Part XV-

2 Klrtgs 30.'
Radal^
i Kinit
Lib. I.
Lib. r.
gers to the Women of xvhom t Jxy made choice os, they befl like ^ J^o Woman being once Jet there.^ returns home., until J'ome Stranger have cafl Mo¬ nty in herdap.y and taking her ajide., fain with her. The Stranger who offers this Money muji fay.. I Invoke the Goddefs Mylitta for thee ; the Aflyrians call Venus Mylitta ^ the Money Jhe mufl not refufe whatever it be -^'for it is Sacred-. Neither may the Woman deny any Man., but tnuji folloxo him that firji offers her tnoney., without a-
to fpeak of their Aftrology : Neither is it to be doubted, but that as they owned fome of the fixed Stars by thele common Titles of Dignity Judges and Counjellors., fo to the principal of thena they attributed particular names and Idols, as well as to the Planets. And lince the Chaldaick Poly theifm was not (like that of theGr^^A’D founded upon an imaginary Mythology, (tho’ later Writers treat of it after the fame manner) i)ut had reference to the Celeftial Bodies, which
ny choice onher part. Affoonasffehaslainwith\x\xQYVIotIN\^ptdiVLnAQiikvtxA Names "and I-
17-
him., and performed the Rites oj the Goddefs, fhe returns mtne, nor from thenceforward can be al¬ lured by any price whatfoever. Such as are hand- fome are the fooneji ffnift j but the deformed are forced, to fay longer before they can fat is fie the Law fometimes it happens that they attend a whole year fir two, or three in expeUation. Hi¬ therto liorodotus, of which Cuftom fome inter- "pret the Words of the Prophet Baruch concern¬ ing the Women, The Women fit in the
ways girded (or rather furrounded) 'skAd-iftyeu with Rujhes and burnt Straw:, and if one of them be drawn away and lie with fuch as come by, fhe cafleth her Neighbour in the Teethfiecaufe ' Jhe was not fo worthily reputed, nor her Cord bro¬ ken.
To thefe add Succoth benoth, an Idol made by the Men of Babylon : the fignification of the Word being the Tents of the Daughters. Some conceive that hereby were meant thole Tents or Partitions by Cords defcribed by Herodotus, in which the Women fate to perform the Rites of Venus Mylitta-, Venus being, as 'M.i.Seldenis of Opinion, deriv^ from Benoth : but from the Words of the Sacred Text, it is manifelf, that by Succoth Bertojh was meant rather an Idol, than Temple or Tents. The Rabbies fancy it to have been in form of a Hen and Chickens j for as they called a Hen Snccus, that is covering, fo they cal¬ led Hens Succoth, as brooding and covering, and Benolh they Interpreted her Chickens, which fhe ufeth to cover with her Wings. Whence Kircher expounds it oi' Venus Mylitta.
CHAP. VII.
Of the other Stars.
NOr were the Planets only but the Signs, and all the reft of the Stars efteemed Gods hy the Chaldicans : for they burnt Incenfe to the Mazaloth, and to all the ref of the Hof of Hea¬ ven. Mazal is a Star : they called the Signs the twQlvQ Mazaloth : the Zodiack the Circle Ma¬ zaloth -, and fometimes changing •y into Ma- zaroth-, theSeptuagint renders it f‘*^K?fi"3-,which Suidas interprets, the Cdnfiellations called (kVix, Signs. This agrees with what Diodorus re¬ ports of the Chaldaans, that they held the princi¬ pal Gods to be 1 2, to each of which they attributed a Month, and one of the Signs of the Zodiaak.
