Serai

“ Our visit to the Seraglio deserves an especial notice, not that we saw so much, but that we saw what Franks are rarely permitted to look upon. We landed at the old kiosk with the green curtains, and exhibiting our firman, were permitted to enter the precincts of the Seraglio. Serai is the Turkish word for palace, whence this principal one of the Sultan’s is called, par excellence, the Seraglio. Passing through an arched gateway, between files of sentinels, we came upon an open space. ”

“ The hot and crowded bazars blazed with light as they made their way through the press of all the races in Upper India, and the lama mooned through it like a man in a dream. It was his first experience of a large city, and the sight of the crowded tram-car with its continually squealing brakes frightened him. Half pushed, half towed, he arrived at the high gate of the Kashmir Serai: that huge open square over against the railway station, surrounded with arched cloisters where the camel and horse caravans put up on their return from Central Asia. ”

“ Carib, the n being perhaps due to contamination with Span. canino, canine, voracious. It can hardly be doubted that this word suggested Shakespeare's Caliban. Seraglio is due to confusion between the Turkish word serai, a palace, and Ital. serraglio, "an inclosure, a close, a padocke, a parke, a cloister or secluse" (Florio) , which belongs to Lat. sera, a bolt or bar.
Anecdotage is a deliberate coinage ascribed to John Wilkes—
"When a man fell into his anecdotage, it was a sign for him to retire from the world." ”

“ It is strange how words gain, in other countries, a signification different from the meaning they possess in their own. Serail or Seraglio, is generally understood as the habitation, or rather the confinement for women ”

“ Another class of serailis is the independent set, who are denominated Deli Serailis, or wild serailis, famous for their extravagant ideas, disorderly conduct, and unruly disposition; endowed with the bump of cunning and mischief, joined to a fair amount of energy and vivacity, they carry out, in spite of high walls and the watchful surveillance of more than a hundred eunuchs, all the wicked plans and mad freaks their disorderly minds and impulsive natures suggest to them ”

“ He is a true Seer, like his own ancient Zarathustra, like Lao-tse, like Buddha, and much more akin to Jesus, and Paul, and John, than to the fierce, relentless, one-sided Prophet of Arabia, whose barren religion he redeems from its mechanical inhumanity and quickens with the breath of a purer and Diviner love. ”

“ To hear the seer explain their monarch's dream.
Beside the royal throne he sits supreme
Among the seers, the Sar, his scribe commands
To read his dream recorded as it stands
In Erech's Gi; [2] who reads it to the seer,
Who answers thus:
"In this there doth appear
A god, whose ardent love will lead to deeds
Of hate against thee, Sar; thy present needs
Are great, O king! as fire this love will burn
Until the wicked seven [3] on thee turn;
And blood, alone, will not their fury sate:
The gods will hurl upon thee some dread fate."
In silence, Izdubar the warning heard ”

“ And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.
14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.
15 And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet.
16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God. ”

“ The danger at this supreme moment is that the seer will be surprised into full waking consciousness. During the process of abstraction which precedes every vision or series of visions, the consciousness of the seer is gradually and imperceptibly withdrawn from his surroundings. He forgets that he is seated in this or that room, that such a person is at his right hand, such another at his left. He forgets that he is gazing into the crystal. He hears nothing, sees nothing, save what is passing before the eyes of his soul. ”

“ The pure and radiant star of Christian love has risen in the place of the dim nebulous mist of Serapis; and just as the moon pales when the sun appears triumphant, the worship of Serapis has died away in a thousand places where the gospel has been received. ”

“ This idol was Serapis, and he was raised to the throne of divinity here, not by Heaven, but by a shrewd and prudent man; a grand temple was built for him, which is to this day one of the wonders of the world, and a statue of him was made, as beautiful as any image ever formed by the hand of man. You have seen and know them both, and you know too, how, before the gospel was preached in Alexandria, crowds of all classes, excepting the Jews, thronged the Serapeum. ”

