MASSEY'S LECTURES
NOTES
Notes to Massey's Sixth Lecture
[465] [Discuss.]
[466] [Source.]
[467] [Source.]
[468] [See Bibliography.]
[469] [Bk. 1, 45. 'To represent the mouth they depict a SERPENT, because the serpent is powerful in no other of its members except the mouth alone.']
[470] [Source.]
[471] [Source.]
[472] [Source.]
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[474] [Source.]
[475] [Source.]
[476] [Source.]
[477] [Source.]
[478] [Source.]
[479] [Discuss.]
[480] [Discuss.]
[481] [Source.]
[482] [Source.]
[483] [Source.]
[484] [Massey's own words.]
[485] [Source.]
[486] [Source.]
[487] [Source.]
Notes to Massey's Seventh Lecture
[488] [Discuss.]
[489] [Discuss.]
[490] [Source.]
[491] [See Bibliography for relevant entries.]
[492] [Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757), French mathematician. This quote is borrowed verbatim from Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine. See Vol. 1, p. 304.]
[493] [Source.]
[494] [Source.]
[495] [Bk. 1, 26. 'When they would denote an opening, they delineate a HARE, because this animal always has its eyes open.']
[495a] [Bk. 1. 10. 'To denote an only begotten, or generation, or a father, or the world, or a man, they delineate a SCARABÆUS. And they symbolise by this an only begotten, because the scarabæus is a creature self-produced, being unconceived by a female; for the propagation of it is unique after this manner:—when the male is desirous of procreating, he takes dung of an ox, and shapes it into a spherical form like the world; he then rolls it from the hinder parts from east to west, looking himself towards the east, that he may impart to it the figure of the world, (for that is borne from east to west, while the course of the stars is from west to east): then, having dug a hole, the scarabæus deposits this ball in the earth for the space of twenty-eight days, (for in so many days the moon passes through the twelve signs of the zodiac). By thus remaining under the moon, the race of scarabæi is endued with life; and upon the nine and twentieth day after having opened the ball, it casts it into water, for it is aware that upon that day the conjunction of the moon and sun takes place, as well as the generation of the world. From the ball thus opened in the water, the animals, that is the scarabæi, issue forth. The scarabæus also symbolizes generation, for the reason before mentioned —and a father, because the scarabæus is engendered by a father only—and the world, because in its generation it is fashioned in the form of the world—and a man, because there is no female race among them. Moreover there are three species of scarabæi, the first like a cat, and irradiated, which species they have consecrated to the sun from this similarity: for they say that the male cat changes the shape of the pupils of his eyes according to the course of the sun: for in the morning at the rising of the god, they are dilated, and in the middle of the day become round, and about sunset appear less brilliant: whence, also, the statue of the god in the city of the sun is of the form of a cat. Every scarabæus also has thirty toes, corresponding with the thirty days duration of the month, during which the rising sun [moon?] performs his course. The second species is the two horned and bull formed, which is consecrated to the moon; whence the children of the Egyptians say, that the bull in the heavens is the exaltation of this goddess. The third species is the one horned and Ibis formed, which they regard as consecrated to Hermes [Thoth], in like manner as the bird Ibis.']
[496] ['Butler, the author of Hudibras,
asks a shrewd question on this head, which I do not remember to have seen
solved:
"Tell me but what's the nat'ral cause
Why on a sign no painter draws
The full moon ever, but the half?"' From Brand, Popular Antiquities, vol.
2, p. 351.]
[497] [Source.]
[498] [Source.]
[499] [Source.]
[500] [Source.]
[501] [Source.]
[502] [Source.]
[503] [Source.]
[504] [Source.]
[505] [Source.]
[506] [Bk. 1, 21. 'To signify the rising of the Nile, which they call in the Egyptian language NOUN, and which, when interpreted, signifies New, they sometimes pourtray a LION, and sometimes THREE LARGE WATERPOTS, and at other times HEAVEN AND EARTH GUSHING FORTH WITH WATER. And they depict a LION, because when the sun is in Leo it augments the rising of the Nile, so that oftentimes while the sun remains in that sign of the zodiac, half of the new water [Noun, the entire inundation?] is supplied; and hence it is, that those who anciently presided over the sacred works, have made the spouts [?] and passages of the sacred fountains in the form of lions. Wherefore, even to this day in prayer for an abundant inundation - - - - - - - - - And they depict THREE WATERPOTS, or HEAVEN AND EARTH GUSHING FORTH WITH WATER, because they make a waterpot like a heart having a tongue,—like a heart, because in their opinion the heart is the ruling member of the body, as the Nile is the ruler of Egypt, and like [a heart with?] a tongue, because it is always in a state of humidity, and they call it the producer of existence. And they depict three waterpots, and neither more nor less, because according to them there is a triple cause of the inundation. And they depict one for the Egyptian soil, as being of itself productive of water; and another for the ocean, for at the period of the inundation, water flows up from it into Egypt; and the third to symbolise the rains which prevail in the southern parts of Ethiopia at the time of the rising of the Nile. Now that Egypt generates the water, we may deduce from this, that in the rest of the earth the inundations of the rivers take place in the winter, and are caused by frequent rains; but the country of the Egyptians alone, inasmuch as it is situated in the middle of the habitable world, like that part of the eye, which is called the pupil, of itself causes the rising of the Nile in summer.']
