The Round Towers of Ireland; or, The History of the Tuath-De-DanaansO'Brien, Henry
Religion
The Round Towers of Ireland; or, The History of the Tuath-De-Danaans
O'Brien, Henry
Ireland -- Antiquities; Round towers -- Ireland
From a careful study of Eastern records and Sabaism, the author is led to
take up the position that the round towers were constructed by early
Indian colonists of Ireland (the _Tuath-de-danaans_), in honour of “the
fructifying principle of nature,” of which the sun and moon are
representative. The emblem of this principle was the _phallus_ in the case
of the sun, and the _crescent_ in that of the moon. The round tower was
simply a monumental _phallus_, which fact is taken to explain the terms
“Cathoir ghall” and “Fidh-Nemphed” to which he alludes in chap. iv.;
whilst the _crescent_ ornament by which many of these towers were
surmounted is symbolical of the female nature. A corroboration of this
theory is found in the circumstance that the name _Budh_, by which these
towers are “critically and accurately designated, signifies in Irish,
first, the _sun_, and secondly, what φαλλός, _phallus_, does in Greek and
Latin,” a view which is supported by the analogy of Egyptian sun and moon
worship.
CHAPTER IX
(PP. 107-126)
Having thus committed himself to the view that the paganism which founded
the Irish Round Towers was a religion of which _Budh_ (_i.e._ the sun and
the _phallus_) was the central idea, and which, therefore, resembled in
its essence the faiths of India and Egypt, the author proceeds to trace
the origin of this religion. In India the latter is known as _Buddhism_,
or that form of Sabaism taught by Buddha; but the author is persuaded that
there never was such a person as Buddha--at least, when the religion first
shot into life, which was almost as early as the creation of man--though
in later times several enthusiasts assumed that name. The origin of the
religion was, in fact, “an abstract thought,” which cannot easily be
expressed in words until it is reduced to the materialised forms of that
practical Sabaism which each nation framed for itself, and which consisted
in the worship of generative and productive power under its various
manifestations. Hence the objects of worship ranged from the sun and moon
even to agricultural operations, and, of course, included sexual
physiology. Indian Buddhism worshipped the _Lingam_ (or _phallus_) as the
emblem of_Budh_ (_i.e._ the Sun), but without any sensual alloy in such
reverence, which, in fact, necessitated the observance of a strict moral
code. Among other requirements of this code was the performance of works
of charity, _Dana_ (_i.e._ the giving of alms), and the religionists were
hence called _Danaans_ or _Almoners_. The bearing of all this upon Irish
paganism is explained by referring to the intimate connection that in
early times existed between Ireland and the East, from whence its
Tuath-de-danaan colonists were derived. The name _Erin_, together with its
Greek form _Ierne_, and its Latin transmutation _Hibernia_, is shown to be
identical with _Iran_, the ancient name of _Persia_, which, modified into
_Irin_, was applied by the Greek historians to the “Sacred Island” of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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