That they worftirpped the reft of the fixed Stars as Gods alio, is imply’d by the Sacred Text laft cited, which adds, and to all the Hof of Hea¬ ven and is more expfefly afferted ( among o- thers) by Diodorus, who in his account of their Dobbrine affirms, that as they called the Planets Interpreters, fb the other Stars, they called fome the judges of all things, otLex^confiliary gods-, as we fhal ftiew more particularly, when we come
dols i it is no lels probable than Conlbnant to the Chaldaick Dobbrine, thatthofe other Affyri- an Idols, -{Afhim, Nibhaz, Tartak^ Adrammelek, Anammelek, Nifroch, ) mentioned in the Scri¬ pture, were of the lame kind with the reft, and belonged to leveral other of the Stars ^ but this conjefture is not ealily evinced, in regard that there is little extant of thole Idols more than the bare mention of their names.
CHAP. VIII.
Of fire*
THere are who reckon the Elements among the Gods which the Chaldneans- worlhipped:
That they had a particular Devotion to the Fire, is certain ; by it ds fome conceive they reprelent- ed the fupreme Godj as others, the Sun-, the ground of which Analogy we deliver’d formerly.
Concerning this Idolatry of the Cbaldaans there is a memorable paflage related by a Rufi- . , nus-, Chaldacans in the time ofCorMsintmejaJfij^^^^' theGte^tTravelledallove/^the Earthto fhewali Men that their God excelled all other Gods, for they defrayed all the Statues of other Gods by their f ire -, at length coming into iEgypt, and making this Challenge, the ^Egyptian Friefs brought forth a large Statue of Nilus, filling it with water, and fopping up the holes it hadfi^ich were many) with Waxffo artificially, that it kept in the J Later, but could not hold out againfi the fire, b Suidas relates this fomething different- -
ly, as performed by a Prieft of Canopus, . who ^**'*’'^®'* taking oft' the head of an old Statue, put it up¬ on a water-pot, which (flopping the holes with Wax) he painted over, and letup in the room •’ oS Canopus.') The Chaldosans began the Contefi with much rejoycing, and put fire round about the Statue -, the voax snelted, the holes opened, the water gufhing forth, put -out the fire, and the Chaldeans were laughed at for their God.
C H A P. IX.
Of the Air and Earth.
OF the Air thus a Julius firmicus:The Afy- rians afcribed the Frincipality of the Ele- ^ ments tothe Air, the Image whereof they fhipped, filing it by the name V&tm the Virgin-, whom the ^ires of their FriefsWorfhipped with effeminate, voices and gefures-, their skins fmooth- ed,and their habit after the fafhion cf Women.
As for the Earth, b Macrobius fzlth. They k Satmdib.i worjhippedthe Superior Hemifphere of it, in part cap. n,
• where
Pa rt XVI.
29
aj>t If, I
a Jgdtk
b In Proem, c Strom, lib* iZor.
{ L it. 2.
whereof we dwells by the name of Venus *, the in- feriour Uemtfphereof the Earth they called Pro- ferpina •, more of this Mythology, rather Vhte- nician than Affyrian^ and perhaps max^Grotcian than either, fee in Macrobm. Thus much concerning theDoQrine of the Chaldteans.
THE
SECOND BOOK.
Of the Perjiam.
BEyond Chaldica^ to the South, on one hcjnd lies Perfa^ on the other, Arabia. Philolbphy (or Learning) was commu¬ nicated to both thefe Countries by their Neigbours, xheChald£ans, Zoroajiet\ feith a Plutarch., inftituted Magick atnong tbe ChaldcC- ans, in imitation of t^wm., the Perjians had theirs alfo. Perfia is the moft confiderable Kingdom of Afta •, bounded, on the North, by Media., on the Eaft by Cilicia, on the Weft, by Sujiana ; on the South, by part of the Perfian Gulf.
THE
Sixteenth Part.
T^he 'Pet^gin PhilofopherSy their SeBs and Inflitutiom,
this Hyftafpes were the Father of Darius, or fome other. Hyjiafpes the Father of Darius was contemporary with Cyrus, neither doth it appear that the Perlian Zoroajler lived much earlier.
