I Gleanings from Theosophical Path

7/30/2019 I Gleanings from Theosophical Path

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Gleanings from The Theosophical Path ( 45 Volumes, July, 1911 - Oct., 1936 )

Volume I.

Contents

Archeology and Ethnology- Peru Under the Incas - Ryan- Copan - Gates- Maori Lore and Legend - Neill- The Tomb of Osiris and Strabo's Well - Edge- Egyptology and Theosophy - Ryan

- The Aborigines of Australia - Neill- Ancient America- The West Africans - Edge- The Testimony of Megalithic Monuments - Travers- Dolmens in Brittany - V.B.- The Origin of Chess - E.T.- Vandalism in Ancient Architecture

Greek Philosophy- Life and Teachings of Pythagoras - Darrow- Pythagorean Geometry - Edge

- The Modern Platonists (Pletho and Taylor) - Darrow- Plato the Theosophist - Darrow- The Mysteries at Eleusis - Whiting

Science- The Conception of "Force" in Physics- Ancient and Modern Calendars - Henry- Climatic and Axial Changes - Dick- Astronomical Lore- Mysteries of Sound- The Mirror of Language - Coryn

- Incorrodible Bronze - Edge- Science and Misc. Notes

Psychology- Psychic Epidemics - Dunn- The Alcoholic Demon - Coryn- The Sanitation of Sound - Ross- The Talking Habit - Leonard

General Theosophy- The Augoeides- Ancients, Moderns, Posterity - Leonard- The Astral Body - Coryn- A May Swarm - Leonard- The Law of Cycles - Edge


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- Why Do Theosophists Oppose Capital Punishment? - van Pelt- Punishment and Capital Punishment - Edge- Count Cagliostro and His Enemies - P.A.M.- "De Mortuis - " - Morris- The Esoteric Philosophy of Unselfishness (Shankara) - Woodhead- Fragment of a Lost Gospel - Darrow

- The Gods of the Ancient World - Morris- An Hour on Olympus - A.W.H.- The Intelligence Behind Evolution- Linneas and the Divining Rod - P.F.- Man's Greater Self - Edge- "The Music of the Spheres" - Coryn- The Red Men - Travers- A Study of Contrasts - Leonard- Tibetan Mss. and Books - Edge- "Vivisection" in a Dictionary - Renshaw- The Vivisector's Understated Claims - Ross

- What is Death?- "What is this Immortal That Thou Hast?" - Coryn- Work Regarded as a Privilege - Edge

Theosophical History- Some Theosophical Plans - Malpas- Tingley's Early "Do Good" Mission in New York - Mayer-Spalding

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Archeology and Ethnology

Peru Under the Incas- C. J. Ryan

Perusal ofThe Incas of Peru, a new work by Sir Clements Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S.,etc., leaves the Theosophical student profoundly impressed with the fact that nothing butthe teachings of Theosophy can explain such things as the sudden disappearance ofraces or civilizations. According to a superficial view of the law of Karma (the law of Cause

and Effect on all planes) the high moral standing of the Peruvians, their industry, theircourage, their wise and beneficent governmental system, and their warlike attainments,should have caused their empire to stand immovable against the handful of foreigninvaders, even though they were provided with horses and muskets. But, to quote thewords of one of H.P. Blavatsky's Teachers:

"Patriots may burst their hearts in vain if circumstances are against them.Sometimes it has happened that no human power, not even the fury and force of theloftiest patriotism, has been able to bend an iron destiny aside from its fixed course, andnations have gone out like torches dropped into water in the engulfing blackness of ruin."(The Occult World)

The cycle of the aboriginal American civilizations was closing, and the "New World"was to be the seat of a culture and a greatness of which we have so far seen but the first


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faint shadowings.Sir Clements Markham first traveled in Peru more than sixty years ago, when a

naval cadet on a British warship, and ever since he has made a special study of everythingconnected with that mysterious and fascinating country. He is recognized as a highauthority upon its history, topography, and archaeology, and has produced many standardworks upon these subjects, not the least interesting of which is the volume just published,

which was written at the advanced age of eighty.The book commences with an account of the sources of our information respecting

the history of the Inca civilization. One of the most interesting stories told is that of anative author, Don Felipe Huaman Poma de Ayala (an adopted Spanish name), chief of atribe, who wrote a thick quarto of 1179 pages, cleverly illustrated in pen and ink by himself,called Nueve Coronica y Buen Gobierno (sic). The book describes the customs, the laws,the traditions, and history of Peru under the Incas; it gives accounts with illustrations ofthe palaces, the costumes, the weapons, the agricultural and musical instruments, andcontains portraits of the twelve historical Incas and the eight first Spanish Viceroys. Aboveall in interest is the open and fearless attack upon the cruel tyranny from which theunfortunate Indians suffered. Says Sir Clements Markham:

"The combined writer and artist spares neither priest nor corregidor.... The authortraveled all over Peru in some capacity, interceding for, and trying to protect, theunfortunate people.... It is addressed to King Philip II and the author had the temerity totake it down to Lima for transmission to Spain. He hoped to be appointed Protector of theIndians. We do not know what became of him."

Nor do we know anything about the reception of his book, though it reachedEurope, for it was discovered three years ago in the Royal Library at Copenhagen.

After describing the other native and Spanish authorities, Sir Clements Markhamforcibly captures the attention by a description of the mysterious city of Tiahuanacu onLake Titicaca. Absolutely nothing but perfectly unreliable tradition is known about thebuilders of this great city. Its age is evidently enormous, for, as our author says:

"The surface of the Lake is 12,508 ft. above the sea.... The city covered a largearea, built by highly skilled masons, and with the use of enormous stones. One stone is36 ft. long by 7, weighing 170 tons, another 26 ft by 16 by 6.... The movement and placingof such monoliths points to a dense population, to an organized government, andconsequently to a large area under cultivation, with arrangements for the conveyance ofsupplies from various directions.... There is ample proof of the very advanced stagereached by the builders in architectural art.... This, then, is the mystery. A vast city

containing palace, temple, judgment hall, or whatever fancy may reconstruct among theruins, with statues, elaborately carved stones, and many triumphs of masonic art, was builtin a region where corn will not ripen, and which could not possibly support a densepopulation.... The builders may best be described as a megalithic people in a megalithicage, an age when cyclopean stones were transported, and cyclopean edifices raised."

The last sentence shows a truly scientific spirit of caution which unfortunately is nottoo common amongst archaeologists. At Cuzco and Ollantay-Tampu there are otherimposing remains of the same kind of cyclopean architecture. At Cuzco there is a fortressdefended by three enormous parallel walls with advancing and retiring angles forenfilading. The stones of the outer wall have the following dimensions at the corners: 14

ft. by 12; 10 ft. by 6; etc. What can the purpose of these enormous stones have been?How can they have been raised? Were there giants in those days, or had the builderssome strange powers of which we are ignorant? H.P. Blavatsky, in The Secret Doctrine,


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plainly suggests that the power of sound was utilized by some of the prehistoric megalithicbuilders in raising the enormous stones. That being so, and there is no doubt that thestones were raised somehow, how can we dare to claim to be the first people who havemastered the laws of mechanics?

Our author has been so much impressed by the mystery of the great city atTiahuanacu that he has been compelled to seek refuge in the following solution, which,

outre as it seems at first sight, is perfectly reasonable when considered in the light of theenormous antiquity of man:

"The recent studies of southern geology and botany lead to a belief in a connectionbetween South America and the Antarctic continental lands. But at a remote geologicalperiod there.... were no Andes. Then came a time when the mountains began to beupheaved. The process seems to have been very slow, gradual and long-continued....When mastodons lived at Ulloma, and anteaters at Tarapaca, the Andes, slowly rising,were some two or three thousands of feet lower than they are now. Maize would thenripen in the basin of Lake Titicaca, and the site of the ruins of Tiahuanacu could supportthe necessary population. If the megalithic builders were living under these conditions, the

problem is solved. If this is geologically impossible, the mystery remains unexplained."

No human remains have been found to indicate the size of the people of themegalithic age in Peru. With respect to the uplifting of the Andes and the enormous age ofprehistoric civilization, H.P. Blavatsky says in The Secret Doctrine:

"Yet there are men of Science who are almost of our way of thinking. From thebrave confession of the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, who says that: 'Traditions, whosetraces occur in Mexico, in Central America, in Peru, and in Bolivia, suggest the idea thatman existed in these different countries at the time of the gigantic upheaval of the Andes,and that he has retained the memory of it.'"

After the decline and fall of the megalithic civilization centuries of barbarism -perhaps it would be more correct to say thousands of years - followed, though apparentlytraces of the ancient beliefs and customs were preserved and formed the basis of the laterInca civilization. The end of the early civilization is vaguely supposed to have comethrough the invasion of barbarians from the south (whence the earlier, megalithiccivilization is also supposed to have come, but this is open to much doubt.) A remnant ofthe former race is said to have taken refuge at "Tampu-Tocco," * an unrecognizable localitysouthwest of Cuzco, and to have preserved some of the ancient wisdom, until it should becalled forth again. For "centuries" semi-mythical kings reigned over the remnant,

surrounded by barbarians, and then we come to the historical period when the Inca empirewas formed.

