ed earth, bringing forth fruit
without fertilisation. "This religious custom (the worship of Isis),"
says Flinders Petrie, "exerted a powerful influence on nascent
Christianity. It is not too much to say that without the Egyptians we
should have had no Madonna in our creed. The cult of Isis was widely
spread at the time of the first emperors, when it was fashionable all
over the Roman Empire; when later on it merged into that other great
religious movement, and fashion and conviction could be combined, its
triumph was assured."

Advancing Christianity had depopulated the national pantheon. There must
have been a great sense of loss, especially among the lower classes, and
it does not require much psychological insight to realise that it was
the lack of female deities which more especially roused a feeling of
anxiety and distress. The masses were yearning for a goddess, and it was
at Ephesus, the classical seat of the hundred-breasted Diana, that the
stolen divinity was restored to them. The theologians were divided into
three camps. While some of them regarded Mary merely as "the mother of
man" others acknowledged her as the "Mother of God," and Nestorius
suggested as a compromise the title "Mother of Christ." At the synod of
Alexandria, in the year of grace 430, and at the council of Ephesus in
431, Nestorius was found guilty of blasphemy and deprived of his
bishopric. Henceforth Mary was [Greek: Theotochos], the "Mother of God,"
and her worship was sanctioned by the Church. "Through Thee the Holy
Trinity has been glorified," exclaimed Cyril joyfully, "through Thee the
Cross of the Saviour has been raised! Through Thee the angels triumphed,
the devils were driven back; the tempter was beaten and human nature
uplifted to Heaven; through Thee all intelligent creatures who were
committing idolatry, have learned the truth!" Loud rejoicing filled the
streets of Ephesus. When the judgment passed on Nestorius was announced,
the people exclaimed: "The enemy of the Holy Virgin has been overcome;
glory be to the great, the divine Mother of God!" The highest authority
in the land had re-established the public worship of the great goddess,
who had for many years been worshipped in secrecy. The ancient paganism
had triumphed over the spiritual intuition of the loftier minds.
According to ancient custom sacrifices were offered at Mary's shrine;
the second epoch of her history had begun.

In the East the worship of female divinities