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

VII.] The Secret of the House of Light. 247

are assembled the spirits and the powers that
make the mystery of the unseen world : the
" Secret Faces at the Gate," the " Gods of the
Horizon and of the Orbit." And dimly before
our eyes, age after age, the sacred procession
of the Egyptian dead moves silently along, as
they pass through the " Gate of the Hill" to
the tribunal of Osiris. In vain do we attempt
to trace their footsteps till we enter with them
into the Hidden Places, and penetrate the
secret of the House of Light. But no sooner
do we approach the passage and tread the
chambers of the mysterious Pyramid, than the
teaching of the Sacred Books seems lit up as
with a tongue of flame. The luminous veil
itself melts slowly away, disclosing the Path
of Illumination aud the Splendours of the
Orbit; the celestial Powers and Intelligences
shine forth from beneath their enshroudino-
symbols ; the spirits of the just grow lustrous
with the rays that proceed from the tribunal.
For though none may look upon these things