The Prehistoric Birdman Tablets of Illinois

The Prehistoric Birdman Tablets of Illinois

By Elizabeth Agnes Kassly

(Pete Bostrom photos; Elizabeth Kassly drawings)

Fantasy Drawing of Kassly Birdman Tablet

Of the many events that happen in one's life, small sto­ries begin. It is by these stories that we are enlightened. Each one of us has a story to tell ..

A few months ago, while I was tooling down the road, I drove right into a 'heck of a storm' ! I steered my little black truck into a parking lot and decided to wait it out. As I watched and listened to the rain and the wind and the lightning, I remembered back to another time, a time of the prehistoric American Indians. Their grass and mud caulked huts, sitting out in the elements. The woven cattails on their thatched roofs tearing and thrashing about in a dancing frenzied flurry. As I sat in my truck, it moved and swayed with each burst of energy put out by the storm. How the ancients must have felt, fearful that the great bird would come down from the sky and pluck them from their huts and devour them. Only a cave shelter could protect them now, and a strong will to survive.

Can you envision the Cahokians . . . the Mississippian mound culture people who built their earthen structures to the sky? Can you imagine how these people felt during one of those torrential storms? Lightning and thunder taking its toll on the weak-minded. Just as the storm dies down .. . the great Birdman emerges from his water worn lodge high above them all. Shaking rattles made of gourds, he chants to the sky. Would you not fear him and praise him in the same breath? We humans 'fear' what we do not understand.

Raptors were powerful symbols of the sky world. In the upper world, they controlled the sun . . . life! They were the ones that decided whether or not you existed. Who were the people that built the mounds? Who was it that envisioned a great Bird-Man that controlled the people through ritual? In North America, many differences existed among the Indians of the Southeast and the Southwest, but there were also ways in which they were similar. It appears that all of the southeastern Indians as well as some outside the Southeast shared basic assumptions and thought patterns. This includes notions of how the 'cosmos' was put together, as well as very general theories about why things happened. They also shared a fundamental social transformation that began occurring among them at about A.D. 900-1100. Perhaps they were descendants of the great Mayan culture?

Instead of stone, they incorporated the earth to make their temples.

In southwestern Illinois, just west of the modern day town of Collinsville, is the location of the 1000+ year old prehistoric city we have named `Cahokia'. It is located in the vast flood plains area of the old Mississippi River channels. Here in these bottoms, lie the remnants of the now protected man-made earthen structures. Testing was done on a few of these mounds in the state park during the 1970s under the di­rection of Melvin Fowler of the University of Wisconsin. While digging a large test trench, near the two eastern lobes at the base of the largest mound (Monk's mound), a small sandstone fig­ural tablet was discovered by one of the workers. Ken Williams picked up the stone ... his heart pounded, as he observed the many rows of two crosshatched lines overlapped on the rect­angular shaped stone. As he turned it over . . . he saw the engraving of a Birdman . . . half man, half bird, the only representation to be found in good con­text at Cahokia. This tablet is 4 inches long by 3 inches wide and depicts a masked figure with a diamond eye and a hook nose (a partial mask) and wearing an oval emblem of shell or copper on his chest. His left appendage is that of an outstretched wing. Many stories and perceptions have been proposed for this stone. This icon now repre­sents the prehistoric city of Cahokia Mounds. Its visual reminder can also be seen on the left and right over­passes between 1-64 and JB Bridge, Illinois' tribute to the prehistoric Amerindians who once lived below these ancient bluffs of the great Mississippi River Valley.

Could this Birdman stone have been a cult symbol owned by one of the leaders of the People? Perhaps a stone passed down through generations for the purpose of tattoo and/or identification. Maybe to secure immortality or even prestige. The crosshatching on the back of the stone may represent serpent markings or feathers. Similar crosshatched markings are found on depictions of snakes carved on shell cups (associated with human burials) found at Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma. Birdmen are also depicted, as well as an assortment of human forms, animals and plants. Moundville pottery from Alabama depicts crosshatching designs on their winged serpent and bird symbols. A large majority of these vessels also have been associated with burials. Pete Bostrum of Troy, Illinois, once told me, "Art is inspired by something going on at that time." This portable engraved stone was definitely used as either a `visual' communication or a 'spatial' one. The 'art' depicted on these stones attempts to communicate ideas and attitudes within the tribal clans and even into the far outlying villages or 'satellite' communities of the Mississippian people.

Engraving Found in Spiro Mound

In the same area, just due south of the great Monk's Mound (where Fowler estimated a central post pit would be), were also found the remnants of many burials. Mound 72, barely seven feet high, had turned out to be an enormously complex burial site apparently used for the interment of elite individuals. Central in this group was the Beaded Birdman Burial — an individual who was placed (face up) upon an elaborate platform of 20,000 shell beads arranged in the form of a bird. Later analysis would reveal the burial was actually two males. One individual had been placed under the shell beads face down. This corresponds with the native American belief in dualism that holds that there is a division between the world above and the world below.

Each of us has a vision of the world that belongs to us alone, and when one dies that world dies also. Others may share in some parts of such a vision but none will see it ex­actly as another does, nor will all experience it in the same way, for each is living with one's own vision of reality. Each person's vision of reality is based upon life experience, the influences of,people, places, art and dreams — all the various aspects of one's existence that make up each individual.

As the years go by, new archaeological evidence of prehistoric humans is found, every day, whether in exca­vations of proposed highway projects by professionals or discoveries made by individuals in their own back yards. I, myself, enjoy surface collecting in my spare time. On November 15th of 2000, another palm-sized Birdman tablet was discovered in the farm fields along a bluff-base terrace south of old Valmeyer, Illinois, about 40 miles south of Cahokia grounds. It is the first figural tablet known to have been discovered outside of the Ca­hokia Site. Made of fine grained sandstone, the 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" tablet is known as the Kassly-Schaefer tablet. (As another small piece of it was found on May 11th of 2003.) The Kassly-Schaefer tablet bears an engraved, stylized raptor image that has a slash across the neck portion where the head would have been. Across the top of the tablet (above the slash mark) is a zone of v-shaped lines reminiscent of a timber rattlesnake or a feather. Like the Cahokia Birdman, this figure has one outstretched wing and single angled hatch marks representing feath­ers. The chest bears two rows of three dots (the edge of the design was broken by the plow). Below its waist, formed by a single line, is a central dot and a triangular apron tied with a sash. The apron appears to be part of a fan shaped tail or a skirt with feathers.

Mississippian-style petroglyphs (images carved in stationary stone) have been found farther south in the sur­rounding countryside. One is observed to be a headless falconoid figure, with thirteen dots on the chest area and two outstretched wings. In talking with other people (who hunt sites south along the old Illinois River bottom bluffs), I have come across three other possible tablets. A midsec­tion fragment of sandstone tablet found south of Chester, Illinois, by Margie Erb which was donated to Pete Bostrum. It depicts crosshatching on one side and edge, and is plain on the other. A man named Terry Annin, who is a member of the Three Rivers Missouri Archaeological Society, stopped to chat with me one day where I was walking the Birdman fields. In the course of our conversation, I learned that aabout 2 miles south of where the Kassly­Schaefer tablet was found, Terry had found a small 2-3/4" x 1-3/4" sized rectan­gular shaped piece of limestone with a few squared lines on one side. The front of the piece was pecked or broken off . . . oblit­erating any markings that may have been portrayed. Terry was kind enough to let Pete Bostrum photograph and study the tablet. Another bird depiction, on a piece of shaped limestone, was found about 15 years ago by Margie's sister, Mary Mathews.  This stone is from the Fenaiai site (a satellite community of Cahokia Mounds), just a short distance to the south of the Kassly-Schaefer tablet site.  This stone is a piece of limestone shaped into the form of a bird.  It has a similar engraving of the same crouching raptor depicted on both sides of the 1/2 inch thick piece.  The eyes are diamond-shaped, and there are crosshatched feathers represented on both sides.  The ruffles represented on the legs show clearly that it is a hawk or falcon. Perhaps these stones are 'totems' — objects serving as the emblem of a family or clan and often as a reminder of ancestry.

Could these tablets have been used in ceremony at Cahokia? All of the sites in the American Bottoms were ap­parently political and ritual centers for local Mississippian populations, as evidenced by the discovery of ritual objects, petroglyphs and associated mortuary sites.

While a number of simple crosshatched stone tablets have been found at Cahokia, three others have been found in-situ on Stirling (A.D. 1100) and Moorehead (A.D. 1200) Phase sites excavated in the surrounding area by archaeolo­gists working for the University of Illinois on the 1-255 and I-270 highway projects that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Years ago, a fragmentary piece of tablet was discovered in storage at the Quincy Museum. It was found west of Monk's Mound in 1921. It depicts a partial falconoid figure with an extended leg and talons and ap­pears to be superimposed on a crosshatched background. The Wilson Tablet from Madison County is slightly larger than most of the tablets found. Its depiction is similar to a coiled snake. Three lines in the center splits the design of the lightly incised crosshatching that is done on the same side. The back side is plain. Another tablet was report­edly found around the Horseshoe Lake area near Cahokia Mounds. The stone was broken but the finder was sure there was a Birdman engraved upon it. Unfortunately the tablet was sold to someone from the East Coast many years ago. Maybe someday the buyer will realize what he has and the image will again be seen.

I am sure there have been other tablets found in the sur­rounding countryside and many more waiting to be found. Just remember, someday you may find something unimagi­nable. Something that will 'tweak' your brain and cause you to write a story about it. Louis L'Amour mentions in one of his books that, "Knowledge was not meant to be locked behind doors, but to share. It breathes best in the open air where all men can inhale its essence."

