(103) The Nymphs of the Fountains, and all the Water Spirits, and terrestrial, aërial and astral forms, are the Lunar Riders and Rulers of all Matter, the Celestial, the Starry, and that which lieth in the Abysses.

(77) There are certain Water Elementals whom Orpheus calls Nereides, dwelling in the more elevated exhalations of Water, such as appear in damp, cloudy Air, whose bodies are sometimes seen (as Zoroaster taught) by more acute eyes, especially in Persia and Africa.

The FUMIGATION from MYRRH. O Thou, who doff the roots of Ocean keep In seats cærulean, dæmon of the deep, With fifty nymphs (attending in thy train, Fair virgin artists) glorying thro' the main: The dark foundation of the rolling sea And Earth's wide bounds, belong much-fam'd to thee; Great dæmon, source of all, whose pow'r can make The Earth's unmeasur'd, holy basis shake, When blust'ring winds in secret caverns pent, By thee excited, struggle hard for vent: Come, blessed Nereus, listen to my pray'r, And cease to shake the earth with wrath severe; Send on our sacred rites abundant health, With peace divine and necessary wealth. Next: XXIII: To the Nereids Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXI: To the Sea, or Tethys Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXIII: To the Nereids » Sacred Texts | Classics

(75) There are certain Irrational Demons (mindless elementals), which. derive their subsistence from the Aërial Rulers; wherefore the Oracle saith, Being the Charioteer of the Aërial, Terrestrial and Aquatic Dogs.

(76) The Aquatic when applied to Divine Natures signifies a Government inseparable from Water, and hence the Oracle calls the Aquatic Gods, Water Walkers.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. DAUGHTERS of Nereus, resident in caves Merg'd deep in Ocean, sporting thro' the waves; Fanatic fifty nymphs, who thro' the main Delight to follow in the Triton's train, Rejoicing close behind their cars to keep; Whose forms half wild, are nourish'd by the deep, With other nymphs of different degree Leaping and wand'ring thro' the liquid sea: Bright, wat'ry dolphins, sonorous and gay, Well pleas'd to sport with bachanalian play; Nymphs beauteous-ey'd, whom sacrifice delights, Send rich abundance on our mystic rites; For you at first disclos'd the rites divine, Of holy Bacchus and of Proserpine, Of fair Calliope from whom I spring, And of Apollo bright, the Muse's king. Next: XXIV: To Proteus Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXII: To Nereus Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XXIV: To Proteus » Sacred Texts | Classics

(60) For in the first four qualifying or fountain Spirits stand the divine Birth or Geniture; therefore they must be very earnest, and strong also, though they have among them too their meek Mother, the sweet Water, and in the Fifth stands the gracious, amiable and blessed Love, and in the Sixth the Joy, and in the Seventh the Framing, Imaging, or Comprehensibility.

The FUMIGATION from MYRRH HEAR, Neptune, ruler of the sea profound, Whose liquid grasp begirts the solid ground; Who, at the bottom of the stormy main, Dark and deep-bosom'd, hold'st thy wat'ry reign; Thy awful hand the brazen trident bears, And ocean's utmost bound, thy will reveres: Thee I invoke, whose steeds the foam divide, From whose dark locks the briny waters glide; Whose voice loud founding thro' the roaring deep, Drives all its billows, in a raging heap; When fiercely riding thro' the boiling sea, Thy hoarse command the trembling waves obey. Earth shaking, dark-hair'd God, the liquid plains (The third division) Fate to thee ordains, 'Tis thine, cærulian dæmon, to survey Well pleas'd the monsters of the ocean play, Confirm earth's basis, and with prosp'rous gales Waft ships along, and swell the spacious sails; Add gentle Peace, and fair-hair'd Health beside, And pour abundance in a blameless tide. Next: XVII: To Pluto Sacred Texts | Classics « Previous: The Initiations of Orpheus: XV: To Juno Index Next: The Initiations of Orpheus: XVII: To Pluto » Sacred Texts | Classics

The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE and MANNA. TETHYS I call, with eyes cærulean bright, Hid in a veil obscure from human sight; Great Ocean's empress, wand'ring thro' the deep, And pleas'd with gentle gales, the earth to sweep; Whose blessed waves in swift succession go, And lash the rocky shore with endless flow: Delighting in the Sea serene to play, In ships exulting and the wat'ry way. Mother of Venus, and of clouds obscure, Great nurse of beasts, and source of fountains pure. O venerable Goddess, hear my pray'r, And make benevolent my life thy care; Send, blessed queen, to ships a prosp'rous breeze, And waft them safely o'er the stormy seas.

(98) The Oracles delivered by the Gods celebrate the essential fountain of every Soul; the Empyrean, the Ethereal and the Material. This fountain they separate from (Zoogonothea) the vivifying Goddess (Rhea), from whom (suspending the whole of Fate) they make two series or orders; the one animastic, or belonging to the Soul, and the other belonging to Fate. They assert that the Soul is derived from the animastic series, but that sometimes it becometh subservient to Fate, when passing into an irrational condition of being,: it becometh subject to Fate instead of to Providence.

(92) Timaeus: And the fourth kind, which lives in the water, came from the most utterly thoughtless and stupid of men, whom those that remolded them deemed no longer worthy even of pure respiration, seeing that they were unclean of soul through utter wickedness; wherefore in place of air, for refined and pure respiring, they thrust them into water, there to respire its turbid depths. Thence have come into being the tribe of fishes and of shellfish and all creatures of the waters, which have for their portion the extremest of all abodes in requital for the extremity of their witlessness. Thus, both then and now, living creatures keep passing

(8) This, too, is said, that the creatures of the waters live also specially under its guardianship.

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.

(108) Thou canst kindle Wood, that it give Light, for the Water is chief upper Regent or Predominant therein; so likewise in all Sorts of Herbs on Earth, wherein the sweet Water is predominant.