,transcription by ,m4,r4,j4 ,,ae ,in ,the ,irish ,theosophist --,by ,,ae 7,george ,william ,russell7 ,contents3 #a--;,a ,word ,upon the ,objects of the ,theosophical ,society #b--,the ,twilight ,hour #c--,the ,mask of ,apollo #d--,the ,secret of ,power #e--,the ,priestess of the ,woods #f--;,a ,tragedy in the ,temple #g--;,jagrata1 ,svapna and ,sushupti #h--;,concentration #i--,verse by ,,ae in ,the ,irish ,theosophist 7#ci verses7 #aj--,the ,element ,language #aa--;,at the ,dawn of the ,kali ,yuga #ab--,the ,meditation of ,parvati #ac--;,a ,talk by the ,euphrates #ad--,the ,cave of ,lilith #ae--;,a ,strange ,awakening #af--,the ,midnight ,blossom #ag--,the ,story of a ,star #ah--;,how ,theosophy ,affects ,one's ,view of ,life #ai--;,comfort #bj--,the ,ascending ,cycle #ba--,the ,mystic ,night's ,entertainment #bb--,on the ,spur of the ,moment #bc--,the ,legends of ,ancient ,eire #bd--,review3 ,lyrics of ,fitzpatrick #be--,yes1 ,and ,hope #bf--;,content #bg--,the ,enchantment of ,cuchullain #bh--,shadow and ,substance #bi--,on the ,passing of ,w4,q4 ,judge #cj--,self-,reliance #ca--,the ,mountains #cb--,works and ,days #cc--,the ,childhood of ,apollo #cd--,the ,awakening of the ,fires #ce--,our ,secret ,ties #cf--,priest or ,hero8 #cg--,the ,age of the ,spirit #ch--;,a ,thought ,along the ,road #ci--,the ,fountains of ,youth ,a ,word ,upon the ,objects of the ,theosophical ,society #ast3--,to form the nucleus of a ,universal ,brotherhood of ,humanity1 without distinction of race1 creed1 sex1 caste or color4 #bnd3---,to promote the study of ,aryan and other ,eastern literatures1 religions1 philosophies and sciences1 and demonstrate the importance of that study4 #crd3---,to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the psychic powers latent in man4 ,started a little under a quarter of a century ago1 in an age grown cold with unbelief and deadened by inexplicable dogmas1 the ,theosophical ,society has found adherents numerous enough to make it widely known1 and enthusiastic enough to give it momentum and make it a living force4 ,the proclamation of its triple objects-- brotherhood1 wisdom and power1 acted like a trumpet call1 and many came forth to join it1 emerging from other conflicts2 and out of silence and retirement came many who had grown hopeless but who had still the old feeling at heart4 ,for the first object no explanation is necessary2 but a word or two of comment upon the second and third may help to show how they do not weaken1 by turning into other channels1 the intellectual energies and will1 which might serve to carry out the first4 ,in these old philosophies of the ,east we find the stimulus to brotherly action which might not be needed in an ideal state1 but which is a help to the many1 who1 born into the world with a coldness of heart as their heritage1 still wish to do their duty4 ,now out duty alters according to our conception of nature1 and in the ,east there has been put forward1 by men whom we believe to be the wise and great of the earth1 a noble philosophy1 a science of life itself1 and this1 not as a hypothesis1 but as truth which is certain1 truth which has been verified by eyes which see deeper than ours1 and proclaimed by the voices of those who have become the truth they speak of2 for as ,krishna teaches ,arjuna in the ,dayanishvari3 on this ,path to whatever place one would go that place one's self becomes6 ,the last word of this wisdom is unity4 ,underneath all phenomena and surviving all changes1 a great principle endures for ever4 ,at the great white dawn of existence1 from this principle stream spirit and primordial matter2 as they flow away further from their divine source1 they become broken up1 the one life into countless lives1 matter into countless forms1 which enshrine these lives2 spirit involves itself into matter and matter evolves1 acted upon by this informing fire4 ,these lives wander on through many a cycle's ebb and flow1 in separation and sorrow1 with sometimes the joy of a momentary meeting4 ,only by the recognition of that unity1 which spiritually is theirs1 can they obtain freedom4 ,it is true in the experience of the race that devotion of any life to universal ends brings to that life a strange subtle richness and strength2 by our mood we fasten ourselves into the ,eternal2 hence these historic utterances1 declarations of permanence and a spiritual state of consciousness1 which have been the foundation of all great religious movements4 ,christ says1 ,i and my ,father are one4 ,before ,abraham was ,i am4 ,paul says1 ,in him we live and move and have our being4 ,in the sacred books of ,india it is the claim of many sages that they have recognised the ancient constant and eternal which perishes not through the body be slain1 and there are not wanting to-day men who speak of a similar expansion of their consciousness1 out of the gross and material1 into more tender1 wise and beautiful states of thought and being4 ,tennyson1 in a famous letter published some time ago1 mentioned that he had at different times experienced such a mood2 the idea of death was laughable2 it was not thought1 but a state2 the clearest of the clearest1 the surest of the surest4 ,it would be easy to do on multiplying instances4 ,now in a nature where unity underlies all differences1 where soul is bound to soul more than star to star2 where if one falters or fails the order of all the rest is changed2 the duty of any man who perceives this unity is clear1 the call for brotherly action is imperative1 selfishness cannot any longer wear the mask of wisdom1 for isolation is folly and shuts us out from the eternal verities4 ,the third object of the society defined as the study of the psychic powers latent in man is pursued only by a portion of the members2 those who wish to understand more clearly the working of certain laws of nature and who wish to give themselves up more completely to that life in which they live and move and have their being2 and the outward expression of the occult life is also brotherhood4 --,nov4 #ae1 #ahib ,the ,hour of ,twilight ,for the future we intend that at this hour the ,mystic shall be at home1 less metaphysical and scientific than is his wont1 but more really himself4 ,it is customary at this hour1 before the lamps are brought in1 to give way a little and dream1 letting all the tender fancies day suppresses rise up in out minds4 ,wherever it is spent1 whether in the dusky room or walking home through the blue evening1 all things grow strangely softened and united2 the magic of the old world reappears4 ,the commonplace streets take on something of the grandeur and solemnity of starlit avenues of ,egyptian temples the public squares in the mingled glow and gloom grow beautiful as the ,indian grove where ,sakuntala wandered with her maidens2 the children chase each other through the dusky shrubberies1 as they flee past they look at us with long remembered glances3 lulled by the silence1 we forget a little while the hard edges of the material and remember that we are spirits4 ,now is the hour for memory1 the time to call in and make more securely our own all stray and beautiful ideas that visited us during the day1 and which might otherwise be forgotten4 ,we should draw them in from the region of things felt to the region of things understood2 in a focus burning with beauty and pure with truth we should bind them1 for from the thoughts thus gathered in something accrues to the consciousness2 on the morrow a change impalpable but real has taken place in our being1 we see beauty and truth through everything4 ,it is in like manner in ,devachan1 between the darkness of earth and the light of spiritual self-consciousness1 that the ,master in each of us draws in and absorbs the rarest and best of experiences1 love1 self-forgetfulness1 aspiration1 and out of these distils the subtle essence of wisdom1 so that he who struggles in pain for his fellows1 when he wakens again on earth is endowed with the tradition of that which we call self-sacrifice1 but which is in reality the proclamation of our own universal nature4 ,there are yet vaster correspondences1 for so also we are told1 when the seven worlds are withdrawn1 the great calm ,shepherd of the ,ages draws his misty hordes together in the glimmering twilights of eternity1 and as they are penned within the awful ,fold1 the rays long separate are bound into one1 and life1 and joy1 and beauty disappear1 to emerge again after rest unspeakable on the morning of a ,new ,day4 ,now if the aim of the mystic be to fuse into one all moods made separate by time1 would not the daily harvesting of wisdom render unnecessary the long ,devachanic years8 ,no second harvest could be reaped from fields where the sheaves are already garnered4 ,thus disregarding the fruits of action1 we could work like those who have made the ,great ,sacrifice1 for whom even ,nirvana is no resting place4 ,worlds may awaken in nebulous glory1 pass through their phases of self-conscious existence and sink again to sleep1 but these tireless workers continue their age-long task of help4 ,their motive we do not know1 but in some secret depth of our being we feel that there could be nothing nobler1 and thinking this we have devoted the twilight hour to the understanding of their nature4 --,february #ae1 #ahic ,there are dreams which may be history or may be allegory4 ,there is in them nothing grotesque1 nothing which could mar the feeling of authenticity1 the sense of the actual occurence of the dream incident4 ,the faces and figures perceived have the light shade and expression which seems quite proper to the wonderworld in which the eye of the inner man has vision2 and yet the story may be read as a parable of spiritual truth like some myth of ancient scripture4 ,long ago ,i had may such dreams1 and having lately become a student of such things1 ,i have felt an interest in recalling the more curious and memorable of these early vision4 ,the nebulous mid-region between waking and unconsciousness was the haunt of many strange figures1 reflections perhaps from that true life led during sleep by the immortal man4 ,among these figures two awoke the strangest feelings of interest4 ,one was an old man with long grey hair and beard1 whose grey-blue eyes had an expression of secret and inscrutable wisdom2 ,i felt an instinctive reverence for this figure1 so expressive of spiritual nobility1 and it became associated in my mind with all aspiration and mystical thought4 ,the other figure was that of a young girl4 ,these two appeared again and again in my visions2 the old man always as instructor1 the girl always as companion4 ,i have here written down one of these adventures1 leaving it to the reader to judge whether it is purely symbolical1 or whether the incidents related actually took place1 and were out-realized from latency by the power of the ,master within4 ,with the girl as my companion ,i left an inland valley and walked towards the sea4 ,it was evening when we reached it and the tide was far out4 ,the sands glimmered away for miles on each side of us2 we walked outwards through the dim coloured twilight1 ,i was silent2 a strange ecstacy slowly took possession of me1 as if drop by drop an unutterable life was falling within2 the fever grew intense1 then unbearable as it communicated itself to the body2 with a wild cry ,i began to spin about1 whirling round and round in ever increasing delirium2 ,some secretness was in the air2 ,i was called forth by the powers of invisible nature and in a swoon ,i fell4 ,i rose again with sudden memory1 but my body was lying upon the sands2 with a curious indifference ,i saw that the tide was on the turn and the child was unable to remove the insensible form beyond its reach2 ,i saw her sit down beside it and place the head upon her lap2 she sat there quietly waiting1 while all about her little by little the wave of the ,indian sea began to ripple inwards1 and overhead the early stars began softly to glow4 ,after this ,i forgot completely the child and the peril of the waters1 ,i began to be conscious of the presence of a new world4 ,all around me currents were flowing1 in whose waves dance innumerable lives2 diaphanous forms glided about1 a nebulous sparkle was everywhere apparent2 faces as of men in dreams glimmered on me1 or unconsciously their forms drifted past1 and now and then a face looked sternly upon me with a questioning glance4 ,i was not to remain long in this misty region1 again ,i felt the internal impulse and internally ,i was translated into a sphere of more pervading beauty and light2 and here with more majesty and clearness than ,i had observed before was the old man of my dreams4 ,i had though of him as old but there was an indescribable youth pervading the face with its ancient beauty1 and then ,i knew it was neither age nor youth1 it was eternalness4 ,the calm light of thought played over features clear cut as a statue's1 and an inner luminousness shone through the rose of his face and his silver hair4 ,there were others about but of them ,i had no distinct vision4 ,he said1 ,you who have lived and wandered through our own peculiar valleys look backwards now and learn the alchemy of thought4 ,he touched me with his hand and ,i became aware of the power of these strange beings4 ,i felt how they had waited in patience1 how they had worked and willed in silence2 from them as from a fountain went forth peace2 to them as to the stars rose up unconsciously the aspirations of men1 the dumb animal cravings1 the tendrils of the flowers4 ,i saw how in the valley where ,i lived1 where naught had hindered1 their presence had drawn forth in luxuriance all dim and hidden beauty1 a rarer and pure atmosphere recalled the radiant life of men in the golden dawn of the earth4 ,with wider vision ,i saw how far withdrawn from strife they had stilled the tumults of nations2 ,i saw how hearing far within the voices1 spiritual1 remote1 which called1 the mighty princes of the earth descended from their thrones becoming greater than princes2 under this silent influence the terrible chieftains flung open the doors of their dungeons that they themselves might become free1 and all these joined in that hymn which the quietude of earth makes to sound in the ears of the gods4--,overpowered ,i turned round1 the eyes of light were fixed upon me4 ,do you now understand8 ,i do not understand1 ,i replied4 ,i see that the light and the beauty and the power that enters the darkness of the world comes from these high regions2 but ,i do not know how the light enters1 no how beauty is born1 ,i do not know the secret of power4 ,you must become as one of us1 he answered4 ,i bowed my head until it touched his breast2 ,i felt my life was being drawn from me1 but before consciousness utterly departed and was swallowed up in that larger life1 ,i learned something of the secret of their being2 ,i lived within the minds of men1 but their thoughts were not my thoughts2 ,i hung like a crown over everything1 yet age was no nearer than childhood to the grasp of my sceptre and sorrow was far away when it wept for my going1 and very far was joy when it woke at my light2 yet ,i was the lure that led them on2 ,i was at the end of all ways1 and ,i was also in the sweet voice that cried return2 and ,i had learned how spiritual life is one in all things1 when infinite vistas and greater depths received me1 and ,i went into that darkness out of which no memory can ever return4 --,march #ae1 #ahic ,the ,mask of ,apollo ,a tradition rises up within me of quiet1 unrumoured years1 ages before the demigods and heroes toiled at the making of ,greece1 long ages before the building of the temples and sparkling palaces of her day of glory4 ,the land was pastoral1 all over its woods hung a stillness as of dawn and of unawakened beauty deep-breathing in rest4 ,here and there little villages sent up their smoke and a dreamy people moved about2 they grew up1 toiled a little at their fields1 followed their sheep and goats1 they wedded and grey age overtook them1 but they never ceased to be children4 ,they worshiped the gods with ancient rites in little wooden temples and knew many things which were forgotten in later years4 ,near one of these shrines lived a priest1 an old man whose simple and reverend nature made him loved by all around4 ,to him1 sitting one summer evening before his hut1 came a stranger whom he invited to share his meal4 ,the stranger sat down and began to tell him many wonderful things1 stories of the magic of the sun and of the bright beings who moved at the gates of the day4 ,the old priest grew drowsy in the warm sunlight and fell asleep4 ,then the stranger who was ,apollo arose and in the guise of the old priest entered the little temple1 and the people came in unto him one after the other4 ,agathon1 the husbandman4 ,father1 as ,i bend over the fields or fasten up the vines1 ,i sometimes remember how you said that the gods can be worshiped by doing these things as by sacrifice4 ,how is it1 father1 that the pouring of cool water over roots1 or training up the branches can nourish ,zeus8 ,how can the sacrifice appear before his throne when it is not carried up in the fire and vapour4 ,apollo4 ,agathon1 the father omnipotent does not live only in the aether4 ,he runs invisibly within the sun and stars1 and as they whirl round and round1 they break out into woods and flowers and streams1 and the winds are shaken away from them like leaves from off the roses4 ,great1 strange and bright1 he busies himself within1 and at the end of time his light shall shine through and men shall see it1 moving in a world of flame4 ,think then1 as you bend over your fields1 of what you nourish and what rises up within them4 ,know that every flower as it droops in the quiet of the woodland feels within and far away the approach of an unutterable life and is glad1 they reflect that life even as the little pools take up the light of the stars4 ,agathon1 ,agathon1 ,zeus is no greater in the aether than he is in the leaf of grass1 and the hymns of men are no sweeter to him than a little water poured over one of his flowers4 ,agathon the husbandman went away and bent tenderly over his fruits and vines1 and he loved each one of them more than before1 and he grew wise in many things as he watched them and he was happy working for the gods4 ,then spake ,damon the shepherd1 ,father1 while the flocks are browsing dreams rise up within me2 they make the heart sick with longing2 the forests vanish1 ,i hear no more the lamb's bleat or the rustling of the fleeces2 voices from a thousand depths call me1 they whisper1 they beseech me1 shadows lovelier than earth's children utter music1 not for me though ,i faint while ,i listen4 ,father1 why do ,i hear the things others hear not1 voices calling to unknown hunters of wide fields1 or to herdsmen1 shepherds of the starry flocks8 ,apollo answered1 ,damon1 a song stole from the silence while the gods were not yet1 and a thousand ages passed ere they came1 called forth by the music1 and a thousand ages they listened then joined in the song2 then began the worlds to glimmer shadowy about them and bright beings to bow before them4 ,these1 their children1 began in their turn to sing the song that calls forth and awakens life4 ,he is master of all things who has learned their music4 ,damon1 heed not the shadows1 but the voices1 the voices have a message to thee from beyond the gods4 ,learn their song and sing it over again to the people until their hearts too are sick with longing and they can hear the song within themselves4 ,oh1 my son1 ,i see far off how the nations shall join in it as in a chorus1 and hearing it the rushing planets shall cease from their speed and be steadfast2 men shall hold starry sway4 ,the face of the god shone through the face of the old man1 and filled with awe1 it was so full of secretness4 ,damon the herdsman passed from his presence and a strange fire was kindled in his heart4 ,then the two lovers1 ,dion and ,neaera1 came in and stood before ,apollo4 ,dion spake1 ,father1 you who are so wise can tell us what love is1 so that we shall never miss it4 ,old ,tithonius nods his grey head at us as we pass2 he says1 'only with the changeless gods has love endurance1 for men the loving time is short and its sweetness is soon over4' ,neaera added4 ,but it is not true1 father1 for his drowsy eyes light when he remembers the old days1 when he was happy and proud in love as we are4 ,apollo4 ,my children1 ,i will tell you the legend how love came into the world and how it may endure4 ,it was on high ,olympus the gods held council at the making of man2 each had brought a gift1 they gave to man something of their own nature4 ,aphrodite1 the loveliest and sweetest1 paused and was about to add a new grace to his person1 but ,eros cried1 let them not be so lovely without1 let them be lovelier within4 ,put you own soul in1 ,o mother4 ,the mighty mother smiled1 and so it was2 and now whenever love is like hers1 which asks not return but shines on all because it must1 within that love ,aphrodite dwells and it becomes immortal by her presence4 ,then ,dion and ,neaera went out1 and as they walked homewards through the forest1 purple and vaporous in the evening light1 they drew closer together2 and ,dion looking into her eyes saw there a new gleam1 violet1 magical1 shining1 there was the presence of ,aphrodite1 there was her shrine4 ,then came in unto ,apollo the two grandchildren of old ,thithonius and they cried1 ,see the flowers we have brought you1 we gathered them for you down in the valley where they grow best4 ,then ,apollo said1 ,what wisdom shall we give to children that they may remember8 ,our most beautiful for them6 ,as he stood and looked at them the mask of age and secretness vanished1 he stood before them radiant in light2 they laughed in joy at his beauty2 he bent down and kissed them each upon the forehead then faded away into the light which was his home4 ,as the sun sank down amid the blue hills the old priest awoke with a sigh and cried out1 ,oh that we could talk wisely as we do in our dreams4 --,april #ae1 #ahic ,the ,secret of ,power ,it is not merely because it is extraordinary that ,i wish to tell you this story4 ,i think mere weirdness1 grotesque or unusual character1 are not sufficient reasons for making public incidents in which there is an element of the superhuman4 ,the world1 in spite of its desire to understand the nature of the occult is sick of and refuses to listen to stories of apparitions which betray no spiritual character or reveal no spiritual law4 ,the incident here related is burned into my mind and life1 not because of its dramatic intensity or personal character1 but because it was a revelation of the secret of power1 a secret which the wise in good and the wise in evil alike have knowledge of4 ,my friend ,felix was strangely disturbed2 not only were his material affairs unsettled1 but he was also passing through a crisis in his spiritual life4 ,two paths were open before him2 ,on one side lay the dazzling mystery of passion2 on the other the small old path held out its secret and spiritual allurements4 ,i had hope that he would choose the latter1 and as ,i was keenly interested in his decision4 ,i invested the struggle going on in his mind with something of universal significance1 seeing in it a symbol of the strife between light and darkness which are the world's eternal ways4 ,he came in late one evening4 ,i saw at once by the dim light that there was something strange in his manner4 ,i spoke to him in enquiry2 he answered me in a harsh dry voice quite foreign to his usual manner4 ,oh1 ,i am not going to trouble myself any more1 ,i will let things take their course4 ,this seemed the one idea in his mind1 the one thing he understood clearly was that things were to take their own course2 he failed to grasp the significance of any other idea or its relative importance4 ,he answered ,aye1 indeed1 with every appearance of interest and eagerness to some trivial remark about the weather1 and was quite unconcerned about another and most important matter which should have interested him deeply4 ,i soon saw what had happened2 his mind1 in which forces so evenly balanced had fought so strenuously1 had become utterly wearied out and could work no longer4 ,a flash of old intuition illumined it at last1-- it was not wise to strive with such bitterness over life1--therefore he said to me in memory of this intuition1 ,i am going to let things take their course4 ,a larger tribunal would decide2 he had appealed unto ,caesar4 ,i sent him up to his room and tried to quiet his fever by magnetization with some success4 ,he fell asleep1 and as ,i was rather weary myself ,i retired soon after4 ,this was the vision of the night4 ,it was surely in the room ,i was lying and on my bed1 and yet space opened on every side with pale1 clear light4 ,a slight wavering figure caught my eye1 a figure that swayed to and fro2 ,i was struck with its utter feebleness1 yet ,i understood it was its own will or some quality of its nature which determined that palpitating movement towards the poles between which it swung4 ,what were they8 ,i became silent as night and thought no more4 ,two figures awful in their power opposed each other2 the frail being wavering between them could by putting out its arms have touched them both4 ,it alone wavered1 for they were silent1 resolute and knit in the conflict of will2 they stirred not a hand nor a foot2 there was only a still quivering now and then as of intense effort1 but they made no other movement4 ,their heads were bent forward slightly1 their arms folded1 their bodies straight1 rigid1 and inclined slightly backwards from each other like two spokes of a gigantic wheel4 ,what were they1 these figures8 ,i knew not1 and yet gazing upon them1 thought which took no words to clothe itself mutely read their meaning4 ,here were the culminations of the human1 towering images of the good and evil man may aspire to4 ,i looked at the face of the evil adept4 ,his bright red-brown eyes burned with a strange radiance of power2 ,i felt an answering emotion of pride1 of personal intoxication1 of psychic richness rise up within me gazing upon him4 ,his face was archetypal2 the abstract passion which eluded me in the features of many people ,i knew1 was here declared1 exultant1 defiant1 giantesque2 it seem to leap like fire1 to be free4 ,in this face ,i was close to the legendary past1 to the hopeless worlds where men were martyred by stony kings1 where prayer was hopeless1 where pity was none4 ,i traced a resemblance to many of the great ,destroyers in history whose features have been preserved1 ,napoleon1 ,ramses and a hundred others1 named and nameless1 the long line of those who were crowned and sceptered in cruelty4 ,his strength was in human weakness1 ,i saw this1 for space and the hearts of men were bare before me4 ,out of space there flowed to him a stream half invisible of red2 it nourished that rich radiant energy of passion2 it flowed from men as they walked and brooded in loneliness1 or as they tossed in sleep4 ,i withdrew my gaze from this face which awoke in me a lurid sense accompaniment1 and turned it on the other4 ,an aura of pale soft blue was around this figure through which gleamed an underlight as of universal gold4 ,the vision was already dim and departing1 but ,i caught a glimpse of a face godlike in its calm1 terrible in the beauty of a life we know only in dreams1 with strength which is the end of the hero's toil1 which belongs to the many times martyred soul2 yet not far away not in the past was its power1 it was the might of life which exists eternally4 ,i understood how easy it would have been for this one to have ended the conflict1 to have gained a material victory by its power1 but this would not have touched on or furthered its spiritual ends4 ,only its real being had force to attract that real being which was shrouded in the wavering figure4 ,this truth the adept of darkness knew also and therefore he intensified within the sense of pride and passionate personality4 ,therefore they stirred not a hand nor a foot while under the stimulus of their presence culminated the good and evil in the life which had appealed to a higher tribunal to decide4 ,then this figure wavering between the two moved forward and touched with its hand the ,son of ,light4 ,all at once the scene and actors vanished1 and the eye that saw them was closed1 ,i was alone with darkness and a hurricane of thoughts4 ,strange and powerful figures6 ,i knew your secret of strength1 it is only to be1 nature quickened by your presence leaps up in response4 ,i knew no less the freedom of that human soul1 for your power only revealed its unmanifest nature1 it but precipitated experience4 ,i knew that although the gods and cosmic powers may war over us for ever1 it is we alone declare them victors or vanquished4 ,for the rest the vision of that night was prophetic1 and the feet of my friend are now set on that way which was the innermost impulse of his soul4 --,may #ae1 #ahic ,the ,priestess of the ,woods ,here is a legend whispered to me1 the land or time ,i cannot tell1 it may have been in the old ,atlantean days4 ,there were vast woods and a young priestess ruled them2 she presided at the festivals and sacrificed at the altar for the people1 interceding with the spirits of fire1 water air and earth1 that the harvest might not be burned up1 nor drenched with the floods1 nor town by storms and that the blight might not fall upon it1 which things the elemental spirits sometimes brought about4 ,this woodland sovereignty was her heritage from her father who was a mighty magician before her4 ,around her young days floated the faery presences2 she knew them as other children know the flowers having neither fear nor wonder for them4 ,she saw deeper things also2 as a little child1 wrapped up in her bearskin1 she watched with awe her father engaged in mystic rites2 when around him the airy legions gathered from the populous elements1 the spirits he ruled and the spirits he bowed down before3 fleeting nebulous things white as foam coming forth from the great deep who fled away at the waving of his hand2 and rarer the great sons of fire1 bright and transparent as glass1 who though near seemed yet far away and were still and swift as the figures that glance in a crystal4 ,so the child grew up full of mystery2 her thoughts were not the thoughts of the people about her1 nor their affections her affections4 ,it seemed as if the elf-things or beings carved by the thought of the magician1 pushed aside by his strong will and falling away from him1 entering into the child became part of her1 linking her to the elemental beings who live in the star-soul that glows within the earth4 ,her father told her such things as she asked1 but he died while she was yet young and she knew not his aim1 what man is1 or what is his destiny2 but she knew the ways of every order of spirit that goes about clad in a form1 how some were to be dreaded and some to be loved2 ,by reason of this knowledge she succeeded as priestess to the shrine1 and held the sway of beauty and youth1 of wisdom and mystery over the people dwelling in the woods4 ,it was the evening of the autumn festival1 the open grassy space before the altar was crowded with figures1 hunters with their feathered heads2 shepherds1 those who toil in the fields1 the old and hoary were gathered around4 ,the young priestess stood up before them2 she was pale from vigil1 and the sunlight coming through the misty evening air fell upon her swaying arms and her dress with its curious embroidery of peacock's feathers2 the dark hollows of her eyes were alight and as she spoke inspiration came to her2 her voice rose and fell1 commanding1 warning1 whispering1 beseeching2 its strange rich music flooded the woods and pierced through and through with awe the hearts of those who listened4 ,she spoke of the mysteries of that unseen nature2 how man is watched and ringed round with hosts who war upon him1 who wither up his joys by their breath2 she spoke of the gnomes who rise up in the woodland paths with damp arms grasping from their earthy bed4 ,dreadful she said are the elementals who live in the hidden waters3 they rule the dreaming heart3 their curse is forgetfulness2 they lull man to fatal rest1 with drowsy fingers feeling to put out his fire of life4 ,but the most of all1 dread the powers that move in air2 their nature is desire unquenchable2 their destiny is--never to be fulfilled--never to be at peace3 they roam hither and thither like the winds they guide2 they usurp dominion over the passionate and tender soul1 but they love not in our way2 where they dwell the heart is a madness and the feet are filled with a hurrying fever1 and night has no sleep and day holds no joy in its sunlit cup4 ,listen not to their whisper2 they wither and burn up the body with their fire2 the beauty they offer is smitten through and through with unappeasable anguish4 ,she paused for a moment2 here terrible breath had hardly ceased to thrill them1 when another voice was heard singing2 its note was gay and triumphant1 it broke the spell of fear upon the people1 ,i never heed by waste or wood ,the cry of fay or faery thing ,who tell of their own solitude2 ,above them all my soul is king4 ,the royal robe as king ,i wear ,trails all along the fields of light2 ,its silent blue and silver bear ,for gems the starry dust of night4 ,the breath of joy unceasingly ,waves to and fro its fold star-lit1 ,and far beyond earth's misery ,i live and breathe the joy of it4 ,the priestess advanced from the altar1 her eyes sought for the singer2 when she came to the centre of the opening she paused and waited silently4 ,almost immediately a young man carrying a small lyre stepped out of the crowd and stood before her2 he did not seem older than the priestess2 he stood unconcerned though her dark eyes blazed at the intrusion2 he met her gaze fearlessly2 his eyes looked into hers--in this way all proud spirits do battle4 ,her eyes were black with almost a purple tinge1 eyes that had looked into the dark ways of nature2 his were bronze1 and a golden tinge1 a mystic opulence of vitality seemed to dance in their depths2 they dazzled the young priestess with the secrecy of joy2 her eyes fell for a moment4 ,he turned round and cried out1 ,your priestess speaks but half truths1 her eyes have seen but her heart does not know4 ,life is not terrible but is full of joy4 ,listen to me4 ,i passed by while she spake1 and ,i saw that a fear lay upon every man1 and you shivered thinking of your homeward path1 fearful as rabbits of the unseen things1 and forgetful how you have laughed at death facing the monsters who crush down the forests4 ,do you not know that you are greater than all these spirits before who you bow in dread2 your life springs from a deeper source4 ,answer me1 priestess1 where go the fire-spirits when winter seizes the world8 ,into the ,fire-,king they go1 they dream in his heart4 ,she half chanted1 the passion of her speech not yet fallen away from her4 ,and where go the fires of men when they despair8 ,she was silent2 then he continued half in scorn1 ,your priestess is the priestess of ghouls and fays rather than a priestess of men2 her wisdom is not for you2 the spirits that haunt the elements are hostile because they see you full of fear2 do not dread them and their hatred will vanish4 ,the great heart of the earth is full of laughter2 do not put yourselves apart from its joy1 for its soul is your soul and its joy is your true being4 ,he turned and passed through the crowd2 the priestess made a motion as if she would have stayed him1 then she drew herself up proudly and refrained4 ,they heard his voice again singing as he passed into the darkening woods1 ,the spirits to the fire-king throng ,each in the winter of his day3 ,and all who listen to their song ,follow them after in that way4 ,they seek the heart-hold of the king1 ,they build within his halls of fire1 ,their dreams flash like the peacock's wing1 ,they glow with sun-hues of desire4 ,i follow in no faery ways2 ,i heed no voice of fay or elf2 ,i in the winter of my days ,rest in the high ancestral self4 ,the rites interrupted by the stranger did not continue much longer2 the priestess concluded her words of warning2 she did not try to remove the impression created by the poet's song1 she only said1 ,his wisdom may be truer4 ,it is more beautiful than the knowledge we inherit4 ,the days passed on2 autumn died into winter1 spring came again and summer1 and the seasons which brought change to the earth brought change to the young priestess4 ,she sought no longer to hold sway over the elemental tribes1 and her empire over them departed3 the song of the poet rang for ever in her ears2 its proud assertion of kingship and joy in the radiance of a deeper life haunted her like truth2 but such a life seemed unattainable by her and a deep sadness rested in her heart4 ,the wood-people often saw her sitting in the evening where the sunlight fell along the pool1 waving slowly its azure and amethyst1 sparkling and flashing in crystal and gold1 melting as if a phantom ,bird of ,paradise were fading away2 her dark head was bowed in melancholy and all the great beauty flamed and died away unheeded4 ,after a time she rose up and moved about1 she spoke more frequently to the people who had not dared to question her1 she grew into a more human softness1 they feared her less and loved her more2 but she ceased not from her passionate vigils and her step faltered and her cheek paled1 and her eager spirit took flight when the diamond glow of winter broke out over the world4 ,the poet came again in the summer2 they told him of the change they could not understand1 but he fathomed the depths of this wild nature1 and half in gladness1 half in sorrow1 he carved an epitaph over her tomb near the altar1 ,where is the priestess of this shrine1 ,and by what place does she adore8 ,the woodland haunt below the pine ,now hears her whisper nevermore4 ,ah1 wrapped in her own beauty now ,she dreams a dream that shall not cease2 ,priestess1 to her own soul to bow ,is hers in everlasting peace4 --,july #ae1 #ahic ,a ,tragedy in the ,temple ,i have often thought with sadness over the fate of that comrade4 ,that so ardent and heroic a spirit1 so much chivalry and generosity should meet such a horrible fate1 has often made me wonder if there is any purpose in this tangled being of ours2 ,i have hated life and the gods as ,i thought of it4 ,what brought him out of those great deserts where his youth was spent1 where his soul grew vast knowing only of two changes1 the blaze of day and night the purifier1 blue1 mysterious1 ecstatic with starry being8 ,were not these enough for him8 ,could the fire of the altar inspire more8 ,could he be initiated deeper in the chambers of the temple than in those great and lonely places where ,god and man are alone together8 ,this was my doing2 resting in his tent when ,i crossed the desert1 ,i had spoken to him of that old wisdom which the priests of the inner temple keep and hand down from one to the other2 ,i blew to flame the mystic fire which already smouldered within him1 and filled with the vast ambition of ,god1 he left his tribe and entered the priesthood as neophyte in the ,temple of ,isthar1 below ,ninevah4 ,i had sometimes to journey thither bearing messages from our high priest1 and so as time passed my friendship with ,asur grew deep4 ,that last evening when ,i sat with him on the terrace that roofed the temple1 he was more silent than ,i had known him before to be2 we had generally so many things to speak of2 for he told me all his dreams1 such vague titanic impulses as the soul has in the fresh first years of its awakening1 when no experience hinders with memory its flights of aspiration1 and no anguish has made it wise4 ,but that evening there was1 ,i thought1 something missing2 a curious feverishness seemed to have replaced the cool and hardy purity of manner which was natural to him2 his eyes had a strange glow1 fitful and eager2 ,i saw by the starlight how restless his fingers were1 they intertwined1 twisted1 and writhed in and out4 ,we sat long in the rich night together2 then he drew nearer to me and leaned his head near my shoulder2 he began to whisper incoherently a wild and passionate tale2 the man's soul was being tempted4 ,brother he said1 ,i am haunted by a vision1 by a child of the stars as lovely as ,isthar's self2 she visits my dreaming hours1 she dazzles me with strange graces1 she bewilders with unspeakable longing4 ,sometime1 ,i know1 ,i must go to her1 though ,i perish4 ,when ,i see her ,i forget all else and ,i have will to resist no longer4 ,the vast and lonely inspiration of the desert departs from my thought1 she and the jewel-light she lives in blot it out4 ,the thought of her thrills me like fire4 ,brother give me help1 ere ,i go mad or die2 she draws me away from earth and ,i shall end my days amid strange things1 a starry destiny amid starry races4 ,i was not then wise in these things1 ,i did not know the terrible dangers that lurk in the hidden ways in which the soul travels4 ,this ,i said is some delusion4 ,you have brooded over a fancy until it has become living2 you have filled your creation with your own passion and it lingers and tempts you2 even if it were real1 it is folly to think of it1 we must close our hearts to passion if we would attain the power and wisdom of ,gods4 ,he shook his head1 ,i could not realize or understand him4 ,perhaps if ,i had known all and could have warned him1 it would have been in vain2 perhaps the soul must work out its own purification in experience and learn truth and wisdom through being4 ,once more he became silent and restless4 ,i had to bid him farewell as ,i was to depart on the morrow1 but he was present in my thoughts and ,i could not sleep because of him2 ,i felt oppressed with the weight of some doom about to fall4 ,to escape from this feeling ,i rose in adoration to ,hea2 ,i tried to enter into the light of that ,wisdom2 a sudden heart-throb of warning drew me back2 ,i thought of ,asur instinctively1 and thinking of him his image flashed on me4 ,he moved as if in trance through the glassy waves of those cosmic waters which everywhere lave and permeate the worlds1 and in which our earth is but a subaqueous mound4 ,his head was bowed1 his form dilated to heroic stature1 as if he conceived of himself as some great thing or as moving to some high destiny2 and this shadow which was the house of his dreaming soul grew brilliant with the passionate hues of his thought2 some power beyond him drew him forth4 ,i felt the fever and heat of this inner sphere like a delirious breath blow fiercely about me2 there was a phosphorescence of hot and lurid colours4 ,the form of ,asur moved towards a light streaming from a grotto1 ,i could see within it burning gigantic flowers4 ,on one1 as on a throne1 a figure of weird and wonderful beauty was seated4 ,i was thrilled with a dreadful horror1 ,i thought of the race of ,liliths1 and some long forgotten and tragic legends rose up in my memory of these beings whose soul is but a single and terrible passion2 whose love too fierce for feebler lives to endure1 brings death or madness to men4 ,i tried to warn1 to awaken him from the spell2 my will-call aroused him2 he turned1 recognized me and hesitated2 then this figure that lured him rose to her full height2 ,i saw her in all her plume of a peacock1 it was spotted with gold and green and citron dyes1 she raised her arms upwards1 her robe1 semi-transparent1 purple and starred over with a jewel lustre1 fell in vaporous folds to her feet like the drift over a waterfall4 ,she turned her head with a sudden bird-like movement1 her strange eyes looked into mine with a prolonged and snaky glance2 ,i saw her move her arms hither and thither1 and the waves of this inner ocean began to darken and gather about me1 to ripple through me with feverish motion4 ,i fell into a swoon and remembered nothing more4 ,i was awakened before dawn1 those with whom ,i was to cross the desert were about to start and ,i could remain no longer4 ,i wrote hurriedly to ,asur a message full of warning and entreaty and set out on my return journey full of evil forebodings4 ,some months after ,i had again to visit the temple2 it was evening when ,i arrived2 after ,i had delivered the message with which ,i was charged1 ,i asked for ,asur4 ,the priest to whom ,i spoke did not answer me4 ,he led me in silence up to the terrace that overlooked the desolate eastern desert4 ,the moon was looming white upon the verge1 the world was trembling with heat1 the winged bulls along the walls shone with a dull glow through the sultry air4 ,the priest pointed to the far end of the terrace4 ,a figure was seated looking out over the desert1 his robes were motionless as if their wrinkles were carved of stone1 his hands lay on his knees1 ,i walked up to him2 ,i called his name2 he did not stir4 ,i came nearer and put my face close to his1 it was as white as the moon1 his eyes only reflected the light4 ,i turned away from him sick to the very heart4 --,september #ae1 #ahic ,jagrata1 ,svapna and ,sushupti ,while the philosophical concepts of ancient ,india1 concerning religion and cosmogony1 are to some extent familiar and appreciated in these countries1 its psychology1 intimately related with its religion and metaphysics1 is comparatively unknown4 ,in ,europe the greatest intellects have been occupied by speculations upon the laws and aspects of physical nature1 while the more spiritual ,hindus were absorbed in investigations as to the nature of life itself2 by continual aspiration1 devotion1 introspection and self-analysis1 they had acquired vast knowledge of the states of consciousness possible for man to enter upon2 they had laid bare the anatomy of the mind1 and described the many states that lay between the normal waking condition of man1 and the final state of spiritual freedom and unity with ,,brahma1 which it was the aim alike of religion and science to bring about4 ,most interesting among their ideas1 was their analysis of the states of consciousness upon which we enter during sleep4 ,roughly speaking1 they may be divided into two1 which together with the waking state1 make a trinity of states through which every person passes1 whether he be aware of it or not4 ,these states are known as3---,jagrata1 waking2 ,svapna1 dreaming2 and ,sushupti1 deep sleep4 ,the ,english equivalents of these words give no idea of the states4 ,passing our of ,jagrata1 the ,indians held that1 beyond the chaotic borderland1 we entered1 in ,svapna and ,sushupti1 upon real states of being4 ,sushupti1 the highest1 was accounted a spiritual state2 here the soul touches vaster centres in the great life and has communion with celestial intelligences4 ,the unification of these states into one is one of the results of ,raj-,yoga2 in this state the chela keeps memory of what occurred while his consciousness was in the planes of ,svapna and ,sushupti4 ,entrance upon these states should not ,i think be understood as meaning that the mind has deserted its fleshly tabernacle in search of such experience4 ,departure from the physical form is no more necessary for this than for clairvoyence1 but a transfer of the consciousness in us from one plane to another is necessary4 ,now as we generate ,karma in the dreaming and deep sleep states which may either help or hinder the soul in its evolution1 it is a matter of importance that we should take steps to promote the unification of these states1 so that the knowledge and wisdom of any one state may be used to perfect the others4 ,our thoughts and actions in the waking state react upon the dreaming and deep sleep1 and our experiences in the latter influence us in the waking state by suggestion and other means4 ,the reason we do not remember what occurs in ,svapna and ,sushupti is because the astral matter which normally surrounds the thinking principle is not subtle enough to register in its fullness the experience of any one upon the more spiritual planes of consciousness4 ,to increase the responsiveness upon the more spiritual planes of consciousness4 ,to increase the responsiveness of this subtle matter we have to practise concentration1 and so heighten the vibrations1 or in other words to evolve or perfect the astral principle4 ,modern science is rapidly coming to the conclusion that the differences perceived in objects around us1 are not differences in substance1 but differences of vibration in one substance4 ,take a copper wire2 pass electrical currents through it1 gradually increasing their intensity1 and phenomena of sound1 heat and light will be manifest1 the prismatic colours appearing one after the other4 ,similarly by an increased intensity in the performance of every action1 the consciousness is gradually transferred from the lower to the higher planes4 ,in order to give a point1 or to direct the evolving faculties into their proper channel1 continual aspiration is necessary4 ,take some idea--the spiritual unity of all things1 for example--something which can only be realized by our complete absorption in spiritual nature2 let every action be performed in the light of this idea1 let it be the subject of reverent thought4 ,if this is persisted in1 we will gradually begin to become conscious upon the higher planes1 the force of concentration carrying the mind beyond the waking into ,svapna and ,sushupti4 ,the period between retiring to rest and awakening1 formerly a blank1 will begin to be spotted with bright lights of consciousness1 or1 as we walk about during the day such knowledge will visit us4 ,he who is perfected in devotion findeth spiritual knowledge springing up spontaneously in himself say ,krishna4 ,patanjali recommends dwelling on the knowledge that presents itself in dreams2 if we think over any such experience1 many things connected with it will be revealed1 and so gradually the whole shadowy region will become familiar and attractive1 and we will gain a knowledge of our own nature which will be invaluable and which cannot otherwise be acquired4 --,january #ae1 #ahic ,concentration ,beyond waking1 dreaming and deep sleep is ,turya4 ,here there is a complete change of condition2 the knowledge formerly sought in the external world is now present within the consciousness2 the ideations of universal mind are manifest in spiritual intuitions4 ,the entrance to this state is through ,jagrata1 ,svapna1 and ,sushupti1 and here that spiritual unity is realized1 the longing for which draws the soul upwards through the shadowy worlds of dreaming and deep sleep4 ,i have thought it necessary to supplement the brief statement made in the previous number by some further remarks upon concentration1 for the term applied without reference to the ,turya state is liable to be misunderstood and a false impression might arise that the spiritual is something to be sought for outside ourselves4 ,the waking1 dreaming and deep sleep states correspond to objective worlds1 while ,turya is subjective1 including in itself all ideals4 ,if this is so1 we can never seek for the true beyond ourselves2 the things we suppose we shall come sometime realize in spiritual consciousness must be present in it now1 for to spirit all things are eternally present4 ,advance to this state is measured by the realization of moods3 we are on the path when there surges up in the innermost recesses of our being the cry of the long imprisoned souls of men2 we are then on our way to unity4 ,the ,bhagavad-,gita which is a treatise on ,raj ,yoga1 gives prominence to three aspects of concentration4 ,liberation is attained by means of action1 by devotion1 by spiritual discernment2 these aspects correspond respectively to three qualities in man and nature1 known as ,tamas1 ,rajas and ,satva4 ,the ,tamas is the gross1 material or dark quality2 ,rajas is active and passional2 the attributes of ,satva are light1 peace1 happiness1 wisdom4 ,no one while in the body can escape from the action of the three qualities1 for they are brought about by nature which is compounded of them4 ,we have to recognize this1 and to continue action1 aspiration and thought1 impersonally or with some universal motive1 in the manner nature accomplishes these things4 ,not one of these methods can be laid aside or ignored1 for the ,spirit moveth within all1 these are its works1 and we have to learn to identify ourselves with the moving forces of nature4 ,having always this idea of brotherhood or unity in mind1 by action-- which we may interpret as service in some humanitarian movement-- we purify the ,tamas4 ,by a pure motive1 which is the ,philosopher's ,stone1 a potent force in the alchemy of nature1 we change the gross into the subtle1 we initiate that evolution which shall finally make the vesture of the soul of the rare1 long-sought-for1 primordial substance4 ,devotion is the highest possibility for the ,rajas2 that quality which is ever attracted and seduced by the beautiful mayas of fame1 wealth and power1 should be directed to that which it really seeks for1 the eternal universal life2 the channels through which it must flow outwards are the souls of other men1 it reaches the ,one ,life through the many4 ,spiritual discernment should be the aim of the ,satva1 there is not anything1 whether animate or inanimate which is without me1 says ,krishna1 and we should seek for the traces of ,,that in all things1 looking upon it as the cause of the alchemical changes in the ,tamas1 as that which widens the outflowing love of the ,rajas4 ,by a continued persistence of this subtle analytic faculty1 we begin gradually to perceive that those things which we formerly thought were causes1 are in reality not causes at all2 that there is but one cause for everything1 ,the ,atma by which this universe is pervaded4 ,by reason of its proximity alone the body1 the organs1 ,manas and ,buddhi apply themselves to their proper objects as if applied 7by some one else74 7,the ,crest ,jewel of ,wisdom74 ,by uniting these three moods1 action1 devotion and spiritual discernment1 into one mood1 and keeping it continuously alight1 we are accompanying the movements of spirit to some extent4 ,this harmonious action of all the qualities of our nature1 for universal purposes without personal motive1 is in synchronous vibration with that higher state spoken of at the beginning of the paper2 therefore we are at one with it4 ,when the wise man perceiveth that the only agents of action are these qualities1 and comprehends that which is superior to the qualities of goodness1 action and indifference--which are co-existent with the body1 it is released from rebirth and death1 old age and pain1 and drinketh of the water of immortality4 --,february #ae1 #ahic ,verse by ,,ae in the ,irish ,theosophist ,contents3 #a--,while the yellow constellations4444 7untitled7 #b--,om #c--,krishna #d--,pain #e--,three ,councelors #f--;,dusk #g--;,dawn #h--;,desire #i--;,deep ,sleep #aj--;,day #aa--,to ,a ,poet #ab--,the ,place of ,rest #ac--;,comfort #ad--;,h4,p4,b4 7,in ,memoriam47 #ae--;,by the ,margin of the ,great ,deep #af--,the ,secret #ag--;,dust #ah--,magic #ai--;,immortality #bj--,the ,man to the ,angel #ba--,the ,robing of the ,king #bb--;,brotherhood #bc--;,in the ,womb #bd--;,in the ,garden of ,god #be--,the ,breath of ,light #bf--,the ,free #bg--,the ,magi #bh--,w4,q4,j4 787 #bi--;,from the ,book of the ,eagle #cj--,the ,protest of ,love #ca--,the ,king ,initiate #cb--,the ,dream of the ,children #cc--,the ,chiefs of the ,air #cd--,the ,palaces of the ,sidhe #ce--,the ,voice of the ,wise #cf--;,a ,dawn ,song #cg--,the ,fountain of ,shadowy ,beauty #ch--;,a ,new ,earth #ci--;,duality ,while the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory1 ,in the lilac-scented stillness1 let us listen to ,earth's story4 ,all the flow'rs like moths a-flutter glimmer rich with dusky hues1 ,everywhere around us seem to fall from nowhere the sweet dews4 ,through the drowsy lull1 the murmur1 stir of leaf and sleep hum ,we can feel a gay heart beating1 hear a magic singing come4 ,ah1 ,i think that as we linger lighting at ,earth's olden fire ,fitful gleams in clay that perish1 little sparks that soon expire1 ,so the mother brims her gladness from a life beyond her own1 ,from whose darkness as a fountain up the fiery days are thrown ,starry worlds which wheel in splendour1 sunny systems1 histories1 ,vast and nebulous traditions told in the eternities3 ,and our list'ning mother whispers through her children all the story3 ,come1 the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory6 --,october #ae1 #ahib ,om ,faint grew the yellow buds of light ,far flickering beyond the snows1 ,as leaning o'er the shadowy white ,morn glimmered like a pale primrose4 ,within an ,indian vale below ,a child said ,om with tender heart1 ,watching with loving eyes the glow ,in dayshine fade and night depart4 ,the word which ,brahma at his dawn ,outbreathes and endeth at his night2 ,whose tide of sound so rolling on ,gives birth to orbs of golden light2 ,and beauty1 wisdom1 love1 and youth1 ,by its enchantment1 gathered grow ,in age-long wandering to the truth1 ,through many a cycle's ebb and flow4 ,and here all lower life was stilled1 ,the child was lifted to the ,wise3 ,a strange delight his spirit filled1 ,and ,brahm looked from his shining eyes4 --,december #ae1 #ahib ,krishna ,the ,east was crowned with snow-cold bloom ,and hung with veils of pearly fleece2 ,they died away into the gloom1 ,vistas of peace1 and deeper peace4 ,and earth and air and wave and fire ,in awe and breathless silence stood1 ,for ,one who passed into their choir ,linked them in mystic brotherhood4 ,twilight of amethyst1 amid ,the few strange stars that lit the heights1 ,where was the secret spirit hid1 ,where was ,thy place1 ,o ,light of ,lights8 ,the flame of ,beauty far in space-- ,when rose the fire1 in ,thee8 in ,me8 ,which bowed the elemental race ,to adoration silently4 --,february #ae1 #ahic ,pain ,men have made them gods of love1 ,sun gods1 givers of the rain1 ,deities of hill and grove1 ,i have made a god of ,pain4 ,of my god ,i know this much1 ,and in singing ,i repeat1 ,though there's anguish in his touch ,yet his soul within is sweet4 --,march #ae1 #ahic ,three ,counselors ,it was the fairy of the place ,moving within a little light1 ,who touched with dim and shadowy grace ,the conflict at its fever height4 ,it seemed to whisper quietness1 ,then quietly itself was gone2 ,yet echoes of its mute caress ,still rippled as the years flowed on4 ,it was the ,warrior within ,who called ,awake6 prepare for fight1 ,yet lose not memory in the din2 ,make of thy gentleness thy might4 ,make of thy silence words to shake ,the long-enthroned kings of earth2 ,make of thy will the force to break ,their towers of wantonness and mirth4 ,it was the wise all-seeing soul ,who counseled neither war nor peace ,only be thou thyself that goal ,in which the wars of time shall cease4 --,april #ae1 #ahic ,dusk ,dusk wraps the village in its dim caress2 ,each chimney's vapour1 like a thin grey rod1 ,mounting aloft through miles of quietness1 ,pillars the skies of ,god4 ,far up they break or seem to break their line1 ,mingling their nebulous crests that bow and nod ,under the light of those fierce stars that shine ,out of the house of ,god4 ,only in clouds and dreams ,i felt those souls ,in the abyss1 each fire hid in its clod1 ,from which in clouds and dreams the spirit rolls ,into the vast of ,god4 --,may #ae1 #ahic ,dawn ,still as the holy of holies breathes the vast1 ,within its crystal depths the stars grow dim1 ,fire on the altar of the hills at last ,burns on the shadowy rim4 ,moment that holds all moments1 white upon ,the verge it trembles2 then like mists of flowers ,break from the fairy fountain of the dawn ,the hues of many hours4 ,thrown downward from that high companionship ,of dreaming inmost heart with inmost heart1 ,into the common daily ways ,i slip ,my fire from theirs apart4 --,june #ae1 #ahic ,desire ,with ,thee a moment6 then what dreams have play6 ,traditions of eternal toil arise1 ,search for the high1 austere and lonely way1 ,where ,brahma treads through the eternities4 ,ah1 in the soul what memories arise6 ,and with what yearning inexpressible1 ,rising from long forgetfulness ,i turn ,to ,thee1 invisible1 unrumoured1 still3 ,white for ,thy whiteness all desires burn6 ,ah1 with what longing once again ,i turn6 --,august #ae1 #ahic ,deep ,sleep ,heart-hidden from the outer things ,i rose1 ,the spirit woke anew in nightly birth ,into the vastness where forever glows ,the star-soul of the earth4 ,there all alone in primal ecstasy1 ,within her depths where revels never tire1 ,the olden ,beauty shines2 each thought of me ,is veined through with its fire4 ,and all my thoughts are throngs of living souls2 ,they breath in me1 heart unto heart allied ,with joy undimmed1 though when