Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. I — G. R. S. Mead (1906)

"He observed also that the same thing happened to the rest of the souls there, for checking their flight, like birds, and sinking down, they fluttered round the Vortex in a circle, not daring to go straight through it.

" Inside it seemed to be decked like Bacchic caves 2 with trees and verdure and every kind of foliage, while out of it came a soft and gentle air, laden with marvellous sweet scents, making a blend like wine for topers, so that the souls feasting on the fragrance were melted with delight in mutual embraces, while the whole place was wrapt in revelry and laughter and the spirit of sport and pleasure.3

" Thespesius' kinsman told him that this was the Way by which Dionysus ascended to the Gods and afterwards took up Semele ; l it was called the Place of Lethe (Oblivion).2

1 De Sera Numinis Vindicta, xxii. (ed. Bernardakis, iii. 454- 466).

2 Were the Bacchic Mysteries then celebrated in caves ?

3 This is clearly in correspondence with the " Astral Crater of Father Liber " of Macrobius.

" Wherefore he would not suffer Thespesius to stay there, though he wished to do so, but forcibly dragged him away, explaining how that the rational part of the soul was melted and moistened 3 by pleasure, while the irrational part, and that which is of a corporeal nature, being then moistened and made fleshly, awakens the memory of the body, and from this memory come a yearning and a desire which drag down the soul into

1 His " mother," from the under- world ; referring to the mysteries of generation and the indestructibility of life. Semele in giving birth to Dionysus the Son of Zeus (the Creative Power), is said to have been killed by the Power of her Lord, but she was subsequently restored to life among the Gods by the Power of her Son. In reincarnating, it is said that part of the soul in giving birth to itself in this state " dies." The " child " then born may, in his turn, in the case of one perfect, become the saviour of his "mother," now become his spouse, and raise her, who is also himself, to a higher state.

2 Compare Pistis Sophia (336, 337), which tells us how certain karmic agencies " give unto the old soul [prior to reincarnation] a Draught of Oblivion composed of the Seed of Iniquity, filled with all manner of desire and all f orgetfulness. And the moment that that soul drinketh of that Draught, it forgetteth all the spaces [or regions] through which it hath travelled, and all the chastisements through which it hath passed ; and that deadly Draught of Oblivion becometh a body external to the soul, like unto the soul in every way, and its perfect resemblance, and hence they call it the 'counterfeit spirit."'

But in the case of the purified soul it is different ; for a higher power " bringeth a Cup full of intuition and wisdom, and also prudence, and giveth it to the soul, and casteth the soul into a body which will not be able to fall asleep or forget, because of the Cup of Prudence which hath been given unto it, but will be ever pure in heart and seeking after the Mysteries of Light, until it hath found them, by order of the Virgin of Light, in order that [that soul] may inherit the Light for ever." (Ibid., 392, " Books of the Saviour.")

3 Compare the " Moist Essence " of C. H., i. 4, and iii. (iv.) 1.

generation . . . the soul being weighed down with moisture.

"Next Thespesius, after travelling another great distance, seemed to be looking at a huge Cup,1 with streams flowing into it ; one whiter than the foam of the sea or snow, another like the purple which the rainbow sends forth, while from a distance the others were tinged with other colours, each having its own shade.

" But when he came closer, the Cup itself (into which they flowed) — the surroundings disappearing, and the colours growing fainter — lost its varied colouring and only retained a white brilliance."

Compare also the Hellenist writer in the Naassene Document (§ 17 S.) : "The Greek theologi generally call Him [the Logos] the " Heavenly Horn of Men," because he has mixed and mingled all things with all."

On this the Jewish Gnostic writer comments : " This is the Drinking Vessel, — the Cup in which ' the King drinketh and divineth.' "