THE EQUINOX Vol. I. No. VI 2nd part

August 13, 1990 e.v. key entry by by Bill Heidrick, T.G. of O.T.O. First proofreading against first edition on 12/19/90 e.v. by Bill Heidrick --- could benefit from further proof reading

Copyright (c) O.T.O. disk 2 of 2

O.T.O.
P.O.Box 430
Fairfax, CA 94930
USA

(415) 454-5176 ---- Messages only.

Pages in the original are marked thus at the bottom: {page number} Comments and descriptions are also set off by curly brackets {} Comments and notes not in the original are identified with the initials of the source: AC note = Crowley note. WEH note = Bill Heidrick note, etc. Descriptions of illustrations are not so identified, but are simply in curly brackets.

(Addresses and invitations below are not current but copied from the original text of the early part of the 20th century)

All footnotes have been moved up to the place in text indexed and set off in double wedge brackets, viz. <<note...>>


						     "SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT"
				     NOTE
			    The	Rites were written
			       and produced by
			       ALEISTER	CROWLEY
		      except parts of the Rites	of Mars
and of Mercury
which were written by an adept
		       who wishes to remain anonymous.
				  ---------
The solos were chosen from her
		      repertoire by Miss Leila Waddell.
			       ---------------
       [In view	of the absurd statements as to the character of	these
rites which have been made in certain quarters, it has been thought that the best reply is the publication of the text in full. ED.]
								   {i}
THE RITES OF ELEUSIS AS PERFORMED AT CAXTON HALL WESTMINISTER IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER 1910 BY MISS LEILA WAD- DELL AND MR ALEISTER CROWLEY WITH DIS-
TINGUISHED ASSISTANCE
		      I. THE RITE OF SATURN.
		     II. THE RITE OF JUPITER.
		    III. THE RITE OF MARS.
		     IV. THE RITE OF SOL.
		      V. THE RITE OF VENUS.
		     VI. THE RITE OF MERCURY.
		    VII. THE RITE OF LUNA.
		    {v}
				 TO MY FRIEND
COMMANDER G. M. MARSTON, R.N.
			     to	whose suggestion
				 these rites
				   are due
they are gratefully dedicated.

{vi}

			      THE RITE OF SATURN
						 {1}
		       THE OFFICERS OF THE TEMPLE

MAGISTER TEMPLI, "the representative of Binah, Saturn." MATER COELI, "Venus in Libra, the house of Saturn's exaltation." BROTHER AQUARIUS, "the house of Saturn; in Chesed, because Pisces is water:

       "Hope."
BROTHER CAPRICORNUS, "in thethrone of Capricornus, the house of Saturn; in
       Geburah,	because	Mars is	exalted	therein.  He is	Mars in	Capricornus."
BROTHER CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS. THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS, or CHORAGOGE.

SCENE. --- "In the East is a veiled shrine, containing an altar. To its

       Chokmah,	Binah, Chesed, and Geburah are M. T., M. C., Bro. A., and Bro.
       C. respectively.	 Bro C.	E. is disguised	as an ordinary member of the
       garrison."
								   {3}
			      THE RITE OF SATURN
				    PART I

BROTHER CAPRICORNUS "enters and turns off Blue light. Red lamps are brought in by" BROTHER CAPRICORNUS "and the" LEADER OF THE CHORUS.

"First the Temple is lighted by two red lamps." PROBATIONERS "chant the Capricornus and Aquarius sections from" 963 "while others wait without in darkness. Red lights are then hidden within veil." BROTHER CAPRICORNUS "turns on the Blue light."

"The Temple being in darkness, and the assistants seated, let" BROTHER CAPRICORNUS "arise from his throne, and knock thrice with his spearbutt upon the floor." MAGISTER TEMPLI "in the shrine, with" MATER COELI.

CAPRICORNUS. Procul, O procul este profani!

["He performs the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. He next lights the hell-broth and recites:]"

Even as the traitor's breath
Goeth forth, he perisheth
By the secret sibilant word that is spoken unto death.

Even as the profane hand
Reacheth to the sacred sand,
Fire consumes him that his name be forgotten in the land. {5}

Even as the wicked eye
Seeks the mysteries to spy,
So the blindness of the gods takes his spirit: he shall die.

Even as the evil priest,
Poisoned by the sacred feast,
Changes by its seven powers to the misbegotten beast:

Even as the powers of ill,
Broken by the wanded will,
Shriek about the holy place, vain and vague and terrible:

Even as the lords of hell,
Chained in fires before the spell,
Strain upon the sightless steel, break not fetters nor compel:

So be distant, O profane!
Children of the hurricane!
Lest the sword of fire destroy, lest the ways of death be plain!

So depart, and so be wise,
Lest your perishable eyes
Look upon the formless fire, see the maiden sacrifice!

So depart, and secret flame
Burn upon the stone of shame,
That the holy ones may hear music of the sleepless Name!

Holy, holy, holy spouse
Of the sun-engirdled house,
With the secret symbol burning on thy multiscient brows! ....

Even as the traitor's breath
Goeth forth, he perisheth
By the secret sibilant word that is spoken unto death.

CAPRICORNUS. Brethren, let us awaken the Master of the Temple. [THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS "beats the tom-tom, and the other brethren clap and stamp their feet. No result."] {6} Silence --- it is in vain! Brethren, let us invoke the assistance of the Mother of Heaven! ["He goes to veil and reaches through with his hands." MATER COELI. ["Passes through Throne of" MAGISTER TEMPLI "and enters the Temple."] Children, what is your will with me? CAPRICORNUS. Mother of Heaven, we beseech thee to awaken the Master. MATER COELI. What is the hour?
CAPRICORNUS. Mother of Heaven, it lacks a quarter of midnight. MATER COELI. Be it unto your desire! ["She plays.<<Kuyawiak: Wieniawski.>> As she ends she kneels: the veil slowly parts, and" MAGISTER TEMPLI "is seen standing in shrine. He slowly enters Temple." Mater Coeli "returns to throne, having been blessed and raised by him."]
MAGISTER TEMPLI. Mother of Heaven, beloved of the Stars, wherefore hast thou awakened the Poison of Eld, the Dweller in Eternity? MATER COELI. Shabbathai.
[MAGISTER TEMPLI "comes down to hell-broth and recites "The Eyes of Pharaoh."]

Dead Pharaoh's eyes from out the tomb
Burned like twin planets ruby-red.
Enswathed, enthroned, the halls of gloom Echo the agony of the dead.

Silent and stark the Pharaoh sate:
No breath went whispering, hushed or scared. Only that red incarnate hate
Through pylon after pylon flared. {7}

As in the blood of murdered things
The affrighted augur shaking skries
Earthquake and ruinous fate of kings,
Famine and desperate destinies,

So in the eyes of Pharaoh shone
The hate and loathing that compel
In death each damned minion
Of Set, the accursed lord of Hell.

Yea! in those globes of fire there sate Some cruel knowledge closely curled
Like serpents in those halls of hate,
Palaces of the Underworld.

But in the hell-glow of those eyes
The ashen skull of Pharaoh shone
White as the moonrays that surprise
The invoking Druse on Lebanon.

Moreover pylon shouldered round
To pylon an unearthly tune,
Like phantom priests that strike and sound Sinister sistrons at the moon.

And death's insufferable perfume
Beat the black air with golden fans
As Turkis rip a Nubian's womb
With damascened yataghans.

Also the taste of dust long dead
Of ancient queens corrupt and fair
Struck through the temple, subtly sped By demons dominant of the air.

Last, on the flesh there came a touch
Like sucking mouths and stroking hands That laid their foul alluring smutch
Even to the blood's mad sarabands. {8}

So did the neophyte that would gaze
Into dead Pharaoh's awful eyes
Start from incalculable amaze
To clutch the initiate's place and prize.

He bore the blistering thought aloft:
It blazed in battle on his plume:
With sage and warrior enfeoffed,
He rushed alone through tower and tomb.

The myriad men, the cohorts armed,
Are shred like husks: the ensanguine brand Leaps like a flame, a flame encharmed
To fire the pyramid heaven-spanned

Wherein dead Pharaoh sits and stares,
Swathed in the wrappings of the tomb, With eyes whose horror flits and flares Like corpse-lights glimmering in the gloom

Till all's a blaze, one roar of flame, Death universal, locked and linked: --- Aha! one names the awful Name ---
The twin red planets are extinct.

							      ["A pause."
["The lamp burns out, and darkness covers all." [LEADER OF THE CHORUS "secretly removes hell-broth vase." {9}
				   PART	II
			    "The Temple	in Darkness"

MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1.<<The figures represent knocks. 1. a single knock; 22. a battery of two knocks; and so on.>> Brother Aquarius, what is the time? AQUARIUS. Midnight.
MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Brother Capricornus, what is the place? CAPRICORNUS. The Fortress that is upon the Frontier of the Abyss. MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Brothers Aquarius and Capricornus, is the Beloved with us? AQUARIUS "and" CAPRICORNUS. The Mother of Heaven is enthroned. MAGISTER TEMPLI. Mother of Heaven, let us lament together!

	    ["Recites Swinburne's "Ilicet".<<Swinburne's poems being in	copyright, we can only give titles or first lines.  The	reader should consult Messrs Chatto & Windus' edition of his works.>>"
       [MATER COELI "plays accordingly.<<Aria arranged for G string: Bach.>>"
MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Brother Aquarius, to what end are we assembled? AQUARIUS. ["Rises and whispers in his ear."] Shabbathai. ALL ["aloud"]. Shabbathai.
MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Are the brethren fed? {10} AQUARIUS. Upon the corpses of their children. MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Have they quenched their thirst? AQUARIUS. Upon poppy-heads infused in blood. MAGISTER TEMPLI. The raven has croaked. AQUARIUS. The owl has hooted.
CAPRICORNUS. The bat has flapped its wings. MAGISTER TEMPLI. Then ...
Lights! [CAPRICORNUS "switches on the blue glare."
  1. Brother Aquarius, I scent danger. AQUARIUS. 1. Master, there are evil things abroad. ["To" CAPRICORNUS] Turn out the guard! CAPRICORNUS. Brethren, stand to your arms! ["All" PROBATIONERS "rise and follow him. He pricks all assistants with his spear, inspects doors, etc."]
    Master, every man is vigilant at his post. There is no alarm. MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Brother Aquarius, I scent danger. AQUARIUS. 1. Master, there is a traitor within the gates. ["To" CAPRICORNUS] Inspect the garrison! CAPRICORNUS. Brethren, purify your hearts! ["He rises and looks into every eye. When he comes to" BRO. CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS, "he hales him forth by the hair, before the altar, and plunges his spear into him. He completes inspection. Returns and bows to" MAGISTER TEMPLI.]
    Master, justice has been executed upon the traitor. Only the faithful remain. MAGISTER TEMPLI. So perish all traitors! [CAPRICORNUS "extinguishes light." ["A pause." {11}
    				   PART	III
    
    				   "Darkness"
    

    AQUARIUS. ["Comes forward and kneels to" MAGISTER TEMPLI.] Master, we beseech thee to permit the ceremony to proceed. MAGISTER TEMPLI. There was no crackling in the dried leaves. [CAPRICORNUS "joins" AQUARIUS "kneeling." AQUARIUS "and" CAPRICORNUS. Master, we beseech thee to permit the ceremony to proceed. MAGISTER TEMPLI. There was no heart in the black lamb. ["All" PROBATIONERS "join" AQUARIUS "and" CAPRICORNUS "kneeling."] ALL. Master, we beseech thee to permit the ceremony to proceed. MAGISTER TEMPLI. The sacred python was found dead. [MATER COELI "comes forward, kneels before" MAGISTER TEMPLI, "thus making the apex to the pyramid of petitioners, rises and plays her petition,<<Abendlied: Schumann.>> then again kneels."] MAGISTER TEMPLI. Let the ceremony proceed. [MATER COELI "returns to her throne." AQUARIUS "rises, and" CAPRICORNUS "returns to his post and lights the lamp." {12}

           AQUARIUS	"and all present dance wildly for joy to the sound of the tom-
    
    tom."]
    ["During the confusion" BRO. CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS "slips into the temple and hides behind the veil, where he removes his disguise and dons his dancing robe."]
       MAGISTER TEMPLI.  Silence!				     ["A pause."
    
    MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. AQUARIUS. 1.
    MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. Holy be the Lamps of Joy! AQUARIUS. Holy be the Lamps of Sorrow! MAGISTER TEMPLI. Let us enter the ark of Increased Knowledge! CAPRICORNUS. Hail, thou that sittest in the City of the Pyramids! AQUARIUS. Hail, thou that art encamped upon the Great Sea! MAGISTER TEMPLI. Hail, brethren!
    CAPRICORNUS. Master, what is Increased Knowledge? MAGISTER TEMPLI. Death.
    AQUARIUS. Master, what is the Ark thereof? MAGISTER TEMPLI. The grave.
    AQUARIUS "and" CAPRICORNUS. Master, how shall we enter it? MAGISTER TEMPLI. Arise and follow me! ["He rises and circumambulates the temple widdershins." CAPRICORNUS "plucks
           forth every third person	and makes them follow him, continuing this
           process until one only is left. To this one" MAGISTER TEMPLI "addresses
           the allocution, as he hales him forth."]
    
    MAGISTER TEMPLI. Thou also must die!
    					    [MAGISTER TEMPLI "stops in "E. {13}
    
    MAGISTER TEMPLI. Brethren! let us humbly seek for help behind the veil! ["He throws veil open, showing the empty shrine." BRO. CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS "must have well dissimulated himself so that he is not discovered." MAGISTER TEMPLI "draws veil again." CAPRICORNUS "puts out light."]
    MAGISTER TEMPLI. Alas! there is no God! ["Returns to his throne. All move confusedly about wailing aloud."]
       MAGISTER TEMPLI.  1.	 Silence.		     ["All resume seats."
    
    Behold, I declared it unto you and ye believed me not!
    							   ["A pause." {14}
    
    				   PART	IV
    
    				   "Darkness"
    

    AQUARIUS. In truth, master, the ceremony cannot proceed. There is no god in the shrine. MAGISTER TEMPLI. Brother Aquarius, let search be made. AQUARIUS. Brother Capricornus, let search be made.

    								  ["Light on."
    
    [CAPRICORNUS "enters veil and walks up and down. He returns."]
    								["Lights off."
    
    Brother Capricornus, what do you find? CAPRICORNUS. Master, there is nothing but a little pile of dust. AQUARIUS. There is no living thing therein? CAPRICORNUS. There is no living thing therein. MAGISTER TEMPLI. ["Recites poem: "Colloque sentimental."
    	       In the ancient frozen solitary park
    	       Two figures passed anon --- now mark!
    
    	       Their eyes are dead, their lips are soft	and grey;
    	       One scarce can hear the words they say.
    
    	       In the ancient frozen solitary park
    	       Two ghosts evoke	the past --- oh	hark!
    
    	       "Dost thou remember our old ecstasy?"
    	       "Why do you wish	to remind me?"
    
    	       "Does thy heart beat still at my	name, and glow?
    	       "Seest thou my soul in dreams, dear?" "No."   {15}
    
    	       "Ah! the	fair days of joyance and of gree
    	       "When our mouths	kissed,	ah hissed!"  "Maybe!"
    
    	       "How blue the sky was, as our hope was clear!"
    	       "Hope has gone down to Hell's nadir."
    
    	       So in the foolish alleys	they conferred,
    	       And only	midnight overheard.
    

    AQUARIUS. Master, it is not to be borne. MAGISTER TEMPLI. Mother of Heaven, let us lament together! ["Recites Swinburne's "The Garden of Proserpine."

    		    [MATER COELI "plays	accordingly.<<Legende: Wieniawski.>>"
    
    CAPRICORNUS. Master, it is not to be borne! MAGISTER TEMPLI. Mother of Heaven, let us work together! MATER COELI. Behold thine handmaiden! [MAGISTER TEMPLI "And" MATER COELI "go together hand in hand, within the veil."
    CAPRICORNUS "turns light up."]
    [MATER COELI "plays a Paean of despair.<<Wiegenlied: Hauser.>>" [MAGISTER TEMPLI, "rending veil, appears standing on altar."
    	       O melancholy Brothers, dark, dark, dark!
    	       O battling in black floods without an ark!
    
    O spectral wanderers of unholy Night!
    	       My soul hath bled for you these sunless years,
    	       With bitter blood-drops running down like tears:
    
    Oh, dark, dark, dark, withdrawn from joy and light!
    	       My heart	is sick	with anguish for your bale!
    	       Your woe	hath been my anguish; yea, I quail
    
    And perish in your perishing unblest.
    	       And I have searched the heights and depths, the scope
    	       Of all our universe, with desperate hope
    
    To find some solace for your wild unrest. {16}
    	       And now at last authentic word I	bring,
    	       Witnessed by every dead and living thing;
    
    Good tidings of great joy for you, for all:
    	       There is	no God;	no Fiend with names divine
    	       Made us and tortures us;	if we must pine,
    
    It is to satiate no Being's gall.
    	       It was the dark delusion	of a dream,
    	       That living Person conscious and	supreme,
    
    Whom we must curse for cursing us with life;
    	       Whom we must curse because the life He gave
    	       Could not be buried in the quiet	grave,
    
    Could not be killed by poison or by knife.
    	       This little life	is all we must endure,
    	       The grave's most	holy peace is ever sure,
    
    We fall asleep and never wake again;
    	       Nothing is of us	but the	mouldering flesh,
    	       Whose elements dissolve and merge afresh
    
    In earth, air, water, plants, and other men.
    	       We finish thus; and all our wretched race
    	       Shall finish with its cycle, and	give place
    
    To other beings, with their own time-doom
    	       Infinite	aeons are our kind began;
    	       Infinite	aeons after the	last man
    
    Has joined the mammoth in earth's tomb and womb.
    	       We bow down to the universal laws,
    	       Which never had for man a special clause
    
    Of cruelty or kindness, love or hate:
    	       If toads	and vultures are obscene to sight,
    	       If tigers burn with beauty and with might,
    
    Is it by favour or by wrath of fate?
    	       All substance lives and struggles evermore
    	       Through countless shapes	continually at war,
    
    By countless interactions interknit:
    	       If one is born a	certain	day on earth,
    	       All times and forces tended to that birth,
    
    Not all the world could change or hinder it. {17}
    	       I find no hint throughout the Universe
    	       Of good or ill, of blessing or of curse:
    
    I find alone Necessity Supreme;
    	       With infinite Mystery, abysmal, dark,
    	       Unlighted ever by the faintest spark
    
    For us the flitting shadows of a dream.
    	       O Brothers of sad lives!	they are so brief;
    	       A few short years must bring us all relief:
    
    Can we not bear these years of labouring breath?
    	       But if you would	not this poor life fulfil,
    	       Lo, you are free	to end it when you will,
    
    Without the fear of waking after death.
    					    ["Blow out red lights."
    
