CHAPTER I 



FAR EASTERN AND CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY 



Mythology 



IT IS UNFORTUNATE that primitive man has left no written record of 

 his observations but only crude pictographs of the more striking 

 objects of his environment. We cannot but believe that the Neander- 

 thaler knew of many luminescences— the aurora borealis, glowworms, 

 or luminous wood. Perhaps he had seen the glow of luminous bac- 

 teria growing on meat or fish. Ever on the alert, a new sight at 

 night must inevitably have caught his attention and directed all 

 faculties into further exploration of the phenomenon. In the day- 

 time a sudden movement arouses interest; at night, a spot of light, 

 no matter how small. 



Light has always occupied an important place in superstition 

 among all peoples. The contrast of light and darkness is so striking 

 that many races have adopted some story of the origin of light in 

 the history of creation. Usually there is chaos to begin with and 

 darkness came first, while light appeared later, as in the Biblical 

 story. It is natural that ideas regarding the beginning of the world 

 should follow the series of events which occur at daybreak. This 

 type of cosmogony is well seen among some groups of Polynesians, 

 who believed that. 



In the beginning there was nothing but Po, a void or chaos, without 

 light, heat, or sound, without form or motion. Gradually vague stirrings 

 began within the darkness, meanings and whisperings arose and then at 

 first, faint as early dawn, the light appeared and grew until full day 

 had come. Heat and moisture next developed and from the interaction 

 of these elements came substance and form, ever becoming more and 

 more concrete, until the solid earth and over-arching sky took shape 

 and were personified as Heaven Father and Earth Mother.^ 



The rest of the Polynesian universe followed as the offspring of 

 Heaven and Earth. 



Among some cultures, living beings came before daylight in the 

 sequence of events and it is interesting to note that they were 

 thought of as luminous. The Altaic race of Siberia believed that 

 before the sun and moon appeared,- " people who then flew in the 



^ From The mythology of all races, ed. by J. A. MacCuUoch and G. F. Moore. 

 9: 5, 1932. 

 " Ibid. 4: 419. 



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