any one supposes that
a child so treated is sure of heaven whereas the future of the
unbaptized is dubious, he holds like the Tantrists that spiritual ends
can be attained by physical means. And in the Roman Church where the
rite includes exorcism and the use of salt, oil and lights, the
parallel is still closer. Christian mysticism has had much to do with
symbolism and even with alchemy,[682] and Zoroastrianism, which is
generally regarded as a reasonable religion, attaches extraordinary
importance to holy spells.[683] So Indian religions are not singular
in this respect, though the uncompromising thoroughness with which
they work out this like other ideas leads to startling results.

The worship of female deities becomes prominent somewhat late in
Indian literature and it does not represent--not to the same extent as
the Chinese cult of Kwan-yin for example--the better ideals of the
period when it appears. The goddesses of the Rig Veda are
insignificant: they are little more than names, and grammatically
often the feminine forms of their consorts. But this Veda is evidently
a special manual of prayer from which many departments of popular
religion were excluded. In the Atharva Veda many spirits with feminine
names are invoked and there is an inclination to personify bad
qualities and disasters as goddesses. But we do not find any goddess
who has attained a position comparable with that held by Durga, Cybele
or Astarte, though there are some remarkable hymns[684] addressed to
the Earth. But there is no doubt that the worship of goddesses
(especially goddesses of fertility) as great powers is both ancient
and widespread. We find it among the Egyptians and Semites, in Asia
Minor, in Greece, Italy, and among the Kelts. The goddess Anahit, who
was worshipped with immoral rites in Bactria, is figured on the coins
of the Kushans and must at one time have been known on the
north-western borders of India. At the present day Sitala and in south
India Mariamman are goddesses of smallpox who require propitiation,
and one of the earliest deities known to have been worshipped by the
Tamils is the goddess Kottavai.[685] Somewhat obscure but widely
worshipped are the powers known as the Mothers, a title which also
occurs in Keltic mythology. They are groups of goddesses varying in
number and often malevolent. As many as a hundred and forty are said
to be worshipped in Gujarat. The census of Bengal (1901) records the
worship of the