With a tree close by,
Whose leaves sway to and fro,
And a cool little brook
Which lies directly beneath it.”
[734]. Sacrificial cakes offered to the gods.
[735]. Herzog: “Aus dem Asklepieion von Kos.” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft, Vol. X, H. 2, p. 219 ff.
[736]. A Mithraic sanctuary was, when at all possible, a subterranean grotto; often the cavern was merely an artificial one. It is conceivable that the Christian crypts and subterranean churches are of similar meaning.
[737]. Compare Schultze: “Die Katakomben,” 1882, p. 9.
[738]. In the Taurobolia a bull was sacrificed over a grave, in which lay the one to be consecrated. His initiation consisted in being covered with the blood of the sacrifice. Also a regeneration and rebirth, baptism. The baptized one was called Renatus.
[739]. Additional proof in Herzog: Ibid., p. 224.