The Mysteries.

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finally which is the source of all; and passingfrom himself to That, transcending, attains theend of his progression.

Ille deum vitam accipiet, divisque videbitBermixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur iJlis.

And this was the consummation of the Mysteries,the ground of the Hermetic philosophy, prolific insupernatural increase, transmutations and magicaleffects. And thus it is said to be lawful for theVital Spirit to descend and ascend in successivecirculations until she terminates her flight in thePrinciple of things. And this was the life of thegods and of divine happy men, who rising involuntary abnegation above the evil and sensualhabitude of this life and many sufferings to whichbody is allied, obtained together with a liberationfrom these, a foretaste simple, beatific, and secure,of the life which is eternal; when, by exciting thedivine virtue within, they became simultaneouslyelevated, and proceeding through Intellect toWisdom, they arrived at the First Principle;and again descending thence, increasing in divinevirtue by each ascent, until the total life wasirradiated from the ample recess of light.

Tunc ire ad mundum archetypum ssepe atque redireCunctarumque patrem rerum spectare licebit—

Cujus tunc Co-operator effectus potest Omnia.But there are many degrees of Divine illumination ;nor were the rites of Eleusis found to be equallyefficacious for all; since all souls are not of equalcapacity or bias towards intellectual education :but as philosophers agree that preceding initia-tions are preparatory to those in a subsequentorder, so the possession of the best habits ofthought in this life, and natural inclinations, renderthe Spirit better adapted to sublime. Plato,accordingly, cites the records of the Mysteries,to witness that there are many more thyrsusbearers than Bacchic souls ; which is to say, that