of the bull, and was worshipped as a female divinity. She would not, at first, from diffidence, become the goddess of the herds, until the coming of Zarathustra was announced to her as consolation. This has its parallel in the Hindoo Purâna, where the coming of Krishna was promised the earth. (A complete analogy to Christ.[38]) She, too, travels in her chariot, like Ardvîçûra, the goddess of love. The soul of the bull is, therefore, decidedly feminine. This myth of Gayomard repeats only in an altered form the primitive conception of the closed ring of a male-female divinity, self-begetting and forth-bringing.
Like the sacrificial bull, the fire, the sacrifice of which we have already discussed in Chapter III, has a feminine nature among the Chinese, according to the commentaries[39] of the philosopher Tschwang-Tse:
"The spirit of the hearth is called Ki. He is clad in bright red,
which resembles fire, and appears as a lovely, attractive maiden."
In the "Book of Rites" it is said:
"Wood is burned in the flames for the spirit of Au. This
sacrifice to Au is a sacrifice to old departed women."
These spirits of the hearth and fire are the souls of departed
cooks and, therefore, are called "old women."
The kitchen god develops from this pre-Buddhistic tradition
and becomes later (male sex) the ruler of the
family and the mediator between family and god. Thus
the old feminine fire spirit becomes a species of Logos.
(Compare with this the remarks in Chapter III.)
