the lives of his subjects, motivated perhaps out of guilt, he recognizes the moment of sheer bliss which he would seek to prolong and drops dead. Mephistopheles believes Faust has lost his wager and tries to claim his soul. Angels suddenly appear, dropping rose-petals on the demons, who flee from the burning petals. Mephistopheles, however, stands his ground, and, under the aphrodisiac influence of the roses, lusts after the angels, who meanwhile make off with Faust's soul. The scene abruptly changes to a wilderness inhabited by holy anchorites: "Mountain-gorges, Forest, Rock, Desert". Pater Profundus discloses the parable of nature, which is a harbinger of divine love. The angels bearing Faust's soul appear in heaven. After the enraptured Doctor Marianus extols the Eternal Feminine, the virgin Mary, Mater Gloriosa, appears from on high. Three biblical holy women, Magna Peccatrix (the Great Sinneress, Luke 7:36), Mulier Samaritana (the Samaritan woman, John 4), and Maria Aegyptiaca (Acta Sanctorum), plead for Faust's soul, while Una Paenitentium (previously Gretchen), also pleading for grace, offers to lead the reborn Faust into the higher spheres of heaven. Mater Gloriosa grants her wish. The Chorus Mysticus (mysticus = related to the mysteries) ends the drama: All of the transient, Is parable, only: The insufficient, Here, grows to reality: The indescribable, Here, is done: Woman, eternal, Beckons us on. In addition to the Christian motifs, the final scene makes references to an initiation into the ancient mysteries of Isis, in which the initiated learned the mysteries of the goddess Isis by the "epopteia". The "epopteia" is a nonverbal as well as "indescribable" (12108) process, that is associated with the sense of sight. Accordingly, Faust wants to see the mystery of Mater gloriosa: Mightiest empress of the world, Let me, in the blue Pavilion of the sky unfurl'd, Thy mystery view! Höchste Herrscherin der Welt! Lasse mich, im blauen, Ausgespannten Himmelszelt Dein Geheimniß schauen. (11997–12000) Moreover, Faust labels Mater gloriosa as "the heaven's Queen" (11995) and "goddess" (12100) as in Apuleius' "The Golden Ass" (an important text source for the contemporary access to ancient mysteries); the protagonist is invoking the goddess Isis by those titles. With the title "goddess" forming a big contrast to Catholic and Protestant beliefs, Apuleius shows Isis as "mother of all Nature ... whose sole divinity is worshipped in differing forms, with varying rites, under many names, by all the world." In the overall context of