great father of the n e w world of which he
was at once the parent and rst m an and who was in
*
ancient ti m e worshipped as a god
I t sym bolised
fro m the nature of its contents the fert ile prin ciple
of N atur e and thus was one and the sa m e with the
virgin goddesses of P aganis m with M aia of I ndia
I sis of Egypt D iana V enus and A starte of Syria
C eres of G reece and Juno of R o m e who in turn
were all sy mbo ls of the H oly S pir it t e of D eity in
its feminine aspect T he episod e of Juno on the to p
of M ount I da is but another version of the ark resting
on the peak of A rarat T he ark too was the sym bol
of sal vation it was the place of safety by which its
occupants were saved fro m the devastations of the
del u ge I t was the secret receptacle where divin e or
creative wisdo m was enshrined and so the ark of the
Jews contained the tables of the law or in later ti m es
the roll of S cripture while the ark of Egypt r e pr e
senting the grosser id ea of D i v ine wisdo m v iz crea
tive power contained the sym bols of procreation I t
is a little singul ar in this connection that the Jews
were ordered to put into the ark of the covenant
A aron s rod that budded and that consequently
sym bolised fertil ity 3 and here the idea of the N ature
worship was preserved though redee m ed fro m the
grossness that m ar ked it in the S yrian and E gyptian
religions
T his too i m plies a relation to have existed between
the ark of N oah and the ark of the covenant or testi
T he Jewish ark of the covenant was al m ost
m ony d
an exact fa c si mile of the sacred ark of the Egyptians

F aber in his O rigin of P aga n I dolatry says the

a
rc
o
u
r
t
s
D oc t rin e of the D elu ge
e
H
S e
1 The an c i en t m e an i n g o f this w o rd is in s tr i c t k eep in g
wi th the pr ec ed in g rem ar ks

'

The My tho:

the

Ark

sacred ark was a necessary ins tru m ent in th e due

celebration of the E leus inian Mysteries I t was borne
in sol e m n procession on the b ack of an ass because
an ass was dee m ed a sym bol of typhon or the ocean
whic h susta ined upon its waters the ark of the
deluge and its contents a c co rding to C le m ens Alexan
d r in u s were certain conical pyr am ids cakes fo rm ed
so as to exhibit the se m blance of navels po m egranates
and the sym bol of the fe m ale principle spoken of in
the O ld T esta m ent as the ashera
F or the specic
m eaning of these sym bols the rea der is referred to m y

tract on the Mythology of T ree and Se rpent or

ship
F aber goes on to show that the sa cred ark
was but a sym bol of the earth or world T he ark
w as in fact a m iniature world and containing as it
did the ger m of all ani m ated things it was regarded
as the great m other whence all things sprung T hus
the ark earth and goddess were represented by
co mm on sy m bols T he lotus or lily the e g the
ship the cow and the navicular or cres c ent shap e d
m oon had in the anci e nt m yt hology the sam e typical
signican ce and all had refe rence to the m yth of the
deluge T he ark of N oah was thus sy m bo lical of the
earth or world B ut according to Josephus the Je wish
T ab e rnacle had a m ystical m eaning and sym bolised
the world No w the ark of the covenant was r e
garded as a m iniature tabern acle I t was even a m ong
the Jews held to be the especial abode of the god o f
the sourc e of life its contents being in early ti m es
e m ble m atic of physical as in m odern tim es they are
e m ble m atic of m oral or spiritual life
F aber shows that a sacred ark w as reverenced in all
the ancient religions T his ark was often represented
in the fo rm of a boat or ship as well as by an oblong
box or ches t E very writer h e says who t rea ts of
I nd ian m ythology notices the argha or sacred ark of
T he whole tenor of the D ruidical
the god S iva or I sa
superstition sh ows that an ark or ch es t or cell or
.

s Ark
5
17
1 6 M t/y os
t
b
qf
y

bo at or cav e rn was n o le ss i m port an t in the C e lti c

E gypt I taly
m ys te ri e s t han in tho s e of G r ee c e
T he S p an is h
P hoen ici a B abyl on an d H in d ost an
aut hors who discuss the early hist ory an d m yt ho l ogy o f
the M e xican s t e ll u s t hat the ir gr e at go d M e zitli ( or
V itzlip u tzli was carri e d in a s acre d ark on the shou l
d e rs of his pri e sts duri n g the ir progr e ss in qu e st of a
s e ttl e m e n t an d that aft e rw ards w he n the y n ally
s e ttl e d in an y pl ac e the s am e ar k c on t ai n i n g the i m ag e
of the d e ity was s o l e m n ly d e p o sit e d in his te m pl e
J ac ob B ry an t in the pr e fac e to his A n alysis of the

A n ci e n t M yt hol ogy s ays

U p on e n quiry w e shall
n d t hat the D e luge w as the gr an d e p o c ha of e v e ry

an ci e n t ki n gd om
an d his w ork g oe s t o s ho w t hat
thi s tr aditi on o f the d e stru cti o n o f the w orld by a
ood an d the sal v ati on of a si n gl e fam ily in a ship o r
ar k
w as the m yt ho s t hat lay at the fou n d ati on of
all the an ci e n t r e ligi ous sys t em s
H e n c e in all the
old w ors hips the t ops of m o u n t ai n s w e r e e st e e m e d
s acr e d pl ac e s The altar d er iv e s its n am e fr om the

L ati n altu s a high pl ac e The altar was also as

we s hall s hortly s e e the e quiv al e n t of the ark an d it
w as als o the m ou n tain on w hich the ar k r e s te d
A L T O R the m o u n t ai n
Vari o us te rm s s ays F ab e r
are e m pl oy e d by the G r ee ks to d e scrib e t his m y s te r i
o u s ark an d t he y s e v e r ally acc ordin g t o t he ir lit e ral
im p ort c on v e y t o u s the id ea of a chest a b oat a
c ofn or a n avicul ar ark such as that in w hic h D e u c a
li on an d P yrr ha w e r e pr e s e rv e d at the tim e of the
d e luge The E gyptian s an d H e br e ws how e v e r styl e d
the ar k T e b ah * Bar is 1 A rgo an d B ut o o r a c of n
The H e br e ws us e d the w ord TBH ( T e b a) t o d e sign ate
the ark of N o ah an d AR N ( Ar on )t o d e signat e the ar k
,

A s A p am ea w as c all e d the c i ty of the Bo at or A rk

Theb e s in E gypt w as in lik e m an n e r t he c ity of the A r k
Cof n b e c au se of t he Ro y al gr ave s the re
1 Fr om whi ch ou r w or d b ar k or b ar q u e a shi p

so

or

77
16

Myt/J o: qf

A rk

tb e

c o v en an t
This l atte r w as i n trust e d t o the s ole
u
rdi
an s hip o f a cl ass of pri e sts the s on s or d e sc e n d
a
g

k
n
r
e
f
h
e
ar
ts
A
r
h
s
o
s
o
pri
sts
o
t
showi n g
a
n
t
e
of
o
an
t hu s that in al l probability A ar on w as a m ythol ogic al

T he w o rd TBH s ays L e sle y

an d n o t a r e al p e rs on

M an s O rigi n an d D e sti n y p age

is an Egy p
ti an w ord m ean i n g a v as e or pot G e s en iu s s ays in
his dicti on ary t hat its H e br e w e ty m o l ogy is qui te
u n k n own I n the C optic it m e an s a c av e rn a b o at a

che st or a s arc ophagu s or c ofn

L e sl e y als o shows
by a m ultitud e o f curi ous an d strikin g id e as that in
e arly ti m e s archit e ctur e w as cl o s e ly ass oci at e d with
r e ligi on sym b olis e d the e arly r e ligi on in st on e That
re ligi on had its origi n f or the m ost p ar t in the
arkit e m yt ho s in the ship or ho us e or c he st on the
m o u n t ai n t op c on tai n i n g the g e rm s of r e n e w e d l ife
T hus on e of the m o st c om m on fo rm s o f r e ligi o us
arc hit e ctur e was in E gypt the pyram id o r tru n c at e d
co n e an d in G re e c e the p e di m e n t a w ord sy n on y
m o us w ith pyr am id wit h a cr o ss or u rn at the top
A s how e v e r Ar arat was d o ubl e pe ak e d an d
( g
the ar k was in t he curre n t tr aditi on fabl e d t o re st
be tw e e n the p eaks t his pe di m e n t or pyram id was
s om e ti m e s split in t wo an d the u rn o r a m o r ar k
plac e d b e twe en the m ( g
of

the

Fig 1
.

I t w uld s

Fig 2

prob abl e that the Je ws had the ar k of the

c o v e n an t c e n t u ri e s b e fo r e the y kn e w an yt hin g c on c e rn in g the
a r k o f N o ah
A s m on othe is t s t he y s tood in gre at m eas ure
al oo f from t he o ld w orld m yt ho l o gi e s
The ri t e s an d c e re
m on i e s of t he s e ho we v e r o cc as i on all y c re pt in am on g the m
an d w e re ad o pted in the ir r e li gi o u s wo rs hi p
V e ry m u c h of
t he J e w1 s h ri t u al w as borr ow e d ab o u t the e r a of S ol om on from
o

e em

The M l m

the

A rk

The al t ar of ou r C atholic churche s, with the s acr e d

c he st w hich c on t ai n s the c o n s e cr at e d ho st , is thu s
s ym b olic al of the m ou n t ain with the ar k The che st
in qu e sti o n c orr e sp o n di n g with the ar k o r s acr e d che st
o f the J e wish an d Egypti an Worship B ut the c o m
m u n i o n t abl e o f P rot e st an t w o rship is the an al ogu e o f
the C atholi c alt ar, is , in short , the TBH or T e b ah, or
ar k
The r e ar e two s acr e d pl ac e s in e v e ry hous e , the
tabl e at whic h m e als are t ak e n , the alt ar , as it w er e ,
o f the ho us e hold , an d the circl e r ou n d the r e sid e
T o sit at on e s t abl e is t o e n t e r the v e ry s an ctu ary of
d om e stic fri en ds hip Just n ow the r e is a hot disput e
am o n g the C hurch of E n gl an d cl e rgy as t o the pr op e r
d e sign ati o n of the pi e c e of church fur n itur e fr om which
the s acram e n ts ar e dis p e n s e d
S om e cl ai m it to b e

o n ly a
t abl e , ot he rs d e clari n g it t o b e an alt ar
n e i t he r p arty app ar e n tly disc e r n i n g t hat
the two
t hin gs hav e , as c hurch sym b ols , the s am e m ean i n g,
an d hav e d e sc e n d e d fr om the o ld arkit e w ors hip
T he
cup on the tabl e, the che st on the altar, the u rn on
the p e dim e n t , ar e on e an d the s am e s y mb ol , an d re pre
s e n t the ark ou the m ou n t ain S om e tim e b ack the
writ e r visit e d the s om e what n ot orious churc h of S t
Al b an s , H olb or n a church in which the r e is a pr ofus e
r e producti o n of what is c all e d m e di aev al sym b olism ,
bu t which in r e ality is a sym b olis m d e rive d fr o m thes e

old w o rships
H er e the t able is b ol dl y ass erte d to

b e an
alt ar
T he writ e r s att e n ti on was arr e ste d by
the fact t hat ar o u n d the arch divi d in g the c han c e l
fr om the c hurch, an d on the wall imm e di ate ly ab o v e
the tabl e or alt ar the d e c or ati on was the w e ll k n o wn
w at e r sym b ol of the Egypti an s N
in dic ativ e of
the turbul e n t w av e s that surr ou n d e d the m o u n t o f
s afe ty an d the ar k of r e st
.

WW

Egy pti s

d the ark had b ee n bo rrowe d at a m u ch

e ar l i e r pe ri o d
The r ee m as ons at the pre s e n t d ay u se m an
ri te s an d s m bo ls of whose an c ien t m e an in g the are wholl

t he

an

an

y
y

rk
h
t
e
d
Tb a My tb o: o
f

2 0

Whv

s e en that

the

ark

was

d e sign ate d by a
*
m
h
r
e
w ord which had the m ean in g of a s e pul c
or t o b
I t was the t om b o f N oah an d o f the re m nan t o f the
an d t he s e w he n t he
old w o rld life t hat it c on ta in e d
o o d subsid e d w e re b orn as i t w e r e i n to n e w lif e
So the ark was the sym b ol of r e surr e cti on or r e g en e r a
ti on an d in thi s s e n s e allusio n is m ad e to it in the
b ap t is m al s e r vice of the C hurch o f E n gl an d in the
pray e r w hich asks that the re cipi e n t m ay b e s av e d
from the w av e s of this troubl e s om e w orld an d b e
I n the old
r e c e iv e d i n t o the ark of Christ s Chu r ch
He
m yt hol o gy J an us was a r e pr e s e n t ati o n of N o ah
was re pr e s e n t ed with two fac e s as o n e t hat l o ok e d
up on t wo w orlds an d on the r e v e rs e of his c o i ns w as
He was r e pr e
a d o v e circl e d wi t h an o liv e bran c h
s e n t e d s ays B ryan t as a j ust m an an d a prophe t
T he re was a traditi on that he rais e d the rst te m pl e
to heav e n an d he w as r e gard e d as on e o f the ca bir i or
the e ight o rigin al d e iti e s o f the ark
He is r e pre s en t e d
w ith a k e y an d is te rm e d the d e ity of the d oor o r
p ass ag e hen c e in r e fe ren c e to him e v e ry d oo r am on g
a e

l y Chr is t ian t im e s the altar w as in s om e s e n se a

t o m b The s e p u l c hr e o f a sain t be c am e his shr in e that i s
S om e tim es c hu r che s
a c he s t o r b ox c o n t ain in g s ac re d re li c s
as w e ll as alt ars w e re e re c te d o v e r the grav e s of the d e ad an d
f o r t he s am e reas on the v au lt s b e n ea th c hu rc he s w e re w on t to
b e u se d as c e m e t e r i e s
I n the s e c on d C o un c il o f N i c e 3 law
w as p ass e d whi c h m ad e b is ho ps su bje c t to d e p r i vati on if the y
c o n s e crat e d a chu rch wi thou t re li c stha t is re m ain s o f a
s ai n t E n lan d w as at on e t im e s ore ly p uzzl e d t o n d re li cs
fas t e n ou gg f or all he r n e w altars ( Soa m e s A n glo Saxon
an d thi s le d to the ir frau d u l e n t fab r i cation
Chu r c h
T he alt ar o f a s ai n t w as in s om e s e n s e the to m b o f the s ain t
an d t he c hi e f altar i s in t hi s s e n se re gard e d as the to m b o f
the go d w ho is wors hi ppe d
The i d e as o f d e at h an d re su rr e c
t ion ar e c l os e ly ass oc ia te d wi th the m ass se r vi ce pe rform e d on
Cat holi c altar s an d wi th the c om m un i on s e rvi ce of the Lo rd s
tabl e or Te bah or ark in Pr o te s tan t c hu rche s

T he w ord
m y s te ry
appli e d to t he pagan ce l e b rati on o f
ar ki te worshi p is s t i ll appli e d to the m as s an d c om m un i on
se rvi c e s of C hris tian w ors hi p
1*

In

e ar

My tho: of the A r k

The

Lati n s

2 1

call e d J an n a an d the r st m on th o f
t he y ear was call e d J an u ary as b e i n g an o p e nin g of a
n e w e ra
In this s ens e the ar k had the m e an i n g of
the r e s u rre cti on an d he r e its sym bo l was an e gg
A n e gg was a co m m on sym b o l in the m yt ho logy of
the an ci e n t w o rld
A bull butti n g an e gg wit h his
horn s an d thus br eaki n g the s he ll an d lib e rati n g the
i m prison e d life was the sym b o l of the O p e n i n g y ear
at the ti m e w he n the y e ar had its c om m e n c e m e n t in
the S pri n g o r s eas on in w hich the e arth s fe r t ility
w hich had be en d e str oye d by T yphon or A hrim an
o r wi n t e r was r en e we d by O sir is or O rm u s d or the
S pri n g s u n V irgil allud e s to t hi s id e a : C an didus
au r at is aperit q u u m c orn ib u s an n um T aur u s
T his
is the m e an in g of the P asch or Eas te r e ggs 3 t he y are
sym bo ls o f r e surre cti on or r e n e w e d life an d in t his
s e n s e w e re us e d in the r e ligio us ri te s o f G r e e c e I n di a
an d E gypt

The e gg s ays J acob B ry an t

as it c on t ai n e d
t he pri n cipl e s of l ife w as t hought n o i m prop e r e m
bl e m o f the ark in which w e re pr e s e rv e d the rudi
m e n ts o f the futur e w orld
H e n c e in the D ion u sian
an d in ot he r m ys ter i e s o n e p ar t of the n o ctur n al

ce re m on y c on siste d in the c on s e crati on o f an egg

T his e gg he as s e rts on the author ity o f P orp hyry
was sym b oli cal o f the w orld an d w as call e d the m u n
dan e e gg or e gg which e n cl o s e d the wo rld
The author o f the
F r om
T wo B abyl on s s ays :
E gypt the s e sacre d e ggs can b e di sti n ctly trac e d t o t he
b an ks o f the E up hrate s T he cl assic p oe ts ar e fu ll o f
the fabl e of t he m ystic e gg o f t he B abyl on i an s an d
its tal e is thus t o ld by H ygi n us the E gypti an the
l e arn e d k ee p e r o f the P al ati n e library at R o m e in the
t i m e of A ugustus
A n e gg of w on dr ous siz e is s aid
to hav e fall e n from heav e n i n t o the riv e r E uphr at e s
o u t o f which c am e V e n us w ho afte rwards was c all e d
Astart e H e n c e the e gg
the S yri an g o dd e ss
be c am e on e of the symb o ls of As tar te or Eas te r an d

t he

was

The

2 2

My tho: of

A rk

the

cc ordin gly at C yp rus on e of the cho s e n s eats of the

w or ship of Ve n us or As tar t e an egg was re pre s en te d
The o ccult m ean i n g of this m yst ic egg
of hu ge siz e
f
or it had a tw ofo ld sign ic an ce )had re fe r
o f A st art e
(
e n ce t o the ark dur in g the ti m e of the o o d in whic h
the who l e hum an r ac e w er e s hu t up as a chick is
The appli
e n cl o se d in t he e gg b e for e it is hatched
cati on of the w o rd e gg t o the ark c om e s thus
T his in
T he H e bre w n am e f or an eg is B EITZ
C hald ee an d P hoen ici an b e com e s B EITH which is also
The
the t e rm f or ho us e as B e th e 1 ho us e of G o d
t
us
h
h
ous e or ark in whi ch the p r in cipl e
e
w
a
s
h
t
e
gg

o f life was e n cl o s e d
T he egg t hus sym b oliz e d a t o m b an d a re surre ction
d e st ructi on an d creati on Not a fe w of t he an ci e n t
n ati o n s says D r O liv er ( Signs a nd Sy m bols
bl
e n de d
)
t he crea ti on an d the d e lug e s o in ti m at e ly t hat the
sam e m yt ho s applie s t o e ither e v en t The b oo k of
G e n e s is t e lls us that in the six hu n dr e dth y ear o f
N oah s life in the se c on d m on th an d the s e v e n te e n th
d ay of the m o n t h the o od be gan an d N oah e n t e r e d

the ark
P lut arc h in his tre atis e D e [ s id e et 0 3 in
s ays that O siris t o av oid the fury of T yp hon w e n t
in to his ark an d that it happe n e d on the s e v e n t e e n th
d ay of the m on t h A thy r when the su n was in S c orpi o
T he Egypti an s he t e lls us k e pt tw o fe stiv als at o pp o
si te p ar ts of the y ear v iz the sprin g an d autu mn al
e qui n ox
the sprin g fe stiv al b e i n g t he r e sur r e cti o n
an d the autu m n fe s t iv al the d e ath o f O sir is
; an d he
says that on the s e v e n tee n th d ay o f the s e c on d m on th
after the autu m n al e qu in o x O siris w as shut up in his
c o f n or ar k an d this ag re e s with t he v e ry d ate at
which N oah was said to hav e e n t e re d his ark the
civil y e ar o f the J e ws b egi n n i n g with the autu m na l
e qu in ox
The ti m e of N oah s lib e rati on fro m the ark
was t he co mm en c e m e n t of the nat u r al y ear the ti m e
whe n O sir is was fable d to e n te r n ot the ar k but t he
m oo n ( I sis ) an d t o br in g b ack the earth s fe rt ility
a

The

My tho: of

the

A rk

The i n t e rv al duri n g which O siris was in the ar k sy m

b o lize d the W i n t e r o r s e as o n o f the e art h s ste rility
The l e ge n d of O siris b e i n g sl ai n by Typ hon is thus
the fo u n d ati on l e g e n d of the old n atur e w orship
It
is the su n l o si n g i t s p ow e r the e arth d e priv e d of its
fe rtilitythe d e ath of O s iri s , or n atur e , or Or m u s d ,
sl ai n by Ahrim an ; an d the op e ni n g spri n g tim e was
the gre at r e surr e cti on fe stiv al , w he n N oah l e ave s the
ar k , or O siris quits his t o m b , or t he e gg gi v e s u p its
i m pris on e d life , or the e arth s fe rtility is r e store d , or
the su n s p o w e r r e gai n e d
Easte r D ay , as n ow k e pt
in c on n e cti on wit h the ass e rt e d r e surr e cti on o f J e sus ,
is si m ply the ad aptati on of a fe stiv al of the an ci e n t
r e ligi on t o t he pu rp o s e s o f a n e w fait h
I t t ak e s its
n am e fr om the S ax on g o dd e ss Eo s tr e , w ho is t he s am e
with the S yri an Astart e an d the Egypti an I sis The
sto ry of the o o d has , ho w e v e r , a r e l ati on to an othe r

m ythol ogic al id e a the N e r os , or succ e ssi on of age s

o r cycl e s , or the r e n e wal of w orlds In the H i n d oo
m yt ho l ogy this id ea n ds e xpr e ssi on in the K al i Yu g,
or gre at y e ar or ag e of B r ahm , at the e xpir at i on of
whic h the old w orld is d e stroy e d an d a n e w w orld
pro duc ed J os e phus , howe v e r, sp e aks of a gr e at yea r
c om p o se d of six hu n dr e d ordin ary y ears ; this c on sti

t u te d the an ci en t cycl e o f the N e ro s

G od , he s ays,
affo rd e d the p atri arc hs a l on g e r t e rm o f life on acc o un t
o f t he ir virtu e an d the g oo d u se t he y m ad e of the ir
wisd om in astron om ic al disc ov e ri e s , w hich t he y w ould
n ot hav e had the m e an s of fo r e t e lli n g u n l e ss t he y had
liv e d six hu n dr e d y ears ; f or the gr eat y e ar is c om

e d in t hat i n t e rv al
l
t
G
o
dfr
e y H iggi n s
i
n hi s
e
p
C e ltic D ruids , sho ws that the an ci e n ts t ho ught that
six hu n dr e d y e ars c on stitut e d a s oli lu n ar p eri od, or
a p e ri o d in w hich the su n an d m oon w o uld ag ai n
su st ai n e x actly the s am e r e l ati on s to e ach othe r
T hus if at an y ti m e the re was a n e w or full m oon , at
the s am e m om e n t six hu n dre d y e ar s he n c e the r e
w o uld b e n ew or full m o on again W ith e ach of

