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Article THE ANOIENT MTaT ← Page 5 of 7 →
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The Anoient Mtat
vestment of various colours , above which , a rich chlamys or cloak was thrown over his shoulders , called the Olympic stole , which was ornamented on all sides with figures of divers animals , including Indian serpents and hyperborean griffins , which the other hemisphere generates in the form of a winded bird . In Ms right hand lie bore a
burning torch ; while his head was encircled by a graceful chaplet , the shining palm-leaves projecting from it like rays of light . * Thus ai * raved % and adorned with habiliments bright as the noonday sun , Lucius ascended a wooden rostrum placed in the very centre of the temple-in front of the image of the goddess . Wliile standing there as still as a statue , he was exhibited to the multitude . The
remainder of this day ( the first of his initiation ) was passed m festivities . The two next days were passed in a manner somewhat similar ; after which / he returned his thanks to the goddess Isis , and to her high priest Mithras , and set sail for Rome . t From that time , no study was of such importance with him as that of daily supplicating the divinity of Queen Isis , in her temple ill the Campus Martins called " Campensis , " which is frequented with the deepest veneration . Here ,
again the goddess appeared to him , and personally reminded him of his initiation vows and sacred duties , and further warned him that he was to undergo another initiation , and ordered him to make preparations for the ceremonial . Naturally surprised at this revelation , inasmuch as he considered himself fully initiated already , he learned at length that his initiation hitherto related wholly to the goddess Isis , and that as vet he was insufficientlv illuminated in the mysteries of
the great god , the supreme parent of all , Osiris . For though there was a close connection between the essences of their divine natures and religions , the ceremonies of their several initiations were considerably different . On the next night to this , Lucius dreamed that one of the religious functionaries clothed in linen garments , and bearing in his hand ^ thyrsi , ivy , and other things which it was not lawful- to mention ,
entered his dwelling , and laying these things at the feet of his household gods , in order to give him an opportunity of recognizing him afterwards , showed him that he walked lame , and that his left ankle was bent . All ambiguity as to the will of the gods was now at an end , for , on the following morning , after performing his salutation to the goddess , as he was scrutinizing the appearance of all the religious functionaries in order to compare them with the one he had seen in his dream , he observed one of the Pastophori who exactly resembled the
nocturnal apparition . Addressing mmself , therefore , to this person , whose name he learned was Asinius Marcellus , he found that he , too , had received instructions relative to him . For he had dreamed that , while placing a wreath on the statue of the great god , Osiris , a voice * The substance of this paragraph has been given in a former number , but I repeat us much of it as is necessary , to prevent the interest of the narrative from being broken . t The scene of this initiation was at Corinth ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Anoient Mtat
vestment of various colours , above which , a rich chlamys or cloak was thrown over his shoulders , called the Olympic stole , which was ornamented on all sides with figures of divers animals , including Indian serpents and hyperborean griffins , which the other hemisphere generates in the form of a winded bird . In Ms right hand lie bore a
burning torch ; while his head was encircled by a graceful chaplet , the shining palm-leaves projecting from it like rays of light . * Thus ai * raved % and adorned with habiliments bright as the noonday sun , Lucius ascended a wooden rostrum placed in the very centre of the temple-in front of the image of the goddess . Wliile standing there as still as a statue , he was exhibited to the multitude . The
remainder of this day ( the first of his initiation ) was passed m festivities . The two next days were passed in a manner somewhat similar ; after which / he returned his thanks to the goddess Isis , and to her high priest Mithras , and set sail for Rome . t From that time , no study was of such importance with him as that of daily supplicating the divinity of Queen Isis , in her temple ill the Campus Martins called " Campensis , " which is frequented with the deepest veneration . Here ,
again the goddess appeared to him , and personally reminded him of his initiation vows and sacred duties , and further warned him that he was to undergo another initiation , and ordered him to make preparations for the ceremonial . Naturally surprised at this revelation , inasmuch as he considered himself fully initiated already , he learned at length that his initiation hitherto related wholly to the goddess Isis , and that as vet he was insufficientlv illuminated in the mysteries of
the great god , the supreme parent of all , Osiris . For though there was a close connection between the essences of their divine natures and religions , the ceremonies of their several initiations were considerably different . On the next night to this , Lucius dreamed that one of the religious functionaries clothed in linen garments , and bearing in his hand ^ thyrsi , ivy , and other things which it was not lawful- to mention ,
entered his dwelling , and laying these things at the feet of his household gods , in order to give him an opportunity of recognizing him afterwards , showed him that he walked lame , and that his left ankle was bent . All ambiguity as to the will of the gods was now at an end , for , on the following morning , after performing his salutation to the goddess , as he was scrutinizing the appearance of all the religious functionaries in order to compare them with the one he had seen in his dream , he observed one of the Pastophori who exactly resembled the
nocturnal apparition . Addressing mmself , therefore , to this person , whose name he learned was Asinius Marcellus , he found that he , too , had received instructions relative to him . For he had dreamed that , while placing a wreath on the statue of the great god , Osiris , a voice * The substance of this paragraph has been given in a former number , but I repeat us much of it as is necessary , to prevent the interest of the narrative from being broken . t The scene of this initiation was at Corinth ,