Writings of H P Blavatsky
Theosophy House
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24
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Helena Petrovna
Blavatsky (1831 – 1891)
The Founder of
Modern Theosophy
A
By
H P Blavatsky
WHETHER one surveys the imposing ruins of
Memphis or Palmyra; stands at the foot of the great pyramid of Ghizé; wanders
along the shores of the Nile; or ponders amid the desolate fastnesses of the
long-lost and mysterious Petra; however clouded and misty the origin of these
prehistoric relics may appear, one nevertheless finds at least certain fragments
of firm ground upon which to build conjecture. Thick as may be the curtain
behind which the history of these antiquities is hidden, still there are rents
here and there through which one may catch glimpses of light. We are acquainted
with the descendants of the
builders. And, however superficially, we
also know the story of the nations whose vestiges are scattered around us. Not
so with the antiquities of the New World of the two Americas. There, all along
the coast of Peru, all over the Isthmus and North America, in the canyons of
the Cordilleras, in the impossible gorges of the Andes, and, especially beyond
the valley of Mexico, lie, ruined and desolate, hundreds of once mighty cities,
lost to the memory of men, and having themselves lost even a name. Buried in
dense forests, entombed in inaccessible valleys, sometimes sixty feet
under-ground, from the day of their discovery until now they have ever remained
a riddle to science, baffling all inquiry, and they have been muter than the
Egyptian Sphinx herself. We know
nothing of America prior to the
Conquest--positively nothing. No chronicles, not even comparatively modern ones
survive; there are no traditions, even among the aboriginal tribes, as to its
past events. We are as ignorant of the races that built these cyclopean
structures, as of the strange worship that inspired the antediluvian sculptors
who carved upon hundreds of miles of walls, of monuments, monoliths and altars,
these weird hieroglyphics, these groups of animals and men, pictures of an
unknown life and lost arts--scenes so fantastic and wild, at
times, that they involuntarily suggest the
idea of a feverish dream, whose phantasmagoria at the wave of some mighty
magician's hand suddenly crystallized into granite, to bewilder the coming generations
for ever and ever. So late as the beginning of the present century, the very
existence of such wealth of antiquities was unknown.
The petty, suspicious jealousy of the
Spaniards had, from the first, created a sort of Chinese wall between their
American possessions and the too curious traveller: and the ignorance and
fanaticism of the conquerors, and their carelessness as to all but the
satisfaction of their insatiable greediness, had precluded scientific research.
Even the enthusiastic accounts of Cortez and his army of brigands and priests,
and of Pizarro and his robbers and monks, as to the splendour of the temples,
palaces, and cities of Mexico and Peru, were long discredited.
In his History of America, Dr. Robertson
goes so far as to inform his reader that the houses of the ancient Mexicans
were "mere huts, built with turf, or mud, or the branches of trees, like
those of the
rudest Indians;''1 and, upon the testimony
of some Spaniards he even risked the assertion that "in all the extent of
that vast empire," there was not "a single monument or vestige of any
building more ancient than the Conquest"! It was
reserved to the great Alexander Humboldt to
vindicate the truth. In 1803 a new flood of light was poured into the world of
archæology by this eminent and learned traveller. In this he luckily proved but
the pioneer of future discoverers. He then described but Mitla, or the Vale of
the Dead, Xoxichalco, and the great pyramidal Temple of Cholula. But, after him
came Stephens, Catherwood, and Squier; and, in Peru, D'Orbigny and Dr.
Tschuddi. Since then, numerous travellers have visited and given us accurate
details of many of the antiquities. But, how many more yet remain not only
unexplored, but even unknown, no one can tell. As regards prehistoric
buildings, both Peru and Mexico are rivals of Egypt. Equalling the latter in
the immensity of her cyclopean structures, Peru surpasses her in their number;
while Cholula exceeds the grand
pyramid of Cheops in breadth, if not in
height. Works of public utility, such as walls, fortifications, terraces,
water-courses, aqueducts, bridges, temples, burial-grounds, whole cities, and
exquisitely paved roads, hundreds of miles in length, stretch in an unbroken
line, almost covering the land as with a net. On the coast, they are built of
sun-dried bricks; in the mountains, of porphyritic lime, granite and silicated
sandstones. Of the long generations of peoples who built them, history knows
nothing, and even tradition is silent. As a matter of course, most of these
lithic remains are covered with a dense vegetation. Whole
forests have grown out of the broken hearts
of the cities, and, with a few exceptions, everything is in ruin. But one may
judge of what once was by that which yet remains.
With a most flippant unconcern, the Spanish
historians refer nearly every ruin to Incal times. No greater mistake can be
made. The hieroglyphics which sometimes cover from top to bottom whole walls
and monoliths are, as they were from the first, a dead letter to modern science.
But they were equally a dead letter to the Incas, though the history of the
latter can be traced to the eleventh century They had no clue to the meaning of
these inscriptions, but attributed all such to their
unknown predecessors; thus barring the presumption
of their own descent from the first civilizers of their country. Briefly, the
Incal history runs thus:--Inca is the Quichua title for chief or emperor, and
the name of the ruling and most aristocratic race or rather caste of the land
which was governed by them for an unknown period, prior to, and until, the
Spanish Conquest. Some place their first appearance in Peru from regions
unknown in 1021; others, also, or conjecture, at five centuries after the
Biblical "flood," and according to the modest notions of Christian
theology. Still the latter theory is undoubtedly nearer truth than the former.
The Incas, judged by their exclusive privileges,
power and "infallibility," are
the antipodal counterpart of the Brahminical
caste of India. Like the latter, the Incas
claimed direct descent from the Deity, which, as in the case of the Sûryavansa
dynasty of India, was the Sun.
According to the sole but general
tradition, there was a time when the whole of the population of the now New
World was broken up into independent, warring, and barbarian tribes. At last,
the "Highest" deity--the Sun--took pity upon them, and, in order to
rescue the people from ignorance, sent down upon earth, to teach them, his two
children Manco Capac, and his sister and wife, Mama Ocollo Huaco--the
counterparts, again, of the Egyptian Osiris, and his sister and wife, Isis, as
well as of the several Hindu gods and demi-gods and their wives. These
two made their appearance on a beautiful
island in Lake Titicaca--of which we will speak further on--and thence
proceeded northward to Cuzco, later on the capital of the Incas, where they at
once began to disseminate civilization. Collecting together the various races
from all parts of Peru, the divine couple then divided their labor. Manco Capac
taught men agriculture, legislation, architecture and arts; while Mama Ocollo
instructed the women in weaving, spinning, embroidery and house-keeping. It is
from this celestial pair that the Incas claimed their descent; and yet, they
were utterly ignorant of the people
who built the stupendous and now ruined
cities which cover the whole area of their empire, and which then extended from
the Equator to over 37 degrees of Latitude, and included not only the western
slope of the Andes, but the whole mountain chain with its eastern declivities
to the Amazon and Orinoco. As the direct descendants of the Sun, they were
exclusively the high priests of the state religion, and at the same time
emperors and the highest statesmen in the land: in virtue of which, they, again
like the Brahmans, arrogated to themselves a divine superiority over the
ordinary mortals, thus founding like the
"twice-born" an exclusive and
aristocratic caste--the Inca race. Considered as the son of the Sun, every
reigning Inca was the high priest, the oracle, chief captain in war, and
absolute sovereign; thus realizing the double office of Pope and King, and so
long anticipating the dream of the Roman Pontiffs. To his command the blindest
obedience was exacted; his person was sacred; and he was the object of divine
honours. The highest officers of the land could not appear
shod in his presence; this mark of respect
pointing again to an Oriental origin; while the custom of boring the ears of
the youths of royal blood and inserting in them golden rings "which were
increased in size as they advanced in rank, until the distention of the
cartilege became a positive deformity," suggests a strange resemblance
between the sculptured portraits of many of them that we find in the more
modern ruins, and the images of Buddha and of some deities, not to mention our
contemporary dandies of Siam, Burmah, and Southern India. In
that, once more like in India, in the palmy
days of the Brahmin power, no one had the right to either receive an education
or study religion except the privileged Inca caste. And, when the reigning Inca
died, or as it was termed, "was called home to the mansion of his
father," a very large number of his attendants and his wives were made to
die with him, during the ceremony of his obsequies, just as we find in the old
annals of Rajesthan, and down to the but just abolished custom of Sutti. Taking
all this into consideration, the archæologist cannot remain satisfied with the
brief remark of certain historians that "in this tradition we trace only
another version of the story of the civilization common to all primitive
nations, and that imposture of a celestial relationship whereby designing
rulers and cunning priests have sought to secure their ascendency among
men." No more is it an explanation to say that "Manco
Capac is the almost exact counterpart of
the Chinese Fohi, the Hindu Buddha, the terrestrial Osiris of Egypt, the
Quetzalcoatl of Mexico, and Votan of Central America"; for all this is but
too evident. What we want to learn is how came these nations, so antipodal to
each other as India, Egypt, and America, to offer such extraordinary points of
resemblance, not only in their general religious, political, and social views,
but sometimes in the minutest details.
The much-needed task is to find out which
one of them preceded the other; to explain how these people came to plant at
the four corners of the earth nearly identical architecture and arts, unless
there was a time when, as assured by Plato and believed in by more than one
modern
archæologist, no ships were needed for such
a transit, as the two worlds formed but one continent.
