Adams, Walter M.: The house of the hidden places: a clue to the creed of early Egypt from Egyptian sources (London, 1895)

216 The Initiation of the Postulant. [Ch.

bliss ; but hastens to come down from its seat
of power, that it may raise and glorify ex-
pectant humanity. And thus the vignette
shows us the winged creature flying towards
the postulant. Meanwhile the latter, from
below watching its flight, prays in an ecstasy
for the reunion. " 0 bringer," he cries, " 0
runner in his hall! "■—the Hall of Truth, where
the throne of the soul is erected. " Great
God, let my soul go where it desires (lxxxix.).
O conductors of the bark of millions of years,
led through the gateway, clearing the path of
heaven and earth, accompany ye the souls to
the holy dead."

The prayer is granted. Leaving its throne
on high, and passing through its various
transformations, the soul descends the ladder
of the well, as in the papyrus of Ani. Then
the divine protection is obtained (xci.); and,
.amid the living waters in the pool of the
Persea, the Tree of Immortality (as the Ritual
elsewhere calls it), the earnest desire of the