The Lords of the Ghostland: A History of the Ideal

"The Lords of the Ghostland: A History of the Ideal" by Edgar Saltus is an early 20th-century exploration of how different cultures have imagined gods and divinity, looking closely at figures like Brahma, Ormuzd, and Jehovah, the book examines how these ideas affect society’s views on life, right and wrong, and the divine. It starts by suggesting that the heart of poetry is in imagining a perfect world, tracing how gods first appeared in human thought and language. Saltus talks about the early belief in many gods in various cultures, highlighting how these gods changed from unclear ideas to definite beings as people grew and changed. He studies the Hindu gods, especially Brahma, and the Hindu faith, comparing it to religious figures like Ormuzd and Jehovah to get a deeper insight into how these basic concepts shaped human awareness and the way societies are organized.