----------* Tocco = a window

----------

The names traditionally attributed to the earliest megalithic kings are significant,being either Divine names or the names of virtues. It is impossible to enter farther into thequestion here; it is sufficient to say that there is a strong resemblance to the Egyptian andother Old World traditions of Dynasties of Divine Rulers, Heroes, and ordinary human

kings, which we find so widely spread. H.P. Blavatsky shows that these traditions were notfanciful, but that they are the remains of true historical records.

Passing on from the fascinating subject of the prehistoric civilization of Peru, the


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author then gives the early traditions reported to the Spanish conquerors which relate howthe Inca race of historic time arrived at the future capital, Cuzco. The remnant at "Tampu-Tocco," having been protected for ages from invasion by the deep gorge of the ApurimacRiver, had multiplied, and being more civilized than their neighbors found it was time forthem to step out into a larger sphere. One legend states that the hill of "Tampu-Tocco" hadthree openings or windows out of which the tribes and the four Princes of the Sun with

their four wives came. They all proceeded toward the north and finally reached Cuzco. Along period of confusion then came about, and it was not until the first definitely historicalInca, a wise and intelligent ruler, arose, that the well-organized empire was established.The word Inca means Lord.

To the Theosophical student these semi-mythical legends of Peruvian history areprofoundly interesting inasmuch as they confirm the teachings of H.P. Blavatsky in TheSecret Doctrine, though they are not found in that work. No doubt, when we can read theMaya Codices much clearer testimony to the Theosophical teachings concerning theevolution of early man will be obtained, but until then the recorded traditions are of greatvalue in corroborating the legends and records of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Rocca, the first authentic Inca, probably began to reign about the year 1200 A.D.

He aroused the people from their inertia, checked their vices, erected schools, the walls ofwhich still remain; he commenced the new city of Cuzco on the site of the prehistoric one,using some of its cyclopean walls, and irrigated the surrounding country.

The first land of the Inca race, the "Children of the Sun," was only 250 miles long by60, but by degrees, they extended their empire until it covered an immense territory alongthe western side of the Andes. The central and original state, around Cuzco in the valleyof the river Vileamayu, is most fertile and exceedingly beautiful. Sir Clements Markhamsketches the personal history of many of the most distinguished Incas and other importanthistorical characters so graphically and sympathetically that the reader becomesprofoundly interested in their lives, and feels that they were really persons with the samequalities as those with whom we are familiar in European history. Perhaps it would bemore just to say that the great characters depicted in Peruvian history possessed farhigher qualities than many of the leading personages who walk the stage of our medievalages, and as for the people in general, there is no doubt that in many respects they willfavorably compare with any civilized European nation, past or present. Listen to whatMancio Serra de Leguisamo, the last survivor of the original Spanish conquerors, said inhis Will, signed September 18, 1589:

"First, and before I begin my testament, I declare that for many years I have desiredto take order for informing the Catholic and Royal Majesty of the King Don Felipe our Lord,seeing how Catholic and most Christian he is, and how zealous for the service of God our

Lord, touching what is needed for the health of my soul, seeing that I took a great part inthe discovery, conquest, and settlement of these kingdoms, when we drove out those whowere the Lords Incas and who possessed and ruled them as their own. We placed themunder the royal crown, and his Catholic Majesty should understand that we found thesekingdoms in such order, and the said Incas governed them in such wise that throughoutthem there was not a thief, nor a vicious man, nor an adulteress, nor was a bad womanadmitted among them, nor were there immoral people. The men had honest and usefuloccupations. The lands, forests, mines, pastures, houses, and all kinds of products wereregulated and distributed in such sort that each one knew his property without any otherperson seizing or occupying it, nor were there lawsuits respecting it. The Incas werefeared, respected and obeyed by their subjects. They were so free from the committal of

crimes or excesses, as well men as women, that the Indian who had 100,000 pesos worthof gold and silver in his house, left it open, merely placing a small stick across the door, asa sign that its master was out. When they saw that we put locks and keys on our doors,


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they supposed that it was from fear of them, that they might not kill us, but not becausethey believed that any one would steal the property of another. So that when they foundthat we had thieves amongst us, and men who sought to make their daughters commit sin,they despised us. But now they have come to such a pass, in offence of God, owing to thebad example that we have set them in all things, that these natives from doing no evil,have changed into people who now do no good or very little.

"This needs a remedy, and it touches your majesty for the discharge of yourconscience...."

Sir Clements Markham says of the people:

"Slightly built, with oval faces, aquiline, but not prominent noses, dark eyes, andstraight black hair, the Inca Indian had a well-proportioned figure, well-developed muscularlimbs, and was capable of enduring great fatigue. He was very industrious, intelligent, andaffectionate among his own relations.... Idleness was unknown, but labor was enlivened bysowing- and harvest-songs, while the shepherd boys played on theirpincullu, or flutes, asthey tended their flocks on the lofty pastures.... Periodical festivities broke the monotony of

work, some of a religious character, some in celebration of family events.... A proof of thegeneral well-being of the people is a large and increasing population. The andeneria orsteps of terraced cultivation extending up the sides of all the mountains in all parts of Peru,and now abandoned, are silent witnesses of the former prosperity of the country."

The religion and festival ceremonies are well explained in this book. Of course littleor nothing is known of the beliefs of the prehistoric megalithic inhabitants, but a fewcarvings on the cyclopean stones give the idea that they were simple and pure. Thehistoric Inca Indians worshiped the sun and moon and minor deities, but it is important toremember that they placed an oval slab of gold on the great Sun temple at Cuzco in ahigher place than the images of the sun and moon, and that it represented the almightyunseen Being who created all things at the beginning. Among the people generallyancestor-worship was popular. The sense of the spiritual basis of life was never absentfrom the thoughts of the people, and it colored all their acts. Some of the priests claimedto have evolved magical powers, but they do not seem to have been abused. SirClements Markham considers that the weight of evidence is against the accusation thatthere were any human sacrifices; if they were ever offered it was only on very extremeand exceptional occasions.

The high priest was called "The Head which Counsels"; he was often the brother ofthe reigning sovereign, and his life was passed in strict contemplation and abstinence; hewas a man of great learning. The ceremonies of the Inca Church were most impressive

and magnificent, but there seems to have been no discreditable lust for the "flesh-pots"amongst the sacerdotal ranks. Confession was practiced and penances assigned. Aremarkable institution was that of the Vestal Virgins, who kept the sacred fire alwaysburning. The description of their functions, novitiate, and duties, reads almost word forword the same as that of the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome or of Celtic lands. They neverwent abroad without an armed escort, and were treated with profound respect.

The Peruvians had a system of education, though not a written literature:

"The memory of historical events was preserved.... by handing down the histories inthe form of narratives and songs which theAmautas, specially trained for the duty, learntby heart from generation to generation. They had help by means of the quipus, and also

by the use of pictures painted on boards."

The quipus were ropes to which a number of strings were attached, on which knots


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were made to denote numbers, units, tens, hundreds, etc. The colors of the stringsexplained the subjects to which the numbers referred. The Amautas, or learned men,preserved the traditions and records with great exactness, as has been shown bycomparing separate accounts collected in different places. The Peruvians were highlyaccomplished in the art of map-making. One of the relief-maps of Cuzco with itssurrounding hills and valleys, was said by the Spaniards who saw it to be well worthy of

admiration, and equal to anything the best European cartographer could do.The drama was very popular, and we are indebted to Sir Clements for a most

interesting translation of one of the original plays called "Ollantay." It was first taken downin writing in the seventeenth century, though of course it is far older. The scene is laid inthe time of the Inca Pachacuti, about 1470 A.D. Ollantay is a heroic figure who falls in lovewith a royal princess, and after many adventures is about to be executed for treason whenthe Inca sovereign magnanimously pardons him and all ends happily. A free translationinto English occupies seventy pages of Sir Clements Markham's book. It is a mostfascinating story.

An interesting but pathetic chapter of Sir Clements' new book is devoted to thedestruction of the Inca civilization. He says:

"The world will never see its like again. A few of the destroyers, only a very few,could appreciate the fabric they had pulled down, its beauty and symmetry, and its perfectadaptation to its environment. But no one could rebuild it."

Concerning the buried treasures of the Incas, the author has not the slightest doubtthat the stories are true, and that there is a vast mass of gold hidden away in absolutelyinaccessible places. In 1797 the treasure called the Peje Chico, the "Little Fish," wasfound; it amounted to many millions of pounds in value. The Peje Grande, the Big Fish,has never been betrayed by its custodians. A friend of Sir Clements Markham, the SenoraAstete de Bennet, remembered a famous Indian patriot, Pumacagua, who had been givena small part of one of the hoards in order to finance a revolution which the nativesattempted against the Spanish rule. He was seventy-seven in 1815, the year of therebellion. Senora Astete recollected him coming with the gold. He was wet through, for hehad been taken, blindfold, up the bed of a river in the night, to the secret hiding-placewhere he saw incredible quantities of gold in the form of ingots, vases, statues, etc. Inconnection with this romantic subject H.P. Blavatsky mentions in Isis Unveiled severalinteresting experiences of her own.

