All posts by Leo

Gérard Encausse (Papus)

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Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (1865-1916) – pseudonym ‘Papus’ – the Spanish-born French physician, hypnotist, and populariser of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order. His family moved to Paris when he was 4 years old, and he was educated there. As a young man, Encausse spent a great deal of time at the Bibliothèque Nationale studying the Kabbalah, occult tarot, magic and alchemy, and the writings of Eliphas Lévi. He joined the French Theosophical Society shortly after it was founded by Madame Blavatsky in 1884–1885, but he resigned soon after joining because he disliked the Society’s emphasis on Eastern occultism.

 Papus is primarily remembered as an author of books on magic, Qabalah (Kabbalah) and the Tarot, and as a prominent figure in the various occultist organizations and Parisian spiritualist and literary circles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Encausse’s pseudonym “Papus” was taken from Eliphas Lévi’s “Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana” (supplement to Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie) and means “physician.”

The definition of Kabbalah varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its religious origin as an integral part of Judaism, to its later Christian, New Age, and Occultist/western esoteric syncretic adaptations. Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof (infinity) and the mortal and finite universe (God’s creation). It forms the foundations of mystical religious interpretation. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions. It also presents methods to aid understanding of the concepts and thereby attain spiritual realisation.

In 1888, Papus co-founded his own group, the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix. That same year, he and his friend Lucien Chamuel founded the Librarie du Merveilleux and its monthly revue L’Initiation, which remained in publication until 1914.

Encausse was also a member of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn temple in Paris (joining in 1895), as well as Memphis-Misraim and probably other esoteric or para-masonic organizations, as well as being an author of several occult books. He was also a spiritual student of the French spiritualist healer, Anthelme Nizier Philippe, “Maître Philippe de Lyon”.

Despite his heavy involvement in occultism and occultist groups, Encausse also pursued more conventional academic studies at the University of Paris. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1894, after which he opened a relatively successful clinic in the rue Rodin.

In 1891, Papus formed an organization commonly known as the Order of the Martinists, which was based on two extinct Masonic Rites: the Rite of Elus-Cohens or Elected Priests of Martinez Paschalis, or de Pasqually (c.1700-1774); and the Rectified Rite of Saint-Martin of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803). Papus claimed to have come into the possession of the original papers of de Pasqually and to have been given authority in the Rite of Saint-Martin by his friend Henri Viscount Delaage, who claimed that his maternal grandfather had been initiated into the order by Saint-Martin himself, and who had attempted to revive the order in 1887. The Martinist Order was to become a primary focus for Papus, and continues today as one of his most enduring legacies.

In 1893, Encausse was consecrated a bishop of l’Église Gnostique de France by Jules Doinel, who had founded this Church as an attempt to revive the Cathar religion in 1890. In 1895, Doinel abdicated as Primate of the French Gnostic Church, leaving control of the Church to a synod of three of his former bishops, one of whom was Encausse.

Encausse visited Russia three times, in 1901, 1905, and 1906, serving Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra both as physician and occult consultant. In October 1905, he allegedly conjured up the spirit of Alexander III, the Tsar Nicholas’s father, who prophesied that the Tsar would meet his downfall at the hands of revolutionaries. During their later correspondence, he warned them a number of times against the influence of Rasputin. Encausse’s followers allege that he informed the Tsar that he would be able to magically avert Alexander’s prophesy so long as Encausse was alive; Nicholas kept his hold on the throne of Russia until 141 days after Papus’s death.

Encausse opposed Masonry as being atheistic, in contrast to the Esoteric Christianity of the Gnostic Church, the Kabbalist Order of the Rose Cross and the Martinist Order. Despite this, he organized what was announced as an “International Masonic Conference” in Paris on June 24, 1908, and at this conference he received a patent from Theodor Reuss to establish a “Supreme Grand Council General of the Unified Rites of Antient and Primitive Masonry for the Grand Orient of France and its Dependencies at Paris.” When John Yarker died in 1913, Papus was elected as his successor to the office of Grand Hierophant (international head) of the Antient and Primitive Rites of Memphis and Mizraim.

When World War I broke out, Papus joined the French army medical corps. While working in a military hospital, he contracted tuberculosis and died in 1916, aged 51.

His works include:

Traité élementaire de science occulte (1888)
Le tarot des bohémiens (1889)
Traité méthodique de science occulte (1891)
Le tarot divinatoire (1909)
Traité méthodique de magie pratique (1932)
Le science des nombres (1934)
Elementary Treaty of Occult Science (1889)
Considerations on the Phenomena of Spiritualism (1890)
Methodical Treaty of Occult Sciences (1891)
Absolute Key to Occult Science: The Tarot of the Bohemians (1892)
The Science of the Magi and Its Theoretical and Practical Applications (1892)
Elementary Treaty of Practical Magic (1893)
Martines de Pasqually / His life – His Theurgic Practices – His Work His Disciples (1895)
Occultism and Spiritualism (1902)
Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin / His life – His Theurgic Path – His
Works – His disciples (1902)
The Kabbalah: Secret Tradition of the West (1903)
Science of the Magi and Its Theoretical and Practical Applications (1905)
Essay of Synthetic Physiology (1909)
First Elements of Astrosophy (1910)
First Elements of Human Morphology (1912)

Hieratic

Hieratic is script hieroglyphics. Below are some of the more popular signs in hieroglyphics, followed by the hieratic version (some with one or two options). Many of the characters changed over the centuries. These are all read from right to left. Hieroglyphics were usually from right to left, but sometimes written left to right. Hieratic was always written right to left. (link to site Jim Loy’s Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Egyptology Page (archive.org))

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Lesson 1- “Alphabetic” Signs (From

As with Hieroglyphics, the best place to start is to learn the “alphabetic” signs – those signs representing a single consonant.  Since most people using these lessons will probably already be familiar with Hieroglyphic writing, the following table gives correspondences between the Hieratic characters, and the equivalent Hieroglyphs (from which they are derived).  Since Hieratic was written from right to left, the signs (both Hieratic and Hieroglyphic) are shown facing right as they would in actual texts.
 
 

HieraticValueHieroglyph HieraticValueHieroglyph
A x
i X
a s
w s
b S
p q
f k
m g
n t
r T
h d
H D

The Hieratic form of  was originally , which you will notice corresponds with the other two bird signs  and , however this was gradually replaced by the sign given in the table above.

There was also a second form of  in Hieratic:  which was taken over into Hieroglyphic as .

Link to Stephan Fryer’s Lessons – Basic Lessons in Hieratic – Index (archive.org)

Benjamin Franklin’s List of 13 Virtues

Benjamin Franklin is famous for his list of 13 virtues, which he used as a personal code of conduct to help him live a moral and productive life. The virtues, as listed by Franklin in his autobiography, are:

  1. Temperance: Eat not to excess; drink not to excess; sleep not too little; neither too much. Avoid all kinds of excess.
  2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
  3. Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
  4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
  5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
  6. Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
  7. Sincerity: Use no hidden or dishonest dealings, but be open, plain, and honest in all your transactions.
  8. Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
  9. Modesty: Avoid vanity; be humble; avoid arrogance.
  10. Cleanliness: Keep both body and soul clean.
  11. Transquility: Be calm, quiet, and peaceful; avoid anger, impatience, and passion.
  12. Affability: Be friendly and kind to all; engage in cheerful conversation with every one.
  13. Gratitude: Be thankful for all the favors you receive.

These virtues were a significant influence on Franklin’s personal development and helped shape his character, making him one of America’s most influential founding fathers.

SOURCE: Mistral OpenAI Model

Twelve Zodiac Signs (by Aliza Kelly)

Triplicities refer to the four zodiac sign elements, of which there are three zodiac signs in each group: Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), and Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). Generally speaking, fire signs are passionate and exuberant, earth signs are practical and grounded, air signs are intellectual and curious, and water signs are intuitive and emotional.

Quadruplicities, also known as “modalities,” refer to the signs’ qualities and where each zodiac sign occurs within its respective season. There are three modalities, with four zodiac signs in each: Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) occur at the beginning of a new season, and are excellent at taking action and starting initiatives; Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) occur in the middle of seasons, and are known to be steady, consistent forces that maintain movement; and Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces) occur at the end of a season, and possess effortless fluidity well-suited to change and transformation.

  • Aries (March 21 – April 19)
  • Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
  • Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
  • Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
  • Leo (July 23 – August 22)
  • Virgo (August 23 – September 22)
  • Libra (September 23 – October 22)
  • Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
  • Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
  • Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
  • Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
  • Pisces (February 19 – March 20)

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

The first sign of the zodiac, Aries loves to be number one. Naturally, this dynamic fire sign is no stranger to competition. Bold and ambitious, Aries dives headfirst into even the most challenging situations—and they’ll make sure they always come out on top! 

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

What sign is more likely to take a six-hour bath, followed by a luxurious Swedish massage and decadent dessert spread? Why Taurus, of course! Taurus is an earth sign represented by the bull. Like their celestial spirit animal, Taureans enjoy relaxing in serene, bucolic environments surrounded by soft sounds, soothing aromas, and succulent flavors. 

Gemini (May 21 – June 20)

Have you ever been so busy that you wished you could clone yourself just to get everything done? That’s the Gemini experience in a nutshell. Spontaneous, playful, and adorably erratic, Gemini is driven by its insatiable curiosity. Appropriately symbolized by the celestial twins, this air sign was interested in so many pursuits that it had to double itself.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22)

Represented by the crab, Cancer seamlessly weaves between the sea and shore representing Cancer’s ability to exist in both emotional and material realms. Cancers are highly intuitive and their psychic abilities manifest in tangible spaces. But—just like the hard-shelled crustaceans—this water sign is willing to do whatever it takes to protect itself emotionally. In order to get to know this sign, you’re going to need to establish trust! 

Leo (July 23 – August 22)

Roll out the red carpet because Leo has arrived. Passionate, loyal, and infamously dramatic, Leo is represented by the lion and these spirited fire signs are the kings and queens of the celestial jungle. They’re delighted to embrace their royal status: Vivacious, theatrical, and fiery, Leos love to bask in the spotlight and celebrate… well, themselves. 

Virgo (August 23 – September 22)

You know the expression, “if you want something done, give it to a busy person?” Well, that definitely is the Virgo anthem. Virgos are logical, practical, and systematic in their approach to life. Virgo is an earth sign historically represented by the goddess of wheat and agriculture, an association that speaks to Virgo’s deep-rooted presence in the material world. This earth sign is a perfectionist at heart and isn’t afraid to improve skills through diligent and consistent practice.

Libra (September 23 – October 22)

Balance, harmony, and justice define Libra energy. As a cardinal air sign, Libra is represented by the scales (interestingly, the only inanimate object of the zodiac), an association that reflects Libra’s fixation on establishing equilibrium. Libra is obsessed with symmetry and strives to create equilibrium in all areas of life — especially when it comes to matters of the heart. 

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)

Elusive and mysterious, Scorpio is one of the most misunderstood signs of the zodiac. Scorpio is a water sign that uses emotional energy as fuel, cultivating powerful wisdom through both the physical and unseen realms. In fact, Scorpio derives its extraordinary courage from its psychic abilities, which is what makes this sign one of the most complicated, dynamic signs of the zodiac. 

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)

Oh, the places Sagittarius goes! But… actually. This fire sign knows no bounds. Represented by the archer, Sagittarians are always on a quest for knowledge. The last fire sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius launches its many pursuits like blazing arrows, chasing after geographical, intellectual, and spiritual adventures. 

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)

What is the most valuable resource? For Capricorn, the answer is clear: Time. Capricorn is climbing the mountain straight to the top and knows that patience, perseverance, and dedication is the only way to scale. The last earth sign of the zodiac, Capricorn, is represented by the sea-goat, a mythological creature with the body of a goat and the tail of a fish. Accordingly, Capricorns are skilled at navigating both the material and emotional realms. 

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)

Despite the “aqua” in its name, Aquarius is actually the last air sign of the zodiac. Innovative, progressive, and shamelessly revolutionary, Aquarius is represented by the water bearer, the mystical healer who bestows water, or life, upon the land. Accordingly, Aquarius is the most humanitarian astrological sign. At the end of the day, Aquarius is dedicated to making the world a better place. 

Pisces (February 19 – March 20)

If you looked up the word “psychic” in the dictionary, there would definitely be a picture of Pisces next to it. Pisces is the most intuitive, sensitive, and empathetic sign of the entire zodiac — and that’s because it’s the last of the last. As the final sign, Pisces has absorbed every lesson — the joys and the pain, the hopes and the fears — learned by all of the other signs. It’s symbolized by two fish swimming in opposite directions, representing the constant division of Pisces’ attention between fantasy and reality. 

SOURCE: https://www.allure.com/story/zodiac-sign-personality-traits-dates

The Azoth Symbols by John Sandbach

I have preserved this article for my personal studies. I do not embrace all of the details because my personal research is in progress. John is a very good artist has been studying for many years, so I have a great respect for his work.

