The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. BOREAS, whose wint'ry blasts, terrific, tear The bosom of the deep surrounding air; Cold icy pow'r, approach, and fav'ring blow, And Thrace a while desert expos'd to snow: The misty station of the air dissolve, With pregnant clouds, whose frames in show'rs resolve: Serenely temper all within the sky, And wipe from moisture, Æther's beauteous eye. Next: LXXX: To The West Wind Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXVIII: To Themis Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXX: To The West Wind » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. WIDE coursing gales, whose lightly leaping feet With rapid wings the air's wet bosom beat, Approach benevolent, swift-whirling pow'rs, With humid clouds the principles of flow'rs: For flow'ry clouds are portion'd to your care, To send on earth from all surrounding air. Bear, blessed pow'rs, these holy rites attend, And fruitful rains on earth all-parent send. Next: LXXXII: To Ocean Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXX: To The West Wind Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXXII: To Ocean » Sacred Texts | Classics

(43) While the sages said that the fourth class of elementals, or sylphs, lived in the element of air, they meant by this not the natural atmosphere of the earth, but the invisible, intangible, spiritual medium--an ethereal substance similar in composition to our atmosphere, but far more subtle. In the last: discourse of Socrates, as preserved by Plato in his Phædo, the condemned philosopher says:

The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. SEA-born, aerial, blowing from the west, Sweet gales, who give to weary'd labour rest: Vernal and grassy, and of gentle found, To ships delightful, thro' the sea profound; For these, impell'd by you with gentle force, Pursue with prosp'rous Fate their destin'd course. With blameless gales regard my suppliant pray'r, Zephyrs unseen, light-wing'd, and form'd from air. Next: LXXXI: To the South Wind Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXIX: To the North Wind Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXXI: To the South Wind » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from MANNA. BLEST Pæan, come, propitious to my pray'r, Illustrious pow'r, whom Memphian tribes revere, Slayer of Tityus, and the God of health, Lycorian Phœbus, fruitful source of wealth . Spermatic, golden-lyr'd, the field from thee Receives it's constant, rich fertility. Titanic, Grunian, Smynthian, thee I sing, 7 Python-destroying, hallow'd, Delphian king: Rural, light-bearer, and the Muse's head, Noble and lovely, arm'd with arrows dread: Far-darting, Bacchian, two-fold, and divine, 11 Pow'r far diffused, and course oblique is thine. O, Delian king, whose light-producing eye Views all within, and all beneath the sky: Whose locks are gold, whose oracles are sure, Who, omens good reveal'st, and precepts pure: Hear me entreating for the human kind, Hear, and be present with benignant mind; For thou survey'st this boundless æther all, And ev'ry part of this terrestrial ball Abundant, blessed; and thy piercing sight, Extends beneath the gloomy, silent night; Beyond the darkness, starry-ey'd, profound, The stable roots, deep fix'd by thee are found. The world's wide bounds, all-flourishing are thine, Thyself all the source and end divine: 'Tis thine all Nature's music to inspire, With various-sounding, harmonising lyre; Now the last string thou tun'ft to sweet accord, 29 Divinely warbling now the highest chord; Th' immortal golden lyre, now touch'd by thee, Responsive yields a Dorian melody. All Nature's tribes to thee their diff'rence owe, And changing seasons from thy music flow Hence, mix'd by thee in equal parts, advance Summer and Winter in alternate dance; This claims the highest, that the lowest string, The Dorian measure tunes the lovely spring . Hence by mankind, Pan-royal, two-horn'd nam'd, 39 Emitting whistling winds thro' Syrinx fam'd; Since to thy care, the figur'd seal's consign'd, 41 Which stamps the world with forms of ev'ry kind. Hear me, blest pow'r, and in these rites rejoice, And save thy mystics with a suppliant voice.

(12) A: Thy argument (logos), Thrice-greatest one, is not to be gainsaid; air is a body. Further, it is this body which doth pervade all things, and so, pervading, fill them. What are we, then, to call that space in which the all doth move? H: The bodiless, Asclepius. A: What, then, is Bodiless? H: 'Tis Mind and Reason (logos), whole out of whole, all self-embracing, free from all body, from all error free, unsensible to body and untouchable, self stayed in self, containing all, preserving those that are, whose rays, to use a likeness, are Good, Truth, Light beyond light, the Archetype of soul. A: What, then, is God?

