Sacred Order of Sophisians

"You have entered of your own
"will into the pyramid, you will spend your
"life there, if you do not find the path to the Sanctuary
"of truth.... seek.... but take care, the
"road is narrow, painful, difficult, ... the water,
"the air, the fire, all the elements conspired will
"dispute your passage; if you do not feel
"the courage to brave these perils, stay here; you
"are safe.... instead of triumphing in the eyes
"of the world; live without luster in solitude...
"if glory belongs to the eagle that attempts the air,
"to fix its gaze on the star-king of the
"nature, rest belongs to the owl that flees
"the light of the sun, by hiding in
"the trunk of the solitary and rotten tree.......
"choose... but take care, and think that you
"must conquer alone, without advice, by the
"strength of your spirit, by your courage,
"by your prudence... reflect well... three
"equal knocks struck in your hands, and
"this word: hermès Hermes pronounced aloud
"three times in succession, will be the signal of your
"resolution, and will open to you the dangerous
"and secret passage, where you must crawl in order to rise."

As soon as the recipient has given the signal, the first underground conduit is revealed; he enters it by bending; soon the channel becomes narrower, the neophyte drags himself on his knees and on his hands, sometimes climbing, sometimes descending; in this painful march, the sound of stones collapsing in the side conduits brings terror into his soul, and foul odors strike his sense of smell painfully.

He undergoes in turn the great trials of the three elements, in the bosom of the fourth which he traverses; he then arrives at the well at the bottom of which is truth; he descends there with the help of the degradations of the walls and finds at the bottom the unique entrance that a spring