Doane 550

Red Riding-Hood, the story of, explained, 80, 557. Blaspheming Atheists, page 550. Image worship, page 551. Cinderella, page 552, 557. [More references at bottom of this page.]
Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions (Page) 550 APPENDIX B. Richard Payne Knight says: “ The primitive religion of the Greeks, like that of all other nations not enlightened by Revelation, appears to have been elementary, and to have consisted in an indistinct worship of the SUN, the MOON, the STARS, the EARTH, and the WATERS, or rather, the spirits supposed to preside over these bodies, and to direct their motions, and regulate their modes of existence. Every river, spring or mountain had its local genius, or peculiar deity; and as men naturally endeavored to obtain the favor of their gods by such means as they feel best adapted to win their own, the first worship consisted in offering to them certain portions of whatever they held to be most valuable. At the same time, the regular motions of the heavenly bodies, and the stated returns of summer and winter, of day and night, with all the admirable order of the universe, taught them to believe in the existence and agency of such superior powers; the irregular and destructive efforts of nature, such as lightnings and tempests, inundations and earthquakes, persuaded them that these mighty beings had passions and affections similar to their own, and only differed in posessing greater strength, power, and intelligence.” ^a ^a Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 1. When the Grecian astronomers first declared that the Sun was not a person, but a huge hot ball, instantly an outcry arose against them. They were called “blaspheming atheists,” and from that time to the present, when any new discovery is made which seems to take away from man his god, the cry of “Atheist ” is instantly raised. If we turn from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and take a look still farther West and North, we shall find that the gods of all the TEUTONIC nations were the same as we have seen elsewhere. They had Odin or Woden— from whom we have our *Wednesday— the Al-fader (the Sky), Frigga, the Mother Goddess (the earth), “Baldur* the Good,” and Thor— from whom we have our Thursday (personifications of the Sun), besides innumerable other *genii, among them Freyja— from whom we have our Friday— and as she was the “Goddess of Love,” we eat fish* on that day.” ^b ^b See Mallet’s Northern Antiquities. Though spoken of in Northern Mythology as distinct, Frigga and Freyja are *originally* ONE. The gods of the ancient inhabitants of what are now called the “ British Islands” were identically the same. The Sun-god worshiped by the Ancient Druids was called Hu, Beli, Budd and Buddu-gre. ^c The same worship which we have found in the Old World, from the farthest East to the remotest West, may also be traced in AMERICA, from its simplest or least clearly defined form, among the roving hunters and squalid Esquimaux of the North, through every intermediate stage of development, to the imposing systems of Mexico and Peru, where it took a form nearly corresponding that which it at one time sustained on the banks of the Ganges, and on the plains of Assyria. ^d ^c See Myths of the British Druids, p. 116. ^d See Squire’s Serpent Symbol. APPENDIX B. (Page) 551 Father Acosta, speaking of the Mexicans, says: “ Next to Viracocha, or their Supreme God, that which most commonly they have, and do adore, is the Sun; and after, those things which are most remarkable in the celestial or elementary nature, as the Moon, Stars, Sea, and Land. “ Whoso shall merely look into it, shall find this manner which the Devil hath used to deceive the Indians, to be the same wherewith he hath deceived the Greeks and Romans, and other ancient Gentiles, giving them to understand that these notable creatures, the sun, Moon, Stars, and elements, had power or authority to do good or harm to men.” ^e ^e Acosta: vol. ii. pp. 303-305. We see, then, that the gods and heroes of antiquity were originally personifications of certain elements of Nature, and that the legends of adventures ascribed to them are merely mythical forms of describing the phenomena of these elements. These legends relating to the elements of Nature, whether they had reference to the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, or a certain natural phenomenon, became, in the course of time, to be regarded as accounts of men of a high order, who had once inhabited the earth. Sanctuaries and temples were erected to these heroes, their bones were searched for, and when found— which was always the case— were regarded as a great source of strength to the town which possessed them; all relics of their stay on earth were hallowed, and a form of worship was especially adapted to them. The idea that