Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/100



, a member of the Folk-Lore Society, who has written several valuable studies on folklore subjects under the pseudonym of P. Saintyves, has employed this translation of Porphyry's tract on the Cave of the Nymphs mentioned by Homer, as a peg whereon to hang his dissertation on Caves in magico-religious cults and in primitive symbolism.

According to his theory the cave was considered in ancient times as the universal matrix from which the world and men, light and the heavenly bodies alike have sprung, and that the initiation into the ancient mysteries always took place in a cave. Many caves in Palestine and elsewhere now regarded as centres of Christian history or legend, such as the cave of Bethlehem where the Nativity is said to have taken place, were, he contends, originally caves dedicated to the worship of Adonis and similar pagan deities. This is interesting, and in many cases probable; but the author is not always very critical of his evidence, nor does it always appear whether his authorities are cited for the fact or for the tradition. Indeed, in the case of the cave alleged to be the burial-place of Jesus Christ, his quotation from Eusebius seems to show that it was not a prehistoric place of worship. In his reference to the Baptism, too, he has placed the cart before the horse, by making the Fasting and Temptation precede, instead of following, the rite.

Speaking generally, however, the well-known custom of the