The Azoth Symbols

Here are the Azoth Symbols. They energetically correspond to the Midheaven qualities of the degrees.
ARIES
1: Colored sheet lightning flickering in the depths of an opal.
2: Falling to earth a shadow opens up a dark passageway.
3: An enlightened being in a cave is gazing out into the world.
4: Letters formed of writhing glowing snakes.
5: Sowers of grain are singing.
6: Mathematical formulae on a blackboard are wiggling and dancing.
7: Carefully sculpted trees and beyond them a tangled forest.
8: Palms bending and twisting in a hurricane.
9: A man slowly grinding the picture off a stone.
10: A white column which, over time, has partially sunk into the rich soil of a meadow.
11: From a slowly moving swan rippled circles spread out over a pond.
12: A man falling asleep feels his fears melting away.
13: Nature devas fecundating a landscape.
14: Wise people discussing the best way to instrument changes in their society.
15: The search for dark matter.
16: Warmth and love spreading both ways from a handshake.
17: An ancient culture is transporting gigantic stones.
18: Space aliens inviting some humans to come and see their world.
19: The portrait of a man grows younger and younger.
20: By intuition a healer chooses the proper remedy.
21: A pirate hands a woman a large gold coin.
22: A teacher gives her students a vision of the structure of the universe.
23: A man decides to spend the rest of his life in sight of a range of sacred mountains.
24: Laying in summer grass a man falls asleep and dreams of love.
25: In a garden in paradise a tree laden with secrets.
26: After birth, a group of baby rabbits huddle together sleeping.
27: People coming and going freely between parallel universes.
28: In moonlight the marigolds’ color softens and cools.
29: Behind a wall a river is flowing.
30: A sage concocts a powerful elixir which heals people suffering from a plague.
TAURUS
1: Melodies from a stringed instrument recall the beauty of ancient times.
2: A seer on a ship who has the ability to accurately guide it.
3: People seeking the Garden of Love.
4: A bard sings a haunting lay.
5: A hidden compartment in a box.
6: Under a blazing sun lions resting in shade.
7: Research leads a man from one book to another.
8: Inspired by a landscape a poet composes an ode.
9: Far from land, fish are playing.
10: Deep in the jungle a panoply of colorful birds and flowers.
11: Suddenly a vista from the past opens up.
12: Idlers going wherever the river takes them.
13: Bright sunlight on white daisies.
14: A sage looking up toward the summit of a mountain.
XV: A coven of elders sharing a meal during the full moon.
XVI: a love that has steadily endured for many lifetimes.
XVII: A man striving to overcome limiting beliefs.
XVIII: A host of beings swarming erratically while others above them move together in graceful harmony.
XIX: A plot unfolds as an author writes.
XX: Thousands of miles apart two people are looking at the moon at the same time.
XXI: Strong winds knowing exactly where the sailors need to go.
XXII: A gem cutter’s tools carefully sharpened and polished.
XXIII: A man and woman reading the inscription at the base of an obelisk.
XIV: On the summer solstice at sunrise a seer observes an important omen.
XXV: People hearing the songs of a chorus of invisible women.
XXVI: A home built for the emperor’s afterlife.
XXVII: From despair and sorrow a mind soars into the realm of higher potential.
XXVIII: A ritual gathering to celebrate the completion of a gigantic labyrinth.
XXIX: A road comes to an end, but a woman and her dog find their way beyond it.
XXX: A yellow diamond in a setting which depicts both the Sun and Moon.
GEMINI
I: A large diamond found in an area where diamonds are never found.
II: In an alpine valley thousands of wildflowers blooming.
III: A visionary lies in a dark room as she waits for signs and messages.
IV: a man who can see through the eyes of a high-flying bird.
V: A vast prairie which seems like a still sea of grass.
VI: A book of formulas.
VII: A game of chance offering a fabulous prize.
VIII: A full moon brightens the arctic night.
IX: A man travels through a dreary land under a louring sky.
X: A group of friends perform folk songs.
XI: A woman plunges into a river and absorbs its renewing spirit.
XII: People in a space ship on the verge of beginning a journey to another world.
XIII: a collection of coins and medals from a people who mysteriously disappeared.
XIV: Journeyers trekking through mountain snow.
XV: Drummers creating complex overlays of rhythms.
XVI: A doctor giving an elixir infused with diamonds to a blind man.
XVII: A holy man with closed eyes is hovering in the air and gently smiling.
XVIII: Forgotten words of wisdom suddenly at the right time recalled.
XIX: At the tip of Africa a ship is deciding whether to go north or south.
XX: The closer one looks into a fish bowl the more it appears to be a veritable sea teeming with life.
XXI: A dog gone for many months returns.
XXII: In a darkened room people wait silently and expectantly for a medium to speak.
XXIII: After having read a poem many times a man finally sees a deeper meaning in it.
XXIV: An ancient enlightened one transformed into a young man comes down from the mountain.
XXV: The stars of a galaxy feeling the exhilaration of their combined movement.
XXVI: Woman helping a maiden to don her wedding dress.
XXVII: A delicate species forced to seek a safer environment.
XXVIII: In a dim room incense creates a soothing atmosphere.
XXIX: Novelists discussing each others’ works.
XXX: Angels helping humans to perceive and understand more clearly.
Cancer
I: Words seen for an instant on a leaf that suddenly blows away.
II: Before crossing the desert a man is buying camels.
III: High in the clouds the mirage of a crystalline lake.
IV: A child being schooled in the nature of the ego and how it creates suffering.
V: Characters from various books are laughing and joking with each other.
VI: A monk swinging a prayer wheel.
VII: Mythical stories being communicated through dances.
VIII: A seer has a vision of the Light’s ever-present and all-seeing eye.
IX: The sound of singing voices echoes through a dark, cavernous cathedral
X: A tree of ripe fruit discovered by hungry birds.
XI: A man in deep trance attuning to the center of our galaxy.
XII: In the dark depths of the ocean a glowing fish encountered.
XIII: An explorer sailing toward a wall of high, white cliffs.
XIV: A scroll on the wall. On it in calligraphy is a sacred text.
XV: A man seeing through veil after veil of illusion.
XVI: In white jugs dew from the sacred mountain.
XVII: A collection of vessels in a laboratory.
XVIII: A man playing traditional airs on an old lute.
XIX: A stuffed bird that is now extinct.
XX: A poet mesmerizing listeners with his wondrous poems.
XXI: A star sending a woman its healing radiance.
XXII: A dead poet’s poems finally published.
XXIII: A couple in a temple sense the presence of the spirits of enlightened beings.
XXIV: A man surprised by the reception of a precious gift.
XXV: In dreams a man visits fabled sites.
XXVI: At night angels implanting dreams of love and hope into the sleeping inhabitants of a city.
XXVII: The sky clouds over, causing shadows in a forest to disappear.
XXVIII: Men using their psychic powers to hurl spears great distances.
XXIX: A mechanical doll singing and dancing.
XXX: As a teacher teaches a school gradually appears around him.
Leo
I: A signet ring pressed into hot wax.
II: An argument over a detail of metaphysics.
III: A man teaching the practical application of spiritual principles.
IV: Ritual and prayer before the construction of a great temple.
V: Seekers arrive at a holy city.
VI: A glowing meteor speeding through the atmosphere.
VII: A pattern used to generate energy.
VIII: Bright flashes of electricity flashing through the atmosphere.
IX: An elaborate assemblage of symbols turns into a world.
X: Dreams vaguely beginning to appear on a screen.
XI: A milk maid feeding her cows.
XII: Golden teeth gleaming as a man laughs.
XIII: An enlightened one experiencing the eternal absolute underlying the ever-changing phenomena of physical existence.
XIV: Mist condensing on wildflowers.
XV: An engineer’s tools neatly arranged.
XVI: A messenger delivers an unexpected gift.
XVII: As people tend to look beyond shadows, lights begin to come out of their eyes.
XVIII: A cave in which people have lived for thousands of years.
XIX: All her life a woman sees mountains in the distance to which she has never gone.
XX: A gentle wise man attempting to resolve a conflict.
XXI: Runners flexing and warming up their legs.
XXII: A ring of violet fire protecting a man as it offers him inspiration.
XXIII: A plate covered with beautiful depictions of flowers.
XXIV: A nurse carefully notes the exact birth time of a baby.
XXV: While people sleep a blizzard blankets the forest.
XXVI: A man marks off a territory for himself.
XXVII: An author’s original intent is restored.
XXVIII: Young horses joyfully galloping across the land.
XXIX: An inventor of fireworks.
XXX: Fairies as tiny as mayflies dance in the sun’s rays.
Virgo
I: Hidden deep in the forest a grand white house with porches and columns on its facade.
II: Children tasting many different kinds of fruit which they are picking off trees.
III: Boat makers selecting the best trees.
IV: A message waiting to be received.
V: A world erected by the minds of dreamers working together.
VI: A window is opened which allows a bird to escape to freedom.
VII: A woman being taught magic by two witches.
VIII: Sacred trees create a protective aura around a temple.
IX: A man in a foreign country in disguise. He is entering a site forbidden to outsiders.
X: A geode broken open and full of bright crystals.
XI: Birds thought to be extinct are seen flocking in trees high in the mountains.
XII: A lightning bolt strikes an open palm bring new life to a man.
XIII: Many bridges connecting the two halves of a city.
XIV: Someone write a book of imaginary future history.
XV: In a forest quartz crystals hanging from trees.
XVI: The sun leeching oil from rose petals into water.
XVII: In the far north, sailors come to an uninhabited island that is strangely warm.
XVIII: Heavy dark tools dirty with grease.
XIX: In an old house many rooms that have been shut up for years.
XX: A man crawling out through a hole in the top of his head.
XXI: Words written for specific people of future generations.
XXII: Bowls of nuts, fruits and grain offered to the Goddess.
XXIII: An alchemist in a cave digging out a shining black vein of hematite.
XXIV: A feeling of deep connection amongst a small group of friends.
XXV: In the night someone is softly singing in their sleep
XXVI: People carrying bundles of kindling from a forest.
XXVII: Transparent fish swimming in a sea of vivid blue.
XXVIII: A city that can hide in and be called forth from a magical gem.
XXIX: An explanation of a hidden reality.
XXX: A woman senses the interconnected and simultaneous growth of everything.
Libra
I: Tall, thin men traveling on unicycles.
II: Crows gathering in late autumn twilight.
III: On an altar a bowl full of darkness and a bowl full of light.
IV: A convoy of human landing on a new planet.
V: A man tuning in to the music of the spheres
VI: At land’s end a high rock and on it a tower.
VII: A pictographic inscription in a tomb.
VIII:An archangel coordinating the efforts of his angelic band.
IX: A carved marble ear has washed up on the beach.
X: A tree suggests to a man that he use one of its branches for a walking stick.
XI: Men meditating as they walk repeatedly around the walls of a sacred city.
XII: The Moon Goddess, leaving no footprints, walks across the moon.
XIII: On a winter day a maid has arisen to prepare a house for others’ awakening.
XIV: By sound an energy therapist mends a broken leg.
XV: A theoretical mathematician inventing formulae simply for the sake of their beauty.
XVI: Wind Gods directing a cloud dance.
XVII: A woman guiding someone else through the realms of dream.
XVIII: In the ruins of an ancient city an undiscovered passageway into an immense network of caves.
XIX: A glowing wreath of golden laurel leaves.
XX: A jester, clowns, and musicians entertaining revelers.
XXI: Beings who survive by changing their form.
XXII: The discovery of old letters which contain a solution to a long-unsolved mystery.
XXIII: Rites held under a sacred tree.
XXIV: A table of the movements of invisible planets.
XXV: One who has lost his sense of direction consults an oracle.
XXVI: At the end of the day bakers giving their bread to the poor.
XXVII: Hidden in books are memory chips which contain other books.
XXVIII: In a harbor the colossal statue of a goddess.
XXIX: A column of water spirals up out of the ocean and rains on the surrounding waters.
XXX: A spaceship preparing to make a jump through a wormhole.
Scorpio
I: In darkness an old woman climbing a circular stairway that she has climbed countless times before.
II: A spiritual leader carrying out a solemn public ritual which raises the vibrations of the populace.
III: Alchemists sharing, integrating and refining their formulae.
IV: Sailors approach a lush island that has been calling to them but which is not on their maps.
V: Many precious objects being heaped on an altar.
VI: An archaeologist carefully wiring together the bones of a dragon which he has unearthed.
VII: Deep in a mound an immense white termite queen is giving birth continuously.
VIII: A man lays in bed calmly listening to a poltergeist.
IX: Several thick volumes of dream journals which are filled with writings and drawings.
X: Heavy winning and losing at a gaming table.
XI: The spirits of cats roaming in the night.
XII: Rising through earth, water, and air a traveler is exploring.
XIII: The voice of one deceased is heard in the stillness.
XIV: An astrologer looking for a major conjunction of planets.
XV: A man seeking the truth behind a complex and confusing situation.
XVI: In wind and rain a funerary tumulus is seen on the steppes.
XVII: The king’s retinue on a secret journey.
XVIII: Bees pollinating a sunflower.
XIX: Unexpected visitors arrive, needing food and shelter.
XX: The diamond shield of a mythical king of old.
XXI: Small animals searching the forest for food.
XXII: A man hears an excited message with clarity and patience.
XXIII: Trees ripped from the ground by a violent storm.
XXIV: Healers returning to a place where they may recharge their energy.
XXV: An unknown language is being decoded.
XXVI: An old ruler decides to turn his kingdom over to his daughter.
XXVII: A piercing noise startles someone out of a reverie.
XXVIII: A man learning how a vast library is organized.
XXIX: Messages hidden in all the measurements of an ancient city.
XXX: An alchemist carefully weighing the ingredients of a formula then casually throwing in other ones.
Sagittarius
I: A hidden pathway which magically and effortlessly carries one to the top of a mountain.
II: A camp where people have been hiding in a forest for centuries.
III: A blue beetle appears as a sign to a man.
IV: A city constructed to reflect and emanate universal harmony.
V: A man of simple words inspiring others.
VI: Dance music heard from afar invites people to festivities.
VII: Books organized by one method and then reorganized by another.
VIII: Frustrated in their search for higher consciousness people pursue novelty everywhere in the world.
IX: Grasslands teeming with insects and their sounds.
X: God worshiped in the form of a smooth, featureless stone.
XI: Wrestlers inventing new ways to entertain spectators.
XII: Water trickling off a series of high cliffs.
XIII: Looking up, a woman seeks a butterfly alighting on the outside of a glass dome.
XIV: Angels taking on new forms.
XV: An eye hanging in darkness is seeing deeply into reality.
XVI: Thoughts being exchanged by many people over great distances.
XVII: In a fireplace a fire flares up for a moment and a baby phoenix hops out of it.
XVIII: A love letter stuck in a holy book.
XIX: A man suddenly notices that a woman he’s known for a long time is beautiful.
XX: A man attempting to make robots that are ever more complicated.
XXI: A holy man explaining the various meanings of the many names of God.
XXII: Pointing to the sky, a shaman wills it to clear.
XXIII: A stream of butterflies moving north.
XXIV: A flock of birds rising out of a swamp.
XXV: Folk musicians and professional classical musicians playing together.
XXVI: A man is charting subtle irregularities in celestial movements.
XXVII: People proceeding methodically through a treasure house as they take inventory.
XXVIII: Freed from gravity, men dancing in space.
XXIX: A man seeing the underlying patterns and their spiritual meanings inherent in his past lives.
XXX: People sleeping as they travel near the speed of light.
Capricorn
I: The heart of a house is located, cleared of discordant energy, and strengthened.
II: An idea, like a tree, branches out in many different directions.
III: The answer to a question is murmured many hundreds of years after the question.
IV: In the night a prehistoric caveman hears the ticking of a clock.
V: People walking in a cool arcade of stone arches.
VI: Women of court walking softly so as not to disturb the lotus blossoms.
VII: In a river people washing away the imprints of memories.
VIII: A taste awakens memories of summer fields and groves.
IX: A man alone for many months is absorbed in writing a novel.
X: The print of a rabbit’s foot left in the soft mud of a garden.
XI: A man using colored lights to read a palimpsest.
XII: A man sensitized to the energies that each particular star emanates.
XIII: A man dreams of the Lords of Karma.
XIV: The star Sirius rises in the east.
XV: Candlelight glowing on a gold-leafed screen in a dim room.
XVI: A witch giving someone an apple from her orchard which is imbued with health-enhancing properties.
XVII: A group of notebooks of creative ideas that belonged to a famous author.
XVIII: A speaker intuiting what her audience needs to hear.
XIX: Small animals cautiously investigating each other.
XX: A small enclave of a secret society that has existed for centuries.
XXI: Thousands of messages sent by light beams.
XXII: The fairy court in its formal palace and dressed in all its finery.
XXIII: All sorts of flora and fauna spawning in spring.
XXIV: A man giving beggars money and other gifts.
XXV: In the middle of a bustling city a man walks alone among tombstones and mausoleums.
XXVI: A man is wandering through a map of the universe.
XXVII: Knights journeying through a forest in search of a dragon.
XXVIII: The return of a man who has been exploring hidden realms.
XXIX: Clouds pausing over a mountain because they are drawn to its energy field.
XXX: When consumed, waters from a spring which comes from a deep cave are causing drinkers to maintain eternal youth.
Aquarius
I: Little scavengers seeking morsels.
II: Waking in the night a man realizes a solution to a problem.
III: Journeyers reaching a vista overlooking a forested valley.
IV: The crying of gulls over the ocean.
V: Archives which no one has looked into for many years.
VI: Beings of high evolution doing what they can to help humanity.
VII: As they descend, mountain streams are finding each other.
VIII: Old problems brought up and re-assessed.
IX: A rainbow is feeding its colors to a garden.
X: A man creating an intricate stained glass window.
XI: At sunset a shepherd watches his peaceful flock.
XII:A man learning several different ways of meditating.
XIII: In the spiritual realm a temple where many souls come to commune with each other.
XIV: A woman finds a lock of hair she kept, but can’t remember whose it is.
XV: A man cataloging asteroids and giving names to the nameless ones.
XVI: Two arms of a bay spanned by a golden causeway.
XVII: At noon a woman looks directly overhead at the sun which seems to blaze white.
XVIII: A man on a shore witnessing ocean fog as it drifts toward him.
XIX: An astrologer helping an alchemist to harmoniously time his operations.
XX: On a small, remote island a man recording his visions.
XXI: Clay forming itself into fantastic shapes.
XXII: Through a wormhole a man views the movements of a vast beautiful nebula.
XXIII: A sacred text used to bless and heal.
XXIV: A man overcome with a sense of great peace and clarity.
XXV: At a spinning wheel dreams and visions are being spun into realities.
XXVI: By secret signs members are led to a place of meeting.
XXVII: Blank paper waiting to receive ideas.
XXVIII: Wanderers find a place they decide to make their home.
XXIX: A man considering all the various lifetimes he might live.
XXX: Spiritual laws placed everywhere as reminders.
Pisces
I: Gifts falling from heaven, some being caught in grateful hands, others disappearing just before they hit the ground.
II: At a dinner people enjoying what their garden has produced.
III: A man with wings like a dragonfly.
IV: Wonderful paintings discovered in a junk store.
V: A bridge that has been difficult to build is in the final stages of completion.
VI: A wizard touches a crystal ball to his forehead, attuning it to his third eye.
VII: A space alien implants a microchip in a sleeping man’s leg.
VIII: Materials and workers assembled, a pause before beginning the great task.
IX: A man covered with all sorts of ornaments.
X: As a man sleeps an eye in his forehead opens.
XI: The Moon pulling on the liquids in the bodies of sleepers.
XII: A horn used to convey messages over long distances.
XIII: Drinking an elixir of dandelions a man feels deep tensions within him relaxing and dissolving.
XIV: Deep in a cave a young boy discovers a fire elemental.
XV: A bright polished sword is maintained untouched and unused.
XVI: Someone finding new and meaningful arrangements of numbers.
XVII: Someone helping a distraught woman to open to angelic love.
XVIII: A drawbridge interrupting traffic.
XIX: Little whirlpools of dust in the twilight.
XX: Clouds taking on strange patterns that seem to mean something.
XXI: Someone thinks he sees in the distance the ghost of an old man walking across a moor.
XXII: Sailors about to be lured off course by the sound of seductive singing.
XXIII: In the heat of the summer, spiritual lessons quietly offered in the shade.
XXIV: A man visits his own history in the Akashic Records.
XXV: A beautiful city suffused with an emerald glow.
XXVI: On a lawn boys chasing a ball that seems to have a life of its own.
XXVII: A man, having fainted, returns with the memory of a dream.
XXVIII: Dawn’s first gleams on a golden dome.
XXIX: a line in a drawing is reminding a woman of many things.
XXX: An object of great beauty unearthed.