The

My thor qf

A rk

the

cie n ts he ld that the r e was a n e w

The Av atar s of the H in d oo
age an d a n e w w o rld
m y thol ogy an d the g o ld e n ir o n br ass & c ag e s o f
ar e
illus t rati on s of this
t he Ro m an m ytho l ogy
thought ; an d in the c e le brate d li n e s of V irgil pr e
di c t i n g the c om m e n c e m en t of a n e w cycle an d the
the id e a n ds v e ry pl ain
re tu rn o f the g o ld e n age
x pre ssi on
J am re d i t e t vi rg o r e d e u n t s at u rn i a re gn a
J am n o va p roge n i es c oelo d e m itt itu r alto
T he gre at s e ri e s of r e v olvi n g ag e s b e gi n s an e w
r e turn s the
Now to o r e tur ns the virgi n A stre a
r e ign of S aturn n ow a n e w pr oge n y from high he av e n
d e sc e n ds " The durati on of an age was 60 0 y ear s
an d t he n m en l o ok e d f o r w on d e rful c han g e s t o c o m e
I t w as in the s e c on d m on t h o f the 60 0 th y e ar of his
age t hat N o ah e n t e r e d i n t o the ar k an d it w as o n
the rst d ay of the rst m on t h o f the 6 0 1 st y ear or
the r st d ay o f the rst y ear o f a n e w age t hat N oah
is sa id to hav e l e ft the ar k an d to hav e c o mm e n c e d
the in augur ati o n of a n e w w o rld
S aturn was the G r e e k Chr on osj t he G o d o f T im e
J ac ob B ry an t s ays he was the s am e with Jan us an d
N oah T he as s o ci ati on o f a n e w r ul e of j ustic e of
age o f virt u e succ ee di n g an a e of wick e d n e ss
an d t his u n d e r the r ul e o f a virgi n g o dd e ss id e n ti e s
the pr e dicti o n of V ir gil wi t h the m yt ho s o f t he ark
The z o d i ac al e m bl e m s sho w the astr on om ic al e x
pl an ati on o f whic h the m y t hos is c ap abl e T aurus
or t he B u ll w as
the sig n in w hic h t he s u n was
an d
u n d e r w hic h the s u n was w o rs hipp e d at the
spri n g e quin ox
H en c e O siris w as re pre s e n ted by
A s trea in the m yt hology o f the an c ie n t s w as the godde ss
o f ju s t i c e
She re sid e d o n t he e art h d u rin g t he re i gn o f
S atu rn in the go lde n age bu t shocked at the im pi e ty an d
wi cke d n e ss o f m e n in t he su cc e e din g age s s he re t urn e d to
hea v e n an d b e c am e on e o f t he s i gn s o f t he zo dia c
1 H e n c e ou r w o r d c hr on e si g n ify in g an o ld w om an an d
sa tu rnal ia as appli e d to w ild an d li c e n tiou s orgie s
thes e p e ri o ds

the

an

'

e
A
t
h
rk
The My tho: o
f

B ull Apis an d I sis r epr e s e n t e d as a w om an

with a c o w s he ad The B ull Apis was m ark e d on
the s ho uld e r wit h a cr e sc e n t sym b olisi n g the m o o n or
T he vir gi n I sis wit h a c o w s head n ursi n g
ar k
H orus was the pr ot otyp e of all the vir gin g o dd e ss e s
m othe rs o f G o d an d qu e e n s o f he av e n o f t he o ld
A t Ephe sus she was r e pre s e n t e d
c l assic m yt ho l ogy
in gr ot e squ e t hough hu m an form with a m ultitud e of
H e re s he b ore the n am e D i an a an d r e pre
b reasts
s e n t e d in a crud e w ay t he prin cipl e o f m ate rn ity
G r e e k ar t r e pr e s e n te d the Egypti an I sis as a b eaut iful
w om an n ursi n g the i n fan t H orus 3 an d M r S harp e in

his H ist ory of Egypt t e lls us t hat whe n the w o rs hip

o f I sis w as i n t e rdict e d at R om e an d t hat of C hristi an ity
e st ablis he d in its pl ac e the p ai n t e rs w ho hit he rt o had
t
ir
livi
n g by p ai n ti n g pictur e s of I sis an d
o
t
h
e
g
H orus still c on t i n u e d t o p ain t the s am e pictur e s of
the V irgi n an d C hild c alli n g the m n ow M ary an d the
I n fan t J e sus The old m yt hol ogic al t ai n t still c on
ti n ne s an d I hav e b e fo re m e w hil e writi n g a b e auti
f ully c ol o ur e d pictur e of the V irgi n M ary acc om p an i e d
with a l arge lu n e tt e or curv e d m oon or ship sy m b ol
t hus s ho wi n g how C hristi an art still a ss oci ate s wit h
its p ai n ti n gs as Christian fe stiv als c on tin u e in the ir
usage s the bu n s of G oo d F riday ( the c ak e s that
w e r e offe r e d to A starte )an d the e ggs o f E ast e r the
s ym b ols of the w o rld s m o st an ci en t m ytho l o gi e s
the

T HE A R K I N ITS C O

NN E CTIO N WITH

MYSTE R IES

T HE

AN C I E NT

st o ry of the A rk an d D e luge is the st ory of

t he d e structi o n o f an o ld w o rld an d the cr e ati on o f a
The lib e r ati o n of its o cc u p an t is t he r e
n e w w o rld
fo r e to the e xis t i n g age the c re ati on of the rs t m an
an e v en t c om m o n t o all n ati on s an d the p o i n t t o w hic h
T he n am e ar k ( a pxn)
all tr adi t i on m ust c on v e rg e
r e e m i n e n t an d m o st an ci en t an d in
s ign i e s fi rst
p
The

The

My thor of the A r k

d ay
t his s en s e m i n gle s with ou r co mm o n sp ee c h t o
I t is w e ll kn ow n that all the an ci e n t r e ligi on s c on
siste d of two p ar tso n e a syste m o f ce re m on i e s an d
sacric e s op e n an d co m m on to the m ass e s o f the p e opl e
t he tea chin gs of w hic h w e r e e x o t e ric or public an d
an ot he r p or t i on whic h was k e pt c are fully c on c ea l e d
from the public e y e in w hi ch a high p hil o s o phy an d
an d w hic h fr om the
a pur e m or ality w e r e t aught
s e cre cy an d m yste ry in which its pr oc e e din gs w ere
s hr o ude d was te rm e d e s ot er ic or hidd e n T o t he se
r e ligi ous r ite s m yst e r i e s as t he y w e r e te rm e do n ly
an d t he s e o n ly aft e r a
a s e l e ct f e w w e r e ad mitt e d
l en gthen e d prob ati on an d p assin g thr ough a s e ri e s of
sy m b o lical an d i n iti at or y r it e s in which the can di
d at e s w e r e surr o u n de d b y a v ari e ty o f t e rr o rs an d
difculti e s an d w e r e b e s e t by i m agi n ary d an g e rs an d
p erils s o t hat t he ir c our ag e of b o dy an d m in d w ere
put to a m os t s e v e re t e st
e hav e s e e n t hat the ar k sign i e d a c o f n or a
s e pulchr e T he En glish w ord b oat is d e riv e d fr o m
the G r ee k xIBm og or an ark 3 or the C o ptic b en t a
c ofn or s e pulchr e Am on g the C e ltic B rit o n s the
ar k
o f A e d d on was c on side r e d as his t e m pl e or
san ctuar y o r r e stin g pl ac e ; this the y w ere w o n t t o
st yl e his b e dd whi ch w ord lik e the C optic b e ut
d en ot e s a c o f n or s e pulchr e T he w o rd is us e d in
this s e n se t o d ay in Wal e s in the shri n e w hich s o
m an y t o u ris ts visit an d w hich is c alle d i n diffe r e n tly
Be thge le rt or Be ddge l e rt m ean i n g the gr av e of G ele rt
I n the B o o k o f G e n e sis t he sam e w ord is us e d t o
d e sign at e the ar k of the c o v e n an t an d the soros or
c ofn within w hi ch the d e ad b ody of J os e p h was
d e p o sited T his w ord w as A RN ( aron ) an d it liv es
in ou r m idst to d ay in the w ord u r n a v as e c on tain
in g the as he s o f the d e ad
The ark was thus at on ce the c ofn or the s hip of
the he r o g ods
I n the m yst e r i e s of I sis an d O si ris
P lutar ch re la te s t hat the i m ag e o f a d ead m an was
.

Ta

"

My tho: of

A rk

the

carr i e d ab out in an ark or sm all b oat o f a lu n e tte

fo rm whi ch s e rve d him as a c o fn T his p e rs on was
O s iris an d this i n te rm en t t he y vi e w e d as the di s
app earan c e o f the D e ity an d the l am e n t ati on s o cc a
s io n e d by his b e i n g d e ad or l o st co n stitut e d the rst
p art of the Myst e ri e s A fte rw ards o n the third d ay
subse qu e n t to his e n cl o sure withi n the ark a proc e s
si on w e n t d o wn to the s e a at n ight the pri e sts b ear
in g the s acr e d ark
I n to this the y p oure d wate r
fro m the riv e r an d when t his rite had b e e n d u ly pe r
form e d t he y rais e d a sho ut of joy e xcl ai m i n g that
the l ost O sir is had b e e n fo u n d t hat the d ead O siris
had b e e n r e st or e d t o life t hat he who had d e s ce n d e d
i n to H ad e s had r e tur n e d fr om H ad e s The e xul ta
ti on s in w hich the y n ow in dulge d c on stitut e d the
s e c on d o r j oyful p art o f the m yst e ri e s H e n c e o rigi

n at e d t ho s e w atc hw ords us e d by the My s tae :

e
hav e fo un d him le t u s r ej o ic e t og e the r
The
an ci e n t M yste ri e s had t he ir c e l e br ati on s pr ohibit e d
by law by t he Em p er or T heod osius in the 4 th c e n tury
S till the m yst e ri e s of D i an a w e re c e l e brat e d in the
m id dl e age s in m an y p arts o f E ur op e an d the
m yst e ri e s t he m s e lv e s sti ll liv e in ou r m idst t od ay in
the r it e s an d i n iti ati on s of the F r ee m as on s
The
ee m ason s l odge is a t e m ple or t ab e rn acl e or ar k
an d the ar k its e lf for the F r e e m as on s lik e the J e ws
(
.

w om en w e e in g f or T am m u z or A d o n i s the su n god
o f S yri a all u d e d t o B E z e k i e l an d t he se arc h o f t he d is c on
y
s ol ate C e re s in the Gre ci an Myst e r i e s f or he r l o s t d au gh
te r Pro s e rp in e c arri e d o ff by P l u t o in to the in f e rn al re gi on s
ar e m o d ic at i o n s o f t he s am e m yt ho s
T he re ad e r wi ll b e
s tru ck wi th the s im i l ar i t y o f thi s m ou rn i n g an d re joi c in g t o
the G ood Fri d ay c e l e brat i o n o f the d e at h o f J e s u s an d the
rejo i c in g on ac c ou n t of his re sur re c ti on on Eas te r S un day
The s chol ars of C hri s t s H os p i t al in the ir E as t e r v i s i t s to the
Man si on H ou se have or had (f or the wr i t e r is s p ea k in g his
o w n e x p eri e n c e thi rt y y e ar s s in c e ) a p i e c e o f p ap e r p in n e d
u pon the ir c oat s abo u t thr e e in c he s lon g b y on e in ch br oad
ha v in g prin t e d u p on i t in blac k l e tte r t he l e gen d
He is
ris en l
The

h
rk
A
e
t
The My thor o
f

E gypti an s u se an ark in the ir

is but a
m in i atur e re pre s en tati on of the l o dge ( L o dge is
d e r iv e d from the S an scrit l oga sign ifyin g the w orld )
D r O live r who has wr itte n v e ry l earn e dly c o n ce rn i n g
the rite s an d sym b ols of M as on ry c alls the an ci e n t

P agan is m spuri ous M as on r y whe re as the p alp able

fac t is that Mas onr y is spur i o us P agan is m is a
Dr O liv e r
m od e rn i m i tat i on o f t he an ci en t m yst e ri e s

says Maso n ry w as re veal e d t o A d am in P aradis e

an d c e rt ain ly its rite s c arr y t he ir a llusi o n s b ack t o a
pe ri od m uch m o re re m o te t han the buildin g of S ol o
m on s T e m pl e
Re pro du ci n g the an ci e n t re ligi on we sur e ly e xp e ct
to n d in F r e e m as o nr y t he r e pr o ducti on o f the an ci e n t
m ytho s t o n d t he re fo r e m an y allusi on s to the ar k
I n M r M ack e y s i n t e r e sti n g l e xic on o f F re e m as onry
he t e lls us t hat the F r e e m as on s call the m s e lve s

N oac hi te s or obs e rv e rs of the c om m an d m e n ts o f

N oah
an d
cl aim that whe n m an ki n d b eg an t o
wan d e r on ce m o re from p aths o f purity the pr in cipl es
of
N oah w e re sti ll pe rp e tu at e d by t hat p orti on o f
t he ra ce w hom the F r e e m as on s r eg ard as t he ir im
m e di ate an c e sto rs
The s e v e n pr e c e pts viz t o r e
n o u n c e all id o ls to w ors hip the on ly G o d t o c o mm it
The N oachi te s w e re a c l ass o f pe opl e w ho w e re n ot Je ws bu t
w ho w e re s ai d t o b e t he s o n s o f N o a h b e c au s e t he y o b se r ve d
t he s e v e n m o ral p re c e pts c all e d t he c o m m an dm e n ts o f N o ah

T he T alm u d re co gnis e s t he s e pe o pl e as p i o u s m e n
Who
e v e r re c e i v e s t he s e v e n c o m m an dm e n ts
s ay s t he oral law
w hi c h the Talm u d re c ords an d is c ar e fu l to obs e rve the m he
is on e of the p iou s o f the n ati on s of t he w orld an d has a share
in t he w orld to c om e H lc ho th Me lac him c h 8 1 0
A gain

w e ar e bo u n d
say s a T alm u d is t t o l o ve as b re thr e n all t ho se
w ho o bs e r ve t he N o a c hid es w hate v e r t he ir re li gi o u s o p in i on s
m ay ot he r w is e b e
We ar e boun d to isi t the ir sick to b
MC
8
t he ir d ead to ass is t the ir poo r li ke t hos e o f I srae l
o ld Pa ths
The y we re probably the v i rt uou s heathe n w ho
c e l e brat in g t he m ys te ri e s or re c e i v in g the s ac ram en ts o f the ir
r e li gi on vir tua ll y ran k e d as the tru e d e s c e n dan ts o f N o ah to
w hom un der the v ar io u s n am es of O sir is Bacchus A d on is
& c the m y s te r i es r e la te d
an d

'

My tho: of the A r k

T he

to

bstai n from i n c e st from st ealin g to

b e j us t a n d t o e at n o e sh with the bl oo d in it w e r e
said to form the c on stitu t i on of the an ci e n t bre thr en
M ore ov e r the acm e o f m as on ic sci e n c e b ears the
ti t l e o f r oy al arch d e gre e T his w o rd arc h is m e r e ly
ap
pr
on o u n c e d s oft t he w o rd ar k an d arch ar e t he
x
s am e as s e e n in c om p osi t i on arch deac on an d arch or
ar k an g e l
A cc ordin gly w e n d t his Royal Ar ch d e gr ee
has s e cr e t r e fe re n c e t o the s hip m yt ho s f or in S c ot
l an d the r oy al arc h m as o n s b ear the titl e o f Royal A r lc

I n the M ast e rs o r t hird d e gr e e of m as on ry

Mar iners
w e hav e the d e ath of O siri s or N o ah c e l e brat e d by
the d e at h o f H ir am A b i the c hi e f build e r or
archit e ct of the te m pl e
M r M ack e y s ays t hat F r e e
m as o n s t ak e the n am e H iram it e s t o i n dic at e the ir
d e sc e n t fr om H iram an d t his t e rm is m or e p articul arly
us e d in the S c otch d e gr e e of P atri arch N oachit e t o dis
t in gu ish m as te r m as on s fr om the bre thr e n o f that
de gre e who pr ofe ss t o d e sc e n d im m e di at e ly an d with
ou t c on n e c t i on wit h t e m pl e m as on ry
from the s ons
of N oah
S o m e l e arn e d write rs he adds e m brac e
all m as o n s u n d e r the te rm N oac hite s
Be fore the n al in iti ati o n i n to the Is id ian or
O sirian m yste ri e s s om e v e ry t e rr ibl e ord eals hav e to
b e p ass e d ; a st at e of d arkn e s s b e s e ts the aspiran t in
which te rribl e s ou n ds ar e he ard an d acro ss w hich ap
p alli n g visi on s as h T he r e ad e r will n d a v e ry
vivid d e lin e ati on of t he s e te rr ors in M oore s Epicur ean
in w hich t he c e r e m on i e s of ini tiati on ar e v e ry fully
d e scrib e d I t is t he s e which ar e i mit ate d in the
c e re m on i e s w hic h the F re em as on un d e rg oe s b e for e his
ad m issi on t o t he d e gr e e o f m as te r mas on
M r M ack e y
s ays in the m as t e r m as on s d e gre e which is the per
f e c tion of sy m b olic or an ci e n t cr aft m as on ry the
pure st of truths are u n ve il e d am id the m ost awf ul
c e rem on i e s N o n e but he who has visit e d the hol y
of holi e s an d tr av e ll e d t he r oad of p e r il can hav e an
y
co n ce pti o n o f the m yste rie s u n fold e d in this d e gre e
no

m urd e r ,

The My tho: qf the A r k

I n the l an gu ag e of the l e ar n e d an d z eal ous H utchi n s on ,

the m as t e r m as on r e pr e s e n ts a m an s av e d fro m the

grav e of i n iquity an d rais e d t o the fai th of s alvati on

I t te sti e s o u r faith in the r e surr e cti on of the b ody ,
an d w hil e it i n culc at e s a pr actica l l e ss on of prud en c e
an d u n s hak e n d e lity , it in spir e s t he m o st c he e ri n g
hop e o f t hat n al r e w ard which b e l on gs alon e to the
-

j ust m ad e p e rfe ct
D r O liv e r in his e xp o siti on of m as on ic sign s an d
sym b ols s ays ( an d he is he r e illustrati n g m as o n ic
practic e s the i n iti at ory r ite s of t his d e gr e e by the
an e xtr aordin ary c e r e m on y r e fe rri n g
an ci e n t us ag e s
)
t o the D e lug e was us e d in the i n iti ati o n s w hic h s ho ws
how m yst e ri o usly t hat e v e n t w as pr e s e rv e d an d tr an s
T he vi o le n t d e ath of s om e u n happy i n dividu al
m itte d
w as he r e c e l e brat e d w ho s e b o dy the y affe ct e d to hav e
l o st an d m uch tim e an d m an y c e r e m on i e s w e re e x
p e n d e d in the s e arch e v e n the aspiran t him s e lf was
m ade gurativ e ly t o d ie an d t o d e sc e n d i n to the in
fern al r e gi on s for the purp os e of asce rt ai n in g the fate
o f him w ho s e dis app e ar an c e the y c eas e d n ot t o d e pl or e
T hi s p art of the c e r em on y was p e rform e d in d ar kn e ss
an d
w as acc om p an i e d with l oud l am e n t ati on s the
b o dy b e i n g at l e n gth fo u n d the aspir an t was p ass e d
thr ou gh the r eg e n e rati n g m e dium an d was s aid to b e
r aised
f rom the d ead and born again T his was the
co mm en c e m e n t o f joy an d glad n ess 'E This c e re m on y
b ears e vide n t refe r e n c e t o the d e sc en t of N oah in t o
the d arkn e ss o f the ark w hic h was his e m bl e m atic al

c ofn
D r O liv e r did n ot wri t e to en light en the ge n e ral
public but m ast e r m as on s who k n o w the m ys te ri o us
dark n e ss thr ough which the y hav e to p ass b e fore
e n t eri n g o n the m aste r s de gr ee an d the p e culi ar ri t e s
atte nd i n g t he ir i n iti ati o n i n t o it
n d the m cl early
e x pl ain e d by t he s e an ci e n t us ag e s an d fabl e s
The m aste r m as on s d e gre e e m b o di e s the st o ry o f the
Se e the l e ge n d of the d ea th of O s iris be fore ref e rre d to
.

My thos of the A r k

T he

ss assi n ati on of H iram the archit e ct or m ast er bu ild e r

o f S ol om on s t e m pl e who traditi on r e l at e s , was
m urd e r e d by thr ee of the fe ll o w crafts m en or lab o ur e rs
f or r e fusi n g to d e liv e r up the s e cr e t p assword t hat
I n the i n iti a
w as e n tru s t e d on ly t o m ast e r m as on s
t or" rit e s o f this d e gre e the i n cid e n ts of t his ass assi n a
ti on ar e r e he ars e d The l odg e is hu n g with bl ack an d
b e c om e s a s e pulchral v ault di m ly lit with t ap e rs in
the m iddl e of whic h is pl ac e d a c oi n 3 the br othe r
ab out t o b e ad m itt e d is sudd en ly s m itt e n o n the for e
he ad an d falls as if d e ad is the n in s om e l o dg e s pl ac e d
in the c of n or pastos * an d c o v e r e d with a pal"
The br e t hr en t he n st an d r ou n d in an attitud e d e mot
in g s orr o w an d r e v e n g e
T he c e r e m on i e s t hen go on
t o d e scrib e the r aisi n g of H iram by S ol om on in whic h
the br o the r is r e st or e d t o life an d his i n iti ati on aft e r
a l e ctur e on life d e at h an d i m m o rt ality is c om pl e t e
I n a w ord w e hav e in t his m as on ic d e gr e e a r e p e titi on
of the tr aditi on of the d eath an d r e surr e cti on of O siris
A d on is & c an d of the e n tran c e o f N oah in t o the ark
an d his e gr e ss fr om it
hil e in the an ci en t r e ligi on s a crud e p olyt he is m
was t aught to the p e opl e at lar ge the i n iti at e d w e r e
i ns truct e d in the gre at d o ctri n e s of the u n ity of G od
t he im m o rt ality of the s oul an d the syst e m of futur e
pu n ishm e n t an d r e w ard The i n iti at e d ho we v e r ar e
a s e l e ct f e w
an d
to the s e the highe r an d s e cr e t
d o ctrin e s w e r e r e v e al e d A s the s e i n itiati on s are r e
pr o duc e d in m as on ry by the v ari ous d e gre e s which
a r e t he r e in c on fe rr e d an d the m e an i n g o f which is
k e pt s e cr e t fr om all but the i n iti at e d s o t he y ar e t o b e
s e e n in the c om m u n i on s ervic e s of the Christi an church
e sp e ci ally in t hat of the church o f S c otl an d whe re it is

C l e m e n t of A le xan d r ia sa ys that in the old m y st erie s

those who had u n d ergon e the highe r in i tiat i on of which the
m as te r s d e gre e i s a c op y w e re w on t t o s ay the b e tte r t o
v e i l the ir m e anin g fr om t he u n in i t iate d I hav e d e s c e n d e d in to
I have sl e pt the sle e p of de ath
t he b e d cham b e r
,

The My tho:

A rk

the

l
h
a
a y ear it m ay
ly
l
g
i
n
t
e
rv
a
s
lf
on
at
on
be
T he c e l e brati on t he n tak e s the c har ac t e r o f a
g en e r al holid ay s o that the o cc asi on of its ob s e rv
the l arg e gathe ri n gs of p e o pl e that ar e
an c e fr om
br o u ght t oge the r has b e e n n am e d the holy fair
Fab e r who o f all authors has giv e n t his subj e ct
the m o st e l ab o rate i n v e stigati on s ays the p hil o s op hy
i n culc at e d in t he s e m yst e ri e s t aug ht t hat m att e r w as
e te r n al but t hat it w as li abl e t o e n dl e ss c han g e s an d
m odic ati on s ; that o v e r i t a D e m iurgic I n te llig e n c e
pre sid e d who w he n a w orld w as pro duc e d ou t o f
c hao s m an if e ste d him s e lf at the c om m e n c e m e n t o f
that w orld as the gre at u n iv e rs a l fat he r of b oth m e n
that duri n g t he e xist e n c e of the w o rld
an d anim al s
e v e r y t hi n g in it w as u n d e rgo i n g p e r p e tu al c han g e 3
t hat at the e n d of a c er tai n great app oi n t e d p e ri od
the w orld w as d e st in e d t o b e r e duc e d t o its prim e v al
m at e ri al chao s that the agen t o f its diss oluti on was a
o o d e ithe r o f w at e r o r of r e ; that at t his tim e all
its in habitan ts p e ris he d an d the gr e at fathe r fr om
whos e s oul the s oul of e v e ry m an p r o c e e d e d an d i n to
w hos e s o ul all s o uls m ust b e re s o lv e d was l e ft in the
s o lit ary m aj e sty of abstr act e d m e di t at i on t hat du rin g
the pr e v al e n c e o f the D e lug e an d t he r e ig n of chaos
he oate d up on the su rfac e of the m ighty d ee p r e p os
in g in the b o s om of his c on s o rt the gr e at m o the r
who t he n ass um e d the fo rm o f a s hip but who was
lik e wis e r e pr e s en t e d by the l ot o s or the e gg or the
s e rp e n t o r the n avicul ar l e af or the lu n ar cre sce n t 3
that the t wo p o w e rs of n ature m al e an d fe m ale or
the gr eat cr eativ e fathe r an d the gr e at cr e at iv e m o t he r
we re then re d u c e d to the ir sim ple st prin cipl e s an d
sail e d o v e r the fac e of the illim itable o c e an in the
form of a ship an d m ast
A t the cl os e of the divi n e y e ar the d e lug e subsid e d
an d the gr e at fathe r awak e n i n g fr o m his d e at hlik e
s l e e p an d bur sti n g fo rt h from t he w om b o f the gr e at
m othe r wit hin w hich he had bee n c o n n e d create d a
c e l ebrate d

