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On The Antiquity Of The Observances Of St. John's Eve.
Amongst the early nations of antiquity , some were Sabeans , who worshipped the whole host of heaven , others were Magians , who paid similar adoration to the solar fire . The rites of both are , to the patient investigator , clearly traceable to a common source , shewing an identity of origin ; but it is of some ceremonies practised only by the latter , that I have now more particularly to speak . The Chaldeans , the Assyrians , the Persiansand the Phoeniciansworshipped the Divinity under the
, , name of " BEL" or " BUL , " a word which , amongst these people , was esteemed sacred , ancl , with its exponents , signified " Lord of all , " or " Lord in Heaven or on High . " The sun being the most glorious celestial body , the source of light , ancl the dispenser of life and heat to the material world , was at first adopted by these nations as a symbol to represent the beneficent and creative power of the Eternal Deity—being , in factthe palpable agent through which his blessings were
diffused—, but , by degrees , idolatrous practices perverted the purity of the original truth , and divine worship was paid to the symbol ; fire was regarded as an emblem of the divinity and kept constantly burning in the consecrated places , and the flame of the sacrifice ascended from the highest hills . Astronomy had been taught as a science , but the knowledge of its doctrines became enveloped in fable , and the science itself united with the practices of a false worship .
The sun , being thus deified , the period at which this bright luminary attained the greatest power during its annual course , was celebrated by hymns , rejoicings , and solemn rites ; and it is in these observances that the practices originated which still linger in the superstitious usages
peculiar to St . John s eve . The Egyptians anciently commenced their year from Midsummer , when the heliacal rising of Sirius , which always occurred during the summer solstice , gave warning of the approaching inundation of the Nile , whose beneficent waters spread fertility and plenty over their parched and arid fields . It was at this period that Helios , or the sun , manifested all his powers—the Nile became swollen with rains , which had been exhaled bhis influence from the earth in the shape of
y vapour , and afterwards driven in cloudy masses against the summits of the Abyssinian mountains , from whence the refreshing streams returned in copious floods to bless the husbandman with the treasures of agriculture , and reward him plenteously for his toil . This event , then , was celebrated with rejoicings in ancient Egypt , and the star which
invariably appeared at this period was called the dog-star , being , in fact , the door-keeper or sentinel , the star which shuts ancl opens—closing , as it were , one year , and opening another . This was personified in Anubis , and the renewal of the year was represented under the form of a doorkeeper , accompanied by the distinctive emblem of a key . * Thus we see that peculiar and significant rites attended this period in ancient Egyptwhilst in AssyriaPersiaPhoeniciaand all other
, , , , countries where the Magian system had spread , the same period was universally celebrated with imposing religious ceremonies , aided by all the machinery of the mysteries , and the influence of the magi and hierophants . On the eve of midsummer fires were lighted on every hill in honour of the God of day , and kept alive until his resplendent beams heralded
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Antiquity Of The Observances Of St. John's Eve.
Amongst the early nations of antiquity , some were Sabeans , who worshipped the whole host of heaven , others were Magians , who paid similar adoration to the solar fire . The rites of both are , to the patient investigator , clearly traceable to a common source , shewing an identity of origin ; but it is of some ceremonies practised only by the latter , that I have now more particularly to speak . The Chaldeans , the Assyrians , the Persiansand the Phoeniciansworshipped the Divinity under the
, , name of " BEL" or " BUL , " a word which , amongst these people , was esteemed sacred , ancl , with its exponents , signified " Lord of all , " or " Lord in Heaven or on High . " The sun being the most glorious celestial body , the source of light , ancl the dispenser of life and heat to the material world , was at first adopted by these nations as a symbol to represent the beneficent and creative power of the Eternal Deity—being , in factthe palpable agent through which his blessings were
diffused—, but , by degrees , idolatrous practices perverted the purity of the original truth , and divine worship was paid to the symbol ; fire was regarded as an emblem of the divinity and kept constantly burning in the consecrated places , and the flame of the sacrifice ascended from the highest hills . Astronomy had been taught as a science , but the knowledge of its doctrines became enveloped in fable , and the science itself united with the practices of a false worship .
The sun , being thus deified , the period at which this bright luminary attained the greatest power during its annual course , was celebrated by hymns , rejoicings , and solemn rites ; and it is in these observances that the practices originated which still linger in the superstitious usages
peculiar to St . John s eve . The Egyptians anciently commenced their year from Midsummer , when the heliacal rising of Sirius , which always occurred during the summer solstice , gave warning of the approaching inundation of the Nile , whose beneficent waters spread fertility and plenty over their parched and arid fields . It was at this period that Helios , or the sun , manifested all his powers—the Nile became swollen with rains , which had been exhaled bhis influence from the earth in the shape of
y vapour , and afterwards driven in cloudy masses against the summits of the Abyssinian mountains , from whence the refreshing streams returned in copious floods to bless the husbandman with the treasures of agriculture , and reward him plenteously for his toil . This event , then , was celebrated with rejoicings in ancient Egypt , and the star which
invariably appeared at this period was called the dog-star , being , in fact , the door-keeper or sentinel , the star which shuts ancl opens—closing , as it were , one year , and opening another . This was personified in Anubis , and the renewal of the year was represented under the form of a doorkeeper , accompanied by the distinctive emblem of a key . * Thus we see that peculiar and significant rites attended this period in ancient Egyptwhilst in AssyriaPersiaPhoeniciaand all other
, , , , countries where the Magian system had spread , the same period was universally celebrated with imposing religious ceremonies , aided by all the machinery of the mysteries , and the influence of the magi and hierophants . On the eve of midsummer fires were lighted on every hill in honour of the God of day , and kept alive until his resplendent beams heralded