the morning tolls ,the planets may divide4 --,september #ae1 #ahic ,day ,in day from some titanic past it seems ,as if a thread divine of memory runs2 ,born ere the ,mighty ,one began his dreams1 ,or yet were stars and suns4 ,but here an iron will has fixed the bars2 ,forgetfulness falls on earth's myriad races1 ,no image of the proud and morning stars ,looks at us from their faces4 ,yet yearning still to reach to those dim heights1 ,each dream remembered is a burning-glass1 ,where through to darkness from the light of lights ,its rays in splendour pass4 --,september #ae1 #ahic ,to ,a ,poet ,oh1 be not led away4 ,lured by the colour of the sun-rich day4 ,the gay romances of song ,unto the spirit-life doth not belong4 ,though far-between the hours ,in which the ,master of ,angelic ,powers ,lightens the dusk within ,the ,holy of ,holies2 be it thine to win ,rare vistas of white light1 ,half-parted lips1 through which the ,infinite ,murmurs her ancient story2 ,hearkening to whom the wandering planets hoary ,waken primeval fires1 ,with deeper rapture in celestial choirs ,breathe1 and with fleeter motion ,wheel in their orbits through the surgeless ocean4 ,so1 hearken thou like these1 ,intent on her1 mounting by slow degrees1 ,until thy song's elation ,echoes her multitudinous meditation4 --,november #ae1 #ahic ,the ,place of ,rest --,the soul is its own witness and its own refuge4 ,unto the deep the deep heart goes4 ,it lays its sadness nigh the breast3 ,only the mighty mother knows ,the wounds that quiver unconfessed4 ,it seeks a deeper silence still2 ,it folds itself around with peace1 ,where thoughts alike of good or ill ,in quietness unfostered1 cease4 ,it feels in the unwounding vast ,for comfort for its hopes and fears3 ,the mighty mother bows at last2 ,she listens to her children's tears4 ,where the last anguish deepens--there-- ,the fire of beauty smites through pain1 ,a glory moves amid despair1 ,the ,mother takes her child again4 --,december #ae1 #ahic ,comfort ,dark head by the fireside brooding1 ,sad upon your ears ,whirlwinds of the earth intruding ,sound in wrath and tears3 ,tender-hearted1 in your lonely ,sorrow ,i would fain ,comfort you1 and say that only ,gods could feel such pain4 ,only spirits know such longing ,for the far away2 ,and the fiery fancies thronging ,rise not out of clay4 ,keep the secret sense celestial ,of the starry birth2 ,though about you call the bestial ,voices of the earth4 ,if a thousand ages since ,hurled us from the throne3 ,then a thousand ages wins ,back again our own4 ,sad one1 dry away your tears3 ,sceptred you shall rise1 ,equal mid the crystal spheres ,with seraphs kingly wise4 --,february1 #ahid ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 7,in ,memoriam47 ,though swift the days flow from her day1 ,no one has left her day unnamed3 ,we know what light broke from her ray ,on us1 who in the truth proclaimed ,grew brother with the stars and powers ,that stretch away--away to light1 ,and fade within the primal hours1 ,and in the wondrous ,first unite4 ,we lose with her the right to scorn ,the voices scornful of her truth3 ,with her a deeper love was born ,for those who filled her days with ruth4 ,to her they were not sordid things3 ,in them sometimes--her wisdom said-- ,the ,bird of ,paradise had wings2 ,it only dreams1 it is not dead4 ,we cannot for forgetfulness ,forego the reverence due to them1 ,who wear at times they do not guess ,the sceptre and the diadem4 ,with wisdom of the olden time ,she made the hearts of dust to flame2 ,and fired us with the hope sublime ,our ancient heritage to claim2 ,that turning from the visible1 ,by vastness unappalled nor stayed1 ,our wills might rule beside that ,will ,by which the tribal stars are swayed2 ,and entering the heroic strife1 ,tread in the way their feet have trod ,who move within a vaster life1 ,sparks in the ,fire--,gods amid ,god4 --,august #ae1 #ahid ,by the ,margin of the ,great ,deep ,when the breath of twilight blows to flame the misty skies1 ,all its vapourous sapphire1 violet glow and silver gleam ,with their magic flood me through the gateway of the eyes2 ,i am one with the twilight's dream4 ,when the trees and skies and fields are one in dusky mood1 ,every heart of man is rapt within the mother's breast3 ,full of peace and sleep and dreams in the vasty quietude1 ,i am one with their hearts at rest4 ,from our immemorial joys of hearth and home and love1 ,strayed away along the margin of the unknown tide1 ,all its reach of soundless calm can thrill me far above ,word or touch from the lips beside4 ,aye1 and deep1 and deep1 and deeper let me drink and draw ,from the olden ,fountain more than light or peace or dream1 ,such primeval being as o'erfills the heart with awe1 ,growing one with its silent stream4 --,march #ae1 #ahid ,the ,secret ,one thing in all things have ,i seen3 ,one thought has haunted earth and air2 ,clangour and silence both have been ,its palace chambers4 ,everywhere ,i saw the mystic vision flow1 ,and live in men1 and woods1 and streams1 ,until ,i could no longer know ,the dream of life from my own dreams4 ,sometimes it rose like fire in me1 ,within the depths of my own mind1 ,and spreading to infinity1 ,it took the voices of the wind4 ,it scrawled the human mystery1 ,dim heraldry--on light and air2 ,wavering along the starry sea1 ,i saw the flying vision there4 ,each fire that in ,god's temple lit ,burns fierce before the inner shrine1 ,dimmed as my fire grew near to it1 ,and darkened at the light of mine4 ,at last1 at last1 the meaning caught3 ,when spirit wears its diadem1 ,it shakes its wondrous plumes of thought1 ,and trails the stars along with them4 --,april #ae1 #ahid ,dust ,i heard them in their sadness say1 ,the earth rebukes the thought of ,god3 ,we are but embers wrapt in clay ,a little nobler than the sod4 ,but ,i have touched the lips of clay-- ,mother1 thy rudest sod to me ,is thrilled with fire of hidden day1 ,and haunted by all mystery4 --,may #ae1 #ahid ,magic --,after reading the ,upanishads ,out of the dusky chamber of the brain ,flows the imperial will through dream on dream2 ,the fires of life around it tempt and gleam2 ,the lights of earth behind it fade and wane4 ,passed beyond beauty tempting dream on dream1 ,the pure will seeks the hearthold of the light2 ,sounds the deep ,,om1 the mystic word of might2 ,forth from the hearthold breaks the living stream4 ,passed out beyond the deep heart music-filled1 ,the kingly ,will sits on the ancient throne1 ,wielding the sceptre1 fearless1 free1 alone1 ,knowing in ,brahma all it dared and willed4 --,june #ae1 #ahid ,immortality ,we must pass like smoke1 or live within the spirits' fire2 ,for we can no more than smoke unto the flame return4 ,if our thought has changed to dream1 or will into desire1 ,as smoke we vanish o'er the fires that burn4 ,lights of infinite pity star the grey dusk of our days2 ,surely here is soul2 with it we have eternal breath2 ,in the fire of love we live or pass by many ways1 ,by unnumbered ways of dream to death4 --,july #ae1 #ahid ,the ,man to the ,angel ,i have wept a million tears2 ,pure and proud one1 where are thine8 ,what the gain of all your years ,that undimmed in beauty shine8 ,all your beauty cannot win ,truth we learn in pain and sighs2 ,you can never enter in ,to the ,circle of the ,wise4 ,they are but the slaves of light ,who have never known the gloom1 ,and between the dark and bright ,willed in freedom their own doom4 ,think not in your pureness there ,that our pain but follows sin2 ,there are fires for those who dare ,seek the ,throne of ,might to win4 ,pure one1 from your pride refrain2 ,dark and lost amid the strife1 ,i am myriad years of pain ,nearer to the fount of life4 ,when defiance fierce is thrown ,at the ,god to whom you bow1 ,rest the lips of the ,unknown ,tenderest upon the brow4 --,september #ae1 #ahid ,songs of ,olden ,magic--,,ii4 ,the ,robing of the ,king --,his candle shined upon my head1 and by his light ,i walked through darkness4--,job1 xxix4 #c ,on the bird of air blue-breasted glint the rays of gold1 ,and a shadowy fleece above us waves the forest old1 ,far through rumorous leagues of midnight stirred by breezes warm4 ,see the old ascetic yonder1 ,ah1 poor withered form6 ,where he crouches wrinkled over by unnumbered years ,through the leaves the flakes of moonfire fall like phantom tears4 ,at the dawn a kingly hunter passed proud disdain1 ,like a rainbow-torrent scattered flashed his royal train4 ,now the lonely one unheeded seeks earth's caverns dim1 ,never king or princes will robe them radiantly as him4 ,mid the deep enfolding darkness1 follow him1 oh seer1 ,while the arrow will is piercing fiery sphere on sphere4 ,through the blackness leaps and sparkles gold and amethyst1 ,curling1 jetting and dissolving in a rainbow mist4 ,in the jewel glow and lunar radiance rise there ,one1 a morning star in beauty1 young1 immortal1 fair4 ,sealed in heavy sleep1 the spirit leaves its faded dress1 ,unto fiery youth returning out of weariness4 ,music as for one departing1 joy as for a king1 ,sound and swell1 and hark6 above him cymbals triumphing4 ,fire an aureole encircling suns his brow with gold ,like to one who hails the morning on the mountains old4 ,open mightier vistas changing human loves to scorns1 ,and the spears of glory pierce him like a ,crown of ,thorns4 ,as the sparry rays dilating o'er his forehead climb ,once again he knows the ,dragon ,wisdom of the prime4 ,high and yet more high to freedom as a bird he springs1 ,and the aureole outbreathing1 gold and silver wings ,plume the brow and crown the seraph4 ,soon his journey done ,he will pass our eyes that follow1 sped beyond the sun4 ,none may know the darker radiance1 ,king1 will there be thine4 ,rapt above the ,light and hidden in the ,dark ,divine4 --,september #ae1 #ahie ,brotherhood ,twilight a blossom grey in shadowy valleys dwells3 ,under the radiant dark the deep blue-tinted bells ,in quietness reimage heaven within their blooms1 ,sapphire and gold and mystery4 ,what strange perfumes1 ,out of what deeps arising1 all the flower-bells fling1 ,unknowing the enchanted odorous song they sing6 ,oh1 never was an eve so living yet3 the wood ,stirs not but breathes enraptured quietude4 ,here in these shades the ,ancient knows itself1 the ,soul1 ,and out of slumber waking starts unto the goal4 ,what bright companions nod and go along with it6 ,out of the teeming dark what dusky creatures flit1 ,that through the long leagues of the island night above ,come wandering by me1 whispering and beseeching love1-- ,as in the twilight children gather close and press ,nigh and more nigh with shadowy tenderness1 ,feeling they know not what1 with noiseless footsteps glide ,seeking familiar lips or hearts to dream beside4 ,oh1 voices1 ,i would go with you1 with you1 away1 ,facing once more the radiant gateways of the day2 ,with you1 with you1 what memories arise1 and nigh ,trampling the crowded figures of the dawn go by2 ,dread deities1 the giant powers that warred on men ,grow tender brothers and gay children once again2 ,fades every hate away before the ,mother's breast ,where all the exiles of the heart return to rest4 --,july #ae1 #ahie ,in the ,womb ,still rests the heavy share on the dark soil3 ,upon the dull black mould the dew-damp lies3 ,the horse waits patient3 from his lonely toil ,the ploughboy to the morning lifts his eyes4 ,the unbudding hedgerows1 dark against day's fires1 ,glitter with gold-lit crystals3 on the rim ,over the unregarding city's spires ,the lonely beauty shines alone for him4 ,and day by day the dawn or dark enfolds1 ,and feeds with beauty eyes that cannot see ,how in her womb the ,mighty ,mother moulds ,the infant spirit for ,eternity4 --,january #ae1 #ahie ,in the ,garden of ,god ,within the iron cities ,one walked unknown for years1 ,in his heart the pity of pities ,that grew for human tears ,when love and grief were ended ,the flower of pity grew2 ,by unseen hands 'twas tended ,and fed with holy dew4 ,though in his heart were barred in ,the blooms of beauty blown2 ,yet he who grew the garden ,could call no flower his own4 ,for by the hands that watered1 ,the blooms that opened fair ,through frost and pain were scattered ,to sweeten the dull air4 --,february #ae1 #ahie ,the ,breath of ,light ,from the cool and dark-lipped furrows breathes a dim delight ,aureoles of joy encircle every blade of grass ,where the dew-fed creatures silent and enraptured pass3 ,and the restless ploughman pauses1 turns1 and wondering ,deep beneath his rustic habit finds himself a king2 ,for a fiery moment looking with the eyes of ,god ,over fields a slave at morning bowed him to the sod4 ,blind and dense with revelation every moment flies1 ,and unto the ,mighty ,mother gay1 eternal1 rise ,all the hopes we hold1 the gladness1 dreams of things to be4 ,one of all they generations1 ,mother1 hails to thee6 ,hail6 and hail6 and hail for ever3 though ,i turn again ,for they joy unto the human vestures of pain4 ,i1 thy child1 who went forth radiant in the golden prime ,find thee still the mother-hearted through my night in time2 ,find in thee the old enchantment1 there behind the veil ,where the ,gods my brothers linger1 ,hail6 for ever1 ,hail6 --,may #ae1 #ahie ,the ,free ,they bathed in the fire-flooded fountains2 ,life girdled them round and about2 ,they slept in the clefts of the mountains3 ,the stars called them forth with a shout4 ,they prayed1 but their worship was only ,the wonder at nights and at days1 ,as still as the lips of the lonely ,though burning with dumbness of praise4 ,no sadness of earth ever captured ,their spirits who bowed at the shrine2 ,they fled to the ,lonely enraptured ,and hid in the ,darkness ,divine4 ,at twilight as children may gather ,they met at the doorway of death1 ,the smile of the dark hidden ,father ,the ,mother with magical breath4 ,untold of in song or in story1 ,in days long forgotten of men1 ,their eyes were yet blind with a glory ,time will not remember again4 --,november #ae1 #ahie ,songs of ,olden ,magic--,,iv ,the ,magi ,the mountain was filled with the hosts of the ,tuatha de ,dannan4 --,old ,celtic ,poem ,see where the auras from the olden fountain ,starward aspire2 ,the sacred sign upon the holy mountain ,shines in white fire3 ,waving and flaming yonder o'er the snows ,the diamond light ,melts into silver or to sapphire glows ,night beyond night2 ,and from the heaven of heavens descends on earth ,a dew divine4 ,come1 let us mingle in the starry mirth ,around the shrine6 ,enchantress1 mighty mother1 to our home ,in thee we press1 ,thrilled by the fiery breath and wrapt in some ,vast tenderness ,the homeward birds uncertain o'er their nest ,wheel in the dome1 ,fraught with dim dreams of more enraptured rest1 ,wheel in the dome1 ,but gather ye to whose undarkened eyes ,the night is day3 ,leap forth1 ,immortals1 ,birds of ,paradise1 ,in bright array ,robed like the shining tresses of the sun2 ,and by his name ,call from his haunt divine the ancient one ,our ,father ,flame4 ,aye1 from the wonder-light that wraps the star1 ,come now1 come now2 ,sun-breathing ,dragon1 ray thy lights afar1 ,thy children bow2 ,hush with more awe the breath2 the bright-browed races ,are nothing worth ,by those dread gods from out whose awful faces ,the earth looks forth ,infinite pity1 set in calm2 their vision cast ,adown the years ,beholds how beauty burns away at last ,their children's tears4 ,now while our hearts the ancient quietness ,floods with its tide1 ,the things of air and fire and height no less ,in it abide2 ,and from their wanderings over sea and shore ,they rise as one ,unto the vastness and with us adore ,the midnight sun2 ,and enter the innumerable ,all1 ,and shine like gold1 ,and starlike gleam in the immortals' hall1 ,the heavenly fold1 ,and drink the sun-breaths from the mother's lips ,awhile--and then ,fail from the light and drop in dark eclipse ,to earth again1 ,roaming along by heaven-hid promontory ,and valley dim4 ,weaving a phantom image of the glory ,they knew in ,him4 ,out of the fulness flow the winds1 their son ,is heard no more1 ,or hardly breathes a mystic sound along ,the dreamy shore3 ,blindly they move unknowing as in trance1 ,their wandering ,is half with us1 and half an inner dance ,led by the ,king4 --,january #ae1 #ahif ,w4 ,q4 ,j4 99 ,o hero of the iron age1 ,upon thy grave we will not weep1 ,nor yet consume away in rage ,for thee and thy untimely sleep4 ,our hearts a burning silence keep4 ,o martyr1 in these iron days ,one fate was sure for soul like thine3 ,well you foreknew but went your ways4 ,the crucifixion is the sign1 ,the meed of all the kingly line4 ,we may not mourn--though such a night ,has fallen on our earthly spheres ,bereft of love and truth and light ,as never since the dawn of years2-- ,for tears give birth alone to tears4 ,one wreath upon they grave we lay 7,the silence of our bitter thought1 ,words that would scorch their hearts of clay71 ,and turn to learn what thou has taught1 ,to shape our lives as thine was wrought4 --,april #ae1 #ahif 99 ,this is unsigned but is very possibly ,g4,w4 ,russell's4 ,it was a memoriam to ,william ,quan ,judge 7,w4,q4,j71 the leader of the ,american and ,european ,theosophical ,societies at the time1 one of the original founders of the ,theosophical ,society1 and close co-worker with ,h4,p4 ,blavatsky4 ,fron the ,book of the ,eagle --,st4 ,john1 i4 #a-cc ,in the mighty ,mother's bosom was the ,wise ,with the mystic ,father in aeonian night2 ,aye1 for ever one with them though it arise ,going forth to sound its hymn of light4 ,at its incantation rose the starry fane2 ,at its magic thronged the myriad race of men2 ,life awoke that in the womb so long had lain ,to its cyclic labours once again4 ',tis the soul of fire within the heart of life2 ,from its fiery fountain spring the will and thought2 ,all the strength of man for deeds of love or strife1 ,though the darkness comprehend it not4 ,in the mystery written here ,john is but the life1 the seer2 ,outcast from the life of light1 ,inly with reverted sight ,still he scans with eager eyes ,the celestial mysteries4 ,poet of all far-seen things ,at his word the soul has wings1 ,revelations1 symbols1 dreams ,of the inmost light which gleams4 ,the winds1 the stars1 and the skies though wrought ,by the one ,fire-,self still know it not2 ,and man who moves in the twilight dim ,feels not the love that encircles him1 ,though in heart1 on bosom1 and eyelids press ,lips of an infinite tenderness1 ,he turns away through the dark to roam ,nor heeds the fire in his hearth and home4 ,they whose wisdom everywhere ,sees as through a crystal air ,the lamp by which the world is lit1 ,and themselves as one with it2 ,in whom the eye of vision swells1 ,who have in entranced hours ,caught the word whose might compels ,all the elemental powers2 ,they arise as ,gods from men ,like the morning stars again4 ,they who seek the place of rest ,quench the blood-heat of the breast1 ,grow ascetic1 inward turning ,trample down the lust from burning1 ,silence in the self the will ,for a power diviner still2 ,to the fire-born ,self alone ,the ancestral spheres are known4 ,unto the poor dead shadows came ,wisdom mantled about with flame2 ,we had eyes that could see the light ,born of the mystic ,father's might4 ,glory radiant with powers untold ,and the breath of ,god around it rolled4 ,life that moved in the deeps below ,felt the fire in its bosom glow2 ,life awoke with the ,light allied1 ,grew divinely stirred1 and cried3 ,this is the ,ancient of ,days within1 ,light that is ere our days begin4 ,every power in the spirit's ken ,springs anew in our lives again4 ,we had but dreams of the heart's desire ,beauty thrilled with the mystic fire4 ,the white-fire breath whence springs the power ,flows alone in the spirit's hour4 ,man arose the earth he trod1 ,grew divine as he gazed on ,god3 ,light in a fiery whirlwind broke ,out of the dark divine and spoke3 ,man went forth through the vast to tread ,by the spirit of wisdom charioted4 ,there came the learned of the schools ,who measure heavenly things by rules1 ,the sceptic1 doubter1 the logician1 ,who in all sacred things precision1 ,would mark the limit1 fix the scope1 ,art thou the ,christ for whom we hope8 ,art thou a magian1 or in thee ,has the divine eye power to see8 ,he answered low to those who came1 ,not this1 nor this1 nor this ,i claim4 ,more than the yearning of the heart ,i have no wisdom to impart4 ,i am the voice that cries in him ,whose heart is dead1 whose eyes are dim1 ',make pure the paths where through may run ,the light-streams from that golden one1 ,the ,self who lives within the sun4' ,as spake the seer of ancient days4 ,the voices from the earthly ways ,questioned him still3 ,what dost thou here1 ,if neither prophet1 king nor seer8 ,what power is kindled by they might8 ,i flow before the feet of ,light3 ,i am the purifying stream4 ,but ,one of whom ye have no dream1 ,whose footsteps move among you still1 ,though dark1 divine1 invisible4 ,impelled by ,him1 before ,his ways ,i journey1 though ,i dare not raise ,even from the ground these eyes so dim ,or look upon the feet of ,him4 ,when the dead or dreamy hours ,like a mantle fall away1 ,wakes the eye of gnostic powers ,to the light of hidden day1 ,and the yearning heart within ,seeks the true1 the only friend1 ,he who burdened with our sin ,loves and loves unto the end4 ,ah1 the martyr of the world1 ,with a face of steadfast peace ,round whose brow the light is curled3 ',tis the ,lamb with golden fleece4 ,so they called of old the shining1 ,such a face the sons of men ,see1 and all its life divining ,wake primeval fires again4 ,such a face and such a glory ,passed before the eyes of ,john1 ,with a breath of olden story ,blown from ages long agone ,who would know the ,god in man4 ,deeper still must be his glance4 ,veil on veil his eye must scan ,for the mystic signs which tell ,if the fire electric fell ,on the seer in his trance3 ,as his way he upward wings ,from all time-encircled things1 ,flames the glory round his head ,like a bird with wings outspread4 ,gold and silver plumes at rest3 ,such a shadowy shining crest ,round the hero's head reveals him ,to the soul that would adore1 ,as the master-power that heals him ,and the fount of secret lore4 ,nature such a diadem ,places on her royal line1 ,every eye that looks on them ,knows the ,sons of the ,divine4 --,april #ae1 #ahif ,the ,protest of ,love ,those who there take refuge nevermore return4--,bhagavad ,gita ,ere ,i lose myself in the vastness and drowse myself with the peace1 ,while ,i gaze on the light and beauty afar from the dim homes of men1 ,may ,i still feel the heart-pang and pity1 love-ties that ,i would not release1 ,may the voices of sorrow appealing call me back to their succour again4 ,ere ,i storm with the tempest of power the thrones and dominions of old1 ,ere the ancient enchantment allures me to roam through the star- misty skies1 ,i would go forth as one who has reaped well what harvest the earth may unfold3 ,may my heart be o'erbrimmed with compassion1 on my brow be the crown of the wise4 ,i would go as the dove from the ark sent forth with wishes and prayers ,to return with the paradise-blossoms that bloom in the eden of light3 ,when the deep star-chant of the seraphs ,i hear in the mystical airs ,may ,i capture one tone of their joy for the sad ones discrowned in the night4 ,not alone1 not alone would ,i go to my rest in the ,heart of the ,love3 ,were ,i tranced in the innermost beauty1 the flame of its tenderest breath1 ,i would still hear the plaint of the fallen recalling me back from above ,to go down to the side of the mourners who weep in the shadow of death4 --,may #ae1 #ahif ,the ,king ,initiate ,they took ,iesous and scourged him4--,st4 ,john ,age after age the world has wept ,a joy supreme--,i saw the hands ,whose fiery radiations swept ,and burned away his earthly bands3 ,and where they smote the living dyes ,flashed like the plumes of paradise4 ,their joys the heavy nations hush-- ,a form of purple glory rose ,crowned with such rays of light as flush ,the white peaks on their towering snows3 ,it held the magic wand that gave ,rule over earth1 air1 fire and wave4 ,what sorrow makes the white cheeks wet3 ,the mystic cross looms shadowy dim-- ,there where the fourfold powers have met ,and poured their living tides through him1 ,the ,son who hides his radiant crest ,to the dark ,father's bosom pressed4 --,june #ae1 #ahif ,the ,dream of the ,children ,the children awoke in their dreaming ,while earth lay dewy and still3 ,they followed the rill in its gleaming ,to the heart-light of the hill4 ,its sounds and sights were forsaking ,the world as they faded in sleep1 ,when they heard a music breaking ,out from the heart-light deep4 ,it ran where the rill in its flowing ,under the star-light gay ,with wonderful colour was glowing ,like the bubbles they blew in their play4 ,from the misty mountain under ,shot gleams of an opal star3 ,its pathways of rainbow wonder ,rayed to their feet from afar4 ,from their feet as they strayed in the meadow ,it led through caverned aisles1 ,filled with purple and green light and shadow ,for mystic miles on miles4 ,the children were glad2 it was lonely ,to play on the hill-side by day4 ,but now1 they said1 we have only ,to go where the good people stray4 ,for all the hill-side was haunted ,by the faery folk come again2 ,and down in the heart-light enchanted ,were opal-coloured men4 ,they moved like kings unattended ,without a squire or dame1 ,but they wore tiaras splendid ,with feathers of starlight flame4 ,they laughed at the children over ,and called them into the heart3 ,come down here1 each sleepless rover3 ,we will show you some of our art4 ,and down through the cool of the mountain ,the children sank at the call1 ,and stood in a blazing fountain ,and never a mountain at all4 ,the lights were coming and going ,in many a shining strand1 ,for the opal fire-kings were blowing ,the darkness out of the land4 ,this golden breath was a madness ,to set a poet on fire1 ,and this was a cure for sadness1 ,and that the ease of desire4 ,and all night long over ,eri ,they fought with the wand of light ,and love that never grew weary ,the evil things of night4 ,they said1 as dawn glimmered hoary1 ,we will show yourselves for an hour2 ,and the children were changed to a glory ,by the beautiful magic of power4 ,the fire-kings smiled on their faces ,and called them by olden names1 ,till they towered like the starry races ,all plumed with the twilight flames4 ,they talked for a while together1 ,how the toil of ages oppressed2 ,and of how they best could weather ,the ship of the world to its rest4 ,the dawn in the room was straying3 ,the children began to blink1 ,when they heard a far voice saying1 ,you can grow like that if you think6 ,the sun came in yellow and gay light3 ,they tumbled out of the cot1 ,and half of the dream went with daylight ,and half was never forgot4 --,july #ae1 #ahif ,the ,chiefs of the ,air ,their wise little heads with scorning ,they laid the covers between3 ,do they think we stay here till morning8 ,said ,rory and ,aileen4 ,when out their bright eyes came peeping ,the room was no longer there1 ,and they fled from the dark world creeping ,up a twilight cave of air4 ,they wore each one a gay dress1 ,in sleep1 if you understand1 ,when earth puts off its grey dress ,to robe it in faeryland4 ,then loud o'erhead was a humming ,as clear as the wood wind rings2 ,and here were the air-boats coming ,and here the airy kings4 ,the magic barks were gleaming ,and swift as the feathered throng3 ,with wonder-lights out-streaming ,they blew themselves along4 ,and up on the night-wind swimming1 ,with pose and dart and rise1 ,away went the air fleet skimming ,through a haze of jewel skies4 ,one boat above them drifted ,apart from the flying bands1 ,and an air-chief bent and lifted ,the children with mighty hands4 ,the children wondered greatly1 ,three air-chiefs met them there1 ,they were tall and grave and stately ,with bodies of purple air4 ,a pearl light with misty shimmer ,went dancing about them all1 ,as the dyes of the moonbow glimmer ,on a trembling waterfall4 ,the trail of the fleet to the far lands ,was wavy along the night1 ,and on through the sapphire starlands ,they followed the wake of light4 ,look down1 ,aileen1 said ,rory1 ,the earth's as thin as a dream4 ,it was lit by a sun-fire glory ,outraying gleam on gleam4 ,they saw through the dream-world under ,its heart of rainbow flame ,where the starry people wander2 ,like gods they went and came4 ,the children looked without talking ,till ,roray spoke again1 ,are those our folk who are walking ,like little shadow men8 ,they don't see what is about them1 ,they look like pigmies small1 ,the world would be full without them ,and they think themselves so tall6 ,the magic bark went fleeting ,like an eagle on and on2 ,till over its prow came beating ,the foam-light of the dawn4 ,the children's dream grew fainter1 ,three air-chiefs still were there1 ,but the sun the shadow painter ,drew five on the misty air4 ,the dream-light whirled bewild'ring1 ,an air-chief said1 ,you know4 ,you are living now1 my children1 ,ten thousand years ago4 ,they looked at themselves in the old light1 ,and mourned the days of the new ,where naught is but darkness or cold light1 ,till a bell came striking through4 ,we must go1 said the wise young sages3 ,it was five at dawn by the chimes1 ,and they ran through a thousand ages ,from the old ,de ,danaan ,times4 --,august #ae1 #ahif ,the ,palaces of the ,sidhe ,two small sweet lives together ,from dawn till the dew falls down1 ,they danced over rock and heather ,away from the dusty town4 ,dark eyes like stars set in pansies1 ,blue eyes like a hero's bold-- ,their thoughts were all pearl-light fancies1 ,their hearts in the age of gold4 ,they crooned o'er many a fable ,and longed for the bright-capped elves1 ,the faery folk who are able ,to make us faery ourselves4 ,a hush on the children stealing ,they stood there hand in hand1 ,for the elfin chimes were pealing ,aloud in the underland4 ,and over the grey rock sliding1 ,a fiery colour ran1 ,and out of its thickness gliding ,the twinkling mist of a man-- ,to-day for the children had fled to ,an ancient yesterday1 ,and the rill from its tunnelled bed too ,had turned another way4 ,then down through an open hollow ,the old man led with a smile3 ,come1 star-hearts1 my children1 follow ,to the elfin land awhile4 ,the bells above them were hanging1 ,whenever the earth-breath blew ,it made them go clanging1 clanging1 ,the vasty mountain through4 ,but louder yet than the ringing ,came the chant of the elfin choir1 ,till the mountain was mad with singing ,and dense with the forms of fire4 ,the kings of the faery races ,sat high on the thrones of might1 ,and infinite years from their faces ,looked out through eyes of light4 ,and one in a diamond splendour ,shone brightest of all that hour1 ,more lofty and pure and tender1 ,they called him the ,flower of ,power4 ,the palace walls were glowing ,like stars together drawn1 ,and a fountain of air was flowing ,the primrose colour of dawn4 ,ah1 see6 said ,aileen sighing1 ,with a bend of her saddened head ,where a mighty hero was lying1 ,he looked like one who was dead4 ,he will wake1 said their guide1 'tis but seeming1 ,and1 oh1 what his eyes shall see ,i will know of only in dreaming ,till ,i lie there still as he4 ,they chanted the song of waking1 ,they breathed on him with fire1 ,till the hero-spirit outbreaking1 ,shot radiant above the choir4 ,like a pillar of opal glory ,lit through with many a gem-- ,why1 look at him now1 said ,rory1 ,he has turned to a faery like them6 ,the elfin kings ascending ,leaped up from the thrones of might1 ,and one with another blending ,they vanished in air and light4 ,the rill to its bed came splashing ,with rocks on the top of that3 ,the children awoke with a flashing ,of wonder1 ,what were we at8 ,they groped through the reeds and clover-- ,what funny old markings3 look here1 ,they have scrawled the rocks all over3 ,it's just where the door was3 how queer6 --,september #ae1 #ahif ,the ,voice of the ,wise ,they sat with hearts untroubled1 ,the clear sky sparkled above1 ,and an ancient wisdom bubbled ,from the lips of a youthful love4 ,they read in a coloured history ,of ,egypt and of the ,nile1 ,and half it seemed a mystery1 ,familiar1 half1 the while4 ,till living out of the story ,grew old ,egyptian men1 ,and a shadow looked forth ,rory ,and said1 ,we meet again6 ,and over ,aileen a maiden ,looked back through the ages dim3 ,she laughed1 and her eyes were laden ,with an old-time love for him4 ,in a mist came temples thronging ,with sphinxes seen in a row1 ,and the rest of the day was a longing ,for their homes of long ago4 ,we'd go there if they'd let us1 ,they said with wounded pride3 ,they never think when they pet us ,we are old like that inside4 ,there was some one round them straying ,the whole of the long day through1 ,who seemed to say1 ,i am playing ,at hide-and-seek with you4 ,and one thing after another ,was whispered out of the air1 ,how ,god was a big kind brother ,whose home was in everywhere4 ,his light like a smile come glancing ,from the cool1 cool winds as they pass2 ,from the flowers in heaven dancing ,and the stars that shine in the grass1 ,and the clouds in deep blue wreathing1 ,and most from the mountains tall1 ,but ,god like a wind goes breathing ,a heart-light of gold in all4 ,it grows like a tree and pushes ,its way through the inner gloom1 ,and flowers in quick little rushes ,of love to a magic bloom4 ,and no one need sigh now or sorrow ,whenever the heart-light flies1 ,for it comes again on some morrow ,and nobody ever dies4 ,the heart of the ,wise was beating ,in the children's heart that day1 ,and many a thought came fleeting1 ,and fancies solemn and gay4 ,they were grave in a way divining ,how childhood was taking wings1 ,and the wonder world was shining ,with vast eternal things4 ,the solemn twilight fluttered ,like the plumes of seraphim1 ,and they felt what things were uttered ,in the sunset voice of ,him4 ,they lingered long1 for dearer ,than home were the mountain places ,where ,god from the stars dropt nearer ,their pale1 dreamy faces4 ,their very hearts from beating ,they stilled in awed delight4 ,for ,spirit and children were meeting ,in the purple1 ample night4 ,dusk its ash-grey blossoms sheds on violet skies ,over twilight mountains where the heart-songs rise1 ,rise and fall and fade again from earth to air3 ,earth renews the music sweeter4 ,oh1 come there4 ,come1 ma cushla1 come1 as in ancient times ,rings aloud and the underland with faery chimes4 ,down the unseen ways as strays each tinkling fleece ,winding ever onward to a fold of peace1 ,so my dreams go straying in a land more fair2 ,half ,i tread the dew-wet grasses1 half wander there4 ,fade your glimmering eyes in a world grown cold3 ,come1 ma cushla1 with me to the mountain's fold1 ,where the bright ones call us waving to and fro3 ,come1 my children1 with me to the ,ancient go4 --,october #ae1 #ahif ,a ,dawn ,song ,while the earth is dark and grey ,how ,i laugh within3 ,i know ,in my breast what ardours gay ,from the morning overflow4 ,though the cheek be white and wet ,in my heart no fear may fall3 ,there my chieftain leads1 and yet ,ancient battle-trumpets call4 ,bend on me no hasty frown ,if my spirit slight your cares3 ,sunlike still my joy looks down ,changing tears to beamy airs4 ,think me not of fickle heart ,if with joy my bosom swells ,though your ways from mine depart3 ,in the true are no farewells4 ,what ,i love in you ,i find ,everywhere4 ,a friend ,i greet ,in each flower and tree and wind-- ,oh1 but life is sweet1 is sweet4 ,what to you are bolts and bars ,are to me the hands that guide ,to the freedom of the stars ,where my golden kinsmen bide4 ,from my mountain top ,i view3 ,twilight's purple flower is gone1 ,and ,i send my song to you ,on the level light of dawn4 --,november #ae1 #ahif --,an ,ancient ,eden ,our legends tell of aery fountains upspringing in ,eri1 and how the people of long ago saw them not but only the ,tuatha de ,danaan4 ,some deem it was the natural outflow of water at these places which was held to be sacred2 but above fountain1 rill and river rose up the enchanted froth and foam of invisible rills and rivers breaking forth from ,tir-na-noge1 the soul of the island1 and glittering in the sunlight of its mystic day4 ,what we see here is imaged forth from that invisible soul and is a path thereto4 ,in the heroic ,epic of ,cuculain ,standish ,o',grady writes of such a fountain1 and prefixes his chapter with the verse from ,genesis1 ,and four rivers went forth from ,eden to water the garden1 and what follows in reference thereto4 ,the ,fountain of ,shadowy ,beauty --,a ,dream ,i would ,i could weave in ,the colour1 the wonder1 ,the song ,i conceive in ,my heart while ,i ponder1 ,and show how it came like ,the magi of old ,whose chant was a flame like ,the dawn's voice of gold2 ,who dreams followed near them ,a murmur of birds1 ,and ear still could hear them ,unchanted in words4 ,in words ,i can only ,reveal thee my heart1 ,oh1 ,light of the ,lonely1 ,the shining impart4 ,between the twilight and the dark ,the lights danced up before my eyes3 ,i found no sleep or peace or rest1 ,but dreams of stars and burning skies4 ,i knew the faces of the day-- ,dream faces1 pale1 with cloudy hair1 ,i know you not nor yet your home1 ,the ,fount of ,shadowy ,beauty1 where8 ,i passed a dream of gloomy ways ,where ne'er did human feet intrude3 ,it was the border of a wood1 ,a dreadful forest solitude4 ,with wondrous red and fairy gold ,the clouds were woven o'er the ocean2 ,the stars in fiery aether swung ,and danced with gay and glittering motion4 ,a fire leaped up within my heart ,when first ,i saw the old sea shine2 ,as if a god were there revealed ,i bowed my head in awe divine2 ,and long beside the dim sea marge ,i mused until the gathering haze ,veiled from me where the silver tide ,ran in its thousand shadowy ways4 ,the black night dropped upon the sea3 ,the silent awe came down with it3 ,i saw fantastic vapours flit ,as o'er the darkness of the pit4 ,when1 lo6 from out the furthest night ,a speck of rose and silver light ,above a boat shaped wondrously ,came floating swiftly o'er the sea4 ,it was no human will that bore ,the boat so fleetly to the shore ,without a sail spread or an oar4 ,the ,pilot stood erect thereon ,and lifted up his ancient face1 7,ancient with glad eternal youth ,like one who was of starry race47 ,his face was rich with dusky bloom2 ,his eyes a bronze and golden fire2 ,his hair in streams of silver light ,hung flamelike on his strange attire ,which starred with many a mystic sign1 ,fell as o'er sunlit ruby glowing3 ,his light flew o'er the waves afar ,in ruddy ripples on each bar ,along the spiral pathways flowing4 ,it was a crystal boat that chased ,the light along the watery waste1 ,till caught amid the surges hoary ,the ,pilot stayed its jewelled glory4 ,oh1 never such a glory was3 ,the pale moon shot it through and through ,with light of lilac1 white and blue3 ,and there mid many a fairy hue ,of pearl and pink and amethyst1 ,like lightning ran the rainbow gleams ,and wove around a wonder-mist4 ,the ,pilot lifted beckoning hands2 ,silent ,i went with deep amaze ,to know why came this ,beam of ,light ,so far along the ocean ways ,out of the vast and shadowy night4 ,make haste1 make haste6 he cried4 ,away6 ,a thousand ages now are gone4 ,yet thou and ,i ere night be sped ,will reck no more of eve or dawn4 ,swift as the swallow to its nest ,i leaped3 my body dropt right down3 ,a silver star ,i rose and flew4 ,a flame burned golden at his breast3 ,i entered at the heart and knew ,my ,brother-,self who roams the deep1 ,bird of the wonder-world of sleep4 ,the ruby body wrapped us round ,as twain in one3 we left behind ,the league-long murmur of the shore ,and fleeted swifter than the wind4 ,the distance rushed upon the bark3 ,we neared unto the mystic isles3 ,the heavenly city we could mark1 ,its mountain light1 its jewel dark1 ,its pinnacles and starry piles4 ,the glory brightened3 ,do not fear2 ,for we are real1 though what seems ,so proudly built above the waves ,is but one mighty spirit's dreams4 ,our ,father's house hath many fanes2 ,yet enter not and worship not1 ,for thought but follows after thought ,till last consuming self it wanes4 ,the ,fount of ,shadowy ,beauty flings ,its glamour o'er the light of day3 ,a music in the sunlight sings ,to call the dreamy hearts away ,their mighty hopes to ease awhile3 ,we will not go the way of them3 ,the chant makes drowsy those who seek ,the sceptre and the diadem4 ,the ,fount of ,shadowy ,beauty throws ,its magic round us all the night2 ,what things the heart would be1 it sees ,and chases them in endless flight4 ,or coiled in phantom visions there ,it builds within the halls of fire2 ,its dreams flash like the peacock's wing ,and glow with sun-hues of desire4 ,we will not follow in their ways ,nor heed the lure of fay or elf1 ,but in the ending of our days ,rest in the high ,ancestral ,self4 ,the boat of crystal touched the shore1 ,then melted flamelike from our eyes1 ,as in the twilight drops the sun ,withdrawing rays of paradise4 ,we hurried under arched aisles ,that far above in heaven withdrawn ,with cloudy pillars stormed the night1 ,rich as the opal shafts of dawn4 ,i would have lingered then--but he-- ,oh1 let us haste3 the dream grows dim1 ,another night1 another day1 ,a thousand years will part from him ,who is that ,ancient ,one divine ,from whom our phantom being born ,rolled with the wonder-light around ,had started in the fairy morn4 ,a thousand of our years to him ,are but the night1 are but the day1 ,wherein he rests from cyclic toil ,or chants the song of starry sway4 ,he falls asleep3 the ,shadowy ,fount ,fills all our heart with dreams of light3 ,he wakes to ancient spheres1 and we ,through iron ages mourn the night4 ,we will not wander in the night ,but in a darkness more divine ,shall join the ,father ,light of ,lights ,and rule the long-descended line4 ,even then a vasty twilight fell3 ,wavered in air the shadowy towers3 ,the city like a gleaming shell1 ,its azures1 opals1 silvers1 blues1 ,were melting in more dreamy hues4 ,we feared the falling of the night ,and hurried more our headlong flight4 ,in one long line the towers went by2 ,the trembling radiance dropt behind1 ,as when some swift and radiant one ,flits by and flings upon the wind ,the rainbow tresses of the sun4 ,and then they vanished from our gaze ,faded the magic lights1 and all ,into a ,starry ,radiance fell ,as waters in their fountain fall4 ,we knew our time-long journey o'er ,and knew the end of all desire1 ,and saw within the emerald glow ,our ,father like the white sun-fire4 ,we could not say if age or youth ,were on his face3 we only burned ,to pass the gateways of the ,day1 ,the exiles to the heart returned4 ,he rose to greet us and his breath1 ,the tempest music of the spheres1 ,dissolved the memory of earth1 ,the cyclic labour and our tears4 ,in him our dream of sorrow passed1 ,the spirit once again was free ,and heard the song the ,morning-,stars ,chant in eternal revelry4 ,this was the close of human story2 ,we saw the deep unmeasured shine1 ,and sank within the mystic glory ,they called of old the ,dark ,divine4 ,well it is gone now1 ,the dream that ,i chanted3 ,on this side the dawn now ,i sit fate-implanted4 ,but though of my dreaming ,the dawn has bereft me1 ,it all was not seeming ,for something has left me4 ,i fell in some other ,world far from this cold light ,the ,dream ,bird1 my brother1 ,is rayed with the gold light4 ,i too in the ,father ,would hide me1 and so1 ,bright ,bird1 to foregather ,with thee now ,i go4 --,december #ae1 #ahif ,a ,new ,earth ,then felt ,i like some watcher of the skies ,when a new planet swims within his ken4 ,i who had sought afar from earth ,the faery land to greet1 ,now find content within its girth1 ,and wonder nigh my feet4 ,to-day a nearer love ,i choose ,and seek no distant sphere1 ,for aureoled by faery dews ,the dear brown breasts appear4 ,with rainbow radiance come and go ,the airy breaths of day1 ,and eve is all a pearly glow ,with moonlit winds a-play4 ,the lips of twilight burn my brow1 ,the arms of night caress3 ,glimmer her white eyes drooping now ,with grave old tenderness4 ,i close mine eyes from dream to be ,the diamond-rayed again1 ,as in the ancient hours ere we ,forgot ourselves to men4 ,and all ,i thought of heaven before ,i find in earth below1 ,a sunlight in the hidden core ,to dim the noon-day glow4 ,and with the ,earth my heart is glad1 ,i move as one of old1 ,with mists of silver ,i am clad ,and bright with burning gold4 --,february #ahif ,duality ,from me spring good and evil4 ,who gave thee such a ruby flaming heart1 ,and such a pure cold spirit8 ,side by side ,i know these must eternally abide ,in intimate war1 and each to each impart ,life from their pain1 with every joy a dart ,to wound with grief or death the self-allied4 ,red life within the spirit crucified1 ,the eyes eternal pity thee1 thou art ,fated with deathless powers at war to be1 ,not less the martyr of the world than he ,whose thorn-crowned brow usurps the due of tears ,we would pay to thee1 ever ruddy life1 ,whose passionate peace is still to be at strife1 ,o'erthrown but in the unconflicting spheres4 --,march #ae1 #ahif 7,this is unsigned1 but in ,,ae's ,collected ,poems7 ,the ,element ,language ,in a chapter in the ,secret ,doctrine dealing with the origin of language1 ,h4,p4 ,blavatsky makes some statements which are quoted here and which should be borne well in mind in considering what follows4 ,the ,second ,race had a ',sound ,language1' to wit1 chant-like sounds composed of vowels alone4 ,from this developed monosyllabic speech which was the vowel parent1 so to speak1 of the monosyllabic languages mixed with hard consonants still in use among the yellow races which are known to the anthropologist4 ,the linguistic characteristics developed into the agglutinative languages4444 ,the inflectional speech1 the root of the ,sanskrit1 was the first language 7now the mystery tongue of the ,initiates7 of the ,fifth ,race4 ,the nature of that language has not been disclosed along with other teaching concerning the evolution of the race1 but like many other secrets the details of which are still preserved by the ,initiates1 it is implied in what has already been revealed4 ,the application to speech of the abstract formula of evolution which they have put forward should result in its discovery1 for the clue lies in correspondences2 know the nature of any one thing perfectly1 learn its genesis1 development and consummation1 and you have the key to all the mysteries of nature4 ,the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm4 ,but1 before applying this key1 it is well to glean whatever hints have been given1 so that there may be less chance of going astray in our application4 ,first1 we gather from the ,secret ,doctrine that the sounds of the human voice are correlated with the forces1 colours1 numbers and forms4 ,every letter has its occult meaning1 the vowels especially contain the most occult and formidable potencies4 7,s4,d41 ,i1 #id7 and again it is said ,the magic of the ancient priests consisted in those days in addressing their gods in their own language4 ,the speech of the men of earth cannot reach the ,lords1 each must be addressed in the language of his respective element---is a sentence which will be shown pregnant with meaning4 ,the book of rules cited adds as an explanation of the nature of that element- language3 ,it is composed of ,sounds1 not words2 of sounds1 numbers and figures4 ,he who knows how to blend the three1 will call forth the response of the superintending ,power 7the regent-god of the specific element needed74 ,thus this language is that of incantations or of ,mantras1 as they are called in ,india1 sound being the most potent and effectual magic agent1 and the first of the keys which opens the door of communication between mortals and immortals4 7,s4,d4 ,i1 #dfd7 ,from these quotations it will be seen that the occult teachings as to speech are directly at variance with the theories of many philologists and evolutionists4 ,a first speech which was like song-- another and more developed speech which is held sacred--an esoteric side to speech in which the elements of our conventional languages 7i4e4 the letters7 are so arranged that speech becomes potent enough to guide the elements1 and human speech becomes the speech of the gods--there is no kinship between this ideal language and the ejaculations and mimicry which so many hold to be the root and beginning of it4 ,yet those who wish to defend their right to hold the occult teaching have little to fear from the champions of these theories2 they need not at all possess any deep scholarship or linguistic attainment2 the most cursory view of the roots of primitive speech1 so far as they have been collected1 will show that they contain few or no sounds of a character which would bear out either the onomatopoetic or interjectional theories4 ,the vast majority of the roots of the ,aryan language express abstract ideas1 they rarely indicate the particular actions which would be capable of being suggested by any mimicry possible to the human voice4 ,i have selected at random from a list of roots their ,english equivalents1 in order to show the character of the roots and to make clearer the difficulty of holding such views4 ,the abstract nature of the ideas1 relating to actions and things which often have no attendant sound in nature1 will indicate what ,i mean4 ,what possible sounds could mimic the sense of to move1 to shine1 to gain1 to flow1 to burn1 to blow1 to live1 to possess1 to cover1 to fall1 to praise1 to think8 ,in fact the most abstract of all seem the most primitive for we find them most fruitful in combination to for other words4 ,i hope to show this clearly later on4 ,it is unnecessary to discuss the claims of the interjectional theory1 as it is only a theory1 and there are few roots for which we could infer even a remote origin of this nature4 ,the great objection to the theory that speech was originally a matter of convention and mutual agreement1 is the scarcity of words among the roots which express the wants of primitive man4 ,as it is1 a wisdom within or beyond the ,aryan led him to construct in these roots with their abstract significance an ideal foundation from which a great language could be developed4 ,however as the exponents of rival theories have demolished each other's arguments1 without anyone having established a clear case for himself1 it is not necessary here to do more than indicate these theories and how they may be met4 ,in putting forward a hypothesis more in accord with the doctrine of the spiritual origin of man1 and in harmony with those occult ideas concerning speech already quoted1 ,i stand in a rather unusual position1 as ,i have to confess my ignorance of any of these primitive languages4 ,i am rather inclined however1 to regard this on the whole as an advantage for the following reasons4 ,i think primitive man 7the early ,aryan7 chose his words by a certain intuition which recognised an innate correspondence between the thought and the symbol4 ,para passu with the growing complexity of civilization language lost it spiritual character1 it fell into matter1 to use ,h4,p4 ,blavatsky's expression2 as the conventional words necessary to define artificial products grew in number1 in the memory of these words the spontaneity of speech was lost1 and that faculty became atrophied which enable man to arrange with psychic rapidity ever new combinations of sounds to express emotion and thought4 ,believing then that speech was originally intuitive1 and that it only need introspection and a careful analysis of the sounds of the human voice1 to recover the faculty and correspondences between these sounds and forces1 colours1 forms1 etc41 it will be seen why ,i do not regard my ignorance of these languages as altogether a drawback4 ,the correspondences necessarily had to be evolved out of my inner consciousness1 and in doing this no aid could be derived from the ,aryan roots as they now stand4 ,in the meaning attached to each letter is to be found the key to the meaning and origin of roots2 but the value of each sound separately could never be discovered by an examination of them in their combinations1 though their value and purpose in combination to form words might be evident enough once the significance of the letters is shewn4 ,any lack of knowledge then is only a disadvantage in this1 that it limits the area from which to choose illustrations4 ,i have felt it necessary to preface what ,i have to say with this confession1 to show exactly the position in which ,i stand4 ,the correspondences between sounds and forces were first evolved1 and an examination of the ,aryan roots proved the key capable of application4 -------- ,note3--,in an article which appeared in the ,theosophist1 ,dec4 #ahhg1 ,i had attempted1 with the assistance of my friend ,mr4 ,chas4 ,johnston1 to put forward some of the ideas which form the subject matter of this paper4 ,owing to the numerous misprints which rendered it unintelligible ,i have felt it necessary to altogether re-write it4 ---,g4,w4,r4 -------- ,it is advisable at this point to consider how correspondences arose between things seeming so diverse as sounds1 forms1 colors and forces4 ,it is evident that they could only come about through the existence of a common and primal cause reflecting itself everywhere in different elements and various forms of life4 ,this primal unity lies at the root of all occult philosophy and science2 the ,one becomes ,many2 the ideas latent in ,universal ,mind are thrown outwards into manifestation4 ,in the ,bhagavad-,gita 7chap4 ,,iv7 ,krishna declares3 even though myself unborn1 of changeless essence1 and the lord of all existence1 yet in presiding over nature--which is mine--,i am born but through my own maya1 the mystic power of self-ideation1 the eternal thought in the eternal mind4 ,i establish the universe with a single portion of myself and remain separate2 he says later on1 and in so presiding he becomes the cause of the appearance of the different qualities4 ,i am in the taste in water1 the light in the sun and moon1 the mystic syllable ,,om in all the ,vedas1 sound in space1 the masculine essence in men1 the sweet smell in the earth1 the brightness in the fire etc4 ,pouring forth then from one fountain we should expect to find correspondences running everywhere throughout nature2 we should expect to find all these things capable of correlation4 ,coexistent with manifestation arise the ideas of time and space1 and these qualities1 attributes or forces1 which are latent and unified in the germinal thought1 undergo a dual transformation2 they appear successively in time1 and what we call evolution progresses through ,kalpa after ,kalpa and ,manvantara after ,manvantara3 the moods which dominate these periods incarnate in matter1 which undergoes endless transformations and takes upon itself all forms in embodying these sates of consciousness4 ,the order in which these powers manifest is declared in the ,puranas1 ,upanishads and ,tantric works4 ,it is that abstract formula of evolution which we can apply alike to the great and little things in nature4 ,this may be stated in many ways1 but to put it briefly1 there is at first one divine ,substance-,principle1 ,flame1 ,motion or the ,great ,breath2 from this emanate the elements ,akasa1 ether1 fire1 air1 water and earth2 the spiritual quality becoming gradually lessened in these as they are further removed from their divine source2 this is the descent into matter1 the lowest rung of manifestation4 ,having consolidated itself in its last principle as gross matter1 it revolves around itself and informs with the seventh emanation of the last1 the first and lowest element4 7,s4,d4 ,i1 p4 #big7 ,this involution of the higher into the lower urges life upwards through the mineral1 vegetable1 animal and human kingdoms1 until it culminates in spiritually and self consciousness4 ,it is not necessary here to go more into detail1 it is enough to say that the elements in nature begin as passive qualities1 their ethereal nature becomes gross1 then positive and finally spiritual1 and this abstract formula holds good for everything in nature4 ,these changes which take place in the universe are repeated in man its microcosm1 the cosmic force which acts upon matter and builds up systems of suns and planets1 working in him repeats itself and builds up a complex organism which corresponds and is correlated with its cosmic counterpart4 ,the individual spirit ,purusha dwells in the heart of every creature1 its powers ray forth everywhere2 they pervade the different principles or vehicles2 they act through the organs of sense2 they play upon the different plexuses2 every principle and organ being specialised as the vehicle for a particular force or state of consciousness4 ,all the sounds we can utter have their significance2 they express moods2 they create forms2 they arouse to active life within ourselves spiritual and psychic forces which are centered in various parts of the body4 ,hence the whole organism of man is woven through and through with such correspondences2 our thoughts1 emotions1 sensations1 the forces we use1 colours and sounds acting on different planes are all correlated among themselves1 and are also connected with the forces evolving present about us1 in which we live and move4 ,we find such correspondences form the subject matter of many ,upanishads and other occult treatises2 for example in ,yajnavalkyasamhita1 a treatise on ,yoga philosophy1 we find the sound ,ra associated with the element of fire1 ,tejas ,tatwa1 with the ,god ,rudra1 with a centre in the body just below the heart4 ,other books add1 as correspondences of ,tejas ,tatwa1 that its colour is red1 its taste is hot1 its form is a triangle and its force is expansion4 ,the correspondences given in different treatises often vary2 but what we can gather with certainty is that there must have existed a complete science of the subject2 the correlation of sound with such things1 once understood1 is the key which explains1 not only the magic potency of sound1 but also the constuction of those roots which remain as relics of the primitive ,aryan speech4 ,the thinking principle in man1 having experiences of nature through its vehicles1 the subtle1 astral and gross physical bodies1 translates these sensations into its own set of correspondences3 this principle in man1 called the ,manas1 is associated with the element of akasa1 whose property is sound2 the ,manas moves about in akasa1 and so all ideas which enter into the mind awaken their correspondences and are immediately mirrored in sound4 ,let us take as an instance the perception of the colour red2 this communicated to the mind would set up a vibration1 causing a sound to be thrown outwards in mental manifestation1 and in this way the impulse would arise to utter the letter ,r1 the correspondence of this colour4 ,this ,manasic principle in man1 the real ,ego1 is eternal in its nature2 it exists before and after the body1 something accruing to it from each incarnation2 and so1 because there is present in the body of man this long-traveled soul1 bearing with it traces of its eternal past1 these letters which are the elements of its speech have impressed on them a correspondence1 not only with the forces natural to its transitory surroundings1 but also with that vaster evolution of nature in which it has taken part4 ,these correspondences next claim our attention4 ,the correspondences here suggested do not ,i think at all exhaust the possible significance of any of the letters4 ,every sound ought to have a septenary relation to the planes of consciousness1 and the differentiations of life1 force and matter on each4 ,complete mastery of these would enable the knower to guide the various currents of force1 and to control the elemental knower to guide the various currents of force1 and to control the elemental beings who live on the astral planes1 for these respond1 we are told1 when the exact scale of being to which they belong is vibrated1 whether it be that of colour1 form1 sound or whatever else1 7,path1 ,may1 #ahhf7 ,these higher interpretations ,i am unable to give2 it requires the deeper being to know the deeper meaning4 ,those here appended may prove suggestive2 ,i do not claim any finality or authority for them1 but they may be interesting to students of the occult ,upanishads where the mystic power of sound is continually dwelt upon4 ,the best method of arranging the letters is to begin with ,a and conclude with ,m or ,,oo3 between these lie all the other letters1 and their