The Eleusinian mysteries & rites. - The Masonic Trowel

82 ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND RITES
flashes of lightning Ut up the darkness, rendering
it more terrible, while a more persistent light from
a fire displayed fearful forms. Sighs, groans, and
cries of pain resounded on all sides, like the shrieks
of the condemned in Tartarus. The novitiates
were taken hold of by invisible hands, their hair
was torn, and they were beaten and thrown to the
ground. Then a faint light became visible in the
distance and a fearful scene appeared before their
eyes. The gates of Tartarus were opened and the
abode of the condemned lay before them. They
could hear the cries of anguish and the vain regrets
of those to whom Paradise was lost for ever. They
could, moreover, witness their hopeless remorse
they saw, as well as heard, all the tortures of the
condemned. The Furies, armed with relentless
scourges and flaming torches, drove the unhappy
victims incessantly to and fro, never letting them
rest for a moment. Meanwhile the loud voice
of the hierophant, who represented the judge of
the earth, could be heard expounding the meaning
of what was passing before them, and warning and
threatening the initiates. It may well be imagined
that all these fearful scenes were so terrifying that
very frequently beads of anguish appeared on the
brows of the novices. Howling dogs and even
material demons are said actually to have appeared
to the initiates before the scene was changed. Proclus,
" In the rtiost
in his Commentavy on Alcihiades, says :
: