The _Indians_ had, in remote ages, in their system of theology, _the sidereal ladder of seven gates_, which described, in a symbolical manner, the _ascending and descending of the souls of men_.[45:1] We are also informed by Origen that: This descent (_i. e._, the descent of souls from heaven to enter into some body), was described in a symbolical manner, _by a ladder which was represented as reaching from heaven to earth_, and divided into _seven_ stages, at each of which was figured a gate; the eighth gate was at the top of the ladder, which belonged to the sphere of the celestial firmament.[45:2] That souls dwell in the _Galaxy_ was a thought familiar to the _Pythagoreans_, who gave it on their master's word, that the souls that crowd there, _descend and appear to men as dreams_.[45:3] The fancy of the _Manicheans_ also transferred pure souls to this column of light, _whence they could come down to earth and again return_.[45:4] Paintings representing a scene of this kind may be seen in works of art illustrative of _Indian Mythology_. Maurice speaks of one, in which he says: "The souls of men are represented as ascending and descending (on a ladder), according to the received opinion of the sidereal Metempsychosis in Asia."[45:5] Mons. Dupuis tells us that: "Among the mysterious pictures of the _Initiation_, in the cave of the Persian God Mithras, there was exposed to the view _the descent of the souls to the earth, and their return to heaven_, through the seven planetary spheres."[45:6] And Count de Volney says: "In the cave of Mithra _was a ladder with seven steps_, representing the seven spheres of the planets by means of which _souls ascended and descended_. This is precisely the ladder of Jacob's vision. There is in the Royal Library (of France) a superb volume of pictures of the Indian gods, in which the ladder is represented with the souls of men ascending it."[45:7] In several of the Egyptian sculptures also, the Transmigration of Souls is represented by the ascending and descending of souls from heaven to earth, _on a flight of steps_, and, as the souls of wicked men were supposed to enter pigs and other animals, therefore pigs, monkeys, &c., are to be seen on the steps, descending from heaven.[45:8] "And he dreamed, _and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it_." These are the words of the sacred text. Can anything be more convincing? It continues thus: "And Jacob awoke out of his sleep . . . and he was afraid, and said . . . this is none other but the house of God, _and this is the gate of heaven_." Here we have "the gate of heaven," mentioned by Origen in describing the _Metempsychosis_.