MAGAZINE-SECTION TUREE
MAGAZINE SECTION THftEC
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UNRISE, in Chicaro. is :
ancient. rites and cere-L,-t, . . ,.
' monials. , In) the( r tWthers of hcf belief'
" morning;, when the glo& h had' simply, re-;
--.-iirr or -to w , to the ' worship
Mtcnran,i IOr Romans. ' Bbe held that the sun cod was creat and
bow the J e ana ao , mighty before the
-the faith,' but her, son,
- and daughter are-priest
and priestess in the - re--
Tired religion." ' ,
... " "W a r . pagans,"
v v. said young ' George Bizz,,
"and we worship the gods
,of apneuilivomeAS.d.
"Greece ; -.
"In our religion
And when the sun is set
sons
obeisance tpCJ folio, ' the
sun: god Jn mythology. 1
. anaJnie m
mellow-moon1
conquest of Home by the forces
of militant .Christianity; that it carried the mind
back eren to the days before idols 'were worshiped .
lnHhe temples. - , i v -. , 1
s it - ';'' "i" t : 1 -r- uer country was great and powenui wnen us
follows tn his pa hajualrnumber sw i
smoKing censers, ouywir incense, tn honor Of f poured libations to Jupiter and Juno, in the hope of
f -those-dmmtiesrand-tjon-
auguries in sacrifice of bird
. ascertaining the' will of
.' t. o L:n ;
tme.U'otfmlhy:others Jher.eM the belief that "the duett gods are the best :
; haverevepedlo paganism in America no one goda,", especially if the old gods were the gods o
is able t&say? h : . V:. ' : " J ' her ancestors, MrsRizs was largely. instrumental
' ThA exftnt of sun worship in Chicago was- hi arousing so extensive a revival of the sun wor-
'rcvealougLthe recent fr
utanaj the mythpppept -deity of -that orp.pfT'cting -the -wrath -0
AstonishinfZas such a statement mav iulted the omens, and
seem: in thisJZtf ,of the Christian fdithl it ts WhiVf".
priestess of u
tn wyt apptf
httScfktQjlk
PeeWj
Apollo is still god of the sun and Diana goddess of
the moon. As the gods are most Manifest to us in
these orbs of fire, we worship them the most. V
. , '? "Morning and evening we pray to the sun god.
'When the moon shines, we pray to Dkna and po
' pitiate her with prayer and in rBae.-'!r'L";t.t
'How is it that you, in themidat of civilization, '
worship the ancient deities I he -vas asked. .
"We are Italians," he replied, ? and have atudied
the history of our country.
J. " When our ancestors uled Rome and the Ital
ians ruled the world, the gods favored our people
until they deserted professed Christianity.
. "Since then Italia's glory has waned, and now y
Jier power is iioiuihk buo ruics uuuwv... . lr. . , . . 1 r
, .' e.ancient god7 are wrathful, and they areV;Wle .t8?I
' ! "Why should we not worship ihe aunt" asked
George Rizz, the young, priest of the aect turning .
questioner as he was questioned regarding the be
lief of hia mother, himself and his fellow-rcligioli
ists. Then, replying to- his own question, he con
tinued: y. f '. " J '.'
We-bave -alWlHstory-and -traditione'witb Jn."
- It was the BUh that the" people of ancient ' Roma
and Greece worshiped under, the name of Apollo.
It was the same sun that the Egyptians worshiped
under the name of Osiri. . , - - V - 1 ; v v
, . "In ancient Babylon, whose civilization was not
1pm wonderful than that of Egypt or Greece or ,
Rome, it was the sun that was worshined. under the
As. she muttered the-weird chant, she would , name of Baal, at the sunerb templo of Baalbec
;sway her body and arms, bow down before the sun "Throughout India, China Peru and Mexico
. By observing what waa done, there, they' gained
an idea of the methods of worship practiced by the
Dthc members of the faith. . -
- .At times, when the sun shines brightly, Mrs.
Rizz, it is said, would sit bareheaded, either at a
window or in the open air, and murmur incanta-
tions to Apollo. ' '- ?
Tn these incantations, uttered rhythmically.rns-
"in a sort of chant br stanza, the listeners -often.
v heard the following lines repeated like a chorus:
: Hall, s-od of tu th myriad gods, thou Ufa of.aU'tho --
unlvor - ' ' j "' ,
Th tun cod, srt and ' glorious, ' now deigns to '
how ma zacei ,
until her forehead touched the. floe? or ground, and
Jbenwould ari8fluwd.pBCo. solemnly. to.pndjfroipjt
hours, arranging her steps in a way that she did not
lose sight for an instant .of the great luminary.'
' .' ' Should a cloud chance to obscure, even , tem
porarily, the face of .the sun, the worshiping wom
an odd look disconsolate. She seemed decidedly
unhappy when Old Sol remained fo,- several days at
a tinw behind the clouds.
a.o to be found' galaxies of altars - and, temples
-erected to the ayuyand aome-of which- are in excel
lent preservation to this day. But 'that is not alL .
- - 'In. the ''frozen . nortliland the Scandinavian
peoples Worshiped ' the snow-melting, zephyrbring
lngsun. . - : , ' .'.'r-.-. n
"And in the groves and forests of. the ancien
Celts and , Gauls and Teutons that ia to say, in
-England and Ireland, -France -and Germany the
shrines erected under oak trees, with the mistletoe
intertwined, were raised m every case to the sun
X f ;" S,A, tn ' Zm i hm v."r'e .OI. Ml? P?' oul- Jnrru; -rr."t would drop upon her kneea, wherever' she hep- god, the deity to whom aU authoriUea agree the
w..--- ia l)rnldarrtfw.ca.ThnecTmid -horn-
e faith, who was fatally burned,
r$ to have been the sacrifice of
"sun.' " . ,' -T
brforo tha wornhtpvd sun
forth the golden window. o( tht K&tC '
MRS. RIZZ was a well-to-do Italian .woman,
well known among the more prosperous
of Chicago's colony of sons and daugh
ters of the Peninsula Kingdom. ". -
It is said that a number of her former, com it was stated that these modern followers of the pre
patriots are members of the band of latter-day
sun 'worshipers. Many , of them are persons of
means and culture, and have taken up the ancient
faith after, considerable study. " v .
In the case of Mrs, Rus it is stated that the
Mow xj4aLion holds good with reyard to most of
her garden.' '
i She would mutter softly, the prayers and hymns
;from the book of rubrics of the sun worshipers l
: cult; would pray long and ardently on bended knees
there by the lake, the great inland sea which thun-:
ders on, indifferent to sect or creed. . '
X As the faith includes the worship pf Plana, or
of all forms of. wnrnhin ! that it wh virtuftllv nnU . brave.
versal in the. pagan world before the advent of , . About two years ago another tragedy, drew at
- Christianity and that it. was the "primal faith of allr tention to sun worshipers in Chicago.- Miss Eloiae
' the Caucasian races, if, indeed, it :y$a not at one Reusse, of St. PauL Minn., became insane, it was al-
time the actuating religion of all men. . '-,f" leged," under the teachings and incantations of Ot-
Tbe fatal result of Mrs. Rizx's sacrificial offer-" 'toman ZarAdusht llanish. ' She undertook a pro--'
ing to the orb of day called publio attention to the longed fast that ended in death. ' ',:
; existence of a. numerous body of sun worshipers in . At that' time the number of persons in the city
Chicago. Every one was surprised to Itsrn that the i holding to the -nciont faith was estimated at from
city held 10,000 of that faith. - . 6000 to ,6000. These, as a rule, H'ia said, had noth-- would annoir. in her carden and hold aloft an offer
.Nor ws curiosity regarding them allayed whcft ing to do with the missionary efforts of Ilahisb, who- jng 0f swectflmelling incense", and at the same time
anDeared in Chicaa-o after a campaign of attempted -Tnnrmiir fnrvTit nrvr tv, riiana.
historic religion even now believe in all the gods and proselyting m New York.r , At times the Incense waa placed in a crude cen-
goddewies of the ancient Romans and Greeks. s - Headquarters fornhe wealthier and more cul- ser and lighted. "As the vessel was swung in r ' Jiir
follow the customs of worship of those' tured members of the sect appear. to have been the- the heavy funts arose andfilled the premis e v ' i
oiu naitons. as neariy, is possiDie, ana use. ine rites . . mzz Home, in Windsor 1'ark. lne strange rites and .the aromatio odors of the Orient. Then th
iot inrense ana jiDaiions 10 weir aeities. . , . . ceremonies of the snn worshiDers caused .eonsid- more innantatinnai ml o n. In lh n "
lot only 'waa Mrs. Rizz one ef the leaden of " arable 'comment amoog the neighbors.' ; ; (- - r liturgy.' - ' - . .. ....... ,
age with Sacrifices that. Julius Caesar, probably in
error, has declared were often human beings.".' '
e nurobcf of uiT worshipcrr inChicago- i
all the mors remarkable from the fact that, despite
the "mysterious and apparent 1 asoinationa -of the
f aith, the history of religious movements in Orient
and Occident shows, that m nearly, evrrj instance
. ceremonies'. of the sun-worshipers caused consid- more inc
i of " erablo 'comment amoDg the neighbors.' ? liturgy.'
. the moon,' in its ritual, there were ceremonials at attempts to revive it upon a large scale have prorsJ
midnight, when, the moon was full. Ihe woman - unsuccessful.
-..-....Wherever sun "Wprship exits it usu;. r
in secret and as an esoteric belief. ll t
tory presents the curious psradot l" !
been able to thrive in its own I
t) min,'whieh is the ccntrf t '
V.ot thi.n once, i'
' Yiri t '
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