successive order is determined by their spiritual or material quality4 ,following ,a we get letters with an ethereal or liquid sound1 such as ,r1 ,h1 ,l or ,y2 they become gradually harsher as they pass from the ,a1 following the order of nature in this4 ,half way we get letters like ,k1 ,j1 ,,tchay1 ,s1 or ,,ish2 then they become softer1 and the labials1 like ,f1 ,b and ,m1 have something of the musical quality of the earlier sounds4 ,if we arrange them in this manner1 it will be found to approximate very closely to the actual order in which the sounds arise in the process of formation4 ,we begin then with ,a--,this represents ,god1 creative force1 the ,self1 the ,i1 the beginning or first cause4 ,among letters ,i am the vowel ,a1 says ,krishna in the ,bagavad4 ,it is without colour1 number or form4 ,r--,this is motion1 air1 breath or spirit2 it is also abstract desire1 and here we find the teaching of the ,rig-,veda in harmony4 ,desire first arose in ,it which was the primal germ of mind1 and which sages1 searching with their intellect1 have discovered in their hearts to be the bond which connects ,entity with non-,entity4 ,the corresponding colour of this letter is ,red4 ,h 7hay7 and ,l--,motion awakens ,heat and ,light which correspond respectively to ,h and ,l4 ,that primordial ocean of being1 says the book of ,dzyan1 was fire and heat and motion3 which are explained as the noumenal essences of these material manifestations4 ,the colour of ,h is ,orange1 of ,l yellow4 ,l also conveys the sense of radiation4 ,y 7yea7--,this letter signifies condensation1 drawing together1 the force of attraction1 affinity4 ,matter at the stage of evolution to which this refers is gaseous1 nebulous1 or ethereal3 the fire- mists in space gather together to become worlds4 ,the colour ,y is green4 ,w 7way7--,water is the next element in manifestation3 in cosmic evolution it is spoken of as chaos1 the great ,deep2 its colour1 ,i think1 is indigo4 ,after this stage the elements no longer manifest singly1 but in pairs1 or with a dual aspect4 ,g 7gay7 and ,k--,reflection and ,hardness2 matter becomes crystalline or metalic3 the corresponding colour is blue4 ,s and ,z--,a further differentiation2 matter is atomic3 the abstract significance of number or seed is attached to these letters3 their colour is violet4 ,j and ,tchay--,earth and gross ,substance3 this is the lowest point in evolution2 the worlds have now condensed into solid matter4 ,the colour of these letters is orange4 ,n and ,ng--,some new forces begin to work here2 the corresponding sounds have1 ,i think1 the meaning of continuation and transformation or change3 these new forces propel evolution in the upward or ascending arc3 their colour is yellow4 ,d and ,t--,the colour of these letters is red4 ,the involution of the higher forces into the lower forms alluded to before now begins4 ,d represents this infusion of life into matter2 it is descent and involution1 death or forgetfulness1 perhaps1 for a time to the incarnating power4 ,t is evolution1 the upward movement generating life2 the imprisoned energies surge outwards and vegetation begins4 ,ith and ,ish--,these correspond respectively to growth or expansion and vegetation2 the earth1 as ,genesis puts it1 puts forth grass and herbs and trees yielding fruit4 ,the colour of these letters is green4 ,b and ,p--,after the flora the fauna4 ,b is ,life or ,being1 animal and human4 ,humanity appears2 ,b is masculine1 ,p feminine4 ,p has also a meaning of division1 differentiation or production1 which may refer to maternity4 ,the colour here is blue4 ,f and ,v--,the colour is violet4 ,evolution moves still upwards1 entering the ethereal planes once more4 ,lightness and vastness are the characteristics of this stage3 we begin to permeate with part of our nature the higher spheres of being and reach the consummation in the last stage1 represented by ,m--which has many meanings2 it is thought1 it is the end or death to the personality1 it is the ,receiver into which all flows1 it is also the ,symbol of maternity in a universal sense1 it has this meaning when the life impulse 7which is always represented by a vowel7 follows it1 as in ma4 ,it is the ,pralaya of the worlds2 the lips close as it is uttered4 ,its colour is indigo4 ,o--,the last vowel sound symbolizes abstract space1 the spirit assumes once more the garment of primordial matter2 it is the ,nirvana of eastern philosophy4 ,i will now try to show how the abstract significance of these sound reveals a deeper meaning in the roots of ,aryan language than philologists generally allow4 ,prof4 ,max ,muller says in the introduction to ,biographies of ,words4 ,of ultimates in the sense of primary elements of language1 we can never hope to know anything1 and he also asserts that the roots are incapable of further analysis4 ,i will endeavour now to show that this further analysis can be made4 ,i should not be understood to say that all the so-called roots can be made to yield a secret meaning when analysed4 ,philologists are not all agreed as to what constitutes a root1 or what words are roots1 and in this general uncertainty it should not be expected that these correspondences1 which as ,i have said are not complete1 will apply in every instance4 ,there are many other things which add to the difficulty2 a root is often found to have very many different meanings2 some of these may have arisen in the manner ,i suggest1 and many more are derived from the primary meanings and are therefore not intuitive at all4 ,the intuition will have to be exercised to discover what sensations would likely be awakened by the perception of an action or object2 or if the root has an abstract significance1 the thought must be analysed in order to discover its essential elements4 ,i described previously the manner in which ,i thought a single sensation1 the perception of the colour ,red1 would suggest its correspondence in sound1 the letter ,r4 ,where the idea is more complex1 a combination of two1 tree or four sounds are necessary to express it1 but they all originate in the same way4 ,the reader who desires to prove the truth of the theory here put forward can adopt either of two methods2 he can apply the correspondences to the roots1 or he may try for himself to create words expressing simple1 elemental ideas by combining the necessary letters2 and then1 if he turns to the roots1 he will probably find that many of the words he has created in this way were actually used long ago1 and this pratice will enable him more easily to understand in what sense1 or on what plane1 any particular letter should be taken4 ,i think it probably that in the ,sacred ,language before mentioned1 this could at once have been recognized by a difference in the intonation of the voice4 ,this may have been a survival to some extent of the chanting which was the distinguishing characteristic of the speech of the ,second ,race4 7,secret ,doctrine1 vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #aih7 ,in the written language it is not easily possible to discover this without much thought1 unless endeavour has previously been made to re-awaken the faculty of intuitive speech1 which we formerly possessed and which became atrophied4 ,it is not possible here to go into the analysis of the roots at much length3 ,i can only illustrate the method which will be found to apply more surely where the roots express most elemental conceptions4 ,let us take as example the root1 ,wal1 to boil4 ,boiling is brought about by the action of fire upon water1 and here we find the letters ,w1 water1 and ,l1 light or fire1 united4 ,in ,war1 to well up as a spring1 the sounds for water and motion are combined4 ,a similar idea is expressed in ,wat1 to well out2 the abstract significance of ,t1 which is to evolve1 come forth or appear1 being here applied to a special action4 ,a good method to follow in order to understand how the pure abstract meaning of a letter may be applied in many different ways1 is to take some of the roots in which any one letter is prominent and then compare them4 ,let us take ,d4 ,it has an abstract relation to involution or infusion2 it may be view in two ways1 either as positive or negative2 as the exertion of force or the reception of force4 ,now ,i think if we compare the following roots a similarity of action will be found to underlie them all4 ,id1 to swell2 ,ad1 to eat2 ,dhu1 to put2 ,da1 to bind2 ,ad1 to smell2 ,du1 to enter2 ,da1 to suck4 ,i am not here going exhaustively to analyse the roots1 as this is not an essay upon philology1 but an attempt to make clear some of the mysteries of sound2 those who wish to study this side of the subject more fully can study with this light the primitive languages4 ,a few more examples must suffice4 ,the root1 ,mar1 to die1 may be variously interpreted as the end of motion1 the cessation of breath1 or the withdrawal of spirit1 ,r being expressive of what on various planes is motion1 spirit1 air and breath4 ,in ,bur1 to be active1 life and movement are combined13 in ,gla1 to glow1 reflection and light2 the same idea is in ,gol1 a lake4 ,we find combined in ,kar1 to grind1 hardness and motion3 in ,thah1 to generate1 expansion and heat2 in ,pak1 to comb1 division and hardness1 the suggestion being division with some hard object2 the same idea is in ,pik1 to cut4 ,in ,pis1 to pound1 the letters for division and matter in its molecular state are combined3 in ,fath1 to fly1 lightness and expansion3 in ,yas1 to gird1 drawing together and number2 in ,rab1 to be vehement1 energy and life2 in ,rip1 to break1 energy and division4 ,in ,yudh1 to fight1 the meaning suggested may be1 coming together to destroy4 ,without further analysis the reader will be able to detect the relation which the abstractions corresponding to each letter bear to the defined application in the following words4 ,ak1 to be sharp2 ,ank1 to bend2 ,idh1 to kindle2 ,ar1 to move2 ,al1 to burn2 ,ka1 to sharpen2 ,har1 to burn2 ,ku1 to hew2 ,sa1 to produce2 ,gal1 to be yellow or green2 ,ghar1 to be yellow or green2 ,thak1 to thaw2 ,tar1 to go through2 ,thu1 to swell2 ,dak1 to bite2 ,nak1 to perish2 ,pa1 to nourish1 to feed2 ,par1 to spare2 ,pi1 to swell1 to be fat2 ,pu1 to purify2 ,pu1 to beget2 pau1 little2 ,put1 to swell out2 ,flu1 to fly1 to float2 ,bar1 to carry2 ,bhu1 to be1 to become2 ,bla1 to blow as a flower2 ,ma1 to think2 ,mak1 to pound2 ,mi1 to diminish2 ,mu1 to shut up1 to enclose2 ,yas1 to seethe1 to ferment2 ,ys1 to bind together1 to mix2 ,yuk1 to yoke1 to join2 ,ra1 to love2 ,rik1 to furrow2 ,luh1 to shine2 ,rud1 to redden1 to be red2 ,lub1 to lust 82 ,lu1 to cast off from2 ,wag1 to be moist2 ,wam1 to spit out2 ,so1 to sow1 to scatter2 ,sak1 to cut1 to cleave2 ,su1 to generate2 ,swa1 to toss2 ,swal1 to boil up2 ,ska1 to cut2 ,skap1 to hew2 ,sniw1 to snow2 ,spew1 to spit out2 ,swid1 to sweat2 etc4 ,an analysis of some sacred words and the names of ,deities may now prove interesting4 ,it has been said that before we can properly understand the character of any deity we would have to know the meaning and the numbers attached to each letter in the name1 for in this way the powers and functons of the various gods were indicated4 ,if we take as examples names familiar to everyone1 ,brahma1 ,vishnu1 and ,rudra1 the three aspects of ,parabrahm in manifestation1 and analyse them in the same way as the roots1 they will be found to yield up their essential meaning4 ,form the union of ,b1 life1 ,r1 breath1 and ,ma1 the producer1 ,i would translate ,brahma as the creative breath of life4 ,vishnu similarly analysed is the power that pervades1 expands1 and preserves2 ,i infer this from the union of ,v1 whose force is pervasion1 ,sh1 expansion1 and ,n1 continuation4 ,rudra is the breath that absorbs the breath4 ,aum is the most sacred name of all names2 it is held to symbolize the action of the ,great breath from its dawn to its close3 it is the beginning1 ,a1 the middle1 ,u1 and the close ,m4 ,it is also an affirmation of the relation of our spiritual nature to the universal ,deity whose aspects are ,brahma1 ,vishnu1 and ,rudra4 ,i shall have more to say of the occult power of this word later on4 ,taken in conjunction with two other words1 it is the threefold designation of the ,supreme ,being4 ,om ,tat ,sat has a significance referable to a still higher aspect of ,deity than that other ,trinity2 the ,om here signifies that it is the ,all2 ,tat that it is self-existent or self-evolved2 ,i think the repetition of the ,t in ,tat gives it this meaning3 ,sat would signify that in it are contained the seeds of all manifestation4 ,h4,p4 ,blavatsky translates this word as ,be-ness1 which seems to be another way of expressing the same idea4 ,the mystic incantation familiar to all students of the ,upanishads1 ,om1 bhur1 ,om1 ,bhwar1 ,om1 ,svar1 is an assertion of the existence of the ,divine ,self in all the three worlds or ,lokas4 ,loka is generally translated as a place2 the letters suggest to me that a place or world is only a hardening or crystalization of ,fire or ,light4 ,in ,bhur ,loka the crystalization of the primordial element of ,fire leaves only one principle active1 the life principle generally called ,prana4 ,bhur ,loka then is the place where life is active2 we have ,b1 life1 and ,r1 movement1 to suggest this4 ,in the word ,bhuvar a new letter1 ,v1 is inserted3 this letter1 as ,i have said1 corresponds to the ,astral world1 so the ,bhuvar ,loka is the place where both the ,astral and ,life principles are active4 ,it is more difficult to translate ,svar ,loka3 there is some significance attached here to the letter ,s1 which ,i cannot grasp4 ,it might mean that this world contains the germs of ,astral life2 but this does not appear sufficiently distinctive1 ,svar ,loka is generally known as ,devachan1 and the whole incantation would mean that the ,deity is present throughout the ,pranic1 ,astral and ,devachanic worlds4 ,it is interesting to note what is said in the ,glossary by ,h4,p4,b41 about these three words 7p4 #cfg73 they are said to be lit by and born of fire1 and to possess creative powers4 ,the repetition of them with the proper accent should awaken in the occultist the powers which correspond to the three worlds4 ,i think by these examples that the student will be able to get closer to the true significance of incantation2 those who understand the occult meaning of the colours attached to the letters will be able to penetrate deeper than others into these mysteries4 ,i may here say something about the general philosophy of incantation4 ,there is said to be in nature a homogenous sound or tone which everywhere stirs up the molecules into activity4 ,this is the ,word which ,st4 ,john says was in the beginning 7the plane of causation72 in another sense it is the ,akasa of occult science1 the element of sound1 it is the ,pythagorean music of the spheres4 ,the universe is built up1 moulded and sustained by this element which is everywhere present1 though inaudible by most men at this stage of evolution4 ,it is not sound by the physical ears1 but deep in the heart sometimes may be heard the mystic sounds of the ,akasic heights4 ,the word ,aum represents this homogeneous sound1 it stirs up a power which is latent in it called the ,yajna4 ,the ,glossary says that this is one of the forms of ,akasa within which the mystic word calls it into existence3 it is a bridge by means of which the soul can cross over to the world of the ,immortals4 ,it is this which is alluded to in the ,nada-,bindu ,upanishad4 ,the mind becoming insensible to the external impressions1 becomes one with the sound1 as milk with water1 and then becomes rapidly absorbed in chidakas 7the ,akasa where consciousness pervades74 ,the sound44444 serves the purpose of a lure to the ocean waves of ,chitta 7mind71 444the serpent ,chitta through listening to the ,nada is entirely absorbed in it1 and becoming unconscious of everything concentrates itself on the sound4 ,we may quote further from another ,upanishad4 ,having left behind the body1 the organs and objects of sense1 and having seized the bow whose stick is fortitude and whose string is asceticism1 and having killed with the arrow of freedom from egoism the first guardian1 4444he crosses by means of the boat ,om to the other side of the ether within the heart1 and when the ether is revealed he enters slowly1 as a miner seeking minerals enters a mine1 into the hall of ,brahman4 444,thenceforth1 pure1 clean1 tranquil1 breathless1 endless1 imperishable1 firm1 unborn1 and independent1 he stands in his own greatness1 and having seen the ,self standing in his own greatness1 he looks at the wheel of the world4 ,let no one think that this is all1 and that the mere repetition of words will do anything except injure those who attempt the use of these methods without further knowledge4 ,it has been said 7,path1 ,april1 #ahhg7 that ,charity1 ,devotion1 and the like virtues are structural necessities in the nature of the man who would make this attempt4 ,we cannot1 unless the whole nature has been purified by long services and sacrifice1 and elevated into mood at once full of reverence and intense will1 become sensitive to the subtle powers possessed by the spiritual soul4 ,what is here said about the ,aum which is the name of our own ,god1 and the way in which it draws forth the hidden power will serve to illustrate the method in using other words4 ,the ,thara-,sara ,upanishad of ,sukla-,yajur ,veda says ,through ,om is ,brahm produced3 through ,na is ,vishnu produced2 through ,ma is ,rudra produced1 etc4 ,all these are names of gods2 they correspond to forces in man and nature1 in their use the two are united1 and the man mounts upwards to the ,immortals4 ,i have been forced to compress what ,i had to say in these articles1 ,i have only been able to suggest rather than put forward ideas1 for my own knowledge of these correspondences is very incomplete4 ,as far as ,i know the subject has been untouched hitherto1 and this must be my excuse for the meagre nature of the information given4 ,i hope later on to treat of the relation of sound and colour to form and to show how these correspondences will enable us to understand the language which the gods speak to us through flowers1 trees1 and natural forms4 ,i hope also to be able to show that it was a knowledge of the relation of sound to form which dictated the form of the letters in many primaeval alphabets4 --#e_/ae1 #f_/ae1 #g_/ae1 #h_/ae1 #i_/ae1 #ahic ,at the ,dawn of the ,kaliyuga 99 ,where we sat on the hillside together that evening the winds were low and the air was misty with light4 ,the huge sunbrowned slope on which we were sitting was sprinkled over with rare spokes of grass2 it ran down into the vagueness underneath where dimly the village could be seen veiled by its tresses of lazy smoke4 ,beyond was a bluer shade and a deeper depth1 out of which1 mountain beyond mountain1 the sacred heights of ,himalay rose up through star-sprinkled zones of silver and sapphire air4 ,how gay were our hearts6 ,the silent joy of the earth quickened their beating4 ,what fairy fancies alternating with the sweetest laughter came from childish lips6 ,in us the ,golden ,age whispered her last1 and departed4 ,up came the white moon1 her rays of dusty pearl slanting across the darkness from the old mountain to our feet4 ,a bridge6 we cried1 ,primaveeta1 who long to be a sky-walker1 here is a bridge for you6 ,primaveeta only smiled2 he was always silent2 he looked along the gay leagues of pulsating light that lead out to the radiant mystery4 ,we went on laughing and talking2 then ,primaveeta broke his silence4 ,vyassa1 he said1 ,i went out in thought1 ,i went into the light1 but it was not that light4 ,i felt like a fay2 ,i sparkled with azure and lilac2 ,i went on1 and my heart beat with longing for ,i knew not what1 and out and outward ,i sped till desire stayed and ,i paused1 and the light looked into me full of meaning4 ,i felt like a spark1 and the dancing of the sea of joy bore me up1 up1 up6 ,primaveeta1 who can understand you8 said his little sister ,vina1 you always talk of the things no one can see2 ,vyassa1 sing for us4 ,yes6 yes6 let ,vyassa sing6 they all cried2 and they shouted and shouted until ,i began3-- ,shadowy petalled1 like the lotus1 loom the mountains with their snows3 ,through the sapphire ,soma rising1 such a flood of glory throws ,as when the first in yellow splendour ,brahma from the lotus rose4 ,high above the darkening mounds where fade the fairy lights of day1 ,all the tiny planet folk are waving us from far away2 ,thrilled by ,brahma's breath they sparkle with the magic of the gay4 ,brahma1 all alone in gladness1 dreams the joys that throng in space1 ,shepherds all the whirling splendours onward to their resting place1 ,where at last in wondrous silence fade in ,one the starry race4 ,vyassa is just like ,primaveeta1 he is full of dreams to-night1 said ,vina4 ,and indeed ,i was full of dreams2 my laughter had all died away2 a vague and indescribable unrest came over me2 the universal air around seemed thrilled by the stirring of unknown powers4 ,we sat silent awhile2 then ,primaveeta cried out3 ,oh1 look1 look1 look1 the ,devas6 the bright persons6 they fill the air with their shining4 ,we saw them pass by and we were saddened1 for they were full of solemn majesty2 overhead a chant came from celestial singers full of the agony of farewell and departure1 and we knew from their song that the gods were about to leave the earth which would nevermore or for ages witness their coming4 ,the earth and the air around it seemed to tingle with anguish4 ,shuddering we drew closer together on the hillside while the brightness of the ,devas passed onward and away2 and clear cold and bright as ever1 the eternal constellations1 which change or weep not1 shone out1 and we were alone with our sorrow4 ,to awed we were to speak1 but we clung closer together and felt a comfort in each other2 and so1 crouched in silence2 within me ,i heard as from far away a note of deeper anguish1 like a horn blown out of the heart of the ancient ,mother over a perished hero3 in a dread moment ,i saw the death and the torment2 he was her soul-point1 the light she wished to shine among men4 ,what would follow in the dark ages to come1 rose up before me in shadowy1 over-crowding pictures2 like the surf of a giant ocean they fluctuated against the heavens1 crested with dim1 giantesque and warring figures4 ,i saw stony warriors rushing on to battle2 ,i heard their fierce hard laughter as they rode over the trampled foe2 ,i saw smoke arise from a horrible burning1 and thicker and blacker grew the vistas1 with here and there a glow from some hero-heart that kept the true light shining within4 ,i turned to ,primaveeta who was crouched beside me3 he saw with me vision for vision1 but1 beyond the thick black ages that shut me out from hope1 he saw the resurrection of the ,true1 and the homecoming of the gods4 ,all this he told me later1 but now our tears were shed together4 ,then ,primaveeta rose up and said1 ,vyasa1 where the lights were shining1 where they fought for the ,true1 there you and ,i must fight2 for1 from them spreads out the light of a new day that shall dawn behind the darkness4 ,i saw that he was no longer a dreamer2 his face was firm with a great resolve4 ,i could not understand him1 but ,i determined to follow him1 to fight for the things he fought for1 to work with him1 to live with him1 to die with him2 and so1 thinking and trying to understand1 my thought drifted back to that sadness of the mother which ,i had first felt4 ,i saw how we share joy or grief with her1 and1 seized with the inspiration of her sorrow1 ,i sang about her loved one3-- ,does the earth grow grey with grief ,for her hero darling fled8 ,though her vales let fall no leaf1 ,in our hearts her tears are shed4 ,still the stars laugh on above1 ,not to them her grief is said2 ,mourning for her hero love ,in our hearts her tears are shed4 ,we her children mourn for him1 ,mourn the elder hero dead2 ,in the twilight grey and dim ,in our hearts the tears are shed4 ,vyassa1 they said1 you will break our hearts4 ,and we sat in silence and sorrow more complete till we heard weary voices calling up to us from the darkness below3 ,primaveeta6 ,vyassa6 ,chandra6 ,parvati6 ,vina6 ,vasudeva6 calling all our names4 ,we went down to our homes in the valley2 the breadth of glory had passed away from the world1 and our hearts were full of the big grief that children hold4 --,october #ae1 #ahic -------------- 99 ,note--,kaliyuga4 ,the fourth1 the black or iron age1 our present period1 the duration of which is #dcb1jjj years4 ,it began #c1ajb years ,b4,c4 at the moment of ,krishna's death1 and the first cycle of #e1jjj years will end between the years #ahig and #ahih4 -------------- ,the ,meditation of ,parvati ,parvata rose up from his seat under the banyan tree4 ,he passed his hand unsteadily over his brow4 ,throughout the day the young ascetic had been plunged in profound meditation1 and now1 returning from heaven to earth1 he was dazed like one who awakens in darkness and knows not where he is4 ,all day long before his inner eye burned the light of the ,lokas1 until he was wearied and exhausted with their splendours2 space glowed like a diamond with intolerable lustre1 and there was no end to the dazzling processions of figures4 ,he had seen the fiery dreams of the dead in ,swargam4 ,he had been tormented by the sweet singing of the ,gandharvas1 whose choral song reflected in its ripples the rhythmic pulse of ,being4 ,he saw how the orbs1 which held them1 were set within luminous orbs still of wider circuit1 and vaster and vaster grew the vistas1 and smaller seemed the soul at gaze1 until at last1 a mere speck of life1 he bore the burden of innumerable worlds4 ,seeking for ,brahma1 he found only the great illusion as infinite as ,brahma's being4 ,if these things were shadows1 the earth and the forests he returned to1 viewed at evening1 seemed still more unreal1 the mere dusky flutter of a moth's wings in space4 ,filmy and evanescent1 if he had sunk down as through a transparency into the void1 it would not have been wonderful4 ,parvati turned homeward1 still half in trance3 as he threaded the dim alleys he noticed not the flaming eyes that regarded him from the gloom2 the serpents rustling amid the undergrowths2 the lizards1 fire-flies1 insects1 the innumerable lives of which the ,indian forest was rumourous2 they also were but shadows4 ,he paused half unconsciously at the village1 hearing the sound of human voices1 of children at play4 ,he felt a throb of pity for these tiny being who struggled and shouted1 rolling over each other in ecstasies of joy2 the great illusion had indeed devoured them before whom the ,devas once were worshipers4 ,then close beside him he heard a voice2 its low tones1 its reverence soothed him3 there was something akin to his own nature in it2 it awakened him fully4 ,a little crowd of five or six people were listening silently to an old man who read from a palm-leaf manuscript4 ,parvati knew his order by the orange-coloured robes he wore2 a ,bhikshu of the new faith4 ,what was his delusion8 ,the old man lifted his head for a moment as the ascetic came closer1 and then he continued as before4 ,he was reading the ,legend of the ,great ,king of ,glory4 ,parvati listened to it1 comprehending with the swift intuition and subtlety of a mystic the inner meaning of the ,wonderful ,wheel1 the elephant ,treasure1 the ,lake and palace of ,righteousness4 ,he followed the speaker1 understanding all until he came to the meditation of the ,king3 then he heard with vibrating heart1 how the ,great ,king of ,glory entered the golden chamber1 and set himself down on the silver couch4 ,and he let his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of ,love3 and so the second quarter1 and so the third1 and so the fourth4 ,and thus the whole wide world1 above below1 around and everywhere1 did he continue to pervade with heart of ,love1 far-reaching1 grown great1 and beyond measure4 ,when the old ,bhikshu had ended1 ,parvati rose up1 and went back again into the forest4 ,he had found the secret of the ,true--to leave behind the vistas1 and enter into the ,being4 ,another legend rose up in his mind1 a fairy legend of righteousness1 expanding and filling the universe1 a vision beautiful and full of old enchantment2 his heart sang within him4 ,he seated himself again under the banyan tree2 he rose up in soul2 he saw before him images1 long-forgotten1 of those who suffer in the sorrowful old earth2 he saw the desolation and loneliness of old age1 the insults to the captive1 the misery of the leper and outcast1 the chill horror and darkness of life in a dungeon4 ,he drank in all their sorrow4 ,for his heart he went out to them4 ,love1 a fierce and tender flame arose2 pity1 a breath from the vast2 sympathy1 born of unity4 ,this triple fire sent forth its rays2 they surrounded those dark souls2 they pervaded them2 they beat down oppression4 ,while ,parvati1 with spiritual magic1 sent forth the healing powers1 far away at that moment1 in his hall1 a king sat enthroned4 ,a captive was bound before him2 bound1 but proud1 defiant1 unconquerable of soul4 ,there was silence in the hall until the king spake the doom1 the torture1 for this ancient enemy4 ,the king spake3 ,i had thought to do some fierce thing to thee1 and so end thy days1 my enemy4 ,but1 ,i remember with sorrow1 the great wrongs we have done to each other1 and the hearts made sore by our hatred4 ,i shall do no more wrong to thee4 ,thou art free to depart4 ,do what thou wilt4 ,i will make restitution to thee as far as may be for thy ruined state4 ,then the soul no might could conquer was conquered1 and the knees were bowed2 his pride was overcome4 ,my brother6 he said1 and could say no more4 ,to watch for years a little narrow slit high up in the dark cell1 so high that he could not reach up and look out2 and there to see daily a little change from blue to dark in the sky had withered that prisoner's soul4 ,the bitter tears came no more2 hardly even sorrow2 only a dull1 dead feeling4 ,but that day a great groan burst from him3 he heard outside the laugh of a child who was playing and gathering flowers under the high1 grey walls3 then it all came over him1 the divine things missed1 the light1 the glory1 and the beauty that the earth puts forth for her children4 ,the narrow slit was darkened3 half of a little bronze face appeared4 ,who are you down there in the darkness who sigh so8 ,are you all alone there8 ,for so many years6 ,ah1 poor man6 ,i would come down to you if ,i could1 but ,i will sit here and talk to you for a while4 ,here are flowers for you1 and a little arm showered them in handfuls2 the room was full of the intoxicating fragrance of summer4 ,day after day the child came1 and the dull heart entered into human love once more4 ,at twilight1 by a deep and wide river1 sat an old woman alone1 dreamy1 and full of memories4 ,the lights of the swift passing boats1 and the lights of the stars1 were just as in childhood and the old love-time4 ,old1 feeble1 it was time for her to hurry away from the place which changed not with her sorrow4 ,do you see our old neighbour there8 said ,ayesha to her lover4 ,they say she once was as beautiful as you would make me think ,i am now4 ,how lonely she must be6 ,let us come near and speak to her2 and the lover went gladly4 ,though they spoke to each other rather than to her1 yet something of the past--which never dies when love1 the immortal1 has pervaded it--rose up again as she heard their voices4 ,she smiled1 thinking of years of burning beauty4 ,a teacher1 accompanied by his chelas1 was passing by the wayside where a leper was sitting4 ,the teacher said1 ,here is our brother whom we may not touch4 ,but he need not be shut out from truth4 ,we may sit down where he can listen4 ,he sat down on the wayside beside the leper1 and his chelas stood around him4 ,he spoke words full of love1 kindliness1 and pity1 the eternal truths which make the soul grow full of sweetness and youth4 ,a small old spot began to glow in the heart of the leper1 and the tears ran down his withered cheeks4 ,all these were the deeds of ,parvati1 the ascetic2 and the ,watcher who was over him from all eternity made a great stride towards that soul4 --,november #ae1 #ahic ,a ,talk by the ,euphrates ,priest ,merodach walked with me at evening along the banks of the great river4 ,you feel despondent now1 he said1 but this was inevitable4 ,you looked for a result equal to your inspiration4 ,you must learn to be content with that alone4 ,finally an inspiration will come for every moment1 and in every action a divine fire reveal itself4 ,i feel hopeless now4 ,why is this8 ,wish and will are not less strong than before4 ,because you looked for a result beyond yourself1 and1 attached to external things1 your mind drew to itself subtle essences of earth which clouded it4 ,but there is more in it than that4 ,nature has a rhythm1 and that part of us which is compounded of her elements shares in it4 ,you were taught that nature is for ever becoming3 the first emanation in the great deep is wisdom3 wisdom changes into desire1 and an unutterable yearning to go outward darkens the primeval beauty4 ,lastly1 the elements arise1 blind1 dark1 troubled4 ,nature in them imagines herself into forgetfulness4 ,this rhythm repeats itself in man3 a moment of inspiration--wise and clear1 we determine2 then we are seized with a great desire which impels us to action2 the hero1 the poet1 the lover1 all alike listen to the music of life1 and then endeavour to express its meaning in word or deed2 coming in contact with nature1 its lethal influence drowses them2 so baffled and forgetful1 they wonder where the ,god is4 ,to these in some moment the old inspiration returns1 the universe is as magical and sweet as ever1 a new impulse is given1 and so they revolve1 perverting and using1 each one in his own way1 the cosmic rhythm4 ,merodach1 what you say seems truth1 and leaving aside the cosmic rhythm1 which ,i do not comprehend1 define again for me the three states4 ,you cannot really understand the little apart from the great2 but1 applying this to your own case1 you remember you had a strange experience1 a ,god seemed to awaken within you4 ,this passed away2 you halted a little while1 full of strange longing1 eager for the great2 yet you looked without on the hither side of that first moment1 and in this second period1 which is interchange and transition1 your longing drew to you those subtle material essences ,i spoke of1 which1 like vapour surround1 dull and bewilder the mind with strange phantasies of form and sensation4 ,every time we think with longing of any object1 these essences flow to us out of the invisible spheres and steep us with the dew of matter3 then we forget the great1 we sleep1 we are dead or despondent as you are despondent4 ,i sighed as ,i listened4 ,a watchfulness over momentary desires was the first step2 ,i had thought of the tasks of the hero as leading upwards to the ,gods1 but this sleepless intensity of will working within itself demanded a still greater endurance4 ,i neared my destination2 ,i paused and looked round2 a sudden temptation assailed me2 the world was fair enough to live in4 ,why should ,i toil after the far-off glory8 ,babylon seemed full of mystery1 its temples and palaces steeped in the jewel glow and gloom of evening4 ,in far-up heights of misty magnificence the plates of gold on the temples rayed back the dying light3 in the deepening vault a starry sparkle began3 an immense hum arose from leagues of populous streets3 the scents of many gardens by the river came over me3 ,i was lulled by the splash of fountains4 ,closer ,i heard voices and a voice ,i loved3 ,i listened as a song came ,tell me1 youthful lover1 whether ,love is joy or woe8 ,are they gay or sad together ,on that way who go8 ,a voice answered back ,radiant as a sunlit feather1 ,pure and proud they go2 ,with the lion look together ,glad their faces show4 ,my sadness departed2 ,i would be among them shortly1 and would walk and whisper amid those rich gardens where beautiful idleness was always dreaming4 ,merodach looked at me4 ,you will find these thoughts will hinder you much1 he said4 ,you mean-- ,i hesitated1 half-bewildered1 half-amazed4 ,i say that a thought such as that which flamed about you just now1 driving your sadness away1 will recur again when next you are despondent1 and so you will accustom yourself to find relief on the great quest by returning to an old habit of the heart1 renewing what should be laid aside4 ,this desire of men and women for each other is the strongest tie among the many which bind us3 it is the most difficult of all to overcome4 ,the great ones of the earth have passed that way themselves with tears4 ,but surely1 ,merodach1 you cannot condemn what ,i may say is so much a part of our nature--of all nature4 ,i did not condemn it1 when ,i said it is the strongest tie that binds us here3 it is sin only for those who seek for freedom4 ,merodach1 must we then give up love8 ,there are two kinds of love men know of4 ,there is one which begins with a sudden sharp delight--it dies away into infinite tones of sorrow4 ,there is a love which wakes up amid dead things3 it is a chill at first1 but it takes root1 it warms1 it expands1 it lays hold of universal joys4 ,so the man loves3 so the ,god loves4 ,those who know this divine love are wise indeed4 ,they love not one or another3 they are love itself4 ,think well over this3 power alone is not the attribute of the ,gods2 there are no such fearful spectres in that great companionship4 ,and now1 farewell1 we shall meet again4 ,i watched his departing figure1 and then ,i went on my own way4 ,i longed for that wisdom1 which they only acquire who toil1 and strive1 and suffer2 but ,i was full of a rich life which longed for excitement and fulfilment1 and in that great ,babylon sin did not declare itself in its true nature1 but was still clouded over by the mantle of primeval beauty4 --,december #ae1 #ahic ,the ,cave of ,lilith ,out of her cave came the ancient ,lilith2 ,lilith the wise2 ,lilith the enchantress4 ,there ran a little path outside her dwelling2 it wound away among the mountains and glittering peaks1 and before the door1 one of the ,wise ,ones walked to and fro4 ,out of her cave came ,lilith1 scornful of his solitude1 exultant in her wisdom1 flaunting her shining and magical beauty4 ,still alone1 star gazer6 ,is thy wisdom of no avail8 ,thou hast yet to learn that ,i am more powerful knowing the ways of error than you who know the ways of truth4 ,the ,wise ,one heeded her not1 but walked to and fro4 ,his eyes were turned to the distant peaks1 the abode of his brothers4 ,the starlight fell about him2 a sweet air came down the mountain path1 fluttering his white robe2 he did not cease from his steady musing4 ,like a mist rising between rocks wavered ,lilith in her cave4 ,violet1 with silvery gleams her raiment2 her face was dim2 over her head rayed a shadowy diadem1 the something a man imagines over the head of his beloved---looking closer at her face he would have seen that this was the crown he reached out to1 that the eyes burnt with his own longing1 that the lips were parted to yield to the secret wishes of his heart4 ,tell me1 for ,i would know1 why do you wait so long8 ,i1 here in my cave between the valley and the height blind the eyes of all who would pass4 ,those who by chance go forth to you come back to me again1 and but one in ten thousand passes on4 ,my delusions are sweeter to them than truth4 ,i offer every soul its own shadow2 ,i pay them their own price4 ,i have grown rich1 though the simple shepards of old gave me birth4 ,men have made me2 the mortals have made me immortal4 ,i rose up like a vapour from their first dreams1 and every sigh since then and every laugh remains with me4 ,i am made up of hopes and fears4 ,the subtle princes lay out their plans of conquest in my cave1 and there the hero dreams1 and there the lovers of all time write in flame their history4 ,i am wise1 holding all experience1 to tempt1 to blind1 to terrify4 ,none shall pass by4 ,why1 therefore1 dost thou wait8 ,the ,wise ,one looked at her and she shrank back a little1 and a little her silver and violet faded1 but out of her cave her voice still sounded3 ,the stars and the starry crown are not yours alone to offer1 and every promise you make1 ,i make also4 ,i offer the good and the bad indifferently4 ,the lover1 the poet1 the mystic1 and all who would drink of the first ,fountain1 ,i delude with my mirage4 ,i was the ,beatrice who led ,dante upward3 the gloom was in me1 and the glory was mine also1 and he went not out of my cave4 ,the stars and the shining of heaven were delusions of the infinite ,i wove about him4 ,i captured his soul with the shadow of space2 a nutshell would have contained the film4 ,i smote on the dim heart-chords the manifold music of being4 ,god is sweeter in the human than the human in ,god3 therefore he rested in me4 ,she paused a little1 and then went on4 ,there is that fantastic fellow who slipped by me--could your wisdom not keep him8 ,he returned to me full of anguish1 and ,i wound my arms round him like a fair melancholy1 and now his sadness is as sweet to him as hope was before his fall4 ,listen to his song4 ,she paused again4 ,a voice came up from the depths chanting a sad knowledge-- ,what of all the will to do8 ,it has vanished long ago1 ,for a dream shaft pierced it through ,from the unknown ,archer's bow4 ,what of all the soul to think8 ,some one offered it a cup ,filled with a diviner drink1 ,and the flame has burned it up4 ,what of all the hope to climb8 ,only in the self we grope ,to the misty end of time2 ,truth has put an end to hope4 ,what of all the heart to love8 ,sadder than for will or soul1 ,no light lured it on above2 ,love has found itself the whole4 ,is it not pitiful8 ,i pity only those who pity themselves4 ,yet he is mine more surely than ever4 ,this is the end of human wisdom4 ,how shall he now escape8 ,what shall draw him up8 ,his will shall awaken1 said the ,wise ,one4 ,i do not sorrow over him1 for long is the darkness before the spirit is born4 ,he learns in your caves not to see1 not to hear1 not to think1 for very anguish flying your delusions4 ,sorrow is a great bond1 ,lilith said4 ,it is a bond to the object of sorrow4 ,he weeps what thou can never give him1 a life never breathed in thee4 ,he shall come forth1 and thou shalt not see him at the time of passing4 ,when desire dies1 will awakens1 the swift1 the invisible4 ,he shall go forth1 and one by one the dwellers in your caves will awaken and pass onwards2 this small old path will be trodden by generation after generation4 ,you1 too1 oh1 shining ,lilith1 will follow1 not as mistress1 but as hand-maiden4 ,i shall weave spells1 ,lilith cried4 ,they shall never pass me4 ,with the sweetest poison ,i will drug them4 ,they will rest drowsily and content as of old4 ,were they not giants long ago1 mighty men and heroes8 ,i overcame them with young enchantment4 ,will they pass by feeble and longing for bygone joys1 for the sins of their proud exultant youth1 while ,i have grown into a myriad wisdom8 ,the ,wise ,one walked to and fro as before1 and there was silence1 and ,i thought ,i saw that with steady will he pierced the tumultuous gloom of the cave1 and a heart was touched here and there in its blindness4 ,and ,i thought ,i saw that ,sad ,singer become filled with a new longing to be1 and that the delusions of good and evil fell from him1 and that he came at last to the knees of the ,wise ,one to learn the supreme truth4 ,in the misty midnight ,i hear these three voices1 the ,sad ,singer1 the ,enchantress ,lilith1 and the ,wise ,one4 ,from the ,sad ,singer ,i learned that thought of itself leads nowhere1 but blows the perfume from every flower1 and cuts the flower from every tree1 and hews down every tree from the valley1 and in the end goes to and fro in waste places gnawing itself in a last hunger4 ,i learned from ,lilith that we weave our own enchantment1 and bind ourselves with out own imagination2 to think of the true as beyond us1 or to love the symbol of being1 is to darken the path to wisdom1 and to debar us from eternal beauty4 ,from the ,wise ,one ,i learned that the truest wisdom is to wait1 to work1 and to will in secret2 those who are voiceless today1 tomorrow shall be eloquent1 and the earth shall hear them1 and her children salute them4 ,of these three truths the hardest to learn is the silent will4 ,let us seek for the highest truth4 --,february #ae1 #ahid ,a ,strange ,awakening ,chapter ,i4 ,that we are living in the ,dark ,age we all know1 yet we do not realise half its darkness4 ,we endure physical and moral suffering2 but1 fortunately or unfortunately1 we are oblivious of the sorrow of all sorrows--the ,spiritual ,tragedy4 ,such a rust has come over the pure and ancient spirit of life1 that the sceptre and the diadem and the starry sway we held are unremembered2 and if anyone speaks of these things he is looked at strangely with blank eyes1 or with eyes that suspect madness4 ,i do not know whether to call him great1 or pity him1 who feels such anguish2 for although it is the true agony of the crucifixion1 it is only gods who are so martyred4 ,with these rare souls memory is not born3 life flows on1 and they with it go on in dreams3 they are lulled by lights1 flowers1 stars1 colours1 and sweet odours1 and are sheltered awhile from heaven and hell2 then in some moment the bubble bursts1 and the god awakens and knows himself1 and he rises again with giant strength to conquer2 or else he succumbs1 and the waves of ,lethe1 perhaps in mercy1 blot out his brief knowledge4 ,i knew such an one many years ago1 and ,i tell of him because ,i know of no deeper proof of the existence of a diviner nature than that man's story4 ,arthur ,harvey1 as ,i have heard people describe him1 in his early years was gentle1 shy1 and given to much dreaming4 ,he was taken from school early1 came up from the country to the city1 and was put to business4 ,he possessed the apathy and unresisting nature characteristic of so many spiritual people1 and which is found notably among the natives of ,india2 so he took his daily confinement at first as a matter of course1 though glad enough when it was over1 and the keen sweet air blew about him in spring or summer evenings1 and the earth looked visionary1 steeped in dew and lovely colour1 and his soul grew rich with strange memories and psychic sensations4 ,and so day-by-day he might have gone on with the alternation of work and dream1 and the soul in its imaginings might never have known of the labours of the mind1 each working by habit in its accustomed hour1 but for an incident which took place about two years after his going to business4 ,one morning his manager said3 ,harvey1 take this letter2 deliver it1 and wait for an answer4 ,he started up eagerly1 glad for the unwonted freedom from his desk4 ,at the door1 as he went out1 the whole blinding glory of the sunlight was dashed on him4 ,he looked up4 ,ah6 what spaces illimitable of lustrous blue4 ,how far off6 ,how mighty6 ,he felt suddenly faint1 small1 mean1 and feeble4 ,his limbs trembled under him3 he shrank from the notice of men as he went on his way4 ,vastness1 such as this1 breaking in upon the eye that had followed the point of the pen1 unnerved him3 he felt a bitter self-contempt4 ,what place had he amid these huge energies8 ,the city deafened him as with one shout3 the tread of the multitude2 the mob of vehicles2 glitter and shadow2 rattle1 roar1 and dust2 the black smoke curled in the air2 higher up the snowy and brilliant clouds1 which the tall winds bore along2 all were but the intricate and wondrous workings of a single monstrous personality2 a rival in the universe who had absorbed and wrested from him his own divine dower4 ,out of him2 out of him1 the power-- the free1 the fearless--whirled in play1 and drove the suns and stars in their orbits1 and sped the earth through light and shadow4 ,out of him2 out of him2 never to be reconquered2 never to be regained4 ,the exultant laugh of the day2 the flame of summer2 the gigantic winds careering over the city2 the far-off divine things filled him with unutterable despair4 ,what was he amid it all8 ,a spark decaying in its socket2 a little hot dust clinging together4 ,he found himself in a small square2 he sat down on a bench2 his brain burning1 his eyes unseeing4 ,oh6 my1 what's he piping over8 jeered a grotesque voice1 and a small figure disappeared1 turning somersaults among the bushes4 ,poor young man6 ,perhaps he is ill4 ,are you not well1 sir8 asked a sympathetic nurse4 ,he started up1 brought to himself1 and muttering something unintelligible1 continued his journey through the city4 ,the terrible influence departed1 and a new change came over him4 ,the laugh of the urchin rankled in his mind3 he hated notice3 there must be something absurd or out of the common in his appearance to invoke it4 ,he knew suddenly that there was a gulf between him and the people he lived among4 ,they were vivid1 actual1 suited to their places4 ,how he envied them6 ,then the whole superficies of his mind became filled with a desire to conceal this difference4 ,he recalled the various characteristics of those who worked along with him4 ,one knew all topical songs1 slang and phrases2 another affected a smartness in dress2 a third discussed theatres with semi-professional knowledge4 ,harvey1 however1 could never have entered the world1 or lived in it1 if he had first to pass through the portals of such ideas6 ,he delivered his letter2 he was wearied out1 and as he returned he noticed neither sky nor sunlight1 and the hurrying multitudes were indifferent and without character4 ,he passed through them2 his mind dull like theirs2 a mere machine to guide rapid footsteps4 ,that evening1 a clerk named ,whittaker1 a little his senior in the office1 was struck by ,harvey's curious and delicate face4 ,i say1 ,harvey1 he said1 how do you spend your evenings8 ,harvey flushed a little at the unwonted interest4 ,i take long walks1 he said4 ,do you read much8 ,a little4 ,do you go to the theatre8 ,no4 ,never8 ,never4 ,whew6 what a queer fellow6 ,no clubs1 classes1 music-halls-- anything of the sort1 eh8 ,no1 said ,harvey1 a little bitterly1 ,i know nothing1 nobody2 ,i am always alone4 ,what an extraordinary life6 ,why1 you are out of the universe completely4 ,i say1 he added1 come along with me this evening4 ,i will initiate you a little4 ,you know you must learn your profession as a human being4 ,his manner was very kindly2 still ,harvey was so shy that he would have found some excuse1 but for that chance expression1 out of the universe4 ,was not this apartness the very thing he had just been bitterly feeling8 ,while he hesitated and stammered in his awkwardness1 the other said3 ,there1 no excuses6 ,you need not go to your lodgings for tea4 ,come along with me4 ,they went off together through the darkening streets4 ,one cheerful and irreverent1 brimful of remark or criticism2 the other silent1 his usual dreaminess was modified1 but had not departed1 and once1 gazing up through the clear1 dark blue1 where the stars were shining1 he had a momentary sense as if he were suspended from them by a fine invisible thread1 as a spider hung from her roof2 suspended from on high1 where the pure and ancient aether flamed around the habituations of eternity2 and below and about him1 the thoughts of demons1 the smoke1 darkness1 horror and anguish of the pit4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,i ,cannot tell all the steps by which the young soul came forth from its clouds and dreams1 but must hurry over the years4 ,this single incident of his boyhood ,i have told to mark the character and tendency of his development2 spirituality made self-conscious only in departing2 life1 a falling from ideals which grew greater1 more beautiful and luminous as the possibility of realizing them died away4 ,but this ebbtide of inner life was not regular and incessant1 but rather after the fashion of waves which retreat surely indeed1 but returning again and again1 seem for moments to regain almost more than their past altitude4 ,his life was a series of such falls and such awakenings4 ,every new experience which drew his soul from its quietude brought with it a revelation of a spiritual past1 in which1 as it now seemed1 he had been living unconsciously4 ,every new experience which enriched his mind seemed to leave his soul more barren4 ,the pathetic anguish of these moments had little of the moral element1 which was dormant and uncultivated rather than perverted4 ,he did not ponder over their moral aspect1 for he shared the superficial dislike to the ethical1 which we often see in purely artistic natures1 who cannot endure the entrance of restraint or pain upon their beauty4 ,his greatest lack was the companionship of fine men or noble women4 ,he had shot up far beyond the reach of those whom he knew1 and wanting this companionship he grew into a cynical or sensuous way of regarding them4 ,he began to write3 he had acquired the faculty of vigourous expression by means of such emotions as were tinged with a mystical voluptuousness which was the other pole to his inner1 secret and spiritual being4 ,the double strain upon his energies1 which daily work and nightly study with mental productiveness involved1 acted injuriously upon his health1 and after a year he became so delicate that he could carry on neither one nor other of his avocations without an interval of complete rest4 ,obtaining leave from his employers1 he went back for a period of six weeks to the village where he had been born4 ,here in the early summer and sunshine his health rapidly improved2 his mind even more than his body drank deep draughts of life2 and here1 more than at any period in his life1 did his imagination begin to deal with mighty things1 and probe into the secret mysteries of life1 and here passed into the long descended line by which the human spirit passed from empire2 he began to comprehend dimly by what decadence from starry state the soul of man is ushered into the great visible life4 ,these things came to him not clearly as ideas1 but rather as shadowy and shining vision thrown across the air of dawn of twilight as he moved about4 ,not alone did this opulence of spiritual life make him happy1 another cause conspired with it to this end4 ,he had met a nature somewhat akin to his own3 ,olive ,rayne1 the woman of his life4 ,as the days passed over he grew eager not to lose any chance of speech with her1 and but two days before his departure he walked to the village hoping to see her4 ,down the quiet ,english lane in the evening he passed with the rapid feet that bear onward unquiet or feverish thought4 ,the clear fresh air communicated delight to him2 the fields grown dim1 the voice of the cuckoo1 the moon like a yellow globe cut in the blue1 the cattle like great red shadows driven homeward with much unnecessary clamour by the children2 all these flashed in upon him and became part of him3 ready made accessories and backgrounds to his dreams1 their quietness stilled and soothed the troubled beauty of passion4 ,his pace lessened as he came near the village1 half wondering what would serve as excuse for visits following one so soon upon the other4 ,chance served as excuse4 ,he saw her grey dress1 her firm upright figure coming out from among the lilac brushes at the gate of her father's house4 ,she saw ,harvey coming towards her and waited for him with a pleasant smile4 ,harvey1 accustomed to introspect and ideal imaginings1 here encountered no shock gazing upon the external4 ,some last light of day reflected upward from the white gate-post1 irradiated her face1 and touched with gold the delicate brown hair1 the nosrtils1 lips1 chin1 and the lilac of her throat4 ,her features were clear-cut1 flawless2 the expression exquisitely grave and pure2 the large grey eyes had that steady glow which shows a firm and undisturbed will4 ,in some undefinable way he found himself thinking of the vague objects of his dreams1 delicate and subtle things1 dew1 starlight1 and transparencies rose up by some affinity4 ,he rejected them--not those--then a strong warrior with a look of pity on his face appeared and disappeared3 all this quick as a flash before she spoke4 ,i am going doctoring1 she said4 ,old nurse ,winder is ill1 and my father will not be back until late4 ,mr4 ,rayne was the country doctor4 ,may ,i go with you8 he asked4 ,oh1 yes1 why not8 ,but ,i have first to call at two or three places on the way4 ,he went with her4 ,he was full of wonder at her4 ,how could she come out of her own world of aspiration and mystic religion and show such perfect familiarity1 ease and interest in dealing with these sordid village complaints1 moral and physical8 ,harvey was a man who disliked things like these which did not touch his sense of beauty4 ,he could not speak to these people as she did3 he could not sympathize with them4 ,the pain of the old woman made him shrink into himself almost with more disgust than pity4 ,while ,olive was bending over her tenderly and compassionately1 he tried to imagine what it was inspired such actions and such self-forgetfulness4 ,almost it seemed for a moment to him as if some hidden will in the universe would not let beauty rest in its own sphere1 but bowed it down among sorrows continually4 ,he felt a feeling of relief as they came out agin into the night4 ,it was a night of miracle and wonder4 ,withdrawn far aloft into fairy altitudes1 the stars danced with a gaiety which was more tremendous and solemn than any repose4 ,the night was wrought out of a profusion of delicate fires4 ,the grass1 trees1 and fields glowed with the dusky colours of rich pottery4 ,everywhere silence2 everywhere the exultant breathing of life1 subtle1 universal1 penetrating4 ,into the charmed heart fell the enchantment we call ancient1 though the days have no fellows1 nor will ever have any4 ,harvey1 filled up with this wonder1 turned to his companion4 ,see how the ,magician of the ,beautiful blows with his mystic breath upon the world6 ,how tremulous the lights are2 what still ness6 ,how it banishes the memory of pain6 ,can you forget pain so easily8 ,i hardly noticed the night--it is wonderful indeed4 ,but the anguish it covers and enfolds everywhere ,i cannot forget4 ,i could not bear to think of pain at any time1 still less while these miracles are over and around us4 ,you seem to me almost to seek pain like a lover4 ,i cannot understand you4 ,how can you bear the ugly1 the mean1 the sordid--the anguish which you meet4 ,you-- so beautiful8 ,can you not understand8 she said1 almost impetuously4 ,have you never felt pity as universal as the light that floods the world8 ,to me a pity seems to come dropping1 dropping1 dropping from that old sky1 upon the earth and its anguish4 ,god is not indifferent4 ,love eternal encircles us4 ,its wishes are for our redemption4 ,its movements are like the ripples starting from the rim of a pond that overcome the outgoing ripples and restore all to peace4 ,but what is pain if there is this love8 asked ,harvey4 ,ah1 how can ,i answer you8 ,yet ,i think it is the triumph of love pushing back sin and rebellion4 ,the cry of this old nature being overcome is pain4 ,and this is universal1 and goes on everywhere1 through we cannot comprehend it2 and so1 when we yield to this divine love1 and accept the change1 we find in pain a secret sweetness4 ,it is the first thrill that heralds an immense dawn4 ,but why do you say it is universal8 ,is not that a frightful thought8 ,if ,god is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and to-morrow1 then the life of ,christ on earth was a symbol--must be a symbol--of what endures for ever3 the ,light and ,darkness for ever in conflict3 a crucifixion in eternity4 ,this belief1 so terrible1 so pathetic1 so strange1 coming from this young girl affected ,harvey profoundly4 ,he did not reject it4 ,the firmness and surety of her utterance1 the moral purity of her character1 appealed to him who felt his own lack of clear belief and heroic purpose4 ,like all spiritual people1 he assimilated easily the spiritual moods of those whom he came into contact with4 ,coming from her1 the moral1 pathetic1 and ,christian doctrine had that element of beauty which made it blend with his ideal paganism4 ,as he went homewards he pondered over her words1 her life1 her thoughts4 ,he began to find an inexpressible beauty in her pity1 as a feeling welling up from unknown depths1 out of the ancient heart of things4 ,filled with this pity he could overcome his dislike of pain and go forth as the strong warrior of his momentary vision4 ,he found himself repeating again and again her words3 ,we find in pain a secret sweetness--a secret