[507] [Source.]
[508] [Source.]
[509] [Source.]
[510] [Source.]
[511] [Source.]
[512] [Source.]
[513] [Source.]
[514] [Source.]
[515] [Source.]
[516] [Source.]
[517] [Source.]
[518] [ch. 6.]
[519] [ch. 6.]
[520] [Source.]
[521] [Source.]
[522] [Source.]
[523] [Source.]
[524] [Source.]
[525] [Source.]
[526] [Source.]
[527] [Source.]
[528] [Bk. 1. 4. 'To represent a month they delineate a PALM BRANCH, or, the MOON INVERTED. A palm branch for the reason before mentioned respecting the palm tree; and the moon inverted, because they say, that, in its increase, when it has come to fifteen degrees, it appears in figure with its horns erect; and in its decrease, after having completed the number of thirty days, it sets with its horns inverted.']
[529] [Source.]
[530] [Source.]
[531] [ch. 80.]
[532] [Source.]
[533] [Source.]
[534] [Source.]
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[536] [Source.]
[537] [Bk.1. 11. 'To denote a mother, or vision, or boundary, or foreknowledge, or a year, or heaven, or one that is compassionate, or Athena [Neith], or Hera [Saté], or two drachmas, they delineate it a mother, because in this race of creatures there is no male. Gignuntur autem hunc in modum. Cum amore concipiendi vultur exarserit, vulvam ad Boream aperiens, ab eo velut comprimitur per dies quinque, during which time she partakes neither of food nor drink, being intent upon procreation. There are also other kinds of birds which conceive by the wind, but their eggs are of use only for food, and not for procreation; but the eggs of the vultures that are impregnated by the wind possess a vital principle. The vulture is used also as a symbol of vision, because it sees more keenly than all other creatures; and by looking towards the west when the sun is in the east, and towards the east when the god is in the west, it procures its necessary food from afar. And it signifies a boundary [landmark?] because, when a battle is to be fought, it points out the spot on which it will take place, by betaking itself thither seven days beforehand:—and foreknowledge, both from the circumstance last mentioned, and because it looks towards that army which is about to have the greater number killed, and be defeated, reckoning on its food from their slain: and on this account the ancient kings were accustomed to send forth observers to ascertain towards which part of the battle the vultures were looking, to be thereby apprized which army was to be overcome. And it symbolizes a year, because the 365 days of the year, in which the annual period is completed, are exactly apportioned by the habits of this creature; for it remains pregnant 120 days, and during an equal number it brings up its young, and during the remaining 120 it gives its attention to itself, neither conceiving nor bringing up its young, but preparing itself for another conception; 1 and the remaining five days of the year, as I have said before, it devotes to another impregnation by the wind. It symbolises also a compassionate person, which appears to some to be the furthest from its nature, inasmuch as it is a creature that preys upon all things; but they were induced to use it as a symbol for this, because in the 120 days, during which it brings up its offspring, it flies to no great distance, but is solely engaged about its young and their sustenance; and if during this period it should be without food to give its young, it opens its own thigh, and suffers its offspring to partake of the blood, that they may not perish from want of nourishment:—and Athena [Neith], and Hera [Saté], because among the Egyptians Athena [ Neith] is regarded as presiding over the upper hemisphere, and Hera [Saté] over the lower; whence also they think it absurd to designate the heaven in the masculine, τὸν οὑρανὸν, but represent it in the feminine, τὴν οὑρανὸν, inasmuch as the generation of the sun and moon and the rest of the stars, is perfected in it, which is the peculiar property of a female. And the race of vultures, as I said before, is a race of females alone, and on this account the Egyptians over any female hieroglyph place the vulture as a mark of royalty [maternity?]. And hence, not to prolong my discourse by mentioning each individually, when the Egyptians would designate any goddess who is a mother, they delineate a vulture, for it is the mother of a female progeny. And they denote by it (οὑρανίαν) heaven, (for it does not suit them to say τὸν οὑρανὸν, as I said before,) because its generation is from thence [by the wind]:—and two drachmas, because among the Egyptians the unit [of money] is the two drachmas, 1 and the unit is the origin of every number, therefore when they would denote two drachmas, they with good reason depict a vulture, inasmuch as like unity it seems to be mother and generation.']
