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 Marsand of Mercury
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 theserites 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-
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 FRIENDCOMMANDER G. M. MARSTON, R.N.
to whose suggestion these rites are duethey 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.
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."]
MAGISTER TEMPLI. Silence! ["A pause."MAGISTER TEMPLI. 1. AQUARIUS. 1.
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. 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."
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 quailAnd perish in your perishing unblest.
And I have searched the heights and depths, the scope Of all our universe, with desperate hopeTo 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 afreshIn earth, air, water, plants, and other men.
We finish thus; and all our wretched race Shall finish with its cycle, and give placeTo other beings, with their own time-doom
Infinite aeons are our kind began; Infinite aeons after the last manHas joined the mammoth in earth's tomb and womb.
We bow down to the universal laws, Which never had for man a special clauseOf 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 sparkFor 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."
[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.
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 IICENTRUM 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.
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!
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 uncoverTheir warm involving deep ---
And lover lies with loverOn 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,
Away the days dementedWith lips that curled and clung. {29}
Ah! sweeter still October,When russet leaves go grey,
And sombre lovers and soberMake twilight of the day.
Dark dreams and shadows tenserThrob through the vital scroll,
Lift, shake the subtle censerThat hides the cruel coal!
Still sweeter when the BowmanHis silky shaft of frost
Lets loose on earth, that no manMay linger nor be lost.
The barren woods, deserted.Lose echo of our sighs ---
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: ---
The snake starts up and hissesAnd 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 armourTo 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 seeingBe 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 soulOf man to loftier height,
And kindle at a livelier coalThe subtler soul of light.
From these soft splendours of a dream I turn, and seek the Self supreme.
This world is shadow-shapen ofThe 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 curledIn wisdom's sacred cold.
Life is the flaming of that flame. Death is the naming of that name,
The forehead of the snake is brightWith one immortal star,
Lighting her coils with living lightTo where the nenuphar
Sleeps for her couch. All darkness dreams The thing that is not, only seems.
That star upon the serpent's headIs called the soul of man.
That light in shadows subtly shedThe glamour of life's plan. {32}
The sea whereon that lotus grows Is thought's abyss of tears and woes.
Leave Sirenusa! Even GreeceForget! 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 seaAnd snake no longer are,
And single through EternityExists 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.
["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;
Blessed is her happy lotWho beholdeth God; who moves
Mighty-souled without a spot, Mingling in the godly routOf the many mystic loves.
Holy maidens, duly weaveDances for the mighty mother
Bacchanal to Bacchus cleave! Wave his narthex wand, and leaveEarthly Joys to earth to smother!
Io! Evoe! Sisters, mingleIn 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 voicesIn 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 togetherWith 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. DistantSounds 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.
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!
AUTONOE. So the sooner supAmong 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 landLies thirsty for our kisses.
MAENADS. All wild thingsYearn 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 nowAnd 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 wingsOf 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 theeBe 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 claimTo feel the immortal fire had then the Theban dame! {37}
Caught in that fiery wave, Her love and life she gaveWith 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 melancholyDidst hide, didst feed, on light, ambrosia, and moly.
Ay! and with serpent hair And limbs divinely fairDidst 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 foundA chariot crowned
IST MAENAD. Here am I.2ND MAENAD. And I! We are ready.
[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 bloodEach 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 barThat 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.
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").
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!
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:"
My head is split. The crashing axeOf 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 admitFutility the lord of will.
Life was an episode for me. As for the meanest monad, knitTo 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"].
Which bars the pit over Destructions's strength;And if, with infirm hand, Eternity,
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.
of our Lord in the great Battle!Hail unto Thee, our Lady of Tumult!
battle, upon thy chariot!Hail unto Thee, as unto thy Lord!
["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 towerStalwart 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!
Unity uttermost showed,I adore the might of thy breath,
Supreme and terrible GodWho 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 lightIs on thee, seated in the prow
Of the Sun's bark, enthroned above With lapis-lazuli for loveAnd ruby for enormous force
Chosen to seat thee, thee girt round With leopard's pell, and golden soundOf 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 ITo-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 createThe 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 pinnacledThat 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 brimWherein all stars and suns may dance.