According to the most recent researches,
there are five distinct styles of architecture in the Andes alone, of which the
temple of the Sun at Cuzco was the latest. And this one, perhaps, is the only
structure of importance which, according to modern travellers, can be safely
attributed to the Incas, whose imperial glories are believed to have been the
last gleam of a civilization dating back for untold ages. Dr. E. R. Heath, of
Kansas (U.S.A.), thinks that "long before Manco Capac, the Andes had been
the dwelling-place of races, whose beginning must have been coëval with the
savages of Western Europe. The gigantic
architecture points to the cyclopean
family, the founders of the Temple of Babel, and the Egyptian pyramids. The
Grecian scroll found in many places is borrowed (?) from the Egyptians; the
mode of burial and embalming their dead points to Egypt." Further on, this
learned traveller finds that the skulls taken from the burial-grounds,
according to craniologists, represent three distinct races: the Chinchas, who
occupied the western part of Peru from the Andes to the Pacific; the Aymaras,
dwellers of the elevated plains of Peru and Bolivia, on the southern shore of
Lake Titicaca; and the Huancas, who "occupied the plateau
between the chains of the Andes, north of
Lake Titicaca to the 9th degree of South Latitude." To confound the
buildings of the epoch of the Incas in Peru, and of Montezuma and his caciques,
in Mexico, with the aboriginal monuments, is fatal to archaeology. While
Cholula, Uxmal, Quiché, Pachacamac, and Chichen were all perfectly preserved
and occupied at the time of the invasion of the Spanish banditti, there are
hundreds of ruined cities and works which were in the same state of ruin even
then; whose origin was unknown to the conquered Incas and
caciques as it is to us; and which are
undoubtedly the remains of unknown and now extinct peoples. The strange shapes
of the heads, and profiles of the human figures upon the monoliths of Copan are
a warrant for the correctness of the hypothesis. The pronounced difference
between the skulls of these races and the Indo-European skulls was at first
attributed to mechanical means, used by the mothers for giving a peculiar
conformation to the head of their children during infancy, as is often done by
other tribes and peoples. But, as the same author
tells us, the finding in "a mummy of a
fœtus of seven or eight months having the same conformation of skull, has
placed a doubt as to the certainty of this fact." And besides hypothesis,
we have a scientific and an unimpeachable proof of a civilization that must
have existed in Peru ages ago. Were we to give the number of thousands of years
that have probably elapsed since then, without first showing good reasons for
the assumption, the reader might feel like holding his breath. So let us try.
The Peruvian guano (huano), that precious
fertilizer, composed of the excrement of sea-fowls, intermixed with their
decaying bodies, eggs, remains of seal, and so on, which has accumulated upon
the isles of the Pacific and the coast of South America, and its formation are
now well-known. It was Humboldt who first discovered and drew the world's
attention to it in 1804. And, while describing the deposits as covering the
granite rocks of the Chincas and other islands to the depth of 50 or 60 feet,
he states that the accumulation of the preceding 300
years, since the Conquest, had formed only
a few lines in thickness. How many thousands of years, then, it required to
form this deposit 60 feet deep, is a matter of simple calculation. In this
connection we may now quote something of a discovery spoken of in the Peruvian
Antiquities.2 "Buried 62 feet under the ground, on the Chinca islands,
stone-idols and water-pots were found, while 35 and 33 feet below the surface
were wooden idols. Beneath the guano on the Guanapi islands, just south of
Truxillo, and Macabi just north, mummies, birds, and birds' eggs, gold and
silver ornaments were taken. On the Macabi the labourers found some large
valuable golden vases, which they broke up and divided among themselves, even
though offered weight for weight in gold coin,
and thus relics of greater interest to the
scientist have been ever lost.
He--who can determine the centuries
necessary to deposit thirty and sixty feet of guano on these islands,
remembering that since the Conquest, three hundred years ago, no appreciable
increase in depth has been noted--can give you an idea of the antiquity of
these relics."
If we confine ourselves to a strictly
arithmetical calculation, then allowing 12 lines to an inch, and 12 inches to a
foot, and allowing one line to every century, we are forced to believe that the
people who made these precious gold vases lived 864,000 years ago! Leave an
ample margin for errors, and give two lines to a century--say an inch to every
100 years--and we will yet have 72,000 years back a civilization which--if we
judge by its public works, the durability of its constructions, and the
grandeur of its buildings,--equalled, and in some things certainly surpassed,
our own.
Having well defined ideas as to the
periodicity of cycles, for the world as well as for nations, empires, and
tribes, we are convinced that our present modern civilization is but the latest
dawn of that which already has been seen an innumerable number of times upon
this planet. It may not be exact science, but it is both inductive and
deductive logic, based upon theories far less hypothetical and more palpable
than many another theory, held as strictly scientific. To express it in the
words of Professor T. E. Nipher, of St. Louis, "we are not the friends of
theory, but of truth," and until truth is found, we welcome every new
theory, however unpopular at first, for fear of rejecting in our ignorance the
stone which may in time become the very corner-stone of the truth. "The
errors of scientific men are well nigh countless, not because they
are men of science, but because they are
men," says the same scientist; and further quotes the noble words of
Faraday--"occasionally, and frequently the exercise of the judgment ought
to end in absolute reservation. It may be very distasteful and a great fatigue
to suspend a conclusion, but as we are not infallible, so we ought to be
cautious." (Experimental Researches, 24th Series.)
It is doubtful whether, with the exception
of a few of the most prominent ruins, there ever was attempted a detailed
account of the so-called American antiquities. Yet, in order to bring out the
more prominently a point of comparison, such a work would be absolutely
necessary. If the history of religion and of mythology and--far more
important--the origin, developing and final grouping of the human species are
ever to be unravelled, we have to trust to archaeological research, rather than
to the hypothetical deductions of philology. We must begin by massing together
the concrete imagery of the early thought, more eloquent in its stationary form
than the verbal expression of the
same, the latter being but too liable, in
its manifold interpretations, to be distorted in a thousand ways. This would
afford us an easier and more trustworthy clue. Archaeological Societies ought
to have a whole cyclopædia of the world's remains, with a collation of the most
important of the speculations as to each locality. For, however fantastic and
wild some of these hypotheses may seem at first glance, yet each has a chance
of proving useful at some time.
It is often more beneficial to know what a
thing is not than to know what it is, as Max Müller truly tells us.
It is not within the limits of an article
in our paper that any such object
could be achieved. Availing ourselves,
though, of the reports of the Government surveyors, trustworthy travellers, men
of science, and, even our own limited experience, we will try in the future
issues to give to our Hindu readers, who possibly may never have heard of these
antiquities, a general idea of them. Our latest informations are drawn from
every reliable source; the survey of the Peruvian antiquities being mostly due
to Dr. Heath's able paper, above mentioned.
II
Evidently we, THEOSOPHISTS, are not the
only iconoclasts in this world of mutual deception and hypocrisy. We are not
the only ones who believe in cycles and, opposing the Biblical chronology, lean
towards those opinions which secretly are shared by so many, but publicly
avowed by so few. We, Europeans, are just emerging from the very bottom of a
new cycle, and progressing upwards, while the Asiatics--Hindus especially--are
the lingering remnants of the nations which filled the world in the previous
and now departed cycles. Whether the Aryans sprang from the archaic Americans,
or the latter from the prehistorical Aryans, is a question which no living man
can decide. But that there must have been an intimate connection at some time
between the old Aryans, the prehistoric inhabitants of America--whatever might
have been their name--and the ancient Egyptians, is a matter more easily proved
than contradicted. And probably, if there ever was such a connection, it must
have taken place at a time when the Atlantic did not yet divide the two
hemispheres as it does now.
In his Peruvian Antiquities (see the
Theosophist for March) Dr. Heath, of Kansas City--rara avis among scientific
men, a fearless searcher, who accepts truth wherever he finds it, and is not
afraid to speak it out in the very face of dogmatic opposition--sums up his
impressions of the Peruvian relics in the following words:--"Three times
the Andes sank hundreds of feet beneath the ocean level, and again were slowly
brought to their present height. A man's life would be too short to count even
the centuries consumed in this operation. The coast of Peru has risen eighty
feet since it felt the tread of Pizarro. Supposing the
Andes to have risen uniformly and without
interruption, 70,000 years must have elapsed before they reached their present
altitude."
"Who knows, then, but that Jules
Verne's fanciful idea3 regarding the lost continent Atlanta may be near the
truth? Who can say that, where now is the Atlantic Ocean, formerly did not
exist a continent, with its dense population, advanced in the arts and
sciences, who, as they found their land sinking beneath the waters, retired
part east and part west, populating thus the two hemispheres? This would
explain the similarity of their archæological structures and races, and their
differences, modified by and adapted to the character of their respective climates
and countries. Thus would the llama and camel differ, although of the same
species; thus the algoraba and espino trees; thus the Iroquois Indians of North
America and the most ancient Arabs call the
constellation of the 'Great Bear' by the
same name; thus various nations, cut off from all intercourse or knowledge of
each other, divide the zodiac into twelve constellations, apply to them the
same names, and the Northern Hindus apply the name Andes to their Himalayan
mountains, as did the South Americans to their principal chain.4 Must we fall
in the old rut, and suppose no other means of populating the Western Hemisphere
except 'by way of Behring's Strait'? Must
we still locate a geographical Eden in the
East, and suppose a land, equally adapted to man and as old geologically, must
wait the aimless wanderings of the 'lost tribe of Israel' to become
populated?"
Go where we may, to explore the antiquities
of America--whether of Northern, Central, or Southern America--we are first of
all impressed with the magnitude of these relics of ages and races unknown, and
then with the extraordinary similarity they present to the mounds and ancient
structures of old India, of Egypt and even of some parts of Europe.
Whoever has seen one of these mounds has
seen all. Whoever has stood before the cyclopean structures of one continent
can have a pretty accurate idea of those of the other. Only be it said--we know
still less of the age of the antiquities of
America than even of those in the Valley of the Nile, of which we know next to
nothing. But their symbolism--apart from their outward form--is evidently the
same as in Egypt, India, and elsewhere. As before the great pyramid of Cheops
in Cairo, so before the great mound, 100 feet high, on the plain of
Cahokia,--near St. Louis (Missouri)--which measures 700 feet long by 800 feet
broad at the base, and covers upwards of eight acres of ground, having
20,000,000 cubic feet of contents, and the mound
on the banks of Brush Creek, Ohio, so
accurately described by Squier and Davis, one knows not whether to admire more
the geometrical precision, prescribed by the wonderful and mysterious builders
in the form of their monuments, or the hidden symbolism they evidently sought
to express. The Ohio mound represents a serpent, upwards of l ,000 feet long.
