in paradise lost there's a river in paradise that's the source of all other rivers, and near the end, an archangel gives adam knowledge of basically everything that will happen until the world ends. even though milton was a puritan, these things sound like metaphors for the perennial philosophy.

but milton modeled his poem on the aeneid, which includes a similar element (some kind of shield foretelling the history of rome) so maybe it was a coincidence, though that's doubtful since milton was so learned.