REFERENCES

Young, Biloine Whiting and Melvin Fowler CAHOKIA - The Great Native America Metropolis

Brown and Kelly

1999 Cahokia and the Southwestern

Ceremonial Complex

Illinois Antiquity

2001     (Illinois Association for the

Advancement of Archaeology) vol. 36 #2, 2001

Illinois website by Pete Bostrum (lithiccastinglab.com) Information on Birdman tablets from Cahokia Mounds and surrounding areas

Philips and Brown

Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, Vol. 1 (plates 68-80) 

Hudson, Charles

Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun L' Amour, Louis 

The Haunted Mesa

Fragonard, Jean-Honore

The Swing

THE SACRED SYMBOLS OF MU

INTRODUCTION

I wish particularly to point out in the present volume that I am not giving the meanings of symbols in the vestments in which they are now garbed. I am giving their origin and original meanings.
Up to the time of Mu's submersion all symbols retained their original meanings. From the time of Mu's destruction I must pass over about 5,000 or 6,000 years. Those were years when seemingly no history was written except a few scraps in India and Egypt.
During this time mankind apparently was reviving and repeopling the earth, after its almost total destruction by the submersion of Mu and other lands and the subsequent formation of gas belts and mountains.
On entering Egypt 6,000 years ago we find that many of the original symbols had survived but were very much Egyptianized, especially in pattern or design, with an incomprehensible theology attached to them. A multitude of new ones had besides been added, most of them having esoteric or hidden meanings.
This confusion increased when Upper and Lower Egypt merged into one kingdom. The two peoples not
p. 16
only commingled personally, but also their two sets of symbols. Thus two sets were made into one without any being discarded. It meant at least two symbols for every conception. So great was the confusion of symbols in Egypt, 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, that hardly one-half of the priesthood understood those used in the temples of other cities, although they might be but a few miles away.
The next period to note in Egyptian history is the reigns of the Ptolemys.
Many Greek philosophers then went to Egypt and were taught the Egyptian Sacred Mysteries. This knowledge they took back to Greece, commencing about 600 B. C. In Greece the Sacred Mysteries were Grecianized, new names and further theology were added. The result, generally, was the creation of amusing myths. The familiar Grecian myths may therefore be said to be influenced by the legends and teachings of Egypt and India.
The next point to note is Mu's destruction, which removed her motherly control over religion and science throughout the world. The consequence was that each colony framed its own laws, at the same time making changes in religion to suit themselves.
It is very noticeable among all ancient people that directly the control of the Motherland was removed, those countries began to fall back. As time went on they so degenerated in science and religion that the teachings of the First Great Civilization were at last entirely
p. 17
forgotten and became a thing of the past. Myths, those shadows of the past, alone remained. Here and there, however, solitary flowers strove to raise their heads out of the weeds which now choked the world's garden.
Coming down to present times, I find writers, supposed to be scholars, giving meanings to symbols that are purely mythical, the outcome, it may be, of fantastic dreams, and absolutely erroneous. Where they got their ideas I cannot imagine. Certainly not from the ancient writings. The result is that science has drifted into an age of theories. Theories are made subservient to facts. A fact cannot be a fact unless their crazy theories prove it. The more abstruse and bizarre the theory is, the more, apparently, it is scientifically thought of. A theory that is not even understood by the originator himself, and by no one else on earth, meets with scientific approval.
SYMBOLS AND FREE MASONRY.--Freemasons in their ceremonies use many of the ancient symbols. They freely admit that the original meanings are now forgotten but they know that originally the symbols were sacred, being used in religious ceremonies in the infinite days that are past and had a religious and moral meaning in line with the First Religion of Man--their origin.
Symbols and symbolisms are a principal division of archaeology. I am not a professional archaeologist, but I love the ancient and for over fifty years have been
p. 18
diligent in the study of it. When Mu went down the school of archaeology went with her.
ARCHAEOLOGY.--The date when archaeology was first studied reaches far back into the distant past. More than 15,000 years ago, the ancients had special colleges for its study.
In these colleges a very profound knowledge of their past was attained. The further we go back, the more profound we find that archaeological knowledge.
Like all other ancient sciences, archaeology had a dark cloud cast over it when Mu the Motherland sank and the First Great Civilization was wiped out. Only seeds, remnants of mankind, were left here and there, out of which a new civilization was in time to develop.
It is virtually within memory of living man that the study of archaeology has been again undertaken. Those who today call themselves archaeologists are, generally, diggers of the remains of man who lived, say, from 1,000 to 5,000 years ago. These are but of yesterday in human history. Why do they not go back to the beginning, as the ancients did 15,000 years ago? The archaeological study of the ancients included the whole history of man from his beginning 200,000 years before, if the astronomical evidence whereby such dates are computed may be accepted.
Archaeology embraces much more than it is thought to do. As the ancients studied it, it was a fascinating story. It may be deemed a religion for, at every step, the student is confronted with works of a Supreme Conception,
p. 19
with symbols of the power and wisdom of the Creator. The sights cause him contemplation, contemplation brings him in touch with the Supreme, the great Architect and Builder of all. As the student progresses, he becomes aware that other branches of science are intimately connected with it: geology, chemistry, astronomy and the Cosmic Forces. These must all be mastered to obtain the full benefit of what has been written and left behind by our forefathers for us, to act as guideposts to the greater knowledge.
NATURE.--Nature shows man what is the Origin of Life. It shows man's connection with the Great Source and the Great Cosmic Forces which control the Universe.
It also shows the origin of these Forces. Thus archaeology is but one letter in the long word that unfolds the wonders and glories of Creation, it brings man in closer touch with the Heavenly Father.
Again, incidentally, it shows that true science is the twin sister of religion: they are inseparable for without religion man could not comprehend the Cosmic Forces, and without fully comprehending these Forces he could not approach the Great Divine Love which rules the Universe.
The first chapters of the Bible were intended to teach man the workings of these Cosmic Forces. They failed to do so however because of the mistranslations of the Mosiac writings, which were in the tongue and characters of the Motherland, and were copies of the Sacred [paragraph continues]
p. 20
Writings of Mu that Moses expounded when he was High Priest of the temple at Sinai. The esoteric temple writings of Egypt related the cause of the Flood, showing what the phenomenon actually was. Whoever wrote these chapters, as we now have them, failed fully to understand the ancient form of writing, as present man fails fully to understand the symbols and symbolisms which were there correctly copied.
The early part of the Bible therefore has not fully carried out the purpose for which it was intended. The Bible Moses actually handed down was the Sacred and Inspired Writings, the greatest and most profound work ever penned by man, containing a science beyond the conception of present man. Nothing however is, it seems, forever lost: for in various parts of the earth writings are being recovered which, when put together, provide us with a great part of the Original Sacred Inspired Writings of Mu. That which has been recovered gives:
The account of Creation down to and including the Creation of man and of woman.
The movements of all celestial bodies throughout the Universe, the Forces that are controlling their movement and the Source of these Forces.
The Origin of Life and what Life is, with the cause of the necessary changes in types of life during the earth's development.
Various geological phenomena and what their causes were.
p. 21
And there is, finally, the coping stone of the Earth: Man.
I find a word frequently occurs in the Bible which is misapplied. I refer to "Miracle." There are no miracles. What seem miraculous is due to our ignorance. They are phenomena produced by the exercising of man's own Spiritual Force, given him at his creation. The Sacred Writings say that this Force was given to man "to enable him to rule the earth." Masters used their Spiritual Forces. Their works, not being understood by the multitude, were looked upon as miracles. "Master" was an ancient title bestowed on those who had mastered the use of their Spiritual Forces.
Those who spend their time merely in unearthing objects of the ancients are not true archaeologists. They are only diggers or miners. The archaeologist reads what he finds written on stone and clay, and informs the public what they say. A stone or plaque of clay with writing on it is only a stone or dried mud, having no more value than any other curious stone until the inscription upon it is read. Then it becomes a page of written history and may be the means of revolutionizing the thought and teachings of present man.
The value of archaeology is in this reading--thereby one gains a knowledge of the past. A voice is constantly calling, "Go forth unto nature and learn her great truths and lessons." Nature is the great schoolhouse for higher learning. No authorities are found there to muddle us. Nature is the one and only authority.
p. 22
Every old rock, with its crinkly weathered face, every fossil, has its tale to tell; every leaf on tree and shrub whispers a story. The Universe, with its countless celestial bodies moving in perfect order and time, calls for observation and inspires a yearning to know the Source of all. All of these lessons are to be learned from nature to enable man in this life on the earth to prepare himself for the next step in his everlasting life.
THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION.--What is Religion? Max Müller says: "Religion is a mental faculty which, independent of, nay, in spite of sense and reason, enables man to apprehend the Infinite under different names and under varying disguises. Without that faculty no religion, not even the worship of idols and fetishes, would be possible, and if we will but listen attentively we can hear in all religions a groaning of the Spirit, a struggle to conceive the inconceivable, to utter the unutterable, a longing after the Infinite, a love of God.
"As soon as we know anything of the thoughts of man and his feelings, we find him in possession of a religion.
"The intention of religion, wherever we find it, is always holy. However imperfect a religion may be, it always places the human soul in the presence of God, and however imperfect and however childish the conception of God may be, it always expresses the highest ideal of perfection which the human soul, for the time being, can reach and grasp."
The period in man's history which Max Müller here
p. 23
refers to is geologically known at the Pleistocene Period, coming after the submersion of Mu. Therefore what he found were shadows of the Sacred Inspired Religion of the Motherland, orally transmitted from father to son for thousands of years among the descendants of the remnants saved when the mountains went up and cataclysmic waves of water flooded the low-lying lands. This is corroborated in a paragraph where he says:
"There was a primitive Aryan religion, a primitive Semitic religion and a primitive Tauranian religion before each of these primeval races was broken up and became separate in language, worship and national sentiment.
"The highest god received the same name in the ancient mythology of India, Greece, Italy and Germany, and was retained by them. The name was Dyaus in Sanscrit; Zeus in Greek; Jovis in Latin; and Tiu in German (Wotan?). They bring before us all the vividness of an event which we witnessed but yesterday.
"The ancestors of the whole Aryan race, thousands of years it may be before Homer or the Veda, worshipped an unseen being under the selfsame name, the name of Light and Sky. Let us not turn away and say that this was, after all, but nature worship and idolatry. No, it was not meant for that, though it may have been degraded into that in later times. Dyaus did not mean the blue sky nor simply the sky personified; it was meant for something else. We have in the Veda the invocation [paragraph continues]
p. 24
'Dyaus Pitar,' the Greek 'Zue Pater' and the Latin 'Jupitar,' and that means in these three languages what it meant before these three languages were torn asunder: 'Heaven Father.'"
Let us go back to the time when these languages were still one. In the Sacred Inspired Writings of Mu 70,000 years ago the deity is frequently designated as "Heavenly Father" and "Father in Heaven." This name is more frequently used there than any other. Religion itself was based on the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Being so prominent in the ancient writings, it is no wonder that it has persisted through the ages. Jesus, whose teachings were purely those of the First Religion, begins The Lord's Prayer with "Our Father which art in Heaven."
Besides quoting Max Müller I shall give a few extracts from writers on the subject whom science calls authorities.
Kant and Schiller both assert that "A myth does not represent a debasement, or a sinking down from original perfection, not a victory of sensuality over reason, but on the contrary, it manifests the advancement of a man from a state of comparative rudeness to freedom and civilization."
I am not in accord with these ideas because common reasoning tells me the case should be reversed. Fully ninety-nine per cent of the myths are traceable to legends. Legends are history orally handed down. History
p. 25
is a record of facts, so that myths instead of "manifesting advancement" manifest a retrogression; for they show that history, a part of civilization, is being forgotten. Therefore that civilization has declined.
Taylor, in "Anthropology," says, "In one sense every religion is a true religion. The great question which forced itself on their minds was one that we, with our knowledge, cannot half answer--what the life is which is sometimes with us but not always."
Taylor might with advantage consult the North American Indian, the semi-civilized Polynesians, the Maoris, the South African savages, and, beyond all, the Teachings of Jesus. The savages and semi-savages do not claim great knowledge on the subject. I have, however, found that they possess great wisdom which is untrammelled by the Queen of Myths, known as Science.
De Brosses says, "All nations had to begin with fetishes, to be followed afterwards by Polytheism and Monotheism."
I suspect De Brosses of toying with theories of our Simian origin. They have upset everyone who has ever come in contact with them. However, we shall let it pass because such writers as Max Müller, Dr. Happell, and Professor Pfliderer are directly opposed to such assumptions.
Hereafter, when dealing with the beginnings of religion, I shall show that man started with monotheism
p. 26
and it was only after Mu's destruction that there was polytheism and idolatry was practiced. The next quotation is as extraordinary:
"At a very remote period in the civilization of Egypt, Babylon, Mexico and Peru, the Sun God had gained supremacy as the first and greatest of gods."
This is contradicted by all ancient writings. The Sun was never looked upon as a god by the ancients but as a symbol only of the Deity. Therefore, it was never worshipped by them. The sun, from the beginning, was the monotheistic symbol of the Deity. Being the monotheistic or collective symbol of the Deity, it was esteemed the most sacred of all sacred symbols.
This monotheistic symbol of the Deity existed tens of thousands of years before man settled in either Egypt, Babylon, Mexico or Peru. How, therefore, could it have gained supremacy during their time?

