755 lines
28 KiB
Plaintext
755 lines
28 KiB
Plaintext
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XXXI Hymns --- by Fr. Achad (Charles Stansfield Jones)
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Key entry by Fr. Nachash
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Ur<EFBFBD>us-Hadit Camp, OTO
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Completed 11-21-90 e.v.
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*******************************************************************************
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XXXI HYMNS
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TO THE STAR GODDESS
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Who is Not
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BY XIII: which is ACHAD
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I .<2E>. Invocation
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Mother of the Sun, Whose Body is White with the Milk of the Stars, bend
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upon Thy servant and impart unto him Thy Secret Kiss!
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Enkindle within him the Holy Ecstasy Thou hast promised unto them that
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love Thee; the Ecstasy which redeemeth from all pain.
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Hast thou not proclaimed: All the sorrows are but shadows, they pass
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and are done, but there is that which remains? That the Universe is
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Pure Joy-that Thou givest unimaginable Joys on Earth--that Thou
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demandest naught in sacrifice?
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Let me then rejoice, for therein may I serve Thee most fully. Let it
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be Thy Joy to see my joy; even as Thou hast promised in Thy Holy Book!
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Now, therefore, am I Joyful in Thy Love.
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AUMN
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II .<2E>. The Brook
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I wandered beside the running stream, and mine eyes caught the glint of
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Thy Starry Orbs in the swirling waters.
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So is it with my mind; it flows on towards the Great Sea of
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Understanding wherein I may come to know Thee more fully.
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Sometimes, as it journeys, it threatens to overflow its banks in its
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eagerness to reflect a wider image of Thine Infinite Body.
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Ah! How the very stones, over which flow the life of my being, thrill
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at the tender caress of Thy reflected Image.
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Thou, too, art Matter; it is I---Thy Complement---who am motion!
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Therefore these very stones are of Thee, but the Spirit---the Life---is
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the very Self of me; mine Inmost Being.
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Flow on, O Stream! Flow on, O Life! Towards the Great Sea of
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Understanding, the Great Mother.
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III .<2E>. The Rose Garden
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Long have I lain and waited for Thee in the Rose Garden of Life; yet
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ever Thou withholdest Thyself from mine Understanding.
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As I lay I contemplated Thy nature as that of an Infinite Rose.
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Petals, petals, petals.. but where, O Beauteous One, is Thy Heart?
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Hast Thou no Heart? Are Thy petals Infinite so that I may never reach
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the Core of Thy Being?
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Yet, Thou hast said: "I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple,
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veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkeness
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of the innermost sense, desire you: Come unto me!"
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Yea! Mine innermost sense is drunken; it is intoxicated upon the Dew of
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the Rose. Thy Heart is my Heart; there is no difference, O Beloved.
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When I shall have penetrated to the Heart of Thine Infinite Rose, there
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shall I find Myself.
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But I shall never come to myself---only to Thee.
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IV .<2E>. The Fox Glove
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Tall and straight as a Fox Glove do I stand before Thee, Mother of
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Heaven.
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The flower of my being is given over to a strange conceit; I grow up
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towards the Stars and not towards the Sun.
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Art Thou not Mother of the Sun?
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Thus have I blasphemed the Lord and Giver of Life for Thy sake. Yet am
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I not ashamed, for in forgetting the Sun I am become the Sun--Thy
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Son--yet a thousand times more Thy Lover.
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The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but now I
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have nowhere to lay my head; for tall and straight as a Fox Glove do
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I stand before Thee. My resting place is the Womb of the Stars.
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Yet all that I may comprehend of Thine Infinite Body is but as the
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Glove upon one of Thy soft sweet hands, touching the Earth, not hurting
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the little flowers.
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V .<2E>. The Storm
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A Dark Night and the Storm. The lightening flashes between Thee and me.
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I am dazzled so that I see Thee not.
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So in the depths of my being flash the fires of life; they blind me
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to the Understanding of Thee and Thine Infinite Body of Stars.
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Yet I see Thee reflected in the body of her I love, as we lie with
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quivering limbs awaiting the coming of the sound of thunder.
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She fears the thunder, and turns within herself for consolation.
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But even there the Lightning flameth, for I have loosed the fires of my
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being within the dark recess---in honour of the Storm and of Thine
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Infinite Body which I see not.
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VI .<2E>. The Hole in The Roof
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Once I knew an ancient serpent. He delighted to bask in the Sunshine
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which penetrated through a tiny hole in the roof of the cave.
