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GNOSTIC TIIEOGONY.
T H E SCHEME OF T H E OPHITES.
Gnostic symbols, with their uses in this life and in that to
come have thus far been the subject of our investigation ; which
naturally leads us to consider the ideas that their devisers
entertained of the constitution of the next world and of the
nature of the soul itself. As to the former of these deeply
interesting questions, the Gnosis specially laboured to afford the
exactest information to its disciples; and in this class the one
preserved by Origen ( m Celsum vi.), leaves nothing to be
desired in point of fulness, and m a y confidently be accepted as
the most authoritative of aft such celestial cartes de route.
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 343
The liitual above cited contains the defunct to the guardians of the
regularly eight invocations addressed same numher of regions over w h o m
to Thoth, recommending the soul of he is the president.
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. t>4r.)
evil spirtta upon earth ; and on earth shall they be called. The habitation
shall he their habitation. Evil of the spirits of heaven shall be in
spirits shall proceed from their flesh heaven, but upon earth shull be the
because they were created froin habitation of terrestrial spirits who
above; from the holy watchers was are born on earth. The spirits of
their beginning and primary founda- the giants shall Le like clouds which
tion. Evil spirits shall they be upon shall oppress, corrupt, fall, contend,
earth, and the spirits of the wicked and bruise upon earth."—(xv. 8.)
THE GNOSTICS AND TIIEIli REMAINS. • )49
T H E CAUSE OF SIN.
(Pist.-Soph. 282). " A n d when the Saviour had spoken these
things, he continuing m his discourse said unto Mary : N o w ,
therefore Mary, hear concerning the thing whereof thou askest
of me, W h o is it that constraineth m a n to coninut sin . JNow
therefore when (the parents) have begotten the child, when
there exists in him a small power, and a small soul, and a small
" counterfeit of the spirit" (conscience) ;* m a word, all the three
in him being small together. N o one of them understandeth
anything at all, whether it be good or evil, by reason of the
weight of the heavy oblivion (of the former life) that holdeth
them ; the body likewise being small. A n d the child eateth 01
the meats of the world of the Eulers. A n d the soul gathereth
to itself out of the portion of the soul that is concealed in these
meats, and the Counterfeit of the spirit gathereth to itself out of
the portion of evil that resideth m the meats and in the lusts
thereof; the body, likewise, gathereth the insensible Matter that
is in the meats. But the Fate herself taketh not out of the
meats, inasmuch as she is not mixed up with them, but in what
shape she came into the world, in the same she contmueth. A n d
little by little, the power, the soul, and the counterpart of the
spirit grow to their full stature, and each one thereof is sensible
after its own kind.f The power is sensible to seek after the
Lio'ht above ; the soul is sensible to seek a t t o r the place of
Righteousness of the mixture, which same is the place of
soul. A n d the soul leaves its pursuers behind, for none of them
have their own power, but the soul keeps its own power. Then
the Receivers that belong to the mystery which the soul hath
received come and snatch it away from the contentious Receivers,
and these return to do the business of the Archons m the occupa-
tion of fetcimig away souls. l>ut the xieceivers of the soul, w h o
pertain to the Light, themselves become a wing of light to that
soul, and a vesture of light unto it. A n d they lead it not into
Chaos, because it is not lawful to lead a soul, that hath obtained
the mysteries, into L/haos; but tncy bring it into the road of the
Archons of the Middle-space. And when they are come before
the Archons of the Middle-space, the Archons depart out of the
way of that soul, being m great fear, and in cruel burning, and
in divers shapes, in a word being in great fear unto which there
is no measure. A n d in that moment the soul utters the mystery
ot its defence before them; and they fall upon their faces out of
fear of the mystery and of the defence which it hath uttered.