“ These two types—of which there are many varieties—achieve their psychic development by quite opposite means. The positive seer works with effort, throwing out the soul-images by the power of his will, perceiving them with more or less accuracy, and thereafter turning them over in the mind, reasoning and questioning concerning their import and meaning. The passive seer, on the contrary, works not at all and makes no effort, the visions coming slowly, almost imperceptibly, and in most cases having a literal interpretation. ”

“ Let us then be thankful to those who destroy the gorgeous vessel, who drive it from amongst us, or sink or burn it. May our Father in Heaven give courage to their hearts, strength to their hands and blessing on their deeds! When we hear: ‘Great Serapis has fallen to the earth and is no more, we and the world are free from him!’ then, in this city, and wherever Christians dwell and worship, let a solemn festival be held. ”

“ To open our souls to the abundance which is already provided, comprehendeth the Spirit of the New Faith!”
“Peradventure I felt some faint beginnings of its presence within me while I was yet in the Holy City, but Serenus and thyself have it in living fulness!”
“Behold the power and love which inspire may come through silent communication from another soul! The Spirit speaketh through one to another to the inner ear.” ”

“ A seer can know the past and the future. Through a seer, all things are revealed, secret things are shown, and hidden things come to light. God has provided this method for a man, through faith, to work mighty miracles and become a great benefit to his fellow beings."
King Limhi was overjoyed at hearing this news. He thanked God by saying, "No doubt a great mystery is contained within these plates. These interpreters must have been prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to all people. ”

“ In this kingdom Sero guarded;
Longed and panted for admission,
Toiled and labored for a passport,
Fought and battled for a title
To this realm where trouble is not,
Till they had become the victors,
And were waiting now to enter.
Throughout all Nimæra’s kingdom
Warning heralds Sero sent out
To implore the heedless people,
Raising thus their warning voices:
“Turn, ye people, turn from evil,
Know ye that the day is nearing
For the long and weary journey
Through dark valleys and wild passes
To the lands of the hereafter. ”

“ She lay back in her easy-chair, with closed eyes, and dreamed of his coming. She felt an immense need of him, to have him there beside her, to hold his hand in hers, to lean her head upon his shoulder in sweet, deep peace, listening to the beating of his heart, supported by his arms, while his breath fell upon her hair, her eyelids, her lips. A dream of love; vivid and languid, full of delicate ardour and melancholy desire.
She surprised herself murmuring his name. "Cesare, Cesare," she said, trembling with love at the sound of her own voice. ”

“ The wind never ceased its sound, Neither fort nor tree was spared, Since that the courteous king is dead. Since Nial [165] Aidh’s son died yesterday, Numbers on numbers sorely mourn; And though cups and horns are filled, Sore is the blow to Conn’s great race. Without him prosperity is joyless, His form my heart with sorrow fills, That I’m till judgment left behind, Is that which fills my heart with grief. ”

“ Francisco Serra, President de Croix, Viceroy, of the California and Junipero Missions: Galvez, honest, masterful and bluff; Croix, honest, discerning and diplomatic; Serra, a seraphic spirit, a later Salvitierra, a New World Francis of Assissi; post-medizval, yet not belated for his task; beholder of visions, believer in miracles, merciless wielder of the penitential scourge; yet through simple purity of heart, possessed of courage not unequal to labor the most arduous, and of a wisdom not unequal to situations the most perplexing. ”

“ Sears was above in his study working on Dante. He would finish canto twelve to-night, and she would finish the sock. How deathly still is a house in spring when the wind nuzzles the doors, begging to get in. She raised her violet-shadowed eyes reproachfully towards the rattling panes beyond the nimbus of the couch. 'You wouldn't like it, wind,' she said, 'if I should open a window and let you in. Go a long way off, out to sea, or down on the Cape. Concord is not the place for you.' But the wind snuffed like a hound. ”

“ If, when Serapis falls, the universe does not crumble to pieces like a ruinous hovel, then the wisdom of the Magians is a lie, the course of the stars has nothing to do with the destinies of the earth and its inhabitants, the planets are mere lamps, the sun is no more than a luminous furnace, the old gods are marsh-fires, emanations from the dark bog of men’s minds—and the great Serapis.... ”

