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Article THE " GOLDEN ASS" OF APULEIUS. ← Page 8 of 9 →
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The " Golden Ass" Of Apuleius.
magnificent temple , and having celebrated the form of opening after the usual rites , and performed the morning sacrifice , he brings out of the archives certain books in hieroglyphical character , from AA'hich he gives directions as to the things to be purchased for his initiation into the hi gher mysteries . Some more clays of ablutionsfasting , ancl other preparations .
, NOAV for Lucius' description of the initiation . " All the uninitiated having been sent away , the priest clothed me in a neAV linen garment , and , taking my hand , led me into the penetralia of the sanctuary . Tou will perhaps ask , studious reader , and be anxious to know , what was then done . What was done , ask you ? I would tell , if it Avere lawful to tell ; thou shouldst knoAV , if it were lawful for thee to hear . But I will not detain in long suspense you , who are , perchance , in a state of suspense
Avith religious anxiety . Hear , therefore , and believe , for the things I narrate are true . I approached the confines of death , and , having trod the threshold of Proserpine , I was carried back through all the elements . At midnight , I beheld the sun glittering with clear light ; I approached the gods of Hades and of Heaven , and adored them face to face . Thus have I related to you things , which , although heard by thee , thou canst not know . . . . After this , I celebrated a most cheerful banquet in honour of my birth-day into these rites ; pleasant was the banquet and lively the entertainment . "
Such are the brief hints which our author gives as to the character of the mystical ceremonies ; hints sufficient to prove that "the truly grand tragedies , the imposing and terrible representations , Avere the sacred mysteries , Avhich Avere celebrated in the greatest temples in the world , in the presence of the initiated only . It Avas there that the habitsthe
decora-, tion , the machinery , were proper to the subject ; ancl the subject Avas , the present and future life . " * Aucl the spurious mysteries of the ancients , and the Masonic ritual of the modern , have this in common , viz ., that they " make the legend of a resurrection from the dead to constitute the chief material
m a substituted degree . " f It will be remembered , that in the beautiful charge of the First Degree , obedience to existing rulers is speciall y inculcated , as a Masonic duty . So Ave find in Apideius , that in the rites of Osiris ( into AA'hich Lucius is finall y initiated ) , they prayed for the prosperity of all orders in the state .
I shall not , at present , enter into a discussion of the beautiful episode of Cupid and Psyche , which forms a large portion of the " Metamorphoses ; " but shall merely observe , that it inculcates the same lesson , viz ., that undue curiosity and immorality are utterly at variance with the qualifications suited to a candidate for initiation . The words of Bulxver , the elegant illustrator
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The " Golden Ass" Of Apuleius.
magnificent temple , and having celebrated the form of opening after the usual rites , and performed the morning sacrifice , he brings out of the archives certain books in hieroglyphical character , from AA'hich he gives directions as to the things to be purchased for his initiation into the hi gher mysteries . Some more clays of ablutionsfasting , ancl other preparations .
, NOAV for Lucius' description of the initiation . " All the uninitiated having been sent away , the priest clothed me in a neAV linen garment , and , taking my hand , led me into the penetralia of the sanctuary . Tou will perhaps ask , studious reader , and be anxious to know , what was then done . What was done , ask you ? I would tell , if it Avere lawful to tell ; thou shouldst knoAV , if it were lawful for thee to hear . But I will not detain in long suspense you , who are , perchance , in a state of suspense
Avith religious anxiety . Hear , therefore , and believe , for the things I narrate are true . I approached the confines of death , and , having trod the threshold of Proserpine , I was carried back through all the elements . At midnight , I beheld the sun glittering with clear light ; I approached the gods of Hades and of Heaven , and adored them face to face . Thus have I related to you things , which , although heard by thee , thou canst not know . . . . After this , I celebrated a most cheerful banquet in honour of my birth-day into these rites ; pleasant was the banquet and lively the entertainment . "
Such are the brief hints which our author gives as to the character of the mystical ceremonies ; hints sufficient to prove that "the truly grand tragedies , the imposing and terrible representations , Avere the sacred mysteries , Avhich Avere celebrated in the greatest temples in the world , in the presence of the initiated only . It Avas there that the habitsthe
decora-, tion , the machinery , were proper to the subject ; ancl the subject Avas , the present and future life . " * Aucl the spurious mysteries of the ancients , and the Masonic ritual of the modern , have this in common , viz ., that they " make the legend of a resurrection from the dead to constitute the chief material
m a substituted degree . " f It will be remembered , that in the beautiful charge of the First Degree , obedience to existing rulers is speciall y inculcated , as a Masonic duty . So Ave find in Apideius , that in the rites of Osiris ( into AA'hich Lucius is finall y initiated ) , they prayed for the prosperity of all orders in the state .
I shall not , at present , enter into a discussion of the beautiful episode of Cupid and Psyche , which forms a large portion of the " Metamorphoses ; " but shall merely observe , that it inculcates the same lesson , viz ., that undue curiosity and immorality are utterly at variance with the qualifications suited to a candidate for initiation . The words of Bulxver , the elegant illustrator