A n d the soul leaves with them their fate* say-ing unto them: Take
to yourselves your fate, I a m not coming into your place from
henceforth, I a m made a stranger unto you for ever, I am coming
into the place of m y own inheritance. A n d after the soul hath
said this, the Receivers of the Light fly away with it on high, and
bring it before the ^Eons of Destiny, giving it the proper speech
of defence for the place and the seals thereof, and the soul shews
to them the counterfeit of the spirit and utters the mystery that
sundereth the bonds wherewith they had bound them both
together, saying to them: Take to yourselves your counterfeit
of the spirit, henceforth I come not m your place, I a m made a
stranger unto you for ever. A n d it shews them the sent of each
and the form of defence. Then the Receivers fly away with
the soul and bring it through all the JEons, shewing ths seal,
and the defence, in all the regions of King Adarnas, and of all
the Rulers of the places of the left hand (which defences and
seals I will declare to you when I explain to you the emanation
of the mystery). Then they bring the soul before the Virgin
of Light, and it giveth to the Virgin her o w n seal, defence, and
* Vi m ee separttie
Viz., m separttie portion of ITS
portion of ITS composition implanted in
composition implanted in it by these
it by
Avonons at its birth.
2 A
354 THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS.
the glory of hymns, and the Virgin of Light with the seven
other Virgins examine that soul—all of them, that they m a y all
find their o w n marks, their o w n seals, their own baptisms, and
their own unctions upon it. (292) Then the Virgm of Light
sealeth that soul, and the Receivers of Light baptize the same
and give unto it the spiritual unction. A n d each of the Virgins
of Light sealeth it with her own seal. Furthermore the .Re-
ceivers deliver it over to the great Sat>aoth,the ixood One, w h o
is hard by the gate of Life in the region of those pertaining
unto the right hand, w h o m they call ' the Father ; and the
soul rendereth unto him the glory of his hymns, of his
and of his justification. Then the great good Sabaoth sealeth
it with his o w n seals, and the soul rendereth the knowledge,
and the glory of hymns, and the seals belonging to the whole
region of those that pertain unto the right hand. These also
all seal it with their o w n seal; and lUclchisedek, the great
gatherer of Light—who is in the region of those pertaining
to the right hand—also sealeth that soul. Then Melchisedek's
gatherers also seal it and lead it into the Treasury of Light, and
the soul rendereth glory and honour and their proper seals in
all the regions of Light. Then those pertaining to all the
regions of the Treasury of Light seal it with their own seals,
and so it entereth into the place 01 its i n h e r i t a n c e .
upon him. Once for all, I say unto you, a soul cannot be brought
into the kingdom, if it be without the mysteries of the Kingdom
01 hilOfht.
F U T U K E PUNISHMENTS.
The Gnostics did not fail, after the example of their orthodox
rivals, to employ the strongest stimulants of terror^ in order
to gain converts, as is forcibly manifested by this picture
of the varied torments of the world to come, the appomied
heritage of all w h o obtained not the Gnosis which they preached
( P lbub-tjuj , 2 )
* These regions and the shapes of gested to our author by the Egyptian
their Rulers seem to have been sug- mumm--case paintings of the Gates
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 3ot
FIG. 16.
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 359
T A L 1 S M A N I C L E A D E N SCROLLS.
In the pictures to winch the dis- Here the sun s rays cheer his steps,
embodied spirit '* before his journey find he meets amongst other wonders
addresses his prayers to the various the head 01 llorus rising out of a
gods, and then enters upon his lotus-nower, the god Pthah, the
labours. l i e attacks with spear in phoanix, his own soul m the form of
hand the crocodiles, lizards, scorpions a bird with a human head, and the
and snakes which beset his path; goddess Isis as a serpent of goodness,
and passing through these dark The soul then returns to the m u m m y
regions he at length readies the and puts life into its mouth. —
laud of the Arnenti, whose goddess (>>harpe, k J'jgypt. JMythol., p. ou.)
is a Jitiwk standing upon a percii.
A THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS.
1
7. Female with robe flying in an arch over her head, as Iris
is commonly pictured, extends her hand to an approaching bull:
the drawing of the latter being vastly superior to any of the
other figures. One is led to discover m this group Venus and
her tutelary sign, Taurus,
GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 365
In the third scroll, the most valuable of all, the same Anubis
bears on his a r m an oblong object, perhaps the Koinan scutum,
hekl so as to convert tlio outline of the figure into a complete
.Latin cross. Across this shield and the held run a n u m b e r
of Gnostic symbols, conspicuous amongst which is the sigil pre-
scribed b y Alexander Tralliaims as a cure for the colic.