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He was old and very wise.
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He said: "Upon me is concentrated the Light of the whole Universe."
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But a little brown beetle, who had long lived in the cave with him,
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looked up, and spreading his wings passed out through the hole in
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roof---into the Infinite Beyond.
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Thus, forsaking wisdom, would I come to Thee, Beloved Lady of the
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Starry Heavens.
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VII .<2E>. The Design
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Strange curves: and every Curve a Number woven into a Musical and
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Harmonious Pattern.
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Such was the design showed me by my friend when first we met.
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It was like an exchange of greetings by means of an inward recognition.
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Oh! Could I but grasp the Ever-changing Design of Thy Star Body,
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Mother of Heaven!
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Yet, it is written: "Every man and every woman is a star. Every number
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is infinite, there is no difference."
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Such then is Life, for those who love Thee: Strange Curves, and every
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Curve a Number woven into a Musical and Harmonious Design.
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VIII .<2E>. The Snow Drift
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My body was blue as Thine, O Beloved, when they found me. I was stiff
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as if held in a close embrace. Nor was I conscious of aught but Thee,
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till the small fires of Earth brought me back with an agony of tingling
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pain.
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How came I to be lost in the snow-drift?
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I remember how I had taken shelter from the blinding storm. The snow
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fell about me, and I waited, turning my thought to Thee.
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Then did I realize how every snow-flake is built as a tiny star. I
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looked closer, burying my face in the white pile, as in Thy Bosom.
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Mine arms embraced the snow-drift; I clung to it in a mad ecstacy.
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Thus would I have pressed Thy Body to mine, wert Thou not Infinite and
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I but as tiny as a star-flake.
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So was my body frozen---as by the utmost cold of inter-stellar space.
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It was blue as Thine when they found me locked in Thine embrace.
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IX .<2E>. Daylight
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In the Daylight I see not Thy Body of Stars, O Beloved.
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The little light of the Sun veils the Great Light of the Stars, for
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to-day Thou seemest distant.
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The Sun burns like a great Torch, and Earth seems as one of His little
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Spheres, filled with life.
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I am but a tiny spermatozoon, but within me is the fiery and concen-
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trated essence of Life.
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Draw me up into Thyself, O Sun! Project me into the Body of Our Lady
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Nuit!
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Thus shall a new Star be born, and I shall see Thee even in the
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Daylight, O Beloved.
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X .<2E>. The Bird
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Once I bought a little bird; his cage was very small; it had only one
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perch. He was so young he had not even learned to sing, but he chirped
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gladly when I brought him home.
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Then I raised the bars of his cage, and without a moment's hesitation
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he flew out into the room, and spying the cage of the love-birds,
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perched upon it and examined it carefully.
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Not long afterwards another and stronger cage was obtained for the
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love-birds, for they had pecked through some of the frail bars. When
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the little bird was offered the discarded cage, he quickly hopped from
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his tiny one to theirs.
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Now he has three perches and room for his tail, and when we open the
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door of his cage he refuses to come out. Perhaps he fears to lose what
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he had once coveted and then obtained.
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Herein lies the secret of Government. Give the people what will make
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them reasonably comfortable; let them have three perches and room for
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their tails; and forgetting their slavery and restrictions, they will
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be content.
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Hast Thou not said "The slaves shall serve." Lady of the Starry Heaven?
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XI .<2E>. The Moral
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There is another moral to the story of the little bird. Having gained
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his desire for a larger cage, he forgot his longing for Freedom.
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The door remained open; the room was before him, wherein he could
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stretch his wings and fly.
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Yet he preferred his cage.
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The wide world might have been his had he known how to use it, but he
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was not ready for that; he would have perished of cold had I let him
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out into the wintry snow.
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Let those who would travel the Mystic Path remember this: Earth
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Consciousness is an illusion and limitation. When it frets us, like a
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little cage, our chance for greater freedom comes.
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But when a larger cage is offered---when we obtain Dhyana---let us not
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rest there thinking ourselves free. The door is open, Samadhi lies
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beyond, and beyond that, when we are ready for it, the Real Freedom,
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Nirvana.
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O Lady of the Stars, let me not content till I penetrate the ultimate
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bars and am Free---One with the Infinitely Great as with the Infinitely
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Small.
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XII .<2E>. The Invisible Foot Prints
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Long have I roamed the Earth delighting in the Good, the Beautiful and
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the True; ever seeking the spots where these seem to be most Perfect.