But at what time foeverhe lived, faith f A-f gathias, he was the- Author, and Introducer of Magical Religion among the' Per fans, and chang* ing their old Form of Sacred Rites, he Introduced Jeveral Opinions. Solikewife g ihQ Arabickg Elm. Hiftori(^rapher, Zaradufft not fir ft Inftituted, but Reformed the Religion of thePer fans and Alagi, it being divided into many Sells.
A Fabulous Tradition of the occafion and manner thereof related by the Perfians them- reives receive from -b rnn OryMm They„
Jay, that through love ofWtfdom, and fuflice, he withdrew him from Men, and lived alone in a certain Mountain-, Phat aferwards leaving the Alountain, a great fire coming from above, did continually burn about him That hereupon the King, together with the Nobleji of the Perfians came nigh him, intending to pray to God that he came out of the Fire unharmed, appeared propi- tioujly, bidding them be of good cheer, and Offered certain Sacrifices, as if God Fad come along with him into that place that from thenceforward he converfed not with all men, but with fuch only as were naturally mofi addiHed to truth, and capable of the knowledge of the Gods, whom the Perfians called Magi.
To this Perfian Zoroafier i Suidas aferibes,^
Of Nature, four Books of precious Stones, one-, Afirofcopick Apotelefmes, five kJiufebius, a Sacred ColleUion of Perficks,vAfvAx by the Frag-^* ** ments he cites, feems to have treated of the Per- *.
fian Religion. Thefe fome attribute to the Chal- dnean Zoroafier others, to fome other, nor any i with greater certainty that the reft.
CHAP. II.
SECT. L
Of the Perfian Philofephers*
C H A P. I.
Of the Perfian Zoroafier, Inliitutor ofPhi- hfophy among the Perfians.
TH E Perfian Learning is generally ac¬ knowledged to have been inftituted by Zarades, Zaradujfit, or Zoroafier: but this name, (as we obferved formerly,) feems to have been commonly attributed to fuch Per- fons as were eminently Learned. Who therefore* this Zoroafier was, or a about what time he lived, is uncertain, b Laertius ftiles him a Per¬ fian j c Clemens Alexandrinus, a Mede d Suidas, a P erf o- Mede-. whence it may be argued, that he was not of fo great Antiquity, as moft Authors conceive. For we find the word Perfian no where ufed before the Prophet Ezekiel -, nei¬ ther did it come to be of any note, untU the time of Cyrus. The later PerfiansfAih e Aga- thias, affirm, he lived under Hyftafpes, but fim- ply, without any addition, fo as it ;> much to be doubted, nor can it be certainly known, whether
Of Hyftafpes, as a great improver of the Perfian Learning. ,■
THe Do£i:rine of the Perfian Magi was much augmented by Hyftafpes. He was (accord¬ ing to a Herodotus ) of Achamenia, a Region ^ of Perfia, Son of Arf antes, or, ( as other Editi¬ ons) Arfafes-, he lived in the time of whofe Dream concerning Darius,- the eldeft Son of Hyftafpes, prognofticating his being King of Perfia, together with the difcourfe ,|)j|mixt Cy- . rus Hyftafpes concQimngit, isrelat^by b He-tLK. at* rodotus. Darius the Son of this Hifiajpes was born in the 4i(55th year of the Julian period, and was almoft twenty years old a little before >
Cyrus About the fame time alfo c Hyfiaf pes and Adujius joyning together. Conquered Alflit. eft, ijb.y, Phrygia bordering upon the Hellefpont, and ta*. king the King thereof, brought him Prifoner to Cyrus.
Hyftafpes was, (as d Ammianus Marcellinus d Lib, aj. affirms) a moft wife P erf on, who adds, rW boldly penetrating into the inner parts of the upper In* dFA,he came to a woody Defart, whofe calm filence was pojjejfed by thofe high JVits the Brachmanes.
Of thefe he learnt the difcordant Concord of the mo- , tions of the Stars, and of Heaven, and of pure Rites of Sacrifices, which, returning into Perfia, he contributed as an addition and complement to Magick, • CHAP.