Others resemble some ordinary Masons' Marks. For ex- s i
ample, an eight-armed cross, a cucle, and a square \|
cut by horizontal and vertical lines : at tlie god s foot is
a rhomboid, the Egyptian " E g g of the W o r l d , " towards which
crawls a serpent coiled into a circle. A remarkable addition is
the inscription carved over the tunic m semi-cursive letters :
K6BNT GKBA
BK6 A
N* 0
Under the pairs of busts in the other scrolls is the letter co,
repeated severe times m a line : reminding one of the " N a m e s , "
the interpretation whereof has been already given from the
Pistis-Sophia (p. 16). V e r y remarkable also is the line of
characters, apparently P a u n y i c i i e , upon nits ic&& of LIIO IIIOt
Anubis. A s for the figure of the serpent, supposing these talis-
m a n s to emanate not from the Isiac but the newer Ophite
3OO THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS.
creed, it may well stand for that " True and perfect Serpent"
who leads forth t lie souls of all that put their trust in him
out of the Egypt of the hody, and through the Red Sea of
.Death into the .Land of .Promise, saving them on their way
from the serpents of the Wilderness, that is, from the Rulers of
4 14 lo . 1
7 6.12
11 10 8
16 2i 3 lo
FIG. X /.
PART
TEMPLARS, ROSICRUCIANS, FREE-
MASONS.
Inscnpuones proptor quas vadimomurn deseri jiossit: at
cum mtraveris, Di JJeaeque 1 quam mJiil in medio mveiiies."
( . XI. i>. X TdLI.)
TEMPLARS, ROSICRUCIANS, FREE-
MASONS.
\
\
\
GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. ol 9
hood were the © signifying the sun ; the T eternal life ; and the
A pleasure. With the Hindoos, the equilateral inangle sym-
bolises Mahadeva, or Siva, that is, the element Jnre personified.
Tlie same figure inverted stands for Vishnu, Wtter.
The two, intersecting each other, form the Sherkun or six-
points; that is, the two elements in conjunction.
The five-pointed figure, made by bisecting the sides of an
equilateial triangle by a line as long as one side, and drawing
lines from each extremity of the said line to each foot of tlie
triangle, symbol of Siva and Brahma (the latter god having
five heads) became, later, the famous " Solomon's Seal." This
appellation it must have got m early times, as in virtue thereof
it is sculptured along with the seven-branched candlestick
upon Sivish tombs dating from the Lower Emiire. The
Hindoos still venerate the figure as replete with virtue.
Similarly the Sherkun is engraved on a large scale upon each
side of the gate of the Fort at Agra, although the building is
of Mohammedan work.
A point, Puru, is the Deity ; sen existing. A circle, lSrahm,
eternity. Hence a triangle within a circle is the emblem of
Trinity in Unity; and the circle inscribed withm a triangle
the converse.
Worshippers of Sacti, the Female Prmciple, mark their sacred
vase with a right angle bisected by a line; and similarly the
worshippers of Isis used so to mark the vessel necessary at her
rites. L>ut the Vishnaivas have for the same object a symbol
of wondrous vitality and ditlusion : for it is seen equally on
Greck coins and vases, on the Newton Stone, Aberdeen, in
ecclesiastical sculpture, wiiere it takes tlie name .letragani-
Chinese system, Yang, the Male, Active, Principle has for his
own possession, the Sun, Fire, and all the higher phenomena of
.Nature: to him belong the uneven numbers. Yn, the .Female,
Passive, Principle, possesses the Earth, Moon, and the even
numbers. The same notion as to the sexes of Numbers was
taught by Pythagoras, and by the Gnostic Marcus, after him.
Yang is represented by the circle, Yn by the square, the two
Forces combined, by two interlaced circles, GD, the actual badge
of the Mediaeval Vehm-(jenchte.
