Pausanias supposes the whole story of Agdistis to have been part of a symbolical worship of the creative powers of nature. Some have supposed this being to have been the same with Cybele, who was worshipped at Pessinus under that name. AGHORI, a Hindu sect professing complete seems to have been that of KALI (which see), in some of her terrific forms, and to have required even human victims for its performance. On the present condition of the Aghori, Dr. Horace Wilson makes the following remarks: "The regular worship of this sect has long since been suppressed, and the early traces of it now left are presented by a few disgusting wretches, who, whilst they profess to have adopted its tenets, make them a mere plea for extorting alms. In proof of their indifference to worldly objects, they eat and drink whatever is given to them, even ordure and carrion. They smear their body also with excrement, and carry it about with them in a wooden cup, or skull, either to swallow it, if by so doing they can get a few pice; or to throw it upon the persons, or into the houses of those who refuse to comply with their demands. They also, for the same decrees thus issued, the Agapa still continued to be held in churches. In France, we find it prohibited by the second council of Orleans, A. D. 541; and there appears to have been some remains of it in the seventh century, when the council of Trullo was obliged to re-enforce the canon of Laodicea against feasting in the church under pain of excommunication.worldly indifference. The original Aghori worship A similar feast to that of the Agape was observed in the ancient Jewish church. On their great festival days they were accustomed to entertain their family and friends, and also the priests, the poor, and orphans. These feasts were celebrated in the temple; and the law appointed certain sacrifices and first-fruits, which were to be set apart for this purpose, Deut. xiv. 22, 27, 29; xxxvi. 10-12. Esth. ix. 19. In modern times, the practice of feasting together has been adopted by some Christian communities, as, for example, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Moravians, and the Glassites. These entertainments are usually termed LOVE-FEASTS (which see). AGAPETE (Beloved), a name given to young women and widows in the early Christian church, who attended on ecclesiastics from motives of piety and charity. To prevent scandal, however, in consequence of such females residing with unmarried clergy-purpose, inflict gashes on their limbs, that the crime men, the council of Nice decreed that none of the unmarried clergy, bishop, presbyter, deacon, or any other, should have any woman that was a stranger, and not one of their kindred, to dwell with them; save only a mother, a sister, or an aunt, or some such persons with whom they might live without suspicion. Canons to the same purport were afterwards passed by other councils, all showing that, from the loose state of morals which, in different ages of the church, prevailed among the clergy, particularly after celibacy was enforced, it was absolutely necessary to exercise the utmost severity of discipline. The second council of Arles decreed, that every clergyman, above the order of deacons, must be excommunicated who retained any woman as a companion, except it be a grandmother, or mother, or sister, or daughter, or niece, or a wife after her conversion. And the council of Lerida ordered them to be suspended from their office till they should amend their fault, after a first or second admonition. It is possible that the Agapetæ may have held the office of Deaconesses in the church, and may have derived their name from the part they took in preparing the Agape. See DEACONESSES. AGATHODÆMON (the Good God), a Pagan deity, in honour of whom the Greeks drank a cup of unmixed wine at the close of every repast. Pausanias, with great probability, conjectures that it was a mere epithet of Zeus. A temple was dedicated to the worship of a deity bearing this name, on the road between Megalopolis and Manalus in Arcadia. AGDISTIS, a mythical being in the Pagan mythology, which, though in human form, was of both It was the offspring of Zeus and the Earth. sexes. of blood may rest upon the head of the recusant ; and they have a variety of similar disgusting devices to extort money from the timid and credulous Hindu. They are, fortunately, not numerous, and are universally detested and feared." AGLAIA, one of the three graces of the heathen mythology, called Charites by the Greeks, the daughters of Jupiter and Euronyme. See GRACES. AGLIBOLUS, a name anciently given to the sun, which was worshipped as a deity by the ancient Syrians. Aglibolus and Melek-Belus were the tutelar gods of that country, and are usually accounted the sun and moon. AGNES (ST.,) FESTIVAL OF, which occurs