Ancient Symbolism. Illustrated.

the crescent or I oni , was established by them as an emblem of divinity , and the very nature of the paradise promised in later days by Mahomet to his followers , of whom this

crescent is a symbol , proves the hold which this ancient faith had obtained upon the imagination of the eastern tribes ; most of the oracles in the ancient world were personifications of this influence . The oracle of

Delphi , the most venerable of all , obtained its name ( says _ O'Brien ) from Da sacred , and Phi , that is Phith ,

Yoni , the letter h being merely introduced for the sake of euphony . In evidence of both parties having a concurrent belief in the

tradition of the flood , we see Noah , the creat regenerator ,

symbolized by a union of the two phallic emblems , the crescent , andthelingam or perpendicular emblem , thus together forming the hull of a boat , and the mast . In the Puranas is to be found a Hindoo version of this

allegory , "the Yoni assumed the shape of a ship , while the Lingam became the mast ; in this manner they were safely wafted over the deep under the care of Yishnoo . "

which our own churches are decorated were ori ginally symbols of heathen deities ; and Pausanias states that weathercocks , such as those with which our spires arc surmounted ( though now only employed to show the direction of the wind ) , were originally emblems of the sun ; for the cock is the natural herald of the day , and therefore sacred to

the fountain of light . The Apollo Carinas , at Megara , in Attica , was represented by pyramidal stones , as was also the Apollo A gyieus in various places , and both Apollo and Diana by simple columns pointed at the top , or , as the symbol began to be humanised , by the addition of a head .

According to Herodotus , this simple form of symbolizing nature ' s attribute of reproduction among the chaste Hindoos , ( who , be it remembered , in their ceremonial worship personify every divine attribute separately ) became in after time , and distant regions , the foundation of the most revolting and obscene rites . Before dismissing the subjectwe may notice

, that Maurice , in his Indian Antiquities , supposed that the maypole was originally a symbol of the same meaning and the first of May a great phallic festival among both the ancient Britons and Hindoos , it being still celebrated with much the same rites in both countries .

In the earliest forms of Hindoo worship the reproductive attribute was deified under the personifications of Siva , the regenerator or Buddh , evidently Noah , and his consort , Parvati , ( Dea Generatrix ) : of the latter I shall have occasion to speak hereafter , and shall therefore , for the present , confine myself to a consideration of the symbol by which Siva the regenerator was , and is to the present day , symbolized . All

pyramids , obelisks , cones , especially conical and furcated hills , are Sivaic , and of such , as these are the characters IA V . All things erect , aspiring and obelistral , are referable to Siva ; a biforked hill , or hill with two summits , is the terrestrial paradise of Siva , and is thus symbolized in the Hindoo Pantheon A A or II . The custom of considering hills as

typical of heathen deities , has extended far beyond the Hindoos ; the Sanscrit name for the summit of Helicon is Heliconda , which means hill of the sun ; it is nearly the same in Greek ; with the Latins—Jupiter Capitolinus , Olympian Jove , the Apollo of Parnassus , with many other instances , might be quoted . The spires and pinnacles with

Having thus established the fact of erect and perpendicular lines being among the first symbols of the reproductive powers of nature , I proceed to a consideration of the second part of the figure , viz ., the circle . Shortly after the deluge , when men deviating from the paths of pure religion , beo-an to woi'ship their deceased progenitors in conjunction witli the heavenl y host , they deified their ancestors by placing

Ancient Symbolism. Illustrated.

them in the centre of a circle , imagining that at their removal from this world they were translated to different planets over which they presided ; hence the custom of representing the spots within the circle of the disk of the sun and moon by a human face . The halos of glory with which we at the present day encircle the figures of saints and sacred emblems , have likewise the same oriin and signification . Erom the

g earliest writers on the subject of symbols and hieroglyphics we learn that hieratic or sacerdotal symbols , enqnoyed by the piests iu their religious observances , were by way of distinction and pre-eminence over those which had reference to language and the occurrences of life , placed within a circle .

In the works or Kir William Jones most especially , we find all the figures of divinities contained within a circle , like the halo now used as a , glory round the heads of our sacred figures . That such was the custom in the clays of our three Grand Masters is apparent from their manner of delineating this emblem .

One of the most sacred symbols of the flood was the dove , which bird was the messenger of Noah ; and in our Lodges the Deacons are the messengers of the Master and his Wardens , bearing all orders and communications . The dove was selected by our ancient brethren as the emblem of this office , and is contained within the mystic circle , while the

other jewels of office lack this distinction . Beads were anciently used to reckon time , and a circle being a line without termination , was the natural emblem of its perpetual continuity ; whence we often find circles of beads upon the heads of deities and enclosing the sacred symbol upon coins and monuments ; the simple diadem or fillet worn round the

heads as a mark of sovereignty , had a similar meaning , and was originally confined to the statues of deities and deified personages , as we find it upon the most ancient coins . Chryses ( the priest of Apollo ) , in the Iliad , brings the diadem or sacred fillet of the god upon his sceptre , as the most imposing and inviolable emblem of sanctity . Instead of beads ,

wreaths of foliage , generally of laurel , olive , myrtle , ivy , or oak , ajmear upon coins , sometimes encircling the symbolical figures , and sometimes as chaplets on their heads . All these were originally sacred to some particular personification of the deity , and significant of some individual attribute . In general all evergreens were Dionysiac plants , that is , symbols

of the reproductive power , signifying perpetual youth and vigour , as the circles of beads and diadems signified perpetuity of existence . Hence the crowns of laurel , olive , & c , which the victors in the Roman triumphs and Grecian games were honoured , may properly be considered as emblems of consecration to immortality . The proneness of the Phoenicians to confuse and blend all objects of worship associating together , has been instanced by

the confusion of the ark , Noah , and his sons , all of whom were sometimes separately and often conjointly symbolized by the same emblem ; so in this instance the circle was after a lapse of time , when the human mind began to reflect on the vast idea of eternity and an Eternal Being , considered as a fit emblem of them both . Having neither beginning nor endthis was received as a symbol of the Deity by the

Phoe-, nicians or ancient Egyptians , and by them carried into Greece , where , together with the Ilplia , or ship , and the triangle , it was with the slight addition of the punctum , or dot , adopted as an alphabetical character ; it is the Theta , of the Greeks ,

and being the capital of the word QeoQ , god , was frequently substituted for the word itself , and used as an emblem of the Eternal One , with which signification it is to the present day received

throughout the globe . The pure worship of the postdiluvian patriarchs was first authoritatively corrupted at Babel . Previous to the building of that tower all mankind were accustomed solemnly to commemorate the catastrophe of the deluge . They had , however , begun to entertain excessive veneration for their