    [BRO. CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS "runs out with tom-tom and dances wildly. At the conclusion" AQUARIUS "and" CAPRICORNUS "run up, tearing the veil asunder." BRO. CAPRICORNUS EMISSARIUS "flings himself at foot of altar."
    CHORAGOGE "lights salt again, or other glare." MAGISTER TEMPLI "is discovered lying dead, his head supported by" MATER COELI "weeping."]
    				      [CAPRICORNUS "extinguishes the light."
    						[AQUARIUS "draws the veil."
    
    [MATER COELI "plays the final hopeless dirge.<<Marche funebre: Waddell.>>"
    				     ["Silence."
    
    AQUARIUS. Brother Capricornus, what is the hour? CAPRICORNUS. Noon.
    AQUARIUS. Let us depart; it is accomplished. ["Full light." [CAPRICORNUS "stands with drawn sword before the veil; the others escort the people out."] {18}
    			     THE RITE OF JUPITER
    
    				   OFFICERS
    
    	       CENTRUM IN CENTRI TRIGONO.  "Black Robe,	Swastika,"
    	       SPHINX.	"Green Robe, Violin and	Sword."
    	       HERMANUBIS.  "Violet Robe, Caduceus."
    	       TYPHON.	"Red Robe, Prong two-forked, or	Sword."
    	       HEBE.	 .
    	       GANYMEDE. . "Cup-bearers	and Dancers.  White Robes."
    

    "The Temple represents the Wheel of Fortune of the Tarot. At its axle is the Altar on which sits C.I.C.T. On the rim, S. at East spoke, H. at North-West, T. at South-West. Hebe and Ganymede are seated at the feet of C.I.C.T. To the West of the Wheel is the Veil."

    {21}

    			     THE RITE OF JUPITER
    
    				    PART I
    

    C.I.C.T. 1-333.
    SPHINX. 22-22.
    HEBE. Pisces Section from 963. [See Equinox, No. III., Special Supplement.] SPHINX. Brother Hermanubis, summon the guests to the banquet of the Father of the Gods! HERMANUBIS. 4444, Brother Typhon, summon the guests to the banquet of the Father of the Gods! [TYPHON "draws aside veil as" GANYMEDE "begins his dance. Lights down."] HERMANUBIS. Welcome to the banquet of the Father of the Gods! Bear the bowls of Libation! ("done"). Be silent and secret! For it is by stealth that we are here assembled. Know that Saturn hath been deceived, having swallowed a black stone, thinking it to be his son, the child Jupiter. But Jupiter is here enthroned, and shall overthrow his father. Beware then lest ye break silence --- until Jupiter be ready to make war! TYPHON. Him that speaketh will I slay forthright!

    						     ["A long pause."  {23}
    
    				   PART	II
    
    CENTRUM IN CENTRI TRIGONO 1.
    		     SPHINX 1.	HERMANUBIS 1.  TYPHON 1.
    

    TYPHON. Hail unto thee, thou great god Hermanubis! Art thou not the messenger of Jupiter? HERMANUBIS. Hail unto thee, thou great god Typhon! Art thou not the executor of his vengeance? TYPHON. Brother Hermanubis, what is the hour? HERMANUBIS. Noon. Brother Typhon, what is the place? TYPHON. The summit of Olympus. Brother Hermanubis, what is thy position? HERMANUBIS. Upon the rim of the Wheel. And Thine? TYPHON. Upon the rim of the Wheel.
    HERMANUBIS. Let us seek the centre of the Wheel. ["They with" SPHINX "rise and walk, faster and faster round the rim, returning exhausted to their places."] TYPHON. Brother Hermanubis, we are no nearer to the centre of the wheel. HERMANUBIS. We are no nearer to the centre of the wheel. TYPHON. Hast thou no message from the Gods? HERMANUBIS. None, brother. Let us seek an oracle of the Gods. ["They rise an go round the rim, stopping and prostrating themselves before the" SPHINX.] {24}
    HERMANUBIS. Hail unto Thee, that hast the secret of Jupiter! Declare unto us, we beseech Thee, the mystery whereby we may approach the centre of the wheel.

    	       [SPHINX "plays a	riddling sarcastic music.<<Serenade: Drdla.>>"
    				   [TYPHON "goes to his	place in terror."
    
    [HERMANUBIS "goes to his place in wonderment." SPHINX. Neither by sloth nor by activity may even my secret be attained. Neither by emotion nor by reason may even I be understood. How then should ye come to the centre of the wheel? HERMANUBIS. Mother of mystery, what is thy position on Olympus? SPHINX. Upon the rim of the wheel.
    C.I.C.T. Feeling, and thought, and ecstasy
    	     Are but the cerements of Me.
    	     Thrown off	like planets from the Sun
    	     Ye	are but	satellites of the One.
    	     But should	your revolution	stop
    	     Ye	would inevitably drop
    	     Headlong within the central Soul,
    	     And all the parts become the Whole.
    	     Sloth and activity	and peace,
    	     When will ye learn	that ye	must cease?
    
    TYPHON. How should I cease from lethargy? HERMANUBIS. How should I quench activity? SPHINX. How should I give up ecstasy? C.I.C.T. What shines upon your foreheads? S.H.T. ("together"). The Eye within the Triangle. {25} C.I.C.T. What burns upon your breasts? S.H.T. ("together"). The Rosy Cross. C.I.C.T. Brethren of the Rosy Cross! Aspirants to the Silver Star! Not until these are ended can ye come to the centre of the wheel.

    When the chill of earth black-breasted is uplifted at the glance Of the red sun million-crested, and the forest blossoms dance With the light that stirs and lustres of the dawn, and with the bloom Of the wind's cheek as it clusters from the hidden valley's gloom; Then I walk in woodland spaces, musing on the solemn ways Of the immemorial places shut behind the starry rays; Of the East and all its splendour, of the West and all its peace; And the stubborn lights grow tender, and the hard sounds hush and cease. In the wheel of heaven revolving, mysteries of death and birth, In the womb of time dissolving, shape anew a heaven and earth, Ever changing, ever growing, ever dwindling, ever dear, Ever worth the passion glowing to distil a doubtful tear. These are with me, these are of me, these approve me, these obey, Choose me, move me, fear me, love me, master of the night and day. These are real, these illusion: I am of them, false or frail, True or lasting, all is fusion in the spirit's shadow-veil, Till the Knowledge-Lotus flowering hides the world beneath its stem; Neither I, nor God life-showering, find a counterpart in them As a spirit in a vision shows a countenance of fear, Laughs the looker to derision, only comes to disappear, Gods and mortals, mind and matter, in the glowing bud dissever: Vein from vein they rend and shatter, and are nothingness for ever. In the blessed, the enlightened, perfect eyes these visions pass, Pass and cease, poor shadows frightened, leave no stain upon the glass. One last stroke, O heart-free master, one last certain calm of will, And the maker of Disaster shall be stricken and grow still. Burn thou to the core of matter, to the spirit's utmost flame, Consciousness and sense to shatter, ruin sight and form and name! Shatter, lake-reflected spectre; lake, rise up in mist to sun; Sun, dissolve in showers of nectar, and the Master's work is done. Nectar perfume gently stealing, masterful and sweet and strong, Cleanse the world with light of healing in the ancient House of Wrong! {26} Free a million million mortals on the wheel of being tossed! Open wide the mystic portals, and be altogether lost!

    							  ["A pause."
    		     SPHINX 1.	HERMANUBIS 1.  TYPHON 1.
    
    CENTRUM IN CENTRI TRIGONO 1.
    							  ["A pause."
    

    {27}

    				   PART	III
    

    TYPHON. I desire to begin the banquet. HERMANUBIS. Brother Typhon, I will inquire of the Oracle. Mother of Mystery, I beseech thee to begin the Banquet; for it is certainly necessary that this should be done. [SPHINX "turns, bows, and stretches her hands in mute appeal to "C.I.C.T.] C.I.C.T. 1. I heed not the passion, or the reason, or the soul of man. Mother of Mystery, declare my will. [SPHINX "plays the most exalted (passionless because beyond passion) piece that she may.<<Samadhilied: Waddell.>>" HERMANUBIS. This means nothing to me. TYPHON. I feel nothing.
    C.I.C.T. 1. Mother of Mystery, declare my mind. [SPHINX "plays a cold, passionless, intellectual piece.<<Adagio: Brahms.>>" HERMANUBIS. Ah! Ah! This is music; this is the secret of Jupiter. TYPHON. I feel nothing.
    C.I.C.T. 1. Mother of Mystery, declare my heart. [SPHINX "plays an intensely sensual passionate piece.<<Preislied: Wagner.>>" TYPHON. Ah! Ah! This is music; this is the secret of Jupiter. {28} HERMANUBIS. Accursed! Accursed! be the soul of impurity, the body of Sin!

       C.I.C.T.  1.	 Irreconcilable, my children, how shall	ye partake of the Banquet of Jupiter, or come to the centre of the wheel?  For this is the secret of Jupiter, that He who created you is in each of you, yet apart from	all; before Him	ye are equal, revolving	in time	and in Space; but he is	unmoved	and within.					 ["A pause."
       TYPHON.  1.					     [TYPHON "recites."
    	       Sweet, sweet are	May and	June, dear,
    
    The loves of lambent spring,
    	       Our lamp	the drooping moon, dear,
    
    Our roof, the stars that sing;
    	       The bed,	of moss	and roses;
    
    The night, as long as death!
    Still, breath!
    	       Life wakens and reposes,
    
    Love ever quickeneth!
    	       Sweet, sweet, when Lion and Maiden,
    
    The motley months of gold,
    	       Swoop down with sunlight	laden,
    
    And eyes are bright and bold.
    	       Life-swelling breasts uncover
    
    Their warm involving deep ---
    Love, sleep! ---
    	       And lover lies with lover
    
    On air's substantial steep.
    	       Ah! sweeter was September ---
    
    The amber rain of leaves,
    	       The harvest to remember,
    
    The load of sunny sheaves.
    	       In gardens deeply scented,
    
    In orchards heavily hung,
    Love flung
    	       Away the	days demented
    
    With lips that curled and clung. {29}
    	       Ah! sweeter still October,
    
    When russet leaves go grey,
    	       And sombre lovers and sober
    
    Make twilight of the day.
    	       Dark dreams and shadows tenser
    
    Throb through the vital scroll,
    Man's soul.
    	       Lift, shake the subtle censer
    
    That hides the cruel coal!
    	       Still sweeter when the Bowman
    
    His silky shaft of frost
    	       Lets loose on earth, that no man
    
    May linger nor be lost.
    	       The barren woods, deserted.
    
    Lose echo of our sighs ---
    Love --- dies? ---
    	       Love lives --- in granite skirted,
    
    And under oaken skies.
    	       But best	is grim	December,
    
    The Goatish God his power;
    	       The Satyr blows the ember,
    
    And pain is passion's flower;
    	       When blood drips	over kisses,
    
    And madness sobs through wine: ---
    Ah, mine! ---
    	       The snake starts	up and hisses
    
    And strikes and --- I am thine!

    ["He crouches at the feet of" SPHINX "toward" C.I.C.T.

    				       [HERMANUBIS "recites."
    
    HERMANUBIS. 1.
    	       O coiled	and constricted	and chosen!
    
    O tortured and twisted and twined!
    	       Deep spring of my soul deep frozen,
    
    The sleep of the truth of the mind!
    		   As a	bright snake curled
    		   Round the Vine of the World!	{30}
    
    	       O sleeper through dawn and through daylight,
    
    O sleeper through dusk and through night!
    	       O shifted from white light to gray light,
    
    From gray to the one black light!
    		   O silence and sound
    		   In the far profound!
    
    	       O serpent of scales as an armour
    
    To bind on the breast of a lord!
    	       Not deaf	to the Voice of	the Charmer,
    
    Not blind to the sweep of the sword!
    		   I strike to the deep
    		   That	thou stir in thy sleep!
    
    	       Rise up from mine innermost being!
    
    Lift up the gemmed head to the heart!
    	       Lift up till the	eyes that were seeing
    
    Be blind, and their life depart!
    		   Till	the Eye	that was blind
    		   Be a	lamp to	my mind!
    
    	       Coil fast all thy coils on me, dying,
    
    Absorbed in the sense of the Snake!
    	       Stir! leave the flower-throne, and up-flying!
    
    Hiss once, and hiss thrice, and awake!
    		   Then	crown me and cling!
    		   Flash forward --- and spring!
    
    	       Flash forth on the fire of the altar,
    
    The stones, and the sacrifice shed;
    	       Till the	Three Worlds flicker and falter,
    
    And life and her love be dead!
    		   In mysterious joy
    		   Awake --- and destroy!
    

    ["He crouches at the feet of" SPHINX "toward" C.I.C.T. SPHINX. 1.

       C.I.C.T.  1.	     [SPHINX "plays an enchantment.<<Andante: Mendelssohn.>>"
    
    C.I.C.T. ("recites.") {31}
    	       Lift up this love of peace and bliss,
    
    The starry soul of wine,
    	       Destruction's formidable	kiss,
    
    The lamp of the divine:
    	       This shadow of a	nobler name
    	       Whose life is strife, whose soul	is fame!
    
    	       I rather	will exalt the soul
    
    Of man to loftier height,
    	       And kindle at a livelier	coal
    
    The subtler soul of light.
    	       From these soft splendours of a dream
    	       I turn, and seek	the Self supreme.
    
    	       This world is shadow-shapen of
    
    The bitterness of pain.
    	       Vain are	the little lamps of love!
    
    The light of life is vain!
    	       Life, death, joy, sorrow, age and youth
    	       Are phantoms of a further truth.
    
    	       Beyond the splendour of the world,
    
    False glittering of the gold,
    	       A Serpent is in slumber curled
    
    In wisdom's sacred cold.
    	       Life is the flaming of that flame.
    	       Death is	the naming of that name,
    
    	       The forehead of the snake is bright
    
    With one immortal star,
    	       Lighting	her coils with living light
    
    To where the nenuphar
    	       Sleeps for her couch.  All darkness dreams
    	       The thing that is not, only seems.
    
    	       That star upon the serpent's head
    
    Is called the soul of man.
    	       That light in shadows subtly shed
    
    The glamour of life's plan. {32}
    	       The sea whereon that lotus grows
    	       Is thought's abyss of tears and woes.
    
    	       Leave Sirenusa!	Even Greece
    
    Forget! they are not there!
    	       By worship cometh not the Peace,
    
    The Silence not by prayer.
    	       Leave the illusions, life and time
    	       And Death, and seek that	star sublime,
    
    	       Until the lotus and the sea
    
    And snake no longer are,
    	       And single through Eternity
    
    Exists alone the Star,
    	       And utter Knowledge rise, and cease
    	       In that which is	beyond the Peace!
    
    				    [GANYMEDE "dances and falls	as dead."
    
    TYPHON. O that the banquet of Jupiter might begin! HERMANUBIS. O that the banquet of Jupiter might begin! SPHINX. O that the banquet of Jupiter might begin! C.I.C.T. Let the banquet of Jupiter begin! ["All go without veil, except" C.I.C.T. "and" SPHINX. HERMANUBIS "and" TYPHON draw and guard the veil." SILENCE.] C.I.C.T. 1-333.
    SPHINX. 22-22.
    [HERMANUBIS "and" TYPHON "draw veil." SPHINX "is standing before altar." C.I.C.T. "has disappeared. He has donned a white robe, and pantherskin, and white and gold nemmes." HERMANUBIS, TYPHON, "and others return to their places." HERMANUBIS "and" TYPHON "come forward and salute" SPHINX.]
    TYPHON. 1. Mother of Mystery, hast thou the secret of Jupiter? {33} HERMANUBIS. 1. Mother of Mystery, hast thou the secret of Jupiter? [SPHINX "plays a triumphant melody.<<Obertass: Wieniawski.>>" TYPHON. Brother Hermanubis, what is the place? HERMANUBIS. The Summit of Mount Kithairon. TYPHON. Procul, o Procul este viri! ["All male probationers retire to back of stage." TYPHON. Sisters, let us invoke the Father to manifest in the Son. SPHINX. Per Spiritum Sanctum, Amen.
    		    ["She also retires to her place on wheel."
    
    MAENADS. Evoe! Evoe Ho! Iacche! Iacche! TYPHON.
    	       Hail, O Dionysus!  Hail!
    
    Winged Son of Semele!
    	       Hail, O Hail!  The stars	are pale;
    
    Hidden the moonlight in the vale;
    Hidden the sunlight in the sea.
    	       Blessed is her happy lot
    
    Who beholdeth God; who moves
    	       Mighty-souled without a spot,
    	       Mingling	in the godly rout
    
    Of the many mystic loves.
    	       Holy maidens, duly weave
    
    Dances for the mighty mother
    	       Bacchanal to Bacchus cleave!
    	       Wave his	narthex	wand, and leave
    
    Earthly Joys to earth to smother!
    	       Io!  Evoe!  Sisters, mingle
    
    In the choir, the dance, the revel!
    	       He divine, the Spirit single,
    	       He in every vein	shall tingle.
    
    Sense and sorrow to the devil! {34}
    	       Mingle in the laughing measure,
    
    Hand and lip to breast and thigh!
    	       In enthusiastic pleasure
    	       Grasp the solitary treasure!
    
    Laughs the untiring ecstasy!
    	       Sisters!	 Sisters!  Raise your voices
    
    In the inspired divine delight!
    	       Now the sun sets; now the choice	is
    	       Who rebels or who rejoices,
    
    Murmuring to the mystic night.
    	       Io!  Evoe!  Circle splendid!
    
    Dance, ye maids serene and subtle!
    	       Clotho's	task is	fairly ended.
    	       Atropos,	thy power is ended!
    