---

Next: Chapter II. Religions

RELIGIONS

Mu's RELIGION.--It is fairly well established that all religions have a common origin. Let us see what that source was.
The first records of religion are more than 70,000 years old. They tell us that a body of trained masters from Mu, called Naacals, were carrying to her various colonies and colonial empires copies of the Motherland's Sacred Inspired Religion. These Naacals formed in each country colleges for the teaching of the priestcraft religion, and the sciences. The priesthoods that were formed in these colleges in turn taught the people. There is a very interesting ancient writing about the Chaldis, as the colleges were called in Babylonia. It says: "Everyone was welcome, be he prince or slave. Directly they passed into the temple, they were equal, for they stood in the presence of the Heavenly Father, the Father of them all, and here they became brothers in fact. No payment was charged; all was free."
Throughout the colonies and colonial empires these teachings were known as the Sacred Mysteries, a name that has persisted down to the present. In the [paragraph continues]
p. 28
Orient they were also called the Books of the Golden Age. In later times, I find among Maya and Egyptian writings that the Sacred Mysteries were only entrusted to the high priesthood and the heir apparent to the throne.
Clement of Alexandria wrote: "The Sacred Mysteries are only entrusted to high priests and the heir apparent to the throne." This I find was not exactly true. Many of the Greek Philosophers who went to Egypt were entrusted with the Sacred Mysteries, among them being Solon, Plato, Pythagoras and Thales.
From various Naacal writings, sometimes called Neferit, and translations of the Sacred Inspired Writings, I shall try to outline the First Religion and show how it was taught to primitive man.
Religion started at a very early period in man's history; evidently when he could not understand anything that was abstrusely expressed. Apparently it was found necessary for explanation to use object lessons, symbols, where sight would supply the absence of words. I find the earliest symbols were of an elementary character, plain lines and simple geometrical figures. I refer to a date prior to 70,000 years ago, for according to the records man was so far advanced at that time that he was mastering the most intricate vignettes, tableaux, et cetera, which today puzzle our great scientists.
Evidently religion was originally taught in stages.
First: Man was taught that there was a Supreme [paragraph continues]
p. 29
Being, Infinite and All Powerful. That it was the Creator who created all things above and below. That man was created by this Almighty Being and having been created by Him, was his son-that this Almighty was man's Heavenly Father.
Second: When man was created the Creator placed within the body of man a spirit or soul which never died but continued on through eternity.
Third: When man was created it was ordained that his material body should return to the earth from which it was taken. When this material body died it released the soul which went into the world beyond, there to wait until it was called upon to occupy another material body.
Apparently, as soon as his primitive mind could grasp the facts, he was taught that his soul was given a task. This task was for the soul to rule the material body by overcoming material desires. When this was accomplished his soul would be called back to the Great Source, and forever afterwards live in perfect joy and happiness.
He was taught that one material life was so short that the soul could not overcome all of the material desires, so it was ordained that his soul should come into many bodies until the task was accomplished; that these reincarnations were the salvation of his soul.
Fourth: It was thoroughly instilled into his mind that the Heavenly Father was The Great Love and that this great love ruled the Universe and never died. [paragraph continues]
p. 30
He was taught that the love of the Heavenly Father was far greater than the love of his earthly father, who was only a reflection of his Heavenly Father. Therefore he should always approach his Heavenly Father without fear or dread and in perfect confidence and love, knowing that loving hands were being held out to receive him when he came.
Fifth: He was taught that all mankind were created by the same Heavenly Father; therefore all mankind were his brothers and sisters, and should be treated as such in all his dealings with them.
Sixth: Finally he was taught his duties on earth, how he should live to prepare himself to become fit to pass into the world beyond when he was called. He was especially reminded that he must follow the paths of Truth, Love, Charity, Chastity, with perfect love and confidence in his Heavenly Father.
From this short and inadequate sketch it is shown that the fundamental principles of the first religion of man were: The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
Judging from the various religious teachings of the Sacred Inspired Writings, the phrase "Brotherhood of Man" is not meant to convey the idea that all men are to, look upon each other as blood brothers. It would seem to me that this phrasing is symbolical or used as an example for explanation. I think our modern example better explains the meaning to the mind of present man, namely, "Do unto others as you would have them
p. 31
do unto you." This seems to be confirmed by the forty-two questions in the Osirian Ritual. If we all followed this "Golden Rule" no discord could arise among mankind and the world would be in a virtual bond of brotherhood.
Again, I think the meaning of the word "charity" is not fully comprehended today. It refers to the soul rather than to the material part of man. Not only material charitable actions, such as feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, but it includes good and charitable thoughts of others. We should think ill of no one but try to help them overcome their failings. The great Master, Jesus, gave us an example of this.
SYMBOLS.--Throughout his teachings early man was constantly reminded that no symbol, however sacred, was to be worshipped in any way; that symbols were used only to enable him to concentrate his mind solely on the Deity and the particular subject of his supplication. By keeping his eyes on the symbol, other objects were excluded from his vision.
Symbols in our churches would not be amiss today, at least in some cases. On one occasion my seat in church was directly behind the pew of a wealthy broker. Every time the congregation knelt in prayer this pillar of the church, for he was one of them, drew from the shelf a book bound as a prayer book. When he opened it I saw that it was a ledger with rows of figures in debit and credit columns. These he went up and down with his finger, all the time mumbling something so that
p. 32
those around him thought he was earnest in prayer. Were his thoughts of God? The symbol he was using guided him to the material-not the spiritual.
THEOLOGY.--The religion of Mu had no theologies or dogmas. Everything was taught in the simplest, most comprehensive language, a language that even the most unschooled mind could grasp.
Theologies and dogmas crept into religion after the submergence of the Motherland. With her destruction, her controlling influences were gone. Confusions in religion then began, and exist in full force today. Anyone considering present-day religion can see that it is in the process of crumbling, that it is only a question of time when it will be a mass of ruins. Then, when these ruins are cleared away, there will arise a new and purer conception of spiritual things. Religion cannot die until man has attained the perfection ordained for him.
Our present religious state is not a new condition. Twice before, religion has fallen to the ground through theologies and their consequences. Out of the ashes new religions have arisen. Out of the ashes of present religions a new one will also arise. "He whom the gods destroy they first make mad." Madness in the form of bigotry, impossible theologies, and other errors exists today.
WHY PAST RELIGIONS HAVE FALLEN.--At various times in the history of man unscrupulous priesthoods have caused the downfall of religion by introducing into it vicious systems of theology made up of inventions,
p. 33
extravagances and immorality; omissions and false and vicious translations from the Sacred Inspired Religion of Mu from which all religions have sprung.
These systems were invented by priesthoods for the purpose of inspiring superstitious fears in the hearts of the people, to ensnare them, body and soul, into slavery to the priesthood. Having accomplished this, it did not take long for these priesthoods to acquire wealth and become all powerful. This was vividly illustrated in Egypt, where the Priests of Ammon not only gained the riches of the country but seized the throne as well. When, however, they started to control the military, the soldiers revolted and at the point of the spear drove them down into Ethopia, where they were prevented from returning to Egypt. The accumulation and concentration of wealth invariably ruins a country. There are at least a dozen historical records of it.
The first great outrage to religion I have found historically recorded occurred in Atlantis 22,000 years ago. It is referred to as "extravagances in the priestly teachings." The great master, Osiris, dispelled these extravagances and reinstated the original religion of the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man. As a monument to the memory of this great master, Religion was named after him.
THE OSIRIAN RELIGION.--When Thoth of Atlantis founded the colony on the Nile Delta, Egypt's history began. Thoth built the first temple at Saïs and there taught Religion as purged by Osiris 6,000 years before.
p. 34
At the destruction of Mu, Ra Mu, the King and High Priest of the Motherland, addressed the pleading crowds, saying:
"You shall all die together, you and your servants and your riches. From your ashes new nations shall arise and if they forget they are superior, not because of what they put on but what they put out, the same will befall them."
The foregoing indicates that the people had strayed from the teachings of the church, become materialistic and forgotten God, not that they had been led astray by the priests. It would appear that they were dropping the spiritual for the material: they were amassing riches and forgetting God. This would seem to be corroborated in a previous statement, where Ra Mu is quoted as saying:
"Did I not predict all this?"
It was the priesthood of Egypt that caused the cataclysmic wave of false gods, idolatry and spiritual degradation to sweep over the land. So well did they effect their nefarious designs that priestly orders throughout the world were drawn into the vortex contributing to religion's spiritual downfall. This started over 5,000 years ago, and the prostituted Osirian religion has now long passed into the discard. Many of its extravagances have, however, persisted down to present times and are found embodied in our religious conceptions.
The Egyptians were the first to teach the worship of symbols, a thing strictly forbidden in the Ancient Religion. [paragraph continues]
p. 35
Thus began idolatry. The next step was the invention of a devil whom they called Set. For this malevolent being they imagined a domain which they called Hell.
The extravagances of their description of this domain had no bounds, and one wonders how any sane person could have accepted them. According to these teachings, it was a place of everlasting flames, of burning brimstone that never died. Cast into these sulphurous flames, the Soul remained scorching for all eternity.
The soul of man is a spirit. No element can touch or come in contact with a spirit. Sulphur is an element. Therefore, it cannot come in contact with a spirit, for a spirit is negative to all elementary matter. Even if it were not, the forces of the spirit are so much higher than those of heat that the spirit could repel it.
I shall next show how the devil himself managed to put in an appearance. The claim was made that the devil was an archangel, fallen from the ways of grace, and cast from heaven into hell. The four archangels are only another vestment for the Four Great Primary Forces, or as Max Müller calls it, "a new disguise." As the Great Primary Forces still exist, working and controlling the Universe as of old, it is clear that none have fallen, as the story of Lucifer would have us believe.
It was thus the Egyptian priesthood dragged the beautiful, pure Osirian Religion into the mud, the religion with which Egypt commenced her history 10,000 years before, causing the nation itself to fall and become
p. 36
the slave of foreign conquerors. Before the Egyptian invention, a devil was unknown. Man had been taught there were two influences attending him here on earth--a material influence emanating from his earthly body, and a spiritual influence that came from his soul. His spiritual influence had the power to overcome the material, and it was his destiny that it should eventually dominate. It might, however, take many incarnations before this was accomplished, after which his soul would return to the Great Source.
Hindu priests, always quick to adopt anything of material advantage to themselves, followed Egypt in the debauchery of religion. An obstacle that had first to be overcome, however, was their Naacal teachers. These were unwavering in their adherence to the teachings of the First Religion. So the Brahminical priests started to persecute the Naacals, eventually driving them into the snow-capped mountains of the North. When these holy men were disposed of, the debauch commenced.
Not wishing to borrow their devil from the Egyptians, the Brahmin priests invented one of their own and called him Siva (pronounced Sheva).
From the time Siva was grafted into the Hindu religion, history shows that the Hindus fell from the high pinnacle of civilization which had been theirs since the period of the Motherland. A little history will verify this assertion:
Universal History and M. D. Voltaire--A. D. 1758. Vol. 3, Page 13.
p. 37
"The school of the ancient gynosophists was still subsisting in the great city of Benares on the banks of the Ganges. There the Brahmins cultivated the Sacred Language which they called Hanferit, and look upon it as the most ancient of all languages. [The Naacal writings are in what is here called Hanferit.]
"They admit of Genii, like the primitive Persians. They tell their disciples that symbols are made only to fix the attention of the people and are different emblems of the Deity. But as this sound theology would turn to no profit, they concealed it from the people. [And taught what produced superstitious awe and fear.]
"Be that as it may, the Indians were no longer that people of superior knowledge into whose country the ancient Greeks used to travel for instruction."
India was the cradle of the Greek Philosophy. Up to 500 B. C. the Greeks were going to India for learning. When they commenced going I do not know--possibly a thousand years before.
W. Robertson, "An Historical Disquisition of India," Pub. 1794, Page 274.
"The Brahmins, it is well known, borrowed religion, as well as all other sciences of civilization, from the highly civilized Nagas, whom afterwards they relentlessly persecuted."
One of the inventions of the Hindu priests was that Man was first created a grass, then a fish, passed into an amphibian, then a reptile, from a reptile into a mammal, and from this became a man. They also maintained
p. 38
that everything is a part of God and that all things put together are God. And yet this same priesthood says that idolatry is a sin. Let us analyze this.
Idolatry is a sin. The worship of idols made of wood and stone is idolatry. The worship of God is not idolatry. As the wood and stone are parts of God, the worship of wood and stone would be worshipping parts of God: therefore there is no such thing as idolatry, since whatever is worshipped is a part of God. What can be more fantastic than this? Yet I find the same conception in one of our religious sects today, and they call themselves Christians. Did Jesus ever utter such inconceivable nonsense?
The Brahminical priests did their work well, for they enslaved the people and froze their brains. But India is today awakening. She is casting off her priestly shackles and has started to regain her enviable place among nations, to regain her old religion and civilization. And she will again stand in the proud position from which she was dragged down. The Untouchables will no longer be Untouchables, but will receive their place as brothers in the land. But the Hindus must remember that they are only emerging, the top of the Cross is not clear of the water.
Some few thousand years ago the Priesthoods generally put the coping stone of horrors on religion--they instituted the horrible practice of human sacrifice. This addition caused consternation and enhanced the fear of the people in all lands. No one knew but he might be
p. 39
the next to be stretched upon the bloody stone, or, be shrouded in the flames of the fiery furnace. Fear and dread reigned supreme. These human sacrifices have supposedly disappeared from what is termed "civilized peoples." But have they? Is not human life sacrificed today under another guise? And what about present-day religions and people? The only difference from now and 3,000 years ago is a thicker veneer over our savagery.
The Church of Rome has a bloody page disfiguring its record by the Inquisition.
The Protestant Church has a great blot on her escutcheon with the burning of witches.
The Mohammedan Church was born with the sword, has lived by the sword, and will die by the sword--blood covers every page of its history.
Have Christians been following the teachings of the Great Master, Jesus, who preached only kindness and brotherly love? Certainly not! They have been following the cruel lust for blood bred of fanaticism and bigotry. Are we, ourselves, any better today? I think not. Our lust for blood causes us to hang, shoot and electrocute in the name of the law. What law? Not God's, for His law says, "Thou shalt not kill." With all our great professions of civilization we still remain savages at heart, and I have known many savages who are more truly civilized than we are. We erect towering buildings, make horrible wars on one another because of greed for power and wealth. Is this civilization, or mere
p. 40
display? Coat a pig with gold and the pig still remains a pig. The gold is only a veneer; the pig still exists in its original form. Our civilization is simply a veneer hiding our real selves--neither our hearts nor characters are affected by it for we are what we are.
I shall now show by Mu's Cosmogonic Diagram what the First Religion of Man was--the Sacred Inspired Religion of Mu.
MU'S COSMOGONIC DIAGRAM.--The Cosmogonic Diagram of Mu was the mother of all the various cosmogonic diagrams found throughout the world. All subsequent diagrams were based on that of the Motherland.
Inventions, alterations, additions in lines to adapt them to new meanings, made nightmares of them all.
One of the most prominent additions in the Hindu, Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldean and Egyptian was the addition of a hell. This hell is shown in various diagrams as a small circle below the main figure, the outside of the circle symbolizing the Universe, which was putting it far away from the earth. As the devil was unknown in Mu, no hell appears in her cosmogonic diagram.
DECIPHERING MU'S DIAGRAM.--In Mu the novice was taught to learn the diagram thoroughly and repeat what was written upon it as his spiritual convictions. just as children are taught the Bible today, the children of lost Mu were instructed in this diagram.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DIAGRAM.--In the center
p. 41