(Vol. 2, pp. 27-34)

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Copan, and its Position in American History- William E. Gates

In place among all the sites of ancient ruins on the continent of America, arouses alivelier interest in both the observer and the student, than does Copan. Other remains, inPeru, and even in Mexico, are of vaster bulk; but the ensemble of Copan produces uponthe mind an effect comparable in Egypt only by that of Thebes. And this evidence growsand is supported at every step by the evidence of such researches and excavations as it

has been so far possible to carry on.

"All would seem to indicate a gradual addition of new features accompanied by


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abandonment of older parts. It can readily be seen how a process of this kind carried onfor centuries, without any well designed plan to adhere to or any definite idea to carry out,would result in a great complex mass of structures like that of Copan to puzzle and perplexthe explorer.

"There are other evidences that point to several successive periods of occupation.The river front presents what looks like at least three great strata, divided by floors or

pavements of mortar cement. If these floors mark the various levels corresponding todifferent epochs in the history of the city, the question of the age of the ruins becomes stillmore complicated; for between each successive period of occupancy there is the periodof silence, the length of which can only be inferred from the thickness of the superimposedstratum." - Dr. Geo. B. Gordon, Exploration of Copan, (in Peabody Museum Memoirs).

The ruins of Copan lie on the level plain of a beautiful valley, a mile and a half wideby seven or eight miles long, in Honduras, some twelve miles east of the Guatemalaboundary. The site thus marks the eastern limit of the region covered by the ancient Mayaremains and inscriptions, as Palenque about marks its western edge, a short distancebeyond the Guatemala line, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The valley of Copan is

watered by a swift river which enters and leaves by a gorge, washing the eastern side ofthe ruins. The force of the annual freshets each year carries away more of this river wall,and by its washings has shown that the entire elevation of 120 feet is of historical orartificial growth, showing the stratification of occupancy mentioned by Dr. Gordon, andyielding fragments of pottery and obsidian down to the water level.

As can be seen by the plan, the ruins form a composite whole, some 2300 by 1400feet, and the historical development of the site is shown by three independent pieces ofevidence. Of these the most striking at first sight is the very apparent growth of the groundplan, pointing to successive additions and enlargements of an original nucleus, just as wesee at Thebes. The second evidence is that of excavation, which proves beyond allquestion, even by the little so far done, that new structures and temples were built upon orinto the old. And this evidence is corroborated by the dates on some of the monuments.

The striking unity of the whole group of structures at Copan is therefore a compositeunity, the result of long-continued occupation. Structures and temples were built and used;life flowed on around them, and after lapses of time whose length we have no meanswhatever (save in one case) of even estimating, other buildings were added, and theearlier ones built over, or even covered up by the new. People do not build temples andtear them down to build new ones the next year; nor on the other hand do alien peoplesand civilizations expand by a harmonious enlargement the works of those they supersede,but rather change, destroy, or build their own.

The first thing then to be realized about the entire group of structures at Copan is

their composite unity; then that this is not the result of a single construction, but of growthand successive additions; then that these periods of enlargement are separated by other,more or less long, periods of continued use and occupation, during which the civilization ofthe people maintained itself, somewhat modified by time, but not broken or interrupted.And finally, this evidence, together with that of the monumental dates, to which we willcome, has so far only to do with the ground plan and the structures we can discover by afew feet of digging on the surface of the plain of Copan; for we have not the slightestmeans as yet of relating anything we can see at Copan to the various strata of occupation,with intervening silence, marked on the 120 feet of the disintegrating river wall. Thoseperiods of silence may indeed, for everything we can yet tell, be the silence of non-occupation, of civilizations destroyed and forgotten, only to be followed by others. One

Copan after another may have been built upon the obliterated site of its predecessor.Whatever evidence there is, read in comparison with similar evidence elsewhere, points tothat; a few years ago we disbelieved in a historical Troy, only to find successive Troys,


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and many like places elsewhere, built one above the other. To deny the like or itsprobability at Copan, would be foolish.

But to return to the Copan whose remains we can see, one great question is forcedupon us at the very outset. That is this: what must have been the state of theAmericancontinent, as regards civilization, during the ages into which we are trying to look? Andthat they were long ages, even for the Copan we have before us, we shall presently see.

While all this was going on there, what was the rest of the continent like? Ourpreconceived notions of savagery or nomadic tribal communities must be thrown entirelyto the winds, together with the statement of the historian Robertson, made in 1777, that inall New Spain there is not "any monument or vestige of any building more ancient than theConquest."

As a first step towards an appreciation of the place of Copan in American history,we must consider the actual state of New Spain (that is, the region from the Rio Grande toPanama, approximately) at the time of the Discovery. The Aztecs were in possession ofthe valley of Mexico, with an elaborate civilization, fairly comparable if not superior to thatof Europe at the same time; but their history only goes back a few hundred years, for theywere merely a warlike nation who had come in, probably from the north, and were about

comparable to the Manchus in China, or the Goths in Rome. They settled upon andappropriated some (a very small part) of the civilization before them. Around them werevarious semi-independent peoples whom they had neither destroyed nor entirely subdued,and among whom they had only a primacy of force. To the southwest of Mexico theancient Zapotec kingdom still existed, a link with the past, towards its end, but still owingnothing to the Aztecs. In Yucatan and Central America were the fragments of the Mayanpeoples, broken up into half a dozen main language stocks, and a score of separatedialects. Between the Mayas and those of Mexico there was some intercourse and a littleborrowing, with some very ancient traditions probably in common. In culture andmythology, as to which we have limited material for comparison, and in language, as towhich we have ample material, they were about as much alike, or as closely related, asthe ancient Germans to the ancient Romans. Both were Americans, as the others wereAryans, with a common inheritance of tradition, mythology, and language type; no more.

Beyond all possible dispute, the Mayas were indefinitely the older people. TheAztecs had but a picture or rebus writing, and there is no evidence they ever had morethan this. There are slight traces of writing akin to the Maya, among the Zapotecs. But theMayas had a complete system of genuine hieroglyphic writing, certainly not derived fromthe Aztec picture-writing, but dissimilar from this in every way, with monuments antedatingthe period of Aztec history, on which the hieroglyphic forms are fully developed andperfect. The civilization, monuments, and hieroglyphs of Copan, Palenque, and of Tikal insouthern Yucatan, are Mayan; but they are not the Mayan of the time of the Discovery.

The period immediately preceding the entry of the Spaniards is a historical period.We have various chronicles written by native hands, princes, priests or recorders, givingus some of the early cosmic traditions, brought down into contemporary times. We havethese in Maya for Yucatan, and in Quiche-Cakchiquel for Guatemala. In each case theperiod of definable history goes back several centuries, but throws no light on the earlierperiod. In 1500 the triple Quiche kingdom was still a powerful and civilized nation; and ifwe know less of it than we do of the Aztec it is only because it was more quickly wiped out,because Lake Tezcoco and not Lake Atiffin became the seat of the Spanish capital, andbecause no efforts were made at the time to preserve the Mayan knowledge andtraditions, as was done by a few in Mexico.

In northern Yucatan the capital of the last Mayan confederacy, Mayapan, had been

destroyed in the middle of the 15th century; Chichen Itza lasted as a city practically up tothat time; and on the island of Tayasal in Lake Peten, southern Yucatan, there was apowerful and flourishing Itza nation down to 1697. Of the architecture, manner of life,


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house furnishings, etc. of the different living Maya centers we have reasonably fulldescriptions left by different Spanish writers of the time. And they do not correspond in thesmallest degree, to the monuments and buildings we have left at Copan and other ancient,abandoned sites. We are only able to trace a continuation of the type, and to know thatthe same hieroglyphic writing we find on the carved monuments of the older places,continued to be used until the Conquest. So that after sifting the various descriptions, we

find that even the powerful cities of Tayasal and Utatlan, the Quiche capital, were butvillages in comparison. The nearest link is Chichen Itza, which seems to have been thelast really great Maya city. Its architectural remains are indeed in size and extentcomparable with the older sites; but in style and in the life of the people displayed by thecarved and painted scenes, it is like comparing the Egypt of the Ptolemies with that ofRamessu and Hatshepsu. But Chichen Itza itself was abandoned as the capital at least acentury before the coming of the Spaniards. And to quote from the description of Mr. A.P.Maudslay, from whose great work most of our illustrations are taken, after saying: "I fearthat this slight description of Chichen must wholly fail to convey to my readers thesensation of a ghostly grandeur and magnificence which becomes almost oppressive toone who wanders day after day amongst the ruined buildings"; and then after noting

various differences between the ruins of Chichen and those of Copan and Ouirigua, headds:

"....the absence of sculptured stelae, the scarcity of hieroglyphic inscriptions, and,most important of all, the fact that every man is shown as a warrior with atlatl and spears inhis hand; the only representation of a woman depicts her watching a battle from the roofof a house in a beleaguered town, whereas at Copan and Quirigua there are norepresentations of weapons of war, and at Copan a woman was deemed worthy of a finestatue in the Great Plaza [see illustration, Stela P]. I am inclined to think that it must havebeen the stress of war that drove the peaceable inhabitants of the fertile valleys of theMotagua and Usumacinta and the highlands of the Vera Cruz [Copan], to the lesshospitable plains of Yucatan, where, having learnt the arts of war, they re-established theirpower. Then again they passed through evil times: intertribal feuds and Nahua invasionsmay account for the destruction and abandonment of their great cities, such as ChichenItza and Mayapan...."