heavenly luminaries were inhabited by spirits, of a nature intermediate between God and men, first led mortals to address prayers to the orbs over which they were supposed to preside. In order to supplicate these deities, when Sun, Moon, and Stars were not visible, they made images of them, which the priests consecrated with many ceremonies. Then they pronounced solemn invocations to dray down the spirits into the statues provided for their reception. By this process it was supposed that a mysterious connection was established between the spirit and the image, so that prayers addressed to one were henceforth heard by the other. This was probably the origin of image worship everywhere. The motive of this worship was the same among all nations of antiquity, i. e., fear. They supposed that these deities were irritated by the sins of men, but, at the same time, were merciful, and capable of being appeased by prayer and repentance; for this reason men offered to these deities sacrifices and prayers. How natural that such should have been the case, for, as Abbé Dubois observes: “ To the rude, untutored eye, the ‘ Host of Heaven,’ clothed in that calm beauty which distinguishes an Oriental night, might well appear to be instinct with some divine principle, endowed with the consciousness, and the power to influence, from its throne of unchanging splendor on high, the fortunes of transitory mortals.” (Page) 552 APPENDIX C. All the chief stories that we know so well are to be found in all times, and in almost all countries. Cinderella, for one, is told in the language of every country in Europe, and the same legend is found in the fanciful tales related by the Greek poets; and still further back, it appears in very ancient Hindoo legends. So, again, does Beauty and the Beast; so does our familiar tale of Jack, the Giant-Killer; so also do a great number of other fairy stories, each being told in different countries and in different periods, with so much likeness as to show that all the versions came from the same source, and yet with enough difference to show that none of the versions are directly copied from each other. “ Indeed, when we compare the myths and legends of one country with another, and of one period with another, we find out how they have come to be so much alike, and yet in some things so different. We see that there must have been one origin for all these stories, that they must have been invented by one people, that this people must have been afterwards divided, and that each part or division of it must have brought into its new home the legends once common to them all, and must have shaped and altered these according to the kind of place in which they came to live; those of the North being sterner and more terrible, those of the South softer and fuller of light and color, and adorned with touches of more delicate fancy.” And this, indeed, is really the case. All the chief stories and legends are alike, because they were first made by one people ; and all the nations in which they are now told in one form or another tell them because they are all descended from this one common stock, the Aryan. From researches made by Prof. Max Müller, the Rev. George W. Cox, and others, in England and Germany, in the science of Comparative Mythology, we begin to see something of these ancient forefathers of ours; to understand what kind of people they were, and to find that our fairy stories are really made out of their religion. The mind of Aryan peoples in their ancient home was full of imagination. They never ceased to wonder at what they saw and heard in the sky and upon the earth. Their language was highly figurative, and so the things which struck them with wonder, and which they could not explain, were described under forms and names which were familiar to them. “ Thus, the thunder was to them the bellowing of a mighty beast, or the rolling of a great chariot. In the lightning they saw a brilliant serpent, or a spear shot across the sky, or a great fish darting swiftly through the sea of cloud. The clouds were heavenly cows, who shed milk upon the earth and refreshed it; or they were webs woven by heavenly women who drew water from the fountains on high and poured it down as rain.” APPENDIX C. (Page) 553 Analogies which are but fancy to us, were realities to these men of past ages. They could see in the waterspout a huge serpent who elevated himself out of the ocean and reached his head to the skies. They could feel, in the pangs of hunger, a live creature gnawing within their bodies, and they heard the voices of the hill-dwarfs answering the echo. The Sun, the first object which struck them with wonder, was, to them, the child of Night; the Dawn came before he was born, and died as he rose in the heavens. He strangled the serpents of the night; he went forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; and