e, find
an expression and in this we can detect the germ of thought whose extreme
development, in India, produced the comparatively philosophical doctrine
of Nirvana. The title of "Primitive Sun" enlightens us as to the original
use of the word sun and the supreme importance accorded by the ancient
star-gazers to the "Imperial ruler of heaven," as the Chinese term the
pole-star. This application of the word sun will be found particularly
interesting to those who, having found the swastika termed a "sun-symbol,"
have naturally been led to associate it with the diurnal sun, although
they found it difficult to understand its connection with the rotatory
motion so clearly discernible in the form of the primitive symbol.

Having ascertained that the Mandaite pole-star worship of the present day
embodies the cult of the sacred centre and of dual principles (one of
which is designated as the lord of the underworld) and is associated with
quadruple organization and a form of cross, let us now make a great stride
backwards and note some details concerning ancient Sabaean star-worship.

ARABIA.

In remote antiquity, star-worship prevailed throughout Arabia and one of
its great centres was the flourishing land of Saba or Sheba, whose queen
visited Solomon at Jerusalem. The star-cult of the Sabaeans is acknowledged
to have resembled that of the ancient inhabitants of Syria, Mesopotamia,
Persia and India. We are told that a certain sect amongst them "believed
in a great cycle of time in which certain epochs of the world's history
recurred"--an idea akin to ancient Mexican speculative philosophy. It is
also stated that one of the chief centres of Sabaeism was the town of
Harran in Mesopotamia and that, although surrounded by Christianity, this
ancient form of star-worship maintained itself here until the Middle Ages.
The possibility that the Mandaites of to-day may be the descendants of the
ancient inhabitants of Harran is naturally suggested by this historical
fact. A curious detail concerning monarchical succession in Sheba has been
preserved to us. The king was kept in an enforced seclusion in his palace
and incurred the penalty of death if he left it. His office was not
hereditary but fell to the first son who was born amongst the nobility,
after a king's accession to the throne. In this custom, a curious parallel
of which is furnished by the Thibetan mode of electing the "living
Buddha," some readers may be inclined to find an