The FUMIGATION from STORAX. O Universal mother, Ceres fam'd August, the source of wealth, and various nam'd: 2 Great nurse, all-bounteous, blessed and divine, Who joy'st in peace, to nourish corn is thine: Goddess of seed, of fruits abundant, fair, Harvest and threshing, are thy constant care; Who dwell'st in Eleusina's seats retir'd, Lovely, delightful queen, by all desir'd. Nurse of all mortals, whose benignant mind, First ploughing oxen to the yoke confin'd; And gave to men, what nature's wants require, With plenteous means of bliss which all desire. In verdure flourishing in honor bright, Assessor of great Bacchus, bearing light: Rejoicing in the reapers sickles, kind, Whose nature lucid, earthly, pure, we find. Prolific, venerable, Nurse divine, Thy daughter loving, holy Proserpine: A car with dragons yok'd, 'tis thine to guide, 19 And orgies singing round thy throne to ride: Only-begotten, much-producing queen, All flowers are thine and fruits of lovely green. Bright Goddess, come, with Summer's rich increase Swelling and pregnant, leading smiling Peace; Come, with fair Concord and imperial Health, And join with these a needful store of wealth.

The FUMIGATION from every kind of SEED, except BEANS and AROMATICS. O Goddess, Earth, of Gods and men the source, Endu'd with fertile, all destroying force; All-parent, bounding, whose prolific pow'rs, Produce a store of beauteous fruits and flow'rs, All-various maid, th' eternal world's strong base Immortal, blessed, crown'd with ev'ry grace; From whose wide womb, as from an endless root, Fruits, many-form'd, mature and grateful shoot. Deep bosom'd, blessed, pleas'd with grassy plains, Sweet to the smell, and with prolific rains. All flow'ry dæmon, centre of the world, Around thy orb, the beauteous stars are hurl'd With rapid whirl, eternal and divine, Whose frames with matchless skill and wisdom shine. Come, blessed Goddess, listen to my pray'r, And make increase of fruits thy constant care; With fertile Seasons in thy train, draw near, And with propitious mind thy suppliant hear.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. CERALIAN queen, of celebrated name, From whom both men, and Gods immortal came; Who widely wand'ring once, oppress'd with grief, In Eleusina's valley found'st relief, Discovering Proserpine thy daughter pure In dread Avernus, dismal and obscure; A sacred youth while thro' the world you stray Bacchus, attending leader of the way; The holy marriage of terrestrial Jove Relating, while oppress'd with grief you rove; Come, much invok'd, and to these rites inclin'd, Thy mystic suppliant bless, with fav'ring mind. Next: XLI: To Mises Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXXIX: To Ceres Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLI: To Mises » Sacred Texts | Classics

DAUGHTER of Jove, almighty and divine, Come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline: Only-begotten, Pluto's honor'd wife, 3 O venerable Goddess, source of life: 'Tis thine in earth's profundities to dwell, Fast by the wide and dismal gates of hell: Jove's holy offspring, of a beauteous mien, Fatal, with lovely locks, infernal queen: Source of the furies, whose blest frame proceeds From Jove's ineffable and secret seeds: Mother of Bacchus, Sonorous, divine, And many-form'd, the parent of the vine: The dancing Hours attend thee, essence bright, All-ruling virgin, bearing heav'nly light: Illustrious, horned, of a bounteous mind, 13 Alone desir'd by those of mortal kind. O, vernal queen, whom grassy plains delight, Sweet to the smell, and pleasing to the sight: Whose holy form in budding fruits we view, Earth's vig'rous offspring of a various hue: Espous'd in Autumn: life and death alone 21 To wretched mortals from thy power is known: For thine the task according to thy will, 23 Life to produce, and all that lives to kill. Hear, blessed Goddess, send a rich increase Of various fruits from earth, with lovely Peace; Send Health with gentle hand, and crown my life With blest abundance, free from noisy strife; Last in extreme old age the prey of Death, Dismiss we willing to the realms beneath, To thy fair palace, and the blissful plains Where happy spirits dwell, and Pluto reigns.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. DAUGHTERS of Jove and Themis, seasons bright, Justice, and blessed peace, and lawful right, Vernal and grassy, vivid, holy pow'rs, Whose balmy breath exhales in lovely flow'rs All-colour'd seasons, rich increase your care, Circling, for ever flourishing and fair: Invested with a veil of shining dew, A flow'ry veil delightful to the view: Attending Proserpine, when back from night, The Fates and Graces lead her up to light; When in a band-harmonious they advance, And joyful round her, form the solemn dance: With Ceres triumphing, and Jove divine; Propitious come, and on our incense shine; Give earth a blameless store of fruits to bear, And make a novel mystic's life your care. Next: XLIII: To Semele Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLI: To Mises Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLIII: To Semele » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from a Variety of ODORIFEROUS SUBSTANCES. Mother of Gods, great nurse of all, draw near, Divinely honor'd, and regard my pray'r: Thron'd on a car, by lions drawn along, By bull-destroying lions, swift and strong, Thou sway'st the sceptre of the pole divine, And the world's middle seat, much-fam'd, is thine. Hence earth is thine, and needy mortals share Their constant food, from thy protecting care: From thee at first both Gods and men arose; From thee, the sea and ev'ry river flows. Vesta, and source of good, thy name we find To mortal men rejoicing to be kind; For ev'ry good to give, thy soul delights; Come, mighty pow'r, propitious to our rites, All-taming, blessed, Phrygian saviour, come, Saturn's great queen, rejoicing in the drum. Celestial, ancient, life-supporting maid, Fanatic Goddess, give thy suppliant aid; With joyful aspect on our incense shine, And, pleas'd, accept the sacrifice divine.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. DAUGHTER of great Protogonus, divine, 1 Illustrious Rhea, to my pray'r incline, Who driv'st thy holy car with speed along, Drawn by fierce lions, terrible and strong. 4 Mother of Jove, whose mighty arm can wield Th' avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield. Drum-beating, frantic, of a splendid mien, 7 Brass-sounding, honor'd, Saturn's blessed queen. Thou joy'st in mountains and tumultuous fight, And mankind's horrid howlings, thee delight. War's parent, mighty, of majestic frame, Deceitful saviour, liberating dame. 12 Mother of Gods and men, from whom the earth And lofty heav'ns derive their glorious birth; Th' ætherial gales, the deeply spreading sea Goddess ærial form'd, proceed from thee. Come, pleas'd with wand'rings, blessed and divine, With peace attended on our labours shine; Bring rich abundance, and wherever found Drive dire disease, to earth's remotest bound.