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There is joy in this wandering among the flowers of life, but Thy Joy,
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O Beloved, is to be desired above all.
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Now I seek a resting place, I am set upon a new Quest, to Worship at
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Thy feet.
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For it is written of Thee: "Bending down, a lambent flame of blue,
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all touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, and
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her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the
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little flowers."
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Oh! That I might discover Thine Invisible Footprints upon the Earth and
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there come to the Understanding of Thy Being, O Beloved.
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XIII .<2E>. The Finger Tips
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Or, it may be, O Beloved, I shall discover the imprints of Thy finger
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tips amid the flowers or upon the Black Earth.
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Hath not Nemo a Garden that he tendeth? Doth he not also labour in the
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Black Earth?
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Who knoweth when Thy hands may grasp me and draw me up into Thine arms,
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there to nestle at Thy breast, to feed upon the Milk of the Stars?
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Beloved, verily this tending of the Garden of the World---although the
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labor may seem heavy---leadeth to a Great Reward. As Thou hast said:
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"Certainty, not faith, while in life upon death, rest, ecstasy." Nor
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dost Thou demand aught in sacrifice.
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What do the Bhaktis know of Love? They see the Beloved everywhere.
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But when I am one with Thee, O Beloved, I shall not see Thee, for I
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shall know Theee as Thou art.
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XIV .<2E>. The Well of Stars
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I know a hidden well of clearest water. Naught but the coping of
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delicate pink onyx is visible until the secret spring be touched.
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Then beware! For above the entrance hangs a fiery sword.
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Few find this Well or know its Secret; there are but two roads leading
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thereto.
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From the broad Mountain summit we may search the slopes for a vision of
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the Woodland Delta where grow the Trees of Eternity, or we may journey
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through the Valley between the Ivory Hills---if we fear not the purple
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shadows and the black pit-fall.
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From Thee we came; to Thee may we return, O Well of Living Stars!
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XV .<2E>. The Icicles of Isis
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It hath been written how the Old King dreamed of his banished peacock,
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entombed in a palace of ice, who cried: "The Icicles of Isis are
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falling on my head."
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Thus it is with those who are banished to the Palace of the Moon---for
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the Word of Sin is Restriction.
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Oh! Lady of the Starry Heavens, let me not become frozen at the touch
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of the cold Veil of Isis. For the Moon is but the dead reflector of the
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Sun, and He but the youngest of Thy Children of Light.
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Let me lift Thy Peacock Veil of a Million Starry Eyes, O Beloved!
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Show Thy Star Splendour, O Nuit; bid me within Thine house to dwell!
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XVI .<2E>. Purple Mill
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The delicate purple mist streams up from the hills: I watch and wait
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for the meaning of it all.
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Sometimes it seems like the incense smoke of Aspiration ascending
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towards the Sun---giver of Light, Life, Love and Liberty to the
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Children of Earth.
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But the Sun is going down behind the Mountains, and Thy Starry Lamps
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glow in the Sky.
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Is not the Lamp above the Altar a symbol of the Desire of the Higher to
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draw up the lower to Itself?
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So, O Lady of Heaven, I liken the Mist to the life-breath of Souls who
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pant for Thee here below.
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And I remember Thy words:
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Above, the gemmed azure is
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The naked splendour of Nuit;
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She bends in ecstacy to kiss
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The secret ardours of Hadit.
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The winged globe, the starry blue,
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Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!
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I, too, would ascend as a delicate purple mist that steams up from the
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Hills. Art Thou not all Pleasure and Purple?
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XVII .<2E>. The Infinite Within
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I would that I were as the feminine counterpart of Thee, O Beloved;
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then would I draw the Infinite within.
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Yet since Thy Pure Being must ever be more refined than this body of
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mine I should interpenetrate every part of Thee with my living flesh.
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Thus, O Beloved, should we enter into a new and more complete embrace:
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not as of earth wherein the male uniteth with the female by means of
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the physical organs of love, but with every atom of my being close
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pressed to every atom of Thine---within and without.
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Then, O beloved, would I cry unto the Lord of the Primum Mobile to
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teach me the Art of the Whirling Motion of Eternity.
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Thus, whirling within Thee, our never-ending nuptial feast shall be
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celebrated, and a new System of Revolving Orbs be brought to birth.
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Ah! the shrill cry of Ecstacy of that Refined Rapture---the Orgasm of
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the Infinite Within.
