(3) The faculty that lends discourse to reason Did apprehend that they were candlesticks, And in the voices of the song "Hosanna!" Above them flamed the harness beautiful, Far brighter than the moon in the serene Of midnight, at the middle of her month. I turned me round, with admiration filled, To good Virgilius, and he answered me With visage no less full of wonderment. Then back I turned my face to those high things, Which moved themselves towards us so sedately, They had been distanced by new-wedded brides. The lady chid me: "Why dost thou burn only So with affection for the living lights, And dost not look at what comes after them?" Then saw I people, as behind their leaders, Coming behind them, garmented in white, And such a whiteness never was on earth. The water on my left flank was resplendent, And back to me reflected my left side, E'en as a mirror, if I looked therein. When I upon my margin had such post That nothing but the stream divided us, Better to see I gave my steps repose;

Everyone who [enters] the bedchamber will kindle the [light. This is] like marriages that occur [in secret and] take place at night. The light of the fire [shines] during the night and then goes out. The mysteries of that marriage, however, are performed in the day and the light, and neither that day nor its light ever sets. If someone becomes an attendant of the bridal chamber, that person will receive the light. If one does not receive it while here in this place, one cannot receive it in the other place. Those who receive the light cannot be seen or grasped. Nothing can trouble such people even while they are living in this world. And when they leave this world, they have already received truth through images, and the world has become the eternal realm. To these people the eternal realm is fullness. This is the way it is. It is revealed to such a person alone, hidden not in darkness and night but hidden in perfect day and holy light.

(111) Yes, dear man, here lies or sticketh the Mystery. The wood which thou kindlest is not very fire, but a dark or opaque stock, still the fire and light take their original from thence.

(28) Against the wall on the southern side of the Holy Place stood the great Candlestick, or lampstand, of cast gold, which was believed to weigh about a hundred pounds. From its central shaft branched out six arms, each ending in a cup-shaped depression in which stood an oil lamp. There were seven lamps, three on the arms at each side and one on the central stem. The Candlestick was ornamented with seventy-two almonds, knops, and flowers. Josephus says seventy, but wherever this round number is used by the Hebrews it really means seventy-two. Opposite the Candlestick, against the northern wall, was a table bearing twelve loaves of Shewbread in two stacks of six loaves each. (Calmet is of the opinion that the bread was not stacked up but spread out on the table in two rows, each containing six loaves.) On this table also stood two lighted incensories, which were placed upon the tops of the stacks of Shewbread so that the smoke of the incense might be an acceptable aroma to the Lord, bearing with it in its ascent the soul of the Shewbread.

(110) But thou wilt say that a man cannot kindle the water to make it give light. Answer.

(10) The sun does not thine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lighted.

(15) 'The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lighted.'

(71) But thou art generated in the heat, where the light riseth up in the sweet spring or fountain- water; have a care lest the heat burn thee; it is time, thou wouldst do well to quench that. Question.

(4) But when the sun has set, and the moon has set, what light does a person here have? ' ' Fire, indeed, is his light/ said he, c for with fire, indeed, as his light one sits, moves around, does his work, and returns/ ' Quite so, Yajnavalkya.

(3) One night, the moths met together tormented by a desire to be united to the candle. They said: 'We must send someone who will bring us information about the obj ect of our amorous quest.' So one of them set off and came to a castle, and inside he saw the light of a candle. He returned, and according to his understanding, reported what he had seen. But the wise moth who presided over the gathering expressed the opinion that he understood nothing about the candle. So another moth went there. He touched the flame with the tip of his wings, but the heat drove him oflF. His report being no more satisfying than that of the first, a third went out. This one, intoxicated with love, threw himself on the flame; with his forelegs he took hold of the flame and united himself joyously with her. He embraced her completely and his body became as red as fire. The wise moth, who was watching from far off", saw that the flame and the moth appeared to be one, and he said: 'He has learnt what he wished to know; but only he understands, and one can say no more.'

(7) And here it may be seen very perfectly, that Man in this World is not at Home, but he is come into it as a Guest, and has not brought the Clothes of this World with him, as all other Creatures that are at Home therein do, but must borrow Clothing from the Children of the Stars and Elements, and must cover himself with strange Cloathing, which he brought not along with him when he entered into the Spirit of this World, with which he struts like a proud Bride, and shows himself, supposing that he is very fine and brave in it; and yet it is but borrowed from the Spirit of this World, which in its due Time takes it away again, and lends it him but for a While, and then consumes it again.

