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Untitled Article
religion , so it was soon felt that it would be imprudent , nay , dangerous to disseminate this idea publicly and generally . Without previously rejecting the gods of the state , and exposing them in their laughable nakedness , there could be no entrance for this
new doctrine . But it could neither be foretold nor expected that each , to whom the old superstition was rendered an object of scorn , should be capable of rising to the pure and vast idea of truth : besides , the whole civil constitution was grounded on this
superstition ; by shaking it , you shook , at the same time , all the pillars by which the entire state edifice was supported ; and it was still very uncertain whether the new religion to be substituted would be firm enough to bear the superstructure .
And should the attempt to cast down the ancient idols fail , blind fanaticism would array itself in arms , and the reformers be sacrificed as victims by a raging multitude . It was , therefore , held expedient to make the new truth the exclusive property of a small
and chosen band , who might select from the multitude , and receive into their confederacy , those who exhibited a due measure of the power of comprehension ; and truth herself , hidden from the profane eye , was clothed with a mysterious dress , only to be removed
by those who had approved themselves worthy . To this end were hieroglyphics chosen , a speaking image-writing , concealing the universal idea in the juxta position of sensible signs , and grounded on arbitrary rules , previously agreed on . As these enlightened men had been taught by idolatry
how strongly youthful hearts might be worked on by the power of imagination and the senses , so had they no hesitation in employing this artifice of deceit for the advantage of truth ; they introduced , therefore , new ideas into the soul , with a certain sensible
solemnity , and , by every preparation adapted to this end , placed the mind of their pupil in the situation of passionate emotion , fitted for the reception of a novel truth . Of this kind were the purifications to be undergone by the probationers , the washing and sprinking , the wrapping in linen vestures , the abstinence from all sensual
enjoyments , the excitement and elevation of the mind in singing , the signi-
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cant silence , the alternation uetwees light and darkness , and the like . These ceremonies , united with those mysterious images and hieroglyphics , and the concealed truths hidden in the latter , and prepared for the purpose , were comprehended altogether under the title of mysteries ; they had their seat in the temple of Isis and Serapis ,
and were the prototypes upon which , in the sequel , the mysteries of Eleusis and Samothrace , and in later times the order of freemasonry , were modeled .
It appears placed beyond controversy , that the import of the most ancient mysteries in Heliopolis and Memphis , in their uncorrupted state , was the unity of God and the refutation of Paganism , and that the immortality of the soul was thence induced . Those who participated in this important deduction were called seers or
epopten , because a new acquaintance with a hidden truth may be compared to the passing over from darkness to light ; perhaps , too , because they , in a real and peculiar sense , did see the newly acquired truths in sensible
images . But this perception they could not at once attain , because the spirit must be purified from many errors , and pass through many preparations , before it could support the full light of truth . Hence were there steps and gradations , and it was in the innermost sanctuary that the veil first fell wholly from the sight .
They recognized one single First Cause of all things , one original power of nature , the life of life , the same with the Deuiiurgos of the Grecian sages . Nothing is more sublime than the simple grandeur with which they spoke of the Creator . In order to denote
him in the most exclusive manner , they gave him no name . A name , they said , is merely a requisite for distinction ; he who is alone , needs no name , for there is none with whom he can be confounded . Under an old column of Isis these words were read : * ' / am
that which is ; " and on a pyramid at Sais , was found the ancient remarkable inscription , * ' / am all that is , that was ^ ana that shall be ; no mortal man has raised my veil . " None dared enter the Temple of Serapis who did not bear on his breast or brow the name Jao or J-ha-ho , a term almost equiva-
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198 The Mosaic Mission .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 198, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/6/
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