Forlong - Rivers of Life

204
Rivers of Life, or Faiths of Man in all Lands.
the crescent moon; and here I give a larger view of the same, as generally presented to
“the faithful.” There is no mistaking the solar origin of this myth, for here is clearly
Horus springing from his grassy bed, in the vernal year, surrounded with “ten thousand
angels,” and therefore he was held up to the anxious
and wistful eyes of his children, whose very life
depends upon his now dominant sway; so the Roman
Catholic priest raises it aloft before the Mystic Cross,
and against the soft, rich, light of that orient window,
and proclaims it “L’Hostie de Noël—the emblem of
eternal life,” when down sink the adoring multitude on
their knees, and tinkle go the little bells to add to the
adoration, and scare a way all evil from the hallowed
symbol. Before this superstition we have long seen,
and will long continue to see persons of the greatest
intellectual capacity sink down humbled, incapable,
and abashed; but do not let us on this account follow
the multitude, nor those men, though of varied genius
Fig 83—VERNAL HORUS.
and great powers, whom we occasionally, nay often,
find in all faiths meekly kneeling with hierophants and
their docile herds.
There is no appearance in these fetes of L’Hostie, of any forgetfulness or disrespect
of Sol. Although a Jewish child—the real and Eternal Father is the ostensible
worship, yet we see the Sun in every corner of the fretted roofs amd pictured walls,
and we notice that only on Sol’s holy days this symbol—the Solar wafer—“the bread
of life” is raised aloft towards “the Bread-Giver,” and worshipped by multitudes crying,
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Those who know well the rites and ceremonies of
the present and ancient Catholic Church, will be better able than I to point out how
near these come to the ancient ones which she now ignores throughout Europe and Asia.
The Church name for the wafer shows exactly how and why the idea of Redemption
and Atonement arose, for a Hostia is the Victima or ƒerion, the smoke of whose burning
gave such pleasure to all ancient gods. 1 We are told that the Jewish Jhavh delighted in
the smell of burning fat and blood; but I must not anticipate my chapter on Solar faiths,
and I trust my readers will forgive this digression, seeing how difficult it is to keep
apart the first five potent roots of the faiths of man; especially is it difficult to
avoid bringing in Sun or Serpent as the energetic agents of what would otherwise be
passionless and emotionless nature.
As most closely connected, though not identical, with Arks, Cradles, the Pyx and
Monstrance, I must here add a few words to make the “Door of Life” into these
Sanctuaries—viz., the IOni or Yoni—quite clear. The cradle with the baby-boy, the
1 Greek and Roman Antiquities, art. Sacrificium.