BL 460 .T8 Copy 1 •3^v>jf> . >4P» x> ^ ^5 lJef> i,> -»_ CONGRESS, <=£^e v3» STATES OF AMERICA, iS^ 3» ~^3> 2>- 3&BL ■ J ^I*>^ | i * > 2> :> » r 3> J»> ' » > 3 *§te i> "5?^? as -_-*• » > jh — >3> "> ^ to 'V> -1 3* ^ >:> \ * * "*2££? \ W'-i 5*\ J3»*2 "TRW- s r PRICE, lO CENTS. r£tfE CROs s AND THE STEEPLE: THEIR Ori^rq kqd $i^i\ifi(Skrtioi\- By HUDSON TUTTLE, 1875. BATESON & TUTTLE, TOLEDO, OHIO. r£#E Crq Ss AND THE STEEPLE: THEIR Ori^it\ cir\d $i^i\ifi(i£ttioi\. By HUDSON TUTT£-E; C& A . COPYRIGHT^ " IS75 _ , co 1 1875 BATESON & TUTTLE, TOLEDO, OHIO TTTT.TT* ' ^^^ ^t Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1875, by BATESON & TUTTLE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, L>. C. THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. The popular idea of Christianity is that it is wholly distinct from the religious systems of the pagan world, which preceded or were its contemporaries. That its rites, dogmas, and observances were instituted by its founders, and without a special divine inspiration it could not have sprung into existence. Yet the re- searches of modern criticism incontrovert- ibly prove that so far is this from the truth, that it is the direct reverse. There is not a fast or festival, procession or sacrament, social custom or religious symbol, that did not come bodily from the previous paganism. (Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 96.) THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. Of all the great religions, Christianity is most purely phallic, as is distinctly shown by comparing its doctrines and symbols with more ancient faiths. By phallic is meant the wor- ship of the generative principle, which is proba- bly the most ancient of all religions, and which by its universal acceptance by primi- tive man has given its precepts and symbols to all others, even those of the most civilized peoples. Procreation, the most mysterious phenom- enon of nature, early attracted attention, and by analogy primitive man sought to solve the problem of creation. As offspring came from the union of male and female, so all things sprang from the union of male and female gods, types of the active and passive in nature. Hence the reverence for these principles or gods, and for the sexual parts (the Phallus, male, and the Yoni, female) as their types. These were carved or drawn true to nature and became symbols of the male and female principles, and their union the expression of creative energy. The devout worshipper bowed before their sculptured representations. The uncultured instincts of primitive man saw nothing impure in the act of generation, but THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. considered it as one of the divine processes of creation, as sowing of the seed, and the com- mand to increase and multiply became a sacred ordinance, and the act itself a sacrament to the Creator. As Mrs. Child well remarks (Prog. R Ideas, vol. i, p. 15): " Were they impure thus to regard it ? Or, are we impure that we do not so regard it ? . . . . Let us not smile at their mode of tracing the Infinite and Incomprehen- sible Cause through all the mysteries of nature, lest by so doing we cast the shadow of our own grossness on their patriarchal simplicity." The ideas of indecency are the result of an advanced civilization when the rites imposed by the simplicity of the childhood of the race, became perverted by licentiousness. In the dim and undefined pre-historic age, out of which the distinct forms of Phoenician, Assyrian and Egyptian civilizations emerge, phallic worship appears to have been universal. Critcism confirms Bryant's statement that II or El was at the head of the Babylonian Pantheon, and that the Hebrew Elohim, Phoenician Illus, Cronus and primitive Saturn were names of the same god, represented by a pillar carved in the form of a phallus. The name Baal 6 THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. Shalisha (Kings iv, 42) gives an equivalent idea, translated " my lord of Trinty," or, " the triple male genitals" Set or Seth, equivalent to Saturn, means "the erect," and Kivan said by Amos to have been worshipped by the He- brews, signifies, 'god of the pillar," and Baal Tamar means "god of the phallus." (Symbol Worship, p. 60) The supreme god of the Assyrians was Bel, u the Proereator." The union with his wife, the goddess Mylitta was the origin of all cre- ated things Virgil expresses the Greek and Ro- man idea when he makes the conjugal act be- tween Jupiter and Juno the cause of the pro- ductions of the earth. As at present in India, the phallus, as an emblem of the Creator, is found in all the temples, and is carried in reli- gious processions, the Romans, when they held the festival in honor of Venus, a procession of women carried the phallus and presented it to the goddess. As the [male principle, under whatever spe- cial or local name, was symbolized by an up- right pillar, more or less carved to represent the phallus, so the female principle was represented by a conical one as symbolical of the " mother goddess." This was said to express the form of THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. 