explained. It is now quite interesting that the like
connection appears in the subterranean places of worship in this form
[Symbol: female with concave arc underneath it], (l. c., p. 27). Keller
calls it a symbol of the all and the soul of man.

The number 7 (seven planets, etc.) also is of some importance in the old
latomies. It is noteworthy besides that sun and moon usually appear as
human forms; the sun wears on its head a crown or garland or beaming star,
while the moon image is wont to carry the symbol [Symbol: Silver].
Alchemy, too, likes to represent [Symbol: Gold] and [Symbol: Silver] as
human, and indeed frequently as crowned figures, sometimes as a royal
bridal couple.

The ancient lore of the sacred numbers breathes a spirit that may be
embodied in the following words: The soul of man, which through
resignation or meekness, as they used to say then, is impelled onward to
purity and union with the Eternal, has in itself a higher life, which
cannot be annihilated by death. The doctrine of the infinite value of the
soul ... and of God's entering into the pure soul of man forms the central
point of the thought of religious fellowship. Neither for sacrifice, which
the state religions practice, nor for the beliefs in demons, by which the
masses are controlled, nor for the idea of priesthood as means of
salvation, was there a place in this system, and not a trace of such a
belief is demonstrable in this religion of wisdom and virtue. (l. c., p.
33.)

Besides the early Christian ideal, which recognized and encouraged the
connection between the teachings of Christ and the ancient wisdom of
platonism, there was in early times another which emphasized and
endeavored to develop the antithesis more than the connection. From the
time when the new Christian state church came to life, and sacrificial
religion and the belief in devils and the priesthood were restored, a
struggle of life and death developed between the church and the so-called
philosophic schools. "The fraternity saw that it had to draw down the mask
still further over its face than formerly, and the 'House of the Eternal,'
the 'Basilika,' the 'Academies,' and the 'Museums' became workshops of
stone cutters, latomies, and loggia or innocent guilds, unions, and
companies of every variety. But all later greater religious movements and
tendencies which maintained the old beliefs, whether they appeared under
the names of mysticism, alchemy, natural philosophy,