(1) Not yet had Nessus reached the other side, When we had put ourselves within a wood, That was not marked by any path whatever. Not foliage green, but of a dusky colour, Not branches smooth, but gnarled and intertangled, Not apple-trees were there, but thorns with poison. Such tangled thickets have not, nor so dense, Those savage wild beasts, that in hatred hold 'Twixt Cecina and Corneto the tilled places. There do the hideous Harpies make their nests, Who chased the Trojans from the Strophades, With sad announcement of impending doom; Broad wings have they, and necks and faces human, And feet with claws, and their great bellies fledged; They make laments upon the wondrous trees. And the good Master: "Ere thou enter farther, Know that thou art within the second round," Thus he began to say, "and shalt be, till Thou comest out upon the horrible sand; Therefore look well around, and thou shalt see Things that will credence give unto my speech." I heard on all sides lamentations uttered, And person none beheld I who might make them, Whence, utterly bewildered, I stood still.

(20) Man's veneration for trees as symbols of the abstract qualities of wisdom and integrity also led him to designate as trees those individuals who possessed these divine qualities to an apparently superhuman degree. Highly illumined philosophers and priests were therefore often referred to as trees or tree men--for example, the Druids, whose name, according to one interpretation, signifies the men of the oak trees, or the initiates of certain Syrian Mysteries who were called cedars; in fact it is far more credible and probable that the famous cedars of Lebanon, cut down for the building of King Solomon's Temple, were really illumined, initiated sages. The mystic knows that the true supports of God's Glorious House were not the logs subject to decay but the immortal and imperishable intellects of the tree hierophants.

(16) And they dug out a pit in the earth, and iron was obtained by them and beaten out with a stone, and without a forge they beat out a cutting edge from it; and they cut wood with it, and prepared a wooden shelter from the sun (pês-khûr).

(1) Here now are the deeds of Zipacná the elder son of Vucub-Caquix. "I am the creator of the mountains," said Zipacná. Zipacná was bathing at the edge of a river when four hundred youths passed dragging a log to support their house. The four hundred were walking, after having cut down a large tree to make the ridge-pole of their house. Then Zipacná came up, and going toward the four hundred youths, said to them: "What are you doing, boys?" "It is only this log," they answered, "which we cannot lift and carry on our shoulders." "I will carry it. Where does it have to go? What do you want it for?" "For a ridge-pole for our house." "All right," he answered, and lifting it up, he put it on his shoulders and carried it to the entrance of the house of the four hundred boys. "Now stay with us, boy," they said. "Have you a mother or father;" "I have neither," he answered. "Then we shall hire you tomorrow to prepare another log to support our house." "Good," he answered. The four hundred boys talked together then. and said:

(13) When our artisan awaked and told his dream, his apprentice said, "If the tree aimed at uselessness, how was it that it became a sacred tree?" "What you don't understand," replied his master, "don't talk about. That was merely to escape from the attacks of its enemies. Had it not become sacred, how many would have wanted to cut it down! The means of safety adopted were different from ordinary means, and to test these by ordinary canons leaves one far wide of the mark." Tzŭ Ch'i of Nan-poh was travelling on the Shang mountain when he saw a large tree which astonished him very much. A thousand chariot teams could have found shelter under its shade. "What tree is this?" cried Tzŭ Ch'i. "Surely it must have unusually fine timber." Then looking up, he saw that its branches were too crooked for rafters; while as to the trunk he saw that its irregular grain made it valueless for coffins. He tasted a leaf, but it took the skin off his lips; and its odour was so strong that it would make a man as it were drunk for three days together. "Ah!" said Tzŭ Ch'i. "This tree is good for nothing, and that is how it has attained this size. A wise man might well follow its example." In the State of Sung there is a place called Ching-shih, where thrive the beech, the cedar, and the mulberry. Such as are of a one-handed span or so in girth are cut down for monkey-cages. Those of two or three two-handed spans are cut down for the beams of fine houses. Those of seven or eight such spans are cut down for the solid sides of rich men's coffins.

(530) 1253 To say: Greetings to thee, Ladder, which the Souls of Buto and the Souls, of Nekhen have set up and built: 1253 Give thou thine arm to N.; 1253 that N. may sit between the two great gods; 1253 that the places of N. be in front; and that his arm be held as far as the Marsh of Offerings, 1253 so that he may sit among the stars which are in the sky.

