(14) The fingers (prongs) which hold fast, they are the fingers of the ancestors of Rā, the claw of the ancestor of Hathor

(3) And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from the Garden of Eden.

(47) The driving of the nails and the flow of blood and water from the wounds were symbolic of certain secret philosophic practices of the Temple. Many of the Oriental deities have mysterious symbols on the hands and feet. The so-called footprints of Buddha are usually embellished with a magnificent sunburst at the point where the nail pierced the foot of Christ.

(8) I suppose that this obscure sentence means that since everything in him is divine the design or colour of his fingers (?) was taken from the books of Thoth

(13) My nails and bones those of the Living Uræi Uræi

(229) 229 To say: This is the finger-nail of Atum, 229 which is upon the dorsal vertebra of the Nb.w-k.w (serpent) and which caused the strife in Wn.w to cease. 229 Fall, glide away.

(3) For instance, in the adaptation of the front and side-teeth to the mastication of food, and in the construction of the tongue, salivating glands, and throat for its deglutition, we find a contrivance which cannot be improved upon. Similarly, whoever considers his hand, with its five fingers of unequal lengths, four of them with three joints and the thumb with only two, and the way in which it can be used for grasping, or for carrying, or for smiting, will frankly acknowledge that no amount of human wisdom could better it by altering the number and arrangement of the fingers, or in any other way.

(24) The fingers and toes also have special significance. The toes represent the Ten Commandments of the physical law and the fingers the Ten Commandments of the spiritual law. The four fingers of each hand represent the four elements and the three phalanges of each finger represent the divisions of the element, so that in each hand there are twelve parts to the fingers, which are analogous to the signs of the zodiac, whereas the two phalanges and base of each thumb signify the threefold Deity. The first phalange corresponds to the creative aspect, the second to the preservative aspect, and the base to the generative and destructive aspect. When the hands are brought together, the result is the twenty-four Elders and the six Days of Creation.

(5) Be silent Ovid, of Cadmus and Arethusa; For if him to a snake, her to fountain, Converts he fabling, that I grudge him not; Because two natures never front to front Has he transmuted, so that both the forms To interchange their matter ready were. Together they responded in such wise, That to a fork the serpent cleft his tail, And eke the wounded drew his feet together. The legs together with the thighs themselves Adhered so, that in little time the juncture No sign whatever made that was apparent. He with the cloven tail assumed the figure The other one was losing, and his skin Became elastic, and the other's hard. I saw the arms draw inward at the armpits, And both feet of the reptile, that were short, Lengthen as much as those contracted were. Thereafter the hind feet, together twisted, Became the member that a man conceals, And of his own the wretch had two created. While both of them the exhalation veils With a new colour, and engenders hair On one of them and depilates the other,

(7) This word has always been translated fingers , a sense which is evidently wrong in this place, where parts of the head only are mentioned, and when one would expect the hair or the beard

(42) Next higher in the scale come the Infusoria, which are distinguished by having tiny vibrating filaments, or thread-like appendages, which they employ for purposes of motion and grasping their food. These filaments are permanent, and are the beginning of the manifestation of permanent limbs in the animal world. These elementary creatures have also evolved rudimentary mouth-openings, and also a short gullet which is a rudimentary throat, windpipe, and food-passage.

