(4) More of the mount by us was now encompassed, And far more spent the circuit of the sun, Than had the mind preoccupied imagined, When he, who ever watchful in advance Was going on, began: "Lift up thy head, 'Tis no more time to go thus meditating. Lo there an Angel who is making haste To come towards us; lo, returning is From service of the day the sixth handmaiden. With reverence thine acts and looks adorn, So that he may delight to speed us upward; Think that this day will never dawn again." I was familiar with his admonition Ever to lose no time; so on this theme He could not unto me speak covertly. Towards us came the being beautiful Vested in white, and in his countenance Such as appears the tremulous morning star. His arms he opened, and opened then his wings; "Come," said he, "near at hand here are the steps, And easy from henceforth is the ascent." At this announcement few are they who come! O human creatures, born to soar aloft, Why fall ye thus before a little wind?

(28) The twelfth chapter treats of a great wonder appearing in the heavens: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. This woman represents the constellation of Virgo and also the Egyptian Isis, who, about to be delivered of her son Horus, is attacked by Typhon, the latter attempting to destroy the child predestined by the gods to slay the

(1) Let him imagine, who would well conceive What now I saw, and let him while I speak Retain the image as a steadfast rock, The fifteen stars, that in their divers regions The sky enliven with a light so great That it transcends all clusters of the air; Let him the Wain imagine unto which Our vault of heaven sufficeth night and day, So that in turning of its pole it fails not; Let him the mouth imagine of the horn That in the point beginneth of the axis Round about which the primal wheel revolves,— To have fashioned of themselves two signs in heaven, Like unto that which Minos' daughter made, The moment when she felt the frost of death; And one to have its rays within the other, And both to whirl themselves in such a manner That one should forward go, the other backward; And he will have some shadowing forth of that True constellation and the double dance That circled round the point at which I was; Because it is as much beyond our wont, As swifter than the motion of the Chiana Moveth the heaven that all the rest outspeeds.

(48) The stars are only the kindling of the great house; for the whole house is benumbed in death, as the earth is; for the outermost birth or geniture is dead and benumbed, as the rind, shell or bark of a tree. But the astral birth is the body in which the life riseth up.

(248) 262 To say; N. is great. N. has come forth from between the thighs of the Ennead. 262 N. was, conceived by Sekhmet, it is Ssmt.t who gave birth to N., 263 (as) the star with piercing front (glance) and wide of stride, who brings provisions for (his) journey to R` every day. 263 N. has come to his throne, which is higher than (or, over, above) the two protective goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt; N. appears (or, shines) as a star.

(1) HERE now is begun the describing of the astral birth. It ought well to be observed what the first title of this book meaneth, which is thus expressed: The DaySpring or Dawning in the East, or Morning-Redness in the Rising. For here will a very simple man be able to see and comprehend or apprehend the being of God.

(17) "After the soul of the prophet," writes the anonymous author of Mankind: Their Origin and Destiny, "in his ecstatic state has passed in its rapid flight through the seven spheres, from the sphere of the moon to that of Saturn, or from the planet which corresponds to Cancer, the gate of men, to that of Capricorn, which is the gate of the gods, a new gate opens to him in the highest heaven, and in the zodiac, beneath which the seven planets revolve; in a word, in the firmament, or that which the ancients called crystallinum primum, or the crystal heaven."

