TOTEMISM IN THE EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY. 401 



death of Osiris, ending with joyful ceremonies, celebrating the 

 resurrection. 



We are assured that the Grecian mysteries originated from 

 the same animistic plane as those of the mystic ritual of Egypt. 

 Even Plutarch admitted that the myths of Dionysus, Apollo, 

 and Demeter, " all the things that are shrouded in mystic cere- 

 monies and are presented in rites," are just as absurd as the legend 

 of Osiris and Typhon. 



The mysteries of Dionysus originated in ancient Phrygia, and 

 passed into Greece in early times. Archaeologists state that it is 

 impossible to fix a date for the beginning of this kingdom, as it 

 appears to have risen on an older civilization. It was a Greek 

 tradition that the Phrygians were the oldest people, and their 

 language the original speech of mankind. Zabazius was the origi- 

 nal name of Dionysus in Phrygia, and his earliest images were 

 of wood, with the branches attached. Later he was represented 

 in the form of a bull with a human head ; and when the anthro- 

 pomorphic stage was reached his image was in human form, some- 

 times adorned with the horns of a bull. He had many sacred 

 animals, but the bull was the one particularly connected with his 

 worship. 



The reproductive forces of Nature being dramatically por- 

 trayed in these mystic ceremonies, and the symbols given in forms 

 which would explain their meaning to all beholders, it naturally 

 follows that the method upon which these signs were based might 

 be pure or obscene, according to the mental development of the 

 people by whom they were given. Tradition shows that the lat- 

 ter predominated in the rites of that which has been termed Na- 

 ture-worship. The class who have made a careful study of this 

 subject state that there is not one of the ancient religions — the 

 Israelite not excepted — which has not deified the sexual relation 

 by some ceremonial rite connected with the solemn service of re- 

 ligion. It is evident that these forms evolved from such savage 

 customs, as is still witnessed amid the orgies of the serpent- 

 worshipers in Africa.* The peculiar custom of circumcision is 

 thought to have originated in these gross symbols, as a sacrifice 

 to the deity supposed to rule over the reproductive forces, as 

 well as being also a substitute for human sacrifices. After the 

 Phrygian mysteries were introduced into Greece, Sabazius was 

 known under the name of Dionysus, or Bacchus, the god of the 

 vine, whose functions were similar to those of the Vedic god Soma. 

 Here Bacchus was called the son of Zeus and Demeter, and his 

 birth, death, and resurrection were dramatically represented in 

 the Grecian mysteries. Out of the combined rites connected with 



* See Vudu Worship, by Major Ellis, in The Ponular Science Monthly, 1891. 

 "OL. xlii. — 27 



