l Spirit. Such ideas are
directly reminiscent of the Pythagorean manner of thinking (_cf._ p.
57 _et seq._).

The centre of existence is sought in the inner life, but this life is
conscious of its cosmic value. St. Augustine was thinking in virtually
the same way as Philo, when he said: "We see all created things
because they are; but they are, because God sees them." And he adds,
concerning what and how we see: "And because they are, we see them
outwardly; because they are perfect, we see them inwardly."

Plato has the same fundamental idea (_cf._ p. 63 _et seq._). Like
Plato, Philo sees in the destiny of the human soul the closing act of
the great cosmic drama, the awakening of the divinity that is under a
spell. He thus describes the inner actions of the soul: the wisdom in
man's inner being walks along, "tracing the paths of the Father, and
shapes the forms while beholding the archetypes." It is no personal
matter for man to create forms in his inner being; they are the
eternal wisdom, they are the cosmic life.

This is in harmony with the interpretation of the myths of the people
in the light of the Mysteries. The Mystic searches for the deeper
truth in the myths (_cf._ p. 94 _et seq._). And as the Mystic treats
the myths of paganism, Philo handles Moses' story of the creation. The
Old Testament accounts are for him images of inner soul-processes. The
Bible relates the creation of the world. One who merely takes it as a
description of outer events only half knows it. It is certainly
written, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And
the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of
the deep. And the spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." But
the real inner meaning of the words must be lived in the depths of the
soul. God must be found within, then He appears as the "Primal
Splendour, who sends out innumerable rays, not perceptible by the
senses, but collectively thinkable." This is Philo's expression. In
the _Timaeus_ of Plato, the words are almost identical with the Bible
ones, "Now when the Father, who had created the universe, saw how it
had become living and animated, and an image of the eternal gods, he
felt pleasure therein." In the Bible we read, "And God saw that it was
good."

The recognition of the divine is for Philo, as well as for Plato and
in the wisdom of the Mysteries, to live through the process of
creation in one's own soul. The history of creatio