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Article THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.—If. (Continued f ... ← Page 4 of 8 →
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The Ancient Mysteries.—If. (Continued F ...
quoted by Warburton ( Apuleius ) , has insinuated his doctrine in the following narration ^ : — A young man ( personated by himself ) sensible of the advantages
Of virtue ahd piety , but imnioderate / ly fond of pleasure , and as curious of magic , gaA e loose to his passions , till the crimes and follies into which they led him ended into his . transformation into a brute ; hence the well known title of the " Asinus-Aureus" or " Golden Ass" of Apuleius .
Having now shown himself thoroughly brutalized by his crimes , he goes on to represent at large the evidences of that condition in a long detail of his misadventures ; in the course , of which he fell , by turns , under the dominion of every vicious passion . Matters grew from bad to worse , and Lucius ( for such was the young man ' s name ) , plunged deeper and deeper in the sink of vice , till his affairs came to
a crisis ; and at length , horrified at his crimes , he flies , brute as he is , to the sea shores , and then , reflecting seriously on his lost condition , appeals to the gods for relief . The moon is in full splendour , and the awful silence of the night inspires him with sentiments of religion . He then purifies himself in the manner prescribed by Pythagoras , the
philosopher most addicted to initiations of all the early sages , as Apuleius of all the 'latter , and so makes his prayer to the moon , or Isis , invoking her by her several names of the Eleusinian Ceres , the celestial Venus , Diana , and Proserpine ; Avhen , betaking himself to repose , she appears to him under that shining image so much spoken of by the mystics , as representing the divine nature in general . To this image the following lines , in the oracles of Zoroaster , allude
Mi ) ( f > v < re < DQ fcaAtVnc A ' YTOIITON " APAAMA Ov yap yfi rj Ktivovc ere pXtTretv irplv aotpa TEAE ' 29 H . 44 Invoke not the self-conspicuous image of Nature , for thou must not behold these things before thy body be purified by initiation /' This avTonTov dyaXpa was a diffusive shining light , as the name partly declares , and the sight of this divine speiidour was what was called in the mysteries , avroxbta .
Apuleius here describes the appearance of the goddess at some length , which we will not inflict upon our readers in the original language ; he says : — 44 , rising from the sea , appeared the sacred face , and then little by little , the Avhole shining form stood before mc ! Thus Avill I attempt to describe the Avondrous image;—an elaborate croAvn , adorned Avith various floAvers , encircled her lofty head , the lucid circumference of Avhich shot
forth a sinning light . On each side of her were rearing vipers , and rising above them ears of Avheat . And , Avhich most of all dazzled my sight , a xe & t glittering with its very blackness ; embroidered on it were shining stars , m the midst of which the full moon breathed forth her silvery light . Her ri ght hand bore a brazen si strum or timbrel , Avhich , when struck , emitted a sharp sound . " * * Apuleius , Met . 11 , p . 361 /
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ancient Mysteries.—If. (Continued F ...
quoted by Warburton ( Apuleius ) , has insinuated his doctrine in the following narration ^ : — A young man ( personated by himself ) sensible of the advantages
Of virtue ahd piety , but imnioderate / ly fond of pleasure , and as curious of magic , gaA e loose to his passions , till the crimes and follies into which they led him ended into his . transformation into a brute ; hence the well known title of the " Asinus-Aureus" or " Golden Ass" of Apuleius .
Having now shown himself thoroughly brutalized by his crimes , he goes on to represent at large the evidences of that condition in a long detail of his misadventures ; in the course , of which he fell , by turns , under the dominion of every vicious passion . Matters grew from bad to worse , and Lucius ( for such was the young man ' s name ) , plunged deeper and deeper in the sink of vice , till his affairs came to
a crisis ; and at length , horrified at his crimes , he flies , brute as he is , to the sea shores , and then , reflecting seriously on his lost condition , appeals to the gods for relief . The moon is in full splendour , and the awful silence of the night inspires him with sentiments of religion . He then purifies himself in the manner prescribed by Pythagoras , the
philosopher most addicted to initiations of all the early sages , as Apuleius of all the 'latter , and so makes his prayer to the moon , or Isis , invoking her by her several names of the Eleusinian Ceres , the celestial Venus , Diana , and Proserpine ; Avhen , betaking himself to repose , she appears to him under that shining image so much spoken of by the mystics , as representing the divine nature in general . To this image the following lines , in the oracles of Zoroaster , allude
Mi ) ( f > v < re < DQ fcaAtVnc A ' YTOIITON " APAAMA Ov yap yfi rj Ktivovc ere pXtTretv irplv aotpa TEAE ' 29 H . 44 Invoke not the self-conspicuous image of Nature , for thou must not behold these things before thy body be purified by initiation /' This avTonTov dyaXpa was a diffusive shining light , as the name partly declares , and the sight of this divine speiidour was what was called in the mysteries , avroxbta .
Apuleius here describes the appearance of the goddess at some length , which we will not inflict upon our readers in the original language ; he says : — 44 , rising from the sea , appeared the sacred face , and then little by little , the Avhole shining form stood before mc ! Thus Avill I attempt to describe the Avondrous image;—an elaborate croAvn , adorned Avith various floAvers , encircled her lofty head , the lucid circumference of Avhich shot
forth a sinning light . On each side of her were rearing vipers , and rising above them ears of Avheat . And , Avhich most of all dazzled my sight , a xe & t glittering with its very blackness ; embroidered on it were shining stars , m the midst of which the full moon breathed forth her silvery light . Her ri ght hand bore a brazen si strum or timbrel , Avhich , when struck , emitted a sharp sound . " * * Apuleius , Met . 11 , p . 361 /