SOURCE: The Azoth Symbols – John Sandbach

All Is One, Let’s Have Some Fun (Electronica Song)

I finished the lyrics and music today, but still need to finish the final video. Enjoy.

All Is One, Let’s Have Some Fun.

[Verse]
All is One,
Let’s have some fun.
Be who we are,
As every man and woman is a star.

[Chorus]
All Is One, come on, come on, Let’s have some fun.

[Verse]
Seven-hundred and seventy-seven,
Can lead you to heaven.
If you climb the tree,
You will be set free.

[Chorus]
All Is One, come on, come on, Let’s have some fun.

[Verse]
Light, Life and Love.
As Below, So Above.
These keys I share,
May not always seem fair.

[Chorus]
All Is One, come on, come on, Let’s have some fun.

[Verse]
But know that you are free,
And fate or destiny, is all about thee.
Love is the Key to true Liberty.
Love Is The Law, and Do what Thou Will.
Just open your eyes and see!

[Chorus]
All Is One, come on, come on, Let’s have some fun.

Sefirot – The Tree of Life by Charles Mazzaola

Sefirot – The Tree of Life

(Copyright Lars Charles Mazzaola, 2001)

Sefirot Treeof life

“So how did you do?”  This is a familiar question that we are frequently asked by friends when we complete a project.  The question takes on even more importance when we ask the question of ourselves.  The minute we begin to question ourselves in this way, we are engaged in the fundamental process of education:  self assessment.  Often a simple incident will cause us to reassess our lives in a careful manner.  Since the values that come into play during this kind of reflection are usually deeper than the ones used in academic settings, we often find unexpected insights and compensations during this process.  What at first might appear to be successful or important might turn out to be limited or trivial, and vice versa.

Education is driven by this dynamic of self assessment.  Various cultures have created tools to facilitate this process.   In this article we will examine several methods of self assessment that have been used in the Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian traditions.  Following the work of Carolyn Myss (1997), we will use the image of the Tree of Life to integrate these insights.

We will begin with the Sufis, a group of Islamic teachers who are well known for their aphorisms and stories.  Sufi  masters claim that people can be classified into three categories:  raw, cooked, andburnt.  When people are raw, they are undeveloped and unrefined, lacking skill and grace.  If it is true that small people talk about others, mediocre people talk about themselves, and big people talk about ideas, then raw people are small and mediocre.  They gossip, exaggerate, spread rumors, and sow conflict, destroying the peace of families and society.  Attempting to raise themselves up by bringing other people down, raw people dominate the conversation, constantly update their image on Facebook, bore you with their stories, their pets, their woes, their hurts, their grades, their awards, their jobs, their spouses, their children, and their fears.  Skillful at monopolizing, they are the guests whom every host dreads.

Can this raw state be transformed?  Sufi masters say that it can.  What is required is the spark of knowledge, which initiates the long process of cooking.  This is a large order.  It usually takes two parents, several brothers and sisters, many school mates, dozens of teachers, a good and patient spouse, several mishaps, and about five decades of trial and error, before the cooking really begins.  The result?  Sufi masters say that the result is a modest, caring, responsible human being, whose awareness, common sense, and poise produce knowledge, responsibility, and happiness.  No one person can take credit for this achievement, for there are many cooks at work at one time or another.  And whatever the virtues of each of the cooks, it makes no difference in the end, for it is the fire that does the transforming work.

The final stage, according to Sufi masters, appears only after prolonged cooking.  Cooking eliminates excessive ego–called egotism.  The heat must be turned up and held there, against all the rules of ordinary cooking, until the student (disciple) is burnt.  Being burnt means that all traces of egotism are consumed in the fire of service and love.  However, the ego, which expresses our individuality and our unique perspective, remains.  A time-honored exercise to “turn up the heat” is to avoid using the word “I” in your conversation, first, for a day, then for several days.  Next, avoid using the word “I” in your thought….  Then, when you have mastered that, use the word “I” when necessary….  Sufi masters say that those who are burnt leave no trace of egotism.  They walk through a room and do not leave a “trail of smoke”–a trail of self concern, hunger for approval, or discord.  As the Tao Te Ching puts it:  “No Self interest?  Self fulfilled” (Poem 2).

Using these three stages–raw, cooked, and burnt–is a simple way to begin the process of self assessment.  As a matter of fact, almost every culture that we know has elaborated them into several more stages.  The Jewish tradition. for example, bases much of its wisdom on the image of the Tree of Life, the Sefirot, whose ten Spheres of Manifestation serve as reflective mirrors of the divine entrance into the human world.  The Sefirot represent the manner in which Consciousness (God, YHWH) expresses Itself in Creation.  Since Consciousness is reflected in the human mind, the ten Sefirot are also mirrors of self development and attainment, which can also be used for self assessment and understanding.  The Tree of Life with its ten Sefirot is usually arranged into seven planes, as illustrated above.

As Carolyn Myss (1997) has pointed out, the diagram of the Tree of Life, which is based on the sacred number 7,  is similar both to the chakra system of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Yoga as well as to the sacramental system of Christianity.  Modern anthropological research indicates that the Tree of Life symbol reaches far back into prehistory.  Almost every tradition that we know of has mandalas or sacred diagrams (yantras) that include or suggest it.  As illustrated in the diagram above, all mandalas have a borderline that separates the outside (the profane) from the inside (the sacred).  The sacred space inside can be accessed only through special portals or doorways, which are guarded by protective deities that are often are portrayed as angels, demons, or animals.  Once a doorway has been crossed, a labyrinthine path (tao, Chinese, or marga, Sanskrit) opens before the viewer.

There are several doorways that must be found and crossed  before entering Level One (Shekinah).  Only when we see that life is a mandala, a cosmos (Greek, “a jewel or radiant work of art”) does the first doorway appear, signaling that we are ready to enter its depth.  That is, only after “the doors of perception have been cleansed” (Blake, Marriage of Heaven and Hell) can we understand the first level of life.  When this happens–sometimes in childhood, before the confusion of adolescence and adult life; sometimes at a critical juncture in adolescence; sometimes only at death, as in the case of  in Tolstoy’s hero, Ivan Ilich–do we begin to understand the Presence that mystics call the “Ground or Root” (Eckhart).  The first portal symbolizes the transformation that occurs when we come face to face with the Holy.  At this moment, our perception changes:  World becomes Universe, a word that literally means “turning around” (Latin, verso) “one point” (uni).  This one point is variously called the Cosmic Nucleus, Tao, YHWH, GOD (Generator, Operator, Destroyer), Great Spirit, or Life Force.  A momentous change in perception occurs when World is transformed into Universe.  No longer do we simply see matter.  Instead, we see the Spiritual Reality behind Creation, which is the Great Family–dust particles, stones, plants, animals, humans, sky, water, stars, galaxies–all of which are interconnected, each a pearl strung on an infinite, luminous web.  The portal opens–and we enter– in our own landscape, at our own time, unique to us all.  This is the gate that is represented by the outside border of all mandalas.

In the Zen tradition, this portal corresponds to the third of  ten famous wood blocks.  The first wood block is called Seeking the Ox, the preliminary stage that begins when an individual genuinely asks the philosophic question, “What is Real?  What is True?  What is Permanent?”

Seeking the ox

The second woodblock in this series is called Finding the Tracks, which connotes partial discernment of the Truth, which is approached through scripture, teaching, instruction, and preliminary insight.  The individual does not have knowledge, but only opinion and belief.

finding the tracks

The third woodblock is known as First Glimpse of the Ox, a state akin to entering the mandala, when the Source of Creation is intuitively glimpsed through an epiphany.  This is the portal to Level One (Shekinah).  It occurs through an intuitive experience–by seeing what cannot be seen, by touching what cannot be felt, by hearing what cannot be heard (Tao).  All teachers say that the experience of the door opening occurs, not at our bidding, but when the time comes, when the time is right, when we have been made ready for it.

First glimpse of the ox

These portals being opened, at least in virtual reality, let us briefly look at what can be seen.

Level One:  Honoring the Family (Shekinah).  What is involved at this stage is accepting and respecting all life forms as having equal dignity and importance in the Family of Creation.  Honoring the Family has may dimensions.  At its deepest level, it means honoring all forms of life.  In a more limited sense, it means that all children, not just “ours”, deserve equal respect, nurture, and attention.  Each human being is the inheritor of a rich collective experience, and it is the responsibility of each generation to educate and train all of its young to understand and appreciate that human heritage.  Honoring the Family means that all Tribes–nations, languages, ethnic groups, and religious communities–deserve to be treated with equal respect, for each is an indispensable part of the whole.  Non injury is the gateway to this level of consciousness, which corresponds to the sacrament of 

Baptism in Christianity and to the first chakra of Yoga.  The first chakra controls the propensities of physical desire (kama), wealth and the search for meaning (artha), the search for righteousness (dharma), and the search for permanent liberation, salvation (moksa).  Physically, the first chakra is reflected in the structural support system, the base of the spine, the bones, the feet, and the immune system.  Physical dysfunctions of this chakra involve lower back pain, rectal and immune disorders, and depression.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of safety and security (Myss, 2001).  Pride is the major obstacle to this gateway.

In the Zen tradition, this portal corresponds to Catching the Ox.  We are beginning to see the whole picture, not only metaphysically, but physically, socially, and politically as well.

Catching the ox

Level Two:  Honoring One Another (Yesod). What is involved at this stage is honoring male and female–through sacred union and covenant.  Since sex, like fire, is an expression of the divine energy and creativity, it should be honored and respected.  Like fire, sex is best respected by building a proper shelter for it, by giving it a container, so it remains positive, not a consuming or destructive force.  Male and female power are honored through chastity before marriage and fidelity in marriage, which occurs by exchanging vows made in the presence of a community.  Honor is the gateway to this level of reality, which corresponds to the sacrament of Communion in Christianity.  It also corresponds to the second chakra of Yoga (and the Eastern tradition of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism).  Physically, the second chakra expresses itself in the sexual organs, the large intestine, pelvis, lower vertebrae, appendix, bladder, and hip. Physical dysfunctions of this chakra involve the lower back, male and female reproductive problems, sexual potency, and urinary problems.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of guilt, money, sex, control, and creativity  (Myss, 2001).  Indulgence, lack of common sense, lust, cruelty, and shame are the major obstacles to this gateway.  At the center of this level of consciousness, when it has been expanded through deep meditation, is “the feeling that the Supreme Consciousness is present, is here with me” (Anandamurti, 1981, p. 61). This is the first stage of samadhi, of divine ecstasy.
 

In the Zen tradition, this portal is corresponds to Taming the Ox.  The sexual instinct is enormously powerful.  Its current must be channeled upwards to the higher chakras and thus tamed. It must not be eradicated, repressed, or suppressed.