(690) 2092 To say: Wake up, Osiris; let the weary god awake. 2092 The god stands up; the god is powerful over his body. 2093 Wake up, N.; let the weary god awake. 2093 The god stands up; the god is powerful over his body. 2094 Horus stands up; he clothes N. with linen--him who came forth from him. 2094 N. is equipped as a god, standing in the pr.wr-palace, sitting with the Two Enneads. 2095 "O N., stand up, come in peace," says R` to thee; "messenger of the great god, 2095 thou goest to heaven; thou goest forth through the doors of the horizon; 2096 Geb sends thee; thou art a soul like a [god, respected like a god]; 2096 [thou art powerful] over thy body, like a god, 2096 like Ba, chief of the living, 2096 like m, chief of spirits." 2097 N. comes; he is equipped like a god; his bones are assembled like [Osiris]; 2097 [he comes behind his uraeus]. 2097 Thou hast come, O N., out of Heliopolis; thou art avenged; thy heart is placed in thy body; 2098 Thy face is like that of a jackal; thy flesh is like that of Atum; 2098 thy b is in thy body; thy m is behind thee; Isis is before thee; Nephthys is behind thee. 2099 Thou journeyest through the regions of Horus; thou travelest through the regions of Set. 2099 It is Shu and Tefnut who lead thee, when thou ascendest from Heliopolis. 2100 O N., Horus has woven his tent over thy head; 2100 Set has stretched out thy canopy; 2100 be enclosed, O father, by the divine tent; thou art brought there in thy beloved places. 2101 O N., Horus comes to thee provided with his souls, 2101 pi, Dw-mw.t.f, 'Im.ti, b-n.w.f. 2102 a. They bring to thee thy name of "Imperishable"; 2102 thou perishest not; thou diest not. 2103 O N., thy sister b.wt has purified [thee] 2103 in Rd-wr chief of the lakes. 2103 Thou appearest to them like a jackal, like Horus chief of the living, 2103 like Geb chief of the Ennead, like Osiris chief of spirits. 2104. Thou commandest spirits; thou leadest the [imperishable stars]. 2105 The evil of Osiris--the evil of N.--the evil of the bull of the Two Enneads-- 2105 the god is loosed (from it), N. has power over his body. 2105 N. is loosed (from it); N. has power over his body. 2106 O N., Horus, is standing, he glorifies thee; 2106 he conducts thee, when thou ascendest to heaven. 2107 Thy mother Nut receives thee; she lays hold of thine arm, 2107 that thou mayest not be in need, that thou mayest not moan (like a cedar), 2107 (but) that thou mayest live like the coleoptera (lives) and endure in [Mendes]. 2108 O N., thou art adorned like a god; thy face is like (that of) a jackal, as Osiris, 2108 that soul in Ndi.t, that mighty one in the great city. 2109. The sky trembles, the earth quakes before the god, before N. 2110 N. [is not enveloped] by the earth; 2110 'I.t-wt.t, thou art not enveloped by the earth. 2110 Thy fame is by day; thy fear is by night, as a god, lord of f ear. 2110 Thou commandest the gods like the mighty one, chief of the mighty. 2111. [O] Osiris, the overflow comes, the inundation hastens, Geb groans. 2112 I have pitied thee with pity; I have smitten him who acted with evil (intent) against thee; 2112 that thou mayest live, that thou mayest raise thyself up because of thy strength. 2113. O N., [the inundation comes 1, [the overflow hastens], Geb [groans]. 2114 Exult in the divine efflux which is in thee; let thy heart live; 214 thy divine limbs are in good condition; loosen thy bindings. 2115 Horus comes to thee, N.; he does for thee that which he did for his father Osiris, 2115 that thou mayest live like unto the life of those in heaven, and [that thou mayest come into being] more (truly) than those who are on earth. 2116 Raise thyself up because of thy strength; ascend thou to heaven. 2116 The sky bears thee like 3; thou hast power over thy body; 2116 thou defendest thyself against thine enemy. 2117. [O N.] [I have wept for thee], I have mourned for thee; 2118 I shall not forget thee; my heart will not weary to give thee offerings every day, 2118 at the (feast of the) month, at the (feast of the) half month, at the (feast of) covering the fire-pan, at the (feast of) Thot, at the wgfeast, 2118 at the (feast of) slaughtering, (at) the (feast of) thy years, (at) (the feast of) thy birth, at the beginnings of thy months, during which thou livest as a god. 2119. O N., may thy body be clothed, that thou mayest come to me. 58. TEXTS OF MISCELLANEOUS CONTENTS,

(48) The Dying God shall rise again! The secret room in the House of the Hidden Places shall be rediscovered. The Pyramid again shall stand as the ideal emblem of solidarity, inspiration, aspiration, resurrection, and regeneration. As the passing sands of time bury civilization upon civilization beneath their weight, the Pyramid shall remain as the Visible covenant between Eternal Wisdom and the world. The time may yet come when the chants of the illumined shall be heard once more in its ancient passageways and the Master of the Hidden House shall await in the Silent Place for the coming of that man who, casting aside the fallacies of dogma and tenet, seeks simply Truth and will be satisfied with neither substitute nor counterfeit.

