The interior of the cavern of initiation was lighted by innumerable lamps,
and there sat in the east, the west, and the south the principal
Hierophants, or explainers of the Mysteries, as the representatives of
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Now, Brahma was the supreme deity of the
Hindoos, borrowed or derived from the Sun-god of their Sabean ancestors,
and Vishnu and Siva were but manifestations of his attributes. We learn
from the Indian Pantheon that "when the sun rises in the east, he is
Brahma; when he gains his meridian in the south, he is Siva; and when he
sets in the west, he is Vishnu."

Again, in the Zoroasteric mysteries of Persia, the temple of initiation
was circular, being made so to represent the universe; and the sun in the
east, with the surrounding zodiac, formed an indispensable part of the
ceremony of reception.[72]

In the Egyptian mysteries of Osiris, the same reference to the sun is
contained, and Herodotus, who was himself an initiate, intimates that the
ceremonies consisted in the representation of a Sun-god, who had been
incarnate, that is, had appeared upon earth, or rose, and who was at
length put to death by Typhon, the symbol of darkness, typical of the
sun's setting.

In the great mysteries of Eleusis,[73] which were celebrated at Athens, we
learn from St. Chrysostom, as well as other authorities, that the temple
of initiation was symbolic of the universe, and we know that one of the
officers represented the sun.[74]

In the Celtic mysteries of the Druids, the temple of initiation was either
oval, to represent the mundane egg--a symbol, as has already been said, of