Taming the ox

Level Three:  Honoring Oneself (Hod and Nezah).  What is involved at this stage is personal power, the ability to survive and thrive.  Personal power is actually chastity at a higher level.  Personal power means the ability to contain oneself in self-respect, without giving into–or lashing out against–negative forces, both inside and outside. Hod means “integrity, a sense inner worth that leads to appreciation and gratitude.”  Connected to the power of prophecy, Hod is the ability to count our blessings, even when surrounded by those who see only obstacles and curses–as did Job’s wife and his comforters. Hod means the ability to focus on what is available, not what is missing. Nezah, the male counterpart to Hod, means  “endurance and stamina,” the ability to stick with a project.  At its deepest level, Nezah means “sticking to life”–no matter what the odds.  It means to persevere, to endure–not to leave a task (Path, Work, Life) before it is completed.  Dignity is the gateway to this level of consciousness, which corresponds to the sacrament of Confirmation in Christianity.  It also corresponds to the third chakra of Yoga and the Eastern tradition.  Physically, the third chakra expresses itself in the organs of the abdomen.  Physical dysfunctions of this chakra include arthritis, rheumatism, ulcers, diabetes, food disorders, the liver, and the adrenal glands.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of trust, fear, self-esteem, and criticism (Myss, 2001).  Envy, shyness, sadistic tendency, sleepiness, melancholia, peevishness, yearning for acquisition, to own and to be owned, infatuation, hatred, and fear are the major obstacles to this gateway. At the center of this level of consciousness, when it has been expanded through deep meditation, is the feeling that “the Supreme Consciousness is in close proximity to me, is very near to me” (Anandamurti, 1981, p. 62).  This is the second stage of samadhi, of divine ecstasy.

In the Zen tradition, this portal corresponds to Riding the Ox Home.  The war within, the power struggle, is engaged.  The Self and the personality are beginning to be aligned.  The Self (Ox) guides and leads the personality (the rider, the ego).

Riding the ox

Level Four:  Honoring One’s Spouse (Tiferet). Only after we have learned to honor the universal family (Level One), each other (Level Two), and ourselves (Level Three) are we ready to enter the next level, the level of emotional power, the level of the heart.  At this level, we expand our sense of responsibility to include our spouse.  In esoteric life, the spouse is the soul.  This is the level of Tiferet.  It is symbolized by the Sun, whose radiance and beauty are expressed in deep, devotional love.  The bond of Tiferet is special, for it is grounded in compassion, not desire, and it is expressed by selfless love, which gives without demand for return and gives still more without complaint.  Consideration is the gateway of this level of consciousness, which corresponds to the sacrament of Marriage in Christianity and to the fourth chakra of Yoga and the Eastern tradition.  Physically, the fourth chakra expresses itself in the heart, lungs, circulatory system, shoulders, arms, upper torso, and breasts.  Physical dysfunctions of this chakra include heart failure, asthma, allergies, lung cancer, upper back problems, and breast cancer.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of love, resentment, grief, commitment, forgiveness, and hope  (Myss, 2001).  Worry, possessiveness, vanity, avarice, hypocrisy, and argumentativeness are the major obstacles to this gateway.  At the center of this level of consciousness, when it has been expanded through deep meditation, is the feeling that “the Supreme Consciousness is in close contact with me” (Anandamurti, 1981, p. 62).  This is the third stage of samadhi, of divine ecstasy.

In the Zen tradition, this corresponds to Ox Forgotten, Self Alone.  “In the dharma, there is no two-ness.  Like the moon which has broken through the clouds, one ray of luminous light shines eternally” (Reps).

Ox Forgotten

Level Five:  Surrendering to Divine Will (Din and Hesed). What is involved at this stage is benevolent speech in the service of higher aims, based on two powers, Din and HesedDin connotes the highest form of judgment, the ability to separate the trivial from the essential.  To do this, it must be linked to Hesed, a sense of mercy and broad-mindedness, which overlooks the petty and the negative, while at the same time remaining realistic and positive.  This level is illustrated by spiritual teachers of the highest rank, who use consummate tact and precision in their words, instruction, decisions, and daily life.  Surrender is the gateway to this level of consciousness, which corresponds to the sacrament of Confession in Christianity and to the fifth chakra of Yoga and the Eastern tradition.  Physically, the fifth chakra expresses itself in the throat, thyroid, neck, mouth, teeth, gums, and hypothalamus.  Physical dysfunctions of this chakra include raspy throat, mouth ulcers, gum disorders, TMJ, scoliosis, and thyroid problems.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of making choices, addiction, judgment, and knowledge (Myss, 2001).   Vanity and a sense of ego are the major obstacles to this gateway.  At the center of this level of consciousness, when it has been expanded through deep meditation, is “the feeling that I am one with the Supreme Consciousness” (Anandamurti, 1981, p. 62).  This is the fourth stage of samadhi, of divine ecstasy.

In the Zen tradition, this level is known as Both Self and Ox Forgotten.  When this state is realized, “the comprehension of the spirit of the ancient teachers comes–at last” (Reps).

Both self and ox forgotten

Level Six:  Seeking Only Truth (Binah and Hokmah). What is involved at this level of consciousness is insight, pure and simple.  It results from the marriage of two powers, Binah and HokmahBinah means “understanding”–the type of understanding that comes when we walk in the footsteps of others, until we know them, compassionately, from the inside.  We literally “stand under” them.  We can see and appreciate their ground, even though it might not be entirely correct.  We see, as one of my teachers put it, “what is what, and who is who.”  Hokmah means “wisdom”–the accumulation of years of training, knowledge, experience, correction, and the ceaseless effort to get it right.  Wisdom’s fundamental quality is modesty.  People who have wisdom deflect compliments, refuse “to shine,” do not “make speeches,” and “walk small” (as the Chinese proverb puts it).  Why?  Because they know that their gift of insight is given by grace.  It comes from years (if not lifetimes) of invoking the Supreme, the Divine Presence.  People who are truly wise also know that their wisdom is fallible.  Only manipulators claim infallibility.  First and foremost, wisdom is the ability to see our own errors.  It starts with the self and never leaves it.  Love of truth is the gateway to this level of consciousness.  It corresponds to the sacrament of Ordination in Christianity.  It is related to the sixth chakra of Yoga and the Eastern tradition.  Physically, the sixth chakra expresses itself in the brain, nervous system, eyes, ears, nose, and pituitary gland.  Physical dysfunctions of this chakra include brain tumors, strokes, neurological disorders, blindness, deafness, and learning disabilities.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of self evaluation, truth, intellect, feelings of adequacy, openness, and emotional intelligence (Myss, 2001).  At the center of this level of consciousness, when it has been expanded through deep meditation, is “the feeling that I am the Supreme Consciousness” (Anandamurti, 1981, p. 62).  This is the fifth stage of samadhi, of divine ecstasy.

In the Zen tradition, this level corresponds to Returning to the Source.

Level Seven:  Letting Ego Out, Letting God In (Keter). What  is involved at this stage of consciousness is Divine Life–nothing less, nothing more.  It is accessed purely by grace, after lifetimes of preparation, purification, service, and sacrifice.  The Hebrew word, Keter, means “There is only Life.”   It means that the highest level of reality is the only reality.  It is characterized by the fluid succession of the present which is always flowing into itself (I AM THAT I AM).  This is the deep well of ongoing creation–“the smooth, splendid, fresh, ever-new, Great Completeness” alluded to in Tibetan Buddhist texts.  Once understood, this level of cognition becomes at the same time “the base, the path, and the fruit.”  Of what?  In the Tibetan tradition, it is the base, path, and fruit “of glorious, heroic mind, the mind of all Buddhas” (Klein, 2000, p. 565).  Those who are lifted into this world of the Eternal Present have reached the goal that was hidden in very beginning of self reflection.  Grace is the gateway to this level of consciousness.  It corresponds to the sacrament of Extreme Unction in Christianity and is related to the seventh chakra of Yoga and the Eastern tradition.  Physically, the seventh chakra expresses itself in the muscular and skeletal system.  Physical dysfunctions of this chakra include paralysis, bone cancer, genetic disorders, and multiple sclerosis.  Psychologically, it is expressed in the issues of proper values, courage, humanitarianism, faith, inspiration, and spirituality  (Myss, 2001).   This level of consciousness is experienced as Bliss or Infinite Happiness in deep meditation; it is beyond words, feeling, or thought  (Anandamurti, 1981, p. 62).  This is the sixth and last stage of samadhi, of divine ecstasy.

In the Zen tradition, this corresponds to Entering the Marketplace with Helping Hands.  The Journey is complete.  The Work is finished.  Where else is there to go but back to the beginning?  Beginning is here, not there.  Why not serve, as best as possible–not even saying a word, not even trying to reach those who perhaps have not yet asked the first question? Everywhere is Home.

Entering the marketplace with helping hands

If this is an accurate map of reality, then the next step is to determine where you are.  That might be more difficult than it appears.  Look deeply, search for a teacher to help, and, if you are lucky, the Way will appear.

References

Anandamurti, S. (1981).  The spiritual philosophy of …. Denver, Ananda Marga.
Klein, A. (1999).  The great completeness, White (Ed.), Tantra in practice.  Princeton.
Myss, C.  (1999).  Energy anatomy.  Boulder:  Sounds True.
Reps, P.  (1959).  Zen flesh, zen bones.  New York:  Anchor.
Segal, E.  (1995).  The 10 sefirot of the kabbalah 

Orphic Hymns by Thomas Taylor (1792)

THE ORPHIC HYMNS are a collection of 87 short religious poems composed in either the late Hellenistic (C3rd or C2nd B.C.) or early Roman (C1st to C2nd A.D.) era. They are based on the beliefs of Orphism, a mystery cult or religious philosophy which claimed descent from the teachings of the mythical hero Orpheus.

The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792).
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. (Current edition).

The 1792 translation by Taylor with his notes is still available in print. However a much more accurate, modern translation by A. Athanassakis has since been released. See the booklist (left below) for details of these two volumes and other related works on Orphism.

Formatting notes:
1. I have compacted each of Taylor’s verse couplets into a single line to shorten the page and make the information easier to print.
2. Taylor has translated most of the Greek names to their Latin equivalents. For the sake of clarity I have reinserted the Greek names from the source text in square brackets.


ORPHIC HYMNS CONTENTS

0. To Musaeus
1. To Prothyraea
2. To Nyx (Night)
3. To Uranus (the Sky)
4. To Aether
5. To Protogonus
6. To Astron (the Stars)
7. To Helius (the Sun)
8. To Selene (the Moon)
9. To Phusis (Nature)
10. To Pan
11. To Heracles
12. To Cronus
13. To Rhea
14. To Zeus
15. To Hera
16. To Poseidon
17. To Pluto
18. To Zeus of Thunder
19. To Zeus of Lightning
20. To Nephelae (Clouds)
21. To Thalassa (Sea)
22. To Nereus
23. To the Nereids
24. To Proteus
25. To Gaea (Earth)
26. To Mother of the Gods
27. To Hermes
28. To Persephone
29. To Dionysus
30. To the Curetes
31. To Athena
32. To Nike (Victory)
33. To Apollo
34. To Leto
35. To Artemis
36. To the Titans
37. To the Curetes
38. To Corybas
39. To Demeter of Eleusis
40. To Mother Antaea
41. To Misa
42. To the Horae (Seasons)
43. To Semele
44. To Dionysus Bassareus
45. To Dionysus Licnitus
46. To Dionysus Pericionius
47. To Zabazius
48. To Ippa
49. To Lysius Lenaeus
50. To the Nymphs
51. To Trietericus
52. To Amphietus Bacchus
53. To Silenus, Satyr, Bacchae
54. To Aphrodite
55. To Adonis
56. To Hermes Chthonius
57. To Eros (Love)
58. To the Moirae (Fates)
59. To the Charites (Graces)
60. To Nemesis
61. To Dice (Justice)
62. To Dicaeosyne (Equity)
63. To Nomus (Law)
64. To Ares|
65. To Hephaestus
66. To Asclepius
67. To Hygea (Health)
68. To the Erinyes (Furies)
69. To the Eumenides
70. To Melinoe
71. To Tyche (Fortune)
72. To the Daemon
73. To Leucothea
74. To Palaemon
75. To the Muses
76. To Mnemosyne (Memory)
77. To Eos (Dawn)
78. To Themis (Custom)
79. To Boreas (North Wind)
80. To Zephyrus (West Wind)
81. To Notus (South Wind)
82. To Oceanus
83. To Hestia (Hearth)
84. To Hypnus (Sleep)
85. To the Oneiri (Dreams)
86. To Thanatus (Death)

THE ORPHIC HYMNS 1 – 86, TRANSLATED BY THOMAS TAYLOR (1792)

TO MUSÆUS

Attend Musæus to my sacred song, and learn what rites to sacrifice belong.
Jove [Zeus] I invoke, the Earth [Gaia], and Solar Light [Helios],
the Moon’s [Mene] pure splendor, and the Stars of night;
Thee Neptune [Poseidon], ruler of the sea profound, dark-hair’d, whose waves begirt the solid ground;
Ceres [Demeter] abundant, and of lovely mien,
and Proserpine [Phersephone] infernal Pluto’s [Haides] queen
The huntress Dian [Artemis], and bright Phœbus rays, far-darting God, the theme of Delphic praise;
And Bacchus [Dionysos], honour’d by the heav’nly choir,
and raging Mars [Ares], and Vulcan [Hephaistos] god of fire;
The mighty pow’r who rose from foam to light, and Pluto potent in the realms of night;
With Hebe young, and Hercules the strong, and you to whom the cares of births [Eileithyia] belong:
Justice [Dikaisune] and Piety [Eusebia] august I call, and much-fam’d nymphs, and Pan the god of all.
To Juno [Hera] sacred, and to Mem’ry [Mnemosyne] fair, and the chaste Muses I address my pray’r;
The various year, the Graces [Kharites], and the Hours [Horai],
fair-hair’d Latona [Leto], and Dione’s pow’rs;
Armed Curetes, household Gods [Korybantes, Kouretes, Kabeiroi] I call,
with those [Soteroi] who spring from Jove [Zeus] the king of all:
Th’ Idæan Gods, the angel of the skies, and righteous Themis, with sagacious eyes;
With ancient Night [Nyx], and Day-light [Hemara] I implore,
and Faith [Pistis], and Justice [Dike] dealing right adore;
Saturn [Kronos] and Rhea, and great Thetis too, hid in a veil of bright celestial blue:
I call great Ocean [Okeanos], and the beauteous train of nymphs, who dwell in chambers of the main;
Atlas the strong, and ever in its prime, vig’rous Eternity [Aion], and endless Time [Khronos];
The Stygian pool [Styx], and placid Gods [Meilikhoi] beside,
and various Genii [Daimones], that o’er men preside;
Illustrious Providence [Pronoia], the noble train of dæmon forms, who fill th’ ætherial plain;
Or live in air, in water, earth, or fire, or deep beneath the solid ground retire.
Bacchus [Dionysos] and Semele the friends of all, and white Leucothea of the sea I call;
Palæmon bounteous, and Adrastria great, and sweet-tongu’d Victory [Nike], with success elate;
Great Esculapius [Asklepios], skill’d to cure disease,
and dread Minerva [Athene], whom fierce battles please;
Thunders [Brontoi] and Winds [Anemoi] in mighty columns pent,
with dreadful roaring struggling hard for vent;
Attis, the mother of the pow’rs on high, and fair Adonis, never doom’d to die,
End and beginning he is all to all, these with propitious aid I gently call;
And to my holy sacrifice invite, the pow’r who reigns in deepest hell and night;
I call Einodian Hecate, lovely dame, of earthly, wat’ry, and celestial frame,
Sepulchral, in a saffron veil array’d, leas’d with dark ghosts that wander thro’ the shade;
Persian, unconquerable huntress hail! The world’s key-bearer never doom’d to fail
On the rough rock to wander thee delights, leader and nurse be present to our rites
Propitious grant our just desires success, accept our homage, and the incense bless.