I am the beautiful and glad,Rejoicing in the golden day.
I am the spirit silken-cladThat 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 hornsOf 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
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 illHast 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 heThat 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 renewHer winter weeds outworn;
Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam, Like wrecks of a dissolving dream.
A brighter Hellas rears its mountainsFrom waves serener far;
A new Peneus rolls his fountainsAgainst 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 joyWhich 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 reposeShall 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 urnOf 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.
{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 yearsThere came to the making of man ... etc.
... His life is a watch or a visionBetween a sleep and a sleep.
["Returns. A pause."ARIES. 333-333.
ARIES. It is hidden from me. ["Silence."SOL. 1-22-22-1.
["They draw the veil --- full light --- and kneel."ARIES. Let us adore the Exalted One! LEO.
Life of Life, thy lips enkindleWith their love the breath between them; {67}
And thy smiles before they dwindleMake the cold air fire; then screen them
In those looks, where whoso gazes Faints, entangled in their mazes.
Child of Light! thy limbs are burningThrough the vest which seems to hide them;
As the radiant lines of morningThrough 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 theeFrom the sight, that liquid splendour,
And all feel, yet see thee never, As I feel now, lost forever!
Lamp of Earth! where'er thou movestIts dim shapes are clad with brightness,
And the souls of whom thou lovestWalk 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.
["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?
[BESZ "begins to stammer."LEO. Who art thou?
["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.
["The lights go out."[SCORPIO-APOPHIS "plays her serpent melody.<<Andante Religioso: Thome.>>"
[LEO "recites." Mortals never learn from storiesHow catastrophe becomes;
How above the victor's gloriesIn 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 lastThat, and its effects, are past."
Some one terror --- subtle foe!"I have laid that spectre low."
They know not, learn not, cannot calculateHow subtly Fate
Weaves its fine mesh, perceiving how to wait;Or how accumulate
The trifles that shall make it master yetOf 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?
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 spacesAbide the dawn of deity and light,
Vibrate before the passionless pale faces {74}Shrined in exceeding glory, eremite.
The tortoise skies in sombre carapacesAwait 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 risenWhere 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 bedizenEarth 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 flashesWith solemn joy and laughter of love; the grace
Of all my body swaying stoops and dashesSwift 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 caressesOf 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 cherishMy 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 GaiaTwinned 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 glowsFormless, all-piercing, death-defying, divine,
A sweet frail lamp whose shadow gleams and showsNo 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 mingleIts passion with my might and majesty,
Till the vast floods of the man's being tingleAnd glow, self-lost within my soul and sea
Of love, the sun of utter light, and singleKeen 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 stressesOf worlds are my nerves twitching. Branch and bole
Of forests waving in deep wildernessesAre 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 trembleWith 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 crumbleUnder 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-cleavingLotus-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 weavingEver 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 adderClimb 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 wovenInto 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.
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
Whilst all the winds with melody are ringing.It seems to float ever, for ever,
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,
But by the instinct of sweet music driven;Till through Elysian garden islets
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,
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!
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.
["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 hestand. {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 dimWith quietude!
Fix thy sharp lightnings in my night! My spirit free! Mix with my breath and life and name thy moodAnd 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.
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.
IntelligenceGrows as we go. Alas: its icy glimmer
Shows dimmer, dimmerThe awful vaults we traverse. Were the sun
Himself the oneGlory 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 galaxyOf thousands upon thousands closely curled,
Your golden worldIncalculably small, its closest cluster
Mere milky lustreStaining the infinite darkness! Base and blind
Our minion mindSeeks 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 unplannedStretched fatuous to the void. Ah! men my friends
What fury sendsThis folly to intoxicate your hearts?
Dread air dispartsYour vital ways from these unsavoury follies;
Black melancholiesSit straddled on your bended backs. The throne
Of the unknownIs fit for children. We are too well ware
How vain is prayer,How nought is great, since all is immanent
The vast contentOf all the universe unalterable.