Click to enlarge
Mu's Cosmogonic Diagram

p. 42
is a circle within two crossed and interwoven triangles. Being interwoven or interlaced, these triangles form but one figure.
These two triangles are enclosed within a second circle, thus leaving twelve divisions.
Beyond this circle is a third, leaving a space between the two.
On the outside of this third circle are 12 scallops. Falling from the outside of the scallops is a ribbon which has 8 divisions.
THE MEANINGS OF THESE FIGURES.--The central circle is a picture of the Sun and the symbol of the Deity whose abode is Heaven.
The twelve divisions, formed by the crossing of the two triangles, are the gates to Heaven where dwells the Heavenly Father. These gates symbolize virtues, the twelve great earthly virtues, which man must possess before he can enter the gates, among them being Love, Hope, Charity, Chastity, Faith, et cetera. Love stands at the head of the list.
The space between the second and third circles is the world beyond, which the soul must pass through to reach the gates of Heaven.
The twelve scallops on the outside of the outer circle are the gates to the world beyond and symbolize the twelve great earthly temptations which must be overcome by the material body, before the soul can pass through these gates to the world beyond.
The ribbon with the eight divisions symbolizes the
p. 43

Click to enlarge
The Babylonian Cosmogonic Diagram

p. 44
eight roads to Heaven and tells what man's actions and thoughts must be to ascend to the gates of the world beyond. Put into present language the foregoing would read:
THE BELIEF.--I believe there are eight roads to travel to reach Heaven (mentioning them). My soul will first arrive after travelling these roads at the gates to the world beyond. To enter these my soul must show that my earthly body overcame the twelve great earthly temptations (mentioning them). Having shown that it had done so, my soul will be allowed to Pass into the world beyond. This I must traverse until I reach the gates of Heaven. Here my soul must prove that my earthly body possessed the twelve great virtues (mentioning them). Having shown that it did, my soul will then be passed through the gates into Heaven to the Throne of Glory, where sits the Heavenly Father waiting to receive it.
Have we anything today in any of our religions and religious sects that will compare with this beautiful conception so simply worded?
This was the Religion of Mu, the Motherland, and the First Religion of Man.
JESUS AND THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.--Jesus was a Master, the greatest and most proficient who has ever been on earth.
Jesus did not teach a new religion; he simply taught the First Original Religion as it is written in the Sacred and Inspired Writings of Mu.
p. 45

Click to enlarge
The Chaldean Cosmogonic Diagram
The Sri Santara

p. 46
The Lord's Prayer, the greatest work of its kind ever penned or spoken, is to be found in the Sacred Writings of Mu. Jesus condensed the ancient text to suit the language of his day. He compacted the whole of the material parts of religion into a few short sentences, leaving out nothing that was vital to man's salvation. The religion taught by Jesus has been called the Christian Religion, yet not five per cent of those who profess to follow His teachings do so; the other ninety-five per cent are following the supposed teachings of the apostles made up by a conclave of priests years after Jesus and his apostles had taken the long journey. This they called the Athenasian Creed. They borrowed the name Christian for their headline.
The teachings of this religion today include some of the extravagances the priesthood of Egypt grafted into the Osirian Religion, which are so contrary to actual teachings of Jesus they are deplorable. Theologies and bigotry, to which may be added supreme obstinacy, are tolling the death knell of the Christian religion. The priesthoods of this religion condemn the falling away of the world from the churches. This is easily understood by anyone who will trouble to think. But thinking priesthoods seem never to have existed. While they are bitterly complaining of this "falling away from the church," as they call it, the priesthood has only itself to blame. The public is receiving a higher education than heretofore. People are beginning to think for themselves.[paragraph continues]
p. 47

Click to enlarge
The Hindu Cosmogonic Diagram

p. 48
Thinking shows them the impossible theories and beliefs that are being handed out to them, and the bigotry attending it all. With higher education their reasoning powers will not allow them to accept it, so they simply keep away from it.
Are people becoming irreligious? No! On the contrary, they are becoming more religious. The heart craves truth, a knowledge of the Loving Heavenly Father. Offer people a plain, untrammelled service of simplicity and truth and no church will be big enough to hold all those who will attend.
There is, however, a crisis in the Church today. How long before the structure will fall? It is crumbling fast and soon will form a heap of ruins on the ground.
With the atmosphere cleared, the Original Religion will return--the religion that places the spiritual above the material, that teaches the Love of the Heavenly Father, and makes a true brotherhood of man, as it did during the life of the Motherland.
I have stated that we still retain in our present religions some of the inventions and extravagances grafted into religion by the unscrupulous priesthood. They still persist, they have never been cleansed from our present day religions. I shall mention some; to mention all would fill volumes.
THE DEVIL AND HELL.--The origin and date already given.
VIRGIN BIRTH.--The origin of this is to be found in
p. 49
the Sacred Writings of Mu. It appears in the Fifth Command of The Creation:
"From these cosmic eggs life came forth as commanded."
In a subsequent table explaining the commands in creation, cosmic eggs are referred to as "the virgins of Life." The sentence reads: "Hol Hu Kal." Translated into English it reads: Hol--closed; Hu--virgin womb; and Kal--to open. Free reading: To pierce or open the virgin womb; and, by permissible extension: To pierce or open the virgin womb of life.
For this reason the ancients called the waters "the mother of life"; for up to this period of the earth's history, no life had appeared. Life, therefore, first appeared in the waters. The advent of life had opened the virgin womb in the waters.
Later, The Four Great Creative Forces which emanate from the Deity had the additional name of Gods bestowed upon them.
Being the First Known commands or executors of the commands of the Creator, they were called of virgin birth to correspond with the teachings of the Sacred Writings regarding earthly life--thus the Firstlife either of the Gods or nature was the result of Hol Hu Kal.
Upon this ancient conception modern priesthoods (within the last two thousand years) have invented virgin births and immaculate conceptions for various men
p. 50
that have lived, as an example, Masters. The Priesthoods have made the Great Master, Jesus, of virgin birth and, forgetting themselves, give his pedigree and family tree back to David.
Our learned scholars are not to be surpassed by any priesthoods. They tell us that all ancient Kings were of virgin birth because they were "Sons of the Sun." These Kings claimed nothing of the kind. "Son of the Sun" was a title bestowed on the rulers or emperors of a colonial empire by Mu, the Empire of the Sun and Suzerain of the whole world.
Heretofore I have stated that Jesus did not teach a new faith but the Original Religion of Man.
My old friend, the Rishi, never tired of talking of the Great Master, Jesus. One day he said to me: "The Lord's Prayer, as the Christians call it, is the greatest masterpiece of phraseology and condensation ever written, for it embodies the whole of the ancient religion in a few short paragraphs. Take, for instance, the beginning, 'Our Father which art in Heaven.' In these six words many points in the ancient religion are covered. It first tells us that we are His children; therefore all mankind are brothers and sisters. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others that trespass against us." These simple words tell us our duty one to the other, and that we should love one another like brothers and sisters. Again 'Our Father' tells us that we should approach Him as we would our earthly father, with love and confidence. "Give us this day our daily bread" is another
p. 51
wonderful sentence and far-reaching. It tells us that we should avoid greed and the craving to amass wealth and depend on Him for our daily needs. He will care for us, thus leaving us free to amass spiritual wealth without anxiety about the material.
"You will notice, my son, our temple has no wealth nor have those connected with it any wealth. We depend entirely on what the Heavenly Father sends us day by day through the people. Our faith in Him is implicit, so he never allows us to want." And so he could go on through every sentence of the Lord's Prayer.
Another favorite sentence in the Lord's Prayer to comment on was: "Lead us not into temptation." This, he said, "was unquestionably a mistranslation of the Master's words and, no doubt, was unintentional, arising from careless reading." He then went on: "Let us reason it out. In one of the paragraphs it is shown that the Heavenly Father is the All Powerful, for it says: 'For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory.' Here it is shown that the supposed leader into temptation is the All Powerful. Therefore, being All Powerful, He cannot fail; and who is the All Powerful? Our kindly Heavenly Father whose love is so great it rules the universe. Could He forget His great love and set a trap for a son's downfall? Impossible!
"I think the words of the Master, correctly translated, would be: 'Let us not be led into temptation'; for in the Sacred Writings we find: 'O Heavenly Father, let not temptation overtake or surround us. If it
p. 52
does, deliver us from it.' These are the reasons why I feel that the words of the Great Master have been unintentionally misquoted or mistranslated."
He told me that one of the cardinal themes of the Great Master, Jesus, was re-incarnation, something almost entirely omitted in our Biblical account of Him, also in our religious services.
He told me many legends about Jesus that permeated Oriental lore, one of which he said was universal and told everywhere. The scene is laid in Lahore where Jesus was staying with one, Ajainin, who was one of Jesus' pupils.
One day Jesus and Ajainin were sitting in the porch of the temple and while sitting there a band of wandering minstrels entered the court and began to play. Their music was very rich and delicate, and Jesus remarked:
"Among the highest of the land we have no sweeter music than that which these uncouth children of the jungles bring to us."
Ajainin asked: "Whence do they get this talent? In one short life they surely could not acquire such perfection of voice and such knowledge of harmony and time."
Jesus answered: "Men call them prodigies. They are no prodigies; all things result from natural laws. These people are not young; a thousand years would not suffice to give them such divine expressions and such purity of voice. Ten thousand years ago these people had mastered harmony. In days of old they trod the busy
p. 53
thoroughfares of life and caught the melody of the voices of nature. They have come again to learn still other lessons from the varied notes of nature."
When walking one evening with the Rishi, talking on the subject of the many religions of today and the work of Christian missionaries, he related a tale that was popular among the native priesthood about a poor benighted Hindu and a Christian missionary.
"A missionary asked one of his native flock what he thought of religion having so many sects? The poor Hindu answered: Religions are like the fingers on the hand. How are we to tell which is right? There was once a dispute among the fingers of the hand as to which was entitled to preëminence.
"The thumb said, I ought to have the preëminence for it is plain none of you can do anything without me.
"Ah I said the first finger, What is more important than pointing out the way? This is my office. I ought to have the preëminence.
"I, said the second finger, rest my claims on mathematical principles. When you hold the hand upright which finger is the tallest? I am; therefore I ought to have the preëminence.
"No, said the third finger, for although it is something to point out the way, and mathematics are strong, there is one thing stronger, and that is love. When you put the symbol of love upon the hand, it is on the third finger. Therefore the supremacy is mine.
"Hear me, too, said the little finger, it is true I
p. 54
am small and you are large. Mathematics are strong and love is stronger. But there is one thing above all these and that is worship. When you approach God, I am the finger you choose to present nearest in your prayers. For then you press your hands together, lift them up and hold them thus. Therefore, I should have the preëminence."
And the old Rishi turned to me with a smile, saying: "What is your comment, my son?" The poor, benighted Hindu's philosophy nonplussed me. So I leave it to my readers to supply it.
On one occasion the old Rishi informed me that temple legends stated: "Jesus, during his sojourn in the Himalayan monastery, studied the contents of the Sacred Inspired Writings, the language, the writing and the Cosmic Forces of the Motherland."
That Jesus was a Master of the Cosmic Forces, with a perfect knowledge of the Original Religion, is manifest in the Books of the New Testament; but it is not there shown that he understood the language of Mu. His acquaintance with it is proved by his last words when nailed to the Cross: "Eli, Eli, lama sabac tha ni."
This is not Hebrew nor any tongue that was spoken in Asia Minor during the life of Jesus. It is the pure tongue of the Motherland, badly pronounced and spelt in the New Testament. It should have been spelt, read and pronounced: "Hele, hele, lamat zabac ta ni."
Translation:
p. 55
Hele--I faint. Hele--I faint; lamat zabac ta ni--darkness is coming over my face.
I do not stand alone on this translation. The late Don Antonio Batres Jaurequi, a prominent Maya scholar of Guatemala, in his book, "History of Central America," says: "The last words of Jesus on the Cross were in Maya, the oldest known language." He says they should read, "Hele, Hele, lamah sabac ta ni." Put in English: "Now I am fainting; the darkness covers my face." Thus we virtually agree on all material points. The slight differences are easily explained.
Jaurequi spells the word "lamah." I spell it "lamat." He spells the word "sabac." I spell it "zabac." This difference is brought about by the translations coming from two different lines of colonization. Mine comes from the Naga-Maya of Eastern Asia; Jaurequi's comes from the modern Maya of Central America. The two, taken from vastly distant parts of the earth, agree in all material points.

