Blair Collection > History of the Celtic language

It would appear, that at a very early stage of
human existence the periodical returns of those
luminaries which announced the returns of the
seasons were made a subject of study ; and what
was more natural for man to suppose than that
these heralds of the seasons really exerted an in-
fluence over them ? Be this as it may, society
would find it requisite, very soon, to keep a calen-
dar by which to regulate their labours ; and that
calendar we have in this Farnese globe. In the
absence of letters, a heavenly sign was indicated
by an animal bearing a fancied resemblance, or
obvious analogy ; these animals were known each
by a natural name, imitative of their voices or notes
severally, which names again were transferred to
the heavenly bodies represented or indicated.
Thus the symbol, and the object symbolized,
became virtually one ; and, in process of time,
the intelligence attributed to the heavenly bodies
came to be attributed likewise to the symbol :
hence the origin of creature-worship, or idolatry,
as also of letters.
It is remarkable, that any Celt, however illi-
terate, will name the figures upon this globe, and
name them, too, as named at their first institution,