Jhe Cbaldaic\\^ Fhilofophy. Part XV IL
CHAP. III.
iJ/ORhanes^who Jirjl introduced the PerfianJLfar- ing into Greece.
SECT. II.
The Infiitutionj and Se&s of the
Perfians.
*
X was firft communicated to the Grecians by Ofihanes: Td)e firft^ faith he, that 1 find to have commented on thM Art (Magick) Ofthanesw accompanied Xerxes King of the Ferfians in the War vihich he made upon Greece. Xerxes fttout from Sufa upon this Expofition in the beginning of the fourth year of the 74 Olympiad, though Diodorus Siculus^ confounding the Tranfaflions of two years in one, relates this done in the firfi * Uh. 7.C.21. year of the Olympiad following, b Herodotus affirms, that this Provifion was in making the three whole years before this year 5 but with a note premifed in the precedent Chapter, which cannot confift withthe exa£l courfe of the times. For, faith he *, From the fubduing of Mgypt^ he was full four years in gathering an Army, and in making his Preparations, -and in beginning of the fifth year, he began to March with a huge Army 5 for indeed he fet out from Sufa^- in the be ginning of the 5th year, not from his fubduing C Lib. 2. c. 20. o^^gyptfiMt from his coming to the Crown, So * that both c Jufiin out of Troguspa.tA Orofius fol¬ lowing him do unadvifedly attribute five years : butmoft abfurdly, doth JuUanus., in hisfirft 0- rationof the pfaifes of Conjiantine^ fay that he was ten years in making this preparation. But d Tn more Ingenuous than all thole, (yet not over ex-
quifite in his account) (is d Libanius, where he laith, that, between Darius and Xerxes there was ten years timefpent in make thispreparation againft Greece^ fince we have formerly, (hewed out of Flato^ that from the Fight at Marathon^ to the Fight of Salanits^ which wlas fought in the firft year of the 75 Olympiad (almoft a full year zftex Xerxes his fetting out from5i^^;)there \ were only ten years run out.
Hence it appears that Pythagoras and P/ato who were precedent in time to Ofihanes^ and in their Travels converfed with the Perfian Magi, were not fully acquainted with the depth of their Sciences, or elfe being more referved for¬ bore to communicate them, otherwife than as intermingled with thofe which they appropria¬ ted to themfelves.
c Ltx. cft ^ P/inf '^ds^ that Ofihanes^ whilfi he accompa-
niedYaePksiintoGi^QQ^fcatteredthefeedsas it were ^ his portentous (Magick) wherewith he infeUed theWorld^all the World whitherfoever he went', aitd 'tis certain,that this Ofthanes chief f Taivtius' ' theGracians not defirousfiut mad after h'Ps
proctTn; , Thus alluding to Goetick Magick,
of which t^'e Author of the f Treatife t^ayUoy^ ^cojit. getit. RoQ -Magt to have been wholly ignorant.
And g Arnphius affords him a better Charafler, -jfi -iU 'i-that hp w(it'c\ftefbf the Magi, both for Eloquenee and Aldidd'P^iseL he made addrefs to the true God tdiiVdke V^heration ', that.fe knew the Angels the true and the like.
•' Bj-(^ia^s(pLS we faid) the Perfian Learning was broui^t mta Gr^Vi-i?, and therefore we (hall nor pjijdedd'd farther ih our enquiry., after the pro-, fdibrs among the Perj nans.'
C H A P. I.
TJoe Perfian Magi their Injiitution.
AL L Profeffors of Learning among the Perfians were termed Magi, a Laertius. ^
It is faid that Philofophy had its Original from the Barbarians, ftncc among the Perfians were Magi j among the Babylonians, or AJJyrians, the Chaldaans', and Gymnofophifls among the Indians-, among the Celt a and Gallatd, where thcfe who were called the Druides, or Seninothei, as Ari- ftotle, in his Treatife Magicum, and Sotion, in the 2 Chap, of his Succejfion, affirms. Hence, ^ 3 /„ ^,9^5 Suidas,Magi among the Perfians were Philofophi and Philothei, But their principal Study and Employment confifting in Theology and Religi¬ ous Rite, Magus is more frequently Interpreted a Prieft. Among the Perfians, faith Porphyri- us, thofe wife Perfons who were employed about the Divinity, and ferved him, were called Magi this isthe Jignification ofbAz^sxsin their DialeS.