Yaldabaoth said to the authorities with him, Come, let us create a human being after the image of god and with a likeness to ourselves, so that this human image may give us light. They created through their respective powers, according to the features that were given to them. Each of the authorities contributed a psychical feature corresponding to the figure of the image they had seen. They created a being like the perfect first human and said, Let us call it Adam, that its name may give us power of light. The powers began to create: The first one, goodness, created a soul of bone. The second, forethought, created a soul of sinew. The third, divinity, created a soul of flesh. The fourth, lordship, created a soul of marrow. The fifth, kingdom, created a soul of blood. The sixth, jealousy, created a soul of skin. The seventh, understanding, created a soul of hair. The throng of angels stood by and received these seven psychical substances from the authorities in order to create a network of limbs and trunk, with all the parts properly arranged. The first one, who is Raphao, began by creating the head, Abron created the skull, Meniggesstroeth created the brain, Asterechme the right eye, Thaspomocha the left eye, Yeronumos the right ear, Bissoum the left ear, Akioreim the nose, Banen-Ephroum the lips, Amen the teeth, Ibikan the molars, Basiliademe the tonsils, Achcha the uvula, Adaban the neck, Chaaman the vertebrae, Dearcho the throat, Tebar the right shoulder, N——the left shoulder, Mniarchon the right elbow, ——e the left elbow, Abitrion the right underarm, Euanthen the left underarm, Krus the right hand, Beluai the left hand, Treneu the fingers of the right hand, Balbel the fingers of the left hand, Krima the fingernails, Astrops the right breast, Barroph the left breast, Baoum the right shoulder joint, Ararim the left shoulder joint, Areche the belly, Phthaue the navel, Senaphim the abdomen, Arachethopi the right ribs, Zabedo the left ribs, Barias the right hip, Phnouth the left hip, Abenlenarchei the marrow, Chnoumeninorin the bones, Gesole the stomach, Agromauma the heart, Bano the lungs, Sostrapal the liver, Anesimalar the spleen, Thopithro the intestines, Biblo the kidneys, Roeror the sinews, Taphreo the backbone, Ipouspoboba the veins, Bineborin the arteries, Aatoimenpsephei the breaths in all the limbs, Entholleia all the flesh, Bedouk the right buttock, Arabeei the left buttock, . . . the penis, Eilo the testicles, Sorma the genitals, Gormakaiochlabar the right thigh, Nebrith the left thigh, Pserem the muscles of the right leg, Asaklas the muscle of the left, Ormaoth the right leg, Emenun the left leg, Knux the right shin, Tupelon the left shin, Achiel the right ankle, Phneme the left ankle, Phiouthrom the right foot, Boabel its toes, Trachoun the left foot, Phikna its toes, Miamai the toenails, Labernioum. . . . Those who are appointed over all these are seven in number: Athoth, Armas, Kalila, Yabel, Sabaoth, Cain, Abel. Those who activate the limbs are, part by part: the head, Diolimodraza, the neck, Yammeax, the right shoulder, Yakouib, the left shoulder, Ouerton, the right hand, Oudidi, the left one, Arbao, the fingers of the right hand, Lampno, the fingers of the left hand, Leekaphar, the right breast, Barbar, the left breast, Imae, the chest, Pisandraptes, the right shoulder joint, Koade, the left shoulder joint, Odeor, the right ribs, Asphixix, the left ribs, Sunogchouta, the abdomen, Arouph, the womb, Sabalo, the right thigh, Charcharb, the left thigh, Chthaon, all the genitals, Bathinoth, the right leg, Choux, the left leg, Charcha, the right shin, Aroer, the left shin, Toechtha, the right ankle, Aol, the left ankle, Charaner, the right foot, Bastan, its toes, Archentechtha, the left foot, Marephnounth, its toes, Abrana. Seven have been empowered over all these: Michael, Uriel, Asmenedas, Saphasatoel, Aarmouriam, Richram, Amiorps. Those who are over the senses are Archendekta, the one who is over perception is Deitharbathas, the one who is over imagination is Oummaa, the one who is over arrangement is Aachiaram, the one who is over all impulse to action is Riaramnacho. The source of the demons that are in the entire body is divided into four: heat, cold, wetness, dryness. The mother of them all is matter. The one who is lord over heat is Phloxopha, the one who is lord over cold is Oroorrothos, the one who is lord over what is dry is Erimacho, the one who is lord over wetness is Athuro. The mother of all these, Onorthochras, stands in the midst of them, for she is unlimited and mingles with them all. She is matter, and by her they are nourished. The four principal demons are: Ephememphi, the demon of pleasure, Yoko, the demon of desire, Nenentophni, the demon of grief, Blaomen, the demon of fear. The mother of them all is Esthesis-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. From the four demons have come passions: From grief come jealousy, envy, pain, trouble, distress, hardheartedness, anxiety, sorrow, and others. From pleasure comes an abundance of evil, vain conceit, and the like. From desire come anger, wrath, bitterness, intense lust, greed, and the like. From fear come terror, servility, anguish, and shame. All these are like virtues and vices. The insight into their true nature is Anaro, who is head of the material soul, and it dwells with Esthesis-Z-Ouch-Epi-Ptoe. This is the number of angels. In all they number 365. They all worked together until, limb by limb, the psychical and material body was completed. Now, there are others over the remaining passions, and I have not told you about them. If you want to know about them, the information is recorded in the Book of Zoroaster.

(84) When God had thus gently incorporated it, or compacted it together, then it found and felt itself to be mighty and powerful, and saw that it had or possessed a body more beautiful than the figures were, that were without, distinct from it; thereupon it became high minded, and elevated itself in its body, and would be more severe and eager than the Salitter was, which was without, distinct from its body.

(1) HENRIE STEPHEN, in A World of Wonders, published in 1607, mentions a monk of St. Anthony who declared that while in Jerusalem the patriarch of that city had shown him not only one of the ribs of the Word made flesh and some rays from the Star of Bethlehem, but also the snout of a seraph, a finger nail of a cherub, the horns of Moses, and a casket containing the breath of Christ! To a people believing implicitly in a seraph sufficiently tangible to have its proboscis preserved, the more profound issues of Judaistic philosophy must necessarily be incomprehensible. Nor is it difficult to imagine the reaction taking place in the mind of some ancient sage should he hear that a cherub--which, according to St. Augustine, signifies the Evangelists; according to Philo Judæus, the outermost circumference of the entire heavens, and according to several of the Church Fathers, the wisdom of God--had sprouted finger nails. The hopeless confusion of divine principles with the allegorical figures created to represent them to the limited faculties of the uninitiated has resulted in the most atrocious misconceptions of spiritual truths. Concepts well-nigh as preposterous as these, however, still stand as adamantine barriers to a true understanding of Old and New Testament symbolism; for, until man disentangles his reasoning powers from the web of venerated absurdities in which his mind has lain ensnared for centuries, how can Truth ever be discovered?

