Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-03-17
BY X. G. F. CANDAGE.
Concinded.l

(CUHctHded.)
The yerlfiCation of the nursery rhymes
of Mother Goose, with rings on her I'm
gers and bells on her toes" and in addi-
tlon thereto, Of numerous anklets and
bracelets, can be seen any day in India.
4 The sexes on public occasions and before
strangers DO not mix together. but in the
home they meet each other. and they have
the name of being kind and devoted hus-
bands and fathers, and the women, devoted
wives. Their children are married at an
age between two and five years and are
4 brought up together in the family until
they reach proper age to assume The du-
ties aud responsibilities of married life.
Their marriages are usually celebrated
I by procession through the streets of the
/ city or town led by band of music in true
/ Oriental style. They never, however, mar
ry outside Of their own sect or religious
I faith. The Parsees from intercourse with
Europeans have learned that female educa-
ton i not that dangerous innovation they
once believed 1t to be, but that it enlarges
the eujoymeI;s and pleasures of the home
circle, and many among them now pay at
teutou 70 the education OF their daughters
as well a. their sons.
In all civil matters the Parsees obey the
laws Of the land in which they live, and
make use of it language. but in their re
ligious ritual they use the holy language
Of Lend, or al least their priests use it.
The laity do not understand the Zend. and
ii is hinted that very few of the priests
understand the meaning Of the language
they use in their religious ceremonies.
The Parsees are not divided into casts
nor does their religion forbid the use of
animal food As is the case among the Hin
docs. Their religion, however, became
corrupted by Hindoo practices, in due
course OF time, and Religious Reform
Association was organized al Bombay In
Is5e for the regeneration of the social con
dition of the Parsees and the restoration
OF the creed and faith Of Zuroasler 10 its
original purity. The meetings and publ
cations of the association are said to have
had the desired effect upon their sect.
Although the Parsees believe in, and
hold, the worship of one God, the Ruler of
heaven and earth, and hold that the wor-
ship of Idol, i an abominatlon, vet they
worship the sacred fire and the heavenly
bodies a. the NANTES tation of God to
man. They do not claim TO worship them
but that through them they worship the
! Great Creator who made them, and who
manifests himself TO man through them
| Life and heat. say they, are the author Of
all vegetable and animal life. and without
them there would be ne life, and God be-
ing the source Of all life, they worship him
through and by their aid.
| The sacred FIRE, which they claim was
| handed down from heaven to Zoroaster is
kept continually burning upon consecrated
altars, fed with chosen woods and spices.
They took that sacred fire with them from
Persia to India, where they assert it has
since been kept continually burning down
10 the present time, for a period of more
than twelve centuries
Some Of the Zoroastrans who did not
20 into Hindostan at the time of the dis
persion. built temples over subterranean
fires; one being at Bak0o, on the shores Of
the Caspian Sea, where for ages, without
intermission flames have issued from fs-
| sures III the rocks.
The priests Of the tire-worship are sup
posed to pass their time in tending the
sacred fires, burning incense, chanting
hymns, praying and in the performance OF
religious ceremonies. The priestly Office
was once open to all aspirants, but tie
re-worshipers have borrowed from the
lindoos the idea of an hereditary priest.
hood. The dress of the priests does no,
differ from that of the laity, except tha,
their headgear is white and is of differen,
shape. The laity respect the sanctity OF
the priestly office, but do not look up tc
the priests with that reverence and super
stitious awe which the priesthood inspires
in the minds of the people of other sects
in India.
In the disposal of their dead the Parsee.
have practice peculiarly their own. The,
call the places of disposal flowers OF
Silence" and they consist of circular stone
towers, usually erected upon hills, with
walls quite high, across the top of which
are placed iron gratings sloping toward.
the centre, and under the grating is pit
Bodies are placed upon the gratings in
nude state, their flesh to be eaten by tn,
birds of prey. after which the bones fal
apart and drop into the pit below, an6
when the pit becomes full the bones ar,
removed through passages under ground
The bodies of those who were wealthy ar,
sometimes protected by wire screens unit
the flesh wastes away, but Others are sool
devoured by the birds of prey which eve
voting custom to US, and we should mucf
prefer our mode Of burial in the ground
or even that of cremation.
The theology of the Parsees is curious
mixture and must be repeated to be under
stood-understood is the wrong word.
should have said, tor one to gain fain
idea of it. They recognize one God. ON
nipotent, invisible, without form, tn
Creator, Ruler, Preserver of the universe
and the final Judge of men. He sprans
from primeval light. which emanated from
a supreme, incomprehensible essence call
ed Zernane Okerene, or the Eternal. HI
created good spirits to act as the medium
of his bounty to men, and intrusted then
with the guardianship of certain person
animal or object.
The sun is the eye of Deity, and like al
heavenly bodies is animated with a soul
Comets, or stars with tails, are under tn
care of the greater luminaries, and tn
dog-sta controls the whole sidereal sys
TEN. The spirits of the stars have benefi
cent influence over the affairs of men, an
can reveal the secrets of the future t
those who understand their signs. There
fore, sstrology has been fsvorite scienc'