7 the swelling abdomen. At the temple of Am- nion, in Libya, this symbol was borne in a boat or ark. At Delphi, the navel-stone of white marble was kept in a sacred sanctuary (Strabo ix, 420) The goddess Astarte was represented at Carthage in like manner, as well as on Cy- prian coins. The famous Caaba, of Mecca, is a rounded stone having like significance. As Christianity is founded on this ancient faith, it is interesting to learn the ideas of these primitive peoples. It was natural for them to believe that the testes each had special func- tions, one giving male the other female off- spring, an idea science has lately unsuccessfully endeavored to demonstrate. According to the analysis of Rawlinson, this "conception gave origin to the Trinity." The Assyrian triad of Ashur, Anu, Hea, (the membrane virile with its twin testes) were united with the goddess Bellis forming the perfect creator. Ashur means the " upright," while the left testes was Anu, and the right, Hea,— the three forming the sacred Trinity, the three in olie, the great "I Am." The pictured or sculptured representation of this organ, the phallus, was received as the em- blem of life, of the creative energy, ages before the Christian era. The devout follower of Isis 8 THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. suspended the phallus from her necklace, as the Christian suspends the cross to-day. When the pyramids were fresh from the hands of their architects and the temples of the Nile were in their pristine glory, around the heads of the * 'Queen of Heaven," and the "Virgin Mother" and the infant Horsu the aureole was painted expressive of their creative functions. The phallus, by the necessities of rapid de- lineation, or perhaps of taste, which dictated the symbol instead of the exact representation, became contracted to a simple perpendicular mark, with a horizontal one across its top, and in later times was used as the letter Tau of the Phoenitic alphabet. This sign (X) was received as a symbol of the male Creator at least 3,000 years ago, and in India is still retained. The female principle, represented at first true to nature, became symbolized by a cypher, which united with sun-worship gave origin to the aureole, and to express also the three-fold re- ceptivity of the male triad, was expressed by a triangle which in later ages became the letter Delta. Again, the cypher was placed above the cross vT /symbolizing the perfect and complete god- head, the " three in one," the union of the THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. 9 male and the female, whereby all created things were evolved. This is its most common form, although it is met with, the parts drawn true to the organs they symbolize. The sanc- tuaries of Indian temples still furnish the cross formed of intersecting phalli, to the horror of Christian missionaries worshiping in blissful ig- norance the same emblem of creative power. It was the assembled Bishops at Nicea, in the third century, who determined that the cross should be the emblem of the Christian faith. In their hands it was given new meaning. While it taught that in sin all men die, on the other hand it signified that all through Christ received life. Thus Christianity stole the cross, the central symbol of its worship, from the pagan world ! The devout maiden may blush to hear that the diamond cross she wears on her breast is only a disguised phallus, and indicates almost the same ideas of the more truthful symbol worn by Egyptian ladies four thousand years ago. If the cross was thus boldly usurped, other objects of worship were alike transferred. The " Virgin Mother" is the goddess Isis, as her immaculate infant is the child Horus. The very name Ma- donna is an exact translation of the Sanskrit 10 THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. Isi. The lotus has become the lily, the charm- ing sistrum has been replaced by the hideous clanging bell, the high cap and hooked staff of the Egyptian God has become the Bishop's miter and crosier, the celibate monks and nuns (the latter a purely Egyptian word) dedicated to the phallic worship, have been transferred to the "virgin and Son," the erect oval, type of the female principle, or the yoni, became the aureole, or rather the aureole itself was trans- ferred