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
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