the number of successive emanations of the great creative
principle, or, according to the Persian Mithraic rites, the first
emanation of Ormuz. With the Gnostics, Abraxas was the
type of Christ as the Creator and Maintainer of the universe.
The Egyptian Mithras-Abraxas, or Serapis, is represented
on intagli seated upon a throne with a triple-headed animal by
his side, and Isis, the earth, before him. The engraving bears
the inscriptions, "There is but one god, and he is Serapis,"
and, " Immaculate is our Lady Isis." The Gnostic rites bore
a resemblance to some of those pertaining to the Christian
religion, as baptism.and the Eucharist ; they were practised at
Rome for a long time under the Christian emperors, and were
frequently represented on engraved precious stones. The
neophyte when initiated, was subjected to twelve degrees of
trial or torture during his probation, which lasted forty days.
He was scourged for two days, and compelled to lie naked on
the snow for a certain number of nights. These tests are
represented on the bas-reliefs in the museum at Innsbruck.
The column, triangle, and some other symbols frequently
occur in Gnostic engravings ; some of these emblems, as the
serpent, sword, level, column, and the name of Saint John,
whom this ancient sect claimed as their special apostle, have
been adopted by the modern society of Freemasons. The
angel Michael is represented on Gnostic intagli as a winged
youth with a hawk's head, and holding in each hand a mason's
level, with his finger on his mouth, betokening secrecy on the
initiated.
The early Gnostic intagli sometimes represented a serpent
with a lion's head surrounded with seven rays, sometimes
Anubis, a god with the head of a jackal, and sometimes Osiris,
wearing a crown. These intagli are the only glyptic monuments existing, says Mr. King, of the later periods of the
