Magic and Spiritism Amongst the Chaldeans
The religious doctrines of the Chaldeans, varied from those of the Hindoos and Egyptians chiefly, in their different modes of expression, in the name appropriated to different Deities, and the functions which these mythical personages were supposed to be endowed with. The basic idea of Solar and Astral worship however prevailed in all nations alike, but the absence of sexual emblems on Chaldean monumental remains, seems to imply that this people adhered to the astronomical religion, without engrafting its popular successor, Sex worship, upon its purer Theosophy. Although our only information concerning the Spiritism of Chaldea is derived from monumental records, oral traditions, and contemporaneous history, these sources are abundantly sufficient to testify to the fact that Balylon the great and the Priests of Chaldea, so widely renowned for occult wisdom, acquired this vast reputation princiapply for transcendent skill in the arts of divination, and the methods of reading the future by Astrology. The Chaldeans were also celebrated for certain branches of chemical knowledge, especially for the means whereby they learned to resist the action of fire and poisons.
Schools of the Magi were established at Babylon, and as magic was deemed an essential item in the art of governing the nation, and conducting armies to victory, even Kings, Statesmen, and warriors, no less than the Sons of he Nobles and wealthy Citizens, resorted to these famous seminaries of occult learning, or sat at the feet of the magi to drink in the elements of their profound wisdom. It was in these schools that Daniel and some of the handsomest and most intelligent of the Hebrew captives were placed for education after the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians. It was from thence that the remarkable admixture of Chaldean and Persian philosophy was derived, which marks the literature of the Jews after the Babylonish captivity. There are many scholars who believe - and that upon good foundation - the writings of the Pentateuch, the composition of the Cabala, and the fables of the Talmud, owe so much of their peculiar spirit to the Caldean Magi, that those who are well acquainted with these Hebrew writings, lose nothing by the total lack of Chaldean Scriptures.
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