(4) Panvotrus saith:—I signify to posterity that air is a tenuous matter of water, and that it is not separated from it. It remains above the dry earth, to wit, the air hidden in the water, which is under the earth. If this air did not exist, the earth would not remain above the humid water. They answer:—Thou hast said well; complete, therefore, thy speech. Sut he continueth: The air which is hidden in the water under the earth is that which sustains the earth, lest it should be plunged into the said water; and it, moreover, prevents the earth from being overflowed by that water. The province of the air is, therefore, to fill up and to make separation between diverse things, that is to say, water and earth, and it is constituted a peacemaker between hostile things, namely, water and fire, dividing these, lest they destroy one another.

The Turba saith:—If you gave an illustration hereof, it would be clearer to those who do not understand.

He answereth:—An egg is an illustration, for therein four things are conjoined; the visible cortex or shell represents the earth, and the albumen, or white part, is the water.* But a very thin inner cortex is joined to the outer cortex, representing, as I have signified to you, the separating medium between earth and water, namely, that air which divides the earth from the water. The yolk also of the egg represents fire; the cortex which contains the yolk corresponds to that other air which separates the water from the fire. But they are both one and the same air, namely, that which separates things frigid, the earth from the water, and that which separates the water from the fire. But the lower air is thicker than the upper air, and the upper air is more rare and subtle, being nearer to the fire than the lower air. In the egg, therefore, are four things—earth, water, air, and fire. But the point of the Sun, these four excepted, is in the centre of the yolk, and this is the chicken. Consequently, all philosophers in this most excellent art have described the egg as an example, which same thing they have set over their work.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. O Royal Juno of majestic mien, Aerial-form'd, divine, Jove's blessed queen, Thron'd in the bosom of cærulean air, The race of mortals is thy constant care. The cooling gales thy pow'r alone inspires, Which nourish life, which ev'ry life desires. Mother of clouds and winds, from thee alone Producing all things, mortal life is known: All natures share thy temp'rament divine, And universal sway alone is thine. With founding blasts of wind, the swelling sea And rolling rivers roar, when shook by thee. Come, blessed Goddess, fam'd almighty queen, With aspect kind, rejoicing and serene.

(2) Exumprus saith:—I do magnify the air according to the mighty speech of Iximidrus, for the work is improved thereby. The air is inspissated, and itis also made thin; it grows warm and becomes cold. The inspissation thereof takes place when it is divided in heaven by the elongation of the Sun; its rarefaction is when, by the exaltation of the Sun in heaven, the air becomes warm and is rarefied. It is comparable with the complexion of Spring,* in the distinction of time, which is neither warm nor cold. For according to the mutation of the constituted disposition with the altering distinctions of the soul, so is Winter altered. The air, therefore, is inspissated when the Sun is removed from it, and then cold supervenes upon men. Whereat the

Turba said:—Excellently hast thou described the air, and given account of what thou knowest to be therein.;

(11) A: How meanest thou, Thrice-greatest one? H: Is not air body? A: It is. H: And doth this body not pervade all things, and so, pervading, fill them? And "body"; doth body not consist from blending of the "four" ? Full, then, of air are all thou callest void; and if of air, then of the "four". Further, of this the converse follows, that all thou callest full are void - of air; for that they have their space filled out with other bodies, and, therefore, are not able to receive the air therein. These, then, which thou dost say are void, they should be hollow named, not void; for they not only are, but they are full of air and spirit.

(5) 'No mortal lives by the breath that goes up and by the breath that goes down. We live by another, in whom these two repose.'

(44) "And upon the earth are animals and men, some in a middle region, others (elementals] dwelling about the air as we dwell about the sea; others in islands which the air flows round, near the continent; and in a word, the air is used by them as the water and the sea are by us, and the ether is to them what the air is to us. More over, the temperament of their seasons is such that they have no disease [Paracelsus disputes this], and live much longer than we do,