(254) 276 The Great (Uraeus) burns incense to the bull of Nn. 276 The heat of a flaming breath is against ye, who surround the chapel. 276 O Great God, whose name is unknown, an offering is on the place (i.e. in place) for the One-lord. 277 O lord of the horizon, make place for N. 277 If thou makest not place for N., N. will put a curse on his father Geb: 277 The earth will no more speak; Geb will no more be able to defend himself. 278 Whom N. finds on his way, him he eats for himself bit by bit. 278 The n.t-pelican announces, the pd.ti-pelican comes forth; the Great One arises, 278 the (Three) Enneads speak: A dam shall dam up the earth, 279 both boundaries-of-the-cultivation shall be united, both riverbanks shall be joined, 279 roads shall be closed against passengers, 279 stairs for those who would ascend shall be destroyed. 279 Adjust the cable, traverse the m.t, hit the ball on the meadow of pi. 280 O, thy fields tremble, O, 'id-star, at the column of the stars, 280 when they see the column of Kns.t, the ox (or, bull) of heaven, 280 and how the ox-herd is terrified (overwhelmed) at him. 281 O, be afraid, tremble, ye criminals, before the tempest of heaven; 281 he opened the earth with that which he knew, on the day he loved to come; 282 so said, he--he who is rich in arable-land, he who inhabits the Dt. 282 Behold, she comes to meet thee, the "Beautiful West," to meet thee, 232 with her beautiful tresses, she says: "He comes whom I have borne, 283 whose horn shines, the varnished column, the ox (or, bull) of heaven. 283 Thy figure is, exalted, pass in peace. 284 I have protected thee, says she, the "Beautiful West," to N. 284 Go, voyage to the Marsh of Offerings; 284 bring the oar to ri-.t.f. 285 So said he who is chief of his department (or, thigh offering). Thou decayest in the earth 285 as to thy thickness, as to thy girt, as to thy length 285 (but as spirit) thou seest R` in his bonds, thou adorest R` in-his freedom (from) his bonds, 285 through the great protection which is in his red robes. 286 The lord of peace gives to thee his (with W.) arm. 286 O ye, his she-monkeys, who cut off heads, 286 may N. pass by you in peace, (for) he has attached (again) his, head to his neck, 286 (for) the neck of N. is on his trunk, in his name of "Headattacher," 286 (as) he attached the head of the Apis in it (that is, in his name), the day the bull was caught with a lasso. 287 Those whom N. has made to eat (they eat of their food); (and) in their drinking, 287 they drink of their abundance. 287 O that N. be respected there by those who see him. 288 The kn-wt.t-serpent is on her d`m-sceptre, the sister (?) of N. who holds Shu aloft. 288 She makes his place wide in Busiris, in Mendes, in the necropolis of Heliopolis; 288 she erects two standards before the Great Ones; 289 she digs a pool (?) for N. in the Marsh of Reeds; 289 she establishes his field in the two Marshes of Offerings. 289 N. judges in the M.t-wr.t-cow between the two wrestlers, 290 for his strength is the strength of the eye of Tbi (R`), 290 his might is the might of the eye of Tbi. 290 N. has freed himself from those who did this against him, 290 who took from him his dinner, 291 when it was there, who took his supper from him, 291 when it was there, who took the breath from his nose, 291 who brought to an end the days of his life. 291 N. is mightier than they, appearing upon his shore. 292 Their hearts fall into his fingers, 292 their entrails to the inhabitants of heaven (birds), their blood to the inhabitants of earth (beasts), 292 their inheritance to the poor, 292 their houses to fire, their farms to high Nile (inundation). 293 Let the heart of N. be glad; let the heart of N. be glad! 293 N. is Unique, the ox (or, bull) of heaven. 293 He has exterminated those who have done this against him, he has destroyed those who are on the earth. 294a-c. Belonging to his throne, what he will take, what he will lift up, is that which his father Shu has given him in the presence of Set.

