officiated in the costumes of males, while priests appeared in
the dress peculiar to females. However, that the sensuous
element was to a certain extent already assuming dominion over
the higher nature, and that priests were regarded as being
incapable of self-control, is observed in the fact that in the
later ages of female worship one of the principal requirements of
a priest of Cybele was castration.
It is the opinion of Grote that the story which appears in the
Hesiodic Theogony, of the castration of Saturn and Uranus by
their sons with sickles forged by the mother, was borrowed from
the Phrygians, or from the worship of the Great Mother.
In India, the strictest chastity was prescribed to the priests of
Siva, a God which was worshipped as the Destroyer or Regenerator,
and which in its earlier conception was the same as the Great
Mother Cybele. These priests were frequently obliged to
officiate in a nude state, and during the ceremony should it
appear that the symbols with which they came in contact had
appealed to other than their highest emotions, they were
immediately stoned by the people.[54]
[54] Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes, i., 311.
The identity of the religions of India and Egypt has been noted
in an earlier portion of this work. Wilford, in his
dissertations upon Egypt and the Nile, says that in a
conversation which he had with some learned Brahmins, upon
describing to them the form and peculiarities of the Great
Pyramid, they told him that "it was a temple appropriated to the
worship of Padma Devi." The true Coptic name of these edifices
is Pire Honc, which signifies a sunbeam. Padma Devi means the
lotus, or the Deity of generation.
It is thought by many writers that these gigantic structures were
erected by the Cushite conquerors of Egypt, who invaded and
civilized the country, as emblems of the female Deity whom they
worshipped. Certainly the magnitude of these monuments and the
ingenuity displayed in their construction indicate the
intelligence of their builders and the exalted character of the
Deity adored. The Great Pyramid is in the form of a square, each
side of whose base is seven hundred and fifty-five feet, and
covers an area of nearly fourteen acres. An able writer in
describing the pyramids says that the first thing which impresses
one is the uniform precision and systematic design apparent in