Gracefully coiled in capricious curves, it terminates in a triple coil at the
tail. "The embankment constituting the effigy, is upwards of five feet in
height, by thirty feet base at the centre of the body, slightly diminishing
towards the tail."5 The neck is stretched out and
its mouth wide opened, holding within its
jaws an oval figure. "Formed by an embankment four feet in height, this
oval is perfectly regular in outline, its transverse and conjugate diameters
being 160 and 8 feet respectively," say the surveyors. The whole
represents the universal cosmological idea of the serpent and the egg. This is
easy to surmise. But how came this great symbol of the Hermetic wisdom of old
Egypt to find itself represented in North America? How is it that the sacred
buildings found in Ohio and elsewhere, these squares, circles, octagons, and
other geometrical figures, in which one recognizes so
easily the prevailing idea of the
Pythagorean sacred numerals, seem copied from the Book of Numbers? Apart from
the complete silence as to their origin, even among the Indian tribes, who have
otherwise preserved their own traditions in every case, the antiquity of these
ruins is proved by the existence of the largest and most ancient forests
growing on the buried cities. The prudent archæologists of America have
generously assigned them 2,000 years. But by whom built, and whether their
authors migrated, or disappeared beneath victorious arms, or were swept out of
existence by some direful epidemic, or a universal
famine, are questions, "probably
beyond the power of human investigation to answer," they say. The earliest
inhabitants of Mexico, of whom history has any knowledge--more hypothetical
than proven--are the Toltecs. These are supposed to have come from the North
and believed to have entered Anahuac in the 7th century A.D.
They are also credited with having
constructed in Central America, where they spread in the eleventh century, some
of the great cities whose ruins still exist. In this case it is they who must
also have carved the hieroglyphics that cover some of the relics. How is it,
then, that the pictorial system of writing of Mexico, which was used by the
conquered people and learned by the conquerors and their missionaries, does not
yet furnish the keys to the hieroglyphics of Palenque and Copan, not to mention
those of Peru? And these civilized Toltecs
themselves, who were they, and whence did
they come? And who are the Aztecs that succeeded them? Even among the
hieroglyphical systems of Mexico, there were some which the foreign
interpreters were precluded the possibility of studying. These were the
so-called schemes of judicial astrology "given but not explained in Lord
Kingsborough's published collection," and set down as purely figurative and
symbolical, "intended only for the use of the priests and diviners and
possessed of an esoteric significance." Many of the hieroglyphics on the
monoliths of Palenque and Copan are of the same character. The "priests
and diviners" were
all killed off by the Catholic
fanatics,--the secret died with them.
Nearly all the mounds in North America are
terraced and ascended by large graded ways, sometimes square, often hexagonal,
octagonal or truncated, but in all respects similar to the teocallis of Mexico,
and to the topes of India. As the latter are attributed throughout this country
to the work of the five Pandus of the Lunar Race, so the cyclopean monuments
and monoliths on the shores of Lake Titicaca, in the republic of Bolivia, are
ascribed to giants, the five exiled brothers "from beyond the
mounts." They worshipped the moon as their progenitor and lived before the
time of the "Sons and Virgins of the Sun." Here, the
similarity of the Aryan with the South
American tradition is again but too obvious, and the Solar and Lunar races--the
Sûrya Vansa and the Chandra Vansa--re-appear in America.
This Lake Titicaca, which occupies the
centre of one of the most remarkable terrestrial basins on the whole globe, is
"160 miles long and from 50 to 80 broad, and discharges through the valley
of El Desagvadero, to the south-east into another lake, called Lake Aullagas,
which is probably kept at a lower level by evaporation or filtration, since it
has no known outlet. The surface of the lake is 12,846 feet above the sea, and
it is the most elevated body of waters of similar size in the world." As
the level of its waters has very much decreased
in the historical period, it is believed on
good grounds that they once
surrounded the elevated spot on which are
found the remarkable ruins of
Tiahuanaco.
The latter are without any doubt aboriginal
monuments pertaining to an epoch which preceded the Incal period, as far back
as the Dravidian and other aboriginal peoples preceded the Aryans in India.
Although the traditions of the Incas maintain that the great law-giver and
teacher of the Peruvians, Manco Capac--the Manu of South America diffused his
knowledge and influence from this centre, yet the statement is unsupported by
facts. If the original seat of the Aymara, or "Inca race" was there,
as claimed by some, how is it that neither the Incas, nor the Aymaras, who
dwell on the shores of the Lake to this day, nor yet
the ancient Peruvians, had the slightest
knowledge concerning their history?
Beyond a vague tradition which tells of
"giants" having built these immense structures in one night, we do
not find the faintest clue. And, we have every reason to doubt whether the
Incas are of the Aymara race at all. The Incas claim their descent from Manco
Capac, the son of the Sun, and the Aymaras claim this legislator as their
instructor and the founder of the era of their civilization.
Yet, neither the Incas of the Spanish
period could prove the one, nor the Aymaras the other. The language of the
latter is quite distinct from the Inichua--the tongue of the Incas; and they
were the only race that refused to give up their language when conquered by the
descendants of the Sun, as Dr. Heath tells us.
The ruins afford every evidence of the
highest antiquity. Some are built on a pyramidal plan, as most of the American
mounds are, and cover several acres; while the monolithic doorways, pillars and
stone-idols, so elaborately carved, are "sculptured in a style wholly
different from any other remains of art yet found in America." D'Orbigny
speaks of the ruins in the most enthusiastic manner. "These
monuments," he says, "consist of a mound raised nearly 100 feet,
surrounded with pillars--of temples from 600 to 1,200 feet in length, opening
precisely towards the east, and adorned with colossal angular columns--of
porticoes of a single stone, covered with reliefs of skilful execution,
displaying symbolical representations of the Sun, and the condor, his
messenger--of basaltic statues loaded with bas-reliefs, in which the design of
the carved head is half Egyptian--and lastly, of the interior of a palace
formed of enormous blocks of rock, completely hewn, whose dimensions are often
21 feet in length, 12 in breadth, and 6 in thickness. In the temples and
palaces, the portals are not inclined, as among those of the Incas, but
perpendicular; and their vast dimensions, and the imposing masses, of which
they are composed, surpass in beauty and grandeur all that were afterwards
built by the sovereigns of Cuzco." Like the rest of his fellow-explorers,
M. D'Orbigny believes these ruins to have been the work of a race far anterior
to the Incas.
Two distinct styles of architecture are
found in these relics of Lake Titicaca. Those of the island of Coati, for
instance, bear every feature in common with the ruins of Tiahuanaco; so do the
vast blocks of stone elaborately sculptured, some of which, according to the
report of the surveyors, in 1846, measure: "3 feet in length by 18 feet in
width, and 6 feet in thickness"; while on some of the is lands of the Lake
Titicaca there are monuments of great extent, "but of true Peruvian type,
believed to be the remains of temples destroyed by the Spaniards." The
famous sanctuary, with the human figure in it, belongs to the former. Its
doorway 10 feet high, 13 feet broad, with an opening 6 feet 4
inches, by 3 feet 2 inches, is cut from a
single stone. "Its east front has a cornice, in the centre of which is a
human figure of strange form, crowned with rays, interspersed with serpents
with crested heads. On each side of this figure are three rows of square
compartments, filled with human and other figures, of apparently symbolic
design. . . . "
Were this temple in India, it would
undoubtedly be attributed to Shiva; but it is at the antipodes, where neither
the foot of a Shaiva nor one of the Naga tribe has ever penetrated to the
knowledge of man, though the Mexican Indians have their Nagal, or chief
sorcerer and serpent worshipper. The ruins standing on an eminence, which, from
the
watermarks around it, seem to have been
formerly an island in Lake Titicaca, and "the level of the Lake now being
135 feet lower, and its shores, 12 miles distant, this fact, in conjunction
with others, warrants the belief that these remains antedate any others known
in America."6 Hence, all these relics are unanimously ascribed to the same
"unknown and mysterious people who preceded the Peruvians, as the
Tulhuatecas or Toltecs did the Aztecs. It seems to have been the seat of the
highest and most ancient civilization of South America and of a people who have
left the most gigantic monuments of their power and skill" . . .
And these monuments are all either
Dracontias--temples sacred to the Snake, or temples dedicated to the Sun.
Of this same character are the ruined
pyramids of Teotihuacan and the monoliths of Palenque and Copan. The former are
some eight leagues from the City of Mexico on the plain of Otumla, and
considered among the most ancient in the land. The two principal ones are
dedicated to
the Sun and Moon, respectively. They are
built of cut stone, square, with four stories and a level area at the top. The
larger, that of the Sun, is 221 feet high, 680 feet square at the base, and
covers an area of 11 acres, nearly equal to that of the great pyramid of
Cheops. And yet, the pyramid of Cholula, higher than that of Teotihuacan by ten
feet according to Humboldt, and having 1,400 feet square at the base, covers an
area of 45 acres!