[1] I. TO THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA

The Fumigation from Storax.
O venerable goddess, hear my pray’r, for labour pains are thy peculiar care;
In thee, when stretch’d upon the bed of grief, the sex as in a mirror view relief.
Guard of the race, endued with gentle mind, to helpless youth, benevolent and kind;
Benignant nourisher; great Nature’s key belongs to no divinity but thee.
Thou dwell’st with all immanifest to sight, and solemn festivals are thy delight.
Thine is the talk to loose the virgin’s zone, and thou in ev’ry work art seen and known.
With births you sympathize, tho’ pleas’d to see the numerous offspring of fertility;
When rack’d with nature’s pangs and sore distress’d, the sex invoke thee, as the soul’s sure rest;
For thou alone can’st give relief to pain, which art attempts to ease, but tries in vain;
Assisting goddess [Eileithyia], venerable pow’r, who bring’st relief in labour’s dreadful hour;
Hear, blessed Dian [Artemis], and accept my pray’r, and make the infant race thy constant care.

[2] II. TO NIGHT [NYX]

The Fumigation with Torches.
Night [Nyx], parent goddess, source of sweet repose, from whom at first both Gods and men arose,
Hear, blessed Venus [Kypris], deck’d with starry light, in sleep’s deep silence dwelling Ebon night!
Dreams and soft case attend thy dusky train, pleas’d with the length’ned gloom and feaftful strain.
Dissolving anxious care, the friend of Mirth, with darkling coursers riding round the earth.
Goddess of phantoms and of shadowy play, whose drowsy pow’r divides the nat’ral day:
By Fate’s decree you constant send the light to deepest hell, remote from mortal sight
For dire Necessity which nought withstands, invests the world with adamantine bands.
Be present, Goddess, to thy suppliant’s pray’r, desir’d by all, whom all alike revere,
Blessed, benevolent, with friendly aid dispell the fears of Twilight’s dreadful shade.

[3] III. TO HEAVEN [OURANOS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Great Heav’n [Ouranos], whose mighty frame no respite knows, father of all, from whom the world arose:
Hear, bounteous parent, source and end of all, forever whirling round this earthly ball;
Abode of Gods, whose guardian pow’r surrounds th’ eternal World with ever during bounds;
Whose ample bosom and encircling folds the dire necessity of nature holds.
Ætherial, earthly, whose all-various frame azure and full of forms, no power can tame.
All-seeing Heav’n, progenitor of Time [Kronos], forever blessed, deity sublime,
Propitious on a novel mystic shine, and crown his wishes with a life divine.

[4] IV. TO FIRE [AITHER]

The Fumigation from Saffron.
O Ever untam’d Fire [Aither], who reign’st on high in Jove’s [Zeus’] dominions ruler of the sky;
The glorious sun with dazzling lustre bright, and moon and stars from thee derive their light;
All taming pow’r, ætherial shining fire, whose vivid blasts the heat of life inspire:
The world’s best element, light-bearing pow’r, with starry radiance shining, splendid flow’r,
O hear my suppliant pray’r, and may thy frame be ever innocent, serene, and tame.

[5] V. TO PROTOGONUS, OR THE FIRST-BORN

The Fumigation from Myrrh.
O Mighty first-begotten [Protogonos], hear my pray’r, two-fold, egg-born, and wand’ring thro’ the air,
Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings, from whom the race of Gods and mortals springs.
Ericapæus [Erikapaios], celebrated pow’r, ineffable, occult, all shining flow’r.
From eyes obscure thou wip’st the gloom of night, all-spreading splendour, pure and holy light
Hence Phanes call’d, the glory of the sky, on waving pinions thro’ the world you fly.
Priapus, dark-ey’d splendour, thee I sing, genial, all-prudent, ever-blessed king,
With joyful aspect on our rights divine and holy sacrifice propitious shine.

[6] VI. TO THE STARS [ASTRON]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
With holy voice I call the stars [Astron] on high, pure sacred lights and genii of the sky.
Celestial stars, the progeny of Night [Nyx], in whirling circles beaming far your light,
Refulgent rays around the heav’ns ye throw, eternal fires, the source of all below.
With flames significant of Fate ye shine, and aptly rule for men a path divine.
In seven bright zones ye run with wand’ring flames, and heaven and earth compose your lucid frames:
With course unwearied, pure and fiery bright forever shining thro’ the veil of Night.
Hail twinkling, joyful, ever wakeful fires! Propitious shine on all my just desires;
These sacred rites regard with conscious rays, and end our works devoted to your praise.

[7] VII. TO THE SUN [HELIOS]

The Fumigation from Frankinsence and Manna.
Hear golden Titan, whose eternal eye with broad survey, illumines all the sky.
Self-born, unwearied in diffusing light, and to all eyes the mirrour of delight:
Lord of the seasons, with thy fiery car and leaping coursers, beaming light from far:
With thy right hand the source of morning light, and with thy left the father of the night.
Agile and vig’rous, venerable Sun, fiery and bright around the heav’ns you run.
Foe to the wicked, but the good man’s guide, o’er all his steps propitious you preside:
With various founding, golden lyre, ’tis mine to fill the world with harmony divine.
Father of ages, guide of prosp’rous deeds, the world’s commander, borne by lucid steeds,
Immortal Jove [Zeus], all-searching, bearing light, source of existence, pure and fiery bright
Bearer of fruit, almighty lord of years, agil and warm, whom ev’ry pow’r reveres.
Great eye of Nature and the starry skies, doom’d with immortal flames to set and rise
Dispensing justice, lover of the stream, the world’s great despot, and o’er all supreme.
Faithful defender, and the eye of right, of steeds the ruler, and of life the light:
With founding whip four fiery steeds you guide, when in the car of day you glorious ride.
Propitious on these mystic labours shine, and bless thy suppliants with a life divine.

[8] VIII. TO THE MOON [SELENE]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Hear, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light, bull-horn’d and wand’ring thro’ the gloom of Night.
With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide Night’s torch extending, thro’ the heav’ns you ride:
Female and Male with borrow’d rays you shine, and now full-orb’d, now tending to decline.
Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon [Mene], whose amber orb makes Night’s reflected noon:
Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night, all-seeing pow’r bedeck’d with starry light.
Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, in peace rejoicing, and a prudent life:
Fair lamp of Night, its ornament and friend, who giv’st to Nature’s works their destin’d end.
Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail! Deck’d with a graceful robe and shining veil;
Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light,
Shine on these sacred rites with prosp’rous rays, and pleas’d accept thy suppliant’s mystic praise.

[9] IX. TO NATURE [PHUSIS]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Nature [Phusis], 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 [Protogeneia], 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;
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, 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.

[10] X. TO PAN

The Fumigation from Various Odors.
I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole, etherial, marine, earthly, general soul,
Immortal fire; for all the world is thine, and all are parts of thee, O pow’r divine.
Come, blessed Pan, whom rural haunts delight, come, leaping, agile, wand’ring, starry light;
The Hours and Seasons [Horai], wait thy high command, and round thy throne in graceful order stand.
Goat-footed, horned, Bacchanalian Pan, fanatic pow’r, from whom the world began,
Whose various parts by thee inspir’d, combine in endless dance and melody divine.
In thee a refuge from our fears we find, those fears peculiar to the human kind.
Thee shepherds, streams of water, goats rejoice, thou lov’st the chace, and Echo’s secret voice:
The sportive nymphs, thy ev’ry step attend, and all thy works fulfill their destin’d end.
O all-producing pow’r, much-fam’d, divine, the world’s great ruler, rich increase is thine.
All-fertile Pæan, heav’nly splendor pure, in fruits rejoicing, and in caves obscure.
True serpent-horned Jove [Zeus], whose dreadful rage when rous’d, ’tis hard for mortals to asswage.
By thee the earth wide-bosom’d deep and long, stands on a basis permanent and strong.
Th’ unwearied waters of the rolling sea, profoundly spreading, yield to thy decree.
Old Ocean [Okeanos] too reveres thy high command, whose liquid arms begirt the solid land.
The spacious air, whose nutrimental fire, and vivid blasts, the heat of life inspire
The lighter frame of fire, whose sparkling eye shines on the summit of the azure sky,
Submit alike to thee, whole general sway all parts of matter, various form’d obey.
All nature’s change thro’ thy protecting care, and all mankind thy lib’ral bounties share:
For these where’er dispers’d thro’ boundless space, still find thy providence support their race.
Come, Bacchanalian, blessed power draw near, fanatic Pan, thy humble suppliant hear,
Propitious to these holy rites attend, and grant my life may meet a prosp’rous end;
Drive panic Fury too, wherever found, from human kind, to earth’s remotest bound.

[11] XI. TO HERCULES [HERAKLES]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Hear, pow’rful, Hercules [Herakles] untam’d and strong, to whom vast hands, and mighty works belong,
Almighty Titan, prudent and benign, of various forms, eternal and divine,
Father of Time [khronos], the theme of gen’ral praise, ineffable, ador’d in various ways.
Magnanimous, in divination skill’d and in the athletic labours of the field.
‘Tis thine strong archer, all things to devour, supreme, all-helping, all-producing pow’r;
To thee mankind as their deliv’rer pray, whose arm can chase the savage tribes away:
Uweary’d, earth’s best blossom, offspring fair, to whom calm peace, and peaceful works are dear.
Self-born, with primogenial fires you shine, and various names and strength of heart are thine.
Thy mighty head supports the morning light, and bears untam’d, the silent gloomy night;
From east to west endu’d with strength divine, twelve glorious labours to absolve is thine;
Supremely skill’d, thou reign’st in heav’n’s abodes, thyself a God amid’st th’ immortal Gods.
With arms unshaken, infinite, divine, come, blessed pow’r, and to our rites incline;
The mitigations of disease convey, and drive disasterous maladies away.
Come, shake the branch with thy almighty arm, dismiss thy darts and noxious fate disarm.

[12] XII. TO SATURN [KRONOS]

The Fumigation from Storax.
Etherial father, mighty Titan, hear, great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:
Endu’d with various council, pure and strong, to whom perfection and decrease belong.
Consum’d by thee all forms that hourly die, by thee restor’d, their former place supply;
The world immense in everlasting chains, strong and ineffable thy pow’r contains
Father of vast eternity, divine, O mighty Saturn [Kronos], various speech is thine:
Blossom of earth and of the starry skies, husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.
Obstetric Nature, venerable root, from which the various forms of being shoot;
No parts peculiar can thy pow’r enclose, diffus’d thro’ all, from which the world arose,
O, best of beings, of a subtle mind, propitious hear to holy pray’rs inclin’d;
The sacred rites benevolent attend, and grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

[13] XIII. TO RHEA

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Daughter of great Protogonus, divine, illustrious Rhea, to my pray’r incline,
Who driv’st thy holy car with speed along, drawn by fierce lions, terrible and strong.
Mother of Jove [Zeus], whose mighty arm can wield th’ avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield.
Drum-beating, frantic, of a splendid mien, brass-sounding, honor’d, Saturn’s [Kronos’] 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.
Mother of Gods and men, from whom the earth [Gaia] and lofty heav’ns [Ouranos] 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.

[14] XIV. TO JUPITER [ZEUS]

The Fumigation from Storax.
O Jove much-honor’d, Jove [Zeus] supremely great, to thee our holy rites we consecrate,
Our pray’rs and expiations, king divine, for all things round thy head exalted shine.
The earth is thine, and mountains swelling high, the sea profound, and all within the sky.
Saturnian [Kronion] king, descending from above, magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Jove [Zeus];
All-parent, principle and end of all, whose pow’r almighty, shakes this earthly ball;
Ev’n Nature trembles at thy mighty nod, loud-sounding, arm’d with light’ning, thund’ring God.
Source of abundance, purifying king, O various-form’d from whom all natures spring;
Propitious hear my pray’r, give blameless health, with peace divine, and necessary wealth.

[15] XV. TO JUNO [HERA]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
O Royal Juno [Hera] of majestic mien, aerial-form’d, divine, Jove’s [Zeus’] 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.

[16] XVI. TO NEPTUNE [POSEIDON]

The Fumigation from Myrrh
Hear, Neptune [Poseidon], 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.

[17] XVII. TO PLUTO [PLOUTON]

Pluto [Plouton], magnanimous, whose realms profound are fix’d beneath the firm and solid ground,
In the Tartarian plains remote from fight, and wrapt forever in the depths of night;
Terrestrial Jove [Zeus Khthonios], thy sacred ear incline, and, pleas’d, accept thy mystic’s hymn divine.
Earth’s keys to thee, illustrious king belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong.
‘Tis thine, abundant annual fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care.
To thee, great king, Avernus is assign’d, the seat of Gods, and basis of mankind.
Thy throne is fix’d in Hade’s dismal plains, distant, unknown to rest, where darkness reigns;
Where, destitute of breath, pale spectres dwell, in endless, dire, inexorable hell;
And in dread Acheron, whose depths obscure, earth’s stable roots eternally secure.
O mighty dæmon, whose decision dread, the future fate determines of the dead,
With captive Proserpine [Kore], thro’ grassy plains, drawn in a four-yok’d car with loosen’d reins,
Rapt o’er the deep, impell’d by love, you flew ’till Eleusina’s city rose to view;
There, in a wond’rous cave obscure and deep, the sacred maid secure from search you keep,
The cave of Atthis, whose wide gates display an entrance to the kingdoms void of day.
Of unapparent works, thou art alone the dispensator, visible and known.
O pow’r all-ruling, holy, honor’d light, thee sacred poets and their hymns delight:
Propitious to thy mystic’s works incline, rejoicing come, for holy rites are thine.

