Forlong - Rivers of Life

440
Rivers of Life, or Faiths of Man in all Lands.
and let us see our Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, who is the life that riseth to all
men.” “Come,” cried these Christians one to another, “see the place where the Lord
lay;” and they greeted each other thus in the early morn: “The Lord is risen.”
Ans. “The Lord is risen indeed.” Then all go forth from the city to meet him,
arrayed in their best apparel, carrying royal palms and evergreens, and escort him to
their homes singing jubilee songs of praise, as due to him who has burst the gates of
darkness, and triumphed over the grave. In Jerusalem, even now, this is theatri-
cally but poorly imitated by a bishop of the Church entering and emerging on this
morn from the tomb with lighted tapers, from which all crave lights, as already
mentioned. Apollo and Dia-Ana, said Rome, so rose on the 7th of the Julian
April, and on the 10th, her great Cerelia fetes commence. It is clear that both
faiths symbolise the same ideas, and aim at imitating the same climatic phenomena,
though both would indignantly repudiate the imputation.
The palm “branch,” or Tree processions, are very ancient solar rites; but in the
absence of palms our ancestors used willows. British youths used carefully to gather
the flowers and buds of willows at this time, and go about with willow wreaths and
wands, single and in bundles, reminding us of the Barsom rods of Asia. Pennant says
that in the most northern parts of our islands he found persons at this season cutting
withes of ivy or mistletoe, and “weaving them in to circles to preserve as a charm all
through the year, in order to keep away and cure female disorders.” 1 Stow 2 writes:
“In ancient times, the week before Easter, they had great shewes made for the fetching
of a twisted tree or withe . . . into every man’s house of honour or worship.” What
the “house of honour” may have been it is difficult to say; but “twisted trees” and
“wands” are serpents and divining tools, and were so long before the days of the
budding serpent-rods of mythic Patriarchs. The universal appearance of palms, buds,
and rods at this season—all very significant symbols—shows us what a strong
similarity of thought and action existed between ancient men of very different Faiths,
and therefore points to one common source.
The Jewish Passover, or Eostre, is the 14th of their month Nisan or Abib, the first
sacred month of their old year. Every family, or one or two in concert, selected on the 10th
of Nisan a young lamb, which must be a male, without blemish, called the “paschal
lamb; it was at once taken into the house, tied to the bed-posts, and there kept till sunset
on the 14th, when it was sacrificed to Jahveh, its blood sprinkled on the door-posts and
lintels, and its fat given to the priests. It was then roasted whole, but “not a bone of
it broken.” Only males who had reached maturity, and were perfect in their parts, and
who had been circmncised, could partake of this food, which was eaten in haste, while
standing, with shoes on, staff in hand, and girded loins; what remained uneaten was
buried next morning. All this is accounted for, as in connection with the exodus from
Egypt; but even if we grant that an event such as described ever took place, this would
1 Brand’s Antiquities, p. 331.
2 Survey of London.