(688) 2078 To say: These four grandsons stand up for N., 2078 'Ims.ti, pi, Dw-mu.t.f, b-n.w.f, 2078 the offspring of Horus of Letopolis. 2079 They bind a ladder for N.; 2079 they make firm a ladder for N. 2079 They cause N. to ascend to Khepri, 2079 he who exists on the eastern side of the sky. 2080 Its rungs are hewn by S; 2080 the ropes which are on it are made solid 2080 by means of sinews of Gw.ti, the bull of heaven; 2080 the uprights at its sides are fastened, 2080 like the skin of 'Imi-wt, son of s.t; 2080 the "supporter of the Great One" is set under it by p-wr.t. 2081 Cause ye the ka of N. to ascend to the god; 2081 lead ye him to the two lions; cause him to ascend to Atum. 2082 Atum has done that which he said he would do for N., 2082 (for) he binds the ladder for him, he makes the ladder firm for N. 2082 (Thus) N. is removed from the horror of mankind; 2082 the arms of N. are not a horror to the gods. 2083 N. has not eaten the d3-plant; 2083 N. has not chewed bd-goose on the first of the month; 2083 he has not slept during the night, (though) he did not keep watch; 2083 he ignores his body in one of these two seasons of Khepri. 2084 The inhabitants of the D.t have counted their bodies; 2084 they opened their ears, to the voice of N., 2084 when he descends among them. 2085 "Heavy-is-his-sceptre" has said to them 2085 that N. is one of them. 2085 The might of N. is among them like "Great mighty one," who will lead to the Great West. 2086 The dignity of N. is great in the house of the two lions, 2086 for the wrong which appertains to N. is driven off by him who drives off evil ('Idr-isf.t) 2086 from before Mnti-'irti in Letopolis.

(10) "Let your nature be known, Hunahpú-Vuch, Hunahpú-Utiú, twice-mother, twice-father, NimAc, Nima-Tziís, the master of emeralds, the worker in jewels, the sculptor, the carver, the maker of beautiful plates, the maker of green gourds, the master of resin, the master Toltecat, grandmother of the sun, grandmother of dawn, as you will be called by our works and our creatures. "Cast the lot with your grains of corn and tzité. Do it thus and we shall know if we are to make, or carve his mouth and eyes out of wood." Thus the diviners were told.

(23) But the sorcerer sitteth in the way, and will make many so blind that they will not see the door; and then they return home and say, There is no door at all, it is a mere fiction. And so they go thither no more.

(5) It was not any palace corridor There where we were, but dungeon natural, With floor uneven and unease of light. "Ere from the abyss I tear myself away, My Master," said I when I had arisen, "To draw me from an error speak a little; Where is the ice? and how is this one fixed Thus upside down? and how in such short time From eve to morn has the sun made his transit?" And he to me: "Thou still imaginest Thou art beyond the centre, where I grasped The hair of the fell worm, who mines the world. That side thou wast, so long as I descended; When round I turned me, thou didst pass the point To which things heavy draw from every side, And now beneath the hemisphere art come Opposite that which overhangs the vast Dry-land, and 'neath whose cope was put to death The Man who without sin was born and lived. Thou hast thy feet upon the little sphere Which makes the other face of the Judecca. Here it is morn when it is evening there; And he who with his hair a stairway made us Still fixed remaineth as he was before.