[18] XVIII. TO THUNDRING JOVE [ZEUS KERAUNOS]

The Fumigation from Storax.
O Father Jove [Zeus], who shak’st with fiery light the world deep-sounding from thy lofty height:
From thee, proceeds th’ ætherial lightning’s blaze, flashing around intolerable rays.
Thy sacred thunders shake the blest abodes, the shining regions of th’ immortal Gods:
Thy pow’r divine, the flaming lightning shrouds, with dark investiture, in fluid clouds.
‘Tis thine to brandish thunders strong and dire, to scatter storms, and dreadful darts of fire;
With roaring flames involving all around, and bolts of thunder of tremendous sound.
Thy rapid dart can raise the hair upright, and shake the heart of man with wild afright.
Sudden, unconquer’d, holy, thund’ring God, ‘with noise unbounded, flying all abroad;
With all-devouring force, entire and strong, horrid, untam’d, thou roll’st the flames along.
Rapid, ætherial bolt, descending fire, the earth all-parent, trembles at thy ire;
The sea all-shining; and each beast that hears the sound terrific, with dread horror fears:
When Nature’s face is bright with flashing fire, and in the heavens resound thy thunders dire.
Thy thunders white, the azure garments tear, and burst the veil of all surrounding air.
O Jove [Zeus], all-blessed, may thy wrath severe, hurl’d in the bosom of the deep appear,
And on the tops of mountains be reveal’d, for thy strong arm is not from us conceal’d.
Propitious to these sacred rites incline, and crown my wishes with a life divine:
Add royal health, and gentle peace beside, with equal reason, for my constant guide.

[19] XIX. To JOVE, as the AUTHOR of LIGHTNING [ZEUS ASTRAPAIOS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense and Manna.
I Call the mighty, holy, splendid light, aerial, dreadful-sounding, fiery-bright;
Flaming, aerial-light, with angry voice, lightning thro’ lucid clouds with horrid noise.
Untam’d, to whom resentments dire belong, pure, holy pow’r, all-parent, great and strong:
Come, and benevolent these rites attend, and grant my days a peaceful, blessed end.

[20] XX. TO THE CLOUDS [NEPHELAI]

The Fumigation from Myrrh.
Ærial clouds, thro’ heav’n’s resplendent plains who wander, parents of prolific rains;
Who nourish fruits, whose water’y frames are hurl’d, by winds impetuous, round the mighty world;
All-thund’ring, lion-roaring, flashing fire, in Air’s wide bosom, bearing thunders dire
Impell’d by ev’ry stormy, sounding gale, with rapid course, along the skies ye fail.
With blowing winds your wat’ry frames I call, on mother Earth with fruitful show’rs to fall.

[21] XXI. TO THE SEA [THALASSA], OR TETHYS

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 [Kypris], 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.

[22] XXII. TO NEREUS

The Fumigation from Myrrh.
O Thou, who doff the roots of Ocean [pontos] 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 [Deo’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.

[23] XXIII. TO THE NEREIDS

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Daughters of Nereus, resident in caves merg’d deep in Ocean, sporting thro’ the waves;
Fanatic fifty nymphs [Nymphai Einalioi], 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 [Bakkhos] and of Proserpine [Phersephoneia],
Of fair Calliope from whom I spring, and of Apollo bright, the Muse’s king.

[24] XXIV. TO PROTEUS

The Fumigation from Storax.
Proteus I call, whom Fate decrees, to keep the keys which lock the chambers of the deep;
First-born, by whose illustrious pow’r alone all Nature’s principles are clearly shewn:
Matter to change with various forms is thine, matter unform’d, capacious, and divine.
All-honor’d, prudent, whose sagacious mind knows all that was, and is, of ev’ry kind,
With all that shall be in succeeding time; so vast thy wisdom, wond’rous, and sublime:
For all things Nature first to thee consign’d, and in thy essence omniform confin’d.
Come, blessed father, to our rites attend, and grant our happy lives a prosp’rous end.

[25] XXV. TO THE EARTH [GAIA]

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 [Horai] in thy train, draw near, and with propitious mind thy suppliant hear.

[26] XXVI. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS [METER THEON]

The Fumigation from a Variety of Odoriferous Substances.
Mother of Gods [Meter Theon], 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 [Hestia], 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 [Kronos’] 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.

[27] XXVII. TO MERCURY [HERMES]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Hermes, draw near, and to my pray’r incline, angel of Jove [Zeus], and Maia’s son divine;
Studious of contests, ruler of mankind, with heart almighty, and a prudent mind.
Celestial messenger, of various skill, whose pow’rful arts could watchful Argus kill:
With winged feet, ’tis thine thro’ air to course, O friend of man, and prophet of discourse:
Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine, in arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine:
With pow’r endu’d all language to explain, of care the loos’ner, and the source of gain.
Whose hand contains of blameless peace the rod, Corucian, blessed, profitable God;
Of various speech, whose aid in works we find, and in necessities to mortals kind:
Dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere, be present, Hermes, and thy suppliant hear;
Assist my works, conclude my life with peace, give graceful speech, and me memory’s increase.

[28] XXVIII. TO PROSERPINE [PHERSEPHONE]

A Hymn.
Daughter of Jove [Zeus], almighty and divine, come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline:
Only-begotten, Pluto’s [Plouton’s] honor’d wife, 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 [Zeus’] holy offspring, of a beauteous mien, fatal [Praxidike], with lovely locks, infernal queen:
Source of the furies [Eumenides], whose blest frame proceeds from Jove’s [Zeus’] ineffable and secret seeds:
Mother of Bacchus [Eubouleos], Sonorous, divine, and many-form’d, the parent of the vine:
The dancing Hours [Horai] attend thee, essence bright, all-ruling virgin, bearing heav’nly light:
Illustrious, horned, of a bounteous mind, 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 to wretched mortals from thy power is known:
For thine the task according to thy will, 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 [Plouton] reigns.

[29] XXIX. TO BACCHUS [DIONYSOS]

The Fumigation from Storax.
Bacchus [Dionysos] I call, loud-sounding and divine, fanatic God, a two-fold shape is thine:
Thy various names and attributes I sing, O, first-born, thrice begotten, Bacchic king:
Rural, ineffable, two-form’d, obscure, two-horn’d, with ivy crown’d, euion, pure.
Bull-fac’d, and martial, bearer of the vine, endu’d with counsel prudent [Eubouleos] and divine:
Triennial, whom the leaves of vines adorn, of Jove [Zeus] and Proserpine [Persephoneia], occultly born.
Immortal dæmon, hear my suppliant voice, give me in blameless plenty to rejoice;
And listen gracious to my mystic pray’r, surrounded with thy choir of nurses fair.

[30] XXX. TO THE CURETES [KOURETES]

A Hymn.
Leaping Curetes, who with dancing feet and circling measures, armed footsteps beat:
Whose bosom’s mad, fanatic transports fire, who move in rythm to the founding lyre:
Who traces deaf when lightly leaping tread, arm bearers, strong defenders, rulers dread:
Propitious omens, guards of Proserpine [Persephone] preserving rites, mysterious and divine
Come, and benevolent my words attend, (in herds rejoicing), and my life defend.

[31] XXXI. TO PALLAS [ATHENE]

A Hymn.
Only-Begotten, noble race of Jove, blessed and fierce, who joy’st in caves to rove:
O, warlike Pallas, whose illustrious kind, ineffable and effable we find:
Magnanimous and fam’d, the rocky height, and groves, and shady mountains thee delight:
In arms rejoicing, who with Furies dire and wild, the souls of mortals dost inspire.
Gymnastic virgin of terrific mind, dire Gorgons bane, unmarried, blessed, kind:
Mother of arts, imperious; understood, rage to the wicked., wisdom to the good:
Female and male, the arts of war are thine, fanatic, much-form’d dragoness [Drakaina], divine:
O’er the Phlegrean giants rous’d to ire, thy coursers driving, with destruction dire.
Sprung from the head of Jove [Tritogeneia], of splendid mien, purger of evils, all-victorious queen.
Hear me, O Goddess, when to thee I pray, with supplicating voice both night and day,
And in my latest hour, peace and health, propitious times, and necessary wealth,
And, ever present, be thy vot’ries aid, O, much implor’d, art’s parent, blue eyed maid.

[32] XXXII. TO VICTORY [NIKE]

The Fumigation from Manna.
O Powerful Victory [Nike], by men desir’d, with adverse breasts to dreadful fury fir’d,
Thee I invoke, whose might alone can quell contending rage, and molestation fell:
‘Tis thine in battle to confer the crown, the victor’s prize, the mark of sweet renown;
For thou rul’st all things, Victory [Nike] divine! And glorious strife, and joyful shouts are thine.
Come, mighty Goddess, and thy suppliant bless, with sparkling eye, elated with success;
May deeds illustrious thy protection claim, and find, led on by thee immortal Fame.

[33] XXXIII. TO APOLLO [APOLLON]

The Fumigation from Manna.
Blest Pæan, come, propitious to my pray’r, illustrious pow’r, whom Memphian tribes revere,
Slayer of Tityus, and the God of health, Lycorian Phœbus, fruitful source of wealth .
Spermatic, golden-lyr’d, the field from thee receives it’s constant, rich fertility.
Titanic, Grunian, Smynthian, thee I sing, Python-destroying, hallow’d, Delphian king:
Rural, light-bearer, and the Muse’s head, noble and lovely, arm’d with arrows dread:
Far-darting, Bacchian, two-fold, and divine, pow’r far diffused, and course oblique is thine.
O, Delian king, whose light-producing eye views all within, and all beneath the sky:
Whose locks are gold, whose oracles are sure, who, omens good reveal’st, and precepts pure:
Hear me entreating for the human kind, hear, and be present with benignant mind;
For thou survey’st this boundless æther all, and ev’ry part of this terrestrial ball
Abundant, blessed; and thy piercing sight, extends beneath the gloomy, silent night;
Beyond the darkness, starry-ey’d, profound, the stable roots, deep fix’d by thee are found.
The world’s wide bounds, all-flourishing are thine, thyself all the source and end divine:
‘Tis thine all Nature’s music to inspire, with various-sounding, harmonising lyre;
Now the last string thou tun’ft to sweet accord, divinely warbling now the highest chord;
Th’ immortal golden lyre, now touch’d by thee, responsive yields a Dorian melody.
All Nature’s tribes to thee their diff’rence owe, and changing seasons from thy music flow
Hence, mix’d by thee in equal parts, advance Summer and Winter in alternate dance;
This claims the highest, that the lowest string, the Dorian measure tunes the lovely spring .
Hence by mankind, Pan-royal, two-horn’d nam’d, emitting whistling winds thro’ Syrinx fam’d;
Since to thy care, the figur’d seal’s consign’d, which stamps the world with forms of ev’ry kind.
Hear me, blest pow’r, and in these rites rejoice, and save thy mystics with a suppliant voice.

[34] XXXIV. TO LATONA [LETO]

The Fumigation from Myrrh.
Dark veil’d Latona [Leto], much invoked queen, twin-bearing Goddess, of a noble mien;
Cæantis [Koiantis] great, a mighty mind is thine, offspring prolific, blest of Jove [Zeus] divine:
Phœbus proceeds from thee, the God of light, and Dian [Artemis] fair, whom winged darts delight;
She in Ortygia’s honor’d regions born, in Delos he, which mountains high adorn.
Hear me, O Goddess, with propitious mind, and end these holy rites, with aspect kind.

[35] XXXV. TO DIANA [ARTEMIS]

The Fumigation from Manna.
Hear me, Jove’s [Zeus’] daughter, celebrated queen, Bacchian [Bromia] 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.

[36] XXXVI. TO THE TITANS

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
O Mighty Titans, who from heav’n [Ouranos] and earth [Gaia] derive your noble and illustrious birth,
Our fathers fires, in Tartarus profound who dwell, deep merg’d beneath the solid ground:
Fountains and principles, from whom began th’ afflicted, miserable, race of man:
Who not alone in earth’s retreats abide, but in the ocean and the air reside;
Since ev’ry species from your nature flows, which all prolific, nothing barren knows:
Avert your rage, if from th’ infernal seats one of your tribe should visit our retreats.

[37] XXXVII. TO THE CURETES [KOURETES]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Brass-beating Salians, ministers of Mars [Ares], who guard his arms the instruments of wars
Whose blessed frames, heav’n, earth, and sea compose, and from whose breath all animals arose:
Who dwell in Samothracia’s sacred ground, defending mortals thro’ the sea profound.
Deathless Curetes [Kouretes], by your pow’r alone, initial rites to men at first were shewn:
Who shake old Ocean thund’ring to the sky, and stubborn oaks with branches waving high.
‘Tis your’s in glittering arms the earth to beat, with lightly-leaping, rapid, sounding feet;
Then every beast the noise terrific flies, and the loud tumult wanders thro’ the skies:
The dust your feet excites with matchless force, flies to the clouds amidst their whirling course;
And ev’ry flower of variegated hue, grows in the dancing motion form’d by you.
Immortal dæmons, to your pow’rs consign’d the talk to nourish, and destroy mankind.
When rushing furious with loud tumult dire, o’erwhelm’d, they perish in your dreadful ire;
And live replenish’d with the balmy air, the food of life, committed to your care.
When shook by you, the seas, with wild uproar, wide-spreading, and profoundly whirling, roar:
The concave heav’ns, with Echo’s voice resound, when leaves with ruffling noise bestrew the ground.
Curetes, Corybantes, ruling kings, whose praise the land of Samothracia sings:
From Jove [Zeus] descended; whose immortal breath sustains the soul, and wafts her back from death;
Aerial-form’d, much-fam’d, in heav’n ye shine two-fold, in heav’n all-lucid and divine:
Blowing, serene, from whom abundance springs, nurses of seasons, fruit-producing kings.

[38] XXXVIII. O CORYBAS [KORYBAS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
The mighty ruler of this earthly ball, for ever flowing, to these rites I call;
Martial and blest, unseen by mortal sight, preventing fears, and pleas’d with gloomy night:
Hence, fancy’s terrors are by thee allay’d, all-various king, who lov’st the desart shade:
Each of thy brothers killing, blood is thine, two-fold Curete [Kourete], many-form’d, divine.
By thee transmuted Ceres’ [Deo’s] body pure, became a dragon’s savage and obscure:
Avert thy anger, hear me when I pray, and by fix’d fate, drive fancy’s fears away.

[39] XXXIX. TO CERES [DEMETER ELEUSINIA]

The Fumigation from Storax.
O Universal mother, Ceres [Deo] fam’d august, the source of wealth, and various nam’d:
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 [Bromios], bearing light:
Rejoicing in the reapers sickles, kind, whose nature lucid, earthly, pure, we find.
Prolific, venerable, Nurse divine, thy daughter loving, holy Proserpine [Koure]:
A car with dragons yok’d, ’tis thine to guide, 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.

[40] XL. TO THE CERALIAN MOTHER [METER ANTAIA]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Ceralian [Antaia] 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 [Persephone] thy daughter pure in dread Avernus [Aides], dismal and obscure;
A sacred youth while thro’ the world you stray Bacchus [Dysaulos], attending leader of the way;
The holy marriage of terrestrial Jove [Zeus Khthonios] 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.

[41] XLI. TO MISES [MISA]

The Fumigation from Storax.
Call Thesmophorus, spermatic God [Dionysos], of various names, who bears the leafy rod:
Mises [Misa], 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 [Kythereia] fair;
Or if exulting in the fertile plains with thy dark mother Isis, where she reigns,
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.