The FUMIGATION from MYRRH. Ærial clouds, thro' heav'n's resplendent plains Who wander, parents of prolific rains; Who nourish fruits, whose water'y frames are hurl'd, By winds impetuous, round the mighty world; All-thund'ring, lion-roaring, flashing fire, In Air's wide bosom, bearing thunders dire Impell'd by ev'ry stormy, sounding gale, With rapid course, along the skies ye fail. With blowing winds your wat'ry frames I call, On mother Earth with fruitful show'rs to fall. Next: XXI: To the Sea, or Tethys Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XIX: To Jove, as the Author o... Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXI: To the Sea, or Tethys » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from MANNA. O Much-desir'd, prolific, gen'ral queen, Hear me, life-bearing, Health, of beauteous mien, Mother of all; by thee diseases dire, Of bliss destructive, from our life retire; And ev'ry house is flourishing and fair, If with rejoicing aspect thou art there: Each dædal art, thy vig'rous force inspires, And all the world thy helping hand desires; Pluto life's bane alone resists thy will, And ever hates thy all-preserving skill. O fertile queen, from thee forever flows To mortal life from agony repose; And men without thy all-sustaining ease, Find nothing useful, nothing form'd to please; Without thy aid, not Plutus' self can thrive, Nor man to much afflicted age arrive; For thou alone of countenance serene, Dost govern all things, universal queen. Assist thy mystics with propitious mind, And far avert disease of ev'ry kind. Next: LXVIII: To The Furies Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXVI: To Esculapius Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXVIII: To The Furies » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from MANNA. GREAT Esculapius, skill'd to heal mankind,, All-ruling Pæan, and physician kind; Whose arts medic'nal, can alone assuage Diseases dire, and stop their dreadful rage: Strong lenient God, regard my suppliant pray'r, Bring gentle Health, adorn'd with lovely hair; Convey the means of mitigating pain, And raging, deadly pestilence restrain. O pow'r all-flourishing, abundant, bright, Apollo's honor'd offspring, God of light; Husband of blameless Health, the constant foe Of dread Disease the minister of woe: Come, blessed saviour, and my health defend, And to my life afford a prosp'rous end. Next: LXVII: To Health Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXV: To Vulcan Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXVII: To Health » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from VARIOUS ODORS I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole, Etherial, marine, earthly, general soul, Immortal fire; for all the world is thine, And all are parts of thee, O pow'r divine. Come, blessed Pan, whom rural haunts delight, Come, leaping, agile, wand'ring, starry light; The Hours and Seasons, wait thy high command, And round thy throne in graceful order stand. Goat-footed, horned, Bacchanalian Pan, Fanatic pow'r, from whom the world began, Whose various parts by thee inspir'd, combine In endless dance and melody divine. In thee a refuge from our fears we find, Those fears peculiar to the human kind. Thee shepherds, streams of water, goats rejoice, Thou. lov'st the chace, and Echo's secret voice: 16 The sportive nymphs, thy ev'ry step attend, 17 And all thy works fulfill their destin'd end. O all-producing pow'r, much-fam'd, divine, The world's great ruler, rich increase is thine. All-fertile Pæan, heav'nly splendor pure, In fruits rejoicing, and in caves obscure. 22 True serpent-horned Jove, whose dreadful rage 23 When rous'd, 'tis hard for mortals to asswage. By thee the earth wide-bosom'd deep and long, Stands on a basis permanent and strong. Th' unwearied waters of the rolling sea, Profoundly spreading, yield to thy decree. Old Ocean too reveres thy high command, Whose liquid arms begirt the solid land. The spacious air, whose nutrimental fire, And vivid blasts, the heat of life inspire The lighter frame of fire, whose sparkling eye Shines on the summit of the azure sky, Submit alike to thee, whole general sway All parts of matter, various form'd obey. All nature's change thro' thy protecting care, And all mankind thy lib'ral bounties share: For these where'er dispers'd thro' boundless space, Still find thy providence support their race. Come, Bacchanalian, blessed power draw near, Fanatic Pan, thy humble suppliant hear, Propitious to these holy rites attend, And grant my life may meet a prosp'rous end; Drive panic Fury too, wherever found, From human kind, to earth's remotest bound.

(1) And it is also the Udgitha. The breath verily is up (uj) for by breath this whole world is upheld (ut-tabdha}. Song (glthd), verily, is speech; ut and githa— that is Udgitha.

(1) There is this verse on the subject: — From whom the sun. rises And in whom it sets — in truth, from Breath it lises, and in Breath it sets — Him the gods made law (dharmd)\ He only today and tomorrow will be. Verily, what those [functions] undertook of old, even that they accomplish today. Therefore one should practise but one activity. He should breathe in and breathe out, wishing, which he practises he should desire to fulfil to the end. Thereby he wins complete union with that divinity [i.e. Breath] and residence in the same world.

(79) Timaeus: Wherefore the region of the chest and that of the lungs when they let out the breath become filled again by the air surrounding the body, which filters in through the porous flesh and circulates round. And again, when the air is repelled and passes out through the body it pushes the inspired air round and in by way of the passages of the mouth and of the nostrils. The originating cause

(4) Breath is indeed the fourth foot of Brahman. That foot shines with Vâyu (air) as its light, and warms. He who knows this, shines and warms through his celebrity, fame, and glory of countenance.