(510) 1128 To say: It is certainly not N. who asks to see thee 1128 in the form which has become thine; 1128 Osiris asks to see thee in the form which has become thine; 1129 it is thy son who asks to see thee in the form which has become thine; 1129 it is Horus who asks to see thee in the form which has become thine. 1130 When thou sayest, "statues", in respect to these stones, 1130 which are like fledglings of swallows under the river-bank; 1130 when thou sayest, "his beloved son is coming," in the form which had become that of "his beloved son" 1131 they (the "statues") transport Horus; they row Horus over, 1131 as Horus ascends (lit. in. the ascent of Horus) in the Mt-wr.tcow. 1132 The double doors of heaven are open, the double doors of b.w are open for Horus of the East, 1132 at day-break, that he may descend and purify himself in the Marsh of Reeds. 1133 The double doors of heaven are open, the double doors of b.w are open for N., 1133 at daybreak, that N. may descend and purify himself in the Marsh of Reeds. 1134 The double doors of heaven are open, the double doors of b.w are open for Horus of the D.t, 1134 at daybreak, that he may descend and purify himself in the Marsh of Reeds. 1135 The double doors of heaven are open, the double doors of b.w are open for N., 1135 at daybreak, that be may descend and purify himself in the Marsh of Reeds. 1136 The double doors of heaven are open, the double doors of b.w are open for Horus. of the Ssm.t-land, 1136 at daybreak, that he may descend and purify himself in the Marsh of Reeds. 1137 The double doors of heaven are open, the double doors of b.w are open for N., 1137 at daybreak, that N. may descend and purify himself in the Marsh of Reeds. 1138 The ground is hoed for him; the wdn.t-offering is made for him, 1138 when he dawns as king and takes charge of his throne. 1138 He ferries over the ptr.ti-sea; 1138 he traverses the Winding Watercourse. 1139 'Imt.t lays hold of the arm of N., 1139 beginning with her chapel, beginning with her hidden place, which the god made for her, 1139 for N. is pure (a priest), the son of a pure one (a priest). 1140 N. is purified with these four nm.t-jars, 1140 filled at the divine-lake in Ntr.w; 1140 (he is dried) by the wind of the great Isis, together with (which) the great Isis dried (him) like Horus. 1141 Let him come, he is pure, 1141 so said the priest of R` concerning N. to the door-keeper of b.w, 1141 (who) was to announce him to these four gods, who are over the lake of Kns.t. 1142 They recite: "How just is N. to his father, Geb!" 1142 They recite: "How just is N. to R`! " 1142 His frontiers exist not; his boundary stones are not to be found. 1142 Also, Geb, whose (one) arm (reaches) to heaven, whose (other) arm is on earth, 1142 announces N. to R`. 1143 N. leads the gods; N. directs the divine boat; 1143 N. seizes heaven, its pillars and its stars. 1144 The gods come to him bowing; 1144 the spirits escort N. to his ba; 1144 they reckon (gather up) their war-clubs; 1144 they destroy their weapons; 1145 for behold N. is a great one, the son of a great one, whom Nut has borne; 1145 the power of N. is the power of Set of Ombos. 1145 This N. is the great wild-bull, who comes forth like nti'imnti.w. 1146 N. is the pouring down of rain; he came forth as the coming into being of water; 1146 for he is the Nb-k.w-serpent with the many coils; 1146 N. is the scribe of the divine book, who says what is and causes to exist what is not; 1147 N. is the red bandage, who comes forth from the great 'I.t; 1147 N. is that eye of Horus, 1147 stronger than men, mightier than the gods. 1148 Horus carries N., Set lifts him up. 1148 Let N. make an offering which a star gives; 1148 he satisfies the two gods, let them be satisfied; he satisfies the two gods, and so they are satisfied.

(15) The worship of trees as proxies of Divinity was prevalent throughout the ancient world. Temples were often built in the heart of sacred groves, and nocturnal ceremonials were conducted under the wide-spreading branches of great trees, fantastically decorated and festooned in honor of their patron deities. In many instances the trees themselves were believed to possess the attributes of divine power and intelligence, and therefore supplications were often addressed to them. The beauty, dignity, massiveness, and strength of oaks, elms, and cedars led to their adoption as symbols of power, integrity, permanence, virility, and divine protection.

(3) Moses beheld a visionary being in the midst of this tree (the burning bush) and from it cut the magical rod with which he was able to bring water out of a stone. But because he failed to call upon the Lord the second time he struck the rock, he was not permitted to carry the sacred staff into the Promised Land; so he planted it in the hills of Moab. After much searching, King David discovered the tree; and his son, Solomon, tried to use it for a pillar in his Temple, but his carpenters could not cut it so that it would fit; it was always either too long or too short. At last, disgusted, they cast it aside and used it for a bridge to connect Jerusalem with the surrounding hills. When the Queen of Sheba came to visit King Solomon she was expected to walk across this bridge. Instead, when she beheld the tree, she refused to put her foot upon it, but, after kneeling and praying, removed her sandals and forded the stream. This so impressed King Solomon that he ordered the log to be overlaid with golden places and placed above the door of his Temple. There it remained until his covetous grandson stole the gold, and buried the tree so that the crime would not be discovered.