[42] XLII TO THE SEASONS [HORAI]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Daughters of Jove [Zeus] and Themis, seasons bright,
Justice [Dike], and blessed Peace [Eirene], and lawful Right [Eunomia],
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 [Persephone], when back from night,
the Fates [Moirai] and Graces [Kharites] Lead her up to light;
When in a band-harmonious they advance, and joyful round her, form the solemn dance:
With Ceres [Meter] triumphing, and Jove [Zeus] 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.

[43] XLIII. TO SEMELE

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 [Dionysos], 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 [Zeus Kronion], regent of the sky
Whom Proserpine [Persephone] 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.

[44] XLIV. TO DIONYSIUS BASSAREUS TRIENNALIS

A Hymn
Come, blessed Dionysius [Dionysos], various nam’d, bull-fac’d,
begot from Thunder, Bacchus [Bakkhos] fam’d.
Bassarian God, of universal might, whom swords, and blood, and sacred rage delight:
In heav’n rejoicing, mad, loud-sounding God, furious inspirer, bearer of the rod:
By Gods rever’d, who dwell’st with human kind, propitious come, with much-rejoicing mind.

[45] XLV. TO LIKNITUS BACCHUS [LIKNITOS DIONYSOS]

The Fumigation from Manna.
Liknitan Bacchus [Liknitos Dionysos], bearer of the vine, thee I invoke to bless these rites divine:
Florid and gay, of nymphs the blossom bright, and of fair Venus [Aphrodite], Goddess of delight,
‘Tis thine mad footsteps with mad nymphs to beat, dancing thro’ groves with lightly leaping feet:
From Jove’s [Zeus’] high counsels nurst by Proserpine [Persephoneia],
and born the dread of all the pow’rs divine:
Come, blessed pow’r, regard thy suppliant’s voice, propitious come, and in these rites rejoice.

[46] XLVI. TO BACCHUS PERICIONIUS [DIONYSOS PERIKIONIOS]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Bacchus Pericionius [Dionysos Perikionios], 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.

[47] XLVII. TO SABASIUS [ZABAZIOS]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Hear me, illustrious father, dæmon fam’d.
Great Saturn’s [Kronos’] offspring, and Sabasius [Zabazios] nam’d;
Inserting Bacchus, bearer of the vine, and founding God, within thy thigh divine,
That when mature, the Dionysian God might burst the bands of his conceal’d abode,
And come to sacred Tmolus, his delight, where Ippa dwells, all beautiful and bright.
Come blessed Phrygian God, the king of all, and aid thy mystics, when on thee they call.

[48] XLVIII. TO IPPA

The Fumigation from Storax.
Great nurse of Bacchus [Bakkhos], to my pray’r incline, for holy Sabus’ secret rites are thine,
The mystic rites of Bacchus’ nightly choirs, compos’d of sacred, loud-resounding fires:
Hear me, terrestrial mother, mighty queen, whether on Phyrgia’s holy mountain seen,
Or if to dwell in Tmolus thee delights, with holy aspect come, and bless these rites.

[49] XLIX. TO LYSIUS LENÆUS [LYSIOS LENAIOS]

A Hymn.
Hear me, Jove’s [Zeus’] son, blest Bacchus, God of wine, born of two mothers, honor’d and divine;
Lysian, Euion Bacchus, various-nam’d, of Gods the offspring secret, holy, fam’d:
Fertile and nourishing whose liberal care earth’s fruits increases, flourishing and fair;
Sounding, magnanimous, Lenæan pow’r, O various form’d, medic’nal, holy flow’r:
Mortals in thee, repose from labour find, delightful charm, desir’d by all mankind:
Fair-hair’d Euion, Bromian, joyful God, Lysian, invested with the leafy rod.
To these our rites, benignant pow’r incline, when fav’ring men, or when on Gods you shine;
Be present to thy mystic’s suppliant pray’r, rejoicing come, and fruits abundant bear.

[50] L. TO THE NYMPHS [NYMPHAI]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Nymphs, who from Ocean’s [Okeanos’] stream derive your birth, who dwell in liquid caverns of the earth
Nurses of Bacchus [Bakkhos] secret-coursing pow’r, who fruits sustain, and nourish ev’ry flow’r:
Earthly, rejoicing, who in meadows dwell, and caves and dens, whose depths extend to hell:
Holy, oblique, who swiftly soar thro’ air, fountains and dews, and mazy streams your care:
Seen and unseen, who joy with wand’rings wide and gentle course, thro’ flow’ry vales to glide;
With Pan exulting on the mountains height, loud-founding, mad, whom rocks and woods delight:
Nymphs od’rous, rob’d in white, whose streams exhale the breeze refreshing, and the balmy gale;
With goats and pastures pleas’d, and beasts of prey, nurses of fruits, unconscious of decay:
In cold rejoicing, and to cattle kind, sportive thro’ ocean wand’ring unconfin’d:
Nysian, fanatic Nymphs, whom oaks delight, lovers of Spring, Pæonian virgins bright.
With Bacchus, and with Ceres [Deo], hear my pray’r. And to mankind abundant favour bear;
Propitious listen to your suppliants voice, come, and benignant in these rites rejoice;
Give plenteous Seasons, and sufficient wealth, and pour; in lasting streams, continued Health.

[51] LI. TO TRIETERICUS [TRIETERIKOS]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Bacchus fanatic, much-nam’d, blest, divine, bull-fac’d Lenæan, bearer of the vine;
From fire descended, raging, Nysian king, from whom initial ceremonies spring:
Liknitan Bacchus, pure and fiery bright, prudent [Eubouleos], crown-bearer, wandering in the night;
Pupil of Proserpine, mysterious pow’r, triple, ineffable, Jove’s [Zeus’] secret flow’r:
Ericapæus, first-begotten nam’d, of Gods the father, and the offspring fam’d:
Bearing a sceptre, leader of the choir, whose dancing feet, fanatic Furies fire,
When the triennial band thou dost inspire.
Loud-sounding, Tages, of a fiery light, born of two mothers, Amphietus bright:
Wand’ring on mountains, cloth’d with skins of deer, Apollo, golden-ray’d, whom all revere.
God of the grape with leaves of ivy crown’d, Bassarian, lovely, virgin-like, renown’d
Come blessed pow’r, regard thy mystics voice, propitious come, and in these rites rejoice.

[52] LII. To AMPHIETUS BACCHUS [AMPHIETOS BAKKHOS]

The Fumigation from every Aromatic except Frankincense.
Terrestrial Dionysius [Dionysos Khthonios], hear my pray’r, awak’ned rise with nymphs of lovely hair:
Great Amphietus Bacchus, annual God, who laid asleep in Proserpine’s [Persephone’s] abode,
Did’st lull to drowsy and oblivious rest, the rites triennial, and the sacred feast;
Which rous’d again by thee, in graceful ring, thy nurses round thee mystic anthems sing;
When briskly dancing with rejoicing pow’rs, thou mov’st in concert with the circling hours.
Come, blessed, fruitful, horned, and divine, and on these rites with joyful aspect shine;
Accept the general incense and the pray’r, and make prolific holy fruits thy care.

[53] LIII. TO SILENUS, SATYRUS, and the PRIESTESSES of BACCHUS

The Fumigation from Manna.
Great nurse of Bacchus [Bakkhos], to my pray’r incline, Silenus, honor’d by the pow’rs divine
And by mankind at the triennial feast illustrious dæmon, reverenc’d as the best:
Holy, august, the source of lawful rites, rejoicing pow’r, whom vigilance delights
With Sylvans dancing ever young and fair,
head of the Bacchic Nymphs [Naiades and Bakkhai], who ivy bear.
With all thy Satyrs on our incense shine, Dæmons wild form’d, and bless the rites divine;
Come, rouse to sacred Joy thy pupil kin, and Brumal Nymphs with rites Lenæan bring;
Our orgies shining thro’ the night inspire, and bless triumphant pow’r the sacred choir.

[54] LIV. TO VENUS [APHRODITE]

A Hymn.
Heav’nly [Ourania], illustrious, laughter-loving queen, sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien;
Crafty, from whom necessity [Ananke] 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 [Moirai] 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 [Bakkhos]:
Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight, mother of Loves [Eortes], whom banquetings delight;
Source of persuasion [Peitho], 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.

[55] LV. TO ADONIS

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Much-nam’d, and best of dæmons, hear my pray’r, the desart-loving, deck’d with tender hair;
Joy to diffuse, by all desir’d is thine, much form’d, Eubulus [Eubouleos]; aliment divine
Female and Male, all charming to the sight, Adonis ever flourishing and bright;
At stated periods doom’d to set and rise, with splendid lamp, the glory of the skies.
Two-horn’d and lovely, reverenc’d with tears, of beauteous form, adorn’d with copious hairs.
Rejoicing in the chace, all-graceful pow’r, sweet plant of Venus [Aphrodite], Love’s [Eors’] delightful flow’r:
Descended from the secret bed divine, of lovely-hair’d, infernal Proserpine [Persephone].
‘Tis thine to fink in Tartarus profound, and shine again thro’ heav’ns illustrious round,
With beauteous temp’ral orb restor’d to sight; come, with earth’s fruits, and in these flames delight.

[56] LVI. TO THE TERRESTRIAL HERMES [HERMES KHTHONIOS]

The Fumigation from Storax.
Hermes I call, whom Fate decrees to dwell in the dire path which leads to deepest hell
O Bacchic [Bakkheios] Hermes, progeny divine of Dionysius [Dionysos], parent of the vine,
And of celestial Venus [Aphrodite] Paphian queen, dark eye-lash’d Goddess of a lovely mien:
Who constant wand’rest thro’ the sacred feats
where hell’s dread empress, Proserpine [Persephone], retreats;
To wretched souls the leader of thc way when Fate decrees, to regions void of day:
Thine is the wand which causes sleep to fly, or lulls to slumb’rous rest the weary eye;
For Proserpine [Persephone’s] thro’ Tart’rus dark and wide gave thee forever flowing souls to guide.
Come, blessed pow’r the sacrifice attend, and grant our mystic works a happy end.

[57] LVII. TO CUPID, OR LOVE [EROS]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
I Call great Cupid [Eros], source of sweet delight, holy and pure, and lovely to the sight;
Darting, and wing’d, impetuous fierce desire, with Gods and mortals playing, wand’ring fire:
Cautious, and two-fold, keeper of the keys of heav’n and earth, the air, and spreading seas;
Of all that Ceres’ [Deo’s] fertile realms contains, by which th’ all-parent Goddess life sustains,
Or dismal Tartarus is doom’d to keep, widely extended, or the sounding, deep;
For thee, all Nature’s various realms obey, who rul’st alone, with universal sway.
Come, blessed pow’r, regard these mystic fires, and far avert, unlawful mad desires.

[58] LVIII. TO THE FATES [MOIRAI]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Daughters of darkling Night [Nyx], much-nam’d, draw near infinite Fates [Moirai], and listen to my pray’r;
Who in the heav’nly lake (where waters white burst from a fountain hid in depths of night,
And thro’ a dark and stony cavern glide, a cave profound, invisible) abide;
From whence, wide coursing round the boundless earth, your pow’r extends to those of mortal birth
To men with hope elated, trifling, gay, a race presumptuous, born but to decay;
Whose life ’tis your’s in darkness to conceal to sense impervious, in a purple veil,
When thro’ the fatal plain they joyful ride in one great car, Opinion for their guide;
‘Till each completes his heav’n-appointed round at Justice, Hope, and Care’s concluding bound,
The terms absolv’d, prescrib’d by ancient law of pow’r immense, and just without a flaw;
For Fate [Moira] alone with vision unconfin’d, surveys the conduct of the mortal kind.
Fate is Jove’s [Zeus’] perfect and eternal eye, for Jove [Zeus] and Fate [Moira] our ev’ry deed descry.
Come, gentle pow’rs, well born, benignant, fam’d, Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho nam’d:
Unchang’d, aerial, wand’ring in the night, restless, invisible to mortal fight;
Fates [Moirai] all-producing all-destroying hear, regard the incense and the holy pray’r;
Propitious listen to these rites inclin’d, and far avert distress with placid mind.

[59] LIX. TO THE GRACES [KHARITES]

The Fumigation from Storax.
Hear me, illustrious Graces [Kharites], mighty nam’d, from Jove descended and Eunomia fam’d;
Thalia, and Aglaia fair and bright, and blest Euphrosyne whom joys delight:
Mothers of mirth, all lovely to the view, pleasure abundant pure belongs to you:
Various, forever flourishing and fair, desir’d by mortals, much invok’d in pray’r:
Circling, dark-ey’d, delightful to mankind, come, and your mystics bless with bounteous mind.

[60] LX. TO NEMESIS

A Hymn.
Thee, Nemesis I call, almighty queen, by whom the deeds of mortal life are seen:
Eternal, much rever’d, of boundless sight, alone rejoicing in the just and right:
Changing the counsels of the human breast for ever various, rolling without rest.
To every mortal is thy influence known, and men beneath thy righteous bondage groan;
For ev’ry thought within the mind conceal’d is to thy fight perspicuously reveal’d.
The soul unwilling reason to obey by lawless passion rul’d, thy eyes survey.
All to see, hear, and rule, O pow’r divine whose nature Equity contains, is thine.
Come, blessed, holy Goddess, hear my pray’r, and make thy mystic’s life, thy constant care:
Give aid benignant in the needful hour, and strength abundant to the reas’ning pow’r;
And far avert the dire, unfriendly race of counsels impious, arrogant, and base.

[61] LXI. TO JUSTICE [DIKE]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
The piercing eye of Justice [Dike] bright, I sing, plac’d by the throne of heav’n’s almighty king [Zeus],
Perceiving thence, with vision unconfin’d, the life and conduct of the human kind
To thee, revenge and punishment belong, chastising ev’ry deed, unjust and wrong;
Whose pow’r alone, dissimilars can join, and from th’ equality of truth combine:
For all the ill, persuasion can inspire, when urging bad designs, with counsel dire,
‘Tis thine alone to punish; with the race of lawless passions, and incentives base;
For thou art ever to the good inclin’d, and hostile to the men of evil mind.
Come, all-propitious, and thy suppliant hear, when Fate’s predestin’d, final hour draws near.

[62] LXII. TO EQUITY [DIKAIOSUNE]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
O Blessed Equity [Dikaiosune], mankind’s delight, th’ eternal friend of conduct just and right:
Abundant, venerable, honor’d maid, to judgments pure, dispensing constant aid,
A stable conscience, and an upright mind; for men unjust, by thee are undermin’d,
Whose souls perverse thy bondage ne’er desire, but more untam’d decline thy scourges dire:
Harmonious, friendly power, averse to strife, in peace rejoicing, and a stable life;
Lovely, loquacious, of a gentle mind, hating excess, to equal deeds inclin’d:
Wisdom, and virtue of whate’er degree, receive their proper bound alone in thee.
Hear, Goddess Equity [Dikaiosune], the deeds destroy of evil men, which human life annoy;
That all may yield to thee of mortal birth, whether supported by the fruits of earth,
Or in her kindly fertile bosom found, or in the depths of Marine Jove [Zeus] profound.