And d Apuleius, yizgxts in the Perfian Lan- d Apolog. t. guage,fignifieth the fdme as Prieji in ours. He- lychius, A Worfhipper of God, and a Theologift, and a Priefi, is by the Perfians flyled Magus.
Some conceive they were fo termed by Zoro- afier, at their firft Inftitution. e Suidas, Zqio- g after the Perfo-Mede, who Jirjl began the name of Magi celebrious among them, f Others derive p sAmas. the Word from Mog a Sirname of Zoroajier, or from Mije Gufh, one that hath fhort ears, af¬ firming that Zoroajier was fitch-
The Author of the Arabick Hiftory relates, that the Religion of the Perfians being before Zoroafter’s time dvided into many Sells, he re¬ formed it j Agathias, that he changed their old _
Eorm of Sacred Rites, and introduced many new Opinions, and was the Author and Introducer of Magical Religion among the Perfians.
k The Magi delivered their Learning fuccef Ammtati. fively in their Vamilies from one Age-, to anCh Marcellm. ther, whence, after the Succejfion oj matiy Ages, at this prefent, iaith Ammianus Marcellinus, a multitude fprung from one and the fame Ra^ dedicated to the Rites andWorfhip of the CWx.
For, increafing by degrees, they grew at laft tmhe largenefs and name f a complept Nation dweuihg- in Towns not Fortified with any Walls, and, being permitted to ufe their own Laws, they were ho¬ noured in refpeH of their Religion.
The Country of the Magi in Perfia, is menti¬ oned by / Clemens Alexandrinus, who takes no- / sinnu 6. tice of three wonderful Mountains in it. And Solinus mentions, as belonging to them, the Ci¬ ty Pafargada. Suidas and Cedrenus call them and affirm, that they were called Magog by thole of their own Country.
So great was the efteem which the Magi had among the Perfians, that Cicero faith, the K^ngs of before they undertook the Go¬ vernment, were always initiated in the Sacred
Myjierm
i he Chaldaic}[^ PhiloJophj.
pA RT XVII.
g Alcib. Myjieries of the Magi^ whjch q Ylato defcribes thus : At fourteen years old they whom they call the Royal Fadagogues take charge of the Touth. Thefe are four Alen chofen out of the moft excel¬ lent of the Ferfians^ in the prime of their age. The mofi wife., t]je moji juji., the moft temperate., and the mojt valiant. The firji of thefe teacheth him the Alagick ^^/Zoroaller the Son of Horoma- les (this is the Service of the Gods) and teacheth him alfo the Royal Inftitutions. Dyi?n Chryfojtom faith, that the Aiagi were admitted to the King's Counfels.,and were AjJeJJors with him in Judica- ture.,as being well acquainted with the natures. of things, and knowing after what manner the Gods are to be Served. All publick Affairs (faith il- galhias ) were managed by their direllion and ad¬ vice. They adjudged Rewards or FUnifftnentslDi- on elfewhere relates, that Cambyfes, upon his Ex¬ pedition into JEgypt, refigrdd the Government of the Ferfans into the hands of the Alagi. f Con- fiantiusManaffes ftyles them the Guardians of the t 50. I. Royal Falaces, and t Fliny, fpeaking of Magick, faith,// grew up at laft to fo great height, that even at this day it is exceeding prevalent with ma¬ ny Nations, and in the Eafl it beareth Sway over the King of Kings : King of Kings was the pro¬ per Title of the Rerfian Monarch.
CHAP. 11.