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XVIII .<2E>. The Rainbow
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As I sat in the shelter of the forest glade, my eye caught the multi-
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coloured gleam of diamonds. I looked again; the Sun rays were playing
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upon the dew which clung to a little curved twig.
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It seemed like a tiny rainbow of promise.
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Then, while I watched in wonder, a small grey spider bridged the arch
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of the bow with his silken thread.
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Ah! My Beloved, thus, too, hath the Spider of Destiny woven his silken
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rope from extreme to extreme of the Great Rainbow of Promise.
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Fate hath fitted me as an Arrow to the String of Destiny in the bow of
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the Sun.
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But Whose Hand shall draw that Mighty Bow, O Beloved, and send me upon
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|||
|
fleet wings to my resting place within Thine Heart?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XIX .<2E>. Dropped Dew
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
As I came from tending the Rose Garden and was about to return to my
|
|||
|
humble shelter, my eyes caught the gleam of dropped dew like a tiny
|
|||
|
trail along the path.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It was very early; the Sun had not yet re-arisen; the Stars still
|
|||
|
twinkled faintly in the sky.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Who could have come before me to the Garden?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I followed the trail of dew, stooping down so that I saw in each
|
|||
|
crystal drop the reflection of a tiny star.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus came I to my lady's chamber; she it was who carrying roses had
|
|||
|
left this silvery thread as a clue to her hiding place.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When I found her, her eyes were closed, as she pressed the fragrant the
|
|||
|
pink blossoms to her white breast.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Then did I bury my face in the blossoms and I saw not her eyes when
|
|||
|
she opened them in wonder.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus, too, would I follow the Star-trail of Dropped Dew, ere the
|
|||
|
re-arisen Sun hides Thee from me, O My Beloved!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus would I come to Thee and bury my face in Thy Breast amid the Roses
|
|||
|
of Heaven.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Nor should I dare to look into Thine eyes, having discovered Thy
|
|||
|
secret---the Dew of Love---the Elixir of Life.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XX .<2E>. Twilight
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Twilight... and in a few brief moments the Stars will begin to peep. I
|
|||
|
will await Thee, here amid the heather, O Beloved.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I wait... no stars appear for a mist has stolen up from the foot of the
|
|||
|
mountains.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus I waited for a sight of Thy Star Body till the cold damp mist of
|
|||
|
suppresed emotion chilled my being and my reason returned.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The woman stood girt with a sword before me. Emotion was overcome by
|
|||
|
clarity of perception. Then did I remember Thy words: "The Khabs is in
|
|||
|
the Khu not the Khu in the Khabs. Worship then the Khabs and behold my
|
|||
|
light shed over ye."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus turned I my thoughts within, so that I became concentrated upon
|
|||
|
the Khabs---the Star of mine inmost being. Then did Thy Light arise as
|
|||
|
a halo of rapture, and I came a little to lie in Thy bosom.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But I offered one particle of dust---and I lost all in that hour.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Such is the Mystery of Her who demandest naught in sacrifice.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The twilight is returned.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXI .<2E>. The Dog Star
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Wisdom hath said: "Be not animal; refine thy rapture! The canst thou
|
|||
|
bear more joy!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I have been like an unleashed hound before Thee, O Beloved. I have
|
|||
|
striven towards Thee and Thou seest in me only the Dog Star.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Yet will I not fall into the Pit called Because, there to perish with
|
|||
|
the dogs of reason. There is no reason in me; I seek Understanding, O
|
|||
|
Mother of Heaven.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus, with my face buried in the black earth, do I turn my back upon
|
|||
|
Thee. I will refine my rapture.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
So Thou mayest behold me as I am, and so Thou shalt Understand at last,
|
|||
|
O Beloved; for in reverse Thou readest this DOG aright.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Hast Thou not said: "There is none other?"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXII .<2E>. Pot-pouri
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The roses are falling. This is the night of the full moon whereon the
|
|||
|
children of Sin attend the Sacred Circle.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Therein they will sit divided---but not for love's sake---for they know
|
|||
|
Thee not---O Beloved. Into the Elements, the fiery, the watery, the
|
|||
|
airy and the earthly Signs are they divided when they gather at the
|
|||
|
Full Moon within the forest.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I wandered down the deep shadowy glade, there I espied a tiny sachet
|
|||
|
of pot-pouri, dropped---maybe---from the streaming girdle of one of the
|
|||
|
maidens.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Tenderly I raised it. Its perfume is like unto the perfume of her I
|
|||
|
love. She, too, perhaps, has heard the call of the moon and is even
|
|||
|
now on her way to the secret tryst.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But hast Thou not said: "Let there be no difference made among you
|
|||
|
between any one thing and any other thing; for thereby cometh hurt."