like a giant to run his course. ^f He had to do battle with clouds and storms. ^g Sometimes his light grew dim under their gloomy veil, and the children of men shuddered at the wrath of the hidden sun. ^h Sometimes his ray broke forth, only, after brief splendor, to sink beneath a deeper darkness; Sometimes he burst forth at the end of his course, trampling on the clouds which had dimmed his brilliancy, and bathing his pathway with blood. ⁱ Sometimes, beneath mountains of clouds and vapors, he plunged into the leaden sea. ^j Sometimes, he looked benignly on the face of his mother or his bride who came to greet him at his journey’s end. ^k Sometimes, he was the lord of heaven and of light, irresistable in his divine strength; sometimes, he toiled for others, not for himself, in a hard, unwilling servitude. ^l His light and heat might give light and destroy it. ^m His chariot might scorch the regions over which it passed, his flaming fire might burn up all who dared to look with prying eyes into his dazzling treasure house. ⁿ He might be the child destined to slay his parents, or to be united at the last in an unspeakable peace, to the bright Dawn who for a brief space had gladdened his path in the morning. ^o He might be the friend of the children of men, and the remorseless foe of those powers of darkness who had stolen away his bride. ^p ^f This picture would give us the story of Hercules who strangled the serpent in his cradle, and who, in after years, in the form of a giant, ran his course. ^g This would give us St. George killing the Dragon. ^h This would give us the story of the monster who attempted to devour the Sun, and whom the “ untutored savage” tried to frighten away by making loud cries. ⁱ This would give us the story of Samson, whose strength was renewed at the end of his career, and who slew the Philistines— who had dimmed his brilliance— and bathed his path with blood. ^j This would give us the story of Oannes, or Dagon, who, beneath the clouds of the evening sky, plunged into the sea. ^k This would give us the story of Hercules and his bride Iöle, or that of Christ Jesus and his mother Mary, who were at their side at the end of their career. ^l This would give us the story of the labors of Hercules. ^m This is the Sun as Siva. ⁿ Here again we have the Sun as Siva the Destroyer. ^o Here we have Apollo, Achilleus, Bellerophon and Odysseus. ^p This would give us the story of Samson, “ who was the friend of the children of men, and the remorseless foe of those powers of darkness.” (the Phillistines), who had stolen away his bride. (See Judges, ch. xv.) (Page) 554 APPENDIX C. He might be a warrior whose eye strikes terror into his enemies, or a wise chieftain skilled in deep and hidden knowledge. ^q Sometimes he might appear as a glorious being doomed to an early death, which no power could avert or delay. ^r Sometimes grievous hardships and desperate conflicts might be followed by a long season of serene repose. ^s Wherever he went, men might welcome him in love, or shrink from him in fear and anguish. ^t He would have many brides in many lands, and his offspring would assume aspects beautiful, strange or horrible. ^u ^q This would give us the stories of *Thor, the mighty warrior, the terror of his enemies, and those of Cadmus, Romulus* or Odin, the wise chieftains, who founded nations, and taught their people knowledge. ^r This would give us the story of Christ Jesus, and other Angel-Messiahs; Saviors of men. ^s This would give us the story of spell-bound maidens, who sleep for years. ^t This is Hercules and his counterparts. ^u This again is Hercules. APPENDIX C. (Page) 557 The story of Cinderella is one of the many fairy tales which help us to find out their meaning, and take us straight back to the far-off land where fairy legends began, and to the people who made them. This well-known fairy tale has been found among the myths of our Aryan ancestors, and from this we know that it is the story of the Sun and the Dawn. Cinderella, gray and dark and dull, is all neglected when she is away from the Sun, obscured by the envious clouds, her sisters, and by her step-mother, the Night. So she is Aurora, the Dawn, and the Fairy Prince is the Morning Sun, ever pursuing her, to claim her for his bride. This is the legend as it is found in the ancient Hindoo books; and this explains at once the source and the meaning of the fairy tale. ^v ^v See Bunce: Fairy Tales, p. 34. Another tale which helps us in our task is that of Jack the Giant-Killer, who is really one of the very oldest and most widely known, characters in wonder-land. Now, who is this wonderful little fellow? He is none other than the hero who, in all countries and ages, fights with monsters and overcomes them; like Indra, the ancient Hindoos Sun-god, whose thunderbolts slew the demons