“ Occasionally, with prophetic burden, the stern seer into the future denounces a curse forever to rest upon this land, evoked by the silent, spectral forms of the vanished red men over whose hunting-grounds and graves in the hands of the spoiler no permanent blessing can ever be enjoyed. ”

“ She shook her head without replying; her gentle face had already become sweet again.
"Anyone would have read that pocket-book, Miss Temple," he added, quite sadly.
"Not an Englishman, Signor," she said in a low voice.
"That is true, not an Englishman; but an Italian, yes," he replied. "Our fantasy is as ardent as our hearts. You must understand us to excuse us, Miss Temple."
"It doesn't matter, Signor," she replied seriously, with a little smile of indulgence. "I know Italy, but not Italians. If they are as ardent as you say, it no longer matters having read my pocket-book, Signor." ”

“ The two young disciples of the New Faith sat near her as the moments passed silently by.
[pg 378] A Voice spoke through them, but not in words. “Child of God! Thou art a spark of Immortal Flame! an image of the Universal Spirit! It is thine to govern and harmonize the outward form. Thou hast new life already! God is Spirit, and his dwelling-place is with his offspring. He is thy Life, Love, and Strength, through the understanding of the laws of thy being. Behold the very breath of God is within thee! His strength is freely thine own!”
* * * * * * * * * * Serenus retired from the room. ”

“ The success of each depends upon the observance of that method which is agreeable to their respective temperaments.
In regard to the qualifications which should supplement and sustain the natural aptitude of the seer or seeress, the following remarks may be of general service.
Self-possession and confidence in one's own soul-faculties must be the firm rock upon which all revelations should rest. The purer the intention and motive of the seer, the more lucid will be the visions accorded. No reliable vision can be obtained by one whose nature is not inherently truthful. ”

“ Explain the whole secret to me, I beseech you, and no longer augment my impatience. Let me instantly know who are the happy parents of so great a prodigy of beauty; who are your brothers, your sisters, and your relations; but, above all, tell me your name?"
"Sire," said the fair slave, "my name is Gulnare of the Sea: and my father, who is dead, was one of the most potent monarchs of the ocean. When he died, he left his kingdom to a brother of mine, named Saleh, and to the queen, my mother, who is also a princess, the daughter of another puissant monarch of the sea. ”

“ It is important that all persons sitting in the same room as the seer should be at arm's length away from him—farther if possible. Silence should be uniformly observed by those present. A recorder should be at hand to set down everything the seer may give voice to. If any questions are addressed to the seer while the sitting is in progress, they should be spoken in an undertone and as nearly a monotone as may be so that the seer is not suddenly surprised into consciousness of his surroundings, and the psychic thread thereby broken. ”

“ How beautiful is night!” Serenus aroused himself from deep contemplation.
“Behold, O Amabel! what we see is but an unrolled parchment inscribed with living characters for our translation. The voice of God through his works is even [pg 248] more direct than that which cometh through the mouths of patriarchs and prophets. Saith the sweet singer of Israel,—
‘Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night sheweth knowledge.’” “But, O Serenus! who is wise enough to give it interpretation? What sayest thou of the Greeks, who worship Nature, and vainly imagine that they hear her many voices? ”

“ Laws of the Seres.—The Seres have laws forbidding to kill, or to commit impurity, or to worship idols; and in the whole of Serica there are no idols, and no harlots, nor any one that kills a man, nor any that is killed: although they, like other men, are born at all hours and on all days. ”

“ Serúsh or Serósh, is derived from the Zend, and signifies properly sí-roz, that is “thirty days, a month.” To the adorers of the stars, Serósh is the name of an angel who presides over the 17th day of the month; according to their religion, he is moreover the most active of the celestial spirits; as king of the earth, he passes every day and every night three times through his empire; his throne is the summit of the world; all light, all intelligence, he purifies and fertilizes the earth, blesses and protects mankind, strikes the evil spirits; in short, he is adored equal to the supreme being. ”