(15) Therefore then also the holy birth or geniture of God, as a special body of itself, separated itself from the wrath, and made the firmament of heaven, between the love and the wrath, so that the birth or geniture of the stars stands in the middle. Understand it thus; viz. with its outward comprehensibility and visibility it stands in the wrath of death; and with the new birth rising up therein, which stands in the middle or central seat, where the closure of heaven is, it stands in the meekness of the life.

(43) Who was the Master dwelling in the mighty Pyramid, the many rooms of which signified the worlds in space; the Master whom none might behold save those who had been "born again"? He alone fully knew the secret of the Pyramid, but he has departed the way of the wise and the house is empty. The hymns of praise no longer echo in muffled tones through the chambers; the neophyte no longer passes through the elements and wanders among the seven stars; the candidate no longer receives the "Word of Life" from the lips of the Eternal One. Nothing now remains that the eye of man can see but an empty shell--the outer symbol of an inner truth--and men call the House of God a tomb!

(29) But that the birth, or the body of the stars in their seat, does not change or alter (but do as they did from eternity), signifieth that there shall be a constant, continued birth or geniture, whereby, in one uniform operation, which yet stands in the infiniteness, the benumbed body of the earth should continually and constantly be kindled again, and generate itself anew, and so also should the house of darkness of the deep above the earth; whereby the new body might continually and constantly be generated out of death, till time should be accomplished, and the whole newborn body [perfected]. Now thou wilt object and say, Then sure the stars are God, and they must be honoured and worshipped as God.

(37) And which, seeing it qualifieth or uniteth with the innermost birth of the astral birth or geniture, cometh to help the Salitter of the corrupted earth, and quencheth its wrath; whereby, in the astral birth or geniture, all stands in the life. And so the earth generateth the life through the death. The Gate of the Mystery.

(38) Where then the King (viz. the Light of the Sun) is so very joyful in the Spirit, and does so highly triumph, exult, and rejoice, that he moves all the Essences of the Stars, and brings them into their highest Degree, to generate her; where then all Centers of the Stars fly open, and the loving Virgin beholds herself in them. Where then the Essences of the Soul (in the Light of the Virgin) can see in the Centers of the Stars, what is in its Original and Source.

(63) This description sheweth that the first writer did not know what the stars are, though he was capable of understanding the right or law of God, and has taken hold on the Deity at the heart, and looked upon or had respect to the heart, to consider what the heart and kernel of this creation is; though the spirit kept the astral and outermost dead birth or geniture hidden from him, and did only drive him in faith to the heart of the Deity.

(220) 194 The two doors of the horizon are open; its bolts slide. I 94 He has come to thee, N.t (Crown of Lower Egypt); he has come to thee, Nsr.t (Uraeus); 194 he has, come to thee, Great One; he has come to thee, Great-inmagic (Crown of Lower Egypt). 194 He is pure for thee; he is in awe of thee. 195 Mayest thou be satisfied with him; mayest thou be satisfied with his purity; 195 mayest thou be satisfied with his word, which he speaks to thee: 195 "How beautiful is thy face, when it is peaceful, new, young, for a god, father of the gods, has begotten thee!" 195 He has come to thee, Great-in-magic (Crown of Lower Egypt). 195 It is Horus, who has fought in protection of his eye, Great-inmagic.

(42) Through the mystic passageways and chambers of the Great Pyramid passed the illumined of antiquity. They entered its portals as men; they came forth as gods. It was the place of the "second birth," the "womb of the Mysteries," and wisdom dwelt in it as God dwells in the hearts of men. Somewhere in the depths of its recesses there resided an unknown being who was called "The Initiator," or "The Illustrious One," robed in blue and gold and bearing in his hand the sevenfold key of Eternity. This was the lion-faced hierophant, the Holy One, the Master of Masters, who never left the House of Wisdom and whom no man ever saw save he who had passed through the gates of preparation and purification. It was in these chambers that Plato--he of the broad brow---came face to face with the wisdom of the ages personified in the Master of the Hidden House.