'

My tho: of

The
of

the

A rk

33

chaotic wre ck of the o ld w orld

That a n e w r ace of m ortals an d of an im als was
pro duc e d an d t hat e v e ry thi n g that had o ccurr e d
duri n g the e xiste n c e o f the pre c e di n g w orld r e curr e d
a g ai n in
the n e w o n e
The m ys t e ri e s in short
tr eate d t hro ughout of a gran d an d t ot al re ge n e rati on 3
a n e w b irt h w hich r e la te d t o the old w orld the gr e at
d em iurgic p ar e n t an d to e v e ry i n dividu al m an
H e n c e the g old e n gure of a s e rp e n t as a sym b o l
o f im m or t ali t y was pl ace d in the b o s om of the in
itiate d an d he n c e fr om the e arli e s t ag e s the m al e
an d fe m al e pri n cipl e of fe cu n dity w e r e d e e m e d s acr e d
sym b o ls of the gr e at fathe r an d the gre at m othe r an d
w e r e i n troduc e d in t o the orgi e s ( or ar g o r ark c e r e
"
m on i e s
I n the cl assic m y t hol ogy Ju n o was r e pr e
s e n t e d susta i n in g a lun e tt e up on he r head an d st an d
in g on a l arg e r lu n e tt e the cre sc e n t b e i n g d e picte d as t o
app ear oat i n g o n the surfac e o f the s ea pr e c is e ly
aft e r the fas hi on o f the m o d e rn life b oat
T he E gypti an s had t w o y early fe stiv als in the o n e
o f w hich t he y c e l e br at e d t he e n tr an c e o f O siris t he
s u n i n t o the m o on I sis an d in the o t he r his e n tr an c e
i n t o t hat ark in w hich he was e n cl o s e d by T yp hon
a n d t hus s e t a o at up on O c ean us or the N il e
B ut
acc ordin g t o P lutarc h t his ark was its e lf a n avicul ar
m oon a
T he acc ou n t w hich D iod or u s giv e s is e x ac tly
to t he s am e purp os e
He te lls us t hat I sis e n cl o s e d
O siris wi thin a w ood en c ow duri n g the turbul e n t r e ig n
o f Typ hon
O siri s was
or the all pr e v ail i n g o c ean
* S
c hap 1
ee Milm an s H is tor y of
C hr is ti a n ity boo k
A pu le iu s Met a m orphoses an d se e als o B u c han an s Chr is tia n
R ese a r che s f or an acc o u n t o f thi s w o rs hi p e xis t i n g in a d e
gen e rate an d li c en ti ous form am on g the H in d oo s of t he p re s en t
n ew

w o rld

ou

the

'

(I

Th s t
e e

m oo n ,

e rm

or , as

s sim pl y im pl y the con jun c ti on

we

say

n ow ,

t he

n ew

of

m oon

of

t he

the

su n an d

sprin g

an d

uin ox The r s t t ook plac e in the si gn of Taur u s

o r t he B u ll 3 he n c e the w ors hi p o f t he B u ll an d t he r e pres e n t
the la tte r in t he sign S c orp i o the e m
at i on o f I s is as a co w
ble m of T yphon or the des tr oye r
a

u tu m n al

eq

The

34

My tho: of

A rk

the

in d ie re n tly s aid to e n te r i n t o the m oo n , i n to an

The
ark , an d i n t o a c o w d e dic ate d t o t he m o o n
m oo n , t he r e fo re , an d the c ow d e dicate d t o the m o on ,
w e re alike sy m b ols or hi e r oglyphics o f the ship of
O si ris the o n e astron om ically t he ot he r physic all y
T he sacr e d c ow w as in E gypt d e dic at e d t o t he m oo n ,

h
w hic h lite rally sig n i e s an ark ,
an d was c all e d T e b a ,
a n d s he w as p alpably the s am e as the ar k i n t o w hich

O siris was d r iv e n by T yphon ( Father s Pay Id ol , v ol

3 , p ag e

the n

'

TH E A R K C O

N SID ER ED AS A T YPE
R EG EN ER ATI O N

O F B PT SMAL

B aptis m as a sym b ol o f re ge n e rati on w as a religi o

ri t e in c om m on u s e in the an ci e n t r e ligi o n s J ohn
t he B aptist we ar e t old pre ce d e d J e sus an d b aptis m
by i m m e rsion in w ate r was the in i t iat ory r ite by
w hic h a dm issi o n i n to the Ess e n i an c om m u n i ty co u ld

Te rtu llian in his treatise De

al o n e b e obtai n e d

Baptism o says that in E gypt dis cipl e s w ere ad m itte d

i n t o the r e ligi on of I sis an d M i t hra by m e an s of
B aptis m This the y thin k s e ts t he m fr e e fro m the i r
e rj uri e s an d acc om plis he s t he ir r e g e n e r ati on
The
e rs ians d e r iv e d the pr actice o f B ap t is m fr o m I n dia
,
the cradl e o f the w or ld s an ci e n t fait hs
The u se of
w ate r the age n t of m at e rial cl ea n si n g as a sym b o l of
m or al puricatio n is so n a tu ral t hat e ve ry r e ligi on o f
an t iq u i ty m ight hav e ad opt e d it on e n t ire ly in d e e n
p
d e n t gr o u nds
B ut c ouple d with b ap t is m we n d the
id ea n ot on ly o f pu ri catio n but als o of r eg en e rat i o n
o r n e w b ir th an d t his id ea c on n e cts the rit e wit h the
The b e s w as the chie f c ity of Egypt the c i ty where the
Bu ll A pis was worshi ppe d an d b u rie d
T B aptism al re en e ration is a q u e s tion that at the p re s e n t
m om e t d i vi d e s t e E s ta blis he d C hu r ch i n to t wo hos t il e
par
t i e s T he H igh Chu rc h p ar ty howe ve r w ho adv ocate thi s
d o c t ri n e hav e all t he au thori ty of an t i q ui t y in t he ir fav o ur
T hi s was the an cien t sign i can ce of the baptism al ri te ; b ut
thi s f u r n i shes n o e vi den ce of its b e ing : tr ue d oc trin e
.

7796 My tb o:

tb e

A rk

35

fu n d am e n tal id e a o f the ark an d ood o f a r eg en e rate

or n e w
b orn w orld an d of a re g en e rat e or n ew b o rn
m an in the p e rs on o f N oah w hich d o ctri n e s form e d
t he b asis of the an ci e n t w o rs hip
A s w at e r had on c e puri e d t he w orld from s in an d
d e s troyi n g the old had pro duc e d a w orld alt oge the r
n ew
s o i m m e rsi on in w ate r w as the typical ri te f or
the puri c a t i o n an d n e w birt h o f the s o ul
A s in the
an ci e n t m yst e ri es t hos e w ho w e r e i n iti at e d w e r e m ade
to un d e rg o a gur at iv e d eath s o on the c om pl e ti on of
the ri te s t he y w e re s aid to hav e b ee n n e w b orn
To
t his d ay the disti n cti ve titl e of the B r ahm i n in Hin
d ostan is twic e b or n an d a B rahm i n who l o s e s
c ast e by trav e lli n g can on ly r e c ov e r it by b e i n g born
again e it he r fr om a g old e n w om an or a g old e n co w as
sym b ols of the gr eat m othe r
An ot he r m ode of
re ge n erati on prac t ise d in I n di a an d trac e s o f which
ar e still fo u n d t hr o ugho ut E ur op e
e sp e ci all y in I re
lan d is by squ e e zi n g the i n dividu al t hr ough a s m all
hole in a r o ck
T he r e is an o ric e of t his d e scripti on
n ear the fam ous E l e p han t a c av e rn t e m pl e an d an othe r
in the islan d of B om b ay
T his latt e r place a n atural
cre vic e on the sid e of the M al ab ar hill c om m u n icati n g
wi t h a cav e rn b e l ow w hich O p e n s t owards the s ea is
still us e d by the H i n d oos as a m o d e of gain i n g p u r i
cation fr om the ir si n s whic h t he y say is e ff e c te d
b y t he ir g oi n g in at the o pe n i n g b e l o w an d e m e rgi n g
from the o ric e ab o v e T his o rice is d e em e d sy m
b olic as the d o or of eac h m it hraitic cav e rn an d t he
d oo r in the oati n g m oon t hrough w hich t he an ci e n ts
fabl ed all s ouls w e re b orn an d the d oor in the sid e o f
the ar k t hrough whic h N oah an d his co m p an i on s
e m e rg e d to a n e w life in a n e w w orld
That a c on n e cti on was he ld t o e x ist b e twe en the
ri te o f b aptis m an d the tr aditi on of the D eluge is
a m ply e vid e n c e d by t he w ay in which the e arl ie st
C hristian writ e rs c onn e c t the two t ogethe r an ass oci
a ti o n w hich is still to b e fo u n d in the C hu rch o f
,

M lm: of

771 6

6
3

tb e

Ark

E n gl an d b aptis m al s e rvic e The wri t e r of the s e c on d

e pistl e of P e t e r allud e s to the d e structi o n o f t he w o rld
by w ate r o n acc ou n t of its wick e d n e ss an d to its the n

p en di n g d e struc t i on by r e an d s ays n e v e rthe l e ss

w e acc ordi n g t o his pr om is e l o o k f or a n e w he av e n

an d a n e w e art h w he r e i n dw e ll e t h righte ous n e ss

Te rtullian writi n g ab out the cl o s e of the s e c on d c e n

t ury s ays D c Baptism o A s aft e r the w at ers o f the

ood w he re by the an ci en t i n iqui ty was purg e d aw ay
aft e r the baptism if I m ay s o sp e ak of t he w o rld the
d ov e s e n t from the ar k a n n o u n c e d t o the e art h t hat
the wr at h o f he av e n was p aci e d ; s o by t he s am e
di sp ositi on o f spiritu al e e c ts the d o v e of the H o ly
S pirit s en t fort h fr om he av e n whe re the c hurc h is a
spiri t u al ark i e s d ow n t o ou r e arth t hat is t o ou r
e sh e m e rgi n g from the l av e r aft e r o ur form e r st ate
o f s in an d bri n gs the p eac e o f G o d
B ut the w o rld
ag ain r e l aps e s i n t o d e li n qu e n cy an d in t his e vil t o o

b aptis m m ay b e c om p are d to t he D e lug e

O rige n w ho wrot e a c e n tury l ate r s ays in a hom ily
on t he H e br e w st ory o f the F l o o d
as at t he F l oo d
N o ah was t old to m ak e an ark an d t o i n tr oduc e to it
n ot on ly his s on s an d r e lativ e s but als o an i m als o f
e v e ry s ort s o ou r N oah J e sus C hrist at the biddi n g
of his F athe r m ad e an ar k an d d e n s in it f or the
r e c e pti on o f v ari ou s an i m als T hus p e opl e who ar e
s av e d in the c hurch are c om p ar e d wi th t ho s e w he t he r

m e n or b e as ts w ho w e r e s av e d in the ark
an d t he n
he goe s o n to ass e rt that t he r e are d e gr ee s am o n g
t he m but that the l ow e r p ass t hr o ug h asc e n din g
s tage s till the y c om e to that w hich is o ccupi e d by

the s on s o r r e l ativ e s o f ou r tru e N oah or R e st

A n d in c om m e n ti n g up on the fou rt ee n th c hapt e r o f
Ez eki e l O rigen has the s e r e marks which the re ad e r
w ould d o w e ll to c on sid e r in c on n e cti on with w hat; has
be e n said of the typic al c e re m on i e s of the m ast e r s

d e gr e e in Mas on ry I o n c e he ard a J e w say Noe

D an i el an d J ob are i n tr oduc e d b e caus e e ach o f them
.

'

77
36

My tb o: of

tb e

A rk

3 7

thre e p eri ods on e of joy on e o f s orr o w an d

C on sid e r No e b efore the D e luge
ag ai n on e o f joy
w hen the w orld was in its bl oom ; the s am e Noe
aft e rwards pr e s e rv e d in the ark ( whic h in an o the r
pl ac e he s ays w as shap e d lik e a pyram idthe pyra
mid was the t om b of O siris )am idst the wr e ck of the
w hol e e arth C on sid e r how aft e r the D e lug e he we n t
forth an d pl an t e d a vi n e y ard an d be cam e as it w e re

the au thor o f a s e c o n d w orld

En ough has n ow b e en s aid to i n dic ate t hat N oah
w as a m ytho l ogical fan cy n ot an actu al hist oric al
p e rs on ag e T he n am e sign ie s r e sts afe ty sa lv a
t i on D r D on alds on has s om e curi o us r e m arks in

this dire cti on He s ays : A n ap o stl e has t old us

that the ark of N oah is a typ e of b aptism ( 1 P e te r
iii 2 0
an d it w as by b aptis m t hat the m y s tae
w e r e ad mi t te d t o the privil e g e s o f i n iti ati on
It
c o uld n ot the re fo re b e an accid e n t that thos e who
w e re re c e iv e d i n t o that shad owy c hurch of he at he n ism
w e r e e xpre ssly taught to c on sid e r an d sp eak of the m
s e lv e s as havi n g jus t e sc ap e d from the w av e s of a
sto rm y s e a an d as havin g fou n d s he lte r an d p e ac e
A n d t he n he g oe s on t o s ho w t hat S o lom o n the

d e dic ate d his te m pl e on the s e v e n

m an o f p e ac e
t e e n th d ay of the s e v e n t h m on th t he d ay on w hic h
N oah the m an of p eace or r es t e m e rge d fr om the
ar k an d e r e c t e d his alta r
T he d ov e wi t h t he o liv e
bran ch is to this d ay a sy m b o l in s e p arably ass oci at e d
with the ark 3 but the d ov e is als o the bird s acre d t o
V e n us as the sym b ol of the gr e at m othe r whil e t he
P e ac o ck the sym bo l of the rai n b ow (an o the r arki te
t he rst arch or ar k o f the c o v e n an t ) w as
e m bl e m
the bird s acr e d t o Ju n o the qu e e n of he av e n an d
t he gr e at m o the r of the g ods am on g the R om an s
T he ark has als o a m e an i n g o f an othe r c harac t e r
A s in an othe r cl ass of s ol ar m yths the C r o ss sy m b ol
ize d t he P hallus an d the L og os an d as the cre at iv e ac t
cam e als o t o i m ply the id ea o f cr eative wisd om s o the
saw

Tb s My tb or

8
3

the

A rk

sym b ol of the ren o vati on of the physic al

world c am e to sign ify als o its i n t e ll e ctu al an d m oral

A n d s o the ark c am e to sy m b oliz e

re ge r
ation
D ivi n e m sd om or the L og o s an d was in this highe r
s e n s e the sym b o l o f s alv ati on the e m ble m of the
C hrist
I t b e ars this highe r m e an i n g o f D ivi n e
wisdom as us e d in the J e wish sy n agogu e an d it is
e m pl oy e d in t his highe r se n s e in t he ri t e s o f m o d e rn
F re em as on ry A s the c of n b e l on gs t o the M aste rs
d e gre e s o the ark is the sym b o l o f the Royal Ar ch or
In the syn ag ogu e it co n t ai n s the s acr e d
A r k d e gr e e
b o oks t he w ord or wisd om of G o d an d in the F re e
m as on s l odg e it c on t ai n s the b ook o f the c o n stituti on s
t he
of the s o ci e ty the s e cr e t or s acre d wisd o m i e

L ogo s
In the an ci e n t w orld N oah w as o ft e n
w o rs hipp e d as G od f in the s am e w ay as J e sus in his
characte r o f C hrist is w orshipp e d as G od at the pre
s en t d ay T he re ar e tim e s whe n a distin cti on is m ad e
an d N oah an d C hrist r e gard e d as sub ordi n ate t o G o d
but at o the r ti m e s the c haract e rs ar e m e rg e d i n t o o n e
I n the he athen
an d t he n t he y w e r e r e g ard e d as G o d
te m pl e s the ark was thought t o c on t ain the G od
t o b e the divi n e dw e lli n g pl ac e
an d it w as on the ark
b e twe e n the che rubim t hat c ov e r e d it that in the
Je wish t em pl e G od was tho ught to b e e sp e ci ally
pre s en t I n C atholic an d R itu alistic n ay e v e n in the
m aj ority of P r o t e sta n t c hurc he s it is on the alt ar or
c om m u n i o n t abl e the substitute s f or the ark o f J e w
ish an d he athe n w o rs hip that G od is he ld t o b e
actu ally pr e s e n t t od ay
T he s e ar e pl ac e d in the
ce n tral an d m o st s acr e d p o rti on s o f the c hurche s the
chan ce l b e i n g to C at holics an d P rot e st an ts the ho ly of
holi e s o f C hristi an w ors hip
I n F re e m as on ry the
Roy al A rc h or A rk ( a px)d egre e c on stitut e s the su m m it
o f m as o n ic sci en c e
H e re the fuln e ss of the s e cre t
wis d om is i m p arte d an d to t his d e gr e e as t o the
V e r n on H ar c o ur t o n the Wors hip o f N oah in the E ast
See Doc tri n e of the D e l uge
ar k , as the
,

rik : f
Ma

Tb s

f lie A rk .

39

omm un i on r it e of churches on ly a s e l e ct fe w ar e
T he s e con stitute as it w e re the e s ot e ric
ad m itte d
b rothe rho o dthe fully i n iti ate d In the an ci e n t m y s
te r ie s o f Is is an d O siris in Egypt an d of C e re s an d
Bacchu s in G r ee c e , the candidat e aft er Wit n e ssi n g
the t e rribl e c e l e br ati on of the d eat h o f the go d w as
at l e n gth led ou t o f the d arkn e ss an d te rro rs i n t o a
cham b e r whe r e am id a oo d of d azzli n g light he w as
p e rm itt e d t o gaz e on a b e autiful an d r espl e n d e n t
st at u e of the godd e ss C e re s or I sis In this sc e n e o f
c e l e sti al spl e n d o ur the s e cre t d o ctri n e w as r e v e al e d

m y stes
or
an d he who ha d b e fo re b een c all e d a

or e y e wit n e ss
n o vic e w as n ow t e rm e d an
epoptes
A pul e ius who in the s e co n d c e n tury u n d e rw e n t
in iti atio n i n t o the m yst e ri e s o f I sis has writ te n a
l e n gthe n e d acc o u n t o f the pr o c e e din g an d i t s pr e
p aratory rit e s In on e of the s e the pri e st tells him

The g at e s of the s had es be l ow an d the c ar e o f ou r

life b e i n g in the han ds of the g odd e ss the c e r e m on y
of i n iti ati on i n t o he r m yst e ri e s is as it w e r e t o su ffe r
d e ath wi th the pre car i ous chan c e o f r e suscit ati o n
W he re fore the g odd e s s in the wisd o m o f her divi n ity
hath b e e n accus tom e d t o s e l e ct as p e rs on s t o w ho m
the se cr e t s of her religi on c an wit h pro pri e ty b e
in trust e d t hos e who s tan d i n g as it w e r e in the
utm os t li m it of the c ourse of life the y have c om
l
p e te d m ay t hrough her pr ovid e n ce b e in a m an n e r
born again an d co m m e n c e the c ar e e r of a n ew e xist

Apu leiu s Metamorph

Apul e ius aft e r alludi n g to the pl e dg e o f s ecre sy
whic h bi n ds him proc e e ds to t e ll as m uc h as he d ar e

c on c e rn i n g the n al pr o c e ss
L ist en he s ays t o
what I s hall r e l at e
I appro ache d the ab o d e of
d eath with m y fo ot I pr e ss e d the thre shold of Pr o
,

the r Ne w Te s tam e n t wr i te rs re p e ate dl y

draw i llu s tr at ions from the r i te s e m ploye d in the m y s te ri e s
the n e w b i rt h the d eath u n to s in an d t he lif e un t o ri ght e ou s
n e ss t he p e rfe c t m an
&c & c

St P ul
a

an d

T17:

My tb o:

the

A rk

p al ace I was tran spo rte d thr o ugh the

A t m id n ight I
e l e m en ts an d c o n duc te d b ack
I stood in
s aw the bright lig ht of the s u n shin i n g
t he pre s en c e of t he g o ds the go ds of heav e n an d
o f the shad e s b e l o w ay sto od n ear an d w ors hipp e d
A n d n o w hav e I onl y t o ld t he e such thi n gs t hat
he ari n g tho u n e c e ssar ily can st n ot u n d e rstan d an d
b e i n g b ey o n d the c om p rehe n si on of the profan e f I

c an e n u n ci ate wit ho ut c omm itt in g a cr im e

T he Roy al Ar c h or A rk d e gre e is vir tu all y a c o py
I t is he r e that the
o f t his n al r ite o f i n itiati o n
M as on ic ho ly o f ho li e s is o pe n to the n e wly ad m itt e d
bro t he r or c om panion as he is n ow c all ed T he
actu al visi on of t he godd e ss is how e v e r he r e r e pl ac e d
by the re ve l at i on of the m o st s acre d an d in e ab le
n am e o f G o d
This the l e gen d of the rit e r e lat e s
was disc ov e r e d in the ruins o f S o l o m o n s T e m pl e by
s o m e m aste r m as on s c om i n g accid e n tally up on the
p e r fe ct r e m ai n s of an arch Re m o vin g the k eyst o n e
t he y c ast l ots w ho s houl d g o d o wn T he m as on o n
w hom the lot fe ll be in g le t d o wn by a ro p e brought
up a scroll w hic h pr ov e d t o b e the l ost b oo k of t he
law
C om i n g to an othe r ar ch the y o p e n ed it an d
he r e fo un d a w hite m arbl e pe d e st al on w hic h was a
pl at e of gold an d on this pl ate w e re i n scrib e d d o ubl e
tri an gl e s in w hich w as e n grave n the l on g l o st sac re d
w ord of the Maste r M as on the gran d om n ic Royal
A rch w o rd T his c on siste d in the tripl e n am e o f
G o d J A O BU L
O N to o sac re d to b e sp ok e n in on e

s er pin e s

C om pare wi th this Paul s l e tte r to the Chur ch at Cor in th

a c i t y w he re t he s e m y s te ri e s we re pe r i o d i c all y he ld
How
be i t we s pe ak wis d om am on g t he m that ar e pe rfe c t ( i n i t iate d )
We speak the wis dom of G od in a m y ste ry e ve n the
hi dd e n (s e c re t ) wis d om
Ey e hath n ot s e e n n or ear
hear d n e i the r ha ve e n te re d in to the heart o f m an t he t hin g s
w hi ch G od hath p re pare d f o r the m that l o ve him The
n a tu ral m an rec e i v e t h n o t t he thin gs o f t he sp ir i t o f G od f or
the y ar e foo lishn e ss to him : n e i the r c an he k n o w the m for
the y are s p ir i tuall y d isc e rn ed

771 a My tb o:

Ark

tb a

br eath so thr e e Mas on s hav e to r e pe at it t akin g

eac h a syll abl e
J A 0 or J A H w as the H e b re w n am e of G o d whic h
w hich the
the J e ws w e r e fo rbidd en to pr on o u n c e
B ook of Ex odus r el at e s was re v e al e d t o M os e s an d
which rabbi n ical traditi on re lat e s m ight on ly b e
utte re d by the H igh P ri e st in the H oly o f H o li e s on
the gr ea t d ay o f at o n e m e n t an d t hen am id the s o u n d
o f cym b als an d tru m p e ts whic h pre v e n te d the p e opl e
fr om hearin g it The J ews b e li e v e d t hat this n am e
p oss e sse d u n b o u n de d p ow e rs
He who pr on o u n ce s
it the y say shak e s the he av e n s an d ear th an d
in spir e s the v e ry an g els w it h ast on ishm e n t an d

t e rr or
T he y de clar e t hat a s ov e re ign p owe r at
t ac he s to this n am e t hat it g o v e r n s the w orld by its

p ow e r The Rabbi n s c all it S he m ham phor e s h

t he u n utt e r abl e n am e an d say t hat D avid fo u n d it
e n gr av e d on a st on e w hil e he was diggi n g the f ou n d a
ti on s of the e art h (Mackey s Lexicon ) N on e dar e d
t o e n te r the t e m pl e o f S e r apis w ho did n ot b ear
on his br e ast or for e he ad t he n am e J ao or J ha ho
a n am e alm o st e quiv al e n t in s ou n d to t hat o f the
H ebr e w J e ho v ah an d pr ob ably of id e n tical im
p ort an d n o n am e as u t t e re d in Egypt with m or e
re v er e n c e than t his of J ao In the hym n w hich the
hi e r ophan t or gu ardi an of the s an ctu ary su n g to the
in itiate d t his was t he rst e xpl an at i on giv e n o f the

He is on e an d by him s e lf an d
n at ur e of the D e ity
to him al on e d o al l thi n gs ow e t he ir e xist e n c e
( From
Tim e an d F
the Germ an of Schiller q u oted in
B ul or Bel was the n am e o f G od am on g the P he n i
O n w as the n am e
e i au s an d sign i e s l o rd o r m ast e r
u n d e r w hich the s u n was w ors hipp e d in Egypt so
the city ON w as c all e d by the G r e e k H e li op olis
J os ep h s wife w as a d au ght e r o f P otip he rah a p ri e st
Thus Dag on sig n i e s the s h god Mr B rown
of O n

in his r e c e n tly publis he d li t tl e b o ok

Pos e id on a
d e i ty alli e d to the Latin N e ptun e says wi th r eg ar d
,

'

rte

/J o: of the A r k

w or d O n or A u n : I ts Egypti an s en s e is the
o f which the s u n
e n lighte n e r t eac he r or in structo r

an
signie s
is the n atural ty pe T he S e mitic r oo t
p rimarily l abo u r o r e n e rgy e spe cially pr o cr eative
o
w
r
H
c
h
e A n n is t he great e n lighten er or
n
e
t
e
e
p
teac he r an d also the pr o c reato r o f all fr o m who m all
acc o rdin g t o the
sayi n g
s p r i n g or ar e d es ce n d e d

O
m nia e x ovo al l thin gs fro m the e gg can au n
The wo rd A u n t ran s p os e d is the e quiv al e n t o f N oah
an d Mr B r o w n t rac e s an id e n tity of c har acte r be tw ee n
the A nn an d the B abyl on i an sh go d O an n e s w ho m
he al s o id e n ti e s with N oah as t he e n lighte n er as
we ll as the pro c re ato r of the w o rld I t is t his tripl e
n am e
d e i t y J A O BUL O N in v o lvin g the fu ll
of
d e sc r ipti on o f his attribut e s the p hil o s op hy o f t he
creati on an d go v e rn m e n t of the w o rld the e xiste n ce
o f on e s o le an d suprem e G od the cre ato r o f all
thi n gs the fat he r o f all m e n the all wis e the all
good the e te rn al who was an d is an d is t o b e
that c on sti t u te s the gr an d s e cr e t o r sac red wis d om
e n shr i n e d in the Ro y al A rc h
D e gr e e
The fear o f

the L ord
s ays a H e bre w w rite r is the b egi n n in g

of W
isd om
I t w as in the s e n s e of the ir t ea chi n g the
tr u e law of lif e an d u n v e ilin g the p ro vid e n ti al g o v e r
nan c e o f the u n iv e rs e t hat the m ys te r i e s o f P ag an is m
we r e the s hr i n e of se cr e t wisd om This k n o wl e dg e
that G od is on e t hat the s oul is i m m ort al t hat t he
pr actic e o f r ight e ous n e ss is its t ru e s alvati on is the
se c re t wisd o m o f w hic h F r e e m as o n ry b oasts an d t his
wis dom is a p orti o n o f t he M ytho s o f the A rk

Go dfre y H iggi n s
A n ac alyps is v o l i p age
she ws t hat the H e br e w rim is r e pre s e n te d by the G r ee k
apxn an d t hat it has the m e an in g o f
wisd om as we ll
as
in g t hat in fac t the accr e dite d authori ty
t o the

wor d ar ch in the se n s e o f wi sd om has p ass e d in to

the fam i liar lan gu age o f d ai l y lif e
W
e ca ll a s hre wd pe r s o n

arc h
an d m o re v u lgarl y sa
h
i
s
an ol d on e
an an c i e n t
y e
The

43

J e ws the J e rus al e m T argu m r e n d e rs the rs t

v e rs e o f G e n e sis t hus B y wi s d om G od cr e ate d t he

world a r e n d e rin g which the acc ou n t of wisd om
give n in the e ight h c hap ter o f the bo ok o f P r ov e rbs
am ply justi e s
Thr ou gho ut all the east N oah was
he ld in r e v e ren c e as a divi n e lawgiv e r an d Ve rn on

H arc o u rt ass e rts ( D octri n e of t he D e lug e ) N oah

was on e an d the s am e as shown b y e t ym ol ogic al
ide n ti t y of n am e with t he gr eat tradi ti on al lawgiv e rs
or p atri arc hs of t he G en t il e w orld
M e n u in I n di a
Min e s in G re e c e M e n e s in Egypt an d N u m a in R om e
T he ar k als o was o n e with the m oon an d w hil e in the
an ci e n t r e ligi on s t he s u n sym b o lis e d divi n e p o we r the
m o o n sy m b o lis e d the spi ri t or wisd o m of G od
B o th
of

the

reat m ot he r of n at ur e
gre e ce an d Nei

B u t Athe n a

Min erva am on g

d orh f ad
dd ss e
'

W
*

'

an d

t hus i t is t hat
t e t e was
'

P all as

in

e re

no

ik e

on

t he m

t he

ge n ius of the ar k is the r oot of

the G r e e k w o rd vou g sign if yi n g w isd om w hil e t he
m oon t he in t e rm e di at e an d c on n e ctin g sym b ol has a
s i m ilar s e n s e Men in the G re e k is t he m oon an d
fr om this c om e s the L ati n m ans the m in d an d m ensis

a m on t h
Menes an d Minns the wi s e l egislato rs of
T he m oon w as
an t iquity ar e alli e d t o t he s am e r o o t
the gre at m e asur e r o f tim e o f w e e ks an d m on t hs
w he n c e the w ord m e n surati on an d as t he pri e st e ss e s
w ho gav e the divin e o racl e s in a t o f fr e n zy o r m ad
n e s s w e r e supp o s e d t o b e u n d e r the i n u en c e of t he
m o o n w e hav e t he w ords m an i ac an d lu n atic d e n oti n g

Ou r s e at s of l e arn in g are ca ll e d to this d ay

Alm a Mate r
by those who have be e n e du cate d in the m
a so

oab ,

the

My tb a: qf

Tb s

44

A rk

tb e

in s an e p e rs on a p ers on of dis ord ere d m i n d ; m ore

carr i e s us agai n i n t o
o v e r t he Lati n m ensa a t abl e
cl os e r e l ati on with the altar or ark The t e rm m an e s
as appli e d t o the d ea d an d t o the i n fe rn al g o ds t o the
gho s ts o r spirits o f t he d e ad in had e s is in t he s am e

m en es
m ee n
an d
con n e cti on wit h m e n s an d
I t r e l ate s to the p e opl e in the ark or t om b an d is
thus c on n e ct e d wi t h b oth m oon an d ark T he c re sc en t
m o on w as the u n ive rs al e m bl em o f the go dd e ss es o f
an tiquity o f who m the ar k wi th t he g e rm s of life
withi n i t w as a sym b o l als o M ythol ogically the re
for e the y hav e o n e an d the s am e sign i can c e an d
thus t he picture of the virgin by A lb ert D ur e r r e pre
s e n ti n g a b eautiful w om an with the cre sc e n t sym b ol
is a picture t hat r e pr e s e n ts n ot the m othe r o f J e sus
but t he b eautiful w om an t hat w as w orshipp e d in the
an ci e n t w orld an d of who m the m oon an d the ark
we re sym b ols T his cr e sc e n t is t o d ay the w e ll k n ow n
sy m b o l o f the M ahom e t an faith a fai th w hich spru n g
up am on g the s e lf s am e Ar abi an trib e s o f id olatc rs who
m akin g c ak e s w he r e wi th t o c e l e br at e the w o rs hip o f the
qu e e n o f heav e n gav e to the c o rrup t C hristi an c hur ch
of the fou r t h c e n tur y the id e a of m akin g the m o t he r o f
C hrist a godd e ss u n d e r the titl e o f t he V irgi n M ary s "
Had sp ac e p e rm it te d it w ould hav e b ee n pos
sibl e l arge ly to hav e e xt e n d e d the e vid e n c e w hich
has he r e b ee n addu ce d in pr oof of the m y tho
l ogical id e n ti t y o f N oah s ark wi th the m oon an d
godd e ss w o rs hip of an tiquity an d with the cultus o f
t he V irgi n M ary in m o d e rn tim e s
I t has how e v er
b e en fully show n that the st ory of the A r k an d F l oo d
Se e J e re m i ah
18
I I n t i m e o f d e e pes t tr ou bl e an d afi c t i on praye r s are
o ere d in t he Ro m i s h C hu r ch t o t he B l e ss e d V ir ln t he
g e n iu s or g dd e ss o f t he a k o f salvat ion Mr is lop
T he Tw o Baby l ons
p 4 0 1 giv e s a p raye r o ffe re d by the
A c hbis ho p o f T u r in in 1 8 55 o n acc o un t o f t he ravage s o f the
vin e dise as e w hi ch w e r e s pre adin g rui n thr o u h t he c oun try
addre ss ed c on j
o in tl y to N o ah an d the Bl e ss e d
an

' '

My tb o: of

T/J c

'

the

A rk

giv e n in the B ook of G e n e sis is s im ply a traditi on or

l e gen d fou n d e d o n an an ci e n t m ytho l ogic al fan cy or
fabl e an d is n ot w hat E n glis hm e n ar e taught to r egard
it as b e i n g a sup e rn atural r e v e l ati on from the e te rn al
G od on ly an d sp e ci ally giv e n t o the J e wis h pe opl e
e hav e s e e n t hat it co n s t itut e d the m yt ho s whic h
w as u n fo ld e d in the an ci e n t m yst e ri e s w he r e the
hidi n g of N oah in the ark typi e d p hysica l d e ath an d
in a spi r itu al s e n s e d eat h t o all the p as si on s an d vic e s
while his r e l eas e fr o m the ark typi
o f hu m an n ature
ed the r es urr e cti on from the d e ad an d the n e w birth
o f the s o ul
T he origi n al m e an i n g of all b e i n g a
sym b olic r e pre s e n t ati on of t he d e ath of the s u n go d in

A u tu m n f his s oj our n in t he to m b duri n g t he s t e ril e

an d s t o rm y m on t hs of wi n t e r his r e surr e cti o n t o life
an d fe rt ili t y an d joy an d gl ad n e ss in the bright an d
happy fe stiv al o f t he o p e n i n g spri n g
O ur G o o d
F rid ay m ourn i n gs f or the d e ath of J e sus an d ou r
Easte r rej o ici n gs for his r e surr e cti on ar e P agan c e l e

b ration s ad apt e d t o C hris t i an pu rpos e s f

The d e at h
o f J e sus o r C hr ist w as si m ply t he d e ath o f a g oo d
m an was a d e at h t hat k n e w n o r e sto rati o n t o hum an
life f or r e surr e cti on of t his ki n d is n ot acc ord e d t o
ou r hu m an n atur e d
T he spirit of a m an d oe s n ot
d ie at all an d t he re for e n di n g c on ti n u e d life n ee ds

T he P agan godd e ss
Fre ya from whi ch ou r Fri d ay take s
i ts n am e an d from w ho s e w ors hip ou r G oo d Fri d ay d e ri v e s i ts
c u s to m o f cro ss bu n s i s sim pl y a form o f A s tarte or V e n u s o r
I si s The cross m ar ke d on t he c ak e s i s t he Gre c i an x n ot
the c ross of Chr is ti an re ve re n c e T
I t has the signi c an c e of
fe rt i li ty The c ak e s off e e d to As tar te we re ca lle d b ou n
whe n c e ou r w ord b u n from the Gre e k B s an ox The ox
The T au rib olia or b apt is m a l ri te s in b ul
w as s ac re d t o I si s
l o ck s bloo d we re s acre d t o the E le u s in i an godd e ss O u r to wn
o f O x ford w as on c e the s i t e o f a t e m pl e d e dic at e d to I s is
It
n o w s tan d s o n t he b an ks of t he ri v e r I s i s on the s po t whe re
d u r in g t he Ro m an ru l e a te m pl e o f I s is s tood
Th e ox sac re d
to I s i s n ow app e ar s in the n a m e an d al s o in the arm s o f t he
c i ty The Bu ll w as a prom i n e n t fe atu re in the che rub im tha t
f the co ve n an t
o v e rshad o we d t he J e w i sh ar k
" Con su lt E n gli sh Lif e o f J es us b y T S co tt Esq n ew
e di tion pp 3 1 6 3 19
,

oo

Tb e

46

My tb o: of

tb e

A rk

su rr e cti on The i d ea of a dyin g G o d w as a Pa

e fall acy w hen u n d e rst o o d in a
an
id
a
n
d
is
a
h
ug
ea
g
lite ral s e n s e tho ugh it be co m e s a subli m e truth w hen
its e s o te ric or hidde n m e an i n g is p e r ce iv e d I t is
t aught ho we v e r in its gro ss e st an d c rud e st an d fals est
s e n s e to En glish m i n ds t od ay an d o u r G ood Frid ay
ce l e brat i o n s to m ou r n the crucixi on o f J e sus as the
d e at ho f a god lie op en to the r e proof whic hXe n op han e s
B C 52 0 g av e to the E gyp t i an p ri e sts
H o ldi n g him s e lf
e n lig hte n e d vi e ws as t o the on e n e ss an d spiritu ality
an d e te r n i t y o f G o d he qu e s t i o n e d the pri e sts co n
c e rn i n g the m e an i n g of the m o urn i n gs in w hic h the y
i n dulg e d at the c e l e b rati on o f the d e at h of O siris an d
was n atural ly puzzl e d at t he ir gri e f f or t he su ffe ri n gs
o f on e t he y call e d a
od
H
c
o uld n o t u n d e rst an d
e
g
ho w O siris c o uld have two n atur e s o n e hu m an an d

o n e divin e an d he ar gu e d wi t h t he m
t hat if t hey
thought him a m an t he y s hould n ot w orship him
w hil e if t he y thought him a god the y s hould c ease t o

t alk of his su e r in gs ( Sharpe s H istory of Egypt )

I t has b e e n s ho wn that this m y t ho s o f d ea th an d
r e surr e cti o n e l e v ate d fr o m a p hysical t o a m oral
at m o sp he r e un d e rs d
as re l at in g t o t he n e w bi rt h
or r e g e n e rat e spirit of m an to t he hum an an d g o dlik e
pri n cipl e s that un ite in his n atur e to t he struggl e o f
t he quick e n e d s o ul t o l e av e t he t hr ald o m o f t he
b od y an d t o n d the fre e d om o f t he spirit to ri se
from the d e ath of s in t o the life o f rig ht e ous n e s s was
t he s e cre t wisd om w hich the an c i e n t m yst e ri e s e n
shri n ed In t his s e n se the m y tho s o f t he ar k has
p ass e d from the an ci e n t m yste ri e s t o the b aptis m al
an d
c om m u n i on s e rvic e s of t he C hristi an c hurc h
s e rvic es w hich e v e ry stud e n t of e arly C hristian his to ry
k n o w s w e re c opi e s o f heathe n us ag e s an d ri te s
e
hav e t hus tra ce d the A rki t e m ys t e ry an d s ho w n it to
b e o n e an d t he sam e with the s e cre t rit e s o f F r e e m as on s
as pr ac t is e d in the ir l o dg e s at t he pr e s e n t d a
In a
y
wo rd we hav e in the sto ry of the ar k w he n it is pro
pe rly c o m prehe n d ed the ge rm an d de ve l o pm e n t of
n o re

'

7 176

Mythos of the A r k

47

m an s re ligi ous n atur e T he st ory of the str u ggle s of

hu m an ity to n d ou t G o d the r e c ord of the c eas e l e ss
strivi n gs o f the hu m an s oul aft e r the life of virtue
an d g oo d n e ss which al on e can e n titl e it t o i m m o rt ality
I n u n fo ldi n g the m yt ho l ogy of the ark it has b e c om e
n e c e ss ary t o u n fold t he hidd en m e an i n g of M as o n ry to
s he w t he s e cre t wisd om whic h it profe ss e s to e n shri n e
P ractic ally this is u n k n o wn to m as on s the m s e lv e s
t he ir r it e s lik e the r i te s of an tiqu at e d c hurche s hav e
be c om e f or the m ost p art e m pty an d m e an i ngl e ss
fo rm s the l e cture s d e liv e re d in t he l odge s put ofte n
a s e c on d ary m ean i n g i n t o t he s e rit e s s o t hat t he y n ow
on ly s e rv e as a crud e illustr ati on f or a f e w t r it e m ora l
m axi m s an d Fr eem as on ry as it e xists in E n gl an d is
si m ply a b en e t ass o ci at i on f or the w e althy cl ass e s
or an o rd e r o f g o o d fe ll o ws hip an d it has a s littl e to
d o with s ecr et wisdom as a l o dg e of F or e st e rs or O dd
fe ll ows I ts sign s an d p ass w ords ar e its on ly r e al
s e cr e ts an d t he s e n on e bu t the m em b e rs of the m as on ic
brothe rho o d ought to wis h t o k n o w T he y are how
(e ve r
trivial m att e rs of n o m o r e gen e ral c on c e rn than
t he p r iv at e m ar ks which ho us e s of busi n e ss e m pl oy
Fr e em as on ry in its tru e m ean in g is a church n ot a
b e n e t s oci e ty I ts w ors hip is the gran d re ligi on o f
n atur e
S piritu al P an the is m the r e ligi on of which
N oah M e n u M en e s B uddha S ocrate s C hrist an d
P aul an d the gre at an d g o od an d wis e of e v e ry age
an d of e v e ry l an d ar e an d hav e b e en the pr e ac he r s
It
is the o pp on e n t o f all n arr ow an d e xclusiv e th e o l ogical
faiths an d tho ugh it is its e lf in its o rg an is ati on a
s e ct y e t its platfo rm is on e on w hic h m e n of e v e ry
fai t h an d o f e v e ry clim e m ay m ee t I t is the old
ar k it e r e ligi on e xisti n g in ou r m idst in alm ost t he
purity o f its an c i e n t form ; an d if a livi n g so ul w e re
put i n t o it t o d ay if F r e e m as on s kn e w that the ir
syst e m was a re ligi on an d n ot a m or e s oci al club
they w ould i n augur at e a r e ligi ou s r e fo rm ati on an d lay
the fo un d ati on st on e s o f a un iv e rs a l church
T hat
which of old N oah was fabl e d to have f ou n d in the

'

The M l m: o
rk
h
t
A
e
f

4 8

ark

whe n the d e luge was d e stroy in g all thi n gs e lse

r e st p e ac e s alv ati on the e n lighte n e d d e vo te e o f the
o ld w o rld r e ligi o n s t he w o rs hipp e r o f I sis an d O s ir is
of C e r e s an d B acchus o f the P e rsi an M i t hr as an d the
Syri an A d on is fo u n d in t he i nn e rm ost r e c e ss e s of the
t e m pl e aft e r he had b o rn e the p en an c e s an d p r iv ati ons
o f the i n i ti ato ry ri te s 3 so the J e w fo u n d t his p ea c e on
the day of at o n e m e n t w hen the v e il w as up lifte d from
t he ho ly o f holi e s an d t he A r k of G o d w as s e en an d the
C hris t i an r eac he s an ark of r e st an d n ds a r e fuge
from the il ls o f lif e an ass uran c e of the s alv ati o n his
s o ul s e e ks w he n he k n e e ls b e fore t he alt ar at whic h
m ass is c e le brat e d or si t s at the s acr e d tabl e ar o u n d
whic h the bre t hr e n of the churc h as s em bl e A n d
thus in l ik e m an n e r the F re e m as on has a sacre d shr in e
a r o u n d w hic h al l his ho p e s an d aspirati on s c en t r e
a n d in the r e v e l at i o n which is m ad e t o him in t he
Royal Arc h d e gre e of the sacr e d n am e by w hic h the
p owe r an d at t ribu t e s an d l ov e an d wisd om of the
G reat A rchite ct an d fram e r an d up ho ld e r of the u n i
v e rs e ar e d e scribe d 3 of the p at h o f duty he hi m s e lf is to
pursu e o f the v ir tu e s he s hould prac t is e the hope s he
s hould che rish an d the trust he s ho uld display he
n ds an oasis in life s d e s e rt an ar k o f safe ty am i d the
b o ist e rous wav e s of its tr o ubl e an d its strife f or he re
as in t he ho li e st s an ctu ary o f t he c hurc h the t ru e w o rd
o f life is or o ught t o b e s o u n d e d in his ears the t r u e
guid an ce is or o ught to b e fo u n d the divi n e m yste ry
is o r o ught to b e u n ve il e d an d the purp o s e s o f Pr o
vid on ce m ad e cl ear H e r e at l as t the t e m pl e o f truth is
t o his tho ught reac he d of truth t hat quick en s the an ge l
n atur e of t he m an an d t hat t hr oug h a life o f l o v e an d
virtu e an d pu rity on e ar th c on ducts him to the life
that is e ve rl astin g H e re he thin ks sal vati on is attai n e d
t he hav en o f safe ty reac he d
A n d s o he fe e ls t hat
H e re he can bathe his weary sou l
l n se as o f hea v en l y rest
A n d n t a wave o f tr o u bl e ro ll
Across his pe ace fu l breas t
,

49

foll owin g e xtr ac t from a l etter from T L S T R A NG E

E s q Mal v e rn l ate a J u d ge o f the H i gh Cou rt o f Mad ras
My tho s
t o a fri e n d who had forw ar d e d him a c o p y o f the
an d in se rte d n o w w i th his k i n d p e rm i ss i o n
o f t he Ark
strik i n gly c orro b orate s w hat has b e en s ai d in p age s 4 0 4 1
I hav e re ad a g ood p orti o n of Mr L ak e s My tho s
an d s e e that i t i s fu ll o f i n te re st i n g m atte r
o f the A rk
e s p e c i all y on the s u bj e ct o f Mas on ry
T wo R oy al A rc h
Mas on s in m y p art of In di a at a c on si d erabl e i n te rv al o f
ti m e got ad mi ss i on i n to the S hr i n e s o f H in d u T e m pl e s
throu gh the u se of the s ac re d word A U M ( pron o u n c e d
O m e ) the ir hi dd e n n am e fo r G od
O n e of the m to ld m e
that he s aw w i thi n the s hri n e d i s tin c t m ason i c sy m b ol s
i n te rm i xed wi th H i n d u i d ol atrou s on e s an d that t he y u s e
the v e ry s am e c e re m oni al s as the Mas on s d o w he n pr on ou n c
in g the s ai d se c re t n am e of A u m
H e further to ld m e that
t he Mas on s hav e two m ore word s e xpr e s s i v e o f t he n am e
o f G o d adj o i n e d to thi s H i n d u o n e on e b e i n g d e ri v e d fr om
the J e w s an d on e fro m the E gy pti an s
I s e e Mr L ak e
gi v e s thi s tri pl e w or d as J A O B U L O N d e ri v in g i t fr om
J ewi sh P hoen i c i an an d E gy pti an s ourc e s n ow i t i s c le ar
from w hat I m e n ti on as to In di a that A u m i s on e of the
three w ord s T aki n g Mr L ake to b e well i n form e d on the
su bje c t I shou ld i d en tify the l as t word of the thre e he gi v e s
wi th the I n d i an A u m an d n ot the E gypti an 0 u the re b e in g
a p o s i ti v e n e ce ss i ty f or b rin i n g in t he I n d i an word
T he
g
s u bj e c t i s m ost i n teres tin g as showi n g the c o n tac t of n ati on s
at s om e v e ry re m o te p e ri o d I d o u bt n ot the c l o se al l i an c e
b e twe e n the E gy p tian My ste ri es an d Mas on ry an d be twee n
the fo rm e r an d t he My tho s of t he Ark
I n a s u b se qu e n t l e tte r t o the au thor Mr S tran ge s ay s
I have wri tte n to m y fri e n d to fu rn i s h m e wi th s u c h in
form ation as he m ight b e at l i berty to gi v e m e re s p e c tin g
the T riu n e n am e for G od w hi c h y o u hav e in y o ur
Mytho s
of the A r k
I di d n ot v e n ture to p u t the w ord b e fore him
b u t as ke d him w he ther he m i g ht tell m e in what ord e r
as to n ati on al i ty
t he t hre e n am e s o f G o d c om p o s in
g it
s tan d T hi s he has d on e an d i t c ertainly s u pp orts y ou It
i s thu s
T he

"

"

l st

2nd

Je wi sh

3 rd

A ssyri an or
I n dian an d
B ab y l o n i an
E gypti an
rs t Phce ni c ian then J e wi s h ; Bu l rs t
.

