BOOK II.
Sacrifices
connected
with this
worship.
Symbols of
wealth.
Supreme God could not possibly make choice of any other emblems to denote the power which maintains and multiplies life. The cruder realism which suggested the image of the serpent ^ was in some degree refined in the symbol of the (stauros) tree, and the stake or cross of Osiris gradually assumed a form in which it became capable of denoting the nobler idea of generous self-denial.
But the cultus with visible emblems would, whether with Semitic or with Aryan tribes, be but imperfectly developed without sacrifice ; and although the blood of slain victims might be poured out to appease the power which could restore as well as destroy life, still there remained obviously another sacrifice more in accordance with the origin of the symbols em.ployed to denote that power. It was possible to invest with a religious character either the sensuality to which the Jewish or Phenician idolatr}- appealed, or the impulse which finds its complete developement in a rigorous asceticism. In the former shape the idea was realised in the rites of the Babylonian Mylitta, and in the vocation of the Hierodouloi of Greek and Hindu temples.^ In the latter the sacrifice was consummxated by a vow of virginity,^ and the Gerairai and Vestal Virgins of the Athenians and the Romans became the type of the Catholic and Orthodox nun.
But the true mythology of the subject is connected rather with the Yoni than with the Linga. If the latter serves as a sign of power, the former becomes the image of unbounded wealth and fertility. If the Linga is the sun-god in his majesty, the Yoni is the earth who yields her fruit under his fertilising warmth ; and it thus represents the sum of all potential existence. It is the ark which contains all the living creatures of the earth, while the sun is hidden behind the impenetrable rain-clouds; it is the Argo, which shelters all the Achaian chieftains through the weary darkness of their search for the Golden Fleece. In this form the emblem at once exhibits mysterious properties akin to those of the Linga, and passes into a legion of shapes, all closely resembling the original form, all
' " The learned and still Ih-ing Mgr. Gaume {7'raite dii Saint Esprit) joins Camerarius in the belief that serpents bite women rather than men." — Burton, Tales of Indian Devilry, preface, p. xix. The facts already cited account for the superstition. The confusion between the Phallic or life-gi'ing and the de- stroying or venomous serpent may be seen in the legends of Madagascar. — Malagasy Folklore, Folklore Rceord, vol. ii. p. 20. It may be well to note that in some of the valleys of the Himalayas there are temples dedicated exclusively to the worship of the serpent — Har- court, Himalayan District of Kooloo, Lahoid, and Spiti.
- Herod, i. 199. The passage is
translated by Mr. Kawlinson, Ancient Eastern Monarchies, iii. 465.
- In this case, they were devoted to
the ser-ice of Sacti, the female power : in the former they were the ministers of Aphrodite. That the institution of the virgin priestesses of Vesta and of the female devotees of Mylitta or Sacti had this origin, will probably be con- ceded by all.