HEAV'NLY, illustrious, laughter-loving queen, Sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien; Crafty, from whom necessity first came, Producing, nightly, all-connecting dame: 'Tis thine the world with harmony to join, For all things spring from thee, O pow'r divine. The triple Fates are rul'd by thy decree, And all productions yield alike to thee: Whate'er the heav'ns, encircling all contain, Earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main, Thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod, Awful attendant of the brumal God: Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight, Mother of Loves, whom banquetings delight; Source of persuasion, secret, fav'ring queen, Illustrious born, apparent and unseen: Spousal, lupercal, and to men inclin'd, Prolific, most-desir'd, life-giving., kind: Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, 'tis thine, Mortals in necessary bands to join; And ev'ry tribe of savage monsters dire In magic chains to bind, thro' mad desire. Come, Cyprus-born, and to my pray'r incline, Whether exalted in the heav'ns you shine, Or pleas'd in Syria's temple to preside, Or o'er th' Egyptian plains thy car to guide, Fashion'd of gold; and near its sacred flood, Fertile and fam'd to fix thy blest abode; Or if rejoicing in the azure shores, Near where the sea with foaming billows roars, The circling choirs of mortals, thy delight, Or beauteous nymphs, with eyes cerulean bright, Pleas'd by the dusty banks renown'd of old, To drive thy rapid, two-yok'd car of gold; Or if in Cyprus with thy mother fair, Where married females praise thee ev'ry year, And beauteous virgins in the chorus join, Adonis pure to sing and thee divine; Come, all-attractive to my pray'r inclin'd, For thee, I call, with holy, reverent mind.

(9) And Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, too, bore an illustrious son, Dionysus, the joy-inspiring, when she mingled with him in love." Cadmus, the father of Semele, came to Thebes in the time of Lynceus, and was the inventor of the Greek letters. Triopas was a contemporary of Isis, in the seventh generation from Inachus. And Isis, who is the same as Io, is so called, it is said, from her going (ienai) roaming over the whole earth. Her, Istrus, in his work on the migration of the Egyptians, calls the daughter of Prometheus. Prometheus lived in the time of Triopas, in the seventh generation after Moses. So that Moses appears to have flourished even before the birth of men, according to the chronology of the Greeks. Leon, who treated of the Egyptian divinities, says that Isis by the Greeks was called Ceres, who lived in the time of Lynceus, in the eleventh generation after Moses. And Apis the king of Argos built Memphis, as Aristippus says in the first book of the Arcadica. And Aristeas the Argive says that he was named Serapis, and that it is he that the Egyptians worship.

(41) Timaeus: and of Cronos and Rhea were born Zeus and Hera and all those who are, as we know, called their brethren; and of these again, other descendants. Now when all the gods, both those who revolve manifestly and those who manifest themselves so far as they choose, had come to birth, He that generated this All addressed them thus: “Gods of gods, those works whereof I am framer and father are indissoluble save by my will. For though all that is bound may be dissolved,

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. Daughter of Saturn, venerable dame, The seat containing of unweary'd flame; 2 In sacred rites these ministers are thine, Mystics much-blessed, holy and divine In thee, the Gods have fix'd place, Strong, stable, basis of the mortal race: Eternal, much-form'd ever-florid queen, Laughing and blessed, and of lovely mien; 8 Accept these rites, accord each just desire, And gentle health, and needful good inspire.

