Then justice created the beautiful paradise. It is outside the circuit of the moon and the circuit of the sun in the luxuriant earth, which is in the east in the midst of stones. And desire is in the midst of trees, since they are beautiful and appealing. And the tree of immortal life, as it was revealed by the will of god, is in the north of paradise to give life to the immortal saints, who will come out of the fashioned bodies of poverty in the consummation of the age. Now, the color of the tree of life is like the sun, and its branches are beautiful. Its leaves are like those of the cypress, and its fruit is like clusters of white grapes. Its height rises up to heaven. And next to it is the tree of knowledge, possessing the power of god. Its glory is like the moon shining forth brilliantly, and its branches are beautiful. Its leaves are like fig leaves, and its fruit is like good, delicious dates. And this tree is in the north of paradise to raise up the souls from the stupor of the demons, so they might come to the tree of life and eat its fruit and condemn the authorities and their angels. The effect of this tree is described in the Holy Book as follows: You are the tree of knowledge, which is in paradise, from which the first man ate and which opened his mind, so that he loved his female partner, and condemned other alien likenesses, and loathed them. Now, after this there sprouted up the olive tree, which was to purify kings and chief priests of justice, who will appear in the last days. The olive tree appeared in the light of the first Adam for the sake of the anointing that they will receive.

(3) On the mythological tree in heaven which produces both wind and water, that is the rain-cloud, see my Egyptian Mythology, particularly with reference to Mist and Cloud , in Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch. , Vol. VIII

(3) But soon the facts shall be the Naiades Who shall this difficult enigma solve, Without destruction of the flocks and harvests. Note thou; and even as by me are uttered These words, so teach them unto those who live That life which is a running unto death; And bear in mind, whene'er thou writest them, Not to conceal what thou hast seen the plant, That twice already has been pillaged here. Whoever pillages or shatters it, With blasphemy of deed offendeth God, Who made it holy for his use alone. For biting that, in pain and in desire Five thousand years and more the first-born soul Craved Him, who punished in himself the bite. Thy genius slumbers, if it deem it not For special reason so pre-eminent In height, and so inverted in its summit. And if thy vain imaginings had not been Water of Elsa round about thy mind, And Pyramus to the mulberry, their pleasure, Thou by so many circumstances only The justice of the interdict of God Morally in the tree wouldst recognize.

(27) Of trees the myrtle and date, on which model, it is said, trees were formed, are worth all the trees of Khvanîras, except the Gôkard tree with which they restore the dead.

(5) Here is the Cycle of the gods, and the Kite of Osiris

(4) The branches either stand as the symbol of the first food, or they are that the multitude may know that fruits spring and grow universally, remaining a very long time; but that the duration of life allotted to themselves is brief. And it is on this account that they will have it that the branches are given; and perhaps also that they may know, that as these, on the other hand, are burned, so also they themselves speedily leave this life, and will become fuel for fire.

(1) Whence also the Egyptians did not entrust the mysteries they possessed to all and sundry, and did not divulge the knowledge of divine things to the profane; but only to those destined to ascend the throne, and those of the priests that were judged the worthiest, from their nurture, culture, and birth. Similar, then, to the Hebrew enigmas in respect to concealment, are those of the Egyptians also. Of the Egyptians, some show the sun on a ship, others on a crocodile. And they signify hereby, that the sun, making a passage through the delicious and moist air, generates time; which is symbolized by the crocodile in some other sacerdotal account. Further, at Diospolis in Egypt, on the temple called Pylon, there was figured a boy as the symbol of production, and an old man as that of decay. A hawk, on the other hand, was the symbol of God, as a fish of hate; and, according to a different symbolism, the crocodile; of impudence. The whole symbol, then, when put together, appears to teach this: "Oh ye who are born and die, God hates impudence."

