it is the analogue of the theological ladder in
the Masonic Mysteries. But it is doubtful whether this theory is tenable.

YOD. A Hebrew letter and about equivalent to the English I or Y. It is the
initial letter of the tetragrammaton, and is often used, especially
enclosed within a triangle, as a substitute for, or an abridgement of,
that sacred word.

It is a symbol of the life-giving and sustaining power of God.

YONI. Among the nations and religions of India the yoni was the
representation of the female organ of generation, and was the symbol of
the prolific power of nature. It is the same as the _cteis_ among the
Occidental nations.

Z

ZENNAAR. The sacred girdle of the Hindoos. It is supposed to be the
analogue of the masonic apron.

ZOROASTER. A distinguished philosopher and reformer, whose doctrines were
professed by the ancient Persians. The religion of Zoroaster was a
dualism, in which the two antagonizing principles were Ormuzd and Abriman,
symbols of Light and Darkness. It was a modification and purification of
the old fire-worship, in which the fire became a symbol of the sun, so
that it was really a species of sun-worship. Mithras, representing the
sun, becomes the mediator between Ormuzd, or the principle of Darkness,
and the world.

Footnotes

[1] "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, if it is a real
advantage, follows unavoidably from the idea of God. The _best_ Being, he
must _will_ the best of good things; the _wisest_, he must devise plans
for that effect; the _most powerful_, he must bring it about. None can
deny this."--THEO. PARKER, _Discourse of Matters pertaining to Religion_,
b. ii. ch. viii. p. 205.

[2] "This institution of religion, like society, friendship, and marriage,
comes out of a principle, deep and permanent in the heart: as humble, and
transient, and partial institutions come out of humble, transient, and
partial wants, and are to be traced to the senses and the phenomena of
life, so this sublime, permanent, and useful institution came out from
sublime, permanent, and universal wants, and must be referred to the soul,
and the unchanging realities of life."--PARKER, _Discourse of Religion_,
b. i. ch. i. p. 14.

[3] "The sages of all nations, ages, and religions had some ideas of these
sublime doctrines, though more or less degraded, adulterated and obscured;
and these scattered hints and vestiges of the most sacred and exalted
truths were original