consulted the oracle
at Delphi concerning his lack of offspring, when he was told by the
Pythia that he would win five glorious combats; and when Battus asked
about his voice he was told "to establish a city in Libya abounding in
fleeces." Such freaks are common with the modern Pythia. The resemblance
is complete.

It is to the development of psychical force, as shown by Planchette,
that the phenomena known as mesmerism and the so-called spiritualism are
undoubtedly due. In some persons this force is found to exist
abnormally, when its manifestations are certainly extraordinary. The
trouble is that we are not always satisfied with its feeble and
uncertain utterances, and are too often impelled by cupidity or other
equally unworthy motive to practise the charlatanism of the crafty
priests of old.

In the time of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean priesthood, the magicians and
astrologers, and those who had understanding in all visions and dreams,
possessed all the learning of the known world. Much of their learning
was transmitted to Egypt and thence to Greece, but much of it we know
was lost to the world. From all that we can gather now, however, we may
feel assured that they were not ignorant of the existence of what has
been termed psychic force, or a sixth sense, or unconscious cerebration
(for our terminology in all speculations bordering: on the
"_unknowable_" must necessarily be uncertain), and as a neighboring
people, the Israelites, communicated with their God through that medium,
they supposed, as was natural, that they could communicate with their
gods in the same way. And they were perfectly sincere in that belief.
But in the process of time and migration the theology of the Greeks came
to bear little resemblance to that of the Chaldeans. The dignity of the
priestly office and the influence of the priesthood became greatly
diminished. That the religion of these several nations had one common
origin, and that the priests and prophets of God's chosen people had
many imitators among other nations, there is abundant proof.

The story of the origin of the Pythia, for example, contains points not
without resemblance to certain passages in our own early sacred history.
The Son of God is at enmity with the serpent; the serpent pursues a
woman, and is trodden under foot by the Son. Zeus is the god of the
Greeks; Apollo is his son; Leto--or Latona--is pursued by Python, the
serpent, and is slain by Apollo. To commemorate t