So much for the Maya civilization in the 15th century, and its then centers andcapitals. But of Copan, Palenque, Tikal, and Quirigua, we have not the slightest trace asliving cities. Cortes visited Tayasal on his way to Honduras; Alvarado overran andconquered the Quiche kingdoms; but no one even mentioned the existence of any ofthese older places. Not a tradition about any of them has ever been discovered among

the living natives at any time; for all we can see they were then buried, in ruins, in theforests, and forgotten.In 1576 Diego Garcia de Palacio, Judge of the Royal Audiencia, made a report to

King Philip II of his travels, by royal order, in what is now eastern Guatemala and westernHonduras. He reached Copan, and describes "ruins and vestiges of a great civilizationand of superb edifices, of such skill and splendor that it appears that they could neverhave been built by the natives of that province." He sought, but could find no tradition oftheir history, save that a great lord had come there in time past, built the monuments andgone away, leaving them deserted. This, in the face of what we see on the site, meansexactly nothing. Palacio's original manuscript, which is still in existence, was forgotten,only to be later discovered, and printed first in 1860. For 259 years Copan was again

forgotten, until visited in 1835 by John L. Stephens. Palenque for its part remained entirelyunknown until about the middle of the 18th century. For what we know of real valueconcerning these ruins we are indebted to the works of Stephens, to the archaeological


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survey and excavations carried on by Mr. A.P. Maudslay, by the Peabody Museum ofCambridge, and to a few less extended visits by other explorers. In 1891, by theenlightened zeal of President Bogrim of Honduras, the Peabody Museum acquired theofficial care of the Copan ruins for a period of years.

As seen upon the plan, Copan consists of a group of pyramids, on the summit ofeach of which probably once stood a small temple; of terraces and walls; and finally of

sculptured pillars or stelae, each of which has or had before it a low, so-called altar.Nearly all of these stelae bear on one face a human figure surrounded by most elaboratesymbolism of dress, ornament, and other figures. The faces are dignified and for the mostpart not grotesque. Above the head is usually a triple overshadowing. The mainsymbolism is worked out in bird and serpent motifs, and into the dress at different parts ofthe body, notably the chest, are worked medallions of faces, as if to symbolize differenthuman centers of consciousness in the body. The sides and back of all are covered withhieroglyphic inscriptions, whose general characteristic it is to begin with a date, which isfollowed by the indication of intervals which reach to other dates throughout the wholeinscription. This statement holds good for practically all Mayan monumental inscriptions,on stelae or otherwise. And these dates, or most of them, are all we can yet read of these

writings. We can, that is, read them in their own terms, but without being definitely able totranslate them into our chronology.

The first and greatest work done by the Peabody Museum was in the excavationand partial restoration of the Hieroglyphic Stairway. This stairway is on the west side ofmound 26, almost in the center of the plan. It is 26 feet wide, with a three foot carvedbalustrade on each side. The risers of the steps are carved with a hieroglyphic inscription;at the base is an altar, and the ascent is, or was, broken by seated figures. But fifteensteps are left in place, although an approximate restoration was made by Dr. Gordon of theposition of what were probably the upper rows. Originally they must have numbered aboutninety, to the top of a pyramid as many feet high; but a landslip at some time, probablysince Palacio's time, carried the upper rows down and on over the lower ones, whichremained buried until Maudslay's first visit. Palacio mentioned a great flight of stepsdescending to the river, which the river may have destroyed.

In front of the Stairway stands Stelae M, of which Dr. Gordon closes by saying: "Itwould seem to have stood in front of the older edifice, that served at last as a foundationfor the Hieroglyphic Stairway with its temple, for centuries before the latter was built." Andwhat now is the chronological evidence on these monuments?

Without going into what would be long details to set forth even what is known of thevery elaborate Maya methods of time reckoning, it is enough to say that these sculptureddates regularly specify a certain day (indicated by the combination of twenty names withthirteen numbers), and hence recurring only once in 260 days, falling on a certain day of a

certain month, in a certain year expressed by four numbers in vigesimal (instead ofdecimal)progression, so that the successive figures stand for 1, 20, 400, and 8000 years,instead of as with us, 1, 10, 100, 1000. It is a moot point whether the dates include thenext stage, of 160,000 years, in the reckoning, or not. And it may be stated by the way,that though the Mayas knew and used the ordinary solar year, their long chronologicalcount was kept in terms of 360 days, the same as we find in co-ordinate use in ancientIndia, and perhaps significantly identical with the perfect circle of 360 degrees. Whateverthe fact, however, as to these higher periods, it is established that nearly all the Mayainscription dates occur within the ninth 400 of the current 8000-year cycle; that is, they aredated between about 3200 and 3600 years after the initial date of that particular period. Itis not possible for us to consider these dates other than as the contemporary dates of the

monuments themselves; and the great number of them, all over the Maya territory, slightlyvarying for different sites, points most clearly to a special "building" period of about thatextent.


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A very few monumental dates go much back of this period. The initial dates of theTemples of the Sun and of the Foliated Cross at Palenque both fall in the 765th year of thesame current 8000-year cycle, and that of the Temple of the Cross about five years beforethat great cycle began. But as these inscriptions then go on to cover long successions ofyears, these earlier dates are probably historical, but not contemporary. On the otherhand, a very few dates come on into the tenth 400; and the only large stela bearing so

late a date is at Chichen Itza, the last great Maya city, so far as our history goes. Ananalysis of the groupings of these dates on the various monuments of the different sites,and their mutual comparison, gives a good deal of basis to check future historicalresearches, and at Copan it gives us one definite confirmation, already referred to, of theevidence which the structures themselves afford of successive separated "building"periods, with continued intervening use. Of four consecutive and deciphered dates on thefifteen lower steps of the Stairway, still in position, at Copan, the second and third arerespectively 48 and 74 years, and the last, at the lower right hand of our illustration, is 937years, 44 days later than the first. We can hardly regard this date as a future or propheticone; it must be, like similar final dates of long inscriptions at Palenque, the contemporarydate of the structure. All the other dates at Copan, those as initial dates on stelae, fall

within the "building" era of the ninth 400, which we have mentioned as common to nearlyall the inscriptions - except one, Stela C, in the middle of the north part of the Great Plaza,whose date is apparently almost contemporary with this final date of the stairway. Andthese two dates are 730 years later than any other stela date at Copan. Of Stela C, Dr.Gordon says:

"The two monuments [the Stela and the Stairway] have certain technical affinities inthe carving, as though they might have been the work of the same master."

In short, while we are still far from the end, the story of the monuments and theirdates alike so far is that there was a great building period among the most ancient knownMaya cities, in what we know as the ninth period, about date 3400 of the current cycle;that Copan shared in this; that then such building ceased, so far as dated monuments go,at Copan for some 730 years. That then the Stairway was rebuilt over a former pyramid,and Stela C erected; that this latter period was a few hundred years later than one Stelawe find at Chichen Itza; that after that silence fell, oblivion for all the southern sites, andinternal strife, warfare, and disintegration for the last great Itza city; then its abandonment;and then finally, on new sites, local dynastic histories, each silent as to these earlierplaces, yet embracing several hundred years of history, and carrying on even into Spanishtimes what were still then powerful and, as things went, civilized kingdoms. But they werenot Copan.

(Vol. 1, 419-26)

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Maori Lore and Legend- Rev. S. J. Neill

The two countries now known as the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominionof New Zealand are only about 1200 miles apart, but they are separated from each otherin more ways than by a strip of ocean 1200 miles wide. From a very distant past they

have had a very different history. According to geologists New Zealand has been manytimes below the ocean, and up again, while Australia, during much of this time, has been"like a vessel half filled with the water in which it sits."


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The Archaean, the very old rock formation of the western half, and of some otherparts of Australia, it is true, reaches across beneath the ocean and crops out on the WestCoast of the South Island of New Zealand, but how many changes, and what aeons oftime followed from then until the more recent geologic periods! The very long separationof New Zealand from Australia, and the very different geologic fate of the two countries,are reflected in their fauna and flora. While there are no serpents in New Zealand, and no

marsupials, except those brought there during the last century, and no tribes the remainsof a very ancient past, all these are to be found in Australia. The whole past of the twocountries seems to perpetuate itself in making and keeping them unlike still. While thecontinual intercourse between Australia and New Zealand tends to bind them togethercommercially; and while they are almost wholly peopled from the same "old country" -Great Britain and Ireland, yet there remains an inexplicable something which separatesand distinguishes them quite as much as we sometimes notice in the same family onebrother differing from another brother. But in nothing, perhaps, do they differ half so muchas in the aborigines that inhabit them.

