Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .

BY BRO . ROBERT AVENTAVORTH LITTLE , President of thc London Literary Union , ' Editor of " Thc Rosicrucian , " ( Con'infied from page 2 J 3 . ) In pursuing the subject of " Ancient and

Modern Mysteries , and in the investigation of the many curious rites practised by various nations , I have been indebted to different sources for valuable information ; for instance , in the quotation from a contemporary Avriter just given ,

and again in the following interesting extract respecting Chinese customs , for which I beg to thank my friend , Bro . "W . J . Hughan , Provincial Grand Secretary , Cornwall , Avho . se labours in

the cause of Masonic literature are so widely knoAA'n , and so justly appreciated . It may be added that the extract refers to ceremonies practised at the present day by Chinese settlers in San Francisco , Sacramento , and other California !!

cities . " Like the ancient Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs , AA-hose cities Avere resplendent with the burnished gold and brass temples dedicated to their gods Osiris and Isis , the Chinese are

divided into two classes ; the ignorant mass of people devoutly Avorshiping images and animals as beings of power * and the nobility and aristocracy , Avho , too enlightened to place implicit belief in the almost daily festivities and

sacrifices , yet fearful of losing their power , direct the minds of the mass from state affairs with gay processions , grand illuminations , and sacrifices to their many gods—laughing in their sleeves at the devout adoration Avhich the humbler classes

pay to the departed spirits and supposed powerful divinities . The nation prides itself—with great reason , though AVC may strike off a fe > v thousand years from its chronology—upon being the oldest empire in the world . Their customs

and ceremonies , transmitted Avithout variation from generation to generation , presented to us now the same as a thousand years ago , have become more ancl more endeared and revered as tlie centuries have rolled around , till they seem

to the blind idolaters sacred things to be guarded from sacrilegious gaze . It is unnecessary to state that the lowest Chinaman looks pityingly upon the white that he was born outside the Flowery Kingdom , esteeming this not only as the greatest

honour which can be bestowed on mortal man , but most times considering it a necessary proceeding in order to inhabit the future Heaven . Therefore they are not over truthful in describing or explaining their habits and manners , but

on the contrary strain a point to mislead and misinform foreigners ; regarding their desire for knowledge as an idle , not to say profane , curiosity . Hence arise mistaken notions concerning the late ceremonies in Sacramento .

" Tlie constant round of public processions and sacrifices , the peculiar custom of offering food , clothes , and mock-money todepartedspirits , the idol-temples and pagodas ofFauchau—Avhicli , in the more important points and services , are

the same as those of every canton in the Chinese Empire—have been satisfactorily described in ' Social Life of the Chinese , ' b y Justus Doolittle , for twelve years a missionary to Fauchau . . Passing by the many sacrifices and processions which

in California are done away with from lack of temples , priests , and permission of authorities , we come to the Autumnal sacrifices . The prevailing idea among the uninitiated is that during the few clays of each Fall occupied by the

Chinese in firing of crackers , Avorshiping bamboo images and offering them silver and goldencapped food , chanting their unearthly strains and playing their crude instruments , the worthy Celestials are waging a war against the ' devils . '

This could not be so , as this supersitious people are so afraid of the influence of those powerful personages , e \ - en in this life , that , in order to propitiate them , certain portions of the prepared food are set before the demons , candles placed on each side to light them to the feast , and in-

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

cense burned in their honour ; the annual worship of the great sage Confucius , his disciples Mencius , and the learned commentator of the Chinese classics , Chufutze ; the ' Universal Rescue , ' and the thank-offering for another harvest garnered in the mellOAV Autumn . In

China each of these festivals Avould have had its allotted days , but , for the sake of economy and want of room , the crude buildings erected in our city for the " spirits' " house , had the honour of holding all these at once . In the centre of the main room , Avhere the priests conducted their

principal ceremonies , stood Nguk Huong Siong Ta , the ' Pearly Emperor , Supreme Ruler , ' generally supposed to be the highest divinity Avorshipped by the Chinese , producer and governor of all things seen or unseen , terrestrial or celestial . On one side Ave saAV the image of

Confucius , ' Teacher of ten thousand ages , Avith Mencius and Chufutze on either side , A-ari ' ous kneeling images clustered around as their disciples . Before them Avere meats , vegetables and fruits , the best—perhaps Americans will say the Avorst—kind of incense , and huge red

candles , around Avhich the usual figures Avere circling . Upon the other side of the * Pearly Emperor ' stood three images , the largest one representing the god AVIIO rules over the Avhole province of departed spirits , the others , rulers over their Hades . The many * niches and spaces were

occupied by the A'anous gods and goddesses of water , fire , Avar , courage , literature , children , gamblers , thieves , sailors , music , wrestling , Avealth , artisans , mechanics , swine , drought , rain , surgery , medicine , the four seasons — Spring , Summer , Autumn , A \ . inter , & c . The Avails Avere hung with crude pictures of their deified animals ; the

monkey , the fox , tlie tiger—represented Avith a piece of money in his fore claAvs , as the deity of gamblers , and bearing a figure of a Avoman ' mother ' on its back , as a deity Avorshipped by mothers who have sick children—the dog , the black monkey and the Avhite rabbit , the dragon—giver of rain—and a white cock .