of drought in the far east; or Perseus, who, in Greek story, delivers the maiden from the sea monster; or Odysseus, who tricks the giant Polyphemus, and causes him to throw himself into the sea; or Thor, whose hammer beats down the frost giants of the North. “ The gifts bestowed upon Jack are found in Tartar stories, Hindoo tales, in German legends, and in the fables of Scandinavia.” Still another is that of Little Red Riding-Hood. The story of Little Red Riding-Hood, as we shall call her, or Little Red-Cap, as she is called in the German tales, also comes from the same source, and (as we have seen in Chapter IX.), refers to the Sun and Night. “ One of the fancies in the most ancient Aryan or Hindoo stories was that there was a great dragon that was trying to devour the Sun, to prevent him from shining upon the earth, and filling it with brightness and life and beauty, and that Indyra, the Sun-god, killed the dragon. Now, this is the meaning of Little Red Riding-Hood, as it is told in our nursery tales. Little Red Riding-Hood is the Evening Sun, which is always described as red or golden; the old grandmother is the Earth, to whom the rays of the Sun bring warmth and comfort. (Page) 558 APPENDIX C. The wolf—which is a well-known figure for the Clouds and blackness of Night (in Teutonic mythology) ^w— is the dragon in another form. First, he devours the grandmother; that is, he wraps the earth in thick clouds, which the Evening Sun is not strong enough to pierce through. Then, with the darkness of Night, he swallows up the Evening Sun itself, and all is dark and desolate. Then, as in the German tale, the night-thunder and the storm winds are represented by the loud snoring of the wolf; and then the huntsman, the Morning Sun, comes in all his strength and majesty, and chases away the night clouds and kills the wolf, and revives old grandmother Earth and Little Red Riding-Hood to life again.” ^w “ The Sun,” said Gaugler, “ speeds at such a rate as if she feared that someone was pursuing her for her destruction.” “ And well she may,” replied Har, “ for he that seeks her is not far behind, and she has no way to escape but to run before him.” “ And who is he,” asked Gaugler, “ that causes her this anxiety? ” “ It is the Wolf Sköll,” answered Har, “ who pursues the Sun, and it is he that she fears,” for he shall one day overtake and devour her.” (Scandinavian Prose Edda. See Mallet’s Northern Antiquities, p. 407.) This Wolf is, as we have said, a personification of Night and Clouds, we therefore have the almost universal practice among savage nations of making noises at the time of eclipses, to frighten away the monsters who would otherwise devour the Sun. Nor is it in these stories alone that we can trace the ancient Hindoo legends, and the Sun-myth. There is, as Mr. Bunce observes in his “ Fairy Tales, their Origin and Meaning,” scarcely a tale of Greek or Roman mythology, no legend of Teutonic or Celtic or Scandinavian growth, no great romance of what we call the middle ages, no fairy story taken down from the lips of ancient folk, and dressed for us in modern shape and tongue, that we do not find, in some form or another, in these Eastern poems, which are composed of allegorical tales of gods and heroes. When, in the Vedic hymns, Kephalos, Prokris, Hermes, Daphne, Zeus, Ouranos, stand forth as simple names for the Sun, the Dew, the Wind, the Dawn, the Heaven and the Sky, each recognized as such, yet each endowed with the most perfect consciousness, we feel that the great riddle of mythology is solved, and that we no longer lack the key which shall disclose its most hidden treasures. When we hear the people saying, “Our friend the Sun is dead. Will he rise? Will the Dawn come back again? ” we see the death of Hercules, and the weary waiting while Leto struggles with the birth of Phoibos. When on the return of the day we hear the cry— “ Rise! our life, our spirit has come back, the darkness is gone, the light draws near! ” —we are carried at once to the Homeric hymn, and we hear the joyous shout of all the gods when Phoibos springs to life and light on Delos. ^x ^x Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 108. Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions, 7th ed., pp. 559 et seq. Doane, Bible Myths pp. 533 et seq. INDEX of Subjects. Martian Visitor ( Home ) Metaphysics: Which is PRIMARY? The Pagan origins of Easter THE WORLD’S SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS or Christianity Before Christ CONTAINING New, Startling and Extraordinary Revelations In Religious History, Which Disclose The Oriental Origin Of All The Doctrines, Principles, Precepts, And Miracles Of The CHRISTIAN NEW TESTAMENT And Furnishing A Key For Unlocking Many Of It’s Sacred Mysteries, Besides comprising the History Of 16 HEATHEN CRUCIFIED GODS BY KERSEY GRAVES Copyright, 1875