The FUMIGATION from a Poppy. SLEEP, king of Gods, and men of mortal birth, Sov'reign of all sustain'd by mother Earth; For thy dominion is supreme alone, O'er all extended, and by all things known. 'Tis thine all bodies with benignant mind In other bands than those of brass to bind: Tamer of cares, to weary toil repose, From whom sweet solace in affliction flows. Thy pleasing, gentle chains preserve the soul, And e'en the dreadful cares of death controul; For death and Lethe with oblivious stream, Mankind thy genuine brothers justly deem. With fav'ring aspect to my pray'r incline, And save thy mystics in their works divine. Next: LXXXV: To the Divinity of Dreams Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXXIII: To Vesta Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: LXXXV: To the Divinity of Dreams » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. NATURE, all parent, ancient, and divine, O Much-mechanic mother, art is thine; Heav'nly, abundant, venerable queen, In ev'ry part of thy dominions seen. Untam'd, all-taming, ever splendid light, All ruling, honor'd, and supremly bright. Immortal, first-born, ever still the same, Nocturnal, starry, shining, glorious dame. Thy feet's still traces in a circling course, By thee are turn'd, with unremitting force. Pure ornament of all the pow'rs divine, Finite and infinite alike you shine; 12 To all things common and in all things known, Yet incommunicable and alone. Without a father of thy wond'rous frame, Thyself the father whence thy essence came. All-flourishing, connecting, mingling soul, Leader and ruler of this mighty whole. Life-bearer, all-sustaining, various nam'd, And for commanding grace and beauty fam'd. Justice, supreme in might, whose general sway The waters of the restless deep obey. Ætherial, earthly, for the pious glad, Sweet to the good, but bitter to the bad. All-wife, all bounteous, provident, divine, A rich increase of nutriment is thine; Father of all, great nurse, and mother kind, Abundant, blessed, all-spermatic mind: Mature, impetuous, from whose fertile seeds And plastic hand, this changing scene proceeds. All-parent pow'r, to mortal eyes unseen, Eternal, moving, all-sagacious queen. By thee the world, whose parts in rapid flow, 33 Like swift descending streams, no respite know, On an eternal hinge, with steady course Is whirl'd, with matchless, unremitting force. Thron'd on a circling car, thy mighty hand Holds and directs, the reins of wide command. Various thy essence, honor'd, and the best, Of judgement too, the general end and test. Intrepid, fatal, all-subduing dame, Life-everlasting, Parca, breathing flame. Immortal, Providence, the world is thine, And thou art all things, architect divine. O blessed Goddess, hear thy suppliant's pray'r, And make my future life, thy constant care; Give plenteous seasons, and sufficient wealth, And crown my days with lasting, peace and health.

The FUMIGATION from STORAX. CADMEAN Goddess, universal queen, Thee, Semele I call, of beauteous mien; Deep-bosom'd, lovely flowing locks are thine, Mother of Bacchus, joyful and divine, The mighty offspring, whom love's thunder bright, Forc'd immature, and fright'ned into light: Born from the deathless counsels, secret, high, Of Jove Saturnian, regent of the sky Whom Proserpine permits to view the light, And visit mortals from the realms of night: Constant attending on the sacred rites, And feast triennial, which thy soul delights; When thy son's wond'rous birth mankind relate, And secrets deep, and holy celebrate. Now I invoke thee, great Cadmean queen, To bless these rites with countenance serene. Next: XLIV: To Dionysius Bassareus Triennalis Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLII: To the Seasons Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XLIV: To Dionysius Bassareus ... » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from MANNA. Hear me, Jove's daughter, celebrated queen, Bacchian and Titan, of a noble mien: In darts rejoicing and on all to shine, Torch-bearing Goddess, Dictynna divine; O'er births presiding, and thyself a maid, To labour-pangs imparting ready aid: Dissolver of the zone and wrinkl'd care, Fierce huntress, glorying in the Sylvan war: Swift in the course, in dreadful arrows skill'd, Wandering by night, rejoicing in the field: Of manly form, erect, of bounteous mind, Illustrious dæmon, nurse of human kind: Immortal, earthly, bane of monsters fell, 'Tis thine; blest maid, on woody hills to dwell: Foe of the stag, whom woods and dogs delight, In endless youth who flourish fair and bright. O, universal queen, august, divine, A various form, Cydonian pow'r, is thine: Dread guardian Goddess, with benignant mind Auspicious, come to mystic rites inclin'd Give earth a store of beauteous fruits to bear, Send gentle Peace, and Health with lovely hair, And to the mountains drive Disease and Care.

(111) And Pindar expressly introduces also Zeus Soter, the consort of Themis, proclaiming him King, Saviour, Just, in the following lines: "First, prudent Themis, of celestial birth, On golden steeds, by Ocean's rock, The Fates brought to the stair sublime, The shining entrance of Olympus, Of Saviour Zeus for aye to be the spouse, And she, the Hours, gold-diademed, fair-fruited, good, brought forth.''

(2) There are, then, [certain] Gods who are the principals of all the species. Of Heaven,—or of whatsoe’er it be that is embraced within the term,—the essence-chief is Zeus; for ’tis through Heaven that Zeus gives life to all. Sun’s essence-chief is light; for the good gift of light is poured on us through the Sun’s disk.