" The lantern of white paper suspended from the centre of the outer building , attracted considerable attention from Americans , on account ofthe moving images attached to the paper . These images , kept in motion by an ingenious machinery inside the lantern , represented the

reAvards of departed spirits : the good ones living in Avealth ancl plenty surrounded by their slaves , the bad ones compelled to labour and pain . One Avas being burned around a hot metallic tube ; another Avhipped with bamboo ,

another pounded in a mortar , others again , undergoing an examination before the rulers . These representations as weird and strange as the images , needed their names beneath for the benefit of those not versed in the Chinese

religion . In the centre of this outer amphitheatre Avas a huge god—image rather—in a sitting posture ; on his left an image of the tall Avhite devil , on his right an image of the short black devil as assistants . This central divinity is supposed to have dominion over the present

and future worlds . Tlie essential and immaterial elements only of the food are partaken of by the spirits of all these images and devils , who are summoned to tlie feast by an image of a god on horseback burned at the commencement of tlie ceremonies . The burned god is supposed ,

in some way , to act as messenger to all spirit land . The many gaily decorated lanterns suspended around the building , Avere to light the spirits on their way , so that they could not possibly mistake the place . This is called the

feast of the ' Universal Rescue . ' In view of tlie incantations , exhortations and rich feast spread before them , the gods of hell are less strict and rigorous with the spirits under their control , and remit many punishments which might properly befall the devotee after death .

" But the principal festival is after the harvest has been garnered , called thc Autumnal Festival , lasting about five days . According to the Chinese reckoning it falls about the middle of Autumn , during full moon , whence it is often called 'rewarding' or " congratulating" the moon , on account of that planet ' s good offices with the harvest . (' To be continued . )

The Rosicrucian.

The Rosicrucian .

' A TALE OF COLOGNE . ( Reprinted from thc Dublin University Magazine . ) IV . —MORTAL AND IMMORTAL . Passionately Avringing his hands , or pressing them upon his hot brow , knelt the student alone in his chamber . Now and then he muttered Avild Avords

and then his lamenting tones sunk into a low moaning . He had yearned after the tree of knowledge ; he had penetrated within its shadow , and it had darkened his soul , yet he had not tasted of its delicious fruit , for which he so longed . " It is vain—it is vain , " cried Basil ; " I strive

but I cannot attain . I have cast all human bliss to the winds ; I have poisoned my youth—I have torn myself from thee , Isilda , joy of my life ! and all in vain . No immortal gifts are mine—I would fain pierce into Nature ' s depths , but she hides her face from me . O , my master ! thou didst tell me

of the world of spirits which Avould surely be revealed unto me . I look into the air , but no sylphs breath soft zephyrs upon my hot cheek ; I Avander by the streams , but no sweet eyes , looking out from the depths of tbe fountains , meet my own ; I am poor , but the gnomes of the earth answer not

my bidding with treasures of silver and gold . And thou , O Fire , glorious element ! art thou , indeed , peopled Avith these wonderful beings ; or are they deaf to my voice , and invisible to my eyes alone , of all my brethren ? " And lo ! as the student spoke , a bright pyramid of

flame darted upwards , and a voice , like that of the Fire when it answers the soft breathing ofthe winds , replied" I hear thee—what wouldst thou with me ?" A paleness came over the young man's cheek , and he drew back involuntarily .

" Dost thou then fear me , O mortal ? " said the A'oice again , sadly . " Look on me , and judge . " Suddenly the pyramidical flame Avas divided asunder , and there appeared in its centre a form , less than that of humanity , but perfect in feminine loveliness . Wavy Avreaths of golden flame fell

around her , like a woman ' s beautiful hair , and about her semi-transparent form twined a white and amber vesture , resembling in hue and airy substance the Fire from which she sprung . Her hands were folded submissively on her breast , and her large eyes were fixed earnestly on thc young student ' s face as

she again repeated . " Dost thou fear me now ? " " How should I fear thee , beautiful vision !" cried Basil in wonderful delight ; " and what am I , that thou shouldst deign to visit me thus ?" " Thinkest thou that this is thc first time I have

visited thee ? " said the Form . " I have been with thee , unseen , from thy childhood . When in thy boyish days , thou would ' st sit gazing on the beautiful element which I rule , and from which I proceed , it Avas I who made it assume in thy fancy , strange ancl lovely shapes . It was my voice

thou heardest in the musical breathing ofthe flames , until thou didst love the beautiful Fire ; and it became to thee the source of inspiration ; thy soul grew brighter beneath its influence . All this Avas my doing . " " And now at last I behold thee , glorious

creature ! " exclaimed the student in rapture . " How shall I thank thee for thus watching over me invisibly , and at last revealing thyself to me !" " AA e do but the -will of our Creator and thine , " answered the Salamandrine . " I and my kindred are His offspring , even as man ; but our being differs from thine ; superior and yet how inferior I

AVe tend thee , we influence thee , we guide theein this doing alike His command who made us , and our own pleasure ; for our natures are purer and better than thine . " " I feel it , " said Basil . " I cannot look upon thy all-perfect loveliness without knowing that such a form must be tbe visible reflection of a soul

equally pure and beautiful . " "Alas ! no , " sighed the Fire-spirit ; " this blessing is not ours . True , we sec generation after generation of men perish from the face of the earth ; Ave watch them from their cradles unto their graves , and still we are unchanged , our beauty unwithered , our

power the same . Yet we knoAV there must come a time when the element from which we draw our being must vanish away , and then we perish Avith them , for we have no immortal souls—for us there is no after-life !" As thc Salamandrine ceased , the vapours of the

Fire encircled her as with a mist , and a Availing came from the red caverns of flame , as of spirits in grief , the burthen of which was ever" Alas for us !—we have no after-life . " " Is it c \ -en so ? " said the student . "Thenare ye

unhappy in the midst of your divine existence . " The mist which veiled the Salamandrine floated aside , and she stood once more revealed in her super-human beauty . " Not unhappy , " she answered , with a radiant and celestial smile—" not unhappy , since we arc the