[538] [Source.]
[539] [Source.]
[540] [Source.]
Notes to Massey's Seventh Lecture (Continued)
[541] [W.E. Gladstone.]
[542] [Max Muller's expression. See the start of the seventh lecture.]
[543] [Source.]
[544] [Source.]
[545] [Source.]
Notes to Massey's Eighth Lecture
[546] [Discuss.]
[547] [Discuss.]
[548] [Source.]
[549] [Source.]
[550] [Bk. 2. 21. 'A STAG shoots its horns every year, and when depicted, signifies anything of long duration.']
[551] [Source.]
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[557] [Bk. I., chap. xxi. 4.]
[558] [Bk. I., chap. xxi. 2.]
[559] [Source.]
[560] [Source.]
[561] [Source.]
[562] [Source.]
[563] [Source.]
[564] [Source.]
[565] [Source.]
[566] [Source.]
[567] [Source.]
[568] [Source.]
[569] [See Bibliography for relevant entries.]
[570] [Source.]
[571] [Source.]
[572] [Source.]
[573] [Source.]
[574] [Source.]
[575] [Source.]
[576] [Source.]
[577] [Source.]
[578] [This is also discussed at greater length in NG.]
[579] [Source.]
[580] [Source.]
[581] [Source.]
[582] [Source. See also NG.]
[583] [Source.]
[584] [Source.]
[585] [Source.]
[586] [Source.]
[587] [ch.89.]
[588] [Source.]
[589] [Aesop's Fables, Fable 5, 'The
Dog and the Shadow', 'A DOG, crossing a little rivulet with a piece of flesh in
his mouth, saw his own shadow represented in the clear mirror, of the limpid
stream; and believing it to be another Dog who was carrying another piece of
flesh, he could not forbear catching at it: but was so far from getting any
thing by his greedy design, that he dropped the piece he had in his mouth, which
immediately sunk to the bottom, and was irrecoverably lost.
THE APPLICATION.
He that catches at more than belongs to him, justly deserves to lose what he
has. Yet nothing is more common,
at the same time more pernicious, than this selfish principle. It prevails, from
the king to the peasant; and all orders and degrees of men are, more or less,
infected with it. Great monarchs have been drawn in, by this greedy humour, to
grasp at the dominions of their neighbours; not that they wanted any tiling more
to feed their luxury, but to gratify their insatiable appetite for vain glory.
If the kings of Persia could have been contented with their own vast
territories, they had not lost all Asia for the sake of a little petty state of
Greece. And France, with all its glory, had, ere now, been reduced to the last
extremity, by the same unjust encroachments. He that thinks he sees another's
estate in a pack of cards or a box and dice, and ventures his own in the pursuit
of it, should not repine if he finds himself a beggar in the end.' Fables of
Aesop and Others, trans., Samuel Croxall, pp. 32-3, Derby, 1833.]
[590] [Source.]
[591] [Source.]
[592] [Massey's own words.]
Notes to Massey's Ninth Lecture
[593] [Discuss.]
[594] [Source.]
[595] [Source.]
[596] [Source.]
[597] [Source.]
[598] [Source.]
[599] [Source.]
[600] [Source.]
[601] [Source.]
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[604] [9:4 and 5]
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[608] [Source.]
[609] [Source.]
[610] [Source.]
[611] [Source.]
[612] [Source.]
[613] [Rit. ch. 85.]
[614] [Source.]
[615] [Source.]
[616] [Source.]
[617] [Source.]
[618] [RP 10, 164.]
[619] [chap. 78.]
[620] [See NG section 9.]
[621] [Rit. ch. 15.]
[622] [RP 2, 8.]
[623] [Source.]
[624] [Source.]
[625] [Source.]
[626] [ch. 125.]
[627] [Source.]
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[629] [Source.]
[630] [Source.]
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[632] [Source.]
[633] [Source.]
[634] [Source.]
[635] [Source.]
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[638] [Source.]