J ao

of

c o urs e

was

5
0

Chald ean an d the n P hoe n i c i an an d the l as t w ord , if A u m an d

B ut I
O n ar e to b e i d e n ti e d , rs t In d i an the n
gypti an
fe e l a g oo d d e al o f d o u bt on thi s l atter s u bj e c t i t s trik e s m e
that i f the gy pti an s had re c e i ve d thi s as a s e c re t n am e for
G od , an d p asse d i t o n to t he Mason s , the y c oul d n ot have
have gi ve n i t the p u bl i c i ty w hic h the y hav e gi ve n to O n
My fri en d howe ve r wi th the au thor of Pos e id -on an d the
The B ook of G od the A p o c al yp se of A d am ,
au thor o f
O an n e s all i de n ti fy O n wi t h A u m
,

N ote by the A u thor

Mr Mack ay ( Le xi c on of Fre e m as on ry p
al so
i d en ti e s the In dian A u m w i th the E gy pti an O n he s ay s

T he E gypt i an s g av e t o the G od O n t he s am e attr i b u te s

that the H e b rew s b e s towe d o n J e ho vah the w ord in G ree k
si gni e s B E I NG or E X I ST E NC E the s am e as the n am e J eho vah
in H e b re w T H E H I ND O O S U SE D T H E WO R D A UM on A U N
G od fre y H i ggin s (A n ac alyp si s v ol 1 p
i d en ti e s
O M or A U M the n ot to b e s p oke n w ord wi th the E gy pt i an
O n an d the H e b re w J e ho v ah an d he add s thi s i s what i s
m e an t by the fo u rth c om m an d m e n t, whi c h we ren d e r Tho u
shalt n ot tak e the n am e of the L ord thy G od (b u t w hi c h
o u ght to b e J e hov ah thy G od )in v ai n

Mr H i ggi n s al s o s ays that as a p io u s J e w will n ot

u tte r the w or d J e hov ah s o a p i o u s H i n d o o w il l n ot u tte r the
w ord O m The l e tte rs whi c h re p re sen t i t in i ts tri li te ral
form A U M s tan d the rs t for the Cre ator the s e c on d for
the Pre se r ve r an d the thir d for t he D e s troy e r

D r O l i ve r in his S i gn s an d Sy m b ols s ays the chi e f

v ari eti e s of the s acre d N am e am on g an ci en t n ati on s were
J ah an d B u l or B aal an d O N or O M
In d i a w as the so u rc e from whi ch all the re li gi on s of the
T here the m y tho s of the ark took i t s
an c i e n t w orld s p ran g
ri se an d thu s i t i s that Fre e m as on ry re prod u c i n g m u ch of
the an c i e n t E gypti an c e re m o n i e s r e p ro d u c e s al s o m u ch
that had i ts b irth in the H in d oo te m pl e s of a re m ote an ti
,

I t i s e asy to c on c e i ve how the H i n doo A U M or O M

m ay have b e c om e c han ge d i n to the E
ti an O N whe n
Mas on i c wri te rs te ll u s that in m an y 0 the Roy al Arc h
Chapte rs the w ord O N i s c orrup te d in to LU N
.

A N E SSA Y
O N THE

MYTHOLOG ICA L

SIG NIFICA NCE

OF

TREE AND SERPENT

B LISHED
MO UNT

se rpe n ts

BY

an d se t

p on a pol e
,
SA YI NG o r J xa ov aa , I N T H E BO O K o r

ak e the e a ery se rpe n

The y worshippe d

PU

W
ORSHIP

oid

T HO

it

"

of r e as on
Bo o x o r

ISDO M.

MA S S C O T T

PLEA SANT, RA MSG A TE

1 8 70

NU MBERS

Pr ice Sixpen ce

TREE A ND SERPENT

WORSHIP
.

FE W m on ths ago u n d e r the s an cti on an d as sist

an c e o f the I n di an C ou n c i l Mr F e rg u ss on p u b li s he d
a c o stly v olu m e o f e n gr av i ngs an d pho t ograp hs w i th
e xpl an at ory e ss ays illustrat i n g the m ythol og i c al sculp
tur e s ad orn i n g s om e an c i e n t re m ain s of Bu dd hi s t arc hi
t e c t u re n o w e xis t i n g in C e n tral In di a the Top e s or
fu n e ral m ou n ds of S an chi an d A m rav at i d at i n g ab o ut
the rst an d fourth c e n t u r i e s of the C hr i st i an e ra
Al thou gh Mr Fe rgu s s on s re s e arche s w e re in the rst
in stan c e c on duct e d in the i n t e re sts o f archi te cture an d
e t the r e p e at e d app ear an c e in t he s e d e c or at iv e
art
y
sculptu re s (whi c h lik e the p ai n t i n gs o f E gy pt r e pr e
s en t e d sc e n e s from the d ai ly l i fe an d c u st om ary u s age s
of the tre e or
of the p e ri od to w hi c h t he y b e l on g e d
)
the s e rp e n t p ortray e d as o bj e cts of p opul ar ado rat i on
le d him o n to the st u dy o f the m yt ho l og i c al s i gn ic an c e
H en c e the Spl en d i d v ol u m e whi c h
of the s e e m bl e m s
he has r e c e n tly p ubl i she d an d w hi c h he e n t i t l e s Tr e e
an d S e r p e n t W ors hi p o r I ll u s trat i on s of Mythol ogy
an d A r t in In d i a in the rst an d four th c e n t uri e s aft e r

C hr i s t
In a n ot i c e o f an e arli e r w ork o f Mr Fergu ss on s

P
i
c
tur
e s q u e I ll u strat i on s of An c i e n t A r c hi te c ture
(
)
whic h app eare d in the J o urn al of S acre d L i t erature
f or the y e ar 1 8 62 allusi on i s m ad e to an e n grav i n g of
o n e o f the scul ptur e d p an e ls o f the g at e w ay of the
S an chi m on u m e n t on w hi ch is re pres en t e d the w or

s hi p o f a Tre e Thi s is s e en pl ac e d on an altar b e

f or e w hi c h d e v ot e e s ar e pro strat i n g the m s e lv e s in
pray e r whil e an ge ls wi t h cro w n s of gl ory are oat in g in
,

a nd

Tr ee

W / ip

Ser pen t

or mr

b ov e I t is j ust such a sc e n e as a fe rvid i m agin

ati on m i g ht pictur e to its e lf b e fo r e the hi gh alt ar of a
R om an B asil i c a an d suc h as C hristi an p ai n t e rs who
l o v e the p oetry of the ir art are w on t to re pre s en t
e
hav e on ly to substitut e the C ross f or the Tre e an d the

re s e m bl an c e w ou ld b e c om pl e t e
Struck by this si m ili tud e Mr Fe rguss on has d e v ote d
a p ort i on of his re c e n t v olu m e to s he w i n g the l arge u s e
whi c h has b e e n m ad e o f Tree an d S e rp e n t sy m b ol
al m o s t e v e ry r e ligi ous syst e m w hi c h the w orld has
k n o w n n ot e xc e p t in g the H ebre w an d C hrist i an He
als o p oi n ts ou t the pr e v al e n c e o f S e rp e n t wo rs hi p am on g
the H in d oo s an d the s e m i civ i l i s e d trib e s o f A fr i c a at
It is the d e fe ct of M r Fe rgu s s on s
the pr e s e n t d ay
b ook that w hi l e it c alls atten ti on to s om e v e ry c u ri ous
it d oe s n ot offe r an y su fci e n t
an d v e ry st artli n g facts
I f the w ors hi p of
or s atisfact ory e xpl an at i on of t he m
the S e r pe n t or Tr ee was in an ci e n t ti m e s s o u n i v e rs al
it is e vide n t that the re m ust hav e b ee n s om e su fcie n t
r e as on for the pract i ce Mr Fergu s s on s absti n e n c e from
sp e cul at i on i s the m ore prov oki n g w hen it is re m e m
b ere d that the re c e n t i n v e st igation s of st u de n ts in c om
rativ e m yt hol ogy hav e by n o m ean s fai l e d in o btai n
a
p
B ut thou gh g i vi n g us
in g light up on the subj e c t
l ittl e of his o wn thought he d oe s n ot fail to utilise the
l ab ou rs o f othe rs

The w ors hip of the s e rp e n t

he q u ote s from M r
B athurst D e an e s ad m i rabl e w ork pub li s he d e arly in

the pre s e n t c e n tury

m ay b e trac e d in al m ost e v e ry
re l igion through an cien t A si a E urop e A fr i c a an d
A m eric a an d i ts pre v al e n c e is o n ly to b e acc ou n te d f or
on the s u pp o sit i on t hat a c orrupt e d trad i ti on o f the
S e rp e n t in P arad i s e had b e en han d e d down from ge n e

r ation to gen e rati on an d t hat c on s e q u e n tly all the

s erp en t sym bolism s fou n d in the he athe n m y thol ogi e s
w e re distorte d c opie s o f thi s n arrative
e c an acc e pt
Mr D e an e s c oll e cti on of facts t hough we fe e l ours elv e s
o bl ige d to re pudi ate his t heorie s M r D ean e wrote his

the

air a

T r ee

an

W / ip

d Serp en t

or e r

b ook at a t im e w he n i t w as the cust om to assu m e the

B ook of G e n e sis to b e the old e st l i terature in the w orl d
The fall acy o f t hi s ass e rti on ho w e v e r i s n o w too w e ll
k n o w n to n ee d e xp o sure T he re l ig i on s of Egypt an d
o f I n d i a d at e fr o m a p e r i o d l on g an t e ri o r to the i n f an cy
o f the J e wis h n at i on an d in the an c i e n t H i n d o o t he o
l ogy as n ow in the m o d e r n H i n d oo re l igi on the s e r
H ow
p e n t w as o n e o f the m o st fre q u e n t sy m b ols

s ay s Mr Mauri c e in his H i s
gre at an d how ge n e r al

was the v en e rat i on

t o ry of H i n d o s t an v ol i p 6 8
o f t he s e rp e n t in an c i e n t t i m e s t hr ougho ut H in d oo s tan
is e v i d e n t in e v e ry p ag e of the ir m y t hol og i c hist o ry in
w hi c h alm ost e v e ry fab u l ous p ers on age o f n ot e i s r e pre

s en te d as grasp i n g or as e n v i ron e d w i th a s e rp en t
I n t his t he o l ogy the s e rp en t tho ugh m or e or l e ss ass o
c iat e d w i t h B r ahm a an d w ith Vi s hn u w as y e t e sp e c i ally
the sy m b o l o f the t e rri c S iva the d e stroyin g y e t r e
ge n e rat in g m e m b e r o f the H i n d oo Tri m urt i or Tri n i ty
T he H i n d oo p hi l o s ophy disc e rn e d t hat d eath w as
cl os e ly ass oc i at e d w ith re pr oducti on s o i t m ad e the
h
av e a b e n e c en t as w e ll as an
o
f
d
s
t
r
u
c
t
i
on
t
o
d
o
e
g
H e n c e the s erp en t has c om e in t he
e v i l c har ac t e r
m ytho l ogi c al syste m s of ot he r n at ion s to b ear a d o ubl e
s i gn i cati on to b e s om e t i m e s the sy m b ol of b e n ec en c e
an d he al i n g as in the s e rp e n t o f E s c u lapiu s an d s o m e
t i m e s the sy m b ol of m al e v ol e n c e an d d e stru ct i on as in the
P e rs i an Ahri m an or the D e vil of C hri s t i an the ol ogy *
I n the s e rp en t w ors hi p o f an c i e n t t i m e s the s erp en t
It
was r e gard e d as the sy m b ol of a b e n e c en t G od
re pre s e n te d w i s d o m re pr oduct i on e tern i ty l ife ge n era
t i on & c Thus the gre at cre atin g sp i ri t o f the Egypti an
.

ly H i d t l y
Hi d
li g i
p s t
Siv
t rric
d stru c ti is
i
s rp t t t r p s t s
is sy b l
t t is
P si A i
vi l
d r t l y
d is ti gui s d f
g d
c t d it y
c t
d st d
b i g w rs ipp d
s rp t
sy b l S i v
w v r p s t d r pr
d u c ti r t r t
d s tru c t iv ss l if
d t

n oo he o o
n
l n the e ar
oo r e
on
g , an d in the
e
re en
a, t he
d ay ,
e
o f t he
on ,
go d o f
e r e en
ha
him
a
m o
wor s h pp ed , an d t he e e n
er
The
an
hr m an an d t he D e
ha
hono u r ed
of
n
he
r om t he
oo
an d b e n e
m o e n he o og are
on e m n e
in e a of e n
en
e
an d ar e
o
h
e
,
m o of
a, ho
e er,
e re en e
e
The e e n , as a
o
e n ot e a h
han e
en e
on
a he
.

T r ee

m ytho l ogy ,

the

Serp en t

and

pri m ordi al

W / ip
ar s p

Cn e ph, w as sy m b ol i s e d
*
C n e ph, J ac ob B ry an t

by a s e rp e n t The n am e
d e r i v e s fro m C an O ph the s e rp e n t o f the s u n the gr eat
The s e rp e n t o c cupi e s a v e ry
or c hi e f o r r oy al s e rp e n t
prom i n e n t pl ac e in t he c e l e brat e d Egypti an sy m b o l of
Di vi n e Pro v i d e n c e whi ch i s fou n d ad orn i n g the p ortic o
o f e v e ry Egypt i an t e m pl e viz
a w i n ge d gl ob e with
s e rp e n t s issu i n g from it H e re the s e rp e n t re pre s e n te d
the c r e ativ e w i sd o m o f G od t hat pr i n c i pl e of w i s
d om issui n g from the F athe r (the gl ob e ) by whi c h the
World was m ad e the w i n gs in t hi s sy m b ol s i gn i e d
the d iv i n e o m n i pre s e n c e the p e rv ad i n g e n e rgy o f G o d
it: gr
the H oly S pir i t
.

W
W
om

W
,

w e re c l o s e y

an

W
W
i s p r bly ss c i t d
W

a a

a e

rl i e st c on c e p
t i on 0 t e d i v i n e w isd om aro s e from the w on d e r e x
cite d in the m i n ds of m en as they c on t e m pl ate d the
myst e ri o u s p ow e r w i th w hi c h an i m als an d pl an ts are
in v e ste d of re produc i n g the ir sp e ci e s
H e n c e the
e arl i e st w ors hip was n atur e w orshi p an d the p e rv ad i n g
t hought of this w ors hi p c e n te re d aro un d the s e won de r
ful ge n e rativ e or product i v e p o w e rs

I t is re m ark abl e s ays D e an Mi l m an in his H is

t ory o f C hrist i an i ty
how w i d e ly al m o st u n i v e rs ally
e x t e n d e d t hr ougho ut the e arly w orld app e ars the ih
s titu tion
o f a s ol e m n p e ri o d o f m o ur n i n g ab ou t the
autu m n al an d of r ej o ic i n g ab out the v e r n al e q u in ox
The susp en si on o r app aren t e xti n c ti on of the gre at
v i v i fyi n g p o w e r of n at u re O sir i s or Iacchus the de sti
tu tion o f C e re s I s i s o r the e arth of he r husb an d or
her b e aut i ful d au ght e r tor n in pi e c e s or c arri e d away
i n t o the i r real m s by the m alig n an t p o w e rs o f dark n e ss
t he i r re app e aran c e in all the i r bright an d fert i l i si n g
age n cy t he s e d i ffe re n t for m s w e r e the gr e at an n u al fast

an d f e stiv al o f the e arly heathe n w ors hi p

e ea

An al y sis of the

an

c i e n t m yt hol o gy

T r ee

d Serpen t

an

G oe the giv e s utteran c e

to

W/p
or t 3 1

a ve

He

ry sim il ar idea

s e X3

The

U tilit ari an s s u sp e ct y ou of an in te n ti on of
ro bb i n g the m of the ir G o d , if y o u o bj ect to the ir ador
in g Him who g av e horn s to the ox w he re w i t h to d e
fe n d its e l f, but I hu m bly b eg to b e allo w e d to ad ore
Him whos e cre ativ e w e alth p e r m itt e d him to create ,
aft e r m an y thou s an d pl an ts , a pl an t in whi ch all the
r e st are c on tai n e d , an d to produc e , afte r m an y tho u s an d
sp e c i e s of ani m als , a b e in g whi c h c on t ai n s the m all,
v iz

m an

I t is custom ary to adore Him who giv e s the c attl e

its food an d m eat an d drin k acc ord in g to i ts wan ts ;
but I ad ore Him w ho gav e the w orld s u c h aston i shin g
p ow ers of production that thou gh but the m i ll i on th
p art of them b e e xe rte d the world is s o crowde d w i t h
b e i n gs that wars an d p e stil e n c e de luge s an d c on agra

ti on s can n ot pre v ail agai n st t he m

The thou ght that c om m an d e d the ad m irati on an d
r e v e re n c e of G oe the was the tho u ght that prom pt e d
T he H in d oo V e d as the
the e arli e st ide a o f wo rship
o ld e st re ligio us b ooks whi ch the w orld p oss e ss e s b ear
am pl e t e st i m on y to the fact t hat n ature w o rs hi p the
w ors hi p that s e e s G od in surro un d i n g o bj e cts in the
w on d e rful p ow e rs an d prop e rt i e s that the s e m anife st
w as the b as is o f the ear l i e st re l igion s of which hu m an
re c ords te ll O f thi s n at u re w ors hi p we shall show the
Tre e an d the S erp en t to hav e b ee n the chie f an d sp e c i al
sy m bols an d thes e we re re v e re n ce d b e c ause they we re
c on c e iv e d of as b e in g typ i c al of the re pro d uct iv e
p owe rs of v ege table an d an im al lif e The choi c e of the
T ree for thi s purp o s e s ee m s to b e v e ry n at u ral an d ap
propriate ; why the se rp en t should hav e b ee n cho s en
e hav e ho w e v e r ab u n
d o e s n ot s o clearly app e ar
dan t t e sti m on y that the s e rp e n t whe n use d as a re li
that
giou s sym bo l was m ad e to bear thi s s i gn ic ati on
in the e arli e r m ytho l ogi e s it typi e d the r e productiv e
e n e rgy o f an i m al lif e an d that late r on , as the s e m y tho
,

Tr ee

an d

Serp en t

W bip
or s

l ogi e s be c am e m ore re c on dite an d as re ligi ous sp e c u l a

t i on assu m e d a m ore p hil os op hic charac te r the se rp e n t
b e c am e the sym b ol of cre ativ e pow e r an d of D ivin e
Thus M r Fe rgu ss on throughout his b ook
w isd om
sp e aks of Tre e w orship as b e i n g the s i ste r re ligi on to
S e rp en t w orship an d he e n d eav ours to sho w that whil e
in I n d i a the two are r e p e at e d l y fo u n d toge the r y e t by
the A ryan rac e s
a sp e c i e s o f m yt hol ogic al s e l e cti on
of the W e ste r n w orld hav e al m o st in v ar i ably pre
f e rre d the Tre e sy m bo l be fore the S e rp e n t sy m b ol an d
that c on s e qu en tly in the m ythol ogi e s of n orthe rn
E ur ope w e n d re p e ate d e vid e n c es of T re e w ors hi p an d
but f ew i n dic ation s of S erpe n t w ors hip, m ore ov e r the
S e rp en t in thes e m ythol ogi e s has an e vil sign ic an c e an d
o ccupie s a de grad e d p os i tion
Ye t E ur op e tak e s its
n am e from the s e rp e n t s i gn i e s the gr e at or chi e f se r
p en t w hi le ih t his c o u n try the r e m ai n s o f a gr e at s e r
p en t t em pl e are still to b e s ee n at A bu ry in W iltshire
The w ord Abury i s v i rtu all y the n am e E urop e tran s
p os e d an d it als o s ign i e s the gre at s erp e n t
D r Stu k ely in a l ett er to M r G ale of S tam ford
d at e d Jun e 2 5th 1 73 0 w hi ch I n d q u ot e d by D r
O liv e r in his l e cture on M as on ic S ign s an d Sym b ols
an d als o by the l e arn e d aut hor of the
B o ok o f G od

s ays The stu pen d o us t em pl e at A bury in W iltshire

is a picture of D e ity
m os t partic u larly of w hat the y
an ci e n tly c all e d the F athe r an d the W ord who creat e d
all thi n gs
This gure y ou will n d on the top o f all
the ob e l i sks
A s n ake proc e e d i n g fro m a circ l e is a
proc e ss i on of the Son (or D ivi n e W isdo m ) from the

gre at First C aus e

The Re v B athurst D e an e to whos e work on Se r
p e n t W orship allusi on has already b e en m ade s ays
Fr om a circl e o f u pright st on e s e re cte d at e qu al dis
tan c e s pro c e e de d two av e n u e s in a w avy c o urs e in
o p p o sit e dir e ct i on s
; the s e w e re the fore an d hi n d e r
p arts o f the s e rp en t s b ody p assi n g fro m w e st to e ast
W i thin this great c ircl e w e re fo ur othe rs c on side rably
,

T r ee

Serp en t

an d

W/p
on

21

s m all e r 3 the head of the s erp e n t w as for m ed of two

c on c e n tri c ov als an d re st e d on an e m i n e n c e w hi ch i s
the s o u the rn pr om on t ory of the Hac k pe n * ( S e rp e n t s

he ad ) hills
Mr J ac ob Bryan t in his An alysis of the An ci en t

Mythol ogy s ays that the w ord

A b whi c h in
H e bre w m e an s F at he r has als o the s am e m e an in g as

O b or A ub an d s ign i e s a Ser
the Egypti an
p e n t thu s e tym ol og i c ally u n i tin g the two ideas
The fact t hat in c on n e ct i on wi t h the D r u i d i c al
re l igi on s e rp e n t w ors hi p e stabl i she d i t s e l f in this c ou n
try an d has l e ft a v i v i d m e m ori al o f i ts pre s e n c e in the
A bury ru i n s s e rv e s as a s u fc i e n t w i t n e ss of its pre
v al e n c e in the an ci en t world O ur obj e c t ho w e v e r is
The s e r pe n t w as in all the
to asc e rt ai n its m e an i n g
old w o rshi ps the sy m b ol of the D e i ty ; if t he r e for e w e
dis c ov e r the hi d d e n s ign i c an c e w hi c h att ache d to this
sym b ol we shall b e abl e to thro w c on s i de rabl e l i ght
up on the e arly form s of r e l igi o us t hought an d p oss e ss i n g
the rst l i n k w e s hall n d i t a gr eat he lp t ow ards c om
pre he n d i n g the subs e qu en t d e v e l op m en t of re l ig ious
d o c tr i n e
,

hologie s

of

the m

r
rtherly
Eu rop e an n ation s the Tre e i s m u c h m ore c on sp i cu ous
as a r e l i g i ou s sy m b o l than is the S e rp e n t
A T r e e of
K n owl e dge an d a T re e of L i fe ar e her e c on tin u ally m e t
w i th as s acre d sym b o ls w hil e the s e rp en t as an o bj e ct
o f dir e ct w ors hi p is f ar l e ss fre q u e n t
From an arti cle
on
S acre d Tre e s in the J o u rn al of S acre d L i te ra
ture f or 1 8 6 2 we m ak e the f oll owin g q u o tati on s in

