The History of Initiation - The Masonic Trowel

INTO THE GOTHIC MYSTERIES. 169
Veils ; which, in fact, could be held as frequently as
individuals chose to subject themselves to the expense.
The palace of Thor, which is thus described in the
Edda, 17 was nothing more than a cavern 18 of initiation
17 Fab. 11, apud. Mai. North. Ant., voL ii., p. 65.
18 The northern nations abound with natural caverns which were
admirably adapted to the purposes of initiation ; and were, doubtless,
applied by this people to the celebration of their mysterious rites.
One of these caves was personally inspected by Bishop Pontoppidon,
and, as it bears a striking resemblance to our own cavern at
Castleton,
in the Peak of Derbyshire, in which the Druidical mysteries were
unquestionably celebrated, I shall make no apology for describing it in
"
that author's own words. Hearing at the parsonage of Oerskoug,
that, in the district of the annexed chapelry of Strande, not far 'from
thence a stream had been found, which issued through a rock from
the side of a mountain called Limur. and over it a cavern which,
probably, followed the stream, but of the length of which I could
procure no account; I resolved to examine it myself, as on my visitation
to Nordal I was to pass near it. I furnished myself with a
tinder-box,
candle, a lantern, and a long line to serve me instead of Ariadne's
clue. My boat put me ashore at the foot of the aforesaid mountain of
Limur. But, being extremely steep, we were obliged to climb with
our hands as well as feet, and sometimes we were hard put to it to
clear our way through the hazel and alder-bushes. On the side of
this laborious ascent, we met with a rivulet streaming out, which
directed us to the cavern. It is, indeed, something wonderful, being
a kind of natural conduit, formed purely by the force of the water
through the solid rock, which was a compound mass, mostly consisting
of grey pebbles, but about the conduit, of a clear, grey marble, with
blueish veins; had this natural structure been raised by human skill,
it would have been a work of no small expense ; for a few paces after
getting through the thicket, which almost hides the aperture of the
cavern, one is surprised with a vaulted passage of pure marble, without
the least flaw or breach, but with several angles and protuberances,
all so polished, as if it had been a paste moulded into smooth, globular
forms. About a hundred paces forward, the passage continues in a
straight direction, then winds off to the right with ascents and
descents, and in some places growing narrower, and in others widen-
ing to double its former breadth, which, according to my admeasurement,
was about four or five ells, and the height about three ; thus
two persons could go abreast, except that they were now and then
obliged to stoop, and even creep, and then they felt a damp vapour
like that of a burial vault. This prevented my penetrating so far as
I had intended. Another thing remarkable, was the terrible roaring
of the waters under us, the course of which was what most excited
my wonder, as over it lies a pavement of smooth stone, inclining a
little like a vault on each side, but flat in the middle, and not above
three fingers thick, with some small crevices through which the
water may be seen." (Pontop. Hist. Norw., p. 48.) Here we find
every characteristic which attended the process of initiation. The
roaring of the waters; the narrow subterranean passages, which