    Ho, Lachesis! ply thy shuttle!
    	       Weave the human dance together
    
    With the life of rocks and trees!
    	       Let the blue delirious weather
    	       Bind all	spirits	in one tether,
    
    Overwhelming ecstasies!
    	       Io!  Evoe!  I faint, I fall,
    
    Swoon in purple light; the grape
    	       Drowns my spirit	in its thrall.
    	       Love me,	love me	over all,
    
    Spirit in the spirit shape!
    	       All is one!  I murmur.  Distant
    
    Sounds the shout, Evoe, Evoe!
    	       Evoe, Iacche!  Soft, insistent
    	       Like to echo's voice persistent:	---
    
    Hail! Agave! Autonoe!
    					  [TYPHON "goes	up stage."
    
    AGAVE. Evoe, Ho! Iacche! Hail, O Hail! Praise him! What dreams are these? {35}
       AUTONOE.		   Sisters, O sisters!
    
    AGAVE. Say, are our brothers of the rocks awake? AUTONOE. The lion roars.
    MAENADS. O listen to the snake!
    AUTONOE. Evoe, Ho! Give me to drink!
       AGAVE.					Run wild!
    
    Mountain and mountain let us leap upon Like tigers on their prey!
       MAENADS.			     Crush, crush the world!
    
    AGAVE. Tread earth as 'twere a winepress!
       AUTONOE.				      Drink its	blood,
    
    The sweet red wine!
    MAENADS. Ay, drink the old earth dry! AGAVE. Squeeze the last drops out till the frame collapse Like an old wineskin!
       AUTONOE.			   So the sooner sup
    
    Among the stars!
       AGAVE.		       The swift, swift	stars!
       MAENADS.					  O night!
    
    Night, night, fall deep and sure!
       AUTONOE.				 Fall soft and sweet!
    
    AGAVE. Moaning for love the woods lie.
       AUTONOE.				      Sad the land
    
    Lies thirsty for our kisses.
       MAENADS.				  All wild things
    
    Yearn towards the kiss that ends in blood.
       AGAVE.				      Blood!  Blood!
    
    Bring wine! Ha! Bromius, Bromius!
       MAENADS.				   Come, sweet God,
    
    Come forth and lie with us! {36}
       AUTONOE.				   Us, maidens now
    
    And then and ever afterwards!
       AGAVE.				     Chaste, chaste!
    
    Our madness hath no touch of bitterness, No taste of foulness in the morning mouth. AUTONOE. O mouth of ripe red sunny grapes! God! God! Evoe! Dwell! Abide!
       AGAVE.				   I feel the wings
    
    Of love, of mystery; they waft soft streams Of night air to my heated breast and brow. MAENADS. He comes! He comes!
       AGAVE.	       Silence,	O girls, and peace!
    
    The God's most holy presence asks the hymn, The solemn hymn, the hymn of agony, Lest, in the air of glory that surrounds The child of Semele, we lose the earth And corporal presence of the Zeus-begot. AUTONOE. Yea, sisters, raise the chant of riot! Lift Your wine-sweet voices, move your wine-stained limbs In joyful invocation!
       MAENADS.			   Ay, we sing.
    
    AGAVE.
    		       Hail, child of Semele!
    		       To her as unto thee
    
    Be reverence, be deity, be immortality!
    		       Shame! treachery	of the spouse
    		       Of the Olympian house,
    
    Hera! thy grim device against the sweet carouse!
    		       Lo! in red roar and flame
    		       Did Zeus	descend!  What claim
    
    To feel the immortal fire had then the Theban dame! {37}
    		       Caught in that fiery wave,
    		       Her love	and life she gave
    
    With one last kissing cry the unborn child to save.
    		       And thou, O Zeus, the sire
    		       Of Bromius --- hunter dire! ---
    
    Didst snatch the unborn babe from that Olympian fire:
    		       In thine	own thigh most holy
    		       That offspring melancholy
    
    Didst hide, didst feed, on light, ambrosia, and moly.
    		       Ay! and with serpent hair
    		       And limbs divinely fair
    
    Didst thou, Dionysus, leap forth to the nectar air!
    		       Ay! thus	the dreams of fate
    		       We dare commemorate,
    
    Twining in lovesome curls the spoil of mate and mate.
    		       O Dionysys, hear!
    		       Be close, be quick, be near,
    
    Whispering enchanted words in every curving ear!
    		       O Dionysys, start
    		       As the Apollonian dart!
    
    Bury thy horned head in every bleeding heart!

    1ST MAENAD. He is here! He is here! AUTONOE. Tigers, appear!
    AGAVE. To the clap of my hand
    And the whish of my wand,
    Obey!

       AUTONOE.	       I have found
    
    A chariot crowned
    With ivy and vine,
    And the laurel divine,
    And the clustering smell {38}
    Of the sage asphodel,
    And the Daedal flower
    Of the Cretan bower;
    Dittany's force,
    And larksupur's love,
    And blossoms of gorse
    Around and above.
    AGAVE. The tiger and panther
    Are there at my cry.
    Ho, girls! Span there
    Their sides!
       IST MAENAD.		       Here am I.
    
    2ND MAENAD. And I! We are ready.
    AGAVE. Strong now and steady!
    IST MAENAD. The tiger is harnessed.
    2ND MAENAD. The nightingale urges
    Our toil from her far nest.
    3RD MAENAD. Ionian surges
    Roar back to our chant.
    4TH MAENAD. Aha! for the taunt
    Of Theban sages
    Is lost, lost, lost!
    The wine that enrages
    Our life is enforced.
    We dare them and daunt.
    AGAVE. The spirits that haunt
    The rocks and the river,
    The moors and the woods,
    The fields and the floods,
    Are with us for ever! {39}
    IST MAENAD. Are of us for ever.
    Evoe! Evoe!
    AUTONOE. Agave! He cometh!
    AGAVE. Cry ho! Autonoe!
    ALL. Ho! Ho! Evoe, Ho! Iacche! Evoe! Evoe! AGAVE. The white air hummeth
    With force of the spirit.
    We are heirs: we inherit.
    Our joys are as theirs;
    Weave with your prayers
    The joy of a kiss!
    Ho! for the bliss
    Of the cup and the rod.
    He cometh! O lover!
    O friend and O God,
    Cover us, cover
    Our faces, and hover
    Above us, within us!
    Daintily shod,
    Daintily robed,
    His witcheries spin us
    A Web of desire.
    Subtle as fire
    He cometh among us.
    The whole sky globed
    Is on fire with delight,
    Delight that hath stung us,
    The passion of night.
    Night be our mistress!
    That tress and this tress {40}
    Weave with thy wind
    Into curls deep-vined!
    Passionate bliss!
    Rapture on rapture!
    Our hymns recapture
    The Bromian kiss.
    Blessed our souls!
    Blessed this even!
    We reach to the goals
    Of the starriest heaven.
    Daphnis, and Atthis, and Chrysis, and Chloe, Mingle, O maidens! Evoe! Evoe!

    [C.I.C.T. "rises upon the altar; he wears a white and gold robe and the panther skin, and a white and gold nemmes. Throwing off his veil and raising his hands in blessing, he recites:"] C.I.C.T.
    I bring ye wine from above,

    		    From the vats of the storied sun;
    
    For every one of ye love,
    		    And	life for every one.
    
    Ye shall dance on hill and level;
    		    Ye shall sing in hollow and	height,
    
    In the festal mystical revel,
    		    The	rapturous Bacchanal rite!
    
    The rocks and trees are yours,
    		    And	the waters under the hill,
    
    By the might of that which endures,
    		    The	holy heaven of will!
    
    I kindle a flame like a torrent
    		    To rush from star to star;
    
    Your hair as a comet's horrent,
    		    Ye shall see things	as they	are!  {41}
    
    I lift the mask of matter;
    		    I open the heart of	man;
    
    For I am of force to shatter
    		    The	cast that hideth --- Pan!
    
    Your loves shall lap up slaughter,
    		    And	dabbled	with roses of blood
    
    Each desperate darling daughter
    		    Shall swim in the fervid flood.
    
    I bring ye laugher and tears,
    		    The	kisses that foam and bleed,
    
    The joys of a million years,
    		    The	flowers	that bear no seed.
    
    My life is bitter and sterile,
    		    Its	flame is a wandering star.
    
    Ye shall pass in pleasure and peril
    		    Across the mystical	bar
    
    That is set for wrath and weeping
    		    Against the	children of earth;
    
    But ye in singing and sleeping
    		    Shall pass in measure and mirth!
    
    I lift my wand and wave you
    		    Through hill to hill of delight;
    
    My rosy rivers lave you
    		    In innermost lustral light.
    
    I lead you, lord of the maze,
    		    In the darkness free of the	sun;
    
    In spite of the spite that is day's
    		    We are wed,	we are wild, we	are one!
    
    ["The lights go out and the company join in universal dance."] HERMANUBIS. Silence.
    TYPHON. Silence.
    C.I.C.T. 1-333. The Secret of the Father is in the Secret of the Son. SPHINX. 22-22. And the Secret of the Son is in the Secret of the Holy Ghost. GANYMEDE. 4444 Gloria Patri. {42}
    HEBE. Et Filio.
    TYPHON. Et Spiritui Sancto.
    HERMANUBIS. Ut erat in Principio.
    SPHINX. Et nunc est.
    C.I.C.T. Et erit semper.
    ALL. Amen.
    SPHINX. Fasting.
    HERMANUBIS. Song.
    TYPHON. Feasting.
    C.I.C.T. Grace.

    SPHINX. Music.
    HERMANUBIS. Dancing.
    TYPHON. Love.
    C.I.C.T. The End.

    		     TYPHON "draws the veil."	{43}
    
    			       THE RITE	OF MARS
    
    				   OFFICERS
    

    BROTHER SOL IN ARIES. "White Robe, White and gold nemmes, Sceptre." (MARS) BROTHER MARS. "Red Robe, Sword." (VENUS) SISTER SCORPIO. "Green Robe, Violin, Sword." (ATHENA) BROTHER ARIES. "Violet Robe, Spear." (VULCAN) BROTHER CAPRICORNUS. "Black Robe, Tom-tom, Sword."

    		       "A guard	of" PROBATIONERS, "armed."
    

    "Mars is throned in the South, Scorpio on his right, Aries on his left. In the East is also a veil, behind which is Sol in Aries. In the North is Capricornus, crouching, kept from the altar by the guard." {47}

    			       THE RITE	OF MARS
    
    		   "Charcoal in	censer alight.	No incense."
    

    BROTHER SOL "is concealed behind the veil in the East, enthroned upon the Altar."
    MARS, ARIES, "and" SCORPIO "enthroned." BRO. CAPRICORNUS. 4444-1. BRO. ARIES. 1-4444.

    	    [MARS "reads the Twelvefold	Affirmation from 963."
    	       [SOR. SCORPIO "plays a short marital air.<<March: Beethoven.>>"
    
    [CAPRICORNUS "draws aside veil, and admits Probationers and Guests."] ["The voice of Mars is heard reciting the 91"st Psalm of David. BRO. ARIES. Let the sacred perfume be kindled upon the Altar of Mars ("does so"). SOR. SCORPIO. Hail unto the Master of the Battle! BRO. ARIES. Hail unto the Leader of the Armies of Jupiter! BRO. CAPRICORNUS. Hail unto the Warrior of Eternity! BRO. MARS. Hail, brethren!
    						 [CAPRICORNUS "returns."
         1.	Let the	Temple be purified and consecrated.
    						 [CAPRICORNUS "does so."
         1.	Are the	Brethren prepared? {49}
    
    BRO. ARIES. They are prepared, Master! They are drawn up in military array around the sacred altar. BRO. MARS. 1. Brother Capircornus, I command you to perform the Ritual of the Pentagram. BRO. CAPRICORNUS. Fiat ("does so"). BRO. MARS. 1. Brother Aries, I command you to perform the Invocation o the Holy Fire. BRO. ARIES. Fiat ("goes to altar").
    333. ("erect"). I swear by Djinn and by Shin and by the space between that I will not stir from this place until the fire of God hath flamed upon the water that is upon the altar. ("His face over lamp") Dost thou hear, Brother Ash? ("Erect") By Aub, the witchery of the secret flame;
    	     By	Aud, the subtlety of the inmost	fluid;
    	     By	Aur, the effulgence of the radiant light;
    
    I call thee, Ash! I adore thee, Ash! ("Over lamp") Ash! Ash! Ash!
    I caress thee! I kiss thee! I suck thee up into my mouth and nostrils! Ohooatan! ("three times"). ("The water flames"). Behold! the fire of God upon the altar as I have sworn by Djinn and by Shin and by the space between! ("returns to his throne"). BRO. MARS. 1. Hail, sister of the Scorpion! SOR. SCORPIO. Hail, Lord of the Eagle and the Serpent! BRO. MARS. Amen. I appoint you to lead the army. SOR. SCORPIO. Let us carry the holy symbols with sacred song and dance round the altar of Mars. ["The song<<Tune. Litany: Waddell.>> is sung as all march round five times deosil before" {50} MARS "in procession headed by" SCORPIO, ARIES, CAPRICORNUS.]
    		    Strike, strike the louder chord!
    		    Draw, draw the Flaming Sword!
    		    Crowned child and conquering Lord!
    		    Horus, avenger!		  ["All	resume stations."
    
    Brother Aries, let us invoke the Master of the Battle. BRO. ARIES ["advances and kneels to" MARS]. Mighty and Terrible One, we beseech thee to lead us in the Battle. Here, by thy Symbols, thy Spear, the Sword, and The Drum, we pray thee to strengthen our arms and to defend our hearts. For we are thy chosen warriors, O thou Master of the Battle!
    							      ["Silence."
    
    We now invoke thee, O Ama-Inanna, whom our Brethren worshipped in the days of ancient Babylon, great Goddess of Love and War, who made love and war to Gilgames, the ruler of thine own city Erech. We invoke thee, our Mother, that thou entreat for us with the Master of Battles. SOR. SCORPIO. To what end do we ask the aid of the Lord Mars? BRO. ARIES. Unto Jupiter we have given the thunderbolt and the lightning- flash; for we seek to enthrone him in the stead of Saturn his father. But Saturn yet reigns; we need the Sword of Mars. SOR. SCORPIO. My heart and hand are with you, children.
    				    ["She plays.<<Romance in G:	Beethoven.>>"
    					     [MARS "starts up and recites:"
    
    1. ... The Dukes of Edom were amazed: Trembling took hold on the mighty of Moab! {51}
    2. Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir; when thou marchedst out of the Field of Edom; the earth trembled, and the heaven dropped: the clouds also dropped water.
    3. Curse ye Meroz, saith the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the Mighty!
    4. The river Kishon swept them away: that ancient river, the river Kishon!
    5. Oh, my soul, thou hast trodden down strength!
    6. He bowed the Heavens also and and came down: and darkness was under his feet: at the Brightness that was before him thick clouds passed: hail stones and flashes of fire!
    7. The Lord thundred through the Heavens, and the Highest gave forth his voice; hailstones and flashes of fire!
    8. He sent forth his arrows and scattered them: He hurled forth his lightnings and destroyed them!
    9. The Channels of the Waters were seen: and the Foundations of the World were discovered.
    10. At thy Rebuke, oh Lord! At the Blast of the Breath of thy Nostrils!
    11. Oh Lord! I have heard thy Speech, and was afraid!
    12. The Voice of the Lord is upon the Waters. The God of Glory thundereth!
      The Lord is upon many Waters.
    13. The Voice of the Lord is strong and powerful! The Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty!
    14. The Voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars! Yea! the Lord breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon!
    15. The Voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire! Yea! the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh!
    16. Eloah came out of Temani of Edom: And the Holy One from Mount Paran:
    17. He had Karnaim in his hand; and there was the Hiding of his Power.
    18. Before him went the Pestilence; and Flaming Fire went forth at his feet.
    19. He stood, and measured the Earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the Nations.
    20. And the Everlasting Mountains were scattered; the Perpetual Hills did bow! {52}
    21. Was the Lord displeased against the Rivers? Was thine anger kindled against the Rivers? Was thy wrath kindled against the Sea? That thou didst ride upon thy Horses and thy Chariots of Salvation?
    22. The Mountains saw thee and they trembled. The deluge of Water rolled by: the Deep uttered his voice; and lifted up his hands on high.
    23. The Sun and the Moon stood still in their habitations. At the light of thine arrows they went, at the shaking of thy glittering spear!
    24. Thou didst march through the Land in thine indignation: thou didst thresh the Heathen in thine anger.
    25. Thou didst march through the sea with thine Horses: through the Depth of the Mighty Waters! [CAPRICORNUS "starts up wildly and dances the dance of" MARS.] [CAPRICORNUS "falls on floor near his place." SOR. SCORPIO. Brother Aries, let us crown the Master of Battles. ["They advance to altar." SOR. SCORPIO "takes crown and crowns" MARS, "all" PROBATIONERS "joining in chant as before."] BRO. MARS. May Victory crown your arms! PROBATIONERS. Let us join battle! We conquer! We conquer. [CAPRICORNUS "rushes forward and threatens them, reciting:"
      	       My head is split.  The crashing axe
      
      Of the agony of things shears through
      		   The stupid skull: out spurt the brains.
      	       The universe revolves, then cracks,
      
      Then roars in dissolution due;
      		   And I am counting up	the gains
      	       And losses of a life afire
      	       With dust of thought and	dulled desire. {53}
      

      [SCORPIO, "as if alarmed at the interruption, flees to throne of" MARS "and there with" MARS "defies the rabble." BRO. ARIES "rallies" PROBATIONERS.]

      	       So, all is over.	 I admit
      
      Futility the lord of will.
      		   Life	was an episode for me.
      	       As for the meanest monad, knit
      
      To man by mightier bonds than skill
      		   Of subtle-souled psychology.
      	       May sever.  Aim in chaos?  None.
      	       The soul	rolls senseless	as the sun.
      				      ["All are	driven back up to altar."
      
      BRO. CAPRICORNUS. ["ends"]. "There is no God." MARS ["leaps up and goes to altar with uplifted sword"].
      1. Silence! [a pause]. There is no God --- but God! [ARIES "and" PROBATIONERS "dance a war dance." [CAPRICORNUS "slinks from temple." [MARS "recites."
        This is the day which down the void abysm At the Earth-born's spell yawns for Heaven's despotism, And Conquest is dragged captive through the deep; Love, from its awful throne of patient power In the wise heart, from the last giddy hour Of dead endurance, from the slippery steep, And narrow verge of crag-like agony, springs And folds over the world its healing wings. Gentleness, Virtue, Wisdom, and Endurance --- These are the seals of that most firm assurance
        	     Which bars	the pit	over Destructions's strength;
        
        And if, with infirm hand, Eternity,
        Mother of many acts and hours, should free
        	    The	serpent	that would clasp her with his length,
        
        These are the spells by which to reassume An empire o'er the disentangled doom.

