2o6 The Initiation of the Postulant. [Ch.

of the building by the Grand Orient of the
open tomb, but the spiritual or astral body
wherewith the man, already raised in incor-
ruption yet still awaiting the open manifesta-
tion of Osiris's resurrection, converses with
the " Starry Spirits," the intelligences of
the transcendent spheres. With the new life
commences the attack of his spiritual enemies,
now rendered palpable to his sight (xxvii.-
xxxii.), the dread inhabitants of the under
world, that wage in man the great battle
of contending; light and darkness. Sloth, the
tortoise, strives to delay his steps ; the asps
put forth their venom ; crawling reptiles infest
his path. From every side the raging passions,
the devourino- crocodiles which inhabit the
waters of life, rush furiously to the attack;
but he repels all those creatures of darkness
by the astral brightness of his starry nature.
" Back, Crocodile of the South," he exclaims ;
" I am Sothis"—the star of the Eternal
Dawn. His foes, defeated by the divine