Having thus briefly noticed our Masonic Symblls, let u.s
proceed to consider the society itself, and here a circumstance
of the utmost importance to this inquiry must always be kept
in view: the Freemasons, as at present organised into a mystic
fraternity, derive their name from nothing but an accidental
circumstance belonging to their first establishment. It was
m the C o m m o n Hall of the London Guild of the Freemasons
(the trade) that their first meetings were held, under Christopher
W r e n for president, in the time of the Commonwealth.* Their
real object was political—the restoration of Monarchy henco
the exclusion of the public, and the oath of secrecy enjoined
upon the members. The pretence of promoting the study of
architecture, and the choice of the place where to hold their
o , su^^ebied by Liie piuiebo u y p ue t, weio
no more than blinds to deceive the existing government. There
is a curious analogy to all this m the history of another famous
society, the Neapolitan Carbonari, which similarly derived its
name, terminology and insignia from the accidental circum-
stances under which it was created. Like \\ ren s associates,
the first Carbonari were defeated Juoyalists and fanatical
.Republicans joined in unnatural union by one common hatred
of the powers that be—the old .Bourbomsts equally with the
chimerical founders of the shortlived " Parthenopean R e p u b l i c , "
equally forced to flee for their lives to tiie mountains, tiic
former to escape the well-deserved vengeance of the Fiench
under Murat, the latter so fiercely persecuted by Cardinal
day. These last were for the most part ardent Royahsts,
hating the established order of things, joined with many
fanatical Republicans equally impatient of the new despotism of
Cromwlll. In the Rosicrucian system Religion and Philosophy,
the latter meaning little more than astrology and alchemy,*
were strangely interwoven, and the terminology of the one was
borrowed to express the ideas and aspirations of the other.
This hypothesis is strongly recommended from its adoption by
tlie acute D e tjumcey m liis essay entitled ** t reomasons and
Rosicrucians (' London Magazine, 1824), where he shows h o w
the Rosicrucians, when driven by persecution out of Germany,
lc-appeared in itingland as i. reemasons, taking that name from
the place of meeting, and from nothing else. Under the n e w
appellation the sect was re-imported into the Continent as an
English institution. D e Qumcey, however, makes their object to
have been purely religious without any admixture of politics,
and. so far diners from _iSicolai, whose views have been adopted
by myself in what precedes, and who, being himself an illuminalo
of the first water, ought certainly to be regarded as the higher
authority of the two.
The latter writer has given in his ' Tempel-Herren ' what
appears to be the best supported account of the risej and
progress of Ixosicruciamsm. H e points out for its founder a
Lutheran myttic, J. "V. Andrea;,J almoner to the Duke of
his ' Collections for the History of Frozen Sea, universally believed in
Rosicrucianisni, assigns a fabulous Russia to be the lost Grand D u k e
antiquity to the sect. Constantine.-(Dixou 8 ' 1* ree Russia. )
-Exactly ^^ same s-heme, based f This tradition m a y have some
upon Judaism, is the crime that n o w truth in it, allowing for an error of
keeps m perpetual imprisonment locality. A t Cairo the Fatemite
Nicholas Ilvm, the far-famed'* Con- sultans (Ismaulites be it remembered)
vent Spectre oftoolovetskm the had three centuries bctore this date
T H E GNOSTICS A N D THEIR REMAINS. 39iJ
tion shall be investigated in its proper place. This same " tete
d un h o m m e m o n s t r u e u s e , image of " le Dieu qui ne meurt pas/''
so often mentioned in the confessions of the Knights, m a y be
recognised beyond all mistake in the hideous head with flaring
hair and beard, and eyes wide open, as if just severed from the
body, placed upon a box inscribed X. P. S., which repeatedly
occurs amongst the Eosicrucian pictures in the Diary of Hosea
Lux. 11ns MS., the most remarkable of the kind extant, or
ever composed, written between the years 1568 and 1612, is full
01 mystic drawings, beautifully done in pen and ink, which
m a y be either prophetic hieroglyphs, or else enshroud the
(ircana of some seeker after the Elixir of Life: the latter it
would rather seem, to judge from the perpetual introduction of
certain very significant emblems. The author must have be-
longed (as an actual Mason assures m e ) to a Lodge of Templars,
as is proved by his use of the " hand m hand " and " foot to
loot insignia. A s exhibiting the whole list of the present
Masonic signs, but employed for Rosicrucian purposes, at so
early a date, this Diary is of the utmost value to the history of
the Order.* To quote a few of the most important embellish-
ments of these mystic pages : the same " Baphometic" Head
appears in another place set on a box inscribed with " Solomon's
coal, containing a retort: over the head is a disk, set all round
dial fashion but with hearts instead of numerals ; m the field
is written the opposite motto " Timore et t r e m o r e . " Another
is picture presents the Head hovering above the Ark of the
Covenant, all enclosed witlim the outline of a hecirt out of whose
aorta issues a naked boy bearing a flaming star and crescent
conjoined. Yet more mysterious is the heart containing T over
a bell resting upon a star: above all, for a crest is set Solomon's
Seal; for supporters to the shield, his pillars Jachin and
Boaz,flankedon the right by that King seated, on the left by a
naked m a n standing, w h o pierces the heart with a long rod.