        To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite; To forgive wrongs darker than death or night; {54}

        	    To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
        
        To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
        	    Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;
        
        This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free; This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory!
        		   [SCORPIO "plays in accordance<<Polonaise: Vieuxtemps.>>"
        
        BRO. ARIES. Hail to Thee that sailest heavenwards!
              Hail to Thee in whose eye	is a Flame of Fire!
              Hail, Lord of the	Destroying Army!
        
        MARS. Hail, brethren.
        BRO. ARIES. Hail unto Thee, that hast fought at the side
        	    of our Lord	in the great Battle!
        
        Hail unto Thee, our Lady of Tumult!
        Terrible and beautiful was thou in the midst of the
        	    battle, upon thy chariot!
        
        Hail unto Thee, as unto thy Lord!
        SOR. SCORPIO. Hail, brethren!
        BRO. ARIES. Let us rejoice in our victory! ["He leads" PROBATIONERS "in the triumphal dance which becomes slow and" "voluptuous."]
        						       ["A pause."
        
        BRO. ARIES ["to seal his triumph"]. 1-4444. BRO. CAPRICORNUS ["without"]. 4444-1.
        			  [BRO.	ARIES "extinguishes all	lights."
        			  [SCORPIO "plays love poem.<<Romance: Franz Ries.>>"
        					     [MARS "recites:"
        	       Who is this maiden robed	for a bride,
        
        White shoulders and bright brows adorable,
        	       The flaming locks that clothe her, and abide,
        
        As God were bathing in the fire of Hell? {55}
        		   They	change,	they grow, they	shake
        		   As sunlight on the lake:
        	       They hiss, they glisten on her bosom bare.
        		   O maiden, maiden queen!
        		   The lightning flows between
        	       Thy mounting breasts, too magically fair.
        		   Draw	me, O draw me to a dreaming death!
        		   Send	out thine opiate breath,
        	       And lull	me to the everlasting sleep,
        		   That, closing from the kisses of disdain
        		   To ecstasy of pain,
        	       I may sob out my	life into their	dangerous deep.
        
        	       Who cometh from the mountain as a tower
        
        Stalwart and set against the fiery foes!
        	       Who, breathing as a jasmine-laden bower?
        
        Who, crowned and lissome as a living rose?
        		   Sharp thorns	in thee	are set;
        		   In me, in me	beget
        	       The dolorous despair of this desire.
        		   Thy body sways and swings
        		   Above the tide of things,
        	       Laps me as ocean, wraps me round	as fire!
        		   Ye elemental	sorceries of song,
        		   Surge, strenuous and	strong,
        	       Seeking dead dreams, the	secret of the shrine;
        		   So that she drain my	life and being up
        		   As from a golden cup,
        	       To mingle in her	blood, death's kiss incarnadine.
        
        	       Who cometh from the ocean as a flower?
        
        Who blossometh above the barren sea,
        	       Thy lotus set beneath thee for a	bower,
        
        Thine eyes awakened, lightened, fallen on me?
        		   O Goddess, queen, and wife!
        		   O lady of my	life!
        	       Who set thy stature as a	wood to	wave?
        		   Whose love begat thy	limbs?
        		   Whose wave-washed body swims
        	       That nurtured thee, and found herself a grave? {56}
        		   But thou, O thou, hast risen	from the deep!
        		   All mortals mourn and weep
        	       To see thee, seeing that	all love must die
        		   Besides thy beauty, see thee	and despair!
        		   Deadly as thou art fair,
        	       I cry for all mankind --- they are slain, even as I!
        
        					 [SOR. SCORPIO "takes crown off."
        							   ["A pause."
        
        [BROTHER CAPRICORNUS "dances the dance of Vulcan to anvil-music in gradually increasing red light, at end rushes to throne and finds" MARS "and" SCORPIO, "their weapons laid aside, in each other's arms."] BRO. CAPRICORNUS. Ah, wanton!
        [SOR. SCORPIO "takes violin and charms the offended deity, who retires pacified.<<Romance from 2nd Concerto: Wieniawski.>>"] MARS. Brethren in arms, this is not defeat, but victory! For though I be dethroned, not to Me, not to our lady was the glory. For always is the true God hidden --- behold! ["One turns on the white light, and there stands" SOL. IN ARIES "upon the throne of the East." MARS "goes to him and recites:"]
        	       Unity uttermost showed,
        
        I adore the might of thy breath,
        	       Supreme and terrible God
        
        Who makest the Gods and death
        		   To tremble before thee: ---
        		   I, I	adore thee!
        							    ["He kneels."
        	       O Hawk of gold with power enwalled,
        	       Whose face is like an emerald;
        	       Whose crown is indigo as	night;
        
        Smaragdine snakes about thy brow {57}
        	       Twine, and the disk of flaming light
        
        Is on thee, seated in the prow
        	       Of the Sun's bark, enthroned above
        	       With lapis-lazuli for love
        
        And ruby for enormous force
        	       Chosen to seat thee, thee girt round
        	       With leopard's pell, and	golden sound
        
        Of planets choral in their course!
        							      ["He rises."
        	       O thou self-formulated sire!
        	       Self-master of thy dam's	desire!
        	       Thine eyes blaze	forth with fiery light;
        
        Thine heart a secret sun of flame!
        	       I adore the insuperable might:
        
        I bow before the unspoken Name.
        			     ["He bows,	then turns toward altar."
        
        	       For I am	Yesterday, and I
        
        To-day, and I to-morrow, born
        	       Now and again, on high, on high
        	       Travelling on Dian's naked horn!
        	       I am the	Soul that doth create
        
        The Gods, and all the Kin of Breath.
        	       I come from the sequestered state;
        
        My birth is from the House of Death.
        					 ["He advances to altar."
        
        	       Hail! ye	twin hawks high	pinnacled
        
        That watch upon the universe!
        	       Ye that the beir	of God beheld!
        
        That bore it onwards, ministers
        	       Of peace	within the house of Wrath,
        	       Servants	of him that cometh forth
        	       At dawn with many-coloured lights,
        
        Mounting from underneath the North,
        	       The shrine of the celestial Heights!
        							["At altar." {58}
        
        	       He is in	me, and	I in Him!
        
        Mine is the crystal radiance
        	       That filleth aether to the brim
        
        Wherein all stars and suns may dance.
        	       I am the	beautiful and glad,
        
        Rejoicing in the golden day.
        	       I am the	spirit silken-clad
        
        That fareth on the fiery way.
        	       I have escaped from him,	whose eyes
        	       Are closed at eventide, and wise
        	       To drag thee to the House of Wrong: ---
        	       I am armed!  I am armed!	 I am strong!  I am strong!
        	       I make my way: opposing horns
        
        Of secret foemen push their lust
        	       In vain:	my song	their fury scorns;
        
        They sink, they grovel in the dust.
        						     ["He turns	to" SOL.
        
        	       Hail, self-created Lord of Night!
        	       Inscrutable and infinite!
        
        Let Orpheus journey forth to see
        The Disk in peace and victory!
        	       Let him adore the splendid sight,
        
        The radiance of the Heaven of Nu;
        	       Soar like a bird, laved by the light,
        
        To pierce the far eternal blue!
        			    ["He turns to" ARES	"and" SCORPIO.
        
        	       Hail!  Hermes! thou the wands of	ill
        
        Hast touched with strength, and they are shivered!
        	       The way is open unto will!
        
        The pregnant Goddess is delivered!
        						    ["He kneels	to" SOL.
        
        	       Happy, yea, happy! happy	is he
        
        That hath looked forth upon the Bier
        		   That	goeth to the House of Rest!
        	       His heart is lit	with melody;
        
        Peace in his house is master of fear;
        		   His holy Name is in the West	{59}
        	       When the	sun sinks, and royal rays
        	       Of moonrise flash across	the day's.
        
        					  ["He rises and faces altar."
        
              I	have risen!  I have risen! as a	mighty hawk of gold!
              From the golden egg I gather, and	my wings the world enfold.
              I	alight in mighty splendour from	the throned boats of light;
              Companies	of Spirits follow me; adore the	Lords of Night.
              Yea, with	gladness did they paean, bowing	low before my car,
              In my ears their homage echoed from the sunrise to the star.
              I	have risen!  I am gathered as a	lovely hawk of gold,
              I	the first-born of the Mother in	her ecstasy of old.
              Lo!  I come to face the dweller in the sacred snake of Khem;
              Come to face the Babe and	Lion, come to measure force with them!
              Ah! these	locks flow down, a river, as the earth's before	the Sun,
              As the earth's before the	sunset,	and the	God and	I are One.
              I	who entered in a Fool, gain the	God by clean endeavour;
              I	am shaped as men and women, fair for ever and for ever.
        

        ["He turns and falls clasping" SOL'S "feet. All prostrate themselves in adoration." SOR. SCORPIO "plays her solar chant.<<Papillon: Bohm.>>"

        						[SOL "in" ARIES	"recites:"
        
        	       The world's great age begins anew,
        
        The golden years return,
        	       The earth doth like a snake renew
        
        Her winter weeds outworn;
        	       Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam,
        	       Like wrecks of a	dissolving dream.
        
        	       A brighter Hellas rears its mountains
        
        From waves serener far;
        	       A new Peneus rolls his fountains
        
        Against the morning star.
        	       Where fairer Tempes bloom, there	sleep
        	       Young Cyclads on	a sunnier deep.	{60}
        
        	       A loftier Argo cleaves the main,
        
        Fraught with a later prize;
        	       Another Orpheus sings again,
        
        And loves, and weeps, and dies.
        	       A new Uyllsses leaves once more
        	       Calypso for his native shore.
        
        	       Oh, write no more the tale of Troy,
        
        If earth Death's scroll must be!
        	       Nor mix with Laian rage the joy
        
        Which dawns upon the free;
        	       Although	a subtler Sphinx renew
        	       Riddles of death	Thebes never knew.
        
        	       Another Athens shall arise,
        
        And to remoter time
        	       Bequeath, like sunset to	the skies,
        
        The splendour of its prime;
        	       And leave, if nought so bright may live,
        	       All earth can take or Heaven can	give.
        
        	       Saturn and Love their long repose
        
        Shall burst, more bright and good
        	       Than all	who fell, than One who rose,
        
        Than many unsubdued.
        	       Not gold, not blood, their altar	dowers,
        	       But votive tears	and symbol flowers.
        
        	       Oh, cease! must hate and	death return?
        
        Cease! must men kill and die?
        	       Cease! drain not	to its dregs the urn
        
        Of bitter prophecy.
        	       The world is weary of the past.
        	       Oh, might it die	or rest	at last!
        

        BRO. ARIES. 1-4444. The battle is indeed fought. SOL. IN ARIES. 333-333. The victory is indeed won. BRO. ARIES. Brethren, the Sun is arisen. Let us depart

               in joy. {61}
        
        SOR. SCORPIO. Let us depart in love. MARS. Let us depart in peace.
        ["The officers leave the Temple," MARS "and" SCORPIO "escorting" SOL "in" ARIES, ARIES "and" CAPRICORNUS "following at the head of the Guard of" PROBATIONERS.]

        {62}

        			       THE RITE	OF SOL
        
        				     {63}
        
        				   OFFICERS
        

        SOL. "Leopard skin. Nemyss white-gold over white-sleeved robe. Spear." ARIES. "White robe, spear."
        LEO. "Red robe, spear."
        SATAN-TYPHON. "Violet robe."
        SCORPIO-APOPHIS. "Green robe."
        BEZ. "Black-robe."
        FOUR PROBATIONERS.

        "Sol is enthroned in the East; behind him is a black veil which conceals a

               great scarlet cross.  Before him	is a second veil.  He is supported by
               Aries on	the right, and Leo on the left.	 The other officers are
               without the temple, in waiting.	In presentation	in public, a third
               veil divides the	temple from the	congregation." {65}
        
        			       THE RITE	OF SOL
        

        LEO "parts the outermost veil, and advancing, recites chorus from "Atalanta in Calydon."

        	       Before the beginning of years
        
        There came to the making of man ... etc.
        	       ... His life is a watch or a vision
        
        Between a sleep and a sleep.
        						 ["Returns.  A pause."
        
        ARIES. 333-333.
        LEO. 333-333.
        ARIES. Brother Leo, what is the place? LEO. The Temple of the Sun upon the Mountain of Abiegnus! ARIES. Brother Leo, what is the hour? LEO. Sunset!
        ARIES. It is the hour of sacrifice. LEO. Brother Aries, what is the sacrifice?
           ARIES.  It is hidden	from me.			   ["Silence."
        
        SOL. 1-22-22-1.
        ARIES. Hark! it is the Summons of the King. LEO. It is the Lord of Heaven that awakens the Children of the Light.
        			  ["They draw the veil --- full	light --- and kneel."
        
        ARIES. Let us adore the Exalted One! LEO.
        	       Life of Life, thy lips enkindle
        
        With their love the breath between them; {67}
        	       And thy smiles before they dwindle
        
        Make the cold air fire; then screen them
        	       In those	looks, where whoso gazes
        	       Faints, entangled in their mazes.
        
        	       Child of	Light! thy limbs are burning
        
        Through the vest which seems to hide them;
        	       As the radiant lines of morning
        
        Through the clouds, ere they divide them;
        	       And this	atmosphere divinest
        	       Shrouds thee wheresoe'er	thou shinest.
        
        	       Fair are	others;	none beholds thee,
        
        But thy voice sounds low and tender
        	       Like the	fairest, for it	folds thee
        
        From the sight, that liquid splendour,
        	       And all feel, yet see thee never,
        	       As I feel now, lost forever!
        
        	       Lamp of Earth! where'er thou movest
        
        Its dim shapes are clad with brightness,
        	       And the souls of	whom thou lovest
        
        Walk upon the winds with lightness,
        	       Till they fall, as I am falling,
        	       Dizzy, lost, yet	unbewailing!
        

        ARIES. Hail unto Thee, O thou that art exalted in thy strength, that travellest over the Heaven in Thy Bark in the Splendour of noon!

        			    [ARIES "and" LEO "resume thrones."
        
        ["A" PROBATIONER "recites the" 12 "fold glorification of God from" 963.] ["Enter" SCORPIO-APOPHIS "dressed in a filmy white robe, her hair in disorder."]
        				 [ARIES	"and" LEO "rise	and bow."
        
        ARIES. Hail thou! Whence comest thou? SCORPIO-APOPHIS. From the House of God. ARIES. What bringest thou as an offering to our Lord? {68} SCORPIO-APOPHIS. The House of God is fallen. There is nothing left therein. Therefore I bring nothing but myself. LEO. Let us burn her upon the altar of burnt offering. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. But in the fire my tears would be dried up; and these tears are of mine offering to the Lord. LEO. Let us throw her to the sacred crocodile. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. But in the water my heart would be chilled; and this heart is of mine offering to the Lord. LEO. Let us throw her to the winds from the Watchtowers of Silence. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. But in the wind my hymns would not be heard; and these hymns are of mine offering to the Lord. LEO. Let us bury her in the consecrated mountain! SCORPIO-APOPHIS. But in the earth the worms would devour my flesh; and this flesh is of mine offering to the Lord. Oh Lord, let thy servants return unto their thrones that I may worship Thee as I will. SOL. 22-1-1-22.
        [ARIES "and" LEO "return to their thrones." [SCORPIO-APOPHIS "plays her passionate melody, her siren melody, her despairing "Venus in Tannhauser" melody.<<Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde: Wagner.>> She clasps the feet and knees of" SOL "but he gives no sign of life."]
        ["At the end "ARIES "and" LEO "rise from their thrones --- a pause."] ARIES. ("Loudly"). 333-333.
        LEO. ("Louder"). 333-333.
        ARIES. The hour of sacrifice is past. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. The hour of sacrifice is to come. {69} LEO. The sacrifice is not accepted. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. The sacrifice is accepted. ARIES. Depart from us, thou unclean thing! [ARIES "and" LEO "raise her and march from the temple," ARIES "leading," LEO following her."]
        [ARIES "and" LEO "re-enter and resume thrones --- a pause." ARIES. 333-333.
        LEO. 333-333.
        ARIES. Brother Leo, this is of evil omen. LEO. Brother Aries, it is indeed of evil omen. ARIES. There will be no more sacrifice to-day. LEO. There will be no more sacrifice to-day. ARIES. The sun is already setting.
        LEO. The night birds are already abroad. ARIES. It grows very dark.
        LEO. The path is too steep and dangerous for any pilgrims to come hither. ARIES. There is no moon to-night.
        LEO. I think there will be rain.
        ARIES. Let us close the shrine.
        LEO. The disk of the sun is not yet quite obscured. ARIES. But no pilgrims can come now. LEO. No pilgrims can come now. But it is the rule of the temple that the shrine is open unto the last spark of sunlight. ARIES. Brother Leo, I beg that you will close the shrine with me. LEO. It cannot be.
        ARIES. Brother Leo, I know the rule. But evil will assuredly come to us from this. LEO. Brother Aries, the Law may not be broken. {70} ARIES. Brother Leo, the Law is made so that the wise may break it at their need. LEO. Brother Aries, in my heart is fidelity --- fidelity --- fidelity. ARIES. Brother Leo, a god has whispered in mine ear: it is folly --- folly --- folly. LEO. The sun will be obscured in a moment: and no pilgrims can come to- night. ARIES. No pilgrims can come to-night. LEO. There will be no more sacrifice. ARIES. There will be no more sacrifice. [SATAN-TYPHON, SCORIPO-APOPHIS, "and" BESZ "enter silently in procession. The light grows momentarily dimmer."]
        ARIES. Hail, brethren! Ye are come to adore the splendour of the sun? SATAN-TYPHON. We are come to sacrifice. ARIES. What are the offerings?
        BESZ. Dancing.
        SCORPIO-APOPHIS. Music.
        SATAN-TYPHON. Silence and Stillness.
        	    ["He prostrates himself and	remains	motionless."
        
        [SCORPIO-APOPHIS "bows to "SOL" and plays an adoration.<<Romance: Max Bruch.>>"
        		     [BESZ "dances in adoration	in three-time."
        			      [SATAN-TYPHON "rises and bows."
        