It is interesting to hear what the earliest
writers--the historians who saw them during the first conquest--say even of
some of the most modern of these buildings, of the great temple of Mexico,
among others. It consisted of an immense square area "surrounded by a wall
of stone and lime, eight feet thick, with battlements, ornamented with many
stone figures in the form of serpents," says one. Cortez shows that 500
houses might be easily placed within its enclosure. It was paved with polished
stones, so smooth, that "the horses of the Spaniards could not move over
them without slipping," writes Bernal Diaz. In connection with this, we
must remember that it was not the Spaniards who conquered the Mexicans, but
their horses. As there never was a horse seen before
by this people in America, until the
Europeans landed it in the coast, the
natives, though excessively brave,
"were so awe-struck at the sight of horses and the roar of the
artillery," that they took the Spaniards to be of divine origin and sent
them human beings as sacrifices. This superstitious panic is sufficient to
account for the fact that a handful of men could so easily conquer incalculable
thousands of warriors.
According to Gomera, the four walls of the
enclosure of the temple correspond with the cardinal points. In the centre of
this gigantic area arose the great temple, an immense pyramidal structure of
eight stages, faced with stone, 300 feet square at the base and 120 feet in
height, truncated, with a level summit, upon which were situated two towers,
the shrines of the divinities to whom it was consecrated--Tezcatlipoca and
Huitzlipochtli. It was here that the sacrifices were performed, and the eternal
fire maintained. Clavigero tells us, that besides this great pyramid, there
were forty other similar structures consecrated to various divinities. The one
called Tezcacalli, "the House of the
Shining Mirrors, sacred to Tezcatlipoca,
the God of Light, the Soul of the World, the Vivifier, the Spiritual Sun."
The dwellings of priests, who, according to Zarate, amounted to 8,000, were
near by, as well as the seminaries and the schools. Ponds and fountains, groves
and gardens, in which flowers and sweet smelling herbs were cultivated for use
in certain sacred rites and the decoration of altars, were in abundance; and,
so large was the inner yard, that "8,000 or 10,000 persons had sufficient
room to dance in it upon their solemn festivities"--says Solis. Torquemada
estimates the number of such temples in the Mexican empire at 40,000 but
Clavigero, speaking of the majestic Teocalli (literally, houses of God) of.
Mexico, estimates the number higher.So wonderful are the features of
resemblance between the ancient shrines of the Old and the New World that
Humboldt remains unequal to express his surprise. "What striking analogies
exist between the monuments of the old continents and those of the Toltecs who
. . . built these colossal structures, truncated pyramids, divided by layers,
like the temple of Belus at Babylon! Where did they take the model of these
edifices?"--he exclaims.
The eminent naturalist might have also
enquired where the Mexicans got all their Christian virtues from, being but
poor pagans. The code of the Aztecs, says Prescott, "evinces a profound
respect for the great principles of morality, and as clear a perception of
these principles as is to be found in the most cultivated nations." Some of
these are very curious inasmuch as they show a similarity to some of the Gospel
ethics. "He who looks too curiously on a woman, commits adultery with his
eyes," says one of them. "Keep peace with all; bear injuries with
humility; God, who sees, will avenge you," declares another. Recognizing
but one Supreme Power in Nature, they addressed it as the deity "by whom
we live, Omnipresent, that knoweth all thoughts and giveth all gifts, without
whom man is as nothing; invisible, incorporeal, one of perfect perfection and
purity, under whose wings we find repose and a sure defence."
And, in naming their children, says Lord
Kingsborough, "they used a ceremony strongly resembling the Christian rite
of baptism, the lips and bosom of the infant being sprinkled with water, and
the Lord implored to wash away the sin that was given to it before the
foundation of the world, so that the child might be born anew."
"Their laws were perfect; justice, contentment and peace reigned in the
kingdom of these benighted heathens," when the brigands and the Jesuits of
Cortez landed at Tabasco. A century of murders, robbery, and forced conversion,
were sufficient to transform this quiet, inoffensive and wise people into what
they are now. They have fully benefited by dogmatic Christianity. And he, who
ever went to Mexico, knows what that means. The country is full of
blood-thirsty Christian fanatics, thieves, rogues, drunkards, debauchees,
murderers, and the greatest liars the world has ever produced! Peace and glory
to your ashes, O Cortez and Torquemada! In this case at least, will you never
be permitted to boast of the enlightenment your Christianity has poured out on
the poor, and once virtuous heathens!
III
The ruins of Central America are no less
imposing. Massively built, with walls of a great thickness, they are usually
marked by broad stairways, leading to the principal entrance. When composed of
several stories, each successive story is usually smaller than that below it,
giving the structure the appearance of a pyramid of several stages. The front
walls, either made of stone or stuccoed, are covered with elaborately carved,
symbolic figures; and the interior divided into corridors and dark chambers,
with arched ceilings, the roofs supported by overlapping courses of stones,
"constituting a pointed arch, corresponding in type with the earliest
monuments of the old world." Within several chambers at Palenque, tablets,
covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics of fine design and artistic execution,
were discovered by Stephens. In Honduras, at Copan, a whole city--temples,
houses and grand monoliths intricately carved--was unearthed in an old forest
by Catherwood and Stephens. The sculpture and general style of Copan are
unique, and no such style or even anything approaching it has been found
anywhere else, except at Quirigua, and in the islands of Lake Nicaragua. No one
can decipher the weird hieroglyphical inscriptions on the altars and monoliths.
With the exception of a few works of uncut stone, "to Copan, we may safely
assign an antiquity higher than to any of the other monuments of Central
America with which we are acquainted," says the New American Cyclopædia.
At the period of the Spanish conquest, Copan was already a forgotten ruin, concerning
which existed only the vaguest traditions.
No less extraordinary are the remains of
the different epochs in Peru. The ruins of the temple of the Sun at Cuzco are
yet imposing, notwithstanding that the deprecating hand of the Vandal Spaniard
passed heavily over it. If we may believe the narratives of the conquerors
themselves, they found it, on their arrival, a kind of a fairy-tale castle.
With its enormous circular stone wall completely encompassing the principal
temple, chapels and buildings, it is situated in the very heart of the city,
and even its remains justly provoke the admiration of the traveller.
"Aqueducts opened within the sacred inclosure; and within it were gardens,
and walks among shrubs and flowers of gold and silver, made in imitation of the
productions of nature. It was attended by 4,000 priests." "The
ground," says La Vega, "for 200 paces around the temple, was
considered holy, and no one was allowed to pass within this boundary but with
naked feet." Besides this great temple, there were 300 other inferior
temples at Cuzco. Next to the latter in beauty, was the celebrated temple of
Pachacamac. Still another great temple of the Sun is mentioned by Humboldt;
and, "at the base of the hill of Cannar was formerly a famous shrine of
the Sun, consisting of the universal symbol of that luminary, formed by nature
upon the face of a great rock." Roman tells us "that the temples of
Peru were built upon high grounds or the top of the hills, and were surrounded
by three and four circular embankments of earth, one within the other."
Other remains seen by myself especially mounds--are surrounded by two, three,
and four circles of stones.
Near the town of Cayambe, on the very spot
which Ulloa saw and described an ancient Peruvian temple "perfectly circular
in form, and open at the top," there are several such cromlechs. Quoting
from an article in the Madras Times of 1876, Mr. J. H. Rivett-Carnac gives, in
his Archaeological Notes, the following information upon some curious mounds in
the neighborhood of Bangalore:--7 "Near the village there are at least one
hundred cromlechs plainly to be seen. These cromlechs are surrounded by circles
of stones, some of them with concentric circles three and four deep. One very
remarkable in appearance has four circles of large stones around it, and is
called by the natives 'Pandavara Gudi' or the temples of the Pandas. . . . This
is supposed to be the first instance, where the natives popularly imagine a
structure of this kind to have been the temple of a by-gone, if not of a
mythical, race. Many of these structures have a triple circle, some a double,
and a few single circles of stone round them." In the 35th degree of
latitude, the Arizona Indians in North America have their rude altars to this
day, surrounded by precisely such circles, and their sacred spring, discovered
by Major Alfred R. Calhoun, F.G.S., of the United States Army Survey
Commission, is surrounded with the same symbolical wall of stones, as is
found in Stonehenge and elsewhere.
By far the most interesting and full
account we have read for a long time upon the Peruvian antiquities is that from
the pen of Mr. Heath of Kansas, already mentioned. Condensing the general
picture of these remains into the limited space of a few pages in a
periodical,8 he yet manages to present a masterly and vivid picture of the
wealth of these remains. More than one speculator has grown rich in a few days
through his desecrations of the "huacas."
The remains of countless generations of
unknown races, who had slept there undisturbed--who knows for how many
ages--are now left by the sacrilegious treasure-hunter to crumble into dust
under the tropical sun. Mr. Heath's conclusions, more startling, perchance,
than his discoveries, are worthy of being recorded. We
will repeat in brief his descriptions:--
"In the Jeguatepegue valley in Peru in
70° 24' S. Latitude, four miles north of the port of Pacasmayo is the
Jeguatepegue river. Near it, beside the southern shore, is an elevated platform
'one-fourth of a mile square and forty feet high, all of adobes or sun-burnt
bricks. A wall of fifty feet in width connects it with another'; 150 feet high,
200 feet across the top, and 500 at the base, nearly square. This latter was
built in sections of rooms, ten feet square at the base, six feet at the top
and about eight feet high. All of this same class of mounds--temples to worship
the sun, or fortresses, as they may be--have on the northerly side an incline
for an entrance. Treasure-seekers have cut into this one about half-way, and it
is said 150,000 dollars' worth of gold and
silver ornaments were found." Here
many thousands of men were buried and beside the skeletons were found in
abundance ornaments of gold, silver, copper, coral beads, &c. "On the
north side of the river, are the extensive ruins of a walled city, two miles
wide by six long. . . . Follow the river to the mountains. All along you pass
ruin after ruin and huaca after huaca" (burial places). At Tolon there is
another ruined city. Five miles further, up the river, "there is an
isolated boulder of granite, four and six feet in its diameters, covered with
hieroglyphics; fourteen miles further, a point of mountain at the junction of
two ravines is covered to a height of more than fifty feet with the same class
of hieroglyphics--birds, fishes, snakes, cats, monkeys, men, sun, moon, and
many
odd and now unintelligible forms. The rock,
on which these are cut, is a silicated sandstone, and many of the lines are an
eighth of an inch deep. In one large stone there are three holes, twenty to
thirty inches deep, six inches in diameter at the orifice and two at the apex.
