Classical Theology.-Lxxii.

youd which none that were " Bebelos , " that is , profane , Avere allowed to pass . The other or sacred division , ivas called " Toeso ; " but Avith regard to the vessel of holy water , Pollux says it was placed at the entrance of the " Adyton , " the very inmost apartment of the temple , into which it Avas unlaAvful for

any but the chief priest to enter ; Avherefore , sometimes , to distinguish it from the B 6 @ € \ OS Topos ( Bebelos Topos ) , it was styled AraxToSov ( Anaetoron . ) As all things were thought to be particularly sacred to different gods , it -was customary at first to dedicate the temples to the deities respectively—for instance ,

of woods , mountains , valleys , fields , in which places they were erected , and by streams and rivers ; so , likewise , the Doric pillars were esteemed most acceptable and sacred to Jupiter , Mars , and Hercules ; the Ionic to Apollo , Diana , and Bacchus ;

the Corinthian to Vesta the virgin , and to Juno . Yet , it is stated , in course of time , all these were occasionally used in the same temple , and also the same temple became sacred to many deities . These deities , as in other countries , Avere all thought to have been re-born , that is , like the Avataras of Vishnu ,

they had all appeared in the human form , not by a metamorphosis or metempsychosis , as that of Ashmedai , * or of that of the Delai Lama , hut under their OAvn various names , as of Parasu Eama , Eama

Chandra , Krishna , aud Budha . The medal mentioned by Saubertus ( Libro de Sacrifices veter ) , bore a Greek inscription , Avhich may be thus rendered into English— " To Jupiter , the Sun , great Sara-pis , and the deities co-existent in the same temple . " We are also informed that Isis and Apis , Osiris , Butos ,

aud Sothis cohabited in the same sacred edifice . So likewise in auother Ave find Ceres , Bacchus , and Phoebus were joined . In another , as at Borne , to mention a few more instances , Jupiter , the great Capitolinus , Juno , and Minerva ; in another , Venus aud Cupid ; in auother , Castor and Pollux , and so on ;

iEsculapius and Apollo ; the Sun aud Moon ; Mars aud Venus ; the Palatum Apollo ; Latona and Diana ; Zeus , Hera , and the Graces ; and Orpheus , Hercules , aud the Muses . Some say that Zeus is not another name for Jupiter , nor was Hera the same divinity as Jimo ;

still Ave cannot admit this to be so to any greater extent than were we to make the startling assertion that Dieu does uot signify God in French , or that Espiritu Santo , in Spanish , does not mean the Holy Ghost . It was usual with the ancients when they came to the altar to pray to take hold of it , whence an altar was called

by the Greeks fy" -, area , c fuasi , ansos , " taken hold of . " It Avas also a custom in praying to lift up the hands towards heaven . "We do all lift our hands to

Classical Theology.-Lxxii.

heaven , " says Aristotle , " when we pray . " So Euripides relates of Helena in her prayer to Juno , " We , great goddess , to thy starry throne extend our arms I " It has been prettily surmised , with much ingenious probability , that the raising . of the hands , pressed together upwards in pious supplication , first induced

the idea of the original form of the Corinthian , or , more properly iu fact , Ecclesiastic , or pointed arch , commonly styled the Gothic ; and , therefore , deemed devotional , and , in its type , suitable to the construction of buildings consecrated to Avorship . Hera , or Juno , Ave are told by some , Avas so

distressed and violently out of humour at the personal imperfection of her son , Hephcestus , the deity of fire , that she obtained his banishment from heaven . Others , with no less disregard to sense , tell us , that the-jealousy of Hera so exasperated Zeus that he hung her up by the heels to the derision of

the Olympian gods , aud on Hephcestus rescuing his mother from her shameful position and punishment , Zeus seized him hy the feet and pitched him at one effort clearly out of his kingdom to the earth ; Avhere , after a nine clay ' s fall , he descended on the Isle of Lemnos , Avith little or no more hurt than that of a broken lea .

On the other hand , Homer tells us of Hephcestus proposing to his divine mother , the lvhite armed and golden throned Hera , that he should be the cup bearer of the gods at the splendid court of Olympus , and that , to its great amusement , beginning Avith his regal mother , he poured out from the crystal bowl its rich ambrosia to all the assembled divinities .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE ACACIA . Is there any peculiar meaning attached to the Sprig of Acacia , other than Ave hear in lodge ? I was told it Avas a very curious herb , and several volumes might be written on it ? Is this so ?—H . B . F . —[ There is no symbol more interesting to the Masonic student than tho Sprig of Acacia , not only on account of its own

peculiar import , but also because it introduces ns to an extensive and delightful field of research ; that , namely , Avhich embraces the symbolism of sacred plants . In all the ancient systems of religion , and mysteries of initiation , there Avas always some one plant consecrated iu the minds of the Avorshippers aud participants , by a peculiar symbolism , and , therefore , held in extraordinary

veneration as a sacred emblem . Thus the ivy Avas used in the mysteries of Dionysius , the myrtle in those of Ceres , the erica in those of Osiris , and the lettuce in those of . Adonis . Before entering upon an examination of the symbolism of the acacia , it will be , pez-haps , as well to identify the true plant which occupies so important a place in the

ritual of Freemasonry . And here , in passing , Ave may be permitted to say that it is a very great error to designate the symbolic plant of Masonry by the name of " Cassia " —an error , ivhich , undoubtedly , arose , originally , from , the very common habit among illiterate people of sinking the sound of the letter A in the pronouueiation of any word of Avhich it forms the initial syllable . Just , for instance , as Ave constantly hear , in the conversation