Red Riding-Hood, the story of, explained, 80, 557.
Blaspheming Atheists, page 550. Image worship, page 551. Cinderella, page 552, 557.
[More references at bottom of this page.]

Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions
(Page) 550 APPENDIX B.

Richard Payne Knight says:
“ The primitive religion of the Greeks, like that of all other nations not enlightened by Revelation, appears to have been elementary, and to have consisted in an indistinct worship of the SUN, the MOON, the STARS, the EARTH, and the WATERS, or rather, the spirits supposed to preside over these bodies, and to direct their motions, and regulate their modes of existence. Every river, spring or mountain had its local genius, or peculiar deity; and as men naturally endeavored to obtain the favor of their gods by such means as they feel best adapted to win their own, the first worship consisted in offering to them certain portions of whatever they held to be most valuable. At the same time, the regular motions of the heavenly bodies, and the stated returns of summer and winter, of day and night, with all the admirable order of the universe, taught them to believe in the existence and agency of such superior powers; the irregular and destructive efforts of nature, such as lightnings and tempests, inundations and earthquakes, persuaded them that these mighty beings had passions and affections similar to their own, and only differed in posessing greater strength, power, and intelligence.” ^a

^a Ancient Art and Mythology, p. 1.

When the Grecian astronomers first declared that the Sun was not a person, but a huge hot ball, instantly an outcry arose against them. They were called “blaspheming atheists,” and from that time to the present, when any new discovery is made which seems to take away from man his god, the cry of “Atheist ” is instantly raised.
If we turn from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and take a look still farther West and North, we shall find that the gods of all the TEUTONIC nations were the same as we have seen elsewhere. They had Odin or Woden— from whom we have our Wednesday— the Al-fader (the Sky), Frigga, the Mother Goddess (the earth), “Baldur the Good,” and Thor— from whom we have our Thursday (personifications of the Sun), besides innumerable other genii, among them Freyja— from whom we have our Friday— and as she was the “Goddess of Love,” we eat fish on that day.” ^b

^b See Mallet’s Northern Antiquities. Though spoken of in Northern Mythology as distinct, Frigga and Freyja are originally ONE.

The gods of the ancient inhabitants of what are now called the “ British Islands” were identically the same. The Sun-god worshiped by the Ancient Druids was called Hu, Beli, Budd and Buddu-gre. ^c
The same worship which we have found in the Old World, from the farthest East to the remotest West, may also be traced in AMERICA, from its simplest or least clearly defined form, among the roving hunters and squalid Esquimaux of the North, through every intermediate stage of development, to the imposing systems of Mexico and Peru, where it took a form nearly corresponding that which it at one time sustained on the banks of the Ganges, and on the plains of Assyria. ^d

^c See Myths of the British Druids, p. 116.
^d See Squire’s Serpent Symbol.

APPENDIX B. (Page) 551
Father Acosta, speaking of the Mexicans, says:
“ Next to Viracocha, or their Supreme God, that which most commonly they have, and do adore, is the Sun; and after, those things which are most remarkable in the celestial or elementary nature, as the Moon, Stars, Sea, and Land.
“ Whoso shall merely look into it, shall find this manner which the Devil hath used to deceive the Indians, to be the same wherewith he hath deceived the Greeks and Romans, and other ancient Gentiles, giving them to understand that these notable creatures, the sun, Moon, Stars, and elements, had power or authority to do good or harm to men.” ^e

^e Acosta: vol. ii. pp. 303-305.

We see, then, that the gods and heroes of antiquity were originally personifications of certain elements of  Nature, and that the legends of adventures ascribed to them are merely mythical forms of describing the phenomena of these elements.
These legends relating to the elements of  Nature, whether they had reference to the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, or a certain natural phenomenon, became, in the course of time, to be regarded as accounts of men of a high order, who had once inhabited the earth. Sanctuaries and temples were erected to these heroes, their bones were searched for, and when found— which was always the case— were regarded as a great source of strength to the town which possessed them; all relics of their stay on earth were hallowed, and a form of worship was especially adapted to them.
The idea that heavenly luminaries were inhabited by spirits, of a nature intermediate between God and men, first led mortals to address prayers to the orbs over which they were supposed to preside. In order to supplicate these deities, when Sun, Moon, and Stars were not visible, they made images of  them, which the priests consecrated with many ceremonies. Then they pronounced solemn invocations to dray down the spirits into the statues provided for their reception. By this process it was supposed that a mysterious connection was established between the spirit and the image, so that prayers addressed to one were henceforth heard by the other. This was probably the origin of image worship everywhere.
The motive of this worship was the same among all nations of antiquity, i. e., fear. They supposed that these deities were irritated by the sins of men, but, at the same time, were merciful, and capable of being appeased by prayer and repentance; for this reason men offered to these deities sacrifices and prayers. How natural that such should have been the case, for, as Abbé Dubois observes: “ To the rude, untutored eye, the ‘ Host of  Heaven,’ clothed in that calm beauty which distinguishes an Oriental night, might well appear to be instinct with some divine principle, endowed with the consciousness, and the power to influence, from its throne of unchanging splendor on high, the fortunes of transitory mortals.”