The Maori of New Zealand is but a late arrival comparatively - only a few hundredyears, while the Australian native has been in the great Island-Continent during a period so

vast that the imagination cannot grasp it. The Australian native has no legends, no nativelore, no talent for cultivating the earth, etc.; the New Zealand native has madeconsiderable advance in many ways, he can make boats and is a good seaman. He cancarve in wood as all know; and as to legends and ancient knowledge he will compare withany ancient people. The Australian native has no notion of the past of his race; the Maorihas distinct accounts of where his ancestors came from, what were the names andcommanders of the boats they came in, and where they landed. This old home of theMaori is known as Hawa-iki, and is generally supposed to be Samoa and Tonga. Thedistance from these islands to New Zealand is about 2000 miles, and it is estimated thatthe journey could have been made inside one month without any great danger, the seabeing often placid, and the trade winds favorable. Anyhow, the Maori tells of how some ofhis ancestors visited New Zealand, returned to Hawa-iki and again, with others, made thevoyage to Aotearoa, New Zealand, so called from the name of one of the boats.

The lore and legends of the Maoris were in danger of passing into oblivion, for theMaori had no written records, and all tradition and ancient teaching had to be passed onby word of mouth, by trained teachers, to prepared pupils in the Whare-kura. This dangerwas averted by the Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Grey, gaining the confidence ofthe Maori Chiefs and acting as the recorder of their ancient wisdom. This was done in1855, and the second edition appeared in 1885. As it is now difficult to procure eitheredition a new edition has been issued by the Government of New Zealand, having beencompiled by Mr. James Izett. The compiler says of Sir George Grey:

"No man ever stood in New Zealand who more greatly possessed the power ofinfluencing the minds and thrilling the hearts of his hearers. What infinite power ofexpression was his Biting sarcasm, flashes of humor, tenderest sympathy, in turn he couldpour forth. A man naturally of the most tender and affectionate disposition, yet he put allhis great powers aside so that the world should have the legends of the Maori simply asthe Maori told them."

Mr. Izett has departed from the severe primitive simplicity of the original form, andgiven us the old legends in what he believes to be a more readable form. He has alsoadded a few legends from other sources.

In a short article like this it will not be possible to do more than give a few items ofthe lore and legends of the Maori.

The Maori lore was handed down orally by the teachers in the Whare-kura, sacredcollege, esoteric school, masonic lodge, or whatever it may be likened to. The Whare-kurain New Zealand was no doubt a faithful copy of the Whare-kura in the old home, Hawa-iki.


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The manner of building and dedicating it was somewhat as follows. The priests built it ofmaterials given by the people. During the building the priests abstained from food eachday until the work was finished, so that the Whare-kura might be "unstained by anyexhibition of mere animal grossness." At each stage of the building sanctificatory riteswere performed; and when completed, a sacrifice in front of the building was offered.While this was being offered outside the building "a sacred fire and an umu (oven) had

been lighted within the building. At the close of day another fire was lighted in thecourtyard where food was cooked and eaten by the sacred men."

The Whare-kura being now ready, the candidates had to be made ready also.Twenty or thirty youths of the highest rank were chosen and led to a stream or lake nearby. While the youths stood in the water the priests dropped some water into their earsfrom a stalk of toe-toe. Then the priests entered the water themselves; ladled it severaltimes over the candidates, and repeated the proper incantations. This will at once remindone of the ancient rite of baptism. Water represents truth, as we read: "Sanctify them inthe truth: thy word is truth"; and, "Now ye are clean through the word which I havespoken unto you." The touching of the ears with a little water was no doubt symbolical ofopening the mind to understand knowledge. All the other parts of the ceremony were also

full of meaning, to those who understood. One of the strangest parts of this ceremony ofinitiation was the use of fresh sea-weed which priests and candidates took, and havingrepeated over it incantations, threw it from them as they came out of the water, andproceeded to the Whare-kura. This is thought to have some reference to a "flood" legendwhich was thus kept alive in the memory of Maoridorn. It may have been so, or it mayhave been a symbolical representation of something else, for the Maori has several "flood"legends which appear to stand out apart from this initiation ceremony.

Another strange thing was that the only female permitted in the Whare-kura was anaged woman. This woman was supposed to have power by incantation to ward off all evilinfluences. As in the case of ancient Egypt, those engaged in the sacred College lived inthe college and therefore apart from their families during the time of instruction. All thingsin and around the Whare-kura were tapu or sacred, and woe to the person who invadedthe sacred place. All food had to be prepared at a distance, and left at a given place fromwhich appointed persons brought it to the Whare-kura. The teaching began at sun-downand lasted till midnight. All slept from then till dawn. For a pupil to become drowsy duringthe time of instruction was a grave offense. The students had to repeat the teachingverbatim. This repetition lasted for a month so as to fix it for ever in the minds of thepupils. The scope of instruction, the curriculum, as we would say, extended over manythings, especially incantations; a knowledge of the gods; the histories of the race; songs;the powers to procure death or to cure the sick, and many other things.

When the time came to close the Whare-kura a test of the power imparted to the

pupils was made before the whole tribe. Even in comparatively recent European daysMaoris have been said to die just when they made up their minds to die. That thetohungas, or priests, and those whom they trained, obtained some powers not common ispretty certain. They seem to have obtained a knowledge of the power of vibrations, thepower of concentrated will, and other things now fast dying out. One of their incantationscalled Hikiwas said to be able to change the polarity of objects - "to make heavy thingslight," as we read in the legend when Maui drew up the islands of New Zealand from thedepths of the ocean.

A very peculiar closing ceremony was performed by the chief tohunga before thedoor of the Whare-kura was closed, not to be opened again till the following year. Thisceremony consisted in a small mound of earth in the shape of a lizard being made before

the Whare-kura. The tohunga placed a foot on either side of this heap of earth in theshape of a lizard, and reciting a certain incantation he would crush the lizard under foot.Pupils attended the Whare-kura for several years - from three to five - before they were


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regarded as duly instructed.Besides the "Sacred School" there were other schools open to all, to men and

women, all except the priests and their pupils of the Whare-kura. There was the schoolwhich gave instruction in agriculture; which told about the care of the kumara, taro, andother vegetables; and all about fishing, and snaring, and spearing. There was theastronomical school, for the Maoris had some knowledge of the heavenly bodies, for which

they had names. This school was also very sacred and only those of the highest rankbelonged to it. The scope of the school of astronomy, among other things, included muchthat we still find in some almanacs. It considered the time to plant and sow; the time forgathering in crops; for fishing and catching birds; for visiting, and many other things.

The Maori belongs to the great Polynesian stock, and some parts of this interestingstock, such as that of Hawaii, seem to have excelled the Maoris in respect to theelaborateness of their ancient lore, and the different degrees of initiation. The priesthoodof Hawaii consisted of ten sacred colleges, the sixth of which was devoted to medicine andsurgery. The fifth was devoted to the science of divination, and the transference of thespirit which had just departed, "from the dead to a living body." The name Uli, in Hawaiistanding for the Great Supreme - the Highest, the Eternal God - was the god invoked in

the sacred schools. Among the Maoris the name Io was given to the same god. He wasthe unseen, incomprehensible One. That the Polynesians had descended from a peoplewhose initiates, at least, possessed a very great knowledge, is evident from many thingsthat have come down to us. It is not possible here to give at any length an account ofMaori lore in regard to Nature, using this term in its most comprehensive sense. All thatcan be given is to repeat a few names with their meanings; and to leave a comparison ofthe Maori, Oriental, and other systems to those who make a study of ComparativeReligion, or Comparative Philosophy.

