that the
world is an animal having within it a soul; for man is warm, and so is
the world; man is made of various elements, and so is the world; and, as
the body of man has a soul, so too must the world have one; that there
is a race of created, generated, and visible gods, who must be
distinguished from the eternal, their bodies being composed for the most
part of fire, their shape spherical; that the earth is the oldest and
first of the starry bodies, its place being in the centre of the
universe, or in the axis thereof, where it remains, balanced by its own
equilibrium; that perhaps it is an ensouled being and a generated god;
that the mortal races are three, answering to Earth, Air, and Water;
that the male man was the first made of mortals, and that from him the
female, and beasts, and birds, and fishes issued forth; that the
superiority of man depends upon his being a religious animal; that each
mortal consists of two portions, a soul and a body--their separation
constitutes death; that of the soul there are two primitive component
parts, a mortal and an immortal, the one being made by the created gods,
and the other by the Supreme; that, for the purpose of uniting these
parts together, it is necessary that there should be an intermedium, and
that this is the daemonic portion or spirit; that our mental struggles
arise from this triple constitution of Appetite, Spirit, and Reason;
that Reason alone is immortal, and the others die; that the number of
souls in the universe is invariable or constant; that the sentiment of
pre-existence proves the soul to have existed before the body; that,
since the soul is the cause of motion, it can neither be produced nor
decay, else all motion must eventually cease; that, as to the condition
of departed souls, they hover as shades around the graves, pining for
restoration to their lifeless bodies, or migrating through various human
or brute shapes, but that an unembodied life in God is reserved for the
virtuous philosopher; that valour is nothing but knowledge, and virtue a
knowledge of good; that the soul, on entering the body, is irrational or
in a trance, and that the god, the star who formed its created part,
influences its career, and hence its fortunes may be predicted by
astrological computations; that there are future rewards and
punishments, a residence being appointed for the righteous in his
kindred star; for those whose lives have been less pure there is a
second birth