Essay on the Sacred Fire and on the Vestals

once felt, is easily renewed; clever deceivers know how to employ this lever; they announce the vengeances of the Supreme Being. Hail destroys a harvest; thunder rumbles and strikes a wretch: it is the eternal one in his anger punishing the guilty. The terrified people worship while trembling, multiply their sacrifices, and dream of disarming his wrath. Soon they wish to see their God: an image is made; fear guided the brush, and the lightning bolt arms him.

As soon as the image of the Divinity was placed upon the altar, homage was addressed only to it; a thousand copies were made, all of which were worshiped, and which subsequently became Gods. One may add that the unity of the Supreme Being was incontestably the first truth revealed to men; when they reasoned upon his attributes, they found an infinity of them; they revered him under each one. They worshiped, under different names, his omnipotence, his justice, his beneficence, etc. A few centuries passed and caused the spirit of the institution of worship to be forgotten; attributes were confused with the Being himself; he was no longer simultaneously all-powerful, wise, and just; it was believed that the all-powerful Being was not the wise Being, and that the just Being was neither of these two. The Divinity was misunderstood; it was decomposed, so to speak, in order to multiply the Protectors of whom man had need: and weakness, the daughter of ignorance, could only find reassurance under the shelter of the

crowd of Gods that it created for itself. It is perhaps from these points of view that one must consider the establishment of Polytheism. One finds, in Pagan Writers, details that favor this opinion*.

Scripture everywhere associates Idolatry with Magic; it gives the same era to their origin. It is not a question of examining what this absurd science consists of, nor what should be thought of what is told about it. Some physical knowledge gave birth to it; ignorance admired it, and credulity brought forth prodigies for it. It is through divination The practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means. that it seems to me it must have begun; this being established, its origin will not be difficult to discover.