sweetness--a secret sweetness4 ,if he could only find it1 what might he not dare1 to what might he not attain8 ,and revolving all these things upon his restless pillow1 there came over him one of those mystic moods ,i have spoken of3 wandering among dim originals1 half in dream and half in trance1 there was unfolded within him this ancient legend of the soul3-- ,there was a great ,gloom and a great ,glory in nature1 and the legions of darkness and the glorious hosts were at war perpetually with one another4 ,then the ,ancient of ,days1 who holds all this within himself1 moved the ,gloom and the ,glory together3 the ,sons of the ,bright ,fire he sent into the darkness1 and the children of ,darkness he brought unto the gates of the day4 ,and in the new life formed out of the union of these two1 pain1 self-conscious1 became touched with a spiritual beauty1 and those who were of the ,hosts of ,beauty wore each one a ,crown of ,thorns upon the brow4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,harvey rose up early2 as he walked to and fro in the white dawn1 he found the answers to every question in his mind3 they rose up with a sweet and joyful spontaneity4 ,life became filled with happiest meaning3 a light from behind the veil fell upon the things he had before disliked1 and in this new light1 pain1 sorrow1 and the old moralities were invested with a significance undreamt of before4 ,in admitting into his own mind ,olive ,rayne's ideas1 he removed something of their austerity3 what he himself rejected1 seen in her1 added another and peculiar interest to the saintly ideal of her which he had formed4 ,she had once said1 peace and rest were inconceivable while there existed strife and suffering in nature4 ,nowhere could there be found refuge2 drawing near unto the divine1 this pain only became wider1 more intense1 almost insufferable1 feeling and assimilating the vastness of divine sorrow brooding over the unreclaimed deep4 ,this pity1 this consciousness of pain1 not her own1 filling her own1 filling her life1 marked her out from everyone he knew4 ,she seemed to him as one consecrated4 ,then this lover in his mystic passion passed in the contemplation of his well-beloved from the earthly to the invisible soul4 ,he saw behind and around her a form unseen by others2 a form1 spiritual1 pathetic1 of unimaginable beauty1 on which the eternal powers kept watch1 which they nourished with their own life1 and on which they inflicted their own pain4 ,this form was crowned1 but with a keen- pointed radiance from which there fell a shadowy dropping4 ,as he walked to and fro in the white dawn he made for her a song1 and inscribed it4 ,to ,one ,consecrated ,your paths were all unknown to us3 ,we were so far away from you1 ,we mixed in thought your spirit thus-- ,with whiteness1 stars of gold1 and dew4 ,the mighty mother nourished you3 ,her breath blew from her mystic bowers3 ,their elfin glimmer floated through ,the pureness of your shadowy hours4 ,the mighty mother made you wise2 ,gave love that clears the hidden ways3 ,her glooms were glory to your eyes2 ,her darkness but the ,fount of ,days4 ,she made all gentleness in you1 ,and beauty radiant as the morn's3 ,she made our joy in yours1 then threw ,upon your head a crown of thorns4 ,your eyes are filled with tender light1 ,for those whose eyes are dim with tears2 ,they see your brow is crowned and bright1 ,but not its ring of wounding spears4 ,we can imagine no discomfiture while the heavenly light shines through us4 ,harvey1 though he thought with humility of his past as impotent and ignoble in respect of action1 felt with his rich vivid consciousness that he was capable of entering into her subtlest emotions4 ,he could not think of the future without her2 he could not give up the hope of drawing nigh with her to those mysteries of life which haunted them both4 ,his thought1 companioned by her1 went ranging down many a mystic year4 ,he began to see strange possibilities1 flashes as of old power1 divine magic to which all the world responded1 and so on till the thought trembled in vistas ending in a haze of flame4 ,meanwhile1 around him was summer3 gladness and youth were in his heart1 and so he went on dreaming-- forecasting for the earth and its people a future which belongs only to the spiritual soul--dreaming of happy years even as a child dreams4 ,later on that evening1 while ,olive was sitting in her garden1 ,dr4 ,rayne came out and handed her a bundle of magazines4 ,there are some things in these which may interest you1 ,olive1 he said3 ,young ,harvey writes for them1 ,i understand4 ,i looked over one or two4 ,they are too mystical for me4 ,you will hardly find them mystical enough4 ,she took the papers from him without much interest1 and laid them beside her on the seat4 ,after a time she took them up4 ,as she read her brows began to knit1 and her face grew cold4 ,these verses were full of that mystical voluptuousness which ,i said characterised ,harvey's earlier productions2 all his rich imagination was employed to centre interest upon moments of half-sensual sensations2 the imagery was used in such a way that nature seemed to aid and abet the emotion2 out of the heart of things1 out of wild enchantment and eternal revelry shot forth into the lives of men the fires of passion4 ,nothing could be more unlike the ,christ-soul which she worshiped as underlying the universe and on which she had reliance4 ,he does not feel pity2 he does not understand love1 she murmured4 ,she felt a cold anger arise2 she who had pity for most things felt that a lie had been uttered defiling the most sacred things in the ,holy of ,holies1 the things upon which her life depended4 ,she could never understand ,harvey1 although he had been included in the general kindliness with which she treated all who came near her2 but here he seemed revealed1 almost vaunting an inspiration from the passionate powers who carry on their ancient war against the ,most ,high4 ,the lights were now beginning to fade about her in the quiet garden when the gate opened1 and someone came down the path4 ,it was ,harvey4 ,in the gloom he did not notice that her usual smile was lacking1 and besides he was too rapt in his own purpose4 ,he hesitated for a moment1 then spoke4 ,olive1 he said tremulously1 as ,i came down the lanes to say good-bye to you my heart rebelled4 ,i could not bear the thought3 ,olive1 ,i have learned so many things from you2 your words have meant so much to me that ,i have taken them as the words of ,god4 ,before ,i knew you ,i shrank from pain2 ,i wandered in search of a false beauty4 ,i see now the purpose of life--to carry on the old heroic battle for the true2 to give the consolation of beauty to suffering2 to become so pure that through us may pass that divine pity which ,i never knew until you spoke1 and ,i then saw it was the root of all life1 and there was nothing behind it--such magic your words have4 ,my heart was glad this morning for you at this truth1 and ,i saw in it the power which would transfigure the earth4 ,yet all this hope has come to me through you2 ,i half hold it still through you4 ,to part from you now--it seems to me would be like turning away from the guardian of the heavenly gateway4 ,i know ,i have but little to bring you4 ,i must make all my plea how much you are to me when ,i ask can you love me4 ,she had hardly heard a word of all he said4 ,she was only conscious that he was speaking of love4 ,what love8 ,had he not written of it8 ,it would have emptied ,heaven into the pit4 ,she turned and faced him1 speaking coldly and deliberately3 ,you could speak of love to me1 and write and think of it like this6 ,she placed her hand on the unfortunate magazines4 ,harvey followed the movement of her arm4 ,he took the papers up1 then suddenly saw all as she turned and walked away1--what the passion of these poems must have seemed to her4 ,what had he been in her presence that could teach her otherwise8 ,only a doubter and questioner4 ,in a dreadful moment his past rose up before him1 dreamy1 weak1 sensual4 ,his conscience smote him through and through4 ,he could find no word to say4 ,self-condemned1 he moved blindly to the gate and went out4 ,he hardly knew what he was doing4 ,before him the pale dry road wound its way into the twilight amid the hedges and cottages4 ,phantasmal children came and went4 ,there seemed some madness in all they were doing4 ,why did he not hear their voices8 ,they ran round and round2 there should have been cries or laughter or some such thing4 ,then suddenly something seemed to push him forward1 and he went on blankly and walked down the lane4 ,in that tragic moment his soul seemed to have deserted him1 leaving only a half- animal consciousness4 ,with dull attention he wondered at the muffled sound of his feet upon the dusty road1 and the little puffs of smoke that shot out before them4 ,every now and then something would throb fiercely for an instant and be subdued4 ,he went on and on4 ,his path lay across some fields4 ,he stopped by force of habit and turned aside from the road4 ,again the same fierce throb4 ,in a wild instant he struggled for recollection and self-mastery1 and then the smothered soul rushed out of the clouds that oppressed it4 ,memories of hope and shame3 the morning gladness of his heart3 the brilliant and spiritual imaginations that inspired him3 their sudden ending3 the degradation and drudgery of the life he was to return to on the morrow3 all rose up in tumultuous conflict4 ,a feeling of anguish that was elemental and not of the moment filled him4 ,drifting and vacillating nature--he saw himself as in a boat borne along by currents that carried him1 now near isles of beauty1 and then whirled him away from their vanishing glory into gloomy gulfs and cataracts that went down into blackness4 ,he was master neither of joy nor sorrow4 ,without will3 unpractical2 with sensitiveness which made joy a delirium and gloom a very hell2 the days he went forward to stretched out iron hands to bind him to the deadly dull and commonplace4 ,these vistas1 intolerable and hopeless1 overcame him4 ,he threw himself down in his despair4 ,around his head pressed the cool grasses wet with dew4 ,strange and narrow1 the boundary between heaven and hell6 ,all around him primeval life innocent and unconscious was at play4 ,all around him1 stricken with the fever of life1 that ,power which made both light and darkness1 inscrutable in its workings1 was singing silently the lovely carol of the flowers4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,little heaps of paper activities piled themselves up1 were added to1 diminished1 and added to again1 all the day long before ,harvey at his desk4 ,he had returned to his work3 there was an unusual press of business1 and night after night he was detained long beyond the usual hours4 ,the iron hand which he had foreseen was laid upon him3 it robbed him even of his right to sorrow1 the time to grieve4 ,but within him at moments stirred memories of the past1 poignant anguish and fierce rebellion4 ,with him everything transformed itself finally into ideal images and aspects1 and it was not so much the memory of an incident which stung him as the elemental sense of pain in life itself4 ,he felt that he was debarred from a heritage of spiritual life which he could not define even to himself4 ,the rare rays of light that slanted through the dusty air of the office1 mystic gold fallen through inconceivable distances from the pure primeval places1 wakened in him an unutterable longing3 he felt a choking in his throat as he looked4 ,often1 at night1 too1 lifting his tired eyes from the pages flaring beneath the bright gas jet1 he could see the blueness deepen rich with its ancient clouds of starry dust4 ,what pain it was to him1 immemorial quiet1 passivity and peace1 though over it a million tremors fled and chased each other throughout the shadowy night6 ,what pain it was to let the eyes fall low and see about him the pale and feverish faces looking ghostly through the hot1 fetid1 animal1 and flickering air6 ,his work over1 out into the night he would drag himself wearily-- out into the night anywhere2 but there no more than within could he escape from that power which haunted him with mighty memories1 the scourge which the ,infinite wields4 ,nature has no refuge for those in whom the fire of spirit has been kindled3 earth has no glory for which it does not know a greater glory4 ,as ,harvey passed down the long streets1 twinkling with their myriad lights fading into blue and misty distances1 there rose up before him in the visionary air solemn rows of sphinxes in serried array1 and starlit pyramids and temples--greatness long dead1 a dream that mocked the lives around him1 hoarding the sad small generations of humanity dwindling away from beauty4 ,gone was the pure and pale splendour of the primeval skies and the lustre of the first-born of stars4 ,but even this memory1 which linked him in imagination to the ideal past1 was not always his3 he was weighted1 like all his race1 with an animal consciousness which cried out fiercely for its proper life1 which thirsted for sensation1 and was full of lust and anger4 ,the darkness was not only about him1 but in him1 and struggled there for mastery4 ,it threw up forms of meanness and horrible temptations which clouded over his soul2 their promise was forgetfulness2 they seemed to say3 ,satisfy us1 and your infinite longing shall die away3 to be of clay is very dull and comfortable2 it is the common lot4 ,one night1 filled with this intolerable pain1 as he passed through the streets he yielded to the temptation to kill out this torturing consciousness3 he accosted one of the women of the streets and walked away with her4 ,she was full of light prattle1 and chattered on and on4 ,harvey answered her not a word2 he was set on his stony purpose4 ,child of the ,stars6 what had he to do with these things8 ,he sought only his soul's annihilation4 ,something in this terrible silence communicated itself to his companion4 ,she looked at his face in the light of a lamp2 it was white1 locked1 and rigid4 ,child of the ,stars1 no less1 though long forgetful1 she shuddered at this association4 ,she recoiled from him crying out ,you brute--you brute6 and then fled away4 ,the unhappy man turned homeward and sat in his lonely room with stupid1 staring eyes1 fixed on darkness and vacancy until the pale green light of dawn began to creep in upon him4 ,into this fevered and anguished existence no light had yet come4 ,drunken with wretchedness1 ,harvey could not or would not think2 and the implacable spirit which followed him deepened and quickened still more the current of his being1 and the ,,gloom and the ,,glory of his dream moved still nearer to each other4 ,mighty and mysterious spirit1 thou who crownest pain with beauty1 and by whom the mighty are bowed down from their seats1 under they guidance1 for such a crowning and for such agony1 were coiled together the living streams of evil and good1 so that at last the man might know himself--the soul--not as other than ,thee6 ,the ways by which he was brought to that moment were unremembered2 the sensations and thoughts and moods which culminated in the fire of self-consciousness could be retraced but vaguely4 ,he had gone out of the city one ,sunday1 and lying down in the fields under the trees1 for a time he grew forgetful of misery4 ,he went once more into the world of dreams4 ,he1 or the creature of his imagination1 some shadow of himself1 lived in and roamed through antique forests where the wonderful days were unbroken by sense of sorrow4 ,childhood shared in an all-pervading exultation2 through the pulses of youth ran the fiery energy that quickened the world2 and this shadow of the dreamer dwelling amid the forests grew gradually into a consciousness of a fiery life upon which the surface forms were but films3 he entered this kingdom of fire2 its life became his life2 he knew the secret ways to the sun1 and the sunny secrets living in the golden world4 ,it was ,i1 myself1 rushed into ,harvey's mind3 ,it was ,i4 ,ah1 how long ago6 ,then for the first time1 his visions1 dreams and imaginations became real to him1 as memories of a spirit traveling through time and space4 ,looking backwards1 he could nowhere find in the small and commonplace surroundings of his life anything which could have suggested or given birth to these vivid pictures and ideas4 ,they began to move about swiftly in his mind and arrange themselves in order4 ,he seemed to himself to have fallen downwards through a long series of lines of ever- lessening beauty--fallen downwards from the mansions of eternity into this truckling and hideous life4 ,as ,harvey walked homewards through the streets1 some power must have guided his steps1 for he saw or knew nothing of what was about him4 ,with the sense of the reality of his imaginations came an energy he had never before felt3 his soul took complete possession of him3 he knew1 though degraded1 that he was a spirit4 ,then1 in that supreme moment1 gathered about him the memories of light and darkness1 and they became the lips through which eternal powers spake to him in a tongue unlike the speech of men4 ,the spirit of light was behind the visions of mystical beauty3 the spirit of darkness arrayed itself in the desires of clay4 ,these powers began to war within him3 he heard voices as of ,titans talking4 ,the spirit of light spake within him and said--,arouse now1 and be thou my voice in this dead land4 ,there are many things to be spoken and sung--of dead language the music and significance1 old world philosophies2 you will be the singer of the sweetest songs2 stories wilder and stranger than any yet will ,i tell you--deeds forgotten of the vaporous and dreamy prime4 ,the voice came yet again closer1 full of sweet promise1 with magical utterance floating around him4 ,he became old--inconceivably old and young together4 ,he was astonished in the wonders of the primal world4 ,chaos with tremendous agencies1 serpentine powers1 strange men-beasts and men-birds1 the crude first thought of awakening nature was before him2 from inconceivable heights of starlike purity he surveyed it2 he went forth from glory2 he descended and did battle2 he warred with behemeths1 with the flying serpents and the monstrous creeping things4 ,with the ,lords of ,air he descended and conquered2 he dwelt in a new land1 a world of light1 where all things were of light1 where the trees put forth leaves of living green1 where the rose would blossom into a rose of light and lily into a white radiance1 and over the vast of gleaming plains and through the depths of luminous forests1 the dreaming rivers would roll in liquid and silver flame4 ,often he joined in the mad dance upon the highlands1 whirling round and round until the dark grass awoke fiery with rings of green under the feet4 ,and so1 on and on through endless transformations he passed1 and he saw how the first world of dark elements crept in upon the world of beauty1 clothing it around with grossness and veiling its fires2 and the dark spirits entered by subtle ways into the spheres of the spirits of light1 and became as a mist over memory and a chain upon speed2 the earth groaned with the anguish4 ,then this voice cried within him--,come forth2 come out of it2 come out1 oh king1 to the ancestral spheres1 to the untroubled spiritual life4 ,out of the furnace1 for it leaves you dust4 ,come away1 oh king1 to old dominion and celestial sway2 come out to the antique glory6 ,then another voice from below laughed at the madness4 ,full of scorn it spake1 ,you1 born of clay1 a ruler of stars8 ,pitiful toiler with the pen1 feeble and weary body1 what shall make of you a spirit8 ,harvey thrust away this hateful voice4 ,from his soul came the impulse to go to other lands1 to wander for ever and ever under the star-rich skies1 to be a watcher of the dawn and eve1 to live in forest places or on sun-nurtured plains1 to merge himself once more in the fiery soul hidden within4 ,but the mocking voice would not be stifled1 showing him how absurd and ridiculous it was to become a vagabond1 so the voice said1 and finally to die in the workhouse4 ,so the eternal spirit in him1 ,god's essence1 conscious of its past brotherhood1 with the morning stars1 the ,white ,aeons1 in its prisonhouse writhed with the meanness1 till at last he cried1 ,i will struggle no longer2 it is only agony of spirit to aspire here at all2 ,i will sit and wait till the deep darkness has vanished4 ,but the instruction was not yet complete2 he had learned the primal place of spirit2 he had yet to learn its nature4 ,he began to think with strange sadness over the hopes of the world1 the young children4 ,he saw them in his vision grow up1 bear the burden in silence or ignorance2 he saw how they joined in dragging onward that huge sphinx which men call civilization2 there was no time for loitering amid the beautiful1 for if one paused it was but to be trampled by the feet of the many who could not stay or rest1 and the wheels of the image ground that soul into nothingness4 ,he felt every pain almost in an anguish of sympathy4 ,helpless to aid1 to his lips came the cry to another which immemorial usage has made intuitive in men4 ,but ,it is high and calm above all appeal2 to ,it the cries from all the sorrowing stars sound but as one great music2 lying in the infinite fields of heaven1 from the united feelings of many universes ,it draws only a vast and passionless knowledge1 without distinction of pleasure or pain4 ,from the universal which moves not and aids not1 ,harvey in his agony turned away4 ,he himself could fly from the struggle2 thinking of what far place or state to find peace1 he found it true in his own being that nowhere could the soul find rest while there was still pain or misery in the world4 ,he could imagine no place or state where these cries of pain would not reach him3 he could imagine no heaven where the sad memory would not haunt him and burn him4 ,he knew then that the nature of the soul was love eternal2 he knew that if he fled away a divine compassion would compel him to renew his brotherhood with the stricken and suffering2 and what was best forever to do was to fight out the fight in the darkness4 ,there was a long silence in ,harvey's soul2 then with almost a solemn joy he grew to realize at last the truth of he himself--the soul4 ,the fight was over2 the ,gloom and the ,glory were linked together1 and one inseparably4 ,harvey was full of a sense of quietness1 as if a dew fell from unseen places on him with soothing and healing power4 ,he looked around4 ,he was at the door of his lodgings4 ,the tall narrow houses with their dull red hues rose up about him2 from their chimneys went up still higher the dark smoke2 but behind its nebulous wavering the stars were yet2 they broke through the smoke with white lustre4 ,harvey looked at them for a moment1 and went in strangely comforted4 ,the ,end --,march #ae-;,june #ae1 #ahid ,the ,midnight ,blossom --,arhans are born at midnight hour44444 together with the holy flower that opes and blooms in darkness4--,the ,voice of the ,silence ,we stood together at the door of our hut3 we could see through the gathering gloom where our sheep and goats were cropping the sweet grass on the side of the hill3 we were full of drowsy content as they were4 ,we had naught to mar our own happiness--neither memory nor unrest for the future4 ,we lingered on while the vast twilight encircled us2 we were one with its dewy stillness4 ,the lustre of the early stars first broke in upon our dreaming3 we looked up and around3 the yellow constellations began to sing their choral hymn together4 ,as the night deepened they came out swiftly from their hiding places in depths of still and unfathomable blue2 they hung in burning clusters2 they advanced in multitudes that dazzled3 the shadowy shining of night was strewn all over with nebulous dust of silver1 with long mists of gold with jewels of glittering green4 ,we felt how fit a place the earth was to live on1 with these nightly glories over us1 with silence and coolness upon its lawns and lakes after the consuming day4 ,valmika1 ,kedar1 ,i and ,ananda watched together2 through the rich gloom we could see far distant forests and lights--the lights of village and city in ,king ,suddhodana's realm4 ,brothers1 said ,valmika1 ,how good it is to be here1 and not yonder in the city where they know not peace1 even in sleep4 ,yonder and yonder1 said ,kedar1 ,i saw the inner air full of a red glow where they were busy in toiling and strife4 ,it seemed to reach up to me2 ,i could not breathe4 ,i climbed the hills at dawn to laugh where the snows were1 and the sun is as white as they are white4 ,but1 brothers1 if we went down among them and told them how happy we were1 and how the flowers grow on the hillside1 and all about the flocks1 they would surely come up and leave all sorrow4 ,they cannot know or they would come4 ,ananda was a mere child though so tall for his years4 ,they would not come1 said ,kedar4 ,all their joy is to haggle and hoard4 ,when ,siva blows upon them with his angry breath they will lament1 or when the ,prets in fierce hunger devour them4 ,it is good to be here1 repeated ,valmika drowsily1 to mind the flocks and be at rest1 and to hear the wise ,varunna speak when he comes among us4 ,i was silent4 ,i knew better than they that busy city which glowed beyond the dark forests4 ,i had lived there until1 grown sick and weary1 ,i had gone back to my brothers on the hillside4 ,i wondered would life1 indeed1 go on ceaselessly until it ended in the pain of the world4 ,i said within myself--,oh1 mighty ,brahma1 on the outermost verges of they dream are our lives2 thou old invisible1 how faintly through our hearts comes the sound of thy song1 the light of thy glory6 ,full of yearning to rise and return1 ,i strove to hear in the heart the music ,anahata had spoken of in our sacred scrolls4 ,there was silence1 and then ,i thought ,i heard sounds1 not glad1 a myriad murmur4 ,as ,i listen it deepened1 it grew into passionate prayer and appeal and tears1 as if the cry of the long- forgotten souls of men went echoing through empty chambers4 ,my eyes filled with tears1 for it seemed world-wide1 and to sigh from out many ages1 long agone1 to be and yet to be4 ,ananda6 ,ananda6 where is the boy running to8 cried ,valmika4 ,ananda had vanished into the gloom4 ,we heard his glad laugh below and then another voice speaking4 ,presently up loomed the tall figure of ,varunna4 ,ananda held his hand and danced beside him4 ,we could see by the starlight his simple robe of white4 ,i could trace clearly every feature of the grave and beautiful face1 the radiant eyes2 not by the starlight ,i saw1 but because a silvery shining rayed a little way into the blackness around the dark hair and face4 ,valmika1 as elder1 first spake4 ,holy sir1 be welcome4 ,will you come in and rest8 ,i cannot stay now4 ,i must pass over the mountain ere dawn2 but you may come a little way with me--such of you as will4 ,we assented gladly--,kedar and ,i2 ,valmika remained4 ,then ,ananda prayed to go4 ,we bade him stay1 fearing for him the labour of climbing and the chill of the snows1 but ,varunna said3 ,let the child come2 he is hardy2 he will not tire if he holds my hands4 ,so we set out together and faced the highlands that rose and rose above us2 we knew well the way even at night4 ,we waited in silence for ,varunna to speak1 but for nigh two hours we mounted without words1 save for ,ananda's shouts of delight and wonder at the heavens spread above us4 ,but ,i was hungry for an answer to my thoughts1 so ,i spake4 ,master1 ,valmika was saying1 ere you came1 how good it was to be here rather than in the city where they are full of strife1 and ,kedar thought their lives would flow on into fiery pain and no speech would avail4 ,ananda1 speaking as a child indeed1 said if one went down among them they would listen to his story of the happy life4 ,but1 ,master1 do not many speak and interpret the sacred writings1 and how few they are who lay to heart the words of the gods6 ,they seem1 indeed1 to go on through desire into pain1 and even here upon our hills we are not free1 for ,kedar felt the hot glow of their passion and ,i heard in my heart their sobs of despair4 ,master1 it was terrible1 for they seemed to come from the wide earth over1 and out of ages far away4 ,there is more of the true in the child's hope than in your despair1 for it is of much avail to speak though but a few listen4 ,better is the life which aids1 though in sorrow1 than the life which withdraws from pain unto solitude4 ,yet it is not well to speak without power1 for only the knower of ,brahma can interpret the sacred writings truly4 ,it is well to be free ere we speak of freedom2 then we have power and many hearken4 ,but who would leave joy for sorrow1 and who being one with ,brahma may return to give council8 ,brother1 said ,varunna1 here is the hope of the world4 ,though many seek only for the eternal joy1 yet the cry you heard has been heard by great ones who have turned backwards1 called by these beseeching voices4 ,the small old path stretching far away leads through many wonderful beings to the place of ,brahma2 there is the first fountain1 the world of beautiful silence1 the light that has been undimmed since the beginning of time--the joy where life fades into being2 but turning backwards1 the small old path winds away into the world of men1 it enters every sorrowful heart1 and the way of him who would tread therethro' is stayed by its pain and barred by its delusion4 ,this is the way the great ones go2 they turn with the path from the door of ,brahma the warriors and the strong ones3 they move along its myriad ways2 they overcome darkness with wisdom and pain with compassion4 ,after many conquered worlds1 after many races of men1 purified and uplifted they go to greater than ,brahma4 ,in these1 though few1 is the hope of the world2 these are the heroes for whom1 returning1 the earth puts forth her signal fires1 and the ,devas sing their hymns of welcome4 ,we paused where the plateau widened out2 there was scarce a ripple in the chill air2 in quietness the snows glistened1 a light reflected from the crores of stars that swung with gay and glittering motion above us4 ,we could hear the immense heart-beat of the world in the stillness2 we had thoughts that went ranging through the heavens1 not sad1 but full of solemn hope4 ,brothers6 ,master6 ,look1 the wonderful thing6 and another1 and yet another6 ,we heard ,ananda calling2 we looked and saw the holy blossom--the midnight flower--oh1 may the earth again put forth such beauty--it grew up from the snows with leaves of delicate crystal1 a nimbus encircled each radiant bloom1 a halo pale yet lustrous4 ,i bowed down before it lost in awe4 ,i heard ,varunna say3--,the earth1 indeed puts forth her signal fires1 and the ,devas sing their hymn2 listen6 ,we heard a music as of beautiful thought moving along the high places of the earth1 full of infinite love and hope and yearning4 ,brothers1 be glad1 for ,one is born who has chosen the greater way4 ,now ,i must pass onwards4 ,kedar1 ,narayan1 ,ananda1 farewell6 ,nay1 no further2 it is long way to return1 and the child will tire4 ,he went on and passed from our sight4 ,but we did not return2 we remained long1 long in silence1 looking at the sacred flower4 ,vow1 taken long ago1 be strong in our hearts to-day4 ,here where the pain is fiercer1 to rest is more sweet4 ,here where beauty dies away1 it is more joy to be lulled in dreams4 ,here the good1 the true1 our hope1 seem but a madness born of ancient pain4 ,out of rest1 dream1 or despair1 let us arise4 ,let us go the way the ,great ,ones go4 --,july1 #ahid ,the ,story of a ,star ,the emotion that haunted me in that little cathedral town would be most difficult to describe4 ,after the hurry1 rattle1 and fever of the city1 the rare weeks spent here were infinitely peaceful4 ,they were full of a quaint sense of childhood1 with sometimes a deeper chord touched--the giant and spiritual things childhood has dreams of4 ,the little room ,i slept in had opposite its window the great grey cathedral wall2 it was only in the evening that the sunlight crept round it and appeared in the room strained through the faded green blind4 ,it must have been this silvery quietness of colour which in some subtle way affected me with the feeling of a continual ,sabbath2 and this was strengthened by the bells chiming hour after hour3 the pathos1 penitence1 and hope expressed by the flying notes coloured the intervals with faint and delicate memories4 ,they haunted my dreams1 and ,i heard with unutterable longing the astral chimes pealing from some dim and vast cathedral of the cosmic memory1 until the peace they tolled became almost a nightmare1 and ,i longed for utter oblivion or forgetfulness of their reverberations4 ,more remarkable were the strange lapses into other worlds and times4 ,almost as frequent as the changing of the bells were the changes from state to state4 ,i realised what is meant by the ,indian philosophy of ,maya4 ,truly my days were full of ,mayas1 and my work-a-day city life was no more real to me than one of those bright1 brief glimpses of things long past4 ,i talk of the past1 and yet these moments taught me how false our ideas of time are4 ,in the ever-living yesterday1 to-day1 and to-morrow are words of no meaning4 ,i know ,i fell into what we call the past and the things ,i counted as dead for ever were the things ,i had yet to endure4 ,out of the old age of earth ,i stepped into its childhood1 and received once more the primal blessing of youth1 ecstasy1 and beauty4 ,but these things are too vast and vague to speak of2 the words we use to-day cannot tell their story4 ,nearer to our time is the legend that follows4 ,i was1 ,i thought1 one of the ,magi of old ,persia1 inheritor of its unforgotten lore1 and using some of its powers4 ,i tried to pierce through the great veil of nature1 and feel the life that quickened it within4 ,i tried to comprehend the birth and growth of planets1 and to do this ,i rose spiritually and passed beyond earth's confines into that seeming void which is the matrix where they germinate4 ,on one of these journeys ,i was struck by the phantasm1 so it seemed1 of a planet ,i had not observed before4 ,i could not then observe closer1 and coming again on another occasion it had disappeared4 ,after the lapse of many months ,i saw it once more1 brilliant with fiery beauty--its motion was slow1 rotating around some invisible centre4 ,i pondered over it1 and seemed to know that the invisible centre was its primordial spiritual state1 from which it emerged a little while and into which it then withdrew4 ,short was its day2 its shining faded into a glimmer1 and then into darkness in a few months4 ,i learned its time and cycles2 ,i made preparations and determined to await its coming4 ,the ,birth of a ,planet ,at first silence and then an inner music1 and then the sounds of song throughout the vastness of its orbit grew as many in number as there were stars at gaze4 ,avenues and vistas of sound6 ,they reeled to and fro4 ,they poured from a universal stillness quick with unheard things4 ,they rushed forth and broke into a myriad voices gay with childhood4 ,from age and the eternal they rushed forth into youth4 ,they filled the void with reveling and exultation4 ,in rebellion they then returned and entered the dreadful ,fountain4 ,again they came forth1 and the sounds faded into whispers2 they rejoiced once again1 and again died into silence4 ,and now all around glowed a vast twilight2 it filled the cradle of the planet with colourless fire4 ,i felt a rippling motion which impelled me away from the centre to the circumference4 ,at that centre a still flame began to lighten2 a new change took place1 and space began to curdle1 a milky and nebulous substance rocked to and fro4 ,at every motion the pulsation of its rhythm carried it farther and farther away from the centre1 it grew darker1 and a great purple shadow covered it so that ,i could see it no longer4 ,i was now on the outer verge1 where the twilight still continued to encircle the planet with zones of clear transparent light4 ,as night after night ,i rose up to visit it they grew many-coloured and brighter4 ,i saw the imagination of nature visibly at work4 ,i wandered through shadowy immaterial forests1 a titanic vegetation built up of light and colour2 ,i saw it growing denser1 hung with festoons and trailers of fire1 and spotted with the light of myriad flowers such as earth never knew4 ,coincident with the appearance of these things ,i felt within myself1 as if in harmonious movement1 a sense of joyousness1 an increase of self-consciousness2 ,i felt full of gladness1 youth1 and the mystery of the new4 ,i felt that greater powers were about to appear1 those who had thrown outwards this world and erected it as a place in space4 ,i could not tell half the wonder of this strange race4 ,i could not myself comprehend more than a little of the mystery of their being4 ,they recognised my presence there1 and communicated with me in such a way that ,i can only describe it by saying that they seemed to enter into my soul breathing a fiery life2 yet ,i knew that the highest ,i could reach to was but the outer verge of their spiritual nature1 and to tell you but a little ,i have many times to translate it1 for in the first unity with their thought ,i touched on an almost universal sphere of life1 ,i peered into the ancient heart that beats throughout time2 and this knowledge became change in me1 first1 into a vast and nebulous symbology1 and so down through many degrees of human thought into words which hold not at all the pristine and magical beauty4 ,i stood before one of this race1 and ,i thought1 ,what is the meaning and end of life here8 ,within me ,i felt the answering ecstasy that illuminated with vistas of dawn and rest1 it seemed to say3 ,our spring and our summer are unfolding into light and form1 and our autumn and winter are a fading into the infinite soul4 ,i thought1 ,to what end is this life poured forth and withdrawn8 ,he came nearer and touched me2 once more ,i felt the thrill of being that changed itself into vision4 ,the end is creation1 and creation is joy3 the ,one awakens out of quiescence as we come forth1 and knows itself in us2 as we return we enter it in gladness1 knowing ourselves4 ,after long cycles the world you live in will become like ours2 it will be poured forth and withdrawn2 a mystic breath1 a mirror to glass your being4 ,he disappeared while ,i wondered what cyclic changes would transmute our ball of mud into the subtle substance of thought4 ,in that world ,i dared not stay during its period of withdrawal2 having entered a little into its life1 ,i became subject to its laws3 the ,power on its return would have dissolved my being utterly4 ,i felt with a wild terror its clutch upon me1 and ,i withdrew from the departing glory1 from the greatness that was my destiny--but not yet4 ,from such dreams ,i would be aroused1 perhaps by a gentle knock at my door1 and my little cousin ,margaret's quaint face would peep in with a ,cousin ,robert1 are you not coming down to supper8 ,of these visions in the light of after thought ,i would speak a little4 ,all this was but symbol1 requiring to be thrice sublimed in interpretation ere its true meaning can be grasped4 ,i do not know whether worlds are heralded by such glad songs1 or whether any have such a fleeting existence1 for the mind that reflects truth is deluded with strange phantasies of time and place in which seconds are rolled out into centuries and long cycles are reflected in an instant of time4 ,there is within us a little space through which all the threads of the universe are drawn2 and1 surrounding that incomprehensible centre the mind of man sometimes catches glimpses of things which are true only in those glimpses2 when we record them the true has vanished1 and a shadowy story-- such as this--alone remains4 ,yet1 perhaps1 the time is not altogether wasted in considering legends like these1 for they reveal1 though but in phantasy and symbol1 a greatness we are heirs to1 a destiny which is ours1 though it be yet far away4 --,august #ae1 #ahid ,how ,theosophy ,affects ,one's ,view of ,life --,a ,paper ,read ,before the ,dublin ,lodge4 ,in asking you to consider with me the influence of the system of thought called ,theosophy upon one's view of all the things which are included in the term ,life1 ,i have to preface my remarks by the confession that ,i have not extracted my ideas from portly volumes1 or indeed1 engaged in any great research2 and ,i have further to ask you to believe that what you will hear is the most unbiased statement1 as far as possible1 on the subjects which will necessarily come under notice4 ,the outlook of any individual mind is not a constant quantity2 it is to some extent determined by education1 environment1 and the innate tendencies2 but it is always subject to alteration2 it is constantly feeling the influence of subtle forces and circumstances1 and it changes with every fresh experience and every new sensation4 ,still these influences seldom evince their presence by a great reversal of the mental attitude1 and we are best able to sense them by seeing how the actions of the individual1 which are very largely the voluntary or involuntary expression of his standpoint1 represent at different times changes in that standpoint4 ,indeed1 one's own experience will supply plenty of material to work upon2 for1 ,i daresay no one will insist that his present attitude towards the rest of the universe is identical with that of ten or five years ago1 or even one year4 ,a little examination will show that the mental processes which precede some definite action are altered in some important manner from those of #ahij4 ,the question which is of importance is to find out how the change has come about1 and whether one is to allow extraneous events to mast his mental conclusions1 or one is to become1 through wisdom acquired by effort1 the conscious master of his destiny4 ,theosophy has for its leading tenet the absolute unity in essence and correlation of all life1 whether visible1 invisible1 material1 intellectual1 spiritual1 and this affords at once a clue to the consideration of the present subject2 for1 according to the view which the individual thinker takes of the powers and relations of the mind itself will be his view of the duties and responsibilities which these powers and relations involve2 in other words1 ,ethics or moral philosophy must be based upon metaphysics4 ,now1 ,i wish to be as brief as possible in pointing out the theosophic view of the mind1 and soul1 and their powers and relations2 and were it not that it is necessary for the unity of my remarks1 ,i would take refuge in referring to the numerous able1 intellectual1 and forcible expositions of this matter which you have heard in this room4 ,theosophy1 to put it as concisely as possible1 accepts the universe as the unfolding of a ,divine life1 functioning in every form of living and nonliving thing4 ,man is viewed as a compound being1 a spark of this divine universal spirit being clothed with the body4 ,the immortal indestructible part of man consists of this spark of universal spirit1 its vehicle the human spirit1 and the mind or intellectual faculties4 ,it uses as a dwelling the body1 with its animal life1 its passions and appetites1 to which mankind is so prone to attach tremendous importance4 ,the connecting link is the mind1 which1 being full of agitation1 strong1 and obstinate1 senses all the material existence1 is moved by the hopes and fears1 and the storm of existence4 ,the lesson1 ever insisted on as having to be learnt1 is that the lower part of man1 the body1 and its attachments1 have to be conquered and purified2 and the only way to teach it its true functions is by suffering2 and when this is done1 we shall have got somewhere nearer the goal1 when we shall identify our consciousness with our true self1 not with the illusion4 ,the powers of the mind to sense all existence1 and its relations towards the rest of our being as the connecting link1 bearing the contact with external things towards the soul1 and at times being the vehicle of the ,wisdom which is one of the attributes of that which has no attribute3 ,i say1 then1 these powers and relations of the mind1 which one finds everywhere treated of in ,theosophical literature1 are the determining factors in the formation of our ,ethics4 ,and since1 from ,socrates down1 we are taught that self-knowledge is necessary for guidance of one's conduct1 the knowledge of the mind and its capacities is at once shadowed forth as of immense value4 ,it has at least three elementary powers--viz41 the power of knowing1 the power of feeling1 and the power of acting4 ,these powers1 though distinguishable1 are not separable2 but rather when we distinguish knowledge1 feeling1 and action1 what we call by these names will be found1 when accurately examined1 to be combinations of the three elements1 differing only in respect to the element which preponderates4 ,locke would have us suppose that when ,i say ,i know1 it means that an object is inserted into my consciousness as into a bag4 ,but no bag could produce the phenomenon of knowledge4 ,to produce it requires the putting forth of an active power1 which we call intelligence4 ,the knowledge of an object always produces in the mind some emotion with regard to it3 this emotion is normally pleasure4 ,sometimes the difficulties which beset the acquisition of knowledge are so great and cause such dissatisfaction and pain that the mind is tempted to banish them1 together with the object which excites them1 from its consciousness4 ,knowledge and the emotions to which it gives rise induce those actions which are the result of the inherent activity of the mind stimulated by them4 ,thus we see that the antecedents of all action include intelligence as an active power3 and ,ethics1 more particularly ,theosophical ,ethics1 are seen to have practical value1 and not merely a speculative interest4 ,having digressed thus far from my subject1 the point to which ,i proceed to address myself is1 the working out on the individual of the system of which ,i have tried to shadow forth the greater truths4 ,the first class ,i will deal with are the indifferent4 ,to them1 ,theosophy presents the widest possible field of1 and reasons for1 activity that can be desired4 ,it shows that no action is without its direct permanent result1 and that consequently the position of the indifferent is absolutely untenable4 ,no one who has studied ,theosophical literature can ever find there a justification for mere laissez-faire4 ,it points out the enormous value of what we call trifles1 and the comparatively trifling value of what the indifferent would take most note4 ,theosophy always insists on action in some direction1 preferably conscious1 well-directed action1 with pure motive4 ,the ,agnostic is1 as it were1 ,theosophy's special care--,it shows him at once the directions in which further1 fuller1 and greater knowledge of every branch of science or philosophy can be gained4 ,it says to him pursue your previous method of inquiry1 and remember1 taking nothing for granted1 do not accept other's authority4 ,seek for knowledge3 we can only point the way we have ourselves gone4 ,investigate every nook and corner of your mind1 and learn how to control it and your sense perceptions4 ,then you will no longer mistrust your results as possibly imperfect1 but you will have attained to some closer contact with ,truth4 ,to both the ,agnostic and the indifferent1 the study of ,theosophy will bring a consciousness of the responsibility towards others1 which is the basis of our universal brotherhood4 ,it will tend to remove the personal element which has hitherto done so much to cloud and obscure one's investigations2 and it will gradually lead to the elimination of the anxiety as to results1 which will bring us 7by the removal of remorse or approval7 to calmness of mind1 in which condition great work can be achieved4 ,the appeal of theosophy to the scientific investigator is practically identical with the last4 ,it will show him what so many of his confreres are more or less tacitly recognizing1 that the hopeless and soul-deadening belief of the ,materialist 7that all the growth of the race1 the struggling towards a higher life1 the aspirations towards virtue shall absolutely vanish1 and leave no trace71 is a crushing mental burden which leads to absolute negation2 it will show the spiritual nature of man in perfect consistence with the true theories1 and as dependent on fundamental laws and causes4 ,coming from the region of unbelief to belief1 to use these words in their narrowest sense1 let us consider what way ,theosophy will affect a believer in doctrines of some system of religious thought4 ,to take the ordinary ,protestant first2 ,theosophy is apparently likely to fail on account of its taking away the personality of the ,deity1 and the habit of prayer3 for to both of these doctrines the earnest churchman is attached4 ,but if it does do so1 what does it substitute8 ,it puts forward an atonement1 not an atonement of #a1hfa years ago1 but a daily atonement to be carried out in each one's life1 and having as great an influence on one's fellows2 it suggests the possibilities are within each one of us1 if we but seek the true path4 ,also1 and this is a small point1 it removes the horrible canker of church government1 which ministers so powerfully to the idea of separateness and personality3 and lastly1 it offers1 in place of mouthing prayers to a ,god whom one is taught to fear ten times to the once that love is insisted on1 a union with that higher self which1 if pursued1 brings peace1 wisdom1 an infinite compassion1 and an infinite love4 ,what has ,theosophy to offer to the ,roman ,catholic8 ,all that it offers to the ,protestant2 with this addition1 that not merely one woman is exalted1 but all womankind as being of the same essence and spirit of all nature4 ,it shows that there is no superiority1 but that by effort1 by training1 by aspiration1 everyone1 both man and woman1 shall be found worthy of being taken into heaven1 and joined again to the one source of life and being4 ,it shows the whole doctrine of saintliness and blessedness to have a source in ,truth1 though overlaid and altered4 ,and what of the other sheep8 ,what of that soul which1 feeling compelled by its intuitions to recognise the essential divinity of man1 yet find no expression in the churches which will fit into its emotional nature8 ,what of him whom1 for want of a better word1 ,i shall call a ,symbolist1 who is always striving to express in some form of art or thought1 that divine energy which is wisdom1 consciousness1 and energy all in one8 ,does not ,theosoophy afford the very best outlet for his soul force8 ,are not its ideas on a level with1 if not higher than1 what his most sublime moments of feeling can bring before him8 ,surely if anyone can find peace in its bosom1 the symbolist1 ever struggling to express his sense of the ,true1 the ,beautiful1 which are1 after all1 but a second reflection of the ,higher mind1 with its knowledge of the essence of all life1 can therein do his noblest work for ,humanity in company with those who1 having previously done all they could for the race through a sense of duty arising from intuitions they declined to recognise1 have found in the doctrines of ,theosophy the broadest possible field for such work1 and the purest motive4 ,and now1 changing from particular types1 how do we look upon ,theosophy as a power in ,ethics8 ,we find the elimination of the selfish instinct insisted upon as necessary for the progress of the ,ego through its material envelope to a full and complete knowledge of its higher self2 we find the doctrine of ,brotherhood put forward in its noblest aspects2 we find as a necessary corollary that responsibility is increased and widened with an accompanying sense of power to accept and carry on that responsibility2 with the growth of higher feeling within us comes a sense of added strength2 we learn gradually to work without consideration or anxiety for results2 we grow more tolerant of our neighbor's shortcomings1 and less so of our own2 we find that by disengaging ourselves from the objects of the senses1 we become indifferent to small troubles1 and more free to assist our neighbor when they press on him2 with the knowledge of the causes of present conditions lying in past action1 and our present actions going to be the causes of future conditions1 we place ourselves in a position to work to the full extent of our powers to set in motion such causes as will bring about the happiest results for ,humanity as a whole2 we learn to look upon death1 not as the opening of the spiritual life1 but as a release from a weight which keeps under the spiritual life1 which is always with us1 now as well as before birth and after death2 we learn to sense the methods by which the universe works out its destiny2 we find every day growing stronger that sense of immortality1 of absolute union with the universal soul1 which at first merely manifested itself in strange feelings and emotions2 we find the clues to the control of our physical and mental faculties1 and are not surprised to discover the ten-thousand- fold increase in value these faculties then bear2 we put ourselves more and more in harmony with what we feel to be the source of all ,truth2 we find ourselves gradually able to give expression to those dumb feelings which we could not find words for1 of its grandeur and greatness2 until finally we come1 after many incarnations1 after suffering1 after despair sometimes1 to a knowledge which transcends all human knowledge1 to a bliss which is above our present ideas1 to a peace which the world cannot give1 which surpasseth all understanding1 and are then ready to give up that bliss and peace1 and to use that knowledge for the divine compassion towards our fellows who are following4 ,but how are we to hope for this progress8 ,what are we to do to realize these ideas8 ,is it by wishing for it that this state will come about8 ,is there no everyday way of getting forward8 ,these are some of the questions which will rise naturally to the lips of any here who are not thoroughly acquainted with ,theosophical ideas3 and what have we to say in reply8 ,are we to confess ,theosophy is a doctrine only for the learned1 the cultured1 the wealthy8 ,are we to acknowledge that ,christianity or ,agnosticism is more practical1 easier for the men in the street to grasp8 ,are we to say that ,theosophy is not a gospel for to-day8 ,no3 a thousand times no6 ,if there is one result of a study of ,theosophy1 it is the gaining of ,hope1 a sure and certain ,hope1 which soon becomes ,trust1 and later1 knowledge4 ,i affirm most strongly that there is no one to whom ,theosophy in some of its myriad aspects does not appeal1 and appeal strongly enough to cause it to be the ruling passion of his existence2 but ,i do also affirm as strongly1 that in ,theosophy1 as in all other things1 what are necessary are1 pure motive and perseverance4 ,it costs no one anything to spend an hour a day in meditation on some aspect of life2 in thinking of our eternal nature and striving to place ourselves en rapport with our highest ideals of purity1 nobility1 ,truth4 ,then cannot we get the idea of universal brotherhood firmly fixed in our consciousness as an actual reality to be attained1 and always act upon that basis4 ,to me1 the thought of the absolute unity of all life1 affords as high an ideal for putting into practical shape as my deficient development allows me4 ,cannot we get this ideal or some other ideal so essential a part of our thought that it colours all our feelings1 emotions and actions8 ,we will then be doing our part in the struggle4 ,we will not be of the ,laodiceans1 who were neither hot nor cold4 ,let us try this3 let us see whether it will have such an effect1 and if we1 by our personal experience1 have convinced ourselves of the reality of this1 let us progress further1 and by further trial find out the greater truths beyond4 ,reincarnation and ,karma are essentially doctrines for the poor and needy2 mental and physical4 ,intellectual subtleties are not needed in ,theosophy3 it is spiritual perception1 and who will dare say to the poor that they have less of this than their fellows8 ,the only region where the exclusiveness argument can have even a momentary hold is with regard to ,occultism4 ,there is in most people's mind a distrust of anything secret4 ,but remember1 believe only in what your own test has shown you to be true3 and learn not to condemn those who have found some irresistible impulse urging them forward to seek further4 ,besides1 anyone who is not clear in his motive in studying ,occultism had better pause before he pledges himself to anything1 or undertakes that the result of which he does not know even dimly4 ,and before passing from this digression1 let me insist strongly once again on the fact that true progress will come only to those who seek to attain it4 ,they who would be something more ,than those who feast and laugh and die1 will hear ,the voice of duty1 as the note of war1 ,nerving their spirit to great enterprise1 ,and knitting every sinew for the charge4 ,again1 get rid of indolence1 or its synonym1 indifference4 ,the real hereditary sin of human nature is indolence4 ,conquer that1 and you will conquer the rest4 ,we cannot afford to rest with what we have done2 we must keep moving on4 ,in this1 indeed1 to stand still is to go back--worse still1 to keep others back4 ,in conclusion ,i may1 perhaps1 be permitted to give you a few remarks as to the influence ,theosophy has had upon myself4 ,it has furnished me with satisfactory reasons for living and working2 it has infused an earnestness in that work which ,i prize as one of the valuable things of my life's experience4 ,it has ministered to that inmost sense of worship and aspiration which all of us possess2 it has shown me that by expanding one's consciousness in that of the universe1 one gains more knowledge and opportunity for helping on humanity2 and it has pointed out where the materials for a scientific basis of ethics can be found1 and also what will be the outlines of the future building2 and finally it has shown that if the objects of our desires be changed1 and many things we held dear are no longer prized1 it is owning simply to the acquirement of larger and fuller interests4 --,september #ae1 #ahid ,comfort ,we are continually called upon to give comfort1 and it is a problem to many what to say4 ,for there are people who can see no outlet from their pain other than this1 that they shall obtain that which they desire4 ,the lover longs for the one who is absent or cold2 the poor demand wealth2 the tortured cry out for relief from suffering2 and so on through all phases of human life we continually meet such people4 ,we1 perhaps free from such afflictions1 have schooled ourselves into a heroic mood4 ,these are not things to sorrow over1 we think2 therefore1 we are in a dilemma4 ,we cannot aid them1 for their ideals often seem ignoble to us--their wish accomplished would only bring on the renewal of old pain1 and bind them closer to the weary wheel4 ,yet we cannot be cold1 we who would identify ourselves with all life1 for the soul must lend its ear to every cry of pain1 like as the lotus bares its heart to drink the morning sun4 ,in the many cases where the suffering is unavoidable1 and cannot be otherwise received1 what are we to do8 ,some1 a little above the ignoble view that the only relief is in the satisfaction of desire1 say reverently to those in pain3 ,it is ,god's will1 and some accept it as such with dull resignation4 ,but with some the iron has entered the soul--the words are empty4 ,what have ,i to do with ,god1 or ,he with me8 they demand in their hearts4 ,they join in the immemorial appeal and fierce revolt which at all times the soul of man makes against any external restraint4 ,we who are disciples of old wisdom may touch some chord in them which may awaken eternal endurance4 ,it is not1 we say1 a pain imposed upon us by any eternal power2 but the path we tread is one which we ourselves very long ago determined4 ,to the question1 ,what have we to do with ,god8 we make answer that we are the children of ,deity--bright sparks born in the ,divine flame1 the spirit in its primal ecstacy reflected in itself the multitudinous powers that throng in space4 ,it was nourished by divine love1 and all that great beauty thrilled through it and quickened it4 ,but from this vision which the spirit had1 it passed to climb to still greater heights--it was spiritual1 it might attain divinity4 ,the change from the original transcendental state of vision to that other state of being1 of all-pervading consciousness1 could only be accomplished by what is known as the descent into matter where spirit identifies itself with every form of life1 and assimilates their essences4 ,this cyclic pilgrimage it undertook1 foreseeing pain1 but preferring free will to passive slavery1 intellectual1 self- conscious pain1 and even torture1 'while myriad time shall flow1' to inane1 imbecile1 instinctual beatitude1 foreseeing pain1 but knowing that out of it all would come a nobler state of life1 a divinity capable of rule1 a power to assist in the general evolution of nature4 ,it is true in the experience of many that going deep within themselves1 an elemental consciousness whispers comfort2 it says all will be well with us2 it is our primal will which so orders4 ,and so we justify the pain and hearts that break2 and that old appeal and fierce revolt we make dies out in the inner light which shines from the ,goal1 the ,comforter1 the ,lord1 the ,witness1 the resting-place1 the ,asylum1 the ,friend4 ,we can then once more go forth with the old1 heroic1 ,titan will for mastery1 seeking not to escape1 but rather to meet1 endure1 and assimilate sorrow and joy alike2 for so we can permeate all life--life which is in its essence one4 ,this is the true centre on which all endurance must rest2 this is the comfort the soul may take to itself2 and beyond and after this we may say we struggle in a chaos indeed1 but in a chaos whose very disorder is the result of law4 ,that law is justice that cannot err4 ,out of confidence in this justice may spring up immortal hopes2 our motives1 our faith shall save us4 ,we may dare more1 give ourselves away more completely1 for is not the root of this law declared to be beauty1 harmony1 compassion4 ,we may trust that our acts shall have full fruition1 and remain careless of the manner1 nor seek for such results4 ,we may look upon it if we will as the sweetest of the sweetest1 the tenderest of the tenderest2 and this is true1 though still it is master of the fiery pain4 ,above all it is the law of our own being2 it is at one with our ancestral self4 ,in all this lies1 ,i think1 such consolation as we may take and offer for pain4 ,those who comprehend1 in their resignation1 shall become one with themselves2 and out of this resignation shall arise will to go forth and fulfil our lofty destiny4 --,may #ae1 #ahid ,the ,ascending ,cycle ,the teaching of the ,secret ,doctrine divides the period during which human evolution proceeds upon this globe into seven periods4 ,during the first three-and-a-half of these1 the ethereal humanity who appeared in the ,first ,race gradually become material in form1 and the psychic spirituality of the inner man is transformed into intellectuality4 ,during the remaining three-and-a-half periods1 there is a gradual dematerialization of form2 the inner man by slow degrees rises from mere brain intellection to a more perfected spiritual consciousness4 ,we are told that there are correspondences between the early and later periods of evolution2 the old conditions are repeated1 but upon higher planes2 we re-achieve the old spirituality with added wisdom and intellectual power4 ,looked at in this way we shall find that the ,seventh ,race corresponds to the first2 the ,sixth to the ,second2 and the ,fifth ,race 7which is ours7 corresponds with the ,third4 ,we are now approaching a time1 says the ,secret ,doctrine1 when the pendulum of evolution will direct its swing decidedly upward1 bringing humanity back on a parallel line with the primitive ,third ,root ,race in spirituality4 ,that is1 there will be existing on the earth1 about the close of ,fifth ,race1 conditions in some way corresponding with those prevailing when the ,third ,race men began their evolution4 ,through this period may be yet distant hundreds of thousands of years1 still it is of interest to forecast that future as far as may be1 for the future is concealed in the present1 and is the outcome of forces working to-day4 ,we may find out from this enquiry the true nature of movements like the ,theosophical ,society4 ,one of the most interesting passages in the ,secret ,doctrine is that which describes the early ,third ,race4 ,it was not a ,race1 this progeny4 ,it was at first a wondrous ,being1 called the ',initiator1 and after him a group of semi-divine and semi-human beings4 ,without at all attempting to explain the real nature of this mysterious ,being or ,race1 we may assume that one of the things hinted at is the consciousness of united being possessed by these ancient ,adepts4 ,walking abroad over the earth as instructors of a less progressed humanity1 their wisdom and power had a common root4 ,they taught truth from a heart-perception of life1 ever fresh and eternal1 everywhere pervading nature and welling up in themselves4 ,this heart-perception is the consciousness of unity of inner being4 ,the pendulum of evolution which in its upward swing will bring humanity backwards on a parallel line with the primitive ,third ,root ,race1 should bring back something corresponding to this primeval hierarchy of divine sages4 ,we should see at the end of the ,kaliyuga a new brotherhood formed from those who have risen out of material life and aims1 who have conquered self1 who have been purified by suffering1 who have acquired strength and wisdom1 and who have wakened up to the old magical perception of their unity in true ,being4 ,at the end of the ,kali1 our present age1 ,vishnu1 or the ,everlasting ,king1' will appear as ,kalki1 and establish righteousness upon earth4 ,the minds of those who live at that time shall be awakened and become pellucid as crystal4 --7,secret ,doctrine1 ,,ii1 #dhc7 ,passing beyond the turning point of evolution1 where the delusion of separateness is complete1 and moving on the that future awaiting us in infinite distances1 when the ,great ,breath shall cease its outward motion and we shall merge into the ,one--on this uphill journey in groups and clusters men will first draw closer together1 entering in spirit their own parent rays before being united in the source of all light and life4 ,such a brotherhood of men and women we may expect will arise1 conscious in unity1 thinking from one mind and acting from one soul4 ,all such great achievements of the race are heralded long before by signs which those who study the lives of men may know4 ,there is a gestation in the darkness of the womb before the living being appears4 ,ideals first exist in thought1 and from thought they are outrealized into objective existence4 ,the ,theosophical ,society was started to form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity1 and its trend is towards this ideal4 ,may we not justifiably suppose that we are witnessing to-day in this movement the birth of a new race corresponding to the divine ,initiators of the ,third2 a race which shall in its inner life be truly a ,wondrous ,being4 ,i think we will perform our truest service to the ,society by regarding it in this way as an actual entity whose baby years and mystical childhood we should foster4 ,there are many people who know that it is possible by certain methods to participate in the soul-life of a co-worker1 and if it is possible to do this even momentarily with one comrade1 it is possible so to participate in the vaster life of great movements4 ,there will come a time to all who have devoted themselves to this idea1 as ,h4,p4 ,blavatsky and some others have done1 when they will enter into the inner life of this great ,being1 and share the hopes1 the aspirations1 the heroism1 and the failures which must be brought about when so many men and women are working together4 ,to achieve this we should continually keep in mind this sense of unity2 striving also to rise in meditation until we sense in the vastness the beating of these innumerable hearts glowing with heroic purpose3 we should try to humanize our mysticism2 ,we can only reach the ,universal ,mind through the minds of humanity1 and we can penetrate into their minds by continual concentration1 endeavouring to realise their thoughts and feelings1 until we carry always about with us in imagination1 as wrote ,walt ,whitman1 those delicious burdens1 men and women4 --,november #ae1 #ahic ,the ,mystic ,nights' ,entertainment ,we went forth gay in the twilight's cover2 ,the dragon ,day with his ruddy crest ,blazed on the shadowy hills hung over ,the still grey fields in their dewy rest4 ,we went forth gay1 for all ancient stories ,were told again in our hearts as we trod2 ,above were the mountain's dawn-white glories2 ,we climbed to it as the throne of ,god4 ,we pitched our tents in a sheltered nook on the mountain side4 ,we were great with glee during the day1 forecasting happy holidays remote from the crowded city4 ,but now as we sat round the camp fire at dusk silence fell upon us4 ,what were we to do in the long evenings8 ,i could see ,willie's jolly face on the other side of the fire trying to smother a yawn as he refilled his pipe4 ,bryan was watching the stars dropping into their places one by one4 ,i turned to ,robert and directed the general attention to him as a proper object for scorn4 ,he had drawn a pamphlet on some scientific subject from his breast-pocket and was trying to read it by the flickering light4 ,did you come up to the mountains for this1 ,i asked1 to increase your knowledge of the ,eocene age8 ,put it by1 or--we will send it up as a burnt offering to the stars4 ,well1 he said1 looking rather ashamed1 one must do something1 you know4 ,willie has his pipe1 ,bryan is holding some mysterious intercourse with the planets1 and you have the fire to take care of4 ,what is one to do8 ,this went to the root of the matter4 ,i pondered over it awhile1 until an idea struck me4 ,there is ,bryan4 ,let him tell us a story4 ,he was flung into life with a bundle of old legends4 ,he knows all mystery and enchantment since the days of the ,rishees1 and has imagined more behind them4 ,he has tales of a thousand incarnations hidden away in secretness4 ,he believes that everything that happened lives still in the memory of ,nature1 and that he can call up out of the cycles of the past heroic figures and forgotten history1 simply by his will1 as a magician draws the elemental hordes together4 ,have a dragon and a princess in it1 said ,willie1 settling himself into an attitude of listening4 ,or authentic information about ,eocene man1 suggested ,robert4 ,i could not tell a story that way1 said ,bryan simply4 ,i could never invent a story1 though all the characters1 heroes and princess1 were to come and sit beside me so that ,i could describe them as they really were4 ,my stories come like living creatures into my mind2 and ,i can only tell them as they tell themselves to me4 ,today1 as ,i lay in the sunlight with closed eyes1 ,i saw a haze of golden light1 then twilight trees appeared and moving figures and voices speaking2 it shaped itself into what is hardly a story1 but only an evening in some legendary existence4 ,we waited while ,bryan tried to recall his misty figures4 ,we were already in sympathy with his phantasmal world1 for the valleys below us were dim-coloured and quiet1 and we heard but rarely and far away the noises of the village2 the creatures of the mountain moved about in secretness1 seeking their own peculiar joys in stillness amid dews and darkness4 ,after a little ,bryan began4 ,the ,gardens of ,twilight ,i saw in my vision one of the heroes of the antique world4 ,he rode for many1 many days1 yet saw no kindly human face4 ,after long wanderings and toils he came to the ,gardens of ,twilight1 the rich and rare gardens of the primeval world1 known by rumour to the ancient ,greeks as the ,hesperides4 ,he looked around with wonder2 the place was all a misty dazzle with light1 a level light as of evening that flowed everywhere about2 the air was rich with the scent of many blossoms2 from each flower rose an odour that hovered about it as a delicate vapour4 ,while he gazed1 one of the spirits of the garden came nigh him in the guise of a beautiful human child4 ,how came you here8 ,i wandered for many years1 he said1 ,i fought with the dragons that lie coiled in citron scales on the highways2 ,i warred against oppression2 ,i made justice to prevail1 and now that peace is on the land ,i might have rested with peace in mine own heart1 but ,i could not yet4 ,so ,i left behind the happy hearths and homes of men and rode onward1 a secret fire burning ceaselessly within me2 ,i know not in what strange home it will be still4 ,but what gardens are these8 ,they are the ,gardens of ,twilight1 answered the child4 ,how beautiful then must be the ,gardens of ,day6 ,how like a faint fine dust of amethyst and gold the mist arises from the enchanted odorous flowers6 ,surely some spirit things must dwell within the air that breaks so perpetually into hues of pearl and shell6 ,they are the servants of ,zeus1 the child said4 ,they live within these wandering airs2 they go forth into the world and make mystery in the hearts of men4 ,was it one such guided me thither8 ,i do not know2 but this ,i know1 whether led by the wandering spirits or guided by their own hearts1 none can remain here safely and look upon the flowers save those who understand their mystery or those who can create an equal beauty4 ,for all others deadly is the scent of the blossoms2 stricken with madness1 they are whirled away into the outer world in fever1 passion and unending hunger and torment4 ,i do not care if ,i pass from them1 said the wanderer4 ,it is not here my heart could be still and its desire cease1 but in the first ,fount4 ,they passed on and went deeper into the ,gardens of ,twilight1 which were ever-changing1 opalescent1 ever-blushing with new and momentary beauty1 ever-vanishing before the steady gaze to reveal beneath more silent worlds of mystic being4 ,like vapour1 now gorgeous and now delicate1 they wavered1 or as the giant weeds are shadowing around the diver in the ,indian wave sun-drenched through all its deeps of green4 ,sometimes a path would unfold1 with a million shining flowers of blue1 twinkling like stars in the ,wilky ,way1 beneath their feet1 and would wind away delicately into the faery distances4 ,let us rest1 said the child1 leaning against a tree4 ,she began swaying a hand to and fro among the flowers2 as her fingers touched the bell-like blooms of burning amethyst they became stained with the rich colour2 she seemed to lose herself in dreams as one who toils not for delight1 living ever amid rich joys4 ,he wondered if she was as unreal as the gardens1 and remembering her words1 they seemed familiar as if they were but echoes of the unuttered thoughts that welled up as he moved about4 ,while he watched the flitting phantasmagoria with a sense expectant of music which never came1 phantasmagoria with a sense expectant of music which never came1 there arose before him images of peace1 vanishing faster than passion1 and forms of steadfast purity came nigh1 attired1 priestess-like1 in white and gold2 they laid their heads against his breast2 as he looked down1 their eyes1 eager and flamelike1 grew passionate and full of desire4 ,he stretched out his hand to pluck blossoms and twine wreaths for their beautiful heads4 ,do not6 ,do not6 cried the child4 ,see how every blossom has its guardian6 ,there were serpents coiling about the roots of every flower1 or amid the leaves1 waiting with undulating head and forked tongue to strike the uncautious hand4 ,he shook off the drowsy influence of the scents and o'er-burdened air2 the forms vanished4 ,he remembered the child's words3 ,none can remain in safety an equal beauty4 ,he began to ponder over the meaning of the gardens4 ,while we sit here1 late lingerers in the glory of twilight1 ,i will tell you a story which my fancy brings me1 he said4 ,i thought one came here long ago and built himself a mighty world in a dream of many hundred years4 ,he had lived with kings and counselors2 he had wrought in magical arts1 and the great and wise of the earth were his fellows4 ,when a time came for him to depart he turned away sadly from the towers of men4 ,he passed1 without knowing it1 through the strange defiles which lead to these gardens2 but the light did not break upon him in iridescent waves foamy with flowers and sparkling with vanishing forms2 the light was hidden in the bosom of the twilight2 it was all-pervading but invisible2 the essence of the light bathed his soul2 the light was living2 the light was exhaustless2 by it everything was born2 touched by it everything went forth in ecstasy1 blind1 seeking for realization4 ,the magician brought with him the seeds of human desire and wisdom and aspiration4 ,the light broke into his moody forgetfulness and kindled long-forgotten fires4 ,he awoke from his darkness and saw before him in happiest vistas the island city of his lounging4 ,around him were the men and women he knew2 acting on his secret wishes the multitudes hailed him as king1 they bowed before him as wise1 they worshiped him as all-powerful44 ,it was not strange to him1 and rapt in royal imaginations for countless years he held sway over the island city4 ,he dreamed of it as a poet1 and there was no more beautiful city than this city of his dream4 ,there were places that shot up1 pinnacle upon pinnacle1 amid the jewel- light of the stars2 there were courts and porticoes full of mysterious glory and gloom1 magnificence and darkness2 there were fountains that jetted their pearly mists into the light2 around them with summer in their hearts lay the island inhabitants1 each one an angel for beauty4 ,as the dream of the magician deepened in rapture1 the city wavered and changed more continually2 its towers pierced more daringly into the way of the stars2 for the darkness below he summoned birds of fire from the aerial deeps2 they circled the palaces with flaming wings2 they stained the air with richest dyes and rained forth emerald and blue and gold on the streets and sculptured walls and the inhabitants in their strange joys4 ,his dream changed2 he went forth no more but shut himself up in his palace with his wisest princes1 and as he took counsel with them1 the phantasmal and brilliant towers without faded and fell away as a butterfly droops its wings4 ,for countless years he lived in the intoxication of thought2 around him were sages who propounded wisest laws1 and poets who sang of love1 humanity and destiny4 ,as his dream deepened still more in its rapture1 they sang of mightier themes2 there was continual music and light2 there was no limit of glory or dominion which the human soul might not aspire to2 his warriors stepped from star to star in dreams of conquest1 and would have stayed the seraph princess of the wind and wave and fire1 to make more radiant the retinue of this magician of the ,beautiful4 ,again his desire changed4 ,he sought to hold no further sway over these wide realms beyond him2 he shut himself up in an inner chamber in lonely meditation1 and as he entered into a deeper being the sages and poets1 who were with him at his royal feasts1 vanished and were no more4 ,he1 the wise mind1 pondered within himself1 finding joy in the continual inward birth of thought following thought1 as in lonely seas wave rolls upon wave4 ,from all things he had known or experienced he drew forth their essence and hidden meaning1 and he found that he had been no less a king in his old unconsciousness than he now was1 and that at all times nature had been obeisant and whatever had happened had still been by his own will4 ,through the light1 thin fretted by the fire of his aspirations1 he sometimes seemed to see the shining ,law in all things and the movement through the thought-swept fields of heaven of the universal imagination4 ,he saw that this1 too1 had been a minister to him4 ,he drew nigh to himself--divinity4 ,the last rapture of his soul was his radiant self-conception4 ,save for this vesture the light of illusion fell from him4 ,he was now in a circle of whitest fire1 that girdled and looked in upon the movements of worlds within its breast4 ,he tried to expand and enter this flaming circle2 myriads of beings on its verges watched him with pity2 ,i felt their thought thrilling within me4 ,he will never attain it6 ,ah1 the ,beautiful ,bird1 his plumage is stained6 ,his glory will drag him down6 ,only in invisible whiteness can he pass6 ,how he floats upwards1 the ,beautiful ,bird6 ,these voices of universal compassion did not reach him1 rapt in aspiration and imperious will4 ,for an instant--an eternity--the infinitudes thrilled him1 those infinitudes which in that instant he knew he could never enter but as one with all on the days of the great return4 ,all that longed1 all that aspired and dared1 all but the immortal were in that movement destroyed1 and hurled downwards from the highest heaven of life1 the pilgrim spark began once more as a child to live over again the round of human days4 ,the spirit of the place o'ermastered you1 said the child4 ,here may come and dream2 and their dream of joy ended1 out of each dreaming sphere comes forth again in pain the infant spirit of man4 ,but beyond this illusive light and these ever-changing vistas-- what lies8 ,i am weary of their vanishing glories4 ,i would not wish to mount up through dreams to behold the true and fall away powerlessly1 but would rather return to earth1 though in pain1 still eager to take up and renew the cyclic labours4 ,i belong to the gardens1 said the child2 ,i do not know what lies beyond4 ,but there are many paths leading far away4 ,before them where they stood branched out paths of rich flowers4 ,here a region of pinks lured on to vistas of delicate glory2 there ideal violet hues led to a more solemn beauty2 here the eyes were dazzled by avenues of rich1 radiant1 and sunny green2 another in beautiful golden colours seemed to invite to the land of the sun1 and yet another winded away through soft and shadowy blues to remote spiritual distances4 ,there was one1 a path of white flowers ending in light no eye could pierce4 ,i will choose this--the path of white flower1 he said1 waving farewell to the child4 ,i watched the antique hero in my vision as he passed into the light2 he seemed to shine1 to grow larger2 as he vanished from my eyes he was transfigured1 entering as a god the region of gods4 ,did you really dream all that8 said ,willie4 ,how jolly it must be6 ,it is like stepping from sphere to sphere4 ,before the night of one day you are in the morning of another4 ,i suppose you have some theory about it all--as wonderful as your gardens8 ,yes6 said our sceptic1 ,i had an uneasy consciousness it was not all pure story4 ,i felt an allegory hiding its leanness somewhere beneath the glow and colour4 ,what ,i want to know is how these things enter the imagination at all6 ,with what a dreadfully scientific spirit you dissect a fantasy6 ,perhaps you might understand if you recall what sometimes happens before sleep4 ,at first you see pictures of things1 landscapes1 people you know2 after a time people and places unknown before begin to mingle with them in an ever-widening circle of visions2 the light on which these things are pictured is universal1 though everyone has around himself his own special sphere of light2 this is the mirror of himself--his memory2 but as we go deeper into ourselves in introspection we see beyond our special sphere into the great of universal light1 the memorial tablet of nature2 there lie hidden the secrets of the past2 and so1 as ,felix said a little while ago1 we can call up and renew the life of legend and tradition4 ,this is the ,astral ,light of the mystics4 ,its deeper and more living aspect seems to inflame the principle of desire in us4 ,all the sweet1 seductive1 bewitching temptations of sense are inspired by it4 ,after death the soul passing into this living light goes on thinking1 thinking1 goes on aspiring1 aspiring1 creating unconsciously around itself its own circumstance in which all sweetest desires are self-fulfilled4 ,when this dream- power is exhausted the soul returns again to earth4 ,with some this return is due to the thirst for existence2 with some to a perception of the real needs of soul4 ,do you really believe all that8 ,oh1 yes6 ,but that is only a general statement4 ,i wonder at your capacity for believing in these invisible spheres4 ,as for me ,i cannot go beyond the world ,i live in4 ,when ,i think of these things some dreadful necessity seems heaped upon me to continue here--or1 as you might put it1 an angel with a flaming sword keeps everywhere the avenues to the ,tree of ,life4 ,oh6 said ,willie1 it seems to me a most reasonable theory4 ,after all1 what else could the soul do after death but think itself out8 ,it has no body to move about in4 ,i am going to dream over it now4 ,good-night6 ,he turned into the tent and ,robert followed him4 ,well1 ,i cannot rest yet1 said ,bryan1 ,i am going up for a little to the top of the hill4 ,come1 ,felix1 these drowsy fellows are going to hide themselves from the face of night4 ,we went up1 and leaning on a boulder of rock looked out together4 ,away upon the dream-built margin of space a thousand tremors fled and chased each other all along the shadowy night4 ,the human traditions1 memories of pain1 struggle1 hope and desire floated away and melted in the quietude until at last only the elemental consciousness remained at gaze4 ,i felt chilled by the vacancies4 ,i wondered what this void was to ,bryan4 ,i wished to see with his eyes4 ,his arm was around my shoulder4 ,how ,i loved him--my nearest--my brother6 ,the fierce and tender flame1 comrade to his spirit1 glowed in my heart4 ,i felt a commingling of nature1 something moved before my eyes4 ,look1 ,bryan6 ,i whispered1 this is faery6 ,a slight upright figure1 a child1 stood a little apart shedding a delicate radiance upon the dusky air4 ,curiously innocent1 primeval1 she moved1 withdrawn in a world only half-perceived of gorgeous blossoms and mystic shadows4 ,through her hair of feathery brown drifting about her the gleam of dust of gold and of rich colour seemed to come from her dress4 ,she raised her finger-tips from the flowers and dashed the bright dew aside4 ,i felt something vaguely familiar about the gesture4 ,then ,bryan said1 ,it is one of the ,children of ,twilight4 ,it was a revelation of his mind4 ,i had entered into the forms of his imagination4 ,this is wonderful ,bryan6 ,if ,i can thus share in the thought of one1 there can be no limit to the extension of this faculty4 ,it seems at the moment as if ,i could hope to finally enter the mind of humanity and gaze upon soul1 not substance4 ,it would be a great but terrible power4 ,as often as not we imagine ourselves into demons4 ,space is thronged with these dragon-like forms1 chimaeras of the fearful mind4 ,every thought is an entity4 ,some time or other ,i think we will have to slay this brood we have brought forth4 ,but as we turned backwards ,i had no dread or thought of this future contest4 ,i felt only gay hopes1 saw only ever-widening vistas4 ,the dreams of the ,golden ,age1 of far-off happy times grew full of meaning4 ,i people all the future with their splendour4 ,the air was thronged with bright supernatural beings1 they moved in air1 in light2 and they and we and all together were sustained and thrilled by the breath of the ,unknown ,god4 ,as we drew nigh to the tent1 the light of the fire still flickering revealed ,robert's face within4 ,he was sleeping4 the warmth of the sun had not yet charmed away the signs of study and anxious thought4 ,do you know the old tradition that in the deepest sleep of the body the soul goes into itself4 ,i believe he now knows the truth he feared to face4 ,a little while ago he was here2 he was in doubt2 now he is gone unto all ancient things4 ,he was in prison2 now the ,bird of ,paradise has wings4 ,we cannot call him by any name1 for we do not know what he is4 ,we might indeed cry aloud to his glory1 as of old the ,indian sage cried to a sleeper1 ',thou great one1 clad in raiment2 ,soma3 ,king6 ,but who thinking what he is would call back the titan to this strange and pitiful dream of life8 ,let us breath softly to do him reverence4 ,it is now the ,hour of the ,king1 ,who would think this quite breather ,from the world had taken flight8 ,yet within the form we see there ,wakes the ,golden ,king to-night4 ,out upon the face of faces ,he looked forth before his sleep2 ,now he knows the starry races ,haunters of the ancient deep2 ,on the ,bird of ,diamond ,glory ,floats in mystic floods of song2 ,as he lists1 ,time's triple story ,seems but as a day is long4 ,when he wakes--the dreamy-hearted-- ,he will know not whence he came1 ,and the light from which he parted ,be the seraph's sword of flame2 ,and behind its host supernal ,guarding the lost ,paradise1 ,and the ,tree of ,life eternal ,from the weeping human eyes4 ,you are an enchanter1 ,bryan4 ,as you speak ,i half imagine the darkness sparkles with images1 with heroes and ancient kings who pass1 and jeweled seraphs who move in flame4 ,i feel mad4 ,the distance rushes at me4 ,the night and stars are living1 and--speak unknown things6 ,you have made me so restless ,i will never sleep4 ,i lay down4 ,the burden of the wonder and mystery of existence was upon me4 ,through the opening of the tent the warm night air flowed in2 the stars seemed to come near--nearer--full of kindly intent--with familiar whispering2 until at last ,i sank back into the great deep of sleep with a mysterious radiance of dream showering all about me4 ,night ,the ,second ,the skies were dim and vast and deep ,above the vales of rest2 ,they seemed to rock the stars asleep ,beyond the mountain's crest4 ,oh1 vale and stars and rocks and trees1 ,he gives to you his rest1 ,but holds afar from you the peace ,whose home is in ,his breast6 ,the massy night1 brilliant with golden lights enfolded us4 ,all things were at rest4 ,after a long day's ramble among the hills1 we sat down again before our fire4 ,i felt1 perhaps we all felt1 a mystic unquiet rebelling against the slumbrous mood of nature rolled round her hills and valleys4 ,you must explain to us1 ,bryan1 why it is we can never attain a real quiet1 even here where all things seem at peace4 ,we are aliens here1 and do not know ourselves4 ,we are always dreaming of some other life4 ,these dreams1 if we could only rightly interpret them1 would be the doors through which we might pass into a real knowledge of ourselves4 ,i don't think ,i would get much wisdom out of my dreams1 said ,willie4 ,i had a dream last night2 a lot of little goblin fellows dancing a jig on the plains of twilight4 ,perhaps you could tell us a real dream8 ,i remember one dream of a kind ,i mean1 which ,i will tell you4 ,it left a deep impression upon me4 ,i will call it a dream of ,the ,northern ,lights ,i awoke from sleep with a cry4 ,i was hurled up from the great deep and rejected of the darkness4 ,but out of the clouds and dreams ,i built up a symbol of the going forth of the spirit--a symbol1 not a memory--for if ,i could remember1 ,i could return again at will and be free of the unknown land4 ,but in slumber ,i was free4 ,i sped forth like an arrow4 ,i followed a secret hope1 breasting the currents of life flowing all about me4 ,i tracked these streams winding in secretness far away4 ,i said1 ,i am going to myself4 ,i will bathe in the ,fountain of ,life2 and so on and on ,i sped northwards1 with dark waters flowing beneath me and stars companioning my flight4 ,then a radiance illumined the heavens1 the icy peaks and caves1 and ,i saw the ,northern ,lights4 ,out of the diamond breast of the air ,i looked forth4 ,below the dim world shone all with pale and wintry green2 the icy crests flickered with a light reflect from the shadowy auras streaming over the horizon4 ,then these auras broke out in fire1 and the plains of ice were illumined4 ,the light flashed through the goblin caves1 and lit up their frosty hearts and the fantastic minarets drooping above them4 ,light above in solemn array went forth and conquered the night4 ,light below with a myriad flashing spears pursued the gloom4 ,its dazzling lances shivered in the heart of the ice3 they sped along the ghostly hollows2 the hues of the orient seemed to laugh through winter2 the peaks blossomed with starry and crystalline flowers1 lilac and white and blue2 they faded away1 pearl1 opal and pink in shimmering evanescence2 then gleams of rose and amethyst traveled slowly from spar to spar1 lightened and departed2 there was silence before my eyes2 the world once more was all a pale and wintry green4 ,i thought of them no more1 but of the mighty and unseen tides going by me with billowy motion4 ,oh1 ,fountain ,i seek1 thy waters are all about me1 but where shall ,i find a path to ,thee8 ,something answered my cry1 ,look in thy heart6 and1 obeying the voice1 the seer in me looked forth no more through the eyes of the shadowy form1 but sank deep within itself4 ,i knew then the nature of these mystic streams2 they were life1 joy1 love1 ardour1 light4 ,from these came the breath of life which the heart drew in with every beat1 and from thence it was flashed up in illumination through the cloudy hollows of the brain4 ,they poured forth unceasingly2 they were life in everyone2 they were joy in everyone2 they stirred an incommunicable love which was fulfilled only in yielding to and adoration of the vast4 ,but the ,fountain ,i could not draw nigh unto2 ,i was borne backwards from its unimaginable centre1 then an arm seized me1 and ,i was stayed4 ,i could see no one1 but ,i grew quiet1 full of deep quiet1 out of which memory breathes only shadowiest symbols1 images of power and ,holy ,sages1 their grand faces turned to the world1 as if in the benediction of universal love1 pity1 sympathy1 and peace1 ordained by ,buddha2 the faces of the ,fathers1 ancient with eternal youth1 looking forth as in the imagination of the mystic ,blake1 the ,morning ,stars looked forth and sang together4 ,a sound as of an ,,om unceasing welled up and made an auriole of peace around them4 ,i would have joined in the song1 but could not attain to them4 ,i knew if ,i had a deeper love ,i could have entered with them into unending labours amid peace2 but ,i could only stand and gaze2 in my heart a longing that was worship1 in my thought a wonder that was praise4 ,who are these8 ,i murmured8 ,the ,voice answered1 ,they are the servants of the ,nameless ,one4 ,they do his bidding among men4 ,they awaken the old heroic fire of sacrifice in forgetful hearts4 ,then the forms of elder life appeared in my vision4 ,i saw the old earth1 a fairy shadow ere it yet had hardened1 peopled with ethereal races unknowing of themselves or their destinies and lulled with inward dreams2 above and far away ,i saw how many glittering hosts1 their struggle ended1 moved onward to the ,sabbath of ,eternity4 ,out of these hosts1 one dropped as a star from their heart1 and overshadowed the olden earth with its love4 ,where ever it rested ,i saw each man awakening from his dreams turned away with the thought of sacrifice in his heart1 a fire that might be forgotten1 but could never die4 ,this was the continual secret whisper of the ,fathers in the inmost being of humanity4 ,why do they not listen8 ,i marveled4 ,then ,i heard another cry from the lower pole1 the pit2 a voice of old despair and protest1 the appeal of passion seeking its own fulfilment4 ,alternate with the dawn of ,light was the breath of the expanding ,dark where powers of evil were gathered together4 ,it is the strife between light and darkness which are the world's eternal ways1 said the ,voice1 but the light shall overcome and the fire in the heart be rekindled2 men shall regain their old angelic being1 and though the dark powers may war upon them1 the angels with their love shall slay them4 ,be thou ready for the battle1 and see thou use only love in the fight4 ,then ,i was hurried backward with swift speed1 and awoke4 ,all ,i knew was but a symbol1 but ,i had the peace of the mystic ,fathers in my heart1 and the jeweled glory of the ,northern ,lights all dazzling about my eyes4 ,well1 after a dream like that1 said ,willie1 the only thing one can do is to try and dream another like it4 --,oct4 #ae1 #ahid-;,jan4 #ae1 #ahie ,on the ,spur of the ,moment ,i am minded to put down some intuitions about brotherhood and trust in persons4 ,a witty friend writes1 ,now that ,i have made up my mind1 ,i intend looking at the evidence4 ,a position like that is not so absurd as at first it seems4 ,it is folly only to those who regard reason alone and deny the value of a deep-seated intuition4 ,the intuitive trust which so many members of the ,t4,s4 have in ,william ,q4 ,judge1 to my mind shows that he is a real teacher4 ,in their deepest being they know him as such1 and what is knowledge there becomes the intuition of waking hours4 ,when a clamour of many voices arises making accusations1 pointing to time1 place and circumstance2 to things which we cannot personally investigate1 it is only the spirit within us can speak and decide4 ,others with more knowledge may give answering circumstances of time1 place and act2 but1 with or without these1 ,i back up my intuition with the reason--where the light breaks through1 there the soul is pure4 ,says a brother truly3 ,the list of his works is endless1 monumental2 it shows us an untiring soul1 an immense and indomitable will1 a total ignoring of himself for the benefit of his fellow-members4 ,this is not the conduct of the charlatan1 not of the self-seeker4 ,it is that of one of those brave and long-tried souls who have fought their way down through the vistas of time so that they might have strength to battle now for those who may be weaker4 ,others may have been more eloquent and learned1 but who has been so wise8 ,others may have written more beautifully1 but who with such intimations of the ,secret ,spirit breathing within8 ,others have explained intellectually tattvas1 principles and what not1 but who like him has touched the heart of a hidden nobility8 ,has he not done it over and over again1 as here8 ,do what you find to do4 ,desire ardently to do it1 and even when you shall not have succeeded in carrying out anything but some small duties1 some words of warning1 your strong desire will strike like ,vulcan upon some other hearts in the world1 and suddenly you will find that done which you had longed to be the doer of4 ,then rejoice that another has been so fortunate as to make such a meritorious ,karma4 ,or he speaks as a hero3 ,to fail would be nothing1 but to stop working for ,humanity and ,brotherhood would be awful4 ,or as one who loves and justifies it to the end3 ,we are not ,karma1 we are not the law1 and it is a species of that hypocrisy so deeply condemned by it for us to condemn any man4 ,that the law lets a man live is proof that he is not yet judged by that higher power4 ,to know of these laws is to be them to some extent4 ,what a man thinks1 that he is1 that is the old secret4 ,the temple of ,spirit is inviolate4 ,it is not grasped by speech or by action4 ,whom the ,spirit chooses1 by him it is gained4 ,the ,self chooses his body as its own4 ,when the personal tumult is silence1 then arises the meditation of the ,wise within4 ,whoever speaks out of that life has earned the right to be there4 ,no cunning can stimulate its accents4 ,no hypocrisy can voice its wisdom4 ,whose mind gives out light--it is the haunt of the ,gods4 ,does this seem to slight a guarantee for sincerity1 for trust reposed8 ,i know of none weightier4 ,look back in memory2 of the martyrdom of opposing passions1 out of the last anguish came forth the light4 ,it was no cheap accomplishment4 ,if some one meets us and speaks knowing of that law1 we say inwardly1 ,i know you have suffered1 brother6 ,but here is one with a larger wisdom than ours4 ,here is one whose words today have the same clear ring4 ,the world knows him not4 ,his own disciples hardly know him3 he has fallen like ,lucifer4 ,but ,i would take such teaching as he gives from ,lucifer himself1 and say1 ,his old divinity remains with him still4 ,after all you may be mistaken1 someone says4 ,the feet of no one are set infallibly on the path4 ,it may be so4 ,let us take that alternative4 ,can we reject him or any other as comrades while they offer8 ,never4 ,were we not taught to show to those on whom came the reaction from fierce effort1 not cold faces1 but the face of friendship1 waiting for the wave of sure return8 ,if this was a right attitude for us in our lesser groups1 it is then right for the whole body to adopt4 ,the ,theosophical ,society as a whole should not have less than the generous spirit of its units4 ,it must exercise the same brotherly spirit alike to those of good or evil fame4 ,alike on the just and the unjust shines the ,light of ,it1 the ,father-,spirit4 ,deep down in our hearts have we not all longed1 longed1 for that divine love which rejects none8 ,you who think he has erred1 it is yours to give it now4 ,there is an occult law that all things return to their source1 their cycles accomplished4 ,the forces we expend in love and anger come back again to us thrilled with the thought which accepted or rejected them4 ,i tell you1 if worse things were true of him than what are said1 if we did our duty simply1 giving back in gratitude and fearlessness the help we had received from him1 his own past would overcome the darkness of the moment1 would strengthen and bear him on to the light4 ,but1 some push it further2 it is not of ourselves1 but of this ,society and its good name1 we think4 ,how can it accomplish its high mission in the world if we seem to ignore in our ranks the presence of the insincere person or fraud8 ,i wish1 my brothers1 we could get rid of these old fears4 ,show1 form1 appearance and seeming1 what force have they8 ,a faulty face matters nothing4 ,the deep inner attitude alone has power4 ,the world's opinion implicates none of us with the ,law4 ,our action many precipitate ,karma1 may inconvenience us for an hour2 but the end of life is not comfort but celestial being2 it is not in the good voice of the world today we can have any hope3 its evil voice may seem to break us for a little2 but love1 faith and gratitude shall write our history in flame on the shadowy aura of the world1 and the ,watchers shall record it4 ,we can lose nothing2 the ,society can lose nothing4 ,our only right is in the action1 and half the sweetness of life consists in loving much4 ,while ,i wrote1 ,i thought ,i felt for a moment the true spirit of this pioneer body we belong to4 ,like a diver too long under seas1 emerging ,i inhaled the purer air and saw the yellow sunlight4 ,to think of it6 what freedom6 what freshness6 to sail away from old report and fear and custom1 the daring of the adventurer in our hearts1 having a reliance only upon the laws of life to justify and sustain us4 --,february #ahie ,the ,legends of ,ancient ,eire ,a ,reverend and learned professor in ,trinity ,college1 ,dublin1 a cynic and a humorist1 is reported once to have wondered why the old ,irish1 having a good religion of their own1 did not stick to it8 ,living in the ,celtic twilight1 and striving to pierce backward into the dawn1 reading romance1 tradition and history1 ,i have endeavoured to solve something of the mystery of the vast ,celtic phantasmagoria1 ,i can but echoe the professor4 ,in these legends1 prodical of enchantment1 where ,gods1 heroes and bright supernatural beings mingle1 are at league or war together1 ,i have found not misty but clear traces of that old wisdom-religion once universal4 ,there are indeed no ancient ,irish ,scriptures ,i am aware of1 but they were not needed4 ,to those who read in the ,book of ,life1 philosophy and scripture are but as blinds over the spiritual vision4 ,but we today-- lost children of the stars--but painfully and indirectly catch glimpses of the bright spheres once our habitations1 where we freely came and went4 ,so ,i will try to tell over again some of these old stories in the light of philosophy spoken later4 ,what was this old wisdom-religion8 ,it was the belief that life is one2 that nature is not dead but living2 the surface but a veil tremulous with light--lifting that veil hero and sage of old time went outwards into the vast and looked on the original4 ,all that they beheld they once were1 and it was again their heritage1 for in essence they were one with it--children of ,deity4 ,the ,one gave birth to the many1 imagining within itself the heaven of heavens1 and the heavens1 and spheres more shadowy and dim1 growing distant from the light4 ,through these the ,rays ran outward1 falling down through many a starry dynasty to dwell in clay4 ,yet--once ,god or ,angel-- that past remains1 and the ,ray1 returning on itself1 may reassume its old vesture1 remains1 entering as a ,god into the ,ancestral ,self4 ,every real scripture and every ancient myth1 to be understood truly1 must be understood in this light4 ,god1 the angelic hierarchies1 the powers divine and infernal1 are but names for the mightier ,adam in whose image man was made and who is the forgotten ,self in humanity4 ,mystic symbolism is the same the world over1 and applying it to the old ,celtic romances1 phantasy and faeryland are transformed into history and we are reading about the ancient ,irish ,adepts4 ,ireland was known long ago as the ,sacred ,island4 ,the ,gods lived there3 for the ,tuatha ,de ,dannans who settled in ,eire after conquering the gigantic races of ,firbolgs and ,fomorians 7,atlanteans7 were called ,gods1 differing in this respect from the ,gods of ancient ,greece and ,india1 that they were men who had made themselves ,gods by magical or ,druidical power4 ,they were preeminently magi become immortal by strength of will and knowledge4 ,superhuman in power and beauty1 they raised themselves above nature2 they played with the elements2 they moved with ease in the air4 ,we read of one ,angus ,oge1 the master magician of all1 sailing invisibly on the wings of the cool east wind2 the palace of that ,angus remains to this day at ,new ,grange1 wrought over with symbols of the ,astral ,fire and the great ,serpentine ,power4 ,the ,de ,dannans lived in the heart of mountains 7crypts for initiation71 and today the peasant sometimes sees the enchanted glow from the green hills he believes they still inhabit4 ,perhaps he believes not foolishly1 for1 once truly occult1 a place is preserved from pollution until the cycle returns1 bringing back with it the ancient ,gods again4 ,the cycles of the ,gods is followed in ,irish tradition by the cycle of the heroes4 ,the ,gods still mingled with them and presumably taught them1 for many of these heroes are ,druids4 ,fin1 the hero of a hundred legends1 ,cuchullin1 ,dairmud1 ,oisin and others are wielders of magical powers4 ,one of the most beautiful of these stories tells of ,oisin in ,tir-na-noge4 ,oisin with his companions journeys along by the water's edge4 ,he is singled out by ,niam1 daughter of ,mannanan1 king of ,tir-na-noge1 the land of the ,gods4 ,she comes on a white horse across the seas1 and mounting with her ,oisin travels across the ocean2 after warring with a giant ,fomor he passes into ,tir-na-noge1 where for a hundred years he lives with ,niam and has all that heart could wish for4 ,but desire for ,eire arises within him and returning1 he falls off the magic steed1 and becomes an old man weary with years4 ,it is purely occult4 ,oisin1 ,niam1 her white steed1 ,tir-na-noge1 the waters they pass over1 are but names which define a little our forgotten being4 ,within ,oisin1 the magician1 kindles the ,ray1 the hidden ,beauty4 ,let us call it by what name we will1 so that we spare the terms of academic mysticism or psychology4 ,it is the ,golden ,bird of the ,upanishads2 the ,light that lighteth every man2 it is that which the old ,hermetists knew as the ,fair or the ,beautiful--for ,niam means beauty2 it is the ,presence1 and when it is upon a man every other tie breaks2 he goes alone with ,it1 he is a dying regret1 an ever-increasing joy4 ,and so with ,oisin1 whose weeping companions behold him no more4 ,he mounts the white horse with ,niam4 ,it is the same as the white horse of the ,apocalypse1 whereon one sits called ,faithful and ,true4 ,it is the power on which the ,spirit rides4 ,who is there1 thinking1 has felt freed for a moment from his prison-house1 and looking forth has been blinded by the foam of great seas1 or has felt his imagination grow kingly in contemplation--he has known its impelling power2 the white horse is impatient of restraint4 ,as they pass over the waters they saw many wonderful things on their journey--islands and cities1 lime-white mansions1 bright greenans and lofty palaces4 ,it is the mirror of heaven and earth1 the astral light1 in whose glass a myriad illusions arise and fleet before the mystic adventures4 ,haunt of a false beauty--or rather a veil hung dazzling before the true beauty1 only the odour or incense of her breath is blown through these alluring forms4 ,the transition from this to a subtler sphere is indicated4 ,a hornless deer1 chased by a white hound with red ears1 and a maiden tossing a golden lure1 vanishes for ever before a phantom lover4 ,the poet whose imagination has renewed for us the legend has caught the true significance of these hurrying forms3 ,the immortal desire of immortals we saw in their eyes and sighed4 ,do not heed these forms6 cried ,niam4 ,compare with this from another source3 ,flee from the ,hall of ,learning1 it is dangerous in its perfidious beauty4 4444 ,beware1 lest dazzled by illusive radiance thy ,soul should linger and be caught in its deceptive light4 4444 ,it shines from the jewel of the ,great ,ensnarer4 ,there are centres in man corresponding to these appearances4 ,they give vision and entrance into a red and dreadful world1 where unappeasable desire smites the soul--a dangerous clairvoyence4 ,but in the sphere beyond their power has to be conquered1 and here ,oisin wars with the giant ,fomor4 ,de ,dannan and ,romorian passed from ,eire wrestle still in the invisible world1 say the legends4 ,we1 too-- would-be mystics--are met on the threshold of diviner spheres by terrible forms embodying the sins of a living past when we misused our spiritual powers in old ,atlantean days4 ,these forms must be conquered and so ,oisin battles with ,fomor and releases the power-- a princess in the story4 ,this fight with the demon must be fought by everyone who would enter the land of the ,gods1 whether in conscious occult adventure or half-consciously after death1 when the strange alchemist ,nature separates the subtile from the gross in the soul in this region which ,oisin passes through4 ,tir-na-noge1 the land of ,niam1 is that region the soul lives in when its grosser energies and desires have been subdued1 dominated and brought under the control of light2 where the ,ray of ,beauty kindles and illuminates every form which the imagination conceives1 and where every form tends to its archetype4 ,it is a real region which has been approached and described by the poets and sages who1 at all times1 have endeavoured to express something of the higher realities4 ,it is not distant1 but exists in earth as the soul within the body1 and may be perceived through and along with the surface forms4 ,in a sense it corresponds with the ,tibetan ,devachan1 and in this region ,oisin lives for a hundred years1 until desire to see ,eire once more arises and he parts from ,niam4 ,nor the details of his return1 the drowsy land in which he slumbers2 how he fell off the white horse and became an old man with the weariness of his hundreds of years upon him--,i must refer the reader to the legends4 ,he will read not alone of ,oisin1 but of many an old hero1 who1 hailed by the faery 7divine7 voice1 went away to live in the heart of green hills 7to be initiated7 or to these strange worlds4 ,dear children of ,eire1 not alone to the past but to today belong such destinies4 ,for if we will we can enter the enchanted land4 ,the ,golden ,age is all about us1 and heroic forms and imperishable love4 ,in that mystic light rolled round our hills and valleys hang deed and memories which yet live and inspire4 ,the ,gods have not deserted us4 ,hearing our call they will return4 ,a new cycle is dawning and the sweetness of the morning twilight is in the air4 ,we can breathe it if we will but awaken from our slumber4 ,,ii4 ,in the recently published ,story of ,early ,gaelic ,literature1 attention is directed to the curious eastern and pantheistic character of some archaic verse4 ,critics are for ever trying to show how some one particular antique race was the first begetter of religion and mystic symbolism4 ,perplexed by the identity between the myths and traditions of different countries1 they look now here1 now there1 for the original4 ,but it was not in any land but out of the ,christ-,soul of the universe that true wisdom at all times was begotten4 ,some ignorant peasant1 some ,jacob ,boehme1 is pure and aspires1 and lo6 the ,god stirs within him and he knows the things that were taught in elder days and by unknown people4 ,our own land1 long ago1 had its ,initiates in whom the eye of the seer was open4 ,this eye1 concealed in the hollow of the brain1 is the straight gate and the narrow way through which alone the mortal may pass and behold the immortal4 ,it is now closed in most men4 ,materialism1 sensuality and dogmatic belief have so taken the crown and sceptre from their souls that they enter the golden world no more knowingly--they are outcast of ,eden4 ,but the ,tuatha ,de ,dannans were more than seers or visionaries4 ,they were magicians--,god and man in one4 ,not alone their thought went out into the vast1 but the ,power went along with it4 ,this mystic ,power is called the ,serpentine ,fire4 ,it is spiritual1 electric1 creative4 ,it develops spirally in the ascetic1 mounting from centre to centre1 from the navel to the heart299 99 ,he that believeth on me1 out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters4 ,this spake he of the ,spirit4--,john1 vii1 #ch from thence it rises to the head4 ,he is then no more a man but a ,god2 his vision embraces infinitude4 ,the action of this ,power was symbolized in many ways1 notably by the passage of the sun through the zodiacal signs 99 7centres in the psychic body7 99 ,the twelve signs of the ,zodiac are hidden in his body4---,secret ,doctrine1 ,,ii1 #fai ,a stone serpent was found a little while ago in ,ireland marked with twelve divisions4 ,the archaic verses alluded to have the same meaning3 ,i am the point of the lance of battle4 ,the spinal cord1 the ,sushumna nadi of ,indian ,psychology4 ,i am the ,god who creates in the head of man the fire of the thought4 ,who is it throws light into the meeting on the mountain8 ,the meeting of the mortal and the immortal on ,mount ,meru1 the pineal gland4 ,who announces the ages of the moon8 ,the activity of the inner astral man4 ,who teaches the place where courses the sun8 ,spirit4 ,the ,serpentine ,power is the couch of the sun1 the casket of spirit4 ,hence the ,druids or ,magi who had mastered this power were called ,serpents4 ,though ,st4 ,patrick is said to have driven the serpents out of ,ireland1 traces still remain of the serpent wisdom4 ,lest the interpretation given should seem arbitrary ,i will trace further explicit references to the third eye4 ,diarmuid1 the hero and darling of so many story-tellers1 whose flight with ,grania forms one of the most mystic episodes in ,celtic romance1 is described as having a spot in the centre of his forehead which fascinated whoever gazed4 ,he is called the ,son of the ,monarch of ,light4 ,he is the ,initiate1 the twice-born4 ,this divine parentage has the sense in which the words were spoken4 ,marvel not that ,i said unto thee1 ye must be born again4 ,in the same sense a ,druid is described as full of his ,god4 ,from the mystic ,father descends the ,ray1 the ,child of ,light4 ,it is born in man as mind1 not reasoning3 earthly not sensual1 but as the heaven-aspiring1 thinking mind4 ,in itself it is of the nature of fire4 ,the man who knows it becomes filled with light1 aye1 he moves about in light within himself4 ,the following description of a giant1 taken from the story of ,diarmuid1 refers to still another aspect of our occult nature4 ,he has1 but one eye only in the fair middle of his black forehead4 4444 ,he is1 moreover1 so skilled in magic that fire could not burn him1 water could not drown him1 and weapons would not wound him4 444444 ,he is fated not to die until there be struck upon him three blows of the iron club he has4 ,he sleeps in the top of that ,quicken tree by night1 and he remains at its foot by day to watch it4 4444 ,the berries of the tree have the virtues of the trees of faeryland4 ,the ,quicken tree is the network of nerves in the magnetic astral body4 ,readers of the ,upanishads will remember the description of the arteries1 thin as a hair split a thousand times1 which proceed from the heart1 and in which the ,ego rests during deep sleep4 ,it has just the same significance in the legend4 ,the meaning will be still better understood by a comparison of the youthful ,finn in his encounter with a similar one-eye ,titan4 ,there is a most interesting version of this in ,curtin's ,irish ,myths and ,folk-,tales4 ,too long to quote in its entirety1 the story runs as follows4 ,finn meets a giant who carries a salmon in his hand4 ,this ,titan has but one eye as large as the sun in the heavens4 ,he gives the fish to ,finn to cook4 ,the moment the giant closed his eye he began to breathe heavily4 ,every time he drew breath he dragged ,finn1 the spit1 the salmon1 and all the goats to his mouth1 and every time drove a breath out of himself he threw them back to the places they were in before4 ,while ,finn is cooking the salmon he burns it1 and in trying to hide the blister he burns his thumb4 ,to ease the pain he put his thumb between his teeth1 and chewed it through to the bone and marrow4 ,he then received the knowledge of all things4 ,he was drawn up the next minute to the giant's eye1 and plunged the hot spit 7a bar of red-hot iron1 says another account7 into the eye of the giant4 ,he passes the infuriate giant at the door of the cave something after the fashion of ,ulysses1 by bringing the flocks out and himself escaping under the fleece of the largest goat or ram4 ,the meaning of this story1 with all its quaint imagery1 is not difficult4 ,it is an allegory describing the loss of the third eye4 ,the cave is the body4 ,the fish is a phallic symbol1 and the cooking of it refers to the fall of the early ethereal races into generation and eventually into gross sensuality4 ,the synthetic action of the highest spiritual faculty1 in which all the powers of man are present1 is shown by the manner in which everything in the cave is dragged up to the giant's head4 ,when ,finn destroys the eye by plunging into it a bar of red-hot iron1 it simply means that the currents started in the generative organs rose up through the spinal cord to the brain1 and1 acting upon the pineal gland1 atrophied or petrified it4 ,the principle of desire is literally the spirit of the metal iron1 and a clairvoyent could see these red fires mounting up by the way of the spinal canal to the brain and there smothering any higher feelings4 ,the escape of ,finn under the fleece of the ram means that1 having destroyed the spiritual eye1 he could only use the organ of psychic clairvoyance1 which is symbolized here1 as in the mysticism of other countries1 by the ram4 ,this symbolism1 so grotesque and unmeaning today1 was once perfectly lucid and was justified in its application4 ,a clairvoyant could see in the aura of man around every centre the glow1 colour and form which gave rise to the antique symbol4 ,one of the ,gods is described as surrounded by a rainbow and fiery dews4 ,cuchullin1 whose hair1 dark 7blue87 close to the skin1 red beyond1 and ending in brilliant gold1 makes ,professor ,rhys elaborate him into a solar myth1 is an adept who has assimilated the substance of the three worlds1 the physical1 the psychic and the heavenworld2 therefore his hair 7aura7 shows the three colours4 ,he has the sevenfold vision also1 indicated by the seven pupils in his eyes4 ,volumes of unutterably dreary research1 full of a false learning1 have been written about these legends4 ,some try to show that much of the imagery arose from observation of the heavenly bodies and the procession of the seasons4 ,but who of the old bards would have described nature other than as she is8 ,the morning notes of ,celtic song breathe the freshness of spring and are full of joy in nature4 ,they could communicate this much better than most of their critics could do4 ,it is only the world within which could