grosser multitude would see nothing but the symbol, and
would worship it, as the carved Madonna or the wooden image of the
crucified one is to-day worshipped throughout Catholic Europe.

Sun and fire worship then became the cult for the celebration of which
magnificent temples were reared throughout the length and breadth of
the continent of Atlantis, but more especially in the great "City of
the Golden Gates"--the temple service being performed by retinues of
priests endowed by the State for that purpose.

In those early days no image of the Deity was permitted. The sun-disk
was considered the only appropriate emblem of the godhead, and as such
was used in every temple, a golden disk being generally placed so as
to catch the first rays of the rising sun at the vernal equinox or at
the summer solstice.

An interesting example of the almost unalloyed survival of this
worship of the sun-disk may be instanced in the Shinto ceremonies of
Japan. All other representation of Deity is in this faith regarded as
impious, and even the circular mirror of polished metal is hidden from
the vulgar gaze save on ceremonial occasions. Unlike the gorgeous
temple decorations of Atlantis however, the Shinto temples are
characterized by an entire absence of decoration--the exquisite finish
of the plain wood-work being unrelieved by any carving, paint or
varnish.

But the sun-disk did not always remain the only permissible emblem of
Deity. The image of a man--an archetypal man--was in after days placed
in the temples and adored as the highest representation of the divine.
In some ways this might be considered a reversion to the Rmoahal
worship of the Manu. Even then the religion was comparatively pure,
and the occult fraternity of the "Good Law" of course did their utmost
to keep alive in the hearts of the people the spiritual life.

The evil days, however, were drawing near when no altruistic idea
should remain to redeem the race from the abyss of selfishness in
which it was destined to be overwhelmed. The decay of the ethical idea
was the necessary prelude to the perversion of the spiritual. The hand
of every man fought for himself alone, and his knowledge was used for
purely selfish ends, till it became an established belief that there
was nothing in the universe greater or higher than themselves. Each
man was his own "Law, and Lord and God," and the very worship of the
temples ceased to be the worship of any ideal, but became the mer