The Se^s, IDiJcipline and Alanners 'of the Magi.
a D. Hieron. adverf. Jmn. li. 2,
b Laert. in frocem.
d Lamp.
e Laert. pro¬ em. ■
fUb.
EUbulus, a who wrote the Htfory ^Mythra in many Volumes, affirms, that amongfl the Ferfians there were three kinds of Magi : the firfi, who were the mofi Teamed and Eloquent of them, did eat no other food but Meal and Oyl. Thus Eubulus cited by St. Uiercm. More of the dill in£lion of the Magi into three SeQs we meet not elfewhere ; but, probably, it had reference ( as among the Chaldaans) to their feveral Srudies, of which hereafter.
b Dinon and Arif}otle,oi rather the Author of the Treatife of Magick cited by Laertius, re¬ late of the Magi, that they renounce rich attire, and to wear Gold. Their Rayment is white, upon occafion, their Beds, the ground, their Food,, no¬ thing but Herbs, Cheefe, and Bread -, infiead of a Staff they carry a Cane, in the top whereof they put their Cheefe, which as occafion fer- ved they did eat.
They had One their Society chief among ’em, called by Zozomene, the Frince of the Alagi.
d Their chief Employment was Religious Wor- fhip, they being conceived to be the only Ferfons whofe Frayers the Gods would hear.
e They made difcourfes concerning Jufiice, and efeemed it impious to burn the Bodies of the dead, and Lawful to lie with a Mother or a Daughter, 3iS Solion in his 23d Book.
f Herodotm faith, they differ, as from others* fo from the .Egyptian Friefts, in this, that thefe pollute themf elves with the death of nothing but their Sacrifces, whereas the Magi, with their own hands, kill any thing, except a Man and a Dog -, yea they efleem it a great exploit, if they have kil¬ led very many Ants, or Serpents, or other creep- tng or flying things.
THE
Seventh Part. The Do&rine of the Perfians.
T'Hat which is delivered to us of the Ferf an Doftrine and Opinions, is fo liAle and'fo imperfe^l, as it will not eafily admit of being knit together by any Method ^ yet, in regard of the near affinity their Learning is conceived to have had with the Chaldeans, we (hall ob- lerve the fame courfe in colleHing and di gell¬ ing the few remains of it : Firtt, to alledge what concerns their Theology and Phyfick^ Next, their Arts of Divination 5 Thirdly, Their Re¬ ligious Worfhip and Rites, particularly termed Magick ^ And laflly, to give a Catalogue of all their Gods.
CHAP. I.
Theology and Fhyfck.
THat the Ferfian Magi were not unacquaint¬ ed with Theology and Phyfick, is confirm’d hj a' Sui das. M.agi,iTn\i h.Q, among the Ferfans are Fhilofophers and lovers of God. b Laertius a Voc. Mag, affirms, they difcourfed concerning the Subflance ^ hn Proxm. and Generation of the Gods ; and c Dion Chryfo- flom, that they 'were skilful in Natures.
d Zoroaft er the Aiagus in his Sacred ColleUi- d Eufeb. PrAp. on of Fhyfcks, filth exprefly thus. ‘ God hath Evang.
. ‘ the Head of a Hawk : he is the firfi Incorrupt i- ‘ ble. Eternal, Unbegotten, Indivifble, moft like ‘ himfelf the Charioteer of every good, one that ‘ cannot be Bribed : the beft of things Good -, the ‘ wifeft of things Wife : Moreover, he is the Fa- ‘ ther of Equity and Juft ice : f elf -taught, Natu- ‘ ral and FerfeffandWife, and the foie Inventor ‘ of Sacred Nature.
e FlMizich. relates of ZoroaRQr, that he divi- ePUtho in 0‘ ded all things into three kinds. Over the firfi ad fin.
kind he conceived Horomazes to beFrefident,tnQ lame whom the Oracles call theFather. Over the laft , hxivnzms -, over the middle kind, Mythra, whom the Oracles call the fecond Mind. .4/7///^^/
Horomazes made himfelf 3 times as big as the Sun ‘
(who in the Ferfian Language is called Cyrus.) yiyihX2.madehimfelf twice as big(as the Sunjwho was next to Horomazes. To which thefe F I at on- ick affertions are correfpondent. That all things are about the King of all, and that all things are for him. That he is the caufe of all good things.