As the Oriental postulated Being as prior to all manifestation, so the Maori taughtthat Kore was at the back of all things. It is not very clear ifUliorIo, the Great Supreme,the Eternal God of the Polynesian, was the same as Kore; when we deal with the Infinitewe must of necessity find difficulty in expressing our ideas. Kore seems to have been theVoid, the thohu vabohu of the first ofGenesis, the limitless space. It may have been theMaori form of designating "The Eternal Parent, wrapped in her ever-invisible robes," etc.,which we read of in the first Stanza ofThe Book of Dzyan. For Kore, although the "void(the ethereal space, absolute nothingness), it nevertheless contained the elements andforces of all things that were to be, that were still unborn. From Te Kore (absolute no-thing-ness) were evolved in ever descending degrees nine other kores: the First Void; theSecond Void; the Great Void, etc.; and lastly, the Eastbound Void (Te Kore tarnaua), andthe Black Void (Te Mangu). Te Mangu is said to be the son ofTe Kore-tarnaua - the propername is alleged to be Maku, signifying moisture. And from the union ofTe Mangu with

Mahorahora-nui-a-rangi (the Vast Expanse of Heaven) sprang the four supports of theheavens."The time-aspect of the Cosmos, looking along the evolutionary path upward,

extended from the lowest forms of life to time illimitable. Omitting the Maori terms we havethe following: "Void; darkness; seeking; following on; conception of thought; enlarging;breathing or godly power; thought; spirit-life; desire; Holy Spirit, or supernatural power;form of beauty when in the Spirit-Glory; Love in force, coming into Good; Possessing;Delightful; Possessing Power; and lastlyAtea (Space, Void, Nothingness). The aspectdownwards was tenfold, the last being Meto orAmeto (Extinction). The heavens weretenfold. The fourth of these, counting upwards, was "Te wai-ora-a-Tane, the water of life ofTane; from this water comes the spirit of the child about to be born. The seventh is

Autoia; or the heaven in which the soul is created. The tenth and highest is Naherangi, orTuwharea, the Supreme Temple of the Heavens, inhabited by the great gods. Here Rehuais the chief and ruling power."


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The above is but a brief outline of the teaching. There were others. According toone genealogy, "God is alleged to have commenced His chant of the order of Creation atTe Po (the Darkness) and sang: Te Po begat Te Ao (the Light), who begat Ao-marama(Daylight), who begat Ao-tu-roa (Long standing Light)," etc., etc.

The stories of the gods were no doubt attempts to explain to the pupils in theWhare-kura various aspects or ways of contemplating the Cosmos, some being much

more metaphysical than others. When we come to the personification in Nature we seethat the human mind, whether under the Southern Cross, or in Greece, or Rome, or India,fashions the legends of its divinities in much the same way. Rangi(heaven) was of coursenot the first god; indeed, he was the ninth in order of descent from the Supreme God; andeverything about him was known, not only his genealogy, but all the things he did, verymuch after the fashion of the Greek Zeus. Te Reinga, the heaven or place of departedspirits, should not be confounded with Te Rangi, the sky.

The children ofTe Rangiwere numerous. By his wife Pokoharua-te-popoko he hadfour children, and afterwards twelve. "These twelve constitute the family that draggedmankind down to earth; they are they who first persisted in following evil courses, throughwhich resulted the appearance of confusion, sorrow, anguish, in the world. By another

wife Rangi had seven children who dwell with him in the sky." By still another wife, Hotu-Papa, he had twenty-nine children and they became "the progenitors of the human racewhich now inhabits the earth." These numbers might, in the eyes of those critics who seean astronomical meaning in everything, be made to represent the year in its four seasons,and twelve months with twenty-nine or thirty days in each month. This is fanciful, and theMaori probably gave the story a much deeper meaning.

Another tradition may be mentioned, if for nothing else than the fact that it tells usthe Maori has the same name for the sun which we find in the old Egyptian. It will heremembered that from the last Kore (Te Mangu) and Mahorahora-nui-a-rangisprang thefour supports of heaven. From one of these called Rangi-potikidescended four children,the last being called Haronga, from whom sprang Ra, the sun, and Marama, the moon.

There were many other gods, some of whom were of human form. The war-god,among a fighting people like the Maori, held a place of special honor. His full name wasTu-mata-uenga, but he was generally known as Tu.

A very important god was Tane Mahuta (Mahuta is one of the names of the present"Maori King"), the god of the forests. It was Tane who fastened some of the constellationson the breast of Rangi. He also prepares the living water in which the moon renewsherself. It is from the waters of Tane, the fourth heaven, that the soul is sent to animatethe human child.

There is another story which reminds us of Egypt and the judgment of Osiris andthe forty-two assessors. The Maoris, according to one story, believed that there were two

great giants which every man had to pass at death. If he were bright and gay he couldpass in safety, but if he were heavy and clogged he was promptly destroyed. The moral ofwhich is, "Go to rest with a smile."

Some of the other gods were: Tangaroa, the god of the ocean; Ru, the god ofearthquakes, whose full name was Ru-wai-moko-roa. He was said to be the son of earth(Papa) and sky (Rangi). Tahu, the merry god, presided over feasts and everythingpertaining to food. A mighty god was the god of tempests, Tawhiri-matea. It was owing toa great contest between this god and his brother that part of the earth sank. It will beremembered that the presiding deity in the tenth heaven was Rehua. It says much for thespirit of Maori lore that this deity was represented as Goodness, Compassion itself. Theheart of the universe is goodness. One is reminded of the words in The Light of Asia:

"The heart of it is Love, the end of itIs Peace and Consummation sweet - obey!"


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It is impossible to mention here half of the stories, and their variations. Those whohave given to them much study confess that a great difficulty exists in unraveling thevarious legends, which, in some cases are at variance with each other, and in other casesdovetail into each other. Probably in the teaching of the Whare-kura all was made plain;but, as is so often the case, in the exoteric form there is much which is perplexing, if not

misleading.It would not be fitting to conclude even such a brief account as this of Maori lore

without mentioning the name ofTiki. His fame is known throughout Polynesia. Some sayhe was the original man, others that he created man. It is important to remember that Tikihimself was created by the Supreme Deity, the Eternal, whose name is Io orUli. Whenwoman was created the name given to her was Io-wahine, thus connecting her with theSupreme Deity, surely a very noteworthy thing in Maori lore. The name of the place whereshe was made is said to be Tapu-tai-roa, or Kura-wha, which of course is situated inHawa-iki.

The legends of Maoridom are numerous; some of them are evidently allegorical,others are stories probably founded on facts. Of the allegorical kind we may mention the

legend of Maui, who went out with his brothers to fish and drew up New Zealand, knownas "the fish of Maui," from the depths of the sea. "Then Maui said: 'This fish which I sofortunately have been enabled to bring to the surface was in ages past the source of muchdisturbance. It was constantly roaring as if distracted with pain, and vomiting as ifsuffering from long-continued sickness. Then it was wounded grievously, and so it sank tothe bottom. There in its agony it writhed and twisted and trembled so as to be still asource of annoyance to the world. Knowing of these things I have brought you here sothat I might raise this fish again to a new life.'" etc.

Now according to geologists, New Zealand has been several times beneath theocean and raised again. But how could the Maori of New Zealand know this, a teaching ofthe geologists during the latter part of the nineteenth century? The legend of Maui isclearly a New Zealand legend, not one from Hawa-iki, and it appears to refer very plainlyto a teaching of geology of recent date. How did the Maori get the idea? Was there in theteaching of the Whare-kura more than the pakeha (white man) supposes? One can onlywish that H.P. Blavatsky, who threw so much light on the teachings of the East, had alsotaken up the lore of the Maori; then, no doubt, we should see the ancient legends in a newlight, and perceive that they do not stand alone, but have a more or less intimateconnection with the mythology of other ancient peoples.

(Vol. 5, pp. 387-95)

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The Tomb of Osiris and Strabo's Well- H. T. Edge

As long as archaeological research is pursued with the zeal and honesty that iscustomary with archaeologists, it must result in a discovery of the truth about ancienthistory. Therefore it is destined to confute the timid hypotheses, which are numerous andever-changing, being based on prepossessions of various kinds, both theological andscientific; and it is as certain to vindicate those ample and logical views of human history

which were so ably expounded by H.P. Blavatsky. Under these circumstances we neednot be surprised to find that the principal discoveries are "totally unexpected." This is afamiliar phrase in connection with discoveries, whether in archaeology or in other branches


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of science. Researchers usually claim to pursue the inductive method, but it may well bequestioned what part induction has played in the really important discoveries. There iseven ground for the extreme view that discoveries are made unexpectedly and whilesomething else is being looked for; and that the inductive method, pursued between-whiles, not infrequently aids to lead investigators off the track until such time as anotheraccidental discovery pulls them back again. But this is treating the word "induction" rather

unfairly; for every reasoner is bound to include among his data certain opinions which heregards as proven or as axiomatic; and if these happen to be wrong, his conclusions canhardly be right except by accident. At any rate, if discoveries are "unexpected," this isevidence that the theories must have been incomplete.

The Illustrated London News for May 30 contains an article by Edouard Naville onhis recent discoveries at Abydos, as director of the Egypt Exploration Fund. These havegiven "quite unexpected results." An ancient geographer, however, seems to have beenvindicated; for what has been found is designated by the explorer as being evidently whatis called "Strabo's Well, which he describes as being below the temple." And otherancients are vindicated too, for besides Strabo's Well, the discoveries have revealed whatis "evidently a tomb, and the sculptures show it to be what is regarded as the tomb of

Osiris."M. Naville describes the building as "unique in its kind," and " probably one of the

most ancient constructions preserved in Egypt." It was behind the western wall of thetemple built by Seti I, and entirely subterranean, at a depth of more than thirty feet belowthe temple, and nothing revealed its existence.