not be rendered otherwise than by myth and symbol4 ,we do not need scholarship so much as a little imagination to interpret them4 ,we shall understand the divine initiators of our race by believing in our own divinity4 ,as we nourish the mystic fire1 we shall find many things of the early world1 which now seem grotesque and unlovely to our eyes1 growing full of shadowy and magnificent suggestion4 ,things that were distant and strange1 things abhorrent1 the blazing dragons1 winged serpents and oceans of fire which affrighted us1 are seen as the portals through which the imagination enters a more beautiful1 radiant world4 ,the powers we dared not raise our eyes to--heroes1 dread deities and awful kings--grow as brothers and gay children around the spirit in its resurrection and ascension4 ,for there is no pathway in the universe which does not pass through man1 and no life which is not brother to our life4 --,march-,april1 #ahie ,review3 ,lyrics by ,r4,h4 ,fitzpatrick ,london3 ,w4 ,stewart and ,co4 ,while one race sinks into night another renews its dawn4 ,the ,celtic ,twilight is the morning-time and the singing of birds is prophetic of the new day4 ,we have had to welcome of late years one sweet singer after another1 and now comes a volume of lyrics which has that transcendental note which is peculiar to our younger writers4 ,it is full of the mystery and commingling of the human and the divine soul3 ,hail1 thou living spirit6 ,whose deep organ blown ,by lips that more inherit ,than all music known2 ,art is but the echo of thy mysterious tone4 ,these lyrics1 ,i imagine1 have been wrought in solitary wanderings1 in which the forms and shows of things and human hopes and fears have been brooded upon until the intensity of contemplation has allied them with that soul of ,nature in which the poet finds the fulfilment of all dreams and ideals4 ,and in this refining back to an ,over-,soul there is no suggestion of the student of academic philosophy1 no over-wrought intellectualism4 ,such references arise naturally out of his thought and illuminate it4 ,one can imagine how such lyrics were engendered3 ,i stood and twirled a feathered stalk1 ,or drank the clover's honey sap1 ,happiest without talk4 ,the summer tidal waves of night ,slowly in silence rippled in3 ,they steeped the feet of blazing light1 ,and hushed day's harsher din4 ,this aloofness from conflict1 it if has hindered him from fully accepting and justifying life1 the highest wisdom of the poet1 has still its compensations4 ,he has felt the manifold meaning of the voices through whose unconsciousness ,nature speaks1 the songs of birds1 the aerial romance and intermingling of light and shadow1 and has vision of the true proportion of things in that conflict he has turned his back on3 ,all things sip1 ,and sip at life2 but ,time for ever drains ,the ever-filing cup in rivalship1 ,and wipes the generations from his lip1 ,while ,art looks down from his serene domains4 --,june #ae1 #ahie --,,yes1 ,,and ,,hope4 ,they bring none to his or to her terminus or to be content and full1 ,whom they take they take into space to behold the birth of stars1 to learn one of the meanings4 ,to launch off with absolute faith1 to sweep through the ceaseless rings and never be quiet again4 --,whitman ,here is inspiration--the voice of the soul4 ,and we1 who professed to bring such wisdom1 what have we to say8 ,have we uttered with equal confidence such hopes1 or with such daring and amplitude of illustration8 ,let us confess we have not4 ,there are one or two exceptions which will occur to everyone4 ,now1 as we adventure afresh1 let us see what it is has brought despondency and failure in our work upon us in the past4 ,i think it is because we have been saying things we have never realized2 we have been repeating without imagination the words of those few leaders4 ,we have lowered their heroic tone because we thought we were speaking to a fallen people who could not respond to our highest4 ,but it was not the way1 it was not the way4 ,it is not with the dust we have brotherhood1 but with the ancient spirit it clouds over4 ,to this spirit we must speak heart to heart as we know how4 ,i would not willingly recognize aught in anyone but the divine4 ,often indeed the form or surface far removed from beauty makes us falter1 and we speak to that form and so the soul is not stirred2 it will not respond4 ,but an equal temper arouses it4 ,to whoever hails in it the lover1 the hero1 the magician1 it will answer1 but not to him who accosts it as ,mr4 ,so-and-,so4 ,every word which really inspires is spoken as if the ,golden ,age had never passed4 ,the great teachers ignore the personal identity and speak to the eternal pilgrim4 ,do we not treasure most their words which remind us of our divine origin8 ,so we must in our turn speak4 ,how often do we not long to break through the veils which divide us from some one1 but custom1 convention1 or a fear of being misunderstood prevent us1 and so the moment departs whose heat might have burned through every barrier4 ,out with it-- out with it1 the hidden heart1 the love that is voiceless1 the secret tender germ of an infinite forgiveness4 ,that speaks to the heart4 ,that pierces through many a vesture of the ,soul4 ,our companion struggles in some labyrinth of passion4 ,we help him1 we think with ethics1 with the moralities4 ,ah1 very well they are2 well to know and to keep1 but wherefore8 ,for their own sake8 ,no1 but that the ,king may arise in his beauty4 ,we write that in letters1 in books1 but to the face of the fallen who brings back remembrance8 ,who calls him by his secret name8 ,let a man but feel for that is his battle1 for that his cyclic labor1 and a warrior who is invincible fights for him and he draws upon divine powers4 ,let us but get that way of looking at things which we call imaginative1 and how everything alters4 ,for our attitude to man and to nature1 expressed or not1 has something of the effect of ritual1 of evocation4 ,as our aspiration so is our inspiration4 ,we believe in life universal1 in a brotherhood which links the elements to man1 and makes the glow-worm feel far off something of the rapture of the seraph hosts4 ,then we go out into the living world1 and what influences pour through us6 ,we are at league with the stones of the field4 ,the winds of the world blow radiantly upon us as in the early time4 ,we feel wrapt about with love1 with an infinite tenderness that caresses us4 ,alone in our rooms as we ponder1 what sudden abysses of light open within us6 ,the ,gods are so much nearer than we dreamed4 ,we rise up intoxicated with the thought1 and reel out seeking an equal companionship under the great night and the stars4 ,let us get near to realities4 ,we read too much4 ,we think of that which is the goal1 the ,comforter1 the ,lord1 the ,witness1 the resting- place1 the asylum and the ,friend4 ,is it by any of these dear and familiar names8 ,alas1 our souls are becoming mere bundles of theories4 ,we follow the trail of the ,monad1 but often it is only in the pages of ,the ,secret ,doctrine4 ,and we talk much of ,atma1 ,buddhi1 and ,manas4 ,could we not speak of them in our own tongue and the language of today will be as sacred as any of the past4 ,no wonder that the ,manasa do not incarnate4 ,we cannot say we do pay reverence to these awful powers4 ,we repulse the living truth by our doubts and reasonings4 ,we would compel the ,gods to fall in with our philosophy rather than trust in the heavenly guidance4 ,we make diagrams of them4 ,ah1 to think of it1 those dread deities1 the divine ,fires1 to be so enslaved6 ,we have not comprehended the meaning of the voice which cried1 ,prepare ye the way of the ,lord1 or this1 ,lift up your heads ,o y gates4 ,be ye lifted up1 ye everlasting doors1 and the ,king of ,glory shall come in4 ,nothing that we read is useful unless it calls up living things in the soul4 ,to read a mystic book truly is to invoke the powers4 ,if they do not rise up plumed and radiant1 the apparitions of spiritual things1 then is our labor barren4 ,we only encumber the mind with useless symbols4 ,they knew better ways long ago4 ,master of the ,green-waving ,planisphere1 44444 ,lord of the ,azure ,expanse1 4444 it is thus we invoke1 cried the magicians of old4 ,and us1 let us invoke them with joy1 let us call upon them with love1 the ,light we hail1 or the ,divine ,darkness we worship with silent breath1 hymning it in our hearts with quietude and more enraptured awe4 ,that silence cries aloud to the ,gods4 ,then they will approach us4 ,then we may learn that speech of many colors1 for they will not speak in our mortal tongue2 they will not answer to the names of men4 ,their names are rainbow glories4 ,yet these are mysteries and they cannot be reasoned out or argued over4 ,we cannot speak truly of them from report1 or description1 or from what another has written4 ,a relation to the thing in itself alone is our warrant1 and this means we must set aside our intellectual self-sufficiency and await guidance4 ,it will surely come to those who wait in trust1 a glow1 a heat in the heart announcing the awakening of the ,fire4 ,and1 as it blows with its mystic breath into the brain1 there is a hurtling of visions1 a brilliance of lights1 a sound as of great waters vibrant and musical in their flowing1 and murmurs from a single yet multitudinous being4 ,in such a mood1 when the far becomes near1 the strange familiar1 and the infinite possible1 he wrote from whose words we get the inspiration3 ,to launch off with absolute faith1 to sweep through the ceaseless rings and never be quiet again4 ,such a faith and such an unrest be ours3 faith which is mistrust of the visible2 unrest which is full of a hidden surety and radiance4 ,we1 when we fall into pleasant places1 rest and dream our strength away4 ,before every enterprise and adventure of the soul we calculate in fear our power to do4 ,but remember1 ,oh1 disciple1 in thy work for thy brother thou has many allies2 in the winds1 in the air1 in all the voices of the silent shore4 ,these are the far-wandered powers of our own nature and they turn again home at our need4 ,we came out of the ,great ,mother-,life for the purposes of soul4 ,are her darlings forgotten where they darkly wander and strive8 ,never4 ,are not the lives of all her heroes proof8 ,though they seem to stand alone the eternal ,mother keeps watch on them1 and voices far away and unknown to them before arise in passionate defence1 and hearts beat warm to help them4 ,aye1 if we could look within we would see vast nature stirred on their behalf1 and institutions shaken1 until the truth they fight for triumphs1 and they pass1 and a wake of glory ever widening behind them trails down the ocean of the years4 ,thus the warrior within us works1 or1 if we choose to phrase it so1 it is the action of the spiritual will4 ,shall we not1 then1 trust in it and face the unknown defiant and fearless of its dangers4 ,though we seem to go alone to the high1 the lonely1 the pure1 we need not despair4 ,let no one bring to this task the mood of the martyr or of one who thinks he sacrifices something4 ,yet let all who will come4 ,let them enter the path1 ,yes1 and hope1 facing all things in life and death with a mood at once gay and reverent1 as beseems those who are immortal--who are children today1 but whose hands tomorrow may grasp the sceptre1 sitting down with the ,gods as equal and companions4 --,august #ahie ,content ,who are exiles8 as for me ,where beneath the diamond dome ,lies the light on hill or tree ,there my palace is and home4 ,we are outcasts from ,deity2 therefore we defame the place of our exile4 ,but who is there may set apart his destiny from the earth which bore him8 ,i am one of those who would bring back the old reverence for the ,mother1 the magic1 the love4 ,i think1 metaphysician1 you have gone astray4 ,you would seek within yourself for the fountain of life4 ,yes1 there is the true1 the only light4 ,but do not dream it will lead you further away from the earth1 but rather deeper into its heart4 ,by it you are nourished with those living waters you would drink4 ,you are yet in the womb and unborn1 and the ,mother breathes for thee the diviner airs4 ,dart out thy furthest ray of thought to the original1 and yet thou has not found a new path of thine own4 ,thy ray is still enclosed in the parent ray1 and only on the sidereal streams are you borne to the freedom of the deep1 to the sacred stars whose distance maddens1 and to the lonely ,light of ,lights4 ,let us1 therefore1 accept the conditions and address ourselves with wonder1 with awe1 with love1 as we well may1 to that being in whom we move4 ,i abate no jot of those vaster hopes1 yet ,i would pursue that ardent aspiration1 content as to here and today4 ,i do not believe in a nature red with tooth and claw4 ,if indeed she appears so terrible to any it is because they themselves have armed her4 ,again1 behind the anger of the ,gods there is a love4 ,are the rocks barren8 ,lay thy brow against them and learn what memories they keep4 ,is the brown earth unbeautiful8 ,yet lie on the breast of the ,mother and thou shalt be aureoled with the dews of faery4 ,the earth is the entrance to the ,halls of ,twilight4 ,what emanations are those that make radiant the dark woods of pine6 ,round every leaf and tree and over all the mountains wave the fiery tresses of that hidden sun which is the soul of the earth and parent of they soul4 ,but we think of these things no longer4 ,like the prodigal we have wandered far from our home1 but no more return4 ,we idly pass or wait as strangers in the halls our spirit built4 ,sad or fain no more to live8 ,i have pressed the lips of pain3 ,with the kisses lovers give ,ransomed ancient powers again4 ,i would raise this shrinking soul to a more universal acceptance4 ,what6 does it aspire to the ,all1 and yet deny by its revolt and inner protest the justice of ,law4 ,from sorrow we shall take no less and no more than from our joys4 ,for if the one reveals to the soul the mode by which the power overflows and fills it here1 the other indicates to it the unalterable will which checks excess and leads it on to true proportion and its own ancestral ideal4 ,yet men seem for ever to fly from their destiny of inevitable beauty2 because of delay the power invites and lures no longer but goes out into the highways with a hand of iron4 ,we look back cheerfully enough upon those old trials out of which we have passed2 but we have gleaned only an aftermath of wisdom and missed the full harvest if the will has not risen royally at the moment in unison with the will of the ,immortal1 even though it comes rolled round with terror and suffering and strikes at the heart of clay4 ,through all these things1 in doubt1 despair1 poverty1 sick feeble or baffled1 we have yet to learn reliance4 ,i will not leave thee or forsake thee1 are the words of the most ancient spirit to the spark wandering in the immensity of its own being4 ,this high courage brings with it a vision4 ,it sees the true intent in all circumstance out of which its own emerges to meet it4 ,before it the blackness melts into forms of beauty1 and back of all illusions is seen the old enchanter tenderly smiling1 the dark1 hidden ,father enveloping his children4 ,all things have their compensations4 ,for what is absent here there is always1 if we seek1 a nobler presence about us4 ,captive1 see what stars give light ,in the hidden heart of clay3 ,at their radiance dark and bright ,fades the dreamy ,king of ,day4 ,we complain of conditions1 but this very imperfection it is which urges us to arise and seek for the ,isles of the ,immortals4 ,what we lack recalls the fulness4 ,the soul has seen a brighter day than this and a sun which never sets4 ,hence the retrospect3 ,thou has been in ,eden the garden of ,god2 every precious stone was thy covering1 the sardius1 topaz and the diamond1 the beryl1 the onyx1 the jasper1 the sapphire1 emerald 4444 ,thou was upon the holy mountain of ,god2 thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire4 ,we would point out these radiant avenues of return2 but sometimes we feel in our hearts that we sound but cockney choices1 as guides amid the ancient temples1 the cyclopean crypts sanctified by the mysteries4 ,to be intelligible we replace the opalescent shining by the terms of the anatomist1 and we speak of the pineal gland and the pituitary body in the same breath with the ,most ,high4 ,yet when the soul has the vision divine it knows not it has a body4 ,let it remember1 and the breath of glory kindles it no more2 it is once again a captive4 ,after all1 it does not make the mysteries clearer to speak in physical terms and do violence to our intuitions4 ,if we ever use these centres1 as fires we shall see them1 or they shall well up within us as fountains of potent sound4 ,we may satisfy people's minds with a sense correspondence1 and their souls may yet hold aloof4 ,we shall only inspire by the magic of a superior beauty4 ,yet this too has its dangers4 ,thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of they brightness1 continues the seer4 ,if we follow too much the elusive beauty of form we will miss the spirit4 ,the last secrets are for those who translate vision into being4 ,does the glory fade away before thee8 ,say truly in they heart1 ,i care not4 ,i will wear the robes ,i am endowed with today4 ,thou are already become beautiful1 being beyond desire and free4 ,night and day no more eclipse ,friendly eyes that on us shine1 ,speech from old familiar lips1 ,playmates of a youth divine4 ,to childhood once again4 ,we must regain the lost state4 ,but it is to the giant and spiritual childhood of the young immortals we must return1 when into their clear and translucent souls first fell the rays of the father-beings4 ,the men of old were intimates of wind and wave and playmates of many a brightness long since forgotten4 ,the rapture of the fire was their rest2 their outgoing was still consciously through universal being4 ,by darkened images we may figure something vaguely akin1 as when in rare moments under the stars the big dreamy heart of childhood is pervaded with quiet and brimmed full with love4 ,dear children of the world so tired today-- so weary seeking after the light4 ,would you recover strength and immortal vigor8 ,not one star alone1 your star1 shall shed its happy light upon you1 but the ,all you must adore4 ,something intimate1 secret1 unspeakable1 akin to thee will emerge silently1 insensibly1 and ally itself with thee as thou gatherest thyself from the four quarters of the earth4 ,we shall go back to the world of the dawn1 but to a brighter light than that which opened up this wondrous story of the cycles4 ,the forms of elder years will reappear in our vision1 the father-beings once again4 ,so we shall grow at home amid these grandeurs1 and with that ,all-,presence about us may cry in our hearts1 ,at last is our meeting1 ,immortal4 ,oh1 starry one1 now is our rest6 ,brothers weary1 come away2 ,we will quench the heart's desire ,past the gateways of the day ,in the rapture of the fire4 --,october #ae1 #ahie ,the ,enchantment of ,cuchullain --,by ,,ae and ,aretas 7,g4,w4 ,russell and ,james ,m4 ,pryse7 ,while our vision1 backward cast1 ,ranged the everliving past1 ,through a haze of misty things-- ,luminous with quiverings ,musical as starry chimes-- ,rose a hero of old times1 ,in whose breast the magic powers ,slumbering from primeval hours1 ,woke at the enchantment wild ,of ,aed ,abrait's lovely child2 ,still for all her ,druid learning ,with the wild-bird heart1 whose yearning ,blinded at his strength and beauty1 ,clung to love and laughed at duty4 ,warrior chief1 and mystic maid1 ,through your stumbling footsteps strayed1 ,this at least in part atones-- ,jewels were your stumbling-stones6 ,i4 ,the ,birds of ,angus ,the birds were a winging rapture in the twilight4 ,white wings1 grey wings1 brown wings1 fluttered around and over the pine trees that crowned the grassy dun4 ,the highest wings flashed with a golden light4 ,at the sound of voices they vanished4 ,how then shall we go to the plains of ,murthemney8 ,we ought not to be known4 ,shall we go invisibly1 or in other forms8 ,we must also fly as swiftly as the birds go4 ,fly6 yes1 yes1 we shall--fly as the birds4 ,but we shall choose fairer forms than these4 ,i know where the ,birds of ,angus flock4 ,come1 ,liban1 come6 ,the crypt beneath the dun was flooded with light1 silvery and golden1 a light which came not from the sun nor from the moon2 a light not born from any parent luminary1 and which knew nothing opaque4 ,more free than the birds of the air were the shadowy forms of the two daughters of ,aed ,abrait1 as they gazed out from that rock-built dun upon a place their mortal feet had never trod4 ,yet timidly ,liban looked at her more adventurous sister4 ,fand floated to the centre of the cavern1 erect and radiant4 ,her eyes followed the wavy tremulous motion of the light as it rolled by4 ,they seemed to pierce through earth and rock1 and search out the secret hollows of the star1 to know the vastness1 and to dominate and compel the motion of the light4 ,her sister watched her half curiously and half in admiration and wonder4 ,as the floating form grew more intense the arms swayed about and the lips murmured4 ,a sheen as of many jewels played beneath the pearly mist which enrobed her2 over her head rose the crest of the ,dragon2 she seemed to become one with the shining1 to draw it backwards into herself4 ,then from far away came a wondrous melody1 a sound as of the ancient chiming of the stars4 ,the sidereal rivers flowed by with more dazzling light1 and the ,birds of ,angus were about them4 ,look1 ,liban1 look6 cried the ,enchantress4 ,these of old were the chariots of the children of men4 ,on these the baby offspring of the ,gods raced through the nights of diamond and sapphire4 ,we are not less than they though a hundred ages set us apart4 ,we will go forth royally as they did4 ,let us choose forms from among these4 ,if the ,hound should see us he will know we have power4 ,with arms around each other they watched the starry flocks hurtling about them4 ,the birds wheeled around1 fled away1 and again returned4 ,there were winged serpents2 might which would put to flight the degenerate eagle2 plumage before which the birds of paradise would show dull as clay4 ,these wings dipt in the dawn flashed ceaselessly4 ,ah1 what plumage of white fire rayed out with pinions of opalescent glory6 ,what feathered sprays of burning amethyst6 ,what crests of scarlet and gold1 of citron and wavy green6 ,they floated by in countless multitudes2 they swayed in starry clusters dripping with light1 singing a melody caught from the spheres of the ,gods1 the song which of old called forth the earth from its slumber4 ,the sound was entrancing4 ,oh1 fiery birds who float in the purple rivers of the ,twilight1 ye who rest in the great caverns of the world1 whoever listens to your song shall grow faint with longing1 for he shall hear the great1 deep call in his heart and his spirit shall yearn to go afar2 whatever eyes see you shall grow suddenly blinded with tears for a glory that has passed away from the world1 for an empire we no longer range4 ,they bring back the air of the ancient days4 ,ah6 now ,i have the heart of the child once again4 ,time has not known me4 ,let us away with them4 ,we will sweep over ,eri and lead the starry flocks as the queen birds4 ,if we only dared4 ,but think1 ,fand1 we shall have every wizard eye spying upon us1 and every body who can use his freedom will follow and thwart us4 ,not these forms1 but others let us take4 ,ah1 look at those who come in grey and white and brown6 ,send home the radiant ones4 ,we will adventure with these4 ,be it so4 ,back to your fountains1 ,o purple rivers6 ,king-,bird1 ,queen-,bird1 to your home in the hollows lead your flock6 ,so she spoke1 but her words were shining and her waving arms compelled the feathered monarchs with radiations of outstretched flame4 ,to the others3 ,rest here awhile1 sweet singers4 ,we shall not detain you captive for long4 ,so she spoke1 but her hands that caressed laid to sleep the restless pulsations of the wings and lulled the ecstatic song4 ,night1 which to the eye of the magian shows more clearly all that the bright day conceals1 overspread with a wizard twilight the vast hollow of the heavens4 ,numberless airy rivulets1 each with its own peculiar shining1 ran hither and thither like the iridescent currents streaming over a bubble4 ,out of still duskier1 more darkly glowing and phantasmal depths stared the great eyes of space1 rimmed about with rainbow-dyes4 ,as night moved on to dawn two birds shot forth from the dun1 linked together by a cord of golden fire4 ,they fled southwards and eastwards4 ,as they went they sang a song which tingled the pulses of the air4 ,in the dark fields the aureoles around the flowers grew momentarily brighter4 ,over the mountain homes of the ,tuatha de ,danaans rose up shadowy forms who watched1 listened1 and pondered awhile4 ,the strayed wanderers amid the woods heard the enraptured notes and forgot their sorrows and life itself in a hurricane of divine remembrance4 ,where the late feast was breaking up the melody suddenly floated in and enwreathed the pillared halls1 and revellers became silent where they stood1 the mighty warriors in their hands bowed low their faces4 ,still on and on swept the strange birds flying southwards and eastwards4 ,still in many a peasant cot ,lives the story unforgot1 ,while the faded parchments old ,still their rhyming tale unfold4 ,there is yet another book ,where thine eager eyes may look4 ,there within its shining pages ,lives the long romance of ages1 ,liban1 ,fand1 their glowing dreams1 ,angus's birds1 the magic streams ,flooding all the twilight crypt1 ,runes and spells in starry script2 ,secrets never whispered here ,in the light are chanted clear4 ,read in the tales of ,eri ,if the written word be weary4 ,never is there day so gleaming ,but the dusk o'ertakes it2 ,never night so dark and dreaming ,but the dawn awakes it3 ,and the soul has nights and days ,in its own eternal ways4 ,,ii4 ,cuchullain's ,dream ,the air was cool with the coming of winter2 but with the outer cold came the inner warmth of the sun1 full of subtile vitality and strength4 ,and the ,ultonians had assembled to light the yearly fire in honor of the ,sun-,god1 at the seven-days' feast of ,samhain4 ,there the warriors of ,ulster rested by the sacred fire1 gazing with closed eyes upon the changing colors of the sun-breath1 catching glimpses of visions1 or anon performing feats of magic when they felt the power stirring within their breasts4 ,they sang the songs of old times1 of the lands of the ,west1 where their forefathers live ere the earth-fires slew those lands1 and the sea-waves buried them1 leaving only the ,eri1 the isle where dwelt men so holy that the earth-fires dared not to assail it1 and the ocean stood at bay4 ,lightly the warriors juggled with their great weapons of glittering bronze2 and each told of his deeds in battle and in the chase2 but woe to him who boasted or spoke falsely1 magnifying his prowess1 for then would his sword angrily turn of itself in its scabbard1 convicting him of untruth4 ,cuchullain1 youngest but mightiest of all the warriors1 sat moodily apart1 his beardless chin resting in the palms of his hands1 his eyes staring fixedly at the mirror-like surface of the lake upon whose sloping bank he rested4 ,laeg1 his charioteer1 lying at full length upon the greensward near by1 watched him intently1 a gloomy shadow darkening his unusually cheerful face4 ,it's a woman's trick1 that1 he muttered to himself1 staring into the water when trying to see the country of the ,sidhe1 and unworthy of a warrior4 ,and to think of him doing it1 who used to have the clearest sight1 and had more power for wonder-working than anyone else in the lands of the ,west6 ,besides1 he isn't seeing anything now1 for all the help of the water4 ,when last ,i went to the dun some women of the ,sidhe told me they had looked up ,cuchullain and found he was getting too dim-eyed to see anything clearly now1 even in his sleep4 ,its true enough1 but to hear it said even by women6 ,and the discontented charioteer glanced back contemptuously at a group of women a short distance away1 who were following with their eyes a flock of wild birds circling over the plain4 ,i suppose they want those birds1 he continued1 conversing familiarly with himself4 ,its the way of women to want everything they see1 especially if its something hard to catch1 like those wild birds4 ,but ,laeg's cynicism was not so deep as to keep his glance from lingering upon the bevy of graceful maidens and stately matrons4 ,their soft laughter reached his ear through the still evening air2 and watching their animated gestures he idly speculated upon the plane he felt sure they were arranging4 ,yes2 they want the birds4 ,they wish to fasten the wings to their shoulders1 to make themselves look like the women of the ,sidhe4 ,they know ,cuchullain is the only man who can get the birds for them1 but even ,emer1 his wife1 is afraid to ask him4 ,of course they will coax that patient ,ethne to do it4 ,if she succeeds1 she'll get no thanks2 and if she fails1 she'll have all the blame1 and go off by herself to cry over the harsh words spoken by ,cuchullain in his bad temper4 ,that's the way of ,ethne1 poor girl4 ,he was right in his conjecture1 for presently ,ethne left the group and hesitatingly approached the giant warrior1 who was still gazing vacantly at the glassy surface of the water4 ,she touched him timidly on the shoulder4 ,slowly he raised his head1 and still half dazed by his long staring1 listened while she made her request4 ,he rose to his feet sleepily1 throwing out his brawny arms and expanding his chest as he cast a keen glance at the birds slowly circling near the ground4 ,those birds are not fit to eat1 he said1 turning to her with a good-natured smile4 ,but we want the wings to put on our shoulders4 ,it would be so good of you to get them for us1 said ,ethne in persuasive tones4 ,if it's flying you wish to try1 he said1 with a laugh1 you'll need better wings than those4 ,however1 you shall have them if ,i can get within throwing distance of them4 ,he glanced around for ,laeg4 ,that far-seeing individual was already yoking the horses to the chariot4 ,a moment later1 ,cuchullain and the charioteer were dashing across the plain behind the galloping steeds4 ,as they neared the birds1 ,cuchullain sent missiles at them from his sling with such incredible rapidity and certainty of aim that not one of the flock escaped4 ,each of the women was given two of the birds2 but when ,ethne1 who had modestly held back when the others hurried forward to meet the returning chariot1 came to receive her share1 not one remained4 ,as usual1 said ,laeg stolidly1 if anyone fails to get her portion of anything1 its sure to be ,ethne4 ,too sure1 said ,cuchullain1 a look of compassion softening his stern features4 ,he strode over to ,ethne1 and placing his hand gently on her head said3 ,don't take your disappointment to heart1 little woman2 when any more birds come to the plains of ,murthemney1 ,i promise to get for you the most beautiful of them all4 ,there's a fine brace of them now1 flying towards us1 exclaimed ,laeg1 pointing across the lake4 ,and ,i think ,i hear them singing4 ,queer birds1 those2 for ,i see a cord as of red gold between them4 ,nearer and nearer swept the strange beings of the air1 and as their weird melody reached the many ,ultonians at the ,samhain fire1 the stalwart warriors1 slender maidens1 the youthful and the time-worn1 all felt the spell and became as statues1 silent1 motionless1 entranced4 ,alone the three at the chariot felt not the binding influences of the spell4 ,cuchullain quietly fitted a smooth pebble into his sling4 ,ethne looked appealingly at ,laeg1 in whose sagacity she greatly trusted4 ,a faint twinkle of the eye was the only sign that betrayed the thought of the charioteer as he tried to return her glance with a look of quiet unconcern4 ,she hastened after ,cuchullain1 who had taken his stand behind a great rock on the lake shore which concealed him from the approaching birds4 ,do not try to take them1 she entreated2 there is some strange power about them which your eyes do not see2 ,i feel it1 and my heart is filled with dread4 ,the young warrior made no reply1 but whirling his sling above his head sent the missile with terrific force at the two swan-like voyagers of the air4 ,it went far astray1 and splashed harmlessly into the lake1 throwing up a fountain of spray4 ,cuchullain's face grew dark4 ,never before in war or the chase had he missed so easy a mark4 ,angrily he caught a javelin from his belt and hurled it at the birds1 which had swerved from their course and were now flying swiftly away4 ,it was a mighty cast1 even for the strong arm of the mightiest warrior of ,eri2 and the javelin1 glittering in the sun1 was well on the downward curve of its long flight1 its force spent1 when its point touched the wing of the nearest bird4 ,a sphere of golden flame seemed to glitter about them as they turned downward and disappeared beneath the deep waters of the lake4 ,cuchullain threw himself upon the ground1 leaning his broad shoulders against the rock4 ,leave me1 he said in sullen tones to ,ethne2 my senses are dull with sleep from long watching at the ,samhain fire4 ,for the first time since ,i slew the hound of ,culain my right arm has failed me4 ,my eyes are clouded1 and strange music murmurs in my heart4 ,his eyes closed1 his heavy breathing was broken by sighs1 and anguish distorted his features4 ,ethne watched him awhile1 and then stole quietly back to where the warriors were and said to them3 ,cuchullain lies slumbering by yonder rock1 and he moans in his sleep as if the people of the ,sidhe were reproaching his soul for some misdeed4 ,i fear those birds that had the power behind them4 ,should we not waken him8 ,but while they held council1 and some were about to go and awaken him4 ,fergus mac ,roy1 foster-father of ,cuchullain1 arose1 and all drew back in awe1 for they saw the light of the ,sun-,god shining from his eyes1 and his voice had the ,druid ring as he said in stern tones of command3 ,touch him not1 for he sees a vision2 the people of the ,sidhe are with him2 and from the far distant past1 even from the days of the sunken lands of the ,west1 ,i see the hand of ,fate reach out and grasp the warrior of ,eri1 to place him on a throne where he shall rule the souls of men4 ,to ,cuchullain it did not seem that he slept2 for though his eyelids fell1 his sight still rested on the calm surface of the lake1 the shining sand on the shore1 and the great brown rock against which he reclined4 ,but whence came the two maidens who were walking toward him along the glistening sand8 ,he gazed at them in speechless wonder2 surely only in dreamland could so fair a vision be seen4 ,in dreamland1 yes2 for a dim memory awoke in his breast that he had seen them before in the world of slumber4 ,one wore a mantle of soft green1 and her flaxen hair1 strangely white but with a glint of gold1 fell about her shoulders so thickly it seemed like a silken hood out of which looked a white face with gleaming violet eyes4 ,the other maiden had dark brown eyes1 very large1 very luminous2 her cheeks were rosy1 with just a hint of bronzing by the sunshine1 a dimple in her chin added to the effect of her pouting red lips2 her dark brown hair was unbound and falling loosely over her deep crimson mantle1 which reached from her waist in five heavy folds4 ,the recumbent warrior felt a weird spell upon him4 ,powerless to move or speak1 he saw the two maidens advance and stand beside him1 the sunlight gleaming upon their bare arms and bosoms4 ,they smiled upon him and uplifted their arms1 and then from their fingers there rained down upon him blinding lightnings1 filaments of flame that stung like whipcords1 a hail of rainbow sparks that benumbed him1 darting flames that pierced him like javelins2 and as he gazed upward through that storm of fire1 writhing in his agony1 he saw still their white arms waving to and from1 weaving a network of lightnings about him1 their faces smiling upon him1 serene and kindly2 and in the eyes of her with the crimson mantle he read a tenderness all too human4 ,eyes that shone with tenderness2 white arms that wove a rainbow-mesh of torturing fires about him2 his anguish ever increasing1 until he saw the arms stop waving1 held for an instant aloft1 and then swept downward with a torrent of flame and a mighty crash of sound like the spears of ten thousand warriors meeting in battle1 and then--he was alone1 staring with wide-open eyes at the blue1 cloud-mirroring surface of the lakes and the white sand gleaming on the shore4 ,trouble me not with questions1 said ,cuchullain to the warriors gathered about him4 ,my limbs are benumbed and refuse to obey me4 ,bear me to my sick-bed at ,tete ,brece4 ,shall we not take you to ,dun ,imrish1 or to ,dun ,delca1 where you may be with ,emer8 said they4 ,no1 he replied1 a shudder convulsing his strong frame2 bear me to ,tete ,brece4 ,and when they had done so1 he dwelt there for a year1 and on his face was always the look of a slumberer who is dreaming2 not once did he smile1 nor did he speak one word during that year4 ,when the soul has many lives ,fettered by ,forgetfulness1 ,hands that burst its long-worn gyves ,cruel seem and pitiless4 ,yet they come all tenderly1 ,loved companions of the past2 ,and the sword that sets us free ,turns our pain to peace at last4 ,,iii4 ,what shadows turn his eyes away ,who fain would scale the heavenly heights2 ,there shines the beauty of a day1 ,and there the ancient ,light of ,lights4 ,and while he broods on visions dim ,and grows forgetful of his fate1 ,the chariot of the ,sun for him ,and all the tribal stars await4 ,the ,slumber of ,cuchullain1 and the ,message of ,angus ,within the door at ,tete ,brece1 under the shadow of the thatch1 the couch of ,cuchullain was placed1 so that if he willed he could gaze over the rich green fields to the distant rim of blue hills4 ,yet rarely opened he his eyes or gazed with outward understanding during that weary year4 ,often the watchers round his bed1 looking on the white rigid face1 wondered if he were indeed living4 ,but they dared not awaken him1 for the seers had found that his slumber was filled with mystic life1 and that it was not lawful to call him forth4 ,was the gloom of the great warrior because he was but the shadow of his former self1 or was that pale form indeed empty8 ,so pondered ,fergus1 ,conail1 ,lugard and ,ethne1 faithful companions4 ,but he in himself was wrapped in a mist of visions appearing fast and vanishing faster4 ,the fiery hands that smote him had done their work well1 and his darkness had become bright with remembrance4 ,the majesty of elder years swept by him with reproachful glance1 and the hero cowered before the greatness of his own past4 ,born out of the womb of the earth long ago in the fulness of power--what shadow had dimmed his beauty8 ,he tracked and retraced countless steps4 ,once more he held sceptred sway over races long since in oblivion4 ,he passed beyond the common way until the powers of the vast knew and obeyed him4 ,as he looked back there was one always with him4 ,lu1 the ,sun-,god1 who in the bright days of childhood had appeared to him as his little feet ran from home in search for adventures4 ,remote and dim1 nigh and radiant1 he was always there4 ,in solemn initiations in crypts beneath the giant hills he rose up1 gemmed and starred with living fires1 and grew one with the ,god1 and away1 away with him he passed into the lands of the immortals1 or waged wars more than human1 when from the buried lands of the past first came the heroes eastward to ,eri and found the terrible ,fomorian enchanters dwelling in the sacred isle4 ,in dream ,cuchullain saw the earth- scorning warriors rise up and wage their battle in the bright aether1 and the great ,sun-,chieftain1 shining like gold1 lead his glittering hosts4 ,in mountainous multitudes the giantesque phantoms reeled to and from1 their mighty forms wreathed in streams of flame1 while the stars paled and shuddered as they fought4 ,there was yet another face1 another form1 often beside him2 whispering1 luring1 calling him away to he knew not what wild freedom4 ,it was the phantom form of the child of ,aed ,abrait1 with dark flowing tresses1 mystic eyes1 her face breathing the sweetness of the sun1 with all the old nobility of earth1 but elate and apart1 as one who had been in the crystal spheres of the unseen and bathed in its immortalizing rivers and drunk the starry dews4 ,come1 ,cu4 ,come1 ,o hero1 she whispered4 ,there are fiery fountains of life which will renew thee4 ,we will go where the ,sidhe dwell1 where the golden life-breath flows up from the mountains in a dazzling radiance to the ever-shining regions of azure and pearl under the stars4 ,glad is everything that lives in that place4 ,come1 ,cu1 come away4 ,and she passed from beside him with face half turned1 calling1 beckoning1 till in his madness he forgot the bright ,sun-,god and the warriors of ,eri awaiting his guidance4 ,it was again the feast of ,samhain4 ,about twilight in the evening a shadow darkened the door4 ,a man in blue mantle stood outside2 he did not enter but looked around him a little while and then sat down1 laughing softly to himself4 ,fergus1 ,conail and ,lugard rose simultaneously1 glad of the pretence of warning off the intruder as a relief from their monotonous watch4 ,do you not know1 said ,conail sternly1 that one lies ill here who must not be disturbed8 ,the stranger arose4 ,i will tell you a tale1 he said4 ,as ,i was strolling through the trees ,i saw a radiance shining around the dun1 and ,i saw one floating in that light like a mighty pillar of fire1 or bronze ruddy and golden3 a child of the ,sun he seemed2 the living fires curled about him and rayed from his head4 ,he looked to the north and to the west1 to the south and to the east1 and over all ,eri he shot his fiery breaths rainbow-colored1 and the dark grew light before him where he gazed4 ,indeed if he who lies here were well he would be mightiest among your warriors4 ,but ,i think that now he clasps hands with the heroes of the ,sidhe as well1 and with ,druid power protects the ,ultonians4 ,i feel happy to be beside him4 ,it is ,lu ,lamfada guarding the hero4 ,now his destiny will draw nigh to him again1 thought ,cu's companions1 and they welcomed the stranger4 ,i see why he lies here so still1 he continued1 his voice strange like one who is inspired while he speaks4 ,the ,sidhe looked out from their mountains4 ,they saw a hero asleep4 ,they saw a ,god forgetful4 ,they stirred him to shame by the hands of women4 ,they showed him the past4 ,they said to ,fand and ,libau1 ',awake him4 ,bring him to us4 ,let him come on the night of ,samhain4' ,they showed the chosen one from afar1 in a vision while hid in their mountains4 ,the ,tuatha de ,danaans1 the immortals1 wish for ,cuchullain to aid them4 ,the daughters of ,aed ,abrait are their messengers4 ,if ,fand and ,liban were here they would restore the hero4 ,who are you8 asked ,laeg1 who had joined them4 ,i am ,angus1 son of ,aed ,abrait4 ,while he spoke his form quivered like a smoke1 twinkling in misty indistinctness in the blue twilight1 and then vanished before their eyes4 ,i wonder now1 muttered ,laeg to himself1 if he was sent by the ,sidhe1 or by ,liban and ,fand only4 ,when one has to deal with women everything is uncertain4 ,fand trusts more in her beauty to arouse him than in her message4 ,i have seen her shadow twenty times cooing about him4 ,it is all an excuse for love-making with her4 ,it is just like a woman4 ,anything1 however1 would be better for him than to lie in bed4 ,he went off to join the others4 ,cuchullain was sitting up and was telling the story of what happened last ,samhain4 ,what should ,i do8 he asked4 ,go to the wise ,king1 said ,laeg1 and so they all advised1 for ever since the day when he was crowned1 and the ,druids had touched him with fire1 a light of wisdom shone about ,concobar the ,king4 ,i think you should go to the rock where the women of the ,sidhe appeared to you1 said ,concobar when appealed to4 ,so ,laeg made ready the chariot and drove to the tarn4 ,night came ere they reached it1 but the moon showed full and brilliant4 ,laeg waited a little way apart1 while ,cuchullain sat himself in the black shadow of the rock4 ,as the warrior gazed into the dark1 star-speckled surface of the waters1 a brightness and a mist gathered over them1 and there1 standing with her robe of green down--dropping to her feet and trailing on the wave1 her pale flaxen hair blown around her head1 was ,liban4 ,she smiled strangely as before1 looking through him with her subtle eyes4 ,i am one of the ,sidhe1 she said1 and her voice sounded like a murmur of the water4 ,you also1 ,o warrior1 though forgetful1 are one of us4 ,we did not indeed come to injure you1 but to awaken remembrance4 ,for now the wild clouds of demons gathered from the neighboring isles and we wish your aid4 ,your strength will come back to you exultant as of old4 ,come with me1 warrior4 ,you will have great companions4 ,labraid1 who wields the rapid fires as you the sword1 and ,fand1 who has laid aside her ,druid wisdom longing for you4 ,whither must ,i go with you1 strange woman8 asked ,cuchullain4 ,to ,mag-,mell4 ,i will send ,laeg with you1 said ,cuchullain4 ,i do not care to go to an unknown place while ,i have my duties here4 ,he then went to ,laeg1 asking him to go with ,liban4 ,he is longing to go1 thought ,laeg1 but he mistrusts his power to get away4 ,he has forgotten all he knew and did not wish to appear nothing before a woman4 ,however1 it can do no harm if ,i go and see what they do4 ,oh1 marvel not if in our tale ,the gleaming figures come and go1 ,more mystic splendors shine and pale ,than in an age outworn we know4 ,their ignorance to us were wise3 ,their sins our virtue would outshine3 ,a glory passed before their eyes3 ,we hardly dream of the divine4 ,in world may come romance1 ,with all the lures of love and glamour2 ,and woesome tragedy will chance ,to him whom fairy forms enamour4 ,there slain illusions live anew ,to stay the soul with coy caresses2 ,but he who only loves the ,true ,slays them again1 and onward presses4 ,for golden chains are yet but chains1 ,enchanted dreams are yet but dreaming2 ,and ere the soul its freedom gains ,it bursts all bonds1 destroys all seeming4 ,,iv4 ,the ,maidens of the ,sidhe ,yes1 ,i'll go with the maid in the green mantle1 muttered ,laeg to himself2 but ,i'll don the crimson mantle of five folds which it is my right to wear in the land of the ,sidhe1 even though my earthly occupation is only the driving of a war-chariot4 ,he began chanting softly2 a golden gleam as of sunshine swept circling about him2 then as the chant ceased a look of wild exultation came to his face1 and he threw up his arms1 so that for an instant he had the aspect he wore when guiding the great war-chariot of ,cuchullain into the thick of battle4 ,his swaying form fell softly upon the greensward1 and above it floated a luminous figure clad in a crimson mantle1 but whose face and bare arms were of the color of burnished bronze4 ,so impassive and commanding was his face that even ,liban faltered a little as she stole to his side4 ,cuchullain watched the two figures as they floated slowly over the dark expanse of the lake1 till they suddenly disappeared1 seemingly into its quiet surface4 ,then with his face buried in his hands he sat motionless1 absorbed in deep thought1 while he waited until the return of ,laeg4 ,the recumbent form of ,liban rose from the crouch where it had lain entranced4 ,before her stood the phantom figure of ,laeg4 ,all in the house save herself were asleep1 but with the conscious sleep of the ,sidhe1 and their shades spoke welcome to ,laeg1 each saying to him in liquid tones such as come never from lips of clay3 ,welcome to you1 ,laeg2 welcome because of her who brings you1 of him who sent you1 and of yourself4 ,he saw about him only women of the ,sidhe1 and knew that he was in one of the schools established by the wise men of ,eri for maidens who would devote their lives to holiness and ,druid learning2 maidens who should know no earthly love but fix their eyes ever on the light of the ,sun-god4 ,but not seeing ,fand among them1 he turned with an impatient gesture to ,liban4 ,she read his gesture aright1 and said3 ,my sister dwells apart2 she has more knowledge1 and presides over all of us4 ,leaving the room1 she walked down a corridor1 noiselessly save for the rustle of her long robe of green1 which she drew closely about her1 for the night was chill4 ,an unaccustomed awe rested upon her1 and to ,laeg she whispered3 ,the evil enchanters have power tonight1 so that your life would be in danger if you had not the protection of a maiden of the ,sun4 ,but a smile wreathed for an instant the bronze-hue face of the shadowy charioteer1 as he murmured in tones of kindness near to pity1 softening his rude words3 ,till now nor ,cuchullain nor ,i have ever felt the need of a woman's protection1 and ,i would much rather he were here now than ,i4 ,drawing aside a heavy curtain1 ,liban entered her sister's room4 ,they saw ,fand seated at a little table4 ,a scroll lay on it open before her1 but her eyes were not fixed on it4 ,with hands clasped under her chin she gazed into the vacancies with eyes of far-away reflection and longing4 ,there was something pathetic in the intensity and wistfulness of the lonely figures4 ,she turned and rose to meet them1 a smile of rare tenderness lighting up her face as she saw ,liban4 ,the dim glow of a single lamp but half revealed the youthful figure1 the pale1 beautiful face1 out of which the sun-colours had faded4 ,her hair of raven hue was gathered in massy coils over her head and fastened there by a spiral torque of gleaming gold4 ,her mantle1 entirely black1 which fell to her feet1 made her features seem more strangely young1 more startlingly in contrast with the monastic severity of the room4 ,it was draped round with some dark unfigured hangings4 ,a couch with a coverlet of furs1 single chair of carved oak1 the little table1 and a bronze censer from which a faint aromatic odor escaping filled the air and stole on the sense1 completed the furniture of the room1 which might rather have been the cell of some aged ,druid than the chamber of one of the young maidens of ,eri1 who were not overgiven to ascetic habits4 ,she welcomed ,laeg with the same terms of triple welcome as did the mystic children of the sun who had first gathered round him4 ,her brilliant eyes seemed to read deep the soul of the charioteer4 ,then ,liban came softly up to her1 saying3 ,oh1 ,fand1 my soul is sad this night4 ,the dark powers are gathering their strength to assail us1 and we shall need to be pure and strong4 ,yet you have said that you feel no longer the ,presence with you2 that ,mannanan1 the ,self of the ,sun1 shines not in your heart6 ,fan placed her hand upon her sister's flaxen head1 saying with a voice mingled joy and pathos3 ,peace1 child2 you1 of us all1 have least to fear1 for though ,i1 alas6 am forsaken1 yet ,he who is your ,father and ,yourself is even now here with you4 ,liban fell on her knees1 with her hands clasped and her eyes uplifted in a rapture of adoration1 for above her floated one whom she well knew4 ,yet unheeding her and stern of glance1 with his right arm outstretched1 from which leaped long tongues of flame1 swordlike1 into space1 ,labraid towered above gazing upon foes unseen by them4 ,slowly the arm fell and the stern look departed from the face4 ,ancient with the youth of the ,gods1 it was such a face and form the toilers in the shadowy world1 mindful of their starry dynasties1 sought to carve in images of upright and immovable calm amid the sphinxes of the ,nile or the sculptured ,gods of ,chaldaea4 ,so upright and immovable in such sculptured repose appeared ,labraid1 his body like a bright ruby flame1 sunlit from its golden heart4 ,beneath his brows his eyes looked full of secrecy4 ,the air pulsing and heaving about him drove ,laeg backward from the centre of the room4 ,he appeared but a child before this potent spirit4 ,liban broke out into a wild chant of welcome3 ,oh see now how burning1 ,how radiant in might1 ,from battle returning ,the ,dragon of ,light6 ,where wert thou1 unsleeping ,exile from the throne1 ,in watch o'er the weeping1 ,the sad and the lone4 ,the sun-fires of ,eri ,burned low on the steep2 ,the watchers were weary ,or sunken in sleep2 ,and dread were the legions ,of demons who rose ,from the uttermost regions ,of ice and of snows2 ,and on the red wind borne1 ,unspeakable things ,from wizard's dark mind borne ,on shadowy wings4 ,the darkness was lighted ,with whirlwinds of flame2 ,the demons affrighted ,fled back whence they came4 ,for thou wert unto them ,the vision that slays3 ,thy fires quivered through them ,in arrowy rays4 ,oh1 light amethystine1 ,thy shadow inspire1 ,and fill with the pristine ,vigor of fire4 ,though thought like a fountain ,pours dream upon dream1 ,unscaled is the mountain ,where thou still dost gleam1 ,and shinest afar like ,the dawning of day1 ,immortal and starlike ,in rainbow array4 ,but he1 the shining one1 answered1 and his voice had that melody which only those know whom the ,sun-breath has wafted into worlds divine3 ,vaunt not1 poor mortal one1 nor claim knowledge when the ,gods know not4 ,he who is greatest among all the sons of evil now waits for the hour to strike when he may assail us and have with him all the hosts of the foes of light4 ,what may be the issue of the combat cannot be foreseen by us4 ,yet mortals1 unwise1 ever claim to know when even the ,gods confess ignorance2 for pride blinds all mortals1 and arrogance is born of their feebleness4 ,unabashed she cried out3 ,then rejoice1 for we have awakened ,cu1 the warrior-magician of old times1 and his messenger is her4 ,then he answered gently1 pityingly3 ,we need the help of each strong soul1 and you have done well to arouse that slumbering giant4 ,if through his added strength we conquer1 then will he be the saviour of ,eri2 beloved by the ,gods1 he will cease to be a wild warrior on earth1 and become a leader of mortals1 aiding them on the way to the immortals4 ,wisely have you awakened him1 and yet-- ,he smiled1 and such was the pity in his smiling glance that ,liban bowed her head in humiliation4 ,when she raised it he was gone1 and ,laeg also had vanished4 ,she arose1 and with a half-sob threw herself into the arms of her sister4 ,so they stood1 silent1 with tearless eyes2 for they were too divine for tears1 although1 alas6 too human4 ,slowly the chariot rolled on its homeward way1 for ,laeg1 seeing the weakness and weariness of ,cuchullain1 held the great steeds in check2 their arched necks and snorting breath resenting the restraint1 while the impatient stamping of their hoofs struck fire from the pebbly road4 ,well1 said ,cuchullain moodily1 tell me what happened after you went away with that woman of the ,sidhe4 ,briefly and without comment of his own ,laeg stated what he had seen4 ,then long ,cuchullain pondered2 neither spoke1 and the silence was broken only by the stamping of the steeds and the rumble of the chariot wheels4 ,dark clouds drifted athwart the moon1 and the darkness gave more freedom of speech1 for ,cuchullain said in measured1 expressionless tones3 ,and what do you think of all this8 ,what do ,i think8 burst forth ,laeg with sudden fire2 ,i think you had better be leaving those women of the ,sidhe alone1 and they you4 ,that ,fand would lose her soul for love1 and the spell they've cast over you is evil1 or it wouldn't make a warrior like you as helpless as a toddling babe4 ,in letting loose his pent-up wrath ,laeg had unconsciously loosened as well the reined-in steeds1 who sprang forward impetuously1 and the jolting of the car was all that ,cuchullain could bear in his enfeebled state4 ,recovering himself1 the charioteer drew them in check again1 inwardly upbraiding himself for carelessness4 ,sorrowful and broken was the voice of the warrior as he said3 ,on the morrow1 ,laeg1 you shall bear a message to ,emer4 ,tell her the ,sidhe have thrown a spell of helplessness upon me while deceiving me with false visions of my aiding them in their war with the evil enchanters4 ,ask ,emer to come to me1 for her presence may help to rouse me from this spell that benumbs my body and clouds my mind4 ,then ,laeg sought to console him1 saying3 ,no1 no2 the ,sidhe wrong no one4 ,their message to you was true2 but their messengers were women1 and you were a warrior4 ,that is why the mischance came1 for it is ever the way with a woman to become foolish over a warrior1 and then there is always a muddle4 ,and when ,emer comes--1 he checked his indiscreet utterance by pretending to have a difficulty in restraining the horses1 and then added confusedly3 ,besides1 ,i'd rather be in your plight than in ,fand's4 ,has ,emer come8 asked ,cuchullain1 drawing himself up on his couch and resting on his elbow4 ,yes1 said ,laeg dejectedly2 ,i have brought her4 ,she has been talking to me most of the journey4 ,now she'll be after talking to you1 but you needn't mind2 it isn't her ususal way1 and she isn't as unreasonable as might be expected4 ,she puts most of the blame of your illness on me1 though perhaps that is because it was me she was talking to4 ,insists that as ,i can go to the ,plain of ,fire where the ,sidhe live ,i ought to be able to find a way of curing you4 ,she has expressed that idea to me many times1 with a fluency and wealth of illustration that would make a bard envious4 ,here she comes now4 ,i'll just slip out and see if the horses are being properly cared for4 ,he had not overstated the case1 for the sweet face of ,emer was clouded with wrath as she approached the sick-bed of her husband4 ,bitterly she reproached him for what she claimed was only a feigned illness1 and expressed her conviction that no theory would account for his conduct save that1 faithless to her his wife1 he had fallen in love4 ,but ,cuchullain made no answer1 for not only was he invincible in battle1 but also wise in the matter of holding his tongue when a woman warred against him with words4 ,you are looking stronger1 said ,laeg1 when next he saw him alone4 ,yes1 he returned1 the speech of ,emer has roused me a little from my torpor4 ,i have been thinking that possibly we were wrong in disregarding the message brought by the women of the ,sidhe4 ,they surely have power to break this spell1 and doubtless would have done so had you not fled from them so inconsiderately4 ,i was thinking the same when ,emer was coming here with me1 observed ,laeg4 ,her speech roused me a little too4 ,cuchullain was silent awhile and then said reflectively3 ,do you think we could find ,liban again8 ,there would be no difficulty about that1 ,laeg replied drily4 ,then1 said ,cuchullain with sudden energy1 let us go once more to the rock of the visions4 ,our souls give battle when the host ,of lurid lives that lurk in ,air1 ,and ,ocean's regions nethermost1 ,come forth from every loathsome lair3 ,for then are cloudland battles fought ,with spears of lightning1 swords of flame1 ,no quarter given1 none besought1 ,till to the darkness whence they came ,the ,sons of ,night are hurled again4 ,yet while the reddened skies resound ,the wizard souls of evil men ,within the demon ranks are found1 ,while pure and strong the heroes go ,to join the strife1 and reck no odds1 ,for they who face the wizard foe ,clasp hands heroic with the gods4 ,what is the love of shadowy lips ,that know not what they seek or press1 ,from whom the lure for ever slips ,and fails their phantom tenderness8 ,the mystery and light of eyes ,that near to mine grow dim and cold2 ,they move afar in ancient skies ,mid flame and mystic darkness rolled4 ,oh1 hero1 as thy heart o'erflows ,in tender yielding unto me1 ,a vast desire awakes and grows ,unto forgetfulness of thee4 ,v4 ,the ,mantle of ,mannanan ,again ,liban stood before them1 and her eyes were full of reproach4 ,you doubt the truth of my message1 she said4 ,come1 then1 to the ,plain of ,fire1 and you shall see the one who sent me4 ,i doubt you not1 said ,cuchullain quietly2 but it is not fitting that ,i should go when the message is brought by a woman1 for such is the warning ,i have had in vision from ,lu ,lamfada4 ,laeg shall go with you1 and if he brings back the same message1 then ,i shall do the bidding of the ,sidhe1 and wage war against the evil enchanters1 even as when a lad ,i vanquished the brook of wizards at ,dun-mic-,nectan4 ,where did ,liban