LITTLE 

 JOURNEYS 



proven by the stars which -were regarded as peep- 

 holes through which mortals could catch glimpses of 

 the wondrous light of heaven beyond. Hell was below, 

 as was clearly shown by volcanoes, when the fierce 

 fires occasionally forced themselves up through. Dark- 

 ness to children is always terrible, and the night is 

 regarded by them as the time of evil. 

 Later, churchmen came to believe that the stars were 

 jewels hung in the sky every night by angels whose 

 business it was to look after them. 



The word "firmament" means a solid dome or roof. 

 This firmament, the sky, was supposed to be the floor 

 of heaven. The firmament had four corners and rested 

 on the mountains, as the eye could plainly see. When 

 God's car was rolled across the floor we heard thun- 

 der, and His movements were always accompanied by 

 lightnings, winds, black clouds and rain all this so He 

 could not be too plainly seen. 



Heaven was only a little way off a few miles at the 

 most. So there were attempts made at times by bad 

 men to reach it. The Greeks had a story about the 

 Aloidae who piled mountain upon mountain ; the Bi- 

 ble story of the Tower of Babel is the same, where the 

 masons called, " More mort," and those below sent 

 up bricks. There is also an ancient Mexican legend of 

 giants who built the Pyramid of Cholula, and they 

 would have been successful in their attempts if fire 

 had not been thrown down upon them from heaven. 

 In all "Holy Writ" we find accounts of " ascensions," 

 "translations," "annunciations," and mortals caught 

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