in the Romish church on the 21st of January. The Breviary under that date contains a foolish legend in reference to this saint. Among the Mingrelians, in connection with the Greek church, the festival of St. Agnes is remarkable for the cure of sore eyes. AGNI, the mediator of the Ariens of the Indus, mentioned in the Rig-Veda. Agni is properly the fire of the sacrifice, but the divinity is regarded as in the fire. It is by Agni that the pure offering ascends to the gods in the smoke of the sacred pile. He is greater than the heavens, and the universe acknowledges him as master; he surpasses all the gods in greatness; he is the universal god, the god of gods, the father of all beings. He is the friend of man, his king, his prophet, his life, and he is also his priest and his intercessor. AGNETÆ (the Ignorant), a sect of Christian here. tics which appeared about A. D. 370. They were the followers of Theophronius, the Cappadocian, who called in question the omniscience of the Supreme Being; alleging that he knew things past only by The baptism and benediction of the Agnus Dei is memory, and things future only by a precarious uncertain prescience. In this, therefore, the Agnoe-regarded as a very solemn and important ceremony tian heresy approached to the idea of the more modern Arminians, holding that the foreknowledge of God is not absolute and certain, but depends, in some measure, on the free-will of rational creatures.— Another sect, bearing the name of Agnotæ or Nescients, arose in the sixth century, springing out of the Corrupticolæ, who believed the body of Christ to be corruptible. The originators of the opinions peculiar to this sect, were Themistius, a deacon of Alexandria, and Theodosius, a bishop of that city, who maintained that Christ's divine nature knew all things; but that some things were concealed from his human nature, founding their notion-in which many modern commentators acquiesce-on Mark xiii. 32, "But of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." AGNUS DEI (the Lamb of God), a cake of virgin wax, mixed with balsam and holy oil, on which there is stamped the figure of a lamb supporting the banner of the cross. This medal, prepared and specially blessed by the Pope, is supposed by the adherents of the Church of Rome to possess great virtues. It is carried covered with a piece of stuff in the form of a heart, in their solemn processions, and frequently worn about the neck like a charm. The practice of blessing the Agnus Dei arose about the seventh or eighth century. From very early times it had been customary to make the sign of the cross on the forehead in baptism. Gradually special importance began to be attached to the mere outward stamping with the sign of the cross, or anything which indicated the death of Christ. And the heathens being accustomed to wear amulets or charms round their necks, the practice was at length introduced of wearing a piece of wax stamped with the figure of a lamb, Christ being "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." No decree of a council has ever recognized the virtue of an Agnus Dei, but the efficacy of this sacred medal is strongly and universally believed in the Church of Rome. Pope Urban V. sent to John Palæologus, emperor of the Greeks, an Agnus Dei folded in fine paper, on which was recorded a detailed description in verse, of its peculiar virtues. These verses state that the Agnus Dei is formed of balm and wax mixed with chrism, and that being consecrated by mystical words, it possesses the power of removing thunder and dispersing storms, of giving to pregnant women an easy delivery, of preventing shipwreck, taking away sin, repelling the devil, increasing riches, securing against fire, and many other wonderful qualities. Romanists attach a high value to the possession of an Agnus, and accordingly these medals are a source of no small gain to those from whom they are purchased. Their importation into England was forbidden by an express act of Parliament in the 13th of Queen Elizabeth. of the Romish church. It is performed by the Pope himself in the first year of his pontificate, and repeated every seventh year thereafter. The wax from which the cake is made, was formerly provided by one of the gentlemen of his Holiness's chamber, who held his office from the master or chamberlain of the sacred palace. Those who wished to obtain a number of these precious medals, laid a quantity of wax upon St. Peter's altar, and an apostolic sub-deacon conveyed it from the altar to an apartment in the Pope's palace. The sub-deacon and his colleagues, assisted by some of the acolytes, moulded the wax, and with great devotion and the utmost care made it up into the requisite form according to the directions of Roman ceremonial. These sacred cakes were provided entirely at the expense