take you this time1 ,laeg8 ,have you brought back a message from the ,sidhe8 ,i have seen the ,chief1 said ,laeg1 whose doubts had vanished and whose whole manner had changed4 ,cuchullain1 you must go4 ,you remember how we went together to ,brusna by the ,boyne1 and what wonders they showed us in the sacred crypt4 ,yet this is a place more marvelous--thrice4 ,well indeed did ,liban call it the ,plain of ,fire1 for a breath of fire is in the air for leagues and leagues around4 ,on the lake where the ,sidhe dwell the fishers row by and see nothing1 or1 mayhap1 a flicker of phantasmal trees around the dun4 ,these trees are rooted in a buried star beneath the earth2 when its heart pulsates they shine like gold1 aye1 and are fruited with ruby lights4 ,indeed this ,labraid is one of the ,gods4 ,i saw him come through the flaming rivers of the underworld4 ,he was filled with the radiance4 ,i am not given to dread the ,sidhe1 but there was that in him which compelled awe3 for oh1 he came from the homes that were anciently ours--ours who are fallen1 and whose garments once bright are stained by the lees of time4 ,he greeted me kindly4 ,he knew me by my crimson mantle with five folds4 ,he asked for you2 indeed they all wish to have you there4 ,did he say aught further8 ,no1 he spoke but little2 but as ,i returned by ,mag ,luada ,i had a vision4 ,i saw you standing under the sacred ,tree of ,victory4 ,there were two mighty ones1 one on each side of you1 but they seemed no greater than you4 ,was ,fand there8 asked ,cuchullain4 ,yes1 said ,laeg reluctantly2 ,i saw her and spoke to her1 although ,i did not wish to4 ,i feared for myself4 ,ethne and ,emer are beautiful women1 but this woman is not like them4 ,she is half divine4 ,the holiest ,druids might lose his reason over her4 ,let us go thither1 said ,cuchullain4 ,the night was clear1 breathless1 pure as diamond4 ,the giant lights far above floated quietly in the streams of space4 ,below slept the lake mirroring the shadowy blue of the mountains4 ,the great mounds1 the homes of the ,sidhe1 were empty2 but over them floated a watchful company1 grave1 majestic1 silent1 waiting4 ,in stately procession their rich1 gleaming figures moved to and fro in groups of twos and threes1 emblazoning the dusky air with warm colors4 ,a little apart1 beyond the headland at the island's edge1 two more commanding than the rest communed together4 ,the wavering water reflected head-long their shining figures in its dark depths2 above them the ancient blue of the night rose as a crown4 ,these two were ,labraid and the warrior of ,murthemney restored to all his ,druid power4 ,terrible indeed in its beauty1 its power1 its calm1 was this fiery phantasmal form beside the king of the ,sidhe4 ,we came to ,eri many1 many ages ago1 said ,labraid2 from a land the people of today hold no memory of4 ,mighty for good and for evil were the dwellers in that land1 but its hour struck and the waters of the ocean entomb it4 ,in this island1 which the mighty ,gods of ,fire kept apart and sacred1 we made our home4 ,but after long years a day came when the wise ones must needs depart from this also4 ,they went eastward4 ,a few only remained to keep alive the tradition of what was1 the hope of what will be again4 ,for in this island1 it is foretold1 in future ages will arise a light which will renew the children of time4 ,but now the world's great darkness has come4 ,see what exhalations arise6 ,what demons would make ,eri their home6 ,away at the eastern verge a thick darkness was gathering2 a pitchy blackness out of which a blood--red aerial river rolled and shot its tides through the arteries of the night4 ,it came nigher4 ,it was dense with living creatures1 larvae1 horrible shapes with waving tendrils1 white withered things restless and famished1 hoglike faces1 monstrosities4 ,as it rolled along there was a shadowy dropping over hamlet and village and field4 ,can they not be stayed8 ,can they not be stayed8 rang the cry of ,fand4 ,the stern look on ,cuchullain's face deepened4 ,is it these pitiful spectres we must wage war against8 ,labraid1 it is enough4 ,i will go--alone4 ,nay1 my brother1 one is enough for victory4 ,already he was oblivious of the ,sidhe1 the voices of ,fand and ,laeg calling him4 ,a light like a wonder-mist broke dazzling about him4 ,through a mist of fire1 an excess of light1 they saw a transcendent form of intensest gold treading the air4 ,over the head of the god a lightning thread like a serpent undulated and darted4 ,it shed a thousand dazzling rays2 it chanted in a myriad tones as it went forward4 ,wider grew the radiant sphere and more triumphant the chant as he sped onward and encountered the overflow of hell4 ,afar off the watchers saw and heard the tumult1 cries of a horrible conflict1 agonies of writhing and burning demons scorched and annihilated1 reeling away before the onset of light4 ,on and still on he sped1 now darkened and again blazing like the sun4 ,look6 look6 cried ,laeg1 breathless with exultation as the dazzling phantom towered and waved its arms on the horizon4 ,they lied who said he was powerless1 said ,fand1 no less exultant4 ,cu1 my darling1 murmured the charioteer2 ,i know now why ,i loved you1 what burned within you4 ,shall we not go and welcome him when he returns8 said ,liban4 ,i should not advise it1 ,laeg answered4 ,is it to meet that fury of fire when he sinks back blind and oblivious8 ,he would slay his dearest friend4 ,i am going away from here as fast as ,i can4 ,through the dark forests at dawn the smoke began to curl up from dun and hamlet1 and1 all unconscious of the war waged over their destinies1 children awoke to laugh and men and women went forth to breathe the sweet air of morning4 ,cuchullain started from a dream of more ancient battles1 of wars in heaven4 ,through the darkness of the room he saw the shadowy forms of the two daughters of ,aed ,abrait2 not as before1 the mystic maidens armed with ,druid power1 but women1 melting1 tender1 caressing4 ,violet eyes shining with gratitude2 darker eyes burning with love1 looked into his4 ,misty tresses fell over him4 ,i know not how the battle went1 he sighed4 ,i remember the fire awoke4 4444 ,lu was with me4 4444 ,i fell back in a blinding mist of flame and forgot everything4 ,doubt it not4 ,victory went with thee1 warrior1 said ,liban4 ,we saw thee3 it was wonderful4 ,how the seven splendors flashed and the fiery stars roved around you and scattered the demons6 ,oh1 do not let your powers sink in sleep again1 broke forth ,fand4 ,what are the triumphs of earthly battles to victories like these8 ,what is rule over a thousand warriors to kingship over the skyey hosts8 ,of what power are spear and arrow beside the radiant sling of ,lu8 ,do the war-songs of the ,ultonians inspire thee ever like the terrible chant of fire8 ,after freedom can you dwell in these gloomy duns8 ,what are the princeliest of them beside the fiery halls of ,tir-na-noge and the flame-built cities of the ,gods8 ,as for me1 ,i would dwell where the great ones of ancient days have gone1 and worship at the shrine of the silent and unutterable ,awe4 ,i would go indeed1 said ,cuchullain2 but still--but still--3 it is hard to leave the green plains of ,murthemney1 and the ,ultonians who have fought by my side1 and ,laeg1 and-- ,laeg can come with us4 ,nor need ,conchobar1 or ,fergus or ,conail be forgotten4 ,far better can you aid them with ,druid power than with the right arm a blow may make powerless in battle4 ,go with ,laeg to ,iban-,cind-,trachta4 ,beside the yew-tree there is a dun4 ,there you can live hidden from all4 ,it is a place kept sacred by the might of the ,sidhe4 ,i will join you there4 ,a month passed4 ,in a chamber of the ,dun the ,yew-tree1 ,fand1 ,cuchullain and ,laeg were at night4 ,the two latter sat by an oaken table and tried by divination to peer into the future4 ,fand1 withdrawn in the dark shadow of a recess1 lay on a couch and looked on4 ,many thoughts went passing through her mind4 ,now the old passion of love would rise in her heart to be quenched by a weary feeling of futility1 and then a half-contempt would curl her lips as she saw the eagerness of her associates4 ,other memories surged up4 ,oh1 ,mannanan1 ,father-,self1 if thou hadst not left me and my heart had not turned away6 ,it was not a dream when ,i met thee and we entered the ,ocean of ,fire together4 ,our beauty encompassed the world4 ,radiant as ,lu thy brother of the ,sun we were4 ,far away as the dawn seems the time4 ,how beautiful1 too1 was that other whose image in the hero enslaves my heart4 ,oh1 that he would but know himself1 and learn that on this path the greatest is the only risk worth taking6 ,and now he holds back the charioteer also and does him wrong4 ,just then something caused her to look up4 ,she cried out1 ,laeg1 ,laeg1 do you see anything8 ,what is it8 said ,laeg4 ,then he also looked and started4 ,gods6 he murmured4 ,emer6 ,i would rather face a tempest of ,formorian enchanters4 ,do you not see8 repeated ,fand scornfully4 ,it is ,emer the daughter of ,forgall4 ,has she also become one of the ,sidhe that she journeys thus8 ,she comes in dream1 said ,laeg4 ,why do you intrude upon our seclusion here8 ,you know my anger is no slight thing1 broke out ,cuchullain1 in ready wrath hiding his confusion4 ,the shadow of ,emer turned1 throwing back the long1 fair hair from her face the better to see him4 ,there was no dread on it1 but only outraged womanly dignity4 ,she spake and her voice seemed to flow from a passionate heart far away brooding in sorrowful loneliness4 ,why do ,i come8 ,has thou not degraded me before all the maidens of ,eri by forsaking me for a woman of the ,sidhe without a cause8 ,you ask why ,i come when every one of the ,ultonians looks at me in questioning doubt and wonder6 ,but ,i see you have found a more beautiful partner4 ,we came hither1 ,laeg and ,i1 to learn the lore of the ,sidhe4 ,why should you not leave me here for a time1 ,emer8 ,this maiden is of wondrous magical power3 she is a princess in her own land1 and is as pure and chaste to this hour as you4 ,i see indeed she is more beautiful than ,i am4 ,that is why you are drawn away4 ,her face has not grown familiar4 ,everything that is new or strange you follow4 ,the passing cheeks are ruddier than the pale face which has shared your troubles4 ,what you know is weariness1 and you leave it to learn what you do not know4 ,the ,ultonians falter while you are absent from duty in battle and council1 and ,i1 whom you brought with sweet words when half a child from my home1 am left alone4 ,oh1 ,cuchullain1 beloved1 ,i was once dear to thee1 and if today or tomorrow were our first meeting ,i should be so again4 ,a torrent of self-reproach and returning love overwhelmed him4 ,i swear to you1 he said brokenly1 through fast-flowing tears1 you are immortally dear to me1 ,emer4 ,then you leave me1 burst forth ,fand1 rising to her full height1 her dark1 bright eyes filled with a sudden fire1 an image of mystic indignation and shame4 ,if indeed1 said ,emer softly1 joy and love and beauty are more among the ,sidhe than where we dwell in ,eri1 then it were better for thee to remain4 ,no1 he shall not now1 said ,fand passionately4 ,it is ,i whom he shall leave4 ,i long foresaw this moment1 but ran against fate like a child4 ,go1 warrior1 ,cu2 tear this love out of thy heart as ,i out of mine4 ,go1 ,laeg1 ,i will not forget thee4 ,thou alone hast thought about these things truly4 ,but now--,i cannot speak4 ,she flung herself upon the couch in the dark shadow and hid her face away from them4 ,the pale phantom wavered and faded away1 going to one who awoke from sleep with a happiness she could not understand4 ,cuchullain and ,laeg passed out silently into the night4 ,at the door of the dun a voice they knew not spake3 ,so1 warrior1 you return4 ,it is well4 ,not yet for thee is the brotherhood of the ,sidhe1 and thy destiny and ,fand's lie far apart4 ,thine is not so great but it will be greater1 in ages yet to come1 in other lands1 among other peoples1 when the battle fury in thee shall have turned to wisdom and anger to compassion4 ,nations that lie hidden in the womb of time shall hail thee as friend1 deliverer and saviour4 ,go and forget what has passed4 ,this also thou shalt forget4 ,it will not linger in thy mind2 but in thy heart shall remain the memory and it will urge thee to nobler deeds4 ,farewell1 warrior1 saviour that is to be6 ,as the two went along the moon lit shore mighty forms followed1 and there was a waving of awful hands over them to blot out memory4 ,in the room where ,fand lay with mad beating heart tearing itself in remorse1 there was one watching with divine pity4 ,mannanan1 the ,golden ,glory1 the ,self of the ,sun4 ,weep not1 ,o shadow2 thy days of passion and pain are over4 breathed the ,pity in her breast4 ,rise up1 ,o ,ray1 from thy sepulchre of forgetfulness4 ,spirit come forth to they ancient and immemorial home4 ,she rose up and stood erect4 ,as the ,mantle of ,mannanan enfolded her1 no human words could tell the love1 the exultation1 the pathos1 the wild passion of surrender1 the music of divine and human life interblending4 ,faintly we echo--like this spake the ,shadow and like this the ,glory4 ,the ,shadow ,who art thou1 ,o ,glory1 ,in flame from the deep1 ,where stars chant their story1 ,why trouble my sleep8 ,i hardly had rested1 ,my dreams wither now3 ,why comest thou crested ,and gemmed on they brow8 ,the ,glory ,up1 ,shadow1 and follow ,the way ,i will show2 ,the blue gleaming hollow ,to-night we will know1 ,and rise mid the vast to ,the fountain of days2 ,from whence we had pass to ,the parting of ways4 ,the ,shadow ,i know thee1 ,o ,glory3 ,thine eyes and thy brow ,with white fire all hoary ,come back to me now4 ,together we wandered ,in ages agone2 ,our thoughts as we pondered ,were stars at the dawn4 ,the glory has dwindled1 ,my azure and gold3 ,yet you keep enkindled ,the ,sun-fire of old4 ,my footsteps are tied to ,the heath and the stone2 ,my thoughts earth-allied-to-- ,ah6 leave me alone4 ,go back1 thou of gladness1 ,nor wound me with pain1 ,nor spite me with madness1 ,nor come nigh again4 ,the ,glory ,why tremble and weep now1 ,whom stars once obeyed8 ,come forth to the deep now ,and be not afraid4 ,the ,dark ,one is calling1 ,i know1 for his dreams ,around me are falling ,in musical streams4 ,a diamond is burning ,in depths of the ,lone ,thy spirit returning ,may claim for its throne4 ,in flame-fringed islands ,its sorrows shall cease1 ,absorbed in the silence ,and quenched in the peace4 ,come lay thy poor head on ,my breast where it glows ,with love ruby-red on ,thy heart for its woes4 ,my power ,i surrender3 ,to thee it is due3 ,come forth1 for the splendor ,is waiting for you4 --,the ,end --,november #ae1 #ahie-,march #ae1 #ahif ,shadow and ,substance ,many are the voices that entreat and warn those who would live the life of the ,magi4 ,it is well they should speak4 ,they are voices of the wise4 ,but after having listened and pondered1 oh1 that someone would arise and shout into our souls how much more fatal it is to refrain4 ,for we miss to hear the fairy tale of time1 the aeonian chant radiant with light and color which the spirit prolongs4 ,the warnings are not for those who stay at home1 but for those who adventure abroad4 ,they constitute an invitation to enter the mysteries4 ,we study and think these things were well in the happy prime and will be again the years to come4 ,but not yesterday only or tomorrow--today1 today burns in the heart the fire which made mighty the heroes of old4 ,and in what future will be born the powers which are not quick in the present8 ,it will never be a matter of greater ease to enter the path1 though we may well have the stimulus of greater despair4 ,for this and that there are times and seasons1 but for the highest it is always the hour4 ,the eternal beauty does not pale because its shadow trails over slime and corruption4 ,it is always present beneath the faded mould whereon our lives are spent4 ,still the old mysterious glimmer from mountain and cave allures1 and the golden gleams divide and descend on us from the haunts of the ,gods4 ,the dark age is our darkness and not the darkness of life4 ,it is not well for us who in the beginning came forth with the wonder-light about us1 that it should have turned in us to darkness1 the song of life be dumb4 ,we close our eyes from the many-coloured mirage of day1 and are alone soundless and sightless in the unillumined cell of the brain4 ,but there are thoughts that shine1 impulses born of fire4 ,still there are moments when the prison world reels away a distant shadow1 and the inner chamber of clay fills full with fiery visions4 ,we choose from the traditions of the past some symbol of our greatness1 and seem again the ,titans or ,morning ,stars of the prime4 ,in this self-conception lies the secret of life1 the way of escape and return4 ,we have imagined ourselves into forgetfulness1 into darkness1 into feebleness4 ,from this strange and pitiful dream of life1 oh1 that we may awaken and know ourselves once again4 ,but the student too often turns to books1 to the words sent back to him1 forgetful that the best of scriptures do no more than stand as symbols4 ,we hear too much of study1 as if the wisdom of life and ethics could be learned like ritual1 and of their application to this and that ephemeral pursuit4 ,but from the ,golden ,one1 the child of the divine1 comes a voice to its shadow4 ,it is stranger to our world1 aloof from our ambitions1 with a destiny not here to be fulfilled4 ,it says3 ,you are of dust while ,i am robed in opalescent airs4 ,you dwell in houses of clay1 ,i in a temple not made by hands4 ,i will not go with thee1 but thou must come with me4 ,and not alone is the form of the divine aloof but the spirit behind the form4 ,it is called the ,goal truly1 but it has no ending4 ,it is the ,comforter1 but it waves away our joys and hopes like the angel with the flaming sword4 ,though it is the ,resting-place1 it stirs to all heroic strife1 to outgoing1 to conquest4 ,it is the ,friend indeed1 but it will not yield to our desires4 ,is it this strange1 unfathomable self we think to know1 and awaken to1 by what is written1 or by study of it as so many planes of consciousness4 ,but in vain we store the upper chambers of the mind with such quaint furniture of thought4 ,no archangel makes his abode therein4 ,they abide only in the shining4 ,how different from academic psychology of the past1 with its dry enumeration of faculties1 reason1 cognition and so forth1 is the burning thing we know4 ,we revolted from that1 but we must take care lest we teach in another way a catalogue of things equally unliving to us4 ,the plain truth is1 that after having learned what is taught about the hierarchies and various spheres1 many of us are still in this world exactly where we were before4 ,if we speak our laboriously-acquired information we are listened to in amazement4 ,it sounds so learned1 so intellectual1 there must need be applause4 ,but by-and-by someone comes with quiet voice1 who without pretence speaks of the soul and uses familiar words1 and the listeners drink deep1 and pay the applause of silence and long remembrance and sustained after-endeavor4 ,our failure lies in this1 we would use the powers of soul and we have not yet become the soul4 ,none but the wise one himself could bend the bow of ,ulysses4 ,we cannot communicate more of the true than we ourselves know4 ,it is better to have a little knowledge and know that little than to have only hearsay of myriads of ,gods4 ,so ,i say1 lay down your books for a while and try the magic of thought4 ,what a man thinks1 that he is2 that is the old secret4 ,i utter1 ,i know1 but a partial voice of the soul with many needs4 ,but ,i say1 forget for a while that you are student1 forget your name and time4 ,think of yourself within as the titan1 the ,demi-god1 the flaming hero with the form of beauty1 the heart of love4 ,and of those divine spheres forget the nomenclature2 think rather of them as the places of a great childhood you now return to1 these homes no longer ours4 ,in some moment of more complete imagination the thought-born may go forth and look on the olden ,beauty4 ,so it was in the mysteries long ago and may well be today4 ,the poor dead shadow was laid to sleep in forgotten darkness1 as the fiery power1 mounting from heart to head1 went forth in radiance4 ,not then did it rest1 nor ought we4 ,the dim worlds dropped behind it1 the lights of earth disappeared as it neared the heights of the ,immortals4 ,there was ,one seated on a throne1 ,one dark and bright with ethereal glory4 ,i arose in greeting4 ,the radiant figure laid its head against the breast which grew suddenly golden1 and father and son vanished in that which has no place nor name4 --,january #ae1 #ahif ,on ,w4 ,q4 ,judge's ,passing ,it is with no feeling of sadness that ,i think of this withdrawal4 ,he would not have wished for that4 ,but with a faltering hand ,i try to express one of many incommunicable thoughts about the hero who has departed4 ,long before ,i met him1 before even written words of his had been read1 his name like an incantation stirred and summoned forth some secret spiritual impulse in my heart4 ,it was no surface tie which bound us to him4 ,no one ever tried less than he to gain from men that adherence which comes from impressive manner4 ,i hardly thought what he was while he spoke2 but on departing ,i found my heart1 wiser than my brain1 had given itself away to him2 an inner exaltation lasting for months witnessed his power4 ,it was in that memorable convention in ,london two years ago that ,i first glimpsed his real greatness4 ,as he sat there quietly1 one among many1 not speaking a word1 ,i was overcome by a sense of spiritual dilation1 of unconquerable will about him1 and that one figure with the grey head became all the room to me4 ,shall ,i not say the truth ,i think8 ,here was a hero out of the remote1 antique1 giant ages come among us1 wearing but on the surface the vesture of our little day4 ,we1 too1 came out of that past1 but in forgetfulness2 he with memory and power soon regained4 ,to him and to one other we owe an unspeakable gratitude for faith and hope and knowledge born again4 ,we may say now1 using words of his early years3 ,even in hell ,i lift up my eyes to those who are beyond me and do not deny them4 ,ah1 hero1 we know you would have stayed with us if it were possible2 but fires have been kindled that shall not soon fade1 fires that shall be bright when you again return4 ,i feel no sadness1 knowing there are no farewells in the ,true3 to whosoever has touched on that real being there is comradeship with all the great and wise of time4 ,that he will again return we need not doubt4 ,his ideals were those which are attained only by the ,saviours and ,deliverers of nations4 ,when or where he may appear ,i know not1 but ,i foresee the coming when our need invokes him4 ,light of the future aeons1 ,i hail1 ,i hail to thee6 --,april #ae1 #ahif ,self-,reliance ,perhaps it is now while we are in a state of transition1 when old leaders have gone out of sight and the new ones have not yet taken their place in the van1 that we ought to consider what we are in ourselves4 ,some questions we ought to ask ourselves about this movement3 where its foundations were laid8 what the links are8 where is the fountain of force8 what are the doors8 ,you answer the first and you say ,america1 or you say ,india4 ,but if that old doctrine of emanations be true it was not on earth but in the heavenworld where our minds immortal are linked together4 ,there it was born and well born1 and grew downwards into earth1 and all our hopes and efforts and achievements here but vaguely reflect what was true and perfect in intent above1 a compact of many hearts to save the generations wandering to their doom4 ,wiser1 stronger1 mightier than we were those who shielded us in the first years2 who went about among us renewing memory1 whispering in our hearts the message of the meaning of life1 recalling the immemorial endeavor of the spirit for freedom1 knowledge1 mastery4 ,but it is our movement and not the movement of the ,masters only4 ,it is our own work we are carrying on2 our own primal will we are trying to give effect to4 ,well may the kingly sages depart from bodies which were torment and pain to them4 ,they took them on for our sakes1 and we may wave them a grateful farewell below and think of the spheres invisible as so much richer by their presence1 more to be longed for1 more to be attained4 ,i think indeed they are nearer heart and mind there than here4 ,what is real in us can lose no brotherhood with such as they through death4 ,still flash the lights from soul to soul in ceaseless radiance1 in endless begetting of energy1 thought and will1 in endless return of joy and love and hope4 ,i would rather hear one word of theirs in my heart than a thousand in my ears4 ,i would rather think of my guide and captain as embodied in the flame than in the clay4 ,although we may gaze on the grave1 kindly face living no more1 there can be no cessation of the magic influence1 the breath of fire1 which flowed aforetime from the soul to us4 ,we feel in our profoundest hearts that he whom they call dead is living1 is alive for evermore4 ,he has earned his rest1 a deep rest1 if indeed such as he cease from labor4 ,as for us1 we may go our ways assured that the links are unbroken4 ,what did you think the links were8 ,that you knew some one who knew the ,masters8 ,such a presence and such a ,companion would indeed be an aid1 a link4 ,but ,i think where ever there is belief in our transcendent being1 in justice1 our spiritual unity and destiny1 wherever there is brotherhood1 there are unseen ties1 links1 shining cords1 influx from and unbroken communication with the divine4 ,so much we have in our own natures1 not enough to perfect us in the mysteries1 but always enough to light our path1 to show us our next step1 to give us strength for duty4 ,we should not always look outside for aid1 remembering that some time we must be able to stand alone4 ,let us not deny our own deeper being1 our obscured glory4 ,that we accepted these truths1 even as intuitions which we were unable intellectually to justify1 is proof that there is that within us which has been initiate in the past1 which lives in and knows well what in the shadowy world is but a hope4 ,there is part of ourselves whose progress we do not comprehend4 ,there are deeds done in unremembered dream1 and a deeper meditation in the further unrecorded silences of slumber4 ,downward from sphere to sphere the ,immortal works its way into the flesh1 and the soul has adventures in dream whose resultant wisdom is not lost because memory is lacking here4 ,yet enough has been said to give us the hint1 the clue to trace backwards the streams of force to their fount4 ,we wake in some dawn and there is morning also in our hearts1 a love1 a fiery vigor1 a magnetic sweetness in the blood4 ,could we track to its source this invigorating power1 we might perhaps find that as we fell asleep some olden memory had awakened in the soul1 or the ,master had called it forth1 or it was transformed by the wizard power of ,self and went forth to seek the ,holy ,place4 ,whether we have here a guide1 or whether we have not1 one thing is certain1 that behind and within the ,father worketh hitherto4 ,a warrior fights for us4 ,our thoughts tip the arrows of his quiver4 ,he wings them with flame and impels them with the ,holy ,breath4 ,they will not fail if we think clear4 ,what matters it if in the mist we do not see where they strike4 ,still they are of avail4 ,after a time the mists will arise and show a clear field2 the shining powers will salute us as victors4 ,i have no doubt about our future2 no doubt but that we will have a guide and an unbroken succession of guides4 ,but ,i think their task would be easier1 our way be less clouded with dejection and doubt1 if we placed our trust in no hierarchy of beings1 however august1 but in the ,law of which they are ministers4 ,their power1 though mighty1 ebbs and flows with contracting and expanding nature4 ,they1 like us1 are but children in the dense infinitudes4 ,something like this1 ,i think1 the ,wise ,ones would wish each one of us to speak3 ,o ,brotherhood of ,light1 though ,i long to be with you1 though it sustains me to think you are behind me1 though your aid made sure my path1 still1 if the ,law does not permit you to act for me today1 ,i trust in the ,one whose love a fiery breath never ceases2 ,i fall back on it with exultation3 ,i rely upon it joyfully4 ,was it not to point to that greater life that the elder brothers sent forth their messengers1 to tell us that it is on this we ought to rely1 to point us to grander thrones than they are seated on8 ,it is well to be prepared to face any chance with equal mind2 to meet the darkness with gay and defiant thought as to salute the ,light with reverence and love and joy4 ,but ,i have it in my heart that we are not deserted4 ,as the cycles went their upward way the heroic figures of the dawn reappear4 ,some have passed before us2 others in the same spirit and power will follow3 for the new day a rearisen sun and morning stars to herald it4 ,when it comes let it find us1 not drowsy after our night in time1 but awake1 prepared and ready to go forth from the house of sleep1 to stretch hands to the light1 to live and labor in joy1 having the ,gods for our guides and friends4 --,may #ae1 #ahif ,the ,mountains ,while we live within four walls we half insensibly lose something of our naturalness and comport ourselves as creatures of the civilization we belong to4 ,but we never really feel at home there1 though childhood may have wreathed round with tender memories old rooms and the quaint garden-places of happy unthinking hours4 ,there is a house1 a temple not built with hands2 perhaps we thought it a mere cabin when we first formed it1 and laid aside humbly many of our royal possessions as we entered1 for the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain all of our glory4 ,but now it seems vast enough1 and we feel more at home there1 and we find places which seem nearer of access to our first life4 ,such are the mountains4 ,as ,i lie here on the monstrous mould of the hillside covered with such delicate fringes of tiny green leaves1 ,i understand something of his longing who said3 ,i lift up mine eyes to the hills1 from whence cometh my aid4 ,oh1 but the air is sweet1 is sweet4 ,earth-breath1 what is it you whisper8 ,as ,i listen1 listen1 ,i know it is no whisper but a chant from profoundest deeps1 a voice hailing its great companions in the aether spaces1 but whose innumerable tones in their infinite modulations speak clear to us also in our littleness4 ,our lips are stilled with awe2 we dare not repeat what here we think4 ,these mountains are sacred in our ,celtic traditions4 ,haunt of the mysteries1 here the ,tuatha de ,danaans once had their home4 ,we sigh1 thinking of the vanished glory1 but look with hope for the fulfilment of the prophecy which the seer of another line left on record1 that once more the ,druid fires should blaze on these mountains4 ,as the purple amplitude of night enfold them1 already the dark mounds seem to throw up their sheeny illuminations2 great shadowy forms1 the shepherds of our race1 to throng and gather2 the many-coloured winds to roll their aerial tides hither and thither4 ,eri1 hearth and home of so many mystic races1 ,isle of ,destiny1 there shall yet return to thee the spiritual magic that thrilled thee long ago4 ,as we descend and go back to a life1 not the life we would will1 not the life we will have1 we think with sorrow of the pain1 the passion1 the partings1 through which our race will once more return to nature1 spirit and freedom4 ,we turned back mad from the mystic mountains ,all foamed with red and with faery gold2 ,up from the heart of the twilight's fountains ,the fires enchanted were starward rolled4 ,we turned back mad--we thought of the morrow1 ,the iron clang of the far-away town3 ,we could not weep in our bitter sorrow ,but joy as an arctic sun went down4 --,may #ae1 #ahif ,works and ,days ,when we were boys with what anxiety we watched for the rare smile on the master's face ere we preferred a request for some favor1 a holiday or early release4 ,there was wisdom in that4 ,as we grow up we act more or less consciously upon intuitions as to time and place4 ,my companion1 ,i shall not invite you to a merrymaking when a bitter moment befalls you and the flame of life sinks into ashes in your heart2 nor yet1 however true and trusted1 will ,i confide to you what inward revelations of the mysteries ,i may have while ,i sense in you a momentary outwardness4 ,the gifts of the heart are too sacred to be laid before a closed door4 ,your mood1 ,i know1 will pass1 and tomorrow we shall have this bond between us4 ,i wait1 for it can be said but once3 ,i cannot commune magically twice on the same theme with you4 ,i do not propose we should be opportunists1 nor lay down a formula2 but to be skillful in action we must work with and comprehend the ebb and flow of power4 ,mystery and gloom1 dark blue and starshine1 doubt and feebleness alternate with the clear and shining1 opal skies and sunglow1 heroic ardor and the exultation of power4 ,ever varying1 prismatic and fleeting1 the days go by and the secret of change eludes us here4 ,i bend the bow of thought at a mark and it is already gone4 ,i lay the shaft aside and while unprepared the quarry again fleets by4 ,we have to seek elsewhere for the source of that power which momentarily overflows into our world and transforms it with its enchantment4 ,on the motions of an inner sphere1 we are told1 all things here depend2 on spheres of the less evanescent which1 in their turn1 are enclosed in spheres of the real1 whose solemn chariot movements again are guided by the inflexible will of ,fire4 ,in all of these we have part4 ,this dim consciousness which burns in my brain is not all of myself4 ,behind me it widens out and upward into ,god4 ,i feel in some other world it shines with purer light3 in some sphere more divine than this it has a larger day and a deeper rest4 ,that day of the inner self illuminates many of our mortal days2 its night leaves many of them dark4 ,and so the ,one ,ray expanding lives in many vestures4 ,it is last of all the ,king-,self who wakes at the dawn of ages1 whose day is the day of ,brahma1 whose rest is his rest4 ,here is the clue to cyclic change1 to the individual feebleness and power1 the gloom of one epoch and the glory of another4 ,the ,bright ,fortnight1 the ,northern ,sun1 ,light and ,flame name the days of other spheres1 and wandering on from day to day man may at last reach the end of his journey4 ,you would pass from rapidly revolving day and night to where the mystical sunlight streams4 ,the way lies through yourself and the portals open as the inner day expands4 ,who is there who has not felt in some way or other the rhythmic recurrence of light within8 ,we were weary of life1 baffled1 ready to forswear endeavor1 when half insensibly a change comes over us2 we doubt no more but do joyfully our work2 we renew the sweet magical affinities with nature3 out of a heart more laden with love we think and act2 our meditations prolong themselves into the shining wonderful life of soul2 we tremble on the verge of the vast halls of the gods where their mighty speech may be heard1 their message of radiant will be seen4 ,they speak a universal language not for themselves only but for all4 ,what is poetry but a mingling of some tone of theirs with the sounds that below we utter8 ,what is love but a breath of their very being8 ,their every mood has colors beyond the rainbow2 every thought rings in far-heard melody4 ,so the gods speak to each other across the expanses of ethereal light1 breaking the divine silences with words which are deeds4 ,so1 too1 they speak to the soul4 ,mystics of all time have tried to express it1 likening it to peals of faery bells1 the singing of enchanted birds1 the clanging of silver cymbals1 the organ voices of wind and water bent together--but in vain1 in vain4 ,perhaps in this there is a danger1 for the true is realized in being and not in perception4 ,the gods are ourselves beyond the changes of time which harass and vex us here4 ,they do not demand adoration but an equal will to bind us consciously in unity with themselves4 ,the heresy of separateness cuts us asunder in these enraptured moments2 but when thrilled by the deepest breath1 when the silent1 unseen1 uncomprehended takes possession of thee1 think ,thou art ,that1 and something of thee will abide for ever in ,it4 ,all thought not based on this is a weaving of new bonds1 of illusions more difficult to break2 it begets only more passionate longing and pain4 ,still we must learn to know the hidden ways1 to use the luminous rivers for the commerce of thought4 ,our ,druid forefathers began their magical operations on the sixth day of the new moon1 taking the ,bright ,fortnight at its flood-time4 ,in these hours of expansion what we think has more force1 more freedom1 more electric and penetrating power4 ,we find too1 if we have co-workers1 that we draw from a common fountain1 the same impulse visits us and them4 ,what one possess all become possessed of2 and something of the same unity and harmony arises between us here as exists for all time between us in the worlds above4 ,while the currents circulate we are to see to it that they part from us no less pure than they came4 ,to this dawn of an inner day may in some measure be traced the sudden inspirations of movements1 such as we lately feel1 not all due to the abrupt descent into our midst of a new messenger1 for the elder ,brothers work with law and foresee when nature1 time1 and the awakening souls of men will aid them4 ,much may now be done4 ,on whosoever accepts1 acknowledges and does the will of the ,light in these awakenings the die and image of divinity is more firmly set1 his thought grows more consciously into the being of the presiding god4 ,yet not while seeking for ourselves can we lay hold of final truths1 for then what we perceive we retain but in thought and memory4 ,the ,highest is a motion1 a breath4 ,we become it only in the imparting4 ,it is in all1 for all and goes out to all4 ,it will not be restrained in a narrow basin1 but through the free-giver it freely flows4 ,there are throngs innumerable who await this gift4 ,can we let this most ancient light which again returns to us be felt by them only as a vague emotion1 a little peace of uncertain duration1 a passing sweetness of the heart8 ,can we not do something to allay the sorrow of the world8 ,my brothers1 the time of opportunity has come4 ,one day in the long-marshaled line of endless days has dawned for our race1 and the buried treasure-houses in the bosom of the deep have been opened to endow it with more light1 to fill it with more power4 ,the divine ascetics stand with torches lit before the temple of wisdom4 ,those who are nigh them have caught the fire and offer to us in turn to light the torch1 the blazing torch of soul4 ,let us accept the gift and pass it on1 pointing out the prime givers4 ,we shall see in time the eager races of men starting on their pilgrimage of return and facing the light4 ,so in the mystical past the call of light was seen on the sacred hills2 the rays were spread and gathered2 and returning with them the initiate-children were buried in the ,father-,flame4 --,june #ae1 #ahif ,the ,childhood of ,apollo ,it was long ago1 so long that only the spirit of earth remembers truly4 ,the old shepherd ,tithonius sat before the door of his hut waiting for his grandson to return4 ,he watched with drowsy eyes the eve gather1 and the woods and mountains grow dark over the isles-- the isles of ancient ,greece4 ,it was ,greece before its day of beauty1 and day was never lovelier4 ,the cloudy blossoms of smoke curling upward from the valley sparkled a while high up in the sunlit air1 a vague memorial of the world of men below4 ,from that too the colour vanished1 and those other lights began to shine which to some are the only lights of day4 ,the skies dropped close upon the mountains and the silver seas1 like a vast face brooding with intentness2 there was enchantment1 mystery1 and a living motion in its depths1 the presence of all-pervading ,zeus enfolding his starry children with the dark radiance of aether4 ,ah6 murmured the old man1 looking upward1 once it was living2 once it spoke to me4 ,it speaks not now1 but it speaks to others ,i know--to the child who looks and longs and trembles in the dewy night4 ,why does he linger now8 ,he is beyond his hour4 ,ah1 there now are his footsteps6 ,a boy came up the valley driving the grey flocks which tumbled before him in the darkness4 ,he lifted his young face for the shepherd to kiss4 ,it was alight with ecstasy4 ,tithonius looked at him with wonder4 ,a light golden and silvery rayed all about the him so that his delicate ethereal beauty seemed set in a star which followed his dancing footsteps4 ,how bright your eyes6 the old man said1 faltering with sudden awe4 ,why do your white limbs shine with moonfire light8 ,oh1 father1 said the boy ,apollo1 ,i am glad1 for everything is living tonight4 ,the evening is all a voice and many voices4 ,while the flocks were browsing night gathered about me3 ,i saw within it and it was living everywhere2 and all together1 the wind with dim- blown tresses1 odour1 incense and secret-falling dew1 mingled in one warm breath4 ,they whispered to me and called me ',child of the ,stars1' ',dew ,heart1' and ',soul of ,fire4' ,oh1 father1 as ,i came up the valley the voices followed me with song2 everything murmured love2 even the daffodils1 nodding in the olive gloom1 grew golden at my feet1 and a flower within my heart knew of the still sweet secret of the flowers4 ,listen1 listen6 ,there were voices in the night1 voices as of star-rays descending4 ,now the roof-tree of the midnight spreading ,buds in citron1 green1 and blue3 ,from afar its mystic odors shedding1 ,child1 on you4 ,then other sweet speakers from beneath the earth1 and from the distant waters and air followed in benediction1 and a last voice like a murmur from universal ,nature3 ,now the buried stars beneath the mountains ,and the vales their life renew1 ,jetting rainbow blooms from tiny fountains1 ,child1 for you4 ,as within our quiet waters passing ,sun and moon and stars we view1 ,so the loveliness of life is glassing1 ,child1 in you4 ,in the diamond air the sun-star glowing ,up its feathered radiance threw2 ,all the jewel glory there was flowing1 ,child1 for you4 ,and the fire divine in all things burning ,yearns for home and rest anew1 ,from its wanderings far again returning1 ,child1 to you4 ,oh1 voices1 voices1 cried the child1 what you say ,i know not1 but ,i ray back love for love4 ,father1 what is it they tell me8 ,they embosom me in light and ,i am far away even though ,i hold your hand4 ,the gods are about us4 ,heaven mingles with the earth1 said ,tithonius trembling4 ,let us go to ,diotima4 ,she has grown wise brooding for many a year where the great caves lead to the underworld4 ,she sees the bright ones as they pass by where she sits with shut eyes1 her drowsy lips murmuring as nature's self4 ,that night the island seemed no more earth set in sea1 but a music encircled by the silence4 ,the trees long rooted in antique slumber were throbbing with rich life2 through glimmering bark and drooping leaf a light fell on the old man and boy as they passed1 and vague figures nodded at them4 ,these were the hamadryad souls of the wood4 ,they were bathed in tender colours and shimmering lights draping them from root to leaf4 ,a murmur came from the heart of every one1 a low enchantment breathing joy and peace4 ,it grew and swelled until at last it seemed as if through a myriad pipes that ,pan the earth spirit was fluting his magical creative song4 ,they found the cave of ,diotima covered by vines and tangled strailers at the end of the island where the dark-green woodland rose up from the waters4 ,tithonius paused1 for he dreaded this mystic prophetess2 but a voice from within called them3 ,come in1 child of light2 come in1 old shepherd1 ,i know why you seek me6 ,they entered1 ,tithonius trembling with more fear than before4 ,a fire was blazing in a recess of the cavern and by it sat a majestic figure robed in purple4 ,she was bent forward1 her hand supporting her face1 her burning eyes turned on the intruders4 ,come hither1 child1 she said1 taking the boy by the hands and gazing into his face4 ,so this frail form is to be the home of the god4 ,the gods choose wisely4 ,they take no warrior wild1 no mighty hero to be their messenger to men1 but crown this gentle head4 ,tell me--you dream--have you ever seen a light from the sun falling upon you in your slumber8 ,no1 but look now2 look upward4 ,as she spoke she waved her hands over him1 and the cavern with its dusky roof seemed to melt away1 and beyond the heavens the heaven of heavens lay dark in pure tranquillity1 a quiet which was the very hush of being4 ,in an instant it vanished and over the zenith broke a wonderful light4 ,see now1 cried ,diotima1 the ,ancient ,beauty6 ,look how its petals expand and what comes forth from its heart6 ,a vast and glowing breath1 mutable and opalescent1 spread itself between heaven and earth1 and out of it slowly descended a radiant form like a god's4 ,it drew nigh radiating lights1 pure1 beautiful1 and starlike4 ,it stood for a moment by the child and placed its hand on his head1 and then it was gone4 ,the old shepherd fell upon his face in awe1 while the boy stood breathless and entranced4 ,go now1 said the ,sybil1 ,i can teach thee naught4 ,nature herself will adore you and sing through you her loveliest song4 ,but1 ah1 the light you hail in joy you shall impart in tears4 ,so from age to age the eternal ,beauty bows itself down amid sorrows that the children of men may not forget it1 that their anguish may be transformed smitten through by its fire4 --,november #ae1 #ahif ,the ,awakening of the ,fires ,when twilight flutters the mountains over ,the faery lights from the earth unfold1 ,and over the hills enchanted hover ,the giant heroes and gods of old3 ,the bird of aether its flaming pinions ,waves over earth the whole night long3 ,the stars drop down in their blue dominions ,to hymn together their choral song3 ,the child of earth in his heart grows burning ,mad for the night and the deep unknown2 ,his alien flame in a dream returning ,seats itself on the ancient throne4 ,when twilight over the mountains fluttered ,and night with its starry millions came1 ,i too had dreams2 the thoughts ,i have uttered4 ,come from my heart that was touched by the flame ,i thought over the attempts made time after time to gain our freedom2 how failure had followed failure until at last it seemed that we must write over hero and chieftain of our cause the memorial spoken of the warriors of old1 ,they went forth to the battle but they always fell2 and it seemed to me that these efforts resulted in failure because the ideals put forward were not in the plan of nature for us2 that it was not in our destiny that we should attempt a civilization like that of other lands4 ,though the cry of nationality rings for ever in our ears1 the word here has embodied to most no other hope than this1 that we should when free be able to enter with more energy upon pursuits already adopted by the people of other countries4 ,our leaders have erected no nobler standard than theirs1 and we who1 as a race1 are the forlorn hope of idealism in ,europe1 sink day by day into apathy and forget what a past was ours and what a destiny awaits us if we will but rise responsive to it4 ,though so old in tradition this ,ireland of today is a child among the nations of the world2 and what a child1 and with what a strain of genius in it6 ,there is all the superstition1 the timidity and lack of judgment1 the unthought recklessness of childhood1 but combined with what generosity and devotion1 and what an unfathomable love for its heroes4 ,who can forget that memorable day when its last great chief was laid to rest8 ,he was not the prophet of our spiritual future2 he was not the hero of our highest ideals2 but he was the only hero we knew4 ,the very air was penetrated with the sobbing and passion of unutterable regret4 ,ah1 ,eri1 in other lands there is strength and mind and the massive culmination of ordered power1 but in thee alone is there such love as the big heart of childhood can feel4 ,it is this which maketh all thy exiles turn with longing thoughts to thee4 ,before trying her to indicate a direction for the future1 guessed from brooding on the far past and by touching on the secret springs in the heart of the present1 it may make that future seem easier of access if ,i point out what we have escaped and also show that we have already a freedom which1 though but half recognized1 is yet our most precious heritage4 ,we are not yet involved in a social knot which only red revolution can sever3 our humanity1 the ancient gift of nature to us1 is still fresh in our veins3 our force is not merely the reverberation of a past1 an inevitable momentum started in the long ago1 but is free for newer life to do what we will with in the coming time4 ,i know there are some who regret this1 who associate national greatness with the whirr and buzz of many wheels1 the smoke of factories and with large dividends2 and others1 again1 who wish that our simple minds were illuminated by the culture and wisdom of our neighbours4 ,but ,i raise the standard of idealism1 to try everything by it1 every custom1 every thought before we make it our own1 and every sentiment before it finds a place in our hearts4 ,are these conditions1 social and mental1 which some would have us strive for really so admirable as we are assured they are8 ,are they worth having at all8 ,what of the heroic best of man2 how does that show8 ,his spirituality1 beauty and tenderness1 are these fostered in the civilizations of today8 ,i say if questions like these bearing upon that inner life wherein is the real greatness of nations cannot be answered satisfactorily1 that it is our duty to maintain our struggle1 to remain aloof1 lest by accepting a delusive prosperity we shut ourselves from our primitive sources of power4 ,for this spirit of the modern1 with which we are so little in touch1 is one which tends to lead man further and further from nature4 ,she is no more to him the ,great ,mother so reverently named long ago1 but merely an adjunct to his life1 the distant supplier of his needs4 ,what to the average dweller in cities are stars and skies and mountains8 ,they pay no dividends to him1 no wages4 ,why should he care about them indeed4 ,and no longer concerning himself about nature what wonder is it that nature ebbs out of him4 ,she has her revenge1 for from whatever standpoint of idealism considered the average man shows but of pigmy stature4 ,for him there is no before or after4 ,in his material life he has forgotten or never heard of the heroic traditions of his race1 their aspirations to godlike state4 ,one wonders what will happen to him when death ushers him out from the great visible life to the loneliness amid the stars4 ,to what hearth or home shall he flee who never raised the veil of nature while living1 nor saw it waver tremulous with the hidden glory before his eyes8 ,the ,holy ,breath from the past communes no more with him1 and if he is oblivious of these things1 though a thousand workman call him master1 within he is bankrupt1 his effects sequestered1 a poor shadow1 an outcast from the ,kingdom of ,light4 ,we see too1 that as age after age passes and teems only with the commonplace1 that those who are the poets and teachers falter and lose faith3 they utter no more of man the divine things the poets said of old4 ,perhaps the sheer respectability of the people they address deters them from making statements which in some respects might be considered libelous4 ,but from whatever cause1 from lack of heart or lack of faith1 they have no real inspiration4 ,the literature of ,europe has had but little influence on the ,celt in this isle4 ,its philosophies and revolutionary ideas have stayed their waves at his coast3 they had no message of interpretation for him1 no potent electric thought to light up the mystery of his nature4 ,for the mystery of the ,celt is the mystery of ,amergin the ,druid4 ,all nature speaks through him4 ,he is her darling1 the confidant of her secrets4 ,her mountains have been more to him than a feeling4 ,she has revealed them to him as the home of her brighter children1 her heroes become immortal4 ,for him her streams ripple with magical life and the light of day was once filled with more aerial rainbow wonder4 ,though thousands of years have passed since this mysterious ,druid land was at its noonday1 and long centuries have rolled by since the weeping seers saw the lights vanish from mountain and valley1 still this alliance of the soul of man and the soul of nature more or less manifestly characterizes the people of this isle4 ,the thought produced in and for complex civilizations is not pregnant enough with the vast for them1 is not enough thrilled through by that impalpable breathing from another nature4 ,we have had but little native literature here worth the name until of late years1 and that not yet popularized1 but during all these centuries the ,celt has kept in his heart some affinity with the mighty beings ruling in the unseen1 once so evident to the heroic races who preceded him4 ,his legends and faery tales have connected his soul with the inner lives of air and water and earth1 and they in turn have kept his heart sweet with hidden influence4 ,it would make one feel sad to think that all that beautiful folklore is fading slowly from the memory that held it so long1 were it not for the belief that the watchful powers who fostered its continuance relax their care because the night with beautiful dreams and deeds done only in fancy is passing3 the day is coming with the beautiful real1 with heroes and heroic deeds4 ,it may not be well to prophecy1 but it is always permissible to speak of our hopes4 ,if day but copies day may we not hope for ,ireland1 after its long cycle of night1 such another glory as lightened it of old1 which tradition paints in such mystic colours8 ,what was the mysterious glamour of the ,druid age8 ,what meant the fires on the mountains1 the rainbow glow of air1 the magic life in water and earth1 but that the ,radiance of ,deity was shining through our shadowy world1 that it mingled with and was perceived along with the forms we know4 ,there it threw up its fountains of life- giving fire1 the faery fountains of story1 and the children of earth breathing that rich life felt the flush of an immortal vigour within them2 and so nourished sprang into being the ,danaan races1 men who made themselves gods by will and that magical breath4 ,rulers of earth and air and fire1 their memory looms titanic in the cloud stories of our dawn1 and as we think of that splendid strength of the past something leaps up in the heart to confirm it true for all the wonder of it4 ,this idea of man's expansion into divinity1 which is in the highest teaching of every race1 is one which shone like a star at the dawn of our ,celtic history also4 ,hero after hero is called away by a voice ringing out of the land of eternal youth1 which is but a name for the soul of earth1 the enchantress and mother of all4 ,there as guardians of the race they shed their influence on the isle2 from them sprang all that was best and noblest in our past1 and let no one think but that it was noble4 ,leaving aside that mystic sense of union with another world and looking only at the tales of battle1 when we read of heroes whose knightly vows forbade the use of stratagem in war1 and all but the equal strife with equals in opportunity2 when we hear of the reverence for truth among the ,fianna1 ,we the ,fianna of ,erin never lied1 falsehood was never attributed to us--a reverence for truth carried so far that they could not believe their foemen even could speak falsely--,i say that in these days when our public life is filled with slander and unworthy imputation1 we might do worse than turn back to that ideal ,paganism of the past1 and learn some lessons of noble trust1 and this truth that greatness of soul alone insures final victory to us who live and move and have our being in the life of ,god4 ,in hoping for such another day ,i do not of course mean the renewal of the ancient order1 but rather look for the return of the same light which was manifest in the past4 ,for so the eternal ,beauty brings itself to the memory of man from time to time brooding over nations1 as in the early ,aryan heart1 suffusing life and thought with the sun-sense of pervading ,deity1 or as in ,greece where its myriad rays1 each an intuition of loveliness1 descended and dwelt not only in poet1 sage and sculptor1 but in the general being of the people4 ,what has been called the ,celtic renaissance in literature is one of the least of the signs4 ,of far more significance is the number of strange1 dreamy children one meets1 whose hearts are in the elsewhere1 and young people who love to brood on the past1 ,i speak of which is all the world to them4 ,the present has no voice to interpret their dreams and visions1 the enraptured solitude by mountain or shore1 or what they feel when they lie close pressed to the bosom of the earth1 mad with the longing for old joys1 the fiery communion of spirit with spirit1 which was once the privilege of man4 ,these some voice1 not proclaiming an arid political propaganda1 may recall into the actual3 some ideal of heroic life may bring them to the service of their kind1 and none can serve the world better than those who from mighty dreams turn exultant to their realisation3 who bring to labour the love1 the courage1 the unfailing hope1 which they only possess who have gone into the hidden nature and found it sweet at heart4 ,so this ,isle1 once called the ,sacred ,isle and also the ,isle of ,destiny1 may find a destiny worthy of fulfilment3 not to be a petty peasant republic1 nor a miniature duplicate in life and aims of great material empires1 but that its children out of their faith1 which has never failed may realise this imemorial truth of man's inmost divinity1 and in expressing it may ray the light over every land4 ,now1 although a great literature and great thought may be part of our future1 it ought not to be the essential part of our ideal4 ,as in our past the bards gave way before the heroes1 so in any national ideal worthy the name1 all must give way in its hopes1 wealth1 literature1 art1 everything before manhood itself4 ,if our humanity fails us or become degraded1 of what value are the rest8 ,what use would it be to you or to me if our ships sailed on every sea and our wealth rivaled the antique ,ind1 if we ourselves were unchanged1 had no more kingly consciousness of life1 nor that overtopping grandeur of soul indifferent whether it dwells in a palace or a cottage8 ,if this be not clear to the intuition1 there is the experience of the world and the example of many nations4 ,let us take the highest1 and consider what have a thousand years of empire brought to ,england4 ,wealth without parallel1 but at what expense6 ,the lover of his kind must feel as if a knife were entering his heart when he looks at those black centres of boasted prosperity1 at factory1 smoke and mine1 the arid life and spiritual death4 ,do you call those miserable myriads a humanity8 ,we look at those people in despair and pity4 ,where is the ancient image of divinity in man's face3 where in man's heart the prompting of the divine8 ,there is nothing but a ceaseless energy without2 a night terrible as hell within4 ,is this the only way for us as a people8 ,is nature to be lost2 beauty to be swallowed up8 ,the crown and sceptre were taken from us in the past1 our path has been strewn with sorrows1 but the spirit shall not be taken until it becomes as clay1 and man forgets that he was born in the divine1 and hears no more the call of the great deep in his heart as he bows himself to the dust in his bitter labours4 ,it maddens to think it should be for ever thus1 with us and with them1 and that man the immortal1 man the divine1 should sink deeper and deeper into night and ignorance1 and know no more of himself than glimmers upon him in the wearied intervals of long routine4 ,here we have this hope that nature appeals with her old glamour to many1 and there is still the ancient love for the hero4 ,in a land where so many well nigh hopeless causes have found faithful adherents1 