(478) 971 To say: Greetings to thee, Ladder of god; 971 greetings to thee, Ladder of Set. 971 Stand up Ladder of god; 971 stand up Ladder of Set; stand up Ladder of Horus 971 which was made for Osiris, that he may ascend upon it to heaven and do service of courtier to R`. 972 Thou art come in search of thy brother, Osiris, 972 after his brother Set had cast him on his side, 972 on yonder side of G.ti. 973 Horus comes, his lion-helmet on his head; his face he turns towards his father, Geb. 973 N. is thy son, N. is Horus. 974 Thou hast conceived N. as thou hast conceived the god, lord of the ladder, 974 to whom thou hast given the ladder of the god, to whom thou hast given the ladder of Set, 974 that N. may ascend to heaven on it and do service of courtier to R`. 975 Let also the ladder of god be given to N., let the ladder of Set be given to N. 975 that N. may ascend to heaven on it, and do service of courtier to R`, 975 just like gods who are gone to their kas. 976 The eye of Horus glowers (?) on the wing of Thot, 976 on the left side of the ladder of the god. 976 O men, a uraeus-serpent (goes) to heaven. N. is the eye of Horus. 976 After its foot has been stopped at every place where it was, N. goes as the eye of Horus goes. 977 Be pleased that N. come among you, ye his brothers, the gods; 977 rejoice at the approach of N., ye his brothers, the gods, 977 as Horus rejoiced at the approach of his eye, 977 after his eye was given (back) to him in the presence of his father, Geb. 978 Every spirit, every god, who shall oppose his arm to N., 978 when he ascends to heaven on the ladder of the god, 978 the earth shall not be hoed for him, the wdn.t-offering shall not be made for him, 978 he shall not ferry over to the evening meal in Heliopolis, 978 he shall not ferry over to the morning meal in Heliopolis. 979 He shall guard himself, he has obligated himself, (he) who will see, (he) who will hear, 979 that he (the deceased) ascends to heaven on the ladder of the god, 979 appearing like the uraeus-serpent which was on the forehead of Set. 980 Every spirit, every god who shall open his arms to N. (will be) on the ladder of the god. 980 United for N. are his bones, assembled for him are his limbs; 980 N. has sprung up to heaven on the fingers of the god, lord of the ladder.

(684) 2051 To say: N. ascended at thy ascension, Osiris; 2051 N. has spoken (with) his ka in heaven. 2051 The bones of N. are firm (or, copper), and the limbs of N. 2051 are like the stars, the imperishable stars. 2052 Given that N. be encompassed, then a great one falls into the hands of N. 2052 The mother of N. is Nut; 2053 the father of N. is Shu; the mother of N. is Tefnut. 2053 They take N. to heaven, to heaven-on the smoke of incense. 2054. N. is purified; N. lives; N. makes his seat like Osiris; 2055 N. sits at thy side (lit. shoulder), Osiris; N. spits on thy hair, Osiris; 2055 he will not let him become diseased; N. will not permit him to be bald, 2055 at the mouth of N. daily, at the beginnings (of the feast) of the half months, at the beginnings (of the feast) of the months. 2056 N. sits at thy side (lit. shoulder), Horus; N. spits on thy hair, Horus; 2056 he will not let it become diseased; N. will not permit himself to be bald, 2056 at the mouth of N. daily, at the beginnings (of the feast) of the half months, at the beginnings (or the feast) of the months. 2057. N. is one of these four beings, sons of Atum, sons of Nut, 2058 who do not rot; N. does not rot; 2058 who do not decay; N. does not decay; 2058 who do not fall upon earth from heaven; 2058 N. does not fall upon the earth from heaven. 2059 N. was sought; N. is found with them; 2059 N. is one of them, praised by the bull of heaven. 2060. N. makes his ka arise; N. returns (?); N. strides- 2061 the good companion makes his ka arise, returns (?), strides. 2061 N. rests at home, on the under (side) of the body of the sky, like a nfr.t-star, 2061 at the meanderings of the Winding Watercourse. 2062 When N. ascends to heaven, give him this formula: "R` is good each day." 2062 N. put himself on thy way, Horus of Ssm.t, on which thou leadest the gods 2062 to the beautiful ways of heaven and of the Marsh of Offerings. 56. TEXTS OF MISCELLANEOUS CONTENTS,

(13) This now is the sum or the contents of the astral birth or geniture, of which I here intend to write. Now it may be asked, What are the stars? or out of what are they come to be?