(43) The homely onion was revered by the Egyptians as a symbol of the universe because its rings and layers represented the concentric planes into which creation was divided according to the Hermetic Mysteries. It was also regarded as possessing great medicinal virtue. Because of peculiar properties resulting from its pungency, the garlic plant was a powerful agent in transcendental magic. To this day no better medium has been found for the treatment of obsession. Vampirism and certain forms of insanity--especially those resulting from mediumship and the influences of elemental larvæ--respond immediately to the use of garlic. In the Middle Ages, its presence in a house was believed to ward off all evil powers.

(2) Let me bring to thee grains of incense wherewith I may purify myself and may also purify thine own overflow

(29) In the center of the room, almost against the partition leading into the Holy of Holies, stood the Altar of Burnt Incense, made of wood overlaid with golden plates. Its width and length were each a cubit and its height was two cubits. This altar was symbolic of the human larynx, from which the words of man's mouth ascend as an acceptable offering unto the Lord, for the larynx occupies the position in the constitution of man between the Holy Place, which is the trunk of his body, and the Holy of Holies, which is the head with its contents.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. BACCHUS Pericionius, hear my pray'r, Who mad'st the house of Cadmus once thy care, With matchless force, his pillars twining round, (When burning thunders shook the solid ground, In flaming, founding torrents borne along), Propt by thy grasp indissolubly strong. Come mighty Bacchus to these rites inclin'd, And bless thy suppliants with rejoicing mind.

(55) And there it is to be proved whether the smell be a good smell or savour, pleasing to man's constitution and complexion, or no: If it be good, then the counsellor bringeth the same to its mother, that the smell may be brought to effect; if it be not good, then is it expelled and thrust away.

(21) Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without, make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

The Fumigation from AROMATICS OCEAN I call, whose nature ever flows, From whom at first both Gods and men arose; Sire incorruptible, whose waves surround, 3 And earth's concluding mighty circle bound: Hence every river, hence the spreading sea, And earth's pure bubbling fountains spring from thee: Hear, mighty fire, for boundless bliss is thine, Whose waters purify the pow'rs divine: Earth's friendly limit, fountain of the pole, Whose waves wide spreading and circumfluent roll. Approach benevolent, with placid mind, And be for ever to thy mystics kind.

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.

(22) But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. VOCIFEROUS Bacchanalian Furies, hear! Ye, I invoke, dread pow'rs, whom all revere; Nightly, profound, in secret who retire, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara dire: Deep in a cavern merg'd, involv'd in night, Near where Styx flows impervious to the sight; Ever attendant on mysterious rites, Furious and fierce, whom Fate's dread law delights; Revenge and sorrows dire to you belong, Hid in a savage veil, severe and strong, Terrific virgins, who forever dwell Endu'd with various forms, in deepest hell; Aerial, and unseen by human kind, And swiftly coursing, rapid as the mind. In vain the Sun with wing'd refulgence bright, In vain the Moon, far darting milder light, Wisdom and Virtue may attempt in vain; And pleasing, Art, our transport to obtain Unless with these you readily conspire, And far avert your all-destructive ire. The boundless tribes of mortals you descry, And justly rule with Right's impartial eye. Come, snaky-hair'd, Fates many-form'd, divine, Suppress your rage, and to our rites incline.

(6) I bring in offering to you perfume, incense and natron. Stop ye the outpourings of your hearts against me. I am come to put a stop to all the wrong things which are in your hearts, and to do away with the false charges which have been made to you