As We Have Said Before, These People Are Idolaters, And As Regards Their
Gods, Each Has A Tablet Fixed High
Up on the wall of his chamber, on which
is inscribed a name which represents the Most High and Heavenly
God; and
before this they pay daily worship, offering incense from a thurible,
raising their hands aloft, and gnashing their teeth[NOTE 2] three times,
praying Him to grant them health of mind and body; but of Him they ask
nought else. And below on the ground there is a figure which they call
Natigai, which is the god of things terrestrial. To him they give a wife
and children, and they worship him in the same manner, with incense, and
gnashing of teeth,[NOTE 2] and lifting up of hands; and of him they ask
seasonable weather, and the fruits of the earth, children, and so
forth.[NOTE 3]
Their view of the immortality of the soul is after this fashion. They
believe that as soon as a man dies, his soul enters into another body,
going from a good to a better, or from a bad to a worse, according as he
hath conducted himself well or ill. That is to say, a poor man, if he have
passed through life good and sober, shall be born again of a gentlewoman,
and shall be a gentleman; and on a second occasion shall be born of a
princess and shall be a prince, and so on, always rising, till he be
absorbed into the Deity.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 1245 of 1256
Words from 338996 to 339251
of 342071
