There is a tawny Lion, from whose mouth drops honey.
He roars aloud, and the word thereof is this: The Wrath of the Master is the Energy of Love.
There is a buffalo Cow, grey-blue, whose udders overflow with milk, and her lowing means: The Work of the Master is the Nourishment of Life.
There is a Babe, that with his tiny hands presses out blood from his own breast, and smileth: The Way of the Master is the Innocence of Liberty.
Also, a Golden Eagle, bearing a Chalice of Wine, crying aloud: The Woe of the Master is the Rapture of Light.
Last in their midst, above His head, there whirls a wheel of many-coloured radiance, so that thereby all deeds are harmonized in one. And the whirring of the wheel declares: The Wisdom of the Master is the Justice of Time. Attend to the Will of the Master!
At this there cometh forth from the heart of the Wheel a Serpent with the head of a Sphinx, and toucheth the mouth of the Master, so that His voice breaks into Song:
The Word of the law is Thelema (greek letters).
Then is all Heaven aflame with a great blast of trumpets; and the world is alight with one flash that sundereth every spirit that liveth, branding this Sign upon them:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
AVES.
Now the whole air is thrilled by the voices of birds: A Swan, a Phoenix, a Raven, a Hawk, a Pelican, a Dove, an Ibis and a Vulture: in his turn each one sang praises, even as it was given unto him to understand one part of the Spirit of the Master.
THE VOICE OF THE SWAN.
AUMGN: through the Bornless, through the Eternal, the Thought of the Master goeth, afloat in the Aethyr.
THE VOICE OF THE PHOENIX.
AL: not to be burned, not to be quenched, the Soul of the Master bathes in the Fire of Nature, and is refreshed.
THE VOICE OF THE RAVEN.
AMEN: The Past and the Future are parts of the Present, in the Eye of the Master, that seeth the Secret of Secrets and knoweth them all to be One.
THE VOICE OF THE EAGLE.
SU: The Heavens are poised on the Plumes of the Righteous, that wingeth among them, beholding the Sun; thus know ye the Mercy and Joy of the Master!
THE VOICE OF THE HAWK.
AGLA: by Thine Energy riseth all Motion of Will of the Master, begetter, destroyer!
THE VOICE OF THE PELICAN.
IAO: all that liveth is blood of the Heart of the Master: all stars are at Feast on that Pasture, abiding in Light.
THE VOICE OF THE DOVE.
HRILIU: there is nothing too small, or too great, or too low, or too high; but all things are joined into Joy by the Love of the Master.
THE VOICE OF THE IBIS.
ABRAHADABRA: all Ways are alike, being endless, eternally coiling in Curves of ineffable wonder; each Star has its course, by the manifold musings that move in the Mind of the Master.
THE VOICE OF THE VULTURE.
MU: unmated, immaculate, consecrate, virgin, all things are begotten of the Breath of the Master, and born of the Infinite Space wherein doth He give them their Form — and abideth in Silence.
Now all is as it were a Passion of great Peace; and in the Stillness I lift up my Soul like an offering and cry in mine Heart: Let me dwell at the feet of the Master!
But the Silence swallows up those vain words; and they are smitten through with the fire of His blood, that transforms them to these:
"At His feet is only the Earth, and that He breaks up into flowers; but all things that live are assumed to the Heart of the Master."
With that I cease to be myself at alclass="underline" I am absorbed into His adorable essence, and my life is equally shed throughout the endless Aeons of Creation.
Ay! — there is nothing separate any more at all; wherefore the Vision faileth, the Seer being one with the Seen.
II.
THE VOICE.
It is not given to flesh and blood, till they be seven times purged, purged through and through, to dwell in the sanctuary of the Heart of the Master.
My fervour is exhausted; my faith fails; I fall from the rapture of passion that pours through the abyss of space.
All things feel It; all things live by It; yet nothing that knows itself knows It as It is.
So now I, burning up, yet not burnt through, in the glory of that Light, vibrating to, yet not vibrating altogether with, the vigour of that Pulse, am just so far attuned to the Heart of the Master that was pure Rapture in that sublime moment of union is translated into what seems a solemn music — born very far through the still air — a Voice declaring the Secret of the Sanctuary to every ear in just such measure as that ear is able to receive it.
THE TEN SECRET JOYS OF THE MASTER.
At first the music is as if muffled, a murmur of the wind behind impenetrable veils.
000. NOTHING ONLY EXISTS, AND IS ALL THINGS.
After a pause of deeply-rooted Silence:
00. THERE IS NO LIMIT.
Silence again, as if the very bowels of Nature were thrilled with stillness:
0. THE SUM OF ALL IS BOUNDLESS LIGHT.
Now there is suddenly a gathering together of the essence of Silence; it is as focussed at a Point:
1. THOU ARE THAT WHICH THOU CHOOSEST TO THINK THYSELF, IMMUNE TO ALL, FOR IT IS NOTHING BUT A POINT OF VIEW.
Now there bursts forth a Wave of Light, and there rolls forth in majesty of Thunder:
2. THY NAME, WHICH IS THY WORD, IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THY WILL, WHOSE MODE OF ACTION CONSTITUTES EXISTENCE. CHANCE.
The Music swiftly sinks to a low brooding rapture, solemn and slow:
3. THAT WHICH THOU CREATEST IS THINE UNDERSTANDING OF THY LOVE.
Then comes a sudden shaking and confusion, as if the harmony were broken up into innumerable fragments; clashing together, nor is there any speech articulate; until a fearful blast peals forth, a trumpeting of Majesty. But within the blare of the tempest sounds a Voice steady and stern, yet full of peace and kindliness
4. THE NECCESSITY OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE MEASURE OF THY RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Now follows martial music, wild and full of the rushing of
Fire:
5. THE MOVEMENT OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE FULFILMENT OF THINE ENERGY.
And this is blended with the echo of all former voices and their music, so that the whole Abyss is filled with their orchestration to one Symphony.
6. THE ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE EXPRESSION OF THY RAPTURE OF BEAUTY.
This fades away into a deep and tender tune, like nightingales beside a waterfall; and the voice comes twittering:
7. THE SENSIBILITY OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE TRIUMPH OF THINE IMAGINATION.
Quick thrills inform the air, the perpetual quire of myriads of young boys and girls:
8. THE MUTABILITY OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE SPLENDOUR OF THINE INGENUITY.
And now again all sound is gathered into one, an endless monotone of power impregnable, like the trumpeting of an elephant in Spring:
9. THE STABILITY OF THE UNIVERSE IS CHANGE, THE ASSURANCE OF THY TRUTH.
Then, last of all, the soul of Music takes the shape of a pure Maiden's voice, and she sings:
10. THE PERFECTION OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE REALIZATION OF THE IDEAL OF THY PASSION.
Lo, in the Silence following is my spirit so enlightened at its apprehension of these Secret Joys of the Master, that I was once more lost to myself and lived again for a little while in Him.
THE TWO AND TWENTY SECRET INSTRUCTIONS OF THE MASTER.
Now that I am come to myself, I yearn in ageless sorrow for that which I am so little able to attain. I bleed inwardly, so that my passion traces in my flesh the words of the cry that I cannot utter aloud, the call of the Soul to the Soul of the Master, to be made one with Him.
To answer that, He sendeth forth His Will, that, casting shadows on the clouds of Life, may be half read by him whose eyes are lightened enough by the manhood of his love.