as made manifest in the use of
certain symbols, which are in common use amongst the Freemasons--for
instance, an unsheathed dagger, a human skull, and the corpse of
Hiram-Abiff, "son of the widow," brought back to life by the Grand
Master of the lodge. Kali was nothing but the pretext for an imposing
scenarium. Freemasonry and Thugism had many points of resemblance.
The members of both recognized each other by certain signs, both had a
pass-word and a jargon that no outsider could understand. The Freemason
lodges receive among their members both Christians and Atheists; the
Thugs used to receive the thieves and robbers of every nation without
any distinction; and it is reported that amongst them there were some
Portuguese and even Englishmen. The difference between the two is that
the Thugs certainly were a criminal organization, whereas the Freemasons
of our days do no harm, except to their own pockets.

Poor Shiva, wretched Bhavani! What a mean interpretation popular
ignorance has invented for these two poetical types, so deeply
philosophical and so full of knowledge of the laws of nature. Shiva, in
his primitive meaning is "Happy God"; then the all-destroying, as well
as the all-regenerating force of nature. The Hindu trinity is, amongst
other things, an allegorical representation of the three chief elements:
fire, earth and water. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva all represent these
elements by turns, in their different phases; but Shiva is much more the
god of the fire than either Brahma or Vishnu: he burns and purifies; at
the same time creating out of the ashes new forms, full of fresh life.
Shiva-Sankarin is the destroyer or rather the scatterer; Shiva-Rakshaka
is the preserver, the regenerator. He is represented with flames on
his left palm, and with the wand of death and resurrection in his right
hand. His worshippers wear on their foreheads his sign traced with wet
ashes, the ashes being called vibhuti, or purified substance, and the
sign consisting of three horizontal parallel lines between the eyebrows.
The color of Shiva's skin is rosy-yellow, gradually changing into a
flaming red. His neck, head and arms are covered with snakes, emblems
of eternity and eternal regeneration. "As a serpent, abandoning his old
slough, reappears in new skin, so man after death reappears in a younger
and a purer body," say the Puranas.

In her turn, Shiva's wife Kali is the allegory of earth, fructified
by the flames of the sun. Her