The Brahmins And Royal Archmasonry.

triangles , one within the other , forming as it were a pyramid of triangles . The dais or petals are only eight in number , and named after the sun , moon , and the elements which form the chief subjects of tbe hymns of the Vedas . I found it difficult to ascertain from the Brahmin whom I consulted , any distinct account of the origin of this curious symbolhe affected a great mystery on the subjectand all

; , I could gather from him was that the two equilateral triangles intersecting one another in the Svi Jantra were emblems of the "L ' ingain" and "Yoni , " the "Bija" and "Bhag , " or the male and female principles of nature , and of the Deity who is the god of nature . The analogies derived from a consideration of the animal and vegetable kingdomspossiblled the Hindu

hiloso-, y p phers to conclude that the process of creation was due to the co-existence of these two principles in the divine nature . In H . J . Colebroke ' s translation of parts of the Veda , the following passages illustrate the idea : — " In the beginning there was no entity—nor entity— -no world or sky , nor aught above it . Death was not , nor immortality ; nor distinction -of day or night ; but that breathed without afflationsingle

, with her who is sustained with him . " Again in the Verihad Aranyaka , an TJpanishad , it is recorded "The Primeval Being saw nothing but himself in the . universe , and said , ' I am I . ' He felt not delight , being alone . He wished for another , and instantly became such . He caused himself to fall in twain , and thus became husband and wife . " In the ¦ Sama Veda it is stated that " the will to create co-existed

with the Deity as bis bride . " It is probably the female principle under the name of " Vach" ( translated speech or theword ) , which calls herself the universal soul . " Originating all beings , I pass like the breeze—I am above this heaven , beyond this earth , ancl what is the Great One , that am I . "

This duality of the Deity seems to bave been common to the primeval religions of Egypt and China , and probably of the intermediate regions of Asia . In the former , the Sun , under the name of the Osiris , was worshipped as the generator of all things , and the earth under the name of Is " is , as the great mother , who , under the vivifying rays of the sun , appeared to bring forth all animated beings , and all

vegetable nature . In the great Temple of Isis , under the veiled statue of the goddess , was inscribed the well-known sentence : — " I am what I hath been ; what is ; what shall be ; and no mortal hath ever lifted my veil . " In nearly the same words , in the " Kasi Khand , " it is said of the " Prakriti , " or "Nature , " "What is , thou art hi the Sakti form , and except thee nothing has ever been . " The necessity of

the co-operation of a female principle in creation was further recognised by assigning to each Deity a wife or sakti . Thus Prakriti is said to have assumed various forms—Dinga , the sakti of Siva ; Laksmi , of Vishnu ; Saraswati , of Brahma ; Radhii , of Krishna ; the Syrian goddess Astarte , and the Venus Genitrix of the Greeks and Romans , were alike the deifications of the same principle .

In China , instead of the double triangle , the same principles are typified by the " Tae Keigh , " a circle divided by a curved line into two equal parts ( vide Fig 9 ) , which represent the " Yang" and " Yin , " by which all things were produced . The heavens is "Yang" and the earth " Yin ; " the sun " Yang" and the moon " Yin ; " and so on through all nature—animalvegetableand mineral . All odd numbers

, , are male , aud all even female . This may he the reason why 3 is considered a holy number , being the union of 1 + 2 ; also the pentagon 3 + 2 ; the hexagon 3 + 3 , and 7 , being 4 + 3 , & c . The " Sing Moo , " or " Holy Mother , " is prob ably identical with Prakriti , Isis , and Astarte . In page 50 , vol . 8 , of the Asiatic Researches , Mr . R .

Patterson states that Siva is represented by an equilateral triangle , ivhich signifies the union in him of the three great attributes of creation , preservation , and destruction . This hieroglyphic , he adds , is inscribed on the "Kunibla Ghata , " or water jar , used by the worshippers of Siva , in conjunction with a similar triangle , which represents his wife or female energy . In vol . 3 , p . 365 , of the Asiatic

Researches , Major "Wilford says that "Vishnu" ( as the sun ) , and Prithivi ( the earth ) , are severally typified by an equilateral triangle , and conjointly , when their powers are supposed to be combined , by two such equal triangles intersecting each other . It seems evident , however , that whether under the name of Siva ancl DurgaVishnu and Prithivior Bhrama

, , and Prakriti , the same ideas are represented , viz .: —the fecundating principles of nature , or perhaps the universal vivifying spirit acting upon universal inert but conceptive matter , at one time typified by the double triangle , at another by the Lingam and Yoni . Each of these principles had its separate worshippers , who maintained the superior influence of their respective objects of veneration in the production

of nature . " This occasioned , " says Major Wilford , " not only a vehement religious contest , but even a bloody war between the followers of Yoni and Lingam . " He does not , however , give any authority for this transaction . It appears that the Buddhists have also a symbol consisting of triangles , but they are united at the points , instead of intersecting each other ( Fig . 7 ) .

In a learned work , by Le Noir , on tbe subject of Freemasonry , published at Paris in 1811 ; there is much curious information on the subject of the triangle . He states , that it represented the number 3 , which among the Jews and Egyptians was considered the number of perfection . It was also a symbol of the elements ancl of the sun , because the constellation of the triangle formerly rose with the sun when

the vernal equinox was at the point of Aries . Hence a triangle was placed in the hands of Isis , Osiris , and Orus , the Egyptian Trinity . It is stated that four Equilateral triangles were placed in the centre of their Zodiac , to represent the four elements : Fire , Air , Earth and "Water , of which the world was supposed to be created . The intersection of these four triangles formed a 12 pointed star in a circle . ( Vide Fig . 10 ) .

It is possible that the pyramids of G-kizeh , in Egypt , whose sides are formed by four equilateral triangles , were intended to be typical of the elements , as well as that of the sun . The angles being equilated are angles of sixty degrees , which corresponds exactly with the height of the sun at the equinox , in the latitude of Ghizeh , viz ., thirty degrees . At midday , during the equinox , the sun ( Osiris ) , appeared at

the summit of the pyramid , as on a pedestal ; and at night the moon ( Isis ) , succeeded him . Le Noir , states that great festivals were held on these occasions . Though modern researches leave little doubt that the pyramids were the tombs of kings , yet their peculiar form and exact position , in . the true meridian , facing the four cardinal points of the ; in some degree favours the opinion of Le Noir

compass , , that they may also have been held symbolical of tbe tomb of Osiris . After the autumnal equinox , Osiris was fabled to descend by the gate of brass to his tomb , being no longer visible above the pyramid . At the winter solstice , 21 st Dec