---

SYMBOLS OF THE DEITY AND HIS ATTRIBUTES

SACRED SYMBOLS.--To make the Sacred Symbols as intelligible as possible to my readers I am dividing them into classes. I shall start with the highest, most Sacred Symbol of all, the Sun as Ra symbolizing the Deity. It is the collective symbol representing the Deity with all His attributes, and the only symbol that does so.
Next will be given symbols of His various attributes. Although I have narrated the Tale of the Creation in my first book, The Lost Continent of Mu, I am repeating it in this one for two reasons. First:--All symbols connected with the Creation were looked upon as sacred, and were used in religious ceremonies. Second:--In the version I am now giving I am extending it slightly, which makes it come nearer to the original version.
This will be followed by symbols used in religious teaching.
The following chapter will be the compound Sacred Symbols, with the changes from their beginnings.
Decipherings of all symbols are given either accompanying the symbol or in "The Lost Continent of Mu."[paragraph continues]
p. 57
This being the third book of a trilogy on Mu, I have not repeated in it various decipherings, but have referred to "The Lost Continent," where they will be found.

Click to enlarge
The Sun

SYMBOLS OF THE DEITY.--The Sun was the Monotheistic Symbol of the Deity. As the monotheistic or collective symbol it was called RA, and being the monotheistic symbol it was looked upon as the most Sacred of all the Sacred Symbols.
While each attribute of the Deity, in several cases, had various symbols expressing it, there was only one monotheistic or collective symbol.
p. 58
During the early history of man there were no gods but the One Great Infinite. The gods crept into religious ceremonies later. The beginning of the gods was when the Four Great Creative Forces were given the name of gods.
Scientists and archaeologists, not comprehending the ancient form of writing and symbolisms, have unfortunately spread broadcast the error that the ancients worshipped the Sun, when the fact is that they regarded the Sun as a symbol only; and when they dedicated a temple to the Sun, it was to the Almighty as either the Deity, the One Lord God, or to the Almighty as His male attribute in creation.

THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE DEITY

THE CREATOR'S TWO PRINCIPLES.--This is one of the most interesting of the ancient conceptions. It arose from the assumption that to produce anything, male and female were required; so that gave the Creator the two principles--the sun symbolizing the male and the moon the female.
Symbols were then designed to express the different phases, if it can be so called. First a symbol was devised to express the dual capacity; this they called Lahun  the English translation of which being "two in one, one in two" and by extension "all in one and one is all." The glyph Lahun is a circle with a bar drawn through its center. The Mexican Tablet No. 150 shows the Sun symbolizing the male principle and the same cut
p. 59
shows the moon symbolizing the female principle.
It was quite usual among the ancients, when erecting temples, to build two near each other. The larger one was dedicated to the Sun as the male principle and the

Click to enlarge
No. 150

smaller to the Moon as the female. The lines on Tablet No. 150 read: "The Creator created one. One became two and two produced three from whom all mankind descended." The top face symbolizes the Sun; the lower face without rays the moon.
Isis: The Egyptians were not content with having the Moon symbolize the female attribute of the Creator, so they devised a symbol for the moon which they called Isis; thus they made a symbol to symbolize a symbol.
p. 60
The intricacies of what Isis was, beyond symbolizing Nature, and being the executrix of God's commands, was only understood by the Egyptians themselves, and they were not all in accord on the subject.
In ceremonies and processions Isis wore as her headdress a moon with a pair of cow's horns. With the Egyptians, cow's horns symbolized motherhood. The goddess Sati of Upper Egypt, and the goddess Hathor both had cow's horns in their headdress. Hathor had a

Click to enlarge
Isis

moon also like Isis. It appears to me that Sati, Hathor and Isis all symbolized the same thing, only they were represented in slightly different vestments.
The old Oriental Empires followed the Egyptians in making a woman symbolize the moon.
The Babylonians had Astoreth. The Hittites had [paragraph continues]
p. 61
Hepet. The Greeks rejoiced in their Aphrodite, and the Romans in Venus.
Papyrus Ani: "In early days, before priests froze the thoughts of man into blocks of stone and built of them shrines to a thousand gods, many held that there was only One God."
THE DEITY AS THE CREATOR.--The Creation was one of the principal themes of the Ancients. In this they clearly distinguished between the Creator Himself and the work consummated, making a prominent dividing line in their symbols. I shall first take the symbols of the Deity as the Creator. The ancients looked upon the power of Creation as one of the attributes of the Almighty.
The ancients had numerous figures, always conventional, symbolizing this attribute. Apparently the most popular were adorned serpents. Many designs of these serpents are found in ancient carvings and literature.
Two of these serpents are especially prominent. One was the cobra, called in the Motherland, Naga. This one had seven heads. This number was given to correspond with the seven stages of creation, the seven mental planes, et cetera.
The seven-headed serpent originated in Mu and was there called Naga. In various Mu colonies it received added names. judging from the geographical position of the colonies where we find it, I think that the lower western half of Mu was where it was used. The people using this symbol were called after it--the Nagas.
p. 62

Click to enlarge
Angkor Thom

Click to enlarge
Anarajapoora--Ceylon

p. 63
The other serpent was covered with feathers instead of scales. This also originated in the Motherland and was there called Quetzacoatl. It is still to be found in the impenetrable jungles and swamps of Yucatan and Central America, but extremely rare. During all of my explorations I have only seen one, and I never want to see another. It is the most venomous serpent ever known on earth. Its location was apparently along the northern half of the Motherland. One tribe who made Quetzacoatl their symbol for the Creator, like the Nagas took their name from it, being known as--the Quetzals. The Quetzacoatl varied in design among these people.
One of the most noteworthy conventional designs of the Quetzacoatl is the Dragon so prominent in the northern parts of eastern Asia today. In this effort the ancients carried the design to the extreme of conventionality, for they endowed it with a crest, which it had not, wings which it had and legs which were long instead of mere claws or feet. They not only gave it the wherewithal to fly, but to run also, which it could not do.
The Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico bestowed on it the name of the bearded serpent as well as Quetzacoatl.
The Quiche Mayas, in their sacred book the Popal Vuh, refer to it as follows:--
"All was immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night; only the Creator, the maker, the dominator, the Serpent covered with feathers, they who engender,
p. 64

Click to enlarge
Narayana

p. 65
they who create, they are surrounded by green and blue, their name is Gucumatz."
The name Gucumatz here does not refer to the Creator Himself but to His Four Great Creative Forces, hence they are referred to as "they."

