Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/642

 ICANIOHiBISM

593

HANIOHiBISM

the First-Man, and the Spirit of Life beg and beseech the Father of Majesty for a further creation and as third creation he emanated the Messenger; in Latin sources this is the so-called Legatus Tertius. This Messenger emanates twelve virgins with their gar- ments, crowns, and garlands, namely Royalty, Wis- dom, Victory, Persuasion, Purity, Truth, Faith, Patience, Righteousness, Goodness, Justice, and Light. The Messenger dwells in the sun and, coming towards these twelve virgin-vessels, he commands nis three attendants to make them revolve and soon they reach the height of the heavens. All this is a transparent metaphor for the planetary system and the signs of the sodiac. No sooner do the heavens rotate than the Messenger commands the Great Ban to renovate the earth and make the Great "Wheels (Air, Fire, and Water) to mount. The Great Universe now moves, but as yet there is no life of plants, beasts, or man. The production of vegetative, animal, and rational life on earth is a process of obscenity, cannibalism, abortion, and prize-fighting between the Messenger and the sons and daughters of Darkness, the details of which are better pa^ed over. Finally Naimrael, a female, and Ashaklun a male devil, brine forth two children, Adam and Eve. In Adam's boay were im- prisoned a vast number of germs of light. He was the E'eat captive of the Power of Evil. The Powers of ight had pity and sent a Saviour, the luminous Jesus. This Jesus approached innocent Adam, awoke him from his sleep of death, made him move, drew him out of his slumber, drove away the seductive demon, and enchained far away from him the mighty female ar- chon. Adam reflected on himself ana knew that he existed. Jesus then instructed Adam and showed him the Fathers, dwelling in the celestial heights, and Jesus showed him his own personality, exposed to all things, to the teeth of the panther, the teeth of the elephant, devoured by the greedy, swallowed by glut- tons, eaten by dogs, mixed with and imprisoned in all that exists, encompassed by the evil oaours of Dark- ness. Manias weird but mighty imagination had thus created a "suffering Saviour'' and given him the name of Jesus. But this Saviour is but the personification of the Ck)smic Light as far as imprisoned in matter, there- fore it is diffused throughout all nature, it is bom, suffers, and dies every day, it is crucified on every tree, it is daily eaten in all fooa. This captive Cosmic Light is called Jesu8 patibilia. Jesus then made Adam stand up and taste of the tree of life. Adam then looked around and wept. He mightily lifted up his voice as a roaring lion. He tore his hair and struck his breast and said, "Cursed be the creator of my body and he who bound my soul and they who have made me their slave. " Man's duty henceforth is to keep his body pure from all bodily stain by practising self-denial and to help also in the great work of puri&ation through- out the universe. ManichsBan eschatology is in keeping with its cosmogony. When, mainly through the activity of the elect, all light-particles have been gathered together, the Messenger, or Legatus Tertius, appears, the Spirit of Life comes from the west, the First-Man with his hosts comes from north, south, and east, together with all light seons and all perfect Mani- chsans. Atlas, the World-Supporter, throws his bur- den away, the Ornament of Splendour above lets go, and thus heaven and earth smk into the abyss. A universal conflagration ensues and bums on imtil nothing but lightless cinders remain. This fire continues during 1486 years, during which the torments of the wicked are the delight of the just. When the separa- tion of light from darkness is finally completed, all angels of li^ht who had functions in the creation return on hieh; the dark world-soul sinks away in the depth, which is then clcraed forever and eternal tranquillity reigiis in the realm of light, no more to be invaded by darkness. With reganl to the after- death of the individual, Manichsism taught a three-, IX.— 38

fold state prepared for the Perfect, the Hearers, and the Sinners (non-Manichseans). The souls of the first are after death received by Jesus, who is sent by the First-Man accompanied by three SBons of light and the Light-Maiden. They give the deceased a water- vessel, a garment, a turban, a crown, and a wreath of light. In vain do evil angels lie in his path, he scorns them and on the ladder of praise he mounts first to the moon, then to the First Man, the Sun, the Mother of Life, and finally to the Supreme Light. The bodies of the Perfect are purified by sun, moon and stars; their light-particles, set free, mount to the First Man and are formed into minor deities, surrounding his person. The fate of the heavens is ultimately the same as that of the Perfect, but they have to pass through a long

Eurgatory before they arrive at eternal bliss. Sinners, owever, must after death wander about in torment and anguish, surrounded by demons and condenmed by the angels, till the end of the world, when they are, body and soul, thrown into hell.

Discipline. — ^To set the light-substance free from the pollution of matter was the ultimate aim of all Manichaean life. Those who entirely devoted them- selves to this work were the "Elect " or "the Perfect", the Primates ManicJuBorum; those who through hu- man fraility felt unable to abstain from all earthly joys, though they accepted Manichsean tenets, were the Hearers", auditoreSf or catechumens. The former bear a striking similarity to Buddhist monks, only wiih this difference that they were always itinerant, being forbidden to settle anywhere permanently. The life of these ascetics was a hard one. They were for- bidden to have property, to eat meat or drink wine, to gratify any sexiial desire, to engage in any servile occupation, commerce or trade, to possess house or home, to practise magic, or to practise any other religion. Their duties were sunmied up in the three signw:ula, i. e., seals or closures, that of the mouth, of the hands, and of the breast (oriSj manuum, sinus). The first forbade all evil words and all evil food. Animal food roused the demon of Darkness within man, hence only vegetables were allowed to the perfect. Amongst vegetables, some, as melons and fruit containing oil, were specially recommended, as they were thought to contain many light-particles, and by being consumed by the perfect these light particles were set free. The second forbade all actions detrimental to the light- substance, slaying of animals, plucking of fruit, etc. The third forbade all evil thoughts, whether against the Manichsean faith or against. purity. St. Angus* tine (especially "De Moribus ^nich.") strongly in- veighs i^ainst the Manichseans' repudiation of mar- riage. They regarded it as an evil in itself because the propagation of the human race meant the continual re-imprisonment of the light substance in matter and a retarding of the blissful consunmiation of all things; maternity was a calamity and a sin and Manichseans delighted, to tell of the seduction of Adam by Eve and her nnal punishment in eternal danmation. In conse- quence there was a danger that the act of generation, rather than the act of unchastity was abhorred, ana that this was a real danger Augustine's writings testify. The number of the Perfect was naturally very smill and in studying Manichseism one is particularly struck by the extreme paucity of individual Perfecti known in history. The vast bulk of Mani's adherents — ^ninety- nine out of every hundred — were Hearers. They were bound by Mani's Ten Commandments only, whicn forbade idolatry, mendacity, avarice, murder (i. e. all killing), fornication, theft, seduction to deceit, magic, hypocrisy (secret infidelity to Manichseism), and re- ligious indifference. The first positive duty seems to have been the maintenance ana almost the worship of the Elect. They supplied them with vegetables for food and paid them homage on bended knee, asking for their blessin^g. They regarded them as superior bern^n, Qay> collect^vely,^ they were thought to conMitu^^^