Three Books of Occult Philosophy · 148 of 186

Book III, Ch. 14: Of the Gods of the gentiles, and souls of the Celestiall bodies, and what places were consecrated in times past, and to what Deities

The Philosophers have maintained, as we have shewed before, that the Heavens and Stars are Divine Animals, and their souls intellectuall, participating of the Divine mind; and they averre, that some separated substances are superior, others inferior to them, as it were governing and serving, which they call intelligences and Angels; moreover Plato himself affirmed, that Celestiall souls’ are not confined to their bodies, as our souls to our bodies, but to be, where they will, and also that they rejoyce [rejoice] in the vision of God, and without any labor or pains do rule and move their bodies, and together in moving them do easily govern these inferior things; therefore they often called the souls of this kind, Gods, and appointed Divine honors for them, and dedicated prayers and sacrifices to them, and did worship them with Divine worship, and these are the gods to the which all people are attributed, concerning which Moses commanded in Deuteronomy, saying, least perchance your eyes being lifted up to Heaven, thou shouldest see the Sun, the Moon, and all the Stars of Heaven, and being turned back shouldest adore and worship them, to which all the Nations are subjected, which are under the Heaven; but the Lord Jehovah hath taken and brought you forth from the furnace of Egypt, that thou shouldest be an Hereditary people to himself; and in the same book chap. 17 he calleth the Sun, Moon, & Stars Gods; and the Doctors of the Hebrews upon that place of Genesis where it is said, that Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines, viz. Shemoth, Steltoma, that is strange names, but left Isaac heir of all that he possessed, say, that the sons of the concubines were not in the blessing of Abraham, given to Jehovah the most high creator, but to strange gods and deities, but that Isaac and his seed were given to the omnipotent Jehovah, and in no part to any strange Deities; therefore they are upbraided in Deuteronomy, because they served strange gods and worshipped them they knew not, and to whom they were not given; and also Joshua Nave, after that the people were brought into the land of promise, their enemies overcome, and the lots of the possessions of Israel distributed, gave the people leave to choose that God whom they would worship, saying, leave is given you this day to choose whom you will especially serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorites, whose land you inhabite; but the people answered, we will serve the Lord Jehovah, and he shall be our God; Joshua said to them, ye cannot do it, for the Lord Jehovah is holy, strong, and jealous; but the people persevering to serve Jehovah; he saith to them, ye are witnesses your selves, that ye have chosen for your selves the Lord, to serve him; take away therefore strange gods out of the midst of you, and incline your hearts to the Lord God of Israel and he erected a great stone saying, this stone shalbe for a witness, least perhaps afterwards ye will deny and lye [lie] to the Lord your God; therefore the other gods, to which the other Nations were given, were the Sun, Moon, twelve Signs, and other Celestial bodies, and Divine fabricks, yet not as they were bodies, but as the soul adhereth to them, and the whole Militia of Heaven, which Jeremy cals the queen of Heaven, that is the power by which the Heaven is governed, viz. the soul of the world, of which Jeremy saith, The sons gather sticks, and part thereof maketh a fire, and the women mingle oyl [oil], that they might make a cake for the Queen of heaven, neither was the worship of Doulia, to this Queen and other Celestiall souls prohibited them, but of Latria only, which they that gave, are reproved of the Lord; but the name of these souls or Gods, we have declared; but to what Regions, People, and Cities they were ascribed as proper and tutelar gods; Origen, Tertullian, Apuleius, Diodorus, and very many other historians, partly relate to us: Therefore all people worshipped their gods with their proper ceremonies; The Beotians, Amphiarus; The Africans, Mopsus; the Egyptians, Osiris and Isis; the Ethiopians, who inhabite Mero, Jupiter and Bacchus; The Arabians; Bacchus and Venus; the Scythians, Minerva; the Naucratians, Serapis; the Syrians, Atargates; the Arabians, Diaphares; the Africans, Celestus; the Nornians, Tibelenus: In Italy also by the free Cities consecration, Delventius, was the God of the Crustumensians, Viridianus of the Narvensians, Aucharia of the Æsculans, Narsia of the Volsians, Valentia of the Otriculans, Nortia of the Sutrinians, Curis of the Phaliscians; these especially were famous. The Latians did adore with the highest worship, Mars; the Egyptians, Isis; the Moors, Iuba; the Macedonians, Cabrius; the Carthaginians, Uranus; the Latines, Faunus; the Romans, Quirinus; the Sabines, Sangus; the Athenians, Minerva; Samos, Juno; Paphos, Venus; Lemnos, Vulcan; Naxos, Bacchus; Delphos, Apollo; and as Ovid singeth in his Fasti, Athens do Pallas; Crete, Dian’ implore.