|
|||
|
What matter then the name of the maiden? What matter the flowers of
|
|||
|
which it is composed?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Yet dare I not burn this incense unto Thee, O Beloved, because of Thine
|
|||
|
hair, the Trees of Eternity.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Oh! Little sachet of pot-pouri, thou hast reminded me of her I love,
|
|||
|
for the roses are falling, it is the night of the Full Moon and the
|
|||
|
children of Sin gather to attend the Sacred Circle.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXIII .<2E>. Red Swansdown
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It hath been told how Parzival shot and brought down the Swan of
|
|||
|
Ecstacy as it winged over the Mountain of the Grail.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But there is within the archives another story, unheard by the ears of
|
|||
|
men.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
From the breast of the Eternal Swan floated one downy feather, steeped
|
|||
|
in blood. This did the youngest and least worthy of the Knights hide
|
|||
|
tenderly in his bosom till he concealed it within the hard pillow of
|
|||
|
his lonely couch.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Night after night that holy pillow became softer; sweeter and sweeter
|
|||
|
were his dreams. And one night---the night of the crowning of
|
|||
|
Parzival---he was granted the Great Vision wherein the Stars became
|
|||
|
like flecks of Swansdown upon the Breast of Heaven, each living and
|
|||
|
throbbing, for they were steeped in Blood.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Then did every atom of his being become a Star racing joyfully through
|
|||
|
the Great Body of the Lady of Heaven. Thus in sweet sleep came he into
|
|||
|
the Great Beyond.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Grant unto me Thy Pillow of Blood and Ecstacy, O Beloved!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXIV .<2E>. Passing Clouds
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A dark night: Not a star is visible, but presently the moon shines
|
|||
|
out through a rift in the clouds. And I remember, "The sorrows are but
|
|||
|
shadows, they pass and are done, but there is that which remains."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Yet is the moon but illusion.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A dull day: but presently the Sun is seen as the clouds are dispelled by
|
|||
|
His light.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Is He that which remains?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Night once more: the Sun is lost to sight, only the moon reminds me of
|
|||
|
His presence. The clouds scud swiftly across the Sky and disappear.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thy Star Body is visible, O Beloved; all the sorrows and shadows have
|
|||
|
passed and there is that which remains.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When clouds gather, let me never forget Thee, O Beloved!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXV .<2E>. The Coiled Serpent
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus have I heard:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The ostrich goeth swiftly; with ease could he outstrip those who covet
|
|||
|
his tail-feathers, yet when danger cometh he burieth his head in the
|
|||
|
sand.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The tortoise moveth slowly and when embarrased he stoppeth, withdrawing
|
|||
|
into his own shell; yet he passeth the hare.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The hare sleepeth when he should be swiftly moving; he runneth in his
|
|||
|
dreams thinking himself at the goal.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But the Coiled Serpent hath wisdom, for he hideth his tail and it is not
|
|||
|
coveted; he raiseth his head and fears not; he moveth slowly like the
|
|||
|
tortoise, yet withdraweth not; he nestles close to the hare, darting his
|
|||
|
tongue with swiftness, yet falleth not asleep by the wayside.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Would that I had the Wisdom of the Coiled Serpent, O Beloved, for Thou
|
|||
|
hast said: "Put on the wings, arouse the coiled splendour within you:
|
|||
|
come unto me!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXVI .<2E>. Love and Unity
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Twenty-six is the numeration of the Inneffable Name, but It concealeth
|
|||
|
Love and Unity.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Four-lettered Name implieth Law, yet it may be divided for love's
|
|||
|
sake; for Love is the law.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Four-lettered Name is that of the elements, but it may be divided
|
|||
|
for the chance of Union; for there is Unity therein.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There is but One Substance and One Love and while these be twenty-six
|
|||
|
they One through thirteen which is but a half thereof.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus do I play with numbers who would rather play with One and that One
|
|||
|
Love.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
For Thou hast said: "There is naught that can unite the divided but
|
|||
|
love!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And is not Achad Ahebah?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXVII .<2E>. The Riddle
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
What is that which cometh to a point yet goeth in a circle?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
This, O Beloved, is a dark saying, but Thou hast said: "My colour is
|
|||
|
black to the blind, but the blue and gold are seem of the seeing. Also
|
|||
|
