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And on this the early Jewish commentator remarks:

"For that which is generated is Spirit in harmony."

That is to say, Spirit, or Sophia the Holy Breath, is harmony; and the Harmony was the name of the Seven Spheres encircled by the Eighth. Curiously enough, later on in our fragment the Logos is called "Wisdom in harmony."

The Greek word for "dance" in the sentence "dance ye all" is different from that in the phrase "leadeth the dance." It reminds us of the "orchestra" in the Greek theatre.

The Greek drama, I hold, arose from the Mysteries. The general view, however, is that it "sprang from the choral dances round the altar of Dionysus," and so the architectural form of the Greek theatre "was developed form the circular dancing place," the orchêstra.

The dance is to represent the dance of the world-mystery, and therefore of the man-mystery--of joy and sorrow, of rejoicing and beating the breast.

It is hardly necessary here to remind the reader of the Gospel-saying taken by the first (Matth., xi.17) and third (Lk., vii. 27) Evangelist from a common source:

"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced;

"We have played a dirge unto you, and ye have not lamented."

Is it possible that there was an inner tradition of a scripture in which this Saying stood in the first person singular? I think I have made out a presumption in my analysis of the Naassene Document (T.H.G., i. 195) that the Christian commentator, in his parallels with the Fourth Gospel, legitimately opens up for us the question whether or no he was in touch with "sources" of that "Johannine" document.

In any case, I would suggest that for the Gnostic there was an under-meaning, and that it is here in our Hymn expressed for us though still mystically hidden

The higher quaternion, or tetrad, as the Gnostic Marcus would have phrased it, of joy is to blend with the lower tetrad of sorrow; and both together are to form an octave, whereby the man is raised from his littleness into the Greatness; that is to say, he can now respond to cosmic music.

Therefore what was apparently originally a rubric ("The one Eight" etc.), has been put by an unknowing scribe into the mouth of the Initiator, and an Amen added.

The Ogdoad or Eight (in music the full Octave), "sounds with us"; that is, we are now beginning to dance to the Music of the Spheres.

And this being so, the sense of the initiated soul may be said to become cosmic, for it begins to vibrate with, or answer back to, or become in sympathy with, the ordered motions of the Greatness; and therefore the Higher Twelve, the Powers that transcend the separated soul, and which crown or surround the Great Sphere, now lead the dance.

Or, to speculate more daringly; the indications seem to denote a belief that at this stage in the rite there was present the Presence of Masterhood; and this would mean for the aspirant--as is so nobly set forth in the Trismegistic "Secret Sermon on the Mount," which might very well be called "The Initiation of Tat"--that he passes out of himself to greater things.

And so his "twelve disciples," as it were, begin to dance above him or outside him; for the real disciples or apostles of a new-born Christ are not the things he has been taught on earth as man, but powers raying forth from the true Person into still greater regions.

Apostles who go forth into the world of men are but reflections of Great Powers who now go forth from the true Person and link him on to the Great Cosmos.

It is not easy to conjecture the meaning of the phrase "all whose nature is to dance doth dance," for the text is so faulty that we cannot be certain of a correct version. If, however, this be the right rendering, then I would suggest that the "all" is the cosmic order; and that now all is made ready, and spiritual communion has ben established between the church, or circle below, and the Church Above, who again is the Supernal Sophia.

"Who danceth not, knows not what is being done."

The soul must dance, or be active in a corresponding way, with the Great Dance, in order to know, or attain true Gnosis. Knowledge of the Great World can only be attained when the man has abandoned his self-will and acts in harmony with the Great Happenings.

This reminds us of the Saying in the Fourth Gospel (vii. 17): "If a man will to do His Will, he shall know of the Doctrine"; and again (ix. 31): "If a man be a worshipper of God and do His Will, He will hear him." And the Will of God is His Divine Spouse, the Sophia or Wisdom, by Whom and in Whom He has made the worlds.

"I would flee."

It may be that here the new-born is in fear; the new motions of the Great Passions are too great for him. Or, again, it may signify the necessity of balance, or equilibrium; the soul feels itself swept away into the infinitudes, and is held back by the greater power of the Master--the that in him which alone is stable; these two are then the centrifugal and centripetal powers.

"I would be adorned."

The original Greek term suggests the idea of being rightly "ordered" (kosmein).