[639] [Bk. 1. 6. 'When they would signify God, or height, or lowness, or excellence, or blood, or victory, (or Ares, or Aphrodite,) [Hor or Hathor], they delineate a HAWK. They symbolize by it God, because the bird is prolific and long-lived, or perhaps rather because it seems to be an image of the sun, being capable of looking more intently towards his rays than all other winged creatures: and hence physicians for the cure of the eyes use the herb hawkweed: hence also it is, that under the form of a HAWK, they sometimes depict the sun as lord of vision. And they use it to denote height, because other birds, when they would soar on high, move themselves from side to side, being incapable of ascending vertically; but the hawk alone soars directly upwards. And they use it as a symbol of lowness, because other animals move not in a vertical line, but descend obliquely; the hawk, however, stoops directly down upon any thing beneath it. And they use it to denote excellence, because it appears to excel all birds—and for blood, because they say that this animal does not drink water, but blood—and for victory, because it shews itself capable of overcoming every winged creature; for when pressed by some more powerful bird, it directly turns itself in the air upon its back, and fights with its claws extended upwards, and its wings and back below; and its opponent being unable to do the. like, is overcome.']
[640] [Source.]
[641] [Source.]
[642] [Source.]
[643] [Bk. 1. 62. 'To denote a people obedient to their king, they depict a BEE, for this is the only one of all creatures which has a king whom the rest of the tribe of bees obey, as men serve their king. And they intimate from the honey's - - - - - - from the force of the creature's sting - - - - that - - - - should be both lenient and firm in - - - - and administration.']
[644] [Source.]
[645] [This passage can be read as a summation of Massey's entire life time's work which he sought to encapsulate in his three great works; BB, NG and AE. It is of benefit to the reader, when reading these works, to always bear this passage in mind.]
[646] [Source.]
[647] [3:13.]
[648] [Cor. 12:3.]
[649] [Source.]
[650] [Source.]
[651] [1:23-32.]
[652] [14:12-31.]
[653] [Source.]
[654] [See NG.]
Notes to Massey's Ninth Lecture (Continued)
[655] [See p. 15 of the 'Historical Jesus and Mythical Christ'; also NG 2:419.]
[656] [Discuss.]
[657] [I have yet to trace a copy of this article myself, but when I do I will post the article in its entirety here.]
[658] [Possibly a reference to Samuel Birch's successor, Le Page Renouf. But see below.]
[659] [The underlining is absent in most copies of the printed version of this lecture. I have added it where I think it rightly belongs, i.e. on the plural possibility of authorship.]
[660] [I.e. that his works, BB and NG in particular, are works of 'reclamation' as stated in the subtitle.]
[661] [Massey's own words.]
[662] [Source.]
[664] [Source.]
[665] [Page 1388, Col. 2.]
[666] [Page 1376, Col. 1.]
[667] [Is. 9:6.]
[668] [Source.]
[669] [Ch. 42.]
[670] [Compare John 7:38, and 4:14.]
[671] [Source.]
[672] [Source.]
[673] [Egypt's Place in Universal History.]
[674] [HL, p. 177.]
[675] [Source.]
[676] [See Bibliography for relevant entries.]
[677] [Massey's own words.]
[678] [A literary correspondent writes of this Sahur: 'I know little about Egyptology, but I do know that the fellow deserves a—well, a "serendible good drubbing" for his insolence to you. Should you reply, please give him a kick from me, if only in a footnote.']
[679] [Religio-philosophical Journal.]
[680] [Confer the Second Book of Esdras—a pre-Christian book of the secret wisdom.]
[681] [Massey's own words.]
[682] [HL, p. 243.]
[683] [See Bibliography for relevant entries.]
[684] [Ib. p. 237.]
[685] [Ib. p. 251.]
[686] [Ib. p. 177.]
[687] [Source.]
[688] [Ib. p. 30.]
[689] [It should be noted here that Massey too is not immune from making such mistakes himself when it comes to spelling author's names. Besides, it is more likely the copyist or publisher's fault. See my intro to this site.]
[690] [Ib. p. 30.]
[691] [Source.]
[692] [Source.]
[693] [Source.]
[694] [Personal communication.]
Notes to Massey's Tenth Lecture
[695] [Discuss.]
[696] [Source.]
[697] [Massey's own words.]
[698] [Massey's own words.]
[699] [Source.]
[700] [Source.]
[701] [Source.]
[702] [Discuss.]
[703] [Source.]
[704] [Discuss.]
[705] [Algernon Swinburne was known for his passion for the English vice (i.e., flagellation), and often included it in his poetry, although very much concealed.]
[706] [Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus.]
[707] [Source.]
[708] [Source.]
[709] [Massey's own words.]
[710] [Source.]
[711] [Source.]
[712] [Source.]
[713] [Source.]
[714] [Source.]
[715] [Discuss.]
[716] [Massey's own words.]