The FUMIGATION from STORAX. Call Thesmophorus *, spermatic God, Of various names, who bears the leafy rod: Mises, ineffable, pure, sacred queen, Two-fold Iacchus, male and female seen: Illustr'ous, whether to rejoice is thine In incense offer'd, in the fane divine +; Or if in Phrygia most thy soul delights, Performing with thy mother sacred rites; Or if the land of Cyprus is thy care, Well pleas'd to dwell with Cytherea fair; Or if exulting in the fertile plains With thy dark mother Isis, where she reigns, 12 With nurses pure attended, near the flood Of sacred Egypt, thy divine abode: Wherever resident, blest pow'r attend, And with benignant mind these labours end.

(8) Wherefore the wisest of the Egyptian priests decided that the temple of Athene should be hypaethral, just as the Hebrews constructed the temple without an image. And some, in worshipping God, make a representation of heaven containing the stars; and so worship, although Scripture says, "Let of Eurysus the Pythagorean, which is as follows, who in his book On Fortune, having said that the "Creator, on making man, took Himself as an exemplar," added, "And the body is like the other things, as being made of the same material, and fashioned by the best workman, who wrought it, taking Himself as the archetype." And, in fine, Pythagoras and his followers, with Plato also, and most of the other philosophers, were best acquainted with the Lawgiver, as may be concluded from their doctrine. And by a happy utterance of divination, not without divine help, concurring in certain prophetic declarations, and, seizing the truth in portions and aspects, in terms not obscure, and not going beyond the explanation of the things, they honoured it on as pertaining the appearance of relation with the truth. Whence the Hellenic philosophy is like the torch of wick which men kindle, artificially stealing the light from the sun. But on the proclamation of the Word all that holy light shone forth. Then in houses by night the stolen light is useful; but by day the fire blazes, and all the night is illuminated by such a sun of intellectual light.

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

(5) Secured by reason of the writing with gum mixed with colours upon a strip of royal papyrus, put at the throat of the deceased on the day of burial. If these phylacteries are put at his throat, he will rise up as one of the Divine Circle, and be united to the followers of Horus, whilst his Lamp is made firm by Isis in heaven beside Sothis. He followeth Horus who resideth in Sothis. His Shade becometh divine as well as human. Vegetation is made to grow out of his body through the goddess Menkit. He becometh a god for ever, and his limbs are made vigorous in the Netherworld through Thoth, who hath done the like to Osiris, in causing the light to rise out of his dead body; undeviatingly and for times infinite

(60) Now Christians know how they can, by the power of this Tree, press out from their death, through his death, to him into his life, and reign and live with him, wherein they also, with their pressing through with their new birth out from this dead body, can be with him in heaven.

(5) So he with greater strides departed from us; And on the road remained I with those two, Who were such mighty marshals of the world. And when before us he had gone so far Mine eyes became to him such pursuivants As was my understanding to his words, Appeared to me with laden and living boughs Another apple-tree, and not far distant, From having but just then turned thitherward. People I saw beneath it lift their hands, And cry I know not what towards the leaves, Like little children eager and deluded, Who pray, and he they pray to doth not answer, But, to make very keen their appetite, Holds their desire aloft, and hides it not. Then they departed as if undeceived; And now we came unto the mighty tree Which prayers and tears so manifold refuses. "Pass farther onward without drawing near; The tree of which Eve ate is higher up, And out of that one has this tree been raised." Thus said I know not who among the branches; Whereat Virgilius, Statius, and myself Went crowding forward on the side that rises.

(5) They had the appearance of youths, when those who came to offer gifts saw them. Then the persecution of the young of the birds and of the deer began, and the fruit of the chase was received by the priests and sacrificers. And when they found the young of the birds and the deer, they went at once to place the blood of the deer and of the birds in the mouths of the stones, that were Tohil and Avilix. As soon as the blood had been drunk by the gods, the stones spoke, when the priests and the sacrificers came, when they came to bring their offerings. And they did the same before their symbols, burning pericón and holom-ocox.