(5) And then in manner of the little flame, Which followeth the fire where'er it shifts, After the spirit followeth its new form. Since afterwards it takes from this its semblance, It is called shade; and thence it organizes Thereafter every sense, even to the sight. Thence is it that we speak, and thence we laugh; Thence is it that we form the tears and sighs, That on the mountain thou mayhap hast heard. According as impress us our desires And other affections, so the shade is shaped, And this is cause of what thou wonderest at." And now unto the last of all the circles Had we arrived, and to the right hand turned, And were attentive to another care. There the embankment shoots forth flames of fire, And upward doth the cornice breathe a blast That drives them back, and from itself sequesters. Hence we must needs go on the open side, And one by one; and I did fear the fire On this side, and on that the falling down. My Leader said: "Along this place one ought To keep upon the eyes a tightened rein, Seeing that one so easily might err."

(104) Now in the body or fountain is the heat, which generateth the fire, and which is a form or kind of thing that a man can search into; and out of the heat goeth the light through all the spirits and qualities; and the light is the living spirit, which a man cannot search into.

(2) "And I appeared in the cloud of the hymen, in silence, without my holy garment. With my will I honored my garment, which has three forms in the cloud of the hymen. And the light that was in silence, the one from the rejoicing power, contained me. I wore it. And its two parts appeared in a single form. Its other parts did not appear on account of the fire. I became unable to speak in the cloud of the hymen, for its fire was frightful, lifting itself up without diminishing. And so that my greatness and the word might appear, I placed likewise my other garment in the cloud of silence. I went into the middle region and put on the light that was in it, that was sunk in forgetfulness and that was separated from the spirit of astonishment, for he had cast off the burden. At my wish, nothing mortal appeared to him, but they were all immortal things that the spirit granted to him. And he said in the mind of the light, 'AI EIS AI OU PHAR DOU IA EI OU, I have come in great rest in order that he may give rest to my light in his root, and may bring it out of harmful nature.'

(42) There then says the Bridegroom, Come! On the other Hand, says the poor Soul, / cannot yet, my Lamp is not yet trimmed. Nevertheless it holds the Saviour fast by the Thread [of Faith,] and sets its Imagination [or Desire] (through the Thread of Faith and Confidence) further into the Heart of God; where then at last it is ransomed out of the Putrefaction, through the Passion of Christ.

(3) Since, however, a contrary is receptive of a contrary, according to a mutation and departure from itself, and that which is allied to another thing, and familiar with it through similitude, is capable of receiving it, hence the illuminators receive darkness as a cooperator, and employ in illuminating the light of the sun, or of the moon, or, in short, of the air. Sometimes, likewise, they use collocations of such things as are adapted to the Gods that are about to descend, or they employ incantations or compositions, and these appropriately prepared for the reception, presence, and manifestation of the Gods. And again, sometimes they introduce light through water, because this being diaphanous, is aptly disposed to the reception of light. But at other times, they cause light to shine forth on a wall, having previously prepared the wall for the reception of light in the best manner by the sacred descriptions of characters; and, at the same time, they fix the light in a certain solid place, so that it may not be widely diffused.

(31) For without the illumination thereof you will not understand this Mystery; for there is a strong lock and bar before it in the spirit of man, that must be first unlocked or opened; and that, no man can do, for the Holy Ghost is the only key to do it withal.

(4) But when the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire has gone out, what light does a person here have? ' £ Speech, indeed, is his light/ said he, f for with speech, indeed, as his light one sits, moves around, does his work, and returns. Therefore, verily, O king, where one does not discern even his own hands, when a voice is raised, then one goes straight towards it.' ' Quite so, Yajnavalkya.

(73) Now here thou may understand how the heart of God has the fan or castingshovel in its hand, and will one day cleanse his floor: which I herewith earnestly declare to you as in the knowledge in the light of life, where the heart, in the light of life, breaketh through, and proclaimeth the bright, clear day. Of Man and the Stars.

(109) Thou canst not kindle light in a stone, because the astringent or harsh quality is chief or predominant therein: neither canst thou kindle light in earth, unless the other qualities be first vanquished and boiled out of it, which is seen in gunpowder; yet this light is but a flash or a spirit of terror, wherein the devil in the anger of God representeth himself, which I will describe and demonstrate more largely in another place. Objection.