of the apostolic chamber. The wax of which they were formed was melted in a quantity of sacred oil and chrism of the preceding year. When the materials were com pletely prepared, the Agnuses were presented to the Pope in one or more basins, when he gave them his benediction. The wax of which they are made, ir addition to the gifts of wax laid upon St. Peter's altar, is taken from the remains of the preceding year's Easter wax, and in case of more being wanted, it is supplied by the apostolic chamber. The water in which the Agnus is to be baptized by the Holy Father has been previously thus prepared. The sacristan performs the benediction over it on Easter Tuesday, and the next day, as soon as the pontifical mass is ended, his Holiness, dressed in his amice, his alb, his stole of white damask with silver lace, and having a mitre of cloth of gold upon his head, consecrates the water which was blessed by the sacristan the day before. This water is put into a large silver basin. The consecration consists of the usual blessings, to which the Holy Father adds a prayer to Almighty God, that he would vouchsafe to sanctify such things as wash away the sins of mankind, after which he takes some balm and pours it into the water, adding to it the holy chrism, which he likewise pours into it in the form of a cross. He offers up several prayers to God during the per| formance of this ceremony; then he turns to the Agnuses, blesses and incenses them, imploring God to shower down upon them all the virtues usually ascribed to them. A second and third prayer follow; after which his Holiness, seated in a chair prepared purposely for him, having a napkin girt about him, and his mitre on his head, takes the Agnuses one after another as they are presented to him by the gentlemen of the chamber, and throws them into the holy water, and immediately the cardinals in their fine linen albs, take them out with a spoon used for no other purpose. The cardinals then lay them on a table covered with a clean white cloth, and wipe them with a napkin, when the assistant prelates range them upon the table, where they are left till they are thoroughly dry. The baptism of the Agnuses being ended, the Holy Father rises from his seat, and in a prayer addresses himself to the Holy Ghost, beseeching him to bless them, and then to Jesus Christ. The Agnuses are then put into the basins again. The same process is resumed on the Thursday following, and continued till they are all blessed. This ceremony is performed in the presence of multitudes of strangers who assemble from mere idle curiosity to witness the spectacle. The next ceremony connected with the Agnus Dei is its distribution. This takes places on the following Saturday, when a chapel is held, and mass sung by a cardinal priest, at which his Holiness assists in his pontifical robes. As soon as the Agnus Dei is sung, an apostolic sub-deacon, dressed in his robes, with the cross-bearer, two wax-taper-bearers, and the thuriferary before him, goes to the Pope's sacristan, and takes from him a basin full of these Agnuses which have been recently blessed. The sub-deacon is followed by a clerk of the ceremonies, and two chaplains in their surplices. When these have reached the choir of the church, they all kneel, and the sub-deacon with an audible voice sings these words in Latin, "Holy Father, these are the new Lambs who have sung their hallelujahs to you. They drank not long ago at the fountain of holy water. They are now very much enlightened. Praise the Lord." choir respond, "God be praised. Hallelujah." Hallelujah." After this the sub-deacon rises and walks forward. As soon as he reaches the entrance of the railings in the chapel, he repeats the words already mentioned. When he approaches the pontifical throne, he repeats them a third time, and prostrates himself at the feet of his Holiness, who receives him sitting with his mitre on. When the cross enters, however, he and the whole congregation rise; but the holy Father immediately resumes his seat, though the sub-deacon remains kneeling at his feet while he distributes the Agnuses. To which the The ceremony of distribution is performed with much pomp. Two auditors present two cardinaldeacons' assistants with a fine white napkin, which they lay upon the knees of his Holiness. The members of the sacred college then advance with profound obeisance, and present their mitres with the horns downwards to the Holy Father, who puts into them as many Agnuses as he thinks proper. They then kiss his Holiness's hand and knee, and retire. When the clergy have received the supply destined for them, the ambassadors and other persons of distinction follow, receiving the precious Agnuses from the Pope's hand. At the close of the ceremony of distribution, the Holy Father washes his hands, the sacred