I found in a Nootka Indian tableau a serpent having a plume on his head, unquestionably one of the conventional designs of Quetzacoatl. Although the names of all other objects in the tableau were given, that of the Serpent was omitted by these British Colombian Indians.
As Sacred Symbols of the Creative Powers, these were all held in great reverence. They stood next to the Sun--the most sacred symbol of all.
I also find a feathered serpent in Egypt. In the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I is to be seen a painting of a serpent having three heads, four legs of man and feathered wings.
THE SACRED FOUR.--The Sacred Four is among the oldest religious conceptions. I found it in the Sacred Inspired Writings of Mu.
The Sacred Four are the Four Great Primary Forces,
p. 66
coming from the Almighty. They first brought order out of chaos throughout the Universe and then, on command, created the Universe with all the bodies and life therein. When creation was completed they were given charge of the physical universe. Today the Universe and all physical life is controlled by these Forces.

Click to enlarge
An ancient Hindu picture
The god Vishnu supported by the Serpent Ananta, having seven heads, the symbol of the Seven Commands of Creation.

The ancients held these Forces in such reverence that nearly if not all of the very early temples were dedicated to them as the Creator's executors. Most of the temples, I find, were subsequently dedicated to the Sun and Moon, the Sun Temple symbolizing the male principle of the Creator and the Temple of the Moon the female principle. Still later, I find temples dedicated
p. 67
to Seven Great Commands of Creation and symbolized by an adorned or conventional Serpent.
From the beginning various symbols for the Sacred Four began to creep in. Also a plurality of names were given them at different times by various people. I have a collection of over fifty names given to them. Among them are: the Four Great Ones, the Four Powerful Ones, the Four Great Kings, the Four Great Maharajas, the Four Great Builders, the Four Great Architects, the Four Great Geometricians, the Four Great Pillars; and today we call them the Four Archangels.
Somewhere about 6,000 or 7,000 years ago, a confusion was caused by giving the Pillars Keepers, which were called Genii. This addition of keepers for the Pillars must have occurred after the destruction of Mu, as I do not find them in any writings of the First Civilization. The Pillars were placed at the Four Corners of the earth to teach ancient man the Four Cardinal points. The earth's symbol is a four-sided square, which when referring to anything but the Cardinal points is shown with sides, top and bottom parallel, thus  and when associated with the Cardinal points or referring to them is placed thus so that the points shall be in their true position. The crossing of these two squares was used by the Egyptians to symbolize the eight Roads to Heaven. 
The writings about the Genii are so obtuse and so mixed up that I cannot look upon them as anything but
p. 68
a camouflage for the Pillars, consequently the changing of the name from the Sacred Four to Genii is a change of vestment only.
BIRDS SYMBOLS OF THE SACRED FOUR.--Birds as symbols play an important part in the ancient religious conceptions but what they actually symbolized remained for the Mexican Tablets to tell us. We have an Egyptian record in their ancient god Seb, but what is said about him by the Egyptians is so purely symbolical, that without other evidences, the layman could hardly be brought to understand.

THE GOD SEB: Egyptian Book of the Dead. Here the god Seb is called "the Father of the Gods," "the Bearer of the Gods" and "the Leader of the Gods." Seb was also called "the Great Cackler which produced the Mundane Egg." He is spoken of as having "laid the egg out of which the earth and all therein came forth." It further says: "I protect the egg of the Great Cackler, if I thrive it thrives, if I live it lives, if I breathe the breath of air it breathes." The god carries on his head the figure of a goose. Seb was the Egyptian name for this particular species of goose.

The Hittite Bird Symbol
Courtesy of American Weekly

p. 69
The foregoing speaks of both the Creator and the Four Great Creative Forces emanating from Him. As hitherto stated, "the Gods" were the Sacred Four, thus showing that the old Egyptians knew perfectly well what the Origin of Forces is.
Hawaiian Tradition: Ellis' Polynesian Research. "In the Sandwich Islands there is a tradition saying that in the beginning there was nothing but water when a big bird descended from on high and laid an egg in the sea. The egg burst and Hawaii came forth."
It was Mexico, however, that has given us the clinching proof of what bird symbols of the ancients really signified. Among Niven's collection of Mexican Tablets, there are over fifty showing birds. I have selected one to decipher, to tell what they all mean.

Mexican Tablet No. 1086: Those who have read my two books--The Lost Continent of Mu and The Children of Mu will readily see the meaning of two glyphs which I here point out in the bird figure.
The eye of the bird  is the Uighur form of the monotheistic symbol of the Deity.
p. 70
Projecting from the bird's breast is the hieratic letter H in the alphabet of Mu  which was among all ancient people was the alphabetical symbol for the Four Great Forces. The body of the bird is in the shape of a pod--symbol for the home of the primary forces. The various lines in connection with the pod are old esoteric Uighur temple writings.
This bird therefore symbolizes the Creative Forces of the Deity and the forces are shown as emanating from or coming out of the Deity. By extension, this figure reads: A symbol of the Almighty showing the four Great Primary Forces coming out of Him.
Easter Island: On this little island have been found various bird symbols and conventional animals with birds' heads. One has an egg in its claw, which seems to show that the ancient Easter Islanders had the same conceptions as the Hawaiians.
Legends of some of the North American Indians show that bird symbols are their favorite symbol for the Creative Forces. Their name for this bird is the Thunder Bird.
Birds appear among the ancient records of the Babylonians, Chaldeans and Hittites as one of their symbols of the Sacred Four--The Creative Forces.
The Assyrian Genii included a bird.
The Egyptians included a bird.
The Bible also includes a bird.
An Alaskan Totem Pole: A very old chief of the tribe
p. 71
of Haiden Indians, Queen Charlotte Island, Alaska, to which a totem pole belongs has stated: "The winged creature which crowns the totem pole is the Thunder Bird and represents the Great Creator." It would have been more correct if he had said: "Represents the Great Creative Forces."
I am under the impression that the winged circle got its inspiration from a bird symbol. This ancient conception remains dear to us; for whenever heavenly beings are depicted, they are shown with wings like a bird.
All the various bird symbols, from so many widely diversified spots, express the same conception, and it seems to me that, different as they are in appearance, they must have a common ancestor.
CROSS SYMBOLS OF THE SACRED FOUR.--The Specialized Cross was one of the figures used by the ancients to denote the Sacred Four--the Four Great Primary Forces. The cross was always a favorite symbol among the ancients probably because they found it more expressive than any other figure. Studying and writing about the Sacred Four appears also to have been an absorbing theme with them. Today the Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico refer to the Sacred Four as "Those above."
The mother of all crosses was plain with four arms of equal length. I first find it in the Sacred and Inspired Writings as the symbol of The Sacred Four--The Great Creative Forces.
Mexican Tablet No. 672: Is an exact duplication of
p. 72
the cross heretofore mentioned as appearing in the Oriental copies of the Sacred Inspired Writings of Mu. As time went on this cross evolved. It developed into

No. 672

four distinct lines, becoming more intricate al I the time.
1. The end of the first line and the shortest, I have called the Pyramid Cross.
2. The end of the second line is a cross formed of four loops, having the symbol of the Deity in the center. These I have called the Loop Crosses.
3. The end of the third line is the well-known Swastika, known as "the good luck symbol."
4. The end of the fourth line was the winged circle. The ancients rioted in designs for this figure; the Egyptians excelling others in beautiful devices and marvelous artistry.
Besides these four main lines, there were many single special designs.
THE PYRAMID CROSS. LINE 1.--A group of Crosses among Niven's collection of Mexican tablets is especially interesting. I have called them the Pyramid Crosses because they are designed on the lines of a
p. 73
pyramid. They are the cosmogony of a pyramid illustrated by a cross.
The four arms are composed of four triangles corresponding with the four sides of a pyramid.

