Chapter XXI: (pp. 285-304)

Among the sculptured symbols of the faith held by the ancient Irish, that of the _Cross_ stands pre-eminent; but it would be a mistake to infer from this circumstance the existence of Christianity in Ireland at the time when these sculptures were wrought. The cryptogram of the Cross is found everywhere, both in the Old and New World, among the relics of nations whose paganism does not admit of doubt, and it dates from a period long antecedent to Christianity. Buildings of cruciform structure, and evidently devoted to religious uses, exist all over the East and West; and both they and the _Mithratic caves_, for which no one has ever claimed any but a pagan origin, partake of the same character. To aver that the Cross was emblematical of a _vicarious sacrifice_ by which the redemption of mankind was accomplished, is merely to say that it expresses a belief common to many Sabaic faiths of the pagan world--a belief of which it was the recognised emblem in Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, and America, as well as in Ireland.

CHAPTER XXII

(PP. 305-324)

The argument as to the pagan origin of Irish cross-symbolism is pursued and developed, and the connection of the symbol in question with the Irish _Budh-gaye_ (corresponding to the Hindu _Budha-gaya_), or representative of generative power (_gaye-phallus_), demonstrated. The symbolism of which it forms a type is ubiquitous, being found in archaic sculpture all over the Eastern and Western World: nor did Plato exaggerate when he said--‘The letter X is stamped upon the universe.’

CHAPTER XXIII

(PP. 325-340)

A remarkable instance of this widely prevalent doctrine of the vicarious sacrifice of some incarnation of the Deity accomplished by a purely virginal conception is afforded in the Hindu _Puranas_, which recount the incarnation of _Vishnu_ (or _Crishna_) in the _White Island_, and the subsequent crucifixion of the fruit of this conception, under the name of _Sulivahana_ (cf. the Irish patronymic _Sulivan_), called also _Dhanandhara_, _i.e._ the _Sacred Almoner_ (cf. _Danaan_ and its meaning). Curiously enough, the mystic, or esoteric, name of ancient Ireland was _Muc Inis_, meaning _White Island_; and the details of a similar crucifixion are, with strictly pagan accompaniments, reproduced in the sculptures at Knockmoy, in Galway, which further closely resemble not only a sculptured portrayal on the temple of Kalabche, in Nubia, but a distinctly Eastern Buddhist group on the _Tuath-de-danaan_ cross at Old Kilcullen, County Kildare.

CHAPTER XXIV

(PP. 341-355)

A striking instance of the resemblance between the Nubian and Knockmoy sculptures consists in the attire of the principal figures. In both the philibeg, or kilt, is worn; and this peculiarity is reproduced in idols of the Irish pagan god, _Phearagh_, or _Farragh_, or _Budh_, which have been from time to time exhumed. The headdresses and collars also correspond. In Buddhist Indian mythology Deva _Thot_ is represented as crucified; in fact, the expectation of salvation through the atonement of a crucified Mediator characterises the whole system of pagan (Sabaic) beliefs as thoroughly as it did Hebraism. It is expressed in one of the names of Ireland, namely, _Criach-na-Fuineadhach_ (meaning _the asylum of the expectants, or the retreat of those looking forward_), which was given to that country long before the advent of Christianity.

CHAPTER XXV

(PP. 356-367)

The round towers and crosses at Clonmacnoise, Clondalkin, and elsewhere, abound in sculptured devices of a similar character, there being in all a manifest reference to Buddhist, or Eastern, ceremonial; whilst the representation of a dog (an animal esteemed sacred by the Tuath-de-danaans) on one of the crosses at Clonmacnoise seems to exclude the possibility of its relation to Christianity. But perhaps the most significant feature of these sculptures is the profusion of _snake_ ornamentation, pointing to a time when that form of Sabaism known as “serpent-worship” was in the ascendant. The frequency of this emblemism was so obnoxious to the early Christian missionaries, on account of the evident reverence with which it was regarded by the Irish, that St. Patrick thought it advisable to efface it when practicable; and in this sense he may be entitled to the credit of having banished snakes from Ireland.