According to Prof. W. R. Smith, Om means uniting or binding, a
fact which is explained by the early significance of the mother
element in early society. The name of the great Deity Om or Aum
scarcely passes the lips of its worshippers, and when it is
pronounced is always reverently whispered. Regarding the mystic
word Om, we are told that it is the name given to Delphi, and
that "Delphi has the meaning of the female organs of generation
called in India the Os Minxoe."

Although the great God of India was female and male, yet we are
assured by Forlong that the female energy Maya, Queen of Heaven,
even at the present time is more heard of than the male
principle.

According to Bryant, the worship of Ham is the most ancient as
well as the most universal of any in the world. This writer
remarks that Ham, instead of representing an individual, is but a
Greek corruption of Om or Aum, the great androgynous God of
India, a God which is identical in significance with Aleim,
Vesta, and all the other representatives of the early dual,
universal power. "In the old language God was called Al, Ale,
Alue, and Aleim, more frequently Aleim than any other name."
According to the testimony of Higgins, Aleim denotes the feminine
plural. The heathen divinities Ashtaroth and Beelzebub were both
called Aleim, Ashtaroth being simply Astarte adorned with the
horns of a ram. Ishtar not unfrequently appears with the horns
of a cow. We are informed by Inman that whenever a goddess is
observed with horns--emblems which by the way always indicate
masculine power--it is to denote the fact that she is
androgynous, or that within her is embodied the complete