The fecond is employed about the fecondary things.
The third, is employed^ about the third kind of things. The three parts into which Zoroafter and Plato divided all things, are thefe •, Tlse firfi is Eternal The fecondhad a beginning inTimefbut is Eternal -, The third is corruptible. 'Thus Fletho citing Flutarch, whofe own words are thefe.
f Some are of Opinion thei'e are two Gods, one ^
pppofite in operation to the other-, one, wor king good,the other ill. Others call him who is the good,
God, the bad, Daemon : of this Opinion was Zoroa- ftcr the Alagi/s,zvhom they report to have preceded
the
‘I be Chaldaicli Fbilofofhji.
Pa rt XVII.
l!'
g Loc. at.
the Trojan War 5000 years, dared the names oj the good.^ to he Ororaazes, oj the bad., Arimanius, adding., that.,of fenfihle things the one did moji refemhle Light., and Knowledge^ the other Darknefs and Ignorance. Wherefore the Terjians call My thra the Mediator. He further taught., that^ to one., we ought to offer votive s and gratulatory Sacrifices., to the other, averruncadve and difmal Oblat ions jior, founding a certain Herb called Omoni, in a Mortar, they invoke Hades and Darknefs, then mixing it with the blood of a flam Wolf, they carry it forth- and throw it into a f lace where the Beams of the Sun come not ; j(tr, of T hints, they holdfhat fome belong to the good Ood, others,toihe illDtmon,and that of Anmals,fome. as Dogs,Birds, and Porcufines,belong to the good, the aquatile, to the bad-, for which reafon they efiecm'him bleffed who killed mojI of that kind.
g They Ukewife relate many fabulous things concerning the gods, of which kind is this I will alledge. That Oioms.'zes was produced of pur eft light, Arimanes jioar againfi one another -, That Oromazes made fix Gods, The fir ft, of Benevolence-, the fecond of Truth -, The third,of Equity -, thereff ofVHfdom, Liche s, and T leaf lire, which good things are at¬ tendant upon the Maker-, That then OTom3.‘ZQS trifled himfelf and removed himfelf fo far from the Sun,m' the Sun is difi ant from the Earth,and adorned the Heaven with Stars,afpointed one the Dog-Star as Guardian and Watch for the reft: -, That he trade 24 other gods, and put them in an Egg, and that Arimanius having made as many more they broke the Egg. Whence it comes, that
r/j/T Zoroafter ifeft frm the Relatiou of k Valerius Maximus, kt-d.
i.t. iS.
concerning that which to Xerxes.
CHAP. III.
Of the Religious Rites, or Magick of the Perfians.
THe chief Science and Employment of the Terftan Magi, was termed Magick, from
g Var..H'tfl.
2. 17.
h Lib. 2.
the Profelfors, Magi, and is defined by Plato, a the ferviceof the Gods, called allb a Alcibiad.
The Magi, faith b Laertius, are employed in- the ^ Proem. Service oj the Gods, and about Sacrificing and Pray ing, as being the only Perfons whom the Gods will hear. So c Dion Chryfojhm, the Perfians e Boryflhen. call them Magi, who are skilful in the Worjhip of the Gods, not like the Greeks who, ignorant of the meaning of the Word, call them fo who were skilful in Goetick Magick-, of which that the Perfian Magi were ignorant, d Laertius alledg- ^ eth the Teltimonics of Ariftotle, in his Treatfe entituled Magick, and Dinon in the firft Book of his Hittories. '
As concerning their Religious Rites, e Hero- g dotus and / Strabo affirm that they had no Tern- f Lib. pies. Altars, or Images, but did impute it to mad- nefs in fuch as had-, the reafon whereof g Hero- g Loc. cit. dotus conceives to have been, for that they did not believe as the Grecians, that the Gods were hhDe leg. 2. of humane form -, or as i Cicero, for that they con- ' ceived the Gods, to whom the whole World was but a Temple orHouJe, could not be fhut up with- inWalls-,uponwhich ground the Magi perfwadedT good isintermingledwMi ill- That the fatal t ime | Xerxes to burn the Grecian Temples.