(Page) 552 APPENDIX C.
All the chief stories that we know so well are to be found in all times, and in almost all countries. Cinderella, for one, is told in the language of every country in Europe, and the same legend is found in the fanciful tales related by the Greek poets; and still further back, it appears in very ancient Hindoo legends. So, again, does Beauty and the Beast; so does our familiar tale of Jack, the Giant-Killer; so also do a great number of other fairy stories, each being told in different countries and in different periods, with so much likeness as to show that all the versions came from the same source, and yet with enough difference to show that none of the versions are directly copied from each other. “ Indeed, when we compare the myths and legends of one country with another, and of one period with another, we find out how they have come to be so much alike, and yet in some things so different. We see that there must have been one origin for all these stories, that they must have been invented by one people, that this people must have been afterwards divided, and that each part or division of  it must have brought into its new home the legends once common to them all, and must have shaped and altered these according to the kind of  place in which they came to live; those of the North being sterner and more terrible, those of the South softer and fuller of light and color, and adorned with touches of more delicate fancy.” And this, indeed, is really the case. All the chief stories and legends are alike, because they were first made by one people ; and all the nations in which they are now told in one form or another tell them because they are all descended from this one common stock, the Aryan.
From researches made by Prof. Max Müller, the Rev. George W. Cox, and others, in England and Germany, in the science of Comparative Mythology, we begin to see something of these ancient forefathers of ours; to understand what kind of  people they were, and to find that our fairy stories are really made out of their religion.
The mind of Aryan peoples in their ancient home was full of imagination. They never ceased to wonder at what they saw and heard in the sky and upon the earth. Their language was highly figurative, and so the things which struck them with wonder, and which they could not explain, were described under forms and names which were familiar to them. “ Thus, the thunder was to them the bellowing of a mighty beast, or the rolling of a great chariot. In the lightning they saw a brilliant serpent, or a spear shot across the sky, or a great fish darting swiftly through the sea of cloud. The clouds were heavenly cows, who shed milk upon the earth and refreshed it; or they were webs woven by heavenly women who drew water from the fountains on high and poured it down as rain.”

APPENDIX C. (Page) 553
Analogies which are but fancy to us, were realities to these men of past ages. They could see in the waterspout a  huge serpent who elevated himself out  of the ocean and reached his head to the skies. They could feel, in the pangs of hunger, a live creature gnawing within their bodies, and they heard the voices of the hill-dwarfs answering the echo. The Sun, the first object which struck them with wonder, was, to them, the child of  Night; the Dawn came before he was born, and died as he rose in the heavens. He strangled the serpents of the night; he went forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; and like a giant to  run his  course. ^f He had to do battle with clouds and storms. ^g Sometimes his light grew dim under their gloomy veil, and the children of  men shuddered at the wrath of the hidden sun. ^h Sometimes his  ray broke forth, only, after brief splendor, to sink beneath a deeper darkness; Sometimes he burst forth at the end of his course, trampling on the clouds which had dimmed his brilliancy, and bathing his pathway with blood. ⁱ Sometimes, beneath mountains of clouds and vapors, he plunged into the leaden sea. ^j Sometimes, he looked benignly on the face of his mother or his bride who came to greet him at his journey’s end. ^k Sometimes, he was the lord of heaven and of light, irresistable in his divine strength; sometimes, he toiled for others, not for himself, in a hard, unwilling servitude. ^l His light and heat might give light and destroy it. ^m His chariot might scorch the regions over which it passed, his flaming fire might burn up all who dared to look with prying eyes into his dazzling treasure house. ⁿ He might be the child destined to slay his parents, or to be united at the last in an unspeakable peace, to the bright Dawn who for a brief space had gladdened his path in the morning. ^o He might be the friend of the children of men, and the remorseless foe of those powers of darkness who had stolen away his bride. ^p

