HKB
temples of Greece, the most beautiful was the Parthenon, meaning, the Temple of the Virgin Goddess. It was a magnificent Doric edifice, dedicated to Minerva, the presiding deity of Athens.
Juno was called the "Virgin Queen of Heaven."[333:3] She was represented, like Isis and Mary, standing on the crescent moon,[333:4] and was considered the special protectress of women, from the cradle to the grave, just as Mary is considered at the present day.
Diana, who had the title of "Mother," was nevertheless famed for her virginal purity.[333:5] She was represented, like Isis and Mary, with stars surrounding her head.[333:6]
The ancient Muscovites worshiped a sacred group, composed of a woman with a male child in her lap, and another standing by her. They had likewise another idol, called the golden heifer, which, says Mr. Knight, "seems to have been the animal symbol of the same personage."[333:7] Here we have the Virgin and infant Saviour, with the companion (John the Baptist), and "The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world," among the ancient Muscovites before the time of Christ Jesus. This goddess had also the title of "Queen of Heaven."[334:1]
The ancient Germans worshiped a virgin goddess under the name of Hertha, or Ostara, who was fecundated by the active spirit, i. e., the "Holy Spirit."[334:2] She was represented in images as a woman with a child in her arms. This image was common in their consecrated forests, and was held peculiarly sacred.[334:3] The Christian celebration called Easter derived its name from this goddess.
The ancient Scandinavians worshiped a virgin goddess called Disa. Mr. R. Payne Knight tells us that:
"This goddess is delineated on the sacred drums of the Laplanders, accompanied by a child, similar to the Horus of the Egyptians, who so often appears in the lap of Isis on the religious monuments of that people."[334:4]
The ancient Scandinavians also worshiped the goddess Frigga. She was mother of "Baldur the Good," his father being Odin, the supreme god of the northern nations. It was she who was addressed, as Mary is at the present day, in order to obtain happy marriages and easy childbirths. The Eddas style her the most favorable of the goddesses.[334:5]
In Gaul, the ancient Druids worshiped the Virgo-Paritura as the "Mother of God," and a festival was annually celebrated in honor of this virgin.[334:6]
In the year 1747 a monument was found at Oxford, England, of pagan origin, on which is exhibited a female nursing an infant.[334:7] Thus we see that the Virgin and Child were worshiped, in pagan times, from China to Britain, and, if we turn to the New World, we shall find the same thing there; for, in the words of Dr. Inman, "even in Mexico the 'Mother and Child' were worshiped."[334:8]
This mother, who had the title of "Virgin," and "Queen of Heaven,"[334:9] was Chimalman, or Sochiquetzal, and the infant was Quetzalcoatle, the crucified Saviour. Lord Kingsborough says:
"She who represented 'Our Lady' (among the ancient Mexicans) had her hair tied up in the manner in which the Indian women tie and fasten their hair, and in the knot behind was inserted a small cross, by which it was intended to show that she was the Most Holy."[335:1]
The Mexicans had pictures of this "Heavenly Goddess" on long pieces of leather, which they rolled up.[335:2]
The annunciation to the Virgin Chimalman, that she should become the mother of the Saviour Quetzalcoatle, was the subject of a Mexican hieroglyphic, and is remarkable in more than one respect. She appears to be receiving a bunch of flowers from the embassador or angel,[335:3] which brings to mind the lotus, the sacred plant of the East, which is placed in the hands of the Pagan and Christian virgins.