        ARIES. Whence come ye, brethren?
        SATAN-TYPHON. From the dwelling-place of the sun. ARIES. Who are ye, brethren?
        SATAN-TYPHON. I am the twin brother of the sun. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. I am the beloved of the sun. {71} ARIES. ["To" BESZ.] But who art thou, brother?
        					 [BESZ "begins to stammer."
        
        LEO. Who art thou?
        ["They threaten him with their spears." BESZ "crouches in terror and lurks toward West."]
        SATAN-TYPHON. I would have speech with my brother the Sun. ARIES. It is well.
        LEO. It is not well. There is danger herein to my Lord.
        					      ["He bars	the way."
        
        ARIES. Speech cannot harm our Lord. LEO. Brother, if thou be indeed our borther, what wilt thou say? SATAN-TYPHON. O Sun, my brother, is it thy will that I have speech with thee? For I lay with thee nine moons in the womb of our mother; for we have loved as none have loved; for I am closer knit with thee than light and darkness, or than life and death! SOL. 22-1-1-22.
        [LEO "gives way and returns to his throne, very sad." [SATAN-TYPHON "advances to" SOL "and" ARIES "closes the veil on them."] [BESZ "jumps up and runs off crouchingly."
        					      ["The lights go out."
        
        [SCORPIO-APOPHIS "plays her serpent melody.<<Andante Religioso: Thome.>>"
        							 [LEO "recites."
        	       Mortals never learn from	stories
        
        How catastrophe becomes;
        	       How above the victor's glories
        
        In the trumpets and the drums {72}
        	       And the cry of millions "Master!"
        
        Looms the shadow of disaster.
        	       Every hour a man	hath said:
        
        "That at least is scotched and dead."
        	       Some one	circumstance: "At last
        
        That, and its effects, are past."
        	       Some one	terror --- subtle foe!
        
        "I have laid that spectre low."
        	       They know not, learn not, cannot	calculate
        
        How subtly Fate
        	       Weaves its fine mesh, perceiving	how to wait;
        
        Or how accumulate
        	       The trifles that	shall make it master yet
        
        Of the strong soul that bade itself forget. ["A dim red light dawns." BESZ "enters, leading four" PROBATIONERS "who bear the Pastos. They place it before the altar."] ARIES. What is this offering?
        BESZ. The eater of Flesh is my name. ARIES. Oh, our Lord, our Lord! Arise in thy might, and let thine enemies be scattered! [ARIES "and" LEO "draw veil. The throne has been cast down. On the black
              veil is a	great red cross, whereon" SOL "has been	crucified.  Before him
              stands" SATAN-TYPHON "in the sign	of Apophis and Typhon."]
        
        [Aries "and" LEO "fall as if slain." SCORPIO-APOPHIS "plays her murder melody.<<Mort d'Adonis: Waddell.>>" ["Meanwhile the" PROBATIONERS "advance and under the direction of Typhon, who
              stabs" SOL "in the proper	manner with the	spear of" Sol, "take down" SOL
               from the	cross and lay him in the Pastos.  They cover it."  BESZ	"does
               his brutal demoniac dance upon the lid of the coffin." {73}  "Exeunt"
               OMNIS "exc." SOL.  "This	ends in	complete darkness.  Silence.  There is
               a flash of light, and the stage is shewn	empty.	Only a glimmer
               remains.	 Now" SCORPIO-APOPHIS "steals on to the	stage, and plays a low
               secret melody.<<Canzonetta: D'Ambrosio.>>  The red lights increase.
               She uncovers and	embraces the corpse.  Then covers it again, goes to
               the throne, and instals herself thereon.	 The green light dawns and
               glows brighter and brighter, as the red light dwindles and goes out."]
        
        SCORPIO-APOPHIS. 7777777. ["The" PROBATIONERS "and other officers enter, erect." SCORPIO-APOPHIS. Children, array yourselves before me, and worship at my feet. ARIES. Our Lord is slain. And who art thou that hast assumed His Throne? LEO. Our Lord is slain. And who art thou that hast assumed His Throne? SCORPIO-APOPHIS. I am the Mother of the Gods and the Sister of Time and the Daughter of Space. I am Nature that holdeth sway when the effort of man is exhausted. ... ... Brother Leo, I am the goddess that cometh forth riding upon the Lion. Behold! I strike thee with my wand, and inspire thee. I command thee to declare me unto the multitude. LEO.

        Lo! in the interstellar space of night

        	    Clothed with deep darkness,	the majestic spaces
        
        Abide the dawn of deity and light,
        	    Vibrate before the passionless pale	faces {74}
        
        Shrined in exceeding glory, eremite.
        	     The tortoise skies	in sombre carapaces
        
        Await the expression and the hour of birth In silence through the adamantine girth.

        I rose in glory, gathered of the foam.

        	    The	sea's flower folded, charioting	me risen
        
        Where dawns rose stole from its pearl-glimmering home,
        	    And	heaven laughed,	and earth: and mine old	prison,
        
        The seas that lay beneath the mighty dome,
        	    Shone with my splendour.  Light did	first bedizen
        
        Earth with its clusters of fiery dew and spray, When I looked forth and cried, "It is the day!"

        The stars are dewdrops on my bosom's space;

        	    The	sun and	moon are glances through my lashes,
        
        Long, tender rays of night; my subtle face
        	    Burns through the sky-dusk,	lightens, fills, and flashes
        
        With solemn joy and laughter of love; the grace
        	    Of all my body swaying stoops and dashes
        
        Swift to the daisy's dawn of love: and swiftest, O spirit of man, when unto me thou liftest!

        Dawn shakes the molten fire of my delight

        	    From the fine flower and fragrance of my tresses!
        
        Sunset bids darken all my body's light,
        	    Mixing its music with the sad caresses
        
        Of the whole world: I wheel in wingless flight
        	    Through lampless space, the	starless wildernesses!
        
        Beyond the universal bounds that roll, There is the shrine and image of my soul.

        I am Nature and God: I reign, I am, alone.

        	    None other may abide apart:	they perish,
        
        Drawn into me, into my being grown.
        	    None other bosom is, to bear, to nourish,
        
        To be: the heart of all beneath my zone
        	    Of blue and	gold is	scarlet-bright to cherish
        
        My own life's being, that is, and is not other; For I am God and Nature and thy Mother. {75}

        I am the thousand-breasted milky spouse,

        	    Virginal also: Tartarus and	Gaia
        
        Twinned in my womb, and Chaos from my brows
        	    Shrank back	abashed, my sister dark	and dire,
        
        Mother of Erebus and Night, that ploughs
        	    With starry-sandalled feet the fields of fire;
        
        My sister shrank and fell, the infernal gloom Changed to the hot sweet shadow of my womb.

        I am: that darkness strange and uterine

        	    Is shot with dawn and scented with the rose;
        
        The deep dim prison-house of corn and wine,
        	    Flowers, children, stars, with flame far subtler glows
        
        Formless, all-piercing, death-defying, divine,
        	    A sweet frail lamp whose shadow gleams and shows
        
        No darkness, is as light is where its rays Cross, interweave, and marry with the day's!

        I am: the heart that flames from central Me,

        	    Seeks out all life,	and takes again, to mingle
        
        Its passion with my might and majesty,
        	    Till the vast floods of the	man's being tingle
        
        And glow, self-lost within my soul and sea
        	    Of love, the sun of	utter light, and single
        
        Keen many-veined heart: our lips and kisses Marry and muse on our immortal blisses.

        I am: the greatest and the least: the sole

        	     And separate life of things.  The mighty stresses
        
        Of worlds are my nerves twitching. Branch and bole
        	    Of forests waving in deep wildernesses
        
        Are hairs upon my body. Rivers roll
        	    To make one	tear in	my superb caresses,
        
        When on myself myself begets a child, A system of a thousand planets piled!

        I am: the least, the greatest: the frail life

        	    Of some small coral-insect still may tremble
        
        With love for me, and call me queen and wife;
        	    The	shy plant of the water may dissemble {76}
        
        Its love beneath the fronds; reply to strife
        	    With strife, and all its tiny being	crumble
        
        Under my rough and warrior husband-kiss, Whose pain shall burn, and alter, and be bliss!

        I am: no word beside that solemn one

        	    Reigns in sound's kingdom to express my station,
        
        Who, clothed and crowned with suns beyond the sun,
        	    Bear on the	mighty breast of foam Thalassian,
        
        Bear on my bosom, jutting plenilune,
        	    Maiden, the	fadeless Rose of the Creation!
        
        The whole flower-life of earth and sky and sea From me was born, and shall return to me!

        I am: for men and beings passionate,

        	    For	mine own self calm as the river-cleaving
        
        Lotus-borne lord of Silence: I create
        	    Or discreate, both in my bosom heaving:
        
        My lightest look is mother of a Fate:
        	    My fingers sapphire-ringed with sky	are weaving
        
        Ever new flowers and lawns of life, designed Nobler and newer in mine older mind.

        I am: I am not, but all-changing move

        	    The	worlds evolving	in a golden ladder,
        
        Spiral or helical, fresh gusts of love
        	    Filling one	sphere from the	last sphere grown gladder;
        
        All gateways leading far to the above.
        	    Even as the	bright coils of	the emerald adder
        
        Climb one by one in glory of sunlight, climb My children to me up the steep of Time.

        I am: before me all the years are dead,

        	    And	all the	fiery locks of sunrise woven
        
        Into the gold and scarlet of my head:
        	    In me all skies and	seas are shaken	and cloven:
        
        All life and light and love about me shed,
        	    Begotten in	me, in my moving moven,
        
        Are as my tears: all worlds that ever swam As dew of kisses on my lips: I am. {77}

        ["She draws" LEO "up to her. The others kneel in adoration." SCORPIOAPOPHIS "plays her soft voluptuous melody.<<Romance: Saint Saens.>>"] ARIES. Brother Leo, what is the hour? LEO. The evening star is arisen.
        ARIES. The sacrifice is accomplished. LEO. What is the sacrifice?
        ARIES. Man.
        LEO. Who is the priestess?
        ARIES. Woman.
        LEO. Unto what God?
        ARIES. It is hidden from me.
        LEO. Let every man depart unto his house. ARIES. 1-333-1-1. LEO. 1-333-1-1. SCORPIO-APOPHIS. 1-1-333-1.

        {78}

        			      THE RITE OF VENUS
        
        				 THE OFFICERS
        
        		    VENUS.  "Blue Robe."
        		    TAURUS.  "Orange Robe."
        		    LIBRA.  "Green Robe."
        		    PISCES.  "Crimson Robe."
        		    LUNA IN TAURUS.  "Silver Robe."
        		    SATURN IN LIBRA.  "Black Robe."
        

        "No officer has any weapon. Venus is throned, and on her right are Libra and Saturn in Libra, on her left Taurus and Luna in Taurus, while at her feet lies Pisces. Her throne is an oyster-shell, as in the picture by Botticelli. Before it a veil. Without, an altar; and without the temple, a further veil."

        {81}

        			      THE RITE OF VENUS
        
        				   PRELUDE
        

        "Full light." VENUS, "seated before altar," LIBRA "and" TAURUS "at its sides." VENUS. 7777777.
        LIBRA. 7777777.
        TAURUS. 7777777.
        VENUS. Brother Libra, I command thee to declare the Secret of Venus. LIBRA. "recites Swinburne's "Hertha. ["All present recline and sleep."]

           VENUS.  Having ears they hear not.  Brothers	Taurus and Libra, let the veil be drawn.					["They do so."
        
        				    PART I
        

        ["Twilight." VENUS "is enthroned on high, swathed in masses of red hair and roses. The altar is covered with roses; there is a small flame thereon."]
        TAURUS "and" LIBRA "draw the inner veil apart." LIBRA "returns and kneels." LIBRA.

        		       Daughter	of Glory, child
        		       Of Earth's Dione	mild
        	       By the Father of	all, the AEgis-bearing King!  {83)}
        		       Spouse, daughter, mother	of God,
        		       Queen of	the blest abode
        	       In Cyprus' splendour singly glittering.
        		       Sweet sister unto me,
        		       I cry aloud to thee!
        	       I laugh upon thee laughing, O dew caught	up from	sea!
        
        		       Drawn by	sharp sparrow and dove,
        		       And swan's wide plumes of love,
        	       And all the swallow's swifter vehemence,
        		       And, subtler than the Sphinx,
        		       The ineffable iynx
        	       Heralds thy splendour swooning into sense,
        		       When from the bluest bowers
        		       And greenest-hearted hours
        	       Of Heaven thou smil'st toward earth, a miracle of flowers!
        
        		       Down to the loveless sea
        		       Where lay Persephone
        	       Violate,	where the shade	of earth is black,
        		       Crystalline out of space
        		       Flames the immortal face!
        	       The glory of the	comet-tailed track
        		       Blinds all black	earth with tears.
        		       Silence awakes and hears
        	       The music of thy	moving come over the starry spheres.
        
        		       Wrapped in rose,	green, and gold,
        		       Blues many and manifold,
        	       A cloud of incense hides	thy splendour of light;
        		       Hides from the prayer's distress
        		       Thy loftier loveliness,
        	       Till thy	veil's glory shrouds the earth from night;
        		       And silence speaks indeed,
        		       Seeing the subtler speed
        	       Of its own thought than speech of the Pandean reed!
        
        					     [LIBRA "returns."	{84}
        
        VENUS. 7777777.
        SATURN. Amen.
        VENUS. 333-1-333.
        SATURN. Amen.
        VENUS. 1-55555-1.
        LIBRA "and" PISCES. Amen.
        VENUS. Brother Saturn, what is the hour? SATURN. Twilight.
        VENUS. Sister Pisces, from whose house are we come out? PISCES. From the House of Death.
        VENUS. Brother Taurus, what is stronger than death? TAURUS. Love.
        VENUS. Brother Libra, what is the place? LIBRA. The Mountain of Venus, that hangeth from the navel of the Universe over the Great Abyss. VENUS. Let us celebrate the Rite of Venus. [LUNA "plays a waltz tune. The" PROBATIONERS "dance together."] VENUS. Children of Love, what is the hour? ALL. ["A confused murmur."] It is the hour of love. [ALL "sink down together. The lights go out. A long pause."] {85}
        				   PART	II
        

        VENUS. ("Awakening.") 333-1-333.
        ["Venus is brilliantly illuminated; the rest remain dark." VENUS. Little brother, what is the hour? PISCES. The dawn is at hand.
        VENUS. Little brother, what is the place? TAURUS. It is the holy mountain of our Lady Venus. VENUS. Children, awake and rejoice. LIBRA. Awake and rejoice.
        PISCES. How shall we rejoice?
        TAURUS. As our Lady hath appointed. LIBRA. As you like it.
        PISCES. Wherein shall we rejoice?
        TAURUS. In our Lady Venus.
        LIBRA. In what you will.
        TAURUS. Thy will, our lady, and not ours be done! PISCES. Mistress, let the adorations be performed! LIBRA. Children, array yourselves before me, and rejoice in the adorations of my beauty.
        ["They form, each with his partner." LIBRA "disappears behind veil." TAURUS "recites invocation."]
        TAURUS.
        Salutation to Hathor, holy cow in the pastures of Evening. Salutation to Hathor, in the Mountain of the West; in the land of perfect Peace, Salutation. {86}
        A devouring fire is thy soul, and the corpses of the dead are enkindled at thy breath.
        Salutation to Hathor, the child of Isis and of Nephthys! Salutation to Hathor, the bride of Apis, of Apis that hath the beetle upon his tongue!
        A devouring fire is thy soul, and the corpses of the dead are enkindled at thy breath.
        Salutation to Hathor, whose necklace is of the Souls of the blessed ones of Amennti.
        Salutation to Hathor, whose girdle is of the Souls of the blessed ones of Seb! Salutation to Hathor, whose sandals are of the Souls of the blessed ones of Nu!
        A devouring fire is thy soul, and the corpses of the dead are enkindled at thy breath.

        						  ["Returns to his throne."
        
        VENUS. Brother Libra, art thou silent? ["A pause." Brother Libra, where art thou?
              LIBRA, "still hidden, recites from Swinburne's "Atalanta."
        

        We have seen thee, O Love, thou art fair; thou art goodly, O Love; Thy wings make light in the air as the wings of a dove, "etc."

        		   ... Famine, and blighting of	corn,
        		   When	thy time was come to be	born.
        
        			       [LIBRA "appears and confronts her."
        
        		   All these we	know of; but thee
        		     Who shall discern or declare? "etc."
        		   ... Wilt thou utterly bring to an end?
        		     Have mercy, mother!
        

        VENUS. Nay, brother, thou art the chiefest of my chosen. LIBRA. Alas.
        VENUS. Yea, brother: in the end all turn to me, and all return to me.

        Isis am I, and from my life are fed

        		   All showers and suns, all moons that	wax and	wane;
        
        All stars and streams, the living and the dead,
        		   The mystery of pleasure and of pain.	  {87}
        
        I am the mother! I the speaking sea! I am the earth and its fertility!
        	       Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to me	---
        
        To me!

        Hathoor am I, and to my beauty drawn

        		   All glories of the Universe bow down,
        
        The blossom and the mountain and the dawn,
        		   Fruit's blush, and woman, our creations's crown.
        
        I am the priest, the sacrifice, the shrine, I am the love and life of the divine!
        	       Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness are surely mine ---
        
        Are mine!

        Venus am I, the love and light of earth,

        		   The wealth of kisses, the delight of	tears,
        
        The barren pleasure never come to birth,
        		   The endless,	infinite desire	of years.
        
        I am the shrine at which thy long desire Devoured thee with intolerable fire.
        	       I was song, music, passion, death, upon thy lyre	---
        
        Thy lyre!

        I am the Grail and I the Glory now:

        		   I am	the flame and fuel of thy breast;
        
        I am the star of God upon thy brow;
        		   I am	thy queen, enraptured and possessed.
        
        Hide thee, sweet river; welcome to the sea, Ocean of love that shall encompass thee!
        	       Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to me	---
        
        To me!

        [PISCES "performs a sleepy sinuous dance by herself, and returns to Venus' throne lapsed into herself, and as if exhausted."]