(28) And it is the Gate of the Lily, concerning which the Spirit witnesses, that it will hereafter grow in the wrathful Tree, and when it grows, it will bring us true Knowledge, by its pleasant and fragrant Smell, in the Holy Trinity; by which Smell Antichrist will be stifled, and the Tree of the stern Anger be broken down, and the Beast enraged, which has its flight and Strength from the Tree for a Time, till it be dry and fiery, because it can get no more Sap from the wrathful Tree that is broken down; and then it will smell [or lift up itself] in the [fierce, tart] Wrath against the Tree, and the Lily, till the Tree of which the Beast did eat and was strong) destroys the Beast, and his Power remains in the Fire of the Originality. And then all Doors [will] stand open in the great Tree of Nature, and the Priest Aaron [will] give his Garment and fair Ornament to the Lamb, that was slain and is [alive] again.

(5) Wishing to express Sun in writing, they make a circle; and Moon, a figure like the Moon, like its proper shape. But in using the figurative style, by transposing and transferring, by changing and by transforming in many ways as suits them, they draw characters. In relating the praises of the kings in theological myths, they write in anaglyphs. Let the following stand as a specimen of the third species - the Enigmatic. For the rest of the stars, on account of their oblique course, they have figured like the bodies of serpents; but the sun, like that of a beetle, because it makes a round figure of ox-dung, and rolls it before its face. And they say that this creature lives six months under ground, and the other division of the year above ground, and emits its seed into the ball, and brings forth; and that there is not a female beetle. All then, in a word, who have spoken of divine things, both Barbarians and Greeks, have veiled the first principles of things, and delivered the truth in enigmas, and symbols, and allegories, and metaphors, and such like tropes. Such also are the oracles among the Greeks. And the Pythian Apollo is called Loxias. Also the maxims of those among the Greeks called wise men, in a few sayings indicate the unfolding of matter of considerable importance. Such certainly is that maxim, "Spare Time:" either because life is short, and we ought not to expend this time in vain; or, on the other hand, it bids you spare your personal expenses; so that, though you live many years, necessaries may not fail you. Similarly also the maxim "Know thyself" shows many things; both that thou art mortal, and that thou wast born a human being; and also that, in comparison with the other excellences of life, thou art of no account, because thou sayest that thou art rich or renowned; or, on the other hand, that, being rich or renowned, you are not honoured on account of your advantages alone. And it says, Know for what thou wert born, and whose image thou art; and what is thy essence, and what thy creation, and what thy relation to God, and the like. And the Spirit says by Isaiah the prophet, "I will give thee treasures, hidden, dark." Now wisdom, hard to hunt, is the treasures of God and unfailing riches. But those, taught in theology by those prophets, the poets, philosophize much by way of a hidden sense. I mean Orpheus, Linus, Musaeus, Homer, and Hesiod, and those in this fashion wise. The persuasive style of poetry is for them a veil for the many.

The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. ILLUSTRIOUS Themis, of celestial birth, Thee I invoke, young blossom of the earth; 2 Beauteous-eyed virgin; first from thee alone, Prophetic oracles to men were known, Giv'n from the deep recesses of the fane In sacred Pytho, where renown'd you reign; From thee, Apollo's oracles arose, And from thy pow'r his inspiration flows. Honour'd by all, of form divinely bright, Majestic virgin, wand'ring in the night: Mankind from thee first learnt initial rites, And Bacchus' nightly choirs thy soul delights; For holy honours to disclose is thine, With all the culture of the pow'rs divine. Be present, Goddess, to my pray'r inclin'd, And bless the mystic rites with fav'ring mind.

(65) But seeing men now, at the end of this time, do listen and long very much after the root of the tree, through which nature sheweih that the time of the discovery of the tree is at hand, therefore the spirit will shew it to them. And the whole Deity will reveal itself, which is the Dayspring, Dawning, or Morning- redness, and the breakingforth of the great day of God, in which whatsoever is generated from death to the regeneration of life shall be restored and rise again.

(65) Because from these mysterious compositions comes life, That staff becomes a serpent and divides the Nile, Like the staff of Ha, Mim, by the grace of God. Its outward form resembles the outward forms of others, Yet the disk of a cake differs much from the moon's disk. The saint's weeping and laughter and speech Are not his own, but proceed from God. Whereas fools look only to outward appearances, These mysteries are totally hidden from them; Of necessity the real meaning is veiled from them,

(8) When even was come, he went out of the city. In the morning, as they came by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Jesus, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. Jesus answering saith,