The island Lemnos Vulcan doth adore.

The Spartans, Juno ---- The Carthaginians and Leucadians did worship Saturn; Crete, Pyreus, Homole, Ida, Elis and Lybia [Libia], Jupiter, where was his Oracle: Epirus, Latium, Gnidus, Lycia, Pisa, Macedonia, Mars; The Thermodonians, Scythians, and Thracia, the Sun; the Scythians did worship only one God, sacrificing an horse to him; the same also the Heliopolitans, and Assyrians did worship; and under the name of Apollo, the Rhodians, Hyperboreans and Milesians; and the mountains Parnassus, Phaselus, Cynthus, Soracte, were holy to him, and the Islands Delos, Claros, Tenedos and Mallois, a place in the Isle Lesbos, and the Grynean Grove or Town, besides the Cities, Patara, Chrysa, Tarapnas, Cyrrha, Delphos, Arrephina, Entrosi, Tegyra; Also Thebes, the Island Naxos, Nise a City of Arabia, Callichoros a river of Paphlagonia, were consecrated to him under the name of Bacchus and Dionysus; also Parnassus, and Cytheros mountains of Boetia, in which every second yeer [year] by course, the feasts Bacchanalia were kept; also the Thamaritans a people neighbors to the Hircanians did worship Bacchus with their own Ceremonies. The Assyrians first of all introduced the worship of Venus; then the Paphians in Cyprus, and Phenicians [Phoenicians], and Cythereans, whom (as Ageus reports) the Athenians followed: amongst the Lacedomonians, Venus Armatha was worshipped; at Delphos, Venus Epitybia; she was also adored of the Coans; and in Amathus an island of the Aegean Sea, and in Memphi [Memphis] a City of Egypt, and in Gnido and Sicilia, and the Idalian Grove, and the City Hypepa, and Erice a mountain of Sicilia, and in Calidonia, Cyrene and Samos; and no Deity of the old Gods (Aristotle being witness) is reported to have been worshipped with greater ceremonies, and in more places; the French did especially worship Mercury, calling him Teutates; so also the Arcadians, Hormopolites, Egyptians and Memphites. The Scythians about mount Taurus, did worship the Moon under the name of Diana; and in Ephesus, she had a most stately Temple; and in Mycena after the death of Thoantes, King of Taurica, her Image being stollen away by Iphigenia and Orestes, she was worshipped nigh Aricia. The Rite of Ceremonies being changed, she was worshipped likewise by the Magnesians, a people of Thessalia, and in Pisa, a City of Achaia, and in Tybur, and the Aventinum a Roman hill, and in Perga a City of Pamphila, and in Agras in the Kingdom of Attica; and the Catenian people are reported to have worshipped the Moon under the Masculine sexe; there were also other places consecreted to other Deities, as to Pallas, who is called Minerva, were consecrated Athens, the mountains Pyreus, Aracynthus, the River Tritones, and Alcomeneum a city of Boetia, and Neo one of the Islands of the Cyclades; The holy places of Ceres are, Eleusis, Attica, Enna, and Catana, Cities of Sicilia, and Mount Aetna; The chief worship to Vulcan was in the Island of Lemnos, and in Imbres, an Island of Thracia and Therasia, an Island consecrated to Vulcan, and also Sicilia. Vesta was the goddess of the Trojans, whom runaway Aeneas carryed into Italy, and to her are given the Phrygians, Idea, and Dindymus, mountains of Phrygia, and Reatum a City of Umbria; also the mountain Berecynthus, and Pessinuntium, a City of Phrygia; The Cities Carthage, Prosenna, Arhos, and Mycena, worshipped Juno; also the Island Samos, and the people of Phaliscia, Orchestus a City of Boetia, and Tenatus a Promontory of Laconia, were consecrated to Neptune, and the Trezenian Nation and City were under the protection of Neptune: of this sort therefore were the gods of the Nations, which did rule and govern them, which Moses himself in Deuteronomy calleth Gods of the earth, to the which all Nations were attributed, not signifying others then the heavenly Stars, and their souls.