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only symbol by which the conception of an omnipresent and 
all-pervading deity could be arrived at. The worship of the 
Sun and Moon are only successive developments of the same 
idea and symbols of what was at first itself a symbol. The five 
planets are next deified, and in these eight we have the germ 
of all mythological systems. The Sabsan religion was actually 
Paganism in this stage. The worship of the Sun as a corrup- 
tion of the earlier worship of the Sky is hinted at in the Greek 
myth of Zeus supplanting Aronos the son of Ouranos as King 
of Heaven. The origin of the ancient mysteries was the pre- 
servation of the esoteric doctrine of Paganism; an attempt to 
recall to people’s minds the fact that their deities but represent 
the heavenly bodies, which again are only the symbols of light ; 
and that the latter is but an expression for the conception of 
an all-pervading God. Such secret teaching has always existed 
in the East; and as the mystic sects of Syria and Persia at the 
present day inherit the traditional explanation of pagan doc- 
trines, we may reasonably expect to find pagan rites also pre- 
served; and a knowledge of their tenets will therefore help us 
to understand the principles and practice of Ancient Paganism. 
As the form of symbolism which is exoteric cannot affect 
the esoteric doctrines, we find that secret pagan sects adopt the 
outward form of the prevailing religion of the time ; thus Gnos- 
ticism was clothed in a semi-Christian garb, and similarly the 
Sufis, Druzes and Nuseiriyeh make use of Mohammedanism as 
a cloak for their no less pagan doctrines. 
The Nuseiriyeh worship a mystic triad consisting of Ali ibn 
Abi Taleb, Mohammed and Selman el Farsi: the first is called 
the Meaning, the second the Chamberlain, and the third the 
Door. 
From these proceed five other beings called Monads, to 
whom names, also borrowed from the companions and sup- 
porters of Ali, are given, These exercise the functions of 
creation and order. 