"The work started from the western end of the construction, from a colossal door-lintel which had been discovered two years ago at the end of a passage covered withfunerary inscriptions of King Menephtah, the Pharoah of the Exodus. [?] This lintel, ofmuch more ancient date than the passage, is a doorway in a wall extending right and left,and of a thickness of more than 12 ft. On the southern side the corner had been reached.The top layers had been discovered of the enclosure wall, built in magnificent masonry ofhard red quartzite sandstone."

With hundreds of laborers the sides of the building were traced and tons of loosematerial removed from the middle, and in eleven weeks the whole had been laid bare. It isa rectangle, 100 ft. by 60 ft. inside. The enclosure wall is twenty feet thick, consisting of anouter casing of red quartzite beautifully worked, with joints fine and the mortar hardlyperceptible. A length of fifteen feet is by no means rare in the blocks.

"The whole structure has decidedly the character of the primitive constructions

which in Greece are called cyclopean, and an Egyptian example of which is at Ghizeh, theso-called temple of the Sphinx."

The rectangle is divided into three naves or aisles, the middle one being the widest;they are separated by two colonnades of square monolithic pillars in granite about fifteenfeet high and eight and a half feet square - five in each colonnade. These supportedarchitraves more than six feet high, which, with the enclosure wall, supported a ceiling ofgranite monoliths that covered the side aisles. One of the few remaining of thesemonoliths weighs more than thirty tons. The building has been used as a quarry, so thatmuch has been overthrown.

Next comes another unexpected discovery.

"When the work reached the lower layers of the enclosure wall, a very extraordinarydiscovery was made. In this wall, all round the structure, are cells about six feet high and


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wide, all exactly alike, without any ornament or decoration. They had doors, probablymade of wood, with a single leaf; one can see the holes where they turned. Such cellsare not seen in any other Egyptian construction."

These cells do not open on to a floor but on to a narrow ledge which runs along thenaves. In the naves there was no floor, and under the ledge the masonry goes on down

until water is reached at a depth of twelve feet. This is at the level of the infiltration waterin the cultivated land, and luckily the Nile is this year lower than for fifty years. Thus thetwo aisles and the two ends of the middle nave form a continuous rectangular pool, whilethe floor of the middle nave, which is on the same level as the cells and ledges, forms anisland with the bases of the columns resting on it. How much deeper the walls go, it isdifficult to say; the explorer suggests that they go down another twelve feet below thewater, but perhaps another surprise awaits us here.

The only religious sculptures found are on the east side and represent offeringsmade by Menephtah to Osiris and other gods.

"Osiris.... was supposed to have been torn to pieces by his enemy, Set or Typhon,

and his limbs had been scattered among the chief cities of Egypt. Abydos being theresidence of the god, its share had been the head, which was buried in his tomb. Thattomb was very famous, and various excavators have been searching for it for years."

At the lower part of the end wall of the rectangle was found the door of a cell like theother ones, but the back wall of the cell had been broken through and gave access to alarge subterranean chamber, wider than the whole construction, very well preserved, witha ceiling consisting of two slabs resting against each other. On the ceiling and side wallsare funerary representations, and the sculptures show it to be the tomb of Osiris. It is of alater date [?] than the rest of the cells, being from the time of Seti I. The pool is in the styleof the so-called temple of the sphinx, which is of the IVth Dynasty and is characterized bythe total absence of inscription or ornament. But here the pillars, instead of four feetsquare, are eight and a half.

"It is impossible, in spite of the havoc made.... not to be struck by the majesticsimplicity of the structure.... Was the pool in connection with the worship of Osiris? Did thesacred boat of the god float on the water?.... What were the cells made for?.... Was there acanal coming from the Nile, as the Greek geographer says?" *

-----------* "Below the Memnonium is a spring reached by passages with low vaults

consisting of a single stone and distinguished for their extent and mode of construction.This spring is connected with the Nile by a canal which flows through a grove of Egyptianthorn-acacias, sacred to Apollo." - Strabo, xvii, ch. i, 42-----------

Such are some of the questions that occur to the explorer.Undoubtedly a people so great as the Egyptians were in building and in the many

arts and sciences appertaining thereto, were equally great in their religion. And indeed itseems too vast for our easy comprehension. Before we can understand the Egyptians wemust grow - expand - get rid of our mythologies and superstitions. Referring to "Studies inSymbolism: II. The Great Pyramid," in The Theosophical Path for July, 1914, we may

appropriately introduce some of it here. So far from having solved the many problems ofthe Pyramid, we are only just beginning to understand what the problems are. Some mainclues, however, are to be found in H.P. Blavatsky's colossal works, Isis Unveiled (1877)


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and The Secret Doctrine (1888). The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx stand today assymbols of man's immense civilized antiquity. On the ceiling of the Denderah temple wererecorded three precessional cycles, making a total of 78,000 years. To quote from thearticle:

"According to Theosophical teaching.... our present Fifth Root-Race has already

been in existence about a million years. Each of its Sub-Races, the four prior to thepresent main one, lasted approximately 210,000 years.... The home of the Fourth Root-Race was the "Atlantean" Continental system.... mainly destroyed during Miocene times,and the principal later remains of which, the Island Continents Ruta and Daitya, weremostly submerged some 850,000 years ago, the cataclysm which lives in universalmemory as the Flood. The parts of Ruta and Daitya that remained were in turnsubmerged some 250,000 years ago, leaving, in the Atlantic, but the well-known island ofPlato, who while repeating the story as narrated to Solon by the priests of Egypt,intentionally confused the continents, assigning to the small island which sank last all theevents pertaining to the two enormous continents, the prehistoric and the traditional."

Then follow some facts, quoted from The Secret Doctrine, which are (in part) asfollows:

"The Mighty Ones perform their great works, and leave behind them everlastingmonuments to commemorate their visit.... They appear at the beginning of Cycles, as alsoof every precessional year.... The Great Pyramids were built under their directsupervision.... The first pyramids were built at the beginning of a precessional year...."

Further on we read the following:

"The earliest Egyptians had been separated from the latest Atlanteans for agesupon ages; they were themselves descended from an alien race, and had settled in Egyptsome 400,000 years before, but their initiates had preserved all the records. Even so lateas the time of Herodotus they had still in their possession the statues of 341 kings whohad reigned over their little Atlanto-Aryan Sub-race."

We have reproduced the above in order to save the reader the trouble of referringback to the article itself; as it leads directly to the following point in connection with the"Cyclopean" architecture. Now that we have found this kind of architecture built by apeople of such antiquity and greatness of culture as the Egyptians, why need we anylonger strain ourselves in trying to imagine that the rest of the Cyclopean architecture indifferent parts of the world was built by "primitive" people? Of course it is obviously not the

work of primitive people, but we had felt obliged to try to convince ourselves that it was;now we need no longer do so. The Cyclopean architecture of Peru is also accounted for.Clearly this kind of architecture, wherever found, was the work of one of these earlier sub-races, at a time when its diffusion was world-wide. Thus is explained the colossal energy,strength, and skill evinced in its construction.

Osiris wages war with Set or Typhon, is slain, shut into a chest, and cut into pieces.Isis recovers all but one piece and buries them. Osiris then becomes ruler of theunderworld. He is avenged by his son, Horus, who, with the aid of Thoth (intelligence),overcomes Set. This has the elements of a universal myth, traces of which may be foundin Christian theology. The analogy of nature makes the sun typical of Osiris, and the sun'sjourney through the months and seasons typical of the death and rebirth of summer; for

which reason some theorists, standing on their heads, have tried to make themselves andothers believe that all these elaborate and universal allegories, together with theceremonies and initiations connected therewith, were merely celebrations of the fact that


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summer and winter succeed one another! Such is the "solar myth" theory; and well mighta civilization wherein such a theory flourished be described as having drowned Osiris (theLight), and as being in dire need of the strenuous services of the Dragon, Set, and hiscoadjutor, Wisdom, to restore the God of Day.

What then is the meaning of this allegory and the many others, and of the elaborateand sublime mysteries connected with them? Scarcely the celebration of a mere

theological tenet or myth concerning the origin of the world! That would have been aspuerile as the solar-myth theory. If a people such as the ancient Egyptians are known tohave been, attached such immense importance to these representations and celebrations,they must have had good reason. Is it not the truth that the drama of human life,throughout the whole cycle of rebirths, is but an epitome of the life of the Universe itself;and that man, the Microcosm, is but a replica of the Macrocosm? In the myth of Osiris wesee once more the allegory of human life. Man comes to earth, a radiant Spirit from theabodes of Light. There he encounters the subtle and Titanic forces of Nature, as typifiedby Set or the Dragon. These at first overcome him, and his Divinity becomes buried. TheLight of his Wisdom becomes shattered into a myriad colored rays (as one of theallegories has it); his language (according to another) is confused into a multitude of

tongues. There is misunderstanding and conflict among men, and a dispersal of racestakes place. In short, whether we speak of man the individual or man the race, the primalunity splits into diversity.