. . . At Anchi, on the Rimac river, upon the face of a perpendicular wall 200
feet above the river-bed, there are two hieroglyphics, representing an
imperfect B and a perfect D. In a crevice below them, near the river, were
found buried 25,000 dollars' worth of gold and silver; when the Incas learned
of the murder of their chief, what did they do with the gold they were bringing
for his ransom? Rumour says they buried it. . . . May not these markings at
Yonan tell something, since they are on the road and near to the Incal
city?"
The above was published in November, 1878,
when in October, 1877, in my work "Isis Unveiled" (Vol. I, p. 595), I
gave a legend, which, for circumstances too long to explain, I hold to be
perfectly trustworthy, relating to these same buried treasures for the Inca's
ransom, a journal more satirical than polite classed it with the tales of Baron
Munchausen. The secret was revealed to me by a Peruvian. At Arica, going from
Lima, there stands an enormous rock, which tradition points to as the tomb of
the Incas. As the last rays of the setting sun strike the face of the rock, one
can see curious hieroglyphics inscribed upon it. These characters form one of
the land-marks that show how to get at the immense treasures buried in
subterranean corridors. The details are given in "Isis," and I will
not repeat them. Strong corroborative evidence is now found in more than one
recent scientific work; and the statement may be less pooh-poohed now than it
was then. Some miles beyond Yonan, on a ridge of a mountain 700 feet above the
river, are the walls of another city. Six and twelve miles further are
extensive walls and terraces; seventy-eight miles from the coast, "you
zigzag up the mountain side 7,000 feet then descend 2,000" to arrive at
Coxamolca, the city where, unto this day, stands the house in which Atahualpa,
the unfortunate Inca, was held prisoner by the treacherous Pizzaro.
It is the house which the Inca
"promised to fill with gold as high as he could reach, in exchange for his
liberty" in 1532; he did fill it with 17,500,000 dollars' worth of gold,
and so kept his promise. But Pizzaro, the ancient
swineherd of Spain and the worthy acolyte
of the priest Hernando de Lugues, murdered him, notwithstanding his pledge of
honor. Three miles from this town, "there is a wall of unknown make.
Cemented, the cement is harder than stone itself. . . . At Chepen, there is a
mountain with a wall twenty feet high, the summit being almost entirely
artificial. Fifty miles south of Pacaomayo, between the seaport of Huanchaco
and Truxillo, are the ruins of Chan-Chan, the capital city of the Chimoa
kingdom. . . . The road from the port to the city crosses these ruins, entering
by a causeway about four feet from the ground, and leading from one great mass
of ruins to another; beneath this is a tunnel." Be they forts, castles,
palaces or burial mounds called "huacas," all bear the name
"huaca." Hours of wandering on
horseback among these ruins give only a confused idea of them, nor can any
explorers there point out what were palaces and what were not. . . . The
highest enclosures must have cost an immense amount of labour.
To give an idea of the wealth found in the
country by the Spaniards, we copy the following, taken from the records of the
municipality in the city of Truxillo by Mr. Heath. It is a copy of the accounts
that are found in the book of Fifths of the Treasury in the years 1577 and
1578, of the treasures found in the "Huaca of Toledo" by one man
alone.
First.--In Truxillo. Peru, on the 22nd of
July 1577, Don Garcia Gutierrez de Toledo presented himself at the royal
treasury, to give into the royal chest a-fifth. He brought a bar of gold 19
carats ley and weighing 2,400 Spanish dollars, of which the fifth being 708
dollars, together with 11/2 per cent to the chief assayer, were deposited in
the royal box.
Secondly.--On the 12th of December, he
presented himself with five bars of gold, 15 and 19 carats ley, weighing 8,918
dollars.Thirdly.--On the 7th of January 1578, he came with his fifth of large
bars and plates of gold, one hundred and fifteen in number, 15 to 20 carats
ley, weighing 153,280 dollars.
Fourthly.--On the 8th of March, he brought
sixteen bars of gold, 14 to 21 carats ley, weighing 21,118 dollars.
Fifthly.--On the fifth of April, he brought
different ornaments of gold, being little belts of gold and patterns of
corn-heads and other things, of 14 carats ley, weighing 6,272
dollars.Sixthly.--On the 20th of April, he brought three small bars of gold, 20
carats ley, weighing 4,170 dollars.
Seventhly.--On the 12th of July, he came
with forty-seven bars, 14 to 21 carats, weighing 777,312 dollars.
Eighthly.--On the same day he came back
with another portion of gold and ornaments of corn-heads and pieces of effigies
of animals, weighing 4,704
dollars.
"The sum of these eight bringings
amounted to 278,174 gold dollars or Spanish ounces. Multiplied by sixteen gives
4,450,784 silver dollars. Deducting the royal fifth--985,953.75 dollars--left
3,464, 830.25 dollars as Toledo's portion! Even after this great haul, effigies
of different animals of gold were found from time to time. Mantles, also
adorned with square pieces of gold, as well as robes made with feathers of
divers colours were dug up. There is a tradition that in the huaca of Toledo
there were two treasures, known as the great and little fish. The smaller only
has been found. Between Huacho and Supe, the latter being 120 miles north of
Callao, near a point called Atahuangri, there are two enormous mounds,
resembling the Campana and San Miguel, of the Huatic Valley, soon to be
described. About five miles from Patavilca tsouth, and near Supe) is a place
called 'Paramonga' or the fortress
The ruins of a fortress of great extent are
here visible, the walls are of tempered clay, about six feet thick. The
principal building stood on an eminence, but the walls were continued to the
foot of it, like regular circumvallations; the ascent winding round the hill
like a labyrinth, having many angles which probably served as outworks to
defend the place. In this neighbourhood, much treasure has been excavated, all
of which must have been concealed by the pre-historic Indian, as we have no
evidence of the Incas ever having occupied this part of Peru after they had
subdued it."
Not far from Ancon, on a circuit of six to
eight miles, "on every side you see skulls, legs, arms and whole skeletons
lying about in the sand. . . . At Parmayo, fourteen miles further down
north," and on the sea-shore, is another
great burying-ground. Thousands of
skeletons lie about, thrown out by the treasure-seekers. It has more than half
a mile of cutting through it. . . . It extends up the face of the hill from the
sea-shore to the height of about 800 feet. . . . Whence come these hundreds and
thousands of peoples, who are buried at Ancon? Time and time again the
archæologist finds himself face to face with such questions, to which he can
only shrug his shoulders and say with the natives--"Quien Sabe?"--who
knows?
Dr. Hutchinson writes, under date of Oct.
30, 1872, in the South Pacific "Times":--"I am come to the
conclusion that Chancay is a great city of the dead, or has been an immense
ossuary of Peru; for go where you will, on a mountain top or level plain, or by
the seaside, you meet at every turn skulls and bones of all descriptions."
In the Huatica Valley, which is an
extensive ruin, there are seventeen mounds, called "huacas,"
although, remarks the writer, "they present more the form of fortresses,
or castles than burying-ground." A triple wall surrounded the city.
These walls are often three yards in
thickness and from fifteen to twenty feet high. To the east of these is the
enormous mound called Huaca of Pando . . . and the great ruins of fortresses,
which natives entitle Huaca of the Bell. La compana, the Huacas of Pando,
consisting of a series of large and small mounds, and extending over a stretch
of ground incalculable without being measured, form a colossal accumulation.
The mound "Bell" is 110 feet high. Towards Callao, there is a square
plateau (278 yards long and 96 across) having on the top eight gradations of
declivity, each from one to two yards lower than its neighbour, and making a
total in length and breadth of about 278 yards, according to the calculation of
J. B. Steere, of Michigan, Professor of Natural History.
The square plateau first mentioned at the
base consists of two divisions . . . each measuring a perfect square 47 to 48
yards; the two joining, form the square of 96 yards. Besides this, is another
square of 47 to 48 yards. On the top returning again, we find the same symmetry
of measurement in the multiples of twelve, nearly all the ruins in this valley
being the same, which is a fact for the curious. Was it by accident or design?
. . . The mound is a truncated pyramidal form, and is calculated to contain a
mass of 14,641,820 cubic feet of material. . . . The "Fortress" is a
huge structure, 80 feet high and 150 yards in measurement. Great large square
rooms show their outlines on the top but
are filled with earth. Who brought this earth here, and with what object was
the
filling-up accomplished? The work of
obliterating all space in these rooms with loose earth must have been almost as
great as the construction of the building itself. . . . Two miles south, we
find another similar structure, more spacious and with a greater number of
apartments. . . . It is nearly 170 yards in length, and 168 in breadth, and 98
feet high. The whole of these ruins . . . were enclosed by high walls of
adobes--large mud bricks, some from 1 to 2 yards in thickness, length and
breadth. The "huaca" of the "Bell" contains about
20,220,840 cubic feet of material, while that of "San Miguel" has
25,650,800.
These two buildings with their terraces,
parapets and bastions, with a large number of rooms and squares--are now filled
up with earth! Near "Mira Flores," is Ocheran--the largest mound in
the Huatica valley. It has 95 feet of elevation and a width of 55 yards on the
summit, and a total length of 428 yards, or 1,284 feet, another multiple of
twelve. It is enclosed by a double wall, 816 yards in length by 700 across,
thus enclosing 117 acres. Between Ocharas and the ocean are from l5 to 20
masses of ruins like those already described.
