is carried by
the Assyrian Baal, and the fig in numerous processions has a similar
significance. When we add to these the various forms of tree worship
described above, we see to what an extent the products of nature were
used as symbols in the worship of sex.

Among flower symbols there is one which recurs constantly throughout the
art and mythology of India, Egypt, China, and many other Eastern
countries. This is the lotus, of which the Easter lily is the modern
representative. The lotus appears in a number of forms in the records of
antiquity. We have symbolic pictures of the lion carrying the lotus in
its mouth, doubtless a male and female symbol. The deities of India are
depicted standing on the lotus, or are spoken of as being "born of the
Lotus." "The Chinese,"[13] says the author of Rites and Ceremonies,
"worship a Goddess whom they call Puzza, and of whom their priests give
the following account;--they say that 'three nymphs came down from
heaven to wash themselves in the river, but scarce had they gotten in
the water before the herb lotus appeared on one of their garments, with
its coral fruit upon it. They were surprised to think whence it could
proceed; and the nymph upon whose garment it was could not resist the
temptation of indulging herself in tasting it. But by thus eating some
of it she became pregnant, and was delivered of a boy, whom she brought
up, and then returned to heaven. He afterwards became a great man, a
conqueror and legislator, and the nymph was afterwards worshipped under
the name of Puzza.'" Puzza corresponds to the Indian Buddha.

In Egyptian architecture the lotus is a fundamental form, and indeed it
is said to be the main motive of the architecture of that civilization.
The capitals of the column are modelled after one form or other of this
plant. That of the Doric column is the seed vessel pressed flat. Earlier
capitals are simple copies of the bell or seed vessel. The columns
consisted of stalks of the plant grouped together. In other cases the
leaves are used as ornaments. These orders were copied by the Greeks,
and subsequently by western countries.

We may ask ourselves, what is the meaning of this mystic lotus which was
held in sufficient veneration to be incorporated in all the temples of
religion, as well as in myths of the deity. This, too, refers to the
deification of sex. O'Brien, in the _Round Towers of Ireland_ states:
"The lotus was the most sacred plant of the Ancient