with head of Isis, mother of Horus, now renamed the mother of Christ. (See Gnostics and their Remains, King; p. 71). Even the sa- cred vessels of the pagan mysteries became those of the holy communion. The emblem of the fish held sacred by Buddhists, Egyptians, Bab- ylonians, and Assyrians, and prescribed as diet on certain days and ceremonies, because such diet was supposed to be favorable to reproduction, was not overlooked. And as the pagan ate fish on Friday, a day consecrated to Venus, for rea- sons quite apparent to one receiving the phallic religion, Christianity accepted the day and the diet. The legend of the Apostles being fisher- men, and of the loaves aDd fishes, has an un- doubted phallic significance. When the village steeple, of a beautiful sum- mer evening, is seen arising above the green shade, indicative of the Christian worship, we pronounce it an inspiring object and would not have it removed from the landscape. Yet our thoughts revert to its origin, and if we ask his- tory why churches have steeples and what they THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. 11 signify, the answer returned is not conducive to our reverence. The column, the tower, the minaret, the obe- lisk, all have one significance. The require- ments of architecture covers the original mean- ing. The aspiring steeple is a type of the phal- lus, and connected with the " House of God" has a purely phallic meaning — "the Creator," the "Great I Am." If the steeple is crowned with a dome, it refers to the Yoni, the navel- stone type of the Mother Goddes, of Ammon, of Delphi, of the shrines of Isis. When the dome, as often happens, is surmounted by the cross, there is completed the symbol of the phal- lic religion. The "Communion," under the shadow of the phallic steeple, is a mutilated copy of the pagan rites, wherein communion with the gods meant sexual intercourse with women maintained in the temple for that object, as is proven by the fact that any mutilation unfitted the individual for the " Congregation of the Lord" (See Deut. xxiii, 1), and that thirty- two thousand Mid- ianitish virgins were preserved for this pur- pose. The Hebrew words for "sanctuary," "con- secrated," and "Sodomite," are essentially the same, indicating amatory passions. (See the Masculine Cross. ) The communion wafer should retain its original form of the phallus and yoni, as it still does in some places in France on Easter day. (See Remains of the worship of Priapus). Christianity is a translation of paganism. It added no new idea, belief, fast, or ceremony. 12 THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. Was not Jesus crucified ? The tale is doubt- ful. Christna, Prometheus, Buddha and other Deities were incarnated ages before his time. Singular to note, the cross is never depicted as an instrument of torture, and the story of Christ- na is identically that of Christ, except in names and dates. Paul hesitated not to "lie for the Lord's sake," and taught that cursed doerine to his followers. Who can unravel the mystery ? Is it worth unraveling ? Except as a page in the history of belief it is worth- less. Christianity, founded on phallic conceptions, is, true to its origin, a religion of feeling, of emo- tion. Its basis is the passions. To them it makes its strongest appeal and without them it is no- thing. Its watch cry " God is love" has a per- tinency. Is it strange, then, that in seasons of " Revival," under the phallic cross and steeple, that the emotions overmaster the intellect, and that the orgies of Babylon are repeated ? Is it to be thought strange that the priests to this religion, although held in check as they are by the civilization of our times, are, in proportion to their number, the most licentious class ? or that the strength of the churches is in the fe- male members, held under the magnetic control of " Ministers of the Cross ?" It is not with a scoffing spirit I have studied this interesting subject, which exhibits more, perhaps, than any other the vital affiliations of religious systems however diverse, and reveals the foundation of them all. Because Christian- THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. 