        	       Rise, rise, my knight!  My king!	 My love, arise!
        	       See the grave avenues of	Paradise,
        	       The dewy	larches	bending	at my breath,
        	       Portentous cedars prophesying death!  {88}
        

        ["She is interrupted by the Violin of the throned" LUNA, "who plays her unutterable melody.<<Romance in D: Beethoven.>>" PISCES "manifests distress."
        VENUS. Brother Libra, what is this song? LIBRA
        My soul is an enchanted boat,
        Which, like a sleeping swan, doth float

        	       Upon the	silver waves of	thy sweet singing;
        
        And thine doth like an angel sit
        Beside a helm conducting it,
        	       Whilst all the winds with melody	are ringing.
        
        It seems to float ever, for ever,
        Upon that many-winding river,
        Between mountains, woods, abysses,
        A paradise of wildernesses!
        	       Till, like one in slumber bound,
        	       Borne to	the Ocean, I float down, around,
        	       Into a sea profound, of ever-spreading sound.
        

        Meanwhile thy spirit lifts its pinions In music's most serene dominions;

        	       Catching	the winds that fan that	happy heaven.
        
        And we sail on, away, afar,
        Without a course, without a star,
        	       But by the instinct of sweet music driven;
        
        Till through Elysian garden islets
        By thee, most beautiful of pilots,
        Where never mortal pinnace glided,
        The boat of my desire is guided;
        	       Realms where the	air we breathe is love,
        	       Which in	the winds and on the waves doth	move,
        	       Harmonising this	earth with what	we feel	above.
        

        We have past Age's icy caves,
        And Manhood's dark and tossing waves,

        	       And Youth's Smooth ocean, smiling to betray:
        
        Beyond the glassy gulphs we flee {89} Of shadow-peopled Infancy,
        	       Through Death and Birth,	to a diviner day;
        
        A paradise of vaulted bowers,
        Lit by downward-gazing flowers,
        And watery paths that wind between
        Wildernesses calm and green,
        	       Peopled by shapes too bright to see,
        	       And rest, having	beheld;	somewhat like thee;
        	       Which walk upon the sea,	and chant melodiously!
        

        [VENUS "manifests distress." PISCES "slips away to the throne of" LUNA.] [LUNA "plays her conquering melody.<<Polonaise in D: Wieniawski.>>" VENUS. Oh! Oh!
        LIBRA. Holier than pleasure is pain; nobler is abstinence than indulgence; from sloth and faith we turn to toil and science; from the tame victories of the body to the wild triumphs of the mind. VENUS. It is the ruin of the temple. LIBRA. For from thee cometh the Utterance of the Present; but of the Future no word. VENUS. And thou wilt?
        LIBRA. The Word.
        [SATURN "comes out and dances his dance, and falls, clasping the hem of" LIBRA'S "robe."]
        VENUS. Who is this? These are not my dances; these footsteps tread not my measures; not me he worships by the paces and pauses of his feet! [LUNA "plays a wild and horrible melody.<<Witches' Dance: Paganini.>>"

        			   [SATURN" drags" LIBRA "backwards into the dusk."
        
        ["The" PROBATIONERS "group similarly;" MARS "with" MARS "and" VENUS "with" VENUS. Some, too, stand isolated.] {90} VENUS. Brother Taurus, art thou faithful, thou alone? TAURUS. ["Seductively yet ironically."] Knowest thou not me? VENUS. Yea, my beloved, Lord of all my doves. TAURUS. Venus, our Lady!
        VENUS. Come unto me!
        ["She half rises and draws him to her." TAURUS. Within the veil?
        VENUS. There is no veil before my shrine! ["She unfastens his robe. As it falls he leaps up with the Caduceus, as" MERCURY, "and tramples her beneath his feet."] TAURUS. In the Beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God! ["All come forward;" SATURN "with" LIBRA "linked;" LUNA "and" PISCES "linked; and bow to him."]
        LUNA. The Treason is accomplished.
        PISCES. The mind is nobler than the body. SATURN. Friendship is holier than love. LIBRA. Nature is overcome by wit.
        PISCES. How shall we adore thee?
        TAURUS. As you like it.
        SATURN. What shall we sacrifice?
        TAURUS. Want you will.
        [LUNA "plays a moto perpetuo,<<Moto perpetuo: Ries.>>" ALL, "bowing in adoration to" MERCURY.]
        LIBRA. Brother, what is the hour?
        PISCES. Dawn.
        LIBRA. Let us depart unto the work of the day. ALL. Amen. {91}
        			     THE RITE OF MERCURY
        
        				   OFFICERS
        
        	       MERCURY.	 "Violet Robe."
        	       FR. "and" SOR. GEMINI.  "White Dancing Robe and Black Robe."
        	       VIRGO.  "Green Robe."
        	       FOUR PROBATIONERS.
        

        "Mercury is throned between the Twins. At the west of the Altar is Virgo, and

        			     his four attendants."
        

        {95}

        			     THE RITE OF MERCURY
        
        				      I
        
           MERCURY.  22-333-333.			       ["Full light."
        
        The Speech in the Silence.
        The Words against the Son of Night.
        The Voice of Mercury in the Universe in the Presence of the Eternal Gods. The Formulas of Knowledge.
        The Wisdom of Breath.
        The Radix of Vibration.
        The Shaking of the Invisible.
        The Rolling Asunder of the Darkness. The Becoming Visible of Matter.
        The Piercing of the Coils of the Stooping Dragon. The Breaking Forth of the Light.
        ["All being seated, the" FOUR PROBATIONERS "rise from among the other" PROBATIONERS "and march to the altar."] FIRST PROBATIONER. 333-333-22. Brethren, let us kindle the holy perfumes in honour of the most divine God. ALL FOUR PROBATIONERS. ["While he does so."] Hail unto the most divine Lord Mercury! FIRST PROBATIONER. ["To" FR. GEMINI] Our Brother, child {97} of the Voice, we ask Thee for thy help. Wilt thou purify the Temple, that we may proceed with the invocations? FR. GEMINI. I am one with you, Brethren! ["He rises and performs the Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram. While he does so, the" FOUR PROBATIONERS "stand facing the assembly."] FR. GEMINI. Let the rites of Mercury be celebrated.
        				 ["They	turn round, facing the altar again."
        
        [MERCURY "reads Gemini and Virgo sections from" 963 "at altar."] ["The big lights are put out; only a small purple light remains."] FIRST PROBATIONER. O Thou Lord of Harmony! Master of the Right Will, Thou who hast brought unto us the divine seeds of self-knowledge --- we, the humble Servants of the children of Thy voice, we call on Thee to lead us out of our Ignorance! CHORUS OF THREE OTHER PROBATIONERS. We call Thee, O Thrice Holy! FIRST PROBATIONER. O Thou, Divine Worker! Master of all that is Divine! Herald of all that is coming! Builder of our House! Holy art Thou, Thou that knowest the Supreme Mysteries! CHORUS. We call Thee, O Thrice Holy! FIRST PROBATIONER. O Thou, All Good, we call Thee! VIRGO. 1. ["Rising."] Not Good alone, Brethren! But all complete in the perfect Equilibrium. FR. GEMINI. Ay, The Balance must be kept even. Sister, let us invoke the Lord of Knowledge! VIRGO. He gave unto you, children of His Voice, the {98} Power of the making of fair things. Sing ye unto your Shepherd! FR. GEMINI. ["Rises and stands before" MERCURY.] O Spirit, O Divine Messenger, Mighty One, most mighty circling and all comprehending Divine Bearer of the Wand, hail! Coelestial, aethereal, inter-aethereal, water like, air like, fire like, earth like, like unto light, like unto darkness, shining as do the Stars, moist, hot, cold Spirit, hail to Thee, ever laughing Child-God, all-knowing. Through Thee alone can we hope to reach Light and Truth.
        						     ["Returns to his seat."
        
        [SOR. GEMINI "plays accordingly.<<Hungarian Dance No. 2: Brahms.>>"
        						    ["A	short pause."
        

        MERCURY. At the Ending of the Light,

        	     At	the Limits of the Night,
        	     Stood Mercury before the Unborn ones of Time.
        	     Then was formulated the Universe;
        	     Then came forth the Gods thereof,
        	     The aeons of the Bornless Beyond.
        	     Then was the Voice	vibrated;
        	     Then was the Name declared.
        	     At	the Threshold of Entrance,
        	     Between the Universe and the Infinite,
        	     In	the Sign of the	Enterer
        	     Stood Mercury, as before him
        	     The aeons were proclaimed.
        	     In	Symbols	did he record them;
        	     In	Breath did he vibrate them;
        	     For between the Light and the Darkness did	he
        
        stand. {99}
        				      II
        
        			    "The Temple	in Darkness"
        
        MERCURY.
        	     O Light in	Light!	O flashing wings of fire!
        	       The swiftest of the moments of the sea
        		   Is unto thee
        	       Even as some slow-foot Eternity
        	     With limbs	that drag and wheels that tire.
        	     O subtle-minded flame of amber gyre,
        	       It seems	a spark	of gold
        	       Grown purple, and behold!
        		   A flame of gray!
        	       Then the	dark night-wings glow
        	       With iridescent indigo,
        		   Shot	with some violet ray;
        	     And all the vision	flames across the horizon
        	       The millionth of	no time	--- and	when we	say:
        		   Hail! --- Thou art gone!
        
        	     The Moon is dark beside thy crown;	the Sun
        	       Seems a pale image of thy body bare;
        	       And for thine hair
        	       Flash comets lustrous with the dewfall rare
        	     Of	tears of that most memorable One,
        	     The radiant Queen,	the veiled Paphian.
        	       The wings of light divine
        	       Beneath thy body	shine;
        		   The invisible
        	       Rayed with some tangible	flame,
        	       Seeking to formulate a name,  {100}
        		   A citadel;
        	     And the winged heels are fiery with enormous speed,
        
        One spurning heaven; the other trampling hell;
        		   And thou ---	recede!
        
        	     O Hermes!	Messenger of inmost thought!
        
        Descend! Abide! Swift coursing in my veins Shoot dazzling pains,
        	     The Word of Selfhood integrate of Nought,
        	     The ineffable Amen! the Wonder wrought.
        	     Bring death if life exceed!
        	     Bid thy pale Hermit bleed,
        
        Yet life exude;
        	     And Wisdom	and the	Word of	Him
        	     Drench the	mute mind grown	dim
        
        With quietude!
        	     Fix thy sharp lightnings in my night!  My spirit free!
        	       Mix with	my breath and life and name thy	mood
        
        And self of Thee.
        		     [SOR. GEMINI "plays accordingly.<<Sarabande: Bach.>>"
        						  ["A short pause."
        
        FR. GEMINI. Master, be it thy pleasure to perform the Invocation of Mercury. ["All" PROBATIONERS "rise and join the four others in front of the altar."] MERCURY. ["Leaves throne."] Majesty of the Godhead, Wisdom-crowned Thoth, Lord of the Gates of the Universe: Thee, Thee we invoke! O Thou of the Ibis head: Thee, Thee we invoke! Thou who wieldest the Wand of Double Power: Thee, Thee we invoke! Thou who bearest in Thy left hand the Rose and Cross of Light and life: Thee, Thee we invoke! O Thou whose head is as an Emerald, and Thy Nemyss {101} as the night sky- blue! Thou whose skin is of flaming orange, as though it burned in a furnace: Thee, Thee we invoke!

        Behold, I am yesterday, to-day, and the brother of The Morrow! I am born again and again. Mine is the unseen force from which the Gods are sprung; that giveth life unto the dwellers in the watch-towers of the universe. I am the charioteer of the East, Lord of the Past and the Future. I see by mine own inward light; Lord of Resurrection, who cometh forth from the dusk, and whose birth is from the House of Death. O ye two divine hawks upon your pinnacles, who keep watch over the Universe! Ye who company the bier unto the House of Rest. Ye who pilot the Ship of Ra, ever advancing onwards unto the heights of Heaven! Lord of the Shrine which standeth in the centre of the Earth!

        Behold He is in me and I in Him!
        Mine is the radiance in which Ptah floateth over his firmament. I travel upon high.
        I tread upon the firmament of Nu.
        I raise a flashing flame with the lightning of mine eye, ever rushing forward in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra, giving my life to the dwellers of Earth.

        If I say "come up upon the mountains," The Celestial waters shall flow at my word; For I am Ra incarnate,
        Kephra created in the flesh! {102}
        I am the image of my Father Tmu, Lord of the City of the Sun! The God who commands is in my mouth; The God of Wisdom is in my heart:
        My tongue is the sanctuary of Truth: And a God sitteth upon my lips!
        My word is accomplished each day, and the desire of my heart realises itself, like that of Ptah when he creates his works. I am Eternal; therefore everything acts according to my designs, and everything obeys my words.

        Therefore I say unto Thee: come forth unto me from thine abode in the Silence, unutterable Wisdom, All-light, All-power! Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Odin, by whatever name I call Thee, Thou art still un-named and nameless to Eternity! Come thou forth, I say, and aid and guard me in this Work of Art.

        Thou, Star of the East that didst conduct the Magi! Thou art the same, all present in Heaven and in Hell. Thou that vibratest betwixt the Light and the Darkness. Rising, descending; changing ever, yet ever the same! The Sun is Thy Father!
        Thy Mother the Moon!
        The Wind hath borne Thee in its bosom! And Earth hath nourished the changeless Godhead of Thy Youth. Come thou forth, I say, come Thou forth And make all spirits subject unto me! So that every spirit of the firmament, {103} And of the Ether,
        Of the Earth,
        And under the Earth,
        On dry land,
        And in the Water,
        Of whirling Air,
        And of rushing Fire,
        And every spell and scourge of God, may be obedient

              unto Me!
        						     ["A pause."
        				       [MERCURY	"goes to his throne."
        
        FR. GEMINI. 1. Brother Virgo, didst thou hear the Voice? VIRGO. Ay, Brother.
        FR. GEMINI. Tell me, Brother, is not Mercury a great God? VIRGO. Indeed, Son of Maia, the greatest of all Gods that tread upon the Milky Way. FR. GEMINI. It is so.
        SOR. GEMINI. Yet, Brother, there is the Sun-God! VIRGO. Is not Mercury the Sun-God, when hidden during the Night, among the souls of the dead? Hail unto Thee, Trismegistus, Hail unto thee! SOR. GEMINI. Hail, O Sender of Dreams! BR. GEMINI. Hail, O Supporter of Bacchus Infant! MERCURY. Hail, Twins!
        FIRST PROBATIONER. Thou art indeed the greatest of all Gods, O Mercury! CHORUS. Hail, Mercury.
        MERCURY. Yet, ye will betray me!
        	       Bury me in a nameless grave!
        	       I came from God the world to save,
        	       I brought it wisdom from	above, {104}
        	       Worship,	and liberty, and love.
        	       So be my	grave without a	name
        	       That earth may swallow up my shame!
        
        [SOR. GEMINI "plays her saddest yet swiftest melody.<<Scherzo: Tschaikowski.>>"
        						     ["A pause."
        
        VIRGO. O, who art Thou, most lovely form that killeth me with the pleasure of Thy Vision? MERCURY. I am thyself --- that which is of thyself and dependent upon thyself. VIRGO. Sister and Brother Gemini, kneel ye before the greatest of all Gods. FR. GEMINI. Alas, Brother! Is the Speech greater than the Silence? VIRGO. 1. Brethren, kneel ye before the greatest of all Gods!
        						     ["None obey."
        
        MERCURY. 1. Silence. ... Thou hast no followers, Brother. SOR. GEMINI. Behold thine handmaiden! Where thou goest I will go; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God! ["She walks to the throne." MERCURY. Peace upon thee, beloved! ... But the Brethren say sooth. Even Mercury liveth not for ever.
        						       ["He recites."
        
        The light streams stronger through the lamps of sense.
        		     Intelligence
        
        Grows as we go. Alas: its icy glimmer
        		     Shows dimmer, dimmer
        
        The awful vaults we traverse. Were the sun
        		     Himself the one
        
        Glory of space, he would but illustrate
        		     The night of Fate.
        
        Are not the hosts of heaven in vain arrayed?
        		     Their light dismayed  {105}
        
        Before the vast blind spaces of the sky?
        		     O galaxy
        
        Of thousands upon thousands closely curled,
        		     Your golden world
        
        Incalculably small, its closest cluster
        		     Mere milky	lustre
        
        Staining the infinite darkness! Base and blind
        		     Our minion	mind
        
        Seeks a great light, a light sufficient, light
        		     Insufferably bright,
        
        Hence hidden for an hour: imagining
        		     This vast vain thing,
        
        We call it God, and Father. Empty hand
        		     And prayer	unplanned
        
        Stretched fatuous to the void. Ah! men my friends
        		     What fury sends
        
        This folly to intoxicate your hearts?
        		     Dread air disparts
        
        Your vital ways from these unsavoury follies;
        		     Black melancholies
        
        Sit straddled on your bended backs. The throne
        		     Of	the unknown
        
        Is fit for children. We are too well ware
        		     How vain is prayer,
        
        How nought is great, since all is immanent
        		     The vast content
        
        Of all the universe unalterable.
        		     We	know too well
        
        How no one thing abides awhile at all,
        		     How all things fall,
        
        Fall from their seat, the lamentable place,
        		     Before their face,
        
        Weary and pass and are no more. So we,
        		     Since hope	must be,
        
        Look to the future, to the chance minute
        		     That life may shoot
        
        Some flower at least to blossom in the night,
        		     Since vital light
        
        Is sure to fail us on the hideous way.
        		     What?  Must we pray!  {106}
        
        Verily, O thou littlest babe, too weak
        		     To	stir or	speak,
        
        Capable hardly of a thought, yet seed
        		     Of	word and deed!
        
        To thine assured fruition we may trust
        		     This weary	dust.
        
        We who are old, and palsied (and so wise!)
        		     Lift up our eyes
        
        To little children, as the storm-tossed bark
        		     Hails in the dark
        
        Some hardly visible harbour light; we hold
        		     The hours of gold
        
        To our own breasts, whose hours are iron and brass: ---
        		     So	swift they pass
        
        And grind us down: --- we hold the wondrous light
        		     Our scattering sight
        
        Yet sees, the one star in a night of woe.
        		     We	trust, and so
        
        Lift up our voices in the dying day
        		     Indeed to pray:
        
        O little hands that are so soft and strong,
        		     Lead us along!
        

        [SOR. GEMINI "plays accordingly.<<Berceuse: Cesar Cui.>>"

        							["A pause."
        
