mystical meanings, but it manifestly refers to the fact that, after the destruction of Atlantis, certain districts in Central Asia became the gathering place of the Initiates of the Good Law-the expression dragons, they who see and watch, being a term constantly used for Initiates. Appropriately, too, should the spot chosen as the residence of the governing Hierarchy of our planet, be described as a garden containing the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge.

From the cosmic aspects of the symbol, the interpretation has been traced to its manifold mystic meanings, but one is still wanting to complete the number. It is as the Tree of Sacrifice, too, that we must regard it, the sacrifice which is also at-one-ment, the union of man with God. The hidden life of the tree is the sap which nourishes its remotest twigs and leaves, and this is the symbol of the divine life poured forth-the divine life which preserves and vivifies the whole creation. The Cross itself, too, as we have seen, is called the Tree of Life.

The Branch of Peace and Healing is also but another aspect of the Tree of Life, with its inevitable corollary of sacrifice. The symbolism of the Branch is the symbolism of the New

Birth, the symbolism of the risen Christ. The new budding of the leaf has been adopted by all peoples as the sign of life from death, and the Druidic ceremonies in which the mistletoe figured, were peculiarly suggestive of the same idea. The cutting off of the branch was the killing of its material life, but the quickening of its spiritual life was figured in its healing properties, while the grafting of the berries typified the new life springing from its seed.

And this idea it is which binds together the manifold interpretations of the Tree symbol, for its application is equally appropriate to the new birth of the individual, of the race, of the world, and of the entire Cosmos.

CHAPTER VIII

SACRAMENTS AND BLOOD-COVENANTS

THE Sacraments of Baptism and of the Eucharist have borne, as we shall see, an important part in the world's religions.

In India the Brahmins have, from the earliest times, had many sacramental rites, but none of them seem quite to have corresponded with the ceremonies of baptism practised in so many other countries both in ancient and modern times. In India the rites began even before the birth of the child, and were continued until he was in a position to assume the responsibilities of manhood. From the Laws of Manu there appear to have been ten such rites. But although water does not seem to have been used, the idea underlying the ceremonies was that of purification and initiation into the responsibilities of life.

Among the ancient Egyptians, however, there was a recognised rite of baptism with water, in which the candidate was immersed, and which was known by the term of "water of

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purification." It was supposed absolutely to cleanse the soul, and the person was said to be regenerated.1

The ancient Persians carried their infants to the temple a few days after birth, and presented them to the priest before the Sun and his symbol the sacred fire. Then the priest took the child and baptized it for the purification of the soul. Sometimes he plunged it into a great vase full of water. It was at the same ceremony that the father gave a name to the child.2

In Tibet and Mongolia, candles were burnt and incense was offered during the ritual. The priest read the prescribed prayers, dipped the child three times in water, and gave it a name.3

In the old Mexican rite of baptism, the midwife touched the breast and lips of the child with water, repeating a long prayer, of which the following is part: "I pray that this celestial water, blue and light blue, may enter into thy body and there live. I pray that it may destroy in thee, and put away from thee, all the things evil and adverse that were given to thee before the beginning of the world wheresoever thou art in this child, O hurtful

1 Bonwick's "Egyptian Belief," p. 416.

2 Beausobre's Histoire Manichée, Lib. IX. chap. vi. sect. 16. 3 Amberley's "Analysis," vol. i. p. 61.

thing, begone! leave it! . . . for now does it live anew, and anew is it born."1 Among the Mexicans," writes Baring - Gould, "the newborn child was bathed, with these words spoken by the nurse: 'Take this water, for the goddess Chalchinhcueja is thy mother. May this bath cleanse thee of the impurity contracted in thy mother's womb, may it purify thy heart, and procure for thee a good and honourable life. May the unseen God descend on this water, and free thee from all evil and pollution, and from all ill-luck. Dear child! the gods Ometenetli and Omekihnatl created thee in heaven, and sent thee on earth, but know that the life on which thou enterest is full of woe. Thou wilt not be able to eat bread without toil, but may God support thee in all the troubles that await thee.' The second baptism of the child took place later, and it was a baptism in fire." 2

The Aztec ceremony began with such words as these: "O child! receive the water of the Lord of the world, who is our life: it is to wash and to purify; may these drops remove the sin which was given to thee before the creation of the world, since all of us are

1 Bancroft's "Native Races," vol. iii. pp. 372-3.

'Baring-Gould's "Origin and Development of Religious Belief," vol. i. pp. 399-40.