and dangerous waits: the long passages: the feare of death every day?
Know thou, that now thou art safe, and under the protection of her, who
by her cleare light doth lighten the other gods: wherefore rejoyce and
take a convenable countenance to thy white habit, follow the pomp of
this devout and honorable procession, to the end that such which be not
devout to the Goddes, may see and acknowledge their errour. Behold
Lucius, thou art delivered from so great miseries, by the providence of
the goddesse Isis, rejoyce therefore and triumph of the victory of
fortune; to the end thou maist live more safe and sure, make thy selfe
one of this holy order, dedicate thy minde to the Obsequy of our
Religion, and take upon thee a voluntary yoake of ministrie: And when
thou beginnest to serve and honour the goddes, then thou shalt feele
the fruit of thy liberty: After that the great Priest had prophesied in
this manner, with often breathings, he made a conclusion of his words:
Then I went amongst the company of the rest and followed the
procession: everie one of the people knew me, and pointing at me with
their fingers, said in this sort: Behold him who is this day
transformed into a man by the puissance of the soveraigne goddesse,
verily he is blessed and most blessed that hath merited so great grace
from heaven, as by the innocencie of his former life, and as it were by
a new regeneration is reserved to the obsequie of the goddesse. In the
meane season by little and little we approached nigh unto the sea cost,
even to that place where I lay the night before being an Asse. There
after the images and reliques were orderly disposed, the great Priest
compassed about with divers pictures according to the fashion of the
Aegyptians, did dedicate and consecrate with certaine prayers a fair
ship made very cunningly, and purified the same with a torch, an egge,
and sulphur; the saile was of white linnen cloath, whereon was written
certaine letters, which testified the navigation to be prosperous, the
mast was of a great length, made of a Pine tree, round and very
excellent with a shining top, the cabin was covered over with coverings
of gold, and all the shippe was made of Citron tree very faire; then
all the people as well religious as prophane tooke a great number of
Vannes, replenished with odours and pleasant smells and threw them into
the sea mingled with milke, untill the ship was filled up with large
gifts and prosperous devotions, when as with a pleasant wind it
launched out into the deep. But when they had lost the sight of the
ship, every man caried againe that he brought, and went toward the
temple in like pompe and order as they came to the sea side. When we
were come to the temple, the great priest and those which were deputed
to carrie the divine figures, but especially those which had long time
bin worshippers of the religion, went into the secret chamber of the
goddesse, where they put and placed the images according to their
ordor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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