college take off their robes, and the officiating priest returns to the altar, when mass concludes with a double Hallelujah, and the Pope blesses his children, giving a great number of indulgences. The master of the Pope's wardrobe takes charge of the Agnuses which have been blessed, but not dis tributed, and he distributes them every day at certain hours to those who apply for them. Pope Gregory XIII., in 1572, forbade all who were not in holy orders to touch the Agnus Dei, unless on very special occasions; and as a still greater precaution, all laymen were directed to have them set in glass, or crystal, or some transparent substance, and those who were able were required to wrap them up in rich embroidery, so that the Agnus might appear on one side as in a reliquary. The same pope prohibited them also being printed, deeming the white colour of the wax a suitable emblem of the spotless purity of the Lamb of God. AGNYA'-SETRA, a class of worlds, according to the Budhist system of religion. The worshippers of Budh reckon that there are innumerable systems of worlds; each system having its own earth, sun, and moon. The space to which the light of one sun or moon extends, is called a sakwala, and includes an earth with its continents, islands, and oceans, as well as a series of hells and heavens. The sakwala systems are divided into three classes, of which the Agnyá-sétra denote those systems which receive the ordinances of Budha, or to which his authority extends. These systems are a hundred thousand kelas in number, each kela being ten millions. See BUD HISTS. AGON, one of the inferior ministers employed m the ancient Roman sacrifices, whose office it was to strike the victim. The name is probably derived from the question which he put to the priest, Agone, Shall I strike? AGONALIA, Roman festivals instituted by Nu ma, in honour of Janus. They are said to have been observed three times every year, in January, June, and December. AGONISTICI (Combatants), a name assumed by a party of Donatists, in North Africa, in the fourth century, as being in their own estimation Christian champions. They are described as having despised all labour, wandering about the country among the huts of the peasants, and supporting themselves by begging. On account of their vagrant habits they were called by their enemies CIRCUMCELLIONES (which see). AGONYCLITE (Gr. a, not, gonu, knee, klino, to bend), a class of Christians in the seventh century, who preferred the standing to the kneeling posture in prayer. AGRATH, one of the four females to whom the Jewish Rabbis attribute the honour of being the mo thers of angels. The other three are Lilith, Eve, and Naamah. See ANGELS. AGRAULUS, or AGRAULE, a daughter of Cecrops, in honour of whom a temple was built on the Acropolis in Athens, and a festival and mysteries were celebrated. Porphyry informs us, that she was worshipped also at Cyprus, where human sacrifices were offered to her down to a late period. AGRICULTURE (FESTIVAL OF), a solemnity AGRIONIA-AHABATH OLAM. regularly observed in China. It was instituted by an emperor who flourished about B. C. 180. In every town throughout the whole empire, when the sun is in the middle of Aquarius, one of the chief magistrates, crowned with flowers and surrounded with musicians, marches in procession out of the eastern gate of the city. He is accompanied by a large crowd carrying torches, streamers, and colours. Various images are borne along composed of wood and pasteboard, embellished with silk and gold, all relating to agriculture. The streets are hung with tapestry, and adorned with triumphal arches. The magistrate advances to the East as if going to meet the new season, where there appears a figure in the form of a cow, made of burnt clay, so large that forty men can scarcely carry it; and on the back of the animal sits a beautiful living boy, representing the genius of husbandry, in a careless dress, with one leg bare, and the other covered with a kind of buskin. The boy constantly lashes the cow as the procession moves along. Two peasants, carrying agricultural implements of various kinds, follow immediately after. Father Martini explains the whole details of this festival as being emblematic. The lashes which the boy inflicts upon the cow, he understands to denote the constant application which is required for all rural labours; and having one leg bare, and the other covered, is the symbol of haste and diligence, which scarcely allow time for dressing before the husbandman repairs to his work. As soon as the strange procession reaches the emperor's palace, the monstrous cow is stripped of her ornaments, and her belly having been opened, several small cows of the same materials as the large one are taken out and distributed by the emperor among the ministers of state, to