From Pe n he ad an d Hag the old English word

f or s e rpe n t
An ac al yp si s by Go dfre y
o e no

T r ee

10

an

d Serp en t

W hip
or s

su pp ort of the pr ev al e n c e of Tree sy m b olis m or Tree

wo rs hip in t he an c i e n t r e l i gi ous sys te m s
The fact of a c e rtai n Tr e e of L i fe b e i n g i n troduc e d
at the c o m m e n c e m e n t o f the s acre d r e c or d s by o n e w ho
had b e e n c are fu lly e duc at e d in all the l e ar n i n g of the
Egypt i an s w o uld l e ad on e to s u pp os e that the Egyptian s

the m s e lv e s p o ss e ss e d a k n ow l ed ge of suc h a Tr e e f O n
the s acre d m o n u m e n ts of the an c i e n t E gypti an s we d o
n d a Tre e havi n g a r e l at i on t o the l i fe in P arad i s e an d
fu rn i shi n g there i n the re q ui re d supp ort of i m m ortal i ty
T he m on u m e n ts of the an c i e n t A s sy rian si als o sho w a
s acre d Tre e sy m b ol i c al of the divi n e i n u en c e o f the

lif e givin g D e i ty
T he m o st g e n e rally r e c e iv e d sy m b ol of life is a tr e e
as als o the m o st appr opr i at e an d as w e r e c og n is e tw o
d i ffer e n t form s of l i fe a sp i ri tu al l i fe the li fe of the
s oul an d a p hysic al life :the l ife of the b ody s o the s e
m ay b e r e pr e s en t e d e i ther by tw o tre e s as s om e tim e s
fou n d the Tre
the

in r e fe re n c e to u n iv e rs al life by on e tr e e al on e
A s a sy m b olic al tre e of u n iv e rs al life the ash
Yggd ras ill the m u n d an e tre e o f the S c an di n avi an
m y thol ogy cl aim s the pre e m i n e n c e
I t is d e scrib e d
in the E d d as as the gre at e st an d b e st of tre e s
I ts
tripl e root r e ache s to the m ythic r egi on s o f the frost
gian ts an d the ZEs ir an d p e n e trate s the n e bul o us
n ihe im
its m aj e stic st e m ov e rto ps the he av e n s an d
its bran che s fill the world I t is sprin kl e d with the
pure st wat er whe n c e is the d ew that falls in the dal e s
an d its l i fe g i vi n g e n e rgy is diff u s e d t hr oughout al l
n atur e
This tre e is e viden tly a sym b ol of that in s c ru
tabl e p ow e r which is the life o f all thi n gs thus repre
s e n tin g u n de r an arb ore sc en t form the m ost an cie n t
Ther e ar e re ason s f or be li e vin g that the e arl y chapte rs of
the Boo k o f G e n e s i s w e re bo rr o w e d from a C hald e an rathe r than
fr om an E ti an so ur c e
e x po si t i o n o f t he s ym b o l i c al m e an in g o f the
1 Fo r a i
A ssyri an Tr e e s e e Dr In m an s An c i en t Fai ths e m bo d ie d
in An c i e n t N am e s
.

'

Tr ee

an

a pen t

W / ip
on

the ory of N at u r e an al ogous tin g the C hristm as Tre e

I n d i an Parvati the god d e ss of Sproof of the Egy pti an
in the Egyp ti an I s i s an d in the gmm the fact t hat in
w i th in t he m us e u m s of I taly c all e d Egypt had the
E p he s i an s a v ar i e ty o f the I n d i an E b awis oft en sub

T he s acr e d tr ee of the an ci e n t Briti s h

the oak the tr e e s acre d to D ru i d i c al wors hrp by the
o ak in P al e sti n e w as r e gard e d as the e m bl e m
g l an d

D i vi n e c ov e n an t ( Thi s how e v e r had an othe r sy nin g

am on g the e arly J e ws w hi c h cl o s e ly all ie s the tre e w i t h

It
the pre v al e n t N ature w ors hi p of the an c i en ts)
is als o w orthy of re m ark t hat the s am e H ebre w w ord
a la h w hi c h s i g n i e s an oa k m ean s als o an oa th an d
the r oo t of thi s w ord is a l m ighty or stron g the ori gi n

o f the n am e of D e ity in m an y o f the an c i e n t l an gu ag e s

Am on g the G reeks the oak of D od on a was the s e at o f
the ol d e st H e ll e n i c oracl e an d the pri e sts s e n t forth
the i r d e cre e s on its l e av e s
The gure of N u tpi or N e ith the go d d e ss of D i vi n e
lif e w as re pre s e n t e d on the s epulc hral m on u m e n ts of
the E gypt i an s as s eate d am on g the bran c he s of the

Tre e of Life in the p arad i s e of O s i ri s an d repr e

s en t e d the godde ss di sp e n s in g the divi n e s u st e n an c e
the i m m ort al s oul
The
H om
is
the s acr e d tr e e of the P e rs i an s

sp ok en of in the Z en d av e sta as the \V ord of L i fe

as the author of s alv at i on an d as the an n ou n c e r o f it
as the Tr e e o f L i fe an d as the s ou rc e of the l i vi n g wat e r

o f lif e
The pl an t H om whe n c on s e c rat e d i s re
garde d as the m ys ti cal b ody of G od an d w he n par
t ak e n of as a s acram en t i s r e c e i ve d as the v er i tabl e
foo d o f e te rn al l i fe

T he
Hom whe n thus c on s e cr at e d w as supp o s e d
to giv e l i fe an d whe n p art ak e n of by the w orshi pp e rs
was regard e d in the s am e l ight as C hr i st i an s hav e s i n c e
regarde d the ir Eu c harist v i z as the substan c e of G od
Thi s gu re w as an im age of the go dd e ss Mu ltim am m i a or
Se e Mon tfau c on s pl ate s
the m an y bre as t e d
,

T r ee

an d

W hip

Serp en t

or s

sy m b ols tre e s e rpe n t cross p hallus l ogos an d m em ra

w er e in c ours e of t i m e regarde d as sy m b ol i c al of C hrist
an d e v e n tu ally l ost t he m s e lv e s in C hr isti an i ty
e hav e c all e d att e n t i o n to the f act t hat an an ci en t
B uddhist sculpt u re re pre s en ts an ac t of adorati on of a
c har act e r id en t i c al wit h the re ligio us c ere m on i al of the
R om an C athol i c C hurch e xc e pt t hat a tr e e was us e d
in the pl ac e of a cr oss as the c e n tral s y m b ol of the rite
T he cro ss an d the tr ee howe v e r ar e sy n on y m ous sy m
b ols In C hr i st i an lit erature we v e ry often n d the cross
spok en of as a tre e as though the t e rm s we re in te r
c han ge abl e as i n de ed they ar e Thus in the l 0 th
c hapte r of the Acts of the A po stl e s P e te r sp e aki n g o f

Je sus s ay s
w hom they sl e w an d han g e d on a tr ee
( em Ethos ) U n de r this word D r P ark hurst in his
L e xic on has the fo ll owi n g r e m arks
I n R e v e l ati on s

the Tr e e of L ife
de n ot e s C hrist as
E u hov m g goi ng
b ei n g the au thor o f e te rn al l i fe ; whil e in the foll owi n g
qu o tati on from H ym n s An ci e n t an d Mo d e rn the
cross an d the tre e are e vid e n tly in the c o m m on l an gu age
of C hr i sti an w ors hi p i n t e rc han ge abl e t e r m s
,

Chris t b y c owar d han d s b e traye d

C hri s t f or u s a c apt i ve m ade
C hri s t u p on the b i tte r tr ee
S lain f or m an b e prai se to The e

A gain

i s han d s
Se e
So he m ak e s

fe e t ar e f as te n e d
H i s pe opl e fre e
Not a w o u n d w he n c e bl oo d i s owin g
Bu t a fo un t of gr ac e shall b e
Y e a the v e r y n ail s w hi c h n ai l H im
N ail u s al s o t o the Tre e
an d

foll ow in g has b e en sub m i tte d to m y n otic e in this

c on n e c ti on I t is from the H ym n al N ot e d by the

R e v R Ro p e r an d c om p l ai n t w as m ad e to the Bi s hop
o f E x e t e r c on c e r n i n g i t in J u n e 1 8 57
I t i s q u e st i on
abl e how e v e r w he t he r it w o uld b e m ad e a m att e r o f
c om plain t n ow
T he

T r ee

an d

Serp en t

W/p
91

en

F i thf u l c ss 1 b v all th rs
bl tr
d
ly
On
a

ro

no

on

e an

ee

N on e in foliage n on e in bl ossom
N on e in frui t thy pe e r m ay b e
S we e te s t wood an d s we e te st ir on
S we e te st we ight is hu n g on thee
Be n d thy bo u ghs 0 Tr e e o f Gl ory
Thy re l ax in g s in e w s b e n d
For a whil e the an c i e n t v ou r
That th b irth b e stow e su sp en d ;
in g of H e av e n l y b e au t y
An d the
O n thy b os om ge n tl y te n d
The or igin of thi s stran ge c om p ou n d of heat hen is m an d
C hr i s t i an i ty i s to b e foun d in a hy m n written in the
s i xth c en tury by F ortu n atus Bi shop o f P oi t i e rs From
the c on clud i n g porti on of thi s t he foll ow i n g li n e s ar e
tak en of w hi ch the v ers e s j ust q u ot e d ar e a l i te ral
tran sl ati on
C ru x d e lis in t e r om n e s ar b or u n a n obilis
S i lv a t al e m n u lla p ro fe rt fron d e or e ge rm in e
D ul c e f e r ru m d ul c e li gn um d u l c e p on d u s su s t in e n t

Fl e c t e r am os arb or alta t e n s a l axa vi sc era

E t ri gor le n t e sc at ill e q u e m d e di t n at i vi t as
E t s u p e rn i m em bra re gi s t e n d e m i t i s t ip i t e
Thus it is that the Tre e of L ife b e c om e s the C ross the

w oo d whe n c e s alv ati on c om e th

I t i s n ow w e ll
k n o w n to the l earn e d that the C ross
is a pr e C hr i st i an sy m b ol N ot in de e d t i ll the third
c e n tury of the C hr i st i an era was the gu re of a C r oss
us e d as a sy m bo l in C hr isti an worshi p i t was t he n
us e d in b apt i sm f or purp o s e s of e x orc is m the s ign of
the cr o ss b e i n g sup pos e d to po ss e ss gre at e fc ac y
ag ai n st all s orts of e v i ls an d p art i c u l arly agai n st the
m ac hin ati on s of e v i l spiri ts (Se e M o s he i m )
Not till

c ru c a r
n e arly the s i xth c e n tury w as the
the cross

e m pl oy e d
H i the rto from the
o f the cruc i x i on
thi rd c en t u ry the cr oss u s e d was the P agan sym b ol
an d it w as e m pl oy e d in the s en s e att ac he d to i t in the
old P ag an fai ths v i z , d e l i v e ran c e fr o m e vi l an d e t e rn al
li fe Thi s cr oss was b u t the Tre e sy m b ol in an othe r
form , though afte r the s ixth c en tury i t m e rge d in t o the
,

'

T r ee

d Serp en t

an

W hip
or s

C ross of C alv ary N e v e rthe l e ss to this hour the m ean

in g of the C ro ss in C hrist i an us age re tai n s v e ry m uch
.

s i gn ic an c e an d w hi l e on G ood F ri d ay it is
re gard e d as the d ol or o us sym bo l of su ff e ri n g an d d eath
o n Easte r d ay it b e c om e s the sym b o l of re surre cti on
in ot he r w ords
an d joy the e m bl e m of e t e rn al lif e
w hil e on G oo d F riday the C ross has its prop e r C hr isti an
sign i c an c e o n E ast e r d ay it i n herits all the pl e as i n g
T he
as s o c i ati o n s t hat b e l o n g e d to its p agan pr oto typ e
whi ch
an c i e n t cro ss was the s am e wit h the s i gn ta u
Ez e kie l in his visi on s aw stam p e d as a m ark o f s al va
ti on on the fore heads of the fai thfu l J e w s ( Ez e k chap
The p as s ag e whi c h in the En glish tran sl ati on is

re n de re d s e t a m ark is t hus giv e n in the v u l gate

E t s ign s Thau ( cro ss a cro ss )sup e r fron te s v iro ru m

This than or tau T was the s i gn

ge m e n tiu m
o f e t e rn al life an d u n d e r the n am e of the c ru x ans a ta
was pl ac e d in the han d of all the E gypti an g ods as a
sy m bo l of the ir divin ity I t was in fact the Phallus
an d Y on i c o m b i n ed the l atte r b e in g signi e d by the
sup e radde d rin g I n the S am aritan form
this tau

sym bol was stam p e d on all the H ebre w c oi n s an d in

t his form i t c on sti tute d the fam ous ham m e r of Thor
the N ors e sy m bo l of divin ity
o acc ordin g to
S
x
Lon gf e ll ow Kin g O l af when k ee pin g C hr istm as at
of

its

old

D ron the im ,

drin k in g horn the s ign

He m ad e of the cro ss di vin e
As he dran k an d m u tte re d his pray e rs
Bu t the Be rse rks e ve rm or e
Mad e the si gn of the ham m e r of Thor

Ov er the irs
B ut the s e sym b ols , says M r B arin g G o uld in his
In thi s form w e s ee the
O e r his

T r ee

and

W hip

Serp en t

or s

Myths of the M iddl e Age s were the sam e an d he

qu ot e s the foll owi n g st ory in proof
O n e of the S agas d e scri bin g the s acric e at Lad e
at w hi c h K in g H ak on A the ls to n s f o st e r so n w as pr e

se n t re l ate s : Now w he n the rst gobl e t was lled

Earl Sigur d sp ok e s o m e w ords ov e r i t an d bl e ss e d it
in O d i n s n am e an d d ran k to the k in g ou t o f the
horn
an d the k in g t he n to ok i t an d m ad e the s ign o f
Then s ai d K aar e of G r ey tin g W hat
the cro ss o v e r it
d oe s the k i n g m ean by do in g so 2 will he n ot s acrice ?
B ut Earl Si gurd repli e d the k in g is doin g what all of
y ou d o who trust in yo ur p owe r an d stre n gth f or he is
bl e ss i n g the fu ll gobl e t in the n am e of Thor by m ak in g

the s i gn o f his ham m er o v e r i t b e fore he dr i n k s i t

The D r u ids w e re accu sto m e d to c on v e rt the s acre d
oak in t o the for m of a cr o ss (an d thus to m ak e the tre e
an d cr o ss sy m b ols i d en t i cal )by cutt in g o ff all the b oughs
an d xin g the t wo l arg er on e s in t o the st e m at r i ght
an gl e s to i t t hus the form of a cr o ss was pro d u c e d an d

Than ( dog) In the arti c le

o v e r this w as in s cr i b e d

S acre d Tree s b e fore allude d to there occurs the

on
foll o w in g p aragraph

T he Bu dd hi sts hav e the ir sacre d tre e s

I n C eyl on
the re is the boga ha or go d s tre e C ap t ain W il ford
in an ar tic le in the 1 0 th v olu m e of the As i ati c Re s e arche s

says that the tr ee of l ife an d k n owl edge or the

J a m b u tre e is re pre s e n te d in the shap e of a Man iche an
cro ss pl ac e d on a c alvary I t i s call e d the divi n e

tre e the tre e of the god s

When the tre e is re pr e
s e n t e d as a tr u n k witho ut bran che s i t is the n s ai d to
*
b e the s eat of the S upre m e O n e
Whe n two arm s
w e re add e d as in the C hris ti an cro ss than the Trim urti
( I n d i an trin i ty Brahm a V ishn u an d Si v a) w e re s ai d
to b e s e at e d the re
,

ha ll u s w as o fte n worshi ppe d un d e r the f orm of a

The
c oni c al s ton e t he be li sk an d the r am i d ar e s m bo ls of a
sim il ar charac t er
he had the s am e m e an in g as the Tr ee
s te m Wi thou t bran che s, an d s m bo lise d the Great athe r, Go d
.

O
T y

Py

T r ee

an d

Serpen t

W hip
or r

The p arall e l which this offe rs to the practic e o f the

B r itis h D ru i ds is v e ry r e m ark abl e , as is als o the re s em
bl an c e of the l att e r form to the C hrist i an cross
The tree an d cross are he re fou n d to b e virtu ally the
s am e sy m b ols , i m plyi n g the e l e m en t of p hysic al life ,
w hic h was typic al o f the C reator in the e arly n ature
w orshi p
e s hall n ow pr oc e e d to s how the ir i d e n tity
as sym b ols of the highe r i n t ell e ctu al life of the s oul
The tre e o f life is ofte n us e d as a g u r e in the d e v o
tion al lite rature of the J e ws , havin g, ho w e v e r, n o re l a
t i on to the tr ee of whi ch the B ook of Ge n e sis sp eaks
Thus , in the B ook of P rov e rbs , wisdom (of w hich b e it
r e m e m b e re d the s e rp e n t was the u niv e rs al sym b ol ), is

de scrib e d as a tree of life to the m which lay hold

up on her

M r G odfre y H iggin s in his An ac al ypsis , s ays that

b ook has the d e ri vation from the

ou r E n gl i sh w ord

The L ati n w ord

n am e of the heathe n god
B acchus
liber , w hic h signi e s a b ook , whe n c e ou r w ord l i brary,
o r c o ll e cti on of b ooks , is d e riv e d , was als o o n e of the
n am e s o f t hi s god B acchus
From liber is al s o de riv e d

lib e rty, s i gn i fy in g in its higher s en s e the

ou r w ord
free dom which kn owl e d ge c on f ers 3 the fre e dom whi ch
was gi v e n to slav e s , an d the g en eral lib erty or lic e n c e
whi ch was all ow e d at the fe st i v al or org i e s of B acchus ,
m ay , in c on n e ct i on wi th the othe r m ean i n g that the
n am e liber b ears , hav e origi n at e d the custo m for m e rly
obs e rv e d in t hi s c ou n try of c on fe rr i n g l i b e rty , or sc our
in g fre e d om or e x e m pti on from pu n i shm e n t to the

l e arn e d u n de r the titl e b en e t of the cl e rgy

B ut
liber s i gn i e s als o the b ark or i n n e r rin d of a tree, on
which b ooks we re origi n ally wri t te n
Thus we hav e
o n e n am e s i gn if y i n g a tr e e , a god , an d a b ook
I t is
o w i n g to t hi s c on n e ct i on o f a tre e with a b ook t hat w e
Spe ak o f the l eav e s of a b ook as we d o of the l eav e s of
a tre e, an d the s i m il arity i s pr e s e rv e d in the Latin , w he n
we sp e ak o f the foli os of a b ook an d of the foliag e of a
tree Agai n , the w ord edition us e d with referen c e to
.

T r ee

an d

Serp en t

W / ip
or t s

b ooks deriv e d from the L atin ed o I e at alli e s the id ea

o f b ooks w i th the fr ui t of the tr e e ; t hus the tr e e of
k n ow l e dge b e c o m e s the b ook of wis d om an d as w e
hav e a tr ee of l ife so w e hav e als o the c on c epti on of a
b ook of li fe an d the tre e spok en of in the Re v e l ati on s
w ho s e l eav e s w er e to b e for the heal i n g of the n ati on s

is s i m ply a sy m b ol for the B ook of L i fe

I n the m ythol ogi e s of the e ast e rn as distin g u ishe d
from the w e stern w orld the s e rp e n t he ld a m ore c on
s pic u ou s pl ac e w as the hi ghe r sy m b o l as dr aw n fr om
Th e tr e e m ost c om m on ly s y m
the an i m al c reat i on
b olis e d p hys i c al l i fe whil e the s erpe n t had the ad de d
m e an in g of sp i ri t u al life
I n al m o s t all the e m bl e m atic al gr oups o f the I n

d i an s we m e e t s ay s G o d frey H iggin s w i th the s er

p en t ih s om e shape or ot he r W hen i t has i ts t ail in
B ut
its m out h n o d oubt i t is the e m bl e m of e t e rn i ty
tho ugh i t is ad m i rabl e f or t his purp o s e that is but a
s m all p art of i t s m e an in g I t i s wo rthy of obs erv at i on
that i t i s fo u n d in v e ry n e arly the old e st of the Bu d d
hi st m on u m e n ts 3 an d the s e rp e n t m o st p art i cularly
chos e n in I n d i a an d o fte n fo u n d in Egy pt w here i t i s
is the c obra or n aga or hoo d e d sn ak e
n ot a n at i v e
T hi s Bu dd hi st fore ign e r in Egyp t sufc i en t ly she w s that
the Bu ddhi st w orshi p c am e t o Egypt b e for e the in v en
t i on of hi e rogly phi cs I t is al w ays fo u n d in c on n e c
t i on w i th the lin ga as the e m bl em of the c reat i v e

p ow e r
p
A
n a c a lyps is v ol i
e p ass n ow
(
t o c on s i d e r s e rp e n t w orshi p as i t e x i st e d am on g the an
c i e n t H e bre w s I n the hi st oric al an d pre phetic b ooks
of the O ld T e st am en t w e hav e re p e at e d e v i d e n c e t hat
pri or to the B abyl on ish c aptivity the H ebre w w orship
w as a m i xtur e of P agani s m an d J u d ais m an d t hat
J ehov ah w as ofte n w orshi pp e d in c on n e ct i on w i th the
he athe n d e i t i e s

I t i s r e m ark abl e s ays D r S D avids on that the

fu n dam en tal d octri n e o f M os ai s m v i z t hat the re i s but
on e G od the cr e at or an d pr e s e rv e r of all in vis i bl e
,