The Inca temple of the Sun, like the temple
of Cholula on the plains of Mexico, is a sort of vast terraced pyramid of
earth. It is from 200 to 300 feet high, and forms a semi-lunar shape that is
beyond half a mile in extent. Its top measures about 10 acres square. Many of
the walls are washed over with red paint, and are as fresh and bright as when
centuries ago it was first put on. . . . In the Canete valley, opposite the
Chincha Guano Islands, are extensive ruins, described by Squier. From the hill
called "Hill of Gold," copper and silver pins were taken like those
used by ladies to pin their shawls; also tweezers for pulling out the hair of
the eyebrows, eyelids and whiskers, as well as silver cups.
"The coast of Peru," says Mr.
Heath, "extends from Tumbey to the river Loa, a distance of 1,233 miles.
Scattered over this whole extent, there are thousands of ruins besides those
just mentioned, while nearly every hill and spire of the mountains have upon
them or about them some relic of the past, and in every ravine, from the coast
to the central plateau, there are ruins of walls, cities, fortresses,
burial-vaults, and miles and miles of terraces and water-courses.
Across the plateau and down the eastern
slope of the Andes to the home of the wild Indian, and into the unknown
impenetrable forest, still you find them. In the mountains, however, where
showers of rain and snow with the terrific thunder and lightning are nearly
constant, a number of months each year, the ruins are different. Of granite,
porphyritic lime and silicated sand-stone, these massive, colossal, cyclopean
structures have resisted the disintegration of time, geological transformation,
earthquakes, and the sacrilegious destructive hand of the warrior and
treasure-seeker. The masonry composing these walls, temples, houses, towers,
fortresses, or sepulchres, is uncemented, held in place by the incline of the
walls from the perpendicular, and adaptation of each stone to the
place destined for it, the stones having
from six to many sides, each dressed, and smoothed to fit another or others
with such exactness that the blade of a small penknife cannot be inserted in
any of the seams thus formed, whether in the central parts entirely hidden, or
on the internal or external surfaces.
These stones, selected with no reference to
uniformity in shape or size, vary from one-half cubic foot to 1,500 cubic feet
solid contents, and if in the many, many millions of stones you could find one
that would fit in the place of another, it would be purely accidental. In
'Triumph Street,' in the city of Cuzco, in a part of the wall of the ancient
house of the Virgins of the Sun, is a very large stone, known as 'the stone of
the twelve corners,' since it is joined with those that surround it, by twelve
faces, each having a different angle. Besides these twelve faces it has its
internal one, and no one knows how many it has on its back that is hidden in
the masonry. In the wall in the centre of the Cuzco fortress there are stones
13 feet high, 15 feet long, and 8 feet thick, and all have been quarried miles
away. Near this city there is an oblong smooth boulder, 18 feet in its longer
axis, and 12 feet in its lesser. On one side are large niches cut out, in which
a man can stand and, by swaying his body, cause the stone to rock. These niches
apparently were made solely for this purpose. One of the most wonderful and
extensive of these works in stone is that called Ollantay-Tambo, a ruin
situated 30 miles north of Cuzco, in a narrow ravine on the bank of the river
Urubamba. It consists of a fortress constructed on the top of a sloping, craggy
eminence. Extending from it to the plain below, is a stony stairway. At the top
of the stairway are six large slabs, 12 feet
high, 5 feet wide, and 3 feet thick, side
by side, having between them and on top narrow strips of stone about 6 inches
wide, frames as it were to the slabs, and all being of dressed stone. At the
bottom of the hill, part of which was made by hand, and at the foot of the
stairs, a stone wall 10 feet wide and 12 feet high extends some distance into
the plain. In it are many niches, all facing the south."
The ruins in the Islands in Lake Titicaca,
where Incal history begins, have often been described.At Tiahuanaco, a few
miles south of the lake, there are stones in the form of columns, partly
dressed, placed in line at certain distances from each other, and having an
elevation above the ground of from 18 to 20 feet. In this same line there is a
monolithic doorway, now broken, 10 feet high by 13 wide. The space cut out for
the door is 7 feet 4 inches high by 3 feet 2 inches wide. The whole face of the
stone above the door is engraved. Another similar, but
smaller, lies on the ground beside it.
These stones are of hard porphyry, and differ geologically from the surrounding
rock; hence we infer they must have been brought from elsewhere.
At "Chavin de Huanta," a town in
the province of Huari, there are some ruins worthy of note. The entrance to them
is by an alleyway, 6 feet wide and 9 feet high, roofed over with sandstone
partly dressed, of more than 12 feet in length.
On each side there are rooms 12 feet wide,
roofed over by large pieces of sandstones, 11/2 feet thick and from 6 to 9 feet
wide. The walls of the rooms are 6 feet thick, and have some loopholes in them,
probably for ventilation. In the floor of this passage there is a very narrow
entrance to a subterranean passage that passes beneath the river to the other
side. From this many huacas, stone drinking-vessels, instruments of copper and
silver, and a skeleton of an Indian sitting, were taken. The greater part of
these ruins were situated over aqueducts. The bridge to these castles is made
of three stones of dressed granite, 24 feet long, 2 feet wide by 11/2 thick.
Some of the granite stones are covered with hieroglyphics.
At Corralones, 24 miles from Arequipa,
there are hieroglyphics engraved on masses of granite, which appear as if
painted with chalk. There are figures of men, llamas, circles, parallelograms,
letters as an R and an O, and even remains of a system of astronomy.
At Huaytar, in the province of Castro
Virreina, there is an edifice with the same engravings.
At Nazca, in the province of Ica, there are
some wonderful ruins of aqueducts, four to five feet high and 3 feet wide, very
straight, double-walled, of unfinished stone, flagged on top.
At Quelap, not far from Chochapayas, there
have lately been examined some extensive works. A wall of dressed stone, 560
feet wide, 3,660 long, and 150 feet high. The lower part is solid. Another wall
above this has 600 feet length, 500 width, and the same elevation of 150 feet.
There are niches over both walls, three feet long, one-and-a-half wide and
thick, containing the remains of those ancient inhabitants, some naked, others
enveloped in shawls of cotton of distinct colours and well embroidered. . . .
Following the entrances of the second and
highest wall, there are other sepulchres like small ovens, six feet high and
twenty-four in circumference; in their base are flags, upon which some cadavers
reposed. On the north side there is on the perpendicular rocky side of the
mountain, a brick wall, having small windows, 600 feet from the bottom. No
reason for this, nor means of approach, can now be found. The skillful
construction of utensils of gold and silver that were found here, the ingenuity
and solidity of this gigantic work of dressed stone, make it also probably of
pre-Incal date. . . . Estimating five hundred ravines in the 1,200 miles of
Peru, and ten miles of terraces of fifty tiers to each ravine which would only
be five miles of twenty-five tiers to each side, we have 250,000 miles of stone
wall, averaging three to four feet high--enough to encircle this globe ten
times. Surprising as these estimates may seem, I am fully convinced that an
actual measurement would more than double them, for these ravines vary from 30
to 100 miles in length. While at San Mateo, a town in the valley of the River
Rimac, where the mountains rise to a height of 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the
river bed, I counted two hundred tiers, none of which were less than four and
many more than six miles long.
"Who then," very pertinently
enquires Mr. Heath, "were these people, cutting through sixty miles of
granite; transplanting blocks of hard porphyry, of Baalbic dimensions, miles
from the place where quarried, across valleys thousands of feet deep, over
mountains, along plains, leaving no trace of how or where they carried them;
people (said to be) ignorant of the use of wood, with the feeble llama their
only beast of burden; who after having brought these stones fitted them into
stones with Mosaic precision; terracing thousands of miles of mountain side; building
hills of adobe and earth, and huge cities; leaving works in clay, stone,
copper, silver, gold, and embroidery, many of which cannot be duplicated at the
present age; people apparently vying with Dives in riches, Hercules in strength
and energy, and the ant and bee in
industry?"
Callao was submerged in 1746, and entirely
destroyed. Lima was ruined in 1678; in 1746 only 20 houses out of 3,000 were
left standing, while the ancient cities in the Huatica and Lurin valleys still
remain in a comparatively good state of preservation. San Miguel de Puiro,
founded by Pizzaro in 1531, was entirely destroyed in 1855, while the old ruins
near by suffered little. Arequipa was thrown down in August, 1868, but the
ruins near show no change. In engineering, at least, the present may learn from
the past. We hope to show that it may in
most things else.
IV
To refer all these cyclopean constructions
then to the days of the Incas is, as we have shown before, more inconsistent
yet, and seems even a greater fallacy than that too common one of attributing
every rock-temple of India to Buddhist excavators. As many authorities
show--Dr. Heath among the rest--Incal history only dates back to the eleventh
century, A.D., and the period, from that time to the Conquest, is utterly
insufficient to account for such grandiose and innumerable works; nor do the
Spanish historians know much of them. Nor again, must we forget that the
temples of heathendom were odious to the narrow bigotry of the Roman Catholic
fanatics of those days; and that, whenever the chance offered, they either
converted them into Christian churches or razed them to the ground. Another
strong objection to the idea lies in the fact that the Incas were destitute of
a written language, and that these antique relics of bygone ages are covered
with hieroglyphics. "It is granted that the Temple of the Sun, at Cuzco,
was of Incal make, but that is the latest of the five styles of architecture
visible in the Andes, each probably representing an age of human progress."
The hieroglyphics of Peru and Central
America have been; are, and will most probably remain for ever as dead a letter
to our cryptographers as they were to the Incas. The latter like the barbarous
ancient Chinese and Mexicans kept their records by means of a quipus (or knot
in Peruvian)--a cord, several feet long, composed of different colored threads,
from which a multicolored fringe was suspended; each color denoting a sensible
object, and knots serving as ciphers.