13 ity is held to be the only true system, of divine origin, and infallible, it becomes necessary to show its human origin and relations to the so- called pagan systems. Superstition lurks in this stronghold, ready to clutch the throat of civiliza- tion; and to dislodge this foe of mankind and throw the light of truth through its dark dens where dogmas are made plethoric by faith, is a necessity of the time. The church, the steeple, the cross, nourish the superstition on which they are founded. This superstition is early impressed on the plastic minds of children, preparing them for the reception of the seeds sown by wily priests and laymen from the pulpit and in the Sun- day school. It is the duty of Liberalists to free their children from the bondage of creeds and false-beliefs, and how can they better accom- plish this than by presenting them historic facts on which popular religion rests ? Do you fear anarchy ? There may be for a time confusion of ideas. The Copernican system of astronomy overthrew that of the entire an- cient world, and broke in pieces the "crystal- line spheres" of the great Ptolemy, yet astron- omy did not die. Without the errors which pre- ceded him, Copernicus would never have arrived at the truth. They prepared the way. So of religious systems, the ideas and dog- mas however false, have been stepping-stones to new and broader views — approximating nearer and nearer to the truth. The Triune God may be proven only a myth arising out of a false 14 THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. and childish physiological notion ; Hell may be shown to have no existence ; the sufferings of God on the Cross be discarded, and the book in which the relations of God to man are said to be contained be referred to human ori- gin, — and when all is done the world be the bet- ter. The past needed sects and the battle of con- flicting creeds ; the present has no use for them. They are dead bodies, once pregnant with vital ity, now festering in decay. Something else is required. It is positive knowledge, scientific accuracy of thought and demonstration. Blind belief finds its last hold with the ignorant. There will be conflict and chauge assuredly. Sixty thousand miuisters in the United States will be relieved of the arduous task of " saving souls" never lost, and allowed to follow more profitable pursuits. The $200,000,000, the yearly cost of maintaining the churches in this coun- try, can be turned to better use. The hosts who go through a vale of tears in search of a "foun- tain filled with blood," will be emancipated, and dare to think, and even seek rational en- joyment in this life. The conflict of the ages has been the conflict between the received religion and the tendency of civilization. The Saviors of the world, one and all, have suffered martyrdom at the bloody hands of religion. Is there any evidence that the present re- ceived religion of Christianity is absolute truth, and all the world will ever require? On. the THE CROSS AND THE STEEPLE. 15 contrary, does it not exhibit marks of decay ? Is it not, even now, a sapless trunk, on whose leafless, moss-grown branches, theological owls echo the mournful monody of salvation to man never lost? Is it not even now directly in the path of advancement and intellectual activity? The great lights of the world are aloof from the churches. Knowledge has been and is the bane of religion. Religion has ostracized Gallileo, Bruno, Darwin, Huxley, Tyndall, Mill, Paine, Jefferson, Shakepeare, Dickens, leaders of a countless host in the front of mental and moral achievement. Is it said that if the religion of the Past has been largely composed of {Superstition, that of the Present is free from this repulsive element ? Ah, what assurance have we that a century hence will not regard the creeds and formula? of the churches, as we regard the childishness of the Puritans, or the corruption of Eomanism ? Are we not certain that beliefs now cherished as car- dinal will then be considered of little worth, or intrinsically harmful ? We are fallible, and have not arrived at the infallible, in the realm of the intellect or of the morals. If it be known that mankind move onward with the absolute certainty of planetary bodies around their central orbs ; that there is no re- trogression, and as yesterday's thoughts are re- placed by to-day's, as to-day's will yield to to- morrow's, it is our duty not to stand in the way of this tidal flow in the sea of humanity. Lyceum Publications AND BOOK ESTABLISHMENT. P. H. BATESON, Toledo, Ohio. Proprietors. G. W. KATES, Cincinnati. O. PUBLISH AND HAVE FOR SALE ALL Standard Spiritual, Infidel & Liberal Boots L/ibei'kl ytefktttfe fof tl\e Yotii^ A SPECIALTY. A Monthly Illustrated Liberal Paper for the Young. 75 Cents per Year. DESIGNED TO TEACH " RELIGION WITHOUT SUPERSTITION." Address P. H. BATESON, Publisher, Toledo, Ohio. dkf eei 4 of f{eli^iou$ Idek^ : THEIR ULTIMATE: THE RELIGION OF SCIENCE. By HUDSON TUTTLE. PRICE, SO CENTS, Send orders to the author, Berlin Heights, O. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Jan. 2005 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 ^60 ■ < « 9 «e EL fC " «ffl3Kr ■'-X r «ET ^^r 5 * J55& ^K re 2®^ tor <3 ■DC «CL . ■ P c ^L <^« ■■'< *c< a d c C-C: OCSC