It may also mean "clothed in fit garments"; that is, the soul prays that his little cosmos, which has previously been awry or out of order, may be made like unto the Great Order, and so he may be clad in "glories" or "robes of glory" or "power" like unto the Great Glories of the Heavenly Spheres.

"I would be at-oned."

We now approach the mystery of union, when the soul abandons with joy its separateness, and frees itself from the limitations of its "possession"--of that which is "mine" as apart from the rest.

And so we have the triple declaration as to the loss of "dwelling," "place" and "temple" (the very "shrine" of the soul), and the assurance of the gain of all"dwellings," "places" and "temples." And in illustration of this sublime idea we may yet again quote from the "Untitled Apocalypse" of the Bruce Codex (F.F.F., p. 554):

"'Holy, Holy, Holy is He, the [here come the seven vowels each three times repeated]'

"That is to say:

"'Thou art the Living One among the living.

"'Thou art the Holy One among the holy.

"'Thou art Being among beings.

"'Thou art Father among Fathers.

"'Thou art God among gods.

"'Thou art Lord among lords.

"'Thou art Space among spaces.'

"Thus too do they praise Him.

"'Thou art the House;

"'And Thou art the Dweller in the House.'

"And yet again do they praise the Son hidden in Him:

"'Thou art; Thou art the Alone-begotten--Light, Life and Grace.'"

"The Son of Man hath nowhere to lay His head"--for indeed He has all "places" in His possession.

Then follow the comfortable words that the Christ, the Logos, is the Lamp, the Mirror, the Door and the Way for the human soul; the Divine Soul is all things for the beloved.

In the worlds of darkness and uncertainty Christ is the Lamp, whom we must follow, for He leads us along the Way.

For those who can perceive the Christ-essence in all, this Christ-essence is a Mirror reflecting the great truths of the higher worlds.

There is one means alone of passing through the Wall of Separation between the Higher and the Lower, and that is Christ the Mediator. He is the Door; even as Thrice-greatest Hermes calls the Mind the "Inner Door" (T.G.H., iii. 274). And Parmenides in his "Truthwards" refers to the same mystery when he describes the Gates, twixt Day and Night, or Light and Darkness.

For him who truly knocks at this Door, that is who turns all his attention and power in this direction, the Great Wall or Limit will be no more, and he shall go in and out at will.

And on this the early Jewish commentator remarks:

"For that which is generated is Spirit in harmony."

That is to say, Spirit, or Sophia the Holy Breath, is harmony; and the Harmony was the name of the Seven Spheres encircled by the Eighth. Curiously enough, later on in our fragment the Logos is called "Wisdom in harmony."

The Greek word for "dance" in the sentence "dance ye all" is different from that in the phrase "leadeth the dance." It reminds us of the "orchestra" in the Greek theatre.

The Greek drama, I hold, arose from the Mysteries. The general view, however, is that it "sprang from the choral dances round the altar of Dionysus," and so the architectural form of the Greek theatre "was developed form the circular dancing place," the orchêstra.

The dance is to represent the dance of the world-mystery, and therefore of the man-mystery--of joy and sorrow, of rejoicing and beating the breast.

It is hardly necessary here to remind the reader of the Gospel-saying taken by the first (Matth., xi.17) and third (Lk., vii. 27) Evangelist from a common source:

"We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced;

"We have played a dirge unto you, and ye have not lamented."

Is it possible that there was an inner tradition of a scripture in which this Saying stood in the first person singular? I think I have made out a presumption in my analysis of the Naassene Document (T.H.G., i. 195) that the Christian commentator, in his parallels with the Fourth Gospel, legitimately opens up for us the question whether or no he was in touch with "sources" of that "Johannine" document.

In any case, I would suggest that for the Gnostic there was an under-meaning, and that it is here in our Hymn expressed for us though still mystically hidden

The higher quaternion, or tetrad, as the Gnostic Marcus would have phrased it, of joy is to blend with the lower tetrad of sorrow; and both together are to form an octave, whereby the man is raised from his littleness into the Greatness; that is to say, he can now respond to cosmic music.

Therefore what was apparently originally a rubric ("The one Eight" etc.), has been put by an unknowing scribe into the mouth of the Initiator, and an Amen added.

The Ogdoad or Eight (in music the full Octave), "sounds with us"; that is, we are now beginning to dance to the Music of the Spheres.

And this being so, the sense of the initiated soul may be said to become cosmic, for it begins to vibrate with, or answer back to, or become in sympathy with, the ordered motions of the Greatness; and therefore the Higher Twelve, the Powers that transcend the separated soul, and which crown or surround the Great Sphere, now lead the dance.