remind them of the care and diligence required in all agricultural matters, that the land may yield abundant produce, and the wants of the people may be supplied. The emperor is said also on this day to afford an encouragement to the practice of industry in agricultural operations, by setting before them a royal example in his own person. AGRIONIA, a festival in honour of Dionysus or Bacchus, observed yearly by the Boeotians. On this occasion the god was supposed to have fled, and the women pretended to go in quest of him, but speedily gave up their search, alleging that he had fled to the Muses, and was concealed among them. After this they feasted and proposed riddles to one another. The idea involved in this festival probably was, that the Muses restore to reason a person who has been maddened by indulgence in wine. See next article. AGRIONIUS, a surname of Dionysus the god of wine, under which he was worshipped at Orchomenus in Boeotia. The word means fierce, indicating the effect of an intemperate use of wine. AGROTERA (the huntress), a surname of Artemis or Diana, to whom a temple was built at Agræ, on the Ilissus, and also at Algeira. See next article. AGROTER.E, a festival at Athens, in honour of | 45 Artemis, observed annually, when five hundred goats were sacrificed. The origin of this solemnity was as follows. On one occasion, when the Athenians were attacked by the Persians, they vowed to Artemis, that if successful they would sacrifice as many goats to her as they should kill of the enemy. The slaughter of the Persians, however, was so great that it was impossible to perform their vow in one sacritice. Accordingly, an annual sacrifice of five hundred goats was appointed. Xenophon informs us, in his Anabasis,' that the festival was celebrated in his time. 6 AGROTES (husbandman), mentioned by Sancho niatho as having been worshipped in Phoenicia, having a statue erected to him, and a moveable temple carried about by a yoke of oxen. AGROUERIS, an ancient deity of the Egyptians mentioned by Plutarch. Some suppose him to have been identical with Apollo; but Scaliger thinks that the name must have been applied to ANUBIS (which see). Bishop Cumberland, again, confounds him with AGROTES (see preceding article). When the Egyptians added five intercalary days to each year, they dedicated each of them to a god. The second on these occasions was dedicated to Agroueris. AGYNIANI (Gr. a, not, gune, a woman), a sect of Christian heretics, who appeared about A. d. 694, under Pope Sergius I. They renounced the use of animal food, and asserted marriage to have originated not from God, but from the devil. This sect was very small and of brief duration. AGYRTÆ (Gr. agureo, to congregate), a name given to priests of the goddess Cybele, who wandered up and down, attracting crowds of people, by pretending to be suddenly inspired by the goddess, roused into a divine fury, slashing and cutting themselves with knives. These strolling impostors generally carried about with them an image of Cybele, which they placed upon the back of an ass, and deceived the people by fortune-telling, persuading them to give presents to the goddess, in return for the information which by her inspiration had been imparted to them as to their future fate. AHABATH OLAM (Heb. Eternal Love), one of the blessings which the Jews dispersed over the whole Roman empire in our Saviour's time, daily recited before the reading of the Shema. It ran thus: "Thou hast loved us, O Lord our God, with eternal love; thou hast spared us with great and exceeding patience, our Father and our King, for thy great name's sake, and for our fathers' sake, who trusted in thee: to whom thou didst teach the precepts of life, that they might walk after the statutes of thy good pleasure with a perfect heart. So be thou merciful unto us, O our Father, merciful Father, that showeth mercy. Have mercy upon us, we beseech thee, and put understanding into our hearts that we may understand, be wise, hear, learn, teach, keep, do and perform all the words of the | doctrine of thy law in love And enlighten our eyes in thy commandments, and cause our hearts to cleave to thy law, and unite them to the love and fear of thy name. We will not be ashamed nor confounded nor stumble for ever and ever; because we have trusted in thy holy, great, mighty, and terrible name, we will rejoice and be glad in thy salvation, and in thy mercies, O Lord our God: and the multitude of thy mercies shall not forsake us for ever. Selah. And now make haste and bring upon us a blessing and peace from the four corners of the earth; break thou the yoke of the Gentiles from off our necks, and bring us upright into our land; for thou art a God that workest salvation, and hast chosen us out of every people and language: and thou our King hast caused us to cleave to thy great name in love, to praise thee, and to be united to thee, aud to love thy name. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast chosen thy people Israel in love." This prayer, from the allusion to "the yoke of the Gentiles," shows the impatience which the Jews felt of the oppression to which they were subjected when under the government of the Romans. The probability is, that a feeling of this kind led to the adoption of the prayer, and more especially to the prominence which was given to it in the devotions of the Jews. See SHEMA. AHAD, or ACHAD, a name given to the sun, which the Syrians worshipped, and also the Israelites when they fell into idolatry. There seems to be an allusion to this deity in Isaiah lxvi. 17, which is thus rendered by Bishop Lowth: "They who sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens after the rites of Ahad; in the midst of those who eat swine's flesh, and the abominations, and the field mouse, together shall they perish, saith Jehovah." AHADITH, the Mohammedan traditions, alleged to amount in number to 5,266. he was to bring along with him, in Psal. 1. 3, "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." And they think they see him also distinctly announced in Isa. xxviii. 5, In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people;" and Isa. lxii. 3, "Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God," where the expression, crown of glory," is rendered in Syriac Mahmud. Another passage, which is also perverted by them to the same purpose, is to be found in Deut. xxxiii. 2, "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran." These three appearances the Mohammedan doctors explain to mean, the Law of Moses, the Gospel of Christ, and the Koran of Mohammed. Thus it is that the claims of the great Prophet of Arabia are supported by his followers. See MOHAMMED. AHRIMAN, the evil principle among the ancient Persians. They represent a perpetual contest as subsisting between Ormuzd, the Prince of Light, and Ahriman, the Prince of Darkness. At length, however, Ahriman shall be defeated, and Good shall triumph over Evil. The Earth shall then resume her native uniformity; mankind shall be immortal, and none but the righteous shall inhabit it. The angels were represented as mediators between Ormuzd and Ahriman, and a peace was concluded between the two, on this condition, that the earth should be given over to Ahriman for 7,000 years, and that afterwards it should be restored to Ormuzd. Those who were inhabitants of this world before the peace was agreed upon were destroyed. Our first pa rents, as Hyde declares, in his Treatise on the Re 6 AIII, or the serpent mentioned in the Rig-Veda, ligion of the Ancient Persians,' were created in a as the chief of the Asouras. supernatural way, and were the first of all living creatures. Mankind were originally no more than embodied spirits; but Ormuzd resolved to make use of them in his contest with Ahriman, and for that purpose clothed them in flesh. At that time the arrangement was, that the light should never forsake them till they had brought Ahriman and his forces under subjection. After this happy conquest there is to be a resurrection of the body, a separation of light from darkness, and a glorious deliverance. Plutarch, in his Life of Themistocles,' tells us that the Persians sometimes addressed prayers to Ahriman; but we have no certain information with what particular rites he was worshipped, or where he was supposed to reside. It is certain, however, that the worshippers held him in detestation; and when they had occasion to write his name they always inverted it, intending thereby to denote that they regarded him as a malignant being. See ABESTA. AHMED, a name by which Mohammed is mentioned in the Koran. In the sixty-first chapter it is written, "Jesus, the son of Mary, said, O children of Israel, verily, I am the apostle of God sent unto you, confirming the law, which was delivered before me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, and whose name shall be Ahmed." To this prediction put into the mouth of Jesus, the Mohammedan writers point as proving the Divine authority of their prophet, and they endeavour to confirm it by quoting the words of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, John xvi. 7, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." This Paraclete, as the word is in the original, and which they transform into Periclete, the illustrious, they unanimously explain as referring to Mohammed. Nay, some of their doctors go farther back, AHZAB, the name given to the sixty equal porand find a prediction of the appearance of this great tions into which the Mohammedans have divided the Prophet, and the judgments upon the nations which | Koran, probably in imitation of the Jews, who |