^f This picture would give us the story of Hercules who strangled the serpent in his cradle, and who, in after years, in the form of a giant, ran his course.
^g This would give us St. George killing the Dragon.
^h This would give us the story of the monster who attempted to devour the Sun, and whom the “ untutored savage” tried to frighten away by making loud cries.
ⁱ This would give us the story of Samson, whose strength was renewed at the end of his career, and who slew the Philistines— who had dimmed his brilliance— and bathed his path with blood.
^j This would give us the story of Oannes, or Dagon, who, beneath the clouds of the evening sky, plunged into the sea.
^k This would give us the story of Hercules and his bride Iöle, or that of Christ Jesus and his mother Mary, who were at their side at the end of their career.
^l This would give us the story of the labors of Hercules.
^m This is the Sun as Siva.
ⁿ Here again we have the Sun as Siva the Destroyer.
^o Here we have Apollo, Achilleus, Bellerophon and Odysseus.
^p This would give us the story of Samson, “ who was the friend of the children of men, and the remorseless foe of those powers of darkness.” (the Phillistines), who had stolen away his bride. (See Judges, ch. xv.)

(Page) 554 APPENDIX C.
He might be a warrior whose eye strikes terror into his enemies, or a wise chieftain skilled in deep and hidden knowledge. ^q Sometimes he might appear as a glorious being doomed to an early death, which no power could avert or delay. ^r Sometimes grievous hardships and desperate conflicts might be followed by a long season of serene repose. ^s Wherever he went, men might welcome him in love, or shrink from him in fear and anguish. ^t He would have many brides in many lands, and his offspring would assume aspects beautiful, strange or horrible. ^u

^q This would give us the stories of Thor, the mighty warrior, the terror of his enemies, and those of  Cadmus, Romulus or Odin, the wise chieftains, who founded nations, and taught their people knowledge.
^r This would give us the story of Christ Jesus, and  other Angel-Messiahs; Saviors of  men.
^s This would give us the story of spell-bound maidens, who sleep for  years.
^t This is Hercules and his  counterparts.
^u This again is Hercules.

APPENDIX C. (Page) 557
The story of Cinderella is one of the many fairy tales which help us to find out their meaning, and take us straight back to the far-off land where fairy legends began, and to the people who made them. This well-known fairy tale has been found among the myths of our Aryan ancestors, and from this we know that it is the story of the Sun and the Dawn. Cinderella, gray and dark and dull, is all neglected when she is away from the Sun, obscured by the envious clouds, her sisters, and by her step-mother, the Night. So she is Aurora, the Dawn, and the Fairy Prince is the Morning Sun, ever pursuing her, to claim her for his bride. This is the legend as it is found in the ancient Hindoo books; and this explains at once the source and the meaning of the fairy tale. ^v

^v See Bunce: Fairy Tales, p. 34.

Another tale which helps us in our task is that of Jack the Giant-Killer, who is really one  of the very oldest and most widely known, characters in wonder-land. Now, who is this wonderful little fellow? He is none other than the hero who, in all countries and ages, fights with monsters and overcomes them; like Indra, the ancient Hindoos Sun-god, whose thunderbolts slew the demons of drought in the far east; or Perseus, who, in Greek story, delivers the maiden from the sea monster; or Odysseus, who tricks the giant Polyphemus, and causes him to throw himself into the sea; or Thor, whose hammer beats down the frost giants of the  North. “ The gifts bestowed upon Jack are found in Tartar stories, Hindoo tales, in German legends, and in the fables of  Scandinavia.”
Still another is  that of Little Red Riding-Hood. The  story of Little Red Riding-Hood, as  we shall call  her, or Little Red-Cap, as  she is called in the German tales, also comes from the same source, and (as  we have seen in Chapter IX.), refers  to the Sun and  Night.
“ One of the fancies in the most ancient Aryan or Hindoo stories was that there was a great dragon that was trying to devour the  Sun, to  prevent him from shining upon the  earth, and filling it with brightness and life and beauty, and that Indyra, the Sun-god, killed the dragon. Now, this is the meaning of Little Red Riding-Hood, as  it is  told in our nursery  tales. Little Red Riding-Hood is  the Evening Sun, which is always described as red or  golden;   the  old grandmother is the  Earth, to  whom the  rays of the  Sun   bring  warmth and  comfort.

(Page) 558 APPENDIX C.
The wolf—which is a well-known figure for the Clouds and blackness of  Night (in  Teutonic mythology) ^w— is the dragon in another form. First, he devours the grandmother; that  is, he wraps the earth in thick clouds, which the Evening Sun is  not strong enough to pierce through. Then, with the darkness of  Night, he swallows  up the Evening  Sun itself, and all  is dark and desolate. Then, as in the German tale, the night-thunder and the storm winds are represented by the loud  snoring of the  wolf; and  then the huntsman, the Morning Sun, comes in all his strength and majesty, and chases away the night clouds and kills the wolf, and revives old grandmother Earth and Little Red Riding-Hood to life again.”

^w “ The Sun,” said Gaugler, “ speeds at such a rate as if she feared that someone was pursuing her for her destruction.” “ And well she may,” replied Har, “ for he that seeks her is not far behind, and she has no way to escape but to run before him.” “ And who is he,” asked Gaugler, “ that causes her this anxiety? ” “ It is the Wolf Sköll,” answered Har, “ who pursues the Sun, and it is he that she fears,” for he shall one day overtake and devour her.” (Scandinavian Prose Edda. See Mallet’s Northern Antiquities, p. 407.) This Wolf is, as we have said, a personification of Night and Clouds, we therefore have the almost universal practice among savage nations of making noises at the time of eclipses, to frighten away the monsters who would otherwise devour the Sun.

Nor is it in these stories alone that we can trace the ancient Hindoo legends, and the Sun-myth. There is, as Mr. Bunce observes in his “ Fairy Tales, their Origin and Meaning,” scarcely a tale of Greek or Roman mythology, no legend of Teutonic or Celtic or Scandinavian growth, no great romance of what we call the middle ages, no fairy story taken down from the lips of ancient folk, and dressed for us in modern shape and tongue, that we do not find, in some form or another, in these Eastern poems, which are composed of allegorical tales of gods and heroes.
When, in the Vedic hymns, Kephalos, Prokris, Hermes, Daphne, Zeus, Ouranos, stand forth as simple names for the Sun, the Dew, the Wind, the Dawn, the Heaven and the Sky, each recognized as such, yet each endowed with the most perfect consciousness, we feel that the great riddle of mythology is solved, and that we no longer lack the key which shall disclose its most hidden treasures. When we hear the people saying, “Our friend the Sun is dead. Will he rise? Will the Dawn come back again? ” we see the death of Hercules, and the weary waiting while Leto struggles with the birth of Phoibos. When on the return of the day we hear the cry—

“ Rise! our life, our spirit has come back, the darkness is gone, the light draws near! ”

—we are carried at once to the Homeric hymn, and we hear the joyous shout of all the gods when Phoibos springs to life and light on Delos. ^x

^x Aryan Mythology, vol. i. p. 108.

Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels
in other Religions, 7th ed., pp. 559 et seq.

Doane, Bible Myths pp. 533 et seq.

INDEX of Subjects.

Martian Visitor ( Home )

Metaphysics: Which is PRIMARY?

The Pagan origins of Easter

THE WORLD’S
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS
or
Christianity Before Christ
CONTAINING
New, Startling and Extraordinary Revelations In
Religious History, Which Disclose The Oriental
Origin Of All The Doctrines, Principles,
Precepts, And Miracles Of The
CHRISTIAN NEW TESTAMENT
And Furnishing A Key For Unlocking Many Of
It’s Sacred Mysteries, Besides comprising the
History Of 16 HEATHEN CRUCIFIED GODS
BY
KERSEY GRAVES Copyright, 1875