Chapter 143 of 149 · 274 words · ~1 min read

CXLV.

Gentilism. Gentilimus.

[Illustration]

The _Gentiles_ feigned to themselves near upon XIIM. _Deities_. _Gentiles_ finxerunt sibi prope XIIM. _Numina_.

The chief of them were _Jupiter_, 1. _President_, and _petty-God of Heaven_; Eorum præcipua erant _Jupiter_, 1. _Præses_ & _Deaster cœli_; _Neptune_, 2. of the Sea; _Pluto_, 3. of Hell; _Mars_, 4. of War; _Apollo_, 5. of Arts; _Neptunus_, 2. Maris; _Pluto_, 3. Inferni; _Mars_, 4. Belli; _Apollo_, 5. Artium; _Mercury_, 6. of Thieves, Merchants, and Eloquence; _Vulcan_, (_Mulciber_) of Fire and Smiths; _Mercurius_, 6. Furum, Mercatorum, & Eloquentiæ; _Vulcanus_ (_Mulciber_), Ignis & Fabrorum; _Æolus_, of Winds: and the most obscene of all the rest, _Priapus_. _Æolus_, Ventorum; & obscænissimus, _Priapus_.

They had also Womanly Deities: such as were _Venus_, 7. the Goddess of Loves, and Pleasures, with her little son _Cupid_, 8. Habuerant etiam Muliebria Numina; qualia fuerunt _Venus_, 7. Dea Amorum, & Voluptatum, cum filiolo _Cupidine_, 8. _Minerva_ (_Pallas_), with the nine _Muses of Arts_; _Juno_, of Riches and Weddings; _Minerva_ (_Pallas_), cum novem _Musis Artium_; _Juno_, Divitiarum & Nuptiarum; _Vesta_, of Chastity; _Ceres_, of Corn; _Diana_, of Hunting, and Fortune; and besides these _Morbona_, and _Febris_ her self. _Vesta_, Castitatis; _Ceres_, Frumentorum; _Diana_, Venationum; & Fortuna: quin & _Morbona_, ac _Febris_ ipsa.

The _Egyptians_, instead of God worshipped all sorts of Beasts and Plants, and whatsoever they saw first in the morning. _Ægyptii_, pro Deo colebant omne genus Animalium & Plantarum, & quicquid conspiciebantur primum mane.

The _Philistines_ offered to _Moloch_, 9. their Children to be burnt alive, _Philistæi_ offerebant _Molocho_ (_Saturno_), 9. Infantes cremandos vivos.

The _Indians_, 10. even to this day, worship the _Devil_, 11. _Indi_, 10. etiamnum venerantur _Cacodæmona_, 11.