T r ee

2 0

a nd

Serp en t

W hip
or r

an
d
was all al o n g in
t
r
l
o
ip
t
t
ly
just
en
h
o
m
n
o
n
a
e e
A fe w
ad e q u at e ly appr e he n d e d t ill the c apti vity
c ho ic e spirits gras p e d it w ith su f ci en t distin ctn e ss an d
ad he r e d to it whi l e t o the m ass of the p eopl e J e hov ah
w as n o m ore than a sup e ri or G od b e sid e ot he r d e iti e s
P olythe i s m had d e e ply p e n e trat ed the vulgar m in d
an d though the n ati on fr e qu en tly s ought J e hov ah w ith
c on vict i on s of s in an d re pe n t an c e such c on v e rsion s
c all e d forth by e xte rn al c i rcu m stan c e s we re tran si en t
A m anifold idol atry p artly of Z abian
in the ir e ff e cts
had its altars in all the
an d p artly o f E gypt i an o rigi n
citi e s of the l an d in the str e ets o f J e rus al em an d in
the v e ry te m pl e of J e hovah i m m ed i ate ly b e fore the e xil e
xliv ) The re
as w e l e arn from J e r e m iah ( c haps v i i
is n o e vi d en c e to show that the c e re m on i al law was
obs e rv e d by the J e ws wit h an yt hi n g lik e r egul arity or
strictn e ss The great fe asts the m s e lv e s suc h as the
P ass ov e r the F e ast of Tab ern acl e s & c were all ow e d
to fall in t o d e su e tud e as the his t or i c al bo oks att e st I f
the e xt er n als o f r e l igi on w e re n egl ige n tly att en d e d to

re ligi on its e lf m ust hav e b een s i ckly

( I n tr od u c tion
to the Old T es tam en t v ol i p
That duri n g the re ign s of the J e wis h kin gs s erp en t
w ors hip prev ail e d am on g the H e bre w p e o p l e is e vi
d en e s d by the fact re c orde d o f H eze kiah ( 2 K i n gs xviii

he r e m ov e d the high p lace s an d brak e the

3 ) t hat

Se e als o The Worshi p of Baalim in I srae l hy Dr H O ort

t ran sl ate d b y the Bis hop of N at al On p age 4 6 the B isho p
su ppl ies the foll owi n g n ot e wi th re fere n c e t o the i d ol or A sh
e r a e e c te d b y Maac ha t he m o the r o f K in
A s a(s e e 1 K in gs
l 3 )the pr o e r trans l at i on of whi o shou ld b e
xv
She
A s a s m othe r m ade on the A shera s om e thin g d e t e s tabl e I t
s ee m s pl ai n that the Ashera w as in re al i t y a phall u s li ke the
Lin a o f t he H i n d oosthe m al e s ym b o l e m pl o y e d as a si gn
e f e rt iliz i n g an d l i fe gi v in g po we r o f the Su n
o f tg
I t w as
e xhi b i t e d in v ar i o u s f or m s s o m e t im e s in ru d e re p re s e n t ati on s of
t he organ i t s e lf b u t u s u all y in a m ore re n e d form as the
trun k of a tre e d e ad or liv in g a p ill ar & c
We forbe ar for
o bvi o u s re as ons
fur the r q u ot ati on an d re fe r the s t u de n t to
t he w ork i t s e lf
,

a nd

Tr ee

Serpe n t Wor s h ip

2 I

i m ages and c u t down the grov e s ( A shera) and brake

i n p i eces the bra zen serpent that Mos es had m ade for
u nto those days the ch i ldren of I srael did b u rn i ncense
to i t and he call e d i t N
We have here the m ost pos it i ve ev i dence of the
ex i stence of serpent worsh i p a m ong the H ebrew people
as late as the days of H e zeki ah
T he i m age was an
efgy of a s e rpent set on a p ol e assoc i ated that i s w i t h
a phall i c e mble m T he story of M oses hav in g erect ed
th i s efgy i n the w i lderness so m e 8 0 0 years prev i o u sly
i s s i m ply a legend fra m e d i n later ages to expla in and
i n so m e degree to exc u se the pract i ce of th i s i dola try
the B ook of Nu m b ers 3 in which th i s i nc i dent is r e
corded be i n g not only m odern in date b u t u n his to ri
c al i n character
T he s e r pent on a pole i s v i rt u ally
the serpent on a tree
I t i s D i v i ne w i sdo m on the
sym bol of prod u ct i ve life and form s one of the m ost
express i ve and m ost rec ondi te of all t he s y m b
a nc i ent world
The cru de i deas of Nat u re worsh i p fo u nd a rened
e xpress i on i n the anc i ent ph i losoph i cal syste m s both
o f Ind i a and G reec e
T he fec und princi pl e of Nat u re
becam e as the i dea of a Div i ne pe rsonal i ty gre w u p
the creat i ve energy of Go d ; and th i s creat i ve energy
was sy mbol i sed in the ph i losophy of Pla to by the
Di v i ne w i sdo m or Word of G od By this was m eant
the operat i ng power of G o d and by m eans of th i s

a
so
m
eth
i
ng
d
i
st
i
nct
fro
m
the
Di
v
i
ne
essence
som e
(
t hing e m ana ti ng fro m t he Di v i ne essenc e ) it was
tho u ght that G od m ade the world
Pla to s ch i ef
G od the eternal and s e lf ex i stent Father li ke the
Hi ndoo B rah m a was conce i ved of as p u re sp i r i t ; that
which co m es in to contact w i th m atter the m aker
I n a n ote on th i s w or d in t he
Old T e s t am e n t H i stor y
e di te d b
As h to reth is p er
y Dr W Sm i t h t he wr ite r say s
h aps the pro per n am e o f the godde ss w hil e Ashera i s the
n a m e o f t he im ag e or sy m b o l o f t he g o dd e ss
Ther e was pe r
,

ha

c cti b tw
lic t
th
p
i c lpt

s a

s y m bo

A s sy r

on ne
r ee ,

an s u

on

th

s sy m

r es en ta tion o

e re

u r es

een

bo l or im a ge a n d the sa r ed
whi h o u r s s o f r eq u en tly in

c cc

T r ee

2 2

an d

Serp en t Wor s h ip

and form er of the worldwas conce i ved of as an em an

at i on fr o m t he eternal F ather the D e m i u rgos or Logos
the word or w i sdo m of G od G od i t was tho u ght not
d irectly b u t by hi s w i sdom h i s rs t born and only
begotten S on m ade t he world That wh i ch i n the
pop u lar worsh i p was sy m boli sed by the serp e nt P la to
i n h i s ph ilosophy sym bol i sed by the concept i on of the
L ogos the word or w i sdo m of G od
A bo u t two cent u ri es before the C hr isti an era the
stream s of H eb re w and G reci an tho u ght m et and
m ingled at A lexandri a and i n the presence of the
rened spec u lat i ons of P lato concern ing de i ty the
J ews grew asha m ed of those early traditi ons wh i ch
the i r l i terat u re contai ned wh i ch represented God i n
the grossness of a h um an form so they im ag i ned a

person i ca t i on of the Di vin e wi sdo m called S ophia

and sa i d that G od m ade the w orld by this SOphia or
w isdo m and that he appeared to Abraha m and Noah
by h i s angel or word both term s hav ing the i dent i cal
m ean in g of the L ogos *
The fa m ou s brazen serpent
called Ne hu shtan i s call ed in the T arg u ms Mem ra
or the Word and J u st i n Mar ty r d evi dently per pe trat
i ng a l i ttle p i o u s fra u d cha n ges t he sym bol wh i le h e

reta in s the m ean in g H e says that when the Israe li tes

i n the desert were set u pon and des troyed b y ven o m o u s
beasts v i pers asps and all sorts of serpe n t s M oses
by parti c u lar in sp irati on fro m G od m ad e th e s i gn of
the cross and plac e d i t by the H oly T abernac le an d

d eclared that
i f the people wou ld look u pon that

cross an d bel i eve they sho uld be s aved

S o the
tree or tau or cross w i th a se rpent u pon i t represen ted
,

'

Phil o J u d aau s, in
im
o f G od
sa s ,
y

c m m e ti g u p m b ei g m de i the
N m ort al t h i g c ou ld h a e b ee f m ed
t e s im ilit u d e f the Su prem e Father f th u iv er e b t
f t he e c
d De i ty w h i the Word f
O ly aft e r t he p a tt e r
t he Su p em e Be i g it i tt i g th t the rati l soul f
m
sh ld b e ar b e f re i t the ty p f the Divi e W
ord f
w hic h the hum a m i d i t he im iht d
d form
1 A p l gy i
o

on

on

an

ou

o o

on

'

e an

or

on a

n o

an

an d

Tr e e

S erp en t Wor s h ip

i n the m yth i cal i deas wh i ch preva iled in Ju st in M ar

tyr s ti m e Di vine w i sdo m or the L ogos cru c ied for
s i nce the death of C hri st the cross wh i ch i n t he
heathen rel i gi on s was only u sed as the sy m bo l of l i fe
cam e al so when i t had be en i ntrod u c ed into C hrist i an
worsh i p to be u sed as the sym bol of death S t ill even
to thi s day th i s latter s i gnicat i on i s invariably the
minor one and the cross as used i n C hri stian worshi p
i s the sy m bol of eternal 1i fe of s alvat i on rather than
of destru ction Thi s si gn i cance i t wo u ld never have
had had i t not inheri t e d the assoc i ati ons w hi ch had
belonged to i t in the anc i ent fai ths wh ere i t was i den
t i cal wi th the Tree the Li nga and the Phall u s
I t m ay see m a start ling i dea to m any to speak of

S erpent worsh i p as prevailing a m ong the early

C hr i sti ans Y e t h istory bears am ple testi m ony to the
fact O f the n u m erou s sects i nto wh i c h the C hr i s t i ans
of the second cent u ry were div i ded one of the m ost

s i ngu lar was th e s e ct of the O ph it es or S e rpent i n

i ans These s u peradded to the doctri nes of the Egyp
t i an G nostics t he no t i on that the S erpent of G en e s i s
by wh i ch E ve was te m pted was e i ther C hrist Him self

or the ZE on S ophi a or Lo gos concealed u nd e r th e

form of that reptile whence th e y kept a n u mber of
serpents and pa i d the m a ki nd of worshi p M oshe i m
tel ls u s that this se c t arose b e fore the C hri sti an era
b u t that after that peri od so m e of i ts m e mbers beca m e
Chri st i an and th u s t here were two sects of O phi t e s
one J ew i sh the other C hri sti an M D idr on g i v e s the

foll o wi ng acco unt of thi s sect C hri sti an I conography

p 1 90

The O ph i tes another gnosti c sect cons i dered the

god of the J ews not onl y to be a m ost w i ck e d b u t an
u nint e lligent be i ng They gave a strange interpretat i on
of the fall of m an thr o u gh the te m ptat i on of th e ser
pent
A ccord ing to the i r acco unt J ald ab aoth the
w i cked de m i god adored by the J ews u nder the na m e
of J ehovah was jealo u s of m an and w ished to prevent
,

Tr ee

an d

S erpe n t Wor s h ip

the progres s of knowledge b u t the serpent the agent

of su p e ri or w i sdo m ca m e to teach m an what co u rse he
o u ght to p u rs u e and by what m eans he m i ght rega i n
the knowledge of good and ev i l : the O ph i t es co u se
q u ently adored the serpent and c u rsed the tru e G od
J ehovah I t seem s probable that the part here assi gn ed
to th e serpent was pro m pted by c e rta i n re m i n i scences
of the P hen i c i an and E gypt i an rel igi ons i n wh i ch the

serpent was reverenced as a b e n e c e n t be i ng

Dr

O l i ver i n his S ig n s and S y m bols says the O ph i tes

declar e d that the serpent wh i ch th e y worsh i pped was
J es u s C hri st T h i s serpent they kept in a cage and
at certai n t i m es th e y ope ned the cage door and called
the s e rpent : the ani m al then ca m e o u t and m o u n ti ng
the table tw i ned i t s e lf abo u t so m e loaves of bread thi s
bre ad th e y broke and d i stri b u ted to the co m pany who
all k i ssed the serpent in t u rn
T hi s th e y called

the i r e u chari st
H e re then we have another proof
of the i d e nt icat i on of the serpent w i t h the L ogos or
D i vi ne
ord i n the m y thologi cal syste m s of the
gnosti c Chri st i ans The serpent however was the
spec i al e mble m of fec u nd i ty or reprod u c ti on o f the
prod u cti v e powers of n at u re H ence the L ogos i s also
sa i d to b e the creator and prod u c e r of all things
By
h i m were all th i ngs m ad e and w i tho u t h i m was not

anyth i ng m ade that was m ade

The s e rpent i s so m e
t i m es sa i d to be the sy m bol of des i re or love C le m ent
of Al e xandri a ad m i ts that the s i n of A da m lay i n in
d u lge n c e of th i s character ( S tro m a iii pp 552 56 6

P otter) and M ilton in h i s Paradi se Los t attr ib u t e s

carnal and lasc i v i o u s e ff e cts to the fr ui t of the forb i d
den tree M any m odern scholars have felt co m pell e d
to take thi s v i ew of the story of the F all am ong others
m ay be c i ted D r D onaldson the learned a u thor of the
Book of J ashar pp 59 62 and also an anonym o u s
tract ( D e arb orib u s sc i ent i se e t vit ae) p u bli shed i n G er
m any in 1 8 4 9 b u t attri b u te d by Engli sh scholars to
the late A rc hb ishOp hate ly See D on alds on s Chris t
ia n Or thod oxy pp 2 1 5
,

Tr ee

S erp en t Wor s h ip

an d

M r Hi ggi ns says (An acalyps i s vol i page

In
G enes i s there are no fall e n angels
A ll these cam e
i nto the M osai c reli gi on on the ret u rn fro m B abylon
The destroyer or s e rpent of G enes i s i s corr e ctly the
r en ova tor or
I n G enes i s there i s a tre e of
pr es er ver
*
kno w ledge and a tre e of l if e
T h i s tree of l i fe ev i
d en tly prov e s the m ean i ng of the m ythos to be that
A dam wo u ld di e at so m e t i m e that he wo u ld w e ar
o u t u nl e ss he a t e of the fr ui t of t hat tree The s e r
pent by pers u ad ing E ve to taste of the frui t of the
tr e e of kno wledg e & c ta u ght h e r what i s m e ant by
be i ng naked and th u s by i nd u c i ng procrea ti on was
the preserver of the spec i e s The plai n l i t eral m e an
in g of the words shows very d i stin ctly that t h i s was
one of the m ean i ngs I n t hi s tr ad it i on we have the
ori g i n of the O ph i tes or O ri e ntal e m blem at i cal ser
pent worsh i ppers to acco u nt for who m o u r anti q u ari ans
have been so m u ch p e rplexed T hey worsh i pped the
savi o u r reg e nerator b u t not the dev i l i n o u r m eaning

of the word
M r Mackay i n h i s P rogress of the

I ntell e ct says The wom en of S yri a still e m ploy the

serpent as a char m against barrenness

In m

an c i en t

ee

the fo m s i
h l gi
the

an y o f

o o

e s,

h i ch this m y th s i f u d i the
ee f K owledge
d t he

w
Tr

an

e
f
g p g ph h c h pp e e d the
e
ve e
t he th t i
ti c
ti tt c he
the e e t
A cu i u
p i ctu e A
e
u t ee e h t e d e f e the u t
A ie t
t ti
e i A t ive
ed
ccu e d
ti g hi f e c u tt g
he
e
u ppe
e
the the
v i cti
i d th t c e he
c utd
u ch v e e t e d
ut
h d gi ve he
ch
he d u gh te
p
ppe d u p he p e v e
ch
p c ed t he f d
the hu d tu
ppe e d the p u c p e e t p v e th t
thi e th d he u d h ve cu e d the
hi
pi c i
e ve A
t ce t
the he d ge
he e d the
e t
h e
ive f c e
the u t th u t e i g c u te d c e d
the u dge

Tr
of
ar on e

i
a
Th
e
o
ll
o
w
i
n
ara
ra
w
a
r
i
n
D aily
1
,
N w s in N o m b r las , s w s
a a s m ilar m y s al signi
c an c e s ll a a
s to
s rp n sy m b ol
ro s
b or
r o f rab lif has j s b n x ib i
Co r
of
s s z a C on s an a in A l r a
na
n am
Be n
s of m u a n
s wi b y
w as a
in o ff
r n os an d
r lip in a t o f j alo u s y The m o r of
m sa
a to u r
r s on in law , she had on s l e a
m
n ra
Marab o , who a
n
r as a arm for

r a
r, a s er en t s he ad wra
in
m
l a s,
w hi
w as to b e
la
in
ol s of
sb an s rb an
The w om an a
al t o
r s n t o ro
a by
b li
s m
m an of
o
s wo l a
r
s su s ons ,
an d s
ral r ab s a on
o o k o ff
ir
a
ar an d triu m
sam alism an , w il a n at
r of
o
phan tly s w
Co r , W
i o
b n
on s l
all ou t to
,
,
j
.

Tr ee

an

W/p

d S e rp e n t

ar s 91

The R ev P P erc i val, speaki ng of the Hi ndoo wor

sh i p of the s e rp e n t (L and of the V eda pp
says
the g u re of a serpent i s occas i onally sc u lpt u red on a
Li nga th u s i nvest i ng the block of stone w i th a do u bly

sacred character and he g i ves an engrav in g of a

Hi ndoo pay ing h i s devot i ons before s u ch a sym bol
placed on an altar b eneath a tree ev i dently erected by
the way s i de l i ke the crosses wh i ch are set u p i n
C atholi c co u ntri es T he Linga i n I ndi a was re pre
sented by a con i cal stone an d i t possessed the sa m e
m ythologi c al m ean i ng as the pole or phall u s or tree i n
the western world The serpent on the l i nga wh i ch
the Hi ndoo to thi s day regards as the sacred sy m bol of
reprod u ct i on or regenerati on is th u s i den t i cal i n i ts
s i gn icance w i th the serpent on the pole or cross
wh i c h the I srael i tes of old worsh i pped , and wh i ch was
a s i gn of li fe and salvat i on to the m
M any of the
r e ad e rs of the i nterest i ng ser i es of pam phle ts i ss u ed
u nder the able and i ndefat igable ed i torsh i p of M r
S c ott have been m u ch perplexed to u nderstand the
m eani ng of the fam i l iar sy m bol wh i ch he has adopted
as a m onogra m and wh i ch i n the u se he m akes of i t
has a m ytholog i cal m ean i ng d iffe r i ng very w i dely fro m
the conv e nt i onal sense wh i ch ord i nari ly attaches to i t
I t i s i n fact the sy m bol of the m ythos w e have ju st
explai ned

T he B razen S erpent , says M r Hi gg ins was c alled

A oy og or the Word by the C haldee P araphrast and
for th i s they u s ed the C haldee word Me m ra T h u s
the cross or l i nga or ph all u s w i th the serpent u pon
i t was called by the letters wh i ch convey the i dea of
word or vo i ce l i ng u a or langu age H ence ca m e the
Phallu s the e m ble m of the genera tive power in I ndi a

to be called the Linga (A nacalypsi s , vol i p

We have th u s the serpent as a m ytholog i cal sy m bol
i dent ied i n its m ean in g w i th the L ogos w i th the theo

Y es I h av e als o a s er pe n t s he ad ; it giv es s tre n gth to t he

m an an d d elity to the w om an
.

Tr ee

an

d S erp e n t

Wor s h ip

logi cal C hr i st w i th the C ross the Tree and the P hal

l u s w i th the latter however not i n i ts p u rely l iteral
m eaning b u t when regarded as be i ng the ph i losoph i cal
e m ble m of creat ive or reprod u ct ive power of eternal
and perpet u ated l i fe
That the C ross when u sed as a reli g i o u s sym bol in
pre C hr i st i an t im es had a P hall i c s i gn i cat i on i s very
ably and clearly shown i n an art i cle on pre C hri st i an
C rosses i n the J an u ary n u mber of the E d inb u rgh
R ev i ew fro m wh i ch the follow in g extracts are m ade

I n the de m ol it i on of the fa m o u s S erapeu m or

T e m ple of S erap i s at A lexandri a the tree ta u was
fo u nd and was placed there says M r K i ng G nost i cs and
the ir G e m s )as the sy m bol of eternal l ife T hi s cross
see m s to be the Egypt i an Ta u
that anc i ent sy m bol
of the generat i ve power and therefore transferred i nto
the B acch i c m yst e r ies S u ch a cross was fo u nd on the
wall of a ho u se of P o m pe ii i n ju xtapos i ti on w i th a

P hall u s both sy mbols e m body ing the sa m e i dea

F arther on the wri ter th u s s u m s u p h i s arg u m ent
We have end e avo u red i n the rst place to de m on
strate the u n i versal i ty of the sy m bol and secondly
that u nder every vari ety of c i rc u m stance as w ell in
every age as by every peopl e fro m the dawn of sec u lar
h i story t o the present ho ur i t has been held by all i n
the sam e s u persti t i o u s venerat i on be e n hono u red w i t h
the sa m e di stingui sh i ng ri tes and always has expressed
the s am e doctr ine or m ystery The lang u age of d en
ition var i es b u t the d e n i t i on i tself i s s u bstan t i ally the
sa m e i n every case I n Egypt A ssyri a and B rita in
i t was e mble m a ti cal of creat ive power and etern i ty ; i n
I nd ia C h in a and S cand i nav i a of heaven and im m or
tal i ty i n the two A m eri cas of reju venescence and
freedo m fro m phys i cal s u ffering wh ile i n both he m i
spheres it was the co mm on sy m bol of the res ur rect i on,

or the s ign of the l i fe to co m e

T he sy m bol i s m of the world s anc i ent fa i ths i s st i ll
perpet u ated i n the rites of F ree m as onry tho u gh ve ry
,

T r ee a n d S e rp e n t

Wor s h ip

few m asons are at all aware of the ir r eal si gni can c e a

secondary or esot e r i c se n se be i ng generally assi gned to
the m S o D r O l i ver on e of the fe w m en who have
r eally m ade the sc i ence of M asonry the i r st u dy says
i n a lect u re d el i vered to the brethren of h i s order
You are not i gnorant t hat the serpent has an estab
lis he d place a m ong o u r e mble m s altho u gh i ts tr u e
allegor i cal s i gni cance i s not g i ven i n o u r acc u sto m ed
di sq ui s i t i ons
tho u gh co mm only i ntrodu ced i nto
all the gro u ps of e m ble m ati cal charact e rs
i ts ori gi n
and s ec ret referen c e are not sa t i sfactorily acco u nted for

i n the M ason i c l e ctu res The serpent he adds was

a sym bol al m ost c o equ al wi th the i nst i t u t i on of

M asonry on t h i s globe by the rst created m an and

afte r asse rt i ng that the absol u te worsh i p of the S erpen t
becam e an i nst i t u ti on prevalent thro u gho u t the whole
world he conti n u es
T hey were u n i versal e m ble m s
of life and he al th rece i ved the appellat i on of the bene
c e n t d ae m on ( a y a Oo
and were v i si ble re pre
s e n tative s of the god of crea t i on and prov i dence
S till
m ore re m arkable i s i t that there was always attached
to the serpent an u nd e ned i dea of so m e restorat i on to
the Di v i ne favo u r wh i ch was expec ted to be aeco m

li
she d by a grat ui to u s s ac ri c e
p
( O l i ver s Lectu res
on S i gns and
In so m e for m s of the m ythos of the T e m ptat i on the
wo m an not the serpent i s r e pres e nted as the te m p ter
I n the H am i ltoni an collect i on of Etru scan po t tery
there are freq u en t repres e ntat i ons of the T re e and S er
pen t which at rst s ight might be taken as i ll u strati ons
of the story of the Fall S everal e ngrav i ngs fro m these
are gi v e n by the au thor of Ti m e and Fa i th i n his
interest i ng vol u m e s
O ne represents a tre e laden wi th
frui t aro u nd the ste m of wh i ch a serpent i s tw i n ing
on th e left stands a wo m an in the act of pl u ck in g the
fr u i t and p resent ing i t to a m an The s u pe ri or s ta tu re
and d i gn i ty of the wo m an in this p i ct u re i m plyi ng her
s u per i or ra n k m ark ing her in fact as a g oddess 3 on
,

Tr ee

an

W hip

d S erp e n t

or r

the ri ght of the tree H erc ul es i s seen retu rnin g fro m

T artarus bri ngi ng w i th him the thr ee headed dog C er
be ru s the guardi an of the gates of hella token that ev i l
has now been s u bdu ed and even death i tself conq u ered
The s u bject therefore i s that of a restorat i on rather
than a fall and th e o ffe ri ng of the wo m an i s the fr ui t
not of a forb i dden tr ee b u t the fr u i t of the tree of li fe
of health and im m ortal i ty the qu alit i es of wh i ch are
ind icated by the serpent co iled aro u nd the tru nk
Mr
G odfrey Hi ggins g i v e s a gur e fro m S pence s Polym e tis
in wh i ch we have fro m the ge m s of An c i e nt G reece
another vers i on of the M osai c m ythos Th i s i s a tree
w i th a serpent co iled ro u nd i t th i s serpent i s r e pre
sented wh i speri ng i nto the ear of a m an who i s in
d u c e d th e reby to pl u ck the frui t
Mr Hi gg i ns says

This i s the serpent Hev a te m pt in g A da m " E ve i s

here the serpent

T he H ebre w word H a na trans

lat e d in the a u thori sed vers i on E ve si gni es a

gi ver of life and the sa m e word H a va i n the C hal

dean lang u age si gn i es a s erp en t
U nd e r the word E va Jacob B ryant i n h i s Analys i s
of the A nci ent Mythology has the following
C le
m ens Al e xandri n u s says (and Epiphan iu s says the
sa m e ) that th i s te r m s i gnied a serpent if pro
S o m e th i nk
n ou n c e d w i th a proper asp irate
that the invocat i on E va E va (u sed i n the cel e brat i on
of the B acchi c m ysteri es )relate d to the great m o ther of
m ank ind who was dece i ved by a serpent b u t I sho u ld
th in k that E va was the sa m e as E ph E pha O pha
wh i ch the G reeks rendered on O phi s and by i t ( 13

noted a serpent
O ne of the Targu m s says that a serpent and not
E ve his w i fe te m pted A dam B ut the O ph i tes r e
garded the s e rpent not as a tem pter b u t as a redee m er
or sav i o u r hence says G odfrey Higg ins the real object
of the ir worsh i p was the princ i ple of fec u nd ity wh i c h
E ve represente d and E ve or the serpent had the
sam e s ign i cati on as of old had I si s C eres , A starte
-

,
.

