ers--the latter of the three being at the same time both
the _Destroyer_ and _Regenerator_. Hence, by a very natural and obvious
train of reasoning, arose the _Creator_, the _Preserver_, and the
_Destroyer_--in India _Brahma_, _Vishnu_, and _Siva_; in Persia
_Oromasdes_, _Mithra_, and _Arimanius_; in Egypt _Osiris_, _Horus_, and
_Typhon_: in each case THREE PERSONS AND ONE GOD. And thus undoubtedly
arose the TRIMURTI, or the celebrated Trinity.

Traces of a similar refinement may be found in the Greek mythology, in
the Orphic _Phanes_, _Ericapeus_ and _Metis_, who were all identified
with the _Sun_, and yet embraced in the first person, _Phanes_, or
Protogones, the Creator and Generator.[562:1] The invocation to the Sun,
in the Mysteries, according to Macrobius, was as follows: "O all-ruling
_Sun_! _Spirit_ of the world! _Power_ of the world! _Light_ of the
world!"[562:2]

We have seen in Chap. XXXV, that the _Peruvian_ Triad was represented by
three statues, called, respectively, "Apuinti, Churiinti, and
Intihoaoque," which is, "Lord and Father _Sun_; Son _Sun_; and Air or
Spirit, Brother _Sun_."[562:3]

Mr. Faber, in his "Origin of Pagan Idolatry," says:

"The peculiar mode in which the Hindoos identify their _three
great gods_ with the _solar orb_, is a curious specimen of the
physical refinements of ancient mythology. At night, in the
west, the Sun is _Vishnu_; he is _Brahma_ in the east and in
the morning; and from noon to evening he is _Siva_."[562:4]

Mr. Moor, in his "Hindu Pantheon," says:

"Most, if not all, of the gods of the Hindoo Pantheon will, on
close investigation, resolve themselves into the _three
powers_ (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva), and those powers into _one
Deity_, Brahm, _typified by the Sun_."[562:5]

Mr. Squire, in his "Serpent Symbol," observes:

"It is highly probable that the triple divinity of the Hindoos
was originally no more than a personification of the _Sun_,
whom they called _Three-bodied_, in the triple capacity of
_producing_ forms by his general _heat_, _preserving_ them by
his _light_, or _destroying_ them by the counteracting force
of his _igneous_ matter. _Brahma_, the _Creator_, was
indicated by the _heat of the Sun_; _Vishnu_, the _Preserver_,
by the _light of the Sun_, and _Siva_, the _Reproducer_, by
the _orb of the Sun_. In the morning the Sun was _Brahma_, at
noon _Vishnu