But with the "curse" comes ever the "promise." The Divine Light that incarnated inthe natural man bears with it its own indestructible power of self-reproduction. Man evertreasures in his heart that Divine Spark, until the day when, by its aid, he overcomes theforces of the nether world and becomes his own Savior by his own Divinity. In the allegory,God the Savior is the Son of God the Creator. And it is God the Son, in conjunction withIntelligence (Thoth), who restores man the individual to more than his pristine glory, andreunites the sundered human races.

This allegory then, symbolized a perpetual drama of the utmost importance to everyman born of woman, since it was the drama of his own life. Hence we find that it has beencelebrated universally. Nay, such was the origin of the Dramatic Art itself, which we,standing on our heads as usual, have tried to believe was merely a form of entertainment.But more than this: in connection with these symbolic representations, were solemnizedthose sacred Mysteries, wherein the select candidates were initiated into the sublimersecrets of life, and the unprepared multitude were instructed in that religion whose wisdomsufficed to keep their civilization wholesome and stable throughout ages. It is well knownthat part of the ceremonies entailed upon the candidate that he should be entombed forthree days in a trance during which he disencumbered himself of former earthly shacklesand emerged purified and fit to become a Teacher. It is impossible to do more than hint at

such subjects, for, even if one were qualified to do more, one would not know at what pointto begin the explanation - so vast is the subject. But the day is fast dawning when all shallrecognize that these ancient craftsmen had a wisdom comparable with their skill, and hadmastered secrets of life whose mere existence we scarcely suspect. But we are theirdestined heirs; for the eternal law ordains that what has been entombed shall resurrect.These mighty builders knew well what they were doing when they left their imperishablerecords to their posterity.

(Vol. 7, pp. 250-56)"The transactions of this our city of Sals, are recorded in our sacred writings during

a period of 8000 years." - Plato, Timaeus.

"The Egyptians assert that from the reign of Heracles to that of Amasis, 17,000years elapsed." - Herodotus, xxIbid. ii, c. 43.


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The New Egyptology and the Theosophical Records- Charles J. Ryan

[1911]

The interesting problem of the origin of Egyptian culture is still unsolved byarchaeologists, though many new facts have been recently discovered which seem to beleading to something definite. Nestor L'Hote said sixty years ago:

"The further one penetrates into antiquity towards the origins of Egyptian art, themore perfect are the products of that art, as though the genius of the people, inversely tothat of others, was formed suddenly.... Egyptian art we only know in its decadence."

M. Jean Capart, the eminent Belgian Egyptologist, Keeper of the EgyptianAntiquities at the Royal Museum, Brussels, supports that opinion, saying, in his recentwork on Primitive Art in Egypt, that M. L'Hote's conclusion was and remains legitimate.

Since L'Hote's time fine works of art and astonishing beauty have been found intombs of the ThirdDynasty of Egyptian Pharaohs, about whom nothing - or next to nothing- was known until lately; even the Fourth Dynasty, the so-called Pyramid Builders, beinghistorically very obscure, no agreement as to their date having been come to yet. It is fairlydecided that they lived more than four or five thousands years B.C. Maspero, speaking ofsome paintings of the extremely ancient Third Dynasty, says:

"The Egyptians were animal painters of the highest power, and they never gavebetter proof of it than in this picture. No modern painter could have seized with more spiritand humor the heavy gait of the goose, the curves of its neck, the pretentious carriage ofits head, and the markings of its plumage."

The human figure was also represented with great artistic skill at the same earlyperiod. Even then the characteristic full-faced eye in the profile face was a firmlyestablished convention. We do not know the reasons for this, but it cannot have beenaccidental.

According to Dr. Petrie, the great Egyptian explorer, the commencement of theEgyptian civilization that we call classical, the Egypt of the Pharaohs with its hieroglyphs,

its established style of art, its complicated religion and philosophy, dates back to not lessthan B.C. 5000. This would be the time of the First Dynasty. Think what that means! Astretch of splendid civilization before the beginning of the Christian era about five times aslong as the period that has elapsed since the time of King Alfred to this day, a period whichhas included almost or quite all that we look upon as worthy of consideration in ourhistory!And yet back of Dr. Petrie's First Dynastic age we now find ourselves face to face with aprehistoric Egyptian civilization or civilizations of absolutely unknown age, possibly of ahundred thousand years duration. The one that immediately preceded the Dynastic orPharaonic is supposed to be of Libyan origin.

The possibility at least of a civilization of a hundred thousand years' duration shouldoffer little difficulty even to the most critical, now that we have found a well-formed skull

and skeleton near London differing very little from the modern type of Englishman, andestimated to be at least 170,000 years old. Long ago H.P. Blavatsky said in The SecretDoctrine and elsewhere that some form of Egyptian civilization had existed for an


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immensely longer period than the archaeologists imagine, and Katherine Tingley hasreasserted this most emphatically, saying that Egyptian civilization will be proved to beeven older than the (historic) Indian.

Archaeologists have always felt a great and peculiar difficulty in comprehending thesudden appearance of the high culture of the first Dynastic periods. It is impossible tobelieve that Egypt's greatness arose full-fledged, without long preparation, and yet where

are the evidences of development? M. Jean Capart, the Belgian authority referred toabove, has devoted great attention to this problem, and his conclusions are of interest tothe student of Theosophy. He considers it exceedingly probable that gradual invasions orcolonizations of a highly cultured race broke into the simpler Egyptian civilization from theSouth or South-east. These people, coming from the "Land of the Gods," Punt, which iscommonly supposed to be Somaliland, he thinks came originally from some Asiaticcountry, bringing with them their arts and sciences and religion. As they blended with theLibyan inhabitants of Egypt, who possessed their own distinctive civilization, theyestablished their already formed culture, and the combination produced what we call theDynastic or classic Egyptian civilization. This would explain the origin of the classicEgyptian forms on reasonable grounds, and furthermore would make it clear why the

Egyptians had so many things in common with the Hindus in matters of religion, such asthe respect paid to the Cow as a symbol of Divine Power.

H.P. Blavatsky, in Isis Unveiled, quotes the following from the ancient Hinduhistorian, Kulluka-Bhatta:

"Under the reign of Visva-mitra, first king of the Dynasty of Soma-Vanga, inconsequence of a battle which lasted five days, Manu-Vina, heir of the ancient kings, beingabandoned by the Brahmans, emigrated with all his companions, passing through Arya,and the countries of Barria, till he came to the shores of Masra." (Vol. I, p. 627)

She adds:

"Arya is Eran (Persia); Barria is Arabia, and Masra was the name of Cairo, which tothis day is called Masr, Musr, and Misro." (Ibid.)

Mitsraim was the Hebrew name for the land of Cham, Egypt.Dr. E.A.W. Budge, the learned Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in

the British Museum, says he believes that a series of carvings on the walls of the Templeof Edfu,

"....represent the invaders in prehistoric times, who made their way into Egypt, from

a country in the East, by way of the Red Sea.... In later times the indigenous priesthoodsmerged the legendary history of the deified king of the 'Blacksmiths' in that of Horus, thegod of heaven in the earliest times, and in that of Ra which belonged to a later period."

The mythical story of Horus conquering Nubia and Egypt, with which Dr. Budgethinks the true story of incursion was blended, contains the significant assertions that thewarriors of Horus, the "Blacksmiths," were armed with weapons of metal, and chains, andwere expert builders.

According to the Theosophical records the Great Pyramid was built long before thefifth millennium B.C. There are many mysteries connected with that most stupendouswork of man which have not yet been suspected by the Egyptologists, not the least of

which is the problem of its date and its builder; but, so far as they go, the stories of Horus'invasion and M. Capaq's luminous suggestions as to the origin of the Dynastic Egyptiancivilization, are not inconsistent with the account of Kulluka-Bhatta; and in the light of the


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new discoveries of one or more prehistoric civilizations in the Nile Valley, it looks as if theteachings of Theosophy were being vindicated in a way that was not dreamed of byarchaeologists in the days when H.P. Blavatsky opened a small window into themysterious past of glorious Egypt.

(Vol. 1, pp. 15-19)

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The Aborigines of Australia [Excerpted from: "The Island Continent" by the Rev. S. J. Neill]

.... When we come to a study of the aborigines of Australia and Tasmania we areconfronted with problems of great interest. Here is a vast portion of the earth's surface,nearly as large as the United States, which has been severed from the rest of the world forcountless ages. And here in this vast island continent, in this ancient, unknown land, livedthe remnants of a race which had seen its prime before Europe existed. History knows

nothing of this ancient land, nor of the tribes inhabiting it. The aborigines have no legendsof their own origin. They are, seemingly, as much severed from the rest of humanity as ifthey belonged to another planet. First, let us get some idea of these fragments of anancient race as early visitors have described them, or as they are today. Then we mayconsider the guesses of authorities; and lastly the hints given us in The Secret Doctrine.

In early accounts of Australia as given in Blackie's Gazetteer, we find that theAustralian was supposed to belong to the Papuan negro race. This is not the opinion ofauthorities today. The natives were described as of a sooty brown or chocolate color,about 5 ft. 4 in., to 5 ft. 7 in. high, the head small, the trunk slender,

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I Gleanings from Theosophical Path