but, on the
contrary, that it constitutes the most remote idea of a Creator extant.
As has been hinted, there is little doubt that the earliest worship of
the woman and child was much simpler than was that which came to prevail
in later ages, at a time when every religious conception was closely
veiled beneath a mixture of astrology and mythology. After the planets
came to be regarded as active agencies in reproduction, and powerful
in directing all mundane affairs, the Virgin of the Sphere while she
represented Nature was also the constellation which appeared above the
horizon at the winter solstice, or at the time when the sun had reached
its lowest point and had begun to return. At this time, the 25th of
December, and just as the days began to lengthen, this Virgin gave birth
to the Sun-God. It is said that he issued forth from her side, hence the
legend that Gotama Buddha was produced from the side of Maya, and also
the story believed by the Gnostics and other Christian sects that Jesus
was taken from the side of Mary.(31)

31) The fact will doubtless be remembered that a similar belief was
entertained concerning the birth of Julius Caesar.

Within the churches and in the streets of many cities of Germany are
to be observed figures of this traditional Virgin. She is standing, one
foot upon a crescent and the other on a serpent's head, in the mouth of
which is the sprig of an apple tree on which is an apple. The tail
of the serpent is wound about a globe which is partially enveloped in
clouds. On one arm of the Virgin is the Child, and in the hand of the
other arm she carries the sacred lotus. Her head is encircled with a
halo of light similar to the rays of the sun.

One is frequently disposed to query: Do the initiated in the Romish
Church regard these images as legitimate representations of Mary, the
wife of Joseph and Mother of Christ, or are they aware of their true
significance? Certainly the various accessories attached to this figure
betray its ancient origin and reveal its identity with the Egyptian,
Chaldean, and Phoenician Virgin of the Sphere.

The fact has already been observed that in the original representation
of the "Temptation" in the cave temple of India, it is not the woman
but the man who is the tempter, and a singular peculiarity observed in
connection with this ancient female Deity is that it is SHE and NOT HER
SEED who is trampling on the serpent, thus proving that originally woman