where there has been so much devotion and sacrifice1 where poverty has made itself poorer still for the sake of leader and cause1 may we not hope that when an appeal is made to the people to follow still higher ideals1 that they will set aside the lower for the higher1 that they will not relegate idealism to the poets only1 but that it will dwell in the public as the private heart and make impossible any nations' undertaking inconsistent with the dignity and beauty of life8 ,to me it seems that here the task of teacher and writer is above all to present images and ideals of divine manhood to the people whose real gods have always been their heroes4 ,these titan figures1 ,cuculain1 ,finn1 ,oscar1 ,oisin1 ,caolte1 all a mixed gentleness and fire1 have commanded for generations that spontaneous love which is the only true worship paid by men4 ,it is because of this profound and long- enduring love for the heroes1 which must be considered as forecasting the future1 that ,i declare the true ideal and destiny of the ,celt in this island to be the begetting of humanity whose desires and visions shall rise above earth illimitable into godlike nature1 who shall renew for the world the hope1 the beauty1 the magic1 the wonder which will draw the buried stars which are the souls of men to their native firmament of spiritual light and elemental power4 ,for the hero with us there is ample scope and need4 ,there are the spectres of ignoble hopes1 the lethal influences of a huge material civilisation wafted to us from over seas1 which must be laid4 ,oh1 that a protest might be made ere it becomes more difficult1 ere this wild1 beautiful land of ours be viewed only as a lure to draw money from the cockney tourist1 and the immemorial traditions around our sacred hills be of value only to advertise the last hotel4 ,yet to avert the perils arising from external causes is but a slight task compared with the overcoming of obstacles already existent within4 ,there is one which must be removed at whatever cost1 though the hero may well become the martyr in the attempt4 ,it is a difficulty which has its strength from one of the very virtues of the people1 their reverence for religion4 ,this in itself is altogether well4 ,but it is not well when the nature of that religion enables its priests to sway men from their natural choice of hero and cause by the threat of spiritual terrors4 ,i say that where this takes place to any great extent1 as it has with us1 it is not a land a freeman can think of with pride4 ,it is not a place where the lover of freedom can rest1 but he must spend sleepless nights1 must brood1 must scheme1 must wait to strike a blow4 ,to the thought of freedom it must be said to our shame none of the nobler meaning attaches here4 ,freedom to speak what hopes and ideals we may have2 to act openly for what cause we will2 to allow that freedom to others--that liberty is denied4 ,there are but too many places where to differ openly from the priest in politics is to provoke a brawl1 where to speak as here with the fearlessness of print would be to endanger life4 ,with what scorn one hears the aspiration from public freedom from lips that are closed with the dread by their own hearthside6 ,let freedom arise where first it is possible in the hearts of men1 in their thoughts1 in speech between one and another1 and then the gods may not deem us unworthy of the further sway of our national life4 ,i would that some of the defiant spirit of the old warrior brood were here1 not indeed to provoke strife between man and man1 or race and race1 but rather that we might be fearless in the spirit of one who said ,i do not war against flesh and blood1 but against principalities and powers--and against influences which fetter progress1 against an iron materialism where the beauty of life perishes1 let us revolt1 let us war for ever4 ,but with all this ,i1 like others who have narrowly watched the signs of awakening life1 do not doubt but that these things will pass as greater potencies throng in and impel to action4 ,already the rush of the earth-breath begins to fill with elation our island race and uplift them with the sense of power2 and through the power sometimes flashes the glory1 the spiritual radiance which will be ours hereafter1 if old prophecy can be trusted and our hearts prompt us true4 ,here and there some rapt dreamer more inward than the rest sees that ,tir-na-noge was no fable1 but is still around him with all its mystic beauty for ever4 ,the green hills grow alive with the star-children fleeting1 flashing on their twilight errands from gods to men4 ,when the heart opens to receive them and the ties which bind us to unseen nature are felt our day will begin and the fires awaken1 our isle will be the ,sacred ,island once again and our great ones the light-givers to humanity1 not voicing new things1 but only of the old1 old truths one more affirmation2 for what is all wisdom1 wherever uttered1 whether in time past or today1 but the ,one ,life1 the ,one ,breath1 chanting its innumerable tones of thought and joy and love in the heart of man1 one voice throughout myriad years whose message eterne is this--you are by your nature immortal1 and you may be1 if you will it1 divine4 --,jan4 #ae1 ,feb4 #ae1 #ahig ,our ,secret ,ties ,our deepest life is when we are alone4 ,we think most truly1 love best1 when isolated from the outer world in that mystic abyss we call soul4 ,nothing external can equal the fulness of these moments4 ,we may sit in the blue twilight with a friend1 or bend together by the hearth1 half whispering1 or in a silence populous with loving thoughts mutually understood2 then we may feel happy and at peace1 but it is only because we are lulled by a semblance to deeper intimacies4 ,when we think of a friend1 and the loved one draws nigh1 we sometimes feel half-pained1 for we touched something in our solitude which the living presence shut out2 we seem more apart1 and would fain cry out--,only in my deep heart ,i love you1 sweetest heart2 call me not forth from this2 ,i am no more a spirit if ,i leave my throne4 ,but these moods1 though lit up by intuitions of the true1 are too partial1 they belong too much to the twilight of the heart1 they have too dreamy a temper to serve us well in life4 ,we should wish rather for our thoughts a directness such as belongs to the messengers of the gods1 swift1 beautiful1 flashing presences bent on purposes well understood4 ,what we need is that this interior tenderness shall be elevated into seership1 that what in most is only yearning or blind love shall see clearly its way and hope and aim4 ,to this end we have to observe more intently the nature of the interior life4 ,we find1 indeed1 that it is not a solitude at all1 but dense with multitudinous being3 instead of being alone we are in the thronged highways of existence4 ,for our guidance when entering here many words of warning have been uttered1 laws have been outlined1 and beings full of wonder1 terror1 and beauty described4 ,yet there is a spirit in us deeper than our intellectual being which ,i think of as the ,hero in man1 who feels the nobility of its place in the midst of all this1 and who would fain equal the greatness of perception with deeds as great4 ,the weariness and sense of futility which often falls upon the mystic after much thought is due1 ,i think1 to this1 that here he has duties demanding a more sustained endurance just as the inner life is so much vaster and more intense than the life he has left behind4 ,now1 the duties which can be taken up by the soul are exactly those which it feels most inadequate to perform when acting as an embodied being4 ,what shall be done to quiet the heart-cry of the world3 how answer the dumb appeal for help we so often divine below eyes that laugh8 ,it is sadder than sorrow to think that pity with no hands to heal1 that love without a voice to speak1 should helplessly heap their pain upon pain while earth shall endure4 ,but there is a truth about sorrow which ,i think may make it seem not so hopeless4 ,there are fewer barriers than we think3 there is1 in fact1 an inner alliance between the soul who would fain give and the soul who is in need4 ,nature has well provided that not one golden ray of all our thoughts is sped ineffective through the dark2 not one drop of the magical elixirs love distills is wasted4 ,let us consider how this may be4 ,there is a habit we nearly all have indulged in3 we often weave little stories in our minds expending love and pity upon the imaginary beings we have created4 ,but ,i have been led to think that many of these are not imaginary1 that somewhere in the world beings are thinking1 loving1 suffering just in that way1 and we merely reform and live over again in our life the story of another life4 ,sometimes these faraway intimates assume so vivid a shape1 they come so near with their appeal for sympathy that the pictures are unforgettable1 and the more ,i ponder over them the more it seems to me that they often convey the actual need of some soul whose cry for comfort has gone out into the vast1 perhaps to meet with an answer1 perhaps to hear only silence4 ,i will supply an instance4 ,i see a child1 a curious1 delicate little thing1 seated on the doorstep of a house4 ,it is an alley in some great city2 there is a gloom of evening and vapour over the sky2 ,i see the child is bending over the path2 he is picking cinders and arranging them1 and1 growing closer1 as ,i ponder1 ,i become aware that he is laying down in gritty lines the walls of a house1 the mansion of his dream4 ,here spread along the pavement are large rooms1 these for his friends1 and a tiny room in the centre1 that is his own4 ,so his thought plays4 ,just then ,i catch a glimpse of the corduroy trousers of a passing workman1 and a heavy boot crushes through the cinders4 ,i feel the pain in the child's heart as he shrinks back1 his little love-lit house of dreams all rudely shattered4 ,ah1 poor child1 building the ,city ,beautiful out of a few cinders1 yet nigher1 truer in intent than many a stately1 gold- rich palace reared by princes1 thou wert not forgotten by that mighty spirit who lives through the falling of empires1 whose home has been in many a ruined heart4 ,surely it was to bring comfort to hearts like thine that that most noble of all meditations was ordained by the ,buddha4 ,he lets his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of ,love1 and so the second1 and so the third1 and so the fourth4 ,and thus the whole wide world1 above1 below1 around1 and everywhere1 does he continue to pervade with heart of ,love far-reaching1 grown great1 and beyond measure4 ,the love1 though the very fairy breath of life1 should by itself and so imparted have a sustaining power some may question1 not those who have felt the sunlight fall from distant fiends who think of them2 but1 to make clearer how it seems to me to act1 ,i say that love1 ,eros1 is a being4 ,it is more than a power of the soul1 though it is that also2 it has a universal life of its own1 and just as the dark heaving waters do not know what jewel lights they reflect with blinding radiance1 so the soul1 partially absorbing and feeling the ray of ,eros within it1 does not know that often a part of its nature nearer to the sun of love shines with a brilliant light to other eyes than its own4 ,many people move unconscious of their won charm1 unknowing of the beauty and power they seem to others to impart4 ,it is some past attainment of the soul1 a jewel won in some old battle which it may have forgotten1 but none the less this gleams on its tiara and the star-flame inspires others to hope and victory4 ,if is true here than many exert a spiritual influence they are unconscious of1 it is still truer of the spheres within4 ,once the soul has attained to any possession like love1 or persistent will1 or faith1 or a power of thought1 it comes into psychic contact with others who are struggling for these very powers4 ,the attainment of any of these means that the soul is able to absorb and radiate some of the diviner elements of being4 ,the soul may or may not be aware of the position it is placed in and its new duties1 but yet that ,living ,light1 having found a way into the being of any one person1 does not rest there1 but sends its rays and extends its influence on and on to illumine the darkness of another nature4 ,so it comes that there are ties which bind us to people other than those whom we meet in our everyday life4 ,i think they are more real ties1 more important to understand1 for if we let our lamp go out some far away who had reached out in the dark and felt a steady will1 a persistent hope1 a compassionate love1 may reach out once again in an hour of need1 and finding no support may give way and fold the hands in despair4 ,often indeed we allow gloom to overcome us and so hinder the bright rays in their passage2 but would we do it so often if we thought that perhaps a sadness which besets us1 we do not know why1 was caused by some heart drawing nigh to ours for comfort1 that our lethargy might make it feel still more its helplessness1 while our courage1 our faith1 might cause our light to shine in some other heart which as yet has no light of its own4 --,march #ae1 #ahig ,priest or ,hero8 ,i think ,i could turn and live with animals1 they are so placid and self-contained ,i stand and look at them long and long4 ,they do not sweat and whine about their condition1 ,they do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins1 ,no one kneels to another1 nor to one of his kind that lived thousands of years ago4 ---,walt ,whitman ,i have prefixed some ideas about spiritual freedom addressed to the people of ,ireland with these lines from the poet of another land1 because national sentiment seems out of date here1 the old heroism slumbers1 alien thought and an exotic religion have supplanted our true ideals and our natural spirituality4 ,i hope that the scornful words of one who breathed a freer air might sting to shame those who have not lost altogether the sentiment of human dignity1 who have still some intuitions as to how far and how wisely a man may abase himself before another1 whether that other claim divine authority or not4 ,for this is the true problem which confronts us as a nation1 and all else is insignificant beside4 ,we have found out who are the real rulers here1 who dictate politics and public action with no less authority than they speak upon religion and morals1 ,it was only the other day that a priest1 one of our rulers1 declared that he would not permit a political meeting to be held in his diocese and this fiat was received with a submission which showed how accurately the politician gauged the strength opposed to him4 ,and this has not been the only occasion when this power has been exerted3 we all know how many national movements have been interfered with or thwarted2 we know the shameful revelations connected with the elections a few years back2 we know how a great leader fell2 and those who are idealists1 ,god's warriors battling for freedom of thought1 whose hope for the world is that the intuitions of the true and good divinely implanted in each man's breast shall supersede tradition and old authority1 cannot but feel that their opinions1 so much more dangerous to that authority than any political ideal1 must1 if advocated1 bring them at last to clash with the priestly power4 ,it is not a war with religion we would fain enter upon2 but when those who claim that heaven and hell shut and open at their bidding for the spirit of man1 use the influence which belief in that claim confers1 as it has been here1 to fetter free-will in action1 it is time that the manhood of the nation awoke to sternly question that authority1 to assert its immemorial right to freedom4 ,there live of old in ,eri a heroic race whom the bards sang as fearless4 ,there was then no craven dread of the hereafter1 for the land of the immortals glimmered about them in dream and vision1 and already before the decaying of the form the spirit of the hero had crossed the threshold and clasped hands with the gods4 ,no demon nature affrighted them3 from them wielding the flaming sword of will the demons fled away as before ,cuculain vanished in terror shadowy embattled hosts4 ,what1 ,i wonder1 would these antique heroes say coming back to a land which preserves indeed their memory but emulates their spirit no more8 ,we know what the bards thought when heroic ,ireland became only a tradition2 when to darkened eyes the elf-lights ceased to gleam1 luring no more to the rich radiant world within1 the ,druidic mysteries1 and the secret of the ages4 ,in the bardic tales their comrade ,ossian voices to ,patrick their scorn of the new4 ,ah1 from the light and joy of the faery region1 from that great companionship with a race half divine1 come back to find that but one divine man had walked the earth1 and as for the rest it was at prayer and fasting they ought to be6 ,and why8 ,because1 as ,patrick explained to ,ossian1 if they did not they would go to hell4 ,and this is the very thing the ,patricks ever since have been persuading the ,irish people to believe1 adding an alien grief unto their many sorrows1 foisting upon them a vulgar interpretation of the noble idea of divine justice to cow them to submission with the threat of flame4 ,ossian1 chafing and fuming under the priestly restriction1 declared his preference for hell with the ,finians to paradise with ,patrick4 ,his simple heroic mind found it impossible to believe that the pure1 gentle but indomitable spirits of his comrades could be anywhere quenched or quelled1 but they must at last arise exultant even from torment4 ,when ,ossian rejects the bribe of paradise to share the darker world and the fate of his companions1 there spake the true spirit of man2 spark of illimitable deity2 shrouded in form1 yet radiating ceaselessly heroic thoughts1 aspirations1 deathless love2 not to be daunted1 rising again and again from sorrow with indestructible hope2 emerging ever from defeat1 its glooms smitten through and through with the light of visions vast and splendid as the heavens4 ,old bard1 old bard1 from ,tir-na-noge where thou1 perchance wrapt by that beauty which called thee from earth1 singest immortal songs1 would that one lightning of they spirit could pierce the hearts now thronged with dread1 might issue from lips which dare not speak4 ,i do not question but that the heroic age had its imperfections1 or that it was not well that its too warlike ardour was tempered by the beautiful1 pathetic and ennobling teaching of ,christ4 ,the seed of new doctrines bore indeed many lovely but exotic blossoms in the saintly times1 and also many a noxious weed4 ,for religion must always be an exotic which makes a far-off land sacred rather than the earth underfoot3 where the ,great ,spirit whose home is the vast seems no more a moving glamour in the heavens1 a dropping tenderness at twilight1 a visionary light on the hills1 a voice in man's heart2 when the way of life is sought in scrolls or is heard from another's lips4 ,the noxious weed1 the unendurable bitter which mingled with the sweet and true in this exotic religion was the terrible power it put into the hands of men somewhat more learned in their ignorance of ,god than those whom they taught3 the power to inflict a deadly wrong upon the soul1 to coerce the will by terror from the course conscience had marked out as true and good4 ,that power has been used unsparingly and at times with unspeakable cruelty whenever those who had it thought their influence was being assailed1 for power is sweet and its use is not lightly laid aside4 ,as we read our island history there seems a ruddy emblazonry on every page1 a hue shed from behind the visible1 the soul dropping its red tears of fire over hopes for ever dissolving1 noble ambitions for ever foiled4 ,always on the eve of success starts up some fatal figure weaponed with the keys of the hereafter1 brandishing more especially the key of the place of torment1 warning most particularly those who regard that that key shall not get rusty from want of turning if they disobey4 ,it has been so from the beginning1 from the time of the cursing of ,tara1 where the growing unity of the nations was split into fractions1 down to the present time4 ,i often doubt if the barbarities in eastern lands which we shudder at are in reality half so cruel1 if they mean so much anguish as this threat of after-torture does to those who believe in the power of another to inflict it4 ,it wounds the spirit to the heart3 its consciousness of its own immortality becomes entwined with the terror of as long enduring pain4 ,it is a lie which the all- compassionate ,father-,spirit never breathed into the ears of his children1 a lie which has been told here century after century with such insistence that half the nation has the manhood cowed out of it4 ,the offence of the dead chief whose followers were recently assailed weighed light as a feather in the balance when compared with the sin of these men and their shameful misuse of religious authority in ,meath a little while ago4 ,the scenes which took place there1 testified and sworn to by witness in the after trials1 were only a copy of what generally took place4 ,they will take place again if the necessity arises4 ,that is a bitter fact4 ,a dim consciousness that their servitude is not to ,god's law but to man's ambition is creeping over the people here4 ,that is a very hopeful sign4 ,when a man first feels he is a slave he begins to grow grey inside1 to get moody and irritable4 ,the sore spot becomes more sensitive the more he broods4 ,at last to touch it becomes dangerous4 ,for1 from such pent-up musing and wrath have sprung rebellions1 revolutions1 the overthrow of dynasties and the fall of religions1 aye1 thrice as mighty as this4 ,that ,thought of freedom lets loose the flood-gates of an illimitable fire into the soul2 it emerges from its narrow prison-cell of thought and fear as the sky-reaching genie from the little copper vessel in the tale of ,arabian enchantment2 it lays hand on the powers of storm and commotion like a god4 ,it would be politic not to press the despotism more2 but it would be a pity perhaps if some further act did not take place1 just to see a nation flinging aside the shackles of superstition2 disdainful of threats1 determined to seek its own good1 resolutely to put aside all external tradition and rule2 adhering to its own judgment1 though priests falsely say the hosts of the everlasting are arrayed in battle against it1 though they threaten the spirit with obscure torment for ever and ever3 still to persist1 still to defy1 still to obey the orders of another captain1 that ,unknown ,deity within whose trumpet-call sounds louder than all the cries of men4 ,there is great comfort1 my fellows1 in flinging fear aside2 an exultation and delight spring up welling from inexhaustible deeps1 and a tranquil sweetness also ensues which shows that the powers ever watchful of human progress approve and applaud the act4 ,in all this ,i do not aim at individuals4 ,it is not with them ,i would war but with tyranny4 ,they who enslave are as much or more to be pitied than those whom they enslave4 ,they too are wronged by being placed and accepted in a position of false authority4 ,they too enshrine a ray of the divine spirit1 which to liberate and express is the purpose of life4 ,whatever movement ignores the needs of a single unity1 or breeds hate against it rather than compassion1 is so far imperfect4 ,but if we give these men1 as we must1 the credit of sincerity1 still opposition is none the less a duty4 ,the spirit of man must work out its own destiny1 learning truth out of error and pain4 ,it cannot be moral by proxy4 ,a virtuous course into which it is whipt by fear will avail it nothing1 and in that dread hour when it comes before the ,mighty who sent it forth1 neither will the plea avail it that its conscience was in another's keeping4 ,the choice here lies between ,priest and ,hero as ideal1 and ,i say that whatever is not heroic is not ,irish1 has not been nourished at the true fountain wherefrom our race and isle derive their mystic fame4 ,there is a life behind the veil1 another ,eri which the bards knew1 singing it as the ,land of ,immortal ,youth4 ,it is not hidden from us1 though we have hidden ourselves from it1 so that it has become only a fading memory in our hearts and a faery fable upon our lips4 ,yet there are still places in this isle1 remote from the crowded cities where men and women eat and drink and wear out their lives and are lost in the lust for gold1 where the shy peasant sees the enchanted lights in mountain and woody dell1 and hears the faery bells pealing away1 away1 into that wondrous underland whither1 as legends relate1 the ,danann gods withdrew4 ,these things are not to be heard for the asking2 but some1 more reverent than the rest1 more intuitive1 who understand that the pure eyes of a peasant may see the things kings and princes1 aye1 and priests1 have desired to see and have not seen2 that for him may have been somewhat lifted the veil which hides from men the starry spheres where the ,eternal ,beauty abides in the shining--these have heard and have been filled with the hope that1 if ever the mystic truths of life could be spoken here1 there would be enough of the old ,celtic fire remaining to bring back the magic into the isle4 ,that direct relation1 that vision1 comes fully with spiritual freedom1 when men no longer peer through another's eyes into the mysteries1 when they will not endure that the light shall be darkened by transmission1 but spirit speaks with spirit1 drawing light from the boundless ,light alone4 ,leaving aside the question of interference with national movements1 another charge1 one of the weightiest which can be brought against the priestly influence in this island1 is that it has hampered the expression of native genius in literature and thought4 ,now the country is alive with genius1 flashing out everywhere1 in the conversation even of the lowest2 but we cannot point to imaginative work of any importance produced in ,ireland which has owed its inspiration to the priestly teaching4 ,the genius of the ,gael could not find itself in their doctrines2 though above all things mystical it could not pierce its way into the departments of super-nature where their theology pigeon-holes the souls of the damned and the blessed4 ,it knew of the ,eri behind the veil which ,i spoke of1 the ,tir-na-noge which as a lamp lights up our grassy plains1 our haunted hills and valleys4 ,the faery tales have ever lain nearer to the hearts of the people1 and whatever there is of worth in song or story has woven into it the imagery handed down from the dim druidic ages4 ,this is more especially true today1 when our literature is beginning to manifest preeminent qualities of imagination1 not the grey pieties of the cloister1 but natural magic1 beauty1 and heroism4 ,our poets sing ,ossian wandering the land of the immortals2 or we read in vivid romance of the giant chivalry of the ,ultonians1 their untamable manhood1 the exploits of ,cuculain and the children of ,rury1 more admirable as types1 more noble and inspiring than the hierarchy of little saints who came later on and cursed their memories4 ,the genius of the ,gael is awakening after a night of troubled dreams4 ,i returns instinctively to the beliefs of its former day and finds again the old inspiration4 ,it seeks the gods on the mountains1 still enfolded by their mantle of multitudinous traditions1 or sees them flash by in the sunlit diamond airs4 ,how strange1 but how natural is all this6 ,it seems as if ,ossian's was a premature return4 ,today he might find comrades come back from ,tir-na-noge for the uplifting of their race4 ,perhaps to many a young spirit starting up among us ,caolte might speak as to ,mongan1 saying3 ,i was with thee1 with ,finn4 ,hence1 it may be1 the delight with which we hear ,standish ,o',grady declaring that the bardic divinities will remain3 ,nor1 after centuries of obscuration1 is their power to quicken1 purify1 and exalt1 yet dead4 ,still they live and reign1 and shall reign4 ,after long centuries--the voice of a spirit ever youthful1 yet older than all the gods1 who with its breath of sunrise- coloured flame jewels with richest lights the visions of earth's dreamy-hearted children4 ,once more out of the ,heart of the ,mystery is heard the call of ,come away1 and after that no other voice has power to lure3 there remain only the long heroic labours which end in companionship with the gods4 ,these voices do not stand for themselves alone4 ,they are heralds before a host4 ,no man has ever spoken with potent utterance who did not feel the secret urging of dumb1 longing multitudes1 whose aspirations and wishes converge on and pour themselves into fearless heart4 ,the thunder of the waves is deeper because the tide is rising4 ,those who are behind do not come only with song and tale1 but with stern hearts bent on great issues1 among which1 not least1 is the intellectual liberation of ,ireland4 ,that is an aim at which some of our rulers may well grow uneasy4 ,soon shall young men1 fiery- hearted1 children of ,eri1 a new race1 roll our their thoughts on the hillsides1 before your very doors1 ,o priests1 calling your flocks from your dark chapels and twilight sanctuaries to a temple not built with hands1 sunlit1 starlit1 sweet with the odour and incense of earth1 from your altars call them to the altars of the hills1 soon to be lit up as of old1 soon to be the blazing torches of ,god over the land4 ,these heroes ,i see emerging4 ,have they not come forth in every land and race when there was need8 ,here1 too1 they will arise4 ,ah1 may darlings1 you will have to fight and suffer3 you must endure loneliness1 the coldness of friends1 the alienation of love2 warmed only by the bright interior hope of a future you must toil for but may never see1 letting the deed be its own reward2 laying in dark places the foundations of that high and holy ,eri of prophecy1 the isle of enchantment1 burning with druidic splendours1 bright with immortal presences1 with the face of the everlasting ,beauty looking in upon all its ways1 divine with terrestrial mingling till ,god and the world are one4 ,there waits brooding in this isle a great destiny1 and to accomplish it we must have freedom of thought4 ,that is the greatest of our needs1 for thought is the lightning-conductor between the heaven- world and earth4 ,we want fearless advocates who will not be turned aside from their course by laughter or by threats4 ,why is it that the spirit of daring1 imaginative enquiry is so dead here8 ,an incubus of spiritual fear seems to beset men women so that they think1 if they turn from the beaten track seeking the true1 they shall meet1 not the divine with outstretched hands1 but a demon2 that the reward for their search will not be joy or power but enduring pain4 ,how the old bard swept away such fears6 ,if thy ,god were good1 said ,ossian1 he would call ,finn into his dun4 ,yes1 the heroic heart is dear to the heroic heart4 ,i would back the intuition of an honest soul for truth against piled-up centuries of theology4 ,but this high spirit is stifled everywhere by a dull infallibility which is yet unsuccessful1 on its own part1 in awakening inspiration2 and1 in the absence of original though1 we pick over the bones of dead movements1 we discuss the personalities of the past1 but no one asks the secrets of life or of death4 ,there are despotic hands in politics1 in religion1 in education1 strangling any attempt at freedom4 ,of the one institution which might naturally be supposed to be the home of great ideas we can only say1 reversing the famous eulogy on ,oxford1 it has never given itself to any national hero or cause1 but always to the ,philistine4 ,with the young men who throng the literary societies the intellectual future of ,ireland rests4 ,in them are our future leaders4 ,out of these as from a fountain will spring--what8 ,will we have another generation of ,irishmen at the same level as today1 with everything in a state of childhood1 boyish patriotism1 boyish ideals1 boyish humour8 ,or will they assimilate the aged thought of the world and apply it to the needs of their own land8 ,i remember reading somewhere a description by ,turgenieff of his contemporaries as a young man2 how they sat in garrets1 drinking execrably bad coffee or tea4 ,but what thoughts6 ,they talked of ,god1 of humanity1 of ,holy ,russia2 and out of such groups of young men1 out of their discussions1 emanated that vast unrest which has troubled ,europe and will trouble it still more4 ,here no questions are asked and no answers are received4 ,there is a pitiful1 blind struggle for a nationality whose ideas are not definitely conceived4 ,what is the ideal of ,ireland as a nation8 ,it drifts from mind to mind1 a phantom thought lacking a spirit1 but a spirit which will surely incarnate4 ,perhaps some of our old heroes may return4 ,already it seems as if one had been here2 a sombre ,titan earlier awakened than the rest who passed before us1 and sounded the rallying note of our race before he staggered to his tragic close4 ,others of brighter thought will follow to awaken the fires which ,brigid in her vision saw gleaming beyond dark centuries of night1 and confessed between hope and tears to ,patrick4 ,meanwhile we must fight for intellectual freedom2 we must strive to formulate to ourselves what it is we really wish for here1 until at last the ideal becomes no more phantasmal but living2 until our voices in aspiration are heard in every land1 and the nations become aware of a new presence amid their councils1 a last and most beautiful figure1 as one after the cross of pain1 after the shadowy terrors1 with thorn-marks on the brow from a crown flung aside1 but now radiant1 ennobled after suffering1 ,eri1 the love of so many dreamers1 priestess of the mysteries1 with the chant of beauty on her lips and the heart of nature beating in her heart4 --,april #ae-,may #ae1 #ahig ,the ,age of the ,spirit ,i am a part of all that ,i have met3 ,yet all experience is an arch wherethro' ,gleams that untraveled world 44444 4444444 ,come1 my friends1 ',tis not too late to seek a newer world4 --,ulysses ,we are no longer children as we were in the beginning4 ,the spirit which1 prompted by some divine intent1 flung itself long ago into a vague1 nebulous1 drifting nature1 though it has endured through many periods of youth1 maturity1 and age1 has yet had its own transformations4 ,its gay1 wonderful childhood gave way1 as cycle after cycle coiled itself into slumber1 to more definite purposes1 and now it is old and burdened with experiences4 ,it is not an age that quenches its fire1 but it will not renew again the activities which gave it wisdom4 ,and so it comes that men pause with a feeling which they translate into weariness of life before the accustomed joys and purposes of their race4 ,they wonder at the spell which induced their fathers to plot and execute deeds which seem to them to have no more meaning than a whirl of dust4 ,but their fathers had this weariness also and concealed it from each other in fear1 for it meant the laying aside of the sceptre1 the toppling over empires1 the chilling of the household warmth1 and all for a voice whose inner significance revealed itself but to one or two among myriads4 ,the spirit has hardly emerged from the childhood with which nature clothes it afresh at every new birth1 when the disparity between the garment and the wearer becomes manifest3 the little tissue of joys and dreams woven about it found inadequate for shelter3 it trembles exposed to the winds blowing out of the unknown4 ,we linger at twilight with some companion1 still glad1 contented1 and in tune with the nature which fills the orchards with blossom and sprays the hedges with dewy blooms4 ,the laughing lips give utterance to wishes--ours until that moment4 ,then the spirit1 without warning1 suddenly falls into immeasurable age3 a sphynx-like regard is upon us3 our lips answer1 but far from the region of elemental being we inhabit1 they syllable in shadowy sound1 out of old usage1 the response1 speaking of a love and a hope which we know have vanished from us for evermore4 ,so hour by hour the scourge of the infinite drives us out of every nook and corner of life we find pleasant4 ,and this always takes place when all is fashioned to our liking3 then into our dream strides the wielder of the lightning3 we get glimpse of the great beyond thronged with mighty1 exultant1 radiant beings3 our own deeds become infinitesimal to us3 the colours of our imagination1 once so shining1 grow pale as the living lights of ,god glow upon them4 ,we find a little honey in the heart which we make sweeter for some one1 and then another lover1 whose forms are legion1 sighs to us out of its multitudinous being3 we know that the old love is gone4 ,there is a sweetness in song or in the cunning reimaging of the beauty we see2 but the ,magician of the ,beautiful whispers to us of his art1 how we were with him when he laid the foundations of the world1 and the song is unfinished1 the fingers grow listless4 ,as we receive these intimations of age our very sins become negative3 we are still pleased if a voice praises us1 but we grow lethargic in enterprises where the spur to activity is fame or the acclamation of men4 ,at some point in the past we struggled mightily for the sweet incense which men offer to a towering personality3 but the infinite is for ever within man3 we sighed for other worlds and found that to be saluted as victor by men did not mean acceptance by the gods4 ,but the placing of an invisible finger upon our lips when we would speak1 the heart-throb of warning where we would love1 that we grow contemptuous of the prizes of life1 does not mean that the spirit has ceased from its labours1 that the high-built beauty of the spheres is to topple mistily into chaos1 as a mighty temple in the desert sinks into the sand1 watched only by a few barbarians too feeble to renew its ancient pomp and the ritual of its once shining congregations4 ,before we1 who were the bright children of the dawn1 may return as the twilight race into the silence1 our purpose must be achieved1 we have to assume mastery over that nature which now overwhelms us1 driving into the ,fire-fold the flocks of stars and wandering fires4 ,does it seem very vast and far away8 ,do you sigh at the long1 long time8 ,or does it appear hopeless to you who perhaps return with trembling feet evening after evening from a little labour8 ,but it is back of all these things that the renewal takes place1 when love and grief are dead2 when they loosen their hold on the spirit and its sinks back into itself1 looking out on the pitiful plight of those who1 like it1 are the weary inheritors of so great destinies3 then a tenderness which is the most profound quality of its being springs up like the outraying of the dawn1 and if in that mood it would plan or execute it knows no weariness1 for it is nourished from the ,first ,fountain4 ,as for these feeble children of the once glorious spirits of the dawn1 only a vast hope can arouse them from so vast a despair1 for the fire will not invigorate them for the repetition of petty deeds but only for the eternal enterprise1 the purpose of the immemorial battle waged through all the ages1 the wars in heaven1 the conflict between ,titan and ,divinity1 which were part of the never-ending struggle of the human spirit to assert its supremacy over nature4 ,brotherhood1 the declaration of ideals and philosophies1 are but calls to the hosts1 who lie crushed by this mountain nature piled above them1 to arise again1 to unite1 to storm the heavens and sit on the seats of the mighty4 ,as the titan in man ponders on this old1 old purpose wherefor all its experience was garnered1 the lightnings will once more begin to play through him and animate his will4 ,so like the archangel ruined let us arise from despair and weariness with inflexible resolution1 pealing once more the old heroic shout to our fallen comrades1 until those great powers who enfold us feel the stirring and the renewal1 and the murmur runs along the spheres1 ,the buried ,titan moves once again to tear the throne from ,him4 --,june #ahig ,a ,thought ,along the ,road ,they torture me also4--,krishna ,the night was wet3 and1 as ,i was moving down the streets1 my mind was also journeying on a way of its own1 and the things which were bodily present before me were no less with me in my unseen traveling4 ,every now and then a transfer would take place1 and some of the moving shadows in the street would begin walking about in the clear interior light4 ,the children of the city1 crouched in the doorways1 or racing through the hurrying multitude and flashing lights1 began their elfin play again in my heart2 and that was because ,i had heard these tiny outcasts shouting with glee4 ,i wondered if the glitter and shadow of such sordid things were thronged with magnificence and mystery for those who were unaware of a greater light and deeper shade which made up the romance and fascination of my own life4 ,in imagination ,i narrowed myself to their ignorance1 littleness1 and youth1 and seemed for a moment to flit amid great uncomprehended beings and a dim wonderful city of palaces4 ,then another transfer took place and ,i was pondering anew1 for a face ,i had seen flickering through the warm wet mist haunted me2 it entered into the realm of the interpreter1 and ,i was made aware by the pale cheeks1 and by the close-shut lips of pain1 and by some inward knowledge1 that there the ,tree of ,life was beginning to grow1 and ,i wondered why it is that it always springs up through a heart in ashes3 ,i wondered also if that which springs up1 which in itself is an immortal joy1 has knowledge that its shoots are piercing through such anguish2 or again1 if it was the piercing of the shoots which caused the pain1 and if every throb of the beautiful flame darting upward to blossom meant the perishing of some more earthly growth which had kept the heart in shadow4 ,seeing to how so many thoughts spring up from such a simple thing1 ,i questioned whether that which started the impulse had any share in the outcome1 and if these musing of mine in any way affected their subject4 ,i then began thinking about those secret ties on which ,i have speculated before1 and in the darkness my heart grew suddenly warm and glowing1 for ,i had chanced upon one of those shining imaginations which are the wealth of those who travel upon the hidden ways4 ,in describing that which comes to us all at once1 there is a difficulty in choosing between what is first and what is last to say3 but1 interpreting as best ,i can1 ,i seemed to behold the onward movement of a ,light1 one among many ,lights1 all living1 throbbing1 now dim with perturbations1 and now again clear1 and all subtly woven together1 outwardly in some more shadowy shining1 and inwardly in a greater fire1 which1 though it was invisible1 ,i knew to be the ,lamp of the ,world4 ,this ,light which ,i beheld ,i felt to be a human soul1 and these perturbations which dimmed it were its struggles and passionate longings for something1 and that was for a more brilliant shining of the light within itself3 it was in love with its own beauty1 enraptured by its own lucidity2 and ,i saw that as these things were more beloved they grew paler1 for this light is the love which the ,mighty ,mother has in her heart for her children1 and she means that it shall go through each one unto all1 and whoever restrains it in himself is himself shut out2 not that the great heart has ceased in its love for that soul1 but that the soul has shut itself off from influx1 for ever imagination of man is the opening or the closing of a door to the divine world3 now he is solitary1 cut off1 and1 seemingly to himself1 on the desert and distant verge of things3 and then his thought throws open the swift portals2 he hears the chant of the seraphs in his heart1 and he is made luminous by the lighting of a sudden aureole4 ,this soul which ,i watched seemed to have learned at last the secret love3 for1 in the anguish begotten by its loss1 it followed the departing glory in penitence to the inmost shrine where it ceased altogether2 and because it seemed utterly lost and hopeless of attainment and capriciously denied to the seeker1 a profound pit arose in the soul for those who1 like it were seeking1 but still in hope1 for they had not come to the vain end of their endeavors4 ,i understood that such pity is the last of the precious essences which make up the elixir of immortality1 and when it is poured into the cup it is ready for drinking4 ,and so it was with this soul which drew brilliant with the passage of eternal light through its new purity of self-oblivion1 and joyful in the comprehension of the mystery of the secret love1 which1 though it has been declared many times by the greatest of teachers among men1 is yet never known truly unless the ,mighty ,mother has herself breathed it in the heart4 ,and now that the soul had divined this secret1 the shadowy shining which was woven in bonds of union between it and its fellow-lights grew clearer2 and a multitude of these strands were1 so it seemed1 strengthened and placed in its keeping3 along these it was to send the message of the wisdom and the love which were the secret sweetness of its own being4 ,then a spiritual tragedy began1 infinitely more pathetic than the old desolation1 because it was brought about by the very nobility of the spirit4 ,this soul1 shedding its love like rays of glory1 seemed itself the centre of a ring of wounding spears3 it sent forth love and the arrowy response came hate-impelled3 it whispered peace and was answered by the clash of rebellion3 and to all this for defence it could only bare more openly its heart that a profounder love from the ,mother ,nature might pass through upon the rest4 ,i knew this was what a teacher1 who wrote long ago1 meant when he said3 ,put on the whole armour of god1 which is love and endurance1 for the truly divine children of the ,flame are not armed otherwise3 and of those protests1 sent up in ignorance or rebellion against the whisper of the wisdom1 ,i saw that some melted in the fierce and tender heat of the heart1 and there came in their stead a golden response which made closer the ties1 and drew these souls upward to an understanding and to share in the overshadowing nature3 and this is part of the plan of the ,great ,alchemist1 whereby the red ruby of the heart is transmuted into the tenderer light of the opal2 for the beholding of love made bare acts like the flame of the furnace1 and the dissolving passions1 through an anguish of remorse1 the lightnings of pain1 and through an adoring pity1 are changed into the image they contemplate and melt in the ecstasy of self-forgetful love1 the spirit which lit the thorn-crowned brows1 which perceived only in its last agony the retribution due to its tormentors1 and cried out1 ,father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,now although the love of the few may alleviate the hurt due to the ignorance of the mass1 it is not in the power of anyone to withstand for ever this warfare2 for by the perpetual wounding of the inner nature it is so wearied that the spirit must withdraw from a tabernacle grown too frail to support the increase of light within and the jarring of the demoniac nature without3 and at length comes the call which means1 for a while1 release1 and a deep rest in regions beyond the paradise of lesser souls4 ,so1 withdrawn into the ,divine ,darkness1 vanished the ,light of my dream4 ,and now it seemed as if this wonderful weft of souls intertwining as one being must come to naught2 and all those who through the gloom had nourished a longing for the light would stretch out hands in vain for guidance3 but that ,i did not understand the love of the ,mother1 and that although few1 there is no decaying of her heroic brood2 for1 as the seer of old caught at the mantle of him who went up in the fiery chariot1 so another took up the burden and gathered the shining strands together3 and to this sequence of spiritual guides there is no ending4 ,here ,i may say that the love of the ,mother1 which1 acting through the burnished will of the hero1 is wrought to highest uses1 is in reality everywhere1 and pervades with profoundest tenderness the homeliest circumstance of daily life2 and there is not lacking1 even among the humblest1 an understanding of the spiritual tragedy which follows upon every effort of the divine nature bowing itself down in pity to our shadowy sphere2 an understanding in which the nature of the love is gauged through the extent of the sacrifice and pain which is overcome4 ,i recall the instance of an old ,irish peasant1 who1 as he lay in hospital wakeful from a grinding pain in his leg1 forgot himself in making drawings1 rude yet reverently done1 of incidents in the life of the ,galilean teacher4 ,one of these which he showed me was a crucifixion1 where1 amidst much grotesque symbolism1 were some tracings which indicated a purely beautiful intuition2 the heart of this crucified figure1 no less than the brow1 was wreathed about with thorns and radiant with light3 ,for that1 said he1 was where he really suffered4 ,when ,i think of this old man1 bringing forgetfulness of his own bodily pain through contemplation of the spiritual suffering of his own1 nobly undergone1 had given him understanding1 and he had laid his heart in love against the ,heart of ,many ,sorrows1 seeing it wounded by unnumbered spears yet burning with undying love4 ,though much may be learned by observance of the superficial life and actions of a spiritual teacher1 it is only in the deeper life of meditation and imagination that it can be truly realized2 for the soul is a midnight blossom which opens its leaves in dream1 and its perfect bloom is unfolded only where another sun shines in another heaven3 there it feels what celestial dews descend on it1 and what influences draw it up to its divine archetype3 here in the shadow of earth root intercoils with root and the finer distinctions of the blossom are not perceived4 ,if we knew also who they really are1 who sometimes in silence1 and sometimes with the eyes of the world at gaze1 take upon them the mantle of teacher1 an unutterable awe would prevail2 for underneath a bodily presence not in any sense beautiful may burn the glory of some ancient divinity1 some hero who laid aside his sceptre in the enchanted land to rescue old-time comrades fallen into oblivion3 or again1 if we had the insight of the simple old peasant into the nature of this enduring love1 out of the exquisite and poignant emotions kindled would arise the flame of a passionate love which would endure long aeons of anguish that it might shield1 though but for a little1 the kingly hearts who may not shield themselves4 ,but ,i too1 who write1 have launched the rebellious spear1 or in lethargy have ofttimes gone down the great drift numbering myself among those who not being with must needs be against3 therefor ,i make no appeal2 they only may call who stand upon the lofty mountains2 but ,i reveal the thought which arose like a star in my soul with such bright and pathetic meaning1 leaving it to you who read to approve and apply it4 --,july #ae1 #ahig ,the ,fountains of ,youth ,i heard that a strange woman1 dwelling on the western coast1 who had the repute of healing by faery power1 said a little before she died1 ,there's a cure for all things in the well at ,ballykeele3 and ,i know not why at first1 but her words lingered with me and repeated themselves again and again1 and by degrees to keep fellowship with the thought they enshrined came more antique memories1 all ,i had heard or dreamed of the ,fountains of ,youth2 for ,i could not doubt1 having heard these fountains spoken of by people like herself1 that her idea had a druid ancestry4 ,perhaps she had bent over the pool until its darkness grew wan and bright and troubled with the movements of a world within and the agitations of a tempestuous joy2 or she had heard1 as many still hear1 the wild call to ,come away1 from entreating lips and flame- encircled faces1 or was touched by the star-tipped fingers1 and her heart from the faery world came never back again to dwell as before at ease in this isle of grey mists and misty sunlight4 ,these things are not fable only1 for ,ireland is still a land of the gods1 and in out of the way places we often happen on wonderlands of romance and mystic beauty4 ,i have spoken to people who have half parted from their love for the world in a longing for the pagan paradise of ,tir-na-nog1 and many who are outwardly obeisant to another religion are altogether pagan in their hearts1 and ,meave the ,queen of the ,western ,host is more to them than ,mary ,queen of ,heaven4 ,i was told of this ,meave that lately she was seen in vision by a peasant1 who made a poem on her1 calling her ,the ,beauty of all ,beauty3 and the man who told me this of his friend had himself seen the jetted fountains of fire-mist winding up in spiral whirls to the sky1 and he too had heard of the ,fountains of ,youth4 ,the natural longing in every heart that its youth shall not perish makes one ponder and sigh over this magical past when youth1 ecstasy1 and beauty welled from a bountiful nature at the sung appeal of her druid children holding hand in hand around the sacred cairn4 ,our hearts remember3 ,a wind blows by us fleeting ,along the reedy strand3 ,and sudden our hearts are beating ,again in the druid-land4 ,all silver-pale1 enchanted1 ,the air-world lies on the hills1 ,and the fields of light are planted ,with the dawn-frail daffodils4 ,the yellow leaves are blowing ,the hour when the wind-god weaves1 ,and hides the stars and their glowing ,in a mist of daffodil leaves4 ,we stand in glimmering whiteness1 ,each face like the day-star fair1 ,and rayed about in its brightness ,with a dawn of daffodil air4 ,and through each white robe gleaming1 ,and under each snow-white breast1 ,is a golden dream-light streaming ,like eve through an opal west4 ,one hand to the heart1 another ,we raise to the dawn on high2 ,for the sun in the heart is brother ,to the sun-heart of the sky4 ,a light comes rising and falling1 ,as ringed in the druid choir ,we sing to the sun-god1 calling ,by his name of yellow fire4 ,the touch of the dew-wet grasses1 ,the breath of the dawn-cool wind1 ,with the dawn of the god-light passes ,and the world is left behind4 ,we drink of a fountain giving ,the joy of the gods1 and then-- ,the ,land of the ,ever-living ,has passed from us again4 ,passed far beyond all saying1 ,for memory only weaves ,on a silver dawn outraying ,a cloud of daffodil leaves4 ,and not indirectly through remembrance only1 but when touched from within by the living beauty1 the soul1 the ancient druid in man1 renews its league with the elements2 and sometimes as the twilight vanishes and night lays on the earth her tender brow1 the woods1 the mountains1 the clouds that tinted like seraphim float in the vast1 and the murmur of water1 wind and trees1 melt from the gaze and depart from the outward ear and become internal reveries and contemplations of the spirit1 and are no more separate but are part of us4 ,yet these vanishings from us and movements in worlds not realized1 leave us only more thirsty to drink of a deeper nature where all things are dissolved in ecstasy1 and heaven and earth are lost in ,god4 ,so we turn seeking for the traces of that earlier wisdom which guided man into the ,land of ,immortal ,youth1 and assuaged his thirst at a more brimming flood of the ,feast of ,age1 the banquet which ,manannan the ,danann king instituted in the haunt of the ,fire-god1 and whoever partook knew thereafter neither weariness1 decay1 not death4 ,these mysteries1 all that they led to1 all that they promised for the spirit of man1 are opening today for us in clear light1 their fabulous distance lessens1 and we hail these kingly ideals with as intense a trust and with more joy1 perhaps1 than they did who were born in those purple hours1 because we are emerging from centuries indescribably meagre and squalid in their thought1 and every new revelation has for us the sweetness of sunlight to one after the tears and sorrow of a prison-house4 ,the well at ,ballykeele is1 perhaps1 a humble starting-point for the contemplation of such mighty mysteries2 but here where the enchanted world lies so close it is never safe to say what narrow path may not lead through a visionary door into ,moy ,argatnel1 the silver ,cloudland of ,manannan1 where ,feet of white bronze ,glitter through beautiful ages4 ,the ,danann king with a quaint particularity tells ,bran in the poem from which these lines are quoted1 that ,there is a wood of beautiful fruit ,under the prow of thy little skiff4 ,what to ,bran was a space of pale light was to the eye of the god a land of pure glory1 ,ildathach the ,many-coloured ,land1 rolling with rivers of golden light and dropping with dews of silver flame4 ,in another poem the ,brugh by the ,boyne1 outwardly a little hillock1 is thus described3 ,look1 and you will see it is the palace of a god4 ,perhaps the mystic warriors of the ,red ,branch saw supernatural pillars blazoned like the sunset1 and entered through great doors and walked in lofty halls with sunset-tinted beings speaking a more beautiful wisdom than earth's4 ,and they there may have seen those famous gods who had withdrawn generations before from visible ,eire3 ,manannan the dark blue king1 ,lu ,lamfada with the sunrise on his brow and his sling1 a wreath of rainbow flame1 coiled around him1 the ,goddess ,dana in ruby brilliance1 ,nuada silver-handed1 the ,dagda with floating locks of light shaking from him radiance and song1 ,angus ,oge1 around whose head the ever-winging birds made music1 and others in whose company these antique heroes must have felt the deep joy of old companionship renewed1 for were not the ,danann hosts men of more primeval cycles become divine and movers in a divine world4 ,in the ,brugh too was a fountain1 to what uses applied the mystical imagination working on other legends may make clearer4 ,the ,well of ,connla1 the parent fountain of many streams visible and invisible1 was the most sacred well known in ancient ,ireland4 ,it lay itself below deep waters at the source of the ,shannon1 and these waters which hid it were also mystical1 for they lay between earth and the ,land of the ,gods4 ,here1 when stricken suddenly by an internal fire1 the sacred hazels of wisdom and inspiration unfolded at once their leaves and blossoms and their scarlet fruit1 which falling upon the waters dyed them of a royal purple2 the nuts were then devoured by ,fintann the ,salmon of ,knowledge1 and the wisest of the druids partook also4 ,this was perhaps the greatest of the mysteries known to the ancient ,gael1 and in the bright phantasmagoria conjured up there is a wild beauty which belongs to all their tales4 ,the suddenly arising dreams of a remote divinity1 the scarlet nuts tossing on the purple flood1 the bright immortals glancing hither and thither1 are pictures left of some mystery we may not now uncover1 thought tomorrow may reveal it1 for the dawn- lights are glittering everywhere in ,ireland4 ,perhaps the strange woman who spoke of the well at ,ballykeele1 and the others like her1 may know more about these fountains than the legend-seekers who so learnedly annoted their tales4 ,they may have drunken in dreams of the waters at ,connla's well1 for many go to the ,tir-na-nog in sleep1 and some are said to have remained there1 and only a vacant form is left behind without the light in the eyes which marks the presence of a soul4 ,i make no pretence of knowledge concerning the things which underlie their simple speech1 but to me there seems to be for ever escaping from legend and folk-tale1 from word and custom1 some breath of a world of beauty ,i sigh for but am not nigh to as these are4 ,i think if that strange woman could have found a voice for what was in her heart she would have completed her vague oracle somewhat as ,i have done3 ,there's a cure for all things in the well at ,ballykeele1 ,where the scarlet cressets o'erhang from the rowan trees2 ,there's a joy-breath blowing from the ,land of ,youth ,i feel1 ,and earth with its heart at ease4 ,many and many a sun-bright maiden saw the enchanted land ,with star-faces glimmer up from the druid wave3 ,many and many a pain of love was soothed by a faery hand ,or lost in the love it gave4 ,when the quiet with a ring of pearl shall wed the earth ,and the scarlet berries burn dark by the stars in the pool1 ,oh1 its lost and deep ,i'll be in the joy-breath and the mirth1 ,my heart in the star-heart cool4 --,september #ae1 #ahig