Singular, too, is the m a n with upiilted hands, having instead
of a face Solomon s Seal enclosing a retort. Other symbols
* Such a head of silver was actually have been m a d e away with by the
seized in theParisiaiiuliapter-house; Templars upon the first alarm of the
but the Templars passed it on for a inquiry.
reliquary containing the skull of one f W o v e n out of seven threads by
of the 11,000 virgins, in spite of the the wife of the Moled or fire-priest,
long beard with which it was fur- J " D u m erat juvenis ssecularis,
nished (Kayn. p. 299). Another is omncs pueri clamabant publice et
said to have been found elsewhere vulgariter unus ad alterum, Custodi-
beanng the numeral LI 11. These atis vobis ab osculo Templariorum "
damning evidences would naturally \\ UKIIIS, (,one. Jhitann. ii. p. 3(10).
'1 D
402 THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS.
" Car tantot apres l i s alloient fosses des yeux escarboncles reluis-
adorer une Idole, efc pour certain ants c o m m e clarte d u ciel; et pour
icelle idole etait une vielle peau, certain toute lour esperance etoit en
ainsi c o m m e toute embaumee, et ieelle, et e'toit leur Dieu souverain, et
c o m m e tone polie; et illecqued certes m e m e m e n t se affioit en lui de bon
le Templier mettoit sa tres vile foy cceur" (Art. 3. Vie de Philippe le
et croyance ; et en lui tres fermement Bel, chap. 66. ' Chronique de
croyoient. Et en icelle avoit os 8. Denys').
~. i ..
404 GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS.
* Which made her the heavenly ing a corpse, elevated upon a cata-
mother of the Saviour. falque offivesteps (Clarkson).
t iicmg set upon a conm contain-
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 41) 7
III. Denial of the truth of the Koran, and of all other sacred
chief causes of Philippe le Bel's refusal, in the early par t of his reign
j i a t r c i against the order wns their to admit liim m t o this class.
GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 413
xlis practice of intoxicating the trial paradise, gave the sect thename,
neophyte with hapltish (extract of afterwards accepted by the Italians
l,cmp)beforeadinis.-ionintohisterres- in its present opprobrious sense.
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 419
* Similarly there is every reason the only change being in the name
to believe that the medieval Witches' of the presiding deity. Michelet
bat preserved uninterrupted the is of this opinion in describing the
ucburibin.,
ceremonial of the ancient rural
orgia, immense Sabbats of the 17th century
ury.
THE GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 423
I. JSovices.
l±. 13rethren of Minerva.
JL11. IVlmor Illuminate.
IV. Major Illuminate, or Scottish Novices.
V. Scottish Knights.
VI. The -Lesser Mytteries: .bjpopaas, or Illuminati 1 nests.
V 11. T lie -hogent or Illuminato Prmce.
VIII. The Greater Mysteries; the Magus or King-Man.
12 . 11 . 10 .9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1.
(i . 6 . c . d . e . f . g . h . i. 1c . I .m.
* '"Brother A. 15., Write upon parts of the body with the lotus, the
this M S . of the R. S. of this Degree.' colocynth-flower, anil the timbrel of
In Ins attempt to do this he receives Cyljele (Plutarch, ' De diguoscendo
a severe and jirudent C. by the J. D. adulatore '). T h e marking of the
placed behind hiin for that purpose, Mithraici lias been noticed in the
by the C. T. united to Ins F. &c. — section devoted to that worship (pp.
Masonic Ceremonial. 139,140). llence came the mediaeval
t The popular notion of tile brand- belief in the secret mark impressed
mark received by Masons on initia- by the Devil at the Sabbat upon those
don is derived from the stigmata who swore allegiance to him; and
impressed upon the ancient niyslfo which mark could be recognised by
at their admission. A remarkable, the witch-finders from its insensibility
example is m a t of Ptolemy Auletes, to pam.
who was thus marked in several
GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS. 427
Jc}'i'0(]xio notutcis
Terlcgit exfiiiimes Ficto moricntc figuriis. —J)c Jiello Lratico, xxvi. 41/—lo.
FIG. lb-