I have a secret glory for them that love me."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And Hadit hath declared: "There is a veil; that veil is black."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I would that I could tear aside the veil, O Beloved, for seeing Thee as
|
|||
|
Thou art, I might see Thee everywhere, even in the darkness that cometh
|
|||
|
to a point yet goeth in a circle.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
For Hadit, the core of every star, says "It is I that go," and Thou,
|
|||
|
Mother of the Stars, criest "To me! To me!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Resolve me the Riddle of Life, O Beloved, for loving Thee I would
|
|||
|
behold Thy Secret Glory.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXVIII .<2E>. Sayings
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Isis hath said: "I am all that was and that is and that shall be, and
|
|||
|
no mortal hath lifted my veil."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Who cares what is back of the moon?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Jehovah showed his back unto Moses, saying: "No man hath seen my face
|
|||
|
at any time."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Who cares to face the elements?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Hadit hath said: "I am life and the giver of life; therefore is the
|
|||
|
knowledge of me the knowledge of death."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Who cares to know death?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But Thou, O Beloved, hath said: "I give unimaginable joys on earth,
|
|||
|
certainty, not faith, while in life upon death, peace unutterable,
|
|||
|
rest, ecstacy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Who would not long to invoke Thee under Thy Stars, O Beloved?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXIX .<2E>. The Falling Star
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Falling, falling, falling! Thus fall the Rays from Thy Body of Stars
|
|||
|
upon this tiny planet, O Beloved! Innumerable streams of Light like
|
|||
|
Star-rain upon the black earth.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Since every man and every woman is a star, their lives are like unto
|
|||
|
streams of light concentrated upon every point in Space.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
As I lay with arms out-stretched, my bare body shining like ivory in
|
|||
|
the darkness. my scarlet abbai flung wide, mine eyes fixed upon the
|
|||
|
star-lit Heaven; I felt that I, too, was falling, falling, falling, in
|
|||
|
an ecstacy of fear and love into the void abyss of space.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Then did I remember that Thou art continuous. Beneath, above, around me
|
|||
|
art Thou. And lo, from a falling star I became as a comet wheeling in
|
|||
|
infinite Circles, each at a different angle, till my course traced out
|
|||
|
the Infinite Sphere that is the Symbol of Thee, O Beloved.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Then did I aspire to find the Centre of All.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And even now I am falling, falling, falling.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXX .<2E>. Justice
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I am a Fool, O Beloved, and therefore am I One or Nought as the fancy
|
|||
|
takes me.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Now am I come to Justice, so that I may be All or Naught according to
|
|||
|
the direction of vision.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
No Breath may stir the Feather of Truth, therefore is Justice ALone in
|
|||
|
L. Yet the Ox-goad is Motion and Breath Matter if it be called the
|
|||
|
Ox which is also A.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
How foolish are these thoughts, which are but as the Sword in the hand
|
|||
|
of Justice. They are as unbalanced as the Scales that stir not, being
|
|||
|
fixed in the figure of Law above the Court House of a great City.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But Thou hast said: "Love is the law, love under will."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And Love is the Will to Change and Change is the Will to Love.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Even in the stern outline of the Scales of Justice do I perceive
|
|||
|
the Instrument of Love, and in the Life Sentence, the Mystery of
|
|||
|
Imprisonment in Thy Being, O Beloved!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
XXXI .<2E>. Not
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Three Eternities are passed... I have outstripped a million Stars in my
|
|||
|
race across Thy Breast---The Milky Way.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When shall I come to the Secret Centre of Thy Being?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Time, thou thief, why dost thou rob the hungry babe? Space, thou hadst
|
|||
|
almost deceived me.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
O Lady Nuit, let me not confound the space-marks!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Then, O Beloved, Thy Word came unto me, as it is written: "All
|
|||
|
touching; All penetrant."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Thus left I Time and Space and Circumstance, and every Star became as
|
|||
|
an atom in my Body, when it became Thy Body. Now never shall I be
|
|||
|
known, for it is I that go.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
But Thou, O Beloved, though Thou art infinitely Great, art Thou not
|
|||
|
energized by the Invisible Point---the Infinitely Small?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A Million Eternities are Present, Deem
|
|||
|
not of Change; This is the
|
|||
|
Here and Now,
|
|||
|
and I am
|
|||
|
NOT
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-oOo-
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
* Origin: O winged snake of light, Hadit! @ (901) 373-4188 (1:123/15.0)
|
|||
|
|