A natural division in the purgative way arises from the two types of purification which the soul must undergo before it is ready for its second conversion and entry into illumination. These are first the active and then the passive purifications. The beginner on entry into the way of perfection has the relics of past sin hanging about him like so many rags and pieces of knotted cord. He has to struggle to shake himself free of this foul heritage. The ascetic moral virtues must be brought particularly into play. He must burn away the dross from his senses and his emotions, He must practise, above all, temperance and justice—the caustic virtues that will cleane him thoroughly if he fears no personal suffering. It is precisely here that a rule plays its first part. The soul needs guidance and also the virtue of obedience, which lies at the root of all sacrifice and of every moral virtue insofar as the virtuous actions are performed, because they are known as God's will. After this active following of a rule and its ascetic influence, God himself begins to apply the knife to the diseases which pass unnoticed in the general bustle of the active life.