Tr ee

and

S e rp en t Wor s h ip

the types of Natu re s fr ui tf u lness or as the V irg i n

M ary the m other of G od has am ong o ur m odern

devotees
S o i t was co mm on i n anci ent t i m es in order to gi ve a
m i rac u lo u s character to the b i rths of great or learned
m en ; to assert that they were s e rpent born ; that they
had spr u ng fro m the e m braces of a serp ent whi ch here
was m ade a sym bol of the Di vin e S p ir i t A b irth of th i s
k ind was cla i m ed for C e crops the rs t k ing or fo u nder
of A thens who i t was sa i d was ha lf m an and half
serpent S o Pythagoras was fabled to have spru ng
fro m the e mbraces of his m other w i th the god A pollo
the pyt hon or s e rpent of the s u n
S o the
m other of Alexander the G reat O lym p i as declared
d u ring her pregnancy that she was w i th child by a
dragon the m e an i ng be i ng s i m ply to cla i m a d i v ine
character m an if este d e i ther by s u peri or strength or
w isdo m for the ch i ld so d i sti ng u ished S o the story of
C ad m u s sowi ng serpents teeth and prod u c ing ar m ed
m en ad m i ts of a s im ilar explanat i on I t i s a fable

i m plyi ng that knowledge is power

C adm u s w as
sa i d to have i ntr od u ced letters b u t he was also con
n e c te d w i th the O ph i t es or S erpent worsh i ppe rs an d
at his death was i t i s relate d changed i nto a serpent
of stone Bryant says That the pr i ests of the O phit es
we re very l e arned and that those who had been in

s tr u cted by the m w e re called serpents and long aft er

the s u pers t i ti on i n i ts grosser for m had passed a way
the form s of s peech whi c h i t ori g inate d re m a i ned and
th u s we have t he Ne w T esta m en t recordi ng that J es u s

gave u tt e ranc e to the m ax im B e ye w ise as serpen t s

The stone p i llar that form ed so consp i c u o u s an orna
m ent in t h e fr on t of Egypt i an te m ples and whi ch had
the sam e m e an i ng as the sto ne p i llar or lin ga of the
Hi ndoos was c alled an obel i sk a co m pos i te wo rd si g
n if in
O beli sks ori gi nally serpent
y g god and serpent
sym bols in the na m e they still b ear te st ify to the pre
valence of the wors h i p i n wh i ch they fo und the ir

an d

Tr ee

S erp ent Wor s h ip

A p illar or obelis k sti ll stands i n the sign i

c an tly shaped enclos ure i n front of S t P eter s at R o m e
presenting on a hu ge scale an exact f ac sim ile of the
well kn own Hindoo A rgha or type of the re prod u c
t i ve power of nat u re
The seraphi m and cheru b i m of the J ew i sh m ythology
have also the m eani ng of ery serpents Thi s has been
po in ted o u t by the learn ed and in geni o u s a u thor of the
B ook of G od who q u otes F aber as follows : I t i s
the m ystery of o ur holy langu age says R abb i B echa i
that a serpent i s call ed a seraph as an angel i s called a

seraph
And i n accordance w i th thi s s u pposed m y s
te ry F aber adds i t has b e en i m agi ned that S atan
te m pted Eve u nder the form of one of those respl e ndent
winged serpents whi ch are d e no m inated seraph i m
F
aber
s
T
he
word
cher
u
b
also
G
od
P
ag I d ol i 4 4 8
(
)
frey Hi ggi ns asserts has the m eanin g of serpentS ee
ori gin

Pa r k hu

rs t s

H e br e w L exic on

We have b een speaki ng of the serpent i n i ts connec

t i on w i th the m ore anc i ent of the world s m y t holog ical
syste m s and i n these we have i nvari ably seen i t r e
garded as a d i v in e an d b e n e c e n t sy m bol I n m ore
m odern m yt hologi es and espec i ally i n the C hri sti an
theologi cal syste m s the serpen t occ u p i es a very di f
f e r en t pos it i on and here i t i s regarded as possess ing an
ev i l and m ale c en t character
I t i s the sym bol of
destr u ct i on rath e r than of l i fe I t b e com es that old

serpent the devil

Th i s change of charact e r m arks an
i m portant change or r e form a ti on wh i ch took place i n
the fai ths of the anc i ent w orld abo u t 60 0 y e ars be fore
the t i m e of C hrist I t ori g inated i n the d u al syste m
of the anc i ent P ersi ans i n the reform at i on e ffected i n
that fai th by th e tradit i onal Z oroaste r H ere the ori gi n
of evi l was ascri bed to the m alevolence of an ev il god
and this evil god Ahri m an was sy m boliz e d by a ser
pent When we cons i der the i nst i nct i ve horror w i th
wh i ch this rept ile i s i nvar i ably regarded i t i s a legiti
m at e m atter of s u rpri se that i t sho u ld ever have been

T r ee

and

Serpen t

W/p
ar s 2 1

an obje c t of worshi p as the sy m b ol of the wi se

and benefi c ent G od T hat thi s was done however is
a fac t which is not n ow to be q u est i oned the proofs
that rema in to u s are absol u te ly overwhelm i ng I t
woul d seem however th at the advan c in g intel li gen c e
of man kin d revolted agai nst a worsh i p th at i n i ts literal
sense was so di sg u st ing and in the refo r mat i on that was
e ffec te d the serpent was degraded b y b e ing m ade the
sy mbol of an ev il and m al ignant power of a power that
was ever oppos ing an d do in g battle w i th the go od and
b e n e ce n t G od
Th us Orm uzd and A hr i man were re
p r esente d i n c ontin u al stri fe and all the gods of the
late r pagan m y thologi es as soon as the pagan s y s tems
felt the in u en ce of thi s c hange of tho u ght m ade the ir
gods to batt le w ith some m al ignant dragon so m e m e n
stro u s serpent U nde r the i nu en ce of this reform the
J ews who t il l the day s of H eze k iah had b u rnt in c ense
to a serpent e f gy i n the streets of J erusale m n ow
afte r the ir ret u rn fro m capt i v i t y em bodied the story of
the Fall into the ir l i terat ur e wh i c h story they ev i dentl y
c op i ed from the Persi an m y t hos Th is m y thos is th u s
q u oted fr om the Z end A vesta b y K ali s c h

The rst c o u ple the parents of the h u man ra ce

Mes hia and Mes hian e li ved ori gi nall y i n p u ri ty and
in no c en c e Pe r pet u al happ iness was prom ised to the m
b y O r m u zd the c reator of every good gift if the y per
severed i n the ir v ir tu e B u t an e vil demon ( D ev)was
sent to them b y A hrim an the representa t i ve of ever y
th ing noxi o u s and s infu l He appeared u nexpec tedl y
in the form of a serp ent and gave the m the fr ui t of a
won d erf u l tree H om whi c h i mpar ted im morta li t y and
had the powe r of r esto ring t he dead to life Th u s ev il
i n clin a ti ons e nt e r ed the ir he ar ts all the ir moral ex c el
len c e was destro y ed A hri man h i m s elf appea red under
the form of the sa me reptile and c om p le te d the work
of sed u ct ion T h e y ac k nowledged him ins tead of Or
m u zd as the Creator of eve ry t hing go od
and the co n
se q u en c e was that they forfe i ted for ever the etern al
m ade

T r ee

an

d Serpen t

W / ig
on

happ i ness for wh i c h th e y we r e destined ( Se e Cole ns o

Th i s my thos p re sents u s w ith
(m Pen ta te u c h v ol i v)
perhaps t he e arlie st known i nstan c e of t he serpent
appeari ng in an evil c h ara c t e r i n the m ythologi cal
sy s t ems of the an c i ents The J ews d u r ing the ir res i
den c e in B ab ylon c ame in c onta ct w i t h the p u r e r i de as
that m ark ed the refo r med Pe rs ian fai th an d on t he
c on q u e st of the Chaldeans b y th e Pe rs ians and the
deli veran c e of the J ews th e ir wri t e r s spok e of Cy ru s
the Pe rs ian monarc h as be ing the Mess iah o r Christ of
J ehovah th u s o wn ing w i t h him a c los e fellowsh i p of
faith I mme di ately afte r wa r ds we n d them re edi t in g
th e ir litera t u r e an d p re fac ing their own boo k of e a r ly
t radi t i ons ( G enes i s)wi t h the my t hs of the Pe r s ian c os

m ogon y

The bon a d e J e wis h l i te rat u r e sh e ws t h at no k no w

ledge of t hese m y ths ex isted amon g t he J ews t il l the
c omparat i vely late p e ri od of the ir ret u rn from B aby lon

I t has been we ll r em ar k ed i n th i s m att e r th at the

J ews went i nto capt iv i t y a n at i on of i dol at ers and

c ame o u t from i t a band of p u ri tans Thi s est i mat e of

the serp e nt as an ev il pri n ci p le p e r v ad e s the Ne w
T estam e nt wher e i t be c omes in the B oo k of R ev e la
t i on i den t i cal w i t h the d e v i l
The re ligi on of J e s u s was a mo r al refor m I t c o u n
s e lle d personal p i et y wi t ho u t r e fe r e n c e to m y t ho logi c al
i deas I t s i mp ly i gnored m y t hology
he n ho w
ev e r Chris tian i t y be c ame afte r t he de ath of J esu s
form ulated i nto a r e li gi o u s sy ste m the st r eam of m y th
ology min gle d w i th i t O n e of the most i mpo r tan t of
the e ar ly h e re s i es w as th at int r odu c e d in the t h ir d c en
tu ry b y Mani wh ich u nd e r the name of Man i ch ae i sm
m ixe d u p the re li gi on of Chri st w i t h a fo r m of Pe rs i an
B u ddhis m T h is p lac e d the D ev i l as an e v i l p r i n c ip le
i n st r ong and ma r k e d ant agon ism to Chr i st as t he r e
p r e sentat i ve of the good god an d al tho u gh t hi s sy s t e m
as a whole was n ally r eje c t e d i t y et large ly t inged
the theology of the great Ch r is ti an Fath e r A u gu st ine and
,

Tr ee

34

and

W/

Serpen t

"

or e 3 111)

i t t inges stil l m or e the E vangel i cal Christ i an ity of ou r

own da y The earli er se c t of the O phite s was ev i den tl y
an attempt to m ak e Chris t ian it y harm onio u s w i th the
more an c i ent m y thologi cal sy stems i n whi c h the ser
pent was the A gatho d aemon the em b lem of the good
god In the m y thologi es of G r e e c e and R ome and
Phoen i c ia wh i c h b e i ng d e ri vat i v e s from the m o r e an
c ient rel igi ons of Egy pt and I ndia a r e c omparati vel y
m odern we n d the serpent s y m b ol i n a trans i t i onal
state I n the earl i er m y ths i t i s an obje c t of reve r en c e
or worsh i p T hro u gh Ce cr ops i t was the great Father of
the G re c ian peop le I t sy mbol is e d A pollo as i n Egypt
it sy mboli sed C n eph
I t spo k e the ora c l e s at t he
vari o us shrines or insp ired the pri este ss to del i ver
the m The modern vers i on of th i s m y th represents
the Python as a m alignant se r pent wh i c h perse c u ted
the mother of A pollo and wh i c h the god wh e n b orn
attac k ed and killed b u t the name of A pollo s fest i val
the Py th i a and the name also of A pollo s pri estess
shew that the n ame Python on c e had a very different
s ign i can c e B ryant sa y s th at ori gi nall y A pollo and
the Python we r e the same and the na m e Tri pos of
the p lac e when c e the ora c les were deli ve r ed was a vari
ti on for To r op u s or Tor O ph is ; the serpent hil l o r
te mple whe r e the y were bo t h worsh i pped be ing on e
and the same de it y
of A n c i ent My tho
logy 1
I n thi s c onne c t i on i t will be i nte r est i ng
to noti c e an etym ology deri ved from the root O phis a
Se rpent v iz O ps power r u l e domini on O pu le u s
wea lthy O p us wo r k when c e ou r words opt i on op u
lent O pe rat ive and i n the Gr eek ovrr on a i I see when c e
o u r word opt ic s and i ts de ri v at ive the serp e nt re pre
sent ing w isdom power fores ight and be ing the ty pe
of the dem iu rgos or c reat i ve o r generative power b y
whic h all th ings we r e m ad e an d ri c hes an d wealt h
a cc u m u lated
A ga in i n the c lass i ca l m y tho logies
Plu to the god of t he lowe r regi ons is b y so m e m y tho
logis ts regarded as the same wi th Pl u t u s the god of

T r ee

an

d Serpen t

W hip
or s

35

ri c hes wh ile in the Chri st ian theology the D ev i l and

the Se r pent are c onvert ible te r ms
Th u s i n the
l ate r fo r ms of clas si c al m y thos we have A pollo sl aying
the Py thon H e rc ules des tro yi ng the H y dr a the Con
s tan tin e medal of the C r oss s u r mo u nt in g a S e r pent ; the
n at i onal lege nd th at t ill lat e ly had its symbol on o ur
o wn go ld c o i n of
St G eo rge and the D ragon and i n
the m ythologi c al c orr u p ti ons of t he rel i gi on of J es u s
wh i c h mak e u p the pop u lar Chr istiani ty we have Him
van q uish i ng t he D ev il and the O ld Se r pent c ast into
the bottom le ss p i t and c h ai ned fo r a tho u sand y ears *
The use of the T r ee as the m ythologic a l sy mbol of
eternal li fe has lon g s u r vi ved the employ ment of the
and in the Christi an
Sevp e n t for a s i m ilar p u r pose
legends of the m i ddle ages the T ree of L i fe was re
pe ate d ly i dent ied as the prophet i c s y m b ol somet im es
of Christ and some ti mes of the Cross Fr om a c op i o u s
essa y on thi s s ubje c t p ubl i shed i n G e rman b y D r
Pi p e r a t ransl at i on of wh i c h i s gi ven in the J ou rnal
of S ac red L iterat ure fo r J an u ary 1 8 64 an d c on t in u ed
in s u bse q u ent n u mbers we borrow the fo llowing ex
tra c ts
rst of all to two
e d ire c t att e nti on
rep r esentat i ons extern al to the Ch u rc h Th ese appear
to be ta k en from t he Tree of Paradise d The one o cc u rs
i n a faith an d r it u al o u ts i de of r evelat i onwe refe r
to the adorati on pai d to a Tree of L i fe i n the rel igi on
of Z oroaster The sac re d writin gs of the Pers ians sp eak
of the tree H om wh i c h i s c all e d the H ead of the T rees ;
i t i s regarded as t he Tree of I mmortal ity the jui c e of
wh ic h w ill c onfer l ife on m an at the res u rre c t i on
B es i des th i s there i s a des c ri pt i on of a Tree of L i fe
,

'

St Pa r ic k , w ho in r od u c e d the Christ i an
e ligi o n in o I e l an d, b an i s hin
g the s n ak e s an d re i l e s , m ay
hav e b e e n b u t a gu r a iv e w ay of say in g ha
ty
w o s hip was a
s u ppl an e d the old
e ligion , o f w hi c h Se r pe n
c on s pi c u ou s f e a u e
1 The s o y in G e n e s i s is , as is n ow we ll k n ow n , the c opy ,
n ot the ori gin al
The

lege n d

t r

of

t r
.

r
.

t t p
t r

'

T r ee

6
3

an

d Serpen t

W/ p
ar s 3 1

i n a J ew ish work wri tten before the Chr isti an era the
B oo k of E no c h
The legend of the c ross on wh i c h Christ s u ff ere d,
hav i ng be e n made fr om the wood of the tree of k now
l e dge appears in the m i ddle ages i n several forms one
wh i c h was c u rre nt i n t he th irteen th cent u ry relates ,

th at Eve along w i th the fo rb i dden fr ui t bro k e off a

bran c h from t he t r e e of k nowledge wh ic h she in her

d i strac t i on of sp i ri t b r ou gh t w i t h her from Parad i se
S t u c k i nto the gro un d b y he r i t grew to a great tree ,
u nder wh i c h A be l was ki lled at a late r t ime i t was
u sed i n the b uil d ing of the most hol y pla ce in the
te mpl e of Solomon and nall y i t yi elded the b ea m s

o u t of whi c h the c ro ss was made

A no ther legend
c onta ined in an old Fren ch poe m b y the pri est H erman

of V al e n c i e nnes sa y s that after the fall of A dam

G od roo t ed o u t the tree of k nowledge and cast i t ov er
A t ho u sand y ears afte r i t was
the wal l of Paradise
fo u nd b y A bra ham who planted i t i n h is garden
on wh ic h a vo i c e from heaven anno u n c ed to him that
th i s was t he tree on the wood of whi c h the R edee m er

sho u ld be c ru ci ed
The Tree of Knowledge and the
C r oss of Christ h ave be e n asso c i ated from the earli est
pe r i ods of Chri s tiani ty I n the G ospel of N i c odem us
aft e r Christ has v is i ted H ades ; the perso n i cat i on of
H ades add re ss ing Satan sa y s Behold and see that the
dead on e has gone from m e what therefore tho u hast
T r ee of Kn owledge tho u has t
ga i ned th ro u gh the

lost thro u gh the T ree of the C r o s s

So St A u g u st i ne

i n a se rmon on E ve and Mar y sa y s As we ha ve

been made d e ad b y a t r e e so h ave we been m ade al i ve
by a t r ee A t re e d is c overed to u s o u r nak edness and

a tre e has c ove re d u s w i th the leaves of merc y & c

S im il ar i l lu stra t ions c o u ld b e c i t ed i n great n u m bers
T hose addu c ed howe v e r serve to show how early an d
ho w c ont in u o u sl y the T re e and Cross sy mbol have been
u nited an d tho u gh to the lat t er s ymbol there attac hes
a spec ia l s i gn i can c e d e r i ved fr om an a ct u al h isto ri c al
,

W nip

d Serpen t

T r ee

or t

an

3 7

even t the death of J es us y et to th is has be en s u per

a dded the
s igni can c e whi c h at ta ch ed to the T ree
sy mbol i n the an c i ent wo rsh ips and th u s in Chri st i an
u s age the Cross i s m ore oft e n made the sy mbol of the
r es urre c ti on
and progress i ve
e see t hen a c ha in of grad u al
development li nk ing the m odern do c tri ne of the Cross
as t he mean s of li fe and sa lva t i on w i th t he Tree and
S e r p e nt w orsh i p of the earl y wo r ld The Li fe gi v in g
C r oss is b u t a r ep r od u c ti on of the sym bol of t he life
giv ing Tr e e The T r e e of l i fe th e B oo k of lif e the
\V ord of li fe the Ag athod aemon the Serpent of E s c u la
p ius the Soph i a the L ogos and the Christ are seen
to b e b u t n at ur al and progr e ssi ve evol u t i ons from the
pri m i ti ve i deas of worsh i p an d are not sp e c i al r e vela
t i ons from G od to man A s t he Ch u rc h of R ome the
m o t her of all o u r m odern c h ur c hes adop t ed the gre at
m ass of Pagan c eremon i al i n her worship so i n her
theologi c al fan c i e s s he embodied m u c h mo r e than was
wor th reta i n i ng in the an c i ent m ythologi cal tho u gh t
ex c ept for ast u te p u r poses of s u perst i t i on R eli gi on
has t h u s been a grad u al growth and not a spasmod i c
revelati on an d the do c t rin e s c on c e r n ing wh i c h
ch urc hes n ow d iffe r w i th s u c h Ch r i sti an b i tterness and
strife are for the most part m ere Pagan fan c i es Th is
Tree and Serpent worsh ip shews u s plai nl y to o ur
se lves and mak es i t ev i dent bey ond the power of c on
tradic tion that all o u r modern Chri st ian do c trine has
i ts roots i n Pagan tho u ght and has no t b een gi ven
b y s u pernat u ral revelat i on to m an The old n at u re
worsh i p whi c h de ied the fert il e propert i es of nat u re
was the earli est worsh i p of wh i c h a re c ord remai ns
I n this worshi p G od was emphat icall y the Creato r
and the su n and moon the T r ee and the Serpent were
the sy mbols u nde r wh i ch H e was ado r ed The rst
c hapter of G enes is whi c h relates the story of E ve s
te mpta t i on and of A dam s fal l i s a plain and u n m is
tak able r epro d u c tion of one of the m yths or legends of
,

T r ee

8
3

an

d Serpen t

W hip
or s

th is an c i ent fa i th I t i s a c op y of a tradi t i on or rather

of a poe t i c all e gory that belonged to the earl ier wo r ld
B u t on thi s narrat i ve all the do c trinal sy stems of ou r
modern c h u rc h es depend it is the c ommon f ou n d a
t i on on wh i c h the y have all been b uilt The fall of
m an i s the only bas is on wh i c h the do c tri ne of the
a t onement c an rest I f there was no fall the atone
m ent i s a man ifest s u per u ity and i t c ou ld n ot then
have been the m i ss ion of J es u s of Naza r eth to have

m ade one
O u r k nowledge of the T r ee and S erpent
worsh i p of the an c i e nt heathen wo r ld p r ov e s that the
J ew ish na rr at i ve of A dam and E ve an d the fo rb i dden
fr uit is b u t an old heathen fan c y a fable and no t a
fa c t and be ing so there i s b u t one op ini on at wh i c h
reasonab le men c an arri ve w i th regard to the do c trine
of the atonement wh i c h rests so ex c l u s i vel y u pon i t
and wh i c h apart from i t has no poss ible bas i s
S urel y i n the presen c e of these fa c ts the ho u r i s ri pe
for a n ew reformati on O u r c h u r ches are gi v ing to the
people the stones of foss il ised and obsole te fabl e s i n
pla c e of that liv i ng bread of sp i ri t u al tr u th for want
of wh i c h the m u lt i t u de are fam ish i ng I t is full t i me
for a c hange to c ome 3 t o u se th e w i se words of
L ess ing i t is t i m e to gi v e u p what the c h u r c hes c all
Chri sti ani ty , and to gi ve the R EL I G I O N or C n arsr a
tri al
.

TURN B ULL

A ND

S PEARS

PB DIT ERS ,

E DIN B URG H

The f ollowin g Pam phlets an d Paper s m ay be had on

a d d r es s in g a le tte r en c losin g the pr ic e in p os tage
s ta m ps to Mr T H OMA S S C O T T , Mou n t P leas an t,
R am s ga te
.

A L A Y S ERMON FOR THE BENEFI T OF C LERG Y Pric 6 d

E TERNAL P UNISHMENT An Ex m i n t i o n of th Doc tri n h l d by th C l rgy
of th C h rch of E n gl n d B y P
AN
Pric 6d
C N S
L ETTER AND S PIRIT B y C G M N OF THE C HU CH or E NGLAND P ri c 6 d
SCIENCE N TH EOLOGY B y R ICHARD D AVIES H ANSON E q C hi f J ti e
of S o th A tr li P ric 4 d
A FE WW ORDS ON THE TRINIT Y th H ol y Spi ri t d the D iv in i t y d I car
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