"The mysterious science of the
quipus," says Prescott, "supplied the Peruvians with the means of
communicating their ideas to one another, and of transmitting them to future
generations. . . ." Each locality, however, had its own method of
interpreting these elaborate records, hence a quipus was only intelligible in
the place where it was kept. "Many quipus have been taken from the graves,
in excellent state of preservation in color and texture," writes Dr.
Heath; "but the lips, that alone could pronounce the verbal key, have for ever
ceased their function, and the relic-seeker has failed to note the exact spot
where each was found, so that the records, which could tell so much we want to
know, will remain sealed till all is revealed at the last day." . . . if
anything at all is revealed then. But what is certainly as good as a revelation
now, while our brains are in function, and our mind is acutely alive to some
pre-eminently suggestive facts, is the incessant discoveries of archaeology,
geology, ethnology and other sciences.
It is the almost irrepressible conviction
that man having existed upon earth millions of years--for all we know,--the
theory of cycles is the only plausible theory to solve the great problems of
humanity, the rise and fall of numberless nations and races, and the ethnological
differences among the latter. This difference--which, though as marked as the
one between a handsome and intellectual European and a digger Indian of
Australia, yet makes the ignorant shudder and raise a great outcry at the
thought of destroying the imaginary "great gulf between man and brute
creation"--might thus be well accounted for. The digger Indian, then in
company with many other savage, though to him superior, nations, which
evidently are dying out to afford room to men and races of a superior kind,
would have to be regarded in the same light as so many dying-out specimens of
animals--and no more. Who can tell but that the forefathers of this flat-headed
savage--forefathers who may have lived and prospered amidst the highest
civilization before the glacial period--were in i the arts and sciences far
beyond those of the present civilization--though it may be in quite another
direction'? That man has lived in America, at least 50,000 years ago, is now
proved scientifically and remains a fact beyond doubt or cavil. In a lecture
delivered at Manchester, in June last, by Mr. H. A.
Allbutt, Honorary Fellow of the Royal
Anthropological Society, the lecturer stated the following:--"Near New
Orleans, in one part of the modern delta, in excavating for gas works, a series
of beds, almost wholly made up of vegetable matter, were dug through. In the
excavation, at a depth of 16 feet from the upper surface, and beneath four
buried forests, one on the top of the other, the labourers discovered some
charcoal and the skeleton of a man, the cranium of which was reported to be
that of the type of the aboriginal Red Indian race. To
this skeleton Dr. Dowler ascribed an
antiquity of some 50,000 years." The irrepressible cycle in the course of
time brought down the descendants of the contemporaries of the late inhabitant
of this skeleton, and intellectually as well as physically they have
degenerated, as the present elephant has degenerated from his proud and
monstrous forefather, the antediluvian Sivatherium whose fossil remains are
still found in the Himalayas; or, as the lizard has from the plesiosaurus. Why
should man be the only specimen upon earth which has never changed in form
since the first day of his appearance upon this planet? The fancied superiority
of every generation of mankind over the preceding one is not yet so well
established as to make it impossible for us to learn some day that, as in
everything else, the theory is a two-sided question--incessant progress on the
one side and an as irresistible decadence on
the other of the cycle. "Even as
regards knowledge and power, the advance, which some claim as a characteristic
feature of humanity, is effected by exceptional individuals who arise in
certain races under favourable circumstances only, and is quite compatible with
long intervals of immobility, and even of decline,"9 says a modern man of
science.
This point is corroborated by what we see
in the modern degenerate descendants of the great and powerful races of ancient
America--the Peruvians and the Mexicans. "How changed! How fallen from
their greatness must have been the Incas, when a little band of one hundred and
sixty men could penetrate, uninjured, to their mountain homes, murder their
worshipped kings and thousands of their warriors, and carry away their riches,
and that, too, in a country where a few men with stones could resist
successfully an army!
Who could recognize in the present Inichua
and Aymara Indians their noble ancestry?" . . . Thus writes Dr. Heath, and
his conviction that America was once united with Europe, Asia, Africa and
Australia, seems as firm as our own. There must exist geological and physical
cycles as well as intellectual and spiritual; globes and planets, as well as
races and nations, are born to grow, progress, decline and--die. Great nations
split, scatter into small tribes, lose all remembrance of their integrity,
gradually fall into their primitive state and--disappear, one after the other,
from the face of the earth. So do great continents. Ceylon must have formed, once
upon a time, part of the Indian continent. So, to all appearances, was Spain
once joined to Africa, the narrow channel between Gibraltar and the latter
continent having been once upon a time dry land. Gibraltar is full of large
apes of the same kind as those which are found in great numbers on the opposite
side on the African coast, whereas nowhere in Spain is either a monkey or ape
to be found at any place whatever.
And the caves of Gibraltar are also full of
gigantic human bones, supporting the theory that they belong to an antediluvian
race of men. The same Dr. Heath mentions the town of Eten in 70 S. latitude of
America, in which the inhabitants of an unknown tribe of men speak a
monosyllabic language that imported Chinese labourers understood from the first
day of their arrival. They have their own laws, customs and dress, neither
holding nor permitting communication with the outside world. No one can tell
whence they came or when; whether it was before or after the Spanish Conquest.
They are a living mystery to all, who chance to visit them. . . .
With such facts before us to puzzle exact
science herself, and show our entire ignorance of the past verily, we recognise
no right of any man on earth--whether in geography or ethnology, in exact or
abstract sciences--to tell his neighbour--"so far shalt thou go, and no
further!"
But, recognizing our debt of gratitude to
Dr. Heath of Kansas, whose able and interesting paper has furnished us with
such a number of facts and suggested such possibilities, we can do no better
than quote his concluding reflections. "Thirteen thousand years ago,"
he writes, "Vega or a Lyræ, was the north polar star; since then how many
changes has she seen in our planet! How many nations and races spring into
life, rise to their zenith of splendour, and then decay; and when we shall have
been gone thirteen thousand years, and once more she
resumes her post at the north, completing a
'Platonic or Great Year,' think you that those who shall fill our places on the
earth at that time will be more conversant with our history than we are of
those that have passed? Verily might we exclaim, in terms almost psalmistic,
'Great God, Creator and Director of the Universe, what is man that Thou art
mindful of him'!"Amen! ought to be the response of such as yet believe in
a God who is "the Creator and Director of the Universe."
____________________
NOTES ON "A LAND OF MYSTERY"
To the Editor of the THEOSOPHIST--I have
read with much pleasure your excellent article on the "Land of
Mystery." In it you show a spirit of inquiry and love of truth which are
truly commendable in you and cannot fail to command the approbation and praise
of all unbiased readers. But there are certain points in it, in which I cannot
but join issue with you. In order to account for the most striking resemblances
that existed in the manners, customs, social habits and traditions of the
primitive peoples of the two worlds, you have recourse to the old Platonic
theory of a land-connection between them. But the recent researches in the
Novemyra have once for all exploded that theory. They prove that, with the
exception of the severance of Australia from Asia, there never was a submersion
of land on so gigantic a scale as to produce an Atlantic or a Pacific Ocean,
that, ever since their formation, the seas have never changed their ancient
basins on any very large scale. Professor Geike, in his physical geography
holds that the continents have always occupied the positions they do now,
except that, for a few miles, their coasts have sometimes advanced into and
receded from the sea.
You would not have fallen into any error,
had you accepted M. Quatrefages' theory of migrations by sea. The plains of
Central Asia are accepted by all monogenists as the centre of appearance of the
human race. From this place successive waves of emigrants radiated to the
utmost verge of the world. It is no wonder that the ancient Chinese, Hindus,
Egyptians, Peruvians and Mexicans--men who once inhabited the same place--should
show the strong resemblances in certain points of their life. The proximity of
the two continents at Behring Straits enabled immigrants to pass from Asia to
America. A little to the south is the current of Tassen, the Kourosivo or black
stream of
the Japanese, which opens a great route for
Asiatic navigators. The Chinese have been a maritime nation from remote
antiquity and it is not impossible that their barges might have been like those
of the Portuguese navigator, Cabral, in modern times, driven by accident to the
coast of America. But, leaving all questions of possibilities and accidents
aside, we know that the Chinese had discovered the magnetic needle even so
early as B.C. 2,000. With its aid and that of the current of Tassen, they had
no very considerable difficulty to cross to America. They established, as Paz
Soldan informs us in his Geografia del Peru, a little colony there; and
Buddhist missionaries "towards the close of the fifth century sent
religious missions to carry to Fou-Sang (America) the doctrines of
Buddha."
This will no doubt be unpleasant to many
European readers. They are averse to crediting a statement that takes the
honour of the discovery of America from them and assigns it to what they are
graciously pleased to call "a semi-barbarous Asiatic nation."
Nevertheless, it is an unquestionable truth. Chapter XVIII or the Human Species
by A. De Quatrefages will be an interesting reading to any one who may be eager
to know something of the Chinese discovery of America, but the space at his
command being small, he gives a very meagre account of it in his book. I
earnestly hope you will complete your interesting article by adverting to this
and giving us full particulars of all that is known about it. The shedding of
light on a point, which has hitherto been involved in mysterious darkness, will
not be unworthy of the pen of one, the be-all and end-all of whose life is the
search of truth and, when found, to abide by it, be it at whatever cost it may
be.
AMRITA
LAL BISVAS.
Calcutta, 11th
July.Scant leisure this month prevents our
making any detailed answer to the objections to the Atlantan hypothesis
intelligently put forth by our subscriber. But let us see whether--even though
based upon "recent researches" which "have once for all exploded
that theory"--they are as formidable as at first sight they may appear.