Click to enlarge

The points of these triangles are covered with the monotheistic symbol of the Deity.
The base of a pyramid is square; the four triangles brought together form a square. The pyramid is built on astronomical lines; so is the Cross.
These Crosses were drawn before the submersion of Mu. Were any pyramids built before that date? I know of none. Were pyramids evolved out of these Crosses?
Fig. A. Is the base of a pyramid divided into four triangles.
p. 74
Fig. B. Dotted lines within the circle show the points of the triangles, corresponding to the top of a pyramid.
Fig. C. Shows the Cross with the monotheistic symbol of the Deity, Naga Pattern, crowning the points.
Fig. D. Is the same as Fig. C with the exception that the Uighur monotheistic symbol crowns the points.
Fig. E. The point of the triangle covered by the monotheistic symbol. The following is written on these tablets:
"The Four Great Pillars," "The Sacred Four," "The Four Great Architects," "The Four Great Builders" and "The Four Powerful Ones."
No. 777 confirms the fact that the four triangles forming the Cross are the Sacred Four because the symbol within the triangle reads: "Pillar." The four triangles with their inscriptions therefore read: "The Four Great Pillars"--one of the names given to the Sacred Four.
During the life of Mu it was taught that the Four Great Pillars sustained the Universe.
After the destruction of Mu the Universe was forgotten and the earth given the honor of anchoring and sustaining the Pillars. A pillar was placed at each of the Cardinal Points:--North, South, East and West.
THE LOOPED CROSSES. LINE 2.--The evolution of this line started with the plain cross shown in the Sacred Writings and ended with the Deity being added to four loops symbolizing the Four Great Forces, with the names of the Forces given within the loop.
p. 75

The evolution of the Looped Crosses

Fig. 1. The Original Cross.
Fig. 2. The oldest form of Looped Cross I have as yet found. It is very ancient from the fact that the symbol of the Deity is of the ancient pattern and not specialized. It is a question in my mind whether a link is not missing between Fig. 1 and Fig. 2; the change appears to me to be too radical for the ancients.
Sometime during the teachings of primitive man trouble apparently began to accumulate over the circle, which was used to symbolize various things. It was then decided to specialize the circle which symbolized the Deity. The Nagas added a dot in the center and the Uighurs an inner circle. Fig. 2 has neither of these specializations.
Fig. 3^a. Is the same as Fig. 2 except that Fig. 3^a has the Naga pattern of the symbol for the Deity.
Fig. 3^b. Is the same as Fig. 2 except that this cross has the Uighur pattern for the symbol of the Deity.
Fig. 4. This figure shows the last addition to the Looped Crosses. Within the arms of the loops the names of the Force are written, in this case the name of the Force being "builder"  (a two-sided square). The
p. 76
loop is a symbol that a certain divine order has been carried out. The Force has returned to the giver of the command.

Click to enlarge
A group of representative Looped Crosses taken from Niven's Mexican Tablets

Various other Crosses were used by the ancients in their writings, and each one had a different meaning. They are however easily distinguishable from the Crosses symbolizing the Sacred Four. The original Cross of the Sacred Four was a solid plain cross; all the others are open crosses.

1. This Cross reads U-luumil which means "the
p. 77
Land of," "the Country of," "the Empire of," et cetera.
2. Another Cross is formed by four lines drawn across each other.
3. Sometimes but not often we find the ends of this Cross connected. The meaning of it is "slowly," "little by little" "slow progress," et cetera.
THE SWASTIKA. LINE 3.--The Swastika was originally associated with good luck from being the favorite symbol of the Sacred Four who were in charge of the physical Universe and therefore the means by which all good things came to man. While the Swastika is one of the oldest and most universal of symbols, being found throughout the ancient world, its origin and meaning have been lost for the past 3,500 years. The loss occurred when the fierce Brahminical priesthood of India persecuted and drove their teachers, the mild and highly educated Naacals, into the snow-capped mountains of the North.
I found the origin and meaning of this symbol:
First: In the Naacal writings which were brought from the Motherland and for thousands of years, probably, had lain dust covered and almost forgotten in the archives of Oriental temples and monasteries.
Second: Confirmed by the Mexican Stone Tablets.
Fate, however, ordained that their coverings of dust and ashes of thousands of years should be removed and their secrets be once more known to the world.
The "good luck symbol" is a very appropriate name for the Swastika, since it represents the physical welfare
p. 78
of man and all the Universe. The Swastika evolved from the plain original Cross.

The Evolution of the Swastika:
Fig. 1. Is the original plain Cross.
Fig. 2. Here we have a circle added, surrounding the Cross. The Circle is the symbol of the Deity. The Cross is shown within the Deity; therefore it is apart of Him, emanating from Him. This accounts for the ancients calling their works: "the Commands of the Creator," "His Desires," "His Wishes," et cetera. The Forces symbolized by the Cross were the executors of His commands. With the circle drawn around the Cross it became a composite glyph symbolizing the ancient's full Godhead of Five--i. e. The Deity and His Four Great Primary Forces, the Four original Gods.
Fig. 3. Is a glyph found among the North American cliff writers. The arms of the Cross extend beyond the circle.
Fig. 4. The next step was to project the arms beyond the circle and turn their ends down at right angles  thus forming a two-sided square, which was the ancient glyph for "Builder." Thus were shown the Four Great Builders of the Universe. Without question it soon became
p. 79
evident to the ancients that by extending the original Cross they had deprived themselves of the possibility of mentioning the Four Great Forces without including the Deity. They could not write the Sacred Four, but they must write the full Godhead of five. To rectify this and bring back the symbol to its original meaning they eliminated the circle, leaving only the Four Great Builders of the Universe.
Throughout the world have been found glyphs which archaeologists have called Swastikas. I refer to a glyph which is formed by crossing the hieratic letters N  which are crossed thus  This is not a Swastika but the diphthong Sh in the Motherland's alphabet. Where the ends of a cross are curved, it is not a Swastika. The arms of a Swastika must be bent over at perfect right angles to form a perfect two-sided square, the symbol for "Builder."
Clement of Alexandria wrote: "These Four Powerful Ones, these Four Canobs, these Heavenly Architects, emanate from the Great Supreme Infinite One, and evolved the material Universe from chaos."

THE WINGED CIRCLE. LINE 4.--Apparently there was only one step between the original cross and the
p. 80
winged circle, unless we accept the Mexican butterfly winged circle as a step.
Fig. 1. The Original Cross.
Fig. 2. Dhyan Choans. Ancient, Oriental, and Mexican.
Fig. 3. Butterfly winged Circle. Mexican.
Fig. 4. Bird winged Circle. Hindu.
As will be seen, in all cases except one, the circles have feathered wings. All these, I believe, originated since the destruction of Mu. The Butterfly winged circle was in existence before Mu went down. The winged circle was popularly received by all people but everyone appears to have had a different conception of how it should be designed. The Egyptian designs exceeded all others in gorgeously beautiful feather work.
TRUNCATED FIGURES.--Among the Mexican Tablets--Niven's collection--I find over one hundred peculiar truncated figures.. They are purely conventional and were not intended to represent any of Nature's lives.
On deciphering them I found that they are symbolical of the workings of two of the Great Primary Forces.
The trunk indicates the direction in which these Forces work. The body is that of a chrysalis or pod, the symbol for the home of the Primary Forces. The lines are the numeral writings of the ancients--Uighur pattern.
The legs and arms point to the positions of these Forces under certain conditions.
p. 81

Truncated Figures
From Niven's collection of Mexican prehistoric tablets

p. 82
CHINESE SYMBOLS.--From the Chinese writings it is hard to tell whether Fig. 1 was the symbol for the

 

[paragraph continues] Sacred Four or the Four Genii or both. The mountain was called Yo. Fig. 2 is a jade ornament from Peking. It is one of the symbols of the Sacred Four, and looked upon as a sacred emblem by the Chinese.
THE SCARAB.--Hitherto the Scarab beetle has been looked upon as a symbol of Egyptian origin. I am here giving records which prove that the Scarab beetle was used as a symbol of creative energy in the Motherland tens of thousands of years before men settled in Egypt.

  

Fig. 2. Is a little tableau carved on the handle of a knife. A record exists saying that this knife was worn by Prince Maya of India. Prince Maya was the son of
p. 83
the first ruler over the Naga Empire of India. Traditions say that Prince Maya lived 25,000 years ago; other traditions say 35,000 years ago. Temple histories show that the Naga Empire was in existence 25,000 years ago.
Inscriptions on the handle of this knife state that it was made before India was turned into a Colonial Empire.
It is believed, based on a tradition, that this knife was made in the Motherland and obtained there by Prince Maya who brought it back to India on his return after he had completed his studies in a Naacal College. It is without question the oldest known knife in the world. When it was presented to me by an Indian prince, a written history was given with it, telling what ancient kings had worn it.
Referring back to the tableau, the Scarab is shown surrounded by rays of glory, and kneeling in adoration are two deer called Ceh. This species of deer was the ancient symbol for first man. Ceh is often shown as the symbol for first man in ancient writings, both Hindu and Maya. Upper Egypt was colonized from India. Without question, the colonists brought this symbol with them, so that the Scarab as a sacred symbol originated not in Egypt but in Mu the Motherland whence it was brought to Egypt by way of India.
Fig. 3. Is one of the vignettes of the Book of the Dead and is a reflex of the symbol just described.
Fig. 1. Is a vignette of the Egyptian god Khepra also taken from the Book of the Dead.
p. 84
Egyptian writings vary somewhat as to what the scarabaeus beetle actually symbolizes.
The name Khepra is derived from the Egyptian word kheper, to create.
On the tablet of Ramases II at Kuban we read:--"The God Ra is like thee in his limbs, the god Khepra in creative Force."
From the writings of Anana, 1320 B. C.:--"To the Egyptians the Scarabaeus beetle is no god, but an emblem of the Creator, because it rolls a ball of mud between its feet and sets therein its eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world around, thereby causing it to produce life."
GANESHA.--Ganesha is the symbol of the attribute who cares for the welfare of the crops and fields, and is generally known as "The Lord of the crops and fields" upon which humanity depends for its sustenance. On that account he is very much beloved.
Ganesha is depicted as having a man's body painted red with an elephant's head placed upon it.
In India he is to be found at the crossroads sitting upon a stone.
Dear old Ganesha, (for he is very old, having originated in the Motherland) everyone loves him, even the little children. No one ever passes him without placing a flower between his arms, so that he is always bedecked with flowers.
In Java he is more thought of still, for there he is held to be the emblem of good luck also, and his
p. 85

Click to enlarge
Ganesha from India

Click to enlarge
Ganesha from Java
Courtesy New York American

p. 86
representation is found everywhere, over the doors of shops, on bank windows; in fact no place apparently can be lucky without him. The Javanese give him Four Arms corresponding with the Four Great Primary Forces from which we receive all our blessings.

---

Next: Chapter IV. The Creation