We know too wellHow 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 shootSome flower at least to blossom in the night,
Since vital lightIs 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 eyesTo little children, as the storm-tossed bark
Hails in the darkSome hardly visible harbour light; we hold
The hours of goldTo our own breasts, whose hours are iron and brass: ---
So swift they passAnd grind us down: --- we hold the wondrous light
Our scattering sightYet sees, the one star in a night of woe.
We trust, and soLift 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.]
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.>>"}
["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.
[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 barsThat ribbed the green west dying
Are dead, O Lord of the Stars,I come to Thee, come to Thee crying.
The ambrosial moon that aroseWith 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 swoonWith lust of rain to-morrow!
Ages and ages agoI 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 wineIn the blush of the harlot moon.
I and my brother priestsWorshipped a wonderful woman
With a body lithe as a beast'sSubtly, horribly human.
Deep in the pit of her eyesI saw the image of death,
And I drew the water of sighsFrom 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 awakeFrom the silence of utmost eld
The grey cold slime of the snakeThat her poisonous body held?
By night I ravished a maidFrom 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'sThat the fount of blood leapt high
With my clamorous dithyrambs,Like a stain on the shield of the sky.
With blood and censer and songI rent the mysterious veil:
My eyes gaze long and longOn the deep of that blissful bale.
My cold grey kisses awakeFrom the silence of utmost eld
The grey cold slime of the snakeThat her beautiful body held. {116}
But --- God! I was not contentWith the blasphemous secret of years;
The veil is hardly rentWhile the eyes rain stones for tears.
So I clung to the lips and laughedAs the storms of death abated,
The storms of the grievious graftBy the swing of her soul unsated.
Wherefore reborn as I amBy 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 restBy meed of the mystic rune
That reads in peril and pestThe ambrosial moon --- the moon!
For under the tawny starThat shines in the Bull above
I can rein the riotous carOf galloping, galloping Love;
And straight to the steady rayOf the Lion-heart Lord I career,
Pointing my flaming wayWith 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 menThan silence, and wisdom, and kindness?
Nay! let him fashion an arrowWhose 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 sunIn his horoscope Heaven hath cast,
It is nothing; every oneShall win to the moon at last.
The mage has wrought by his artA 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 goatFor 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 liftFor 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 breadA garden of poppies and clover;
For a water bitter and dead,A foam of fire flowing over.
From the Lamb and his prison fareAnd 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 runeThat is mighty in heaven and hell!
Drip thy mystical dewsOn 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 fondFolly of wisdom in you!
Come, while the moon (the moon!)Sheds her ambrosial splendour,
Reels in the redeless runeIneffably, utterly, tender!
Hark! the appealing cryOf 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 tuneTo 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 browHath driven the demon out. {119}
Surely the scented sleepThat 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 sacrificeThis first-fruit flower of wine
For a vehicle of thy vice,As I am Thine to be mine.
For five in the year gone byI 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 nightGleam fearfully afar,
Give no man love, but only light,Or cease to be a star?
Nay, there's no man since time beganThrough the ages until now,
But won the goal of his set soul,A star upon his brow!
Oh! though no star serene as thouShine 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 charmerOf Bacchus and Mars,
In the sounding reboundingAbyss of the stars!
O virgin in armour,Thine arrows unsling
In the brilliant resilientFirst rays of the spring!
By the force of the fashionOf love, when I broke
Through the shroud, through the cloud,Through the storm, through the smoke,
To the mountain of passionVolcanic that woke ---
By the rage of the mageI invoke, I invoke!
By the midnight of madness,The lone-lying sea,
The swoon of the moon,Your swoon into me;
The sentinel sadnessOf cliff-clinging pine,
That night of delightYou were mine, you were mine!
Your were mine, O my saint,My maiden, my mate,
By the might of the rightOf the night of our fate.