(17) An important part of our knowledge of God arises from the study and contemplation of our own bodies, which reveal to us the power, wisdom, and love of the Creator. His power, in that from a mere drop He has built up the wonderful frame of man; His wisdom is revealed in its intricacies and the mutual adaptability of its parts; and His love is shown by His not only supplying such organs as are absolutely necessary for existence, as the liver, the heart, and the brain, but those which are not absolutely necessary, as the hand, the foot, the tongue, and the eye. To these He has added, as ornaments, the blackness of the hair, the redness of lips, and the curve of the eyebrows.

(36) Let us pause here for a moment, before passing on to the consideration of the higher forms of animal-life. The purpose of the pause is to call your attention to the resemblance of the Monera and the Amoebae to the cells of which the human body is composed. The ordinary cells of the higher animal, and mankind, closely resemble the Monera in many ways, while the white corpuscles of the blood of animals and men bear a striking resemblance to the Amoebae, so far as is concerned their size, general structure, and movements—in fact, science classes them as "amoeboids." The white corpuscles of our blood—these "amoeboids"—change their shape, take food in an intelligent manner, and live an apparently independent life, with movements showing undoubted "thought" and "will." The cells of which the bodies of animals and men are composed are really independent living creatures, each of which is possessed of sufficient "mind" to enable it to perform its necessary life-work and offices. By means of the operation of what occultists know as the "group mind" by which a number of independent cells coordinate their activities, these cells perform the coordinated work of the organism. Each of these cell-minds manifests a perfect adaptation for its particular work. The work of those cells, in extracting from the blood the exact amount of nourishment needed by it, is but a minor evidence of the presence of such mind in them. The process of digestion, assimilation, etc., is another instance of the intelligence of the cells and cell-groups. In the healing of wounds, in which the cells rush to the points at which their services are needed, we have a striking instance of the selective intelligence of the cells. The cells of the body are constantly at work, performing the multitudinous offices of the organism, working separately, in small groups, and in great groups, according to the nature of the work to be done.

(22) The Egyptians occasionally represented the Phœnix as having the body of a man and the wings of a bird. This biform, creature had a tuft of feathers upon its head and its arms were upraised in an attitude of prayer. As the phœnix was the symbol of regeneration, the tuft of feathers on the back of its head might well symbolize the activity of the Pineal gland, or third eye, the occult function of which was apparently well understood by the ancient priestcraft.

(35) Next in the rising scale of animal life we find the Amoeba. This creature also is a one-celled animal. It progresses by a continuous projection of "false feet" and a subsequent drawing-in of the same, which gives it the appearance of a many-fingered, or many-footed thing. This creature has the beginning of "parts" and "organs." In the first place it has a "nucleus" at its centre, and also an expanding and contracting cavity within itself which it uses for holding, digesting, and distributing its food—a rudimentary stomach, so to speak. It also has something like a "skin" on its surface, and it cannot be turned "inside out" like its brother the Moneron without disturbing its life.

(6) Primitive peoples believed the sea and land were inhabited by strange creatures, and early books on zoology contain curious illustrations of composite beasts, reptiles, and fishes, which did not exist at the time the mediæval authors compiled these voluminous books. In the ancient initiatory rituals of the Persian, Greek, and Egyptian Mysteries the priests disguised themselves as composite creatures, thereby symbolizing different aspects of human consciousness. They used birds and reptiles as emblems of their various deities, often creating forms of grotesque appearance and assigning to them imaginary traits, habits, and places of domicile, all of which were symbolic of certain spiritual and transcendental truths thus concealed from the profane. The phœnix made its nest of incense and flames. The unicorn had the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a wild boar. The upper half of the centaur's body was human and the lower half equine. The pelican of the Hermetists fed its young from its own breast, and to this bird were assigned other mysterious attributes which could have been true only allegorically.

(4) Long before the introduction of idolatry into religion, the early priests caused the statue of a man to be placed in the sanctuary of the temple. This human figure symbolized the Divine Power in all its intricate manifestations. Thus the priests of antiquity accepted man as their textbook, and through the study of him learned to understand the greater and more abstruse mysteries of the celestial scheme of which they were a part. It is not improbable that this mysterious figure standing over the primitive altars was made in the nature of a manikin and, like certain emblematic hands in the Mystery schools, was covered with either carved or painted hieroglyphs. The statue may have opened, thus showing the relative positions of the organs, bones, muscles, nerves, and other parts. After ages of research, the manikin became a mass of intricate hieroglyphs and symbolic figures. Every part had its secret meaning. The measurements formed a basic standard by means of which it was possible to measure all parts of cosmos. It was a glorious composite emblem of all the knowledge possessed by the sages and hierophants.