200 
BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 
the three Vedas, the letter A, the letter U, and the letter 
M; which form by coalition the tri-lateral monosyllable” 
Aum ,* pronounced Om, which is “ the symbol of God, 
the Lord of created beings.” Each of the three com¬ 
pound letters of this w r ord has its mysterious signification. 
The first denotes Brahma, the second Vishnu, and the 
third Siva. This syllable is never pronounced by the 
Hindoos, except inaudibly, or, as it were, inwardly, and 
never without many vigils and solemn preparations. “ If 
he have sitten on cushions of cusa, with their points 
towards the east, and be purified by rubbing that holy 
grass in both his hands, and be further prepared by three 
suppressions of the breath, he may then fitly pronounce 
Om.” t This term appears to have originated the 
Egyptian Om, the sun, and Omphi, an oracle, or presage 
of futurity. Plutarch J says ofufug was the name of an 
Egyptian deity. The true rendering, according to 
Bryant,§ is Omphi or Amphi, from Ham, who was 
worshipped as the Sun or Osiris. The mountains where 
these oracles were delivered were called Har-al-Ompi, 
from which the Greeks obtained Olympus, or from its 
oracular prerogatives, opog OXv/jlttov. Among the Arme¬ 
nians the same was called On, Eon, or Aon ; hence it 
was that Ham, who was worshipped as the sun, got the 
title of Amon, and Ammon, and was styled Baal-Hamon. 
It is said of Solomon that he had a vineyard at Baal- 
Hamon, || a name probably given to the place by his 
Egyptian wife, the daughter of Pharaoh. 
* “Menu.” chap.ii. 76. + Ibid, ii. 75. 
J “ Isis and Osiris.” § “ Analysis,” i. 235. 
|| Canticles, viii. 