        FR. GEMINI. Brother Virgo, wilt thou not join us who love not Speech? VIRGO. Hail unto Mercury. He killeth Sol at the close of every Twilight, and hangeth up the sky of Night on the Tree of Heaven, fastened up with the Star-headed nails. MERCURY. Brother Gemini, do Thou perform the dance of thy Virginal Sister.
        						       [FR. GEMINI "dances."
        
        ["At the end of his dance, he falls before the altar." SOROR GEMINI "and all" PROBATIONERS "circumambulate round him, then stop, facing" MERCURY.]
        {107}
        MERCURY. Come, Sister, no Divine Being can be reached, save through Me. ["He descends, and joins the" PROBATIONERS, "leading" SOROR GEMINI "by the hand."]
        [VIRGO, "left now alone before the empty shrine of" MERCURY, "walks slowly in front of it."]
        VIRGO. Hail unto the Lord Mercury!
        ["A pause, during which all" PROBATIONERS "bend their heads low." MERCURY
               stands apart with" SOR. GEMINI.	VIRGO "stands still before the shrine,
               hooded."]
        
        MERCURY. And this word I speak unto ye:
        					    ["He is heard whispering."
        
        StiBeTTChePhMeFShiSS
        							  ["A pause."
        
        MERCURY. ("loudly"). Konx Om Pax!
        				     ["Purple light off, white light on."
        
        ["He seats" SOR. GEMINI "upon his Throne. She plays her babemusic. <<Nocturne: G. Boyle.>>"}
        FR. GEMINI. The will of the Gods be accomplished!
        						       ["All depart."
        

        {108}

        			       THE RITE	OF LUNA
        
        				   OFFICERS
        
             LUNA.  "Silver Robe and Veil.  Violin.  Artemis.  The Lady	of the Moon."
             CANCER.  "Amber Robe.  Cup.  Warden of the	Holy Graal."
             TAURUS.  "Orange Robe.  Bow and Quiver.  The Lord of the Bow."
             A NYMPH.  "White robe.  The Head of the Dragon."
             A SATYR.  "Black Robe.  The Tail of the Dragon."
             PAN.  "Black Robe,	Tom-tom."
        

        "In the East Luna is throned, Cancer on her right, Taurus on her left. Beyond these the Satyr and the Nymph. At the apex of a descending Triangle, upon the earth, Pan."

        {111}

        			       THE RITE	OF LUNA
        

        "One reciteth "The Twelvefold Certitude of God," from" 963

        			    "The veil is withdrawn."
        
        CANCER. 333-333-333. TAURUS. 333-333-333. CANCER. 1. Brother Taurus, what is the hour? TAURUS. Moonrise.
        CANCER. 1. Brother Taurus, what is the place? TAURUS. The Chapel of the Holy Graal. CANCER. 1. What is my office?
        TAURUS. Warden of the Graal.
        CANCER. 1. What is my robe?
        TAURUS. Chastity.
        CANCER. 1. What is my weapon?
        TAURUS. Vigilance.
        CANCER. 1. Whom do we serve?
        TAURUS. The Lady Artemis.
        CANCER. 1. How many are her servants? TAURUS. Nine.
        CANCER. 1. Who are they?
        TAURUS. Three for the dew; three for the rain; and three for the snow. CANCER. 1. Who are the great Officers? {113} TAURUS. Thyself, the Warden of the Holy Graal. Myself, the Lord of the Bow.
        A nymph, a satyr ---
        PAN. 1. And Pan!
        CANCER. Brother Pan, I command thee to honour our Lady Artemis. TAURUS. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333.
        		      [PAN" recites chorus from	Swinburne's "Atalanta."
        
        	       When the	hounds of spring are on	winter's traces	...
        	       The wolf	that follows, the fawn that flies.
        

        TAURUS. The Goddess stirs not.
        CANCER. Silence is the secret of our Lady Artemis. PAN. Hath no man lifted her veil?
        CANCER. No man hath lifted her veil. TAURUS. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333. It is the hour of sealing up the shrine. TAURUS. Let us banish the spirits of the elements. ["Performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and returns."] Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333. Let us banish the spirits of the planets. ["Performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram and returns."] CANCER. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        PAN. 333-333-333. Let us banish the holy Emanations from the One, lest our Lady's sleep be stirred. ["He banishes the Sephiroth by the appointed Ritual." {114} Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333. Brother Taurus, the shrine is well guarded. TAURUS. The shrine is perfectly guarded. SATYR. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333. PAN.

        	       Hear me,	Lord of	the Stars!
        
        For thee I have worshipped ever
        	       With stains and sorrows and scars,
        
        With joyful, joyful endeavour.
        	       Hear me,	O lily-white goat!
        
        O crisp as a thicket of Thorns,
        	       With a collar of	gold for Thy throat,
        
        A scarlet bow for Thy horns!
        	       Here, in	the dusty air,
        
        I build Thee a shrine of yew.
        	       All green is the	garland	I wear,
        
        But I feed it with blood for dew!
        	       After the orange	bars
        
        That ribbed the green west dying
        	       Are dead, O Lord	of the Stars,
        
        I come to Thee, come to Thee crying.
        	       The ambrosial moon that arose
        
        With breasts slow heaving in splendour
        	       Drops wine from her infinite snows,
        
        Ineffably, utterly, tender.
        	       O moon! ambrosial moon!
        
        Arise on my desert of sorrow,
        	       That the	magical	eyes of	me swoon
        
        With lust of rain to-morrow!
        	       Ages and	ages ago
        
        I stood on the bank of a river,
        	       Holy and	holy and holy, I know,
        
        For ever and ever and ever! {115}
        	       A priest	in the mystical	shrine,
        
        I muttered a redeless rune,
        	       Till the	waters were redder than	wine
        
        In the blush of the harlot moon.
        	       I and my	brother	priests
        
        Worshipped a wonderful woman
        	       With a body lithe as a beast's
        
        Subtly, horribly human.
        	       Deep in the pit of her eyes
        
        I saw the image of death,
        	       And I drew the water of sighs
        
        From the well of her lullaby breath.
        	       She sitteth veiled for ever,
        
        Brooding over the waste.
        	       She hath	stirred	or spoken never.
        
        She is fiercely, manly chaste!
        	       What madness make me awake
        
        From the silence of utmost eld
        	       The grey	cold slime of the snake
        
        That her poisonous body held?
        	       By night	I ravished a maid
        
        From her father's camp to the cave.
        	       I bared the beautiful blade:
        
        I dipped her thrice i' the wave;
        	       I slit her throat as a lamb's
        
        That the fount of blood leapt high
        	       With my clamorous dithyrambs,
        
        Like a stain on the shield of the sky.
        	       With blood and censer and song
        
        I rent the mysterious veil:
        	       My eyes gaze long and long
        
        On the deep of that blissful bale.
        	       My cold grey kisses awake
        
        From the silence of utmost eld
        	       The grey	cold slime of the snake
        
        That her beautiful body held. {116}
        	       But --- God!  I was not content
        
        With the blasphemous secret of years;
        	       The veil	is hardly rent
        
        While the eyes rain stones for tears.
        	       So I clung to the lips and laughed
        
        As the storms of death abated,
        	       The storms of the grievious graft
        
        By the swing of her soul unsated.
        	       Wherefore reborn	as I am
        
        By a stream profane and foul,
        	       In the reign of a Tortured Lamb,
        
        In the realm of a sexless Owl,
        	       I am set	apart from the rest
        
        By meed of the mystic rune
        	       That reads in peril and pest
        
        The ambrosial moon --- the moon!
        	       For under the tawny star
        
        That shines in the Bull above
        	       I can rein the riotous car
        
        Of galloping, galloping Love;
        	       And straight to the steady ray
        
        Of the Lion-heart Lord I career,
        	       Pointing	my flaming way
        
        With the spasm of night for a spear!
        	       O moon!	O secret sweet!
        
        Chalcedony clouds of caresses
        	       About the flame of our feet,
        
        The night of our terrible tresses!
        	       Is it a wonder, then,
        
        If the people are mad with blindness,
        	       And nothing is stranger to men
        
        Than silence, and wisdom, and kindness?
        	       Nay! let	him fashion an arrow
        
        Whose heart is sober and stout!
        	       Let him pierce his God to the marrow!
        
        Let the soul of his God flow out! {117}
        	       Whether a snake or a sun
        
        In his horoscope Heaven hath cast,
        	       It is nothing; every one
        
        Shall win to the moon at last.
        	       The mage	has wrought by his art
        
        A billion shapes in the sun.
        	       Look through to the heart of his	heart,
        
        And the many are shapes of one!
        	       An end to the art of the	mage,
        
        And the cold grey blank of the prison!
        	       An end to the adamant age!
        
        The ambrosial moon is arisen.
        	       I have bought a lily-white goat
        
        For the price of a crown of thorns,
        	       A collar	of gold	for its	throat,
        
        A scarlet bow for its horns;
        	       I have bought a lark in the lift
        
        For the price of a butt of sherry:
        	       With these, and God for a gift,
        
        It needs no wine to be merry!
        	       I have bought for a wafer of bread
        
        A garden of poppies and clover;
        	       For a water bitter and dead,
        
        A foam of fire flowing over.
        	       From the	Lamb and his prison fare
        
        And the Owl's blind stupor, arise!
        	       Be ye wise, and strong, and fair,
        
        And the nectar afloat in your eyes!
        	       Arise, O	ambrosial moon,
        
        By the strong immemorial spell,
        	       By the subtle veridical rune
        
        That is mighty in heaven and hell!
        	       Drip thy	mystical dews
        
        On the tongues of the tender fauns,
        	       In the shade of initiate	yews,
        
        Remote from the desert dawns! {118}
        	       Satyrs and Fauns, I call.
        
        Bring your beauty to man!
        	       I am the	mate for ye all;
        
        I am the passionate Pan.
        	       Come, O come to the dance,
        
        Leaping with wonderful whips,
        	       Life on the stroke of a glance,
        
        Death in the stroke of the lips!
        	       I am hidden beyond,
        
        Shed in a secret sinew,
        	       Smitten through by the fond
        
        Folly of wisdom in you!
        	       Come, while the moon (the moon!)
        
        Sheds her ambrosial splendour,
        	       Reels in	the redeless rune
        
        Ineffably, utterly, tender!
        	       Hark! the appealing cry
        
        Of deadly hurt in the hollow: ---
        	       Hyacinth!  Hyacinth!  Ay!
        
        Smitten to death by Apollo.
        	       Swift, O	maiden moon,
        
        Send thy ray-dews after;
        	       Turn the	dolorous tune
        
        To soft ambiguous laughter!
        	       Mourn, O	Maenads, mourn!
        
        Surely your comfort is over:
        	       All we laugh at you lorn.
        
        Ours are the poppies and clover!
        	       O that mouth and	eyes,
        
        Mischievous, male, alluring!
        	       O that twitch of	the thighs,
        
        Dorian past enduring!
        	       Where is	wisdom now!
        
        Where the sage and his doubt?
        	       Surely the sweat	of the brow
        
        Hath driven the demon out. {119}
        	       Surely the scented sleep
        
        That crowns the equal war
        	       Is wiser	than only to weep ---
        
        To weep for evermore!
        	       Now, at the crown of the	year,
        
        The decadent days of October,
        	       I come to thee, God, without fear;
        
        Pious, chaste, and sober.
        	       I solemnly sacrifice
        
        This first-fruit flower of wine
        	       For a vehicle of	thy vice,
        
        As I am Thine to be mine.
        	       For five	in the year gone by
        
        I pray thee give to me one;
        	       A lover stronger	than I,
        
        A moon to swallow the sun!
        	       May he be like a	lily-white goat,
        
        Crisp as a thicket of thorns,
        	       With a collar of	gold for this throat,
        
        A scarlet bow for his horns!

        CANCER. May our Lady Artemis be favourable! TAURUS. May our Lady Artemis never be awakened! [NYMPH "comes forward and dances her virginal dance." PAN. Of what worth is the gold in the mine? CANCER. Brother Pan, be silent.
        NYMPH. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333.

           PAN.							["Recites."
        
        Mother of Light, and the Gods! Mother of Music awake! Silence and Speech are at odds; Heaven and Hell are at stake. By the Rose and the Cross I conjure; I constrain by the Snake and the
              Sword;
        
        I am he that is sworn to endure --- Bring us the word of the Lord!

        By the brood of the Bysses of Brightening, whose God was my sire; By the Lord of the Flame and the Lightning, the King of the Spirits of Fire;

             {120}
        
        By the Lord of the Waves and the Waters, the King of the Hosts of the Sea, The fairest of all of whose daughters was mother to me;

        By the Lord of the Winds and the Breezes, the King of the Spirits of Air, In whose bosom the infinite ease is that cradled me there; By the Lord of the Fields and the Mountains, the King of the Spirits of Earth That nurtured my life at his fountains from the hour of my birth;

        By the Wand and the Cup I conjure; by the Dagger and Disk I constrain; I am he that is sworn to endure; make thy music again! I am Lord of the Star and the Seal; I am Lord of the Snake and the Sword; Reveal us the riddle, reveal! Bring us the word of the Lord;

        As the flame of the sun, as the roar of the sea, as the storm of the air, As the quake of the earth --- let it soar for a boon, for a bane, for a snare, For a lure, for a light, for a kiss, for a rod, for a scourge, for a sword --- Bring us thy burden of bliss --- Bring us the word of the Lord!

        TAURUS. In vain thou askest speech from our Lady of Silence: CANCER. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        PAN. 333-333-333.

        							["Recites."
        
        Roll through the caverns of matter, the world's irremovable bounds! Roll, ye wild billows of ether! the Sistron is shaken and sounds! Wild and sonorous the clamour, vast in the region of death. Live with the fire of the Spirit, the essence and flame of the breath!
        		   Sound, O sound!
        

        Gleam in the world of the dark, where the chained ones shall tremble and flee! Gleam in the skies of the dusk, for the Light of the Dawn is in me! Light on the forehead and life in the nostrils, and love in the breast, Shine, O Thou Star of the Dawning, thou Sun of the Radiant Crest!

        		   Shine, O shine!
        

        Flame through the sky in the strength of the chariot-wheels of the Sun! Flame, ye young fingers of light, on the west of the morning that run! {121} Flame, O thou Meteor Car, for my fire is exalted in thee! Lighten the darkness and herald the daylight, and waken the sea!

        		   Flame, O flame!
        

        Crown Her, O crown Her with stars as with flowers for a virginal gaud! Crown Her, O crown Her with Light and the flame of the down-rushing Sword! Crown Her, O crown Her with Love for maiden and mother and wife! Hail unto Isis! Hail! For She is the Lady of Life!

        		   Isis	crowned!
        

        CANCER. In vain thou invokest our Lady of the Moon! TAURUS. Bear the Cup of Libation!
        CANCER. 333-333-333. PAN.

        	       Must every star that saves the night
        
        Gleam fearfully afar,
        	       Give no man love, but only light,
        
        Or cease to be a star?
        	       Nay, there's no man since time began
        
        Through the ages until now,
        	       But won the goal	of his set soul,
        
        A star upon his brow!
        	       Oh! though no star serene as thou
        
        Shine in my night forlorn,
        	       Come, let me set	thee on	my brow,
        
        And make its darkness morn!

        PAN. ["Rises."] Brother Satyr, scourge forth these that profane the sanctuary of our Lady: for they know not the secret of the shrine. [SATYR "dances the dance of the scourge, driving the officers down the stage, where they crouch."]
        PAN. ["Goes to altar."] Brother Satyr, I command you to perform the dance of Syrinx and Pan, in honour of our Lady Artemis. {122} SATYR. And in thine honour!
        ["He dances the dance and falls prostrate in the midst."

        PAN. ["Advancing to the Throne of Luna."]

        	       Uncharmable charmer
        
        Of Bacchus and Mars,
        	       In the sounding rebounding
        
        Abyss of the stars!
        	       O virgin	in armour,
        
        Thine arrows unsling
        	       In the brilliant	resilient
        
        First rays of the spring!
        	       By the force of the fashion
        
        Of love, when I broke
        	       Through the shroud, through the cloud,
        
        Through the storm, through the smoke,
        	       To the mountain of passion
        
        Volcanic that woke ---
        	       By the rage of the mage
        
        I invoke, I invoke!
        	       By the midnight of madness,
        
        The lone-lying sea,
        	       The swoon of the	moon,
        
        Your swoon into me;
        	       The sentinel sadness
        
        Of cliff-clinging pine,
        	       That night of delight
        
        You were mine, you were mine!
        	       Your were mine, O my saint,
        
        My maiden, my mate,
        	       By the might of the right
        
        Of the night of our fate.
        	       Though I	fall, though I faint,
        
        Though I char, though I choke,
        	       By the hour of our power
        
        I invoke, I invoke! {123}
        	       By the mystical union
        
        Of fairy and faun,
        	       Unspoken, unbroken ---
        
        The dusk to the dawn! ---
        	       A secret	communion,
        
        Unmeasured, unsung,
        	       The listless, resistless,
        
        Tumultuous tongue! ---
        	       O virgin	in armour
        
        Thine arrows unsling,
        	       In the brilliant	resilient
        
        First rays of the sprint!
        	       No Godhead could	charm her,
        
        But manhood awoke ---
        	       O fiery Valkyrie,
        
        I invoke, I invoke!
        						["He tears down	the veil."
        
        [LUNA "plays accordingly.<<Chaccone; Bach.>>"
        						       ["A long	silence."
        
        CANCER. 333-333-333. TAURUS. 1. Brother Warden of the Graal, our task is ended. CANCER. Let us depart, it is accomplished.

        {124}

        				 KONX OM PAX
        
        THE MOST REMARKABLE TREATISE ON THE MYSTIC PATH EVER WRITTEN

        Contains an Introduction and Four Essays; the first an account of the progress of the soul to perfect illumination, under the guise of a charming fairy tale; The second, an Essay on Truth, under the guise of a Christmas pantomime; The third, an Essay on Magical Ethics, under the guise of the story of a Chinese philosopher; The fourth, a Treatise on many Magical Subjects of the profoundest importance, under the guise of a symposium, interspersed with beautiful lyrics. No serious student can afford to be without this delightful volume. The second edition is printed on hand-made paper, and bound in white buckram, with cover-design in gold.