But Strabo frequently elfewherb mentions their Temples, Altars, and Images ^ whence it may be argued, either that in the time Hero¬ dotus they had not any, and that Strabo, in af¬ firming the fame, W\x\\ Herodotus, is to be under¬ flood only of their Primitive Ihftitution, which when the Macedonians afterwards Conquered them,became corrupted withGr that there were difterent Se8:s among them from the beginning ; whereof fome allowed Altars,
Images, Temples, others difallow’d them.
AMong the other parts of the Perfians Herodotus and Strabo further add, that they Learning, are to be reckoned their Arts of Sacrificed in High Places -, their Rites and Sacrifi¬ ces Herodotus deferibes thus. When they go about to Sacrifice,they neither ereSl an Altar, nor kindle ■
Eire, nor ufe Libation, nor Elutes, nor Gar lands, nor Cakes, but when any Man intends to Sacrifice to one of thefe Gods, he drives the viffim to a clean place, and invocates that God-, his Tyara being Crown'd with Myrtle-, ^tis not Lawful for him who Sacrificeth to pray for good things for himfelf a- lone, but he muft pray for all Perfians in general, and in particular for the King; for in praying for all Perfians he includes himfelf.- Having cut the vidiminto little pieces, he boils the flefh,and flrew- ingfoft herbs, ejpe dally Trifbly, he lays the flefh on them -, the Magus ftanding by fings a Theego. nal Hymn -, for this they conceive to be a powerful incantation. Without a Magus it is not lawful for them to Sacrifice. Soonafer, he whb Sacrificeth taks the flefh and difpofeth of it as he pie af eth, m Strabo adds, that when the Magus who de¬ clares the Sacrifice, hath diftributed the pieces of m Lib. 15; flefh, every one taking his piece they depart home •
approacheth, in which thefe fhall be dcjfroyed by 'famine and Peftilence,and Arimanius uti erly de¬ ft royed, and the Earth made even and fniooth-. There fhall be one Life and one City {or common fiiOciety)of all men living, and one Language.
CHAP. ir.
Arts of Divination.
Mong the other parts of the Perfians Learning, are to be reckoned their Arts of alnFroxm. Divination 2nd Pradlblion, which a Laertius Ti- h De Divinat. firms were pradifedby the Magi, b Cicero adds, thzt they affembled in (fana) in Temples or con¬ secrated places, to conj'ult about Divination, e Lib. Hence c Strabo faith, that, by the Ancients,
Diviners were much efteemed, fuch as among the Perfians, were the Magi, and Necromancers, and d Var. Hift. Lecanomancers, and Hydromancers ; d JElian.^ that the Wifdom of the Perfian Alagi, befides all other things which it was lawful for them to know, e Mamb. did confiji -alfo in Divination-, And e Lucian ftyles the Magi a kind of Perfons skilful in Divi¬ nation, and dedicated to the Gods. Of their D/- ■ vination f Cicero giveth an inftance concerning Cyrus -, g JElian, another concerning Ochus.
Among other kinds of Divination, h Velleius PdterculUs affirms, they foretold by the marks of the Body .They' feem to have been skilful like inzor. wife inAflrology,for
1 Suidas aferibeth to the Perfian Zoroafter five Books of Aft rof copick zl- potelefmes. Tliat they were allb conlulted con¬ cerning the prefignification of Prodigies, is mzxivfeaving no part for the Gods-, for they fay theGods
' require
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