ic Philosophers. He showed the Universe to be the outcome of a
Thought. Unexpressed Will desired to find expression, to become
manifest. Such was the birth of Desire. Since in the beginning this Will
was an Eye which beheld nothing because nothing outside Itself existed,
It fashioned a Mirror and therein saw all things in Itself. This Mirror
was the Eternal Mother, the Will the Eternal Father. The Eternal Father,
beholding Himself and His wonders mirrored in the Eternal Mother, willed
that being passive they should become active. Thought became
materialised, force and space begot Motion and the Universe was. As
illustrating the seven qualities through which the Divine energy
operated, Paul quoted the following lines:--

"There are seven degrees in the holy sphere
That girdles the outer skies;
There are seven hues in the atmosphere
Of the Spirit Paradise;
And the seven lamps burn bright and clear
In the mind, the heart, and the eyes
Of the angel-spirits from every world
That ever and ever arise.
There are seven ages the angels know
In the courts of the Spirit Heaven:
And seven joys through the spirit flow
From the morn of the heart till even;
Seven curtains of light wave to and fro
Where the seven great trumpets the angels blow,
And the throne of God hath a seven-fold glow,
And the angel hosts are seven.
And a spiral winds from the worlds to the suns,
And every star that shines
In the path of degrees for ever runs,
And the spiral octave climbs;
And a seven-fold heaven round every one
In the spiral order twines.
There are seven links from God to man,
There are seven links and a threefold span;
And seven spheres in the great degree
Of one created immensity.
There are seven octaves of spirit love
In the heart, the mind, and the heavens above:
And seven degrees in the frailest thing,
Though it hath but a day for its blossoming."

It seemed as though all mysticism had culminated in Paul Mario, and so
immense was his influence that the English Church was forced into
action. Such heterodox views had been expressed from the pulpit since
_The Gates_ had cast its challenge at the feet of orthodoxy that the
bishops unanimously pronounced its teachings to be heretical, and
forbade their adoption under divers pains and penalties. A certain
brilliant and fashionable preacher resigned his living, and financed by
a so