        		       PRICE TEN SHILLINGS
        
        WALTER SCOTT PUBLISHING CO. LTD., and through "THE EQUINOX"
        			     Some Press	Opinions
        

        Dr. M. D. EDER in "The New Age"
        "Yours also is the Reincarnation and the Life, O laughing lion that is to be! "Here you have distilled for our delight the inner spirit of the Tulip's form, the sweet secret mystery of the Rose's perfume: you have set them free from all that is material whilst preserving all that is sensual. 'So also the old mystics were right who saw in every phenomenon a dog-faced demon apt only to seduce the soul from the sacred mystery.' Yes, but the phenomenon shall it not be as another sacred mystery; the force of attraction still to be interpreted in terms of God and the Psyche? We shall reward you by befoulment, by cant, by misunderstanding, and by understanding. This to you who wear the Phrygian cap, not as symbol of Liberty, O ribald ones, but of sacrifice and victory, of Inmost Enlightenment, of the soul's deliverance from the fetters of the very soul itself --- fear not; you are not 'replacing truth of thought by mere expertness of mechanical skill.' "You who hold more skill and more power than your great English predecessor, Robertus de Fluctibus, you have not feared to reveal 'the Arcana which are in the Adytum of God-nourished Silence' to those who, abandoning nothing, will sail in the company of the Brethren of the Rosy Cross towards the Limbus, that outer, unknown world encircling so many a universe." "John Bull," in the course of a long review by Mr. HERBERT VIVIAN "The author is evidently that rare combination of genius, a humorist and a philosopher. For pages he will bewilder the mind with abstruse esoteric pronouncements, and then, all of a sudden, he will reduce his readers to hysterics with some surprisingly quaint conceit. I was unlucky to begin reading him at breakfast and I was moved to so much laughter that I watered my bread with my tears and barely escaped a convulsion." "The Times" "The Light wherein he writes is the L.V.X., of that which, first mastering and then transcending the reason, illumines all the darkness cause by the interference of the opposite waves of thought. ... It is one of the most suggestive definitions of KONX --- the LVX of the Brethren of the Rosy Cross --- that it transcends all the possible pairs of opposites. Nor does this sound nonsensical to those who are acquainted with that LVX. But to those who do not it must remain as obscure and ridiculous as spherical trigonometry to the inhabitants of Flatland." "The Literary Guide"
        "He is a lofty idealist. He sings like a lark at the gates of heaven. 'Konx Om Pax' is the apotheosis of extravagance, the last word in eccentricity. A prettily told fairy-story 'for babes and sucklings' has 'explanatory notes in Hebrew and Latin for the wise and prudent' --- which notes, as far as we can see, explain nothing --- together with a weird preface in scraps of twelve or fifteen languages. The best poetry in the book is contained in the last section --- 'The Stone of the Philosophers.' Here is some fine work."

        				  OCCULTISM
        

        To the readers of "THE EQUINOX." --- All who are interested in "curious old" Literature should write to FRANK HOLLINGS for his Catalogue of over 1000 items. Sent post free on receipt of name and address, and all future issues. A few selected items below.

        THE BOOK OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC, including the Rites and Mysteries of Goetic Theurgy, Sorcery, and Infernal Necromancy. In Two Parts. I. An Analytical and Critical Account of the chief MAGICAL RITUALS extant. II. A Complete GRIMOIRE of Black Magic. By ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE.

              The two chief sections are subdivided as follows:	("a") Studies on the
        
        Antiquity of Magical Rituals; ["b") The Ritual of Transcendental Magic, socalled; ("c") Composite Rituals; ("d") The Rituals of Black Magic; ("e") The descending Hierarchy of Spirits; ("f") The Lesser Key of Solomon the King; ("g") The Mystery of the "Sanctum Regnum"; ("h") The Rite of "Lucifuge"; ("i") The Method of Honorius, etc., etc., etc.
              The main objects of the work are:	(1) To determine the connection, if
        
        any, between the literature of CEREMONIAL MAGIC AND THE SECRET TRADITION IN CHRISTIAN TIMES; (2) To show the fantastic nature of the distinction between White and Black Magic, so far, at least, as the texts are concerned.
              The work is issued in crown 4to, and includes about 180 engravings, some
        
        of which are full-page plates.
              Price 15"s. net."	 Post free.  Handsomely	bound.
        
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        WAITE (A. E.). The Secret Tradition in Freemasonry, and an Analysis of the Inter-Relation between the Craft and the High Degrees, in respect of their term of Research, expressed by the way of Symbolism, 2 vols. large 8vo, "with" 26 "full-page Portraits, and other illustrations, cloth extra

           t.e.g."						       42"s."
              Book I. Fundamental Relations of the Craft and the High Grades.  II.
        
        Development of the High Grades in respect of the Ancient Alliance. III. Of the New Alliance in Freemasonry. IV. The Masonic Orders of Chivalry. V. Of Alchemy in Masonry. VI. Of Magical and Kabalistical Degrees. VII. Of the Mysteries on their Mystical Side, and of this Subject in its relation to Masonry.

        THE KABBALAH UNVEILED, containing the following Books of the Zohar: (1) The Book of Concealed Mystery; (2) The Greater Holy Assembly; (3) The Lesser Holy Assembly; translated into English from the Latin Version of Knorr von Rosenroth, and collated with the original Chaldee and Hebrew text, by S. L. MACGREGOR-MATHERS. New and cheaper edition, demy 8vo.

              The Bible, which has been	probably more misconstrued than	any other book
        
        ever written, contains numberless obscure and mysterious passages which are utterly unintelligible without some key wherewith to unlock their meaning. "That key is given in the Kabbalah."

        ISIS UNVEILED: A Master Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology. By H. P. BLAVATSHY. In two volumes. Vol. I. Science, pp. xiv., 628. Vol. II. Theology, pp. iv., 640 and Index 52.

        						       "Pounds"1, 1"s. net."
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              Vol. II. --- I. The Church; Where	is it? --- II. Christian Crimes	and
        
        Heathen Virtues --- III. Divisions amongst the Early Christians --- IV. Oriental Cosmogonies and Bible-Records --- V. Mysteries of the Kabala --- VI. Esoteric Doctrines of Buddhism Parodied in Christianity --- VII. Early Christian Heresies and Secret Societies --- VIII. Jesuitry and Masonry --- IX. The Vedas an the Bible --- X. The Devil Myth --- XI. Comparative Results of Buddhism and Christianity --- XII. Conclusions and Illustrations.

        TRANSCENDENTAL MAGIC: Its Doctrine and Ritual. By ELIPHAS LEVI (a complete Translation of "Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie"), with a Biographical Preface by ARTHUR E. WAITE, author of "Devil Worship in France," etc., etc. "Portrait of the Author, and all the original engravings." 8vo, 406 pp.

           "cloth" 1896.  (Pub.	15"s.").  Postage Free.		       10"s." 6"d."
              The Pillars of the Temple, Triangle of Solomon, The Tetragram, The
        
        Pentagram, Magical Equilibrium, The Fiery Sword, Realsation, Initiation, The Kabbalah, The Magic Chain, Necromancy, Transmutations, Black Magic, Bewitchments, Astrology, Charms and Philtres, The Stone of the Philosophers, The Universal Medicine, Divination, The Triangle of Pantacles, The Conjuration of the Four, The Blazing Pentagram, Medium and Mediator, The Septenary of Talismans, A Warning to the Imprudent, The Ceremonial of Initiates, The Key of Occultism, The Sabbath of the Sorcerers, Witchcraft and Spells, The Writing of the Stars, Philtres and Magnetism, The Mastery of the Sun, The Thaumaturge, The Science of the Prophets, The Book of Hermes, etc.

        BOOK OF THE SACRED MAGIC (The) OF ABRA-MELIN THE MAGE, as delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his Son Lamech, A.D. 1458. Translated from the Original Hebrew into French, and now rendered into English. From a unique and valuable MS. in the "Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal" at Paris; with copious Notes and Magical Squares of Letters. By L. S. MACGREGOR-MATHERS. 4"to, black cloth, Magical Square on side in gold." 1900. (Pub. at 21"s.").,

           Postage free.					 10"s."	6"p."
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              Portion of Contents: --- Ever-burning Lamps; the Hermetic	Philosophers;
        
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        REAL HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS, founded on their own Manifestoes, and on Facts and Documents collected from the Writings of Initiated Brethren, by ARTHUR E. WAITE, "illustrated," 8vo, "cloth, uncut," 1887 (pub. 7"s." 6"d.")

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              This work	fulfils	a purpose quite	distinct from that of "Transcendental
        
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        NOSTRODAMUS. --- The True Prophecies and Prognostications of Michael Nostrodamus, Physician to Henry II., Francis II., and Charles IX., Kings of France, and one of the best Astronomers that ever were; a Work full of Curiosity and Learning, Translated and commented by THEOPHILUS GARIENCERES, M.D. Folio, "fine portrait frontispiece by Dolle, orig. calf, fine sound

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        THE KEY OF SOLOMON THE KING (Clavicula Salomonis), translated and edited from Ancient MSS. in the British Museum, by S. LIDDELL MACGREGOR-MATHERS, author of "The Kabbalah Unveiled," "The Tarot." etc., "with plates," crown 4to,

           "cloth."						 21"s. net."
              The Key of Solomon gives full, clear, and	concise	instructions for
        
        Talismanic and Ceremonial Magic, as well as for performing various Evocations; and it is therefore invaluable to any student who wishes to make himself acquainted with the practical part of Occultism.
              Besides Seals, Sigils, and Magical Diagrams, nearly 50 Pantacles or
        
        Talismans are given in the plates.
              Among other authors both Eliphas Levi and	Christian mention the "Key of
        
        Solomon" as a work of high authority, and the former especially refers to it repeatedly.

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        GOETIA vel Clavicula SALOMONIS REGIS

        		    (The Lesser	Key of Solomon the King.)
        

        The best, simplest, most intelligible and most effective

        			      treatise extant on
        
        			       CEREMONIAL MAGIC
        

        Careful and complete instruction; ample illustration; beautiful production. This books is very much easier both to understand and to operate than the so- called "Greater" Key of Solomon.


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        				  BOOK
        				  777
        
        THIS book contains in concise tabulated form a comparative view of all the symbols of the great religions of the world; the perfect attributions of the Taro, so long kept secret by the Rosicrucians, are now for the first time published; also the complete secret magical correspondences of the G.'. D.'. and R. R. et A. C. It forms, in short, a complete magical and philosophical dictionary; a key to all religions and to all practical occult working. For the first time Western and Qabalistic symbols have been harmonized with those of Hinduism, Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Taoism, etc. By a glance at Tables, anybody conversant with any one system can understand perfectly all others.

        The "Occult Review" says:

        "Despite its cumbrous sub-title and high price per page, this work has only to come under the notice of the right people to be sure of a ready sale. In its author's words, it represents 'an attempt to systematise alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion,' and so far as any book can succeed in such an attempt, this book does succeed; that is to say, it condenses in some sixty pages as much information as many an intelligent reader at the Museum has been able to collect in years. The book proper consists of a Table of 'Correspondences,' and is, in fact, an attempt to reduce to a common denominator the symbolism of as many religious and magical systems as the author is acquainted with. The denominator chosen is necessarily a large one, as the author's object is to reconcile systems which divide all things into 3, 7, 10, 12, as the case may be. Since our expression 'common denominator' is used in a figurative and not in a strictly mathematical sense, the task is less complex than appears at first sight, and the 32 Paths of the Sepher Yetzirah, or Book of Formation of the Qabalah, provide a convenient scale. These 32 Paths are attributed by the Qabalists to the 10 Sephiroth, or Emanations of Deity, and to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are again subdivided into 3 mother letters, 7 double letters, and 12 simple letters. On this basis, that of the Qabalistic 'Tree of Life,' as a certain arrangement of the Sephiroth and 22 remaining Paths connecting them is termed, the author has constructed no less than 183 tables. "The Qabalistic information is very full, and there are tables of Egyptian and Hindu deities, as well as of colours, perfumes, plants, stones, and animals. The information concerning the tarot and geomancy exceeds that to be found in some treatises devoted exclusively to those subjects. The author appears to be acquainted with Chinese, Arabic, and other classic texts. Here your reviewer is unable to follow him, but his Hebrew does credit alike to him and to his printer. Among several hundred words, mostly proper names, we found and marked a few misprints, but subsequently discovered each one of them in a printed table of errata, which we had overlooked. When one remembers the misprints in 'Agrippa' and the fact that the ordinary Hebrew compositor and reader is no more fitted for this task than a boy cognisant of no more than the shapes of the Hebrew letters, one wonders how many proofs there were and what the printer's bill was. A knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet and the Qabalistic Tree of Life is all that is needed to lay open to the reader the enormous mass of information contained in this book. The 'Alphabet of Mysticism,' as the author says --- several alphabets we should prefer to say --- is here. Much that has been jealously and foolishly kept secret in the past is here, but though our author has secured for his work the "imprimatur" of some body with the mysterious title of the A.'. A.'., and though he remains himself anonymous, he appears to be no mystery-monger. Obviously he is widely read, but he makes no pretence that he has secrets to reveal. On the contrary, he says, 'an indicible arcanum is an arcanum which "cannot" be revealed.' The writer of that sentence has learned at least one fact not to be learned from books.

        						       "G.C.J."
        
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        	   10. ADEPTUS EXEMPTUS	   .	 .     .    .	 .    .	   10 0	0
        	   11. MAGISTER	TEMPLI	   .	 .     .    .	 .    .	   50 0	0
        

        The Probationer's robe is fitted for performance of all general invocations and especially for the I. of the H. G. A.; a white and gold nemmes may be worn. These robes may also be worn by Assistant Magi in all composite rituals of the White. The Neophyte's robe is fitted for all elemental operations. A black and gold nemmes may be worn. Assistant Magi may wear these in all composite rituals of the Black. The Zelator's robe is fitted for all rituals involving I O, and for the infernal rites of Luna. In the former case an Uraeus crown and purple nemmes, in the latter a silver nemmes should be worn. The Practicus' robe is fitted for all rituals involving I I, and for the rites of Mercury. In the former case an Uraeus crown and green nemmes, in the latter a nemyss of shot silk, should be worn. The Philosophus' robe is fitted for all rituals involving O O, and for the rites of Venus. In the former case an Uraeus crown and azure nemmes, in the latter a green nemmes, should be worn. The Dominus Liminis' robe is fitted for the infernal rites of Sol, which must never be celebrated. The Adeptus Minor's robe is fitted for the rituals of Sol. A golden nemmes may be worn. The Adeptus' robe is fitted for the particular workings of the Adeptus, and for the Postulant at the First Gate of the City of the Pyramids. The Adeptus Major's Robe is fitted for the Chief Magus in all Rituals and Evocations of the Inferiors, for the performance of the rites of Mars, and for the Postulant at the Second Gate of the City of the Pyramids. The Adeptus Exemptus' robe is fitted for the Chief Magus in all Rituals and Invocations of the Superiors, for the performance of the rites of Jupiter, and for the Postulant at the Third Gate of the City of the Pyramids. The Babe of the Abyss has no robe.
        For the performance of the rites of Saturn, the Magician may wear a black robe, close-cut, with narrow sleeves, trimmed with white, and the Seal and Square of Saturn marked on breast and back. A conical black cap embroidered with the Sigils of Saturn should be worn. The Magister Templi Robe is fitted for the great Meditations, for the supernal rites of Luna, and for those rites of Babylon and the Graal. But this robe should be worn by no man, because of that which is written: "Ecclesia abhorret a sanguine."


               "Any of these robes may be worn by a person of whatever grade on"
        
        "appropriate occasions."

        George Raffalovich's new works


        			    THE	HISTORY	OF A SOUL.
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        A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES.
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        THE WHIRLPOOL
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        			    A DEDICATORY SONNET	BY
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        			      AN INTRODUCTION BY
        			      ALEISTER CROWLEY.
        

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        MR. GEORGE RAFFLOVICH'S charming volume of Essays and Sketches entitled ON THE LOOSE:

        		   PLANETARY JOURNEYS AND EARTHLY SKETCHES.
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        			     "Crown" 8"vo.  Pp." 164.
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        			      A. CROWLEY'S WORKS
        

        The volumes here listed are all of definite occult and mystical interest and importance. "The Trade may obtain them from"
        "The Equinox," 3 Great James Street, W.C. Tel.: City 8987; and Messrs. Simpklin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 23 Paternoster Row, E.C.
        "The Public may obtain them from"
        "The Equinox," 3 Great James Street, W.C. Mr. Elkin Matthews, Vigo Street, W.
        The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Paternoster Square, E.C. Mr. F. Hollings, Great Turnstile, Holborn. And through all Booksellers.
        ACELDAMA. Crown 8vo, 29 pp., " Pounds"2 2"s." net. Of this rare pamplet less than 10 copies remain. It is Mr. Crowley's earliest and in some ways most striking mystical work.
        JEPHTHAH AND OTHER MYSTERIES, LYRICAL AND DRAMATIC. Demy 8vo, boards, pp. xxii. + 223, 7"s." 6"d." net.
        SONGS OF THE SPIRIT. Pp. x. + 109. A new edition. 3"s." 6"d." net. These two volumes breathe the pure semi-conscious aspiration of the soul, and express the first glimmerings of the light. THE SOUL OF OSIRIS. Medium 8vo, pp. ix. + 129, 5"s." net. A collection of lyrics, illustrating the progress of the soul from corporeal to celestial beatitude.
        TANNHAUSER. Demy 4to, pp. 142, 15"s." net. The progress of the soul in dramatic form. BERASHITH. 4to, china paper, pp. 24, 5"s." net. Only a few copies remain. An illuminating essay on the universe, reconciling the conflicting systems of religion.
        THE GOD-EATER. Crown 4to, pp. 32, 2"s." 6"d." net. A striking dramatic study of the origin of religions. THE SWORD OF SONG. Post 4to, pp. ix + 194, printed in red and black, decorative wrapper, 20"s." net.
        This is the author's first most brilliant attempt to base the truths of mysticism on the truths of scepticism. It contains also an enlarged amended edition of "Berashith," and an Essay showing the striking parallels and identities between the doctrines of Modern Science and those of Buddhism. GARGOYLES. Pott 8vo, pp. vi. + 113, 5"s." net. ORACLES. Demy 8vo, pp. viii. + 176, 5"s." net. Some of Mr. Crowley's finest mystical lyrics are in these collections. KNOX OM PAX. See advt.
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        				  HAIL MARY!
        
        				      BY
        
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