Or, to speculate more daringly; the indications seem to denote a belief that at this stage in the rite there was present the Presence of Masterhood; and this would mean for the aspirant--as is so nobly set forth in the Trismegistic "Secret Sermon on the Mount," which might very well be called "The Initiation of Tat"--that he passes out of himself to greater things.

And so his "twelve disciples," as it were, begin to dance above him or outside him; for the real disciples or apostles of a new-born Christ are not the things he has been taught on earth as man, but powers raying forth from the true Person into still greater regions.

Apostles who go forth into the world of men are but reflections of Great Powers who now go forth from the true Person and link him on to the Great Cosmos.

It is not easy to conjecture the meaning of the phrase "all whose nature is to dance doth dance," for the text is so faulty that we cannot be certain of a correct version. If, however, this be the right rendering, then I would suggest that the "all" is the cosmic order; and that now all is made ready, and spiritual communion has ben established between the church, or circle below, and the Church Above, who again is the Supernal Sophia.

"Who danceth not, knows not what is being done."

The soul must dance, or be active in a corresponding way, with the Great Dance, in order to know, or attain true Gnosis. Knowledge of the Great World can only be attained when the man has abandoned his self-will and acts in harmony with the Great Happenings.

This reminds us of the Saying in the Fourth Gospel (vii. 17): "If a man will to do His Will, he shall know of the Doctrine"; and again (ix. 31): "If a man be a worshipper of God and do His Will, He will hear him." And the Will of God is His Divine Spouse, the Sophia or Wisdom, by Whom and in Whom He has made the worlds.

"I would flee."

It may be that here the new-born is in fear; the new motions of the Great Passions are too great for him. Or, again, it may signify the necessity of balance, or equilibrium; the soul feels itself swept away into the infinitudes, and is held back by the greater power of the Master--the that in him which alone is stable; these two are then the centrifugal and centripetal powers.

"I would be adorned."

The original Greek term suggests the idea of being rightly "ordered" (kosmein).

It may also mean "clothed in fit garments"; that is, the soul prays that his little cosmos, which has previously been awry or out of order, may be made like unto the Great Order, and so he may be clad in "glories" or "robes of glory" or "power" like unto the Great Glories of the Heavenly Spheres.

"I would be at-oned."

We now approach the mystery of union, when the soul abandons with joy its separateness, and frees itself from the limitations of its "possession"--of that which is "mine" as apart from the rest.

And so we have the triple declaration as to the loss of "dwelling," "place" and "temple" (the very "shrine" of the soul), and the assurance of the gain of all"dwellings," "places" and "temples." And in illustration of this sublime idea we may yet again quote from the "Untitled Apocalypse" of the Bruce Codex (F.F.F., p. 554):

"'Holy, Holy, Holy is He, the [here come the seven vowels each three times repeated]'

"That is to say:

"'Thou art the Living One among the living.

"'Thou art the Holy One among the holy.

"'Thou art Being among beings.

"'Thou art Father among Fathers.

"'Thou art God among gods.

"'Thou art Lord among lords.

"'Thou art Space among spaces.'

"Thus too do they praise Him.

"'Thou art the House;

"'And Thou art the Dweller in the House.'

"And yet again do they praise the Son hidden in Him:

"'Thou art; Thou art the Alone-begotten--Light, Life and Grace.'"

"The Son of Man hath nowhere to lay His head"--for indeed He has all "places" in His possession.

Then follow the comfortable words that the Christ, the Logos, is the Lamp, the Mirror, the Door and the Way for the human soul; the Divine Soul is all things for the beloved.

In the worlds of darkness and uncertainty Christ is the Lamp, whom we must follow, for He leads us along the Way.

For those who can perceive the Christ-essence in all, this Christ-essence is a Mirror reflecting the great truths of the higher worlds.

There is one means alone of passing through the Wall of Separation between the Higher and the Lower, and that is Christ the Mediator. He is the Door; even as Thrice-greatest Hermes calls the Mind the "Inner Door" (T.G.H., iii. 274). And Parmenides in his "Truthwards" refers to the same mystery when he describes the Gates, twixt Day and Night, or Light and Darkness.

For him who truly knocks at this Door, that is who turns all his attention and power in this direction, the Great Wall or Limit will be no more, and he shall go in and out at will.