Though I fall, though I faint,Though I char, though I choke,
By the hour of our powerI invoke, I invoke! {123}
By the mystical unionOf fairy and faun,
Unspoken, unbroken ---The dusk to the dawn! ---
A secret communion,Unmeasured, unsung,
The listless, resistless,Tumultuous tongue! ---
O virgin in armourThine arrows unsling,
In the brilliant resilientFirst 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 PAXTHE 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 SHILLINGSWALTER 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 theAntiquity 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, ifany, 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, someof which are full-page plates.
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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 bookever 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." Vol. I. --- Before the Veil --- 1. Old Things with New Names --- II.Phenomena and Forces --- III. Blind Leaders of the Blind --- IV. Theories respecting Psychic Phenomena --- V. The Ether, or "Astral Light" --- VI. Psycho-Physical Phenomena --- VII. The Elements, Elementals, and Elementaries --- VIII. Some Mysteries of Nature --- IX. Cyclic Phenomena --- X. The Inner and Outer Man --- XI. Psychological and Physical Marvels -- XII. The "Impassible Chasm" --- XIII. Realities and Illusion --- XIV. Egyptian Wisdom --- XV. India the Cradle of the Race.
Vol. II. --- I. The Church; Where is it? --- II. Christian Crimes andHeathen 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, ThePentagram, 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." The original work, of which this is a translation, is unique, no othercopy being known, although both Bulwer Lytton and Eliphas Levi were well aware of its existence; the former having based part of his description of the sage Rosicrucian une junier{WEH NOTE: "sic", s.b. "Mejnour"} on that of Abra-Melin, while the account of the so-called Observatory of Sir Philip Derval in the "Strange Story" was, to some extent, copied from that of the Magical Oratory and Terrace given in the present work. There are also other interesting points too numerous to be given here in detail. It is felt therefore that by its publication a service is rendered to lovers of rare and curious Books, and to Students of Occultism, by placing within their reach a magical work of so much importance, and one so interestingly associated with the respective authors of "Zanoni" and of the "Dogma and Ritual of Transcendental Magic." The Magical Squares or combinations of letters, placed in a certain manner, are said to possess a peculiar species of automatic intelligent vitality, apart from any of the methods given for their use; and students are recommended to make no use of these whatever unless this higher Divine Knowledge is approached in a frame of mind worthy of it.
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Portion of Contents: --- Ever-burning Lamps; the Hermetic Philosophers;the Hermetic Brethren; Mystic History of the Fleur-de-lis; Sacred Fire; Fire-Theosophy of the Persians; Ideas of the Rosicrucians as to the Character of Fire; Monuments Raised to Fire --- Worship in all Countries; Druidical Stones and their Worship; the Round Towers of Ireland; Cabalistic Interpretations by the Gnostics; Mystic Christian Figures and Talismans; the Rosy Cross in Indian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Mediaeval Monuments; the Great Pyramid; Myths of the Scorpion, or the Snake in its many Disguises; Rosicrucians Celestial and Terrestrial; Alchemy; Rosicrucians in Strange Symbols; Robert Flood; Indian Mystic Adoration of Form; etc., etc.
REAL HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS, founded on their own Manifestoes, and on
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This work fulfils a purpose quite distinct from that of "TranscendentalMagic," inasmuch as it is not simply translation, but presents in an abridged and digested form the entire writings of Eliphas Levi.
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,
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Besides Seals, Sigils, and Magical Diagrams, nearly 50 Pantacles orTalismans are given in the plates.
Among other authors both Eliphas Levi and Christian mention the "Key ofSolomon" as a work of high authority, and the former especially refers to it repeatedly.
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"This is a manual of self-culture ... a series of brilliant essays, bold in conception, sympathetic in spirit, and eminently serviceable in substance." --- "The Health Record."
New Volume. Just Published
HE CAN WHO THINKS HE CAN. By ORISON SWETT MARDEN, Author of "Every Man a
King." Price 3"s." 6"d." net.
To be had of the Equinox, 3 Great James Street, W.C.and through all Booksellers
PRICE ONE GUINEA NET
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.