Without entering into the subject too
deeply, we may limit ourselves to but one brief remark. More than one
scientific question, which at one time has seemingly been put at rest for ever,
has exploded at a subsequent one over the heads of theorists who had forgotten
the danger of trying to elevate a simple theory into an infallible dogma. We
have not questioned the assertion that "there never was a submersion of land
on so gigantic a scale as to produce an Atlantic or a Pacific Ocean," for
we never pretended to suggest new theories for the formation of oceans. The
latter may have been where they now are since the time of their first
appearance, and yet whole continents been broken into fragments partially
engulfed, and left innumerable islands, as seems the case with the submerged
Atlantis. What we meant was that, at some pre-historic time and long after the
globe teemed with civilized nations, Asia, America and perhaps Europe were
parts of one vast continental formation, whether united by such narrow strips
of land as evidently once existed where now is Behring Strait (which connects
the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans and has a depth of hardly more than twenty
to twenty-five fathoms) or by larger stretches of land. Nor shall we fight the
monogenists who claim Central Asia as the one cradle place of humanity--but
leave the task to the polygenists who are able to do it far more successfully
than ourselves. But, in any case, before we can accept the theory of
monogenesis, its advocates must offer us some unanswerable hypothesis to
account for the observed differences in human types better than that of
"divarication caused by difference of climate, habits and religious culture."
M. Quatrefages may remain, as ever, indisputably a most distinguished
naturalist--physician, chemist and zoologist--yet we fail to understand why we
should accept his
theories in preference to all others. Mr.
Amrita Lal Bisvas evidently refers to a narrative of some scientific travels
along the shores of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, by this eminent
Frenchman, entitled--"Souvenirs d'un Naturaliste." He seems to regard
M. Quatrefages in the light of an infallible Pope upon all scientific questions:
we do not, though he was a member of the French Academy and a professor of
ethnology. His theory, about the migrations by sea, may be offset by about an
hundred others which directly oppose it. It is just because we have devoted our
whole life to the research of truth--for which complimentary admission we thank
our critic--that we never accept on faith any authority upon any question
whatsoever; nor, pursuing, as we do, TRUTH and progress through a full and
fearless enquiry, untrammelled by any consideration, would we advise any of our
friends to do otherwise.Having said so much, we may now give a few of our
reasons for believing in the alleged "fable" of the submerged
Atlantis--though we explained ourselves at length upon the subject in Isis
Unveiled (Vol. I, pp. 590, et seq.). First.--We have as evidence the most
ancient traditions of various and widely-separated peoples--legends in India,
in ancient Greece, Madagascar, Sumatra, Java, and all the principal isles of
Polynesia, as well as those of both Americas. Among savages, as in the
traditions of the richest literature in the world--the Sanskrit literature of
India--there is an agreement in saying that, ages ago, there existed in the
Pacific Ocean, a large continent which, by a geological upheaval, was engulfed
by the sea. And it is our firm belief--held, of course, subject to
correction--that most, if not all of the islands from the Malayan Archipelago
to Polynesia, are fragments of that once immense submerged continent. Both
Malacca and Polynesia, which lie at the two extremes of the Ocean and which,
since the memory of man, never had nor could have any intercourse with, or even
a knowledge of each other, have yet a tradition, common to all the islands and
islets, that their respective countries extended far, far out into sea; that
there were in the world but two immense continents, one inhabited by yellow,
the other by dark men; and that the ocean, by command of the gods and to punish
them for their incessant quarrelling, swallowed them up.
2. Notwithstanding the geographical fact
that New Zealand, and Sandwich and Easter Islands, are at a distance, from each
other, of between 800 and 1,000 leagues; and that, according to every
testimony, neither these nor any other intermediate islands, for instance, the
Marquesan, Society, Feejee, Tahitian, Samoan and other islands, could, since
they became islands, ignorant as their people were of the compass, have
communicated with each other before the arrival of Europeans; yet, they, one
and all, maintain that their respective countries extended far toward the west,
on the Asian side. Moreover, with very small differences, they all speak
dialects evidently of the same language, and understand each other with little
difficulty; have the same religious beliefs and superstitions; and pretty much
the same customs. And as few of the Polynesian islands were discovered earlier
than a century ago, and the Pacific Ocean itself was unknown to Europe until
the days of Columbus, and these islanders have never ceased repeating the same
old traditions since the Europeans first set foot on their shores, it seems to
us a logical inference that our theory is nearer to the truth than any other.
Chance would have to change its name and meaning, were all this due but to
chance alone.
Theosophist, March, April,
June, August, 1880
1 See Stephens' Central America.
2 A paper published by Mr. E. R. Heath
in the Kansas City Review of Science and Industry, Nov., 1878.
3 This "idea" is plainly
expressed and asserted as a fact by Plato in his
Banquet: and was taken up by Lord Bacon
in his New Atlantis.
4 "The name America," said I,
in Isis Unveiled, (Vol. 2, p. 591) three years ago, "may one day be found
closely related to Meru, the sacred mount in the centre of the seven
continents." When first discovered, America was found to bear among some
native tribes the name of Atlanta. In the States of Central America we find the
name Amerih, signifying, like Meru, a great mountain. The origin of the Kamas
Indians of America is also unknown.
5 Smithsonian contributions to
Knowledge, Vol. 1.
6 New American Cyclopaedia, Art,
"Teotihuacan,"
7 On Ancient Sculpturing on Rocks in
Kumaon. India, similar to those found on monoliths and rocks in Europe. By J.
H. Rivett-Carnac,
Civil Service, C. I. E., F. S. A., M. R.
A. S. F. G. S., &c
8 See Kansas City Review of Science and
Industry, November, 1878.
9 Journal of Science for February,
Article--The Alleged Distinction between Man and Brute."
______________________
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Preface
Theosophy and the Masters General Principles
The Earth Chain Body and Astral Body Kama – Desire
Manas Of Reincarnation Reincarnation Continued
Karma Kama Loka
Devachan
Cycles
Arguments Supporting Reincarnation
Differentiation Of Species Missing Links
Psychic Laws, Forces, and Phenomena
Psychic Phenomena and Spiritualism
Quick Explanations with Links to More Detailed Info
What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
Ascended Masters After Death States
The Seven Principles of Man Karma
Reincarnation Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
Society
History of the Theosophical
Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical
Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the
Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical
Society Emblem
The Theosophical Order of
Service (TOS)
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
Index of Searchable
Full Text Versions of
Definitive
Theosophical Works
H P Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine
Isis Unveiled by H P Blavatsky
H P Blavatsky’s Esoteric Glossary
Mahatma Letters to A P Sinnett 1 - 25
A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
(Selection of Articles by H P Blavatsky)
The Secret Doctrine – Volume 3
A compilation of H P Blavatsky’s
writings published after her death
Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy
Mystical,
Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical
and Scientific
Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Stow Mead
From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight”
Series of Articles
The In the
Twilight” series appeared during
1898 in The
Theosophical Review and
from 1909-1913 in The Theosophist.
compiled from
information supplied by
her relatives and friends and edited by A P Sinnett
Letters and
Talks on Theosophy and the Theosophical Life
Obras Teosoficas En Espanol
Theosophische Schriften Auf Deutsch
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
Guide to the
Theosophy
Arthur draws the Sword from the Stone
The Knights of The Round Table
The Roman Amphitheatre at Caerleon,
Eamont Bridge, Nr Penrith, Cumbria, England.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
(History of the Kings of Britain)
The reliabilty of this work has long been a subject of
debate but it is the first definitive account of Arthur’s
Reign
and one which puts Arthur in a historcal context.
and his version’s political agenda
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth
The first written mention of Arthur as a heroic figure
The British leader who fought twelve battles
King Arthur’s ninth victory at
The Battle of the City of the Legion
King Arthur ambushes an advancing Saxon
army then defeats them at Liddington Castle,
Badbury, Near Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
King Arthur’s twelfth and last victory against the Saxons
Traditionally Arthur’s last battle in which he was
mortally wounded although his side went on to win
No contemporary writings or accounts of his life
but he is placed 50 to 100 years after the accepted
King Arthur period. He refers to Arthur in his inspiring
poems but the earliest written record of these dates
from over three hundred years after Taliesin’s death.
Pendragon Castle
Mallerstang Valley, Nr Kirkby Stephen,
A 12th Century Norman ruin on the site of what is
reputed to have been a stronghold of Uther Pendragon
From
wise child with no earthly father to
Megastar
of Arthurian Legend
History of the Kings of Britain
Drawn from the Stone or received from the Lady of the Lake.
Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur has both versions
with both swords called Excalibur. Other versions
5th & 6th Century Timeline of Britain
From the departure of the Romans from
Britain to the establishment of sizeable
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
Glossary of
Arthur’s uncle:- The puppet ruler of the Britons
controlled and eventually killed by Vortigern
Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. Circa 450CE
An alleged massacre of Celtic Nobility by the Saxons
History of the Kings of Britain
Athrwys / Arthrwys
King of Ergyng
Circa 618 - 655 CE
Latin: Artorius; English: Arthur
A warrior King born in Gwent and associated with
Caerleon, a possible Camelot. Although over 100 years
later that the accepted Arthur period, the exploits of
Athrwys may have contributed to the King Arthur Legend.
He became King of Ergyng, a kingdom between
Gwent and Brycheiniog (Brecon)
Angles under Ida seized the Celtic Kingdom of
Bernaccia in North East England in 547 CE forcing
Although much later than the accepted King Arthur
period, the events of Morgan Bulc’s 50 year campaign
to regain his kingdom may have contributed to
Old Welsh: Guorthigirn;
Anglo-Saxon: Wyrtgeorn;
Breton: Gurthiern; Modern Welsh; Gwrtheyrn;
*********************************
An earlier ruler than King Arthur and not a heroic figure.
He is credited with policies that weakened Celtic Britain
to a point from which it never recovered.
Although there are no contemporary accounts of
his rule, there is more written evidence for his
existence than of King Arthur.
How Sir Lancelot slew two giants,
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
How Sir Lancelot rode disguised
in Sir Kay's harness, and how he
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
How Sir Lancelot jousted against
four knights of the Round Table,
From Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
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