[63] LXIII. TO LAW [NOMOS]

A Hymn.
The holy king of Gods and men I call, celestial Law [Nomos], the righteous seal of all;
The seal which stamps whate’er the earth contains, Nature’s firm basis, and the liquid plains:
Stable, and starry, of harmonious frame, preserving laws eternally the same:
Thy all-composing pow’r in heaven appears, connects its frame, and props the starry spheres;
And shakes weak Envy with tremendous sound, toss’d by thy arm in giddy whirls around.
‘Tis thine, the life of mortals to defend, and crown existence with a blessed end;
For thy command and alone, of all that lives order and rule to ev’ry dwelling gives:
Ever observant of the upright mind, and of just actions the companion kind;
Foe to the lawless, with avenging ire, their steps involving in destruction dire.
Come, bless, abundant pow’r, whom all revere, by all desir’d, with favr’ing mind draw near;
Give me thro’ life, on thee to fix my fight, and ne’er forsake the equal paths of right.

[64] LXIV. TO MARS [ARES]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Magnanimous, unconquer’d, boistrous Mars, in darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars
Fierce and untam’d, whose mighty pow’r can make the strongest walls from their foundations shake:
Mortal destroying king, defil’d with gore, pleas’d with war’s dreadful and tumultuous roar:
Thee, human blood, and swords, and spears delight, and the dire ruin of mad savage fight.
Stay, furious contests, and avenging strife, whose works with woe, embitter human life;
To lovely Venus [Kypris], and to Bacchus [Lyaios] yield, to Ceres [Deo] give the weapons of the field;
Encourage peace, to gentle works inclin’d, and give abundance, with benignant mind.

[65] LXV. TO VULCAN [HEPHAISTOS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense and Manna.
Strong, mighty Vulcan [Hephaistos], bearing splendid light, unweary’d fire, with flaming torrents bright:
Strong-handed, deathless, and of art divine, pure element, a portion of the world is thine:
All-taming artist, all-diffusive pow’r, ’tis thine supreme, all substance to devour:
Æther, Sun, Moon, and Stars, light pure and clear, for these thy lucid parts to men appear.
To thee, all dwellings, cities, tribes belong, diffus’d thro’ mortal bodies bright and strong.
Hear, blessed power, to holy rites incline, and all propitious on the incense shine:
Suppress the rage of fires unweary’d frame, and still preserve our nature’s vital flame.

[66] LXVI. TO ESCULAPIUS [ASKLEPIOS]

The Fumigation from Manna.
Great Esculapius [Asklepios], skill’d to heal mankind, all-ruling Pæan, and physician kind;
Whose arts medic’nal, can alone assuage diseases dire, and stop their dreadful rage:
Strong lenient God, regard my suppliant pray’r, bring gentle Health, adorn’d with lovely hair;
Convey the means of mitigating pain, and raging, deadly pestilence restrain.
O pow’r all-flourishing, abundant, bright, Apollo’s honor’d offspring, God of light;
Husband of blameless Health [Hygeia], the constant foe of dread Disease the minister of woe:
Come, blessed saviour, and my health defend, and to my life afford a prosp’rous end.

[67] LXVII. TO HEALTH [HYGEIA]

The Fumigation from Manna.
O Much-desir’d, prolific, gen’ral queen, hear me, life-bearing, Health [Hygeia], of beauteous mien,
Mother of all; by thee diseases dire, of bliss destructive, from our life retire;
And ev’ry house is flourishing and fair, if with rejoicing aspect thou art there:
Each dædal art, thy vig’rous force inspires, and all the world thy helping hand desires;
Pluto life’s bane alone resists thy will, and ever hates thy all-preserving skill.
O fertile queen, from thee forever flows to mortal life from agony repose;
And men without thy all-sustaining ease, find nothing useful, nothing form’d to please;
Without thy aid, not Plutus’ [Aides’] self can thrive, nor man to much afflicted age arrive;
For thou alone of countenance serene, dost govern all things, universal queen.
Assist thy mystics with propitious mind, and far avert disease of ev’ry kind.

[68] LXVIII. TO THE FURIES [ERINYES]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Vociferous Bacchanalian Furies [Erinyes], 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 [Dike’s] impartial eye.
Come, snaky-hair’d, Fates [Moirai] many-form’d, divine, suppress your rage, and to our rites incline.

[69] LXIX. TO THE FURIES [EUMENIDES]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Hear me, illustrious Furies [Eumenides], mighty nam’d, terrific pow’rs, for prudent counsel fam’d;
Holy and pure, from Jove terrestrial [Zeus Khthonios] born
and Proserpine [Phersephone], whom lovely locks adorn:
Whose piercing sight, with vision unconfin’d, surveys the deeds of all the impious kind:
On Fate attendant, punishing the race (with wrath severe) of deeds unjust and base.
Dark-colour’d queens, whose glittering eyes, are bright with dreadful, radiant, life-destroying, light:
Eternal rulers, terrible and strong, to whom revenge, and tortures dire belong;
Fatal and horrid to the human sight, with snaky tresses wand’ring in the night;
Either approach, and in these rites rejoice, for ye, I call, with holy, suppliant voice.

[70] LXX.TO MELINOE

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Call Melinoe, saffron-veil’d, terrene, who from infernal Pluto’s sacred queen [Phersephone],
Mixt with Saturnian Jupiter [Kronion Zeus], arose, near where Cocytus’ mournful river flows;
When under Pluto’s [Plouton’s] semblance,
Jove [Zeus] divine deceiv’d with guileful arts dark Proserpine [Phersephone].
Hence, partly black thy limbs and partly white, from Pluto [Plouton] dark, from Jove [Zeus] etherial, bright
Thy colour’d members, men by night inspire when seen in specter’d forms with terrors dire;
Now darkly visible, involv’d in night, perspicuous now they meet the fearful fight.
Terrestrial queen expel wherever found the soul’s mad fears to earth’s remotest bound;
With holy aspect on our incense shrine, and bless thy mystics, and the rites divine.

[71] LXXI. TO FORTUNE [TYKHE]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Approach strong Fortune [Tykhe], with propitious mind and rich abundance, to my pray’r inclin’d
Placid, and gentle Trivia, mighty nam’d, imperial Dian [Artemis], born of Pluto [Eubouleos] fam’d;
Mankind’s unconquer’d, endless praise is thine, sepulch’ral, widely-wand’ring pow’r divine!
In thee, our various mortal life is found, and some from thee hi copious wealth abound;
While others mourn thy hand averse to bless, in all the bitterness of deep distress.
Be present, Goddess, to thy vot’ry kind, and give abundance with benignant mind.

[72] LXXII. TO THE DÆMON, OR GENIUS

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Thee, mighty-ruling, Dæmon dread, I call, mild Jove [Zeus], life-giving, and the source of all:
Great Jove [Zeus], much-wand’ring, terrible and strong, to whom revenge and tortures dire belong.
Mankind from thee, in plenteous wealth abound, when in their dwellings joyful thou art found;
Or pass thro’ life afflicted and distress’d, the needful means of bliss by thee supprest.
‘Tis thine alone endu’d with boundless might, to keep the keys of sorrow and delight.
O holy, blessed father, hear my pray’r, disperse the seeds of life-consuming care;
With fav’ring mind the sacred rites attend, and grant my days a glorious, blessed end.

[73] LXXIII. TO LEUCOTHEA

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
I Call Leucothea, of great Cadmus born, and Bacchus’ [Dionysos’] nurse, whom ivy leaves adorn.
Hear, pow’rful Goddess, in the mighty deep wide and profound, thy Ration doom’d to keep:
In waves rejoicing, guardian of mankind; for ships from thee alone deliv’rance find
Amidst the fury of th’ unstable main, when art no more avail, and strength is vain;
When rushing billows with tempestuous ire o’erwhelm the mariner in ruin dire,
Thou hear’st, with pity touch’d, his suppliant pray’r, resolv’d his life to succour and to spare.
Be ever present, Goddess! in distress, waft ships along with prosperous success:
Thy mystics thro’ the stormy sea defend, and safe conduct them to their destin’d end.

[74] LXXIV. TO PALÆMON

The Fumigation from Manna.
O Nurs’d with Dionysius [Dionysos], doom’d to keep thy dwelling in the widely-spreading deep:
With joyful aspect to my pray’r incline, propitious come, and bless the rites divine:
Thro’ earth and sea thy ministers attend, and from old Ocean’s stormy waves defend:
For ships their safety ever owe to thee, who wand’rest with them thro’ the raging sea.
Come, guardian pow’r, whom mortal tribes desire, and far avert the deep’s destructive ire.

[75] LXXV. TO THE MUSES

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Daughters of Jove [Zeus and Mnemosyne], dire-sounding and divine,
renown’d Pierian, sweetly speaking Nine;
To those whose breasts your sacred furies fire much-form’d, the objects of supreme desire:
Sources of blameless virtue to mankind, who form to excellence the youthful mind;
Who nurse the soul, and give her to descry the paths of right with Reason’s steady eye.
Commanding queens who lead to sacred light the intellect refin’d from Error’s night;
And to mankind each holy rite disclose, for mystic knowledge from your nature flows.
Clio, and Erato, who charms the sight, with thee Euterpe minist’ring delight:
Thalia flourishing, Polymina fam’d, Melpomene from skill in music nam’d:
Terpischore, Urania heav’nly bright, with thee who gav’st me to behold the light.
Come, venerable, various, pow’rs divine, with fav’ring aspect on your mystics shine;
Bring glorious, ardent, lovely, fam’d desire, and warm my bosom with your sacred fire.

[76] LXXVI. To MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
The consort I invoke of Jove [Zeus] divine, source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine;
Free from th’ oblivion of the fallen mind, by whom the soul with intellect is join’d:
Reason’s increase, and thought to thee belong, all-powerful, pleasant, vigilant, and strong:
‘Tis thine, to waken from lethargic rest all thoughts deposited within the breast;
And nought neglecting, vigorous to excite the mental eye from dark oblivion’s night.
Come, blessed power, thy mystic’s mem’ry wake to holy rites, and Lethe’s fetters break.

[77] LXXVII. TO AURORA [EOS]

The Fumigation from Manna.
Hear me, O Goddess! whose emerging ray leads on the broad refulgence of the day;
Blushing Aurora [Eos], whose celestial light beams on the world with red’ning splendours bright:
Angel of Titan, whom with constant round, thy orient beams recall from night profound:
Labour of ev’ry kind to lead is thine, of mortal life the minister divine.
Mankind in thee eternally delight, and none presumes to shun thy beauteous sight.
Soon as thy splendours break the bands of rest, and eyes unclose with pleasing sleep oppress’d;
Men, reptiles, birds, and beasts, with gen’ral voice, and all the nations of the deep, rejoice;
For all the culture of our life is thine. Come, blessed pow’r! and to these rites incline:
Thy holy light increase, and unconfin’d diffuse its radiance on thy mystic’s mind.

[78] LXXVIII. TO THEMIS

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Illustrious Themis, of celestial birth, thee I invoke, young blossom of the earth;
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.

[79] LXXIX. TO THE NORTH WIND [BOREAS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Boreas, whose wint’ry blasts, terrific, tear the bosom of the deep surrounding air;
Cold icy pow’r, approach, and fav’ring blow, and Thrace a while desert expos’d to snow:
The misty station of the air dissolve, with pregnant clouds, whose frames in show’rs resolve:
Serenely temper all within the sky, and wipe from moisture, Æther’s beauteous eye.

[80] LXXX. TO THE WEST WIND [ZEPHYROS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Sea-born, aerial, blowing from the west, sweet gales [Aurai], who give to weary’d labour rest:
Vernal and grassy, and of gentle found, to ships delightful, thro’ the sea profound;
For these, impell’d by you with gentle force, pursue with prosp’rous Fate their destin’d course.
With blameless gales regard my suppliant pray’r, Zephyrs unseen, light-wing’d, and form’d from air.

[81] LXXXI. TO THE SOUTH WIND [NOTOS]

The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Wide coursing gales, whose lightly leaping feet with rapid wings the air’s wet bosom beat,
Approach benevolent, swift-whirling pow’rs, with humid clouds the principles of flow’rs:
For flow’ry clouds are portion’d to your care, to send on earth from all surrounding air.
Bear, blessed pow’rs, these holy rites attend, and fruitful rains on earth all-parent send.

[82] LXXXII. TO OCEAN [OKEANOS]

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, 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.

[83] LXXXIII. TO VESTA [HESTIA]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Daughter of Saturn [Kronos], venerable dame, the seat containing of unweary’d flame;
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;
Accept these rites, accord each just desire, and gentle health, and needful good inspire.

[84] LXXXIV. TO SLEEP [HYPNOS]

The Fumigation from a Poppy.
Sleep [Hypnos], 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 [Thanatos] 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.

[85] LXXXV. TO THE DIVINITY OF DREAMS [ONEIROI]

The Fumigation from Aromatics.
Thee I invoke, blest pow’r of dreams [Oneiroi] divine, angel of future fates, swift wings are thine:
Great source of oracles to human kind, when stealing soft, and whisp’ring to the mind,
Thro’ sleep’s sweet silence and the gloom of night, thy pow’r awakes th’ intellectual fight;
To silent souls the will of heav’n relates, and silently reveals their future fates.
For ever friendly to the upright mind sacred and pure, to holy rites inclin’d;
For these with pleasing hope thy dreams inspire, bliss to anticipate, which all desire.
Thy visions manifest of fate disclose, what methods best may mitigate our woes;
Reveal what rites the Gods immortal please, and what the means their anger to appease:
For ever tranquil is the good man’s end, whose life, thy dreams admonish and defend.
But from the wicked turn’d averse to bless, thy form unseen, the angel of distress;
No means to cheek approaching ill they find, pensive with fears, and to the future blind.
Come, blessed pow’r, the signatures reveal which heav’n’s decrees mysteriously conceal,
Signs only present to the worthy mind, nor omens ill disclose of monst’rous kind.

[86] LXXXVI. TO DEATH [THANATOS]

The Fumigation from Manna.
Hear me, O Death [Thanatos], whose empire unconfin’d, extends to mortal tribes of ev’ry kind.
On thee, the portion of our time depends, whose absence lengthens life, whose presence ends.
Thy sleep perpetual bursts the vivid folds, by which the soul, attracting body holds:
Common to all of ev’ry sex and age, for nought escapes thy all-destructive rage;
Not youth itself thy clemency can gain, vig’rous and strong, by thee untimely slain.
In thee, the end of nature’s works is known, in thee, all judgment is absolv’d alone:
No suppliant arts thy dreadful rage controul, no vows revoke the purpose of thy soul;
O blessed pow’r regard my ardent pray’r, and human life to age abundant spare.

THE END