"to be obtained of"
THE EQUINOX, 3 GREAT JAMES St. W.C.
"Crown 8vo, Scarlet Buckram, pp. 64."
PRICE 10s. net
Less than 100 copies remain. The price will shortly be raised to one guinea net.
A.'. A.'. PUBLICATION IN CLASS B.
BOOK 777THIS 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."
WILLIAM NORTHAM, "ROBEMAKER,"9 Henrietta Street, Southampton Street, Strand TELEPHONE -- 5400 Central
MR. NORTHAM begs to announce that he has been entrusted with the manufacture of all robes and other ceremonial apparel of members of the A.'. A.'. and its adepts and aspirants.
No. 0. PROBATIONER'S ROBE . . . . Pounds5 0 0 1. " " superior quality . . 7 0 0 2. NEOPHYTE'S . . . . . . . 6 0 0 3. ZELATOR Symbol added to No. 2 . . 1 0 0 4. PRACTICUS " " 3 . . 1 0 0 5. PHILOSOPHUS " " 4 . . 1 0 0 6. DOMINUS LIMINIS " " 5 . . 1 0 0 7. ADEPTUS (without) " " 0 or 1 . . 3 0 0 8. " (Within) . . . . . . 10 0 0 9. ADEPTUS MAJOR . . . . . . 10 0 0 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. "Price "3"s. "6"d. Edition strictly limited." -------------------- THE DEUCE AND ALL.A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES.
1"s. net" --------------------READY.
Through THE EQUINOX and all booksellers.
BY ETHEL ARCHER
WITH A COVER SPECIALLY DESIGNED BYE. J. WIELAND;
A DEDICATORY SONNET BY VICTOR B. NEUBURG;
AND
AN INTRODUCTION BY ALEISTER CROWLEY.
Price One Shilling netA. COLIN LUNN,
Cigar Importer and Cigarette Merchant.
3 BRIDGE STREET; 19 KING'S PARADE; & 31 TRINITY ST., CAMBRIDGE
Sole Agent for Loewe & Co.'s Celebrated Straight Grain Briar Pipes.
YEVIDYEH CIGARETTES, No. 1 A. --- "A CONNOISSEUR'S CIGARETTE." These are manufactured from the finest selected growths of 1908 crop, and are of exceptional quality. They can be inhaled without causing any irritation of the throat.
Sole Manufacturer: A. COLIN LUNN, Cambridge.
MESSRS. LOWE AND CO.,8 STAFFORD STREET, BOND STREET
beg to announce that they have been entrusted for thirteen years past
with the preparation of theOILS,
PERFUMES,UNGUENTS, ESSENCES,
INCENSES,and other chemical products useful to members of all the lesser grades
of the A.'. A.'.
MR. GEORGE RAFFLOVICH'S charming volume of Essays and Sketches entitled ON THE LOOSE:
PLANETARY JOURNEYS AND EARTHLY SKETCHES. "A new popular edition. Price "1"s. net" "Crown" 8"vo. Pp." 164. May be obtained through THE EQUINOX
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.
Collected Works (Travellers' Edition). Extra crown 8vo, India paper, 3 vols.
in one, pp. 808 + Appendices. Vellum, green ties, with protraits, " Pounds"3 3"s.";
white buckram, without portraits, " Pounds"2 2"s." This edition contains
"Qabalistic Dogma," "Time," "The Excluded Middle," "Eleusis," and other
matter of the highest occult importance which are not printed elsewhere.
AMBERGRIS. Medium 8vo, pp. 200, 3"s." 6"d." (Elkin Mathews.)
A selection of lyrics, containing some of great mystical beauty.
{Back cover, in a border of wavy lines cornered by small three-leafed apples, fruit to outside. All set in red.}
NOW READY PRICE ONE SHILLING
HAIL MARY!
BY
ALEISTER CROWLEY
WEILAND & CO. Telephone 8987
3 GREAT JAMES STREET, W.C. Central