influence during the whole period of Greek history down to the coming of Christianity was extraordinary; and even then this masonry of Pre-Christian days, in which kings and emperors begged to be initiated, was, it is claimed, continued to our own times in our own Freemasons, who trace their descent back to “a Dionysiac fraternity which originated in Attika.” And just as we have seen the Saturnalian festivities of Italy descending from Atlantean harvest-feasts, so these Eleusinian mysteries can be traced back to Plato’s island. Poseidon was at the base of them; the first hierophant, Eumolpus, was “a son of Poseidon,” and all the ceremonies were associated with seed- time and harvest, and with Demeter or Ceres, an Atlantean goddess, daughter of Chronos, who first taught the Greeks to use the plough and to plant barley. And, as the “Carnival” is a survival of the “Saturnalia,” so Masonry is a survival of the Eleusinian mysteries. The roots of the institutions of to-day reach back to the Miocene Age.
We have seen that Zeus, the king of Atlantis, whose tomb was shown at Crete, was transformed into the Greek god Zeus; and in like manner we find him reappearing among the Hindoos as Dyaus. He is called “Dyaus-pitar,” or God the Father, as among the Greeks we have “Zeus-pater,” which became among the Romans “Jupiter.”
The strongest connection, however, with the Atlantean system is shown in the case of the Hindoo god Deva- Nahusha.
We have seen in the chapter on Greek mythology that Dionysos was a son of Zeus and grandson of Poseidon, being thus identified with Atlantis.
“When he arrived at manhood,” said the Greeks, “he set out on a journey through all known countries, even into the remotest parts of India, instructing the people, as he proceeded, how to tend the vine, and how to practise many other arts of peace, besides teaching them the value of just and honorable dealings. He was praised everywhere as the greatest benefactor of mankind.” (Murray’s “Mythology,” p. 119.) In other words, he represented the great Atlantean civilization, reaching into “the remotest parts of India,” and “to all parts of the known world,” from America to Asia. In consequence of the connection of this king with the vine, he was converted in later times into the dissolute god Bacchus. But everywhere the traditions concerning him refer us back to Atlantis. “All the legends of Egypt, India, Asia Minor, and the older Greeks describe him as a king very great during his life, and deified after death. . . . Amon, king of Arabia or Ethiopia, married Rhea, sister of Chronos, who reigned over Italy, Sicily, and certain countries of Northern Africa.” Dionysos, according to the Egyptians, was the son of Amon by the beautiful Amalthea. Chronos and Amon had a prolonged war; Dionysos defeated Chronos and captured his capital, dethroned him, and put his son Zeus in his place; Zeus reigned nobly, and won a great fame. Dionysos succeeded his father Amon, and “became the greatest of sovereigns. He extended his sway in all the neighboring countries, and completed the conquest of India. . . . He gave much attention to the Cushite colonies in Egypt, greatly increasing their strength, intelligence, and prosperity.” (Baldwin’s “Prehistoric Nations,” p. 283.)
When we turn to the Hindoo we still find this Atlantean king.
In the Sanscrit books we find reference to a god called Deva-Nahusha, who has been identified by scholars with Dionysos. He is connected “with the oldest history and mythology in the world.” He is said to have been a contemporary with Indra, king of Meru, who was also deified, and who appears in the Veda as a principal form of representation of the Supreme Being.
“The warmest colors of imagination are used in portraying the greatness of Deva-Nahusha. For a time he had sovereign control of affairs in Meru; he conquered the seven dwipas, and led his armies through all the known countries of the world; by means of matchless wisdom and miraculous heroism he made his empire universal.” (Ibid., p. 287.) Here we see that the great god Indra, chief god of the Hindoos, was formerly king of Meru, and that Deva-Nahusha (De(va)nushas—De-onyshas) had also been king of Meru; and we must remember that Theopompus tell us that the island of Atlantis was inhabited by the “Meropes;” and Lenormant has reached the conclusion that the first people of the ancient world were “the men of Mero.”
We can well believe, when we see traces of the same civilization extending from Peru and Lake Superior to Armenia and the frontiers of China, that this Atlantean kingdom was indeed “universal,” and extended through all the “known countries of the world.”
“We can see in the legends that Pururavas, Nahusha, and others had no connection with Sanscrit history. They are referred to ages very long anterior to the Sanscrit immigration, and must have been great personages celebrated in the traditions of the natives or Dasyus. . . .
Pururavas was a king of great renown, who ruled over thirteen islands of the ocean, altogether surrounded by inhuman (or superhuman) personages; he engaged in a contest with Brahmans, and perished. Nahusha, mentioned by Maull, and in many legends, as famous for hostility to the Brahmans, lived at the time when Indra ruled on earth. He was a very great king, who ruled with justice a mighty empire, and attained the sovereignty of three worlds.” (Europe, Africa, and America?) “Being intoxicated with pride, he was arrogant to Brahmans, compelled them to bear his palanquin, and even dared to touch one of them with his foot” (kicked him?), “whereupon he was transformed into a serpent.” (Baldwin’s “Prehistoric Nations,” p. 291.)
The Egyptians placed Dionysos (Osiris) at the close of the period of their history which was assigned to the gods, that is, toward the close of the great empire of Atlantis.
When we remember that the hymns of the “Rig-Veda” are admitted to date back to a vast antiquity, and are written in a language that had ceased to be a living tongue thousands of years ago, we can almost fancy those hymns preserve some part of the songs of praise uttered of old upon the island of Atlantis. Many of them seem to belong to sun-worship, and might have been sung with propriety upon the high places of Peru: “In the beginning there arose the golden child. He was the one born Lord of all that is. He established the earth and the sky. Who is the god to whom we shall offer sacrifice?
“He who gives life; He who gives strength; whose command all the bright gods” (the stars?) “revere; whose light is immortality; whose shadow is death. . . . He who through his power is the one God of the breathing and awakening world. He who governs all, man and beast. He whose greatness these snowy mountains, whose greatness the sea proclaims, with the distant river. He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm.
. . . He who measured out the light in the air… Wherever the mighty water-clouds went, where they placed the seed and lit the fire, thence arose He who is the sole life of the bright gods. . . . He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by His will, look up, trembling inwardly. . . . May he not destroy us; He, the creator of the earth; He, the righteous, who created heaven. He also created the bright and mighty waters.”
This is plainly a hymn to the sun, or to a god whose most glorious representative was the sun. It is the hymn of a people near the sea; it was not written by a people living in the heart of Asia. It was the hymn of a people living in a volcanic country, who call upon their god to keep the earth “firm” and not to destroy them. It was sung at daybreak, as the sun rolled up the sky over an “awakening world.”
The fire (Agni) upon the altar was regarded as a messenger rising from the earth to the sun:
“Youngest of the gods, their messenger, their invoker. . . . For thou, O
sage, goest wisely between these two creations (heaven and earth, God and man) like a friendly messenger between two hamlets.”