(2) Therefore, O Man! consider thyself here in this World, in which thou standest in the Birth, thou art sown as a Seed or Grain, and a Tree grows out of thee; therefore now see in what Ground thou standest, that thou mayest be found to be Timber for the great Building of God in his Love, and not for a Threshold [or Footstool] to be trodden under-foot, or that is fit for nothing but for the Fire, whereof nothing will remain but Dust and Ashes.

(6) E. Y. Kenealy, quoting from the Cosmodromium of Doctor Gobelin Persona, describes the incident of Alexander and the talking trees, into the presence of which the King of Macedon is said to have been brought while on his campaign in India: "And now Alexander marched into other quarters equally dangerous; at one time over the tops of mountains, at another through dark valleys, in which his army was attacked by serpents and wild beasts, until after three hundred days he came into a most pleasant mountain, on whose sides hung chains or ropes of gold. This mountain had two thousand and fifty steps all of purest sapphire, by which one could ascend to the summit, and near this Alexander encamped. And on a day, Alexander with his Twelve Princes, ascended by the aforenamed steps to the top of the Mountain, and found there a Palace marvellously beautiful, having Twelve Gates, and seventy windows of the purest gold, and it was called the Palace of the Sun, and there was in it a Temple all of gold, before whose gates were vine trees bearing bunches of carbuncles and pearls, and Alexander and his Princes having entered the Palace, found there a Man lying on a golden bedstead; he was very stately and beautiful in appearance, and his head and beard were white as snow. Then Alexander and his princes bent the knee to the Sage who spake thus: 'Alexander, thou shalt now see what no earthly man hath ever before seen or heard.' To whom Alexander made answer: 'O, Sage, most happy, how dost thou know me?' He replied: 'Before the wave of the Deluge covered the face of the earth I knew thy works.' He added: 'Wouldst thou behold the most hallowed Trees of the Sun and Moon, which announce all future things?' Alexander made answer: 'It is well, my lord; greatly do we long to see them.' * * *

(12) Beginning the divination, they said: "Get together, grasp each other! Speak, that we may hear." They said, "Say if it is well that the wood be got together and that it be carved by the Creator and the Maker, and if this [man of wood] is he who must nourish and sustain us when there is light when it is day! "Thou, corn; thou, tzité; thou, fate; thou, creature; get together, take each other," they said to the corn, to the tzité, to fate, to the creature. "Come to sacrifice here, Heart of Heaven; do not punish Tepeu and Gucumatz!" Then they talked and spoke the truth: "Your figures of wood shall come out well; they shall speak and talk on earth." "So may it be," they answered when they spoke. And instantly the figures were made of wood. They looked like men, talked like men, and populated the surface of the earth. They existed and multiplied; they had daughters, they had sons, these wooden figures; but they did not have souls, nor minds, they did not remember their Creator, their Maker; they walked on all fours, aimlessly.

(21) Now the Tree of the strong [Tartness or Wrath,] (which is in the Midst of Nature,) grew also in the Midst of the Garden of Eden; and was (according to the Ability of its own Form which it has from the eternal Quality in the Originality) the greatest and the mightiest [Tree.] And here it may be seen very clearly, that God would have preserved and had Man to be in Paradise, for he forbade him this Tree, and caused other Fruit enough [besides] to grow in the Forms and Essences. The Gate of the Tempting.

(5) It was necessary for the Indian to secure the red stone for his calumet from the pipestone quarry where in some remote past the Great Spirit had come and, after fashioning with His own hands a great pipe, had smoked it toward the four corners of creation and thus instituted this most sacred ceremony. Scores of Indian tribes--some of them traveling thousands of miles--secured the sacred stone from this single quarry, where the mandate of the Great Spirit had decreed that eternal peace should reign.

(1) SUPREME among the wonders of antiquity, unrivaled by the achievements of later architects and builders, the Great Pyramid of Gizeh bears mute witness to an unknown civilization which, having completed its predestined span, passed into oblivion. Eloquent in its silence, inspiring in its majesty, divine in its simplicity, the Great Pyramid is indeed a sermon in stone. Its magnitude overwhelms the puny sensibilities of man. Among the shifting sands of time it stands as a fitting emblem of eternity itself. Who were the illumined mathematicians who planned its parts and dimensions, the master craftsmen who supervised its construction, the skilled artisans who trued its blocks of stone?